Caught in the Act: Book Two: Independence Falls (10 page)

“Don’t move,” he ordered, his voice hoarse with desire as he disappeared off the edge of the bed. “Not an inch.”

Through the aftershocks of her orgasm, she heard the rip of a condom wrapper and watched as he covered his impressive length. Then he returned to the bed, his body hovering over hers.

“I can’t wait,” he murmured, pressing against her entrance as his hands ran up her arms, his fingers interlacing with hers.

“Then don’t.” She lifted her hips to meet him, drawing him in. Closing her eyes, she felt him fill her. But then he stopped, holding his body still over hers.

“More,” she demanded, wiggling beneath him.

“Honey, I don’t want this to end. Not yet.” But he did as she asked, moving within her, thrusting in slow, measured movements.

She squeezed her hands, letting him feel her nails. “Don’t hold back. Please.”

His gaze met hers and she saw the truth in his brown eyes. He was keeping a rein on his desire. He pulled back, releasing her hands, and rested on his heels. He wrapped his fingers around her leg, gently guiding her limb. “Roll over, Katie.”

She did as he asked, shifting to her belly. Gripping her hips, he guided them up, positioning her on her knees. She moved her hands beneath her shoulders, rising up on all fours.

Holding her, he slipped inside and began to move. This time, he didn’t hold back. He claimed her. He made demands, no longer with words, but with his powerful body. Her fingers dug into the blanket, holding tight as she fought to maintain the position.

She felt his hand move between her legs, sending her spiraling into a second orgasm. Over the sounds of Liam moving against her in a now frantic rhythm, she heard moans, barely registering the sounds were coming from her.

“Ah, fuck,” he growled, pushing into her one last time. His fingers never stopped, demanding that she come with him. She was so close . . .

And then the orgasm swept over her, swift and fierce. Lowering her head to the bed, she squeezed her eyes shut, not trusting herself to look back at him. As much as she wanted to close them out, emotions she didn’t want or need here rode in on the waves of bliss. Being here, with Liam still inside her, felt like coming home to a man who knew her—to a man who ignited her wants and needs.

But he wasn’t part of her plans.

Chapter 13

L
IAM SLOWLY OPENED
his eyes, his hands still holding tight to Katie. He didn’t want to let her go, not until he saw the look in her eyes.

“Katie?”

She slipped out of his grasp, rolling over until her back lay flat against the blanket. But she didn’t move to cover herself. Her cheeks were flushed as she stared up at him. But this time, it wasn’t the look of a wide-eyed, innocent girl opening up her heart. The woman looking up at him knew what she wanted. She’d gone after it, demanding that he abandon the slow and gentle path.

He sat back on his heels, studying her, when all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and never let go. Shit, maybe this time he was the one with the love-struck look.

“You all right?” he asked.

Slowly pushing up on her elbows, she grinned at him. “What do you think?”

Before he could answer, she slid off the bed, heading for the attached bath, her every movement smooth and self-assured. “Don’t answer that. If you don’t know the answer, I think you should try again after dinner. I’ll shower while you work your magic in the kitchen.”

He chuckled, allowing her words to push against the tension. He was ready and willing to try again. He would spend all night learning what she liked, how she’d changed. After all, this was just foreplay . . .

Minutes later, after he’d pulled on his spare pair of jeans—choosing to skip the shirt and shoes—and retrieved his phone from his bag, Liam headed for the kitchen. He needed to shoot Marvin a quick text and let him know about his boat. He also had to arrange for alternate transportation, but he figured that could wait until morning.

Locating a cutting board, he removed the tofu from the fridge, opened it up, and dumped it on the plastic surface. He stared at it. When he’d grabbed the package at the store, he’d assumed he could toss it on the grill alongside his steak. But it looked like a bar of wet, crumbling soap. He didn’t have the first clue what to do with it.

Down the hall, he heard the shower turn off. His mind abandoned the tofu, choosing instead to picture Katie reaching for a towel and running it over her naked body. He wanted to join her, dry her off, and toss her back on the bed. Forget dinner. He needed a second chance to prove the explosive connection between them ran too deep to walk away from—in and out of the bedroom.

She’d blown him away when she’d said those three little words:
Don’t hold back
. Her fire and her passion matched his, stroke for stroke. But they couldn’t spend the night in bed. He needed to feed her, care for her, and show her that he wasn’t here just for sex.

He withdrew a knife from the block resting on the island and began slicing the tofu. He’d picked up wooden skewers to grill the vegetables. Adding squares of tofu—if it didn’t crumble to pieces first—might work.

He finished with the soaplike substance and moved on to the vegetables. As he impaled the peppers and mushrooms on the wooden sticks, his thoughts shifted back to Katie. He’d given her every reason to keep her emotions under lock and key. He should have known she wouldn’t turn to him, her expression filled with young love. She’d grown and changed. And hell, he liked the woman she’d become more and more. But he’d hoped for some sign that she felt the same pull he did.

Liam gathered the food and headed for the door leading to the grill. “I sure as hell hope she likes tofu.”

“I do.”

He glanced over his shoulder. With her wet hair framing her face, forming ringlets, Katie stood in her jeans and fitted green tank. She moved to the glass door, sliding it open.

“Need a hand?” she asked.

“I’ve got this.” He wanted her to relax and let him take care of her.

“Want to grab a couple of beers and join me out here?” he added.

Just as he was setting the last of the skewers on the grill, Katie stepped onto the expansive back deck overlooking the yard. Facing due west, they had a kick-ass view of the sun dipping behind the coastal range on the far side of the lake. He could hear the water lapping against the empty dock, the sound blending with the crickets and the sizzle of the food.

Katie handed him an opened bottle of Oregon microbrew. “Nice view out here. I have a feeling Georgia will like this place. But I think I’m going to recommend that we hike in. It might mean some of the old friends I planned to invite won’t come, but that could be for the best.”

“The water level may rise by the time of your party,” Liam said, using the metal tongs to turn the food from the grill. “But Georgia would probably prefer the hike.”

He felt Katie move behind him, peeking over his shoulder.

“You didn’t have to go to all this trouble,” she said.

“For you? Yeah, I did.” He pulled the skewers off the grill. “And you might want to hold your thanks until after you’ve tasted your dinner.”

She walked over to the oval table and claimed a seat. Using a separate fork, he lifted his steak off, setting it on his plate. He put the dishes on the table and sat beside her. Raising his beer to his lips, he watched her take a bite.

“It tastes great, I promise,” she said. “Now eat your dinner.”

“Good.” He reached for his knife and fork. It was nice to see her relaxed even if it was under the pretense of planning Georgia’s party. “So, how are the horses?”

“Better.” Glancing up from his plate, he caught Katie’s lips form a soft smile. “The vet stopped by yesterday and said they need to gain weight. She also suspects one of them is blind. I’m trying to find a home for them at one of the nearby sanctuaries. But everyone is full right now. It is bound to get worse as winter approaches and people realize they won’t be able to afford hay during the cold months.”

“What is going to happen to your animals if you leave?”

Liam regretted the question, watching as she set the half-eaten skewer back on her plate. Now wasn’t the time to talk about the future. But shit, the thought of her walking away from Independence Falls ate at him.

“Georgia told you,” she said.

He nodded.

“I’m not sure. I’d like to take them with me. But it would be an expensive move. All the way to Montana.”

“You don’t sound too excited. The way Georgia talked about this Safe Haven place, it sounded like your dream job,” he said, hoping Georgia had exaggerated Katie’s desire to leave and work in another state. Liam knew she was passionate about saving animals, but she’d also invested a lot of time and energy into building her family’s business. Part of him wanted it to be that simple. But he also had a feeling Katie didn’t dream in the abstract.

“It is the perfect job. And I’m ready for Montana. I could use a break from Independence Falls. I’ve lived here most of my life. Aside from the years I went to college. Even then I was only a short drive away. And my brothers used any and
every
excuse to come visit.”

“I can see Chad eager to revisit college life.”

Katie laughed. “He stopped by for the parties. But Brody and Josh? They came to check up on me. I’ll admit, for a while I needed that. But now I want to be on my own and explore a new place. Make some new memories.”

Deep in the pit of his stomach, guilt combined with dread. “Are the old ones really so bad?”

She didn’t say a word. In the distance, crickets chirped and water lapped against the dock. But otherwise, silence. And he didn’t move, needing to hear her answer before returning to his meal.

“Living in Independence Falls,” she began, her voice so soft he was tempted to move his chair closer. “I drive by the place where my father ran off the road. He died there, in his truck, alone in the middle of the night. We’d just buried Granddaddy two days before. We’d known the end was near for him. But Dad? He survived his time in the army, fought overseas . . . We didn’t expect him to have a heart attack at fifty-five. He was my daddy. And at eighteen, part of me still wanted to believe that he was invincible.”

“Katie—”

“I was out that night,” she continued, toying with her food for a moment before glancing up at the orange sky and the shimmering lake. “I took back roads home from town. If I hadn’t, if I had taken the highway, I would have driven right past his rig. Maybe in time to help him. Get him to a hospital.”

He pushed back from the table and held out his hand. They could finish their meal later. Right now, he needed to hold her, offer the comfort he should have given years ago. “Katie, come here. Sit with me.”

She obeyed, rising from her place and settling into his lap. He wrapped an arm around her, wishing he’d pulled on a shirt. He’d been focused on teasing and tempting her back into the bedroom, not serious conversation.

“You can’t think like that,” he said. With his free hand, he touched her chin, guiding her head until her gaze met his. “It’s not your fault.”

“I know. But knowing I was so close during his last moments . . . I was minutes away from saying good-bye to him. I hate that I never had the chance.”

Liam stared into her green eyes. He’d thought her bad memories of this town revolved around him. If he could win her forgiveness and make her see that this time would be different, that he wouldn’t run, he wouldn’t hurt her, then she would stay. But it ran deeper, so much deeper . . .

He interlaced his hand with hers as the arm snaked around her waist drew her closer. “I can understand wanting to escape those memories.”

“Don’t you think about leaving? A fresh start someplace that doesn’t remind you of the people you lost?”

“I thought about it after my parents passed away. But Georgia was in school and she needed a place to come home to. So I started logging.” He shrugged. “It’s what I know. I grew up working in the forest, same as Eric.”

He looked out at the lake. The sun was dipping low behind the mountains. It would be dark soon and the temperature would drop too. They should finish eating and head inside. But he couldn’t let her go. Not yet.

“I told myself I would leave when Georgia graduated,” he continued. “But then she joined the army. And I felt paralyzed. If I left, if I walked away from our hometown, what would she have to come back to? I needed her to come home. I couldn’t lose her too.”

He closed his eyes, feeling the weight of his words like the heavy fear he’d carried around day and night while his sister had been overseas. Katie squeezed his hand.

“Now this place is my home,” he added. “My future is here.”

Opening his eyes, he looked at their joined hands, resting in her lap.
Our future
. But he couldn’t say the words. He couldn’t tell her that running from memories didn’t make them disappear. Look at Georgia. She carried hers with her across the ocean.

No, he couldn’t use words. He needed to show her. Tonight. Before they left this place and returned to the other side of the lake. When they got back Independence Falls, the negotiations to buy her family business, the one her late father had nurtured and grown, waited for them. And when Katie learned of Eric’s plan to hire her and bind her to Independence Falls?

His hand resting on her hip ran up the side of her body, drawing her closer. On Monday morning, when Eric presented his offer, she’d feel trapped. And there was no doubt in his mind, she’d look to him, accusing and demanding to know why he’d hadn’t said a word about the deal during their time together.

Shit. He couldn’t do that to her. He had to tell her. Now.

“Katie, honey, I want you to stay, but there is something you need to know—”

“I can’t.” She raised her hand, pressing a finger to his lips. “I can’t stay, Liam. I want to be here. Tonight. With you. But I can’t make promises beyond that. If that’s not enough for you, I understand.”

He turned his head, running his lips over her palm. He should tell her about Eric’s plan. But out here, removed from Independence Falls, with Katie perched on his lap, the need to be with her, to love her, won.

“What did you have in mind?” he murmured, punctuating the question with a kiss in the center of her hand. They could discuss business in the morning. He silently promised they wouldn’t leave the cabin until she knew about Eric’s offer.

Katie broke free from his hold, sliding off his lap. “I think it is my turn to call the shots.”

“And if I disobey?” he asked, watching as she returned to her chair.

“You wouldn’t dare.” In the near darkness, he saw her pick up her knife and fork. “But first, I’ll let you finish your dinner. I’d hate for that steak to go to waste.”

Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen, he thought, hardening to the point that he might explode. The thought of Katie vying for dominance narrowed his focus to the here and now.

“Later.” He stood, picking up his plate. “It’s getting dark out here.”

“I don’t mind.”

“I do.” He picked up her dish and headed for the sliding glass doors. “You better believe I want to see the expression on your face when you make your demands.”

If they had only tonight—and she’d better be prepared for the fact that he wasn’t going to let her walk away without a fight—he wanted to spend it worshipping her, caring for her, giving her damn near all he had to offer.