Elle James - Four Relentless Days

Then what? After Michael was killed by a rhino, she’d automatically assumed she’d continue on with the operation of the resort. Yes, it had been primarily Michael’s dream, but while he was alive, she’d shared that dream. After his death, she’d been in such a funk, she couldn’t bring herself to consider other options. Michael was buried in Africa. She hadn’t wanted to leave.

This place, the lodge, the resort, the savanna, had memories seared into every corner, every tree, everywhere she looked.

Yet her thoughts continued to drift up the stairs to the man in the room beside hers. Guilt rushed over her like a heat wave. Only a year had passed since Michael’s death. She shouldn’t be feeling anything for anyone other than her husband. Should she?

Talia reached for one of the throw pillows on the cushion beside her and hugged it to her chest. She missed being able to hug someone. Not just a friendly hug, but one that involved body-to-body contact. A real, warm, lasting hug she never wanted to end.

Not like holding a pillow. A pillow couldn’t return the sentiment. Someone with thick, strong arms was needed to make that connection. Someone who could return the pressure and make her feel safe and loved. And not so very...alone.

“Why are you sitting down here all alone?” a deep resonant voice asked.

Talia started and glanced up into the warm, deep brown eyes of the man she’d been thinking about.

He wore jeans and a well-worn T-shirt stretched tautly over the broad expanse of his chest. And he was barefoot.

Talia fought the urge to drool like Pavlov’s dog. “I...uh...” She gulped hard to keep from squeaking. “...wasn’t sleepy.”

“Too much excitement?” He nodded toward the cushion beside her. “Mind if I sit?”

Excitement? Oh, yeah. She pretended a nonchalance she didn’t feel. “Please. Sit where you like.” Inside she fought a losing battle between self-preservation and desire. If he accepted her offer to take the seat beside her on the sofa, self-preservation didn’t stand a chance.

Harm dropped onto the cushion inches away from Talia.

Her breath caught and her pulse kicked into high gear.

Sitting half facing her, Harm leaned his elbows on his knees. “The snake in Big Jake’s cabin worrying you?”

“For a start,” she admitted. No use telling him she was also worried by her feelings for him. He didn’t need to know that little bit of information. If she thought witchcraft and bad juju were making her vulnerable, letting a man know he made her weak in the knees would expose her in a way she was nowhere near ready to handle.

Talia prayed he didn’t try anything silly, like kissing her. She wasn’t sure she had the power to resist.

Chapter Four

Harm had been in his room, listening for the sounds of Talia’s footsteps on the landing outside his door. When he hadn’t heard them and the lodge had quieted, he’d left his room and descended the stairs, going in search of the pretty hostess.

He’d been surprised to find her sitting alone on a sofa, a pillow clutched to her chest, her blue eyes staring into the distance.

Talia hadn’t noticed his barefoot approach.

If he’d been smart, he’d have crept back up the stairs and gone to bed. But he couldn’t leave her there. The tug at his heart refused to let him leave. So he’d taken the seat beside her, with no idea what to say or how to comfort a widow.

“Thank you for adjusting the room assignments for us,” he said.

She shrugged. “I didn’t have to do much. It’s not like I have an entire lodge full of guests.” She hugged the pillow tighter. “I can’t continue to run this place without a staff or paying guests. If things don’t turn around soon, I’ll be forced to shut the doors, sell the resort and find employment somewhere else.”

“Is it that bad?”

She nodded. “The staff thinks I’m the one causing the problems. Because I’m a woman trying to run the place, I’m creating bad juju.”

Harm’s jaw tightened. “That’s a bunch of bull.”

“You know that and I know that, but my staff is very superstitious. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone else quits tomorrow when he or she finds out there was a cobra in one of the cabins.” Talia drew in a deep breath and let it out on a sigh. “It just makes more work for me. But if I don’t have guests, I won’t need the staff and I won’t have a reason to stay at the resort.”

“Have you considered selling?”

Her lips pressed into a thin line. “Even when Michael was alive, I was in charge of the day-to-day running of the lodge and cabins. Michael took care of expeditions, entertainment and nature hikes.”

She stared around the room at the photos on the walls of the animals in their natural habitat. “He always came back with the most incredible photographs.” Her gaze stopped on Harm. “I took care of everything else. But the lodge and the cabins weren’t why the guests came. They came to see what Michael saw. He sold his photographs worldwide. He was well-known for how beautifully he captured the animals and the savanna. The guests came from all over the world to see what had inspired him.”

Harm snorted softly. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Her cheeks blossomed with color, and she glanced down at the pillow. “I’m sorry. What was the question?”

“Have you considered selling the resort?”

She looked away, gnawing at her bottom lip. “I guess most women who’d lost their husbands would have sold something like the resort by now.” She glanced back at Harm. “I didn’t because I couldn’t imagine anything else. What would I do?”

“You could go back to the States where it’s less dangerous, for one.” He leaned toward her. “You could start over and choose any career you want.”

“But I love running the lodge and catering to the guests.”

“Even now that your husband is gone?”

Talia’s lips twisted. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know, or you’re afraid to say the truth because you’ll feel guilty for wanting something different from what Michael had in mind?”

She tossed the pillow aside and leaped to her feet. “It doesn’t matter what I want. I have the resort. I’m doing the best I can. I just need to figure out who’s behind the threats to me and my guests and take care of it. Life will go on as usual.”

“Will it?” Harm stood and reached for her. He knew it was a mistake as soon as his fingers curled around her arms. “Michael’s gone, you can’t continue to live his dream. What about you, Talia? What do you want?”

She stared up into his eyes, her voice soft...breathy as she said, “I don’t know.” Her bottom lip trembled and her gaze shifted from his eyes to his mouth.

That moment was Harm’s undoing. Talia appeared so vulnerable and confused. He wanted to wipe the concern from her face, to make her lips curl up in a smile. To kiss her.

Before he could think through his next move, he lowered his head and breathed against her lips. “What do you want?”

Her fingers curled into his shirt and she whispered, “You.”

Harm claimed her mouth, his lips crashing down on hers. He pushed his tongue past her teeth to sweep the length of hers, caressing, thrusting and demanding a response.

Instead of pushing him away like she should have, Talia raised her arms to lace them behind Harm’s neck and pulled him closer.

Harm released her arms and ran his hands down her back, cupped her bottom and pressed her hips to his, his groin tight, swelling with a fresh rush of blood and heat. This was where he’d wanted to be all evening. Holding this woman in his arms, kissing her like there was no tomorrow.

She clung to him, her tongue working against his, her fingernails digging into the back of his neck, one leg curling around the back of his thigh.