by Dawn Ryder
“I told you to wait.”
She jerked her attention to his face but found his expression unreadable. She expected her temper to flare, but instead she had to fight the urge to prop her hand on her hip. The desire to flirt rose up, recklessly tempting her to engage him. The problem was that she had no doubt he’d rise to the challenge.
“Tarak didn’t need to set you to minding me. I’m just fine on my own.” Celeste turned and began hiking along the edge of the river, breathing in the beauty of the scenery, the rushing water, the brisk air. Okay, and doing her best to clear Nartan out of her senses.
But she only felt the charge that came with knowing his gaze was on her.
It was like an advanced game of chicken. The urge to turn her head was driving her insane. She was stubbornly determined to prove that she could and would ignore the riot he was causing inside her.
Which unveiled another problem: she was enjoying the challenge of pitting her will against his.
Celeste headed back toward the top of the ridge. She could feel her heart working harder to fuel her body as she pushed herself. Heat moved through her legs and sweat coated her forehead, but the effort was worth it. The hours confined in an airline seat melted away.
Her sense of triumph was short-lived. Just before she made it to the crest, Nartan came into her peripheral view, his longer legs allowing him to overtake her and reach the ridgeline first. He scanned the area on the other side before nodding and looking back at her. She felt the connection between their gazes, his cobalt-blue eyes stunning her with their brilliance and the unmistakable energy burning there—burning for her, she realized with a sense of shock and even, if she were honest, satisfaction.
Playing with fire…
“You can’t be full-blooded with those eyes.” She bit her lower lip, trying to get a grip before exposing herself any further. Any curiosity about him was bound to land her in a situation she’d already decided she wouldn’t be stepping into. But logical choices weren’t sticking. They were just slipping aside as her hormones raged and need tried to rule her.
“According to the books, I am.” He offered her a hand and she hesitated for a second before stepping to her left to avoid joining him.
Avoid touching him, you mean…
Guilty as charged.
“Blue eyes are recessive,” she said, but found herself wondering why that mattered so much if she wanted nothing to do with him. Actions spoke louder than words, and her curiosity was proving her interest. His lips twitched up, proving he’d noticed her lapse.
“Apaches used to like to take captives,” he countered. “My ancestors enjoyed a challenge and had a taste for the unique.”
A ripple of anticipation moved across her skin. There was a hint of promise in his tone, along with something else that stroked the heat flickering inside her belly.
“You do too,” she remarked, pointing toward the mountains above the test and development center. “Sabra told me you and Tarak stuck it out on a claim up there.” Changing the subject was pathetically chicken of her but no doubt a wise course of action.
“Three long years.” He looked toward the spot Sabra had pointed out to her. “They seemed longer when I was living them.”
“There are times like that.” For a moment, it felt like they had something in common. Conversation felt so natural with him, so very comfortable. “Time has a way of dulling the blunt edges of reality.”
“I’m not sure about that,” he offered with a flash of a smile that gave her a peek at the boy he must have been. “I think…I’m close enough to smell blackened squirrel.” He sniffed the air and shuddered, shaking his body like a large dog after a bath.
She laughed at him. “I hope it isn’t on the menu tonight. Dining-out options look limited.”
“I’ll give you the un-blackened portion of my squirrel.”
She propped her hands on her hips and planted her feet wide. “I came to the last frontier. I expect my share of hardships.”
He took a moment to sweep the area before returning his attention to her. His smile was gone, a pensive look in his eyes.
“You burned my card the night we met. Care to tell me why?”
“It wasn’t personal.” She replied as if her boundaries were being pressed. “Everyone has one or two skeletons. The important part is that the skeleton is dead.”
“But the ghost haunts you,” he stated firmly, with a little too much truth to suit her. “I see it in your eyes.”
Celeste shrugged and didn’t care for how forced the action felt. Her confidence was trying to desert her, leaving her feeling exposed. “It’s on my to-be-dealt-with list.”
Nartan’s eyes narrowed and his lips thinned. She could see the truth of his nature in his eyes. He was used to being in control and getting whatever he wanted. At the moment, that was to unmask her, something she wasn’t going to let him do. The truth was, she didn’t think she could bear being stripped down to such an unguarded position again.
But that was her failing, not his, and it didn’t give her the right to be bitchy.
“It’s nothing.” Her tone was even and devoid of emotion, which was a major accomplishment. She felt like she was boiling, the heat twisting through her, increasing with every second he watched her. Peeling away her facade with nothing more than the force of his nature.
“I’m sure you don’t need any female issues to deal with.”
The ghost of a smile touched his lips. They were full, sensual lips that looked like they tasted fantastic. There was a restless energy pulsing around her insides that she recognized from a time when she hadn’t forbidden herself impulses or playing with fire.
“You think I’m like most men?” he questioned smoothly.
Definitely not…
Not that she was going to admit it to him.
He moved closer, the gun making a soft sound as he gripped it. It was a metal-on-metal sound that made her flinch because it fit the hard nature of the man holding it and the uncivilized location. Everything was different here—basic, blunt…savage. And that suited him perfectly.
He stopped next to her and she fought the urge to step back.
“I’m not like any man you’ve ever known.”
Her mouth went dry.
But her temper came to her rescue at last, flickering to life and burning through the haze of attraction dulling her wits. “I think you’re used to being the boss. Understandable. Angelino’s is impressive, but I like to keep my private affairs—private. Along with my vacations.”
So maybe it wasn’t the flare of temper that was sizzling inside her. Maybe it was pure panic, but she wasn’t in a position to quibble over details. She needed her head cleared before she did something…impulsive.
She started down the incline, intent on discovering where the river was flowing from. Intent on anything that wasn’t Nartan and her reaction to him. She dug deep, trying to gather enough focus to control herself. The sound of the rushing water filled her ears as she dug her feet into the steep incline and concentrated on her footing.
She felt Nartan behind her, shadowing her…stalking her. He made sure she caught sight of him from time to time. It was an exquisite sort of torment, that moment of having him in sight before he’d fall back and leave her with the knowledge that he was watching her with those intense, cobalt eyes.
Well, she wouldn’t be turning around to engage him. She kept moving until she made it to the next high point and paused on the crest to savor the view. The wind blew into her face, chilling the sweat that had formed in her hairline. She smiled, enjoying the proof that she’d pushed her body.
“You enjoy a challenge too.” He inserted himself back into her world. Okay, so she hadn’t really been successful in ignoring him but she wasn’t ready to admit it.
Nartan stepped up beside her, standing only a pace from her. Sensation
rippled across her skin and down her body. She’d never been so aware of a man before. She wanted to be irritated, but all she could do was feel the way he was pressing against her comfort zone. Like some ultra-high-stakes game of chess.
She moved aside, but had her attention on Nartan rather than on her footing. The rough wilderness was unforgiving. The eroding granite shifted beneath her boot, ready to take her down the slope with gravity’s help. A startled cry escaped her lips as she felt her body weight dropping, but it turned into a muffled word of profanity when Nartan curled his fingers around her bicep and yanked her back up.
Breathless and panting, he held her tight for a moment, seeming to allow his own surge of adrenaline to subside. She knew he’d seen her almost plunge into danger, and if he hadn’t been right there, she could have been seriously injured, maybe killed. Nartan seemed to know only too well that this beautiful wilderness could turn deadly in a moment.
She lifted her elbow and dropped it on the other side of his hand. Honestly, she wasn’t sure if she was breaking his hold or just responding to the panic rushing through her.
“You’re welcome,” he mocked.
“Thanks.” Her tone was less than gracious.
He studied her for a moment, his eyebrows lowering in contemplation. “You need to deal with that ghost.”
“Actually, that’s sort of the idea behind being here.” She opened her hands wide. “A soul-seeking sort of adventure.” She straightened her stance and faced off with him. “I believe the custom is to undertake such journeys alone.”
He shrugged, unrepentant. “This is Alaska, not Southern California. Your martial arts skills aren’t going to be much use against a bear. Even if you know how to use a gun, you didn’t take one with you. I told you to wait because you’re green.”
It was a blunt fact that made a lot of sense, but she didn’t care for the direct blow to her pride.
“An explanation would have cleared that up,” she said and rolled in her lower lip because she was itching to bicker with him. The urge was almost impossible to ignore, even though she knew it wasn’t rational. She wasn’t going there, to that place where she lost control of herself and started going after him because she just couldn’t quell the urge.
“I enjoyed hiking with you more.” He was testing her. Tossing down a gauntlet to see if she’d reply. “The journey you need to take is one that leads you back to the thing that left a scar on you.”
“You’re getting a little too personal.” The words slipped past her lips. The moment she heard them, she shook her head, but he reached across the distance and caught her chin.
She shivered, the contact as jarring as she’d suspected it would be. His skin was warm and smelled enticingly male.
He turned his hand over and stroked the back of his fingers along her jawline. She felt like she was on the edge of bursting into flames, at the point when all the heat was trapped inside her, ready to flare up.
“Really…” She struggled to find the argument she needed to make but got lost in the intensity of his cobalt stare. It was stripping her bare.
She dragged her gaze away and turned back toward the house.
“You really need to stop running.”
She wanted to. The desire was welling up inside her, flooding her.
Terrifying her with just how close she was to letting go of her control.
She couldn’t.
Wouldn’t, actually.
She just couldn’t risk trusting again.
She headed back toward the house instead. For a moment, she thought she heard a soft, male chuckle. She ended up tightening her hands into fists and increasing her pace.
The man had just sent her into a full retreat.
***
Nartan fell into step behind her. He wanted to reach out and drag her to a halt.
He found himself battling the urge as she took to the uneven ground with a strength that turned him on even more. His cock thickened, hardening as he watched the way she moved. He was no stranger to admiring the backside of a woman, but here was something completely different from what he’d been enjoying in feminine companionship. No sleek dress fell over her curves; no delicate ankles were set off by fuck-me stilettos.
There were only slightly baggy warm-up pants, just big enough to need a drawstring to keep them around her trim waist. He caught a glimpse of her firm bottom as she moved, but what triggered another wave of lust in him was the realization that she had selected those pants with function in mind. He didn’t doubt for a second that she could get her leg up into a deadly kick. His cock hardened to marble. He lost the battle to let her make her getaway cleanly.
“The ghost wins when you let it control you so well,” he said.
The house was in view, along with the huge all-terrain tank that Tarak drove. Celeste hesitated, flashing him a quick look. She was shaking her head, but he reached out and hooked her elbow. “I bet the prick would love to know that you’re running away from what I make you feel.”
She smacked his hand so quickly that she surprised even herself, the sound loud now that the river was not close enough to drown it out. But her lips parted in shock as she stared at the spot she’d struck on his forearm.
“Shit.” She was out of control, exactly the way she’d feared. She turned away from him, the need to escape driving her. “Look…I’m not ready for this. Sorry. It’s nothing personal.”
It was a nice, polite way of chickening out.
“You’re having the same effect on me.” He spoke clearly from behind her. A jolt of excitement shook her, freezing her in place. Her knees went weak and her nipples drew into hard points as excitement swirled through her thoughts, clouding every rational thing she’d been thinking. “And I find it very personal.”
She whirled around and almost crashed into him. He was right behind her now. Far too close for her unsteady emotions. But losing control wasn’t going to be the answer—it never was, never had been.
“I’m not interested in a fling.” She made sure her words were clear and precise and delivered in a smooth tone. “Not with my best friend’s husband’s best friend. That could get messy.”
Her statement was a perfect execution of what she’d decided she wanted, but looking at him undermined her determination. He was just so damn attractive with his inky black hair and the way he exuded power. Two midnight-black brows lowered as her statement sunk in. Something about his physique, his energy, his whole demeanor was pulling her toward him.
“Liar,” he accused her, with something between a smirk and a determined grin. That glitter of mischief was back in his eyes, making her nipples tighten even more.
She wanted to label him arrogant, but the truth was the truth. He turned her on more than she had ever been before. And he knew it, which only made her hotter because she wanted to know just how sharp his powers of perception were when he was making love.
“I thought you said it was on the to-be-dealt-with list…” His tone was smooth and silky soft.
Suspicion prickled down her spine. She lifted one finger. “Don’t.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Don’t remind you that you’re running, or don’t notice how charged the air is between us?”
He surprised her by chuckling. With amusement sparkling in his eyes, he was even more attractive. “Or don’t notice how good it felt to touch you?”
Shit.
“I’m really more trouble than you need, Nartan.” It was an admission, one she felt was ripped from that spot inside her soul where she had shoved every last bit of emotional turmoil still clinging to her. “Or deserve,” she interrupted him when he opened his mouth to argue. “You’re right. I need to deal with things, and you rescuing me isn’t going to accomplish that. I have to take the journey myself.”
Disappointment was raking its claws across her insides, but she dug her feet
in and pushed off with every step to widen the space between them. She made her way back into the house and up to the guest room Sabra had given her. Celeste flopped back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling as heat teased her clit and need gnawed at her. It had been a long time since she’d actually desired any man in particular. Sexual tension was something she normally satisfied with her vibrator, but she knew today she’d end up nursing an appetite long after climaxing. The need was deeper. More intense. Just like the man who had unleashed it.
It intrigued her beyond anything she could remember, and at the same time, it scared the hell out of her. But what stuck in her throat the most was the way that it challenged her. A challenge was something she just couldn’t ignore.
What made her worry her lower lip was the fact that she was practically certain Nartan knew her weakness.
***
Tarak raised an eyebrow when Nartan pushed through the mudroom doors into the house.
“By the look on her face, I think you made a good call in taking the gun.”
Nartan put the gun in the rack by the door and shrugged. “I’d rather use my bare hands on her.”
“Any chance you could wait until after my wedding to get your arm broken?” Sabra asked from across the room.
“She took off without a gun,” Nartan defended himself. “I did her a favor by following.”
Just because he’d enjoyed it, that didn’t change the facts.
And he had enjoyed it.
Nartan took a walk out onto the back deck in the cooling evening air to help ease the heat coiled in his gut. He and Celeste had more in common than she realized. He was just as uncomfortable with the level of attraction between them as she was. But he grinned as he contemplated telling her that. He just might do it for the pleasure of seeing her spit at him.
Spitfire.
