HellKat (18 page)

“Wanna tell me what’s goin’ on here, huh? Or maybe I should just take you out back and beat the shit out of you, like the old days. Remember?” Tucker’s enraged face inched closer to Cameron’s. “Remember how your
daddy
just watched, never stepped in to help you, or stop me. Why do you suppose that was?” Cameron tried to speak, but the thick forearm wedged against his throat made it impossible. “I’ll tell you why, you miserable fuck, because he was sizin’ us up even back then. Deciding all those years ago only the strongest would earn what he’d worked his whole life to build.”

Tucker released the struggling man, let him slide down to his feet and catch his breath. He watched with contempt as Cameron slouched against the wall. “You didn’t make the cut,
brother
. You were weak then, and you’re weak now. You wait for everything to be handed to you instead of workin’ for it because you think everybody owes you.”

Kat noticed faces pressed against storefront windows, pedestrians stopped nearby and across the street. She moved around the table to stand beside Tucker. Cameron glanced at her with menace in his injured eyes. Tucker smacked him, gripped his chin, and yanked him closer.

“Don’t even look at her.” Cameron appeared to shrink. “If you ever come near her again, I will take you out. That’s a promise.” He pushed Cameron away in disgust. The defeated man recovered his balance, raked a hand through his dark hair, and gave Tucker the evil eye before he stomped away.

At the corner, now a safe distance from Tucker, Cameron turned and pointed an accusatory finger. “You finally have a weakness of your own,
Williams
.” His eyes skipped quickly to Kat and then back to Tucker. “Good to know.” A cold smile etched his hardened face before he disappeared around the corner. Kat gripped Tucker’s arm to stop him from escalating the situation further.

“Hey! Look at me!” Kat positioned herself in front of Tucker. “It’s over. He got his ass kicked by both of us. Let him have his silly little moment. It means nothing.” Although Kat’s gut disagreed. She’d been close enough to feel the rage and resentment rolling off Cameron Diamond. She’d be watching her back from now on while staying here.

Tucker stepped back, lifted her hands, and inspected her from head to toe. Fury lit his eyes and contorted his lips. Kat tracked his focus to her sleeveless upper arm where fresh bruises circled the flesh from Cameron’s brutal grip.

She grabbed Tucker’s face, demanding his undivided attention. “I’m absolutely fine.” Her eyes flicked to the bruises. “That’s nothing. You should see the other guy.” She giggled but couldn’t stop it. The adrenaline roller coaster had left the loading platform and the first drop felt good, necessary.

Tucker visibly struggled to put a lid on his rage. “I can’t believe that son of a bitch had his hands on you.”

“Yeah, well, did you see what I did to him? He definitely got the worst end of it.” She stroked his cheek. “I’m from New York City, Tucker. I’ve been dealing with asshats like him my entire life.”

He pulled her into a sudden embrace and nearly squeezed the life out of her. “If that’s supposed to make me feel better, it doesn’t,” he said, the pounding of his heart against her chest telling her just how worked up he was.

She whispered in his ear, hoping to calm him. “Hey, you promised me lunch, remember? The best burgers in town and Moose Drool.” She nuzzled against him. “I’m skeptical about anything with drool in the name, but you haven’t steered me wrong yet. So, I’m willing to keep an open mind.” Kat eased back to look at him. The anguish on his rugged face squeezed at her tighter than his arms just had.

“He’s right, you know. You are my weakness, the only thing that can really hurt me.” He pressed a finger to her lips before she could speak. “I gave up thinkin’ anything was really mine a long time ago. I learned that lesson the hard way.” His thumb swept tenderly across her cheek, and he tucked some breeze-tousled layers behind her ear. “But now things have changed,” he paused, tentative, “at least for me.”

Kat’s pulse quickened, a knot of tangled words lodged in her throat. She wanted to break his intense stare, clear her head, regain focus and control. But she couldn’t. He had her locked tight in his arms, trapped with his laser focus. She was forced to face him and unable to look away, unable to deny the truth any longer. The miles between New York and Montana, the contrast in their lifestyles, their thorny family problems, and her need to remain in control gave way like sand in an hourglass. She glimpsed the future, their future, for a split second. Then she understood: none of those worries mattered. The only thing that did matter was right now. The abrupt clarity, the willing acceptance of it, set her free and untangled the knot.

Kat was ready to trust a man with her heart.

“I’m in love with you too.” The foreign words left her feeling vulnerable and yet strangely alive, aware of the electrical charges skipping along her flesh, mixing with his.

Tucker’s brow raised, his lips parted slightly. He’d clearly not expected those words. His eyes creased in a tender, gratified smile before a mischievous gleam sparked in them.

“I already knew that, sweetheart. Just didn’t expect you to admit it so soon.” Kat’s face flushed with heat. No one had ever made her blush, except this man. He leaned down, kissed her deeply, and then pulled back to gaze at her, his eyes soft and dreamy. “You might as well brand my ass with a hot iron,” he angled down, his lips next to her ear, his hot breath electrifying her skin, “because I’ve loved you all along, Kathryn James.” Then he hugged the breath out of her, lifted her off the ground, and whispered words of forever.

The kind of words that caused a new blush to bloom.

The trip home had taken longer than normal. There’d been a delay; Kat’s fault. She’d stripped her curves bare in the front seat of his truck, slid her hands in and around all the places his hands had itched to be. Then she’d draped herself over the seat to wiggle her round ass in his face. The sight in his rearview mirror of the heaven tucked between her thighs had had him nearly flipping the truck. Any breathing man would have done exactly what he’d done: followed her taunting bare ass into the back seat—in broad daylight. Thank the stars for tinted windows and desolate Big Sky roads.

Now their clothes lay strewn about the house and he lay spent, contemplating the stars above him and the woman cooing with satisfaction in his arms. He drew her closer, burrowed deeper into her sweet-smelling hair. He belonged to someone again, and that someone belonged to him too. He’d missed that kind of connection for so long, he’d actually forgotten what it felt like. He breathed out in solemn relief, still unable to believe the fiery woman in his arms had admitted her feelings. He’d been prepared to wait however long it took to win her heart. Now that he had it, he wanted to make sure he deserved it, always.

An unexpected wave of possessiveness rolled through him, left ice in its path, as a face came into focus in his mind’s eye: Cameron. Kat had told him everything about the incident with his waste of a brother. Pleased by the memory of her recounting, he squeezed her a bit; his hellcat had definitely taken care of herself before he’d gotten there. But the hate in Cameron’s eyes, the warning in his words, had Tucker on alert. The meeting outside the Firetower had been no accident. How did Cameron know she would be there? Or who Kat was? Were there people at the office, or still working on the ranch, with loyalties to Cameron? He didn’t have a good feeling about any of it. His thoughts shifted to a private investigator he knew …

“Tucker, did you hear me?”

He closed his eyes and shook his head to clear it. His chin dipped down, and his vision filled with the gorgeous freckled face of the woman he loved, bathed in an angel’s glow of starlight.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, did you say somethin’?” He stroked her hair, threaded his fingers through the silky mane.

She tapped his nose. “Well, I guess you can be forgiven for tuning me out. You have been pretty
attentive
this evening.” Her appreciation stretched into a grin before her lips brushed across his chest. Then she brought her eyes to his. “But after today, we can’t keep putting off the inevitable. We need to figure out how this is going to work. Realistically. And since you’re a realist, you should be prepared to deal with it.” She tugged at his chest hair, held it taut, her expression serious. “Like right now.”

He almost chuckled out loud. Did she really think he could have a serious discussion with her naked body pressed up against his? Her leg twined around his, the moist heat between her thighs warming his skin, pulling at him, like a bull with a nose ring. He felt the smile before it spread across his face.

“You just can’t relax and let things happen, can you?”

“Are you just now figuring that out, cowboy? I like to plan. I don’t like surprises.”

He rolled her onto her back, hovered above her. “Well, you’re gonna have to relax on this, sweetheart. I’m not agreeing to some arbitrary plan, Kat. We’ll work this out as we go.
Our
way. I’m not worried about it, and you shouldn’t be, either.” He could tell his answer wasn’t going to fly with her.

“Do you want kids?”

The blurted question jerked his head back a bit. He tried to gauge her. “Do you?”

“Oh no, you don’t. I asked first. Tell me the truth,” she said.

Tucker assessed her in the milky haze. She appeared to be holding her breath.

“Is this some kind of test? If I answer wrong, it’s a deal-breaker?”

“It’s not a test. I just want to know. That’s all.”

He wet his lips and wondered why she had to have an answer right this second. With some hesitation, he answered truthfully. “What I want is you. With or without kids. I figure that part’s up to you.”

Her eyes widened in surprise and then eased into doubt. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just what I said. I don’t have some hidden agenda to keep you barefoot and pregnant, if that’s what this is about.”

“Why not?”

He chuckled and then gripped her arms to keep her from squirming out from underneath him. “I can’t win this one, can I?” He dropped down to kiss her, but she angled away. He shook his head and chuckled some more. “Has this been a problem in the past?”

A canvas of discomfort stared up at him. “I don’t have a maternal bone in my body, Tucker. I’ve never had the desire to have children. I don’t think that’s going to change.” She seemed to be waiting for his rebuke.

“Okay. Good to know. Looks like it’ll just be you and me, then. I’m fine with that.” He answered the disbelief evident on her face. “I’m in this either way, Kat. We’ll have a great life—either way.”

The tension gradually faded from her face and body. “Really?”

He nodded, a soft smile on his lips. “And if you change your mind someday,” his smile turned mischievous, with a wag of his brow and a firm grip on her backside, “you can count on me to help you out, sweetheart.” She gave him a playful slug to the shoulder. “See? Nothin’ to worry about.”

He brushed the bangs away from her eyes. “You need to trust me on this, Kat. There’s nothin’ about you that’s gonna be a deal-breaker for me. Quit lookin’ for reasons why this can’t work.”

She rolled her bottom lip over her teeth, her expression narrowed in thought. “You just seem like the kind of man who would want kids.” She paused. “The kind of man who should have kids. I saw how that little boy followed you around the other day when all those kids were here to ride your horses. You were good with him.”

“Yeah, that’s Kody Sparks. Cute kid. He has taken a shine to me.”

“And you to him. It was obvious.”

Her whispered words sounded like some kind of question, but to him or to herself, he couldn’t be sure.

He searched her face for answers. “What do you want me to say, Kat? I don’t hate kids. Never have.”

Her mouth opened but hung mute. Tucker shifted to his side and waited for her to formulate her thoughts.

“I don’t hate kids, either. I’ve just never been comfortable around them. In my family, kids were meant to be seen, not heard. We were more like decoration, trained in etiquette and all the social graces—that sort of thing. We were supposed to follow the road already paved for us, no questions asked.” She rubbed at her forehead. “You can see how well I followed the rules.” She bunched the sheet tight against her chest and lay quiet. A deep exhale seemed to expunge the demon inside.

“The way you were with Kody. The way he hung on you, his arms wrapped around your leg, you ruffling his curly hair. The winks and smiles you two shared …” She appeared to have drifted away. “He’s a lucky little boy.” The muttered words were tinged with melancholy.

The back of his fingers skimmed her cheek and then covered her fisted hands.

“I never had that kind of intimacy with my parents, or anybody in my family, except for Kyle.” Her eyes darted to his and then flitted back to the stars. “For the most part, I was raised by nannies. My mother has always been distant, cold. More so toward me than my brothers. I’m not sure why, unless she detected early on I was going to be a huge disappointment.” Tucker heard the pain she tried to mask with an empty laugh.

“And my father worked all the time, traveled often. When he was around, it wasn’t all that different from when he wasn’t, just another space filled at a long table. But,” she paused, “there were times when I’d notice him watching me. He’d have this look, like he was holding back a smile, or a hug, or something …” Her lids slammed shut. “I’m sure I made it up. I just wanted to see those things. They were never really there. My family isn’t like that.” She rubbed at her eyes and turned her head away from Tucker. “And Kyle and I only are in private. It’s just the way it is.”

Tucker gently squeezed her tightly balled hands. “People show their feelings in all kinds of ways, Kat. Your family loves you. How could they not? And I was there when your dad told you and everybody in that room how proud he is of you. How proud he’s always been of you.”

The pillow rustled beneath her head. “Yeah, I know I should be grateful I ever heard those words at all. But it still pisses me off that it took so long.” Then her chin lifted in defiance, the vulnerability gone, a cool bitterness left in its wake. “It pisses me off that I wanted to hear it at all, that I liked it.”

The sheet whipped back in a flurry of white, billowed, and then sank back down onto the bed, now cold without her in it. He pushed up and watched as she stood with command at a window, her arms locked around herself, jaw set tight. He sat stunned, unsure what had happened, what had caused her reaction.

He climbed off the bed and approached her with caution, keeping his distance. Her eyes were fixed on some faraway point.

“I’ve never needed approval.” Her tone was even, strong. “In fact, I seem to thrive on disapproval.” Her focus pulled closer, her head cocked as she regarded her reflection. “I guess you could say I turned a negative into a positive.”

He took a couple steps toward her. “That’s what a real fighter does, Kat. We don’t stop just because someone wants or, tells us to,” he moved close enough to see the sheen of unshed tears, “or tries to force us to.” He knew not to touch her right now, even though that’s all he could think about doing.

She shook her head faintly. “But it hasn’t made you cynical like it has me. You make it look so easy, Tucker.”

A sly grin turned up one corner of his mouth, the winds shifting in his favor. “The great ones always do, sweetheart.”

A smile flashed on her face before she glanced away. But he hadn’t missed the tear racing down her cheek. He didn’t point it out, though, knew she thought it made her weak. But he knew better. This woman had never been weak a day in her life, of that he was certain.

“Remember when I told you we’re the same in all the ways that matter.” She nodded. “I read you like an open book the first day, Kathryn James. It was like lookin’ in a mirror.” He pulled her to him, skimmed his hand along her face, threaded his fingers through her hair. “I knew I needed you before I even knew why.” He pressed his forehead to hers, brushed his thumb across her lips. “It’s okay to need people, Kat. It doesn’t make you weak. It makes you stronger. It makes us stronger—together.”

She considered his words in silence. “I’ve only ever relied on myself. And this … You … You make me question things—make me rethink things. You’ve totally screwed up my plan, Williams.” The trace of a smile emerged, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, nearly squeezed the breath from him. “Damn you, Tucker Williams. Damn you for making me need you.” She nuzzled against his neck. “Now I have a weakness too.”

He tunneled one hand through her thick hair, his arm encircling her waist, no space between them. And yet, it still wasn’t close enough. She pulled back, tracked every plane, every angle, every line on his face as if seeing him for the first time. His chest swelled with awareness, with her acceptance of him, of them, exactly as they were. Then she dragged him down for a fevered, urgent kiss, the likes of which he’d only ever experienced with the woman in his arms.