Steel Justice (A Romantic Suspense) (26 page)

Don’t fuck it up with Dr. Shaw.

He frowned. The warning had come a little too late.

––––––––

K
endra dropped her bag on the bathroom floor and dug through it for a fresh change of clothes. Luckily, she always kept a spare set or two in her truck. After years of delivering breeched calves, she’d learned an extra change of clean clothes could come in handy. After being up most of the night checking on Flint, she desperately needed a hot shower to help her unwind and loosen up her tired muscles.

Minutes later, she stood under the shower spray, letting the hot water run over her body. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t shake the image of Flint’s face lowering to kiss her. Or the feel of his taut muscles under the Steel Infidels tattoo that stretched across his back and shoulders. Kendra closed her eyes as she replayed the kiss they’d shared in the middle of the night.

Even now, she couldn’t understand her strange reaction to Flint. Had she no pride? How in the world had she given in so easily to Flint’s kiss...his touch? Maybe it was from lack of sleep, she reasoned. Or more likely the fact that she hadn’t been that physically close to a hot, virile male in a very long time. If that was the case, she seriously needed to get out more.

She had acted spontaneously and completely out of character. It was a mistake she wouldn’t be making again. After all, she was an educated woman and respected in the small community. What would her staff or clients think if they knew she was making out with a stranger in the middle of the night? And not just any stranger but a member of a motorcycle gang for heaven’s sake!

As long as she kept her cool and didn’t let it happen again, it would go down in her mind as a temporary lack of judgement. It was understandable, she told herself, considering the stressful situation the MC had placed her under. Maybe she was having a touch of Stockholm Syndrome or something. All she needed to do was keep her distance from Flint and not let him get to her. Piece of cake. She could do it.

Feeling a little bit better about everything and much more in control again, she stepped out of the shower and reached for a towel hanging on the rack.

Kendra bit back a loud yelp.

“Flint! What the hell? You ever heard of knocking?”

Flint stood in the open doorway and appeared to have been there for a while. He was leaning casually against the frame as he regarded her with narrowed eyes.

How had she not heard him? How long had he been standing there watching her through the sliding shower doors without saying one word? She hastily wrapped the towel around her body and tucked in the ends. 

He broke the silence at last with a mild-toned, “Need help drying off?” He straightened his lithe frame from the door.

Kendra had no intention of responding and started to walk past him. She jumped back when his arm came up, but it was only to prop it across the doorjamb so that he blocked her exit.

“Do you mind?” she asked steadily, her eyes fierce as they held his.

“No, I don’t mind,” he replied, intentionally misunderstanding her request to move his arm. “I’ll spend hours drying you off if you want me to. Not a problem. At all. I have all the time in the world.”

He smiled suddenly, a devastating smile that melted the hard lines of his jaw and made his eyes light up. Kendra really wished he wouldn’t look at her like that. She didn’t know what to think when those intense green eyes skimmed over her body, missing nothing.

It took superhuman effort not to drop the towel right then and wrap her arms around his neck. To run her hands down his chest and over his shoulders. To trace every stroke of the Steel Infidels tattoo on his back with her tongue.

Good Lord! She refused to even think about how much she wanted to be thrown down and taken hard and fast by him on any available surface, including the tile bathroom floor.

It made no sense. She normally had a whole lot more self-control. He was making her insane. She’d made it to the top of her class in veterinary school and took great pride in being a structured, disciplined person in both work and her personal life. Now Flint was gazing at her and it was like he could tell exactly the effect he was having on her. And that made Kendra want to flee from the room and him as fast as humanly possible.

Maybe her raw desire showed in her eyes. Or maybe he was used to women falling all over him. It could be that he sensed the tingling shiver that went through her whenever he looked at her.

“Why do I make you so nervous?” he suddenly asked. “At first I thought you might be afraid of me, but that’s not it, is it? Jesse said you weren’t the least bit intimidated by my crew and they’re much scarier than I am.”

A moment later, he lifted a hand to smooth a knuckle across her cheek. Kendra’s strangled breath caught in her chest.

“You’re very beautiful,” he murmured very thoughtfully, those eyes gliding over her face. “Eyes the prettiest I’ve ever seen.” His words were simply hypnotic. She could only watch, immobilized, as his head slanted low, aiming for her mouth.

Kendra could not believe this was about to happen. Again. So much for resisting him.

But God help her, she couldn’t stop it. She couldn’t do more than melt into him as he devoured her lips. His tongue began a slow, sensual assault the moment she let him into her mouth. Kendra moaned and trembled when she felt his hands move under the towel and cup her ass. His touch was possessive, heated, famished. He cupped the curves of her ass and tugged her tighter against his hard, overpowering masculinity.

Their lips crashed together so hard Kendra knew her lips would feel the bruises later. Her fingers dug into his hair and rifled through the silken strands. But then moments later her senses returned and she gasped, letting go of his hair and straining against him. He pulled away slowly, resting his hands on her hips as Kendra slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes were glazed and confused, her sensuous mouth even more swollen and enticing. Kendra was completely losing it. Her gut told her Flint was a man with the potential to lead her deep into forbidden territory, and he was proving her right with every passing second.

He seemed to see right through her to her fears and worries, and he gently touched her swollen bottom lip as he said in a gentle tone, “It’s all right, doc. Relax. It’s not my style to force myself on women. Which means the next time I touch you or kiss you, you’re not going to want me to stop. When that happens, I’ll start here,” he murmured thickly.

Kendra looked down and gasped as his fingertips grazed over her now rock-hard nipples through the towel. She’d never felt them get so big and stiff, aching with need. Her own body was betraying her. She arched at his barely-there caress across her breasts.

She lifted widened eyes to his face and found his gaze fixed on her heaving breasts, heavy now and filled with want that she was sure he could detect even beneath the terrycloth towel. She met his gaze. She felt one thing, but her brain told her another. She couldn’t let this happen. Not now. Not ever. This wasn’t her style and he wasn’t her type of man.

“I’m sorry,” Kendra said before hurrying out of the room, embarrassed once again for giving in so easily. Whatever was happening between them, it was opening a side to her she’d never known; a submissive part that found it so easy to yield to a man with the will and passion strong enough to control her every response. Flint was that kind of man. She knew it instinctively. The knowledge both scared and thrilled her to the bone.

****

F
lint wondered if Kendra had any idea how difficult it was for him to let her go. The luscious feel of her ass in his hands as he’d kissed her had made his brain almost short-circuit. What was it about her?

He hadn’t meant to be a peeping Tom and spy on her in the shower like a pervert. His intention had only been to ask her something through the door. But when he found it slightly ajar, he couldn’t help pushing it open. Once he’d caught sight of her naked body behind the shower doors, his feet refused to turn and walk away.

All he could do was stand there completely mesmerized and watch as she soaped her heavy breasts and between her legs; all the places he would pleasure with his tongue if he ever got the chance. His reaction to her was immediate and overwhelming, his erection so painfully hard he thought he was going to explode. 

He’d wanted her the moment he’d opened his eyes, delirious with pain, and found her leaning over him. He’d already kissed her twice, and who the hell knew what else he was capable of doing if she kept looking at him the way she did? Hell, sex was all he could think about since he’d set eyes on her. When she had stepped out of the shower wrapped in only a towel, it took every bit of control he possessed not to rip it off her body, bend her over the bathroom counter, and take her from behind.

There was no doubt that this woman brought out his primal streak, and holding back was making him feel like he could implode at any moment. She didn’t have a clue as to her effect on him. He’d meant it when he told her she was beautiful. She really was even though she was different from his usual preference, which leaned toward petite, blonde and thin.

He loved the way she wore her hair, the wild, long dark mane framing her features. There was a calm intelligence about her that turned him on along with that curvy, full-figured body of hers. Not to mention her heavy breasts and the wide hips that knew how to fill out a tight pair of jeans. She was tall for a woman but only barely reached his shoulder. He loved cupping her large ass. Damn, that was one piece of her he could certainly form an obsession over.

And Kendra wasn’t like any of the groupie bimbos that hung around the clubhouse. She didn’t mind letting a man know that she possessed a mind of her own. He’d noticed that first thing when she told him about the keys. He would never let her know it, but that single action turned him on as much as it pissed him off. She was most definitely a woman of strong character who wasn’t afraid to speak her mind.

The more he thought about her, the angrier he grew inside. Whatever attraction he felt for Dr. Kendra Shaw, he needed to get over it fast. A nice, decent woman like her would never go for a man like him. Maybe she would have liked the man he was once striving to be six months ago. A man with integrity and principles. Certainly not the way he was now and would probably always be.

Nothing more than a common outlaw.

****

I
t took a while for Kendra to work up the nerve to join Flint in the kitchen. He was seated at the small dining table enjoying a second cup of coffee. He looked up but didn’t speak when she walked past him to the coffee maker.

“Flint, about what happened earlier...” she began and couldn’t continue.

Flint raised his eyebrows. “You mean in the bathroom?” he asked innocently.

Kendra turned away from him to look out the window over the kitchen sink. Sleet was beginning to stick to the trees and power lines. The winter storm was turning out to be worse than predicted.

Flint leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “So you want to tell me why you ran out of there like a bat out of hell?”

Kendra ripped a paper towel from the roll and nervously wiped down the edges of the sink. “I don’t know. I guess I was afraid of what might happen if I stayed,” she replied in a soft voice, unable to meet his intense gaze.

He drew in a sharp breath as if she had slapped him. “You’re afraid of me?” he asked incredulously. “Jesus!”

She let out a long sigh and turned to look at him. “No,” she replied. “No, of course not,” she said more firmly. “I’m not afraid of you, Flint. It was more a matter of being afraid of me...of my doing something rash and out of character.”

“And that’s a problem because...?” he asked, his voice calmer now and his eyes suddenly twinkling.

She shrugged, embarrassed by her admission. “I’m not an impulsive person and you caught me off guard. That’s all.”

He raised his eyebrows, clearly not buying her story.

“Listen, Flint,” she continued. “The bottom line is I don’t do casual sex. Ever. I need a mental and emotional connection first. And if that’s not happening and I’m not feeling it, then the physical part just isn’t worth it to me.” She smiled to take the sting off of her words. “After all, I’m sure you have plenty of pretty girls hanging around the clubhouse who would be more than happy to have you. What do you call them? Old ladies or something like that? They probably find the tough guy biker act of yours very appealing.”

“And what about you, Kendra?” he asked, suddenly serious again. “Do you find it appealing?”

Kendra opened her mouth to lie. To make a joke and laugh it away as if that was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard. And normally it would be. She wasn’t into the whole dominant alpha male thing. Or had never been in the past. But if she was to be honest with herself, she would admit this time the answer was different.

Hell yes, she found him immensely appealing. The thought of Flint being in control, persuading her to do things sexually beyond her normal comfort zone, was an erotic fantasy. A fantasy she couldn’t stop thinking about. It was driving her crazy. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.

“That’s not the point,” Kendra snapped. She had a feeling Flint knew exactly what she’d been thinking.

He grinned. “What is the point then?”

“Admit it, Flint. You probably wouldn’t look twice at me if we weren’t holed up in this cabin together. It’s obvious I could stand to lose a few pounds and I don’t wear makeup or fix my hair in a fancy style. I’m here and I’m convenient. That’s all this is. And don’t try to tell me I’m your type because I’m not buying it. Not for a second. If we had met at the grocery store or in my vet clinic, I seriously doubt you would give me a second look or ask for my number. That’s all I’m saying. I’m not an idiot. And I won’t be used for sexual entertainment.”

Flint sprang from his chair with the sleekness of a panther and stood inches from her. His eyes flashed with emotion before he grabbed her with his good arm and pulled her close to his chest. She struggled in his grip, but he was too strong for her as he stared deeply into her startled face. Her heartbeat increased alarmingly at his closeness and Kendra wondered if she would ever be immune to his overwhelming magnetism.