Dangerous Secrets: Callaghan Brothers, Book 1 (21 page)

“He is a constant reminder of what can happen when you are not careful, when you ignore your instincts,” she said quietly, looking down at her hands.

“That’s a nice story.  Now tell me what the dragon is hiding, Kiara.” 

“Pass.  Do you have any tattoos?”

“Yes, one.”

“May I see it?”  He raised both eyebrows at her this time.  “Well,” she reasoned, “it seems only fair since you saw mine.”

He couldn’t show her, because he bore the same mark that every male in his family did – the Callaghan crest, consisting of a jeweled dagger piercing a Celtic knot, along with an additional mark that represented each of their unique specialties.  He didn’t know if she had seen any of the others, and couldn’t take the chance that she had.

“No.”  He almost laughed at the petulant expression on her face.  “Are you trying to get me to take my shirt off, Kiara?”

“Would you?”

“No.”

They continued bantering back and forth for a while, each carefully scripting questions and refusing to answer those they didn’t want to.  It became a game, each trying to outmaneuver the other with the cleverness of their questions.  He learned as much about her by the questions she didn’t answer as the ones she did.  When Kiara cleared the table and began to wash the dishes, Kane found himself beside her, drying.

“First girlfriend?” she asked.  Kane smiled as he leaned back against the counter.  She wasn’t so bad, really, when she wasn’t trying to be a pain in the ass.  And maybe, just maybe, he was enjoying her company a little.  As interrogations went, it was pretty sweet, actually. 

“Susie Matthews in Kindergarten.  She was crazy about me.  Used to share her cookies with me at snack time.  First boyfriend?”

“Tommy Williams.  He pulled my hair and then tried to kiss me under the slide in second grade.”  Kane looked properly shocked.  “You let a boy kiss you in second grade?”

“Of course not,” she grinned.  “I stomped on his foot and punched him in the nose.  Then
I
kissed
him
.”

Kane laughed as he pictured it clearly in his head, a knee-high version of the little hellcat breaking the hearts of all the poor little defenseless boys.  “My kind of girl.  Where were you headed when your car broke down?”  He slipped the question in there casually enough, but he saw her tense out of the corner of his eye. 

“East,” she answered vaguely, after only a slight hesitation.  “Why do you come here?”

“To find peace, get away for a while.  You may find it hard to believe, but I’m really not a social guy.  Why were you wearing all that Goth crap?”

“Pass.  You like to be alone.”

“That’s not a question, but yes, I do.  Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“Not anymore.  Do you mind me being here with you?” 

“Not as much as I thought I would.  What happened to your family?”

“Pass.”

“Why are you all alone?”

“Pass.”

“What are you running away from?”

“Pass.” 

Kane had fired the questions at her one after another.  She pulled the drain in the sink, then rubbed at the back of her neck.  “You know what?  I don’t think I want to play this game anymore.”

“Kiara.”  Kane reached out and laid his big hand over her shoulder.  “Maybe I can help.”

“You already have.  More than you know.”  She turned to him, and his gut tightened at the haunted look in her eyes.  It was the look of someone who had all but given up hope. 

Kiara draped the washcloth over the sink, and turned to go.  As she walked behind him, she let out a gasp.  “You’re bleeding!”

“It’s nothing,” he said.  He’d felt the stitches pulling earlier; probably just opened up the wound a little.  Nothing he was worried about.  But the way her eyes had widened, she probably would.  Besides, his latest injuries were definitely not up on the sharing block.  He turned his back away from her, but she scooted right along with him, her eyes fixed on the dark stain high on his lower back.

“It doesn’t look like nothing,” she answered, her hands finding the bottom hem of his shirt and beginning to lift.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he growled, turning, but once again she moved with him.  He tried to look at her over his shoulder, but she was so much shorter than him he just caught a glimpse of the top of her head. 

“Trying to help you,” she answered calmly. 

Kane inhaled sharply.  His entire body went rigid the moment he felt her warm hands on his bare skin.  “Stop it,” he barked.  She ignored him. 

“You just had surgery?” she asked, running her hands over his most recent incision site.  “The stitches look like they are pulling open a little.  You need to lay down so I can dress this.”

“No, I don’t,” he said firmly, reaching around and finally grabbing hold of her arm, pulling her gently, but firmly, to where he could see her.  At least the haunted look was gone, replaced by something that bothered him almost as much – concern for him.  It made him uncomfortable.  He took care of others, not the other way around.  And this was getting way too personal.

“You took care of my hand,” she argued logically. 
Now
she decided to be logical, he thought with annoyance, when logic clearly had no place in this conversation.

“That’s different.”

She snorted.  “How?”  She looked him right in the eye – from down below, of course – hands on hips.  There was that fire in her eyes again, the one that had him inwardly preparing for battle.  His heart started pumping a little faster in anticipation.  So few really challenged him.

“It just is.”

“Oh, that’s real mature,” she countered.  His hand was like an iron cuff around her wrist, but she still had one hand free.  He hissed when he felt her hand slide under his shirt at the side and toward the back again.  He grabbed her other hand, and held her easily in place with a glare that could have melted steel.  She seemed unfazed.  Except for that fire in her eyes.  He could feel her pulse racing under his fingertips, matching his own. 

Good.  She should be scared.

“You should have a dressing on that.  How are you going to manage that on your own?” 

“I’ll figure something out.”  Something that did not involve her incredibly warm, soft hands on his skin.

“Don’t be such a baby.” 

He growled.  A sane woman would be trembling in fear, but the corners of her mouth twitched.

“Come on,” she purred.  “I promise I’ll be gentle.”  Her words conjured up visions in his mind that were about as far removed from gentle as you could get.  He released her wrists and stepped backward quickly as if she was burning him. 

“Please, Kane.  Let me do this.”  When she looked at him like that, the logical part of his brain nearly waved a white flag in surrender.  Those big eyes framed in thick dark lashes were deadlier than looking down the barrel of an M-16.  Mentally computing the chances of her dropping this – and coming up with
slim
and
none
– he sighed inwardly.   

“Fine,” he said, backing away but keeping his eyes fixed on her as if he expected her to attack at any moment.  He would have preferred that his voice not sounded quite so angry, but then giving in did not come naturally to him.  If his brothers found out they’d never let him forget it.  “I’ll get the med kit.”

She smiled in triumph.  He was more than a little annoyed when he handed the box over to her a minute later, but that was nothing compared to the look of sheer horror that crossed his face when she suggested he lie down.  It took some coaxing, but he finally – albeit reluctantly – agreed.  He muttered under his breath the whole time, which only seemed to amuse her more.

He steadfastly refused to remove his shirt completely.  Behind him, she rolled her eyes and informed him that he was being completely unreasonable, but on this he would not budge.  Finally she relented, and made do with just pushing it up as far as she could.

Kane bit back a groan when she straddled him, her thighs on either side of his hips.  Why the hell had he agreed to this?  Her hands were infinitely gentle, cleaning around the wound and using one of the large, rectangular pads to cover it.  If the nurses had touched him like this, he thought, he never would have left the hospital.  He shoved those thoughts aside with extreme force.  She was a package, nothing more.  And the only reason he was doing this was to earn a bit of her trust and keep the peace.

“There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” she asked, her voice musical again.  He expected her to move, but she didn’t.  Instead, her hands moved rhythmically over his back, kneading softly.  It felt incredible.  Small though they were, her hands were strong and skilled, like a masseuse’s.  He grunted with some effort.

Kane was disgusted with himself.  He knew he should make her stop.  And he would.  Soon.  But not quite yet.  She was a total pain in the ass but she had incredible hands. 

The rain continued to pound heavily on the roof.  The warmth of the fire washed over him.  The stroke of her hands, in perfect timing to the sweet melody she hummed, lulled him into a state of relaxation with which he was wholly unfamiliar.  All of those things, combined with a decided lack of sleep, conspired against him.  He allowed his eyes to close – just for a moment.

* * *

T
aryn kept massaging his back even after he’d dozed off.  It was selfish; she liked the feel of him under her hands.  Layers and layers of muscle rippled just beneath tanned, smooth skin.  Kane was built. 
Really
built.  A pang of guilt tugged at her.  She was touching Kane, but thinking of Jake, and that was just unfair to everyone.

But what did it matter now anyway?  She would never see Jake again.  In another day or two she’d be on her way and Kane would also be nothing but a memory. Then it would just be her, alone again, and life would go back to being simple.  But until then, why not just enjoy the warmth of another human being for just a little while longer?  There was a very real possibility this would be the last chance she would ever have.

Taryn stretched out along Kane’s back, loving the feel of his hard body beneath her.  Jake’s words from that first morning echoed back in her head: 
There are bears in the woods, you know
.  She chuckled softly.  Yes, apparently there were.  Big, grumpy bears who had big, soft hearts. Resting her cheek in the curve of his upper back, she sighed and dozed off as well.

“A
bout fucking time you called,” Jake hissed over the secure connection later that night.  Kane let out a patient sigh.  He knew he was going to catch hell when he didn’t report in at the pre-arranged time, though technically, he was still well within the grace period.  He’d woken up to discover Kiara spread across him like a heated blanket.  The little hellcat had lulled him to sleep, then curled up on him like a cat on a radiator. 

And if that hadn’t been horrifying enough, the realization that it wasn’t altogether horrible, was. 

It had taken awhile to extricate himself without waking her.  Then he had spent the next thirty minutes in solitude, reminding himself that he preferred to be alone, that he had neither needed nor wanted anyone to change that. 

But she
was
a good cook.  And if he was honest, he had to admit that he had enjoyed their little game this afternoon.  The woman now officially knew more about him than any other soul on earth (with the exception of his brothers, of course).  Not important, classified information - but personal things.  Like his favorite color.  How he liked his coffee.  And how and where to apply exactly the right pressure on his back and shoulders to turn him into putty in her hands.  God, she’d done wonders on his back – he’d hardly felt a twinge since she’d worked her magic. 

He rolled his shoulders, once again pleasantly surprised by the lack of pain.

“Your little package is a tremendous pain in the ass,” Kane said, but with only half the force he might have.  What bothered him the most was how she had managed to get under his skin so quickly.  Kane was the Iceman, the rock.  Unshakable.  Unaffected.  He didn’t have friends, and he didn’t
do
nice.

“She tried to bolt, didn’t she?”  Jake said knowingly.  “You said something that you thought was perfectly reasonable, and you pissed her off, am I right?” 

Kane blinked, his foreign warm and fuzzies fading fast when he recalled the events of last night.  He could not allow himself to lose sight of who she was and why she was here.  “You couldn’t have warned me?”

“Thought I did.”

“Yeah, well, you didn’t.” 

“Look, Kane, fuck these feds,” Jake said over the line, clearly sensing his frustration.  “Dad can watch the bar.  I’ll be up tomorrow to take her off your hands.”

Jake’s pronouncement should have had him heaving a sigh of relief.  He wanted Kiara - or Taryn, or whatever the hell her name was – gone so he could go back to his peaceful, solitary existence.  Right?  So why was he even hesitating?

Kane thought about the little hellcat purring contentedly on his sofa.  Yes, she was a pain in the ass, but she wasn’t really
that
bad, all things considered.  Nothing he couldn’t put up with for a few more days to ensure her safety and that of his brothers.  If he had to sacrifice his solitude for home-cooked meals, a spotless cabin, occasional pleasant conversation, and nightly massages, well, so be it.  He could take one for the team.

He blew out a breath, not believing what he was about to say.  “No, Jake, sit tight,” Kane said.  “I’ve got it under control.  We can’t risk anyone finding out about her now, not until we figure this out.”   

“She still has no idea who you are?”

“No.”  If she did, she’d probably be planning her next escape.

“I don’t know, Kane,” Jake said uncertainly.  “My gut’s humming again.”

Kane was pretty sure he knew exactly why, too.  Hell, his own gut was performing an entire symphony, but he was averse to sharing that at the moment.  “She’s safe, and for right now at least, content to hang here until things settle down a bit.  I think the storms have put a healthy dose of fear into her, and it sounds like this weather’s going to be with us for a couple of more days at least.”  He hoped.