Snowbound (6 page)

She turned her head, needing to draw breath.
Her lips felt raw and bruised, but in a good way. He sucked on her
neck before growling, “Is this what you want, princess?”

“Yes.” Mostly. She wanted him, but maybe
without the edge of anger.

His teeth raked her skin as he nuzzled the
bend of her neck. Beth kept her hand in his hair, the other one on
his waist for support. His hands were busy, one clamping around her
ass, the other stroking her thigh.

“Open your legs, girl.”

Responding to the command, relieved to note
his tone had changed, she slid her thighs wider, so he could step
between. “Reed.” She moaned his name when he pressed the hard
length of his arousal against her folds. His jeans and her satin
underwear were barely a barrier between them.

“I’m not a toy, Beth.” He said the words
harshly before licking down her chest, pausing to suck on her right
nipple. “You don’t play with me, girl.”

She shook her head, not sure if he could see
from his vantage point at her breast. “I’m not. I just really want
you. Have since the first day I saw you.”

He made a sound that could have been a
stifled groan or something expressing his disbelief. Instead of
arguing or protesting, his hand slipped between their bodies,
moving between her thighs. “You’re gonna get me, little girl, but I
hope it’s what you really want.” Lifting his head, his dark blue
eyes drilled into hers. “I don’t play sissy games or do romance. I
ain’t a sexy vampire, Beth. I’m the kind who bites. You may think
you’re gettin’ what you want, but I’m the one takin’. You got
that?”

She nodded, unable to speak as he pushed
aside the crotch of her panties with ruthless precision, spearing
her wet heat with one large finger. Beth bit her lip, moaning as he
stroked her. Her thighs tightened around him, and she was thankful
for the table’s support. Without it, her whirling head would have
sent her crashing to the ground—not to mention her knees, rendered
weak by his sure strokes.

He knew exactly how to touch her, when to
brush her clit, and when to penetrate her with two thick fingers.
Tossing her head back, she ground against his hand, even though it
hurt a little. He was awfully close to fully breaching her, and
either he didn’t realize or didn’t care that she had never done
this before. It hovered on the edge of her tongue to tell him, but
the sudden way he shifted his hand, rubbing upward against her
walls while circling her clit, made her almost scream.

“Let go, Beth. Come for me.”

She hadn’t been trying to suppress her
climax, but still, his words released the floodgates. Beth arched
against his hand, grinding her sex against his palm as he kept his
fingers moving inside her. She clutched his shoulders hard as a
powerful orgasm swept over her, making her entire body shudder.

His hand stilled, before sliding possessively
to her thigh, where he gripped her leg tightly. “That’s just a
little taste, Beth. I’m goin’ to do things to you no one ever has
before.”

Drawing in a shaky breath, she managed a
small smile. “Shouldn’t be hard. I’ve never let anyone get that
close before.”

His eyes widened, and his mercurial eyes
seemed to lighten in color. A measure of tension left him, and his
hold on her slackened a bit. “You’re a virgin?”

Beth nodded. “It’s not a big deal.”

He made a sound that clearly indicated he
disagreed. Shaking his head, he stepped back. “Get dressed, girl.
This madness is over.”

“But, Reed.” Beth slid off the table,
reaching for him as he took another step backward. “Please. You
can’t just leave it like this.”

He glared at her. “I’m the one hard and
aching, not you. I ain’t takin’ your virginity. What kind of
bastard do you take me for?” He seemed angry that she was a virgin,
and even angrier that she expected him not to care.

Beth wanted to continue arguing, but suddenly
her mildly spinning head started whirling in earnest. “Reed, I
think I’m going to faint.” Before she’d even finished uttering the
words, he was there, sweeping her into his arms. She didn’t lose
consciousness, but she did grey out for a few seconds.

When alertness returned, he was laying her on
a bed, in a room she hadn’t seen before. The woozy feeling made it
hard to concentrate, but she assumed it was his room. Beth wanted
to ask him why he’d brought her here if he had no plans to continue
what they’d started in the kitchen, but she couldn’t focus on
calling forth the words.

He leaned over her, his face encompassing her
entire world for the moment. “You need to rest now, honey. It can’t
be blood loss makin’ you so loopy, so I’d guess shock and perhaps
the demands on your body.” He shook his head, looking disgusted.
“Only a fool would have done what I did to you, with you hurt and
all.”

Beth’s hand trembled as she put it on his
shoulder, brushing her fingertips against the long hairs clinging
to his neck. “I wanted you to. Want you still.”

He seemed regretful as he stood up. “You get
some rest now, Beth, and come to your senses.”

She wanted to argue, to protest that her
injury and the subsequent reaction hadn’t been what prompted her to
so boldly state her desire. Her brain was too muddled to form
coherent words, and she surrendered to the urge to sleep with a
small sigh, knowing nothing was resolved.

Reed waited until she was breathing deeply
and checked her pulse, which was normal, before leaving his room.
Only as he backed out of it, closing the door, did he realize he’d
instinctively brought her down the hallway to his personal space.
It wouldn’t have taken more than another minute to put her in the
guestroom, but he’d followed his gut.

She sure had looked good lying on his bed,
those pale blonde tresses a beautiful contrast to the serviceable
navy bedding set. He cursed aloud as he moved from the door, hating
what he’d let happen in the kitchen.

No, that wasn’t true. He’d enjoyed it right
up to the point he’d discovered she was a virgin, though anger had
fueled his original response. He’d reacted blindly, hating that the
spoiled rich girl thought he was just another thing she could
acquire, that her wants were so important that everyone should fall
in line. His pulse had still been racing from the shock of seeing
her with that maul, followed by her injury, and it had all
overwhelmed his common sense.

He’d touched her when he knew better, and the
rest of his intentions had gone up in smoke. Anger and desire still
thrummed through him, making his heart beat loudly in his ears and
his dick hard to the point of pain. Another few minutes of touching
her hot pussy, and he’d have come in his pants just thinking about
being inside her.

“Fuckin’ virgin,” he said aloud, disgruntled.
The fifteen years separating them had been bad enough, not to
mention their life experiences and backgrounds. But taking her
innocence wasn’t something he could do. Might as well tattoo “dirty
old bastard” on his forehead and get it over with if he did. He’d
see the phantom words every time he looked at himself in the
mirror, with or without the ink.

“Damn girl.” Reed adjusted the snug fit of
his pants, cursing her for making him want things he knew he
couldn’t have. For making him want her, the type of woman who
should never appeal to a man who’d been on the receiving end of
hauteur and disdain from her kind most of his life, ‘til he came to
Alaska. Here, folks didn’t much care where you came from, or what
haunted you, long as you kept to yourself. He’d just have to make
sure he kept to himself and stayed away from her.

As he redressed in his coat to return to the
woodshed, he shot a dour glare at the gray sky. “And don’t even
think about snowin’ again, you sumbitch.”

Chapter Five

Beth wasn’t sure how long she’d slept, but
she woke feeling both better and worse. Her head was clearer, and
that awful shaky, dizzy feeling had passed. On the other hand, her
chest ached where the ax had split her skin, and she rubbed around
the spot, hoping to dispel some discomfort. As she did so, she
noticed Reed had put the camisole back on her at some point.

He was nowhere to be seen, but she stretched
to turn on the lamp, whimpering at a hot pain shooting through her
cut as she did so. The illumination lit up the room, except for the
dimmest corners, verifying he wasn’t there.

With interest, she looked around his room,
finding it neat and tidy, but lacking almost all traces of personal
touches. The walls were paneled wood, and the navy carpet matched
the bedding. A serviceable dresser made from raw timber, complete
with knotholes and whirls, was in the corner. A massive stone
fireplace made up one wall, complete with the seemingly
standard-issue fur rug before it. The only personal mark he’d added
was a bookshelf in the same kind of wood, filled with an assortment
of paperbacks, and one row of hardbacks.

Moving slowly, she eased out of bed, stopping
first to seek out the facilities. Selecting the door that didn’t
lead to the hallway, she found a small bathroom, similar in design
and dimensions to the one in the guest quarters. After taking care
of practicalities, she returned to his room and went to the
bookshelf, perusing the choices. There was an eclectic mix of
bestsellers, horror, mysteries, a few nonfiction titles, and even a
couple of romances.

The sight of a photo album crammed in the
corner of the bottom shelf, beside a hardback copy of one of
Stephen King’s novels, caught her attention. Feeling a little
guilty, she bent down to pick it up, wincing at the stretching in
her chest. Clasping the book under her right arm, she returned to
the bed, taking a moment to bury her face in the pillow to inhale
his scent. It was earthy and male, both raw and sweet.

With a small sigh, she positioned the pillows
behind her and put the album on her lap. She flipped through the
pages, finding most empty. There were some of him as a younger man,
and even a few as a kid, though no baby pictures. She saw a few
pictures of a little girl who shared similar features. The last
page was a picture of Reed in his Army uniform, surrounded by eight
guys. Some of them stood at attention, but a few were laughing, or
just turning their head in a way that suggested this picture had
been shot immediately after a formal pose.

Her heart melted at the big grin on his face.
He looked younger, of course, and more carefree, as though not as
much had weighed him down. Beth didn’t know a lot about the Army or
squads, but she assumed the men surrounding him were his comrades
who had fallen in Kandahar.

The door opened, and she looked up from the
photo album to see Reed entering with a tray in his hand. It was an
incongruously domestic sight, especially with the younger, military
image of him still in her mind. She offered a tentative smile.
“Hello.”

He inclined his head, his expression hard to
read. “Thought you might be hungry.”

Her stomach rumbled in reply, and she nodded.
“Starved.”

Reed frowned as he set the tray on the
nightstand. “Snoopin’ through my stuff, girl?”

“Yep,” she admitted, unabashed. He’d brought
her to his room, so that was an invitation, of sorts. “You looked
good in your uniform.”

He ignored the compliment to lift the book
from her lap. At first, she thought he was angry, but then his lips
quirked into a small smile at the picture of him and his buddies.
“Those were some good times. Hard, but good. We was close, just
like family.” Reed touched the edge of the picture for a moment.
“That squad was like my brothers.”

Hesitantly, she reached out to touch his hip,
the only part easy to reach. “Are they the ones…?”

He nodded, his expression aloof for a moment.
“It was an ambush. They all died.”

She’d already conveyed her condolences the
first time he’d mentioned them, so she offered an awkward pat
instead. He endured it for a moment before stepping away from her
to take the album back to the shelf. As he slipped it into its
spot, she said, “You were a cute kid.”

He turned to walk back toward her, grinning.
“I’m still cute.”

Her lips twitched. “I’d concede that.” She
lifted the tray from the nightstand to put on her lap. “You’re
spoiling me.” Something unpleasant flickered across his face, as
though he wanted to make a snide remark, but he didn’t comment. The
aroma of the leftover stew teased her nostrils, and she inhaled
deeply before taking a big bite. It was even better than the first
day.

“So, who’s the girl in the album?” she asked
as she chewed the bite of stew.

Reed frowned, but finally answered. “My
sister.”

“Older or younger?”

“Older.”

He was just a font of information. “Where
does she live?”

“Don’t know.” He had that surly look again
and spoke with a finality that transmitted he was done discussing
his sibling. His eyes practically dared her to ask why he didn’t
know where the other woman lived.

Beth decided to try steering the conversation
down a different track. “You don’t have any pictures of your
parents?”

His mouth curled. “Why the hell would I want
those, girl?” Reed practically snarled, “Waste of space.”

“In the album?”

He nodded. “Album and life, they was both a
waste of space.”

“Are they still alive?”

Abruptly, his expression darkened. “What’s
with the interrogation?”

Beth drew back a bit. “Sorry. I was just
trying to get to know you.”

He shook his head. “You don’t gotta get to
know me. All you gotta do is eat your food and get your ass outta
my bed.”

Moisture pricked her eyes, but she didn’t let
it fall. Silly of her, but she’d thought they had made headway
earlier in the day, that intimacy was a foregone conclusion.
Getting better acquainted had seemed a good way to facilitate that,
but he’d practically slammed the door shut in her face.