Chapter Seven

Aida shivered at the promise lacing his words. Grateful to have something to do she faced away from him, grabbed the plate of fruit she’d cut up and placed it on the table. His eyes were still on her when she snuck a peek up at him, and they still brimmed with unwavering promise.

Her body temperature skyrocketed. Even a damn ice bath wouldn’t cool me down any. She gestured to a chair. “Grab a seat and dig in. I don’t stand much on formality here.”

From lowered lashes, she watched him pull out a seat and sit. Heat welled up in her belly as his muscled legs settled him gently in the chair. It’s like there’s no effort at all and sweet goddess does he have to be so damn fine and strong?

“Tell me about you, Aida,” he said reaching for the salad prongs and dishing some up for her and then him.

Needing a moment, Aida glanced down at her dogs who kept an eye on her guest as if unsure on whether or not he was friend or foe. “Not much to tell really, I’m an only child, born and raised here, educated in the United States and came back here as fast as I could.” She kept her shudder in check as she recalled the last time she had been in the United States.

“And your parents?”

“Alive and well in the American Southwest. I miss them but don’t go to the States very often. They’ll be coming here soon, so it will be wonderful to see them.” She shrugged and ate some salad. “What about you?”

Aida watched him. His eyes closed briefly before he placed his gaze back on her.

“I have two brothers, Heller and Ryinier, and two sisters, Tairen and Sirantha. I’m the eldest, then the order is: Sirantha, Heller, Tairen, and Ryinier.” His voice was deeper and thick with unspoken emotion. “Haven’t seen any of them in a while either.”

“You’re a military man. It comes with the territory.”

His black brows converged and he tilted his head before asking, “What makes you say that?”

Aida smiled partially. “I’ve met a lot of them in my time. You tend to carry yourselves in the same manner. There is an assuredness about you. Couldn’t tell if you still serve, but you have had some time in the service.”

His face softened totally when he smiled at her and Aida felt her insides melt. “You are a very observant woman, Aida.”

Determined to ignore how he made her feel, Aida asked, “What brought you here? To South Africa?”

Those amazing eyes of his filled with a flash of pain, so quick she wasn’t sure it wasn’t just a figment of her imagination. She didn’t mention it, just waited for him to answer her.

“I needed a change of scenery.” Those eyes grew heated. “And I have to say, I like the scenery around here.”

Her body grew near its boiling point. Aida shifted against the seat and prayed that she could not make a fool of herself and throw herself at this mouthwatering specimen of a man. Thought you had everything you wanted. Had no need for a man, her brain taunted. Oh but she wanted this one.

“There isn’t another place like it in the world. I feel so alive here.” She looked at him, his stare was fixed upon her face. “Do you know what I mean? What it's like to feel so close to something, it’s as if it flows through your veins instead of blood and pumps your heart.” With a shrug, Aida shook her head. “I don’t know how to explain it. But I understand the need for a change of scenery. Until you find the one place, you keep traveling and looking.”

If possible more heat flared in his gaze. “Yes. Everyone has that one thing that makes them feel whole and complete.”

For a brief moment in time, Aida felt as if his words were about her. With a strong mental shake, she shoved down her fantasy and focused on the man across from her. So powerful, such a presence about him, made her think things, things she had no business thinking about a man who after another forty-eight hours she wouldn’t see again.

“I suppose they do,” she acquiesced. “Now, I can tell you’re a private man. So tell me something about you which you wouldn’t mind sharing.”

A sexy smile curved up the left side of his mouth and his tawny-green-gold eyes burned with feral heat. “I’m single.” Aida couldn’t help it, she laughed. Dane arched a brow at her waiting with endless patience until she found a way to control her mirth. “The fact that I’m single is amusing to you, solnyshko moyo?” he questioned.

Holding up her hand, Aida licked her lips. “I don’t think I want to know what you called me. I figured you were. You don’t have a woman with you and there is no ring on your finger, which I bet you would be wearing if you were attached. I can’t imagine anyone letting you wander around without some sign of claimage.”

“Claimage?” He stared at her over the rim of his glass amusement lurked in his eyes behind the heat.

“Isn’t that a word?” She shrugged easily. “Well, you get the idea. Unless of course you’re telling me you’re here on some top secret clandestine operation.”

“No,” he said, his tone kind of sharp. “Not anything like that. My motives were pure when I arrived here.”

She arched a brow. “Were?”

Dane’s eyes burned hotter. “Yes, were.”

Her belly flipped and flopped as his gaze singed her. Sweet goddess, this man could seriously get it. Aida wasn’t sure what to make of the small grin that turned up the corner of his kissable lips. I would love to experience everything beneath those clothes that only highlight his fineness. Dane shifted on his chair and his gaze flared again.

“Thank you for the meal, but I should get to work on that roof.” He pushed back from the table and slipped out the door before she could say another word to him.

“Men are strange creatures,” she muttered. Ruger and Kamau stared at her and whined. Getting up from the table, she shook her head at them. “I didn’t mean you two. I love you guys.” Apparently they were appeased by that, for both dogs laid their broad heads down and sighed contentedly. She worked quickly at cleaning up. There wasn’t much to put away and so it didn’t take her long.

Finished, Aida walked to a window and watched Dane stride by carrying the ladder. He’d removed his shirt and the sun gleamed off his tanned skin. A tool belt rode low on his lean hips and she groaned, shifting her legs to try and stem the flow of moisture. It didn’t work.

“Damn that man is all kinds of fine.”

Allowing herself one more ogle of the fineness that climbed a ladder, Aida forced herself to walk away from the view and focus on the projects at hand she had to complete. The pounding of a hammer brought a smile to her face as she worked.

“Well, Smythe was right about one thing, it is kind of nice to have a man around.”

About two hours later, Aida walked out into the blazing sun and moved to the ladder. She licked her lips as she stared at Dane. “How about a break?” she hollered up to him.

He lifted his head and looked down at her. “Sounds good to me.”

She bit back a groan as he backed down the ladder. “I have some cold drinks set up in the shade as well as some cookies.”

Dane smiled and wiped some of the sweat off his face. “Thank you.”

They walked side by side and Aida couldn’t stop sneaking sidelong glances at him. His skin shone with the sweat he’d gotten from working in the sweltering sun. The drops ran over the defined muscles and she bit back a whimper. Never had she felt such a strong attraction to a man before. And it wasn’t just a sexual one. There was a deeper connection between them which she didn’t fully understand. Not sure I want to pursue that either.

In the shade he used his discarded shirt to wipe the moisture from his face. Aida watched from the corner of her eye as she poured him a tall glass of water.

“Thank you,” he said taking a long drink. “Oh that hit the spot.” Dane lowered his powerful body into a chair and stretched out his jean encased legs. He reached for a cookie and ate it.

“Don’t push it, I don’t need you to collapse on me here,” she said only partially teasing. In truth she couldn’t take her eyes off the way his mouth moved. Her pussy throbbed.

“Won’t give me CPR?”

She shook her head. “That’s not it. There’s not a hospital within miles of here. And while I know I’m strong even I highly doubt I could lift you into my vehicle to get you there.”

He arched a brow at her. “So you would give me CPR.” A sex-infused grin filled his features.

Running her tongue over her top teeth, Aida picked up her glass, took a sip and nodded. “Yes, I’d give you CPR.” Quite happily.

He toasted her with his own glass. “That’s good to know.” Dane smiled at her and she shivered with longing.

Unable to form a sentence, Aida just kept the rim up to her lips and allowed a tiny stream of water to pour into her mouth. This man, this mysterious man called to hers in ways she didn’t even want to begin to explore. Liar! Her brain called her on her bluff. His intense eyes held hers as she drank. They flared with concentrated passion when she lowered the empty glass and licked the remaining moisture off her lips.

“I should get back to work,” he uttered before rising to his feet. “I’m almost done with the roof.”

Almost done? Damn! That would have taken me a hell of a lot longer. “Thank you for fixing it. Can I help in any way? I feel bad bringing you out here and using you like this.”

Her breath caught in the back of her throat when his gaze pinned her. If she’d thought the passion in them before had been intense she was wrong. It was like comparing a summer breeze to a typhoon. The heat in his eyes burned her from the inside out setting her blood boiling. Dane licked his lips as he continued to stare and she had to struggle not to squirm under it.

“My pleasure,” he purred in a tone that sounded an awful lot like a promise. Then he left.