WalkingSin (9 page)

Finally she removed Dax’s clothes. She
folded his jeans and T-shirt, laid his socks on top of them. The only thing
left in the dryer was a pair of tiny black briefs.

Warmth crept back into her cheeks and
traveled down her body. Holding up the briefs, she imagined how Dax would look
in them…and nothing else. She already knew dark hair spread over his chest and
down his stomach. She wondered if the same dark hair covered his legs too. The
hair would tickle her as he rubbed his legs against hers.

Goose bumps covered her skin when she felt
a presence behind her. Slowly she turned her head to see Dax leaning against
the doorjamb.

Mortified to be caught staring at his
underwear, Kelcey quickly laid them on top of his socks, closed the dryer door
and leaned against the warm appliance.

“Are we going to talk about the elephant in
the room?” Dax asked.

She knew exactly what he meant, but
pretended she didn’t. “I don’t know what you mean.”

He gave her a look that said, “sure you
don’t”, even though he didn’t say the words. “We’ve talked about several things
tonight, but not the one thing we should talk about. We almost made love
Saturday night, Kelcey. I know you wanted me. Your body told me so. Yet you
stopped. Why?”

Dax hooked his thumbs in the waistband of
his sweats. Kelcey couldn’t think straight with that strip of skin below his
navel exposed. Unsure what to say, she lowered her head and pushed her hair
behind her ears.

“Did I do something wrong? Is that why you
pushed me away?”

“No,” she whispered.

Several seconds passed before he spoke
again. “Were you raped?” he asked in a soft voice.

Denying it would be useless since he
already suspected the truth. She nodded.

“Shit,” he muttered. “God, I’m sorry. I’m
so sorry that happened to you.”

The anguish and sympathy in his voice
tightened her throat. Tears flooded her eyes. She didn’t want Dax to see her
cry. “Excuse me,” she whispered.

She made it no more than two steps when Dax
held her arm to stop her. “Hey,” he said, his voice low, soothing. “You don’t
have to hide your tears from me.”

His understanding released the floodgates.
A choked sound came from her lips before she could stop it.

“C’mere.” He tugged her into his arms,
gently coaxed her cheek to his shoulder. Kelcey wrapped her arms around his
waist, accepting the comfort he freely offered. He rubbed soothing circles on
her back, the way he had Saturday night after her nightmare.

She didn’t know how long they stood there
before her tears finally stopped. The desperate need for a tissue made her
leave his arms long before she wanted to. “My nose is running.”

“Kleenex in the living room by my
recliner.”

Walker looked up and thumped his tail when
she walked into the living room. She took long enough to rub his ears before
she popped two tissues from the box and blew her nose. Those goose bumps that
seemed to pop up whenever Dax came near covered her skin again. She turned to
find him standing behind her, close but not close enough to touch.

“You okay?” he asked.

Kelcey nodded.

“I have an idea.”

If it had to do with her telling him about
her past, she didn’t like that idea at all. “What?”

“I think we should get drunk.”

His suggestion didn’t sink into her brain
at first. When it did, she burst out laughing.

Dax grinned. “Hell of an idea, don’t you
think?”

“We can’t get drunk. We have to work
tomorrow.”

He shrugged. “So we’ll get highly plastered
instead. How’s that?”

“You’re insane.”

“What fun is life if you don’t act a little
insane every once in a while?”

Dax’s philosophy sounded like Emma’s. If
she was here right now, she wouldn’t hesitate to go along with his idea.

Maybe it’s time I let loose and do
something a little insane too.

“Okay. Let’s get crazy.”

* * * * *

Kelcey held up her glass so Dax could pour
more wine into it. She had no idea how much wine she’d drunk, but she knew he’d
opened a second bottle a short time ago. Her brain felt deliciously fuzzy.

She sat in his office with him, looking at
photographs on his computer. He’d shown her pictures he’d taken of the deer on
his property, all the ones for the scrapbook his mom was making for Alaina,
people around Lanville. He had wonderful shots of kids playing basketball,
fishing, running in the schoolyard. The scenery pictures were beyond amazing.

A folder with the name “Trash and Erase”
caught her attention. She pointed to it. “What’s in there?”

“Nothing.” Dax quickly closed several folders
he had open, taking him back to the main pictures folder.

“Wait a minute. What are you hiding?”

“I’m not hiding anything.”

The wicked gleam in his eyes proved
otherwise. Heat whooshed through her body when she realized exactly what he had
in that folder. “You have pictures of naked women.”

Dax leaned back in his chair, crossed his
arms over his chest. “Do I?”

The wine swimming through her system gave
her courage. Kelcey laid her hand on the mouse, determined to find that folder
and open it.

“Oh no.” Dax quickly took the mouse away
from her and laid it on the other side of the keyboard.

“Hey! I want to see.”

“You like looking at pictures of naked
women?”

“Ah ha! So you admit that’s what’s in that
folder.”

His lips twitched as if he was trying to
keep from laughing. “I’ll admit I’m a man who appreciates the female body.”

Kelcey didn’t understand why the image of
Dax looking at nude pictures of women seemed so hot. “What’s with that ‘trash
and erase’ name?”

“I have a deal with my brothers. If
something happens to me, they have to delete that folder and securely empty the
trash so there’s no trace of it before anyone starts checking out my computer.”

“You mean like your parents?”

Dax chuckled. “No. They wouldn’t have a
problem with those pictures. My parents are cool. My mom would probably
critique the pictures. ‘You can tell that one was airbrushed’,” he said in a
higher voice, mimicking his mother. “’Those breasts can’t be real. Her butt is
way too big. What man would want legs that skinny?’”

By the time he finished, Kelcey was
laughing so hard, her sides hurt. She could hardly wait to meet Beverly and the
triplets’ father, Kenneth. How lucky the Colemans were to have such supportive
and understanding parents.

Refusing to go down the self-pity road
tonight, Kelcey held out her glass for more wine. Dax splashed some into both
their glasses. “Do Griff and Rye have those folders too?”

“Griff erased his when he and Jana got
married. I don’t know if Rye still has his. He may have erased it when Alaina
moved in with him.”

“I can tell you Emma still has her folder
of naked men pictures on her laptop.”

Dax leaned back in his chair again, swirled
the wine in his glass. “And you know this…how?”

“I saw it last week. The folder, not what’s
in it.”

“Have you ever looked at what’s in it?”

“Maybe once. Or twice.”

Dax grinned. “I’m learning a new side of
you.”

She lifted her glass. “It’s the wine
talking.”

Setting his glass on the desk, he leaned
forward in his chair until their faces were only a few inches apart. “Or maybe
the real Kelcey is trying to come out…the Kelcey who wants to be a little
bolder, a little more daring.”

The heat in his eyes warmed every part of
her. Her gaze passed from his eyes to his lips and back. She wanted to touch
his beard, grab handfuls of that glorious hair. She wanted to press her lips to
his and kiss him with all the passion she’d kept bottled up inside her for so
long.

Except she didn’t know how.

Kelcey set her glass on the desk and stood.
“The wine has made me sleepy. I think I’ll go to bed.”

He looked up at her face several seconds
before he also stood. “Would you like a T-shirt to sleep in?”

“Please.”

She followed Dax to his bedroom. He pulled
a dark green T-shirt from a dresser drawer. “This okay?”

The shirt looked faded and soft and
comfortable…perfect to sleep in. “Yes. Thank you.”

Moments passed while she looked into Dax’s
eyes. She sensed he wanted to say more, but he remained silent.

“Thank you for everything, Dax. Good
night.”

“See you in the morning.”

Kelcey strolled down the hallway to the
guest room. She laughed when she stepped through the doorway. Walker lay on the
end of the bed.

His tail wagged while she walked up to him.
“You don’t want me to sleep alone, huh?” She rubbed the thick fur on his neck,
kissed the top of his head. He licked her hand and released a soft whine.
“Yeah, I agree with you. I’m tired of sleeping alone. I wish I had the nerve to
walk back to your master’s bedroom and just…attack him.”

It was a nice fantasy, but one that
couldn’t come true. After giving Walker one more scratch beneath his chin,
Kelcey tugged off the sweatshirt and replaced it with the T-shirt. She removed
her jeans, panties and socks, laid them on top of the dresser. After a quick
trip to the bathroom, she turned off the lights and crawled between the soft
sheets.

Emma’s words popped into her head, the
words she’d spoken after Kelcey told her and Alaina about the rapes.

It sounds like the man on top of you is
what triggers the memories. You’re no longer in control. What if
you
were on top and in control of sex?

She rolled to her back and stared at the
ceiling. Dax was sexy and gorgeous and experienced. He’d be a great teacher.
Kelcey didn’t want to make a fool of herself, but she didn’t want to be afraid
any longer either.

Kelcey sat up in bed. Walker lifted his
head and looked at her.

“I’m not going to sleep alone tonight,
Walker, but I won’t be sleeping with you.”

Chapter Eight

Dax stuffed two pillows behind his back,
stretched out his legs on the bed. It was after eleven and he knew he should be
sleepy, yet his mind whirled too much for him to sleep. He’d had fun tonight
with Kelcey. That surprised him. She wasn’t his type at all. Or she wasn’t the
type of woman he usually dated. His dates wanted a good time—dinner, maybe a
movie or pool at Boot Scootin’, and sex. They never spoke about the future, not
even another date. Good times. Nothing more.

Funny how thinking about his usual date
left a bad taste in his mouth.

Since sleep wouldn’t be possible yet, he
decided to finish the book he’d started over the weekend. Dax took a sip of
wine and turned on his e-reader. He’d read a couple of paragraphs when he heard
the door close. He looked up to see Kelcey leaning against it.

She wore his T-shirt. The hem hit her at
upper thigh, letting him see all of her pretty legs. He didn’t know if she wore
anything beneath it, but he suspected not.

He hoped not.

Pushing herself away from the door, she
slowly walked toward him. Her hard nipples pressed against the soft cotton,
proving that she didn’t wear a bra. When she reached his side, she took the
e-reader from his limp fingers and laid it on the nightstand.

“You won’t need that for a while.”

He’d lost his ability to think, much less
speak. He’d never expected this from Kelcey. Dreamed of it, yes. Wished for it,
yes. Assumed it would happen, no.

Kelcey climbed on the bed and straddled his
thighs, her pussy no more than three inches from his cock. “I need you to do
something for me.”

Dax swallowed, willed his tongue to work
again. “What?”

“Don’t touch me. Let me touch you.”

Since all the blood in his body had rushed
to his dick, Dax couldn’t move anyway except to nod.

She touched his beard with her fingertips.
Dax watched her eyes as she touched him. Her gaze followed her hands. She
stroked his jawline, caressed his mustache. She ran her fingers beneath his
chin to the smooth skin of his neck where he shaved.

“It’s so soft.” Her gaze traveled up to
meet his. “I expected a beard to be coarse.”

“Whiskers are coarse. A beard is longer
than just whiskers.”

“I don’t like stubble, but this is nice.”
She continued to look into his eyes as her fingertips caressed his jawline
again. “How long have you had a beard?”

“Ten years.”

She leaned closer, rubbed her cheek against
his. Dax squeezed his hands into fists on the bed. He understood why she asked
him not to touch her, yet he yearned to do exactly that. He wanted to feel her
skin beneath his fingers, cradle her breasts in his palms, slide his hand
between her thighs and find out if she wore panties or not. He wanted to tunnel
his hands into her soft blonde hair and kiss her until neither of them could
breathe.