by Christi Snow
Time. Just how much did she have? It occurred to her that she had no idea where they were even headed.
* * *
She hadn’t spoken to Brian in several hours as they crossed the increasingly dry desert landscape. It’d gotten dark hours ago. She’d come close to talking to him a few times since Nathan had fallen asleep, but she didn’t know what to say. She was completely overwhelmed with everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. First the kiss and conversation by the fire last night, which had kept her tossing and turning all night long.
Then there was the craziness this morning. Had she imagined it when he’d said he’d quit his job? She couldn’t envision Brian without him being on the police force. It was so much of an integral part of who he was.
He startled her out of her musings when he quietly asked, “Are you okay?”
She leaned up between the bucket seats. Sam and Nathan had both managed to curl up into the other bucket seat together and Sam lifted his head. She gave him a quick ear scratch before she answered Brian’s question. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” She moved her hand to touch his arm, simply because she wanted the connection to him in the dark of the car. “How’s your back?”
“It’s fine. It barely even stings anymore.”
“How much farther is it? I know you have to be exhausted.”
“It’s just another couple of hours to go. I’ll be fine,” he answered quietly.
“Now for the harder question—how are you feeling? In a single day, you totaled your truck and your job. This is much worse than sending you to the ER with food poisoning. I’m sorry we pulled you into this mess, Brian.”
“No.” He threaded his fingers through the fingers on her hand. “This is not your fault. This is not Nathan’s fault. This is the fault of some heinous men who will pay for their crimes and the corruption that appears to go along with it within the police department. I’m going to do everything I can to ensure that happens.”
His voice was forceful, but even in the dark she could hear the pain behind it. First and foremost, Brian was a cop.
“What happened today? How did you end up quitting the police force?”
He let go of her hand to run his fingers through his hair in frustration. She watched the gamut of emotions flit across his face from the soft glow from the dashboard. “I’m not sure how far it goes, but my captain is almost definitely corrupt. He basically told us to drop the case. I questioned him on it and that didn’t go over too well. In the end, I flat out lost my temper and quit. It probably wasn’t the best way to handle it. I sure as hell shouldn’t have blurted out what happened to you at the grocery store. You could have been killed today because of that. I’m so sorry, Toni. I endangered you again.”
The pain in his voice shattered her. “Hey, if I can’t take responsibility for the bad guys in all this, then neither can you. Okay? Do we have a deal?”
He took her hand again and lifted it to his lips where he gave her a soft kiss across her knuckles. “We have a deal. Now try to get some rest. I’ll wake you when we get there.”
Chapter 6
Snowcroft, NM
Population: 1,042
Elevation: 9,127 feet above sea level
About forty-five minutes before, Toni had awoken to the curvy, vomit-inducing roads of the mountains and regretted her hasty decision to seclude herself in the backseat. They’d driven through a fast-food burger joint for dinner and the grease was making its presence known in her stomach. They were four hours past sunset and she’d just gotten a glimpse of the sign at the edge of the village.
As Brian slowed the car for a turn, she finally asked in a whisper, “Is this where we’re staying?”
“Yeah, we’re close. It’s a few more miles back around the side of the mountain here. A couple of buddies of mine own a log cabin. They’ve given me permission to use it anytime and I have my own keys. It’s secluded and no one should be able to trace us here.”
They drove and bumped along a gravel road, climbing steadily up. Every once in a while Toni saw another small nestled cabin or road branching off among the dark of the pine and aspen trees. There were no obvious landmarks or road signs of any sort to guide their way. Obviously, Brian had been here quite a bit to find his way in the pitch black of the late night.
Nathan stirred, sat up, and rubbed his eyes while looking out the windshield curiously. Suddenly a movement right in the middle of the road had them all gasping as Brian slammed on the brakes. The car slid for a moment on the loose gravel, but the bear sitting in the middle of the road eating out of the trash bag wasn’t too concerned. He glared at them and slowly lumbered off the road into the forest.
Sam growled low as he peered into the forest edge where the bear disappeared.
“No way. Did you all just see that? That was a bear,” exclaimed Nathan.
Brian gave a low chuckle. “Get used to it. They’re everywhere up here and as you just saw, they aren’t very scared of humans. We’ll need to be careful with Sam so he doesn’t end up tangling with one.”
Toni gulped. Oh my. If it wasn’t guns, it was bears.
After a couple more meandering miles, they turned into a long, gravel drive. When they came around a corner, the headlights lit up the exterior of a fairly new-looking, medium-sized log cabin. Brian pulled the car around to the back of the house, so anyone who happened to drive by couldn’t see it, although they’d really have to be looking because from what Toni could tell, the house wasn’t even visible from the road. But it was hard to tell for sure in the dark.
They slowly got out of the car, everyone stretching as they did so. Toni grabbed Sam by his collar, not wanting to lose him in his exploration of new scents, especially the bear ones. The night was incredibly quiet. There wasn’t any noise out here besides the rustle of the leaves in the trees. She peered into the dark trees, feeling inexplicably nervous about what could be out there, watching them from the protection of the dark.
They followed Brian up the back steps where he unlocked the door. It was a relief when he reached in to flip on the lights inside and on the porch. As light flooded the small area by the back door, it illuminated another cozy porch. It was bare of furniture since no one lived here full time, but the wood was a warm honey color and there was an exterior stone fireplace actually built into the wall of the house, just waiting for someone to build a romantic fire.
She wondered. Brian had called them “buddies,” but buddies came in the female form, too. She sure as hell hoped they weren’t staying in an old or current fling’s house. That would just be awkward.
Having gotten lost in thought, she was startled when Brian cupped her elbow and whispered in her ear, “So, are you going to come in or just hang out here all night with the bears?”
Bears, right. Shivering with a glance back toward the dark trees, she moved quickly into the house and found herself in a chef’s dream kitchen. Okay, now she was sure this cabin belonged to a woman. Damn. The porch fireplace shared a flue with a fireplace in here, although it would be more accurate to call this a brick oven. Wow. Who knew people actually put those in their homes?
The cabinets were mahogany and top of the line as were the black granite countertops, and that awesome retro Aga six-burner red stove. She may not be a decent cook, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t recognize a chef’s paradise. An overwhelming feeling of inadequacy to whoever owned this kitchen swamped her. Her abilities in the kitchen, or lack thereof, meant unplanned trips to the ER, not this.
Brian had watched her take in the room silently, his hands in his pockets as he leaned against the door.
“The owner must be quite a cook,” she mused.
“He is. He owns a restaurant in Austin.”
He. One word. Two letters. Overwhelming relief, which was just so wrong. She didn’t have any kind of claim on Brian. They were just caught together in this really bizarre eddy of life.
“Toni, come in here,” Nathan called from somewhere deep
er in the cabin. “You have to check this place out.”
Toni and Brian exchanged a grin and followed the enthusiastic sound of Nathan’s voice. The next room was a huge open timber frame living room with an entire wall of windows. With it being dark outside, they simply reflected the light back into the room, but Toni had a feeling the view was amazing. The entire room was wood. Wood flooring. Wood paneling. An arching ceiling with wood beams. It created a very masculine feel reinforced by the room full of recliners. Seriously?
Toni scanned the room. There were four brown leather recliners in the room, not a sofa in sight. Okay, yeah that settled it. No woman had ever set foot in this cabin. In the corner was a big, fully-stocked bar surrounded by four bar stools. It was wholly masculine, but still really beautiful. All the wood grains made it feel really warm, comfy, and cozy.
Nathan had wandered back to the bedrooms and his exclamation echoed through the house. “Sweet. Look at this huge big-screen TV.”
Brian grinned again. “I’m gonna go unload the car while you two look around.”
“Are you okay to do that by yourself or would you like some help?” She examined him, watching for signs of any lingering pain from his back.
He scowled. “I think I can handle it. I’m not a kid. You don’t have to baby me or take care of me.”
The sharp tone in his voice stung. “I…I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant to do.” She swallowed against the lump in her throat. Oh, God, no. She was not going to be a girl about this. He was tired and stressed and so was she. It had been a long day for all of them. Grin and don’t let him know how much that rebuff hurt. “I’m just going to go check out the rest of the house.” She scurried down the hall, trying to quell the tears that wanted to well up in her eyes.
“Toni—”
She waved an arm at him, but didn’t turn back around. “Go ahead. I’m just gonna check out the bedrooms.”
She brushed a hand to dry her tears as she headed in the direction of the sounds that Nathan and Sam made as they explored. “So did you guys find someplace to sleep?” She rounded the corner and came face-to-face with a huge king sized bed full of dog and boy romping all over it. She examined the room as the two of them played. Another wholly masculine room, this one was dominated by a huge four poster bed. A mix of rusted steel and carved wood, the bed was nothing short of a work of art…and really big.
Nathan was finally recovering his full teenage level of strength and energy. She giggled, hoping that bed was as strong as it looked with the two of them bouncing on it. Regardless of whatever else was happening, it was gratifying to see Nathan in this more natural playful kid-state.
Just as big and suspended on the wall was a mammoth flat-screened TV. Suddenly it was clear why Nathan wanted this room. She poked into the doors in the room, which hid a closet and a pretty nicely appointed bathroom. This must be the master bedroom. They probably should let Brian sleep in it, but she’d check out the other bedrooms first before she kicked Nathan and Sam out. While she had wandered around the room, they’d calmed and already zoned out in front of the TV with a late night talk show. From the glazed look on Nathan’s face, they weren’t going to be conscious for too much longer. It was late and had been a long day.
Exploring down the hall by herself, she discovered another bedroom that looked a lot like the first one, although the bathroom in this one made her drool. After the day they’d had, that huge sunken tub with jets built in looked like pure heaven. She’d love to close and lock the door and spend the next twenty-four hours soaking in this tub. She needed to check out the other bedroom and see if she could finagle with Brian to let her have this room.
Opening the final door, she came to the laundry room, but that couldn’t be right, could it? She glanced back into the hallway. Were there only two bedrooms? Only two beds? And with the living room filled with only recliners that meant there were no couches where a third person could sleep. Crap.
* * *
As Brian locked the door behind him, he leaned his forehead against the door-frame for a moment. He hated that he’d jumped on Toni like that and hurt her. Suddenly, all that coddling felt too much like that awful place he had been five months ago…him hurt and having to depend on her for his care. He didn’t want to go back to that place. Was it too much to want her to see him as a man, not as someone she needed to take care of? He wanted take care of her, not the other way around.
He needed to apologize and to that end, he grabbed up the bags to distribute to the bedrooms. In the first bedroom, he found Nathan and Sam already crashed out on the bed, sound asleep. He dropped the kid’s duffle bag on the floor, turning off the TV and the light. Sam gave him a sleepy yawn, and then laid his head back down on his paw stretched out next to Nathan. He pulled the door partly closed behind him.
As he walked down the hall, Toni came out of the other bedroom, looking stricken. Alarmed, he asked, “What’s wrong?” There was no way someone could have already tracked them here.
She glanced at the other door before tugging him into the bedroom. She looked around nervously. “Do you realize there are only two bedrooms?”
“Yeah, it’s not ideal, but we’ll make it work. I’ll just sleep on the couch.”
She frowned at him and pulled him back to the living room where she waved a hand toward the furniture. “What couch?”
How had he never noticed this before? He looked around the room like a full-sized sofa was going to magically appear, but nope, just leather recliners. Well, damn. It was going to be uncomfortable as all get out to sleep on one of those, especially with the cut across his upper back throbbing like a bitch, but there wasn’t a whole lot of choice in the matter.
“It’s okay,” he said to reassure Toni that he could survive sleeping in a recliner. “I’ve slept in worse. I’ll just grab a blanket and hunker down.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re over six feet tall. If you sleep on one of those, your entire body is going to be in knots, especially after the beating it’s already taken today. Take the bed. I’ll sleep in one of the chairs.”
He was so damn tired, he couldn’t think anymore. All he knew was he couldn’t allow that either. “Come on. We’re both adults and the bed in there is huge. I can control myself if you can. With a king-sized bed we’ll probably never even know the other person is there. Let’s both sleep in it tonight. Then tomorrow, we can figure something else out.”
Her shoulders drooped in exhaustion and he could see when she gave up the fight. “Okay, but just for tonight.”
She entered the bathroom taking her bag with her to change.
In the bedroom, Brian stripped off his clothes to do the same. He pulled on some sleep pants and tried to ignore the images of Toni slowly slipping out of her clothes just steps away. Was she wearing lacy underwear or cotton? Boy shorts or a thong? He groaned softly and willed his thoughts to slow and his body to cool. He pressed a palm against his throbbing cock. She’d never believe he’d keep his distance if she came out and he was sporting an erection.
This wasn’t working. He glared down at the unruly tenting at the front of his pants. Damn. To refocus, he thought about the events of the day, how close they all had come to dying. He had no idea how long it would take to figure out what was really going on here, but he’d be damned if either Nathan or Toni would become casualties in the meantime. He just hoped he could manage to keep them under the radar while Zach figured it all out. Hopefully. He needed to touch base with him first thing in the morning.
The bathroom door opened and Toni stepped out. Her stride faltered as she saw him standing there in just his sleep pants. Her eyes darkened and she bit her bottom lip as her gaze trailed down his bare chest.
Damn, his body tightened and there went that tenting again.
“Um, Brian.” Her voice sounded husky. “You probably should keep your shirt on if you want me to stay on my side of the bed.” Her face reddened and she dove for the bed and under the covers before he could respond. Not
that he really could have formed a decent thought or word, not with his mouth hanging open and all the blood rushing away from his brain.
Fuck. Now his problem was much more obvious than a little tenting. He grabbed a T-shirt and his toothbrush and headed toward the bathroom, wondering if it would be too obvious if he took a cold shower. That uncomfortable leather recliner was sounding more and more like a viable idea.
As he brushed his teeth, he tried to distract himself by going over the security measures he needed to implement tomorrow to make sure they were all as protected as possible. By the time he was finished, he was fully back in control of his body and ready to face the bedroom again.
Upon opening the bathroom door, he discovered the room bathed in darkness. He could just barely discern the outline of Toni in the bed and from the steady sound of her breathing. She was already asleep.
He slipped between the covers, expecting it to be a long, sleepless night, fully aware he needed to stay on his side of the bed. But the events of the day, of the month, must have caught up with him because before he knew it, he awoke to soft sunlight streaming in the window. It had been a long time since he had slept that soundly.
Sometime during the night Toni and he had become entwined like pretzels. Her long, toned legs were wrapped around his. He had one arm draped around her body and the other had snuck under her tank top to palm her luscious breast. The nipple had peaked against his palm. His cock came wide awake with a startling jolt. He almost groaned at the force of the pulse of blood that immediately flooded his hard length.
He tried to shift to relieve some of the pressure, but all that did was alert Toni’s subconscious that there was a man underneath her. She wasn’t awake yet, but she shifted sensuously against him, in a way that suggested she was probably having a pretty nice dream. Stiffening, he tried not to breathe, not to touch all that glorious skin that was right there within his grasp. He knew he couldn’t take advantage of the situation, but he couldn’t make that thought strong enough in his mind to make his body move out of arm’s length from her.
