The Black Sheep and the Princess (25 page)

She leaned back in her chair. “Okay.” She paused, sighed, then seemed to pull herself up a little. “Okay,” she repeated, with a bit more confidence and a little less weary resignation. “Do you want me to call him now?” She looked at the clock on the wall. “It's possible he's in his office—”

“Not yet.”

“But, you're right, he's probably expecting me to try and contact him today after what happened.”

“Don't do the expected. Not yet, anyway.”

“The fact that I've waited this long is already not like me. So when do you want me to call? I'm confused.”

“Which is the exact state we want him to be in. Doing the unexpected jars the framework. It did yours, right? When you don't behave as predicted, it forces the other players to adjust their planning. It ups the chances that something or someone might slip up, at least enough to give us another piece of the puzzle. Your reaction to his jarring the framework is the one thing you can control in this situation right now, so use what little leverage you have to your best advantage.”

She nodded again, but her gaze was more intent on him, her thoughts seemingly not as inward now.

“What?” he asked, when she continued to regard him in silence.

“Nothing. I just…” She trailed off, lifted a shoulder. “You're so focused in all this, clearly in your comfort zone, very confident and methodical. On the one hand, it reassures me, makes me feel like I can trust you.”

“You can,” he said automatically. “Always.”

She nodded right away, and it was almost ridiculous how good that made him feel. “I know that, in ways that aren't necessarily rational or even proven.” She held his gaze. “But I do know that.”

“Good,” he said, trying like hell to keep it business. Which was hard to do when his heart was celebrating what felt like an important milestone in their relationship. A relationship that didn't exist, because it had nowhere to go, he reminded himself.

“On the other hand,” she went on, “it scares me. You so clearly see this as a bigger-than-life drama, and there is a part of me still resisting that, even though I know, or think, anyway, that you're probably right.”

“That's perfectly normal. No one wants to believe that the things most dear to them are truly being threatened. What matters is that you're doing something about it anyway.” He leaned his elbows on the table, would have reached for her if he could. “One way or the other, it's all going to get resolved now. The truth will out itself eventually.”

“And then?” She sank down a little in her seat. It was the first time he'd seen her look truly vulnerable. “What if the truth is I'm going to lose this place no matter what I do?”

He wished he could outright guarantee her that wouldn't happen. That he'd win every battle, slay every foe for her. But he couldn't do that. She trusted him, and that meant telling her the truth, even when it was a truth she didn't want to hear. “Then we'll deal with that reality when or if it happens.”

She held his gaze for a long moment, then nodded. “Thank you.”

“For?”

“Being straight with me.”

“Always,” he said, again, automatically. Only this time the response didn't sit as well with him. He was absolutely being straight with her where her camp's future was concerned. And he'd tried to be up front with her on a personal level as well. He'd admitted he might not be able to keep their personal interaction from affecting him on a more serious level. He was only now really beginning to realize just how deeply it already had. Even before their little shower interlude. But telling her that would be confessing it to himself. And he wasn't ready to deal with the repercussions on either front.

“So, when do I call?” she said, mercifully pulling his thoughts back to business.

“Ideally, I'd like you to track him down when he's not in a business environment, not on his own turf, so to speak. Do you know his socializing habits well enough to know when he'd most likely be out to dinner, or with friends?”

“What makes you think he'd talk to me in that situation? It's doubtful he'd be able to talk freely.”

“Exactly. Which gives you a chance to do most of the talking.”

“You've lost me.”

“He'll be thrown a little, being as he's not in a situation where he can talk freely. If he can think on his feet, he'll likely cover himself well, but on the chance that he can't, you keep pressing. It's possible he'll slip.”

“And if he doesn't?”

“You inform him that he'll agree to meet when and where you say, or you'll park yourself in Louisa's offices—the very offices he wants legal control over—until he agrees to see you and discuss the situation with the contract.”

“Sounds…convoluted. Why don't I just ask him outright?”

“It's kind of like a dance. If he's not involved, he'll just come right out and tell you whatever you want to know anyway. Case closed, you go sign papers, and we move on from there. But if he is involved, you have to play things just right if you want to maintain any leverage at all.”

“I technically own Louisa's entire empire. That's not leverage enough?”

“Not if he wants that and your camp, too.”

Her face lost a little color.

“Both of those things are imperative. One, that he's risking losing everything, all over this property, is rather telling. And you could set up camp anywhere, but you just made a deal to give him a fortune for this specific property. He's banking on that, too.”

She blew out a long sigh, then pushed wayward strands of drying hair out of her face. “I'm really hating this. I'm not cut out for espionage. I just want my damn camp. My God, he can have freaking everything else.” She looked over at him. “Why does this have to be so damn complicated?”

“Money. Best complicator in the world.”

She nodded, looking more defeated than he'd like to see her. “He doesn't even want this place.”

“I'm betting he might if Timberline wants to develop it into some top-notch resort. It's possible he'll want to retain ownership, much as Louisa did while it suited her. At the moment, it's not worth a whole lot, other than to the developer, but not enough to screw the deal he has with you, just to sell it off. But after it's developed? It's worth a whole lot more zeros then. It would be worth multiple millions, millions that would keep coming in if the place is managed properly.”

“You think he wants to be, what, a partner? But partnerships take money.”

“He owns the property.”

She shook her head. “I just don't see it. Not the money part, that screams Shelby. But the maintaining ownership part. He and my mother both willingly let this place go to seed in order to focus on other business ventures. I'm frankly surprised they didn't sell it off a long time ago.”

“They might have tried, you don't know. Probably let it go too far to hell to get any interest. Out here, who's going to want this place?” He smiled. “Besides a child psychologist looking to build a camp for kids, I mean?”

That did elicit a small smile from her. “I guess it would take something on the scale of a huge resort to make it worthwhile.”

“And lo and behold, just when he thought he was dumping a white elephant to keep an empire, someone comes along wanting to turn his elephant into an empire in and of itself.”

“And you think that was just coincidence?”

Mac gave her a dry look. “We can't prove who contacted who first, but what do you think?”

“Why would Shelby hunt for a developer now?”

“Remember what you said? About him being pissed off at having to give any of Louisa's holdings away? He thinks he's entitled to all of it. All. So maybe he's trying to find a way to keep it all and nudge you out.”

Kate buried her head in her hands and dug her fingers into her hair. “I don't know, Donovan. It all sounds pretty far-fetched. Even for Shelby.” Mac stilled momentarily, again affected by the way she said his name. All soft and vulnerable like that…made his body stir. And something inside his chest as well.

Just as he was thinking how badly he wanted to drag her across the table and into his lap, she straightened and pasted a brave smile on her face. “I guess we'll find out more when I talk to him later on. So…what do we do in the meantime?”

Mac's body leapt fully to life, and he knew he should probably fight the urge, but he was already grinning and pushing his chair back. “Now we put business aside for a few minutes.”

A smile ghosted her lips, and a spark returned to her eyes. “I thought we just did that.”

He circled the table and came to stand behind her.

She didn't tense or shift away when he put his hands on her shoulders and bent low so his mouth was next to her ear. “Is there a rule that says we can't take another break?”

“Break? Is that what we're calling it?”

“I believe I bartered lunch in trade for help with a few tight muscles. Besides, it's too wet outside, so I can't put the gear up. Shelby needs to percolate for a few more hours.” He glanced over at Bagel. “And the dog clearly needs his beauty sleep.”

Kate glanced over at Bagel's prone body, ears akimbo and belly exposed to the world, as he snored softly. “If only life were so simple for all of us.”

Mac pulled her up from her chair and turned her around to face him, trapping her between the table and his body. “It can be. For whole hours at a time, even.”

She wiggled her eyebrows teasingly. “Whole hours, huh? Pretty cocky.”

“What, you don't think I can back it up?” He braced his hands on the table on either side of her, pushing her back. “Don't think you can keep up?”

She giggled, and his heart sang, hearing that sound come from her again. In that moment he hated that life really wasn't simple, then shut the thought out completely. Here and now. That was what life was truly composed of. The here and now. And right here, right now, he had Kate in his arms again. He pushed dishes and mugs out of the way and kept pressing her back onto the table.

Besides, simple was for sissies.

K
ate knew the instant her back hit the table and his chest pressed against hers that she was never going to get tired of feeling his weight on top of her. She'd thought having him drive her literally up the wall in the shower had been pretty damn intense, but there was something even more primal in feeling him on top of her.

A spoon clattered to the floor as she gripped the front of his shirt and pulled him closer, praying the table wouldn't splinter beneath them.

His grin widened, and the spark that flared to life in his eyes almost undid her right then. “I like it when you get demanding.”

“Do you?” she queried, pulling him close enough to nip his chin. The growl of approval sent little shock waves all through her body. He triggered responses in her she didn't even know she was capable of feeling. It was crazy how badly she wanted him again. She felt like she was in heat.

“You know,” she said, nipping her way along his jaw, “I do have a perfectly good, very soft mattress, just in the other room.”

He pushed against her, sending the napkins flying. “We'll get there.” Leaving her prone, he raised up and tugged at the waistband of her sweats, pulling them down and off as he crouched between her legs, sliding her thighs over his shoulders. “Eventually.”

If this was his idea of tight-muscle relaxation, she'd be willing to barter a hell of a lot more than regular meals. Too busy gasping at the sudden invasion of his warm breath and soft tongue between her legs to form a single, coherent thought, she instinctively grabbed at the edges of the table. Arching into him, heedless now of where the dishes and silverware ended up, she was unable to keep the gradually louder whimpers from slipping out. Whimpers turned to moans, loud moans, as he continued his devastating assault on her most sensitive spot. Bagel was barking somewhere in the background, but the house could have been burning down and she doubted she'd have been able to stop Donovan. She didn't want to stop him, stop this stunning intoxication of her senses, until every last delicious tremor shuddered through her.

Her hips thrashed wildly when she came, and she was pretty sure that rafter-rattling scream that accompanied it actually came from somewhere inside of her.

Blinded by her need for him and unable to focus on anything except the overwhelming need to have him buried deep inside of her as soon as humanly possible, to continue the assault on her deliciously sensitive nerve endings in the most intimate manner possible, she grabbed at his hair, his shoulders, tugging him back up.

She groaned with absolute satisfaction when he settled his weight on top of her, between her legs, where she so badly wanted him to stay. Forever. Somewhere in the process he'd shucked his clothes because all she felt was his deliciously warm skin brushing against hers as he pulled her legs around his hips and pinned her down to the table.

“Pure madness,” he breathed into her ear as he buried his face against the side of her neck and sunk deeply into her with one thrust.

“Yes,” she agreed, arching to meet him, to take him, seeking more when she didn't think more was possible.

He drove himself into her, no gentleness in him now. She scored his back with her nails as she grabbed for any perch she could find, finally grabbing at the hair that lay against his neck, tightening her thighs against his increasingly deeper thrusts, taking every one of them with growling acceptance, wanting more with every bit he gave her.

“Kate,” he panted, moving faster, and faster, turning her face to his and laying claim to her mouth as deeply and intimately as he was her body.

She took him there, too. Wanting to take him into every part of her with a desperation that made her almost frantic. Somewhere in the recesses of what was left of her mind, she knew it was a form of desperation, this need to take every last bit of him now, while she could, before the inevitable happened and she lost him.

Then there was that other part, buried even deeper inside her, but becoming incessantly harder to ignore. That part that said if he needed her badly enough, wanted more of her as desperately as she did of him, then maybe, just maybe, he'd find a way to give them both what they wanted. Now…and forever.

Madness, indeed.

His body coiled above hers and tore his mouth from hers. “Kate,” he demanded hoarsely.

Her eyes flew open to find the dark, stormy depths of his own love pinning her down as tightly and fully as his body was pinning hers.

“Donovan,” she choked out.

And he came right then, his gaze locked to hers even as his body thundered into hers, shuddering mightily as he poured himself into her in ways more than simply physical. She was drowning, but not simply in his body. That gaze, that look…

Was she seeing what she wanted to see? Or…

“Come here,” he said roughly, and pulled her up against him, sliding his arms beneath her as he slid out of her. “Come on.”

“Wait—”

But he didn't. Wincing as his knees protested, he pulled her up with him as he stood, ignoring her protests as he scooped her up against his chest. “Just let me,” he told her, kicking a chair over accidentally as he staggered the two of them toward her bedroom. He banged the door shut behind them, blocking out Bagel's mournful howl. She'd make it up to the dog later. She had a lifetime with her dog. She had no idea how many more precious minutes of this she'd have with Donovan. Shamelessly, greedily, she wanted them all.

His legs gave out as they fell to the bed. He rolled to his side, dragging her with him. “Shower again later,” he promised, tucking her against his side.

She rolled her body along the length of his, her legs tangling easily with his, her head coming to rest atop the beat of his heart as if she'd slept that way many a time. And despite the exhilaration of what she'd just experienced with him, the anxiety over where this would lead them, compounding the fears about what else lay in store for her in the next days or weeks…the sweet drowsiness of such complete satiation threatened to claim her swiftly. She felt him press a kiss on the top of her head and pressed one against his heart. His arm tightened around her, and she smiled…and let sleep take her.

 

The dream was odd. She remembered thinking when he was deep inside of her that the house could be burning down around them and it wouldn't have mattered. Figures she'd dream about the burning building and not the lovemaking. She was more stressed out than she thought. Snuggling closer, making a soft noise of pleasure when Donovan automatically tightened his hold on her and nestled her closer, even in his sleep, she pushed her sleep-muzzy brain to other, more pleasurable dreams. But the burning building just wouldn't leave her mind, so real it made her nose twitch in reaction to the acrid smoke and—

Just then Donovan came fully awake and was pushing her gently but firmly aside as he leapt from the bed.

She pushed her hair from her face and levered up on one arm, nose still twitching. Then her eyes widened, and she scrambled out of the bed behind him and stumbled to the window where he stood. “Oh, my God!”

Thick black smoke roiled into the air, but there were no flames shooting from the cabin situated just down the hill below hers.

“What the hell is going on?” Kate demanded, the adrenaline punch kicking the last vestiges of sleep from her muzzy brain, but making her almost nauseous at the sudden shift.

Mac reached for the nightstand where he'd set his phone. “Obviously, whoever was here earlier was paying closer attention than we thought. I'd swear it was amateur hour out there, but now I'm not so sure. Maybe they saw what I was doing up that tree and decided to strike before the surveillance went into effect.”

“Is the rest of the equipment—”

“Going up in flames? Yes.”

Kate's eyes widened as the full impact of the situation hit her, and as Donovan turned to punch numbers into his phone, she ran to open her bedroom door and all but tripped over a very grateful, clearly shaken Bagel. “Sorry, little man,” she said, stepping over him as she went for her purse and the phone buried somewhere in it. “I'll call the fire department.”

“Already done,” Donovan said from the doorway behind her.

She turned to find him, a wiggling Bagel in his arms, standing naked in the open doorway to her bedroom. And even with her entire future literally threatening to go up in flames, her body responded, her brain flashed immediately on a few very specific stored visuals, and her heart tripped all over itself. “Now what?”

“You stay here. I'm going down to check out what's what.”

“But—”

“It's been burning for a while, I don't think there's anything that can be done to save it now. But I want to make sure. The rain has made the exterior and surrounding trees wet enough to keep it from spreading to anything else.”

“What if someone is still out there?”

Donovan crossed the room and plopped Bagel into her arms, then pulled on his clothes, which were strewn on the kitchen floor. “I won't be gone long.”

“You didn't answer my question.”

He pulled on the still damp raincoat he'd left by the door after walking Bagel earlier, then walked back over to her, leaned down, and soundly kissed her. “I know. Don't—do not—come outside. Not even on the porch. Fire trucks will take a long time to get here, and I want to make sure nothing else is going on.”

“Donovan—”

His expression softened a little, and so did his tone. “Let me do my job,” he said, and kissed her, this time more gently. “Please do as I ask, so I don't have to worry about you while I'm at it. Promise?”

When he looked at her like that, and asked rather than commanded, it was beyond her to debate him. It was scary in its own way, how grateful she was that he was there. “Yeah.” She squeezed a still-wriggling and whimpering Bagel more tightly to her chest. “My trusty sidekick and I will be here waiting for your report.”

He grinned. “I won't be long.”

He turned to go, and she grabbed his arm, tugged him back, and kissed him soundly. “Be careful.”

She'd expected a roll of the eyes, or some casual retort. So it surprised her when his expression faltered, almost as if she'd caught him off guard. “What?” she asked.

“Nothing. And I will.” Then he was out the door and off the porch before she could regroup enough to call him on what had obviously been a dodge.

She did as he asked and stayed away from the porch and the front door, which he'd closed behind him. But he hadn't said anything about her bedroom window. She went quickly into the room, dumped Bagel gently onto the tangled pile of bedsheets, and stepped to the edge of the window, careful to keep most of her body off to one side and out of plain sight.

Donovan was nowhere to be seen. Probably already on the backside of the cabin, she thought. It was early evening judging by the fading light, though the cloudy skies made it hard to tell. She glanced at her nightstand. Four o'clock. They'd been asleep for several hours. The acrid smell of smoke was stronger now after Donovan had opened and closed the front door. She rubbed at her nose and tried not to inhale any more deeply than she had to. God only knew what it was like out there. Hopefully, the damp air was stifling it somehow, though for all she knew, it might make it worse.

She leaned closer to the windowpane, almost pressing her cheek against it as she squinted in the rapidly growing gloom for any sight of Donovan. An uncontrollable shudder shot through her as she realized the intruder had been that close without their knowledge. With her and Donovan going at it like wild animals right in her kitchen, they could have been standing on the porch watching for all she knew.

She shuddered again and folded her arms against her chest, hugging herself, trying not to let the idea freak her out completely. Whoever it was, was likely long gone by now. They'd probably seen Donovan go inside her cabin after walking the dog and figured that was their chance. That they hadn't waited until dark, that they'd risked it in broad daylight, unnerved her more than a little. Of course, the rain and mist made it a bit more shrouded, but if either one of them had happened to look out her bedroom window while the perpetrator was setting the fire or going in or out of the cabin, they would have caught him dead to rights.

Maybe they'd thought Donovan was going to head back out and finish the installation of the cameras, so they had to strike when they had the first opportunity. It was the only thing that explained taking such a risk.

Though, she realized, as she thought about it, they'd been pretty bold with the boat shed earlier. Maybe this had been the plan all along. She kept running a visual scan over every part of the property she could see from her vantage point, but she'd yet to see Donovan. Her mind was spinning with all the ramifications. She tried not to think about the damage itself, all the incredibly expensive gear Donovan had just lost, or about how badly it was going to set back her timetable for getting the camp up and running, not to mention the money involved. At the moment, unless they could figure out who the hell was behind this, it wasn't going to matter.

She turned then, stared through the open door of her bedroom, directly at the table in the kitchen where her purse lay. And her cell phone.