Wild Heat (Northern Fire) (19 page)

However, she had very special plans tonight to show her appreciation to Tack for his very thoughtful and welcome present.

“That’s quite the look, wildcat. What are you thinking about?” Tack’s deep tone came from the hall to the back door.

Caitlin jerked in shock and nearly spilled her precious coffee. “I thought all of you were on tours.” What was he doing back?

The schedule hadn’t changed when she checked that morning.

“My hikers are back at the lodge, getting ready to go.”

“I thought you were supposed to leave at eight?”

Tack snorted. “That Carey
James
. Thinks he’s too good for his family’s name.”

She was pretty sure his parents had taken
Jepsom
as a stage name before they’d had their children, but she didn’t mention that. Clearly, Tack was irritated with Rock Jepsom’s actor brother.

“What does Carey have to do with your tour leaving late?”

“He booked it.” Tack leaned against her side of the desk, close to her. “Played the ‘Big Dog’ and insisted on booking a tour for his
people
with me. I warned him my excursions were more challenging than the Beach Walk or Walking History of Cailkirn tours.”

“I take it he wasn’t interested in doing them?”

Tack reached out and ran his fingers through her curls. “Said his
people
wanted to experience the real Alaska.”

She’d seen the booking. Tack had made it when she was busy helping her gran and aunts at the bed-and-breakfast.

Not that they seemed to need all that much help, which was something Caitlin had been thinking about over the past couple of weeks.

“The excursion you booked isn’t beyond the average person’s abilities, though.” It wasn’t one usually on his schedule either, but she knew he and Egan made exceptions when they had a big enough group wanting to book.

“Yeah, as pissed off as Carey made me, I wasn’t playing with my business’s reputation by booking him for my All Day Wilderness Experience.”

But Tack had wanted to, that was clear.

She fought a smile at his blatant crankiness. “So, what’s the problem?”

“Half of them showed up in dress shoes and heels. One woman was wearing a damn dress and Carey, the idiot, had on some kind of duded up kilt no self-respecting Scot would wear.”

She tried to hold it back, but Caitlin burst out laughing. “Please tell me he was at least wearing hiking boots with it?”

Tack made a sound of disgust. “You’d think, right? I’ve worn my colors hiking in the summer, but not with a pair of flip-flops.”

Caitlin shivered at the idea of wearing a skirt without leggings and sandals that gave no added warmth in the spring temps. “You told him the dress code for the excursion, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I damn well did. I sent it to him in an e-mail too. No open-toed shoes, no heels, and I didn’t think we needed to specify to leave the fancy clothes in their suitcases.” He tugged her up from her desk, pulling her to stand between his legs.

She went willingly, loving when he got affectionate outside of their sexual trysts, but she wasn’t giving up her precious coffee. “Maybe Carey didn’t tell the others?”

“You think?” Tack shook his head, his hands caressing her back and bottom. “I felt sorry for his director. I got the impression this production thing is pretty much her responsibility. She was trying to smooth all the ruffled feathers while not telling Carey what an idiot he was. She seemed pretty stressed to begin with.”

“Carey was always big on ideas and short on follow-through.” Not that Caitlin cared much about the younger man right now.

She was enjoying Tack’s nearness too much.

“That’s a kind way of putting it. His brother ought to kick his ass.”

“What? Why?”

Tack frowned, like he wished he hadn’t said anything. “Just saying.”

“Come on, Tack.” She patted his chest. “I’m not a gossip, but you can’t say something like that and not explain it.”

“Jackson was at the Homestead for dinner last night.”

“What did the mayor have to say?”

“Carey signed a contract for filming in Cailkirn and is using his brother’s place for the primary location shoots.”

Shock held Caitlin silent for a full ten seconds. “But he doesn’t have the authority to agree to either.”

“Nope.”

“Rock must be livid.” Everyone knew how much he despised the industry that had dominated his parents’ lives. Not to mention how closely he guarded his privacy.

“Jackson isn’t too happy either. Cailkirn is already overrun with tourists in the summer. Bringing a film crew in creates a whole other set of problems he had no chance to prepare for.”

Not least of which was town security. “Benji’s going nuts, I bet.”

The Cailkirn sheriff’s department hired additional staff for the tourist season, but even with the “summer deputies” on the schedule, resources were stretched thin.

“I’m pretty sure most of the town leaders of Cailkirn would happily string Carey up right about now.”

“You could do them all a favor and let him get
lost
while you all are out today,” she teased.

“Kitty Grant, everyone thinks you’re so sweet.”

“And if you tell ’em different, I’ll deny it.” She winked at him and took a sip of her yummy, delicious, long-craved-for coffee.

She closed her eyes and savored the flavor, humming a little in her throat.

Tack made a strange sound halfway between a groan and a cough.

Caitlin let her eyes flutter open. “Something the matter?”

“You know I have to leave.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You’re teasing me.”

She let a small smile play around her lips. “Maybe.”

“That’s not very nice.”

“I promise to make up for it tonight.”

The look he gave her sent shivers right to her toes. “I’ll make sure you do.”

She puckered her lips to blow him an air kiss, but he swooped in and it became very real, very intense, very fast.

He pulled back from the kiss, set her away from him without spilling her coffee, and stepped out from behind her desk. “See you later, wildcat.”

She nodded, speech beyond her, and watched him saunter out the door.

That man was lethal.

Tack lounged back against the pillows on his bed, naked and unabashedly touching himself. They’d been lovers for three weeks now, but she still found his open sexuality both irresistible and astonishing.

His willingness to listen to her and try what she wanted during their intimacy always surprised her too.

True to form, Tack hadn’t even gotten a little snarky when she’d put off any touching until they got upstairs and then asked him to get naked and get on the bed without her.

“Are you going to join me sometime soon, Kitty?” His smile seduced her as thoroughly as his open sexuality.

“Yes.”

“You’re a little overdressed there, wildcat.”

She nodded.

“I’m just saying.” His voice dripped with sensual teasing.

He probably thought her
surprise
was going to be her stripping for him, not what she would reveal by taking her clothes off. Which got her thinking he might expect her to be all sexy in how she did that.

“You’re overthinking again,” he said from the bed, his deep voice reverberating through her.

She shrugged and then remembered he didn’t like when she did that. “Maybe.”

“I’ve seen you naked before, wildcat.”

She nodded. “Many times.” She shouldn’t feel so self-conscious.

“I know who you are, wildcat. I’m not expecting anyone else. Trust me.”

“I…” She swallowed. “I want you to enjoy this.”

“I promise I will.”

“I’m not a stripper,” she blurted out.

His expression was so serious. “I want you, Kitty, not some fantasy woman.”

That helped, but her hands still froze on the button of her pants. Why was it so hard to show him what she was wearing under her sweater and jeans?

“You remember when we were teenagers?”

His brow creased like he was trying to figure out where she was going with that. “Sure.”

“You said you thought the sexiest thing a woman could wear was a red lace bra and panties.”

“I never told you that,” he said with certainty.

“No. I heard you talking to Benji Sutherland.”

“I was pretending to know what the hell I was talking about so my friend who was older and more experienced would think I was cool. You know how kids are.”

“Oh.” Disappointment welled.

This was stupid. She’d thought she had something special to give him, a fantasy he could live out.

Because before she left California, Caitlin had bought herself a red lace bustier and thong. She’d purchased it so she could feel more feminine, though she hadn’t managed to talk herself into putting the lingerie on before today.

She now realized that old comment she’d filed away in her memory had influenced her purchase. What other man could define sexy and feminine for her?

Only he hadn’t meant it.

Well, there was nothing for it. Unless she wanted to undress in the bathroom, Tack was going to see her red lace underthings. And Caitlin wasn’t that much of a coward.

It might not be his fantasy, but he’d probably still like seeing her in it. Right?

Might as well get it over with.

She pulled her sweater off over her head and then shucked her jeans without giving herself time to think about it. Caitlin was going to remove the corset-style bra and thong with the same efficiency but stopped herself.

She owed it to herself not to trivialize this moment. Whether or not this was a long-held fantasy for Tack, this was the first time since her wedding night that Caitlin had donned sexy lingerie because she
wanted
to. Not out of the need to placate, but the
desire
to please.

The belief that she could entice her partner with the view of her body encased in red lace.

This moment was as much for her as it was for Tack.

His harsh inhale brought her gaze shooting up to his.

Dark eyes devoured her. “Oh hell,” he whispered reverently. “Will you turn around so I can see it from the back too?”

C
aitlin nodded, no thought of denying him.

She pivoted in a slow circle, the sensation of his eyes on her as powerful as any caress. A blush climbed her body as she put herself on display, but it excited her too. Knowing he watched her.

“I lied.”

“What?” She tried to reconcile his lust-filled expression with his words.

“You in red lace is the perfect sexual fantasy.”

She choked out a laugh. “I’m glad you think so.”

“Damn, wildcat.” He shook his head. “Just damn.”

She climbed onto the bed and crawled across to him, watching his expression go from unashamed desire to full-on feral need.

As soon as she was within reaching distance, his hands shot out and grasped her around the waist, the hold possessive and sexily amorous.

He lifted her and maneuvered her body so she straddled his hips, all in one smooth, powerful movement.

Burying his face in her neck, he inhaled deeply and groaned as if her scent was just one stimulation too many. “If I’d known you were wearing this underneath your clothes, we wouldn’t have made it out of the truck.”

“Really?” she asked breathlessly as she tilted her pelvis forward and rubbed her lace-covered mound against his hard-on.

They moaned in unison.

“Feels so good, wildcat.”

“Yes,” she groaned out.

His big hands cupped her naked backside and squeezed. “I like this too.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh yeah.” He caressed her butt, paying each globe special attention so she could not doubt his words.

One fingertip slid down her crease until he touched her dew-drenched opening.

She couldn’t stop herself from tilting her hips a little so he dipped inside. “Mmmm…”

“You’re so wet and silky here, sweetheart.” His thick finger glided along her vaginal walls.

She rocked on the invading digit, needing more, craving the feeling of fullness she’d only ever experienced with his big phallus inside her.

Only she was enjoying this stimulation too much to give it up. And his rigid length rubbed against her clitoris through the lace of her thong, sending explosions of sensation through her with each small movement.

Kissing up his neck and under his chin, she pressed her breasts against his muscled chest. Her nipples were so hard and sensitized, every tiny adjustment of her body against his sent shivers of euphoria through her. The sprinkling of black hair over his pectorals added to the maelstrom of sensation, even through the fabric of her bustier.

She rode him, all timidity gone in this act as she took pleasure from his body and gave it back with confidence born of his unfettered reactions. The man loved whatever she did to him.

There was a lot of sensual assurance in being with a man who held nothing back.

Their movements grew frantic and he dipped his head to take her mouth in a carnal kiss. Tongues tangled, lips ate at each other, their breath mingled. Ecstasy built inside Caitlin, driving her to more desperate caresses, deeper kisses, tighter and more forceful rocking of her hips, only to be met by a matching urgency in Tack.

He tore his lips from hers. “Want to be inside you.”

“Yes. Now. Now. Now,” she chanted.

A condom came from somewhere, but she had to lean back before he could put it on. It took Herculean effort, but Caitlin managed to move away from the hot, rigid length of his erection. She couldn’t stop herself from helping him roll the condom down and then working him with her hand in long, slow strokes.

He moaned, his face twisted in the rictus of sexual pleasure. “Damn, wildcat, don’t do that.”

“Then get it inside me.”

He laughed, the sound choked with his desire. His big hands wrapped around her hips, fingertips reaching to her backside, and he jerked her body up and aligned her soaked vaginal opening with the tip of his engorged erection.

He lowered her, stopping when his head ran into a barrier. “Move your thong string aside,” he ordered gutturally.

She did, feeling too much lust for hesitation or modesty.

He let her down inch by slow inch as her slickness allowed swollen rigidity to stretch her vaginal walls, gravity doing the rest. He’d barely seated himself fully before he started thrusting with his hips, guiding her to ride him with a hold on her hips.

No sexy, slow beginning this time, but all carnal need and urgency.

It felt so good, bliss radiating from her vagina outward. Every thrust, every tilt of her hips added to the growing hunger between them. He encouraged her movements with his hands and words of praise that filled her with as much pleasure as his touch.

“Come with me,” he demanded as he increased the power of his thrusts upward, his erection growing impossibly harder and thicker.

With no thought of denying him, she let the cataclysm of delight shatter inside her, her muscles and womb contracting with such power the pleasure bordered on pain. She exalted in the rapture taking over her body, mind, and heart.

This was what she’d been made for. Or rather, he was the man she’d been designed for.

Later, he insisted on being the one to take off her lacy underwear and it led to lovemaking that was both tender and incredibly passionate.

She fell asleep wrapped in his arms, only to be woken later by Tack’s hand gently shaking her shoulder. “Come on, wildcat. I need to get you home.”

She shook her head and rolled away, burying her head in the pillow. “’M tired.”

Exasperated low laughter sounded near her ear, but he didn’t say anything else and she had the fleeting hope he would let her spend the night.

The ache to wake up in his arms was growing by the day.

But strong arms lifted her right from the bed, him carrying her somewhere again, and then she was being lowered into a hot bath. Strong hands washed her body, no words passing between them.

Caitlin couldn’t be angry at how well he was taking care of her, but neither could she chase away the disappointment at his clear dedication to keeping their relationship a secret.

Tack leaned on Kitty’s desk. “Nik’s bringing his uh…”

“I think the word you’re looking for there is
wife
,” Kitty said with some asperity.

“Right. Anyway, they’re coming for dinner at my place tonight. I thought you might want to come and get to know her a little better.”

“You do realize we have gone for groceries in Kenai a couple of times together already?” Besides, he knew all about their aborted hike and bear-sighting excursion.

“Nik mentioned it.”

“Did he?”

“Yes. Not sure why you didn’t.”

“Right. Because we spend so much time talking about anything besides work and sex. And face it, that doesn’t require a lot of discussion.”

He looked around to make sure no one had overheard her words, even though he knew that Egan and Bobby were out on tours right now. “We see each other almost every day.”

“I barely see you here between your tours and we don’t spend our time together at night talking.” There was something in her tone that said that bothered her more than a little bit.

Which maybe shouldn’t have surprised him, but it did. He thought she was fine with the way things were between them. He was sure as hell enjoying himself.

He wasn’t one for skirting a subject. “Are you complaining?”

“No.” But something in her sky-blue gaze said that he was right in believing she
wasn’t
entirely happy about that reality either. She sighed. “If we got together outside of work and our trysts, we’d have more time to talk.”

“You know that’s not possible.”

“Remind me again why two friends can’t just have dinner together once in a while?” she asked, definite snark invading her tone.

“I’m only home for dinner a few nights a week during the season and I spend most of those at the Homestead.” She kept the schedule; she knew how many tours of his went into the evening.

“You couldn’t give up one night at the Homestead to eat with me?”

Not without raising brows and encouraging speculation. “You could always come to dinner with the family again. It’s not always the whole clan, you know.”

“But it is always at least your parents and grandparents.”

“Sure.” But she liked them; he knew she did. And ever since her lunch with his mom and Kitty’s gran and aunts, Kitty hadn’t shown any reticence to be in
Aana’s
company.

“Right.”

He didn’t understand what her point was. “I’m inviting you to dinner tonight,” he reminded her.

“With Nik, Savannah, and Joey.”

“Well, yeah, but I thought you were open to being Savannah’s friend. And that Joey is one sweet little boy.” He reminded Tack why one day
he
wanted a family.

“Aren’t you worried that will seem like a coupley thing to do?” she asked, sounding more annoyed than worried.

“Nah.” He’d already laid the groundwork with his family, telling his mom that Kitty was Savannah’s only friend in Cailkirn so far.

He explained that to Kitty.

The pleased expression that had come over her beautiful face at his initial denial of concern transformed into one of definite irritation.

“What’s the matter? You have to get over your aversion to having other people know what’s going on in your life,” he said, guessing that was what bothered her. “What is the big deal, anyway? Were you planning to hide your friendship with Savannah?”

“No,” Kitty all but snapped. “Hiding one friendship is plenty, thanks.”

“We don’t hide our friendship.”

“Really?”

“You know we don’t.”

“Do I?”

Man, what was her problem? His wildcat wasn’t usually cranky like this. Stubborn, yes. Independent? That too. But not bad-tempered.

“Are you getting enough sleep?” he asked.

Her pretty bow lips twisted in cynicism. “Would it matter if I wasn’t?”

Right. She definitely needed a full night’s sleep, maybe a few of them in a row. Guilt washed over Tack. He’d rejected her attempts to cut down the number of nights they spent together, thinking it was only about him getting enough rest.

And he was fine.

He’d been noticing signs of her tiredness, though; almost every night, she fell asleep after the second time they made love—sometimes even after the first bout of sex. He should have done something about it before this, but he’d been selfish.

Far from assuaging his need for her, their nightly intimacy had only increased his craving.

“We can make dinner with Nik and Savannah another night.”

“No. It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. You need your rest. I’ll go call Nik.” He left before he gave in to the urge to take back the words.

Even knowing Kitty needed a break, he wanted her in his house that night. Even if no sex was in the offing, but she needed the rest. He’d forgotten how physically fragile she’d been only a year ago.

It was time to man up. He would have to show some restraint and not push to get together every night.

Fighting irrational jealousy, Caitlin listened to the rise and fall of Tack’s and his mom’s voices from his office. Malina MacKinnon had complete freedom to come and go in her son’s office. He never looked to see who was around to notice them when he hugged her.

She got to see him on most of his free nights for dinner and when she came in, she got all his attention. No matter if it was the only time all week Caitlin and Tack had to see each other outside of sex, he would take his mom back into his office for one of their mother-son
chats
.

He never invited Caitlin to join them and never kept his mom in the reception area so Caitlin could naturally do so.

It hurt in a way Caitlin had been sure she wouldn’t with Tack. She felt like he was ashamed of her.

She knew he wasn’t exactly proud of their intimate relationship. He couldn’t be proud and so obsessively determined to keep it a secret from everyone that mattered in their lives.

At first, the illicit nature of their sexual relationship had been exciting. She’d liked having something that was just hers and Tack’s, but the limits on their time together and interactions when other people were around had grown old.

Added to that, over the last week, he’d shown a marked decrease in his interest in getting together even for sex. Sure, she’d been the first one to suggest they cut back the number of nights they met in his bed. But that had been to protect his sleep.

He said that was his reason now (on her behalf, though), but that really didn’t fly. Not after the way he’d completely disregarded her concerns when she’d brought them up before.

The dinner with Nik and Savannah hadn’t happened yet either.

All of it added up to some very unpalatable truths. Tack did not love Caitlin and he wasn’t likely to ever allow himself to either. Or even be tempted.

A man didn’t fall in love with his
project
, no matter how consuming.

In Tack’s mind, Caitlin was and would forever be the bird with the permanently broken wing he fed and entertained. He wasn’t even as committed to fixing her as he had been.

She wasn’t sure she could blame him.
Her
commitment to giving him closure had flown out the window. She didn’t want to help him shut the door on the past so he could make a relationship with someone else. She wanted a second chance at the love she should never have tried to deny in the first place.

But it was becoming increasingly clear that he didn’t share her change of heart.

As her realization of the hopelessness of her love for Tack grew, so did Caitlin’s inner stress. Unsurprisingly, she’d fallen into old patterns of skipping meals.

Nothing like as bad as before, and not even as pronounced as after she’d first moved back to Cailkirn. But Dr. Hart had noticed and pointed out that she didn’t believe Caitlin’s current relationship with Tack was healthy for her patient.

And in her most rational moments, Caitlin had to agree.

She wasn’t sure she had the strength to break it off, but she couldn’t deny that emotional pain was at a level she would never have anticipated. Worse, it had become a definitive component for her to their association.