Heart of the Night

by Barbara Delinsky

  Sprawled in the chair with his jaw propped on a fist, he stared at the open doorway and willed Savannah to come through. Court ended at four; Janie told him that she was usually back in the office soon after, though she often ran out again after that. He hoped this wasn’t one of the days when she did the running before the returning.

  By four forty-five, he was sitting straighter in the chair, wondering what in the hell he was doing. He had been married to a lady lawyer. He had spent five lousy years waiting for Elise to be there when he needed her. It had been a brutal experience.

  What he was feeling at that moment, though, was brutal in a different way. Instead of anger and humiliation, he felt loneliness, frustration, and worry. He figured that either he had become a masochist as he aged, or he was just plain crazy.

  Then Savannah came through the door, and it all made sense. The intense concentration on her downcast face, her abrupt halt, and the rise of her eyes to his, the brightening of her features, the dawning smile. He stood but didn’t say a word. His Adam’s apple felt twice its normal size.

  Savannah closed the door behind her and came forward. Softly, she said, “This is the nicest thing that’s happened today.”

  He swallowed hard, and even then his voice sounded thick. “It’s been a tough one?”

  She nodded. “One of my witnesses flubbed up. I doubt the jury will put much stock in his testimony.”

  “Is his testimony crucial?”

  “Not crucial, but important.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Unable to take anything too seriously when she was feeling suddenly light-hearted, she tossed off a mischievous grin. “It’s okay. I’ll just make the rest of my case brilliant enough to compensate.”

  “I’m sure you will,” he said without the mischief. “I almost came to watch you in court.”

  Her grin widened into another smile. “Why didn’t you?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe I thought I’d make you nervous.”

  “I was already nervous.”

  “I can’t believe that.”

  She nodded with deliberate slowness. “You couldn’t have hurt.”

  “I was worried I’d stick out like a sore thumb.”

  Savannah couldn’t imagine him doing that. If anything, he’d make everyone else look like sore thumbs. But she got his point. “You don’t like attracting attention, do you?”

  “No. I’d rather keep a low profile.”

  “You take big chances every time you walk in here, y’know,” she teased softly.

  “Some chances are worth taking.” Sliding the straps of her briefcase from her shoulder, he tossed the briefcase to the chair he’d just left. “I think I’d like a hug now.” Slipping his arms around her, he held her tightly to him.

  Feeling a stunning sense of homecoming, Savannah wrapped her arms around his neck, closed her eyes and sighed at the relief of it all.

  Jared made a low, throaty sound. He tucked her even closer, loving the crush of her body against his. “You smell so good,” he whispered into her hair.

  “Can’t,” she whispered back. “Too long a day.”

  “You do. Of flowers and woman and court.”

  She breathed a giddy laugh. “Musty?”

  “Just a little. With the other two, it’s mighty potent.”

  “So are you.”

  “Musty?”

  “Potent.”

  With the slightest dip of his knees, he lifted her higher against him. He gave a low groan, his mouth by her ear. “I’ve missed you.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Phone calls don’t do it.”

  “I know.”

  He swayed from side to side, and while the motion was gentle, there was a fierceness to his grip. “I’ve tried to stay away, Savannah. I know how busy you are.”

  “It’s been an endless week. I’m glad you came.”

  Setting her down a bit, he raised his head. For a minute he did nothing more than take in the look on her face. Then he covered her mouth with his.

  The knowledge came almost instantaneously. He didn’t need to stroke her lips softly or open them wider or fill her mouth with his tongue, though he did all those things because his hunger was so great. The instant he kissed her he knew.

  The feeling was there, all of it, the heat, the need, the desire. It was as hot and sweet and desperate as it had been on Saturday morning, and as uncontrollable. From a simple kiss came far-ranging cries. The promise of heaven hovered.

  “Is there a lock on that door?” he whispered against her lips. The urgency in his voice was that of his body, and it mirrored hers.

  “Yes, but we can’t—”

  “—do it here?” His mouth was open on her neck. He felt her fingers clutching his hair, and the stinging drove him higher. “Sure we can.”

  Savannah’s insides were buzzing, she wanted him so badly. “But this is my office.”

  He spoke quickly. “We could use the desk, or the chair, or the rug—the rug—we could use the rug.” Cupping her bottom, he ground her hips to his. “The rug—I won’t hurt you—you could get on top.”

  “Jared, my God,” she whispered brokenly, then wailed softly, “I can’t. I can’t. I have a witness waiting for me in the conference room.”

  Jared went utterly still for a minute, then groaned. A small voice in a distant corner of his mind told him he had been through this before, but a louder voice was quick to refute it. He had never wanted Elise this way. Never.

  “I’m sorry,” Savannah said. Her eyes held even a deeper apology, and her hands moved gently in his hair to atone for the discomfort they’d caused. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  He caressed her cheek, brushed his thumb over her lower lip. “When, then?”

  “The weekend?”

  “I can’t wait that long.”

  “Tomorrow night?”

  “Tonight.”

  It sounded wonderful. “But I have to work. My most important witness takes the stand tomorrow.”

  “We can make it late.”

  “But you work then.”

  “We can work around my work. Come to the station as soon as you’re free.”

  “It may not be until ten-thirty or eleven.”

  “That’s okay. Take a cab, and bring an overnight bag with you. I’ll drop you at work in the morning.”

  “Uh, I’ll need a little sleep somewhere along the way.”

  “You can sleep in my bed.”

  “You have a bed at the station?”

  He grinned. “A biggie. I live there. The second and third floors are mine.” Putting a finger under her chin, he closed her mouth. “I have to sleep sometimes myself. Where did you think I lived?”

  “I don’t know—I didn’t—you talked about your boat.”

  “April to November. It’s only March.”

  “Of course.”

  He chuckled. “Of course.” He kissed her again, careful to keep it light this time. When he raised his head, he put his hands safely on her shoulders. “I’ll see you tonight, then?”

  “I’ll try.”

  “Try isn’t good enough.”

  “I’ll make it. I just don’t know what time.”

  “That’s okay, as long as I know you’re coming.”

  “I’ll come.”

  Dipping his head, Jared touched his lips to hers a final time, but he did it so lightly and with such sweet promise that, without thinking, she opened her mouth for more. He ran the tip of his tongue over her lips, then her teeth, then pulled back.

  “I’ll be waiting,” he said in a husky tone that was more intimate than any he used on the air. Then he left.

  For the duration of the afternoon and evening, Savannah held the memory of that intimate tone inside her. She thought of it often, and each time she did, she grew warm. At one point, Arnie even asked if she was feeling all right.

  “You look a little—I don’t know—flushed.”

  “I’m fine,” she said, adding a new blush t
o what he’d already seen. She tried to keep her mind on track, particularly after that, but she couldn’t get through the evening fast enough.

  Unfortunately, when she was on trial, her out-of-court hours had to be used not only for preparing the next day’s agenda, but taking care of matters relating to other cases she was handling. It wasn’t until eleven-thirty, when she was nearly frantic to get away, that she finally managed to escape.

  As Jared had suggested, she took a cab, and it was a good thing. If she’d driven, she’d surely have been stopped for speeding, or running a stop sign, or driving up a curb. She felt impatient and eager, more so than she had ever been for a date in her life.

  Not that this was just a date like any other. She had never done what she was doing now.

  When she rang the bell at the large Victorian house, Jared answered the door. He wore the same sweater and slacks he’d had on earlier. As clothing went, the outfit was tame. There was nothing tame about the look in his eye.

  Without a word, he framed her face with his hands and gave her a long and thorough kiss. That was all it took for the level of desire to soar to where it had been that afternoon. Grabbing her hand, he made for the front stairs. She had to trot to keep up, particularly when he began taking the stairs two at a time, but she didn’t mind. She was brimming with the same excitement, the same impatience and need.

  He didn’t stop at the first landing, but continued on up a second flight of stairs. At the top of that was a single door, opening into a single, large room. In most Victorian homes, it would have been the attic. In this one, it was Jared’s suite.

  Savannah had neither the time nor the inclination just then to explore it. Having kicked the door shut, Jared was kissing her again, and while he did that, he was taking off whatever of her clothes he could.

  She helped him. Only when she was naked did they turn their joint attention to his sweater and slacks—at least, she thought their attention was mutual, but he kept interrupting the task to touch her, to stroke her breasts or brush her nipples or splay his hand on her stomach and lower. And each time he touched her, she lost track of what she was doing. She had to struggle to focus again when he resumed the task himself.

  It seemed forever until he was nude, but that was forgotten the instant their bodies touched. Foreplay was unnecessary. Jared was hard, and Savannah was wet. Neither of them had the presence of mind to do anything but complete the joining they had been thinking about since that afternoon.

  Crossing her ankles at the small of his back, Savannah arched into his thrusts. They came hard and fast, seeming to defy the limits of her body with their depth. Spontaneously, she lifted her head and scraped his nipple with her teeth. His reaction was every bit as spontaneous and feral. She cried out, then sucked back the same breath with the stunning force of her release. Seconds later, Jared surged into a breathtaking climax of his own.

  “Jesus,” he breathed between gasps as he sank down on top of her seconds later. “Jeeesus.”

  Unable to help herself, and as breathless as he, she laughed. “You’re incredible!”

  “Look who’s talking. I open my front door and you attack me.”

  “Me?”

  He didn’t allow her to argue, but kissed her silent, then rolled over and drew her to his side. For several minutes, neither of them spoke. Slowly, their breathing returned to normal.

  Then Jared, who was usually restrained regarding his feelings toward women, blurted out, “I can’t believe you’re here.”

  “I’m not quite sure what here is.” Lifting her head from his chest, Savannah looked around. The room was done in navy and cream, very sleek, very modern, very masculine. “Nice. I like the skylights.”

  “Me, too. Not great for sleeping, though. Do you know what it’s like to have sun pouring in through the skylights in the middle of what’s supposed to be your night?”

  She looked at him, caught the twinkle in his eyes. “Poor baby.”

  “No sympathy?”

  She shook her head. “That’s what you get for working at night. Why do you do it, anyway?”

  “I like it. It’s quiet, peaceful. Usually the worst DJs or the newest are stuck with it. I chose it.”

  Given the fact that, as owner, he could choose any shift he wanted, Savannah had to admit that he wasn’t simply making light of a bad situation. “I wish you didn’t have it tonight.”

  “It won’t be a problem.”

  “If you’re down there, you can’t be up here.”

  “So you’ll come down there.”

  Levering herself up, she looked at him seriously. “I’m on trial. I may not need much sleep, but I do need some. Especially now.”

  “You’ll get as much as you want. You can stay with me until you get tired, then come back up here. I’ll join you at six.”

  “Just when I’ll be getting up. I have to be in the office by seven-thirty tomorrow morning.”

  Jared didn’t particularly like the sound of that, but at least he would be able to watch her dress. Then he frowned and shot a glance at the door. “Where’s your bag?”

  “I didn’t bring one,” she said, feeling vaguely foolish. “I came straight from the office.” She scowled, wanting to blame Jared but fearing the fault was her own. “I was in such a rush to get over here that I couldn’t stop home.”

  “Are you sorry?”

  “It would have been more convenient if I’d had my things.”

  That wasn’t what worried him. “Are you sorry about the rush—the urgency?”

  Savannah didn’t have to think about it for long. The scowl vanished, her features softened. “No,” she said. She kissed his chest, then did it again because his skin smelled so good. Then she propped her chin on a hand there and met his gaze. “The urgency’s a little scary. I’ve never felt anything like it before. But it feels good. I’m not sorry.”

  “Good,” he said hoarsely. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Good. Because I’m not. And I’ve never felt it before either, Savannah. You know that, don’t you?”

  Just as she nodded, the telephone rang. Jared glanced at the nightstand clock. “Shit.” Reaching across her, he picked up the phone. “Two minutes,” he told Melissa without so much as a hello.

  “That’s about all you’ve got,” Melissa said. “Unless you want me to cover for you for a little while.”

  “Don’t offer. I’m apt to take you up on it.”

  “Want me to stay?”

  He actually considered it for a minute, then said, “Nah. I’ll save it for a time when I’m truly desperate.” He winked at Savannah. “I’ll be down.” In the process of hanging up the phone, he rolled on top of her. “Are you coming down with me?”

  Savannah crinkled her nose. “Maybe I should wait till Melissa leaves.”

  He gave her a look that said the ruse was pointless. “She knows you’re here.” At Savannah’s frown, he added, “No, she doesn’t know what we’ve been doing, and she didn’t see you come in, so if you show up wearing my clothes, she won’t think twice.”

  “She won’t have to,” Savannah muttered.

  Lacing his fingers through hers, Jared stretched her arms high over her head. Bearing his upper weight on his elbows, he looked down at her breasts. “I don’t care if she knows,” he said absently. More attentively, he said, “Your breasts are beautiful.” He lowered his head to kiss first one, then the other. Each kiss sent live wires of heat through Savannah, none of which was helped by the stirring press of his loins.

  “Jared,” she whispered, wanting him again.

  “I have to go.”

  “Go quickly—or don’t go at all.”

  Kissing her lips, he whispered, “I have to go,” and rolled off her and to his feet. She had to console herself with the fact that he was aroused, something that even a fig leaf couldn’t have hidden just then.

  Crossing to a closet, he opened the louver doors and pushed several hangers around until he found what he wanted. He returned to where she
was sitting now on the bed and draped a hunter green flannel shirt around her shoulders. “You’ll look fetching,” he said, but he was quickly searching the room.

  Savannah watched while he located and pulled on the navy briefs he’d taken off such a short time before. She watched him go back to the closet, take out a pair of jeans, and step into them. She watched him pull his sweater over his head and jam his feet into his worn deck shoes.

  By the time he came to her, she was hugging the shirt tightly around her, wondering what a man with Jared’s sex appeal saw in a woman who had bought an extraordinarily sexy teddy and didn’t dare put it on.

  Setting a fist on either side of her, Jared brought his face close to hers. “Coming down?” he asked in the soft, sandy voice that sent tingles along her spine.

  She gave a quick nod. “In a minute.” She touched her hair, which was a mess of escaped tendrils around a spindly knot. “I want to fix myself up.”

  “Don’t fix too much. I like you this way.”

  She made a face in disbelief.

  “I like you this way,” he insisted, with greater feeling this time. He kissed her gently. “Gotta run. Don’t be long.”

  Still hugging the edges of the shirt together, she smiled and shook her head. He strode to the door and looked back at her a final time before heading downstairs.

  It was during that last look when her heart warmed and her senses seemed to reach out that Savannah first suspected she was in love.

  CHAPTER 15

  On Friday morning, Sam took Susan and the Jag to see Matty Stavanovich.

  “You never did say whether this Matty was an authorized repairman,” Susan murmured as Sam helped her from the car. While she didn’t want him to laugh at her again, she did want an answer. The Jag was one of her prized possessions. She felt elegant driving it. When she sat behind its wheel, she was on top of the world. Heads turned. She was in command.

  She didn’t want just anyone fiddling with her car.

  Taking her arm, Sam guided her toward the repair shop’s office. “Matty’s authorized, all right. He also happens to do a damned good job, which is more than I can say for some authorized repairmen.”