Cole glared at her. "I don't see you helping, and this was your idea."
"I'm suffering the effects of my scalp wound from yesterday," Maia said.
"You were able to wrestle yesterday." He walked his end of the tree around, keeping away from the windows, always conscious of the watcher on the ridge. He glanced outside. The snow was relentless, falling steadily in a soft, silent monotonous way that packed on feet rather than inches. Cole seriously doubted if anyone could be out in the whiteout. The tension immediately drained from his body.
"Fine," Maia said. She took the toolbox Cole had insisted on carrying along with the tree. "I'll find the perfect position for you. The two of you just hold on to it while I study the situation."
"Study the situation?" Jase yelped in protest. "This is heavy."
"Yes, well," Maia waved a dismissing hand and settled herself on the couch, the toolbox at her feet while she examined every angle of the room.
"Oh, for God's sake," Cole said, exasperated. He shoved on his end until Jase went with him, standing the tree dead center in front of the window. "Right here. The damned thing is going right here, and we're not moving it."
In the end they moved it four times, Maia going from one end of the room to the other to study the positioning from every angle. Jase threw himself on the floor twice, laughing at his older brother's expression and pointing to him until Cole threatened to throw him out in the storm.
"That's perfect. Now we need wire and those pincher cutter things," Maia said. "We'll make a wreath."
"I thought we were going to eat, woman," Cole objected. "You have to feed men if you want them cooperative."
"You just ate," Maia protested.
"That was hours ago," Jase said. "Sorry, Doc, but I'm with Cole on this. I'm on empty."
"You two are bottomless pits! Fine, I need to make popcorn anyway."
"I love popcorn. Make the buttery kind," Jase said.
"Not to eat." Maia put her hands on her hips. "We string it and make a garland to wrap around the tree."
Jase and Cole exchanged a long look. "I think that knock on the head did more damage than we suspected," Cole told his younger brother. "We're not wasting the popcorn on the tree, Doc."
Jase shook his head. "What part of starving don't you understand?"
"Oh for heaven's sake. We'll make sandwiches, and you can eat them and leave the decorations alone," Maia said.
"I like the part about the sandwiches," Jase said, and took off for the kitchen.
As soon as she and Cole were alone, Maia caught Cole's arm. "What is going on? I know something is, so don't pretend you don't know what I mean."
"I'm not sure what's going on, other than I want us all to stick together," Cole said. "When I figure it out, I promise, you'll be the first to know."
"Is there something I can do to help?"
He framed her face. "You're doing enough already. There's no way to make it up to you, the things you're doing for Jase."
Her heart did a silly flutter as the pad of his thumb slid back and forth over her lower lip. She was beginning to think of various ways he could repay her if he really insisted on it. Maia knew she was incredibly susceptible to him. Jase was her savior, whether he was aware of it or not. She would never be able to hold out against Cole if the boy wasn't with them almost constantly, and once she gave herself to him, she knew it would be forever. It was a terrible realization that she'd fallen so deeply for a man she had known for only a few days.
She couldn't look into his eyes. There was need there and hunger and something so compelling she would never be able to resist. He was doing all the things he knew would cause him nightmares in order to give his younger brother a chance at a normal life. She was hurting him. She ached inside knowing she was the cause. Yet because he was a willing participant, she was falling deeper and deeper in love with him.
"I'm enjoying myself, Cole. This has been fun." Her voice was so husky with her awareness of him she was embarrassed. If his thumb touched her lower lip another minute, she was going to bite him.
"Maia." He bent his head.
She groaned, knew she was lost as she moved into the heat of his body. Her arms stole around his neck, and she instantly became a part of him. Skin to skin. Breath to breath. His hair felt like silk between her fingertips. And his mouth was a haven of fire and hunger that matched her own. She sank into him, his kiss sweeping her away just as she knew it would. She was just as demanding as he, matching fire for fire, hungry, almost greedy in her response.
His arms tightened around her, and his kiss was possessive, a man starved, claiming her, and she claimed him right back, pushing so close they didn't need the clothes separating them.
"Get a hotel room," Jase said. "Geez, this place is getting to be X-rated." He leaned against the wall, a cold piece of pizza in his hand, chewing as he regarded them with feigned disgust. His eyes were bright with happiness, and neither could fail to recognize the hope on his face.
Maia pulled her mouth away from Cole's, pressing her forehead against his chest, trying to find a way to breathe when her lungs felt starved for air. "He's getting hard to resist, Jase. I think we need to put some kind of warning label on him."
"You're just tired, Doc," Cole said, catching her chin, forcing her to look at him.
A woman could definitely get trapped in his blue eyes. She sighed. "That must be it, but just in case, kiss me again."
He didn't wait for a second invitation. He lowered his head to hers, his hand sliding around her neck, holding her still for his kiss.
"I could kiss you forever," she murmured.
Jase rolled his eyes. "Well don't. Think food instead."
Maia blushed, shocked she'd admitted it aloud. "He mesmerized me, Jase, it isn't my fault."
"That's not how it looked to me," Jase said. "You were definitely doing the kissing."
Maia pulled out of Cole's arms. "I'm going to go check the horse and the cat in that order."
"You're running," Cole informed her.
That intriguing trace of amusement flashed momentarily in his eyes. She had to look away from temptation. "Yes, I am, but don't go thinking it's because of your studly self. I'm running from having to cook. I'll make the popcorn, but the two of you are bottomless pits, and if I'm the one putting together Christmas dinner and baking..."
"Cookies," Jase interrupted. "Lots of cookies. And pies." He poked his brother. "She just zapped you, bro, put you right in your place."
"I thought you wanted to let that cat rest. Stop avoiding me and come into the kitchen. I'll do the cooking, and you do your strange thing with the popcorn." Cole took her hand and drew her into the kitchen. "I started on the wood carving by the way. I've actually found a couple of pieces of wood that might be perfect for a couple of them."
"I've never seen anyone carve before. Will you teach me?"
His gaze moved over her face. Dark. Brooding. Sexy. Maia backed into the table. "Maybe not." She waved at him. "Get started on your cooking."
"I'm making progress."
"You were making progress, but I've come to my senses again." She turned her back on him, rummaging through cupboards to find the popcorn. "Jase, find me a needle and thread please."
"Did you really go to Africa and Indochina, Doc?" Jase asked, stuffing potato chips into his mouth.
"Yes. It was beautiful. I loved it, but you have to be prepared for a lot of bugs."
"I'm going to do that someday," Jase said. "What you did for Wally was so great, but I couldn't believe how it felt to touch that mountain lion." He leaned both elbows on the table, chin in hand and studied her with his bright eyes. "I have to do that again."
"There's something incredible about a wild cat. Tigers and lions and leopards, all the exotics. You look them in the eye, and you just know we need to find a way to share our space with them. They're incredible."
"Do you want to go back there?" Cole asked, his voice tight.
There was a sudden silence in t
he room. Maia knew the Steele brothers were watching her closely. She turned her head, meeting Cole's gaze. Her stomach did a crazy flip. It wasn't often she could read his expression, but he was tense, expecting a blow. She forced a casual shrug. "If I want to work with exotics again, most likely I'd find a zoo somewhere. I'm a fill-in vet, so I can make enough money to start my own practice."
"Why don't you take over the one here?" Jase asked.
"Money, honey. I've got some saved, but not enough."
Popcorn began to sound off, a rapid gunfire of miniexplosions.
"Smells good," Jase said.
"I think you'd eat anything if it didn't move," Maia observed, laughing at him. "Leave my popcorn alone. And I'm putting you to work stringing it while Cole makes dinner." She tossed him the small sewing kit containing needles and thread. "Come on, help out, shark tooth."
* * *
chapter 11
Three a.m. The small alarm clock beside Maia's bed blazoned the time in bright glowing numbers. It seemed she was always awake at 3:00 a.m. in this house. She wasn't used to the creaks and strange noises, although, she had to admit with a great deal of satisfaction, the aura of the house was undergoing a change.
She shifted restlessly in the bed, sighed, giving up on sleep, and threw back the covers. Cole had participated in decorating the tree, but he'd been thinking of something else. She'd watched him closely. He had made a dozen excuses to go outside. He'd checked the windows and doors in the house, and for the first time since she'd been there, he'd turned on a security alarm, after first changing the code. And that told her something. Cole was worried about an intruder other than the ghost of his father.
She was falling madly in love with him. She hadn't expected it, and the depth of the emotion was terrifying. She needed to get off the ranch. To go far away. She couldn't stop thinking about Cole. She dreamt of him. Longed to touch him, to take away the shadows always present in his eyes. She'd known from the first moment she'd laid eyes on him that she wouldn't walk away unscathed, but she hadn't counted on the intense attraction she felt for him. He never said a word to her about his real feelings. He never said a word about love or indicated that when she left he wouldn't be happy or even that he might want to see her again.
A sound penetrated through the walls, echoed down the hall. A cry of despair. A tortured protest Maia stood for a moment, her hand to her throat, hearing the tormented groan of despair. If she went to him, she knew she would never be able to resist giving him what he needed, yet making love to him would only make leaving more difficult for her. She heard a string of curses. Unable to resist his terrible need, she hurried out of her room.
Cole's door was closed, but she pushed it open to see him raking his hands through his hair. His body still shuddered with the aftereffects of his nightmare. As she entered, he swept a gun from under the pillow, pointing it straight at her heart.
"Damn, Maia." He pushed the gun out of sight, struggling to slow his heart rate. "I told you it was dangerous to come downstairs when I'm like this. You think it's any safer in my bedroom?" Cole sat up. The sheets were tangled around his legs and hips, covering part of him but leaving his thigh bare. He knew it looked as if he'd fought a battle and lost.
"I don't care." She crossed the room to his side, pushing the hair from his forehead, her fingertips lingering on his face, tracing a path to his mouth. "I don't want you to be alone tonight, Cole." She knelt on the bed, the light from the snow spilling through the window to bathe her in silver.
Cole's breath caught in his throat, his lungs burned, and he could only stare as her hands went to the buttons of the soft flannel shirt covering her body. She slid each one open. Slowly. One by one. He caught brief glimpses of her body. A soft expanse of skin he ached to touch.
His fingers curled into two tight fists. "Not like this, Maia. You don't have to come to me feeling sorry for me because I had a damned nightmare." What the hell was he saying? He wanted her. Ached for her. His body was so damned hard, he was afraid he might shatter. "I don't want you like this." It was a total lie. He wanted her any way he could have her.
Maia flashed her killer smile, the one that sent his body into overdrive and caused him to turn into a jealous idiot if any other man was within several hundred feet of her. His breath left his lungs in a rush when she allowed the flannel shirt to slide from her shoulders to the mattress. The silvery light played over her body, caressing it lovingly. She looked like a temptress there, kneeling on his bed, her hair tumbling around her face, her eyes enormous and sexy and looking at him with hunger. Her body's feminine curves invited his touch.
"You're killing me."
She leaned forward, her tongue swirling over his chest. "I hope so."
The action exposed the enticing curve of her hip and buttocks. His hands trembled as he reached to cup her bottom, sliding his palms over her smooth skin. She did that to him, made him ache and tremble with the intensity of his hunger for her. He burned from the inside out, a rush of fire that engulfed his body and heightened his senses until he was afraid of losing his control.
Her tongue licking so delicately at his body nearly drove him out of his mind. She pushed the sheets away from him, exposing him to the cool air, but it only hardened his body more so that he was thick and bulging with his desire for her. Maia murmured something against his chest, her tongue tracing a path to his belly. Every muscle in his body contracted. His heart shuddered in anticipation.
"Maia, what the hell do you think you're doing?" His voice was strangled as his lungs labored for air.
"Exactly what I want to do," she said, and wrapped her fingers around his erection.
A groan exploded from his throat. He'd had too many erotic dreams of Maia in his bed, his hands on her satin skin. "You'd better know this is what you really want," he warned. Because he wanted her more than he wanted the sun to come up in the morning.
"I always know what I want." Her breath was warm and moist, and his heart stopped beating for one moment, then began to slam with alarming force in his chest. She did the same delicate licking that had driven him wild. Now it was beyond his imagination. He was going to implode if she didn't stop. Just when he was certain he couldn't take it anymore, her mouth closed over him, tight and hot and moist, drawing the relentless ache to a fever pitch.
His hands fisted in her hair, his hips coming off the sheets, thrusting in a rhythmic slide. He swore, the words tumbling out in an animalistic growl. His control was nearly shattered. His muscles clenched so tight he thought his jaw would break.
Maia lifted her head and smiled at him, satisfaction evident "Are you thinking of me yet? Of my body? Because I want you to know who's in bed with you."
"I know damned well who I'm with, Maia." He pushed her backward until she tumbled onto the bed, her legs sprawled, her body open to him. "I know exactly who you are. I feel like I've waited a lifetime for you."
His hands pressed into her hips, locking her there, pushing her thighs wider apart for him. "Every time I look at you, I think about what I'd really like to be doing. I want to feel you coming apart for me, Maia."
Before she could respond, he lowered his head as he brought her hips to him. His tongue slid over her heated center, teased and tasted before probing deeply. Maia writhed beneath his hungry mouth, bunching the sheet in her fists, sounds she couldn't prevent escaping, which only fed his voracious need to show her she belonged with him. He didn't have the words, so he used his body to prove it to her. His tongue stroked and thrust and cleverly pulsed until she was consumed with wave after wave of orgasm ripping through her. He sank his fingers deep, and she exploded again, crying out his name.
Cole lifted his head, kissed his way up her body to the underside of her breasts. The cool air was nearly Maia's undoing after his hot mouth. She ached, and still the pressure was relentless in spite of her orgasms.
"What are you doing?" she demanded.
"Making sure you know who you're in bed with. I don't want you ever
to be satisfied with any other man." His teeth scraped back and forth on the sensitive flesh. Tiny little bites that drove her insane. "I want you to belong to me. All of you, Maia, not just your body." His mouth closed over her breast, tongue flicking her nipple, teeth teasing until she couldn't tell if the pleasure was so great it was painful.
He rose over her, pushing against her entrance, so that her body, so slick and hot reacted with a slow giving of way for his penetration. He paused for one slight moment, their mingled breathing the only sound, and then he thrust hard, driving the full length of him as deep into her as he could go. He discovered he loved her cries as much as her laugh. He thrust again, over and over, hard and fast, long, deep strokes, driving her higher and higher until she was clutching at his forearms, crying his name.
Sensation after sensation rocked her body, heat seared her until she thought she would have to scream for him to relieve the terrible ache. More. She wanted more. Everything he had, everything he was. She gave herself up to him, surrendering completely, her hips rising to meet the brutal thrust of his, every bit as hard, desperate for him to fill up every empty space.
"Maia, you're so damned tight," Cole's voice was husky, the words torn from his rigid throat. "Hot and tight and dammit all, you belong to me. Like this, baby, just like this." He plunged into her again and again, groaning with pleasure as her muscles pulsed and throbbed around him even more. Until her control was shattered and she burst into fragments, her body convulsing around his, tightening and squeezing and milking him dry so that he called her name aloud, his voice rough with sensuality.
Maia stared up into his face. The harsh lines were gone, the horror of his nightmares replaced with satisfaction. He looked like a wellsated lover, his body relaxed and his piercing blue eyes soft with contentment.
Cole propped himself up on his elbows, looking down into her face, still trying to get his breathing under control. He could feel her body still rippling with aftershocks around his. "You're so beautiful you take my breath away."