The thought drove him mad. All he would have to do was pull the shirt over her head and shuck down the pantsa"and she would be nude.

But somewhere in his fogged brain he knew that would be too fast. He didnat know her well enough for this.

With an effort he tried to hang on to that lie.

They clung together as though theyad both been caught in another storm, rocking a little, while the kiss turned more frantic and blood pooled in the lower part of his body.

This was his own d.a.m.n fault. He had stayed away from women for months, telling himself that he had work to do. But deep down he knew that fear had been one of his motives. He was close to thirty, close to the age when the men of the Marshall family bonded with their life mates. But he liked his life the way it was. He liked going out into the wild whenever he wanted. Liked living alone. Liked making decisions without answering to anyone else.

Being tied down to a wife and kids had no appeal, so he had made that scenario impossible.

Then the thunderstorm had broken, and Kenna had cried out to him from the depths of the tempest. Through a chain of events outside his control, she was in his arms, stirring feelings he had worked hard to suppress.

As he kissed her, he silently acknowledged that he needed more, a lot more.

More than she was willing to give?

No. She was warm and willing in his arms, as caught up in the emotions of the moment as he was himself.

Through two layers of fabric, he could feel the points of her nipples stabbing into his chest, and he wanted to ease far enough away so that he could slide one hand between them.

His fingers ached with the need to stroke back and forth against those tight points. Or better yet, pulling up the sweatshirt and lowering his head so that he could suck her into his mouth and circle one of the tempting nubs with his tongue.

Somehow he kept from going that far, but he couldnat stop himself from bringing his hands inward to press against the side of her breast through the fabric of the sweatshirt.

The world had contracted to a small s.p.a.ce with room for only himself and the woman in his arms. When she made a strangled sound, he reached a whole new level of arousal.

The disparity in their heights meant his c.o.c.k was pressed against her middle. Wanting it in the cleft between her legs, he moved back, bracing his hips against the kitchen counter. Taking her with him, he splayed his legs to equalize their heights. She leaned in closer, moving her center against him. That had been his goal, but the intimate contact was close to driving him mad.

More images flashed into his mind. The two of them in his bed, arms and legs tangled together. Bodies fused.

No. The bed was too far away. Maybe they could make it to the rug in the living room.

aKenna,a he growled into her mouth as he knit his fingers with hers.

aTalon Marshall,a she answered.

And the strangeness of that response brought him up short. Talon Marshall? That was a curious way to address a man when you were getting ready to make love to him.

He raised his head, staring down at her.

She must have seen the question on his face.

aWhat?a she whispered.

aI think you know me well enough to call me Talon.a aTalon,a she repeated.

He wasnat sure why he asked his next question. aWhere do you come from?a The sudden fear that flashed in her eyes was like a punch in the gut. She broke away from him, exited the kitchen, and hurried down the hall. Unwilling to let her simply escape, he caught up and grabbed her arm.

Her gasp was another sucker punch. What was he doing? Forcing her into intimacy? No! He was trying to get to the bottom of a mystery.

aDonat run away.a She stood with her face averted.

aWhat are you afraid of?a Her body jerked as though shead been struck. aEverything.a aYou donat have to be afraid of me,a he said, wondering if it was true.

She stretched out her arm, then let it fall back against her side. aYou . . . we . . . were just . . .a aYeah. I got kind of carried away. I apologize.a She swallowed. aIt was as much my fault. I shouldnat have let you . . .a He wasnat sure if that was true. He had overstepped the bounds, certainly broken one of his own rules about bringing a strange woman back to the lodge to have . . . He cut off the thought. He hadnat brought her here to have s.e.x. He had freed her from a fallen tree and rescued her from a storm.

aIam . . . not myself,a she murmured.

He could say the same thing. Maybe the unlikely circ.u.mstances had overtaken them both. Instead of continuing the personal discussion, he changed the subject abruptly. aI was going to make you some hot chocolate. Thatas why the kettle was on.a aWhat is it?a aHot chocolate?a She gave him that frightened look again, and he wondered why something so innocuous could set her off.

aA warm drink,a he answered. aHavenat you had it before?a aI . . . donat think so.a He tipped his head to the side and asked the question that had been circling in his mind, aWhat are you doing here?a KENNA took a deep breath. So far, shead made a mess out of this encounter. She didnat even know about the name part. Head called her aKenna,a and shead responded because that was the name she used, until Vandaras adepts had added the aThomasa part. So she hadnat even thought about what she was saying when shead called him Talon Marshall. It was right. But it was wrong, too. She hadnat learned that in her endless lessons. If you kissed a man, you didnat use both names.

Shead spent two weeks getting ready for this a.s.signment, but a little thing like that had snared her. How many more mistakes was she going to make?

She glanced toward the wall and took a deep breath, letting it out before turning back to him. aIam running away.a aFrom where?a She gestured vaguely with her arm. aUp in the hills.a aWhy?a Her fingers curled and she fell back on a phrase shead learned. aIad rather not say.a He gave her a long look, and she prepared to hear him tell her to leave. To her surprise, he answered, aOkay.a Did that mean he accepted her explanation? Or was he only waiting to ask more questions?

He confused her again by turning and heading back to the kitchen. With no other choice, she followed.

The kettle thing that had scared her was sitting on the stove, mocking her.

aThe water should still be hot enough,a he said as he opened a cabinet above the counter and brought down two mugs. A flat envelope with some writing on the side was lying on the counter.

She watched everything he was doing, trying to memorize the actions so she could repeat them if she had to.

Methodically, he tore off the top of the packet, dumped the contents into one of the mugs, and added water from the kettle. Then he stirred the mixture with a spoon.

As soon as the water and the powder combined, a delicious aroma drifted toward her.

Hot chocolate, he had said.

After pa.s.sing her the mug, he opened another cabinet and took out a small rectangular box with a picture of vegetation on the side. From it he removed a smaller packet, which he put into the other mug, then added water.

None of this was like any food preparation shead ever seen, and her throat tightened as she tried to absorb the details. Vandaras men had had no idea of what she would face here.

Talon Marshall stirred his own drink, and she caught a mixture of spicy flavors.

aWhy are you having something different?a she asked.

aI donat eat many sweets.a aOh.a After taking the packet out of the mug, he opened a door under the sink and tossed the wet thing into a tall, square bucket thing.

When he carried his cup to the table, she followed.

Sitting across from him, she took a cautious sip of the hot chocolate. It was rich and sweet and delicious.

aThis is wonderful,a she murmured. aYou really donat like it?a aFamily trait,a he clipped out.

She nodded and took another sip.

aHow did you get here?a he asked.

She almost choked on the drink and fought to recover. aI hitched a ride . . . from a truck driver,a she said, repeating the story shead been given. aThen I got out and walked.a He kept his gaze on her. aWhy are you running away?a aDo I have to talk about it?a she asked in a small voice.

aNot if it makes you uncomfortable.a aI have to figure out what to do,a she said.

When he didnat comment, she went on. aIf you let me stay here for a few days, I could earn my keep.a As soon as shead said it, her face flamed, because she realized how he might take that. aI . . . I mean doing work for you. Things around the house.a As she watched him considering the suggestion, she held her breath. He could let her stay, or he could send her away.

THE storm was over, and from the darkness of the forest, Mitch Sutton cautiously approached the old hunting lodge. Head tracked the c.o.c.ksucker here, and now he was going to figure out how to get even with the guy.

Not that anything he could do was going to make up for the missing million bucks. But at least he could make the b.a.s.t.a.r.d sorry that head ever stuck his shovel where it didnat belong.

It was dumb luck that Mitch had seen the guy. Head been about to do a quick check on the stash when head spotted two cars coming up the rutted road and stopping. His pulse had started pounding as head watched the civilian and the two cops get out.

From what he caught of the conversation, head been pretty sure the f.u.c.king money was gone. Mitch had circled around and used his binoculars to read the civilianas license plate. Then head faded back into the woods and waited until the coast was clear to check the hiding place, hoping against hope that he was wrong.

No such luck!

Head planned the gig, and head killed Jim Edison to keep that dumb f.u.c.k from throwing around wads of cash and drawing attention to himself.

Now . . . it was all gone.

Head made friends with a chick at the DMV whoad done some favors for him off and on. His first step in his revenge plans had been to take her out to lunch and sweet-talk her into giving him a reading on the license plate.

The vehicle belonged to a guy named Talon Marshall, and when Mitch had looked him up, head found where he lived. Right next to the park where Mitch had buried the money.

Well, screw him!

Mitch stayed in the shadows of the trees, watching the house. A few lights were on, which meant Marshall was probably still up.

Head done some research on the guy and found out that he made his living leading tree-hugger trips for city types who wanted to get back to nature. And apparently he went for long walks in the woods where head somehow discovered the d.a.m.n box.

He was going to end up dead pretty soon. But first Mitch had some plans for him.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

TALON LEANED BACK in his seat, keeping his gaze fixed on Kenna. aWhat can you do?a he asked.

At first, it looked like her mind had drawn a blank. Then she began to speak. aKeep the house clean. Weed the garden. Carry wood. Carry water. You donat have to pay me. It can be an exchange.a Well, that was an interesting set of skills. aHow are you at MS Word?a he asked, watching her carefully.

aWhat?a aA computer word processing program.a She seemed to shrink into herself. aIam not familiar with that.a Another thought struck him. aDo you have a driveras license?a She swallowed. aNo.a From the panic in her eyes, he wondered if she knew what a driveras license was. Where the h.e.l.l did she come from, really? With her odd accent and her out-of-kilter fears. Shead made a vague reference to athe hills.a He knew there were rural areas of Pennsylvania where people lived in isolated communities. Maybe she belonged to one of those crazy religious cults where one guy ran the whole show. Or maybe there was a bunch of elders telling everyone else what to do. Was she being forced to marry one of the old men? Was that why shead run away? Or had she been abducted by aliens and just escaped from the mother ship? Yeah, sure.

aHow old are you?a he asked.

aTwenty-two,a she answered in a quavery voice.

He nodded.

aCan you cook?a She looked toward the stove. aYou could teach me.a aItas not my best skill.a She jumped back in with more suggestions. aI can sew. And . . . make beds. And I know how to make soap and preserve books.a aPreserve books?a She flushed. aWell, I guess you donat do that here.a The almost desperate expression on her face made his stomach clench. He didnat know her background. He wasnat sure he could trust her, and he was worried about his wild, out-of-control response to her. Yeah, letas not forget about that.

Or was that part of the reason he was willing to keep her close? He hated questioning his own motives. But even if head have to watch himself around her, he wasnat going to toss her out. At least not without proof that she was up to something underhanded.

Before he could talk himself out of it, he said, aWe can give it a try.a The look of relief that flooded her face was almost too much to take. She wanted this. More than she was letting on.

aThank you,a she murmured.

Because he was having trouble coping with his own emotions, he asked, aDo you want something to eat?a She hesitated, her tongue flicking out to stroke her lower lip.

aYouare hungry, right? But you donat want to ask for food.a aYes,a she admitted in a low voice.

aYou donat have to second-guess everything with me,a he said, wondering if it was true.

He thought about his larder. He had a lot of meat in the freezer and the food he took on camping trips. There was also a stock of canned goods for when he had clients staying over.

aCanned beef soup all right?a he asked.

She nodded.

aI guess youare not a vegetarian.a aA what?a aYou eat meat.a aDoesnat everybody?a aNo.a While he opened a can from the pantry, he noted that she was watching him carefully, as though she had never seen a can opener and wanted to learn how to do it.

He stirred the soup, put some in another mug, and set it in the microwave. This time her expression was wide-eyed, and he was sure she had never seen the appliance before.

aYou cook it in there? In the cup?a aItas already cooked. The microwave heats it up.a aOh.a When the timer rang after a couple of minutes, she took her lower lip between her teeth. aIt does it so fast?a aWell, it depends on how much you have. With more food, it takes longer.a aOh,a she said again, like he was explaining Einsteinas theory of relativity.

He took out the mug with a potholder and set it on the counter, along with a couple of spoons. aBe careful. The mugas hotter than the soup. Use the handle.a aOkay.a After carrying her soup to the table, he poured the rest of the can into another mug. It wasnat his favorite meal, but he could handle it.

She sipped cautiously. aItas good.a aProbably, youare used to homemade.a aYes.a aYou know how to slaughter cattle?a aIave never done it.a When she didnat offer any more comments, he leaned back and watched her eat. She was trying not to gulp the simple meal, but he could see she was hungry, and he felt guilty about taking part of the soup when he was only sipping it to keep her company.

Getting up, he found a box of crackers in the pantry, took out half a dozen, and put them on a plate, which he pa.s.sed to her.

She ate them quickly.

aFinish up. Then you should get to bed.a Obediently, she spooned up the meat and vegetables at the bottom of the mug.

When shead finished and looked up, he stood and reached for the crockery.

aIave made extra work for you. Let me wash those,a she said.

aNo need. Iall just put them in the dishwasher.a aThe dishwasher. Right,a she said, and he had the feeling again that shead come from another universe. Or at least an environment without modern conveniences.

Staying matter-of-fact, he showed her how to stack the mugs in the appliance. Then he escorted her to a bedroom next to the bathroom where shead showered.

She tensed and he wondered what she thought he was going to doa"grab her? He took a step back, but because he didnat want her to stumble around in the dark if she got up in the middle of the night, he pointed out the overhead light switch, as well as the lamp on the bedside table.