Out of This World

Chapter 8

Kellan sighed, and scrubbed a hand over his eyes. “I’m sorry, Rach. It’s that kiss. It’s messing with my head big time.”

There, one of us had said it. Thank God. “The kiss?”

He cut those amazing eyes to me. “You forgot about it?”

Not likely. “No, I’ve, um, been thinking about it, too.” I’d also been thinking about getting another. You know, just to see if it had been a fluke. “And then there was what Axel and Marilee said.”

His eyes heated. “About the sex thing?”

I had to clear my throat to answer. “I believe they used the word ‘amazing.’ The ‘amazing’ sex thing. But yeah, that.”

“Thought you might have been snoozing through that part of the conversation.”

“No, I heard.”

“Oh.” He brushed past me and went into the bathroom. I heard the shower come on, and a moment later he was back, propping a shoulder against the doorway as if he owned it. “I lit some candles. The water’s ready for you.”

“Kel?”

He looked reluctant to answer. “Yeah?”

“Do you really believe that we’re going to find some sort of a wild connection this weekend?”

“Rach, just get in the shower.” He definitely didn’t want to have this conversation with me, which perversely made me want to have this exact conversation.

“Go,” he said. Begged.

I was doing pretty well without the shower regarding that getting-warm thing. In fact, just looking at his lean, muscular frame made me feel as if I had an inner fire raging. “Kel-”

“Look, I don’t really want to talk about any cosmic connection.”

“How about wild sex? You want to talk about wild sex?”

“No.”

“But I do.” I had no idea how those words made it past my inner editor. Oh wait, that’s right, I didn’t have an inner editor. Still, I usually had some pride-meaning I never made the first move on a man, preferring instead to be chased. I stood there a minute, trying to figure out how things had changed.

“Get in the shower, Rach.”

“But-”

“Please.”

“Fine.”

He looked pained at my word choice as I stalked past him into the bathroom. I shut the door and stripped by candlelight, then stepped into the raised bathtub and pulled the curtain around me, reminding myself that, unlike me, Kellan couldn’t see through the door or the curtain.

For now, I was utterly alone.

And because I was, maybe I could allow myself a few tears. Unfortunately, I wasn’t one of those women who cried easily or well. I certainly didn’t look good while doing it. My eyes always got all puffy, my nose ran unattractively and my cheeks became blotchy. Now was no different as I stood beneath the steady stream of hot water and let the pity party begin.

I sniffed noisily, then went still as I felt a whisper of movement. I stared at the shiny pink vinyl shower curtain surrounding me, then through it to the mirror on the wall reflecting my own astonished face right back at me, my hair plastered to my head, my wide, tear-reddened eyes. And then my eyes went even wider as I figured out what the sound had been.

Kellan opening the door. “Rach?”

I squeaked, then realized that while I could see him, he could not yet see me, since he hadn’t gotten hit by lightning. I slapped my hand over my mouth to keep back any telltale sounds that might escape, like the remaining sob.

But he was looking right at me. Or at the curtain. I shrank back until my spine and butt touched the icy tiles, making me jump at the unexpected goosing. “Get out!”

“Rach.”

I pointed at him, even though he couldn’t yet see me. It didn’t matter. I still felt like I was naked in front of a crowd. “Out.”

He gave a low shake of his head, and with a frustrated sob, I whirled away so I couldn’t see him, hugging myself tightly beneath the blast of hot water.

I felt another shifting of the cool air, and then the curtain was swept aside, and I squealed again, whipping back around. My quick movement sprayed Kellan with water right in the face.

“Get out!” I said.

“Are you crying?”

I swiped angrily at my eyes. Had he even noticed I was naked? “No, I’m not crying! And you’re peeking.”

But he wasn’t peeking at all. He was looking directly into my eyes, his own full of things that made more tears leak out of mine.

Damn it.

“You are,” he said, and clamped his hands down over my wrists, tugging me toward him. “You’re crying.”

“I’m going to be screaming in a minute,” I promised, trying to pull free to no avail. The hands that held me captive so easily were large and callused, and I liked the feel of them-too much-so I struggled to get loose before I lost all pride and threw myself against him.

“Christ.” The word seemed to slip out of him as he tried to hold onto me without actually touching me. I realized how I must look-wet, soaped up, naked…

And yeah, he’d definitely noticed the naked part.

Through his drenched clothing, I could see his heart quicken, his abs tighten. I could sense the rush of blood to places that weren’t thinking about the lightning or my new eyesight, or anything but this-just the two of us. “Go away,” I whispered, thinking, Don’t do it; don’t really go.

Eyes dark-so very dark-he gently squeezed my bare hips. “It’s going to be okay, Rach. I promise you.”

At that, I felt a rush of new tears. “That’s a promise you can’t keep,” I whispered.

“No, I keep all my promises. You know I do.”

It was true. From the promise in first grade to hold my hand at the school’s haunted house, to the one just last week to come here with me, and to all the promises in between, he’d never once failed me. “I’m okay,” I said, and he slowly nodded.

“Yeah, you are.”

I became incredibly aware of the steam rising around us, of the water hitting the tiles, of the way his clothes had become wet and plastered to his body.

“Kel?”

He blinked water out of his eyes. “Yeah?”

“I’m naked.”

He finally let his gaze slip then, let it run over my body, from head to toe, and then back up again, his only obvious reaction a tightening of his fingers on my hips.

And suddenly I no longer felt like crying. “Really naked.”

“I know,” he whispered, his voice husky and thick.

“And you’re not.”

Gaze still on mine, he pulled the sweatshirt over his head. His wet hair stuck straight up, which he ignored as he kicked off a shoe, then the sock. His other shoe wouldn’t come off, and he swore, breaking eye contact to bend and fumble with the wet, knotted laces. Finally he sent that shoe flying over his shoulder. It smashed into something on the counter behind him, and something hit the floor with a loud clatter.

He sent me an endearingly self-conscious smile.

I laughed, then gulped, as I let myself soak him up, my gaze trailing over his ribs, his abs and all those tightly defined muscles where his wet jeans sagged low. I wanted to kiss him there. Hell, I wanted to spread him on a damn cracker. I wanted-“You,” I breathed. “I want you.”

His hands stilled on the buttons on his Levi’s. “God, I’m an idiot.”

“What? Why?”

He backed up, his face tight in a mask of frustration. “I almost forgot.”

“Forgot what?”

“This isn’t right.”

Are you kidding? “Yes, it is.”

“No. It’s whatever happened to you out there.”

“I-”

“Listen to me. You’ve never wanted me like this before.” He cupped my face, his own quiet and unreadable, and I shut my eyes to absorb the feel of his touch. “Just sleep,” he said. “In the morning, it’ll feel different.”

“No, I-”

“Sleep,” he repeated, and I felt his lips brush my temple.

I wanted to pull him against me, have him fulfill my shower fantasy. That would help dispel the fear, I was sure of it. But when I opened my eyes, he was gone.

I stood there for a few more minutes. Slumped there, actually, against the wall, in sudden exhaustion. Finally I got out and managed to wrap my hair in one towel, my body in another.

Kel was waiting for me, but not like I wanted-needed. “Lie down.” He pointed to the bed as he passed me to take his turn in the shower. “Rest. I’ll be quick.”

But he wasn’t quick enough, because in spite of myself, I was out like a light before my head even hit the pillow.

I woke up some time later in the pitch dark and have to admit to letting out a very childish whimper. I was still wrapped in the towels, but I was totally and completely alone in the bed and so chilled that I could hardly feel my toes or fingers.

There was only one thing worse than that: knowing that the cookies were in the inn waiting for me. Climbing out of the bed, I moved to the doorway of the living room and wondered where my flashlight was. Then I remembered. I didn’t need it. I focused, and saw right through the dark. Kellan wasn’t on the couch, and my heart stopped.

What if I’d scared him off, and he’d left? What if it wasn’t the cookies all alone, but me?

Then I saw the long, lean length of him sprawled out on the throw rug in front of the couch, and I nearly collapsed in relief. He hadn’t left me. He’d only moved to the floor, which must have been more comfortable than the Victorian couch.

I wished he’d have come to me. I’d have moved over for him in a heartbeat. I’d even have given him half my pillow, the ultimate sacrifice. Hell, for some of that delicious warmth I knew his body held, he could have had the entire pillow.

Motivated by my icy toes, I moved a little closer. He was flat on his back, one arm flung wide, the other over his eyes, his biceps taut and making my tummy taut, too. The blanket covered him up to his chin, but that was no deterrent for me and my X-ray vision.

I knew it was wrong, but I focused, and peeked. He wasn’t wearing a shirt.

He wasn’t wearing his jeans either.

Oh my.

All he had on was a pair of dark blue knit boxers, which meant they clung nicely to every little nuance of his body, and trust me, there was nothing “little” to be seen. I took a moment to think about all the things I could do with him in that position, sprawled out like some sort of fantasy treat.

Shame on me.

He wasn’t snoring, which was good, but breathing deeply and slowly. His hair had fallen in his face as usual, and he hadn’t shaved in a few days now. The thought of that stubbled jaw running over my skin made me tingle.

I realized I was starting to warm up very nicely. This time, I wouldn’t give him a chance to think too much. “Kel?”

“Hmm?” he answered automatically, apparently still out cold, because he didn’t so much as budge.

“Kel.”

“He’s sleeping,” he whispered.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

Kel lowered the arm from over his eyes, and he stared blindly into the dark, clearly unable to see me. “Rach?”

Well, who else? The boogeyman? “Yeah.”

He sat straight up, his expression unreadable. Blind, he reached out with his hands, coming into contact with my thigh, reminding me that while I could see everything, he could not. His brow shot up at the feel of my bare skin, and his fingers spread wide, as if to touch as much of me as he could.

Suddenly the towel didn’t seem like much coverage at all.

“You okay?” he asked, his voice lower and thicker, and not from sleep, but from desire. Or so I hoped. I took my gaze on a little tour beneath his blanket and saw that I was right. He was excited.

“Nothing’s wrong. I got cold.”

“You need to get sleep,” he said in direct opposition to what his fingers were saying, stroking my skin. I was still standing, so his hand was level with my belly.

The muscles there quivered.

His fingers were stroking up and down my legs now, his hair brushing against the towel at my middle. “Mmm,” escaped me before I could help myself.

“Rach.” His fingers tightened on me. “Sleep. You need sleep.”

“Not tired.”

“What then?”

What indeed? I knew exactly what. Possibly, I’d known from the moment I’d woken up after the lightning.

In the charged silence, he swallowed hard. “Rach.”

“Kel,” I answered and with a groan, he shifted even closer and, if I wasn’t mistaken, inhaled deeply.

“Did you just…sniff me?”

“No. Yes.” He closed his eyes. “I didn’t mean to. You smell good.”

“Do I?”

“Yes,” he said, sounding miserable. “I’m sorry you’re cold, but you need to go back to bed. Like five minutes ago.”

“Kel?”

“Yeah?”

I dropped my towel. Since it pooled over the hands he still had on my thighs, he knew what I’d done even though he couldn’t see me, and he sucked in a harsh breath. “Rach, no-”

I leaned over until his lips were an inch from mine. “Are you going to fight me, Kel?”

“Oh God.”

“Do you have a condom?”

He groaned again, and put his forehead to my bare belly.

“Condom, Kel.”

“I don’t have one.” He let out a half-laugh, half-groan, his mouth brushing my hip. “I didn’t think I’d need-”

“I have one. In my bag.”

“Oh God,” he said again.

I backed out of his grasp and made my way back to the bedroom. When I returned, he was sitting in the dark, blanket pooled in his lap, hair wildly mussed, looking befuddled and adorably sexy.

And aroused. “Am I dreaming?” he asked.

Laughing softly, I dropped the condom next to him. “If you’re dreaming, then so am I. Let’s not wake up.”

“Rach-”

I dropped to my knees and pressed my torso to his. “The rest of this is such a nightmare, Kel. Let’s at least make this part of the dream good.”

With a rough groan, he wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my hair. A sweet gesture in complete opposition to the impressive erection pressing into my belly. I think I actually whimpered at the feel of it digging into me. I couldn’t help it. The feel of his bare chest against mine, his thighs tense, and in between them…All I could think was, Hurry, God, hurry.

But there was no hurrying Kellan. He was savoring me, stretching me out on the rug, touching every inch of me, lingering over each step, when I just wanted the final bang. Damn it, I needed to unleash him somehow, to make him, I don’t know, primitive and wild, so that he’d lift me up and slam me against the wall, so he’d take me with a desperation and a hunger that knew no boundaries.

Yeah, now that would make me feel better.

He kissed me, and I sighed in pleasure, because he was so good at that part. For a guy I’d had to seduce, he’d jumped right in, kissing me every bit as hungrily as I kissed him. And then in the blink of an eye, his boxers vanished. Eyes glittering, he came down over the top of me, taking my hands in his, stretching them over my head…

Oh boy. “Um-”

“Shh,” said the formerly mild-mannered Kellan McInty. He stared down at me, probably somewhat adjusted to the dark now, eyeing me sprawled out under his scorching hot gaze. “Are you ready for me?”

In answer, I arched up.

He put on the condom, then used a leanly muscled thigh to spread mine, stroking his hand down my exposed body. He slid two fingers inside me, making me gasp in pleasure and writhe for more, sheer sensual pleasure zinging through me.

“Yeah, you’re ready,” he said on a rough breath. Planting his hands on either side of my head, he braced his weight above me, arms trembling.

“Hurry, Kel.”

He let out a short, unsteady laugh. “Yeah, that might not be a problem.” Leaning in, he sank his teeth into the crook of my neck just as he thrust inside me, large and thick, with the exact right amount of rough.

I cried out and wriggled my hips for more, but he held me still with a grip of steel.

“Hold on.” His teeth grated together. “Just…hold on a minute.”

I spared a thought to wonder what I’d done with my easygoing Kellan McInty, because the guy towering over me, pressing me down with his weight, holding me where he wanted me, an edgy light in his eyes, was as far away from that guy as possible.

He pulsed inside of me, and I pulled my legs back and arched up.

“Don’t move. God, don’t even breathe.”

I tried-I really did-but it was like what I’d been taught in every science class I’d ever had. The more effort I put into not moving, the more difficult it became. I couldn’t regulate my breathing; I sounded ragged and out of control to my own ears. I couldn’t stay still either; I just couldn’t get over the feel of him, thick and hard and silky smooth inside of me, and I lifted my hips for more.

“Fuck,” he said, sounding strained. “Oh fuck.” And he began to move, slowly at first, but that didn’t last, because I sank my nails into him, making him thrust deeply, bumping me up against the couch. But it was worth the rug burns, because his movements were sending shock waves of pleasure through me.

I bit his throat, and he groaned, sinking his fingers into my hair, tugging my head back, until I had no choice but to stare up at him, utterly imprisoned by his piercing, startlingly clear eyes.

“Rach…”

I already knew. He was gone, completely gone, and I couldn’t tear my eyes off him. It was as if I couldn’t just see into him, but I could also hear his thoughts, which were filled with me, with this, with what else he wanted to do to me…and how this was different for him than it’d ever been before.

Or was that my thought?

Oh God. It was mine. And it was different than it’d ever been with anyone else: deeper, stronger, more. Somehow so much, much more.

And as I stared up at him, aroused beyond belief, too stunned to speak, he somehow managed to smile down at me, and I thought, Yeah, it’s going to be okay. He’s going to make it okay.

And he did.

Oh, how he did.

I woke up slowly, stiff and desperate for caffeine, but that was nothing new. When I was growing up, my mother used to throw a pillow at me from the doorway of my bedroom and then bolt, leaving me to wake up slowly and alone, like I always seemed to need to do.

But I wasn’t at my mother’s house. I was as far from home as I’d ever been. And remembering, I sat straight up in the narrow antique bed of Gert’s bedroom. The clock was blinking, so I knew the power had come back on. I looked up, startled by my own reflection in the antique mirror above the dresser.

Not a pretty sight, I can tell you that. Why was it that, no matter what the situation-and great sex the night before was one of the better situations I could think of-I still looked like death warmed over when I woke up? “Kel?”

No answer.

I slid out of the bed and realized I was naked. There was a towel on the floor, the one that had been on my head. I wrapped it around me and lifted a hand to my hair. Since I’d slept on it wet, I now resembled Little Richard. Perfect.

“Kel?”

The no-answer thing was sending little tendrils of panic down my spine because Kellan was a morning person, and always had been.

I ran to the bedroom doorway. The blanket was still on the floor, but there was no Kel.

He wasn’t in the tiny postage stamp of a kitchen either. Feeling a bit like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, I hauled open the front door to yell for him, but that turned out to be unnecessary.

He stood on the bottom step, shoulder propping up the post, sipping at a mug, watching the sun rise over the line of trees. I caught him in profile, disgustingly alert and clear-eyed. His hair curled over his ears, past the nape of his neck. He wore a ragged old T-shirt and sweatpants that hung temptingly low on his hips, the drawstring barely knotted. Beneath those sweats, his body was hard and perfect, and after last night, I knew just how hard parts of him could be, and also exactly how perfect.

The rest of him was pretty damn fantastic as well.

So ridiculously relieved to see him, I went running out the door, ignoring that it slammed behind me as I leaped down the steps. I executed a little twirl to face him, relieved beyond belief. “We’re even now, because you just shaved ten years off my life,” I announced, then shivered in the chilly morning air. “Guess that sexual healing thing is dead on, huh?”

He didn’t answer.

Oh boy. Awkward-morning-after alert. “I sure could use some caffeine.”

He looked at my hair. “You need more than caffeine.”

“Okay, so I need a brush, too.”

“You really think that’s going to help?”

“Funny.” It wasn’t fair that I looked like something that needed to be dragged to the curb, and he looked mouth-watering. He smelled good, too, damn it. But I shoved back the lust attack and got a grip. I adjusted my towel, and wished for clean clothes. Clean, warm clothes.

The morning was chilly enough to remind me that I wore nothing but a towel. In the light of day, the woods seemed just as close and impenetrable as they had last night, but a little less scary, thankfully.

Kellan didn’t move, just stood there in the bright morning sun, his gaze on the towel that I was adjusting.

Or, more specifically, on me in the towel.

I was more than a little chilled in the sharp air, but at the heat that flared in his gaze, I once again began to warm up nicely. Odd that this strange, almost chemical-like attraction I had going for him hadn’t resolved itself overnight. Odd and new. I had no idea whether it was the Alaskan air or the fact that, hello, he was damn fine to look at. Or maybe more than just my eyes had gone whacko out here in this high-altitude air. But all I could think was, Was he up for round two?

“You okay?” I asked.

“That was going to be my question to you.” Setting his mug on the railing, he put his hands on my arms and rubbed them slowly up and down.

Mmm, now see, there was a nice way to assuage the morning-after awkwardness.

“Where are your clothes?” he asked.

“I forgot to put them on.”

His mouth quirked. “My lucky day.”

There he was, the funny, easygoing Kellan I knew. The men in my life tended to fall into two categories: those who sneaked out by dawn’s light and those who wanted one more round before sneaking out.

Unfortunately for Kellan, there was nowhere to sneak to. For either of us.

Which left us in this awkward territory. We’d slept together. Actually, there’d been no real sleeping involved, and just thinking about it made me need to fan my face again. I shivered.

Mistaking the movement for a chill, he turned us toward the guest house and leaned past me to open the door.

It was locked.

“Kel,” I said, fascinated by the muscles rippling across his shoulders and back. “Um, about last night.”

“Huh,” he said to the locked door, and tried again.

“Kel?”

He grunted, fiddling with the handle.

“I, um, hope it’s not going to be awkward,” I said. “Because that would be awful, you know?”

Ignoring me entirely, he tried the window, which was also locked.

“Stay here,” he said. “I’ll go to the inn and get a key.”

“Right.” I nodded agreeably. “I’ll just stand here by myself, bear bait, in only a towel.”

He looked me over. “I’ll hurry.”

“You never hurry.”

He actually smiled. “I will this time.”

I crossed my arms and blocked his path. “Last night. I want to talk about last night.”

He made a face, like I’d made him taste bad medicine. Or Marilee’s sauce. “Do we have to?”

This was new. Me being the one to want to talk. “Yes!”

He sighed. “Okay. Go ahead.”

“All right.” I looked at him, thrown unexpectedly off balance. “I don’t want it to stand in the way of our friendship.”

“Our one-night stand, you mean?”

“Yes.”

He turned away from me and headed down the stairs. “No worries, Rach.”

No? So why was I suddenly worrying even more? “Kel?”

“I’ll be right back.”

“But…” I bit my lip, trying hard not to say, “Please don’t leave me out here.”

Still, it must have been all over my face, because he sighed again and, coming back, pulled his T-shirt off over his head. Handing it to me, he said, “Here.”

I scrambled into it gratefully, my body absorbing his heat, his scent, as the material fell to my mid-thigh. I nearly pressed the material to my face for more of his delicious scent, but I managed to control myself. “What about your sweats?”

“Keeping those on,” he said.

“You’re no fun.”

“Wait here.”

With that, he jogged off the steps and toward the B and B. Which was how I ended up standing there for the longest five minutes of my life.

I know it was five minutes because I counted.

At thirty, a bird squawked so loudly I nearly screamed.

At fifty-five, a squirrel dashed in front of me, chattering, nearly putting me into heart failure.

I got to three hundred twenty before Kellan showed back up. “What took so long?” I demanded, for once unimpressed by his half-naked state.

He held out his empty hands, perplexed and irritated, a rare look for him. “The inn’s locked, too, which is weird, because I was just there.”

“Locked?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought Marilee gave you coffee.”

“Axel did. He told me Marilee’s coffee would burn a hole through my esophagus, and that his was far better, but I wasn’t to tell her.”

“What about the guns? Did you ask about the guns?”

“Gert never let anyone in her place, right?”

“Right.”

“So telling them about the guns she kept there seemed unwise.” He glanced back at Hideaway. “But why is the place locked up tighter than a drum, with no signs of life?”

Feeling very naked, I wrapped my arms around myself. “So I guess it’s true then.”

“What?”

“I’m really in the Twilight Zone. Without underwear. It’s like every bad nightmare I’ve ever had.”