WalkingSin (3 page)

“My great-grandparents,” Dax said. “That’s
my grandfather—my dad’s dad—in her arms.”

“Is this the great-grandfather who was
hanged for the murder of Alaina’s ancestor?”

He nodded. “My grandfather had the original
picture. I scanned it, played around with it and fixed the flaws. I had
enlargements made and gave everybody one of the framed photos for Christmas
last year.”

Kelcey thought that was a wonderful, thoughtful
present. “You’re lucky to have such an incredible picture of your ancestors.”

“Do you have old pictures of your family?”

The mention of her family tightened every
muscle in Kelcey’s body. “No.” She brushed by him, ignoring his confused look
at her abrupt comment. “Which room is mine?”

He opened the door to a large bedroom,
decorated in ivory and coffee. A large four-poster bed dominated one wall, a
triple dresser the other. Framed photographs graced the walls here too.

“Who’s the photographer?”

“I am.”

Another surprise. Dax had sides to him
Kelcey never expected. She stepped closer and peered at an eight-by-ten of
three does standing in a grove of cedar trees, munching on tall grass. “You
took this?”

“Yeah, at the back of my property.”

“It’s amazing.”

“Thanks.” He stepped up beside her. “I get
a lot of deer through here. I have dozens of pictures on my computer.”

“I’d love to see them.”

“Sure.”

They stood less than a foot apart. She
continued to stare into his eyes. Awareness flickered in the brown depths. He
glanced at her lips, then her breasts. That look made heat swirl low in her
belly.

Knowing she had to ignore the heat, Kelcey
took a step back. Something nudged between her thighs. With a yelp, she whirled
around. The biggest German Shepherd she’d ever seen sat behind her, his pink
tongue hanging out of his mouth.

“There you are.” Dax squatted and rubbed
the dog behind the ears. “It’s not nice to give my guests a wedgie.”

The dog had a beautiful, shiny coat. His
tail went crazy as Dax petted and talked to him. Her heart melted. Dax
obviously loved the dog very much.

Dax stood, his hand resting on top of the
dog’s head. “Kelcey, this is Walker. Walker, this is my guest. Be nice.”

Walker lifted one paw toward Kelcey.
Laughing in delight, she shook it. “Can I pet him?”

“Yeah, but once you start he doesn’t want
you to stop.”

Kelcey dropped to her knees. Walker lowered
his head and whined softly. He inched toward her until she buried her hands in
the soft fur at his neck. Walker rewarded her with a lick on her cheek.

Dax smiled. “He likes you. He’s usually
stingy with his kisses.”

“He’s so beautiful.” Walker tilted his head
back when Kelcey scratched beneath his chin. “How old is he?”

“Four years. I got him when he was about
two months old. There was a lot of frustration when he went through the chewing
stage, but we made it past that. He’s been a great dog. No one comes in the
house if Walker doesn’t want them to.”

Kelcey continued to scratch Walker’s chin
and ear. She glanced up at Dax. He ran his hand down Walker’s back, over and
over, but his gaze focused on her.

“This is unusual, Kelcey. Walker doesn’t
normally take to a person this quickly. He was around Emma three or four times
before he’d let her touch him.”

“Does he like her now?”

“Yeah. But I think part of that is because
she sneaks pieces of prime rib to him.”

Kelcey laughed. It felt good to be here
with Dax, which surprised her. She normally avoided being alone with a man.
Having the huge dog between them gave her a sense of security, as if nothing
bad could happen to her as long as she had Walker close.

“Well, fella,” Dax said, ruffling the top
of Walker’s head, “shall we get out of here and let the lady get some sleep?”

The dog answered with a soft “Woof.”

Dax offered his hand to help her stand. Once
on her feet, she bent over to give Walker one last scratch behind his ears. “It
was nice to meet you, Walker.” Straightening again, she looked at Dax. “Good
night.”

He winked. “Good night.”

Dax headed for the door. Instead of
following his master, Walker moved closer to Kelcey until he leaned against her
leg. Dax stopped in the doorway and glanced over his shoulder at the dog.

“Walker. C’mon.”

Walker whined and rubbed his head against
Kelcey’s leg. Confusion passed over Dax’s face. “He’s never done that. It’s
like he’s protecting you.” Dax patted his thigh. “Walker. Let’s go, fella.”

The dog whined again and looked up at
Kelcey. She smiled and scratched behind his ear. “You want to stay with me?”

He answered her question with a loud
“Woof!”

“He sleeps at the foot of my bed,” Dax
said. “He’ll want to sleep on yours too.”

“That’s okay. I don’t mind.”

Walker ran over to the bed and jumped up on
the foot. He turned in a circle, then lay on his stomach with his head between
his paws. He looked back and forth between Kelcey and Dax, as if making sure
they wouldn’t change their mind.

“That is the weirdest thing he’s ever done.
You really made an impression on him.” Dax playfully scowled at his dog.
“Traitor.”

Walker responded to Dax by blowing out a
breath through his nose and closing his eyes.

Dax shook his head while Kelcey laughed.
“If he bothers you, tell him to leave.”

“He won’t bother me.”

“Okay. Guess I’ll see you in the morning.”

Dax looked at her another moment, then
backed out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Kelcey slipped into her jersey pajamas.
After touching the light switch to turn off the lamps on either side of the
bed, she slid between the crisp cotton sheets. Walker moved enough to rest his
head on her feet. The weight comforted her. With a sigh of contentment, she
closed her eyes.

Chapter Three

“Damn, she’s a pretty little thing.”

“We shouldn’t be in here, Kirt.”

“Who’s gonna know? I won’t tell anyone
and neither will you.”

The male voices seeped into Kelcey’s
consciousness. She frowned. She didn’t want to wake up. She was dreaming of the
new dollhouse her mom had promised to buy her for her birthday tomorrow. It
would be even bigger and better than the one she had now, the biggest and
bestest one ever made.

“You wanna do this as much as I do,
Frank. Admit it.”

“It isn’t right.”

“That boner in your pants says
otherwise.”

“Claudia will be really pissed if she
finds out.”

“Our sister won’t find out. I’ll make
sure of that.”

A cool draft passed over her legs.
Kelcey frowned again and blindly reached for the covers. Instead, she felt a
hand on her hip. Her eyes flew open. Her two uncles stood beside her bed. Still
groggy from sleep, she blinked to bring them into focus. They shouldn’t be
here. It was dark outside and everyone should be in bed.

“Hi, baby,” her Uncle Kirt said. He sat
on the edge of her bed, his hand still on her hip. “Sleeping good?”

“I was until you woke me up.”

“I’m sorry to wake you, but your Uncle
Frank and I want to talk to you.”

Kelcey rubbed her eyes. “Can’t we talk
in the morning? I’m sleepy.”

“No, we need to talk to you now.” He
slid his hand over her hip and up her back. “Are you all ready for your
birthday tomorrow?”

Kelcey nodded. “I’m gonna have a party.”

“You sure are. You’re all grown up,
aren’t you? Eight years old and such a pretty girl.”

The cool air traveled farther up her
legs. Kelcey looked down to see her uncle slowly pushing up her nightgown. A
chill slithered up her spine. It felt different than one she had when she was
cold. “Uncle Kirt, I want the covers back.”

“Are you cold?”

“Yeah.”

“You won’t be for long, baby. I promise
you.”

This was wrong. Kelcey didn’t know how
she knew that, but she did. She grasped the hem of her nightgown and tried to
tug it back down her legs.

She gasped when Uncle Kirt grabbed her
face. “You’re gonna lie still and be quiet, do you understand?” Tears filled
her eyes when he squeezed her cheeks. “Do you understand, Kelcey?”

She nodded.

He smiled. “Now you be a good girl and
let us do what we want. If you yell or try to get away, we’ll have to hurt you.
Okay?”

She nodded again. Squeezing her eyes
tightly shut, she lay still and silently cried while Uncle Kirt stripped off
her panties.

* * * * *

“
NO!
”

Kelcey came awake with the scream still
ringing in her ears. Heart pounding, she sat up in bed and frantically looked
around the dark room for evidence of her uncles. Her body wilted in relief when
she realized they weren’t there.

But they
were
there, in her mind.
She would never be free of the memories.

Her chest ached, her throat burned. She
covered her face as tears welled up in her eyes from pain and anger and the
loss of a child’s innocence.

The door flew open. Kelcey jumped and
jerked up her head as Dax hit the light switch to turn on the lamps. He ran to
the bed and grabbed her upper arms.

“Are you all right?”

He looked like a wild man. His eyes were
wide and full of fear. His loose hair fell around his shoulders. His chest
heaved as if he’d run five miles instead of only a few yards.

Her gaze dropped a little lower. She
swallowed when she saw he was naked.

Sitting beside her, he squeezed her arms.
“Kelcey, answer me. Are you all right?”

She had to swallow again before her voice
returned. “Yes, I’m fine. I just…” She stopped when she realized she didn’t
know how he knew she was upset. “Why are you here?”

“Walker woke me. He was frantic that I
follow him. Then I heard you scream.”

His statement made Kelcey realize that the
dog no longer lay on her bed, but sat at Dax’s feet. “How did he get out of
here?”

“He can push down on the lever and open the
door.” He ran his hands slowly up and down her arms. “Bad dream?”

Kelcey nodded.

“I’m sorry. Can I get you anything?”

“No.” Her voice came out raspy from the
lump of tears still in her throat…tears she didn’t want to shed in front of
Dax.

“Are you sure I can’t get you a glass of
water or something?”

His kindness and soft tone made the dam
burst. Kelcey crossed her arms over her stomach and hung her head as her tears
flowed.

“Hey.” Dax pulled her into his arms. “It
was just a dream. You’re okay.”

I’m
not
okay! I’ll
never
be okay!

Now that the tears had started, Kelcey
couldn’t stop them. She clutched Dax’s waist and laid her head on his shoulder.
It felt so good to be held, to touch his warm skin with her palms. His hands
slid over her back in a soothing caress.

“Shh. Don’t cry. I won’t let anyone hurt
you.”

His low voice seeped into her
consciousness, easing her fear. Her tears slowed. She lifted her head and
peered into his eyes. She saw kindness and concern.

“Better?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Dax smiled. “No problem.”

He drew her back into his arms and held her
close. Kelcey enjoyed his body pressed to hers, his hair tickling the back of
her fingers. She couldn’t resist rubbing a tendril between her thumb and
forefinger. So soft and silky.

This time when he looked at her, the
concern in his eyes had been replaced with desire. Her heart skittered in her
chest, yet from a different emotion. Heat swirled low in her belly, the same
way it had earlier when he’d stood so close to her while they’d admired his
photographs on the walls. His hands still stroked her back, but slower
now…exploring instead of comforting.

“Kelcey,” he whispered.

His head dipped closer. Kelcey parted her
lips in anticipation of his kiss. He didn’t disappoint her. His lips touched hers
in a fleeting caress, a gentle hello.

Kelcey dug her fingernails into his back.
She thought she heard Dax groan, but she was too wrapped up in her feelings to
be sure. She tilted her head when he deepened the kiss, parted her lips even
more for the sweep of his tongue.

Other men had kissed her, touched her. Her
fumbling attempts at sex had always ended with her in tears and the men getting
away from her as quickly as possible.