Page 7 of Savaged By the Beast

“Would you mind if I put some clothes on? I’d rather not have you grill me naked.”

Red tinges my cheeks again. “Oh. Right. Yes. Please go put on some clothes. That would be better.”

Liar, I chide myself. I absolutely do not think it would be better. My whole body physically revolts at just the thought of him covering up that gorgeous, muscular body. I can see dark hair curling on his chest and trailing down where it disappears under the blanket. I want to trail my fingers through it, wrap them in it and tug it until he hisses out and wraps his fingers in my hair again. Kisses me until I can’t even breathe. Until I’m so lost in the moment that I can’t think. I can only feel his hard lips on mine. Our breaths mingling, harsh and raspy with need.

I jerk myself around and stare at a wall, trying to pull myself together. “I’ll just wait here.”

He moves closer and I can feel his breath across my shoulder when he leans over, whispering in my ear. “You can watch if you want to. I won’t mind.”

“I will,” I groan and my hands clench at my sides. He’s tormenting me. And I want him to stop. Want him to keep making that dark chill dance over my overheated skin. I don’t know what I want. But I want it from him.

He laughs softly, harshly in my ear. “Baby, one of these days, you’ll beg to watch me strip.”

“You’re not stripping. You’re getting dressed,” I answer logically, trying to pull my brain out of the fog of lust masking my thoughts.

“Semantics.” He stands up and stalks across the room. I drag in a breath, feeling for the first time since I met him like I can think. Immediately my eyes wander around the big, open room. A fire crackles on the hearth and I move closer, chilled since he movedaway from me. An ache settles on my chest and I rub at my heart absently. My arms are heavy and my legs feel like wet noodles.

I fall into a leather armchair in front of the hearth. I’ve never felt so weak and shaky. I run a hand through my hair and fan my cheeks. I’m still flushed. Still achy and needy and I don’t know what’s going on. I thought there was no way I’d ever be attracted to a man. I’ve had men attracted to me and I could feel it but mostly it just made my stomach turn. I’m far from that with Austin.

At the same time I know he’s lying and I don’t trust what I’m feeling because of that.

“Better, princess?” That smooth, velvety voice sighs in my head like thunder. Immediately my nipples tighten and that achy need pulses in my belly and down to my clit.

“I’m not a princess,” I grunt desperately. I need to get myself under control. I’m being unprofessional and it’s already hard to do my job with a bunch of macho men that think they need to protect the little lady. Even though I’m taller and wider than a lot of them.

“You’re my princess.” He comes closer and I can feel that dark thread of lust start to wrap around me, tugging at my heart.

He moves to stand in front of me and I can’t stop myself from looking up into his face, shadowed by the firelight behind him. He’s a huge, intimidating shadow of a man and he actually does make me feel dainty. Feminine. Out of control.

I draw in a breath and release it in a shallow hiss. “What is going on, Austin?”

“With the murder or with us?”

“With the murder first?” I put off the inevitable desperately.

I can see his lips tips up and he sighs. “Fine.” He folds his long body into an armchair across from the one I’m in.

“That man is our foreman. Harvey. Harvey Daniels.” His dark eyes turn inward and I can see a glimpse of pain shadowing them. “He…was a good man. A man that suffered every day of his life after his wife and children died. He used to say that he wouldn’t really be able to live again until he was with her. Until he died.” He sighs and I can see the plaid flannel shirt that he’s wearing straining with the breath.

Damn, he’s big.

“Anyway. He disappeared a few days ago. He’s always been reliable so we had no idea what happened to him. Couldn’t find him anywhere on the ranch.”

I pull my notebook out. “So…Friday was the last day you saw him?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“And none of you thought it was strange if he’s so reliable?”

“Yeah, we did. But he’s a grown man. And he’s had a lot of trouble handling the losses he’s had.”

“How did his wife and children die?”

“His wife and two kids were were killed in a car accident. He was working and she didn’t want to bother him but their daughter was sick. She tried to drive into town to the doctor’s while a storm was moving in. Flash flood washed away part of the road and took their truck with it. We found them a few days later. They never even made it out of the truck.”

“I’m so sorry.” I can feel tears in my eyes and I push them back. I need to get myself under control. I’ve never been so emotional. Like my nerves are rubbed raw and exposed.

I clear my throat. “So…did he go anywhere on Friday night?”