asked.
“Sometimes you have to make a choice between the smart thing and the right thing. This isn’t the smart thing.”
He grinned, liking very much the option she left open. “But it definitely feels like the right thing.” He leaned down and pressed his mouth to hers, not hard and fast, but soft, testing. Giving her a choice. She leaned forward, into him. He took that as a good sign and slid an arm around her waist, pulling her against him as he slipped his tongue between her lips.
The slide of her tongue along his triggered a current that coursed through his body. Absolutely the right thing.
She was every bit as sweet as he’d imagined when he woke with her in his arms this morning.
She dropped back to her heels, introducing space between them when he craved the exact opposite. He wanted to demolish all distance and give her nothing but pleasure. Erase pain and conflict with an act as old as humanity. Older than war.
“We shouldn’t—” she said.
“I’m finding it hard to give a damn about shoulds and shouldn’ts.”
She gently pushed at his chest. “Then I will for the both of us.”
He leaned back and held her gaze. What he saw gave him hope. Not rejection. Caution.
He rubbed a thumb across her full bottom lip. “Fair enough.” He stepped back. She was right to be cautious. Hell, he needed to think before he jumped in too. Just this morning, he’d been certain she’d orchestrated his abduction as some sort of twisted revenge for her brother.
She pushed off the wall and straightened her shirt—even though his hands hadn’t strayed and messed with her clothing. He only wished they had.
She looked cute in the blue flannel top and faded, worn jeans that adhered perfectly to her curves. Comfortable, relaxed. But he’d probably think she looked cute no matter what, because something had happened to his brain when he was hit over the head, and he found himself focusing far too much on her hair, body, and lips than a responsible man ought to.
He should be asking her about the forest yesterday, probing for missed clues. Her cell phone was missing. She’d found him on the rock, stewing in a pool of his own blood. What else? “Was I faceup or facedown on the rock when you found me?”
“Up,” she said immediately, and he had a feeling she was relieved he was getting down to business. “I wasn’t sure if you were dead or not, but then I saw you breathe.” She crossed the room and dropped onto the couch and pulled Gandalf to her lap. The cat settled in like a blanket.
“You bandaged me right away?”
She nodded. “I cleaned your cut while figuring out how to get you out of the forest.” She stroked the thick gray fur, and he found himself stupidly jealous of the cat.
“Doc Larson says you did a good job.” He touched the fresh bandages on his temple. “How long did it take you to build the travois?”
She bit her bottom lip as she considered his question. Finally she said, “Thirty, maybe forty-five minutes? It felt like forever—I was scared whoever had hurt you would return.”
He frowned, knowing she’d risked a lot in helping him, and he’d assaulted her and had her arrested. He had a hell of a lot to make up for.
“It took about two hours to drag you to the cabin,” she continued. “You are ridiculously heavy.” She scanned him from head to toe, and he very much enjoyed the appreciation she didn’t bother to hide.
“The cabin… How did you know it was there? I didn’t even know it was there, and it’s my land.” It might be marked on the title maps stored in his office at the compound, but it wasn’t something he’d have noticed when he purchased the company and all its assets after it had been seized from Robert Beck.
“I copied the locations of all known historic and prehistoric sites on my USGS quad maps. I received the data from the state historic preservation office in Juneau. The settler’s cabin was recorded decades ago.”
“I understand why
“Sometimes you have to make a choice between the smart thing and the right thing. This isn’t the smart thing.”
He grinned, liking very much the option she left open. “But it definitely feels like the right thing.” He leaned down and pressed his mouth to hers, not hard and fast, but soft, testing. Giving her a choice. She leaned forward, into him. He took that as a good sign and slid an arm around her waist, pulling her against him as he slipped his tongue between her lips.
The slide of her tongue along his triggered a current that coursed through his body. Absolutely the right thing.
She was every bit as sweet as he’d imagined when he woke with her in his arms this morning.
She dropped back to her heels, introducing space between them when he craved the exact opposite. He wanted to demolish all distance and give her nothing but pleasure. Erase pain and conflict with an act as old as humanity. Older than war.
“We shouldn’t—” she said.
“I’m finding it hard to give a damn about shoulds and shouldn’ts.”
She gently pushed at his chest. “Then I will for the both of us.”
He leaned back and held her gaze. What he saw gave him hope. Not rejection. Caution.
He rubbed a thumb across her full bottom lip. “Fair enough.” He stepped back. She was right to be cautious. Hell, he needed to think before he jumped in too. Just this morning, he’d been certain she’d orchestrated his abduction as some sort of twisted revenge for her brother.
She pushed off the wall and straightened her shirt—even though his hands hadn’t strayed and messed with her clothing. He only wished they had.
She looked cute in the blue flannel top and faded, worn jeans that adhered perfectly to her curves. Comfortable, relaxed. But he’d probably think she looked cute no matter what, because something had happened to his brain when he was hit over the head, and he found himself focusing far too much on her hair, body, and lips than a responsible man ought to.
He should be asking her about the forest yesterday, probing for missed clues. Her cell phone was missing. She’d found him on the rock, stewing in a pool of his own blood. What else? “Was I faceup or facedown on the rock when you found me?”
“Up,” she said immediately, and he had a feeling she was relieved he was getting down to business. “I wasn’t sure if you were dead or not, but then I saw you breathe.” She crossed the room and dropped onto the couch and pulled Gandalf to her lap. The cat settled in like a blanket.
“You bandaged me right away?”
She nodded. “I cleaned your cut while figuring out how to get you out of the forest.” She stroked the thick gray fur, and he found himself stupidly jealous of the cat.
“Doc Larson says you did a good job.” He touched the fresh bandages on his temple. “How long did it take you to build the travois?”
She bit her bottom lip as she considered his question. Finally she said, “Thirty, maybe forty-five minutes? It felt like forever—I was scared whoever had hurt you would return.”
He frowned, knowing she’d risked a lot in helping him, and he’d assaulted her and had her arrested. He had a hell of a lot to make up for.
“It took about two hours to drag you to the cabin,” she continued. “You are ridiculously heavy.” She scanned him from head to toe, and he very much enjoyed the appreciation she didn’t bother to hide.
“The cabin… How did you know it was there? I didn’t even know it was there, and it’s my land.” It might be marked on the title maps stored in his office at the compound, but it wasn’t something he’d have noticed when he purchased the company and all its assets after it had been seized from Robert Beck.
“I copied the locations of all known historic and prehistoric sites on my USGS quad maps. I received the data from the state historic preservation office in Juneau. The settler’s cabin was recorded decades ago.”
“I understand why
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