The sun had barely kissed the sky when Cole convinced himself to let her go. Kennedy wasn’t helping by nestling back into him.
“Stay,” she mumbled without opening her eyes.
He nuzzled her. “Tell me that when you’re wide awake. Go back to sleep. I’ll ignore you later.”
A slight smile played at the corners of her lips. “But you’ll be back?” she whispered.
“You just try to keep me out,” he purred.
He found his clothes and stepped into his jeans, buttoning the fly, and buckling his belt. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he pulled on his boots. Kennedy’s hand trailed down his spine as she leaned up and kissed his bicep.
“I’ve missed you.”
Cole leaned down, cupping her head and kissing her deeply. “Those days are gone. If nothing else, I’ll see you tonight. I’ll try and talk to my brothers and see if I can’t ease your way with them.”
Kennedy leaned on her hand. “Why would you need to do that?”
“Because we’re tight knit and learned a long time ago not to trust outsiders. And right now, you’re still an outsider.”
“You’re convinced he didn’t do it, aren’t you?”
He nodded. “I am. None of us did. I’m not saying we didn’t want the bastard dead, or that we didn’t toast him to hell the day we found out, but if one of us had done it, we’d have done it to his face.”
She changed gears. “I like Cade’s fiancé. Clay is convinced we can trust her, but from my quick assessment, Clay tends to be pretty trusting.”
“Yes and no. They say still waters run deep, and that’s Clay. Trey has been the girl Cade was in love with since they were teenagers. She and Clay were always buddies. Cash and I both treat her like the kid sister we never had. But if you want my opinion…”
“I always did. You warned me about Culp, and I should have listened.”
Cole’s eyes met hers. “Other than hanging you out to dry, did he hurt you?”
“No, not actively. It wasn’t what he did, but what he didn’t do. He hated you, you know.”
“The feeling was mutual. Unfortunately for him, I’m smarter and had a better network. You do know he planned to whore you out to Mosby.”
“I do. And I knew it then.”
That surprised him. He’d always thought Culp had set her up unbeknownst to her. “Why? I need you to believe it wouldn’t have mattered then and it sure as hell doesn’t matter now. But, why?”
“My nephew. My brother was a soldier in Afghanistan. He married a local girl, and they had a son. It was a legal marriage. When my brother was killed, the State Department refused to get her out. The jihadist groups would have killed her, killed them both. I had to get them out.”
“And Culp promised you the Agency would do that.”
“Yes,” she said, not able to hold his gaze any longer.
He tilted her chin back up. “He never would have helped you. You should have told me, but I understand why you didn’t. You are never to feel guilty about that. I catch one iota of sadness and I’ll put you over my knee to blister your backside, but not in the cathartic way I did last night.”
Her eyes searched his face. “You. You found out. You’re the one who arranged to get them to Canada.”
“What makes you think that?” he said evasively. She was never supposed to have known about that.
“I’m right, aren’t I?”
Reaching behind her, she grabbed his pillow and proceeded to beat him about his head and shoulders. Cole grabbed the pillow, wrestled it away from her, and leaned down to kiss her.
“Careful, beating me over the head is a spankable offense.”
She snorted, her eyes dancing merrily. “Not true. There is no way a soft pillow hitting your hard head could cause you injury. Even if it were, I should be allowed one pass. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because by the time I found out, I was embedded with Mosby, and they’d moved against you. I knew your involvement with me had destroyed your career and cost you the position with the Hague. I figured it was the least I could do. I’m so sorry I ever hurt you.”
She lifted her hands and brought his face back to hers. “If I don’t get to feel guilty about our past, neither do you.”
Kennedy pressed her lips to his, nibbling his full lower lip before plunging her tongue deep inside to slide along his, tangling, dancing. She backed off for only a moment before he took control, turning the kiss from sweet and forgiving to overpowering and demanding. He growled low in his throat.
His tongue surged in, commanding she respond and yield, twisting with hers as his hand tangled in her hair. Her kiss had been seductive; his was possessive. She belonged to him, and she needed to understand that. Yes, he would be her champion, making her life easier, and would take care of her in all ways, but she would yield and give him what he wanted. And what he wanted was her.
Cole kissed her until she was breathless, until she was absolute putty in his hands. “The ranch gets started early. I need to leave before anyone sees me. You think about how you want to play this in public and remember, I don’t give a damn what anyone does or doesn’t know. As long as you and I are together, the rest will work itself out.”
“Won’t they hear your SUV?”
He grinned at her. “I didn’t bring my vehicle to the ranch. It’s too easy to distinguish from the other trucks and SUVs.”
“Yes, I would think a Jaguar SUV would stand out from the beat-up pick-ups and service vehicles.”
“You should know that the front passenger seat lays all the way back and the cargo area is well padded. I’m thinking for a picnic it would be a lot more comfortable than what we had at Vesuvius.” He waggled his eyebrows at her, and she laughed in response. God, he’d forgotten how much he loved the sound of her laughter. It wasn’t some little giggle or polite chortle. No, when Kennedy laughed, it was throaty, warm, and full of mirth. “Don’t worry. This is the place I grew up. I know all the sneaky ways in and out.”
Cole stopped at the door and peeked out. Seeing no one, he opened it to leave her. “Kennedy?”
“Yes?” she said smiling in a way that made his heart stop.
How had he ever thought he would live without her?
“I love you.”
Before she could respond, he was out the door and moving into the shadows, picking up the duffle he’d carried his clothes in as he headed deeper into murky light that exists only in the morning. Once he was safely away, he removed his clothes, placed them in his duffle, and called his lion forward. The great beast seemed in no rush to merge with him. He was aware that the lion within him stretched languidly and yawned before galloping forward to take over.
He loved her? He’d told her he loved her for the first time then disappeared. What the hell was up with that? She’d kind of hoped he did, but it would have been nice if he’d said it and stuck around long enough for her to tell him the same.
She sat up and dangled her legs off the bed. She winced. Not only was there a dull, but somewhat erotic, ache to her backside, but she was well aware of all her girly parts. She’d actually convinced herself that Cole wasn’t as virile a lover as she remembered. The fact was the reality had been better than her memories or fantasies. And last night had been different. He’d been bolder, more open, and more focused on her pleasure.
If being with Cole before had been like being drunk, being with Cole now was as addictive as any narcotic. With a smile on her face, she headed into the bath to shower and get ready for the day.
Cole reached his house and shifted back before entering. As he’d run back to his house, he’d thought about all the moving pieces to the ever-deepening mystery. Trey had told them another body had been found dead up at Wes’s diner. Poor Lorna and her brother were now dead in an unmarked grave after trying to kill Trey and Cade. Why? What had they thought that might accomplish?
Was it possible they’d killed Cyrus? If so, why? Was Lorna so stupid as to think she would inherit? Was it possible that she hadn’t understood Cyrus’s bequest from their mother?
Trey was now one of them—about damn time. But who was he to talk, really? He knew Kennedy was his bonded spirit, a fact she would need to know before he claimed her, or maybe not. Maybe it would just be better to claim her and present her with a fait accompli. Probably not better, but perhaps easier.
And there was also his freelance work. He’d officially left NATO after the Mosby affair, but he’d been good at what he did, and NATO had come calling several times since then with lucrative offers that had seen Koyama' through some of its lean times and had given them the capital they needed to invest further.
He showered, dressed, and headed back to the ranch, this time in his sleek, luxury SUV.
He jogged up the steps toward the kitchen door and found all three of his brothers inside. Kennedy was down at the guesthouse, and he supposed Trey was still upstairs in the room she now shared with his oldest brother. He, Cash and Clay had cleared Lorna’s things out of the room she’d once occupied, then moved Clay’s stuff from his room into the master suite.
As he entered the kitchen, the house phone rang, and he answered.
“Cole? It’s Sheriff Langley.”
“That doesn’t sound good. Usually, you identify yourself as Russ.”
“Don’t make this harder on me than it already is.” said the sheriff.
“Harder on you? Once again, your department seems determined to take the easy route. Cyrus’s sons hate his guts and Clay doesn’t have an alibi? Let’s charge him. That’s why you’re calling isn’t it?”
“Damn it, Cole. I don’t have a choice. All the evidence points to him.”
“That’s because the killer knows how narrow-visioned your office is and pointed you right at him. You know as well as I do that Clay didn’t do it, but in the same way it was easy to call my mother’s death an accident, it’ll just be easier to charge Clay. Only this time you’ll have one of the best defense attorneys in the world to deal with. She’s going to make mincemeat out of you, and I, for one, am going to enjoy the hell out of it.”
The sheriff growled, a fairly pathetic sound. “I’m sending Shep up with a warrant for Clay’s arrest...”
“Fuck off, Langley,” Cole said before hanging up.
“Let’s hope that wasn’t Russ calling to say he’s resigning, Trey has been promoted, and the real killer has confessed. Because if that was what he wanted, you really need to work on your people skills,” quipped Cash.
“You got one part right. It was Russ. Shep’s on his way over.”
They could hear Trey trotting down the stairs before she burst into the room. “Problem?” she asked.
“Yeah, Russ just called. They’re issuing a warrant for Clay’s arrest,” answered Cole. “I need to go wake Kennedy.”
“No. That’s the last thing you need to do,” said Trey, moving to stand beside Cade and wrapping her arm around him. “Clay, you need to get a horse and get the hell out of here. You need to disappear far up into the hills. Remember that old mine shaft we found as kids? As far as I know, we five are the only ones who know it’s there. Check back there before the end of the day. We’ll get gear up to you.”
“If he runs, it’ll make him look guilty,” said Cash.
“And if they arrest him, I’m afraid he won’t live to stand trial. I just talked to Doc Walker, and the dead man in the SUV was Lorna’s father. Also, someone stole the hairbrush we dropped off, but they weren’t aware he’d already taken what he needed.”
“Shit!” said Cade, grabbing his sweater and boots and pulling them on. “Cash? Can you run interference with Kennedy?”
“Sure, but why don’t we want her to know?”
“Because she would be ethically bound to tell the sheriff, and there’s a very good chance he’s involved in whatever is going on,” said Trey.
Within minutes, they had a plan—a sketchy one, but it was a way to get Clay to safety until they knew more. The trick was how to enlist Kennedy’s expertise without exposing her to legal charges or something that could lead to disbarment.
Cole was headed out with Clay. Trey and Cade were going into town to pick up the Doc, whose lab had been broken into. The medical examiner was an old family friend and they all agreed he was no longer safe living alone.
“From this point on, it’s family only. We’ll figure out what we can tell Kennedy to keep her out of hot water,” said Cade, picking up the keys to his truck and escorting Trey out the front door.
Sunrise was imminent, but the ranch had yet to get started for the day. Clay and Cole were able to get to the barn, grab a couple of horses, and slip away without anyone the wiser.