Northern Rebel: Daring in the Dark Read online

  A shudder rippled through him and his warm breath stirred against her cheek as he sighed. “Delphi...”

  He’d apparently moved far enough back so that his feet touched the ground. Hers, however, were still suspended, but he held her up.

  She rested her head against his broad chest and shoulder. “This is nice.”

  She felt peaceful and content in the moment. She felt like a desirable woman, something she hadn’t felt—or wanted to feel—since that episode with DeWitt. Even more important, she felt very real, very hot desire for the very tempting, very temporary Lars Reinhardt.

  Something that had been dancing in the back of her consciousness ever since their embrace. She ran her hand down his side and sure enough, sleek skin gave way to fabric. Bathing suit trunk fabric. She laughed as she shook her head. “You told me you didn’t have a bathing suit either. Was that another psych?”

  “I was teasing you.” He squeezed her buttocks, lifting, separating, and she felt the warm water against her bottom. He’d wanted to make sure she was wet. She definitely was.

  “I see.” She dipped her finger beneath the top band of his trunks.

  “Are you teasing me?” he said, even as he pulled her bathing suit bottoms up to meet in the middle, a temporary thong. He filled his big hands with her bared cheeks.

  “It depends on your definition of teasing. If you’re asking am I toying with you? Not yet. Am I being playful? Absolutely. Am I insincere? Not in the least.”

  “That sounds good to me.” Lars kissed her shoulder as he continued to knead and massage her skin.

  His hardened penis pressed against her, between her thigh and her belly. “Actually, that feels pretty good to me....”

  She hadn’t flirted like this since the incident. But she’d questioned herself a hundred times—had she said or done something that DeWitt had misconstrued? Had she possibly led him on?

  Now it was as if she’d found a part of herself again—the fun-loving, flirtatious Delphi. That had been why she’d been so annoyed by Lars on the plane. She’d wanted to stay in her funk because her funk was safe, but Lars was clearly anything but safe. And now that she’d accepted that, it felt good to get back to the woman she really was. And he felt good, all six feet plus of him.

  She pushed aside all the thoughts of DeWitt and the incident and brought herself firmly back to the moment.

  He kissed the length of her neck and at the same time slipped his finger past the elastic of her bottoms and along her desire-slicked channel. Heat exploded inside her. She moaned and dropped her head back and to the side, giving him more access, even as she pressed downward on his marauding digit.

  “And that feels really good,” she said.

  Delphi was momentarily bereft when he withdrew his finger but was quickly mollified when he took her breasts in his hands.

  As he rolled her nipples between his fingers, a sweet heat that had nothing to do with the lake and everything to do with the man and his touch coursed through her, culminating into a sleek want between her thighs.

  The thought floated through the back of her head that she’d just met him yesterday. But it was quickly chased by the thought that it didn’t matter. All that was important was how wonderful this felt, how alive and vibrant she felt with his hands and mouth and big hard body on her and against her.

  She reached between them and cupped his erection through his trunks. His breathing grew even heavier, his touch more intense.

  The medical professional in her surfaced. “Lars, I’ve tested safe and I have a birth control implant. If you have issues, then let’s find a condom.” It wasn’t a deal breaker, they just had to take precautions.

  “No issues. All my tests are clear.”

  “Then let’s take off our suits,” she said. “Can you throw them to the bank from here?”

  “No problem. Let me help you get yours off.”

  “You’re so thoughtful,” she said, laughing.

  He slid the straps over her shoulders. “That’s my personal mission, to be thoughtful and helpful.” He tugged them down farther and she pulled her arms out. He left it at her waist and cupped her breasts in his hands. Fire raced through her, stoked by the sensation of his calloused palms and the smooth-as-silk lapping of the lake.

  Taking a deep breath, he sank beneath the water and tugged the suit down and over her hips, skimming it down her legs. She raised her right foot to lift it out of the suit. Lars braced his hand on her hip and propped her knee on his shoulder, opening her thighs.

  She nearly came when he exhaled, sending air bubbles rushing against her clit. It was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. Another onslaught of bubbles rushed against her but this time he followed it with an intimate underwater “kiss.”

  Delphi gasped and arched against his mouth. He pulled the suit down and off of her left foot and then resurfaced.

  She could barely find her voice. “Lars...” She was at a loss for words. She gathered herself and said, “I can help you with your trunks but I don’t know that underwater trick.”

  “Hold on.” He pulled off his swim trunks and within less than a minute both bathing suits had landed on the shore with a wet thunk. “Now...”

  He skimmed her shoulders with his hands and pulled her to him. She fit against him perfectly. His hard nakedness, along with the warm water, created a sublime arousal unlike anything she’d ever experienced.

  Cupping her scalp in his big palm, he found her lips with his while he wrapped his other arm about her waist. Their mouths fused together, their tongues stroking, exploring. Delphi couldn’t get close enough to him. She sucked on his tongue as she wound her leg around his lean hip, rubbing herself against his erection.

  “Mmm,” she moaned into his mouth, straining against him.

  He moved his hands to her hips and nudged at her slick opening with the head of his penis. Oh, my God, he felt good. She wrapped her other leg around him, taking him inside her, stretching to accommodate the width and length of him.

  Delphi was frantic for more. She felt elemental and raw. Wanton. He thrust into her and she ground down onto him. His grip on her tightened and she dug her fingers into his skin, nudging him deeper and harder inside her with her feet against his backside.

  A storm of desire raged inside her. Every fiber, every cell needed him to satisfy the craving he’d awakened.

  Higher, tighter, she felt it coming. Her orgasm crashed through her, over her. And as if he’d been waiting for her, Lars followed.

  10

  LARS STOOD IN the aftermath of what qualified as the best sex of his life and tried to regain his breathing and his sanity.

  “Mirror Lake is definitely my favorite place now.”

  Delphi rested her head against his chest and shoulder, her ragged breath warm against his skin. “I knew when you said you wanted to show me something...”

  He chuckled. “That wasn’t exactly what I meant.”

  “I don’t know that I believe that, but I’m not complaining.”

  He laughed, smoothing his fingers over the ridge of her shoulder blade to the indentation of her spine. “No complaints is good. In fact, it was incredible. I could swear the earth moved under my feet.”

  “I’m flattered—”

  What the hell? There it was again, stronger, more intense.

  “Delphi,” he cut her off. “It just happened again. The ground shifted. And the water is warmer. That means seismic activity. We need to get the hell out of here.”

  She didn’t panic as they headed toward the shore. In fact, her face reflected more curiosity than alarm. “Seismic activity?”

  “Yeah. The lake is fed by a hot spring.”

  He saw the moment it clicked for her in her expression. “Which is tied into volcanic activity,” she said. “So when the ground shakes and there’s a surge in the lake temperature, you know something is going on with the magma below.”

  “Yep, you got it.”

  They climbed out of the lake and t
oweled off. Quickly, efficiently, they pulled on their clothes without further discussion. Lars shoved their two wet swimsuits into Delphi’s pack and the towels into his. The hike back to the truck was short and easy.

  Lars looked at her as he turned the ignition. “You okay?”

  She looked calm but the hand she ran through her short hair was slightly unsteady. “Fine.”

  Lars leaned over and planted a swift hard kiss on her mouth. “It’s probably not a big deal, but just in case, we need to let people know.”

  “Right.” He fully appreciated her calmness. Obviously, she’d been trained for emergency situations. He wasn’t so good with women prone to histrionics. “It seems that exploding things are following you.”

  Lars drove down the potholed trail to the main road, a smile curving his mouth at her dark humor. “A bomb is one thing but I don’t want to tangle with an earthquake or a volcano.”

  “Me either. I hate to sound stupid but I never really thought about why there would be a hot springs there.”

  “That makes two of us.” His headlights picked up gleaming eyes in the dark ahead of them, and then they were gone. Probably a wolf. “I bet most of the people who swim in the lake haven’t given it much thought either.”

  As they got closer to town, buildings replaced the towering evergreens. Nothing seemed amiss. He pulled up in front of the airstrip bed-and-breakfast. “Here you go.”

  “You aren’t coming in?”

  Lars shook his head. “I’m going over to Bull and Merrilee’s. I know it’s late but they need to know what just happened. Better safe than sorry. I thought you might not want to go since you’ve got an early morning ahead of you.”

  It was her turn to shake her head. “I’m revved up right now. I’ll go. If I don’t, I’ll just be wondering all night what’s going on.”

  He grinned. He liked that she hadn’t freaked out. She obviously had a sense of adventure. He backed out and headed to Bull’s. “All right, then.”

  They pulled up in front of the hardware store. While the store was dark, a light glowed on the second floor. Lars parked the truck and said to Delphi as they climbed out, “This way.” He led her along the side of the building. “They live above the store. They’ve got outside access as well as stairs inside.”

  “I noticed that at the restaurant next door to the B&B,” she said as they mounted the stairs.

  “Most of the business owners live above their shops.” When they reached the top landing, Lars rapped on the wood door. In a minute or so, the light was switched on and Bull opened the door.

  “Is there something wrong over at the bed-and-breakfast?” Bull cut straight to the chase.

  “Everything’s fine there but there’s something we thought we should pass along,” Lars said.

  “Come on in.” Bull stood aside and Lars ushered Delphi in ahead of him.

  It was difficult to believe he’d been sitting at the kitchen table less than six hours ago. A lot had happened. Maybe some things had changed. Whichever way he looked at it, it felt more like a lifetime ago.

  * * *

  DELPHI GLANCED AROUND while Lars recounted the rumbling ground and temperature surge. The kitchen, while not overly large, was comfortable. Cast-iron cookware hung from hooks on one wall, and in the middle hung an assortment of wooden utensils, much like a display of functional art.

  The kitchen table was a clean design and since Bull owned the lumber shop downstairs, she suspected he’d made the table himself. Instead of backed chairs, each seat was an individual bench with buttock indentions.

  And the whole time, all she could think about was Lars’s knee against hers and his scent on her skin.

  Lars wrapped it up. It had only taken him a minute or so to brief Merrilee and Bull about what he’d experienced at the lake. Merrilee spoke up. “The activity has increased in the last year but it’s being monitored. So far, they’ve told us it’s not anything to be concerned about. I’ll check in with them in the morning. If there’s an alert status, the department will contact me here at home.”

  Lars nodded matter-of-factly. “Good deal.” He stood and Delphi followed suit. “We’ll let you guys get back to bed.”

  “Stop in anytime, especially if you’ve got a concern,” Bull said. Delphi had noticed he was a fairly quiet man. Not shy, simply quiet. It was an important distinction. He watched, processed and was very much self-contained. It struck her suddenly that for all his forwardness and joviality, Lars was a bit similar. While he was much more verbose than Bull, he also observed, processed and possessed more than a measure of self-containment. Delphi knew without a doubt that the discussion they’d had concerning his mother was a rare event for Lars.

  She and Lars walked toward the door. He looked at Delphi. “Feel like walking back to the bed-and-breakfast?”

  “Of course.” She was invigorated and full of energy in a way she hadn’t been in a long, long time.

  Lars nodded and said to Bull, “We’ll leave the truck here and walk back. Thanks for letting me use it.”

  “Sure. Anytime.”

  They made their way down the stairs and stopped by the truck to pick up their backpacks. The town enveloped them in its silence. When they’d both shrugged into their backpacks, Liam slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side as they began walking in the direction of the B&B.

  A thrill shot through her at the weight of his arm around her, the heat of being held against his solid side. The feeling of being protected—almost cherished—floated through her, like the fleet passing of a wraith on the periphery of one’s vision, vanishing equally quickly.

  “It’s been quite the day, hasn’t it?” Liam broke the quiet between them.

  The wedding and reception, the lake, sex, the mini-quake... Yeah, it had definitely been quite a day. “That’s an understatement.”

  On a whim she wrapped her arm around his waist and rested her head in the crook of his shoulder. The darkness was different here than back home. Despite the absence of streetlights, the evening’s veil held no menace. It was a place out of time. No cars cruised down the street. No radios or TVs blared behind closed doors. There was only the sifting of the wind through the evergreens and the hum of mosquitoes. An owl hooted in the distance. A sense of safety enveloped her.

  Her words flowed out of her feelings. “Doesn’t it feel peaceful here?”

  “Yeah. It’s great. But I’m so conditioned to noise and activity that it takes some getting used to. I’m generally on alert.”

  An internal sigh rippled through her. She didn’t want to think about Lars being any place except in Good Riddance. She didn’t want to picture him in battle gear, in danger. She pushed aside the thought. “It’s good for the soul.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.”

  They strolled along, a quiet harmony flowing between them. Their sexual energy was definitely part of that flow.

  They covered the remaining distance in silence. A sudden exhaustion swept through Delphi. It had been quite a day.

  “Tired?” Lars asked. It was funny how he picked up on her mood shift. She hadn’t said anything.

  She laughed, a bit disconcerted that he’d tapped into her feelings. “Exhausted. It just hit me.”

  “I’m not surprised. It’s the aftermath of all that adrenaline.”

  “My feet and legs have turned to bricks.”

  “Do you want me to carry you?”

  He was serious. She almost laughed, but she was too tired to laugh...and she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. It was actually very gallant of him to suggest it. And she needed the energy to tackle the stairs leading to the bedrooms above. “That’s sweet but I’m fine.”

  Exhaustion weighted her, tugged at her, but she put one foot in front of the other until she gained the upper floor landing. A heavy snoring resonated through the hall from one of the two rooms at the top of the stairs. She didn’t know who the other guests were but one of them was sleeping well.

  �
��Need me to tuck you in?” Lars whispered.

  She smiled in the dark hallway and whispered back, mindful of the late hour and the other guests, “I have to take a shower first. Lake water.”

  “Gotcha.” They stopped outside of her bedroom door. Lars’s hand was warm against the small of her back. “Go in and get your stuff together and I’ll hook you up in the bathroom.”

  Jet lag, tension, excitement, sex—it had all caught up with her. She seriously felt as if she could just drop on the spot. There wasn’t an ounce of hanky-panky left in her right now. “Lars, I’m too tired.”

  “Delphi, I don’t think I’d be much good anyway. I’m pretty tired myself. I’m just going to start the water for you. It takes a couple of minutes for it to actually get hot. Get your things together and I’ll let you know when the shower’s warm.”

  She was pretty much too tired to even think but that sounded right enough. “Okay. Thanks.”

  She went into her room and in no time had clean panties and her nightie and robe. She weaved on her feet as she glanced at the clock. She knew she wasn’t supposed to be switching back and forth in her head, but with the time difference it was 5:00 a.m. back home. She’d just sit on the edge of the bed, just at the bottom until Lars knocked.

  That wonderful, sexy, arrogant, sweet marine....

  * * *

  LARS TAPPED AT Delphi’s door. The water was finally warm. Dead silence on the other side. He tapped again. Nothing.

  He eased open the door. “Delphi?”

  She was fast asleep on the end of the bed. He called her name again. “Delphi...”

  She didn’t budge. The water was still running. He’d hop in and shower and then try to wake her again. She’d either be refreshed from her nap or she was down for the count. He was fairly certain it was the latter.

  He dropped by his room and grabbed clean underwear, sweats and a T-shirt. Back in the bathroom, he stripped and stepped under the stream of warm water.

  It had been an incredible day with Delphi. Not just the sex—although that had been damn good—but the whole thing. They’d danced, laughed and flirted. It had been just what he needed.