Wild Passion

by Dawn Luedecke

  Carrie headed toward the fire as a shadowy figure stepped before her. She skidded to a stop and clasped at her racing heart at the abrupt intrusion.

  “I thought you weren’t entertaining beaus up here.” Carrie recognized Jake’s voice but couldn’t see his face. Pinpricks tingled her hands as her heart continued its riotous speed.

  “I’m not…that is…I’ve only agreed to sit with your friend next to the fire to talk.”

  “And the rest of them?”

  “The rest of whom?”

  “The men who said they are next to court you.”

  “I’ve no idea what you are speaking of, but I can assure you that I have made no promises to court anyone here.”

  “Shouldn’t you be gettin’ on to the Bonner camp, Jake?” Simon’s voice boomed from the dark trees beside her. “If it gets too dark you may get lost up here. It would be a shame to find your dead body once the sun comes up.”

  The Bonner man gave a small growl and disappeared into the shadow of the trees. Simon’s hand skimmed her back as he stepped around her to stand where the other logger had been. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes. He gave me a scare is all.” Carrie sucked in a deep breath to ease the knot in her stomach that had formed.

  “If he bothers you again, tell me. I’ll take care of him.”

  “I’ll be fine. He may be a bit intense, but he’s harmless.”

  “You give my sex too much credit, madam. No one here is harmless.” The deep timbre of his voice sent goose bumps up her arms. “Promise you’ll come to me if he harasses you again.”

  “If it will calm your conscience, I promise.”

  “Splendid.” He stepped forward until the heat from his body replaced the gentle mountain breeze tickling the front of her body. “The man put a damper on our evening, didn’t he? No matter. I’ve got ways to make you forget about him.” Simon’s warm hand grabbed her elbow and slid sensually up her arm, and back down.

  Like times before, her body responded with wanton anticipation. Craving the gentle touch so many before her had experienced, she couldn’t give in. “What makes you any better than Jake? At least he is blunt about his desires where you merely play games.”

  “Trust me, my love, any game I want to play with you is well worth the effort. I’m nothing like that man. One night with me, and your life will change forever.”

  “Why are you doing this?”

  “To make you suffer, the way I do. You cannot command my life against my will and expect to not pay the price. The price of your control over me is your body.”

  “You can’t have it. And I’ll not give in to your silly rules.”

  “You set the tone of this game, not me.”

  “I have an engagement to be to.”

  “Yes. With me.”

  “No. With Thomas.”

  An almost inaudible chuckle reverberated from Simon’s chest and made her want to growl.

  “Well played, my love,” he said.

  “Stop calling me ‘my love.’ I am not your love, and the way you say it makes me think you’ve practiced that endearment on many women in your past.”

  “What would you prefer me to call you? Lover?”

  “You’re an infuriating man.” This time she let out the growl pawing to get out and stepped around Simon, intending to stalk away. She’d taken a few steps when she heard his heavy feet behind her. She spun around. “Where are you going? Isn’t your cabin the other way?”

  “It is. But I plan to counter your move with one of my own.”

  “What move?”

  He pressed his hand to her back, urging her to continue toward Aunt June’s fire. “If I told you then it wouldn’t be as effective. Please, proceed. Your weakling beau awaits.”

  “Go away,” she commanded, and snapped her focus to the fire. Thomas sat near Aunt June, poking a stick in the flames. The poor young man. She wasn’t interested in anything but one well-chaperoned conversation with him. And only agreed to it out of desperation. Half to ease his curiosity about courting her, and half to show Simon he didn’t dictate where she went or who she went with. But the blasted man was hot on her heels, and sporting a smile similar to the one he had worn earlier in the day when he caught her with the chickens. One she hadn’t seen on him since before his accident. Either he was starting to get better, or he’d been driven mad by their scheme. So which was it? Dear Lord, she hoped the former.

  They entered the firelight, and Thomas stood from his position on the log. She settled next to him as Simon took a seat on her opposite side. Nearby Aunt June knitted, using the firelight to see her needles.

  Carrie gave Thomas an apologetic smile and turned to Simon. “I thought you had some socks to darn.”

  “Oh, no, I don’t. Turns out they’re fine the way they are. Funny how things have a way of fixing themselves.”

  “What?” Carrie glared and whispered, “You’re an ass.”

  “No. I’m a monster. Remember?”

  She turned back to Thomas. “My apologies. Mr. Sanders here is a friend and has lost his manners.”

  “No apology necessary on your part, Miz Carrie,” Thomas said. “I haven’t known Mr. Sanders to practice manners since the first time I met him.”

  “You’re both wrong.” Aunt June dropped her knitting in her lap. “Simon has plenty of manners. I’ve even seen him use them a time or two. He simply chooses not to most days.”

  “I’ve always said Aunt June is an astute woman.” Simon stretched one leg out in front of him but kept the other bent.

  “Well, you’re a cheeky fellow tonight.” Aunt June grinned and picked up her knitting.

  Carrie smiled at the easy way they bantered. It had been a long time since Aunt June and Simon had shared the good-natured ribbing they were known for giving each other in camp. And just as long since Simon had smiled. Yet he seemed to have done a lot of grinning that day. Carrie tried not to let her face show her confusion as she stared at the man in question. Why was he happy all of a sudden?

  Thomas cleared his throat and turned slightly toward her. “Miz Carrie. What sort of interests do you have?”

  “I’m afraid at the moment my only interests lie in cooking for a passel of lumberjacks.”

  “And in town?” Thomas shifted in his seat.

  “Other than the usual social niceties, I don’t do much.”

  “You have to have something that interests you outside the normal everyday hum.”

  “None that come to mind.” Carrie glanced between Simon and Aunt June. She couldn’t tell Thomas her last year had been spent obsessing over Simon’s health, or her free time spent bringing him flowers. What sort of tattle would that cause? She really must refocus her attentions in town.

  Simon snorted, and Carrie darted her gaze to him. She grabbed a fistful of her skirts to hold back her response to his sound.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “You are being too modest.” He sat up straighter and pulled his feet in closer to the log. “You always seem to be busy whenever I see you in town.”

  Carrie’s skin heated, and she lifted her head, hoping the movement would loosen her clothing from her skin enough to let the cool night air circulate and cool her blush. The man was relentless in his quips and secret implications. If the Lord was on her side, Aunt June and Thomas would be oblivious to his real meaning. Being that the only time she’d ever seen him in town was in his home. At least once while he made a malicious attempt at seduction.

  “And they are?” Thomas asked.

  “Let’s see. She likes to take in stray pets, especially small dogs. She’s a very curious woman, adores botany and psychology, and she dabbles in anatomy.” Simon gave a grin that made her want to forget all rules of propriety and punch him straight in the nose, followed by a well-placed kick to his shins, or higher.

>   Thomas jerked his head back in surprise. “You like the sciences?”

  “I, uh, yes,” she lied. The only truth behind Simon’s reply was her love of small animals. Everything else was aimed at making her squirm. And it worked. She struggled to keep her body still so as not to give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d affected her. “But it goes no further than a curious mind.”

  “Nonsense,” Aunt June joined in. “She has been educated quite soundly in the principle of causation. As in, if a man and a woman are meant to be, but they do not act on their affections, then they will live a lonely and miserable life. Even if they marry another.”

  “Really?” Thomas asked. His eyes creased at the corner, and a smile curved at the edges of his lips, as evident by the shadows playing in the firelight on his face.

  Oh good Lord, Carrie thought. What was Aunt June doing? Giving the poor man hope while speaking, not so subtly, to Simon? Carrie turned her attention to Simon, who, by the scowl on his face, seemed oblivious to Aunt June’s true intent. She needed a reprieve from what was shaping up to be quite an irritating evening. She covered her mouth and gave what she hoped was a realistic-looking yawn. “Oh, I apologize. It’s been a long day.”

  “Tired?” Thomas asked. His shoulders and head dropped. “I’ll walk you to your cabin. If that’s all right with Aunt June?”

  “Of course. It’s not like I can’t see you from here.”

  At that, Carrie stood and brushed off her skirts.

  Thomas stood, followed by Simon.

  “Oh, no you don’t,” Aunt June said, and leapt up to bustle over to him. “You leave those two alone. They don’t need you getting in the way.”

  Simon held out his hands in surrender. “I wouldn’t think of helping Carrie do a simple task like walk. I know all too well she’s capable of doing that on her own.”

  Like she’d done when they were children, she shielded her face from all but him and stuck her tongue out, which caused Simon to chuckle under his breath and wink.

  Holding back a growl, she turned back to Thomas. “Don’t pay him any mind. He’s just mad that we drugged and kidnapped him.”

  Thomas’s brows pinched together in confusion. Carrie motioned for them to proceed, and they left Simon behind. Explaining the last few weeks, and her intentions, to Thomas was not on her list of things to do. Using one to get back at the other was, however. In a few breaths she stood before the door to the cabin she shared with Aunt June. She’d lied, and right straight through her teeth.

  “I suppose I should say goodnight now,” Thomas said. “I’ll be back tomorrow evening. Hopefully Simon will have found something else to occupy his time.”

  “Tomorrow?” Where in the world had she found this Pandora’s box? She should never have encouraged anyone’s affections, let alone a young, amorous logger.

  “After supper.” He reached up and traced the side of her face with his thumb. His rough, callused hand grated on her sensitive cheek like sandpaper on a tabletop. Not something she wanted to feel for the rest of her life. He leaned down as if to take the liberty of a kiss, and she backed away—a smile hiding the sweat forming below her hairline. God was surely teaching her a lesson on the proper use of a man. And playing with one’s affections to goad another was not on his list of approved applications. She should end this now and save the poor man a season of grief. “Unfortunately, I have a prior engagement with Beth tomorrow.”

  “Are you certain it’s not Simon you are meeting up with tomorrow?” His voice was tinged with jealousy.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “Nothing,” he said, his voice calmer than before. “Sorry. But you two seem…familiar.”

  “We are dear friends, and nothing more.”

  “Are you certain?”

  “He is Beth’s brother, and I her best friend.”

  “Oh.” He slid his hand down from her face to grasp her arm tight enough to cause her shoulders to rise and heartbeat to kick up. Whether the rough hold was supposed to be a show of passion or anger, she wasn’t certain. The moment lasted only a second before he took a step back. “I’ll let you to your evening. See you tomorrow.”

  At that, he pivoted and walked into the dark. Her heartbeat calmed, but not the niggling in the back of her mind. A cool breeze whisked across her heated face, but the reprieve wasn’t near what she needed.

  She searched the camp. In the firelight, Aunt June sat knitting, but Simon was nowhere to be seen. She stretched her senses to hear into the night. No sounds of men walking about in the dark. No one to intrude upon her time if she slipped down to the lake.

  With one last glance at Aunt June, she snuck into the trees around the camp to skirt the firelight undetected. Any woman with common sense would forget all thoughts of traipsing about the forest alone at night, but she was Elizabeth’s friend, after all. Common sense had left her friend long ago, and she was deftly afraid she’d been affected by the same affliction.

  But then again, up here, instinct was more important than a sound mind. Now the question remained, did she trust her instinct?

  Not really.

  Her instincts told her to kidnap Simon and skirt him deep into a forest. All that had done was place a target right smack in the middle of her heart while a bunch of loggers forged their own bow and arrows. Well, she wasn’t going to leave this summer with anything but her heart and innocence intact. No matter who tried to win her favor.

  Chapter 7

  Simon chewed on the apple he’d stolen from Aunt June’s stash after leaving the fire and waited outside the camp. Far enough away to not be seen by Carrie or her new beau, but close enough to ensure the fool left her untouched at the door. He’d never had a bad experience with the fellow, but that didn’t mean he trusted him. He didn’t trust any man who showed an interest in Carrie, especially a logger. How many times in the past had he needed to run off some overenamored suitor not nearly good enough for his sister’s best friend?

  Too many times to count on one hand.

  Carrie could never know.

  Movement near Aunt June’s door brought his mind to the present, and he stood upright as Thomas disappeared behind Aunt June’s home, leaving Carrie standing alone outside. Simon tossed his apple into the brush and was about to head toward his bunk when, instead of slipping into the house like a proper woman should, Carrie turned and disappeared into the vegetation opposite where he stood.

  “What in blazes is she up to now?” he muttered, and pushed himself up from his lounged position against the tree. The firelight caught a flicker of color as she stepped onto the trail leading to the lake. The blasted woman. She wasn’t like Beth. She didn’t go looking for trouble, but that didn’t stop her from stumbling onto it.

  He hid in the shadows of the trees as he followed her toward Seeley Lake, all the while keeping an eye out in case Thomas had doubled back. Instant pain pierced his stomach. What if she was skirting away for a tryst with the young logger? His neck grew hot and he undid the top button of his thick, flannel shirt. After seeing Carrie chase the chicken earlier, his mood had lightened, and all he could think about was making the difficult woman swoon beneath his lips as he showed her what a man truly was. That mood had carried over for the remainder of the day, shocking even him. It had been over a year since a whole day had gone by with no northern storm extinguishing the light in his soul. Perhaps Carrie was the key to remembering who he was.

  He stepped out into the clearing until the flat, shimmering lake filled his view. Beside it on the bank, Carrie knelt down and splashed water over her face, then sat back on her heels. Thomas was thankfully absent.

  “You’re determined to kill yourself out here.” He said the words more to startle her. While a small amount of danger existed between the cook camp and the lake, it wasn’t like the Grove. Instant red didn’t flash before his vision when he thought of her traipsing about the ban
ks of the lake the way it did other parts of the forest.

  “You frightened me.” Carrie grasped the cloth to her dress between her breasts and drew his attention. He wasn’t interested in winning her hand the way some of these fools were, but the thought of feeling her beneath him as he showed her the path to heaven—and while he reclaimed his soul with her body—appealed to him greatly. She needed to be taught that you couldn’t mess with other people’s lives the way she had his, but no one said he couldn’t enjoy his time while he tutored her. And now was the perfect time to start.

  “You frighten easy.” He stepped toward her, bowing his head slightly and intentionally taking his time to make her feel the need to succumb to his wishes.

  She stood tall, faced him, and met his hard stare with one of her own. Good girl. She challenged him. A move he loved in a game of cat and mouse. A woman who would test his skills. His heart started to pound, and he grew hard. “Where’s your lover?”

  “You well know he is not my lover.”

  “Ah, but you agreed to let him court you?”

  She shuffled her feet. “I agreed to meet him by the fire to get to know him.”

  “Tell him to shin out.”

  “I will not tell him to run away.”

  “You will, my love.” Without another word, Simon walked toward her, wrapped his arms around her back, and tugged her close. Lowering his mouth to within an inch of hers. “You’re going to be too occupied with me this season to bother finding a husband.”

  “I don’t want a husband.” Her hot breath bounced off his mouth, and he closed the distance. Pressing his lips to hers. The words she muttered made him smile. If she didn’t plan to marry, then maybe a little tryst this season could benefit them both. Her lips firmed and relaxed beneath his, evidence of her hesitation, so he squeezed her closer and deepened the kiss.