Thunder Snow (Thunder On The Mountain Series) Page 6

  After pouring them coffee, I headed to the back and gave Sam the order. I took my seat next to Jack again when he pierced me with his dagger hold.

  “You didn’t think you were going to get off that easily, did you?” he cajoled. “Spill it. What are you running from? What brought you to leave everything you know behind and hide out here for a few months? Nasty breakup with a boyfriend?”

  I laughed out loud, “Hardly that.” I moved away emotionally from the subject. He must have sensed it.

  “I’m no threat to your balance, little one. You like honesty, then let’s start our day with it. What makes Callie Weston tick? What happened to her that drove her to hide in the mountains with nothing familiar around her?”

  “Well, THAT’s not true, Jack. Dad’s place was familiar the moment I walked through the doors. There is an architect I have been enamored with for years,” I said, drifting off to my fantasy home. “For years I have called him ‘my architect.’ Dad’s little cabin in the woods up here reeks of a Montgomery, so when I walked in, I felt like I had come home.”

  “You friends with this Montgomery?” Jack asked, sounding almost jealous.

  “Oh, no. I’ve just seen his work and it pulls at every fiber of my being. I always figured one of these days I was going to have him build me a home. I thought now might be a good time, but no one seems to know where he is.”

  “Yer a smart cookie, pun’kin, ya’ll track him down if ya really wanna find him,” Sam said from behind the counter.

  “Well, thank you, Sam. I just might do that.”

  Turning back to Jack, I finished my thought, “I also knew Sam immediately, even though we had never met. He was like coming home.”

  I winked at Sam. His blush turned him a bright red above his beard. “So I wasn’t completely alone, Jack. I wasn’t completely thrown to the wolf."

  “You mean wolves?”

  “No, I said what I meant . . . wolf.”

  He threw his head back and laughed.

  “That’s a sound that makes my heart happy. You should do it more often.”

  He stilled and caught my gaze. “Don’t change the subject. You’re not going anywhere until you tell us your story.” He nodded towards Sam who was watching me intently.

  “Don’t push her too hard, Jack. Can’t ya see she’s fragile?”

  “What IS it with you two?” I asked, trying to sound offended. “Do I look like there is anything fragile about me? I’ve been helping my dad frame and hang drywall and lay flooring and shingle a roof since I was a kid. I am not something to be pampered.”

  “Jest ‘cause ya can do all them things don’t mean ya can’t be pampered. Ain’t that right, Jack?” he winked as he went to offer more coffee to his customers.

  “Come on. Spill it.”

  “Be nice to me, Jack, I’m fragile,” I teased. He didn’t say a word as I traveled back to early Spring; back to the time when I was going to have to be cruelly honest with Jason and I knew it would forever end my relationship with Angie.

  “Sometimes I wished I had a crystal ball to know what was around the corner. It would have made this so much easier. But then it’s probably best not to know, huh?”

  I told Jack and Sam about the events leading up to the fateful night, about my friendship with Angie, about the things Jason had done that caused the fear in me, and about my resolve to not let those events take over my mind or my life.

  Jack’s jaw was working. “What does he do for a living?”

  “Engineer. No shock there, huh? Mr. Personality himself,” I laughed to try to break his focus.

  Jack’s fist was clinching. I took his hand and rubbed it with my thumbs. Sam slammed a large mug on the counter.

  “I’m safe now, guys. Nobody can hurt me here, right? I have you two to protect me,” I tried to lighten the mood.

  “Get on with yer story or I might have ta break somethin’.”

  “Jason was waiting for me at my door when I got home one night. When I told him to leave, he shoved me against the door with an elbow to my neck.

  “He didn’t have a weapon, but I was no match for his strength. He was a bodybuilder. I wanted to calm him so I could get inside, but had to say the words, had to actually tell him never to come back. It was something I knew the police would ask.

  “He laughed and told me he would make sure that people knew I was crazy. That I would sound like a spurned woman and no one would believe me. No one was going to tell him whether or not he could talk to me.”

  “If he’s alive,” Sam said, “he won’t be fer long.”

  I squeezed his hand and continued. “I called the police, and they told me it was just a boyfriend dispute, and if I couldn’t prove three instances where I feared for my life, there wasn’t anything they could do about it. I was furious. I did everything I could to make my home safe. Hired an expert to come out and check my security. I hated that he had made me afraid to go into my own house. Weeks passed and I was starting to relax.

  “I had a cherished picture on my dresser. It was of me with my Mom and Dad right before Mom died. The frame and glass were broken and the picture of me had been cut into little pieces. I filed an emergency restraining order against him. That absolutely flipped him out. Angie went nuts too. To this day I have never been able to figure out her reaction.”

  “Could she have been in love with him?” Jack asked quietly.

  “Wow, Jack, that was totally out of left field.” I thought about it for a second and said, “That’s possible. She always wanted to be with him. She loved talking to him because she felt Mark wouldn’t listen. I had never even considered that aspect of it before because she had always been such a ‘good wife.’ But she has changed so much. Very perceptive of you.”

  “Continue,” he said, no smile on his face or in his voice.

  “After I filed the restraining order, it seemed to make me the object that needed to be conquered. Angie seemed to encourage it. Jason lost his ever-lovin’ mind.

  “I always carry either a gun or a taser with me when I show houses to people I don’t know. Tragic things can happen when you walk into a house alone, not knowing who you’re going to meet.

  “Anyway, one night I came home, but it was dark. It seemed strange because I always left a light on. I figured a bulb had burned out, but it gave me an eerie feeling. When I flipped the switch, nothing happened. I was reaching into my purse for my taser when the lights came on. There stood Jason. I was genuinely afraid.”

  “‘You’re not so stupid that you think I’ll let you get away with this, do you?’” he asked. “My first thought was that he was insane. The second was that I was in real danger.”

  Telling Jack and Sam this story, I could see it all again, and even though it had been months, it still had the power to rock me to my boots.

  “I had my hand around my taser in my purse. I took a slow step backwards. Before I could even blink, he struck me hard across the face. I went to my knees.”

  I could feel the rage in Jack, could feel his whole body tensing.

  “He kicked me. I was able to get the taser turned on by the fourth strike. I got him in his leg. He went down. Then I got him in his shoulder. As fast as my broken rib would allow, I ran. He was still down when the police arrived. They arrested him. Angie came to see me twice to try to get me to drop the charges. I told her to never come back.

  “I couldn’t stay at my house any more. I stayed with Marge, my assistant. I stayed in Dad’s cottage. I sold my house. When the trial was over, Jason got seven months. I wanted out. Dad suggested I come up here. He’d never let me come here before, so when I finally decided it would be okay to leave, I jumped at the chance. I haven’t regretted it for one minute.”

  Jack was staring at me, but he didn’t see me. His jaw was working. I looked at Sam and there was a lone tear falling down his roughened cheek. “S’ppose Jack and I woulda killed him if they hadn’t locked his sorry ass up,” he said, sadness turning to anger.

 
“I have so many things that keep going through my head. You spend a long time wondering if there was something you could have done to have made it any different. Did I lead him on in any way? How was it that Angie was so blind to what he was doing? For a while, I hated being alone. This place has certainly gone a long way towards healing me.”

  Jack was gently rubbing his hand across my knee. It had become an absent habit, and I’m sure he wasn’t conscious of it. There was nothing soothing about it. I got up and cleared the table that had been vacated and started helping Sam with the dishes.

  Jack came up behind me, put his arms around my waist, and rested his chin on my head. In a quiet and sincere pledge, he said, “I will kill Jason if he ever comes near you again – ever.”

  These men had become my family in the short time I had been here. It was a unique bonding. I was going to have a hard time leaving.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  A gentle knock at my door brought me awake the next morning. I grabbed my robe and opened the door without checking to see who it was.

  “Don’t ever do that again. Did you learn nothing from your experience?” Jack said, not quite harshly. “Even in this trusting town, it could have been anyone on the other side of that door.”

  “Why didn’t you just use your key, Jack? It’s never stopped you before,” I sassed as I headed off to the kitchen to set the coffee to brew.

  “Give me just a minute. Let me splash some water on my face and wake up. I’ll be right out,” I said with a yawn.

  By the time I came out, the coffee was finished and Jack was pouring two mugs.

  “What brings you to my neck of the woods at this hour, sir?”

  I was surprised to see it was already 6:30. “I must have been tired. I don’t normally sleep this late.”

  “You’re usually at the Amber Rose by now. I have to admit, I came up here to check to make sure you were all right.”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” I asked softly.

  “I have thought of little else since our conversation yesterday. I can’t get the image out of my head. I want to do damage to something, or preferably, someone. I want to take away the trauma it must have been so you don’t ever have to think of it again. Bottom line . . . I feel frustrated that there isn’t something I can do to make it right.”

  We stood looking at each other while I tried to figure out what was happening. I knew he occupied most of my waking and sleeping thoughts, and I was feeling bold enough to voice what I wanted to say.

  “There’s probably something you could do to erase the imagine for a while,” I said brazenly, holding his gaze.

  “And what might that be?” he said, barely breathing.

  “You can kiss me the way you did a few weeks ago. That might help me forget for a bit.” There was a small smile that crossed my face as I wondered who had taken over my rational mind and put those words in my mouth.

  “Did you honestly just say that and then blush?” Jack asked me quietly as he put his mug on the counter.

  “I’m not sure where those words came from, but I’m sure they couldn’t have been from my mouth,” I laughed.

  “You definitely threw the gauntlet. Dear God, I have been watching nothing but your lips, and I assure you, that’s exactly where they came from.” He took my face in his hands and proceeded to cover my lips with his.

  Some part of me was conscious that this was the most electrifying feeling my body knew. I wanted to repeat it; wanted to feel it again. Every single pore was singing with excitement . . . no, not singing, screaming with excitement.

  If the world ended right this minute, I would die a happy woman. “Not sure exactly what it is you’re doing, Jack, but honest to God, no one has ever kissed me like that in my life. Please don’t stop.”

  He pressed me against the counter so the full lengths of our bodies were touching. “It must be you, because I’m pretty sure I have never wanted to kiss someone the way I want to kiss you.”

  My hands threaded through his wavy hair as I tried to bring him closer. I wanted to absorb him into me. This was magic, and I was transported by the feelings sweeping through me.

  My hands were restless, my body intense. I wanted to touch him, all of him. I wanted to feel his strength. I touched his face. I ran my hands down his arms that were around me, intoxicated with his strength, with the passion he ignited in me. He lifted me to the counter as I wrapped my legs around him and pulled him even closer. My silky robe slid from my shoulders, exposing my breasts to his wandering hands.

  “Do you always answer the door like that?” he groaned against my neck.

  “You woke me up from a sound sleep. I covered up,” I said. “What more did you want?”

  “You have no idea how much more I want. Is this the way you sleep?” he breathed, stepping back to look at me, to run his thumbs over my already hardened nipples.

  “Every time I close my eyes I will have this vision. Perfection, absolute perfection,” he whispered as his lips took mine again.

  We could have been there a minute, it could have been an hour. It didn’t matter. The sensations coursing through my body had me wanting more.

  When his lips left mine to travel down my neck, I wanted only his intensity. I wanted to feel him, and feel what I was doing to him. When he took my nipple into his mouth and ran his tongue over it in the same way he had danced with my tongue, I let out a deep moan.

  He came back to my lips, devouring them, gently then hard, tongues warring, then gentled again into a slow dance to a tune heard only by us. One by one, I unbuttoned his shirt, never breaking contact with his lips, never wanting this feeling to stop. My hands circled his waist to release him from the confines of his jeans, but he stilled my hand.

  He pulled my robe from my shoulders, freeing me to explore. “Not yet, little one, we have all the time in the world.”

  And yet the kisses became more intense, more drugging, making me wet and throbbing as his hand found my desire and caressed me, making me moan in pleasure. As his finger entered me, I was sure I was crossing into heaven. His thumb stroked me as our tongues continued to duel.

  “Hush, little one, relax. Let me bring you pleasure,” he said as he gentled me to the counter.

  Lying there, vulnerable, exposed, his hands caressing me like I was a treasure, he whispered, “You are absolutely stunning. So much more than I even could have imagined.”

  His lips started at my navel, sending flames through my arousal. His thumbs were gentle on my mound, opening me to him, to touch, to explore, to enjoy. When his mouth touched me, I cried out.

  “Hush,” he whispered. “I promise this won’t hurt.”

  He covered me with his lips, stroked me with his tongue. I put my legs over his shoulders and opened up.

  “What a delicate rose bud,” he said against me as his finger slid easily inside. Within minutes, his lips and his tongue moving in rhythm had me on the brink. “You ready, angel?”

  “No, Jack, I want to pleasure you.”

  “I told you, we have all the time in the world. Just let go and enjoy.”

  When I came, I knew every cell in my body was involved. I was so sated and he was so tender that I’m not sure I could have moved on my own.

  “Put your arms around my neck.”

  “While I appreciate the thought, I am actually not so little,” I said.

  Without missing a beat, he had my legs around his waist and pulled me against him, skin to skin. He started kissing me. It was almost delirious, tasting me on his lips. The kiss deepened, and we were in the bedroom before I was conscious we had moved.

  Laying me down, I felt protected, cared for, safe. I had been so lost in the magic of the kissing that I was surprised to feel his tongue circling my nipple.

  “Not so fast, Jack. It’s my turn now.”

  His zipper was undone, and I made a ritual of removing his jeans. My warm tongue tasted him along the way as his pants were finally removed.

  “Magnificent,” was the word
that passed my lips as I worked my way back up to his manhood. Jack held my head as I took him in my mouth, guiding me, encouraging me.

  When he was spent, he wrapped me in his arms, my head resting on his chest.

  “I’m not sure what just happened. I have thought of little else the past few weeks, but that was not at all my intention when I came over this morning.”

  He ran his fingers through my hair, stopping at the end to twirl a curl around his fingers. It seemed he did it unconsciously, but it was such a tender gesture.

  “You’ll never hear me say I’m sorry,” I sassed as I hopped out of bed, surprisingly carefree in my lack of clothing.

  “You’re right about that. Not something that will ever be defined by the word ‘sorry.’”

  After retrieving and zipping his pants, he found my robe and put it around my shoulders as he pulled me into a soul-searing kiss. “Cover up or all of my good intentions will be gone in a flash.”

  “For what purpose do you have good intentions, sir? Sounds pretty boring to me.” I pushed my arms into my sleeves and tied the sash.

  “Busy day ahead of me, and you are a mighty distraction.”

  “Not at all how I had thought to spend my morning, but I’m sure to be smiling all day,” I said, putting my arms around his neck and drawing him in for another indescribable kiss. I whispered against his lips, “Come up and see me again sometime.”

  His eyes held mine. He ran his thumb across my cheek. “Don’t tempt me,” he said as he playfully swatted my butt. “I need to get out of here or the whole day will be spent discovering your secrets.”

  “Promises, promises,” I said. His lips met mine, then he was gone.

  What had just happened? Had we been circling the inevitable? What a complex man—intriguing, intelligent, and wholly irresistible.

  As the day progressed, I tried to work on an article for a publication that had a fast-approaching deadline. I found it hard to concentrate, and had no idea if it made any sense. I’d have to read it later to even know what it said.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Edgy and distracted, I hopped in my car and started driving. The weather was cool but sunny. There were a lot of small towns nearby that I had not explored yet. Caribou was not too far up the road.