Only 06 - Winter Fire

considered that you might be lecturing the wrong person?”
    Conner’s mouth thinned. The look in his dark green eyes was far too adult for a boy of fifteen.
    â€œSarah wouldn’t turn away from a creature in need,” he said. “Ute said you needed her. She went to you and you grabbed her.”
    â€œYour sister came to me. I didn’t grab her. That’s all you need to know. If you don’t believe me, ask her. She won’t tell you any different.”
    Conner gave Case a level, measuring look.
    â€œMy sister wouldn’t tell me different even if you had raped her,” he said flatly. “She would be worried about me calling you on it and getting killed.”
    â€œBut you aren’t worried.”
    â€œI’m not that stupid. I can no more beat you in a fair fight than Sarah could outwrestle you in the dark.”
    Case nodded, but he wasn’t as relaxed as he looked. He half-expected to have to jump Conner when the boy went for his out-sized belt gun.
    â€œSo I wouldn’t fight fair,” Conner said coolly. “I’d come at you with a shotgun from ambush. This is the only warning you’ll get. Leave Sarah alone .”
    For a moment Case looked thoughtful.
    â€œWhat if she comes to me again?” he asked.
    â€œIf she does, it wouldn’t be for sex.”
    Case’s left eyebrow rose in a dark arc.
    â€œJust because Sarah is your sister doesn’t mean that she lacks womanly needs,” he said evenly.
    â€œSex?” Conner asked derisively.
    â€œSex,” Case agreed.
    â€œAnything that leaves a woman bloody and whimpering isn’t something she would seek out. Sarah sure didn’t. She ran like hell every chance she got.”
    Case went still. “What?”
    â€œYou heard me.”
    â€œYou think that’s what sex is?”
    â€œIsn’t it?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œThen why do men have to pay women to get it?” Conner asked sardonically.
    â€œNot all men do.”
    The boy shrugged. “So they marry for it. Same thing in the end. The husband pays room and board and the wife suffers his attentions in exchange.”
    Case took a deep breath and blew it out soundlessly. He had no idea where to begin fixing Conner’s sour view of what sex between a man and a woman was all about.
    â€œBig Lola may not be the best example of womanhood to judge sex by,” Case said after a moment.
    â€œShe sure as hell has a lot of experience.”
    â€œOf a kind, yes. But there’s another kind.”
    â€œMarriage?”
    Case thought of Hunter and Elyssa. Their love for each other haunted him even as he avoided any possibility of such emotion for himself.
    â€œLove makes it different,” he said finally.
    â€œUh huh,” Conner said, not convinced.
    â€œIt’s true. When a woman loves a man, she wants him. Physically. There’s no bribery, no threat, no force. Just the kind of loving that makes the sun shine brighter.”
    â€œI haven’t seen anything like that.”
    â€œI haven’t seen Paris but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”
    â€œAre you saying that my sister loves you?”
    The blunt question made Case wish he had never started the conversation.
    â€œI’m not saying anything of the sort,” he muttered.
    â€œSounded like it.”
    Case blew out another breath and tried again.
    â€œA lot of people never know the special kind of love that makes the sun brighter,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy sex with someone they like.”
    For a long time Conner looked at the older man without speaking. Then slowly, subtly, the boy relaxed.
    â€œYou didn’t force Sarah?” he asked.
    â€œNo. And the next time you even hint at such a thing, I will personally whale the living tar out of you.”
    Surprisingly, Conner laughed.
    â€œI’ll bet you would,” the boy agreed. “I’m sorry if I insulted you. I just had to know that Sarah wasn’t being forced by a man again.”
    â€œYou were pretty young when she was married. You might have misunderstood what all the, er, grunting and groaning was about.”
    â€œEven a baby knows the difference between a pat and a fist.”
    Case tried to think of a tactful way to ask his next question.
    He came up empty-handed.
    â€œWasn’t there any tenderness between Sarah and her husband?” he asked