He smiled. “Later. Unless, you want me to stop.”
She pushed her fingers through his hair and pulled his head closer to her. “No. Absolutely not.”
Desire flashed hot and fast inside him, and Kellan immediately fed that need. “Lean against the wall.”
“Now, that’s an order,” she said, “but I’ll take it.”
He grinned and eased her legs apart, before covering her with his mouth. She gasped and then tugged his hair, pulling him tighter to her body. His tongue swept out, tasting, teasing. She shuddered in his grasp, but she held on, demanding more.
He gave it to her. He slid one hand from her butt to the inner depths of her heat while his mouth worked that tiny bud of sensation. Again and again, he licked her, suckled her, while his fingers claimed her from the inside. He couldn’t get enough of her. The tiny sighs and sounds slipping from her throat electrified him. His skin was buzzing. His blood, pumping. His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
Kellan couldn’t feed the need inside him fast enough. Touching her. Tasting her. He wanted her more than he ever had. Needed her more than he would have thought possible. She was strength and vulnerability and confidence and anxiety all at once, and that incredible mix drove him crazy with desire. With a want that never left him.
And now he knew she’d been hurt.
Someone had threatened her and he hadn’t been there to help. Someone had abused her and Kellan hadn’t been there to stop it. Regret, fury, pain whipped through him, twisted with the desire still churning inside him and fueled the need to touch, to claim.
“Kellan—I can’t—” Her breath was wild now, her speech broken in short bursts. Her body trembled but she opened her legs even wider, instinctively wanting more of what he was giving her.
He delivered. His tongue flicked madly against that sensitive bud until he felt her shudder, heard her muffled shriek as her body splintered under his attentions.
While her breath was shattered, her pulse racing, he stood, drawing her jeans and panties up as he did. Then he swept her into his arms, lifting her off her feet.
“Or,” she said breathlessly, “we could wait until my knees stop shaking and I could walk on my own.”
He didn’t want to wait. Didn’t think he could. Kellan dropped a fast kiss on her upturned mouth and said, “Let me feel manly.”
Her laughter spilled out around him and Kellan was glad to hear the real pleasure in it. At the top of the stairs, he paused, looked down into her eyes, held her close and felt something shift inside him. Something fundamental. Something...elemental. And while the world around him swung out of its usual orbit, Irina lifted one hand and cupped his cheek.
He turned his face into her touch and kissed her palm. “You dazzle me.”
A half smile curved her mouth and completely did him in.
Then she stilled, her forest green eyes shining with secrets she wasn’t saying. And maybe that was all right for now. Because in this moment, they didn’t need words.
Irina cupped his cheek in the palm of her hand and Kellan turned his face into her touch. Silken heat filled him along with another, more nebulous feeling he didn’t want to identify. Didn’t want to think about. Yet he remained dazzled.
“Show me,” she whispered.
There was nothing he wanted to do more. Kellan carried her to his bedroom and inside. He closed and locked the door—just in case—then set her on her feet. Like a dance, she moved into his arms, lifted her face for his kiss, and when their lips met, Kellan felt the spark of it right down to his bones.
The kiss was gentle, passion muted, but there, simmering between them as they gave and took and shared breath by breath, Kellan fell into the spell of her.
Slowly, they undressed each other, hands skimming over flesh, exploring, caressing. She tipped her head to one side and he kissed the curve of her neck, inhaling her scent. He could have spent hours like this, simply reveling in the feel of her soft skin beneath his hands. Still, cupping her breasts, feeling the soft sigh of her breath, made him want more. Feeling her hands moving over his back, his chest, and then down to his already aching erection, made him need.
He saw her eyes blaze with heat and knew that her desire, like his, had climbed to a fever pitch. When he walked her back toward his bed, she smiled up at him as he eased her down onto the bed. She smiled again and undid him. His gaze locked onto hers. “Feels like it’s been forever since I was with you.”
“It always feels that way for me,” she admitted.
“I missed you, Irina.” A part of him couldn’t believe he was admitting the truth to her after all this time, but he didn’t stop. “And it wasn’t just the sex. For seven years, I missed you.”
“I missed you, too, Kellan. So much.”
His right hand skimmed over the marks that Dawson had left on her and he felt another jolt of helpless fury. “I hate that he put his hands on you.”
“I don’t want to think about him now. I never want to think about him again, but especially not now. Besides,” she added as she stroked one hand across his chest, “you already kissed it and made it better. Remember?”
His mouth tipped up in a small, knowing smile. “Well, then, I’ll focus on the rest of you now. How’s that?”
“A wonderful idea.” She reached for him, but he shook his head and stepped back. If he didn’t get suited up right away, he’d lose all control and forget to stop. He dipped into the drawer of the bedside table for a condom and quickly put it on. Then he stretched out on the bed alongside her and focused entirely on Irina.
It was as if he were seeing her—really seeing her—for the first time. The gray half-light in the room seemed only to illuminate her. She shone. Everything about her was breathtaking.
Her hair spilled out on either side of her head, her deep green eyes were fixed on him. Her mouth, that amazing, wonderful mouth, was curved in a knowing smile, as if she could sense what he was thinking, feeling. And if she could, she knew what would happen next.
Kellan dipped his head to claim one of her nipples and he felt the sharp jolt of desire as it whipped through her body. He was attuned to her, too. He knew what she liked, and he did everything he could to push her beyond her limits. To take her to the very edge of sanity and then to join her there.
He ran his hands up and down her body, while her hands curled into his shoulders, her short, neat nails digging into his skin. Abandoning her breast, his mouth took hers in a deep kiss that demanded as much as it gave. Their tongues tangled together and their strained, desperate breathing was the only sound in the room.
He slid one hand down to the nest of strawberry blond curls at the juncture of her thighs and then beyond, into the heat. Into the tight, wet core of her. She came off the mattress, rocking her hips into his touch. He lifted his head, stared down into her passion-glazed eyes and watched her frantically try to find the release his fingers were promising her.
“Kellan,” she managed to say around a gasp for air, “be inside me. Let me feel you fill me.”
Now it was his turn to feel that desperation, Kellan admitted silently. With those words, she’d pushed him beyond the limits of his patience.
“Yes. I need that, too.” And he did. More than his next breath.
Kellan shifted position and in one long, slow thrust, claimed her body and gave his to her. She took his face in her hands, pulled him down for a kiss. Her long, beautiful legs came up and hooked around his hips, pulling him deeper and higher inside her. He rode her hard, then gently, changing the rhythm up to keep them both off their guard. To chase the climax and then let it go before it could end everything.
Kellan never wanted it to end. If he could stop time, he’d do it now, he thought, with his body buried inside hers. Kellan’s heart raced. His eyes locked with hers and he saw the first glimmer of satisfaction hit her and watched it build as she brokenly cried o
ut his name. She held on to him, as if he were the only safe place in the world, and he felt the same. This moment. This incredible, moving moment was all that mattered.
His hips pistoned, because the climax was more important than the journey now. She held him, shuddering, shaking, and finally, he took that wild jump, following her into that bright oblivion.
Minutes later, Kellan’s heart was still pounding and he was still reeling from the power of that orgasm. He felt her hands smoothing up and down his back and knew that no matter what, he would always be able to draw up the memory of those butterfly caresses against his skin.
He looked into her eyes, their bodies still joined, locked together, and he felt his world take another hard jolt. Kellan didn’t want to think about what it might mean, but he couldn’t deny it was happening. Slowly, silently, he rolled onto his back and drew her with him, until Irina was lying on him, her head on his chest, her legs tangled with his.
And if he could have found a way to manage it, he’d have stayed like that forever.
Nine
“Do you want to press charges?”
Two hours after leaving Kellan’s bed, the two of them were in the sheriff’s office in Royal. She’d told Nathan Battle everything and he hadn’t said a word through the whole thing. He’d simply listened intently, letting her know he was taking in every word. Now he looked her square in the eye and waited for her answer.
Irina took a deep breath, glanced at Kellan, then back to Sheriff Battle. “No.”
“Are you sure about that?” Kellan asked, his voice quiet.
Half turning in her chair, she looked at the man she’d been so intimate with just a couple of hours ago. His eyes were fixed on her with heat and understanding and...an emotion she couldn’t read. But she knew that something had changed between them. Something monumental. Irina had stopped hiding from the truth.
She was in love with him. Still. Always. She could tell herself she was going to walk away. Heck, she’d told him that she was letting him go. But the truth was she would love him until the day she died. It was as simple—and as sad—as that.
Because she had to accept that Kellan wasn’t looking for love. Would never be able to move past the memories of his late wife to build a different future than the one he’d once seen. Whatever love he had to give, he’d already given to Shea. There was no room for anyone else in his heart. Irina couldn’t pretend otherwise.
But she also couldn’t deny her own feelings. Couldn’t deny herself the opportunity to be with the one man who touched her heart and soul and body.
“Yes,” she finally said, wanting Kellan to understand. “I’m sure. I don’t want anything else to do with him, Kellan. I don’t want court dates where I’ll have to see him. I don’t want him to be a part of my life at all anymore. If he leaves me alone, I’ll do the same for him.”
He looked as if he wanted to argue the point, but she was relieved when he didn’t. Irina was sure that if he had his way, Dawson would be charged, arrested and slapped into jail. But for her, it was enough to beat him. To let him know she wouldn’t be cowed or threatened or afraid. To show him that she would stand up for herself. Once he understood that, Dawson would move on to an easier victim. She knew that much about him.
Still holding her gaze, he nodded slowly.
“All right, then.” Kellan looked at the sheriff. “What do you think, Nathan?”
Nathan Battle shrugged and leaned back in his chair. He ran one hand through his short, brown hair and turned his gaze on Irina. “I think the decision is yours, Irina. Whether or not I agree with it isn’t important. Either way, I’ll be having a talk with Beckett. I’ll make sure he knows we frown on hurting women. And that blackmail’s not going to fly around here, either.”
Irina closed her eyes briefly. She’d already shown Nathan the bruise Dawson had given her and she’d seen the same fury in his dark brown eyes that she’d seen in Kellan’s gaze. Strong men, she thought, were especially furious at a man who abused others.
“Thank you,” she said.
“No need to thank me,” he said. “It’s my job. And my pleasure to take care of this for you. Don’t you worry about Dawson Beckett. He might think he has friends who can shut me down, but he’s wrong.
“The man’s well-known to law enforcement in this part of Texas,” Nathan added, tapping a pencil against his desktop. “He straddles the fence between crook and entrepreneur and usually manages to keep his balance. But he’s been known to slip from time to time.”
“I feel like even more of a fool now,” Irina said. She’d believed Dawson when he said that the sheriff could do nothing against him. But he wasn’t a businessman; he was a criminal and the law knew it.
“Well, you shouldn’t. Beckett’s the one who was a fool.” Nathan smiled at her. “He should have recognized a strong woman when he saw her.”
She took a breath and smiled. “Thank you.”
“Yeah, thanks, Nate,” Kellan put in, and then, as if to lighten the mood in the small, ruthlessly organized office, he asked, “How’s that new baby of yours?”
Nathan’s face lit up. “She’s great, but not so new anymore. Coming up on a year old already.”
“How many kids does that make for you now?” Kellan’s grin widened.
“Four. Two boys, two girls,” Nathan said with satisfaction. “And Amanda’s already talking about having a tiebreaker in a year or so.”
Irina felt a sharp tug of envy for the home and family the sheriff had. She’d seen him and Amanda together at the diner she owned and they always looked...connected. Happy. She’d once dreamed of having that with Kellan, and knowing it wouldn’t happen created an ache around her heart that throbbed with every beat.
“You know, Kel,” Nathan said, getting serious again, “it’s been good having you back in Royal. Usually you blow in and blow out again so fast, nobody gets a chance to say hello.”
“Yeah.” Kellan looked a little uncomfortable. “It was hard to be here before...”
“I get that,” Nathan said, his features somber as both men remembered Shea and the legacy of pain she’d left behind. “But I’m glad to see you. Hope it’s not the last time.”
Kellan glanced at Irina, then back again. “I don’t think it will be.”
“Good to know.”
Irina felt as if an entire conversation was going on between the lines of what she could see and hear. She didn’t know what it meant, but she was willing to cling to hope just a little while longer.
“Anyway,” Nathan said, getting back to business, “I’ll make a few calls. Got a friend on Dallas PD. He’ll go have a talk with Beckett and see if he can get through to him. If I have to, I’ll go in and have a sit-down with him myself.” He looked at Irina. “Don’t you worry, though. He’s done.”
It was as if every tangled knot settled in her chest suddenly slipped free. Tension drained away and Irina finally released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. When Kellan reached for her hand, she twined her fingers with his and squeezed briefly.
“Thanks, Nate.” Kellan stood up and held out one hand to him.
Nathan shook it, then turned to Irina and shook her hand, as well. “I’ll get on this today, so don’t give your ex another thought.”
“I won’t,” she said, though saying it and doing it were two very different things. Until she heard that the police had taken care of him, Irina would probably still worry about Dawson and his threats.
“I’m sorry this happened to you, Irina.” Nathan spoke solemnly. “It shouldn’t have. Not in my town.”
She shook her head. “It wasn’t your fault, Sheriff.”
“I’ve got a wife. I’ve got daughters,” he said, his eyes holding hers. “Nothing pisses me off more, excuse my language, than some guy preying on women.”
“Right there with you,” Kellan mutter
ed.
Irina smiled. Normally, she liked to handle her own problems. She hadn’t been raised to wait for rescue, but rather to forge her own path—which, ironically, was what had gotten her involved with Dawson in the first place.
But she had to admit that it was reassuring to have the local sheriff ready to take care of her problems with Dawson. And if she were to be honest with herself, that was what it would take to get through to her ex. The man would never go away if it was only Irina demanding it. She never should have doubted that going to the sheriff was the right thing to do. “Thank you.”
“You bet,” Nathan said. “I’ll call the Hollow to let you know when it’s taken care of.”
“Call her cell,” Kellan said and gave Nathan the number. Then, catching her eye, he said, “Irina’s going to Nashville with me for the weekend. I’ve got some business I have to take care of in person.”
Well, this was a surprise. He wanted her to go away with him? Hope leaped up in her chest and Irina frantically fought to tamp it down. A weekend with him wasn’t a future. It wasn’t a declaration of love. And yet, she thought, it was more than Kellan had ever given before. “I am?”
“Aren’t you?”
He looked at her and she saw that he wasn’t issuing a command. He was asking. In the way that Kellan always would. She thought about it for a moment. Going away with him was only prolonging the inevitable. She’d give herself more to think about, more to miss. She’d add to the pain that would eventually find her when he left. She shouldn’t dig an even deeper hole for herself, but how could she say no to a weekend away with the man she loved?
More important, why should she?
“Yes. I am.”
“Perfect,” Nathan said, completely oblivious to the undercurrents between Irina and Kellan. “This’ll be straightened out before you two get home. And, Irina?”
She looked at him.
“I guarantee Beckett won’t be bothering you again.”
* * *
Lulu stepped into the foyer of Blackwood Hollow and shouted, “Miranda? Irina?”
Tempting the Texan Page 12
