Tina Leonard - A Callahan Outlaw's Twins (6 page)

BOOK: Tina Leonard - A Callahan Outlaw's Twins
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Chapter Six

At ten o’clock that night, Sloan took over from Ashlyn.

“I’ve got it, Ash. Thanks.” He slumped into the wingback chair, a semiautomatic tucked into a holster under his arm, hidden from Kendall. The gun was to level the playing field in case they were attacked—though it seemed too soon for the enemy to make a move. They’d be trying to figure out where everyone had gone, and who was left here, and why.

“You’re back,” Kendall said, opening her eyes to glare at him. “I prefer your sister babysitting me.”

He nodded. “Everyone prefers Ashlyn. Now be a good girl and let me sleep.”

She sat up. “I don’t like your tone, soldier.”

“That’s a shame.” He lowered his hat over his face. Maybe she’d take the hint that it was time for lights out.

“It’s condescending. Smacks of arrogance. Like you think you’re in charge of everything.”

“I am.” No further comment needed to be made.

“Bully for you. I’m going to take a shower.”

His eyes widened under his dark gray Stetson. He refused to let his mind wander in the direction it wanted very much to go. There was a bath en suite, so she couldn’t escape him—but on the other hand, he couldn’t escape her, either.

He stayed under his hat, although he couldn’t have slept now if he wanted to.

She hummed quietly. He heard her pulling out drawers, choosing clothes.

“Can’t forget the panties,” Kendall said, and Sloan gritted his teeth. “Although since I’m on bed rest one more day, a bra isn’t essential, I suppose.”

She was torturing him on purpose.

“Thankfully, I have this leg wrap the hospital gave me to keep the stitches dry,” Kendall said conversationally, as if she wasn’t trying to drive him mad. She lifted the brim of his hat, peeking at him. “Comfy?”

Not really.
“I will be when you quit chattering.”

She smiled, her blue gaze sweet. “I’ll call you if I need anything.”

He swallowed, pinned. She dropped his hat back on his head and went humming into the bathroom. The water turned on, and he imagined her dropping her pajama shorts and camisole to the floor. Warmth broke out under his hat, lining his hatband with a trace of sweat.

He turned his focus inside, concentrating on the beat of his heart, the rhythm of his pulse, commanding himself to calm down.

After a moment, the wild feeling passed. He wasn’t attracted to Kendall—not at all—so there had been no reason for the surge of panic. Feeling better now that he was in control of the situation, Sloan leaned back, propping his head against the chair back, and tried to doze.

Kendall began singing a catchy tune, and the scent of strawberry shampoo drifted out to him. He pushed his hat back from his forehead, needing air. The chair was positioned directly across from the bath, so he was right in the line of fire.

There was a reason she was trying to get under his skin, and it had to do with control. But it wasn’t going to work. His self-control was steel forged by fire.

“Sloan?”

He hesitated. Went to the bathroom door. “Yeah?”

“I forgot a towel.”

That was as old as the trees. He wasn’t falling for it. “Drip dry.”

She laughed. “I can’t. I have to dry the plastic sleeve that covers my stitches. I can’t get them wet. My towel is on my bed.”

It was a trap, it had to be. He’d simply open the door and fling the stupid thing onto the counter. She’d have to take it from there.

He grabbed the towel and opened the door, ready to make the toss onto the granite-topped counter. But he caught a glimpse of Kendall in the shower, silhouetted through the frosted glass, her head back as she rinsed her hair, still humming that dumb song. He could see breasts outlined through the glass, and her hair falling back in a sleek sweep, nearly reaching her sexy rounded buttocks.

He threw the towel, slammed the door and staggered to the chair, falling into it with a smothered curse.

She was a goddess. That much beauty was enough to kill a lesser man. He was stuck protecting it.

It wasn’t going to kill him. He was simply going to control his mind so that he didn’t think about the beautifully rounded breasts or the—

He breathed, began the technique of self-hypnosis that never failed him. He had this.

This was his job, and he’d always been a loyal soldier. He’d always done his job.

This time would be no different.

* * *

K
ENDALL
CAME
OUT
OF
the bathroom feeling like a new woman. She slipped into her bed, happily pulling the sheet up to her neck—but then she realized Sloan was sound asleep, his head tilted at an awkward angle in the wingback chair.

“Hey! Tough guy.”

He didn’t move.

Okay, he was going to have a helluva crick in his neck in the morning. “Although why I should care, I don’t know, you annoying Callahan.” She grabbed the small, fringed, tubular-shaped lumbar pillow off the bed and went over to Sloan, trying to figure out how to stick it behind his neck without waking him. He seemed to be deep in sleep, so the maneuver should be easy enough. And anyway, she didn’t care if she did wake him up. It would serve him right for being such a horse’s rear. She jammed the pillow under his neck, springing back a bit when he moved, opened one sleepy eye—before both eyes came open to glare at her.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, my goodness,” Kendall said, exasperated. “Trying to smother you with a lacy pillow, you freak. What does it look like?”

His gaze moved from her face to her throat, then slid down to her breasts, which he could probably see through the white cami top. His eyes shot back to hers. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. You didn’t look comfortable.”

He watched as she got back into bed, his gaze hard on her as she pulled the sheet snugly up to her neck. “I don’t need a pillow.”

“I know.” Kendall sighed. “You’re a hard case. You sleep on rocks and you eat rocks and you drink water you smite from rock. Go back to sleep.”

She flounced over onto her side, thoroughly put out with him.

“Sleeping on rocks or wood is not all that uncommon in some civilizations,” Sloan said.

“That’s nice. Just sit over there and enjoy the crick in your neck. I’m going to doze off on these wonderful feather pillows.” Kendall blinked, struck by a random thought. “Have you ever slept on a feather pillow?”

He laughed. “Sure. Every night. The military gives them out like candy. Every good grunt carries one.”

She tossed one of her pillows at him, catching him in the face. “Try it. You might like it. And if you get a good night’s sleep, maybe you won’t be such a crab tomorrow.”

“I’m a crab,” Sloan said, “because you won’t follow orders.”

She sat up. “Whose orders? Your orders? Jonas’s orders?” Jumping up, she jerked the pillow away from him and got back into bed. “I’m not leaving! Whoever is here—and I’m assuming you Callahans think someone is here or the families wouldn’t have left—they’re not after me, because I don’t know anything. I’m the safest of all, especially with you and all your siblings prowling around the place. I’m not going to abandon my friends, with whom I’ve been employed for some years and lived with often, just because you thought it was a great idea to fire me. But I don’t think you can understand the concept of loyalty. Because all you know is how to follow orders.” She gave Sloan a look of disgust. “I’m not a soldier. I’ve never followed orders a day in my life.”

“Tell me something I couldn’t figure out on my own.” Sloan’s tone was dry. He sounded as if he might even have a smile in his voice, which irritated her to no end.

“If anyone is in danger, it would be Fiona. She’s the keeper of the family history, and if there’s a reason to kidnap someone and hold them for information, don’t you think an elderly woman would be a prime target?”

Sloan looked at Kendall for a long moment. “I’ll be right back.”

“That’s what I thought,” she muttered, then turned back over, resting her cheek on the soft pillow. She made certain her leg was propped up, and then closed her eyes and released a long breath.

Now that the reason for all her frustration had left the room, she could finally relax. He was so full of himself, such an arrogant guy—and so handsome he made her nervous.

The thing was, she didn’t think she’d ever been so hot for a man in all her life. Which was just the way things went: the one guy her body responded to in years, and he had to be the one she couldn’t have. Anything between them was such an illogical fantasy that she couldn’t even understand her attraction to him. But the attraction was real, and mystifying. They didn’t even get along.

Yet he’d seemed pretty appreciative of her putting the pillow behind his neck, after he’d gotten used to the idea of someone worrying about his comfort. And he was committed to the idea of sleeping in that stupid chair, although it wasn’t made for long-term sitting or resting.

Maybe he was a tad more heroic than she wanted to admit. Sort of a rough hero. She’d never had a hero in her life before, besides her brothers, so the experience was new.

And unfortunately, insanely hot.

* * *

S
LOAN
RETURNED
an hour later, after assigning Falcon to watch over Fiona and Burke for the night, to find Kendall sitting on the edge of the bed, her eyes wide as she stared out the window.

“What is it?”

“I thought I saw something.” She turned a panicked gaze toward him.

He went to the window, peering out, careful not to reveal himself to anyone who might be scoping out the house. “There’s a lot of people here. My family, some workers.” He turned to her. “What do you think you saw?”

“A man. A big man.” Kendall’s eyes widened. “Tall, thin, hiding behind the bunkhouse before he walked toward the barns.”

She might have seen something. Then again, perhaps she didn’t know all the workers on the grounds. But it was just as likely that she did; Jonas said Kendall had been working at his two properties for the past year, along with her brothers. They’d moved their own base of operations to the ranches, flying wherever they needed to meet clients and liaisons. “No one can get in the house. Falcon is standing guard. My brothers and Ash are around. The workers have been posted to let us know if they see anything suspicious. Try to sleep.”

She moved stiffly toward the white lace pillows. “I’m not as brave as you think I am.”

“Yeah, you are.” He settled into the wingback chair. “You’ve had a shock. It’s just now hitting you. Maybe some hot tea would be calming.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to stay awake.”

“I’m right here. No one’s coming through that door.” He put his gun on the tiny table. “You’re safe.”

“Okay.”

She lay down, her body rigid and stiff under the covers. He could see her tension, knew that nerves had finally hit her, and awareness was cutting into the bravado she’d been shielding herself with.

He moved the chair closer to her bed, pulled off his boots and put his feet up on the end.

“Thank you for being here,” she said, her voice small.

“Go to sleep. Or I’ll have to hypnotize you,” he teased.

“I can’t. I know you’re not comfortable, and it’s making me worry. Stretch out here beside me so I can sleep.” Kendall put two king-size ruffled pillows down the center of the bed. “There’s your wall of fire.”

He sighed. “Barbie, a wall of fire like that wouldn’t stop a horny male. I’ll stay over here.”

She looked his way. “Why? Are you...horny?”

“God, no.” He was bone-tired. “I’m just saying your pillow wall wouldn’t exactly be recommended in terms of security.”

“I’m assuming you have some sense of chivalry, as well.”

“I don’t.” He closed his eyes.

“Then get up on the bed, on top of the covers, so I can sleep. You can practice chivalry and I’ll stop shaking.”

“Are you shaking?” That concerned him. “Okay, I’ll lie down. Don’t touch me, Barbie.”

“Believe me, I’d rather gnaw off my pink vinyl arm. Stop calling me that, you chauvinist.”

“All right. Now close your pink vinyl lips. A guy doesn’t get much sleep around you needy types.”

“That’s right,” Kendall said. “Blame the woman.”

He grinned in the dark. Then he smelled strawberry shampoo as he settled onto the feather pillow, and quit smiling. She was so near, tantalizingly close.

He wasn’t going to get a single minute of sleep.

But if she did, it would be worth it.

* * *

S
LOAN
AWAKENED
in the night, his eyes wide-open. An arm had curved around his waist as someone snuggled up to his back. Warm, rounded breasts pressed against his shoulder blades.

Kendall.

Her cheek rested near his neck. He closed his eyes, for a moment indulging in her warmth and the sexiness of her body pushed up against his. “Kendall. Damn it. Get back on your side of the pillows.”

“Oh. Sorry.” She kind of giggled in her sleep, and rolled over.

Sloan drew in a deep breath. Now they were both saved from embarrassment in the morning.

Yeah, you’re a hero.
Dummy.

She’d felt wonderful curled up against him. He’d never experienced anything that glorious in his entire life. His skin practically erupted in goose bumps at the memory of her breasts against him.

“I’m trying to protect you,” he told her, not sure if she’d drifted back to sleep.

“I know, you goof. Quit trying to be such an angel. It’s a little cold in this room, you’re warm and I accidentally got into your space. I’m not apologizing. I’ll go to Hell’s Colony tomorrow, so you don’t have to be so worried, okay? Now pipe down. I thought you were the loner in the family, and I swear you’re as chatty as Dolly Parton in
Nine To Five.

He’d seen that movie on one of the bases he’d been stationed at, though he couldn’t remember which one. His mouth twisted. She had no idea what kind of man was sleeping in her bed. He was as dangerous as the mercenaries that were after the Callahans—he just happened to be working on the good side. “I’m just trying to spare you any awkwardness—”

BOOK: Tina Leonard - A Callahan Outlaw's Twins
12.85Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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