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A flush came up her neck and she felt it heat her cheekbones. He wouldn’t talk to her, but would he push her away? Katie slid her hands over his shoulders and leaned into him, looking into his eyes. She felt the raw sizzle of need that was written on his expression, and before she could think about it or stop herself, she put her lips on his.
His shoulders immediately stiffened, and Katie knew he was about to deny her this kiss. He pulled his mouth from hers and glared into her eyes with an exasperated look of displeasure on his face. His hands came up and clenched her upper arms and his accusing scowl changed to one of aggressive challenge. A raw, feral look crossed his features and a dangerous sizzle filled the air between them as his volatile mood shifted in only a second flat. “You best be careful. You have no clue what you’re doing.”
“I’m not scared of you.” Katie threw out the challenge even before she realized that it was the truth; she wasn’t scared of him.
“I mean it, Katie. Don’t push me. I’ve shit to work out, but the way I feel about you hasn’t changed. I hate myself for the way I treated you, but understand me when I tell you that just because I know what happened, that doesn’t mean that I don’t want you. Nothing’s changed. Get that through your head. I still want you like burning hell.”
As his voice lashed her, Katie knew this was his way of spelling it out to her. But she still wasn’t afraid. “You don’t scare me. You’d never force me.”
“I wouldn’t force you, but you’re giving me too much fucking credit. I’d coerce you, I’d try to persuade you, I’d try to seduce you, I’d try to intimidate you into a relationship with me.”
“You wouldn’t try to intimidate me.”
An anguished growl came from low in his diaphragm. “You don’t get it.” His hands grasped her biceps in uncompromising restraint. “You fascinate me. You captivate me. I’m fucking obsessed with you and always have been. Don’t kid yourself about what I want from you.”
Katie took a moment to study him and to think about what he was trying to do. She said gently, “It’s not working. I’m not afraid.”
His grip tightened and he leaned down and put his mouth to her ear and spoke into it through gritted teeth. “I want you; every bit of you. I want you to belong to me of your own free will. You need to think real hard about whether or not you want that too.”
His hot breath sent shivers down her spine and heat bloomed between her thighs. But she turned her head so she could see his eyes again. “Why are you doing this? Why are you purposely trying to frighten me? It’s. Not. Working.”
“You can’t live in a fantasy world where you believe things could be sugary sweet between us. Don’t turn your mind away from how it would be. Don’t imagine us strolling on the beach holding hands forever. I want a sexual relationship with you. I want it raw, carnal.” His eyes held hers. “I’ve always wanted that.” He hesitated a second and then his voice gentled. “I can try to be tender and sweet, but Katie, baby. I can’t promise that. All I can promise is that I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do.”
“I already know everything you’re telling me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“That’s good.” He studied her as if trying to delve into her psyche and read her thoughts. “When we get back home, where you’ll have your family surrounding you and you feel completely safe, we’ll talk.”
“Okay.”
At her agreement, Katie sat motionless as he lifted a finger and smoothed it slowly down her cheek. Then he leaned in and kissed her so softly and gently that it completely belied every harsh word he’d just spoken.
Zach loved her. She could feel it; it was true. Katie bit her lip and focused on that truth as she tried to calm her unease over what she was about to say. “Before this goes any further, I really want to tell you; I want you to know. But try to understand that I don’t like to talk about it. I hate even thinking about it. But I realize that you need to know.” She plucked at a button on her shirt before she began talking again. “I’m going to say this as simply as I can and please, please, don’t ask me any questions. Maybe we can do questions another time … but not today.”
At his nod, she looked away from his eyes. She would recite this to the airplane window, not to Zach, and then maybe she could get through it. “High school was pretty normal for me, at least the first three years. I had a boyfriend. One boyfriend. As I look back on it, I’m not exactly proud of it, but I was having sex with him. Just him. And it was okay. I thought I loved him, but we had a big fight and broke up. He started dating another girl. I was still hurting from the break-up, but guys began asking me out. After a couple of months, I finally accepted. It was the first date I ever had with anyone other than my ex-boyfriend.” She stopped talking, nerves making her tap her fingers repeatedly. At his silence, she continued. “It was supposed to be a movie. But he drove down to the river, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.” She cleared her throat. “Have you ever heard the term date rape?”
Zach hissed an expletive and tossed back the bourbon he’d been nursing since the flight attendant had delivered it. “Who the fuck was it?”
“I don’t even want to voice his name. I haven’t dated since it happened.” She finally turned away from the window and looked at him. “I haven’t been alone with a man since it happened.” She gave him a slightly accusing look that she couldn’t control. “Except for you.”
The accusation in her eyes almost killed him, but God willing, he’d have years to make it up to her. Anger unlike anything Zach had ever experienced, including what he had felt for his ex-wife and Chris Turner, boiled up inside him. His hands clenched at his sides and a red mist swam before him. He wanted to kill the bastard who had done this to her. And he would find out who it was. That was a given. But for now, even though he had a thousand questions rolling in his brain, he couldn’t ask them. He had agreed to that, and something inside of him wanted Katie to know she could trust him in all things. Above all else, Katie had to trust him.
He took a few calming breaths as the silence that beat between them began penetrating the fog in his brain. “Okay, sweetheart. That’s enough for now. I’m sorry you had to go through that, but you were right, I needed to know.”
Chapter Thirteen
As the plane touched down in Dallas, Zach told her that they were going to Redwood Falls, but he coached it as a suggestion. He should have realized he wouldn’t have any disagreement from Katie. She was anxious to get home to visit her parents and most of all, to see the newlyweds.
They picked his car up from the airport and arrived just as the sun was setting.
He pulled in front of the Turner home and Katie put her hand on the door handle and turned to look at him. “When … when will I see you?”
Relief, total and mind consuming, spread through Zach. “Just as soon as you’re ready.”
“Are you going to be at the ranch? Or are you going back to town?”
“At the ranch.”
She gave him a tiny smile. “Okay.”
He couldn’t stop himself; he reached over and ran his fingers down a thick lock of her hair. “Okay, sweetheart.”
When she leaned over and placed a simple kiss on his lips, the first true beat of happiness that Zach had felt in years pulsed through him.
She lifted her mouth from his and opened the door. Without his brain giving permission, his hand reached out and delayed her. “I hope you’ll be ready tomorrow.”
Her eyes flared and something inexplicable passed between them. “I imagine I will be.”
With that, he watched her jump from the vehicle and run up the front path to her house.
****
Redwood Falls, Texas; The Turner Farm
Katie slammed into the house and the first person she saw was her mother who wore the same thrilled look that all mothers wore when they saw their child for the first time in several months. “Baby! You’re home!”
Katie
laughed and rushed into her arms. “I am,” she agreed happily.
She emerged from the tight hug and looked down at her smaller mother. “Where’s everybody?”
“The guys are around here somewhere. Hannah went to town to visit Ava. Did you have fun with Angela?”
At the same moment her mother asked that question, from her peripheral vision, Katie saw Josh walk inside from the mudroom. “Angela, right.” he mumbled.
Her mother frowned and Katie looked at Josh with narrowed eyes. She’d completely forgotten the story she’d told her parents. “You rat.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Your father was standing in the barn and saw you climb from McIntyre’s car. Besides, you’re a grown woman. Own up to where you’ve been.”
Katie gave Josh a last blistering stare before turning back to her mother. “I’m sorry I lied to y’all.” Katie studied her mom solemnly. “I was with Zach McIntyre.”
Diana Turner’s face paled and she looked over at Josh and they shared a look of silent communication that held worry and something else that Katie couldn’t identify, but she could absolutely guess at. They didn’t trust Zach and were worried about her. And she could hardly blame them.
“Should we wait until Dad gets here before we talk about this?” Katie asked.
Her mother was shaking her head frantically. “Dear God, no. We can’t tell him. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Katie studied the older woman and decided to put her fears to rest. “Mom, Zach isn’t going to foreclose on the farm. He’s going to extend the loan with payments that he assured me y’all will never have trouble making.”
Her mother and Josh began speaking at the same time and all hell seemed to break loose.
“We’ve already paid off the loan,” her mother said.
“When did he decide to do that, Katie? After I talked to him on the phone?” Josh growled.
Her mother turned to Josh. “You talked to him?”
“Yeah, I told him we were going to pay off the loan and he told me he had Katie.”
