by J. H. Croix
She was an incredibly tempting combination of warm, nurturing and sexy as hell. Right now, she was wiping down the counter and all he could think about was how much longer he’d have to wait to feel her curves against him again. She’d demurred when he’d offered to help clean up, limiting him to carrying the dishes over to the sink and then shooing him back to the table. At that moment, she turned and leaned over to wipe down the counter facing him. His eyes dipped down to the shadowed valley between her breasts. She wore a cotton shirt with a scoop neck, which hugged her curves. He shifted in his seat again, restless from the lust pounding through his body.
She straightened, her eyes locking with his across the room. Electricity sizzled through the air between them. She spun away, snapping the moment. The sound of the water running in the sink barely penetrated when she rinsed and put the sponge away. He didn’t realize what he was doing until he was on his feet, walking toward her, but he felt a sudden sense of relief when she turned and her eyes widened to find him standing beside the island a few feet away.
Her cheeks were flushed. He could see the rise and fall of her breath. He held still for only a moment before closing the distance between them. She tilted her head back to look up at him. The second her gaze collided with his, he took another step closer until he could feel the heat of her body. He didn’t know what he was doing or how she felt about it, but all he knew was the drive to touch her and be close. Whatever thoughts were passing through her mind, he saw an answering desire reflected in her eyes. He lifted his hand and traced along her collarbone, up her neck where the skin was so soft it sent a pang through him, and into her silky hair. Her breath hitched, and his body tightened in response, the coil of need winding tighter inside. On the heels of a breath, he dipped his head and finally, finally brought his lips to hers.
It was like coming up for air after too long under water. He’d only kissed her once before, and he hadn’t stopped craving another kiss since then. For a flash, she froze and then sighed. It was as if their interrupted kiss from the other night picked up right where it left off. He fit his mouth over hers and delved inside. She met him stroke for stroke. Somewhere along the way with their tongues tangling wildly, he found himself lifting her up onto the counter behind her. He tore his lips free from hers, frantic for a taste of her skin. Blazing a path of kisses along the column of her neck, he growled against her skin when she shifted her hips restlessly against him. Without an ounce of calculation, the subtle arch brought the heat of her core against his rock-hard cock, sending a throb of need through him.
Janie couldn’t get close enough to Travis. With need pounding through her, she curled her legs around his hips and slipped her hands under his shirt, sighing at the feel of the muscled planes of his chest. She was lost in a maelstrom of sensation, drenched with need, and all she could think about was getting as close as possible. Meanwhile, his lips meandered along her collarbone, sending little shocks of pleasure through her everywhere they landed. His hand loosened in her hair and stroked down her back before tracing the dip of her waist and along the undersides of her breasts. She was panting with need. This wild, frantic side of herself was nearly unrecognizable to her. She didn’t lose control when it came to men. Ever. But right here, right now, she was dangerously close to it and barely hanging onto the thinnest thread of control.
When he tugged her shirt down below her breasts, a moan escaped as he traced his finger around a taut nipple pressed against the navy silk of her bra. She gripped his hair when he leaned forward and laved the silk. She was slick with need, her channel throbbing. He didn’t let up, alternating his attention between her nipples until she was gasping and flexing into his touch. She stroked a hand between them, curling it over the hard length of his cock. She could feel the heat of him through the denim and felt a wash of satisfaction when he groaned and lifted his head.
When his eyes met hers, dark with desire, she suddenly realized she was on the verge of tearing his clothes off right here in the kitchen. The shock of the moment sunk in. Something must’ve shown on her face because he held still, his eyes watching her. She forced herself to think through the haze of passion clouding her mind. No matter how much she wanted Travis—and boy did she ever—she couldn’t let this happen. Not this fast and this carelessly. She tried to take a steadying breath, but that sent her breasts rising against his chest, her taut nipples brushing against his rock-hard muscles. A rush of heat washed through her—a mix of intense need and embarrassment to find herself in this position.
As she frantically tried to gather her thoughts, Travis cleared his throat. “Maybe we should slow down,” he said, his words husky.
She looked up again and saw nothing but understanding in his gaze. It made her slightly uncomfortable to discover she might be that easy to read. She forced herself to take another breath and nodded jerkily. “Maybe so. I, uh… I’m not sure what this is. I don’t usually…” She stopped again and tried to slow her words, realizing the tumbling babble only ratcheted up her confusion inside. “Right, maybe we should.”
He stepped back, and she let her legs fall loose from where they’d been wrapped around his hips. In seconds, he’d tugged her shirt back in place. She ran a hand through her hair and shimmied her hips off the counter when he took another few steps back. For all intents and purposes, they were just two people standing in the kitchen now. If anyone walked in, they would see nothing amiss. Yet, Janie could feel the heat sliding like liquid fire through her veins and the damp silk over her nipples. That alone sent a clenching throb through her channel and she shifted her weight from one hip to the other, restless at the sensations coursing through her.
She looked over at him again and tried to marshal her thoughts. She felt silly and discombobulated. She was so out of practice with men. Well, it wasn’t as if she’d ever been in practice if she was being honest. She startled herself with what she blurted out next.
“I’m not so good at this, well, whatever this is that we’re doing. I don’t really date. I’m a mom and a teacher and dating never really fit into that equation. If I seem a little lost, it’s because I am.” Her words made her flinch. They were too bare, too honest, and she hadn’t quite meant to be that blunt, but the truth simply came out.
He watched her for a few beats, his gaze inscrutable. She wanted to run and hide, but she wouldn’t because she didn’t want to be a coward.
“Me neither,” he said with a half-grin. “It’s not like I haven’t dated at all, but you…well, you’re different. I’m not used to half-obsessing about a kiss for days. So don’t go thinking you’re alone in this, because you’re not.”
Relief washed through her, followed by wonder. His unflinching honesty made her feel a tiny bit less mortified by her own. She felt her smile spreading across her face.
“I guess it’s good we’re kinda in the same boat, huh?”
He grinned, his gorgeous blue eyes crinkling at the corners. “Suppose so. For now, I should probably go. Mind if I stop by tomorrow? I could pick some coffee up from Misty Mountain Café and maybe some pastries. What does Stella like?”
Her stomach did a little somersault, and her heart warmed. That he would think of Stella first just about made her night. She forced herself to remain where she was while he slipped into his jacket. She knew if she got close again, it would be too tempting to pick up right where they’d left off.
Chapter 8
Travis glanced to his side at the sound of a moose pawing the ground and huffing. To his other side stood a group of elementary school students, along with two teachers, one of whom happened to be Janie. It had been a full week since she’d blown his mind with another kiss. In the time since, he could hardly stop thinking about her. Aside from the morning he brought coffee and pastries over from Misty Mountain Café, he hadn’t had a chance to see her. It was disconcerting to see her just now. He’d been called up with Ben Halloran to respond to a moose and two yearlings who’d somehow gotten into the playground at Diamond Creek E
lementary. This had belatedly been discovered only after the first group of kids headed out for recess.
Travis forced his mind off of Janie. Right now, they had an irate mama moose, twenty kids and two curious calves to deal with. On top of all that, snow had fallen last night and started to melt this morning under the sunshine, leaving slick patches in the shady areas of the playground. He turned to see where Ben had gone and found him in the far corner of the playground, attempting to draw the attention of the yearlings away from the kids. Unfortunately, mama moose was between everyone and the door back into the school.
The cliché of firefighters saving cats stranded in trees was turned on its head in Alaska. Travis couldn’t count how many times he’d been called to deal with errant moose. Earlier this week, he and Ben helped lift a moose calf out of a hole in the ground from an abandoned and collapsed septic field. The mama moose in that scenario had proceeded to charge them once they lifted her calf to safety. If there was one thing he could claim expertise in, it was corralling ornery moose. He glanced back to the cluster of children and caught Janie’s eyes. “Whatever happens, stay put for now, okay? As long as we know where you guys are, we can make sure we keep the moose away from you. It might take a few minutes, but we’ll draw the calves away and mama will follow.”
Janie nodded firmly. She didn’t appear fazed. Given that she’d been born and raised in Alaska, Travis surmised she’d had plenty of moose encounters. The other teacher, a young woman who was probably straight out of college, looked slightly more frazzled with her eyes wide. Janie glanced from him to the other teacher before scanning her eyes over the cluster of children. “Don’t worry kids. Travis and Ben handle moose all the time. We’ll be fine. We just need to stay right where we are. Okay?”
Every child’s head nodded, some slowly, some fast and jerky. Ben whistled loudly, which led one of the curious calves who’d been lingering by the swing set and sniffing all around it to look over in his direction. Another whistle from Ben and the calf in question started to amble in his direction near the gate. Mama moose started to turn away, her eyes locked onto her calf. At this unfortunate moment, a little boy started to dash for the door to the building. Mama moose immediately swung back in their direction and started to move toward the little boy. Travis stepped in the boy’s path and latched onto his arm, stopping his run.
The little boy looked up, his brown hair falling over his forehead. A sob escaped and he tugged his arm, trying to free it from Travis’s hold. “Hey buddy, hang tight. Moose don’t chase unless they see something to chase. Stay right here with me.”
Another sob escaped, but the boy nodded. Thankfully, the moose had stopped her movement. Ben whistled a few more times, finally drawing the attention of the other calf, which had parked itself in a corner where alder trees stretched over the fence surrounding the playground. Alder branches were a favored food of moose, so this little calf had found a handy feeding spot. Once the calf started to move and its mother’s attention was firmly fixed away from the children, Travis shooed the little boy back toward Janie and started to follow slowly behind the mother moose.
He and Ben had quickly mapped out a plan when they arrived. The first order was to get the mama moose away from the gap between the children and the door. That meant drawing her away from the gate into the playground. The gate had likely been left unlocked, which made it possible for the moose to push right through in their quest of curiosity and to reach the alders. As soon as mama moose ambled far enough away, Travis turned back and waved to Janie and the other teacher, gesturing rapidly to the door. The plan was for everyone to get inside and then Travis would take Ben’ place with whistles and distractions to draw the calves back to the gate. Between the two of them, they figured they could herd the calves out and mama would follow.
All was going quite well. Janie and the other teacher quietly guided the children toward the door. Until another little boy broke free from the orderly line and dashed toward Ben and the moose heading in his direction. Travis instantly recognized Danny, the little boy from Janie’s classroom who had such a hard time sitting still. The look on his face was one of pure excitement. Ben moved quickly, calling out to keep the attention of the moose on him, but little Danny was a wild, tumbling blur of color as he hit an icy patch and skidded onto his bottom. Travis angled sideways to grab Danny, just as Janie came racing in his direction as well. There was simply too much happening for mama moose not to notice.
Even though everything happened in mere seconds, it felt like slow motion. Travis saw Janie racing to catch Danny and start to slip and fall. Mama moose turned away from her calves and Ben, her eyes locking onto Danny and Janie. Travis didn’t even think, but spun in between the moose and Janie and Danny, dashing past them to lead her away. He heard her hooves thumping the ground behind him. Moose appeared inexplicably slow when they moved. Even when they were running, they looked as if they were ambling along. Problem was, they were tall—ranging from five feet to six and a half feet at the shoulder—with long legs and covered a lot of ground. He heard several voices call out, but with the sound of the hooves getting closer, he aimed straight for the piece of play equipment in the center of the playground, hooking his hand on the rung of the bars and swinging himself up just as the moose reached him.
A moment later, he stood atop the bars and looked out over the playground. Ben was laughing from where he stood in the corner. The two calves had stopped to look back and were staring curiously at him. Mama moose had stopped underneath the bars and was pawing the ground, huffing and snorting. Travis glanced over to see Janie tugging Danny along at her side to the door. Danny, oblivious to any risk, was wrestling against her grip on his arm.
“But Ms. Stevens, I’m fine! I just fell on my bum. Mr. Travis is on the play set and I wanna…”
“Danny, you just about got yourself stomped by a moose! You are going right through this door…”
Her voice faded as she firmly brought Danny through the door and it shut behind her. The relief that rushed through Travis was so intense, his knees almost gave way. He hadn’t been able to really think about the danger Janie and Danny were in, but he’d been flat terrified. Moose weren’t predatory creatures, but they protected themselves and most certainly protected their calves. A few strikes of hooves from a moose had the potential to kill, even if that wasn’t what the moose set out to do. He gave himself a mental shake and glanced down. Mama moose had stopped pawing the ground and was looking up at him. He could almost reach out and touch her ears, which were rotating so wildly as she listened in all directions that it was almost comical.
He glanced across the playground to Ben. “So much for that plan,” he called out.
Ben’s laughter carried across the playground with a gust of icy wind blasting behind it. Travis took stock and realized he was in a precarious position and useless to Ben where he was. The door to the school building opened again, and Janie stepped through. She stayed right where she was and gave a wave. “How about I make some noise over here to draw the calves this way?” she called, her voice lilting over the wind.
“Perfect!” Ben replied before Travis had a chance to discourage her plan.
He wasn’t normally one to pull the whole manly routine, but he most definitely did not want to stand by and watch while she put herself at risk. He started to move and realized he was in no position to climb down unless he was plain stupid. Mama moose was still a mere foot away from where he stood above her. Janie, being the true blue Alaskan she was, didn’t bother to wait for his reply. Once Ben shouted his agreement with her idea, she started whistling, clapping and stomping her feet.
With his gut clenching, Travis had to physically hold back from climbing down as he watched Janie run alongside the building until she reached the playground gate where she banged on the aluminum bars. The calves finally began to move in her direction. With one last baleful look at Travis, mama moose ambled away. With Ben bringing up the rear, Travis climbed down and dashed to Janie.
Moments later, mama moose was walking through the gate after a nip on the haunches of one of her calves who was lingering by the alder. She seemed to have decided the snacking wasn’t worth the noise and commotion. Ben was closing the gate when Travis reached Janie. Without thinking, he pulled her into his arms, another intense wave of relief rocking him. He leaned back and looked down into her face. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold and her eyes bright, the layers of green and gold mesmerizing.
She stared up at him, her lips parting. Need raced through him, yet he knew now wasn’t the time or place, especially not when her eyes shifted from startled to snappy. “Good grief! Were you worried I was going to get hurt?”
She took a step back. She eyed him for a long moment. “You almost got run down by the moose on purpose and you were worried about me?” She put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. “I’m not stupid. Once I got Danny out of the way, I figured maybe you guys could use a little extra distraction since you were trapped on top of that.” She gestured dismissively to the play set in question, glancing to Ben when he approached them.
Ben’s brown eyes gleamed as he glanced between Travis and Janie. He didn’t comment, but looked to Janie. “Thanks for the assist. Once Trav got stuck, well, we coulda worked it out, but you were a big help.”
Janie’s smile stretched across her face. “No problem.” Her eyes flicked between them. Travis wasn’t embarrassed about ending up trapped. He hadn’t had any other options at the moment, but he got Janie’s message loud and clear. She was accustomed to taking care of herself and didn’t take kindly to anyone else stepping in the path.
