She was losing control of her body and the investigation. She stopped him with her hands on his chest. “Kade.”
“You have a really full lower lip. It’s so soft, so kissable.”
He nipped and loved her lips with his. She had to slow this down. They pressed their foreheads together. Both were breathing wrongly. Wynn closed her eyes, trying to get control of her body before she did something else she’d regret tonight.
“We shouldn’t,” he said.
She drew back, stunned and surprised. “No, we can’t. You’re right. We shouldn’t. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you.”
“Maybe I like kissing you, Wynn.”
That was the problem. She was enjoying his kisses way too much. Kade slid his hand up over her cheek in a sweet caress.
They started to kiss again. They took it faster and deeper than before. Wynn broke her mouth away as his hand found her breast, and his fingers pinched the hard curve of her nipple through her shirt. He leaned down and nipped her pebbled nipple and the cotton of her shirt into his mouth. She groaned, running her fingers through his hair as she pulled him closer. There was too much clothing in the way, too many obstacles for them to overcome to ever be together. All of it didn’t matter right now. All she wanted was a few stolen kisses that took her to the point of forgetting.
She shoved Kade away again. She couldn’t forget about the lies she was telling herself. “Kade, we shouldn’t.”
“What if I want to? What if we both want to?”
She knew if she kept going, she’d end up screwing him in the back of this Jeep. She wasn’t about to do that. She didn’t ride bareback, nor did she carry condoms. She didn’t do things like this. Ever. Kade’s hands slipped down over her hips, giving her an erotic squeeze. Wynn wanted to nibble her way over his jaw to his mouth. The storm thrashing violently against the Jeep was as turbulent as the one storming through her body. She was losing this fight. She had to stop this from happening. There was only one thing that would stop him tonight.
She reached between their legs and stroked his shaft through his tactical pants.
“Are you still working?”
He groaned. “I got off an hour ago.”
She chuckled. “I don’t think you got off at all.”
“Not yet. What do you want to do about that?”
He ran his fingers through her long hair, twisting it gently between his fingers. He tugged her closer and stole a kiss. Wynn’s leg slipped over his hips, and she was straddling him. She rocked over his cock, making him groan. She rolled her hips again, and he growled deep within the back of his throat.
“
Woman
.”
Kade rolled her onto her back, hooking his thumbs into the waistband of her tight climbing pants, teasing them lower. The space was tight, forcing Kade to brace his knees to her side. Wynn knew what was coming, and there was nothing she could do to stop him from taking her this way.
She moaned as Kade kissed his way down her belly, licking his way over her heated skin. His tongue swirled inside her navel. Her legs fell wide as his hand dipped beneath the waistband of her pants. Wynn gasped as his fingers connected with her wet sex.
Kade kissed his way up over her breast. His tongue snaked out, licking her hard nipple into a frenzy. His lips sucked her nipple in, and she arched into his kiss. His finger rolled down into her core, flexing in and out of her wet pussy. She reached up, fumbling with the zipper on Kade’s pants. He reached down, steadying her and slowly unzipping himself. He pulled away, and their gazes locked. He was silently asking if she wanted to go further. It was the out she needed to take. It was so wrong for her to do this with him. He waited, and she gave him a quick nod.
Kade finished unzipping. Her mouth went dry as he muscled his big cock out from his pants. His thick sex was too big to take from this angle. Wynn palmed the long edge of him as her other hand polished the head of his cock. Kade groaned hard as she stroked him fast, cupping his balls in her hand. He leaned down and started kissing her again as his fingers thrummed her pussy.
Seconds later, an orgasm stole her breath away. She felt Kade’s balls tighten up, and she knew he was about to cum with her. His sex hardened to steel, flexing the veins that twined around his shaft. A shout erupted from Kade as his sex pulsed in her hands, and searing heat landed over her belly.
They held each other’s gazes for a long moment, and then he pulled her in close as he settled in beside her. He pulled her closer when she tried to ease away, wrapping his arm possessively around her waist. Wynn rolled up against his side, feeling herself submit to his touch in the most erotic way.
“I love the sound of storms. I find it soothing,” he said.
Despite the fierceness of the storm, Wynn found her eyes growing heavy, and she knew she would soon fall asleep. “It is nice when you feel safe.”
His hand stroked through her drying hair, and she fell asleep.
It was the absolute quiet that woke Wynn the next morning. Kade had slipped out of the Jeep. She sat up, looking around. She saw Kade standing off by the roadway. Another Forest Service vehicle was parked on the other side. They were no longer alone. It was for the best, she decided then.
The flash flood had receded and left debris all over the road. Wynn pulled Kade’s jacket around her as she climbed out of his Jeep. It was safe to leave. As Wynn approached Kade, the other officer headed back to his car. It was difficult for Wynn to meet his gaze.
“Morning,” he said.
“That was a rough one.”
He nodded. “The storms get bad around here in the summer.”
He dug into his front pocket and came out with a business card. He flipped it over and wrote on the back.
“Here’s my cell number. I want you to call me if you need anything.”
She couldn’t. She wouldn’t. She’d request someone else to take over the case if she had to. “Thanks.”
She knew what she was supposed to do, but she wasn’t sure if she could go through with it now.
Kade knew she wasn’t going to call. He could see her mentally pulling away from him as she pulled physically away, too. He watched her Jeep turn out onto the road. What had he done wrong? Was it the fact that he overstepped his authority by getting intimate with her while on and off duty? Did he scare her?
Probably.
He came on too strong. He found something shiny and new and messed it up. “Fuck me.”
His curse echoed out over Pebble Beach and reached out to punch the cliffs. Kade ran both of his hands through his hair in frustration. He was going home, but he had one stop along the way before he did.
Kade drove out of the Red to his sister’s house. She was sitting on the front porch, drinking her coffee.
Morning sunshine accented the highlights in his sister’s long, dark hair. At twenty-seven, she was a vision any man would want, but she purposely kept away from them. She sat in her favorite reading spot on the porch of her house.
Kendra sat with her fingers skimming across the page, reading the Braille letters. Kade did his best to sneak up on her as she read.
“I can hear you breathing, brother. Not to mention that gas-guzzling Jeep you drive.”
“Am I really that loud on the environment?” he asked.
“You’re an environmental nuisance.” She laughed. “If I hadn’t heard you breathing, I would’ve smelled you eventually. What is that you’re sporting? Red River Dirt?”
He chuckled as he kissed the top of her head and then messed her hair the way big brothers do. “What are you reading?”
“Vogue.” Kendra reached out and grabbed his wrist with surprising ease that defied her blindness. “You smell like lavender...”
“I’ve been frolicking in fields of green.”
She grinned. “Liar. You’ve been around a woman. Is she anyone I know?”
“Stranded climber. We were stuck at Pebble Beach overnight.”
“Interesting.”
“What’s interesting?” he asked.
Kendra sipped her tea and tapped a manicured nail along the ceramic edge. “You...your voice changed when you were talking about your time at Pebble Beach.”
“I’m tired.”
“I’m sure you are. Was she pretty?”
“She was okay to look at.”
“So you snuggled a pretty climber all night long. I guess you didn’t get much sleep.”
“I got enough. Hey, enough with the snarky comments if you want me to take you to Jack’s wedding on Saturday.”
She sat back in her chair and looked at him with her blue-on-blue eyes that matched his own. Kendra’s blindness was accidental, from an explosion in a laboratory at work. Her coworker had forgotten to lock down the fifty-gallon tank they were working on. That was almost six months ago. Her hair hid the scars on her cheek.
“Is your new climber friend going?”
“Nope.”
“That’s too bad. I’d like to meet the woman that has you so messed up.”
Kade glared at his sister. She was right and could see what he was feeling deep inside despite her blindness. He knew his only option was to change the subject fast.
“Any news on the lawsuit?” Kade asked.
Kendra sighed, running a hand through her long hair. The lawsuit was against her former employer for the injury.
“They want to settle to make me go away. I don’t know what to do. My lawyer wants to go to trial to force their hand.”
“Go for it. You have nothing to lose. Worst case they put you up on the stand. We both know they won’t do that. It’d be too sympathetic to your case.”
“I know...I just want to be done with it.”
Kade’s heart broke as she shook her head and stared out over the hillside she couldn’t see anymore. “What is it?”
“I’m freaking blind...isn’t that enough?”
“I know there’s more.”
Kendra set her cup onto the table. “I always wanted to get married and have kids. Who would want to marry a blind girl?”
Kade pulled his sister into a hug that both of them needed. “You’ll meet someone when the time is right.”
A tear slid down her cheek and fell onto Kade’s shirt. “I’m willing to try anything. Even love spells at this point.”
He chuckled. “Don’t cast any spells, hexes, or curses just yet. Give love time to call on you.”
Two days later, Wynn knew she was making a mistake. She knew it by the way her heart was beating wildly. Calling Kade was tantamount to baiting a bear. She wasn’t quite sure what was going to happen after she made this call. A shiver of desire ran through her body. She wanted him to want her, but she didn’t want sex.
It was all about the illusion of the chase that got a man off. For Wynn, it was the only way she got close to men. Once they got within licking distance, she shut them down nice and quick. She wasn’t interested in sex for sport. Most of the men she met were only interested in fucking for fun.
Wynn sat down next to the campfire, lifting her military-grade binoculars up. She adjusted the scope as she zeroed in on the Forest Service field office. She grinned when she caught sight of Kade.
She watched him as he talked and laughed with another ranger. Wynn had spent most of the day chasing down leads and coming up empty on the drugs.
Sunlight was fading fast as it peeked through clouds and rained down the last few sunbeams for the day. Wynn lowered the binoculars when he headed into the building. Wynn stared at Kade’s business card and flipped it over. He had nice, neat handwriting. Before she realized it, she was reaching for her cell phone from the pocket of her cargo capri pants. She dialed his number.
“This is Kade,” he answered.
Wynn felt her voice leave her in a quiet whoosh of air. The sound of him so close had her closing her eyes, and the memory of his touch shivered over her sensitive skin. Several beats of silence came over the phone. She didn’t like deceiving him.
“Hello...Wynn, is that you?” he asked.
“Hi Kade...it’s me.”
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“Yes, I just wanted to say thank you for your help the other day.”
“No problem. I was in the right place.”
She smiled as she heard the sound of his radio go off on the other end of the phone. “Yeah, you were.”
“Are you climbing alone today?” he asked.
“Not right now.” She dropped her voice to a sultry whisper. “Maybe I’ll see you around the Red, ranger. I was thinking about camping out here alone tonight.”
“Are you now? Give me a hint where you are, so I know where to send the search party.”
She heard the erotic heat in his voice. “Well, there’s sticks and stones and a whole lot of nada going on around here.”
She hung up the phone fast and turned her phone off, too.
Kade wouldn’t find her. She was sure of it. Wynn planned on heading for Exhibition to climb it tomorrow. It was in the Gray’s Branch region of the Red. Technically, it was off-limits for safety reasons, but apparently Wynn planned on ignoring and breaking all the rules while she was out here. What was wrong with her? Could she plead temporary insanity?
Wynn poked the campfire logs, sending sparks into the air. She was tempting fate. She knew it.
Her orange two-man tent was pitched in a small clearing below some cliffs. In another half hour, it’d be impossible for Kade to find her. It’d be too dark. She grinned. She knew she was purposely teasing him into finding her. She had to get him to trust her if she was going to find out how the distribution system worked on the pipeline.
A small part of her wanted him to find her for other reasons. It was the ultimate game of erotic hide-and-seek. The smile on Wynn’s lips faltered as she thought about work.
Wynn had that warning feeling in the pit of her belly, but she was planning on ignoring it. Well, she planned on only ignoring part of it. Wynn unfolded her map of the region and looked at the surrounding area. She circled two areas to check out tomorrow. Maybe she’d get lucky and find some drugs while she was done here. It’d make her trip worthwhile.
An hour later, Wynn crawled into her tent and changed for bed. She lay back on her sleeping bag. Was she disappointed he couldn’t find her in the thousands of acres of the Red? Yes, she was. She expected more of him because he was a ranger. Every ranger went through elite training that rivaled Special Forces. They all tended to get a bad rap because they protected forests.