get your work done.”
And to cool his aching balls. Nothing calmed him better than water. If he stayed in the cottage one more minute, he would not be able to keep his hands off her. And having sexual relations with her would not be treating her right.
“Oh.” Did she sound disappointed? “All right.”
“Keep the door locked and don’t let anyone else in,” he warned.
The last thing he needed was the Klan to find her here.
Hours later, Sadie paused to rub her eyes. Her watch read after midnight, and the hum of the refrigerator threatened to lull her to sleep. Where had the time gone? Applying the precious knowledge she’d learned from the books had been the most challenging task of her life, but enjoyable, too. She hadn’t felt this excited since she’d chased butterflies as a child.
Before she’d begun shucking oysters day after day.
But she couldn’t work this hard all night. Because the material was so new to her, the review task tired her. The figures started to dance into a blur on the pages.
Henry had been gone so long, she wondered if he’d ever return. If he hadn’t left, she wouldn’t have been able to think at all. She’d never seen a man experience so many erections. Each one had drenched her panties with need. The fabric was finally dry, and she intended to keep it that way.
If she’d been a virgin, she probably wouldn’t want him as much. But she knew what it was like to lie with a man and feel him sliding between her folds. To shatter to pieces inside a pair of masculine arms.
She must not give in. If she did, he’d reject her like Buck.
But her resistance to Henry Rockfield wore down day by day. If it weren’t for the extra money and opportunity to use her mind, she wouldn’t have accepted the assignment. These accounts were in such pitiful shape, she had all the extra work she could want.
A key scraped in the lock of the front door. He was back. Her nipples tingled and jumped to full attention.
He entered and sat with her at the metal kitchen table, which was smaller than the one at home but just as battered. At least their thighs didn’t touch as they had on the couch. Feeling that long muscle against her had been too much.
“My, it’s windy out there.” He glanced at her papers. “How’s it going?”
“That depends on how you look at it.” She pointed to her long list of detailed notes. “The good news is, I got most of the review done. The bad news is, I found a lot of problems.”
“That is bad.” He frowned at her list. “Can you fix everything?”
“I think so, but it will take more than one session. The inventory needs attention first.” She licked her index finger and turned pages in the ledger. “Here and here.”
When she lifted her finger to her lips to wet it again, Henry stared at her with his mouth parted.
“Oh God. Do that again,” he whispered.
She struggled to keep her gaze glued to the book in front of her, but it flew to his khaki trousers. To the tempting ridge she’d seen too often tonight. Good Lord. Was the man permanently hard? It must be painful.
“Maybe you should see a doctor about your…condition.”
She would have laughed if a cloud of wet, throbbing heat wasn’t licking every bit of her below the waist.
“I’m afraid there’s only one cure for it.” He grasped her wrist and tugged.
Unable to sit another moment in her pool of lust, she stood. “What do you want?”
“You.”
“Mr. Rockfield, we agreed.”
“Henry.” He seized her wrist and pressed a hot kiss to the inside of it. “And I’m afraid I have to break our agreement.”
“Don’t do this,” she pleaded. “You’ll tire of me.”
“Never. Grip the edge of the table,” he ordered.
What had gotten into him? Henry Rockfield wasn’t a take-charge man like his brother, but he was definitely calling the shots now. A tingle of excitement shot to her toes. She obeyed him, and her ankles wobbled as she wondered what he’d do.
Stand
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley