by Bethany Kane
“You okay, Katie?”
His low, lyrical voice vibrated next to her ear.
“I’m fine. I thought you weren’t going to come back.” She lifted her head.
“I told you I was coming back, Shine. I’m back for good.”
“For good?” Katie asked breathlessly, worried she was misinterpreting the message broadcast in his blue eyes.
Rill nodded and pulled her closer to him. He spoke quietly near her lips, so that no one else could hear. It didn’t appear to matter, as the other hostages were talking among themselves excitedly.
“I’ve been thinking—what do you say we get some work done on the house? The baby will need a new room,” he said.
“And the exterior needs painting,” Katie whispered breathlessly as his mouth brushed against hers. “I adopted Barnyard.”
“Yeah, I saw,” he said before his head sank, and Katie forgot about gun-wielding maniacs and house decoration.
Rill had come back.
He’d come back.
“Do you suppose you two could untie us before you get on with your happily-ever-after?”
Katie leaned back from Rill’s kiss, grinning at the sound of Monty’s wry question.
Thirty
It was past midnight andRill’s muscle began to grow heavy with exhaustion. He’d slept for only a few hours last night, eager as he’d been to get back to Katie. He’d wanted to snatch her and take her away to the privacy of the hilltop house once Stash had been revived and arrested, but Mulligan had kept all of them at the diner, taking their statements.
The diner had filled with Vulture’s Canyon citizens as the night progressed, each of them being harangued by Sheriff Mulligan for their presence and told to go home. Most of them, like Olive Fanatoon, had just ignored him, and cuddled up to their previously endangered loved ones, refusing to let go. The federal agents, who had arrived about a half hour after the crisis was over, became flateyed and dangerous when Mulligan approached them.
Several of the agents started to dig into Sherona’s award-winning pies with relish. A manic sort of party atmosphere prevailed as the townspeople celebrated the hostages’ narrow escape and speculated on Marcus Stash’s character and motives.
When Rill had heard Katie give her statement about trying to get Stash to believe her story about Fordham being involved in prostitution, he’d been amazed at her courage.
Now they were finally home. Rill noticed Barnyard was growing as heavy-eyed as him as the dog stretched in front of the fire on his belly.
Katie walked into the living room, saying her good-byes to her mother on her cell phone. Rill’s fatigue seemed to vanish as he watched her. They’d talked a lot in the past few hours, filled each other in on facts and details of the past week plus, but they hadn’t really touched . . . hadn’t really communed save for that pressured, emotional exchange in the storeroom of the diner.
Katie had changed while he’d been in the shower—he had gotten filthy as he’d chased Sherona across the cinders in the coal room. She’d been so determined in trying to confront Stash and save Derek, Rill had finally come to the conclusion he had no choice but to help her. If he kept arguing with her, Stash would have heard them, and all hell would have broken loose.
Katie had changed into one of the gypsy skirts he’d come to like so much because they suited her lithe figure and effervescent spirit. She wore her hair loose. Golden curls swayed around her hips.
He put out his arm and she lowered down next to him on the couch. His fingers burrowed through silken waves.
She gave Rill a secret sort of smile before she said her last good-bye to her mom and disconnected the phone. That small smile lingered on her lips as she set aside the phone, spellbinding him.
He reached for her.
“Did you tell your mother you were pregnant?” Rill against her damp lips a while later. He’d spent the last several minutes trying to discover the mystery of that smile with his searching tongue. All he’d succeeded in doing was to grow hot and hard for her, ready to move on to the next thrill he knew he’d find in Katie’s soft flesh. But he could wait, and the delay would be delicious as well.
A lifetime stretched before him like a golden, sun-kissed beach, as long as Katie was in his arms.
“No, I just wanted to call her and Dad and tell them we were safe. Mom says she’ll call Everett. Stash’s arrest probably won’t get to the Los Angeles news—it all was pretty low-key there at the end, thanks to you—but the local news trucks came to the diner, and who knows what Dad might see on CNN or something.”
He filled his fist with soft curls and leaned down to inhale the scent at Katie’s neck. Both sensations made his cock purr in appreciation.
“So you haven’t told your parents about the baby?”
“No,” she said softly. “Only Everett. I thought it was best, you know?”
He glanced at her questioningly.
“Because I might still lose it, at these early stages,” she said.
Rill leaned away so he could focus on her better. “Did the doctor tell you that? Is something wrong?”
“No, there’s nothing wrong,” she said, pulling him back toward her and pressing her breasts against his ribs. “It’s just customary to wait, to be as sure as possible, that’s all.”
“You’re not going to lose the baby.”
Her eyebrows arched up. “What makes you say that with such confidence?”
“Because it’s a Pierce, and Pierces are known for their stubbornness.”
“It’s not a Pierce yet.”
He smiled at her subtle challenge.
“It’s been a Pierce since day one,” he said. “And if you’re talking about the legalities of the matter, we’ll resolve that as soon as I can talk you into marrying me.”
Her playful smile froze and then faded. He cradled her jaw with his hand.
“What are you shocked about?” he asked. “The fact that I remember the night we made the baby? Or the fact that I just asked you to marry me?”
“Both, I guess,” she whispered. “You . . . you remember? That first night?”
“Not like I should, no,” he admitted with a grimace. “And until I went back to Malacnoic, I don’t think I could have remembered it. But after a while ... I knew. I remembered some things.”
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged, feeling a little sheepish at having to explain his vulnerabilities and blind spots.
“I remembered what you said, the evening I found you in the bathroom with the pregnancy test. You mentioned something about how drunk you’d found me . . . how you’d almost got tipsy inhaling my breath,” he said quietly, meeting her eyes. “I hadn’t gotten really shit-faced since you came here, Katie. Or ever, in front of you. You and I both know I was never a big drinker before Eden died. Or at least I hadn’t been drunk around you. Not until that night when you came to Vulture’s Canyon.”
He closed his eyes and inhaled, trying to gather his thoughts.
“Rill? Are you all right?” she prodded.
He shook his head. “Yeah. It’s just . . . It’s hard.”
“What’s hard?” Katie whispered, her expression both confused and compassionate.
“To admit you made a huge mistake by marrying the woman you married. To admit that I forced Eden into the role of a saint because I was so afraid of my nature . . . afraid of being like my mother.”
“And your uncles?” Katie asked.
“Yeah, I used to feel that way. I don’t anymore, though. I’m glad I saw Ray and William again. I hadn’t realized how much a part of me they are. They’re both pieces of work, and they might be in prison for some petty crime the next time we go to Malacnoic, but I’d like you to meet them.”
She smiled. “I’d like that. But I still don’t understand what you meant, when you said you don’t think you could have remembered anything about that first night I came here until you went to Malacnoic.”
“I wanted you so much on that
first night. That’s what I remember, in a general kind of way, not with any detail. I guess it was the whiskey doing its thing, but I don’t remember ever wanting another person like I wanted you that night. And . . . and it wasn’t a new feeling, either. I’d become so fucking good at pushing down my needs over the years . . . pushing down my desires.” He met Katie’s stare, wishing he could will her to understand the complexity of what had happened to him on that night when she’d shown up on his doorstep. “But suddenly you were there, Katie, and I was weak . . . weaker than I’d ever been in my life. All of it rose up in me. All the need. I had to have you. I did have you. After that, I struggled every second of every day and night while you were in this house, trying to forget how I’d let myself drown in all that need even while I was obsessed with the idea of giving in to it again.
“When I went back and saw my mother, I realized how different she and I are. It’s like she said—we’re as different as north and south. I always told myself we were different. But deep down inside, I was worried I could become like her . . . that I could be addicted to sex . . . totally focused on myself . . . unable to really care or feel for another human being.”
“You’re not even remotely like that,” Katie exclaimed, looking miffed.
He chuckled and brought her closer. He kissed her nose. “I love you, Katie. For saying that and so much more,” he whispered before he settled his mouth on her lips. She broke their kiss a while later and rubbed their lips together while she spoke.
“Rill?”
“Yes?”
“Does this mean you wanted me . . . even . . . even years ago?”
“I don’t know when it started,” he admitted. “All I know is that night when you showed up here like an angel on my doorstep, it all rushed out of me. The strength of it makes me think I must have loved you, in different ways, since the first time I saw you, Katie. Only a fire that’s been tamped down for so long can grow so wild.”
“You didn’t even recognize me. I thought it was maybe because my hair was darker.”
He gave a sharp bark of laughter.
“What?” she asked.
“I recognized you, Shine. I may not have wanted to, but I did. What do you think this has all been about? What do you think I’ve been trying to tell you?”
When he saw her lips parted in wonder, he sank his head. Their kiss magnified in hunger even as they fed off each other, until they both were moaning in need.
“I want to have you like I did on that first night. I want to try and remember. Will you show me?” he asked huskily as he plucked at her lips.
“Yes. Yes,” she whispered. To his surprise, she whisked her top over her head and removed her bra. He stared appreciatively at her tender, firm breasts, but her smile snagged his attention. She took his hand and led him down the lit hallway to his bedroom, the sight of her curls swishing subtly against the bare skin of her back and hips mesmerizing him.
He plastered himself against her when she paused next to the bed, wild to feel her pressed against him.
“What happened next?” he whispered hoarsely as he stood behind her. He leaned down and kissed her neck.
“This,” Katie replied. She turned her head and craned up for him. Kissing her was like drowning in the deepest well of pleasure.
He bent his knees and pressed his aching cock against her bottom. “Aw, Jaysus. I have to have you now, Katie.”
“Yes.”
When she went to place her hands at the edge of the bed, he stopped her abruptly.
“Like that? From behind? The first time?” Regret lanced through him. “Aw, Katie. I’m sorry.”
She looked radiant when she glanced around and shook her head. “I’m not, Rill. I’m not.”
His need boiled to the surface as he watched her bend over the bed. She really was a miracle, the way she always offered all of herself to him, never holding back an ounce.
A moment later, he held his cock in his hand and arrowed it into her warm, narrow cleft, gritting his teeth at the ecstasy of feeling her grip him like a velvet, milking fist.
“Let me in, Katie,” he demanded on an anguished moan. “I’ve waited for this for so damn long.”
A while later, they lay together on their sides on the bed, Katie nestled in the curve of his body, both of them drowsy, but highly aware of each other, tired, but unwilling to slide separately into the world of dreams.
“It’s a shame that stuff you told Marcus Stash about Fordham paying Amber Jones and those other girls to sleep with his customers was a lie. It’d be nice to be rid of the jerk,” Rill murmured.
“I thought you were the guy who didn’t care about this town or its occupants,” Katie said, turning in his arms to see his face.
Rill shrugged. “I was that guy.” He picked up one of her curls and squished it between his fingers before he brushed it against his chin thoughtfully. “Things change, though. I’m thinking I’ll go and have a talk with Olive Fanatoon about Food for Body and Soul.”
Katie twisted around farther in surprise. “Are you going to be the spokesperson for the charity, like she’s been asking you to be?”
“I’m thinking about it,” he murmured in such a nonchalant way that Katie knew he’d already decided to do just that. “I’ll be writing, and eventually directing again. I’ll be doing my share of traveling. But I want Vulture’s Canyon to be more than a base of operations. I want it to be a home. Our home. I don’t want to shut myself off from the town, like I had been doing.”
She shifted so that they were face-to-face and kissed him hard. “I’m so happy to hear you say you plan on working again. But why are you thinking about volunteering to be the spokesperson for Food for Body and Soul?”
“It’ll help out Vulture’s Canyon, won’t it?” he asked, as though the answer was obvious. “I want our baby to grow up in a nice town with some good values.”
“Hmmm,” she mused as she pressed her breasts against his chest and studied him. “In that case, I should tell you that I didn’t entirely make up what I told Marcus Stash about Miles Fordham.”
Rill lifted his eyebrows and stared at her with interest.
“I was actually planning to sell my Maserati, buy a pickup truck—it’d be great for hauling supplies up and down the hill—and using the leftover money to hire a private investigator to collect all the details of Fordham’s crimes.” She laughed softly when Rill’s expression turned incredulous. “Everything I said was true—the evidence is all there; I just didn’t have an opportunity to make copies or anything, like I claimed I did. I want Vulture’s Canyon to stay a nice town, too.”
She laughed harder when Rill grasped her shoulders and rolled until she was beneath him. The light from the hallway gleamed in his eyes as he looked down at her.
“How did this town ever survive without you? How did I?” Her laughter faded when she sensed his intensity. “You’re not selling that Maserati.”
“It doesn’t belong here, Rill. Not in Vulture’s Canyon.”
“It belongs, because you belong,” he said simply. “You can have a whole fleet of pickup trucks if you want them, but . . . don’t sell the Maserati. I think we can swing a private investigator without proceeds from its sale.”
“I . . . I don’t know. We can talk about it,” she whispered.
She was so focused on the image of Rill’s hungry eyes on her mouth and his lowering head, she didn’t know what else to say. In that moment, Katie, who had formerly lived in a backdrop of fantasy, facade and make-believe, saw her world coalesce into glorious reality.
Rill’s mouth seized hers in a quick, fierce kiss before he paused and spoke next to her lips.
“It’s going to be the healthiest thing I’ve ever done in my life, becoming addicted to you.”
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Acknowledgements
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
/>
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Twenty -nine
Thirty
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Acknowledgements
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Twenty -nine
Thirty
