Authors: Kate Watterson
Jesse absently tangled his fingers in her hair, a frown bringing his dark brows together. “It would be interesting to find out why someone would go to all that trouble. Are you involved in a lawsuit of any kind?”
“No, thank God.”
“No problem patients or disgruntled colleagues who might want to find anything to discredit you, even if it’s done illegally?”
“None I can come up with, and believe me, I’ve given it a great deal of thought.”
“It’s puzzling.”
It was the same conclusion she’d come to herself. “I agree. As far as I know, I get up, go to work, come home and sleep. Who am I bothering? If I had the slightest idea why I was being harassed, I swear I’d feel better.”
“Yeah, the whole unknown enemy thing is a bit hard to handle for anyone.”
He had no idea. It had gotten to the point she was so nervous and jumpy if she saw anyone that looked like they might remotely be following her, she nearly panicked. Those two endless nights she’d lain in bed and flinched at every single sound after finding the basement door ajar and the computer screen up. But, if she was being followed, going to a hotel seemed pointless, and maybe even less safe.
“I undress in the dark in my closet because I’m so paranoid about other devices, and I admit I’ve asked one of my male colleagues—
who happens to be six foot six inches tall, to walk me out to my car once the office is closed. I told Glen something vague about a persistent boyfriend and he’s been very sweet about it.” Jesse felt very solid and male and comforting, and though it wasn’t at all her usual style, Kerin could stay curled in his lap forever.
“I doubt sweetness is what makes him so cooperative,” Jesse said
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dryly. “In case you haven’t noticed, Dr. Burke, you’re gorgeous.”
“Glen is happily married, but thank you. I just hate being so…so…vulnerable. Why should I have to be afraid to walk to my car? Why should I have to be afraid to sleep in my own bed? I’m frustrated and ticked off besides scared.”
“Can’t say I blame you.”
The fire crackled and hissed as resin bubbled from one of the blazing logs, the homey sound and the feel of Jesse’s flannel shirt under her cheek a bit surreal. His heart beat in a strong, reassuring rhythm. She said, “I dislike being helpless.”
He laughed, his chest lifting with the soft sound. “That I already know about you.”
She really didn’t want to think about going home, going back to the insecurity and fear. Kerin lifted her head and attempted a smile.
“Is that so, Mr. McCutcheon? What else do you know?”
“Plenty.” A sexy grin curved his mouth, his easy acceptance of the change in subject a sign of the considerate side of him she found as compelling as his dark eyes and those Hollywood chiseled features.
“Go for it.” She shifted just a little, settling her ass more against his groin.
“Okay. Well, for one thing, you’re impatient. You like to fix things and set them in neat little piles labeled “done”.”
It was pretty insightful. She raised her brows.
“You have a few hang ups. Like giving yourself a break now and then. When something stresses you out, you work harder.”
“Is that so?”
“Quiet, woman. I’m playing Freud here.” Jesse’s hands went to her waist, adjusting her position a little more against his crotch. “I think your perfectionist side gives you grief and makes you probably hard to live with now and then. On the other hand, it makes you a damn good doctor. I’m going to guess you graduated at the top of your class. I can’t see it any other way.”
She had, and he was damn good. Was she transparent, or was it
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just a lucky guess? “Hmm. Maybe. This psychoanalysis is fascinating.
Don’t stop now.”
“You grew up in a small town.”
It was true. She was from a small farm town east of Indianapolis.
Her grandparents still lived there. Kerin blinked. “How the hell would you know that?”
He shrugged and his gaze dropped to her mouth. “Call it intuition.
I have a thing for the wholesome girl next door type. My instincts scream you qualify.”
The husky tone of his voice did all kinds of interesting things to her body. Looking into his dark eyes it was easy to forget the fear, her flight, the storm…everything.
“Maybe,” she confirmed, leaning just a fraction closer. “Let me know when it’s my turn.”
“Go ahead at any time.”
She gave it a shot. “You work too hard, also. It’s a flaw and why you bought this place. The anal thing isn’t just my provenance, for this is the single neatest bachelor place I’ve ever seen. You’re understated by choice. You drive a truck, not a flashy sports car even though you could afford one. You’re practical, almost to a fault.
Money is a necessary evil, not a goal.”
A twitch lifted his lips. “Okay. Some of that might be right.”
“You like what you do. You’re content, but not necessarily happy.”
Something flickered in his dark eyes. He said nothing. Their mouths were only an inch apart and she could feel the bulge in his jeans where she sat nestled against him.
Kerin went on, feeling a little as if she was walking over a cliff.
“You’d like a family someday. That you’d make time for.”
There was no comment on her accuracy because at that moment he closed the gap between them and took her mouth in a very hot, long kiss. Her arms slipped around his neck and she responded with almost desperate abandon, turning into the embrace, obliterating the
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problems waiting for her back in Indiana.
His hand slid up her thigh and since her wardrobe was pretty much limited to his oversized shirts and woolen socks, there was nothing between his questing touch and bare skin. Skillful fingertips brushed her pubic hair and then parted her labia. She made a small sound into his mouth as he penetrated her vaginal opening with a long, invading finger and began to slowly pump it in and out as they kissed.
It felt very, very good, but whenever he touched her it was fantastic. Maybe it was because she felt so comfortable with him she lost her inhibitions, or maybe it was their situation, but it just
was
.
Fate?
Karma.
Whatever. All she knew was she was wet and ready at the touch of his hand. Actually, his gorgeous smile alone did that to her. In her wildest dreams she hadn’t expected to ever react to anyone with such intensity.
Kerin spread her thighs wider and dragged her mouth away. She kissed a path along the clean line of his jaw to his ear. She whispered,
“Fuck me.”
The reaction to the crude suggestion was unmistakable. He jerked a little in surprise, and then gave a low laugh. “Is that an order?”
“Does it need to be?” She lightly bit his earlobe.
“Hell no.”
He stood in one swift motion, still holding her, and moved the few feet to just before the fireplace. There was a patterned rug there, done in shades of dark red, ochre and navy blue and Jesse laid her down and jerked the shirt she wore up above her waist. “Spread your legs.”
After all, she’d asked for it. On her back, she did as instructed, watching through half-closed eyes as he unfastened his jeans and shoved them down his hips. The length of his erection jutted upward, long and already beaded with semen at the tip. He knelt between her open thighs, pushed them apart a little more, and leaned over her as
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she felt the probing pressure of his cock.
Then he entered her in one long forceful glide that wrung a gasp from her lips.
“Like this?” Jesse withdrew almost all the way, and then plunged back in, his surging length impaling her body, braced over her with his arms on either side of her shoulders. His face held a flush of sexual arousal.
“Yes.” She arched into the motion of his lower body, accepting the possession.
He leaned closer and kissed her, but not the usual seductive kisses she was coming to know pretty well, but instead a passionate, crushing kiss that matched the intemperate wildness of the way he was taking her.
A part of her she didn’t even know existed loved it. She’d never talked dirty, never played at sex.
Rapturous pleasure, the bright cackle of the fire, the cool rug at her back…
“Touch yourself,” Jesse said in a thick voice. “Make it happen.”
It was going to happen anyway, but she did as he said, sliding her hand between them to find her clitoris, slowly massaging as he continued to thrust into her throbbing pussy.
The explosion was fast, it was impetuous, and she cried out as it happened, the shuddering joy of her orgasm making her body quake.
Jesse went very still, his eyes closed as he groaned and she could feel the answering pulse of his ejaculation as he climaxed.
It took a little while before he stirred, his lashes—too unfairly dark and long to belong to a male—lifting and one brow going upward. “Is that what you had in mind?” he asked, still braced over her.
Every muscle in her body was so lax she could barely move.
Kerin smiled with languid teasing contentment. “We might have to practice it more but it was a good start. I’m learning a lot about sex—
about myself—from you, Mr. McCutcheon.”
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She
wasn’t
teasing, despite the tone of her voice. The nasty storm had been a gift from Mother Nature and Jesse was a tutor extraordinaire when it came to exploring a part of life she’d pretty much neglected until this trip and their forced seclusion together.
“I’m learning, too.” He kissed her softly, with lingering pressure.
“You? I think you have a pretty good handle on how it all works.”
She could feel his cock, still big inside her.
A muffled laugh stirred her hair. “I try to give it my best shot each time, no pun intended. Are you sure you don’t want to stay here for the next ten days? Think of how much more
studying
we could do.”
“I’m sure I do want to stay.” She reached up and touched his face.
“But it isn’t practical. Whatever is happening, I still have obligations to my partners and my patients. Leaving was a knee-jerk reaction caused by lack of sleep and too much tension. The idea someone could come into my house just plain scared the hell out of me. I snapped.”
It was hard to read his expression, but his easy, compelling smile faded. An irrational part of her wanted for him to keep trying to persuade her, but she was telling the truth, she just couldn’t walk away from everything for that long without making arrangements, and she hadn’t.
Finally, Jesse shrugged. “Just know you could if you wanted to.”
Oh, she was tempted. So much it was disturbing.
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The truck balked a little after sitting for nearly a week in subzero temps, but it finally turned over and Jesse put his arm over the back of the seat and the tires spun a few times before they took and he rocked backwards down the lane. It was so closely lined by trees it was always a bit tricky in deep snow, but he managed to get to the end and stopped there. The road had finally been plowed, but the big pile of snow at the entrance to his driveway had been a huge pain in his ass to shovel out.
Damn if he didn’t have a love/hate relationship with winter, he thought in amusement as he clambered out and started to walk back to the cabin. When it was like this, beautifully quiet and serene, the trees laden with snow, the air crisp and so clean your lungs hurt to inhale it…well, it was magical. However, wielding a snow shovel for over an hour took some of the gloss off of scenery even this lovely.
Kerin’s car had been towed into Tomahawk and the garage there had ordered a new part for it. The part was being overnighted and they promised it would be done tomorrow. With the driveway cleared, he should be able to take her into town no problem.
Only it was the last thing he wanted to do for more than one reason.
Yes, he had a feeling he was going to be restless once she left.
Never had he settled so fast and easily into a relationship with anyone and though she hadn’t said it out loud in his presence, he sensed she felt the same way. They clicked, and it wasn’t just sexual, though that part was beyond good, in his opinion.
When he thought about it—and he certainly had been—she was
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just what he wanted. Independent, intelligent, sexy, and feminine. His parents would love her, he knew it.
To think about a woman in terms of how she might fit into your life on a permanent basis wasn’t something he’d done often. To do so after only knowing her for a week was unheard of, but then again, he’d always believed if he met the right person, he would realize it right away.
Was he falling in love with her?
The answer was maybe he was already past that point.
Since he was sure he didn’t want her walking out of his life, he was also sure he wasn’t going to let her walk back into a potentially dangerous situation all alone.
Taking more time off work wasn’t a problem. Maybe with an unprejudiced outside eye, he could help her figure out what was going on.
If she’d let him.
The front door to the cabin wasn’t going to be passable anytime soon, so he skirted around the back and let himself in. His hands were freezing and he took off his heavy gloves and set them on a towel spread on the floor in the little entryway off the kitchen. His boots went next and he wiggled ice cold toes as he took off his coat and hat.
Raking his fingers through his hair so it wasn’t sticking straight up, he walked through the kitchen and into the main room. Kerin had a book on her lap, open, but wasn’t reading, instead she stared out the big window toward the frozen lake. In profile, her delicate features looked a little melancholy.
“We can get out,” he said. “I left the truck at the end of the drive in case it starts to drift again tonight. They aren’t predicting too much wind, but you never know.”
She turned and for a minute her eyes were blank and then she seemed shake herself a little. “That’s good news.”