“David!” Tanya chastised, appalled.
Holding his hands up, Justin retorted, “That’s okay. I know when I’m not wanted.”
“We’d love to have you join us, wouldn’t we?” she insisted, ignoring the flare of irritation in David’s eyes. Justin had spent the entire day taking care of her. The least David could do was show his gratitude.
“No, no, that’s okay.” Moving closer, Justin chuckled and took her hand. “Actually, I have plans tonight. I was just harassing this guy,” he admitted. “I enjoyed spending the day with you. I have a feeling I’ll be seeing more of you.” Then, as if to stoke David’s annoyance, he leaned close and kissed her cheek.
Smiling, Tanya watched him leave. When Justin closed the door behind him, she confronted David. “That was rude.”
“Why? Because I wanted you to myself? Believe me, Justin knew exactly what he was doing.”
She crossed her arms in front of her. “Which was what?” She couldn’t wait to hear this.
“Justin thought he was being amusing inviting himself along.”
“I thought he was just being friendly.”
“He knew I wanted to be alone with you.”
“Oh.” Tanya’s heart tripped over itself at the possessive look in David’s eyes. She didn’t resist when he tugged her to him. “To do what?” she asked, her voice husky.
“This.” His lips came down on hers. He ran the tip of his tongue around her teeth, then deepened the kiss, angling his mouth on hers. Her arms went around his neck and she moved closer, pressing herself against him.
His hand found her breast. With a moan, she broke off the kiss. “I don’t think this is a good idea.” But even as she said the words, she boldly slid her hand below his waist and stroked him through his slacks. He was hard, and knowing she could do that to him with just a kiss sent a wave of desire through her. “Someone could come in at any moment,” she whispered against his mouth as he continued kissing her.
Of course, she thought with a touch of arrogance, if it was Jessica, she wouldn’t mind so much. She wanted the woman to know that David wasn’t available.
“I’m the boss,” he told her, kissing his way down her throat. “No one will come in. We’ll go into the other room and lock the door.”
“Your assistant has a key to that room,” Tanya said, remembering when Jessica had taken it from her desk. Still, she arched her back as he unbuttoned her blouse and ran his tongue along the edge of her bra.
“She won’t use it.” He stopped long enough to take her hand and tug her into the small room off of his office. “Besides, it’s getting late. Everyone will be leaving soon.” After shutting the door and locking it, he backed her toward the sofa. His mouth came down on hers, drinking her in.
“She has a thing for you, you know,” Tanya said, lifting her lips from his.
David stopped in the process of unfastening her bra, leaving it hanging loosely around her breasts. “What?”
“Jessica,” she said, her tone sharper than she had intended. “She wants you.”
His mouth quirked up as he loosened his tie and removed his shirt. What Tanya was suggesting wasn’t true. He’d known Jessica for a long time, and he knew she prided herself on guarding his time. Maybe Tanya had mistaken his assistant’s protective manner for something else entirely. Jessica was a striking woman, but he wasn’t attracted to her, never had been. “What makes you think that?” The spark of jealousy in Tanya’s eyes pleased him.
Tanya watched him undress and gasped when he began unbuckling his belt. “Well, for one thing, she was very distant to me when she brought me in here.”
He brushed her mouth with his. “Oh,” he answered, his tone making it sound as if what she’d said made no sense at all.
“And I’ve seen the way she looks at you.” She frowned at his amused expression. “I’m not kidding.” Leaning back, she stared into his eyes. “Has she been here with you before?”
After slipping her blouse from her shoulders, he removed her bra, leaving her standing half-naked in front of him. Unable to resist, he touched her breast, then stroked her nipple with his thumb. “You mean like this?” he asked softly.
Tanya nodded and a lump formed in her throat. It was logical that he’d known other women before her, but she just couldn’t stand the idea of making love with him in that room if he’d been intimate there with someone else.
He bent down and took her breast into his mouth, sucking it gently before straightening and looking into her eyes. “What if she has?” he asked bluntly. “Would you be jealous?” As he waited for her answer, he molded her breasts with his hands.
She swallowed hard. “Yes,” she admitted quietly, then her lids lowered slightly as she began to succumb to the intense pleasure of his touch.
Though her reply was everything he’d hoped for, her admission floored him. David met her gaze. “I’ve never been intimate with her here or anyplace else.” Pulling Tanya against him, he whispered, “You’re the woman I want. Right here. Right now.”
Forever his mind whispered, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the word out loud. He couldn’t take the chance and admit that she was all he’d thought about, that she was the only woman he ever wanted.
If he did, and she ever walked away, he’d be devastated. He couldn’t allow himself to fall in love with her.
Driven by desire, he lowered her to the sofa and stroked her body as he kissed her mouth. He unfastened her slacks and slid them down her thighs, removing them along with her shoes as he kissed her belly. His fingers brushed dangerously close to the most sensitive part of her body, and her hips moved against them.
Tanya moaned with pleasure. He wanted her.
Only her.
Hearing him admit his feelings gave her hope that one day he’d feel something more for her. That feeling of foreboding she’d had when she’d first arrived disappeared as her hopes escalated. Maybe one day he would love her.
Maybe he already did and he didn’t even know it.
He caressed her between her legs, and she gasped, forgetting everything except the erotic explosion his touch ignited. The experience of him touching her so intimately stole her breath. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying out. “Please, David, please, make love to me,” she whispered.
David shed his pants and shoes, then eased himself over her. She opened her thighs to him, and he thrust himself deep inside of her. He groaned as she took him, her hips moving in rhythm with his. With a sense of awareness he’d never experienced before, he watched her, how her eyes filled with rapture as he quickened the rhythm of their lovemaking. How her breath came in harsh pants, and how, with each stroke, she tightened her arms around him. When she cried out, he covered her mouth and swallowed the sound of her moans as she reached the peak of ecstasy. He thrust faster and harder, burying himself inside her. At his own release, he admitted the truth to himself. He’d done more than just make love to her.
He’d allowed himself to fall in love with her.
The phone rang. As she reached for the extension on the nightstand, Tanya yawned and opened her eyes. “Hello?” She was surprised when she recognized the voice on the line. “Oh, hi, Justin. Hold on for just a moment, and I’ll get him.” She didn’t have to go far. David was lying right beside her, in his bed, in his Atlanta apartment.
She rolled over to wake him, but when she looked at his face, she found him watching her. Her heart melted. With each moment they spent together, her love for him was growing stronger. And she was powerless to stop it.
“Good morning,” she murmured with a smile. “It’s for you.”
David took the phone from her, but before he answered it, he leaned over and kissed her neck as his hand slid to her breast.
Closing her eyes, Tanya moaned softly, then realized that she’d forgotten the phone. “Stop it!” she whispered. Her face reddened, but her body thrummed with pure pleasure under his sensual touch.
David infuriated her further by chuckl
ing. Then he whispered, “Go back to sleep. I’ll take it downstairs.” Balancing the phone with his shoulder, he slipped into the slacks he’d taken off the previous night, then zipped them as he walked barefoot out of the room.
Tanya lay on her side and watched him disappear through the door. After making love with him in his office, they’d come to his condo to shower and change their clothes. David had taken her out to dinner, then they’d returned to his place, where they’d spent the rest of the evening in bed.
As David had assured her, by the time they’d left the office, everyone else had gone, including Jessica. Even though David had said that no would disturb them, Tanya was sure that his assistant had known exactly what they were doing behind those locked doors.
She blushed just thinking about how they’d made love in David’s office as she glanced around his bedroom. Located near his work, his home was in a high-rise complex. His condo was classy, roomy and surprisingly comfortable. Spacious rooms and luxurious furnishings filled his apartment. The bathroom, with a spa tub and separate shower, was larger than ones she’d seen in fancy homes on television.
Still, the entire apartment lacked the coziness that always offered her comfort at the plantation. That David considered Atlanta his home and felt perfectly comfortable here in this apartment spoke volumes about him. He was used to the finer things in life, not the hard, physical work of the plantation.
Her stomach growled. Rather than wait for him to come back to bed, she got up, thinking she’d make them breakfast while he was on the telephone. Spotting his shirt, she slipped it on and buttoned it up. It covered her to the tops of her thighs, and she felt presentable enough to move around the house.
She was walking down the hall when she heard David’s voice. Realizing that he was on the phone in the kitchen, she stopped in the hall, not wanting to interrupt him. Though she hadn’t intended on listening to his conversation, when she heard him mention Cottonwood, she stilled. Her curiosity kept her feet planted to the floor. David’s voice was clear and terse as he spoke to Justin.
“Because I have no choice.” After a few moments of silence, he spoke again, this time his voice lower and much more succinct. “I made that clear from the start. My plans haven’t changed.”
Tanya’s breath got trapped in her lungs.
Because I have no choice.
She’d known all along that David was staying at Cottonwood out of necessity, not because he wanted to be there. Why had she let herself believe a week had changed anything?
I made that clear from the start. My plans haven’t changed.
Dizziness overcame her as she struggled to make her way back to the bedroom. She was a fool. Though she’d told herself that he could change, that maybe one day he would grow to love the plantation and want to make it his home, she’d been wrong. His feelings for Cottonwood went only as deep as his desire to keep the plantation in his family.
And his feelings for her? Her gaze fell on the rumpled bed. He desired her. Pure and simple, he desired her. And he’d never once led her to believe anything permanent would come from their relationship. If she’d hoped David would fall in love with her, she needed to face reality. That wasn’t going to happen.
On the verge of tears, Tanya sat on the edge of the bed, her heart aching. Would his desire for her be enough for her to live with? She’d loved him practically from the moment she’d first seen him, when she’d been a lost teenager trying to find her way in a new and scary place.
All those years ago, when he’d walked away from her, she’d been hurt, but it had been the kind of misery she’d been able to live with. Could she spend the next year making love with him, knowing in her heart that he would be leaving her and returning to his life here in Atlanta?
Before she could think of what she should do, David strolled back into the room. Glancing at him, she swallowed past the lump in her throat and found the courage to speak. “Is everything all right? Do you have to go to the office?”
David’s gaze drifted over her, noticing the tightness in her features. He was beginning to recognize her moods, knew when she was angry or worried or sad. He wondered if something had upset her in the few minutes he’d been on the phone. But he couldn’t think of what. “No. Justin’s going to take care of what I needed to do this morning.” At her frown, he asked, “Are you okay?”
She gave him a smile that didn’t quite make it to her eyes. “I’m fine. I guess I should shower and change so we can pack.”
He didn’t miss the catch in her voice when she spoke. Something was definitely wrong. “There’s no rush. We have plenty of time. Thanksgiving isn’t until tomorrow.”
Avoiding his gaze, Tanya stood and gathered some clothes to take into the bathroom. “I know, but I’m anxious to go home.”
“You sure you’re okay?” Despite her assurances, he didn’t miss the trace of tears in her eyes. Massaging her shoulder with his hand, he asked, “Did you have a bad dream after I got up?”
Tanya forced herself to meet his gaze. “Yes,” she lied. It was then that she realized she hadn’t had a dream last night. How strange, she thought. She’d begun to believe that her memory could be returning, and last night she hadn’t had even a hint of a dream.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“What?” She looked at him, her expression perplexed. “Um, no.” Stepping away, she disengaged herself from him. “I’m okay. Just a bit shaken.” That was the truth. It just didn’t have anything to do with a dream.
“Go ahead and shower, then. Maybe you’ll feel better.”
Tanya took a quick shower, anxious to get home, where she could be by herself. She needed to think about what, if anything, she should do about her relationship with David. When she came back into the room, she was practically dressed. “Your turn,” she said, making an effort to keep her voice even.
David headed for the bathroom, then stopped beside her and kissed her. Her eyelids drifted shut as his mouth moved on hers. Despite the warning to her heart, she slipped her hands up to his chest and sank into his kiss, greedy for every moment she could have with him. She’d known she was taking a risk when she’d become involved with David. He put his arms around her and drew her tighter against his body. Heat flared quickly inside her, ignited by his nearness, by his mouth possessing hers.
“You smell wonderful,” he rasped, and his mouth moved to her throat.
“David,” she whispered, knowing that if she didn’t stop kissing him, they’d end up in bed. She placed her hands against his chest, could feel the rapid beat of his heart. “Your shower,” she prompted, her breathing uneven. “We need to leave shortly.”
“I know,” he said, then kissed her mouth again.
When he lifted his head, she licked her lips, tasting him, and it made her want him even more. Still, she wanted to go home. To Cottonwood. Where she felt safe. “I’ll be ready by the time you’re finished.”
He nodded, then stepped away and disappeared into the bathroom.
Tears stung her eyes as she began packing her clothes. What was she going to do? What could she do? She loved him. But she realized the hopelessness of her situation.
David didn’t love her.
He never would.
Ten
Holding back the curtain, Tanya stared out the dining room window at the bare trees that lined the long driveway to the main house. Paralleling her gloomy mood, Thanksgiving Day had arrived with a dark, overcast sky. A chill swept through her that had nothing to do with the crisp weather outside. She’d been looking forward to this day, to spending it with David. Now that it had arrived, she felt a vague sense of uneasiness, an anxiety that she couldn’t explain. Lately, nothing in her life had gone right.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She’d fulfilled her dream of being with David, of lying in his arms and making love with him.
But at what price? her mind whispered. At the price of your heart?
Yes. That was a done deal.
She c
lenched her bottom lip with her teeth and sighed, wishing with all her heart that he loved her as well. Though he’d been attentive and loving toward her since they’d arrived home, he’d never once whispered words of love to her.
Tanya knew better than to expect him to, but the yearning of her heart wasn’t so easy to control. Though she knew that David had been hurt in the past, first by Edward, and later by his ex-fiancée, Melanie, she still wanted him to love her, to ask her to stay at Cottonwood with him forever.
And wasn’t that the stuff fairy tales were made of? Wishes and dreams?
As she turned from the window, the painting hanging over the large, cherry buffet caught her attention. Edward had told her that, as a present for David’s mother, he’d hired an artist to paint Cottonwood shortly after they’d married. The artist had perfectly caught the architecture of the house and grounds, painting it in warm hues of color, capturing its soul in a hauntingly still image.
Everything she loved about it.
But no matter how she felt about this house, David could never be happy here. She knew that now. For him, there were too many unhappy memories, memories he seemed unable to let go.
Even for her.
She really couldn’t blame him; she even understood why. As a child, he’d felt rejected by his father, and he’d never recovered from it.
She’d seen how dynamic and intense he could be when discussing a business deal with Justin or on a telephone conference with a client.
That man was the real David Taylor. Atlanta was the life he’d yearned for when he’d left here. He’d worked hard to build a lucrative business. He was doing what he was meant to do.
David had never planned on returning to Cottonwood or being forced to live here. His feelings for her hadn’t altered his plans.
Their affair had only complicated things between them. No matter how much it hurt her, she had to face that simple truth—she would have to leave Cottonwood. She couldn’t live here with him, not without continuing their relationship. And continuing to live here with him, making love with him, would only cause her more pain in the end. The longer she stayed, the harder it would be when he walked away and returned to Atlanta.
Terms 0f Surrender (Dynasties: The Danforths Book 11) Page 11
