Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 56782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
“No, I’m good. They’ll bring their own food. Oh, no, that’s wrong. Do you mind helping me in the back?”
“Lead on.”
An hour later, he watched from the side as she welcomed the new arrivals. Her dogs were in the house and he watched the couple put their four dogs in her hands. Leena easily held all four even though they were jumping around and barking crazily. He’d already carried in their food and beds.
He and Leena had come in with a mower and plow to clean out each run. He was impressed that they all were wide enough to accommodate it.
“Thank you so much, Leena,” Mrs. Studi said. “We were afraid we’d not be able to go on this trip.”
“It’s my pleasure. I’m not going anywhere until after you come back so it’s not a problem. Go. Have fun on your trip. I’ll get them settled. We have your contact information.”
Both looked in his direction. “I didn’t know you hired someone to work here.”
“I didn’t. He’s a friend from out of state, just in town for a short visit.”
He was impressed by the ease she said that.
The couple patted their dogs once more than got back in their car. Leena cleared her throat and headed for the door. John met her there and helped her get them put in their respective kennels.
She had the dogs settled in very little time and together, they left the kennel and began the walk across the yard to her property. A warning snaked up his spine and he glanced around, the feeling of being far to exposed slamming into him with the force of a gale wind.
Yes, she had trees but the area around her house could basically be considered clear. He shifted closer to her, doing his best to keep it to himself but she peered over at him.
“You okay?”
“Tired.” If that’s the lie it took to get her in the house and quickly, he’d tell it any second of any day.
Her smile soothed a part of him he thought gone while he’d been deep. “Almost back. Thanks for helping me out.”
“Not a problem.” He stepped ahead and reached for the door the same time she did. Their hands brushed against one another and his heart kicked up a few notches.
“I got it,” she said.
“Not how I was raised.”
“Considering you’ve been beaten and tortured, allow me.” He watched as she pushed open the door and waved him in first.
God, it went against every fiber within him to leave her back exposed. He didn’t dally and breathed only slightly better when the thick door had been shut behind them.
“You really don’t look that good. Let me help you to bed.”
Given it was the concern and not his exhaustion that had him looking stressed her comment sent liquid steel and fire to his cock, making it hard and throbbing. And because he was an ass, he allowed her to wrap an arm around him and escort him back to the room she’d given him to use. Her scent wound around him, the crisp outdoors combined with the deeper, darker one of amber and the rest of the smells in her bath wash. He may not be able to pick them out and name them but they did a number on his libido.
He half stumbled onto the bed and lay there for a moment, erection digging into the mattress beneath him. I’d rather it be going into her. Angling his head, he found her there, a concerned expression marring her heart-shaped face.
“I’m okay,” he promised.
“Maybe we should get you to a doctor or hospital to get you looked at. What if I missed something? I can do patch work on dogs but know crap about human injuries. You might have internal bleeding. I mean, hell, it’s pure damn luck that you didn’t lose something to frostbite. I don’t know how long you were in the water.”
He pushed to a sitting position and grasped her wrist. Tugging her between his legs, he settled his hands on her hips. “I survived this because you came along and saved me. I don’t have any internal bleeding and I’m not entirely sure I should be going to a hospital anyway. It may put me in a position that I wouldn’t be able to get out of. These people have a long reach.”
She inched closer. “Who are these people?”
He tightened his jaw so much he was shocked he didn’t crack the bone. “I can’t say much. I was in with a bad crowd.” He flexed his fingers loving the tantalizing hint of skin he found beneath his pads.
“How long were you under?”
He jerked his gaze to her. “What?”
Leena brushed some hair away from his face, the back of her hand moving against his scruff, intimate and calming. “I work around cops and ex-military all the time. Plus, while you had your fever you talked. I put somethings together that contradicted themselves.”