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His kisses were divine. His touch electric. Tari purred as Galen worked every inch of his hard length deep inside her. Eyes shut she allowed his touch to whisk her away, his rasped voice spoke of the wicked and naughty things he planned to do to her. Her nipples ached with the pleasure/pain he’d inflicted on them, enhanced by the distended tips rubbing against his chest hair as he moved between her legs.
“Tari,” he murmured.
“Galen,” she panted so close to her release she could see it.
“Tari.”
“Yes, Galen, yes.” Her fingernails dug into the muscled expanse of his back, urging him on. Encouraging him deeper. Offering more of herself to him.
“Tari!”
The sharpness of his word snapped her dream like a puff of smoke. Heart still pounding hard, she dragged her eyes open to find two things. One, Galen was in her room leaning over her, and two, her hands were on his shoulders gripping him much as she had been in the erotic dream he’d waken her from.
Dropping her hands, she jerked the covers up to her chin and demanded, “What the hell are you doing in my house? In my room?”
“Chad’s gone.” He stood and went to her closet and began tossing clothes on the bed.
It took a moment for the words to sink in. Blinking rapidly to wake up a bit more, her embarrassment faded with the comprehension of his statement.
“Wait, what do you mean gone?” She bolted upright.
“Gone. Not in the house. Let’s go.”
Tari grabbed the jeans he’d thrown on her bed and shoved her legs into them all the while her mind wheeled with questions. Hands on the hem of her shirt, she paused. “Get out or turn your back.”
He turned and she swiftly put on her bra and sweatshirt. He’d spun back around before she could say a word and as the question formed on her lips, she realized how he’d known. He had been able to watch her in the mirror. Now was not the time to deal with that fact. Or the stark hunger in his gaze.
Heading to the living room, she stuffed her hair into a workable ponytail. Once there she slipped on her hiking boots. “Where have you gone with him here?”
He mentioned off the spots and she listened as she dragged on her winter coat. His voice vibrated his tension.
“Okay, listen. We’ll find him, Galen. Okay. You start going to those places you mentioned and I’ll hit ones you haven’t.”
He grabbed her hands and pulled her close, his eyes betraying his fear. “I won’t lose him,” he growled.
“Of course not. Let’s go.” Despite her own calm tone, she felt fear herself.
They headed out into the cold morning. Snow still fell and she looked at his large SUV. Big and powerful like the man who owned it.
“Tari?”
“I have your cell number, Galen. I’ll call if I find him before you do.” She rattled off her cell number certain he’d remember it. If he didn’t have the number already which given he had known where she lived, was a possibility.
The kiss he laid on her struck her speechless for a few moments. It had been intense, hungry, and way too short. By the time she’d recovered, he’d already clambered up into his vehicle. The powerful motor roared to life and he backed out of her drive.
Shaking her head, she hurried to her garage and the shed beside it. With a swift yank, she removed the cover of her snowmobile and swung aboard the Polaris before gunning the engine and heading off on her own.
She checked a few known hangout spots only to come up empty-handed. Finally, she headed off toward the shore of Lake Superior having had to go down there more than once to find a child. Blinking away the thick, heavy flakes which fell she stared out over the whiteness blanketing the ground.
Her heart skipped a few beats when she spotted some footprints rapidly being covered by the snow. They led to a small ice-fishing shack out on the lake. Parking the snowmobile, she dug out her phone and called Galen after sneaking a peek through the small window and confirming her belief.
“I found him,” she said when he answered.
“Where are you?” His tone a mixture of relief and anger.
“Let me handle this, Galen.”
“He’s my brother,” he bit off.
“I know. But I’m in my element here. I’ll bring him back to your house.” She ended the call, grabbed something from the snowmobile, and knocked on the closed door. “Chad? It’s Ms. Taryn, I’m coming in.” Not giving him a chance to refuse her entrance, she pushed open the door.
The boy crouched in a huddle by the wall, shivering and her heart went out to him. Without a word, she tossed the thick blanket to him. Seating herself on an overturned bucket, she rubbed her hands together and rolled her shoulders trying to loosen them up. Tari wiped her eyes after removing her goggles.
“Want to tell me why you ran?”
He stared at her, wrapping the blanket around himself, eyes wide with uncertainty. She took that as a no. Silent she mulled over what to start off with.
“You know I knew your brother when I was your age. We were in school together. He was my only friend.” Chad watched her with big eyes from where he sat wrapped in the blanket. “He really is a good man, Chad. He won’t hurt you.”
“I don’t know what to believe,” Chad said, his voice broken up by chattering teeth.
“It takes time to discover the truth. But, I will tell you this, in all my life I have never met a more honorable man than your brother. Did you hear about that incident on the news, months ago, about the four people rescued from the pirates?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“I was one of those people. And your brother was the one who saved me.” She shifted on the seat wishing she’d worn snow pants as the cold sank in. “He didn’t know about you, Chad or he would have been there for you sooner.” The minute she spoke the words she knew them to be nothing but the truth and hoped the boy could hear the honesty in them.
“My mom said he died.” Tears shimmered in those wide hazel eyes. “She said he told about how things were and they took him away and killed him.”
Tari’s heart went out to him. She’d noticed progress with Chad but had not done a one on one with him. He seemed happiest when he played sports. Basketball.
“That’s a way for her to control you, Chad. You’ve seen him.” Tugging on her gloves, she fought off a shiver. “Chad, I know you’re scared but I bet he is too. He’s been an only child for so long, I’m sure he is unsure of how to behave with a brother. This is learning process for the both of you.”
Her heart lurched in agony at how terrified he must have been. And still seemed to be. It seemed like a floodgate had opened on his emotions for words began pouring out.
Deep down Tari knew she had to get them out of the cold and inside but on another level she realized and understood Chad needed to say this in order to trust her. If she shushed him now, she would lose that trust. Most likely, forever.
So, she sat and listened. Tari ignored the repeated vibration of her phone in her pocket and gave the boy all her attention, despite the increasing deterioration of the inclement weather. Each revelation from Chad made her want to go to him and hold him. The things he’d been through made her sick. Disturbingly familiar to what Galen went through at the hands of that witch.
She saw beneath his attempts at keeping an emotionless countenance and found the petrified little boy who hadn’t been loved. The wind shook the shanty with increasing force.
“I think we should get back. The weather is getting really nasty and we’re not dressed for it.”
Panic leeched into his features. “He...he’ll be angry I left.”
She held his gaze. “I bet anything he’ll be even happier you were found unharmed, Chad.” She got to her feet and beckoned to him. “Come on, let’s go.”
Although he clutched the blanket tighter about him, Chad did as she’d said. Outside she squinted and turned up the collar of her coat, the wind bit into her exposed skin with ferocious intent. It looked closer to night than afternoon with the dark clouds swirling above and spewing out more white flakes.
She instinctively grabbed onto Chad and could feel the shudders ripple through him. He wasn’t dressed for this. Hell neither was she. Beside the snowmobile, she swung on and hollered over the raging winds for him to do the same. Whiteout conditions were nearly upon them.
“Keep your head covered by the blanket and against my back, Chad, and hold on. I want your hands in my pockets that will help keep them warmer. Good boy, shove them in there along with the blanket.” She lowered her goggles. “Ready, hold on.”
She got them moving and every so often, she reached back to touch the boy gripping her tightly, almost to reassure herself he was still there.
Galen materialized out of the whiteness as she stopped at her house. She hadn’t a clue where he was staying and brought Chad to her home. His gaze slashed her with a mixture of anger and gratitude. Perhaps there lingered some fear as well.
He hugged his brother tight and she turned away from the emotion, which made her feel like an outsider. This was not her business, it was her job. Her part time job.
“He needs to get out of the weather,” she pointed out the obvious.
“I’ll take him home,” Galen said lifting his head to hers.
“Where’s your vehicle?” she demanded.
“I live right next door, Tari. And once he’s settled, I’ll be back over to talk to you.”
Just like that they were gone. Trembling from both the cold and the finality of his words, she made her way inside her house, releasing a moan of pleasure as the heat penetrated through the layer of ice that seemed to surround her. Good Lord, he’s living next door? How had she not known that since it had been a week when he came back into her life? Well, if she wanted to be honest with herself, it wasn’t so hard for it to be a shock to her. Their houses weren’t pressed up against one another but had good-sized yards and trees separating them. In addition, she’d been working all kinds of crazy hours at the center, coming and going under the cover of darkness.
Although the real question was, why that knowledge set up a flurry in the pit of her stomach? One she recognized as lust.
Yeah. Right. Lust.
Once in her shower, she found even the stinging pain of feeling moving back into her limbs had zero ability to distract her from thoughts of Galen Maxwell.
Heated thoughts.
Arousing thoughts.
Out of the shower, dried and dressed in warm clothes she felt marginally better. The scent of coffee drifted back to her and she headed up to the front of her small house. To find two people there occupying her home as if they belonged there.
A scrubbed clean Chad sat at the table, drinking something with steam rising from it. Beyond him at the counter stood Galen. A tight long sleeved tee hugged the powerful upper body. Dark jeans molded sinfully to his legs.
The way his gaze raked her up and down made her feel naked. Heated and flushed. Wanting. Damned if he didn’t know it too for his smoldering eyes filled with smug arrogance.
Thank goodness for Chad’s presence. She knew his presence was the only thing keeping Galen’s hands off her. Tari’s relief was short lived. For before she could say a word, Chad spoke up.
“I’ll be right here while you two talk.”
The confidence in his voice amazed her. So different from the tone he’d had earlier in the shack.
Galen materialized beside her and propelled her back down the hall to her bedroom before she knew what hit her. The door shut with a final click and when she looked up at him, she knew she didn’t stand a chance.
The heat from his gaze didn’t just singe her; it burned her clear through to a visceral level. Her skin tingled and without any thought for the consequences of this action, she grabbed his shirt, hauled him close and slammed her mouth on his relishing the experience of his firm lips on hers again.
