Badland Bride (Book 2 - Dakota Hearts) Read online

  “This is one of the worst disaster areas I've seen,” Reggie said. “Definitely the worst flood. Thank you again for helping me the other day. I’m not sure I could have gotten through all the properties I did without your help.”

  Regis looked up from her plate and her stomach clenched. Keith was finished eating and was leaning against the sofa with a beer in his hand. The heat in his eyes was unmistakable. It had been a long time since a man had looked at her like that.

  “What are you looking at?”

  His smile widened. “You. I like looking at you.”

  She put down her fork. “I can see that. What I can’t understand is why?”

  “You have little hook nose. Did you know that? And there is one little cluster of freckles that are bunched up high on one of your cheeks.”

  Her hand immediately went to the place he spoke of. Usually she spent time to cover up that spot. It had plagued her when she was a teenager. But she was so busy these days she hardly noticed it.

  Keith leaned over and pulled her hand away. “I like it.”

  She giggled. “And you’re strange, Keith McKinnon.”

  “And I like very much the way you say my name.”

  * * *

  She was blushing again. It amazed Hawk how easily he could get Regis to blush about the simplest things. The woman loved to put up a tough front, but inside she was as smooth as silk. She had a big heart and he wanted so much to know that heart in every way.

  “Why doesn’t anyone but your nephew call you Keith? Even your mother called you Hawk.”

  “There’s no real mystery really.”

  “Then tell me the story. Why does everyone call you Hawk?”

  “It goes way back,” he said. “I was on a scouts camping trip with my brother Wade. I must have been six or seven at the time. My dad was one of the scout leaders back then. Anyway, we’d gone on what seemed like a long hike down in the Black Hills. When we got back up to base camp, the other scout leader noticed he wasn’t wearing his wedding ring. Anyway, we all looked around the ground at camp for about an hour and no one could find it. But I’d remembered seeing something when we were hiking so I decided to investigate.”

  “You all went back out on the trail after being there all day?”

  “No. Just me.”

  “At six or seven? On your own?”

  “Seemed like a good plan at the time. Anyway, I hiked down the trail and went back to the place where I’d seen the sun was hitting this shiny thing below and sure enough, it was a wedding ring. I felt like I’d struck a vein of gold. I didn’t realize they’d sent a search team out to find me. And when we all got back to base camp, my father was ripping mad. But I told my story about how I’d seen the ring up from high on the trail. Then I proudly pulled the ring out of my pocket and gave it to the scout leader.”

  “Aw, he must have been so happy to get his ring back.”

  Hawk couldn’t help but laugh. “It wasn’t his.”

  “What?”

  “It was someone else’s wedding ring. We found out when we got home that the other scout leader found his ring at home on his nightstand.”

  “He’d never even lost his ring?”

  Keith shook his head as he thought of how Wade tried to defend him. “Wade used to tell the story about how I had eyes like a hawk to find that little wedding ring from high up on the trail and if anyone was missing anything, they should come to me first because I’d find it. The nickname stuck with my friends and eventually with my family. I think my mom just gave up calling me Keith because it was easier to get me to answer to Hawk. Not even my teachers called me Keith. It was usually, ‘Mr. McKinnon’ in response to something I was getting in trouble for. I’m surprised I ever made it out of high school. Even my patients call me Hawk since most of them have known me my entire life. And if they haven’t, they call me Doc.”

  “And with your nephew?”

  His chest filled with pride. “Well, that’s special between the two of us.”

  She shifted in place and shrugged. “I didn’t realize I was treading on sacred ground.”

  “But I like the way you say my name,” he said. “Your eyes sparkle when you say it.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “They do not.”

  “And your voice changes.” A tiny voice in the back of Hawk’s mind wondered what it would be like to hear Regis say his name when they were making love. And the two of them making love was something he’d thought a whole lot about ever since he’d kissed Regis the other night at the mill.

  She was looking at him intently and he wondered if his thoughts were giving him away. And yet, she didn’t look away or blush. She just studied his face and then…there it was in her eyes. The sparkle.

  “Come here,” he said, moving closer to her until he could feel the heat of her body more than the heat of the fire. “I like having you close by.”

  “Oh, really?” she teased with a smile.

  “I like you. A lot.”

  She drew in a deep breath and looked into his eyes. He reached up and touched her hair, pushing a few silky strands away from her forehead. He let his hands trail down the side of her cheek until he found that adorable cluster of freckles that had consumed his thoughts for days. He brushed his thumb over it and then bent his head to place a soft kiss on her cheek. But before he could do it, Regis lifted her face to him with her mouth slightly parted.

  “Not yet,” he said, when it was clear her mouth was seeking his. “I want to look at you. Discover you. Know all of you.”

  The flame of fire that lit her eyes sent sparks flying through him, settling deep in his chest and lighting a fire below his belly. He wanted her more than he wanted his next breath and couldn’t think of anything else.

  As Hawk moved to give her what she wanted, what he wanted, Regis shifted closer to him and then winced. He pulled back quickly. “Did I hurt you?”

  She reached up and wrapped her arm around his shoulder as if she didn’t want him to move too far away. “I just pressed my leg against the ground. Forget it.” Then she lifted her face to him as she did earlier, wanting him as much as he wanted her. His mouth claimed her instantly, playing, teasing, tasting and then devouring until he thought he’d lost his mind.

  As he wrapped one arm around her waist and placed his hand at the nape of her neck, Regis’s hand made a slow journey from his stomach and up his chest until she abruptly stopped.

  Pulling back he saw her confused expression as she touched his chest. Not wanting the distraction, he reached inside his shirt and pulled out the chain and medallion he always wore.

  “Is it going to bother you?”

  She shook her head and touched the cross and medallion with her fingers. “I just wondered what it was.”

  Relieved Hawk went back to the very thing that was driving him crazy. As he kissed her check, he breathed in the sweet scent of her and made a trail of kisses along her face until he nestled his face against her neck and kissed her there. He heard her soft moan of pleasure and it only surged him on.

  “Keith?”

  With a ragged breath he dragged himself from the source of his pleasure to look at her. He couldn’t remember the last time he was out of his mind wanting a woman, and now, he realized he’d never wanted a woman more than he wanted Regis right now.

  * * *

  She was coming completely unglued by Keith’s every touch. Regis couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe. She dug her fingers into his shoulders and for a second, she questioned whether she should even be considering getting involved with Keith McKinnon, much less making love with him. And she hoped with every fiber of her being that this was leading to that because she couldn’t think of anything other than getting gloriously naked with this man.

  As he gazed at her with the same desire that was like a drug to her, his eyes were questioning. There were no more questions in her mind. With her fingers, she pulled at the buttons of her shirt. He watched her attentively as each button slipped out of
place until her shirt was fully free and she pushed it aside. He freed her the rest of the way by slipping it off her shoulders and dropping it to the floor. She undid the front clasp of her bra under his watchful eye and marveled at the blaze of fire that ignited in his eyes as her breasts fell free of their restraints.

  “I don’t know how much more of this I can handle,” he said, slipping out of his shirt and tossing it somewhere else in the room. Regis giggled as they rid themselves of the rest of their clothes, pushing them aside so they had the full spread of the blanket Keith had laid out in front of the fire free for them to lay on.

  And when they lay next to each other, hot flesh against hot flesh, Regis thought she’d lose her mind again. His hands were everywhere, stroking her skin, touching her in places that made her throw back her head in pure pleasure. And then he explored her more, this time with his mouth. He kissed her leaving a moist trail down her neck, to her breasts as he stroked one breast with his wide palm and then driving her crazy by flicking her nipple with his tongue.

  “Oh, I want you inside me,” she said, not sure where she’d had the strength to even utter the words aloud. She reached between them and stroked him and wrapped her leg around him. He threw his head back with a gasp, breathing heavy, and then with determination, he kissed her with such passion and fire that she lost all sense of where she was. All she knew was their two bodies entwined, touching each other, loving each other.

  And when he entered her with such force and hunger, all it took was a few strokes to lift her higher until she reached her peak and tumbled over the edge. She was still feeling the incredible pleasure he’d brought her when he rocked his hip harder. He buried his face in her neck and breathed harder until he reached his orgasm with an intensity that had him gasping for breath and clinging to her.

  In his arms, Regis closed her eyes and wrapped her arms and legs around Keith, not wanting to let go of the beautiful connection they’d created. And as he pulled away from her and gazed into her eyes with such longing, she wondered if it was possible to ever get her fill of Keith McKinnon.

  # # #

  Chapter Seven

  The fire was warm against her naked skin. Keith’s body nestled up against hers made it all the warmer. He’d pulled a small blanket that had been draped over the chair by the fireplace and loosely placed it over them. Content, she watched the changing colors of the fire licking the burning logs as she rested her head on Keith’s shoulder. With his arm wrapped around, he held her close.

  She played with the gold medallion and cross he was wearing.

  “Where did you get these?”

  He glanced down and took the medallion between his fingers. “This was Wade’s. Remember that ring I found in the canyon?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Wade melted it down and made into this. If you noticed, there are only markings on one side of the medallion. He always wore it, too.”

  “How did you get it?”

  Keith drew in a deep breath, expanding his chest. She felt the rise and fall of it and the heavy thump of his heartbeat against her ear as she lay there.

  “Wade was leaving for the Peace Corps. He’d been gone for a while and was back for a visit before heading out again. As you can imagine, my mother wasn’t too pleased.”

  “She likes having her boys around.”

  “Could you tell?”

  Regis chuckled.

  “Anyway, Wade called all of us who were still stateside and wanted to meet for a drink before he left. Ethan was overseas in the military. Sam was in Arizona, I think, fighting some monster fire that had broken out there. Logan, well, he was dealing with his life back then, which was…difficult.”

  “And you?”

  “I was doing my residency in Sioux City. Wade was in Aberdeen, just a few hours from Sioux City.”

  Keith was quiet and just rolled the medallion between his fingers.

  “Logan went to have a drink with Wade, and I didn’t. Next time I saw Logan he gave me the chain with the medallion and this cross and told me Wade wanted me to hold onto it until he came back. I put it around my neck and the next day we found out about the tsunami that hit the island he was working on. They never found him.”

  She gasped and lifted her head to look at Keith. The unshed tears in his eyes were illuminated by the dying fire.

  “I’ve never taken this off since,” he said, looking directly at her. “I’ve never told anyone else that story.”

  She sat up and touched his chest in an effort to comfort him. She didn’t care that she was naked and her breasts were fully exposed in probably the most unflattering position.

  “What about the cross?” she asked.

  “That’s the odd thing. I don’t know anything about this cross. I knew so much about my brother. Of all my brothers, I was closest to Wade. But I don’t know how he got it or why he wore it. He used to only have the medallion on the chain. But this is the way Wade gave it to Logan, so I kept it that way. It makes me feel like…he’s close by somehow.”

  She lay back down against Keith and he pulled her close to him.

  “Like a part of him is always with you,” she added.

  Keith lifted his head a fraction and looked down at her, but said nothing. Then he lay back again.

  “I have my mother’s hairbrush,” she finally said. “It’s nothing special. It’s just a big silver brush. I don’t even know if it’s real silver or just plated. She couldn’t take living on bases and moving all around the world.”

  “With your dad gone so much, I’m surprised she didn’t take you with her.”

  “Yeah, well, she didn’t like family life so much either, and having a six-year-old in tow didn’t fit into the next phase of her life.”

  He cursed quietly and shook his head. “Sorry,” he said.

  “Why? Because of my mother or your foul mouth?” she said chuckling. “Remember, I lived on Army bases. You couldn’t possibly say something I haven’t already heard.”

  Keith chuckled too and then became quiet again.

  “It doesn’t really matter though. It’s just a hairbrush,” she said. “I just…with all the moving, I was never able to let it go.”

  He squeezed her harder until she thought they couldn’t get closer. And still she wanted more. She wanted to feel that connection she’d felt when they’d made love.

  She lifted up on her side and put her arm around him. “Keith?”

  “Hmm?” he said, his voice groggy.

  “The fire is dying.”

  “Do you want another blanket?”

  She smiled and kissed him slowly. “I had something else in mind.”

  She felt his smile against her lips and felt the thundering of his heartbeat beneath her palm. Then he said, “I like the way you think.”

  * * *

  The next few weeks had been the happiest Regis had ever known. She spent the mornings working in the senior center with a long line of people filing in to ask questions and fill out paperwork. Some afternoons she’d go on the road with Keith and visit properties. She’d listen to the stories about the people she’d meet and at night, the two of them would lock themselves in his log home and make love.

  Soon the number of people needing help grew shorter and somewhere in the back of Regis’s mind, she knew her time in Rudolph was close to coming to an end. But she’d decided to relish each and every moment she had with Keith for as long as she possibly could.

  And then came the afternoon when she knew all that love and beauty was in jeopardy. She answered her cell phone call from her manager as she stepped into the motel room, wondering why she even bothered to keep it since she’d been spending every night for the past two weeks with Keith.

  “Is there a problem?” she asked Mike.

  He hesitated a fraction. “You’re doing great there. I’m just wondering why you’ve sent this claim for the Buxton Mills through with a recommendation for full replacement when it’s clear it was flood damage.”

  She
dropped her briefcase on the bed and sat down next to it. “The roof and siding show that the ice storm did some damage to the property. I have pictures to support that.”

  “I see them, and I don’t dispute that. But I also see the water line on the inside of the property showing that there was a flood.”

  She bit her bottom lip. “There was. The property is on the river. But the ice and rain did the damage to the structure.”

  Mike’s heavy sigh sounded distorted through the phone. “You’re one of the most thorough adjusters I have, Regis. But this one is cut and dry. They have flood insurance so the most we can approve for this is what is listed in their policy. We can repair the roof, although I have my doubts it was the storm that damaged that and the siding. My records show this property has been empty for quite some time.”

  “The amount of the payout for those won’t be enough to cover the structural damage.”

  “You need a vacation, Regis. You’re getting attached again. I’m sorry but I can’t approve the full amount of this claim. If you’d prefer it, I’ll send the letter.”

  She closed her eyes to the disappointment filling her. “No, I’ll do it.”

  “Fine. Regis?”

  “Yes?”

  “Why don’t you pack up? I’m sure you’re tired and could use a break. I’m not kidding about the vacation.”

  “I’m not done here.”

  “End of the week you are. I’ll bring in someone else to give you a break.”

  “But—” she started to argue, but he’d already hung up.

  She was leaving. But before she could do that, she had to break the bad news to some people who’d counted on her.

  * * *

  “Are you all right?” Keith's voice brought Regis out of her reverie as she sat at the kitchen table and cradled her morning coffee in her hand. She tried not to read too much into the concern in his voice. Things were complicated enough as it was. She decided it was probably a good idea to keep things simple. There was no reason to bring up the reasons for her insomnia.

  “I didn't sleep well last night.”