by Joss Wood
God, he was a magnificent kisser...
He was also, she dimly realized, brilliant at avoiding the subject. Reluctantly, Alex pulled back and scooted a few inches from him. “Nope, I’m not going to be distracted, Clayton. Talk to me.”
“I always envied you, you know,” Daniel quietly stated. “I know that you lost your parents when you were really young but, God, you had this family that was pretty damn awesome.”
“How would you know that? I mean, thanks to the feud, it’s not like we saw much of each other growing up.”
“Before I came to live with Grandmother full-time, I saw you when I was visiting. At church, at the town parade, the cookout at the community center.” A small smile touched Daniel’s face. “And maybe I saw more of you than I should’ve...”
“Meaning?” Alex demanded.
Daniel lifted one powerful shoulder. “I used to sneak onto Slade land, head for the tree house and watch you and your brother.” He grimaced. “I’m sorry, that sounds creepy as hell, but I was young and, I suppose, lonely. After I moved to The Silver C, I started at school and life became busy and I stopped sneaking onto Slade land.”
“Until the day you came across me in the high meadow. You were trespassing.”
Daniel’s mouth twitched. “I was on Clayton land.”
“You wish you were,” Alex retorted, her voice holding no heat, because how could it? Memories washed over her, as sweet as that summer’s day. They’d started arguing about who was trespassing and before they knew it, they were inching closer and then Daniel grabbed her hips and she his biceps, and their lips touched.
“And then you kissed me.”
“You kissed me,” Alex replied because she was expected to. Soft laughter followed their familiar argument and Alex dropped her forehead to rest it on Daniel’s muscled shoulder. “We loved each other so much, Dan, but it vaporized. I don’t understand how that happened.”
Daniel moved his head so that he could kiss her hair. “You asked me to do the one thing I could not do. You told me that leaving was the only way I could prove my love and that you would only carry on loving me if I did what you asked.”
Alex frowned. “I don’t remember saying that.”
“Trust me, I heard it. And then you made me choose, Alex.”
“And you chose The Silver C.”
“I did.”
His easy agreement hurt, but for the first time since she was eighteen, Alex felt the need to push aside the pain and understand. Daniel wasn’t a guy who was careless with people’s feelings, and she wanted to know and understand what drove him back then.
And now.
She was having a child with the man, so she had the right to try to understand him.
“I have no idea who my father is. He left before I was born, or so my mother said. She also said that he left after I was born, so who the hell knows what’s true? I was raised in apartments, in trailers, in rented rooms and, for one memorable month, a women’s shelter.”
Dan ran his hand through his thick hair, then over his face. This wasn’t easy for him and Alex respected him for opening up.
“Life with my mother was a matter of measuring the depth of the trouble and debt we were in—sometimes it was nose-deep and we were about to drown, and sometimes it was only ankle-deep. But it was always there...and she created most of it.”
Alex kept her eyes on his face, scared to move in case he had second thoughts and stopped talking. She schooled her features because she knew that sympathy would make him clam up as quickly as inane platitudes would.
Stay still, don’t breathe and just listen, Slade.
“When Stephanie tired of me or couldn’t cope, she’d send me to Grandmother at The Silver C. Or my grandmother would ask to have me. Either way, she had to pay to have me at The Silver C. I once tried to work out how much she paid my mom and I stopped counting after fifty thousand dollars.”
A low whistle escaped.
“Yeah, my mom was a piece of work,” Daniel said, his voice steady and unemotional. But Alex could see the pain in his eyes and noticed the tiniest tremble in his bottom lip. His mother’s lack of maternal instinct and his father’s lack of interest still had the power to hurt him, Alex realized.
“So yeah, I watched you and seeing you with your family, with Sarah, I was envious of how much you were loved. How secure you felt.” Daniel placed his hand on her thigh and skimmed the tips of his fingers across her knee. “That summer, I know that you argued with Gus, with Sarah—you were angry with them so often.”
Of course she’d been angry with them, as well as with Daniel. She loved him, he loved her, they wanted to be together and they were being kept apart because of a stupid feud. At eighteen, it had been all about her and what she wanted, and to hell with anyone else.
Ashamed of herself, Alex lifted her hand and gently touched Daniel’s jaw. “Why did you let me leave, Dan? Why did you let me go?”
“You needed to go and I needed to stay.” Daniel lifted his hand to rub the back of his neck. “Grandmother wanted me to stay, to learn about The Silver C. It was going to be mine someday and I needed to learn the ropes. I assumed that leaving with you meant risking the land, my job, my inheritance.”
Alex jerked back, angry. “She said that?”
“No, you’re not listening. I said I assumed that. The truth was, I didn’t want to leave Royal. I felt safe there—welcomed, protected.”
“And I asked you to leave it, to risk it.”
“In hindsight, I know that I used my assumption of my grandmother disinheriting me and her displeasure as an excuse, but I couldn’t tell you that I—”
“That you loved The Silver C more than you loved me.”
Daniel started to deny her words but then stopped talking and shook his head. “I don’t know, Lex. Maybe. All I know for sure was that I didn’t want to leave. But neither did I want to let you go. I was so hurt, confused, unable to tell you what I was feeling.”
“And I wanted you to make the grand gesture, to prove that you loved me,” Alex admitted hoarsely.
“Stephanie did that, all the time. If I did x, I loved her. If I did y, I didn’t. As a child I was constantly reassuring her of how much I loved her, tying myself up in a knot trying to please her. After I went to live with Grandmother, I swore I’d never allow anyone to use love as a weapon against me again.”
And by linking his love to his actions, she’d done precisely that. Ironically, the one thing she needed was the very thing her couldn’t give her. What a mess.
Alex closed her eyes, trying to keep the tears away. “We were so young, Dan, dealing with feelings far beyond our comfort zone.”
“And a raging attraction. It was like God gave the keys to a Formula 1 car to an eight-year-old. We were bound to crash and burn.”
Alex touched her stomach and gave him a wry grin. “And it’s happening again.”
Daniel pushed his hand under hers so that his palm lay across her stomach. He placed his lips against her temple before drawing back. “The one thing I know we can handle is our attraction to each other. We can be friends and lovers, Lex. Trust me on this.”
He sounded so sure, but Alex was still convinced that that toxic combination had the potential to blow up and rip them apart. Alex made the mistake of looking into those eyes—more umber than chocolate tonight—and saw need and desire swirling within those dark depths. She felt herself yielding, relinquishing her grip on common sense.
I’m exposing myself—I know that I am—but Daniel needs me.
And God knew, Alex needed him. Because here, right now, Daniel was silently telling her that he chose her, that he wanted her in his arms, in his bed.
No, he more than wanted her—he craved her.
As she did him.
Alex leaned forward and stroked the pad of her thumb over his lower lip
. “Take me to bed, Dan.”
She heard his sigh of relief and then his body tensed again. “Are you sure? You said this wasn’t a good idea.”
She lifted her shoulders and let them drop. “It isn’t. We haven’t found a long-term solution, and we should do that, but not tonight, not right now.”
Daniel followed her to her feet and loosely held her hips. “What do you want us to do tonight, Lex?”
“I want you to love me, Dan. As only you can.”
Eight
Instead of entering the house, Daniel led Alex down the deck and into the master bedroom, through the open sliding doors.
At the foot of the bed, he stopped and cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs tenderly stroking her cheekbones. In this dark room containing shadows and secrets, Daniel realized that right here, right now, for as long as it may last, they were about to reignite their love affair.
There had never been anyone else like her, no one who captured his imagination as thoroughly as Alexis Slade did. Whether she was lying in a meadow, hair in two plaits, or standing on a stage, raising money for a worthwhile cause, or lying on his bed, she entranced him.
He wished he could say otherwise but that was what Alex did. Entranced and ensnared. How was he ever going to let her go?
But that was the problem for Royal. Here, he wasn’t a Clayton with commitment issues and she wasn’t a scared Slade. They were Dan and Lex, lovers.
“God, you are so beautiful, Alexis.”
Alex smiled at the use of her full name; she knew he only used it when he was overcome by strong emotion. Unable to wait another moment to taste her, Dan dropped his head and, not trusting himself to go caveman on her, gently touched his lips to the corner of her mouth. Such sexy lips, he thought. He wanted them on his, moving over his skin, wrapped around his—
No, if he went there now, before he’d even started, he’d lose it. No, tonight was about Alex and how best he could show her how much he lov—adored her.
Alex released a long sigh. “Daniel. The way you make me feel...”
Daniel dropped his hands to caress her neck and sighed when her tongue traced the seam of his lips, asking for entrance. His small release of air allowed her to slip inside to touch his tongue, and he was lost—control was vanquished. Daniel released a deep groan and he placed his hands on her hips and boosted her up, grateful when her legs locked around his hips, bringing her hot core against his harder, desperate dick. Wrenching his mouth off hers, he sucked in a breath, telling himself to calm down, that they had all night, that this wasn’t a onetime deal. He had time tonight, tomorrow and the day after next.
Would it be enough?
Would forever be enough?
And why was he thinking of forever if this was just flash-in-the-pan lust?
“Lean back, Lex,” Daniel growled. Frustrated with himself, he pulled her shirt up her body.
“Let me help.” Alex whipped her shirt off and unsnapped the front clasp of her bra, allowing the lacy garment to drop to the floor and his mouth to close around one watermelon-pink nipple. Laving it with his tongue, he pulled back to blow on the puckered bud, smiling as he noticed her tan line, the darker and white flesh. Alex groaned and pushed his head toward her other breast, and he was happy to lavish attention on that bud, as well. It gave him time to lecture his dick, to remind it to go slow, to take it easy.
This was about Lex; it would only ever be about Lex.
Daniel lowered Alex to the bed and bent over her to tug her jeans apart, to pull the battered fabric down her hips and over her pretty toes. Running a hand down her long thigh and shapely calf, he blew on her aqua-lace-covered mound, pleased at her aroused scent—sex and sea and sun. Two cords held the triangle in place and Daniel’s impatience had his thumbs and fingers gripping the cord and twisting, easily snapping the thin fabric. He pulled the fabric away from her and stared down at her.
“You’re pretty and perfect. And mine, Lexi. Right now, tonight, you’re mine.”
He saw her gasp of surprise, caught the flash of pleasure in her eyes.
Standing up, Daniel whipped his shirt off, pushed down his board shorts and looked down at his lover, the mother of his child, the woman who’d slid under his skin at eighteen and whom he’d never been able to dislodge.
Mine. Only mine.
Daniel looked at her face, expecting her attention to be on him, and he frowned when he noticed that she was looking past him. If she’d changed her mind, he’d punch a hole through that expensive wooden screen that separated the bedroom from the bathroom. Replacing it would cost him an arm and leg, but it would be worth it.
Daniel pressed his forehead against hers. “Lex? Do you want to stop?”
Instead of replying to his question, Lexi placed her hand on her heart and sat up. When she finally looked at him, Daniel realized that he could see the moon in her eyes.
Literally. The moon was in her eyes.
He turned slowly and his mouth dropped in astonishment. The moon was as wide as the sky and he thought that if he leaned off the deck, he could run his hand across its silvery surface.
It was blue and aqua and silver and white...and absolutely magnificent.
“Daniel, it’s so lovely.”
He looked back at Lexi and slowly shook his head. The moon couldn’t hold a candle to her. She was more radiant, more entrancing than any Caribbean moon hanging outside their bedroom window.
He ran his hand over her shoulder, his finger burning when it met her sun-touched skin. “I need you, Lex.”
Lexi smiled and his heart spun in his chest like a damn prima ballerina. “Can I have you and the moon?” she asked, her eyes darting from him to the view outside.
He touched her nipple and rolled it between his fingers, his erection swelling when her eyes clouded with desire. Then Lexi’s hand encircled him and the world stopped turning. He felt a tremor shoot him and told himself that he couldn’t plunge... He had to hold still.
Lexi’s voice was soft but sure. “I want you and the moon, Dan.”
Since his brain didn’t operate without blood, which was plunging south, Daniel shook his head to indicate his confusion.
Lexi kneeled and sent him a sultry smile. “Come behind me, Daniel. I want you to hold me, cover me, envelop me, make me scream. And I want to watch the moon while we do that. It’s going to be a memory I’ll always treasure.”
Daniel moved to kneel behind her, his hands stroking the length of her back before placing his hand on her stomach to pull her back, to tilt her hips up. Wrapping his arms around her, he slowly entered her, his eyes burning at the sheer perfection of this moment. His completing her completed him.
He moved, slow, sexy movements that raised them up and up, closer to that silver orb hanging in the sky. His every sense was amplified: he heard the wind in the trees and the waves hitting the sand. Lexi’s smallest whimper, her sighs of pleasure, were loud in his ears. Her scent filled his nose and when she turned her neck to find his mouth, he caught her eyes and they were an intense shade of touched-with-moonlight blue.
Lodged deep inside her, Daniel felt the rush of warmth, felt her contract and allowed himself to caress the moon and grab the stars.
* * *
In the Royal Diner, Gus looked up from his biscuits and gravy and into Amanda Battle’s lovely face. The owner of the diner was one of his favorite people and he stood up to drop a kiss onto her cheek. “Good morning, beautiful.”
Amanda laughed. “Should you be flirting with me now that you are married, Gus Slade?”
“Just stating a fact, ma’am.” Gus took his seat again and sent a grinning Rose a wink. How wonderful it was to see his wife relaxed and smiling, happy in her skin. He’d done that, Gus thought, feeling proud. He’d made her glow from the inside out.
Amanda turned to Rose and bussed his wife’s cheek with her own. �
�It’s so nice to see you, Miss Rose. Congratulations on your wedding. I’m so happy for you.”
Rose thanked Amanda for her kind words and for refilling her coffee cup. Amanda passed the carafe of coffee on to a passing waitress and tipped her head to the side. “So, the latest gossip is that you two sent your grandkids off on a honeymoon in your place? Are you crazy? Do you know how beautiful Galloway Cove is?”
Rose poured some cream into her coffee. “Those two are like two mules fighting over a turnip.”
Amanda laughed at Rose’s pithy saying. “Have you heard from them?”
“They managed to find a computer and have been in contact.” Gus finished his breakfast and wiped his lips with his napkin. “They both sent us polite, gentle thank-you notes—”
Amanda swatted his shoulder. “They did not!”
“No, they didn’t,” Gus admitted. “But neither have they, after three days, called to be picked up or, as far as we know, killed each other.”
“They might kill us when they get back, though,” Rose said, wrinkling her nose.
“They’ll work it out,” Amanda assured her. “Or at the very least, they might be mad for a while, but they’ll come around. You’re family and they love you.”
Amanda turned at the sound of her chime and Gus followed her gaze to the front door. Amanda frowned at the tall, well-built man entering the diner, his sharp business suit at odds with the rest of the customers’ more casual attire. Amanda turned her back on him and looked at Rose. “Miss Rose? That man—do you know him?”
Rose leaned to the side to look at the Latino man and Gus saw the flare of appreciation in her eyes. Yeah, yeah, he was good-looking, but she wore his ring now.
“Rosie...” he warned.
Rose flashed him an impudent grin and turned her attention back to Amanda. “He looks a bit familiar, but no, I don’t know him. Why?”
“He was in here the other day, looking for you. I think someone gave him directions to The Silver C.”
