Chapter 33
Hope stood to the side of the stall and watched the man forking hay to the horses. Her presence concealed, she was able to drink in her fill of Kade. Muscles rippling under his denim shirt, he effortlessly tossed pitchforks of hay to the happily chewing horses.
She was positively drooling over Kade McKune. Hope couldn’t ever remember having a man affect her this way. How would it be to lose herself in the security of those arms and to bask under his protection? Maybe, it would help lay down the fear that cloaked her like a heavy coat.
She tried to rationalize her feelings, telling herself she’d been fighting her battles alone too long. Any man would look good to her. But Hope knew she was fooling herself. No, not just any man—Kade. How had he snuck past her barriers?
Hope licked her dry lips, her face flushed, and her skin became too tight for her body. She rationalized these feelings were merely a healthy woman’s response to his good looks. Appreciation. That’s all it was.
As if sensing her presence, Kade turned. His eyes caught hers. Becoming ghost-like, their surroundings faded into mist. Only the two of them existed. The pull was so strong, it hurt to breathe. Stark desire mingled with motes of straw and hay.
Kade felt as though he’d been sucker-punched. For once, he didn’t question and block the sensations dominating his body and mind.
Before she could allow reason to dictate her actions, Hope’s feet took on a life of their own. She flew across the hay-strewn floor, and grabbing the startled man by his shirt, raised up on her tip-toes and kissed him. He tasted of mint. He smelled of hay, horses, dark wooded forests, and man. It was a heady fragrance.
Kade grumbled under his breath, and then as though he’d been searching and waiting for just such a kiss, responded with a fiercely banked hunger. She felt right. Kissing her felt right. No, it felt like heaven. He pulled her closer and deepened the kiss.
Pulling her against his chest, he broke free of her lips and gently repeating her name over and over, running his calloused hand down her silky hair.
The sound of her name broke the spell. Hope stiffened and tried to speak, to apologize and beg his forgiveness. She wanted to offer an explanation, but there wasn’t one. At least, there was not one he’d understand or accept. But even more, she wanted to run and hide. She knew she must hide from her rash and unforgivable actions, and to hide from the disgust she’d surely see on his face. What had possessed her?
“Hope,” he whispered.
Hope rubbed her head against his chest, still in his powerful embrace. “I—I’m so sorry.” Her words were muffled.
Kade’s response was different. He wasn’t sorry. He wasn’t sorry at all. The kiss was everything he’d imagined. He’d snarled, bossed, and ridiculed her every move, adding brick after brick to the wall enclosing his true feelings. But now it was a wall she’d just scaled.
When he’d insisted Declan keep her from his room, the knowledge was there, like water to a parched man, her presence was what he really wanted. Faking sleep, he watched her through half-closed eyes, drawing in her essence. He’d had to curl his hands into fists to keep from reaching out to her.
Fighting the overwhelming need to stay in his arms, Hope pulled away. “I think you being injured just hit me.” It was a lame excuse. “My relief at you being up and recovered made me overreact.” She averted her face, hoping he’d accept the lie as truth. Her body tensed, needing to flee the barn, but he held fast to her arm.
“Don’t leave,” Kade ordered gruffly. “We have to talk. I have something to tell you. It’s something I must explain. It’s a reason for my actions, but it’s a poor excuse.” He guided her into his office and closed the door behind them.
Reluctantly, he released her as she lowered her trembling body onto the chair facing his desk. His large hand rested gently on her shoulder as he circled the desk to the waiting chair. Maybe what he was going to share about Caroline and his ensuing distrust would be easier with a barrier between them.
“I have something to tell you, too, Kade. It’s something I must also explain.” It was time—time to tell him of her past. It was time to take the consequences before . . . Then a manila envelope, resting atop a pile of unopened mail, caught her attention. It was an envelope with an all too familiar logo and address. It was the school from which she’d been fired. Kade had finally gotten the right background check. He’d soon read the truth about her. Typically, her life was about to take another downward spiral. She’d been a fool to think things would be different and a fool for falling in love with a man that couldn’t suffer liars. Kade was a man that distrusted women and wouldn’t give second chances.
Kade frowned, seeing the color drain from her face and the flash of fear in her eyes. Maybe he’d read more into the kiss than Hope meant. Maybe she had been telling the truth, and it was just an impulse of thankfulness for his recovery. He cursed himself for being so gullible, overreacting to the need and desire racing through him. Both emotions he was once more allowing himself to recognize. Was he about to throw caution to the winds and trust another woman?
Just then the office door burst open and Declan rushed into the room.
“Kade, you’d better come quick. There’s a crazy man in the yard, trailed by two little ragged boys. He’s carrying a rifle and shouting Jesse’s name. I hightailed it inside here without him seeing me. Do you still have that shotgun?”
“I do.” And not waiting for further explanations, Kade jumped to his feet, jerked open a nearby cupboard door, and grabbed the twelve-gauge shotgun. ”Fully loaded. Hope, you stay put. I don’t want to worry about you, too. Declan, I’ll face him, and while he’s distracted, slip out the back and circle behind him. Be careful. Any man that’ll beat a boy is crazy enough to shoot.”
“Kade,” Hope spoke up, “please be careful. Don’t take unnecessary risks.”
Gently, he traced a finger down her silky cheek. “Don’t worry, honey.”
The endearment pierced Hope’s heart. He didn’t realize what he’d just said, she reasoned. It was a word spurred by the tense situation.
Kade slammed open the barn door and stood in the doorway; he was a dark avenging angel.
The maniacal intruder, in the process of bellowing Jesse’s name again, spun toward Kade. The rifle, like an extension of his arm, swung with him, unyielding and pointed, ready to fire.
“You stay out of this, mister. This is between a no-good kid and me. Ain’t none of your business.” He sighted down the gun’s barrel, his finger resting heavily on the trigger.
“Well, now,” Kade said slowly, his voice low and even, “sense you’re trespassing on Double K ground, my ground, I’m making it my business.”
“Don’t want to hurt you none. But I will. I came here for my young ‘un, and I ain’t leaving without him.”
One of the little boys timidly touched the man’s sleeve. “Please, let’s go. I won’t meet Jesse anymore. I didn’t mean to eat the food. Isaiah and me won’t be bad no more. We’ll work harder. Won’t we, Isaiah?”
An equally ragged younger boy nodded vigorously.
As quick as a serpent, the stranger’s hand swung out, backhanding the begging child. The resounding crack split the air as the frail body tumbled backward.
“Now you get back there with your brother and stop that sniveling.” The man’s lip curled. “You got what you deserved, and it ain’t nothing compared to what’s waiting for you once’t I get you home. Get!”
The boy scuttled back, a hand holding the side of his face. Tears ran down his cheeks, but no sound emitted.
“I ain’t got a lot of patience, mister. I want my boy.”
Kade flinched, infused with blinding anger, and started forward. He wasn’t about to stand idly by while a child was abused. He took a step and then stopped, stilled by an inward voice telling him it was imperative he remain calm and focused. Lives were at risk.
“How do I know he’s your boy?” Kade asked, stalling for time. Where was Declan?
“I’m Jasper Cool, and my word’s my bond. You’d better believe that,” he snarled, the gun never wavering from Kade’s chest, “’cause when my patience runs out, this here gun’ll do my talking.” Never taking his eyes off Kade, he bellowed, “Jesse. Get out here, else there’ll be blood flying, and it’ll be your fault.”
“Don’t shoot, Pa. I’m coming. They aren’t to blame. I am.” A door banged, and Jesse appeared on the porch. His eyes were darting and his thin shoulders hunched in defeat. He was like an animal caught in a steel trap.
“Sorry, Mr. Kade,” he mumbled, head down, not daring to risk a glance at the tensely alert man standing in the shadow of the barn. “I brought trouble to your ranch. Guess I wasn’t thinking. I’m so sorry.”
“Enough,” Jasper snapped. “Get on over here by those two brats. You don’t know trouble, boy, but you will,” he barked a cackle of glee. “You will. You’ll think twice before disobeying me again.”