Michael's Father

by Dallas Schulze

  She tasted every bit as sweet as he'd imagined, Kel thought, half in despair. He'd ahnost managed to

  convince himself that one taste would be all he'd need. Once he'd kissed her, satisfied the sexual curiosity that had plagued him since she'd walked into the restaurant in Casper, he'd be satisfied. The tension would be broken and he would no longer be contemplating cold showers in the middle of the night. He'd almost believed it.

  And then she'd melted into his arms, her slender body fitting itself to his as if made to be there. He could feel the fullness of her breasts against the muscled wall of his chest, and the softness of her belly cushioned the hardness of his arousal. And he knew one kiss would never be enough. A kiss would only serve to whet his appetite, a teasing taste of what could be.

  He groaned against her mouth and widened his stance, drawing her forward so that she was cradled against his aching arousal. He groaned again when he felt the shiver that went through her. God, she was every bit as responsive as he'd dreamed.

  His tongue traced the seam of her lips and she opened to him immediately. Kel wondered if he'd died and gone to heaven, because it didn't seem possible that anything this side of the pearly gates could taste as sweet as the damp softness of her tongue against his. On the other hand, what he was feeling now was way too carnal to have anything to do with heaven.

  There was a big leather sofa only a few short steps away, a sly voice whispered in his ear. The thought of easing her down on it, feeling her slim body sink into the smooth black leather as he followed her down had his pulse drumming in his temples. The desk was even

  closer, he thought as he flattened his palm against her back. A swe^ of his arm would clear its surface in an instant.

  Megan's fingers curled into the thick darkness of Kel's hair as the world spun around her. The thrust of his tongue in her mouth, the feel of his big body against hers—those were the only things that were real to her at the moment.

  She'd been kissed before but it had never been like this. She'd never had this feeling of losing herself in a man's touch, of giving up control of herself to him. If he chose to lay her on the floor and take her right then and there, she wasn't sure she would have lifted a finger in protest.

  When she felt Kel begin to break off the kiss, she couldn't prevent a small whimper of protest, her lips clinging to his for a moment. She was reluctant to let him go, to let reality return.

  Her fingers slipped from his hair as he eased her down until she felt the floor under her heels again. Kel's hands lingered on her for a moment longer, steadying her, before being withdrawn, leaving her standing on her own.

  Her eyelids felt weighted and it took a conscious effort to lift them. His face was all hard planes and angles in the lamplight. The blatant hunger in his emerald eyes did nothing to put strength into her knees. Her gaze dropped to his mouth, but that was no better. She could still feel the gentle abrasion of his mustache against her skin, the warm heat of his mouth on hers.

  He was so close. She only had to lean forward for them to be touching. The thought made her feel dizzy. What was happening to her? What had almost happened here? If he hadn't drawn back, would she have gathered her senses in time to stop what was happening? Would she even have wanted to? And how on earth was she supposed to think with him so close?

  As if reading her thoughts, Kel stepped back a pace. Megan felt relief but she also felt bereft. She wanted to turn and run and she wanted to feel his arms around her again, his mouth driving out all rational thought.

  **I just thought we should get that out in the open," Kel said, his voice husky and disturbed. "If you take this job, we might as well admit what's going to happen."

  '*What's going to happen?" Her voice was unsteady, but considering she felt on the verge of melting in a puddle at his feet, she wasn't going to complain about that.

  "We're going to become lovers."

  **Oh." It came out on a sharp exhale.

  Lovers. The word started a warm throbbing feeling in the pit of her stomach. Kel Bryan would be her lover.

  "Is sleeping with you part of the job description?" she asked, proud of the steadiness of her voice.

  "Would you stay if it was?" He stroked the tips of his fingers down her cheek and she felt her pulse flutter in response.

  "No," she managed to get out. But she admitted privately that the idea wasn't as offensive as it should have been.

  "It's not a requirement." He withdrew his hand and she dragged a steadying breath into her lungs. **But it's going to happen, Megan. We both know it is."

  Yes, She wouldn't lie to herself and pretend that it wasn't going to happen. For a moment, she resented him for bringing it out into the open, for making it impossible to pretend.

  "Do you still want the job?" he asked.

  Are we going to be lovers? he meant.

  She stared at him, feeling her heart thumping against her rib cage, her skin still tingling from his touch. She should run, she thought. Before she ended up with a broken heart. Before Kel Bryan wound himself any more deeply into her life.

  "I'll stay," she said.

  "Good." Just one word but it held a wealth of satisfaction. He held out his hand and Megan responded automatically, putting her fingers in his. The familiar tingle was there, along with a new, much deeper awareness. Her eyes widened and she gave him a startled look as his fingers tightened around hers, drawing her toward him.

  "All the best agreements are sealed with a kiss," he murmured, just before his mouth closed over hers.

  Megan could only agree.

  Chapter5

  JVlegan stumbled from Kel's study and sought the sanctuary of her room. Colleen was probably waiting to hear the results of her interview but Megan wasn't up to talking to her. She wasn't sure there was even enough strength left in her knees to get up the stairs as it was. She shut the bedroom door and leaned against it with her eyes closed.

  She'd just agreed to have an affair with Kel Bryan.

  The thought made her skin heat, and her pulse, none too steady to start with, fluttered in her throat. She might not have said the words but there was no doubt about what she'd agreed to do.

  We*re going to become lovers, he'd said and she hadn't argued. How could she when she knew it was nothing more than the truth? She was going to become Kel Bryan's lover. The thought was enough to

  make her dizzy. Or maybe it was the memory of his kisses that did that.

  With an effort, Megan pushed herself away from the door and walked across the room to the connecting bathroom. Her knees were finally starting to feel a bit less like overcooked spaghetti. Flipping on the light, she set her pahns on the edge of the sink and leaned forward to stare in the mirror.

  She hardly recognized her own reflection. There was a sparkle in her eyes she'd never seen before, and her cheeks were flushed. Her softly swollen mouth left no doubt that she'd just been thoroughly kissed, and the smile that curved her lips made it obvious that she'd enjoyed it very much.

  Kel Bryan's lover.

  Her smile widened. She liked the sound of that more than she had any business doing.

  Megan slept later than usual the morning after her interview with Kel, and when she got downstairs, the kitchen was empty, a fresh pot of coffee the only sign that Kel had been there at all. She was both disappointed and relieved.

  Since she didn't know what to expect from him when she saw him again she was not averse to delaying the moment a while longer. Maybe by then, she'd have gotten her unruly reaction under control.

  As it happened, she didn't see Kel until he came in for dinner. She was sUding a pan of biscuits into the oven when she heard the kitchen door open. She didn't have to turn around to know who it was. Even if she hadn't heard the door open, she would have known he

  was in the room. She could feel it in the sudden sensitivity of her skin.

  WiUing her hand to steadiness, she set down the pot holder she'd been using and turned toward him. He stood just inside the door—big, dust
y, overwhelmingly male. Her heart thumped and it occurred to her vaguely that there was a warning there. It was one thing to decide to have an affair with the man, something else altogether for just the sight of him to make her heart beat faster.

  He set his hat on the wooden hook beside the door and turned toward her. Their eyes met and Megan thought she saw a quick flare of awareness in his. Was he remembering the way she'd melted against him last night? The memory made her flush, and she hoped he'd attribute it to the fact that she'd just been leaning over a hot oven.

  His eyes raked over her, taking in the robin's egg blue T-shirt and jeans she wore, a practical white chef's apron wrapped around her waist. Not exactly a romantic outfit in which to greet your future lover, Megan thought. And she probably had flour on her face from making the biscuits. A touch of humor glimmered in her eyes. Kel was probably wondering what had made him want to kiss her the night before.

  Actually, Kel was on the point of closing the distance between them, dragging Megan into his arms and kissing her senseless, flour-speckled face and all. If Colleen hadn't chosen that moment to enter the kitchen, he might have done just that.

  With a quick greeting for his sister and an impersonal nod in Megan's direction, he went upstairs to

  shower before dinner. By the time he came down, he had himself well under control. Or so he thought until he walked into the dining room and saw Megan leaning across the table to straighten a fork on the side across from her. The scoop neckline of her T-shirt allowed him to see the upper swell of her breasts and hinted at the shadowy cleft between.

  Kel immediately wished he'd taken a colder shower than he had.

  He backed out of the room without her seeing him and didn't enter until he heard Gun's voice and knew he wouldn't be alone with Megan. The way he was feeling right now, he didn't quite trust himself not to give in to the urge to ignore the delicious scents wafting from the kitchen and have her for dinner instead of whatever she was cooking.

  Kel avoided looking at Megan any more than he had to during dinner. He was starting to resent this strange hold she seemed to have over him. He'd spent far more time thinking about her today than he'd had any business doing. He didn't like the way she haunted his thoughts.

  He was a man who prided himself on his self-control, and he resented Megan Roarke's ability to undermine that control. He wanted her—that much he was willing to admit. Hell, he could hardly deny it. Wanting her was all right but letting her dominate his thoughts the way she had been—that was going to have to stop.

  If he could stop it.

  The taunting voice inside his head only made Kel more determined to prove to himself that he was in

  control here, not his suddenly overactive libido. And if that meant keeping his distance from Megan, then so be it.

  By the end of her second week working on the Lazy B, Megan was starting to wonder if she'd hallucinated the scene in KeFs study the night he'd asked her to stay on for the summer. She hadn't been quite sure what to expect after the passionate kisses they'd shared but it certainly wasn't that everything would go on just as it had before he kissed her.

  She hadn't expected him to pounce—not exactly anyway. And she didn't want to bring their relationship—if and when they had one—out into the open any more than he did. She wasn't sure how Colleen would feel about Megan sleeping with her older brother, but Megan knew it would embarrass her if Colleen were to find out about it. She supposed there were women sophisticated enough to carry off something like that, but she wasn't one of them.

  So at first, she'd been grateful for Kel's discretion. But as the days ticked by and he made no effort to seek out even a brief moment of privacy with her, she began to question her memory. She was grateful that he wasn't trying to rush her, but a stolen kiss or two wouldn't be out of line.

  But Kel didn't seem to have any interest in kisses-stolen or otherwise. He treated her just as he had before, friendly but a little distant. The perfect employer-to-employee attitude, she thought with some irritation. She might have believed she'd imagined the entire exchange between them if it hadn't been for the

  one or two occasions she caught him looking at her and saw that the indifference was gone, replaced by a blazing green heat that burned right through her.

  He still wanted her but, for reasons of his own, he was keeping his distance. Megan would have given a great deal to know what those reasons were but she could hardly come right out and ask the man why he hadn't tried to seduce her. Not that he was likely to have to try too hard, she admitted, remembering the way he*d melted her defenses with a touch.

  Still, if he expected her to make the first move, Kel Bryan had another think coming.

  So Megan's apparent indifference mirrored Kel's own.

  He resented the hell out of her casual attitude.

  She resented the hell out of his.

  And the sexual tension smoldered—imacknowl-edged—between them.

  It was left to Colleen to unwittingly end the stalemate created by stubborn pride. Sunday was as close to a day of rest as was possible on a working ranch. There were always chores to be done but on Sunday they were limited to the most basic—such as animals to be cared for—or the least taxing—such as tack to be cleaned or repaired.

  Megan suspected that the tradition had its origins less in religion than in necessity since quite a few of the hands made it a point to drive into the nearest town on Saturday night and put as much effort into having a good time as they put into their work the rest of the week. The result was a bunch of grown men walking

  Michael's Father S3

  very carefully Sunday morning, as if not entirely sure their heads were going to stay in place.

  Technically, Megan had Sunday off, as well as one other day a week of her own choosing. Since the nearest town consisted of three bars, two gas stations and a general store that housed an eclectic mix of merchandise, it hardly seemed worth the effort to go there. The two Sundays she'd spent on the Lazy B, M^an had used the time to clean up odds and ends of jobs she hadn't quite managed to finish and to do fancier baking than she took time for during the week.

  One thing about cooking for men who spent ten hours a day doing hard, physical labor was that they seemed to burn an amazing number of calories. And nobody seemed to worry much about things hke cholesterol, which meant she could indulge her love of baking and not feel so much as a twinge of guilt.

  But on this Sunday, Colleen announced that Megan was not to lift a finger. "You've done nothing but work since you came here," she said.

  "That's what I was hired to do," Megan pointed out.

  "You weren't hired to be slave labor. You haven't taken a single day off."

  "I don't feel overworked."

  "Everyone needs time off," Colleen insisted. "Shouldn't Megan take today off?" She looked across the room at her brother, who'd just entered. Megan immediately became terribly interested in the crossword puzzle she'd been toying with.

  "I tiiought today was her day off." Megan fdt Kel's eyes on her but she didn't look up.

  **It is, but if she stays here, she'll end up working. You know she will."

  Kel hadn't paid enough attention to her to have any idea what she did with her time, Megan thought irritably. She didn't have to Uft her eyes from the paper to know that he was still looking at her.

  "Can you ride?"

  The question had to have been addressed to her but it took Megan a moment to gather her wits enough to respond. She looked at him, feeling her breath catch a little, just as it always did when their eyes met.

  **It's been a few years," she said cautiously.

  **She could ride Mickey," Colleen suggested enthusiastically. "He's gentle enough for a baby."

  "Mickey?" Megan asked.

  "As in Mouse." Kel's tone was dry. "Colleen named him," he added with a mock-disgusted look in his sister's direction.

  "I was eight," she said defensively. "Besides, he's as gentle as a mouse so it's a good name for him."<
br />
  "It was the last time Dad or I let her name a horse," Kel told Megan.

  "So there's no Minnie?" For the first time in over a week, she felt at ease with him.

  "No. But if we hadn't stopped her, I suspect we'd have had a full complement of horses named after cartoon characters."

  "Imagine a stalUon named Donald Duck." Megan shook her head sympathetically at Kel's exaggerated shudder.

  "Laugh all you want," Colleen said, giving them both an offended look. "But I still think Mickey is the perfect horse for Megan."

  Which was how Megan found herself riding away from the ranch house on a bay gelding named Mickey Mouse. Kel was beside her on the big black horse she'd seen him riding that first day. The black's name was Dude, which she assumed referred to his somewhat flashy beauty.

  They made a striking pair, she thought, stealing a sideways glance at Kel and the big horse. Two superbly healthy male animals, in the prime of Hfe, arrogantly confident of their place in the world. Kel rode as if he was a part of the horse, his body hardly seeming to move in the saddle. In contrast, Megan felt as if she was bouncing up and down like a loosely filled sack of potatoes.

  "Loosen up," Kel said, apparently reading her thoughts. "Slouch down in the saddle a Uttle and let yourself feel the rhythm of the horse."

  She did her best to do as he'd instructed and it did seem to help a Uttle. But she still envied him the utter ease with which he sat a horse. In his faded jeans and one of the chambray shirts that seemed to compose a large part of his wardrobe, the gray hat pulled low over his eyes, his hands and knees easily controlling the big horse, he looked as if he'd stepped out of a painting of the old West. All he needed was a duster tied to the back of the saddle and a rifle in its scabbard, maybe a pair of revolvers tied low.

  Megan caught his questioning glance and looked away, embarrassed at having been caught fantasizing.

  even if he couldn't possibly know what she'd been thinking. She forced herself to concentrate on the view between Mickey's ears. There was plenty to see. Spread out before them was a sweep of land and sky so vast it was almost impossible to take in.