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Daisy’s insides twisted as she drew one long, shaky breath. She hadn’t expected this, she thought wildly. Hadn’t thought that he would be the one to come to her. She’d expected to have to seduce him into bed. But looking into his eyes left her little doubt that Jericho King was a man on a mission.
And lucky her, she was that mission. She felt it. She sensed it in the very air surrounding them. It was bristling with tension, with a sexual energy and heat that was strong enough to light a dozen homes through a cold, dark winter.
She laid one hand on the banister and held on as she watched him walk slowly toward the staircase.
“I knew you were going to be trouble,” he said tightly. “The minute I saw you, I knew.”
“Is that right?”
“Tried to get rid of you, remember? Tried to talk you out of staying.”
“You did,” she agreed.
“But when you wouldn’t listen, I decided to just ignore you,” he admitted, taking the steps with a deliberate slowness. “Finally went out on the mountain just to get some space. Clear my head. Thought I could put you out of my mind, but you wouldn’t go. You stayed.”
Heat pooled in her belly then dipped lower, warming her through and setting up a tingling ache that throbbed at her center.
“I think about you even when I know I shouldn’t,” he told her as he came closer.
“I’ve been thinking about you, too,” she told him and her heartbeat fluttered unsteadily. “And you were gone so long, I was worried about you.”
He snorted. “You should be worried about you.”
“You don’t scare me.” She lifted her chin and tossed her hair back from her face. The fire in his eyes glinted at her as he moved steadily closer. Daisy took a breath and held it, not sure she’d be able to draw another. He was big and powerful and looked just a little dangerous and, oh, her entire being was quaking with banked eagerness.
When he stopped on the step just below her, their eyes were level and he said softly, “I should, Daisy. I should scare the hell outta you.”
She studied him for a long moment and saw past the desire and the heat in his eyes to the shadows lurking deep within. Shaking her head, she reached out to cup his cheek in her palm and whispered, “You’re no danger to me, Jericho King.”
He covered her hand with his own. “No,” he agreed, “but I can’t say the same for your virtue.”
Daisy laughed, but the sound was cut off as Jericho grabbed her and slammed her close to his chest. Her head fell back and her eyes were linked with his when she nodded slowly, telling him silently that she wanted him as badly as he did her. Then she said, “My virtue isn’t an issue. My need for you is.”
“Thank God,” he muttered and tossed her over one shoulder.
She yelped in surprise, but Jericho paid no attention. He’d damn near killed himself getting back to the lodge while the moon was still high. He’d wanted her to himself. He’d finally accepted that he wasn’t going to get any peace until he’d satisfied his body inside hers. And tonight was the night. He slipped one hand beneath her nightgown and caressed her panty-covered behind as he hit the landing and started down the hall for his room.
“No more waiting,” he told her. “No more thinking and dreaming about this. Tonight, I’m going to make you scream my name until you’re hoarse.”
She shivered and a tiny moan escaped her throat.
His own body tightened at the images racing through his mind and he hurried his steps. The little dog nipped along at his heels, but he couldn’t have cared less. He reached his bedroom, walked across the wide space and tossed Daisy onto the mattress. She bounced, settled in atop the handmade quilt and then stared up at him through wide, whiskey-colored eyes.
He tore his clothes off, telling her, “I even stopped to bathe in the river so I wouldn’t have to waste time with a damn shower once I got home.”
She grinned and pushed herself up onto her elbows.
“Must have been cold.”
He shook his head. “Didn’t feel a thing.”
Then he was on the bed with her, pushing her nightgown up and over her head, baring her luscious breasts to his gaze, to his touch. He bent over her, took first one nipple then the other into his mouth, licking, nibbling, sucking, and felt her fingers thread through his hair, holding him in place.
His hands moved over her skin, fingers dipping below the elastic band of her panties, a tiny scrap of white lace.
With one quick move, he snapped that band and tugged the lace free of her body. Then he touched her, covering her heat with the palm of his hand, feeling her body arch into him and listening to the soft sighs of expectation sliding from her lips.
“Jericho…”
“First time’s going to be hot and hard, baby,” he muttered against her breast. “I’ve been waiting for you too long.”
“Yes,” she said and met his gaze when he lifted his head. “Now, please. Fill me. I need you so much.”
He didn’t need to hear more. Jericho shifted position, knelt between her legs, then parted her thighs. He stroked her most sensitive skin with the tips of his fingers until she was writhing helplessly beneath him. “Jericho, now…”
“Almost,” he told her, watching her squirm, watching a passion-induced haze slide over her eyes.
Then, when he was satisfied that she was on the teetering brink of completion, he pushed his body into hers.
She gasped, lifting her hips to accommodate him, and he took advantage of her move, sliding ever deeper inside her. Her tight, hot body surrounded his and he groaned aloud at the sweeping satisfaction of finally being exactly where he’d dreamed of being.
This was all he had craved. This was what he needed above all else. Daisy. With her hot welcome, with her warm sighs and the soft ease of her lush body.
He levered himself over her, hands on either side of her head, and their eyes met and locked as he pumped himself into her. Plunging, claiming, again and again, his hips rocked against hers.
Her arms came around his neck, she locked her legs around his waist and pulled him deeper, tighter on every thrust. Breath mingled, mouths met and tongues twisted.
And when at last she tore her mouth from his and screamed his name, Jericho shouted in victory and allowed his body to explode into a pleasure so profound, it left him shattered.
Eight
They’d been at it for hours.
He was insatiable, Daisy thought with an inward smile. And very creative. Her body felt used and complete and was practically humming with stored energy. There was just something about incredible sex that made her feel strong enough to move mountains.
But even as that thought slid through her mind, she knew it was more. Knew that this long, incredible night had been about much more than simple sex. This wasn’t just a case of needs being met, hungers assuaged. This was something else.
And that worried her.
She hadn’t planned on loving Jericho.
But it seemed, she told herself, that it was too late to avoid it.
His body covering hers, she ran her hands up and down his spine, loving the hard, warm feel of his skin against hers. His breath puffed across her throat and their heartbeats thundered in time.
She’d gone to King Mountain because of his connection with her brother. Because she’d felt that Jericho and the military owed her one. They’d taken her brother—her only family—from her and she’d come to collect on that debt. But now, it was so much more complicated than that. She’d come to care for him and during the long, sex-fueled night, she’d taken that last trembling step into love.
Which left her exactly where?
“You’re thinking,” he murmured against her skin. “I can practically hear the wheels in your head spinning.”
She smiled and moved her hands up to thread through his hair. “Well, maybe you could think of something to do that would completely shut down my brain.”
He lifted his head and grinned down at her. “Is that a challenge?”
“Do you need one?”
“Nope.” He kissed her then slid his body down along hers, pausing along the way to taste her nipples, to run his tongue across her abdomen.
Daisy shivered as he moved over her, then she tipped her head back into the pillow as he knelt between her legs and lifted her hips from the bed. Her legs dangled and her hands fisted on the sheets as he lowered his mouth to her.
She watched him as he took her. As his mouth covered her and his tongue worked over that erotically charged bud of flesh. Again and again, he caressed that spot, sending tingles shooting through her system with complete abandon. His breath was hot, his tongue was wicked and as he took her, his hands kneaded her bottom until she was besieged with too many sensations to count.
Her heartbeat was frantic as she lay helplessly in his strong grasp. She rocked her hips into his mouth, claiming as much as she could of what he was doing to her. His eyes burned into hers and she couldn’t look away. Couldn’t tear her gaze from his as the world around her splintered and she called his name out one more time, her throat sore, her voice raspy.
And before the last of the tremors had rocked through her body, Jericho sat back on his heels, grabbed her up and settled her over his throbbing erection. In one fluid move, she sheathed him. Her arms went around him, her legs locked about his waist and his big hands were at her hips. He moved her on him, up and down, sliding into a hot friction that seemed to explode into flames that enveloped them both.
He caught her mouth with his and this time, when she called his name, he swallowed the sound and buried it under his own groan of completion.
* * *
Over the next few days, life on the mountain settled into a routine. A constantly changing routine in Jericho’s opinion, but he seemed to be the only one bothered by it.
Daisy was imprinting herself not only on him, but also on his home. Clients arrived, were taken care of and left. Meals were not only healthier, but tastier, plus there was a variety that Kevin had never managed. She had become a part of the unit that lived and worked at the lodge. It was almost as if she’d always been there, and Jericho noticed that the guys spent a lot more time smiling than they used to.
Of course he noticed, because his frequent scowl was such a contrast.
Now, he walked into the great room and stopped on the threshold. Glancing around, he noted all the changes she’d made here, too. Nothing was safe from the woman. Daisy had raided the attic, where generations of King clutter were stored and she’d found what she called “treasures.” Handmade quilts done by Jericho’s grandmother and decorative pillows that Daisy had strewn across the utilitarian furniture. The room had a softer feel now, with scattered rugs and splotches of color dotting the area.
“She’s nesting,” he muttered and waited for the zing of panic to shoot through him. But it didn’t come. Why?
Was he getting so used to having her around that he didn’t mind the fact that she’d taken his well-ordered male world and turned it on its head? Was he so enthralled by the nights they spent together that he no longer worried about getting too attached? If that were the case, it was time to put the brakes on.
Because no matter how much he enjoyed her, being with her, the bottom line was she didn’t belong. And she wouldn’t last. One hard winter would be enough to send the city girl screaming back down the mountain in search of sidewalks and coffee shops.
He scowled at the thought and knew that when she was gone, it wouldn’t be easy on him. He’d miss her, damn it, which was something he hadn’t counted on. Best to start preparing himself for it now, he supposed.
“Hi,” she said from right behind him. “You’re back early. I thought you said you were going up the mountain today to check the fencing on the ridgeline.”
“I did,” he said and stepped aside so she could pass. But she didn’t move away. Instead, she inched in closer to him. Close enough that he caught the ripe peach scent of the shampoo she preferred. Close enough that he felt waves of heat reaching out for him and his body responded in an instant.
He’d thought that getting Daisy into his bed would be the one sure way to get her out of his system. Hadn’t worked out that way. Rather than chasing her out of his mind, sex with Daisy had burned her into his brain. One whiff of her scent, one touch of her hand could have him hard as iron and as eager as a teenager in the backseat of a car.
Focus, he told himself. Focus on anything but her. Not as easy as it sounded. “We’ve got three lawyers showing up tomorrow. Everything ready?”
She gave him a half smile, filled with confusion at his sudden brisk tone, but said, “Yes, their rooms are ready and I’ve got their dietary requirements. I had Tim drive down the mountain to get a few groceries today, but—”
He held up one hand to stop the flow of words and asked, “Tim? I told him to check the climbing wall today, make sure it was sound after the last rain.”
“Sam did that,” she said, moving past him to plump pillows and toss them onto the couch again. “He said he didn’t mind and Tim was eager to make the trip. Something about stopping to say hello to his mom while he was in town…”
The reins of control were slipping out of his fingers and Jericho fought to get a firmer grip. “If I’d wanted Sam out slogging his way through the mud, I would have sent him.”
Daisy turned around to face him. “What are you angry about?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” he said, tossing both hands high before letting them slap down against his thighs. “Maybe because I give orders that you change around to suit yourself?”
“Orders?”
Her voice sounded tight, but he was past caring. This was just a symptom, he told himself. Just one more sign that she was changing everything on him. She even had his men doing her bidding and forgetting all about whatever it was he’d told them to do. Well, it was time to remind her who was the boss around here.
“Yes, orders. You work for me, Daisy, not the other way around.”
“I didn’t say different, did I?”
“You didn’t have to,” he countered. “You do whatever the hell you want around here and expect the rest of us to just go along.”
“I haven’t heard any complaining,” she snapped, folding her arms over her chest in a classic position of self-defense.
“You are now.” He closed the distance between them with a few long strides. “Sam’s too old to be pushing through mud. But you didn’t think about that, did you?”
“He’s hardly in his dotage, Jericho.”
“And that’s your decision to make, is it?”
“No,” she argued, “it was Sam’s decision and he made it. You’re making a huge deal over nothing,” she said and tipped her head to one side as she stared up at him. “So what’s really bothering you? It’s not Tim going to the store. Or Sam fighting with mud. What is it, Jericho? Just say it.”
He scraped one hand across his face and blew out a frustrated breath. “I run this camp my way, understand? Stop countermanding my orders and everything will be fine.” He glanced around the room, waved one hand at the feminine touches she’d added and grumbled, “And quit trying to girlie the place up while you’re at it.”
“Girlie?”
“Pillows, rugs, blankets…” He stopped and muttered, “Hell, it’s getting to the point where I don’t know what to expect every time I come into the room.”
“Yes, well,” Daisy said softly, “pillows and crochet work are dangerous entities…”
He snapped her an irritable look. “You know what I mean. Just do your job and nothing else.”
“Uh-huh. Am I supposed to salute, too?”
“Wouldn’t hurt!”
“You are the most impossible man,” she said, shifting so that her hands were fisted on her hips. “Are you really that threatened by a few throw pillows and crocheted afghans? Do scented candles throw you into a tizzy?”
“This is still my house,” he argued, even though he was beginning to feel like a damn fool.
“Nobody said it wasn’t,” she told him. “So why don’t you tell me what’s really bugging you, Jericho? You’re not afraid of me, are you? Afraid I’m getting too close?”
The fact that that was exactly what was worrying him only irritated him further. His head snapped up and his gaze fired into hers. Gritting his teeth, he hissed in a breath and said, “Nobody gets any closer to me than I want them to be. So if you’re looking at me and seeing rainbows and picket fences, then you need to get your eyes checked.”
Rather than being put off by his gruff voice, barely restrained temper and crappy attitude, Daisy smiled at him. Her eyes lit up and she shook her head as she walked toward him. Then laying both palms flat on his chest, she went up on her toes and brushed her mouth across his.
“I see you clearly, Jericho. I always have.”
Temper drained away from him as if someone had pulled a plug. Hard to maintain anger when you were straddling a razor blade of desire and want. “I’m not the kind of man you need.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” she said softly with another sly smile. “You’re exactly the man I need.”
When she went into his arms, Jericho held her tightly to him, and he had to wonder if she’d be saying these things if she knew that he still blamed himself for her brother’s death.
* * *
A couple of days later, it was a cloudy afternoon with a chilly bite to the air as Jericho packed up his truck for an annual fishing trip with his brothers Jesse and Justice. While he worked, Jericho actively wished both of his brothers to the other side of the planet. For the past two days, Jericho had been treating Daisy as if she were a land mine with a tricky trigger mechanism. He wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t as if the woman had a short fuse or anything. She was usually so damn happy it was hard to spot a frown on her face. But his tension had been bleeding into her and now she was wary, as if she was no longer sure just how to treat him.
Ever since that confrontation in the great room, neither one of them was entirely comfortable around the other.
You’re exactly the man I need.
Her words repeated over and over again in his mind, making him short-tempered and more irritable than usual. What the hell had she meant? She needed him? For what? Sex?
Or had she meant something more? Was she building castles in the air around him? Because if she was, they were going to collapse. He couldn’t be the man for her. There were too many secrets between them. Too many things left unsaid, and once she knew the truth, he knew he’d never see that smile of hers again. Never feel her squirming beneath him in the middle of the night.
And that was a hell of a thing, wasn’t it? He’d begun keeping his secret to protect her. Now, wasn’t he just protecting himself? Wasn’t he keeping the truth from her so that he wouldn’t lose what he’d found with her?
This never should have begun, he thought. Going down this road was a mistake from the first and he’d known it. Hadn’t he tried to get her to leave? Hadn’t he tried to keep his distance? Hell, he’d realized right away that nothing good could come of this, but Daisy Saxon was a damn force of nature. She was unstoppable. Irresistible. He couldn’t regret what he’d had with her the past few weeks, but he knew the memories of this time with her would haunt him for years after she was gone.
So what kind of bastard was he, to know all of this and still go to her bed every night?
“Idiot,” he muttered darkly and tossed a folding lawn chair into the bed of the truck. “Keep your distance, but don’t stop sleeping with her.”
But damned if he could stop himself. What was a man supposed to do? Turn his back on a warm, beautiful, willing woman who wanted him as much as he wanted her?
Guilt threatened to rear up inside him, but he pushed it away. Daisy was here because she wanted to be. The fact that she didn’t know the whole truth of her brother’s death meant nothing. There wasn’t a thing he could do to change reality and didn’t know if he would if given the chance. Of course, he would spare her pain, but would he take away her brother’s bravery? Brant’s decision to volunteer for dangerous duty, just to keep him safe? No. He couldn’t do that and honor the kid. And that young Marine deserved the honor he’d found in death. Hell, they all did.
What was really bugging him was that he hadn’t told Daisy the whole story. When she’d asked about her brother’s death, he’d dodged her. Told her only the bare minimum. Why? To save her grief? Or was it to save himself from having to see accusation shining in her whiskey eyes?
And did it matter? he demanded of himself silently. Was the reason important when the result was that he was hiding the truth? He, who put such store in honesty, was deliberately keeping something from the woman who was dominating his every thought. So he had to wonder what was driving that. Concern for someone else or self-service?
But as his mind went round and round that question for what had to be the hundredth time, Jericho told himself to suck it up. To keep his mouth shut and to wait Daisy out. One day soon, she’d realize that he wasn’t the man for her, that nothing was going to come of whatever it was that was between them…and she’d give up and go away.
Daisy? His mind argued. Daisy, who didn’t know the meaning of the word quit? Fat chance.
His brothers’ voices rushed to him on a cold wind and he shook his head and grumbled under his breath. He was in no mood for dealing with Justice and Jesse, but he didn’t have a choice in the matter. Every year, his brothers came up to King Mountain for a weekend fishing trip, guys only, just before the onslaught of winter. It was out of season, but on private property they could fish all they wanted to. They never actually caught much, but it was a good chance for them all to sit and talk and catch up on each other’s lives.
Any other time, he would have been looking forward to it. He’d missed quite a few of these trips when he was still in the military. Now that he was home, he wanted to reconnect with his family. He had to admit that Daisy had had a part in that, too. She’d reminded him all too often about just how important family was. And when she’d discovered that Jesse and Justice were coming for a fishing trip, she’d been excited at the idea of meeting his brothers.
And excitement for Daisy translated into cooking and baking. The kitchen was stocked now with every kind of food and dessert imaginable. She had been determined that the King brothers would feel welcome. Now, she was practically pushing all three of them out the door to get them started on their overnight trip.
Jericho had noticed his brothers noticing Daisy and had even caught an inquisitive glance or two being exchanged. He knew what they were thinking. That the last King brother had finally taken the plunge. Well, once they were at the lake, he’d just set them both straight on that score.
“This is great,” Justice said, as he approached, letting his gaze roam over the property. “I like the changes you made to the big house.”
“Thanks.” Jericho jerked his head toward the barn. “I’ve got a new horse you should see, too.”
“Yeah?”
His eyes lit up and Jericho almost laughed aloud. Justice was the patient one of the bunch of brothers. He was quiet, thoughtful, withdrawn. But you show him a horse and the rancher in the man stood up and roared.
Damn, it was good to see them, he thought, even though their timing sucked.
“We’re not here to look at horses—we’re here to fish and drink beer,” Jesse told them both, tossing a tackle box into the back of Jericho’s truck. “Bella and Maggie are having a girls' night in at the ranch—said they’re planning a big family get-together, all of the cousins, God help us—for Christmas and Justice’s housekeeper, Mrs. Carey, is in hog heaven with both of the kids to look after. Justice and I barely escaped with our lives.”