“Glad you’re up. I need to change the linens,” she said, moving toward the bed.
“Lola’s my housekeeper. She’s coming tomorrow and can do it then.”
“I talked to Lola this morning and told her there was no need for her to come out in this weather. I can handle things while I’m here.”
He didn’t say anything but she could tell by his scowl that he hadn’t liked that move. And speaking of moves, she felt his eyes on her with every move she made while changing the sheets. She could actually feel his gaze raking across her. When she finished and turned to look at him, his mouth was set in a hard, tight line.
“You know, if you keep looking all mean and cranky, Walker, you might grow old looking that way.”
His frown deepened. “No matter what you do, I won’t be changing my mind about the interview. So you’re wasting your time.”
Drawing in a deep, angry breath, she moved across the room to stand in front of him. She leaned down a little to make sure her eyes were level with his. “You ungrateful bastard!”
That was followed by a few more obscenities she hadn’t said since the last time Dillon had washed out her mouth with soap years ago. But Walker’s accusations had set her off. “Do you think that’s why I’m here? That I only killed that bear, hung around, put up with your crappy attitude just because I want an interview? Well, I’ve got news for you. I don’t want an interview from you. You’re no longer a viable candidate. Women are interested in men who are loners but decent, not loners who are angry and couldn’t recognize a kind deed if it bit them on the—”
She hadn’t expected him to tug on a lock of her hair and capture her mouth. She hadn’t expected him to kiss her with a hunger that sent desire raging through her, flooding her with memories of the night they’d parked in her truck at Bailey’s Bay.
Convincing herself she was only letting him have his way with her mouth because she didn’t want to move and hurt his leg, she found herself returning the kiss, moaning when his tongue began doing all kinds of delicious things to hers.
They were things she had dreamed about, and craved—but only with him. She could admit that at night, in the guest room, in that lonely bed, she had thought of him, although she hadn’t wanted to do so. And since all she had were memories, she had recalled how he had licked a slow, wet trail from her mouth to her breasts and then lower.
Her thoughts were snatched back to the present when she felt Walker ease up her skirt and softly skim her inner thighs. His fingers slipped beneath the elastic of her panties before sliding inside her.
She shuddered and his finger moved deeper, pushing her over the edge. She wanted to pull back but couldn’t. Instead, she followed his lead and intensified the kiss while his fingers did scandalous things.
Then he released her mouth to whisper against her wet lips, “Come for me again, Bailey.”
As if his request was a sensual command her body had to obey, ragged heat rolled in her stomach as her pulse throbbed and her blood roared through her veins. Her body exploded, every nerve ending igniting with an intensity that terrified her. This time was more powerful than the last, and she had no willpower to stop the moan released from her lips. No willpower to stop spreading her thighs wider and arching her mouth closer to once again be taken.
That was when Walker placed his mouth over Bailey’s again, kissing her with no restraint. He deepened the kiss, pushing his fingers even farther inside her. He loved the sounds she made when she climaxed; he loved knowing he was the one to make it happen. And he intended to make it happen all over again. Moments later, when she shuddered and groaned into his mouth, he knew he had succeeded.
She grabbed his shoulders, and he didn’t flinch when she dug her fingers into his skin. Nor did he flinch when she placed pressure on his tongue. He merely retaliated by sucking harder on hers.
He had been hungry for her taste for days. Each time she had entered his bedroom, he had hated lying flat on his back, not being able to do the one thing he’d wanted to do—kiss her in a way that was as raw as he felt.
Most of the time he’d feigned sleep, but through heavy-lidded eyes he had watched her, studied her and longed for her. He’d known each and every time she had walked around his room, cursing under her breath about his foul mood, using profanity he’d never heard before. He had laid there as his ears burned, pretending to sleep as she called him every nasty name in the book for being so difficult and pigheaded.
He’d also known when she’d calmed down enough to sit quietly in the chair by his bed to read, or softly hum while flipping through one of his wildlife magazines. And he would never forget the day she had worn a sweater and a pair of leggings. She had stretched up to put something away on one of the top shelves in his room and caused his entire body to harden in desire watching her graceful movements. And the outlines of her curves covered by those leggings... His need for her had flowed through him like a potent drug, more intoxicating than the medication Doc Witherspoon had him taking. Knowing she was off-limits, because he had decided it had to be so, had only sharpened his less-than-desirable attitude.
But today had been different. He had awakened with his raging hormones totally out of control. He’d felt better and had wanted to clean himself up, move around and wait for her. He hadn’t anticipated kissing her but he was glad he had.
There were multiple layers to Bailey Westmoreland, layers he wanted to unpeel one at a time. The anticipation was almost killing him.
Growling low in his throat, he slowly pulled his mouth away and pulled his fingers from inside her. Then, as she watched, he brought those same fingers to his lips and licked them in slow, greedy movements.
He held her gaze, tempted to take possession of her mouth again. Instead, he whispered, “Thank you for saving my life, Bailey.”
He could tell his words of thanks had surprised her. Little did she know she would be in for a few more surprises before she left his ranch to return to Denver.
“And thank you for letting me savor you,” he whispered. “To have such a filthy mouth, you have a very delicious taste.”
And he meant it. He loved the taste of her on his fingers. Bailey was a woman any man would want to possess. The good. The bad. And the ugly. And for some reason that he didn’t understand or could explain, he wanted that man to be him.
With that thought planted firmly in his mind, he leaned close, captured her mouth with his and kissed her once again.
Nine
“What have you gotten yourself into, Bailey?” she asked herself a few days later while standing outside on Walker’s front porch.
This was the first time the weather had improved enough for her to be outside. As far as she could see, snow covered everything. It had seemed to her that it hadn’t been snowflakes falling for the past several days but ice chips. The force of them had hit the roof, the windowpanes and blanketed the grounds.
Yesterday, Josette told her a bad snowstorm had hit Denver and threatened to close the airport. Bailey had endured Denver’s snowstorms all her life, but what she’d experienced over the past few days here in Alaska was far worse. Even though parts of this place reminded her of Denver, looking out at the Strait from her bedroom window meant she saw huge glaciers instead of mountains. And one of the ponds on Walker’s property had been a solid block of ice since she’d arrived.
Wrapping her hands around the mug of coffee she held in her hand, she took a sip. Would her question to herself ever be answered? Was there even an answer? All she knew was that she had to leave this place and return home before...
Before what?
Already Walker had turned her normally structured mind topsy-turvy. It had started the day he’d kissed her in his bedroom. Oh, he’d done more than kiss her. He had inserted his fingers inside her and made her come. Just like before. But this time he had tasted her on his fingers, letting her watch. And then he’d kissed her again, letting her taste herself on his lips.
At least when that kiss had ended she’d had the good sense to get out of the room. And she had stayed out until it was time to deliver his dinner. Luckily when she’d entered the room later that day, he had been asleep, so she had left the covered tray of food by his bed. Then Willie had dropped by that evening to visit with Walker and had returned the tray to the kitchen. That had meant she didn’t have to go up to his room to get it.
She had checked on him before retiring for the night and he’d been sitting up again, in that same chair. After asking him if there was anything he needed before she went to bed, she had quickly left the room.
That had been three days ago and she’d avoided going into his room since then. She’d only been in to deliver his food. Each time she found him dressed and sitting in that same chair. It was obvious he was improving, so why hadn’t she made plans to leave Kodiak Island?
She kept telling herself she wanted to wait until Dr. Witherspoon assured her that Walker could manage on his own. Hopefully, today would be that day. The doctor had arrived an hour ago and was up there with Walker now. It shouldn’t be long before Bailey could work her way out of whatever she’d gotten herself into with Walker.
Knowing that if she stayed outside any longer she was liable to turn into a block of ice, she went back inside. She was closing the door behind her as Dr. Witherspoon came down the stairs.