Maggie's Mountain (21 page)

Brian lifted his eyebrows in doubt. “As long as you feed him regularly.”

She shook her head and pulled the dog back from the door. “Mac, stand.”

The dog complied with her command and sat back on his haunches, his throat still resonating with barely controlled sounds. Maggie waved Brian inside, careful to keep herself between Mac and her friend.

“Well, Hale found a good companion for you,” he said conversationally, his eyes still on the dog. “He’ll definitely keep you safe.”

“He just has to get used to you. Here.” She took Brian’s hand in hers and did as Hale had done earlier, bringing their joined fingers to Mac’s nose.

The dog sniffed, lifted his eyes to stare dubiously at Brian, then sniffed them again. A moment later he relaxed and moved away, positioning himself beside the couch while he watched Brian with suspicious eyes.

“I heard what happened yesterday. Are you all right?”

She looked back at Brian and gave a slow nod. “I’m okay. I was a little rattled, but I’m doing better.”

Brian put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. “I can imagine you were. Do they have any idea who did it?”

“None.” She stood and tried for a solid smile. “I’m pretty sure it has to do with the Warricks.”

His face showed surprise at her comment. “You think Hale had something to do with it? I can’t see that, Maggie. He seemed to be…well, it felt like he had a thing for you.”

“Oh, he does.” She felt the blush creep up her neck and couldn’t stop it. “I don’t mean the Warricks directly, but the way people link our families together. Some people might still be holding onto the ideas that Royce put in their collective heads.”

“So they’re trying to scare you out? That makes no sense. Royce and your mother are gone; what good would driving you out of town do?”

“It might seem crazy to you and me, Brian, but to others, who knows?”

He studied her for a long moment and she felt oddly like a little girl being stared down by the principal. “Look, Maggie, maybe you ought to think about leaving. You’ve had some good offers for the land; moving might be the best idea.”

She was so startled by his pronouncement that she was stunned to silence for a long moment. “What?”

“I’m sorry, it’s just…well, I’m worried about you. These things are escalating,” he explained. “I heard that your garden was destroyed and your windows were broken, and now someone hangs a dead squirrel on your back door. It makes me wonder about the fire and if it wasn’t deliberately set.”

Maggie clamped her mouth shut, refusing to admit that she’d been wondering the same thing. “Brian, leaving isn’t going to do any good.”

“And staying is?” He lowered his head as if he were trying to control himself. When he looked up she saw the deep anxiety on his face. “I still say selling is the best idea, but if you’re not sure, maybe just take an extended vacation. A few weeks at the beach wouldn’t do any harm, and you could still oversee your business since it’s internet based.”

She took a step closer and gave him a quick hug. “I appreciate that you’re concerned, but I’m not leaving my home. It wouldn’t do any good in the long run, anyway. When I come back nothing will have changed.”

“Maybe they’ll find the person or people doing it.”

“You and I both know how unlikely that is.”

“Maggie, don’t be like this.”

She could only sigh over his frustration. “Please try to understand, Brian. I’ve lived with this most of my life, and I know how it works. In the next few weeks things will settle down. It’s just upheaval because people are scared of what Royce’s death might mean for them.”

“And you think when they find out you and Hale are sleeping together there won’t be hell to pay?”

She gasped in shock. “Brian!”

He let out a long breath and shoved his hands in his back pockets. “Well, Maggie, it’s the truth. You don’t think a man can’t see when another guy is pursuing a woman? And knowing Hale Warrick’s reputation, and seeing the way you two are around each other, I can guess what’s already happened, or will happen in the very near future. Look, Maggie, I’m not judging you because frankly I think it’s a good thing you’re moving on, and I happen to like Hale. But facts are facts. The good people of Exum might tolerate you right now, as you are, but as a Warrick lover? Staying in this town and being with Hale is going to be next to impossible.”

He had a point. He had a very good point. “My leaving town, for however long, isn’t going to change the fact of what he and I are. I can go to the beach, go to Alaska, travel to Paris, but in the end I’ll still be with Hale. Now or later, it doesn’t matter. If things are going to become worse, then it will happen when I’m here, whether it’s today, next week, or next month.”

“You’re willing to put Hale through that?”

“If I could spare him, I would. Don’t you think I’ve tried? But Hale is an adult, a very
stubborn
adult, and he’s made up his mind about me—about us. He’s not going anywhere, and neither am I.”

Brian sighed, an audible sound of surrender. “I just hate to think about what might happen.”

She reached out and touched his forearm, offering him a grateful smile. “I meant it when I said I appreciate your concern; I’m lucky to have someone like you around. Please, just trust me on this, okay?”

He sent her a look of annoyed understanding and nodded. “Fine, do what you want. You will anyway, no matter what advice I give you. You know you’re just as stubborn as your new man.”

She glowed as warmth washed over her.
Her man
. It was the first time anyone had said that to her about Hale. She knew she could become addicted to the feeling.

Chapter Seventeen

Hale slipped into the cabin, smiling to himself when he heard her slightly off key voice singing about the fool on the hill. He pocketed his keys, obligingly rubbing Mac’s ears as the dog gazed up with adoring, liquid brown eyes.

“Too caught up in work, huh?”

The canine gave him a goofy grin, his long tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth. Hale smiled as he began to follow the sound of her singing. He found her in the office, earbuds blocking outside noise, a long yellow dress dancing along her curves as she cushioned a handmade vase in bubble wrap. As he watched, she slipped it into a shipping box, then turned to make a check on the list beside her before lifting a delicate, lace trimmed christening gown for a quick inspection. It must have met with her approval, because she gently folded the small garment and laid it in with the vase.

Another check, another satisfied nod, then she deftly taped the box before taking a preprinted shipping label from her printer. A few more nimble flicks of her wrists and the container was duly marked as fragile and had its delivery destination denoted on the top. All the while her luscious hips were rocking to the beat in her ears, tempting him to touch, to stroke, to take. He held onto those feelings, let them invade his senses, enjoyed the rising effect of desire.

He waited until her hands were empty to slip his arms around her waist. She jumped and he absorbed the movement, chuckling as she yelped. “Easy, sweetheart. It’s just me.”

“Fat lot of good Mac did; not so much as a whimper.” The harsh words were eased by her soft tone as she pulled her earbuds out and laid them aside.

“We have an understanding.”

“Oh, you do?” The smile was there in her voice.

He snuggled her closer, firmly holding her against his body. “We had a long talk on that first day when I brought him home. He doesn’t get upset when I run my hands all over your body, and I bring him bones.”

“I should have known you’d resort to bribes.” Maggie’s body relaxed as she eased her head back onto his chest. “You’re early.”

“Um, are you going to complain?” He nuzzled her ear, inhaled her warm scent, felt the snap and sizzle all the way to his bones.

Her breath hitched, a sure sign she was as quickly affected by their touches as he was. “Why would I? I’m not stupid.”

He gave a soft growl, a sound mixed with a laugh, and turned her in his arms. He stared down at her, the pretty woman with the gentle eyes and talented mouth. Just thinking about the things those lips could do made him weak.

“No, I’m the one who loses all coherent thought whenever we’re together.” He nipped her delicate earlobe and felt a shudder ripple down her spine.

“What?”

He grinned at the vacant sound of her voice. He could easily understand what was happening to her; it was the same thing happening to him. Slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers, promising her everything he could in that one, feather light touch. She responded in kind, gently brushing her plush lips against his, and he forced himself to go slow so he could savor each taste and sensation. There was a sigh, and he didn’t know where it had come from, as their bodies sank closer together. His last articulate thought was that they would never make it to the bedroom this time.

His brushed his hands over her soft hair, down her back, over her bottom, then back up again. He felt the tiny shiver that quaked through her body as he touched her, and he quickened in response, his muscles tightening in anticipation. She deepened the kiss and he followed, their tongues meeting, tangling, exploring. She was exquisite, he thought, so much more exquisite than anything he’d ever experienced or known.

As his fingers moved to gather the hem of her dress, he felt her melt into him, coaxing him with her movements to touch and be touched. She ran her hands along his chest, over his shoulders, back down his torso. When she began shimmying his dark shirt up and away, he lifted his arms and broke contact just long enough for her to discard the soft cotton garment. He did the same, lifting her dress, tossing it away. The moment she was freed, he retook her mouth and she molded herself against his bare chest, sending rioting vibrations through his entire system as her heat from her skin sank into his blood. He didn’t want to be impatient, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. She was more addictive than any indulgence he’d come across; he needed her, needed what she did to him, was desperate for the intensity he only experienced with her. Restlessly, he pulled at his jeans, groaning when she helped him strip them down his legs and kick them away to the bare floor.

He wrapped her naked body in his with tender hands and carefully pulled them down to the thick throw rug. He reveled in her, became intoxicated with the deep vanilla scent of her skin and the heat that reached out to engulf him. She was perfection, every piece of her, and she was his, just as he was hers. He wished he could find the words to say, wished he could express the feelings that she evoked, feelings he never thought he would have. But it was too powerful for speech, and so he simply showed her.

He covered her body with his in slow, deliberate movements, sheltering her in his arms as tremors of their contact rocked his body. He stared down at her for a breathless moment, saw the echo of passion in her eyes, watched her flushed skin go even darker. Then with one easy stroke he joined them, reclaiming her as she accepted his invasion with a throaty moan.

He moved with easy strokes, immersing himself in the ardor of their coupling, absorbing her shudders, holding her sighs and moans in his mouth. He rode the spirals of fiery velvet that unraveled to surround him, curled in his blood, and snaked to his very core.

“Beautiful…so beautiful,” he managed.

She lifted her hips, shifted her weight just slightly, and he gasped at the sensation. He felt himself pulled closer to the edge and increased his pace. She held onto him, her fingers tight in his thick hair as he began to explore her throat with his mouth, laving at her moist skin, nipping at the delicate flesh. He pushed her higher and felt himself respond in kind, tangling into furious loops of desire. He felt her body tighten as he laid an open mouth kiss on her breast, giving her flesh small love bites while she called out to him. When he lapped the taut peak she convulsed, her nails biting into his shoulders as she cried out her release.

He couldn’t stop himself from jumping with her, his body rupturing into slender splinters of completion. Everything inside of him unlocked; every dark crook, every shadowed fracture, released its hold and poured pieces of his soul into hers. His body contracted in passionate pain as he held onto her, shuddering as he broke through his peak.

By the time he’d floated back into reality, Maggie was laying happy kisses along his shoulder. “Sorry,” he said, “I couldn’t make it out of the room.”

She laughed, a deep, sultry sound that surprisingly began to stir his libido again. “I don’t mind. It gives me a happy memory when I’m working in here.”

She brushed his hair away from his eyes with a tender touch. He returned the favor. She kissed his chin. He kissed her nose. She slipped her hand down to his hip. He slid his palms over her ribs, his thumbs brushing the bottoms of her breasts. He saw her lift an inquisitive eyebrow. He gave her a lopsided smile of agreement.

“This time we try for the bed,” he told her.

She was laughing outrageously when he swooped her up and made a mad dash for the stairs.

****

“Tell me about him.”

Maggie’s hand, which had been running tender circles around Hale’s chest, went still. “What?”

He shifted beside her and rested his palm against her cold fingers. “Chris. We’ve never talked about him. I think we should.”

She swallowed, bit her lip, kept her eyes on his torso. “I’m not sure this is the best time.”

He ran his hand down her back, the heat of his palm soaking into her bare skin. “Why do I get the feeling that you’re avoiding the topic?”

She did her best to keep her voice even when she answered him. “It’s not that, Hale, it’s just…I didn’t think you’d want to talk about Chris. And especially not while we’re naked.”

“He was a big part of your life, Maggie. I’ve been…jealous of him. He was the first man to make love to you, to make a life with you. I know it was hard for you to let me step past his memory.”

“It was hard for me because of our families,” she said softly, trying to maneuver around his inevitable questions.

He dropped a kiss on her head, a reassuring measure to ease her discomfort. “There is that. Still, I’ve heard a lot and nothing at all about Chris Brannon. Here we are, making something, something strong I believe, and I can’t help but wonder about the first man who shared your life.”