Heart of the Hunter by Madeline Baker Page B

was saying. “I’d
like to see it.”
    “No,” he said flatly, “you wouldn’t.”
    “Oh.”
    Silence settled around them again. Kelly stared down at her
hands. She should go to the house, take a shower, fix dinner, but she couldn’t
seem to move. She slid a glance at Lee. He was standing so close, she could
feel his heat, smell the perspiration and the scent of aftershave that clung to
his skin. His hands were balled into tight fists, his eyes as dark as a winter
night, his expression tormented.
    “Kelly.”
    All he said was her name, but she heard more, so much more.
He wanted her, wanted her in the most elemental way. He offered no promises, no
words of love, nothing but a cry for help, a plea to be held while he battled
the demons that were tormenting him.
    She had never thought of herself as particularly maternal or
nurturing—she’d never fussed over babies or felt any driving need to take on
the hurts of the world. Being an only child, she tended to be selfish and
self-centered. But now, gazing up into the haunted depths of Lee’s eyes, she
was overcome with the need to hold this man, to comfort him, to ease his
loneliness.
    Wordlessly she reached for his hand and led him to the
house, down the narrow hall to her bedroom.
    She didn’t turn on any lights, didn’t want him to see the
indecision in her eyes.
    “Kelly, maybe this isn’t a good idea.”
    “Probably not.”
    “Then why…?”
    “Don’t talk.”
    She put her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to
his.
    It was all the invitation he needed.
    With a strangled cry, he crushed her in his arms, his lips
grinding against hers. She tasted blood in her mouth, felt his hands roaming
restlessly over her back. And then he swung her into his arms and carried her
to bed.
    Somehow their clothing disappeared and they were lying in
each other’s arms, his hard-muscled body surrounding hers, the curves of her
body filling the hollows of his.
    It was everything she had ever dreamed of and more. All the
fire and excitement that she’d only read about, all the wonder and magic she’d
hoped for, she found in Lee’s arms. His kiss gentled, his hands caressed her,
aroused her, until all her doubts and fears were gone and she was aching for
something she had never known.
    She gasped with pain and pleasure when she felt the first
sweet invasion by his body, but even as she was reaching for him, wanting to
hold him closer, he was gone.
    She opened her eyes to find Lee standing beside the bed
staring down at her, a look of stunned disbelief on his face.
    “Why didn’t you tell me?”
    “Tell you what?”
    “That you’ve never done this before.”
    Kelly shrugged, confused by his anger. “It doesn’t matter.
What difference does it make?”
    “It matters to me.”
    A vile oath escaped his lips as he pulled on his jeans,
remembering other slim legs that had wrapped around his waist, other blue eyes
cloudy with passion, other pink lips, lips that had spoken only lies.
    He closed his eyes, his hands shoved deep into the pockets
of his jeans. He felt the bile rise in his throat as he recalled the horror of
being accused of rape, of being locked up, of having his every minute watched
and regimented. Even in jail, rapists were considered the scum of the earth.
    “Lee? What is it? What’s wrong?”
    He yanked his shirt over his head, grabbed his boots and
headed for the door.
    “Lee!”
    “Leave me alone, Kelly. Please, just leave me alone.”
    She sat up, drawing the sheet over her breasts. “Won’t you
tell me what’s wrong? I didn’t mean to…to offend you.”
    He groaned low in his throat. “Kelly, it isn’t you.” He took
a deep breath. He could feel her gaze on his back, feel her hurt and confusion.
He wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and take her in his arms,
but he couldn’t.
    Kelly McBride had been a virgin when he took her in his
arms. She was still a virgin, at least technically, and he didn’t intend to be
the one to