She studied his profile. Nothing there. He looked as formidable as he had the first time she'd ever seen him. Just as handsome, too, she thought wistfully.
He glanced down and saw that wistfulness and one eyebrow went up. He looked at her openly now, from her forehead down to her mouth and back up to her eyes. "You're thinner. I've been cruel to you, Fay. Give me a chance to put things right."
"By making me pregnant?" she asked with pretended lightness.
"If it's what you want, yes. If not, we can put if off for a few years. You're still very young, little one. You might like to go to college or do some traveling before you get tied down with children."
"I've already done my traveling, and I don't want to go to college. I have a nice job already."
"You can resign from that," he said. "You don't need it."
She stared at him for a long moment, until he scowled. "Actually," she confessed, "I'm afraid I do."
"If you just want a way to get out of the house..."
She rested her cool fingers atop the lean hand that was propped on his jean-clad knee. "Donavan, I'm not exactly going to inherit a fortune."
"Yes, I know. Henry said you'll only get about a third, when it's all wrapped up. It doesn't matter," he said doggedly, averting his face. "I don't give a damn what people think anymore. I don't know now why I ever did. I'm not like my father. I married you for Jeffs sake, not because I stood to gain a fortune."
She felt the impact of that statement down to her toes. If only he'd married her for love of her. She sighed, audibly.
He tilted her face up to his. "What a wistful little sound," he said quietly. "You don't like thinking that I only married you for Jeff. You liked it even less when you thought it was for money."
"It doesn't bother me," she lied.
"Sure it does," he countered quietly. "I wanted you," he said softly. "You knew that already, I imagine."
"Yes."
"You wanted me back. I didn't have to coerce you into my bed. You came willingly."
She flushed and looked down at the lean fingers that slowly wrapped around hers in a close embrace. "It was new and...exciting."
"More than just exciting, I think, little one." His voice was soft, deep, sensual. "I lost you for a few seconds just as I fulfilled you. It made me feel pretty good to know I could give you that much pleasure."
"As you said," she swallowed, "you've had a lot of experience."
"I've had a lot of bodies," he said with faint cynicism. "Just that, Fay, a lot of bodies in the dark. I went through the motions and learned the right moves. But it was nothing like what I had with you, even on our wedding night, when my hands were all but tied. I knew then that it was more than physical attraction. But I knew it for certain when I put you on that plane to Florida and let you walk away from me. I didn't sleep all night, for thinking how cruel I’d been. You loved Tessie, and I’d given you no comfort, no support at all. I’m sorry for that. I owed you more than that."
"You owed me nothing," she told him dully. "We got married for Jeff, that's all."
His free hand spread against her soft cheek and lifted her face. "Haven't you been listening to me at all?" he asked softly.
"Yes," she said nervously. "You've got me on your conscience."
"Fay, listen with your heart, not your ears," he replied. He searched her face with eyes that adored it "Can't you see it? Can't you feel it? Fay, can't you put your mouth on mine and taste it...?"
He pulled her lips under his and kissed her with such tenderness that she felt her body ripple with sheer pleasure.
His tongue probed inside her mouth, increasing the heat, making her moan. While he built the kiss, he lifted and turned her, so that she was lying completely in his arms, pressed close against the heat of his muscular chest.
Unseen, his lean hand eased inside her shirt and began to trace the warm, taut contours of her breast until he made the nipple go hard against his fingers.
He lifted his head minutes later, and looked down at her swollen mouth and dazed eyes before his gaze dropped to the taut nipple so evident under the thin fabric.
"You look as out of control as I feel," he said huskily, his gray eyes pure silver in the daylight. "If we were alone, I wouldn't even bother to strip you. I’d just get the necessary things out of the way and I’d take you like a tornado."
She shivered, pressing her hot face into his throat
"Want it like that?" he whispered at her ear. "Rough and quick and blazing hot?" He glanced over her head at Jeff, who was sprawled in the aisle of the barn playing with the dogs while one of Don-avan's older hands watched him.
Donavan stood up abruptly and put Fay on her feet. Catching the older hand's attention, he indicated that he wanted him to keep an eye on Jeff. The cowhand nodded, grinned and waved. Then Donavan turned back to Fay, his eyes glittery with intent
"Oh...we can't," she faltered as he came toward her and she began backing toward the screen door. "Surely, you were kidding, with Jeff right outside...!"
"Like hell I was kidding," he whispered against her mouth.
He picked her up and carried her straight into his bedroom, pausing just long enough to lock the door before he backed her up against the waist-high vanity and opened the fastening of her jeans.
She gasped and started to protest, but he had her mouth under his, and she couldn't manage speech. She heard the rasp of another zipper, felt him move, and then her jeans slid off her legs. His tongue went roughly into her mouth, in quick, sharp thrusts that were unbelievably arousing.
He lifted her sharply and she felt him suddenly in an intimacy that took her breath. He half lifted her from the vanity, his body levering between her legs while he invaded her with urgent, exquisite mastery. She clung to his neck, feeling the force of his desire with faint awe as she experienced for the first time the unbridled violence of passion.
He wasn't tender, or particularly gentle, but the pleasure that convulsed her was beyond anything he'd given her before. She heard him cry out and felt him tense, then he was heavy in her arms, damp with sweat, trembling faintly from the strength he'd had to exert in the uncomfortable position.
"I like the noises that boil out of you when we make love," he said roughly. "You excite me."
"I can't stop shaking." She laughed shyly.
"Neither can I. We went high this time."
"Yes. Oh, yes!"
He drew back, finally, and looked at her. His face was solemn, his eyes quiet and gentle. He brushed back her damp hair and smiled. "That will have to last us until tonight," he whispered. "Think you can manage?"
"If you can," she teased. His eyes were telling her impossible things, too wonderful for reality. "Am I dreaming?" she asked.
"No, sweetheart. Not at all."
He lifted her, separating his body from hers, and grinned wickedly when she flushed.
"You needn't look so shocked," he chided as he rearranged his own clothing. "Five minutes ago you wouldn't have noticed if we were lying under a table in a restaurant."
"Neither would you!" she accused.
He drew her close and kissed her gently. "That's a fact," he whispered. "God, I love you, Fay."
She stiffened. She couldn't have heard that. She opened her eyes, very wide, and stared at him.
"I haven't given you much reason to believe it, but it's true just the same," he told her quietly. "You're all I want, you and Jeff and however many kids we can have together. If we can't have any, then you and Jeff will more than suffice."
"How long?" she asked gently, desperate now to believe him.
"Since the very first night we met," he replied. "I fought it. God, I did! But in the end, I couldn't do without you. After I made love to you, even light love, I was lost. I knew I'd never be able to let you
go."
"Then I inherited Tessie's money," she began.
"I told you. It doesn't matter. I love you. Do whatever you like with your inheritance."
"In that case," she murmured, "I'll put it in the bank for Jeffs education. It should just about cover college."
"Where are we sending him to college—the Waldorf Astoria?"
She smiled warmly, convinced at last that she was awake and aware. "I only inherit part of the proceeds from the sale of her furniture," she told him, and proceeded to explain where the rest of the money was going.
He was surprised, and frankly pleased, that Fay's inheritance wouldn't amount to very much. "She must have been some kind of lady," he remarked.
"She was. A very special one. My share will just about pay for Jeffs college. Now you know why I wouldn't give up my job. I couldn't afford to."
"Just as well the Ballengers made one for you," he murmured. He sighed heavily. "I guess this means that I'll have to start being, ugh, nice to Cal-houn."
"That wouldn't hurt," she agreed.
"And your uncle," he added irritably.
"Also a nice touch."
He searched her eyes. "I won't reform completely. You know that. I'm exactly what you see. I won't change."
"Neither will I," she replied. "I might get a little rounder eventually, and have a few gray hairs."
"That's okay," he said pleasantly. "I might do that myself." He pulled her closer. "Fay, I'll never be a rich man. But I'll love you, and take care of you when you need it. If we have nothing else, we'll have each other."
She had to fight tears at the tenderness in his deep voice. She kissed him and then reached up and locked her arms gently around his neck. "I haven't said it," she whispered.
"You said it the night you gave yourself to me completely," he replied, surprised. "Don't you remember? You said it over and over again while you were trembling in my arms at the last."
"I must have been half out of my mind. Loving you does that to me," she whispered with her heart in her eyes.
"And to me," he replied. He bent, fusing her mouth with his in a slow, sweet expression of love.
"Uncle Don!" came a loud voice from below the window.
Donavan groaned. "What now?"
He opened the window and looked down. Jeff was waiting with two of Donavan's foreman's sons, both of whom were carrying fishing poles and tackle boxes.
"Please?" he pleaded with his uncle. "I haven't gotten to go fishing since the last time you took me. I'll bring home supper, honest,,can I?"
"Go ahead," Donavan chuckled. "But you'd better bring home supper."
"We'll make sure he does, sir!" one of the older boys called. "Even if we have to swim under his line and hook the fish on it ourselves."
"Thanks!" Jeff laughed.
The boys were out of sight in no time. Donavan closed the window and took the phone off the hook. He moved toward her with a wicked smile.
"Sometimes," he told a breathlessly excited Fay as he began to caress her out of her clothing, "fate can be kind."
A sentiment that Fay would gladly have echoed, except that Donavan's mouth was hard over her own, and seconds later, she was in no condition to think at all....
The next morning, Fay was hard at work when Donavan showed up unexpectedly at the feedlot.
Calhoun, just coming out of his office, grimaced.
"No need to rush, finding excuses to get out of the office right away," Donavan drawled. "I'm reformed. I didn't come to complain. I actually dropped by to see about moving in some more cattle."
Calhoun's eyebrows went up. "You don't say!"
"I just did. While I'm about it, I might add a word of thanks about keeping my wife on," he added ruefully. "We figure her inheritance from her great-aunt will just about put one kid through college. Since we plan on more than our nephew taking up residence, every penny is going to count."
"We like the job Fay does. But it's tough luck," Calhoun ventured, "about the inheritance."
Donavan smiled lazily. "Not in my book. I like the idea of working toward something." He glanced at Fay with his heart in his eyes. "Struggling together brings two people close."
"Indeed it does," Fay agreed with a sigh.
"If you'd like to take your wife to lunch, we might be able to let her off a little early," Calhoun said.
"I was hoping you'd say that," Donavan said and grinned.
He took Fay to the local hamburger joint and they ate cheeseburgers and drank milkshakes until they were pretty well stuffed.
"You won't have an easy life with me," he said when they were outside again. He paused, catching her hand in his to stop and look down at her. "You'll probably always have to work. I can take some of the burden off you at home, because I can cook and do dishes and sweep. But when the kids come along, things could get pretty hectic."
"Am I worried?" she asked, smiling. "Am I complaining? I've got you. I don't need promises, assurances, or anything else. I'm happier than I ever dreamed of being."
"Are you sure?" he asked, and looked worried. "You've always had everything you wanted."
"I still do."
"You know what I mean," he said irritably.
"Yes. Money was nice, but it wasn't particularly easy to cuddle up to. I don't mind living like ordinary working people. In fact," she said honestly, "I really like the challenge. It's nice to feel independent, and to know that you're earning what you have. I never had to earn anything before."
"You're giving me a lot to live up to, honey," he said quietly. "I hope I won't let you down. I'm not the easiest man to live with."
"Yes, you are," she replied. She put her arms around him and pressed close. "As long as I'm holding you, you're the easiest man in the world to get along with. So suppose I just never let go?"
He laughed and let out his breath in a long, contented sigh as he pulled her close and returned the gentle embrace. "I'll tell you something, sweetheart," he murmured contentedly. "That suits me just fine!"
And she never did.
Most Wanted Series
1 The Case of the Mesmerizing Boss (02-1992)
Prologue
Richard Dane Lassiter stared down at the city of Houston from his office in the exclusive high-rise building, with eyes that didn't really see the misting rain in the streetlight-dotted darkness. He was wrestling with a problem that wouldn't go away.
Any minute now he was going to have to go into the outer office of his detective agency and chew out his secretary. Actually, she was almost a relative. Tess Meriwether was the daughter of the man his mother had been engaged to. Their respective parents had been killed just days shy of their wedding. So Tess wasn't really related to him, but he'd felt responsible for her for years, anyway. It was why he'd given her this job, why he was so protective of her. There were wounds between them that might never heal, but that didn't in any way diminish his feelings for her.
It could have been love, if he hadn't been so determined to send her running from him. He'd had a failed marriage and he'd been shot to pieces in a gun battle while he was still a Texas Ranger. The shooting had changed him as well as his life. He'd had to give up police work, so he'd founded this detective agency and robbed the local police departments to staff it. He had a reputation for being one of the most thorough and discreet private investigators in the business, and he was very successful. But his personal life was a mess. He had no one, really. No one except Tess, and she backed away whenever he came close. He felt guilty about that sometimes. She didn't know, could never be told, that it hadn't really been anger that had triggered his physical demands on her. She thought he'd been trying to frighten her away. That was funny. The truth was that on that afternoon so long ago, he'd been out of control for the first time in his life.
He turned away from the window, a tall, lithe man with a graceful way of moving and an arrogant tilt to his head. He looked like he'd had a Spanish ancestor from whom he'd inherited his dark eyes, his black hair and the olive tan of his skin. He was a handsome man, but he was unaware of it. These days, he had little use for women.
His own mother had despised him because he reminde
d her too much of his father, who'd deserted her when Dane was only a child. He'd wanted to love his mother, but she never had time for him. Her attitude had scarred him deeply. He'd married while he was still one of Houston's policemen, before he became a Texas Ranger, but his wife had only been attracted to his uniform. His life with Jane had been a rocky one. She'd wanted something he could not give her. It had taken very little time for her to decide that she'd made a terrible mistake. She didn't want him in bed at all, and very quickly decided that she didn't want him out of it, either. She just didn't want him. When he got wounded, she walked out on him while he was still in the hospital. If it hadn't been for Tess, he wouldn't have had anyone at all throughout that nightmarish time.
Ironic, he thought, that Tess had been in love with him. She'd been only a teenager, just barely out of school, when they first met. Her father, Wyatt Meriwether, had neglected her, just as Nita Las-siter had ignored Dane. Wyatt had left Tess to be raised by her grandmother while he pursued his promiscuous life-style. Tess was innocent and gentle, and she attracted Dane as no other woman ever had. Even now, thinking about how it had been between them during his recuperation could make him ashamed of what he'd inadvertantly done to her.
They'd experienced a tenderness toward each other that was overwhelming in its intensity. He'd fought it at first. He didn't trust or like women, and Tess was altogether too young. But she got under his skin. He'd never been loved like that, before or since. He'd thrown it all away in a moment's passion, and had frightened Tess so badly that she still backed away from him.
He ran an angry hand through his hair. He really had to stop looking back. It did no good.
Now Tess wanted to be an operative. He wouldn't let her. It was dangerous work sometimes. Dane didn't even like sending Nick and Nick's sister, Helen, out on assignments, like the stakeout that Tess had inadvertantly interrupted. He was going to have to give her hell for it. She hadn't blown their cover, but she'd come close. That couldn't be allowed. Besides, he didn't want Tess out in the field. He didn't want her at risk, ever. She kept pestering Helen to teach her things, to show her some martial arts throws, to show her how to use a gun. He usually managed to break up any tutorials, but Tess's persistence disturbed him. He couldn't bear the thought of having her in danger. She was relatively safe in the office, being his secretary. Out of it... Well, thank God, he didn't have to worry about that, now.
Books By Diana Palmer Page 95
