by Vella Day
After she finished moistening him, she ran her fingers up and down his hard shaft.
Keeping his eyes shut, he groaned. “Take too much time and you might have a mess on your hands.”
Her whole body heated up. “Party pooper.” She sheathed him, excited about her soon-to-be E-ticket ride—one that was twelve years coming.
Kelly rolled on top of him and kissed him silly, wanting to drive him crazy like he was doing to her.
“Oh no you don’t. I can’t last must longer. Have mercy on my soul.” Derek wrapped his arms around her and flipped her on her back. He then lowered himself onto her and parted her thighs with his knees. “I want you so much.” His voice came out in a strangled cry.
As he fit his tip into her, she wrapped her legs around his waist. As he eased his way in, Kelly gasped from the size. When heat pooled between her thighs, she was able to take all of him inside her. Closing her eyes, she let the moment send her toward ecstasy. Sweet sex filled the air as he thrust into her. My God, he was more amazing than she ever imagined. All those nights in the backseat of his Chevy was nothing compared to this amazing experience. Derek was powerful, yet gentle at the same time. Could this be love?
Derek moaned. Blood thrummed through her veins as he pumped harder and harder until his cock grew and throbbed. A second later he climaxed. Her mind blown, Kelly let herself go and reached her orgasm seconds after him.
Exhausted, Kelly dropped her arms to the bed. “That was incredible.”
Derek kissed her lips tenderly, like he had so many years ago. “Amazing, was more like it.”
“Yeah, that too.”
He rolled over and gently kissed her. She couldn’t remember when she’d felt so needed, so appreciated, or so adored. Dare she hope there could be something between them? While she might have been foolish to leave him so long ago, was now the time for them to start again?
Derek caressed her face and ran her hair through his fingers. “Everything about you is amazing.”
Kelly smiled.
She hadn’t realized she’d dozed off until Derek’s body rocked the bed. He’d draped the sheet and blanket over her. Rolling over to her side, she placed her head on his chest.
If she died tomorrow, she would die happy.
23
Light blinded Derek, and he shielded his eyes with one hand, managing to hang onto the galloping horse with the other. Squinting, he looked around to see if the landscape had changed from the last time he’d been taken.
No.
Shit. He’d just spent the most incredible night of his life with Kelly, and these chieftains decide now was the time to yank him away from a wonderful sleep? What the hell had he done wrong? Something must have pissed them off.
“Hurry,” the man next to Derek shouted over the pounding of the hooves.
“Are you taking me back to the village?”
“Yes.”
At least they were predictable. Derek hunkered down and let the horse have his way. Throat-clogging dirt swirled upward and nearly choked him. How had the people long ago handled these poor conditions?
He wouldn’t see the village in the distance; it would just appear out of thin air, like a sudden mirage. Maybe if he concentrated on Kelly, he could jettison himself back to the motel room with her warm body snuggled up against him.
“Halt.”
Without warning, his horse obeyed the Chief’s command, nearly throwing Derek out of the saddle. “Quit that.”
“Silence.”
The commanding tone was becoming tiresome. He didn’t need to hear what these men had to tell him. He had a killer to find and a woman to protect.
“Get down.” Another command.
“Happy to oblige,” Derek said as he slid off the horse. His thighs were grateful for the respite.
“Come.”
Terse lot. At least they were letting him participate instead of standing back and watching.
“Go into the teepee with the gold and white feathers above the opening,” stone-face motioned.
Derek jogged to the destination believing the sooner he arrived, the sooner he’d be returned to Kelly.
Indian women were preparing meals over an open fire, and children were laughing and screeching nearby, yet no one seemed to notice him. Was he invisible or didn’t they realize he wasn’t one of them?
Before he could decide on whether they could see him, he arrived at the teepee. He didn’t think knocking on the cowhide flap was appropriate, so he pushed aside the material and entered.
Derek refrained from rolling his eyes at the clichéd setting. A man, with long, stringy gray hair sat on the dirt floor smoking a pipe. The cloying, sweet smell made Derek cough.
Couldn’t his spiritual guides have come up with something more original?
“Sit.”
More one word commands. He obeyed and sat cross-legged like the man opposite him.
“You want to know why we brought you here,” the old man said.
Derek swallowed his impatience. “You could say that.”
The man inhaled on his pipe and blew out a long string of circles. “We could have set up this meeting in an office, complete with a Power Point presentation, but we felt you could relate better to this setting.”
Dumbfounded, Derek straightened and stared at the old man. What kind of place had they brought him to?
“Okay, we will begin,” the shaman said. “You are a great warrior, Derek Benally.”
Hardly. Tempted to leave this scene that seemed to come from a bad B movie, Derek figured it might be best to give the guy a chance. Besides, he didn’t think the chieftains outside would be pleased if he split so soon.
“Fine, I’m a great warrior. I kill buffalo to support my family, and I slay many white men.”
“You don’t need to take that tone with me. I’m trying to help you.”
“Fine. Go on. I’m listening.”
“We are pained you do not embrace your heritage.” He held up a hand. “Just hear me out. Yes, your father wanted you to follow in his footsteps, but you have bigger ideas, better ideas.”
Derek jumped to his feet. “My father is behind all of this hocus pocus?”
“Sit down and stop acting like a petulant child.”
Breathing heavily, Derek dropped back to the ground, not pleased with this whole charade. “Now what?”
“Now, you listen. You have chosen to use your talents in the white world. You need to accept that what you are doing is for the good of all men, not just for Native Americans or for the Whites. Because you help bring justice to the world, we want to help you.”
He laughed. “If you want to help me, then tell me where Justin Bladen is.”
The old man laughed briefly. “You don’t need our help. In time, you will find the person who killed your sister.”
“So why did you bring me here?” Fury raced through him as sweat dripped down his back and arms. This whole dream was bullshit, if it was a dream.
“To give you permission to accept who you are.”
He had to be kidding. “I do accept who I am.”
The old man waved a hand, and the tassels on his buckskin shirt wiggled back and forth. “You do not. If you truly understood who you were, you’d be able to accept others for who they are. You expect others to change because of your choices, not theirs.”
That’s bullshit. He didn’t need platitudes and lectures at his age. “I’m not some controlling maniac.”
“You judge others. You judge your father because he chooses the way of his tribe. You even judged your sister on how she led her life. And you wanted Billie to be like you, not your dad.” He blew more smoke rings. “Let each soul determine what is best for himself.”
“Derek?”
When he opened his eyes, Kelly was sitting on the chair across from the bed and faint light was streaming through the curtains. It was morning. How was that possible? He’d just fallen asleep.
“Why are you over there?” he asked, n
ot understanding how she’d slipped away from him.
Her arms were wrapped around her knees. “I don’t know who you are anymore.” She looked off to the side, acting as if the weight of the world had crashed down on her.
“Come over here.” He held out her arms.
She shook her head. “Where were you just now?”
Oh, shit. “Was I staring or something?” A giant claw twisted his gut.
“Staring or something? Good Lord. You’ve been sitting cross-legged on the bed, not moving a muscle for an hour—a whole hour. I tried to rouse you, but you wouldn’t respond.”
Kelly blinked and swiped a hand across her eyes. Had she been crying? He couldn’t handle tears. Here he thought they’d finally connected both physically and perhaps even emotionally, and he’d fucked everything up by taking a trip to another world. Would she understand what he’d been through? Or rather could she understand? The last time he tried to describe the voices he’d heard, Kelly had run away.
To college.
And out of his life.
He couldn’t let that happen again. But should he lie? His spirit guides kept saying he needed to accept himself for who he was. A little voice in his head, who he was positive had nothing to do with any spiritual guides, told him to go for it. If she left him, then she was not the woman he knew and lov—.
“They why didn’t you call 9-1-1?” he asked.
“I thought about it, but you were breathing just fine. I figured you were in some trance.”
“I was.” He scooted to the edge of the bed to be nearer to her. Ever since Rayne died, I’ve been having these...these, what I can best describe as out of body experiences.” He held his breath, waiting for her laughter or worse, derision.
“Out of body?” Her brows knitted together as if the concept repulsed her—or was it a look of confusion?
He had to push on and make her understand. “I can’t control these sessions. One minute I’m either lying in bed sound asleep or meditating, and the next moment this band of chiefs, from all different tribes, sweep me away to who knows where.”
She opened her mouth and shook her head. “So you’re telling me men with big feathers abduct you to the great place in the sky?”
Derek couldn’t blame her for her attitude, but he knew if he could make her understand, she’d accept what happened as part of his nature. “I know it sounds far fetched. Hell, it is to me too. Each time they’ve taken me, something different happens. It’s not like a recurring dream.”
“How many times has this happened?” Now she sounded scared, as though each experience had altered him in some molecular way.
“I...I don’t know.” He mentally went through the list of abductions, if that’s what they were. “Maybe three, four times in all.”
“Weren’t you scared? I know I’d be petrified.”
She believed him? “I kind of was after the fact.”
Kelly pursed her lips. “As a scientist I don’t believe in the hereafter, Gods, or spiritual guides, but I’m game to hear what they had to say.” The animosity in her tone lessened a bit.
“You sure?” He couldn’t believe how hard his heart beat. He had to reach her. Every cell in his body vibrated with a need to connect.
“I won’t laugh if that’s what you’re afraid of.”
“Laughter is the least of my worries.” Try running away? He took a deep breath. “Here goes. Each time they took me, I was able to see a glimpse of myself.”
“Like you were looking in the mirror?” There was a hint of interest in her tone.
Derek leaned forward, anxious to share. “Not quite. It wasn’t a reflection. It was more like I was watching a movie where I was the star. At least the first time or two that was what happened. In this last trip, I met with a wise man, a shaman of some sort. I wasn’t watching anyone portray me. I was myself.”
“And what did this sage tell you?”
Dare he share? Her gaze focused hard on him. “He told me to accept my heritage, and to stop fighting my father and what he represents. I should seek out evil to benefit all mankind.”
“That’s powerful stuff.”
He couldn’t tell if she was being sincere or mocking him. “I thought the same thing.”
“And did they tell you how you were supposed to conquer the world?”
As if she flipped a switch, Kelly changed gears. He refused to let her fear deter him from continuing. “Not the whole world, just my world. He said to trust my instincts.”
“That’s it? Just trust your instincts?” She rolled her eyes. “I’m disappointed in their lack of intellectual depth. Did they tell you anything else?”
Clearly she didn’t believe him. As if he’d plunged off the edge of a cliff into a black hole, his heart tore in half. “Not really, but I figured as long as I had their attention, I’d ask if they knew where I could find Justin.”
Interest sparked in her eyes. Finally. “So what did they say?”
For a moment he debated whether to tell her. She looked so eager and so sexy that he caved. “The spirit guide had every confidence in my abilities to find the person who killed my sister on my own. I no longer needed his help, he said.”
She collapsed back against the chair. “They weren’t of any help then.”
Derek sank back onto the pillow. “No.” He tried to ignore the ache in his heart.
Stupid move, Benally. Why had he bared his soul to her? It wasn’t as if there was any hope she’d want to rekindle what they once had, despite the mind-blowing sex they’d shared.
Kelly always thought his voices made him different—too different to be around. Fine. If Kelly didn’t want to accept him for who he was, he’d have to move on.
Right. And the world hunger would disappear tomorrow.
She stood up. “Can we eat now?”
From the brittle way she held herself, she acted as if he’d personally betrayed her, and nothing he could say would change her mind.
End of discussion. End of any chance of them being together.
Derek swallowed hard. “Sure, but first, you need to pack. I’ll call the airport to see if we can get on the next flight back.” He kept his tone professional, impersonal, and to the point. Good.
She spun toward him. “What? And not find the jerk who tried to intimidate me? No way in hell am I leaving here without learning who he is. I want justice.”
He almost smiled at her feisty attitude. He could handle feisty. It was the scared Kelly he had a hard time dealing with.
Not wanting to rile her further, Derek kept his tone even. “Let’s leave the policing to the sheriff’s department.”
“Them? What if they’re part of the problem?”
“We’ve been over this. We have no facts to support Mariani is the bad guy. Besides, he’s all we have. We came here to find Justin. That’s all. Let Mariani deal with the drugging and the stalking. We can’t let what happened make us lose focus on the real issue.”
She closed the gap between them, grabbed his arms, and lasered him a stare. “I want to know who’s trying to scare me, or worse, kill me. Or don’t you care?”
Derek couldn’t help but run a finger down her cheek and inhale her delicious flowery scent. He had to keep her safe—even if it meant she’d hate him for it. “It’s too dangerous to stay here. The person who’s harassing you could come back again. There’s no guarantee I can protect you. I won’t chance it.”
She stepped out of his grasp, turned her back to him, and wrapped her arms around her waist. Kelly dropped her head back. “I wish I knew what to do.”
“Leave town.”
Spinning around to face him, she stepped within arm’s reach. “If we leave, this person will have won.”
She infuriated him, while at the same time made him want to kiss her, hold her, and have her more than anything. “Kelly, if we find our sisters’ murderer, I think we’ll find the person who is trying to harm you.” She looked so lost that it took all his strength not to clasp he
r to his chest and give her comfort.
Kelly took one step closer and dropped her head forward onto his chest. “Derek. I’m so sc-scared.”
At the sound of her wavering voice, Derek gave in and held her tight. She might not accept his religious beliefs, which meant she’d never truly be his, but he could make certain nothing else happened to her.
From instinct, Derek leaned down and kissed the top of her head. The fresh smell of her shampoo sent a jolt of desire through him, but he pushed the thought away. They were through—over.
Kelly stepped back again, and his heart ached at her renewed rejection.
“What’s going to happen with this McDermitt fellow?” she asked. “Will Mariani watch him too? He’s practically a criminal, and yet Mariani hasn’t done anything to him yet. Maybe McDermitt’s the one who wants you out of town and believed that if he scared me, I’d make you leave.”
Kelly sounded like the analytical woman he remembered. He thought back to the end of the conversation he had with the old man. Talking about the case would help calm his lust and put a cage around his heart.
“No. As a matter of fact, he asked me to stay. Besides, he has no idea you exist.”
As Kelly paced the small room, Derek watched, helpless to calm her.
“How can you be so sure I’m this invisible commodity? How do you know McDermitt doesn’t know I exist, or that Nancy doesn’t know I exist? Remember, I told that jerk at the bar you were my husband. Maybe he talked.” Kelly’s hands gestured like a deaf person. “And that caller was watching me. Somebody knows I’m here!” Her brows furrowed.
He stepped around the bed and cupped her cheek. “Kelly, I’m not the enemy here. I want what’s best for you.”
His logic must have gotten through to her because her shoulders sagged. She took two steps over to the bed, sat, leaned back, and draped an arm over her eyes.
Her breaths came out fast. Helpless as to how to ease her fears, he sat down next to her. “What do you want me to do?”
She lowered her arm and stared up at the ceiling. “I don’t know, Derek. I’m confused. I’m confused about who would want to hurt my sister. I’m confused about my feelings for you. I’m confused because I don’t know which way to turn.”
