The Nymph's Curse: The Collection (29 page)

“You were going to trespass through the ranch to get back into the timber?” His hands dropped to hers and he had a confused expression on his face. “Why?”

“I needed a good run.”

“You needed a run? Through a ranch you have no business being on — alone?”

“No.” She turned her palms up to him, letting him run his rough thumb over her sensitive skin. Her heart raced with excitement. “Now I have you to help me get onto Shirley Mountain.” She jerked her head in the direction of the mountain that sat to her left.

“Have
me
?” He flashed a wicked smile. “You think I’m going to hang out with some drifter who thinks she can trespass where she wants, whenever she wants?”

In a moment of shear madness, she pulled her hands from his, reached up, grasped his black uniform, and pulled him down to her. He didn’t resist. His mouth tasted like peppermint as she pulled his lip into the edge of her mouth and sucked. A quiet needy moan rumbled from his chest as their kiss deepened.

He pushed his hand up behind her ear and ran his thumb over the skin of her cheek, stroking the need she felt for him. She wanted this. Him. Here. Now.

“You’ll help me. Won’t you?” She let her nymph magic go to work as the sweet seduction dripped from her words.

His other hand moved between her shoulders, never stopping their hungry kiss.

“Whatever you need. I’m yours. I promise,” he replied, his voice hazy with her spell.

The man’s full lips moved with hers, his tongue flicked against hers making the dampness grow between her thighs. He let go of her face and grabbed her hand and pushed it up over her head, into the moist grass.

He pulled back slightly, but his lips still touched hers. “You’re so fucking sexy.”

His words filled her with an unbridled excitement and she took his lips hard, like a wildfire overtaking virgin timber. Many men had wanted her, but Dane was so much more than most — he was a predator and she the prey, the hunter and she the hunted.

Icy winds picked up around them, forcing their bodies closer together. She ran her fingers around the top of his belt and slowly unclipped his gun. Her right hand slid up under his shirt, covering the motion of her left. He moaned as her fingers caressed the firm muscles of his core.
Was he this muscular everywhere?

Her mouth pressed against his and she raised her hips against his responding body. The gun steadily moved from the holster as she pulled. She slipped it free and slid the cold steel under her back.

She reached back up and unbuttoned his uniform top and pulled it from his shoulders, uncovering the white tee-shirt he wore beneath. The muscles of his chest pressed hard against his shirt, showing every perfect line and contour of his work-strengthened body. She dropped the black shirt with the badge pinned to it to the ground beside them. A sense of guilt filled her as she thought of what she had done, but she needed to protect herself.

Dane pushed her legs apart and rubbed his heat against her. The moan rippled from her lips. His hand found the hem of her shirt and he reached underneath. His rough fingers pulled down the cup of her bra and he thumbed her sensitive nipple. She lifted her hips to meet him as her need to possess him burned through. He slid his body against hers, showing her exactly how much he needed her in return.

Pulling in a raspy breath, he drove his face down against her neck. She moaned as he passed his body over hers again.

The grass rustled above them and there was a clatter of hooves on rock.

Dane sat up. Above them, on the ridgeline, was the ranch hand, Pat. He sat high in the saddle of a bay-colored horse. He leaned back and the leather of the saddle creaked.

A part of Aura was glad to see the surly cowboy — what had she been thinking in seducing Dane?

She pushed him off. He grabbed his shirt and threw it on over his tee-shirt as he tried to cover up the evidence of the mistake Aura had made.

“Goddamn it.” Dane reached down to his belt. “Where’s my goddamn gun?”

“Old Mrs. Mullen told me there was a trespasser.” Pat shifted in the saddle as he pitched his head back in a laugh. Aura noticed a bulge on Pat’s hip, similar in shape to the gun that rested under her back. “I guess this must be the new way you all are arresting law-breakers. I guess I can see why murder is on the rise.”

What in the hell was he thinking? How had he allowed her to do that to him? It was like Dane was under some kind of spell. One minute he was arresting her and the next … well, the next he was making a goddamned fool of himself. And in front of Pat no less.
Son of a bitch.

It was because of those eyes, those big sapphire-colored eyes. All she’d had to do was flash them at him, flick her little eyelashes, and he had been a goner. Not in the last five years had he experienced anything like what she had done to him in that field. Hell, he couldn’t remember a time a woman had made him lose his mind like that.

Dane slammed his hand against the steering wheel of the patrol car. The worst part of it all was that he’d loved every goddamned second of it — being in her arms, her pulling him down to her, feeling her writhe beneath him as he kissed her.

“You didn’t need to handcuff me,” Aura growled from behind the clear plastic barrier window.

“You didn’t need to touch my gun.” He opened the door to the patrol car, stepped out, and slammed it shut without waiting for her to respond. She’d already gotten him into enough trouble without bringing him into a verbal conflict.

She threw her head against the back seat in agitation. Dane reached down and checked his holster. His gun was still there.

The white ranch house where he’d grown up sat at the end of a long path of flat, sharp black stones covered in the leafy debris of the early fall. Planters filled with frostbitten flowers lined the path. The wraparound porch was empty except for a single chair where Zeb sat with his booted foot resting on his knee and a smug grin on his face.

Dane pulled the little notebook out of his pocket. This was just another call. His feet seemed to stick in place, like he’d stepped in a steaming hot pile of cow manure. The last time he’d seen Zeb had been the day he’d left this place and vowed he’d never come back. Fate had a wicked sense of humor. That’s what he got for saying “never.”

The boot-worn steps creaked as he stepped up and onto the porch. Zeb rocked slightly in his chair as he stared intently at Dane. Dane stared right back. His brother wasn’t going to take control of this situation like he tried to take control of everything else. Dane was the cop here, he was the authority. Zeb could respect it, or he could kiss his ass.

Zeb dropped his boot to the deck with a thud. “Hey, you got a little something right there.” He leaned forward toward him and pointed at his lip.

Dane ran his finger over the edge of his lip. On his fingers was the smear of a faint pink lipstick. He rubbed his fingers together angrily until the stain disappeared.

“Mr. Burke, did you wish to press charges against this woman?” He jabbed his finger toward the car.

His brother leaned back in the rocking chair and put his hands down on the armrests. “What was she doing here? Going after my horses again?”

She’d been here before? Funny how she’d forgotten to mention it to him. Come to think of it, she’d not said anything about why she’d been on the property.

“You and I both know that there aren’t any horses back in that pasture.” He opened the pad of paper and lifted a pen from his front pocket. “Charges? Yes or no.”

Zeb peered out to the car. “She’s pretty, isn’t she?”

Dane’s gut clenched and bile rose, burning his throat as he swallowed it down. “If you don’t tell me yes, I’m going to assume you are passing on your right to pursue legal recourse.”

“Tell her she has an open invitation to dinner.” Zeb gave a little wave in the direction of the patrol car.

Dane flipped the pad closed and stuffed the pen in his pocket. His brother would never change.

• • •

The air was humid and stale from her breath as it filled the little plastic confine of the patrol car’s back seat. Her butt was sore from sitting in the same place for so long and she shifted in the seat.

Dane’s brows were furrowed in an angry pucker. He could write her the ticket. She didn’t care. So she’d trespassed on the ranch. She had bigger things to worry about.

He got in the car and slammed the door shut. The car hummed to life. He spun it around and made his way to the icy road. The only sound was the crackle and sputtering of the patrol car’s radio.

The car bumped to a stop at the edge of the highway. “You need to tell me the truth.” Dane swiveled in his seat to face her. “What were you doing on that ranch?”

“Going for a hike.”

He turned around, threw the transmission into park, and turned back. “Look, you can give me more of your bullshit or you can answer me. Tell me the truth and I won’t have to lock you up.”

She cringed as she thought about sitting behind bars. If she was locked up there would be no one who’d be able to help Natalie. No one, other than her, cared or would know where to look. Aura let her gaze settle on the handsome man that stared at her. It would be nice to have a powerful ally, and Dane Burke wasn’t hard to look at … or hard to kiss.

“I don’t do well in a confined space. Let me out and I will tell you everything. My truck’s a mile back. When I’m done, you have to promise to let me go.”

“Go where?”

Did he not want her to leave? No. He must see her like any other criminal, she was just another form to fill out, another report to write.

“I’ll stay around Somers as long as I need to. When I get what I came for then I’m leaving — and that’s the God’s honest truth.”

He turned to the front and put his hands on the wheel and tapped his fingers, as if he was thinking about really letting her go. After a moment he got out and opened her door.

Dane stared down at her through the open door. “If I do this, you have to stay here until all of my questions are answered. No running off, or I will put a warrant out for your arrest. Got it?”

She slid to the edge of the seat and stuck her legs out the door. “I got it.”

Her hand grazed the rough fabric of his uniform, and the lust she had felt when he’d pinned her down to the ground filled her once again. Damn her nymph urges. Why couldn’t she control this lust that she felt around Dane? It was normally not a problem. She’d been alive long enough that it was usually easy to turn on and off the switch between her seductive nymph-like being and simple, albeit beautiful, pseudo-human, but not around the handsome brunette who’d lain between her thighs.

Their eyes connected for a split-second, allowing her to enjoy the faint gold sparkles in the warm brown of his irises. Her heart fluttered like a hummingbird’s as his lips quivered into a sexy melting half grin. A faint warmth rose up her neck and spread to her face. She quickly dropped her gaze to the ground, breaking the connection.

The gravel crunched under him as he turned away from her and let her step out of the car.

“Are you going to tell me what you were doing at the ranch or what?”

His pants pulled against the round muscles of his ass as he walked a few steps away. If she was going to work with anyone, she could definitely work with this chiseled specimen of human man.

Besides, he didn’t need the whole truth. And perhaps he could fill in a few of the blanks. He had access to resources she could only hope for.

Dane spun around and pointed at her assertively. “Listen … I don’t know what the hell came over me back there.” He motioned in the direction of the ranch with his head. “But it doesn’t change the fact that you broke the law.”

Her gut wrenched. She had started to seduce him, admittedly, but he couldn’t turn her away. No man was able to refuse her, not once they tasted the forbidden fruit that was her kiss.

“You’re beautiful … I mean really goddamned beautiful. But I have a job to do. I can’t let you or anything else, get in the way.”

So he didn’t want her then?
Even better
. No sexual relationship would be necessary and she could use him to help her find Natalie.
Not that the sex would be bad.

Aura glanced over at the deputy. He was right. He had a job to do, but so did she.

“I understand.” She stood up and slammed the car door shut behind her. He wouldn’t be putting her back in that place. Ever. “You and I … It was a mistake. It’s just not every day I get swept off my feet by a man in uniform.”

“You call getting apprehended ‘getting swept off your feet’?” He smiled and his teeth shone brightly in the morning sun. “I’d hate to think what would happen if I was really trying.”

So would she.

“I haven’t had a lot of great experiences in my life.” She leaned back against the patrol car, careful to keep her gaze firmly planted on the tips of her boots.

“I hope that someday that can change for you.” The tension buzzed between them for a moment. “Does the ranch have anything to do with these experiences?”

It struck her as strange that this man would ask such a personal question, but then she reminded herself that he was an officer of the law. It was his job to ask the real questions, the questions that most people danced around.

“Not the ranch exactly. It’s only a speed bump.”

Dane pushed his arms over his chest and his face moved into the practiced stoic face of a seasoned officer. “What does that mean?”

“I need to get to Shirley Mountain and the Forest Service land behind the ranch.” She stopped there, hoping he would simply say he had a way. She silently begged that she wouldn’t have to expose herself any more than she already had to this man. “And I need your help.”

“What’s there? Behind it? What are you looking for?”

Of course he would continue to press her for answers. Damn cops.

She bit the edge of her lip until the faint taste of blood filled her mouth. “My sister, Natalie, is missing.”

There was barely a flicker on Dane’s face. “Did you file a missing persons report?”

He was always about work. Of course Natalie was just like any other girl who had gone missing. He couldn’t possibly realize how much more she was, nymph, friend, and sister. Natalie was her everything.