Safe Haven (Xcite Romance) Read online

  ‘I’m saying I’d like someone to make the first move,’ he said. ‘And sadly, I’m clearly not up to it.’

  ‘Well, that could be a problem, don’t you think?’ She toyed with her coffee cup, hearing the tease in her own voice, feeling both excited and embarrassed by its obviousness. So much for not touching him. For not letting him touch her.

  ‘Please come here and kiss me,’ he said.

  No one had ever asked her please like that before; no one had ever asked anything so simple. He wasn’t asking for permission, nor if she was interested. Instead, he was laying his desire out there so clearly and asking her to help him reach it. She’d never known anyone so quietly confident, so willing to ask for what he wanted.

  Her mind, that last bastion of safe choices, shut off all its alarm systems as his request. Her body, already willing and wanting, helped her put the cup on the table without spilling it, and go to him. She thought she’d feel nervous or awkward making the first move. Instead, the closer she got, the more her body seemed to know what to do, how to settle itself near him without touching his injured calf, how to put herself where she needed to be in order to do the thing she’d been wanting to do since he first walked up her driveway: kiss him.

  She settled herself on the couch, then leaned in and touched her lips to his. He opened his mouth, releasing a sigh of sound and want, the taste of his lips like fall wind and apples, like fresh cider, a taste she could drink up forever if he’d let her. She felt her body melt against him, the heat of his chest, the rough of his jeans, the way his arm reaching around her without hesitation to pull her closer. His curls fell around their faces, soft enough to nearly tickle, and she giggled against his mouth.

  ‘What?’ he asked, pulling away from her without going anywhere, leaving them touching nose-to-nose, his eyes still closed, his breath soft, quick exhales warmed her face.

  ‘Tickled,’ she said. ‘Do it again.’

  He obliged, canting his head to find her mouth with his. She sucked his bottom lip, running her teeth over the flesh softly, then released her tease as his tongue found hers, joining her. He sunk his hand into her hair, pulling it from its ponytail to run his fingers through it, his grip light at first, tightening as they sunk deeper into the kiss. Kallie shifted, her body aching to be closer to his, to press fully against him.

  ‘Ow,’ he said, but it was a sound lost in their kissing, half-buried in the heat and press of their mouths.

  A second later, he took her by the shoulders, pushing her away from him. She made a little sound, like a whine, and then clapped her hand over her mouth, laughing through her palm. ‘Sorry.’

  ‘No, no,’ he said. ‘It’s good. It’s just ... do you think we could … I’d like to do any number of very, very dirty things to you,’ he said. The blunt words, combined with the gentle sweep of his thumb along her jawline, made her shiver. ‘However, the couch is ... do you have a bed?’

  ‘No,’ she said.

  This time it was her turn to delight at the expression on his face. She suddenly understood why Shar loved to tease people so much.

  ‘Brat,’ he said.

  ‘Probably,’ she admitted.

  ‘Well, I’d love to see it.’

  ‘OK,’ she said.

  ‘Um ... You have to get off me if you want me to get up.’

  ‘Hmm. Dilemmas.’

  He slipped his hands beneath her ass and lifted her in a single quick move. She felt the strength of his arms as he did so, the muscles from motorcycle riding and whatever else he did. She realised she didn’t even know what he did, but she didn’t care either. She had to close her eyes against the wave of want that rushed through her. Was there nothing about this man that didn’t turn her on? It was something that should have sent all her warning bells ringing into overdrive, but it didn’t. And that scared her even more.

  Yet it didn’t stop her from asking if he needed a hand off the couch, knowing even as she did so that there was only one place they were going from there.

  He let her help him up, his weight a heavy, solid press against her shoulders as they made their way down her short hallway. It amazed her that he was half crippled, leaning on a woman half his size, unable to walk, and still he wore his confidence like a perfectly tailored suit. He wasn’t apologetic, he wasn’t putting on his man vibes in an attempt to make himself look better. She’d forgotten that there were men like that; maybe she had been living in this small town too long.

  They made their way slowly, him half-hopping on one foot.

  ‘Good thing it’s only one floor,’ she said, her breath huffing slightly under his weight.

  ‘Right. If you had to carry me upstairs, I doubt you’d have any energy left for sex. Probably have to take a nap first.’

  ‘Who says we’re having sex?’

  ‘That kiss back there says we’re having sex. Unless I decide not to, of course.’

  ‘I could drop you, you know,’ she said.

  His laugh was deep and warm, his arm tightening around her in a way that was nearly possessive. Her body responded instantly, the prickle of her nipples sending little sparks through her. Oh, hell. She was in far more than just a bit of trouble this time.

  By the time they made it to the bedroom, she was sweating a little. Not the sexiest thing ever, but she had a feeling it was more from the proximity than from the exertion. And he didn’t seem to mind. At the doorway, he turned her so she faced him, buried his hands into her hair and lifted her face to his, kissing the curve of her chin, her jawline, and finally her lips. He did it over and over, without seeming to hurry or press, and yet she found she was panting, arcing into his touch, aware that he was standing on one foot, but barely caring. It had been far too long since she’d had someone touch her, since she’d found herself letting go, getting lost in a simple feeling like pleasure.

  Darrin was proud that he made it all the way down the hallway without hobbling too much, even though the pain in his calf yelled at him with every step. Her bedroom was simple and clean, yet with touches that showed it to be fully hers, just like the barn. The fabrics were deep maroons and butter yellows, dark greens. It was like the simplest garden. Even in the fading light, he was torn between wanting to lay her down naked on the bed and ravage her, and wanting to lay her down naked on the bed and take a thousand photos of her. He’d been imagining what her curves looked like beneath her simple jeans, beneath the tank top. Now, he’d had a chance to feel some of them and he wanted more and more.

  He kissed her, slow and sweet, the kind of kisses he liked best, the kind he’d missed in the wham-bam world of model photography. No pressure, no expectation, just a chance to linger in her scent and flavour, in the soft heat of her body. And her hair, God, he could touch her hair forever. Natural and soft, free-flowing, just perfect for sinking his hands into, for holding her against him. And she seemed to like it, which made him like it even more.

  He moved them slowly toward the bed and laid her down on the spread – for someone so strong, she was surprisingly light – and then he lowered his body down beside her. The ache in his calf was still there, but seemed to be receding. He wasn’t sure whether if it was because the pain pills were working or because something in Kallie’s presence, her touch, made him notice it less.

  He rolled against her, savouring the curves of her body beneath her jeans, the soft spill of her waist and hips. She laughed beneath him, sweet and strong, her body meeting his in all the right places with a carefree ease.

  The bit of skin, that white strip beneath her tank top strap was peeking out again, and he leaned forward and kissed it, running his tongue over the smooth cream of her. She tasted like fresh sweat and sweet clover, salt and honey. He sucked her skin into his mouth, hearing her moan softly in response.

  A second later, she gave a laugh, the kind that he was learning to savour even before it happened, the kind he knew he could learn to look forward to, and then she was saying, ‘What are you waiting for?’ in his ear, soft an
d sweet, a bit of breath and want that made him so hard he felt achy over it.

  The laugh lines around her eyes were tiny indents of skin and he traced them with a couple of fingers, feeling her lashes against his skin. He bit her ear, the very bottom where her earring rested, tasting metal and skin. ‘I’m waiting for you to undress me,’ he said. ‘Because I’m sick and all.’

  ‘You’re not sick.’ But her fingers, delightfully, were already finding his hips, his jeans, opening the snaps, searching in a ticklish way for the parts of him he most wanted her to touch. He pulled her tank top over her head even as she was trying to tug his jeans over his hips. Getting naked with her was a crazy, wild thing, hair and fingers and him saying, ‘wait, wait,’ as he gingerly pulled the fabric over his throbbing calf. Soon, he was on her bed in nothing but his boxers, while she stretched out beside him, minus only her tank top. Her bra was simple, black and touched with lace only at the very edges. Her nipples, hard pink peaks, pushed the fabric out. He reached for the front-clasp, wanting to watch it fall open, hungering to take her nipples into his mouth and suckle them until she was moaning and writhing.

  She intercepted his hand with a reach of her own.

  ‘Boxers,’ she said. ‘Nice. But nicer off.’

  Her cool fingers exploring him gave him a new sound, something somewhere between a word and a groan, and every time he made it, she tightened her grip lightly, pleasantly, as if urging him forward. She kissed him again, letting her mouth trail over his jawline, into the curve of his neck, using both and on the length of his cock, wrapping them and tugging in soft, slow strokes that made him yearn to be inside her.

  He ducked his head, slipping the top edge of her bra down, taking one of her nipples into his mouth. It hardened against his tongue, a soft sensitive peak that he couldn’t get enough of. And the way her body responded – he’d never known anyone who was so in her body, so present, responding to every touch and tease. That alone made him almost as hard as her movements over his cock.

  He wanted to know if the rest of her responded that way, if he could pull that much pleasure from her elsewhere.

  ‘Wait,’ he tried. ‘Why am ... I the only one fully naked?’ His words were puffs of sound between the strokes of her hands, stilted and groaned.

  ‘Dunno,’ she said. ‘You could do something about–’

  She stopped suddenly, both words and hands going still, lifting her head from the bed to glance out the bedroom window.

  ‘Wh–?’ he started.

  ‘Shhh ...’ And a second later, ‘Shit.’

  She bounded from bed, pulling on her tank top, watching out the bedroom window with a serious expression on her face. He followed her gaze to where a black pickup was pulling up the driveway.

  ‘Damn him,’ she said. ‘Stay here.’

  And then she left him there, naked, throbbing, wanting, hard as hell and more than a little confused.

  Chapter Four

  ERIK WAS GETTING OUT of the truck by the time Kallie made it outside. He’d taken to shaving his blond hair and wearing cowboy hats lately, and so when he turned to her, his face was entirely in shadow.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ she asked. Even though she knew full well. It was like the only thing that would come out of her mouth when she saw him. She crossed her arms over her chest, and realised she smelled strongly like sex. Or almost sex. Which made her think of Darrin, left back there in her bed, probably totally freaking out. Damn. Double damn.

  ‘Hey Kal.’ Erik smiled at her, and it was at that moment that she realised something important: she really and truly was no longer in love with him. Or even in lust. Maybe she hadn’t been in a long time, but seeing him smile at her, and feeling nothing, and definitely nothing at all like what she’d felt with Darrin, that was a sign.

  She suddenly felt stronger. Strong, even. Whatever he was going to say to her, however he was going to try to talk her into giving him her land, her heart, her hope, she wasn’t having it.

  ‘We need to talk,’ he said.

  ‘You wouldn’t be here otherwise.’

  ‘Can we go inside?’

  Last week, she would have said yes even though she wouldn’t have wanted to. She would have let him talk her into a conversation, and dinner and then he would have attempted to kiss her and she would have turned him down. He would have left, angry and hurt. But now, she just shook her head. She wasn’t sure if it was so easy this time because she knew she wasn’t in love with him or because she had a naked man in her bed. Maybe both.

  Erik looked surprised for a second, but then buried it behind a different expression.

  ‘It’s about the farm.’

  ‘I’m not selling it, Erik. We’ve had this conversation. Again and again. And again. Just no.’ Erik owned more than 400 acres, and ran a hunt club, letting deer hunters from the city come and stalk white tails through the woods. Safe Haven’s back woods were almost 100 acres of old apple trees, a deer hunter’s heaven. And he wanted them.

  ‘Not about that,’ Erik said. His face had an expression she hadn’t seen in a long time. Not the persuasive anger she’d grown used to, but something else. ‘I saw Ted today, from the bank.’

  ‘And …?’ She sounded nonchalant, but her heart had fluttered up into her throat; she could feel the pulse of panic shaking her.

  ‘And he mentioned you were behind in payments. Two months, rolling into a third.’

  Kallie’s stomach tightened, knots on knots, something that captured her breath and held it tight. ‘I told him I was going to be late. I told him I was doing it on my own now. He said it was fine, that he’d give me time.’

  The words tumbled out, taking her breath with it. She inhaled, feeling like she was panting, short and shallow breaths.

  ‘Did you do this, Erik? Did you?’

  He shook his head beneath his hat, and she believed him. He wanted the land, yes, but she didn’t think he was capable of doing that. Not to her.

  ‘Look …’ Erik stepped closer to her, and she caught a scent of him, always the way he smelled of pine trees and leather. It was one of the first things she’d lusted after about him. ‘I can help you out. I know you’re going through a hard time right now, Kal. I could just rent the woods from you for the hunting season. Help you through the rough spot.’

  Renting out the woods wasn’t something she’d thought of. Erik had always wanted to buy the farm, to turn it into a hunting haven. Renting the woods would let her keep the farm and the animals. At least for a while longer.

  But the very idea of having deer hunters traipsing through her woods in orange, the sound of gunshots, the risk of some stupid hunter from NYC shooting at the horses. Everything about it went against all that Safe Haven stood for. Sanctuary. Safety. For her, for the animals. And she knew the unspoken part of the deal too: that he was only offering if she’d agree to go out with him again. Erik never did anything for free.

  If she didn’t do this, she had no idea how she was going to pay the due mortgage on the land. Nana hadn’t left her anything except debt. And when she’d broken up with Erik, he’d stopped helping her support the farm.

  ‘I need ...’ she said. He moved even closer until his form was shading her from the sun, until she stood entirely in his shade. ‘I need to think about it,’ she said finally.

  He reached to take her hands, and she was distraught to realise she was going to let him. The calluses he always had slid against her palm, scratching her skin. ‘I can help, Kal. I don’t have to take it away to make it work.’

  She dropped her head, feeling stupid, hot tears in her eyes. Was she so weak? Was it even weak to want something so badly, to want Safe Haven so strongly, that she was willing to give up part of herself? ‘I know,’ she said. ‘I need ... some time. Just some time is all.’

  Eric’s face changed suddenly, hardening, although he didn’t let go of her hand. At the same moment, Kallie heard the front door open, and the quick, welcoming bark of a puppy.

  ‘Hey the
re!’ came Darrin’s voice across the lawn. The words were full of confusion and question, as was Eric’s face, and Kallie didn’t even have to look behind her to know that not only had Darrin witnessed the whole exchange, but that he was probably standing on her front porch, half-naked, wearing little more than his boxers and a smile.

  After Kallie had left, Darrin had sat up to peer through the bedroom window. It wasn’t Shar’s truck; it was a big black four-by-four. The man in it was big too, wide as a doorway, and nearly as tall. Kallie was striding toward him, clearly unhappy to see him there. Even in her anger, the curls of her hair shone and her ass wiggled just as cute when she was pissed as when she was happy. He would have to make a mental note of that.

  They didn’t look like they were having a happy conversation. From Kallie’s stance to the way she kept her arms crossed over her chest, he figured she was not happy to see the man who’d just landed in her driveway. In fact, he thought she’d welcomed him much the same way when he’d arrived with motorcycle and puppy in tow.

  He couldn’t hear what the two were saying, though, and he was torn between going out there and staying here. On one hand, he thought she might want help, on the other, he thought she seemed pretty capable of handling things on her own.

  Then the man touched Kallie.

  Darrin told himself he wasn’t a jealous person. He told himself he didn’t have any right to this wonderful, gorgeous woman who’d so quickly managed to get into his heart and his pants. He told himself that he’d just met her. He knew almost nothing about her, except that every time she smiled or dipped her head or opened her mouth, he wanted to kiss her. And more than that, he wanted to fuck her, to feel her shudder beneath him and above him, to hear her say his name in that sweet, soft voice of hers.

  He told this to himself, and to Gauntlet, as the two watched the exchange through Kallie’s bedroom window. Gauntlet just whined and wagged his tail, as if telling Darrin that everything he was saying was completely true.