rested beneath her eyes, her hand bracing her head at an odd angle.
With a resigned sigh, he eased from the bed and walked to her. Bundled in his blankets, Jessica was the perfect unwanted female invader.
Whatever man she didn’t want to accept, the married man, would probably soon be coming to press her—and because Alexi had given his name, he would be involved. His impression of Jessica Sterling had been correct—she was big trouble.
Alexi skimmed his hand lightly over her hair and its warm fire lit something he had guarded for years.
He jerked his hand back, freeing it from the lure of that silky, fragrant hair. Tenderness for this female shark wouldn’t do, and a sexual encounter wouldn’t be simple.
“Alexi…” she whispered in her sleep, and the drowsy sound locked his bare feet to the floor. “I need you…”
He closed his mind against the sensual need rocketing through his body, but it throbbed on, ignoring his wishes. Her breast lay over a heavy fold of the blanket and his hand ached to cup that perfect softness.
Bracing himself against that dangerous need, Alexi bent and eased Jessica, complete with pillow and blanket, into his arms.
She snuggled against his chest, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder, and Alexi didn’t move, forcing his breath to slow. With her defenses down, Jessica looked young and sweet and innocent.
An involvement with this woman would only bring frustration and pain.
He studied that pale face, where the chestnut strands flowed across her cheek and onto his shoulder, a fragile silky web joining their bodies—
Alexi’s indrawn breath hissed in the silence of the room. Wanting to rid himself of the danger of this woman, Alexi carried her back to his bed, lowered her slightly and let her fall the last inch. He did not want to touch her in his bed.
He could not touch her; his sexual need ran too fiercely, primitively, through him.
He stood, hands on hips, looking down at the woman who was cuddling his pillow. Her hair spilled waves across the white pillowcase as she turned on her side. “Alexi…” she murmured softly, and drew the pillow down beneath the blanket.
Alexi frowned as, beneath the heavy blanket, her legs moved as if accepting the pillow, cradling it.
He’d begun to perspire, his body rock-hard.
Alexi clenched his fists and closed his eyes, shaking his head. He jerked on his jeans and pulled on a sweatshirt and socks. He sat in the chair and brooded about the curse of Chief Kamakani over Amoteh.
Because it was surely the chieftain’s curse that had brought Jessica Sterling anywhere near Alexi.
Three
J essica awoke to the sound of male voices arguing.
She preferred to sleep late and the Amoteh’s housekeeping staff shouldn’t be in her suite—
“No. You are not coming in,” a man stated sharply from somewhere outside her room.
Jessica recognized that deep voice, the command and the slight accent wrapped in it. Alexi Stepanov!
She opened her eyes to a slice of brilliant sunlight and closed them as she realized she was in Alexi’s bed!
She struggled against the heavy weight of the blankets tangled around her and promptly slid onto the floor. She sat, huddled in the blankets, listening to the male voices outside the comfortably warm room.
Jessica clutched the pillow against her. Alexi’s scent—dark, brooding, male—wafted around her.
Alexi—arrogant, disdainful of her—sexy, aroused….
She slid up her sweater sleeve to reveal her watch; the emerald-encrusted designer timepiece read eight o’clock. Jessica braced herself for the first wave of frustration—an early riser, she was usually at her desk by this time. But then, Alexi wasn’t making her life easy. He needed a lesson in handling business and keeping it out of the sensual lane.
Jessica pushed the pillow away and scrambled to her feet. She was still wearing one of his socks and bent to tug it away.
Another man’s voice rumbled with just that tinge of accent. “Why can’t we come in? It’s cold out here. We only want to warm up before heading back for Mom’s blueberry pancakes. We’re supposed to unload this truckload of lumber and bring you back for a family breakfast.”
Alexi’s reply was hurried. “Let’s unload it now. I’m hungry.”
Jessica recognized Mikhail’s voice. “You’ll need a coat, Alexi. It’s freezing out there.”
“I’m fine. Please thank your parents, but I have work to do. I will see Aunt Mary Jo later and help Uncle Fadey load that order of furniture in the shipping van.”
“Alexi, you just woke up. You don’t have on your boots, and you look like you had a bad night. If you’re sick, we can unload that lumber and you can go back to bed.”
“Yes. I have a cold. Please go. No, I do not need soup. I have aspirin.”
“Jarek, we’re in trouble. If Mom knows that Alexi is sick because he’s staying here and not at their house, she won’t be happy,” Mikhail said thoughtfully as if Alexi wasn’t there. “We’ve got to get him to the house—now.”
“You’re not moving me. I am fine where I am.”
“Oh, no?” the other two male voices challenged.
Jessica smiled coldly. Alexi clearly did not want the men inside his living quarters. He wanted to hide her, did he?
After last night, after Alexi had deliberately drawn her out into the weather, had treated her so arrogantly—and put her in his bed without her permission—Jessica intended Alexi to have a very bad day. He would either help root out whomever was causing Willow fear and distress, or he wouldn’t. But Alexi would pay for tormenting Jessica.
She walked to the line where her jacket hung and drew it on, firmly zipping it to her throat. She slipped into her ruined shoes and lamented their destruction, due to Alexi drawing her into his lair. Whatever she did to him today, he deserved. She tore away the damaged strap with a temper that she pushed down as she smoothed her clothing and her hair.
Jessica picked up Alexi’s boots and his coat and the leather work gloves she found on the table, and walked to the door.
She opened it slowly to the three tall men standing in the cluttered, cold sunroom. “Hi,” she said softly, drowsily, and hoped she sounded as if she’d just come from Alexi’s bed—which she had. She eased around Alexi, who was blocking the doorway and her stage entrance to make his life hell—at least for a short time.
Obviously, Alexi did not want his cousins to know that Jessica had stayed the night. What he didn’t want was perfect to expose…
Jarek and Mikhail Stepanov, in heavy jackets and work clothes stared at her—then at Alexi.
Jessica
