by Leela Ash
The low murmur of his voice soothed her. Kelly wrapped her arms around his midriff as she sobbed for all she was worth.
Derek held her quietly, letting her cry. Then, as she quieted down, he slowly unwrapped his arms from around her and offered her a handkerchief. “Dry your eyes.”
The walkie-talkie at his back crackled and he picked it up. “We’re all right,” he ground out.
Murphy’s drained voice came over the line. “Well, we not! This kid be raising holy hell for his momma, and Therese says he ain’t gon’ calm down none ‘til he hears her voice.”
Derek winced. Murphy always slid into this pattern of speech when he was anxious or on edge. And he was laying it on thick with the accent, which he had lost years ago, which meant he was very close to losing his cool. Murphy with a temper was not a good thing.
“Where are you guys?” Derek wanted to know.
“We jus’ pulled up t’ the resort,” Murphy answered.
“Fine, put Tom on.”
Almost at once, a tiny voice, laden with tears, squeaked, “Mommy?”
Kelly’s heart squeezed in her chest. Her poor baby was beside himself. The last time he had called her mommy was when something had given him such a fright that he wet himself.
“It’s okay, baby. I’m fine. Derek’s got me. We’re coming back right now.”
Famous last words. The sky opened up right then and it began to rain. No, it wasn’t raining, it was pouring!
The rain came down in relentless torrents, and in a matter of seconds, Kelly was drenched to her panties.
“Run!” Derek shouted over the sound of the rain and he grabbed her hand and dashed toward where the truck had been.
“The truck’s gone!” Kelly shouted in surprise.
But either Derek didn’t hear her, or he wasn’t surprised, because he kept on running, right past the spot the truck had been parked, past the motorbike leaning against one tree, and straight into the trees on the other side, well away from the waterfall.
The rain was getting in her eyes and everywhere else. She could barely see and as though he knew that, Derek maintained an iron, vise-like grip on her wrist.
A dark entrance loomed in front of them and Kelly realized Derek was racing for the safety of a cave. As soon as they raced into the waiting cave, instant darkness enveloped them, and Kelly shivered as cold warred with fear. What sort of place was this? It could be crawling with snakes and spiders and roaches.
Worse, she was trapped in it with a strange man, while a wolf and panther probably circled around outside, trying to figure out the best way to come get their meal.
“We’re safe here,” Derek said quietly, giving her hand one last squeeze before letting go.
He darted away and it seemed as though the darkness thickened. Before she could recover her composure enough to scream, he lit a match and the interior of the cave lit up.
How had he gotten a match and candle?
As though he had read her mind, he looked up, “We keep emergency supplies in some caves and cabins scattered around the place just in case.”
That sounded like a good plan, she thought. More pressing matters intruded. She was cold; chilled to the bones and soaked all through.
Derek went down on one knee and began to busy himself with something, his back to her.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
“We need warmth and a candle isn’t going to do it.”
“Well, the rain could let up at any minute and we could return to the resort,” she said brightly, wriggling out of her jacket so she could wring it.
“Guess again,” came the gruff reply.
Kelly froze in the act of wringing her jacket.
“What?”
“When it rains in these parts, it doesn’t let up for hours and night falls very quickly.”
“What are you saying?”
“It could rain until nightfall, and if it does, we’re safer here than out there.”
Fear clogged her throat at his words. “I— I can’t stay here. Tom—”
“Therese will take care of him. Once the noise of the rain reduces, I’ll call again, and you can speak with them.”
Wearily, Kelly sank onto the floor of the cave, distracting herself by noting that she was sitting on a little rug. Was this place an emergency shelter or a cozy love nest, she wondered, looking around with an assessing eye.
The cave had, without a doubt, been used recently because there wasn’t a single cobweb or bit of dust in sight. Whoever had furnished the cave was obviously a closet hedonist. There were folded blankets in one corner of the cave and one pillow. There were small sleeping bags, a few stray rugs, pieces of candles and a pile of wood in another corner.
“You hungry?” Derek asked, stretching out an energy bar to her.
She took it, thankful.
Derek had lit a fire with some pieces of wood, and the warmth was amazing. Kelly scooted closer, shivering a little. “I don’t suppose you have a change of wardrobe in here as well?”
He chuckled, “I hate to break it to you, but this isn’t Grand Central.”
Kelly wrinkled her nose at him, and he chuckled, the sound warm and dark like chocolate. Just like that, Kelly froze and the easy camaraderie they had been enjoying vanished in a heartbeat.
Awareness crackled in the air with the logs in the fire. Raw heat spread through Kelly, unexpected and uncontrollable, and her mouth fell open on a gasp. Derek’s gaze riveted on her parted lips and she saw him swallow hard. Then, he jerked his gaze up to her eyes and rose to his full height of six-three, tension rolling off him in waves. His whipcord muscles tautened as she watched, as though he were exerting rigid control on himself.
She knew exactly how he felt, Kelly thought staring up at him. The last thing she wanted was to be attracted to a tour guide in some backwater country, but she couldn’t deny it. Everything about him enthralled and fascinated her.
She turned away. “I’m cold.”
Silence reigned a bit and then his voice came, raspier than she had ever heard it, “You need to get out of those wet clothes.”
She looked around. He had gone to the far end of the cave and was rifling through the blankets. A t-shirt fell out of one and he bent and scooped it up.
“You’re in luck. It’s our Dexen Resort t-shirt. And it’s clean,” he added. He started to walk toward her to hand it over, then he checked the movement and flung it across the space that divided them.
It hit her full in the face and she caught it before it hit the floor.
“Thanks,” she mumbled. She stood, battling with uncertainty in the middle of the cave. What was she to do now? She needed to change clothes and the cave offered no additional privacy. How would she struggle out of these wet clothes in Derek’s presence, she wondered, biting her lip in indecision?
Derek strode past her without a word, walking out of the cave and right into the rain. She stared after him. He’d sensed she needed privacy and had offered it without her having to ask.
He was a gentleman, she thought, allowing the warmth of that knowledge to seep into her. He offered his unfailing and solicitous assistance without her asking; he gave her his shoulder when she needed to cry out her fear after the panther attack and he’d managed to sense her need for privacy just now and obliged her without a word.
Kelly grabbed the edges of her shirt and tugged it over her head. She unfastened the snap of her jeans and ripped them off in the same motion as her shoes. She reached for her bra and unhooked and tossed it onto her clothes before discarding her panties in the same manner.
The t-shirt draped over her silky skin with comforting warmth and she promptly wrapped herself in a blanket. The entire inside of the cave was getting warmer and warmer as the fire crackled.
Kelly rubbed her hands vigorously together, warming them in the heat of the fire.
“Kelly?”
She lifted her head. Obviously, Derek wanted to be sure she was done. “I’m done,” she
called.
He entered the cave, his feet soundless as he moved . His gaze went straight to where her wet clothes were huddled in a spot and he cocked a brow as he strode to them.
“Are you planning on wearing a t-shirt and blankets back to the resort?”
“Huh?”
“Well, I’m just saying, I would advise against it. I mean, I don’t mind, but everyone’s sure to have a hard time believing you were in your t-shirt and nothing else and nothing happened between us.”
Silence.
Finally, she recovered. “Everyone would be wrong because nothing’s going to happen between us,” she declared in a terse voice. She had gone incredibly still, her entire body unconsciously poised for an attack.
Realizing what she was doing, she forced herself to relax. Derek was a perfect gentleman, and she insulted him by even thinking he would try anything untoward with her.
She looked around. Derek had hung her clothes to dry on every available space and in the nanosecond her back had been turned, he had managed to change out of his clothes, putting on a pair of dry jeans and hanging his own clothes too. Obviously, though, he hadn’t found a shirt because his chest was bare.
Her throat went dry.
5.
Heedless of Kelly’s dilemma, Derek sauntered over to the mouth of the cave and without effort, rolled a big stone to cover it.
“It’ll keep the animals out,” he tossed as he headed back to the other end of the cave.
How could he be so composed while he paraded his half-naked, sizzling hot, irresistible flesh in front of her? She had always prided herself on being a strong, independent woman in complete control of her emotions and reactions, and yet, one glance at Derek’s half-naked torso and all she could think about was running her hands down his naked chest while his large hands cupped her ass cheeks and pressed the warm, wet juncture of her thighs against his fly.
Embarrassed heat filled her cheeks at the naughty direction of her thoughts. She glared at his unoffending back.
“Get a shirt on!” she spat with more vehemence than she had intended.
He threw her an unperturbed glance as he grabbed sleeping bags and began to spread them out.
“Whatever for? I’m going to be huddled under blankets in a few seconds, so I’m sure you can control your lust for that long.”
Kelly gasped in outrage. “Excuse me?”
“Listen I’m too tired to argue with you, okay? So, you’re not attracted to me. Fine. I’m not attracted to you either. I just want to get some sleep. Unwrap your own sleeping bed when you have the time.”
“But—”
“Your virtue is safe with me, Dunes,” he announced in a dry tone. “Oh, and by the way, I called Murphy when I was outside and told him we would be bedding down for the night. Tom’s safe.”
With that last word, he burrowed under the covers and drew the blankets up to his waist turning his back on her and treating her to an unwanted and very troubling view of a wide expanse of naked male flesh.
Kelly stared at his back in dismay even as a slow tendril of desire unfurled inside of her. It had been so long since a man had touched her, she reflected, remembering that her last lovemaking with Jason had been over three years ago.
So? Her subconscious demanded. That didn’t mean she had to fall into the arms of the first half-naked guy she saw.
With an audible harrumph, she unrolled her own sleeping bag and got into it turning her back to him as well. She didn’t notice when he turned around and gave her a measuring glance before reluctantly facing away from her again.
Sleep came fast, and in a matter of seconds, Kelly was dreaming about panthers and wolves with eyes that reminded her of Derek’s.
Something woke her up. She wasn’t sure what it was; just an uneasiness and a sense of being watched. All the hairs on the back of her neck rose in alarm and she turned her head toward the part of the cave where Derek had bedded down. It was empty.
Fear lodged in her throat and she sat up. The little fire in the cave had flickered down and was almost dead.
“Derek?” she whispered.
Silence.
“Derek!” she hissed.
One glance at the cave entrance told her he had gone out. The stone was shifted to one side.
She thought she heard a noise outside, and she went to investigate. The trees blew gently in the night breeze but otherwise, everything was eerily still. She looked at the full moon and felt a slight shiver. Therese liked to say the crazies always came out on a full moon.
Where was Derek?
Without warning, a howl that chilled her very blood filled the entire forest and her eyes rounded into twin saucers of terror.
A crash in the brush up ahead tore a hoarse scream from her throat and she dashed into the cave, quivering. She started to shove at the stone that had sealed the cave entrance, trying to push it back into place. The stone was far heavier than it looked. Derek had moved it like a bowl of peas!
The howling came closer, and adrenaline and fear combined to give her strength she didn’t know she possessed. She flexed her feet against the ground even as she shoved harder at the stone.
Not expecting it to, it gave and rolled a few inches to rest against her instep.
It was Kelly’s turn to howl as pain washed over her in rivulets.
Derek was enjoying the forest, roaming about in his natural form and investigating the territory. He could see that he and Kelly wouldn’t have a problem getting home. The heavy rain hadn’t washed away the roads. It had destroyed one little bridge, but that bridge didn’t have a thing to do with their route home, so that was fine.
His paws moved soundlessly upon the ground as he went, his nose sniffing the air for any prey or predator. He picked absently at a small bush of raspberries, enjoying the burst of flavor against his tongue. That was the good thing about his wolf form: he still enjoyed the same foods he did as a human, only their taste was more intense somehow.
His hearing when he was in his wolf form was incredible, allowing him to hear for miles at a time. He tuned his hearing now to Kelly, listening to her quiet breathing as she slept.
He broke into a run, feeling the sheer power and sinewy strength in his muscles, enjoying the brush of the grasses against his fur and the slight drizzle still dropping on him.
He threw back his head and howled, luxuriating in the unhampered freedom the forest gave him. This was the one place where he could truly be himself, which was why it was his favorite place on earth.
Something pricked his hearing and he stopped to listen mid-howl. He heard panicked breaths and realized Kelly was awake. He bounded toward the cave, intent on discovering what had scared her.
As he ran, he was considering changing form when he heard her unmistakable scream of pain.
Anger and panic coursed through him and he began to run with his supernatural speed, moving like a blur through the forest and crashing into trees this way and that without feeling it.
He landed at the door of the cave just as Kelly looked through the crack and saw him. Her scream, this time, was blood-chilling and he recalled too late that he must be a very frightening sight for her.
He opened his mouth to tell her to calm down but because he was in his wolf form all that came out was a growl.
Her eyes were two white balls of terror. He wondered why she was standing right behind the door instead of running away, but then realized that her foot was stuck beneath the stone at the door.
“Gerroff!” Kelly ordered, though it sounded more like a plea.
He turned and ran out of sight. He immediately shifted back into his human form and came running, screaming her name as he came.
“Derek!” she sobbed, so relieved to see him; unable to move because of the stone trapping her foot; terrified that the wolf would spring on Derek and devour him before her eyes.
“Kelly?”
Derek lifted the stone in one quick motion, as if it were a paperweight. Then he scooped Kelly i
nto his arms and carried her to her sleeping bag. He placed her atop it with gentleness, his gaze going to where her foot was red and slightly swollen.
“Does it hurt bad,” he asked, gently prodding the red spot.
“I’ll live. Thanks for getting me out.”
Her strained tone made him look up in surprise. One look at her face and his heart slammed into his chest. Her pupils were half-dilated with desire, her lips looked dewy and seemed to be begging to be kissed just a few inches from his, and her chest was rising and falling in a steady rhythm that emphasized the rounded shape of her soft breasts.
He jerked his gaze away from her and focused, instead, on her foot. His eagle eyes picked up a tiny piece of shrapnel that had embedded itself beneath her instep. He bent his head without a second thought and slowly picked the shrapnel with his teeth.
Kelly’s breath hissed out as the piece of stone was pulled out. Derek squeezed the area of flesh and little blood came out. Without stopping to think about it, he lapped it up with his tongue, out of instinct, doing what he did for himself whenever he had a cut.
Kelly’s breath caught in her throat as she stared at the top of his head in disbelief. What was he up to now? He did it again: bent low and licked her instep, slowly. Then he used his teeth to graze the spot a little. The pain was fading gradually as he licked it, but in its place, desire was unfurling in the pit of her stomach, with gradual intensity until she was shaking with it.
As though in a daze, she reached out a hand and tapped the top of his head. He lifted his head to look at her, and answering passion blazed out at her from his silver gaze. She moaned, the sound low in her throat.
They both moved at once, coming together in a flash and melding into each other’s arms. “I want you,” Derek groaned against her lips as he slowly pushed her to her back and followed her down.
For answer, Kelly thrust her chest against his bare chest, silently offering him her body as she got lost in his drugging kiss.
He tasted of raspberries — of all things — and he smelled clean and fresh like rain and fresh grasses. His skin was warmer than she’d expected; almost hot. Kelly curved her hands around his back, enjoying his caresses. His hands came around to stroke her midriff before going up to cup her breasts.
