It was probably that returning hunger continuing to spark the warning he needed to check on her.
“No one’s in there,” Logan said from the seat as Cami closed the heavy curtains covering her bedroom window. “You can see straight through that house until she closes the curtains. Besides she’s acting too calm.”
It was the truth. The two-story home was open and inviting, and clearly visible through the pristine, sparkling windows.
Who had windows that clean? It was damned scary. And as he said, Cami appeared too calm and comfortable to be frightened of anything.
“I didn’t say someone was in there; I said something is wrong,” he reminded his cousin. “There’s a difference, Crowe.”
“Let it go, Rafe,” Crowe stated softly. “Let’s head back to the ranch and see about installing the last of those cameras before we head up the mountain tomorrow to take care of mine. Logan’s is next and I’d like to have this finished and tied into the DVR on the master control before we head to that lawyers’ meeting in Colorado Springs next week.”
They had been installing the cameras at night, when it would be harder for anyone to watch what they were doing or to pinpoint the hiding places they had chosen for the electronics.
Rafe blew out a rough breath as he slid the vehicle into gear and pulled out onto the street. He should have gone to the door, but he knew that pushing Cami wasn’t going to get him what he wanted. Besides, he wanted her to come to him for a change. Just once. Just a single instance where she accepted her need for him and made the first move. A move other than allowing her car to slide into a ditch at the entrance of his property.
He needed her, too — willingly, deliberately, without any excuses — to reach out for him. He wanted her to admit it to herself. Because he’d be damned if he would allow her to hide from it much longer. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to allow her to return to a few stolen nights here and there because they couldn’t fight the need any longer.
He had grown damned tired of having his lovers hide their relationship with him twelve years before. He’d had enough of it with Jaymi and the lovers he’d had before her in Sweetrock. And these stolen nights with Cami had eaten at him, because he was certain she had slipped out at dawn out of shame.
He’d be damned if he’d let himself be treated like a dirty little secret by Cami.
“Are we sure we want to go through with all this?” Logan asked lazily from his seat in the back. “You know if we go through with these plans it’s going to cause a hell of a battle with the barons.”
Rafer couldn’t help but grin at the comment. How many times had some of the larger resorts attempted to come in and buy the land around Crowe’s mountain? The deep white water that branched off from the Colorado River and ran through streams and tributaries until it began flowing through the deep boulder-strewn ravines through the mountains was perfect for white water rafting.
The mountain itself with its natural breaks and paths was perfect for skiing. The land was filled with wildlife and could easily support any hunting activities required.
That had been their parents’ dream. The three couples had spent years planning for the day the wives came into their trusts at their thirtieth birthday. It was then Crowe’s Mountain and the adjoining Breaker Valley and Rafferty River Run area would have become Callahan Holdings. From there Crowe Mountain Resort would have been born.
Just the thought of the pure rage the barons would have was enough to almost bring a grin to Rafe’s lips. Damn, the explosion would be heard in China when they learned that the grandsons they had disowned would carry out their parents’ dreams.
“Now’s the time to back out if you don’t want to be a part of it, Logan,” Crowe warned him.
Logan snorted mockingly. “Are you dreaming, cuz? I just think we all need to be aware of what’s going to happen when we file the papers. Because the shit is going to hit the fan.” The anticipation in Logan’s voice was contagious. That or just the sheer pleasure at the thought of yet another triumph against their grandparents.
The first had been the court battle for the land that Crowe’s mother’s trust left to him. The final appeal the barons had made would be heard in a month before the state supreme court. And Rafe had no doubt he and his cousins would win that one, too.
Breaker Valley, the land Rafer’s mother had held, was now fully his. That land had once been the Callahan Ranch, and had belonged to his grandparents. Just as Crowe Mountain and part of the land called Rafferty River Run had. Crowe stated, “We’re not going to have an easy time doing this, even after the property is out of the courts. I’d like to keep things as simple as possible.”
And as quiet as possible to ensure the barons didn’t guess what was coming.
“She’ll mess your head up, I can already see it coming.”
“And you need to get fucked.” Rafe snorted as he slid his cousin a hard look. “That’s not happening, so you may as well simply shut the hell up about it and let it go Crowe.”
“She’s going to get your ass killed,” Crowe griped, his disapproval obvious.
“And you’re going to get your ass kicked if you don’t shut the hell up,” Rafe growled as he headed the vehicle out of town. “I don’t need the lectures and I sure as hell don’t need your advice where Cami’s concerned.”
“No, you need to stay away from her,” Crowe repeated between furiously clenched teeth. “Both of you need to remember exactly how dangerous it is to fuck with Corbin County women.”
Rafe ignored him. Crowe enjoyed playing the big brother, and he enjoyed trying to order Rafe and Logan around. Not that they ever let Crowe get away with it.
Especially now.
Rafe wasn’t staying away from Cami.
She’d admitted to being his occasional fuck, and he was going to make damned sure the occasions became real frequent from here on out. Once he managed to convince her to make that first move, then she was his. Totally. Completely.
He had no intentions of allowing Cami off the hook or out of his bed for long. If Crowe thought he could convince him otherwise, then he might need to think again.
The mid-April morning glistened across the Colorado mountains with a wave of warmth that gave rise to the hope that the snow would melt soon. Everyone in town was crossing their fingers that the weather would definitely cooperate in time for the Spring Fling Social, the first night of weekend socials hosted by the county every Friday through Sunday evening.
The first social, a more formal affair for the adults, was the highlight of the beginning of the spring and summer season. It was time to dust off dancing shoes and evening jackets and polish social smiles.
Cami had purchased her dress the month before while in Denver helping her father choose the rest home they would be placing her mother in.
She’d found the perfect strapless little number at one of the small exclusive stores there, and had bought it immediately, despite its hefty price tag.
That morning, the sun streaming through the skylight above her bed filled the room with heat, pulling her eyes open after a restless night and greeting her with the feel of its heated warmth.
The warming temperatures managed to give her an energy she hadn’t had since the blizzard. Putting it to use after a quick shower, she found herself cleaning house, the back deck, and her front porch as the heat glistened off the landscape and the snow slowly began to melt.
It wasn’t a heat wave, but it was warm enough to allow the citizens of Sweetrock to begin clearing the fluff and the winter collection of dust and gloom that had accumulated.
Families were gathering in their yards along the block, working as a unit, parents overseeing and helping the younger children in many of the chores. The spurt of energy Cami felt was also infecting others it seemed.
For most of the day, laughter and generally good-natured comments could be heard echoing around the block, reminding Cami why she had bought the home her parents had owned. All around the neighborhood there was a sense of the one thing she had never had.
That sense of family.
As she worked, both in the back yard that faced the wide alley and on the front porch, her gaze moved constantly to the vehicles driving by. She kept hoping, not expecting, she assured herself, Rafer to make an appearance.
She didn’t want to admit to herself that there was a part of her that hoped Rafe would show up. The nights spent tossing and turning restlessly had given her too much time to think. Too much time to realize things she didn’t want to realize.
She needed him. The ache that seemed to spread through her body, that need to touch and be touched that was driving her crazy, was all because of him.
When dusk began to close in and the temperature dropped once again, families began to retreat into the warmth of their homes. Quiet began to fill the street as Cami stepped out to the wide, covered front porch carrying the piece of porch furniture she’d pulled from the garage, and gazed around the darkness silently.
The street lights cast shadows along the bare limbs of the trees lining the sidewalk. The almost sinister cast of the long-reaching fingers of darkness had a chill chasing up Cami’s spine.
She had never noticed it before. She had never paid attention to how easy it would be for someone to watch her house, or even to find a secretive path to her home if they wanted to.
She had security, but security could be bypassed.
She had never realized the weaknesses in her protection until the phone calls had begun. But then, she remembered Jaymi too had become more diligent in her home security when she had been receiving the threatening calls.