Midnight Sins (32 page)

remembered sound of the husky quality of his voice

had her heart rate increasing, had it pounding fiercely.

The sexual implications in the deep rasp of his voice

had a burning, soul-deep response tearing through

her system.

Yes, she was the only one who called him Rafer.

Even Jaymi had been amused by the habit Cami

had of calling him by his full name.

It was more intimate. No one else called him

Rafer, just her. It was a part of him that was only hers,

because he refused to allow anyone else to use the

name. And Cami allowed no other man to touch her.

Her experience at being a lover was confined to

the few nights she had spent with Rafe over the past

six years. so infrequent had been the times they had

come together. She had been a virgin that first night,

and she might as well have been a virgin the night she

knocked on his front door.

The phone rang again.

Lifting it from between her breasts, she couldn’t

help but smile despite the trembling of her lips and the

tears that filled her eyes.

Rafer Samuel Callahan
. The caller ID displayed

his name clearly.

With fingers that shook more than her lips did

she added the contact to the cell phone’s address

book the minute the ringing stopped. She was

determined not to answer, not to hear his voice again,

not to weaken and beg him to hold her again.

She was going to hear it enough in her dreams,

and the torment of it would drive her insane for

months.

Or longer.

He was living closer now, she thought. It wasn’t

as though he were half a world away and

inaccessible. He was here, in Corbin County. And he

wanted her.

She could go to him. She could take what she

wanted if she could just be strong enough to forget her

own past mistakes. That was the problem. It wasn’t

shame or fear of the county’s condemnation. It was

her own condemnation she had to worry about. And

she should have proven that beyond a shadow of a

doubt before she left the ranch.

Her family
would
turn their backs on her once

they learned of that kiss or at least her father would.

But he had turned his back on her years before. Her

mother was dying, and if she learned of it, then she

wouldn’t exactly die hating her younger child. Her

mother was able to process very little information

now. Alzheimer’s and a stroke had all but erased the

loving, gentle mother Margaret Flannigan had tried to

be whenever her husband wasn’t around. She was the

only person whose opinion Cami really cared about

anyway, and her mother barely even recognized her

anymore.

If Cami could only figure out why everyone hated

Rafer and his cousins. She could show her father the

injustice of what they had suffered—no, that wouldn’t

happen. There was no compassion left in her father

after Jaymi’s death.

Cami gave her head a hard shake. No, he

wouldn’t care because it would only be an excuse.

What she hadn’t considered while allowing Martin

Eisner to see her kissing Rafer was the fact he would

tell Mark Flannigan as soon as possible. When he

did, Mark would use the excuse to ensure he never

allowed Cami to see her mother again.

* * *

“Something’s wrong,” Rafe said quietly as he, Logan,

and Crowe sat in the black SUV he had driven into

town to check up on Cami and make certain she had

gotten home. He hadn’t been able to shake that

foreboding or his need for her.

It was probably that returning hunger continuing to

spark the warning he needed to check on her.

“No one’s in there,” Logan said from the seat as

Cami closed the heavy curtains covering her

bedroom window. “You can see straight through that

house until she closes the curtains. Besides she’s

acting too calm.”

It was the truth. The two-story home was open

and inviting, and clearly visible through the pristine,

sparkling windows.

Who had windows that clean? It was damned

scary. And as he said, Cami appeared too calm and

comfortable to be frightened of anything.

“I didn’t say someone was in there; I said

something is wrong,” he reminded his cousin.

“There’s a difference, Crowe.”

“Let it go, Rafe,” Crowe stated softly. “Let’s head

back to the ranch and see about installing the last of

those cameras before we head up the mountain

tomorrow to take care of mine. Logan’s is next and I’d

like to have this finished and tied into the DVR on the

master control before we head to that lawyers’

meeting in Colorado Springs next week.”

They had been installing the cameras at night,

when it would be harder for anyone to watch what they

were doing or to pinpoint the hiding places they had

chosen for the electronics.

Rafe blew out a rough breath as he slid the

vehicle into gear and pulled out onto the street. He

should have gone to the door, but he knew that

pushing Cami wasn’t going to get him what he

wanted. Besides, he wanted her to come to him for a

change. Just once. Just a single instance where she

accepted her need for him and made the first move. A

move other than allowing her car to slide into a ditch

at the entrance of his property.

He needed her, too—willingly, deliberately,

without any excuses—to reach out for him. He wanted

her to admit it to herself. Because he’d be damned if

he would allow her to hide from it much longer. And he

sure as hell wasn’t going to allow her to return to a few

stolen nights here and there because they couldn’t

fight the need any longer.

He had grown damned tired of having his lovers

hide their relationship with him twelve years before.

He’d had enough of it with Jaymi and the lovers he’d

had before her in Sweetrock. And these stolen nights

with Cami had eaten at him, because he was certain

she had slipped out at dawn out of shame.

He’d be damned if he’d let himself be treated like

a dirty little secret by Cami.

“Are we sure we want to go through with all this?”

Logan asked lazily from his seat in the back. “You

know if we go through with these plans it’s going to

cause a hell of a battle with the barons.”

Rafer couldn’t help but grin at the comment. How

many times had some of the larger resorts attempted

to come in and buy the land around Crowe’s

mountain? The deep white water that branched off

from the Colorado River and ran through streams and

tributaries until it began flowing through the deep

boulder-strewn ravines through the mountains was

perfect for white water rafting.

The mountain itself with its natural breaks and

paths was perfect for skiing. The land was filled with

wildlife and could easily support any hunting activities

required.

That had been their parents’ dream. The three

couples had spent years planning for the day the

wives came into their trusts at their thirtieth birthday. It

was then Crowe’s Mountain and the adjoining

Breaker Valley and Rafferty River Run area would

have become Callahan Holdings. From there Crowe

Mountain Resort would have been born.

Just the thought of the pure rage the barons

would have was enough to almost bring a grin to

Rafe’s lips. Damn, the explosion would be heard in

China when they learned that the grandsons they had

disowned would carry out their parents’ dreams.

“Now’s the time to back out if you don’t want to

be a part of it, Logan,” Crowe warned him.

Logan snorted mockingly. “Are you dreaming,

cuz? I just think we all need to be aware of what’s

going to happen when we file the papers. Because

the shit is going to hit the fan.” The anticipation in

Logan’s voice was contagious. That or just the sheer

pleasure at the thought of yet another triumph against

their grandparents.

The first had been the court battle for the land that

Crowe’s mother’s trust left to him. The final appeal the

barons had made would be heard in a month before

the state supreme court. And Rafe had no doubt he

and his cousins would win that one, too.

Breaker Valley, the land Rafer’s mother had held,

was now fully his. That land had once been the

Callahan Ranch, and had belonged to his

grandparents. Just as Crowe Mountain and part of the

land called Rafferty River Run had. Crowe stated,

“We’re not going to have an easy time doing this,

even after the property is out of the courts. I’d like to

keep things as simple as possible.”

And as quiet as possible to ensure the barons

didn’t guess what was coming.

“She’ll mess your head up, I can already see it

coming.”

“And you need to get fucked.” Rafe snorted as he

slid his cousin a hard look. “That’s not happening, so

you may as well simply shut the hell up about it and let

it go Crowe.”

“She’s going to get your ass killed,” Crowe

griped, his disapproval obvious.

“And you’re going to get your ass kicked if you

don’t shut the hell up,” Rafe growled as he headed the

vehicle out of town. “I don’t need the lectures and I

sure as hell don’t need your advice where Cami’s

concerned.”

“No, you need to stay away from her,” Crowe

repeated between furiously clenched teeth. “Both of

you need to remember exactly how dangerous it is to

fuck with Corbin County women.”

Rafe ignored him. Crowe enjoyed playing the big

brother, and he enjoyed trying to order Rafe and

Logan around. Not that they ever let Crowe get away

with it.

Especially now.

Rafe wasn’t staying away from Cami.

She’d admitted to being his occasional fuck, and

he was going to make damned sure the occasions

became real frequent from here on out. Once he

managed to convince her to make that first move,

then she was his. Totally. Completely.

He had no intentions of allowing Cami off the

hook or out of his bed for long. If Crowe thought he

could convince him otherwise, then he might need to

think again.

CHAPTER 10

The mid-April morning glistened across the Colorado

mountains with a wave of warmth that gave rise to the

hope that the snow would melt soon. Everyone in town

was crossing their fingers that the weather would

definitely cooperate in time for the Spring Fling

Social, the first night of weekend socials hosted by

the county every Friday through Sunday evening.