Desert Ice Daddy by Marton, Dana (pocket ebook reader .TXT) 📕

“So Kat is doing well at the ranch.” Her hands slightly trembled, which was ridiculous. She reached for his collar before he could have noticed, determined to be just as matter-of-fact about all of this as he had been.

“She really likes it there,” he said.

His shoulders were wide, his arms strong. She could feel the smooth bunch of muscles under his shirt, and pulled back a little before he thought she was copping a feel. Returning to a marginally more professional level, she checked the row of buttons on his shirt. I can do this. She almost had herself convinced when she looked up into his swirling dark eyes that seemed to shine in the dim tent.

There didn’t seem to be any air in Hell’s Porch all of a sudden. The heat that filled the tent seemed to seep into her lungs and her blood.

“You two known each other long? I don’t remember Flint mentioning her before.” She pried for information.

“Friend of a friend.”

And for some ridiculous reason, the unaffected way he said that made her happy in that moment.

He was as handsome as ever, and this was just about as close as they’d ever gotten. And he had to care about her, at least a little, to have come. Care about her or—

She leaned closer so she could identify the look in his dark eyes. Oh, my. She wasn’t an inexperienced teenager anymore. She could tell when a man wanted her, and the look in Akeem’s intense gaze was unmistakable.

Her heart thudded. Her fingertips tingled. Awareness stretched between them, making her mouth go dry.

Chapter Five

Akeem saw her eyes go wide, and his own need tried to make him think it was from desire. Common sense said it had to be alarm. His body burned for her. But the last thing he wanted to do was to make her feel uncomfortable, especially with all that was going on. She didn’t need anyone putting the moves on her right now. She needed him to be a friend. She needed his support.

Pulling away was one of the hardest things he’d done in his life, but he did it, then turned. “Check the back, then I can do the rest.” If she touched him anywhere below the belt, he would have to work hard not to react.

“You have a gun?” she asked in a raspy voice after a moment, when her fingers found the weapon tucked into his waistband at the small of his back.

He hadn’t realized that she hadn’t seen it yet. “Problem?”

“No,” came the single word from behind. “I’m glad you came prepared.”

Prepared for a lot of things, but not for the way he was feeling right now. He didn’t turn back to her—enough light remained for her to see exactly how much he wanted her.

He ran his hands along the seams of his pants to check for a transmitter. Swore when he found what he’d been looking for—a piece of black plastic the size of a fingernail. Someone had neatly dropped it into the cuff. Probably one of the cops, after Gary had told them that Akeem would be taking Taylor to the exchange.

“I’ll go get rid of this then walk around to make sure there isn’t something in the immediate vicinity we should know about.” Like one of the kidnappers, or a stream of water, which he had yet to find during his Hell’s Porch trips. There was rumor of a creek bed that held water, depending on the season.

Or a den of coyotes. He checked the gun.

He left her in the tent and circled their campsite in the last bit of light, doing his best to get his raging lust under control while he tried to pay attention to their surroundings. He saw nothing but more of the same of what they’d walked through to get here. He headed out then and threw the transmitter down a prairie-dog hole.

The sun had completely dipped below the horizon by the time he got back. Their sole sleeping bag was unzipped and spread out like a blanket. This way there was room for the both of them and neither would have to sleep on the bare ground. Taylor was lying on her side already. He zipped the tent flap behind him then lay down, leaving plenty of room between Taylor and himself when what he really wanted to do was draw her into his arms.

“Was everything okay?” she asked in the darkness.

“Not much out there.”

She gave a soft sigh, and he knew she had hoped that he would discover something that would lead them to Christopher. And he wished he could have. More than anything, he wanted to see her and her son safe. He wanted to protect them from harm. Not just now, but forever. If only she’d give him a chance.

“We are not leaving here without him,” he promised.

She drew a deep breath. “I’m sorry about—” She fell silent for a moment before continuing. “For kicking you at the boulder. You were protecting me. I’m glad that you are here.”

He stared at the ceiling, not daring to look at her dim silhouette now that his eyes had gotten used to the dark of the tent. Lusting after her at a moment like this went beyond all propriety. He was here to protect and support her. “No problem.”

“It is. I brought up your family in a way that was inexcusable. I don’t really know anything about your family. I was a total jerk. You saved my life. I don’t know what was wrong with me. I couldn’t think of anything but Christopher.”

“People say and do a lot of things they don’t mean to when someone they love is threatened.”

“I just went nuts.”

He’d gone nuts, too, thinking she would go running into danger. He could understand. “Forget it. We’re better friends than to let something like this be an issue between us.”

Friends. Right. Except he was feeling anything but friendly at