Desert Guardian (14 page)

Nine kids?
She
immediately thought of breeding rabbits. "Why so many?"

"She
and Von planned to repopulate Atria with their offspring." He rolled his
eyes. "But I think Von was shooting blanks because none of the children
were his."

She
tried to shake off the image of Valya and Sam together in a carnal way. "So
what about your mom?"

"By
the time Valya was finished with me, my mother had already died." His
voice became very quiet, his tone even and without inflection. "If I'd
known my mother was that sick, I never would have..."

"It's
okay, Sam." Kelly stroked his hair, the thick, brown waves like silk
beneath her fingers. "You had no way of knowing, and it wasn't your fault."

"My
mother had been poisoned."

"What?"
Kelly sat back on her heels and stared at him. "By who?"

"Who
else?" He tossed the remainder of his coffee in the fire and watched the
hissing sparks fly. "I took my mother's body to the hospital and had it
autopsied. She'd been slowly poisoned with arsenic."

"Why
would someone do such a thing?"

"My
mother was getting old, and she couldn't help out around the camp anymore. She
was a burden Valya no longer wanted."

"Yet
they wouldn't let her go home to you while she was still alive?"

"I
don't know for sure, but it's possible Valya thought she was doing my mother a
favor by hastening her trip to Star Mother."

"That's
sick."

There
was an edge of bitterness to his laugh. "You're telling me."

"Did
you report it to the police?"

"You
better believe it. And there was a full investigation, too. Not enough
evidence. Valya, Von and their entourage got away with it."

Kelly
finally understood something she'd been wondering about for the past couple of
days. "So you gave up being a psychologist to go into the cult
intervention business."

He
touched his nose with his forefinger. "Bingo."

She
followed his gaze to the flames in the fireplace and remained focused there,
listening to the crackling logs and feeling the blanket of silence that settled
between them. Only this was a good silence, a companionable quiet they wore
like comfortable clothes.

She
felt content to have finally uncovered some of the secrets that had shrouded
Sam in mystery. Though the mystery had intrigued her, revealing the truth about
his past transformed him into a man with even greater purpose than she had
first thought. He'd chosen to share with her his most intimate secret, and it
was an honor she held close to her heart.

"Kelly,
about last night at Key Views..."

And
everything had been going so well. "Please don't bring that up."

"Your
timing couldn't have been worse. I tried to tell you that I—"

She
had to stop him from going any further, or she'd lose it again. "Stop,
Sam. Explanations aren't necessary. I don't expect you to feel the same way
about me that I feel about you. It might be different if I weren't your client,
but I respect your ethics, or whatever moral code you stand by. It's probably
not even that. You obviously aren't attracted to me."

She
paused for breath and heard him grumble something, but she wouldn't let him
interrupt her with his excuses. "Just know how much I appreciate all you've
done to help me get Jake away from Star Mother. We don't have him yet, but I
have faith that you—"

He
grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and tugged her to him, his lips pressing
hard against hers. He smelled of coffee and wood smoke, and the thrill of being
physically possessed by him brought her heart into her throat.

He
pulled slightly away and whispered into her parted lips, "You talk too
much."

Kelly
stared into those dark gray eyes that smoldered with the same passion she had
worked so hard to contain. She could scarcely believe Sam wanted her, maybe
even as much as she wanted him. At that moment, they shared an understanding.
No more hiding secrets and pretending everything was okay when it wasn't. They
had given each other unspoken permission to finally be themselves.

She
cupped his face in her hands and drew her fingers lightly down his scratchy
cheeks, the masculine stubble pricking at her skin. Shedding her inhibitions
like layers of clothing she no longer needed, Kelly ran her tongue along his
upper lip. She nipped him gently before sucking the tender flesh she'd bitten.
He moaned and captured her mouth with his, deepening the kiss.

He
lowered her to the floor, their lips never parting, their hands roaming over
each other's bodies with abandon. She loved the salty taste of his skin and his
rugged smell of wood smoke mixed with a faint scent of soap. She breathed him
in as she kneaded his back and trailed her tongue down the side of his neck,
feeling the thundering pulse that beat there.

He
pulled her closer, his hands slipping beneath her shirt, then her bra, making
her gasp. He unbuttoned her shirt and teased her nipples with his fingers
before nuzzling his face between the soft pillows of her breasts. His tongue
tenderly licked across her chest, creating a warm, wet path to her heart and to
her soul.

Slowly,
he finished undressing her, taking his time to explore each inch of newly
exposed flesh. Her blood reached an urgent simmer. It took massive restraint
not to rip off his shirt and curl her fingers in the lush chest hair she had
glimpsed yesterday. Instead she followed his example, torturing them both with
a deliberate and methodical removal of his T-shirt, jeans and sexy blue boxers.

On
the end of a raspy breath, he said, "You're driving me crazy."

She
whispered, "I hope so," but his greedy lips ate the last word before
it left her mouth.

The
muscles of his back and shoulders rippled beneath her questing fingers. So
warm, so powerful, and so overwhelmingly male.

As
they indulged themselves in fevered exploration, their hands and lips competed
for attention, offering sensation while taking it at the same time. The ache
between Kelly's legs intensified as Sam tasted his way down her belly to the
dark heat waiting to be cooled by his kisses.

He
stopped before reaching his destination, and she nearly screamed for him to
keep going. But he placed a gentle hand there instead, to fondle her while
locking his full lips onto hers. Caressing hands skillfully played over her
most sensitive places, never staying anywhere too long, as if afraid some other
part of her body would become jealous. He made sure to pay equal attention to
every inch of her, while the ecstasy building inside her threatened to explode.

He
must have sensed her urgency because he lifted her bottom so that her legs
could clasp around his waist. Smoothing his calloused hands down her sides,
making her shiver, he leaned back to draw a long, seething gaze down her chest
to her open thighs.

She
should have felt self-conscious, but she didn't. His lingering stare seemed
like the most natural thing in the world, as if this moment, this place—
this man
—had been waiting a
lifetime just for her.

He
reached into the pocket of his discarded jeans to tug out his wallet. He
slipped out a condom from a folded compartment in the leather.

She
took it from him and peeled off the wrapper. "Let me help," she said,
her voice low and husky. He was like iron silk beneath her fingers as she
gently rolled the condom over the thick length of him.

His
hungry gaze fastened onto hers as he eased himself inside her.

Electric
tingles ran up her spine as pleasure seared its way to the center of her being.
She was amazed at how well they fit together, how natural it felt for them to
join this way. He rocked her against him, ever mindful of her comfort and her
need, as he angled back to allow his fingers room to play where their bodies
locked. The sensation drew a spark from deep within her, igniting a rush of
heat that exploded through every pore of her skin.

Sam
gulped in a breath and held it, lowering himself to gather her close as he
rocked harder, holding her tight against him until he shuddered. His muscles
gradually relaxed, his breathing slowed, but he continued to hug her to him as
if his life depended on her closeness.

He
kissed her tenderly, and in a voice hoarse with lust, he said, "Let's take
this party into the bedroom."

****

Kelly
woke up the next morning in Sam's bed but with no Sam next to her. She
experienced a brief bout of panic as she thought about yesterday morning's
skirmish with the rattlesnake. Then she remembered the cult was no longer after
them. However, she and Sam were still going after Star Mother.

"Sam?"
she called from the warm, flannel-sheeted bed. "Where are you?"

"I'm
getting us coffee," he answered from the kitchen. "Be there in a
minute."

Kelly
glanced at the clock radio on the natural pine nightstand. Eight o'clock. No
wonder she still felt so tired after only four hours of sleep. They shouldn't
have stayed up so late, but she wouldn't trade those blissfully sinful hours of
lovemaking for anything in the world.

Kelly
donned the same flannel shirt she'd taken from Sam's utility room yesterday. It
still smelled like Sam, but now it had some of her scent on it as well. She
tugged the collar up to her ears and fluffed a pillow against the knotty pine
headboard at her back.

She
peered over at Sam's dresser to take inventory of his clutter, but there was no
clutter. Just his wallet and a pile of loose change. No knickknacks or
souvenirs from his travels, no books or plants. But oddest of all, no
photographs. Not a single portrait hung on any of the four walls, nor were
there framed photos on the dresser. Not even a picture of his mother. Sam
really was alone. But not anymore.

She
inhaled the clean, fresh scent of plaid flannel sheets that smelled like they'd
been laundered only yesterday. Consuela could probably be thanked for that.
Thinking of Consuela, where was she today?

Sam
entered the bedroom wearing only his navy blue boxers and looking scrumptious
from head to toe. Handing her a steaming mug, he said, "Black, right?"

"Thanks."
She accepted the coffee and took a sip. Strong, just how she liked it.

He
sat beside her on the bed, leaned down, and gave her a languorous kiss that
promised more to come. "Sleep okay?"

"Not
enough." She yawned.

"You
can catch up later," he said, his grin cheerful. "In the meantime, we
have work to do. By the way, Consuela never showed up this morning."

"I
was just wondering about her. Have any idea where she might be?"

He
sipped his coffee. "I just finished talking to one of her brothers on the
phone, and he said she arrived home last night at about eight then left again
before seven this morning. He didn't know what her plans were, but coming here
was obviously not one of them."

"Do
you think she's okay? You know, mentally. Emotionally."

"I
don't know. Unless she comes here, I have no way to reach her." A
lascivious smile playing on his lips, he said, "As much as I'd love to
spend the day in bed with you, we really need to get to work. It's late enough
now that I can risk making a few calls without waking someone up."

Kelly
thought back to their time by the fire, how they'd opened up to each other and
revealed hidden truths never shared with another soul. It created a special
bond between them. Now she could no longer continue her ruse of being able to
pay for his time. She'd already paid him eight hundred dollars for yesterday
but didn't have enough to cover his fees for today. She hoped they could work
out a way for her to pay him back.

"Everything
okay?" He ran the backs of his fingers tenderly down her cheek.

The
fog of guilt already beginning its descent, she heaved a labored breath. She
set her mug on the nightstand and said, "Sam, I haven't been totally
honest with you."

He
looked disconcerted. "What do you mean?"

Just come clean.
She hesitated barely a second before blurting, "I can't pay what I owe you
for Jake's rescue."

"But
you've already paid me half."

She
nodded and tilted her head to offer him a cautious look, squinting as if
waiting for the second shoe to drop. "That's all I could afford. I'm
sorry, but I thought we could work something out for the balance. Maybe a
payment plan or something."

"Or
something," Sam said, sliding off the bed and starting to pace, one hand
rubbing his chin.

"What
do you think?" she asked, her heart somersaulting inside her chest. She
sensed this didn't sit well with him.

He
stopped pacing and stared at her, his gray eyes dimming to an angry glare. "What
we did earlier this morning. Was that supposed to substitute for the rest of
what you owe?"

She
couldn't believe he’d just said that. "I beg your pardon?"