Too Close To The Fire/Too Hot To Handle (Montana Men 3) (6 page)

“Well,
so the hell am I!”

“I
want my gun.”

“Why?”

“I
figure I’m the better shot. If something comes close, and it looks mean, I’ll
shoot it, so don’t be looking mean at me.”

“The
hell you say. Are you still seeing double?”

“Sometimes.”

“Then
hell no, you aren’t getting back the gun. You have another clip?”

“Not
with me.”

“You
have any idea how many bullets you have left in the clip?”

“About
six. Eject the clip and check.”

Taylor
did exactly that. “Three. There are three shells left in the clip. Shit! And
you wasted one on a wild dog we could probably have beaten away with a stick.”

Dianna
snorted. “That
wild
dog had foam
around its mouth. I wasn’t taking any chances of you getting bit by a rabid
animal.”

“Jesus,
Dianna. It was probably only slobbering.”

“Yeah,
well what if it wasn’t? What if it was infected?”

“And
what if one of us gets bitten by a snake? Jesus, you are so fucking paranoid!”

“Maybe
I am paranoid, but if that’s true, what is that crawling on the ground by your
foot?”

Chapter Six

The woman who
appeals to a man’s vanity may stimulate him, the woman who appeals to his heart
may attract him, but it is the woman who appeals to his imagination who gets
him.

~Helen
Rowland

North Western Australia

The Kimberly

February 7, Saturday

Taylor
knew before he looked, Dianna was toying with him. There was too much sparkle
in her green eyes. The only snake anywhere near him was her. Long before the
crash, he’d had his fill of the Remington family. The one good thing about Jace
ordering him to accompany Dianna to Australia was the fact he was now alone and
isolated with her.

Not
only would it piss Jace off that his only sister was stranded with a man he
detested, but she was at that man’s mercy. Where Dianna was concerned, if he
got the opportunity to screw her, Taylor had no intention of showing her a drop
of clemency.

It
would have been difficult to seduce her at the ranch. For one thing, she lived
in New York and visited the ranch infrequently, even though lately, the entire
Remington clan had made it their goal to hang out at the Star.

Here,
she needed him. Maybe not in a sexual way, not yet, but she needed him in order
to survive. Whether she realized it or not or wanted to or not, she was
dependant on him for protection. He had a feeling rescue wasn’t coming any time
soon. It meant long days and longer nights in each other’s company. People
bonded when it came to survival. Dianna would cling to him, connect with him,
and through that connection, her fate would be sealed. Eventually, she’d need
him to satisfy other needs.

However,
bonding time wasn’t happening right this moment.

He
eyed her, frustration and anger slapping him hard. Did she honestly think they
had time to play games? He saw the laughter in her green eyes, the amusement
twitching around her lips, and still, he couldn’t resist glancing at the
ground, just in case there was a snake. “Don’t kid around about crap like
snakes. Not here! Do you have any idea how many different species of poisonous
snakes there are in Australia?”

Dianna
shook her head. “No. Do you?”

“I
don’t care. I have no desire to meet a single one of the beasties.”

“We
have to be careful, watch where we’re stepping.”

“Dianna,
some snakes strike so fast, they aren’t even seen until after they hit. You
might not even see it then.”

“For
Pete’s sake, do you always have to be such a grouchy stick-in-the-mud? Do you
ever relax and just have fun?”

“Fuck,
no! We don’t have time for fun. And this is not the place to have fun. In a few
minutes we’re going to be drenched. Why the hell would I want to have fun with
you? You aren’t amusing. You’re a pain in my ass!”

Dianna
sobered instantly. The teasing light faded from her eyes. “Fine! But I don’t
see anywhere to shelter. We’ll get wet.”

“No.
I’m going to rig us a temporary shelter with pieces of the plane. It will have
to do for tonight. Tomorrow we’ll leave.”

“We
should stay by the plane.”

“We
can’t stay by the plane. There’s no water here. We have to find water and
better shelter.”

“We
should remain by the plane. That’s what the rules say. Remain by the aircraft.
It’ll be spotted from the air, and we’ll be rescued. I’m staying by the plane.”

Taylor
clenched his fists to keep from reaching out and shaking her. “You’ll go where
I go.”

“No,
I won’t.”

“Dianna,
I’m not going to spend every moment arguing with you. I don’t give a damn if
you’re a female Dick Tracy or not. Where I go, you go. End of discussion.”

He
turned on his heel and headed toward the pile of burned rubble, all that was
left of the wreckage.

“Don’t
you want me to look at the wounds on your shoulder and treat those blisters on
your chest?”

Taylor
paused and turned to face her. “How many of me do you see?”

“Two?”
She licked her lips. “Yeah, both of you look grumpy.”

“Then
how the hell would you know which grump to doctor?”

“Oh.”
She grinned. “I suppose I could treat both of you.”

Taylor
muttered and went back to examining the ragged and tangled body of the
aircraft. “It’s still too hot. I can’t get close enough to drag anything out.”
He glanced at the darkening sky. “Not yet. Wait a little longer.”

“Are
you talking to the sky?”

“The
clouds.”

“So
what are they saying back to you?”

He
flung her a fulminating glare. “You aren’t funny, you know.”

“What
are we going to do now?”

Taylor
whipped around. “Jesus, don’t creep up behind me like that! I have a buck knife
in one of my duffle bags. I’m going to cut some vines and broad leaves and
build us a shelter for the night.”

“Oh.
You hunt?”

Taylor
curled his top lip. “Believe it or not, sweetheart, I wasn’t always a cripple.
I had a life before the accident. A normal one. I jogged, hunted, fished,
camped, and fucked, all the things males do as a rule.”

Dianna’s
face turned red. “That’s a little more information than I want to know,
Spencer, but hey, when you start talking, you really let go.”

“As
I recall, you wanted conversation.”

“Not
anymore.”

“Tough.
I’m in a talking mood. And don’t act so damn innocent. I have little doubt
you’ve had plenty of men revolving through your life. You’re far from
virginal.”

“I
never claimed I was a virgin, Spencer. There haven’t been men, but there was a
man, once, yes, one I loved and lived with for three years.”

“Oh,
he left your ass high and dry, huh? I can understand that. What I’m surprised
about is it took him three years to decide to leave you.”

Dianna
swallowed hard and twisted her hands. “He didn’t decide to leave me. He made a
choice. He stepped in front of me and took the bullet in the heart meant for
me.” She turned and left him standing there.

Taylor
watched her walk away. Shit! Inside, he felt like a hideous monster. Anger and
frustration chewed at him. He always said the wrong thing. One of these days,
he’d learn to keep his mouth shut. But today wasn’t that day. “Where are you
going?”

She
kept walking, a little unsteady, toward a stand of bushes. “If it’s okay with
you, I need a few minutes alone. Nature calls.”

“Well,
nature will bite you on the ass if you aren’t careful. So, no, it’s not okay
with me for you to just take off. Get back here. I don’t want you wandering off
alone.”

She
turned to face him, her face pale. “I have to pee.”

“Yeah,
well, do it over there by that tree.”

“I’m
not a dog. I can’t just hike a leg and let ‘er rip. Neither do I have a penis.”

“Lucky
me. Over by the tree. Within sight. And make it fast.”

“Why
do you always have to be contrary?”

He
shrugged. “When you get finished, go lie down before you fall down. You’re
swaying like a sway-backed mule.”

She
gasped. “Don’t order me around. I’m not one of your little bimbos you take
camping.”

Taylor
grinned. “Who said I took women camping with me?”

“You
did!”

“No,
I said I fucked them. You wanna give it a whirl?”

She
blinked. Her mouth worked like a fish gasping for air. “I’m going to lie down.
That is
not
an invitation, Spencer.”

“Aw,
too bad.” He clutched his heart. “And I had such high hopes.”

She
snorted and waved him away. “Go cut brush or something. Play on the freeway.
Play dodge the cars.”

He
turned away, muttering.

“Hey,
Spencer!”

He
turned back. “What?”

“You’re
right about one thing. Watch out for snakes. There are some deadly fellows
here.”

“Yeah,
well, as far as I can tell, I’m looking at the deadliest one.”

Dianna
swallowed hard and watched him walk away. “Right, Spencer, but you happen to be
the one with the longest fangs!”

He
turned back and grinned. “Remember that, sweetheart. When I take a bite out of
you, I’ll bite deep.”

Chapter Seven

It’s
better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone—so far.

~Marilyn
Monroe

North Western Australia

The Kimberly

February 7, Saturday

Dianna
gave the makeshift shelter Taylor had thrown together a woeful eye. She slanted
her gaze at him, careful to keep her expression neutral when she looked at him.
He stood off to one side eyeing his handiwork, a big dopey grin plastered on
his face. From his silly expression, one would think he’d just given birth.

“Well?”
he huffed. “Whadda ya think?”

She
tilted her head from side to side, giving it close scrutiny. “Pretty sad.”

“Whadda
ya mean,
pretty sad
?”

“It
won’t hold when the monsoon wind and rain gets here.”

“Yes,
it will. I braided the vines and knotted them together and tied them across the
broad leaves over the plane wings, and we’re sheltered from the wind by that
rock wall. We should be snug and dry.”

“It’s
a piece of shit.” She winced, realizing her lack of praise sounded ungrateful.
He’d worked hard to build the hut for them before night set in.

Taylor
blew out a puff of air and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of
his arm. He threw his knife toward her. It landed tip down in the dirt at her
toes. “If you can do better, go for it.”

Dianna
screeched and danced back. “What do you think you’re doing tossing a knife at
me like that?”

“I
can throw a knife as good as you can shoot, and I’m not seeing double. I owed
you.”

Her
mouth worked, but she could hardly argue the point when she’d fired her gun at
such close range to him.

“Now,
any further comments about the shelter I built?”

“I
said it was pretty good.”

“The
word
good
never once came out of your
mouth. Jesus, Dianna, cut me a little slack. I have nothing to work with but my
bare hands and a knife.” He held up his palms, and Dianna felt like crying. His
hands were a web of bleeding cuts from yanking on vines. He’d padded the
makeshift shelter with layers of leaves and vines, and here she stood,
belittling what he’d accomplished barehanded.

She
grabbed a bottle of water, tore off the cap, and took his hands in hers. “Here,
let me clean them for you.” Slowly, she tilted the bottle and poured water over
them.

Taylor
jerked away. “Stop it. What are you doing?”

“I’m
cleaning your hands. I thought maybe I’d wrap some cloth around them to protect
them.”

He
stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. His chest heaved with harsh, raspy
breaths. Sweat saturated his jeans. He hadn’t bothered to put on a shirt. The
blisters on his chest looked uglier by the hour. More had ruptured, but others
popped up in their place. The redness had spread to the width of her palm and
then some. His face was streaked with dirt and blood. He looked exhausted and
out of patience. “Don’t waste the water on my hands,” he snapped.

“I’m
not wasting it. If we don’t keep wounds clean, even tiny ones will fester. You
need to let me wash them and stitch the cut on your back. Those blisters need
treating. You could get sick, and then what will I do?”

Taylor
snorted. “I should have realized it was all about you and no concern for my
injuries or me.”

Dianna
clenched her teeth. “That’s not fair, Taylor, and you know it. I am concerned
about you.”

“I
said save the water! And save your concern for someone who needs it. I don’t
need you fawning all over me, pretending you care. We both know neither of us
can stand the other.”

She
ignored his short temper and said instead, “I found six energy bars, two packs
of jerky, a package of gum, two apples, three oranges, and the latest novel by
Tabitha Shay in my carryon bag. I divided it all out equally.”

“You
divided the novel?”

“A
Taylor Spencer joke? I didn’t think you possessed a sense of humor.” Her eyes
widened at the sound of her laughter. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d
laughed. It seemed like years to her.

“I
have a sense of humor, when you aren’t stepping on my last nerve. It’s okay to
laugh. It sounded pretty good.”

“Pretty
good? As in as ‘pretty good’ as the hut you built?”

“No.
As in great, wonderful, and I’d like to hear you laugh again.”

She
smiled. “Oh.”

“So,
did you?”

“What?”

“Divide
the book?”

“No,
silly, the food. You can’t have my novel. I’d kill for her books.”

“Romance
novels?” He gagged. “Woman stuff, sort of like that monthly crisis thing.”

“There’s
nothing wrong with romance or romance novels.”

“Women
like to label everything.” He sounded disgusted, yet she saw the teasing light
in his blue eyes. “The word romance simply changes what is ultimately a term
for sex.”

Dianna
gasped. “That is not true!”

“True.”

“Jerk!”

“Ah,
yes. You did say there was some jerky? That stuff’s loaded with salt. It will only
make us thirsty.”

“We
have eight bottles of water from the ice chest. Well, four now.”

“Is
there any water in the ice chest from melted ice?”

“No.
The ice all sloshed out during the crash. Why?”

“It
doesn’t matter now, but I was going to suggest you fill the empty bottles from
the melted ice.”

“Eww!”

“Don’t
be picky. We’ll have to use whatever we have or can scrounge to survive. If
that means catching rain in a leaf and drinking it, we will. We’ll leave the
top up on the ice chest and let it fill with rainwater, then refill all the
empty bottles. It might be the only water we have to drink for a long time.”
Taylor eyed the sky and frowned. “Get inside. The rain’s going to hit any
second.”

Dianna
squirmed her way inside the small hut. “Please, God, don’t let there be
anything that stings, bites, or has dozens of hairy legs in my new home.”

Taylor
snorted and crawled inside the makeshift shelter beside her.

“Don’t
laugh,” she said. “You don’t know what we might be sleeping with in here.”

Since
she’d spread all their clothes from their luggage for bedding, it was pretty
comfy inside.

Three
hours later, she scowled into the dark as she tried to get comfortable. They’d
shared an orange at dark, took two swallows of water from the same bottle, and
that was the limit of their food and fluid intake.

Dianna
squeezed her thighs together. How could she possibly have the strong urge to
pee? God help her, she was
soo
not
going to wake Taylor and ask him to escort her outside in the pouring rain just
so she could add more water to the already wet ground.

The
man had turned into a tyrant, not that he hadn’t always been a bit of a bully.
He had, even from his wheelchair, been a lot of male. Still, she was plenty
ticked that he refused to give her back her gun. He’d taken charge of the food
and water, too, and divided the rations his way.

“What’s
wrong, Dianna?”

She
jumped, his sleepy voice catching her by surprise.

“Nothing.”

“Then
go to sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a rough day.”

She
sat up and stared into the dark. “I can’t sleep just because you command it.”

He
rolled toward her, grabbed her by the arm and tugged her down beside him. “What
are you doing?” she gasped.

“Making
you comfortable.”

Taylor
settled her close until her head rested on his chest. “How’s that?”

How’s
that?

Dianna
inched closer and wondered what he’d say or do if she said she’d love to be on
top of him, his body surging into hers. Would he take her up on the offer of
her body? She didn’t think so. He didn’t like her, so therefore he wouldn’t
have any interest in her body.

She
sighed and snuggled closer.

“Stop
wiggling,” he growled. “You’re rubbing my blisters.”

She
froze. “Sorry. Maybe I should move back to my spot.”

His
arms tightened about her waist fractionally. “Go to sleep.”

She
lay there and fumed. He made decisions for her, ordered her around, and
expected her to obey mindlessly. The thing was she couldn’t stay mad because he
was right in the way he took charge of the food and water and divided it
between them. She supposed, albeit grudgingly, that he was right to hold the
gun, since she was still having fierce headaches and trouble focusing at times.

What
she was really pissed off about was the fact he’d yanked her book from her
hands just before total darkness closed in. He’d settled near the opening of
the small shelter he’d built and began reading it. Taylor used what precious
minutes of daylight there were left reading
her
book! There was just something wrong with that picture.

“I
thought you didn’t like romance novels.”

“I
don’t.”

“Then
why did you read
my
book?”

“So
I wouldn’t have to talk to you. Go to sleep.”

Dianna’s
brows furrowed. “You lost my place,” she complained.

“How
many times have you read that book,
Witch’s
Brew
?”

“I
don’t know, three maybe. Four?”

He
snorted. “You’ll find your place when I’m finished with it.”

When
it got too dark to see the words, he’d slapped the book together and handed it
to her. “Do not lose my place.”

“Huh!”

Dianna
lay there in the dark, listening to the cry of birds and wild animals.

Don’t
freak.
It’s just bird calls and
animals. They can’t hurt you. Hah!

Inside
the hut they were dry, but it felt claustrophobic. How could Taylor sleep with
all that screeching going on outside? But his soft snores assured her he was
asleep. Dianna wiggled in the dark, squeezed her thighs a little tighter and
tried not to rub Taylor’s chest.

Still,
she couldn’t keep from touching him. She sifted her fingers through the light
furring of hair on his chest. She loved his wide chest, the sculpted muscles,
the perfect pecs. Slowly, she walked her fingers down his solid midriff, awed
at the ridged, six-pack abs. She
slid
her fingers a
little lower and paused at the edge of the elastic band of his boxers.

Should
she? Or shouldn’t she? Dianna toyed with the elastic band. Toyed with temptation.
Slowly, she slipped her fingers a bare inch beneath the elastic. Her heart
hammered. Her pulse pounded. Oh my God! Had all her blood rushed to her head?
Her fingers curled with the hot need to stroke his cock, cup his balls and
gently squeeze the manly nuggets.

Dianna
held her breath and glided her fingers through the top edge of the nest of soft
hair. A little more and she’d be able to touch
it
. Her fingertips were right there at the tip of the treasure she
sought. She released a long breath. God, it was hot inside the hut! Why, it was
downright steamy.

Her
breath caught in her lungs. Her palms felt sweaty. She eased her fingers from
under the elastic and instead walked them up and down the hard length behind
the thin cotton material of his shorts. Holy cow! Dare she invade the Land of
the Jolly Green Giant?

Damn,
she wished Taylor didn’t dislike her so much. Right now, she could stand a
little tender loving care. She wiggled closer. Daringly, she slipped her
fingers beneath the elastic once more. Glory be the head of his cock was right
there! She was pretty sure she hadn’t slid her fingers any further down than
the first time. That meant—oh yes, that’s exactly what it meant.

She
couldn’t resist running a fingertip around the smooth skin.
Oh my God
. She was right. It had grown.
It was nice and firm and yeah—a perfect length. It couldn’t be better if she’d
ordered it her way. She explored the tiny slit, felt a drop of moisture and
rubbed the lubricant onto the plum-shaped head. She pumped the engorged shaft a
few times. This could get interesting. Mmmm!

Dianna
stopped pumping and frowned in the dark. What should she do now that she had
her hand inside his shorts and around the broad tip of his spear? Should she
continue pumping until she got the full works?

“Hell,
don’t fucking stop now. It was just getting good.”

Dianna
squeaked and jerked her hand free of his underwear. “I–I…I’m asleep. I didn’t
know what I was doing.”

He
snorted.

“I
thought you were asleep.”

“How
can I sleep with your hot little hands playing find the rope?” He rolled with
her and settled his big body on top of her. “Is this what you want? Or maybe
this
is what you really crave.” He
nudged her with his powerful thighs.

Holy
hell!
Did he have a tube sock
filled with sand in his underwear? She’d gotten past the top of his cock to
discover there was plenty more to follow.
“Uh—”
Dianna licked her lips.
“Uh—”

She
sucked in air. For Pete’s sake, she sounded like she was going to sneeze! Uh-Uh.

“Is
it?” he asked again. His voice sounded hard as flint. “Tell me you want me.
I’ll be in you so fast you won’t have time to think about it.” He dragged her
hand inside his shorts and wrapped her fingers around his hard cock. “If you
want it, it’s yours. I promise you, it’s better than warm milk. Just say the
word, and it’s done.”

She
could hardly deny she wanted him. God, she wrapped her fingers around his dick.
She stroked the long length, once, twice. Taylor shuddered and grabbed her
hand, breaking her strokes. “Uh-uh. Not like that. When I go off, it’s going
off inside you. When you climax, you’re going to be riding my dick hell bent for
leather.”