“Okay. Well…” She turned to Jericho. “I guess I’m ready.”
“It’ll be fine, baby. The faster we get to the doctor, the faster we’ll be out at the lake… not to mention a bath, and some good food. I can’t wait to just relax with you.” With a little more force than she thought necessary, he pulled her toward his bike. Over the bits of scattered conversation, she heard Duke’s protests again, saw him arguing with Ember over being allowed to ride his own bike. She smiled; he was still head-strong and stubborn, and she was glad of it.
They walked down to the clearing, past the shed, to the parking lot. His big bike looked like escape, like freedom.
The catch of the engine of Jericho’s big bike made her turn around. He swung one leg over the seat, got settled, then held out his hand. Something like relief washed over her. This was over. Finally. She was safe, Duke was safe. Her friends were safe.
And she was with Jericho.
Chapter Nine
The bike slowed, and she looked up from where she’d had her head resting against Jericho’s back. The ride, now that they weren’t running, or being chased, or didn’t know what or who they were going to find around the next corner, was nice and relaxing. The highway curved and dipped, and Jericho had given her his jacket before they’d started out after seeing the doctor. It hadn’t taken long at emergency, and she was thankful for that. The greatest concern was about the questions that were sure to follow. An accident while cleaning fish had been her fumbling excuse when asked, and while the physician had looked at her with skepticism, he had cleaned her wound, stitched her up, and sent her on her way. Now she was riding on the back of Jericho’s bike, her hands wound carefully around his waist.
The cool air swirled around her, tugging at her hair, smelling clean and fresh. And then she’d catch the scent of Jericho on his jacket, and she’d smile at the warm depth of it.
He found the gap between the fences without any trouble, and the right clump of trees, without any prompting from her. That shifter sense of direction, she thought. Then they were climbing up the ridge, going further than they had earlier, up and over, and down the other side. The lake spread out below, a blue gem set against the dark green of the pines. The sun was setting somewhere, and the sky had gotten deeper blue, tinged over the trees with a blush of pink.
Jericho stopped the bike, and she got off. He cut the engine, and then wheeled the bike around the back of the cabin. Harley walked to the porch, put one foot on the bottom step, but didn’t want to go in, not yet. She was still jumpy, still waiting for someone to shoot, or a big tiger to leap out of the cabin, and knock her down. When she heard footsteps crunching on leaves and pine needles, she tensed, even though she knew it was going to be Jericho even before he came around the corner of the porch.
“It’s gone.” His expression was serious, and she could see the exhaustion etched in lines around his eyes, the corners of his mouth.
“Gone?” She was drawing a blank. Shaking her head, she blinked at him in the soft twilight. “What’s gone?”
“The shifter. From before.”
A chill ran down her back. “I forgot. It seems so long ago.” Then fear rushed in. “Where…”
“The blanket is there, tracks, like someone dragged a body. I think someone probably came, and got him.”
“Oh.” She didn’t want to think about him, the shifter that had been there. “I don’t want to know about anything else. Don’t want to think about it anymore.” A wave of chills ran through her, making her teeth click together violently. Jericho came around the end of the porch, and she was his arms a second later. It was warmer there, safer. Where she wanted to be.
“I feel safe when I’m with you.”
Her words were muffled against his shoulder, but she heard him laugh. “Kind of an ironic thing to say to the man who was hired to kill you, isn’t it?”
“Very. But right now you’re the safest place I can think of.”
His laugh rumbled against her cheek. “Safest place?”
“Place. Person. Whatever. You know what I mean.”
He went quiet, and she let him hold her, let the fear inside her ebb away, let it be replaced by nothing, just let herself be emptied out.
And then she slowly let herself be filled with the sounds around her, birds, wind in the pine trees. And with the heat of Jericho’s body, under her cheek, beneath her hands. Even through his t-shirt, he was warm, warmer than he had a right to be. Eyes closed she breathed deeply, the scent of warm pines cooling in the evening breeze, leaves and dirt. And...
“You need a bath.” She lifted her head, nose wrinkled, managing to give him a smile. “And I suppose I do too.”
“And what do you think we should do about that?” He put a finger under her chin, lifting her face up to his. “Is there a bathroom hidden somewhere inside the cabin?”
“I’m pretty sure there isn’t. But I have an idea.”
The summer sun was still a few hours from setting. Jericho reached for Harley’s hand, and led her onto the porch. “See if you can find towels.”
She stopped just outside the door of the cabin.
“You okay, Harley?”
“It’s just…” She waved her hand. “Maybe I’m afraid of the dark. Or the boogeyman.”
Jericho touched her cheek with his fingers. “I’ll go first, check for tigers under the bed.” He smiled, but she knew he’d check every corner of the cabin. She waited, arms wrapped around herself, until he called to her.
“All clear. Nothing here but a few mice.”
The cabin was small enough, with so few cabinets and drawers, that it took only a minute for her to unearth two towels. A little more searching, turned up a bar of soap. There were clothes in one of the dresser drawers, and she had to laugh.
“I think I knew why Duke kept this place.” She held up a woman’s dress, a frilly thing with thin straps. “I think Duke has a whole secret life up here.”
Jericho raised his head to look at her, one eyebrow raised. “A man has to have his secrets; you know?”
She thought about secrets men had, but decided this wasn’t the time or place to delve into Jericho’s secrets. There would be time.
“This will have to do. Come on.”
Jericho followed her back to the porch, one eyebrow raised. When she started down the steps, and crossed the clearing, he laughed.
“You’re going to make me go skinny dipping, aren’t you?”
Squinting against the sun slanting through the trees, she looked up at him. “You bet. Right out in the open, you’re going to take off all your clothes, right down to the skin you were born in. And so am I. And we’re going into the lake, and I’m going to wash your back, and you’re going to wash mine.”
The path dipped under a canopy of pines, heading down a gentle hill, so narrow they had to walk single file. Below, she could see the lake, the early evening light making little sparks on the ripples that the wind kicked up. Jericho’s hand touched her back, sliding his fingers a little lower.
“Do I get to wash anything else besides your back?”
Even though he was behind her she smiled. “You sure as hell do. And so do I.”
The path flattened out to a little stretch of pebbly shoreline. She stopped, soaking up the sun on her back, taking in the little bit of heaven, as Duke called it, that stretched out in front of them.
The lake was small, but it was perfectly set in a hollow of the hills. Green trees rose up on three sides, but one end the view opened up, the valley between Table Mountain, and the range beyond spread out below, green trees and darker, almost black, conifers filling the middle distance. And further to the north, stretched the rest of the range, peaks and valleys running to the horizon.
“I’m pretty sure you can see Canada from here. But that might be just wishful thinking. But it’s pretty.”
Jericho was beside her, hands on his hips. “I think pretty might be an understatement. It would be a special place to live. Do you k
now who owns the lake?”
She shrugged. “I’m not sure if anyone really does. You know how some places just seem to exist, but then fall off the map? It's kind of like that.”
He was silent for a minute, staring out over the water. She wished she could get into that head, to get past those gray eyes that gave nothing away. A bird, something big, swooped down and rippled the water with its passing.
“So, you said something about washing my back?” Jericho dropped the towels on a log, and gave her a look that sent a warmth through her that had nothing to do with the sun shining on her face. He reached down, undoing the tie on his pants, sliding them down his hips. He’d already toed off his boots, and again, she’d missed it. But now she didn’t care. He kicked his jeans away, and stood, hands on hips, looking down at her.
“Harley, if you don’t get out of your clothes, I’m going to pick you up, and throw you in with them on.”
She laughed, and it felt good, felt like she hadn’t laughed for a long time. And it felt good to laugh with Jericho.
“Alright. Fine.” But she took a step away from him, just in case he decided tossing her in the lake fully dressed was a good idea. So she took off all her clothes, leaving each piece on the rocks, slowly uncovering herself for him.
* * *
The water was cold, really cold. But Jericho waded in like it was the perfect temperature. He'd helped her with her shirt and bra, not that she really needed the help. But his hands felt good on her body, as he took more time than necessary undoing the clasps on her bra, easing it down over her shoulders and arms. When he'd caressed her breasts, she'd looked up at him over her shoulder, eyebrows raised with an unspoken question.
“Just making sure, you know, you're not cold or anything."
“I’m chilled to the bone, thanks for asking.”
His laugh was low. “This was your idea, remember?”
“I know.” She turned around, facing him, her breasts pressed against his chest. He slid his hands down from her shoulders, over her back, below the water to cup her ass. He pulled her against him.
Beneath the chill of the water his body was hot, his hips hard against hers, his cock growing hard against her stomach.
“Doesn’t the cold water have any effect on you?”
“Not when I have you in my arms. Sounds corny, but you light a fire inside me, like no other woman ever has.” He leaned down, and kissed her, his lips warm and firm, the kiss far from tentative, but somehow reserved. Like there was more, much more to the kiss, but he needed to hold something back. After a minute he broke away, looking down at her with smoldering eyes.
“And I hope like no other woman ever will.”
Heat rushed through her, banging up against the chill of her skin. “And you’re saying what I think you’re saying? Or asking?”
“Asking, I guess. If you’ll have me.”
She’d have him, now, forever, if that’s what he wanted. “Yes. I’ll have you.”
There, she’d said it, committed herself to him, as much as she could, standing naked in a lake. She shivered, and he pulled her closer.
“So, about me washing your back…”
“Oh, well…yes…”
“Seems I forgot the soap.” He looked at her with heavy-lidded eyes, eyes that sent a rush of heat through her body.
He kissed her before she could say anything else, although there wasn’t anything she really wanted to say, except she didn’t think forgetting the soap was an accident. But she didn’t care. Having him touch her, his hands moving over her ass, cupping her, pulling her hard against him, all of it made her feel safe, and wanted, and desired. The fear and exhaustion of the…how long had it been? It left her, dissolving in the water of Echo Lake.
There was more than kissing going on below the water. His hands had moved to her hips, thumbs pressed against the tops of her thighs. Those hands moved lower, one reaching between her legs to cup her, his big palm fitting her like those hands had been created just for her, just to give her pleasure.
His fingers slipped over her, slick and strong, hot against the chill of the lake. It was getting dark now, the lake sinking into darkness, the sky overhead a deep violet blue. In the velvet blueness, she looked into his eyes, thinking they’d be dark, the gray almost black. But they weren’t gray; they were silver, almost luminous. Must be a trick of the light, or the reflection off the water.
But she lost track of the color of his eyes, as hers closed, as she leaned her head back, as his fingers moved between her legs, sliding over her clit, and the folds of her sex. She arched, his arm like a band of iron behind her, holding her, letting him do all kinds of things to her, not asking for anything in return. But she knew later, when they were alone in the little cabin, she’d do everything and more to him.
His mouth came down on her breast, sucking the taut nipple into his mouth. Something fierce shot through her, the feeling like touching an electric fence without thick leather gloves. She gasped, her hips rocked forward, and she cried out as a wicked orgasm tore through her.
He held her, his fingers moving slower inside her, then slipping out. But he held his palm against her, the heat of his hand warming her, keeping that fire going inside. Finally, she opened her eyes. The sky was black overhead, stars coming out.
“You okay?”
She let him stand her upright, until she was looking at him again, into those silver eyes.
“More than okay. I think I’m the best I’ve been since this all started.” In fact, she was weak-kneed with lust and desire, the aftershocks of her orgasm still rippling through her.
Jericho laughed. “Well, that’s not saying much about my performance last night. Or this morning.”
It was her turn to laugh. “Was it only last night? Doesn’t it seem like days ago?”
“Don’t be changing the subject.”
She grinned up at him. “Your performance was pretty fucking amazing, if you want to know.”
It was just light enough to see the lift of one eyebrow. “You swore at me, ma’am.”
“Damn right I did.”
He held her for a minute longer, then gently let her go. She turned to listen, more than watch, as he waded to where their clothes were. He was gone only a minute, and then she heard him splashing back out to where she was.
“Thought I lost you for a minute. Where’d you go?”
“Soap. I think it’s time you had that bath. And me too. You’ve suffered enough, having to put up with me, and my animal scents.”
She reached out in the dark, groping blindly, fingers touching his chest, then his shoulder, sliding down over his arm, until she reached his hand. It was empty.
“Sorry. Couldn’t resist.” His voice held barely restrained laughter. “Here.”
“You think this is funny right? You can see me, everything I do, can’t you?”
“I’m afraid so. Another perk of being a shifter, I guess.”
“Right. So, now that we know where the soap is, let’s put it to good use.”
The soft sounds of water splashing, the slick sounds of his hands on the soap—it had to be the most sensual sound she’d ever heard, knowing what he was going to do with that lather—were in counterpoint to the staccato thumping of her heart. Who knew that getting a bath in an icy lake could get her heart pounding.
But it was Jericho there with the soap, and it was going to be his hands on her body. And she knew damned well he was going to do more than just get her clean. Something like shyness came over her, and to fill that void she started talking.
“Can I ask you a question?”
His hands were on her shoulders, the scent of plain old castile soap filling the air around them. “Anything, darling. What’s on your mind?”
This was uncharted territory, the question that came to her, but she knew she needed to ask it. “You never told me how you ended up being…whatever it was you said. Doing things other men didn’t want to do.”
His hands tensed against
her skin, just enough to make her wonder if she’d asked the wrong question. Then his hands moved again, slowly, working the lather over her arms. The silence between them wasn’t strained, but spun out for longer than made her comfortable.
“I told you I left a woman. You asked if I was running away, and I said I didn’t think I was. But maybe that really wasn’t true.” His hands stopped, somewhere south of her elbows. He held her, and she waited for what he had to say next.
“I said that she’d already left me, and I’d just made the break physical, real. But something broke in me, I think, something important, when I left. It wasn’t leaving her, as much as leaving a life I’d made.”
Some bird made a sound in the trees, something splashed close by, a fish rolling in the water, or a turtle falling off a log. They were quiet sounds, sounds that made her feel like they were in a separate world of their own. She waited for him to go on.
“When I was at the bottom, I needed money. And that’s when I found that whole world of shadowy connections, as you like to say, of men who don’t carry cell phones, or have answering machines. Who wanted things done, and paid in cash.”
“People like Morgan?”
“Yeah. Like him.”
“Had you ever been hired to…kill someone before?”
He sighed, and it was the saddest sound she’d ever heard. “No. That was the first time. It was…” His voice had gotten low and ragged, but now it smoothed out, some of the darkness leaving it.
“I’d have said it was a mistake, but that isn’t true. I mean, being hired to kill someone was a mistake, but it meant I met you. And it made things clear. Made me see that when I left North Dakota, I hadn’t run away. I’d…” His words trailed off.
“You forgot who you were.”
He took her hands, all soapy and wet, and held them for a minute. His touch was gentle, but under the soap and gentleness, was possession. Not control, but him possessing her. Completely, and utterly.
“I did. And when I saw you, I remembered who I was. No, that’s not right.” His fingers tightened against hers for a moment. “I remembered who I wanted to be, the man I wanted to be, once in my life.”
Run Fur Love (BBW Tiger Shifter Romance) Page 14
