A Dark & Stormy Knight: A McKnight Romance (McKnight Romances)

by Quint, Suzie

  A shudder ran through his lanky frame.

  “You can’t stop that. She’s going to discover boys, and she’s going to date.” He looked as though he was about to object, but she held up her hand, warning him to let her finish. “And at some point—probably in her twenties—she’ll get married. And yes, she will have sex, but it’s okay because we’ll get grandbabies from it.”

  He was still scowling but not as hard. “As long as it happens in that order.”

  She laughed at him again. Now that he was calming down from his initial panic, she didn’t think he’d go off on a tangent, issuing insane, unenforceable orders to Eden. At least, she hoped not.

  “No wonder your folks hate me,” Sol said.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Well, I ain’t gonna like any boy who looks at Eden the way I looked at you when we were teenagers.”

  “Sol, you still look at me the way you did then.”

  He slowly gave himself over to a grin. “Yeah. And your folks still hate me.”

  “Well,” Georgia drew the word out. “That’s not exactly true.”

  “Oh yeah, it is.”

  “No, it’s not. Daddy told me the other day to give you his regards.”

  “His regards?” Sol repeated, sounding confused.

  “He also told me I should be nice to you. No, he said I should be kind to you.”

  “Kind to me?” Sol shoved his hat back. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I’m not sure exactly, except he seems to have rethought his position about you. If he hated you, he wouldn’t have sent his regards.”

  “Hunh. Does seem like an odd thing to say if you hate someone.”

  “Ergo, he doesn’t hate you.”

  “Ergo?” Both eyebrows shot up.

  “It means—”

  “I know what it means. I just can’t believe you actually said it.”

  Georgia stuck her tongue out at him. “The point is he doesn’t hate you.”

  “If you say so.” He smiled as though pleased. “I guess that wouldn’t be so bad if your daddy didn’t hate me.”

  “Play your cards right, big boy, and he might even come to like you.”

  Sol grinned. “Now wouldn’t that be something?”

  Their break from chores over, Eden came and hugged her mama good-bye as Levi started rounding up the kids and loading them in the pickup bed. Georgia’s backside protested the idea of getting back in the saddle, and the rest of her wanted to linger in the shade of the trees. While Sol said good-bye to Eden, Georgia found a spot on the bank where she could kick off her boots, roll up her pant legs, and dangle her feet in the cool water. Now this, she decided, felt like her own little corner of paradise.

  “Good idea,” Sol said when he found her there after the kids had ridden off into the sunset. He sat beside her, took off his boots and socks, dropped his feet into the water, and released a long, satisfied sigh.

  Georgia tugged the knot out of his neckerchief then leaned over and swished it around in the water. After wringing it out, she wiped the dust and sweat from her face, then held it out so he could do the same.

  He gave her a deadpan look. “Like that’s gonna be enough.” He unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged out of it. “Wanna skinny dip?”

  “Tempting”—she tapped her forefinger against her lips as though considering—”but no.”

  “Ah, c’mon. We haven’t skinny dipped in a long time.” Sol stood up and popped the button on his jeans.

  Georgia jerked her head around to stare out over the water. “Yeah, I think we were married back then. We’re not married now.” She heard the zipper go down on his jeans then the rasp of denim being shoved down.

  Sol clucked softly in her ear. “Braaaak, bak-bak-bak.”

  She swatted at him as if he were a mosquito only to have him laugh. From the corner of her eye, she caught a flash of bare skin followed by a loud splash and a spray of water as Sol hit the pool.

  He surfaced, shaking his wet hair from his eyes, bobbed up and down a few times, then dove headfirst, all the parts of his body rising to the surface in a moving arc that reminded her of the whale-watching excursion she’d gone on when she and Daniel had taken the girls to Disney World in Orlando. Of course, whales didn’t flash their pale butts before Georgia could look away.

  She’d always envied the way he was comfortable in his own skin no matter what he did, but there were times—like now—that his actions made her uncomfortable.

  Georgia forgot her discomfort as something shot by her head, whining like a bullet. She ducked instinctively then looked around but, whatever it was, it was already gone. The cool water on her feet was a blessing, but the rest of her was still sticky with sweat from riding for hours in the summer sun. She stripped off the long-sleeved shirt Sol had given her. A light breeze wicked away some of the built-up sweat. To help it along, she took off the straw cowboy hat and fanned her face with it.

  She heard the whine zip past her head again, except this time, she saw the bullet-sized insect that caused it as it looped back to investigate her. She shrieked and, forgetting her feet were hanging off an embankment, tried to jump up only to drop into four feet of water, lose her footing in the muddy bottom, and fall forward, her mouth open for a second shriek of surprise.

  Before she could swallow the entire swimming hole, Sol grabbed her by the arm and hauled her back into the world of air-breathers. She sputtered and coughed, trying to clear her lungs as she clung to him, ready to use him as a shield.

  He brushed her dripping hair back from her face. “Hey, Georgie, if you wanted to come swimmin’ with me, all you had to do was say so. Not that I don’t enjoy saving you from drowning, but—”

  She croaked a warning.

  “What?”

  She coughed and tried again. “Yellow.”

  He frowned and leaned in, bringing his ear near her mouth.

  “Jacket.” Her voice was stronger.

  She shrieked as another one flew past, sounding like a B-52.

  “Futher mucker,” he yelled as he ducked.

  Georgia almost lost her grip on his wet, slick skin. She looped an arm around his neck and hung on.

  He kicked away from the bank out into deeper water. They bobbed there for a minute, listening for that telltale buzz. When they didn’t hear it, she started to relax. Until she tried to put her feet down and didn’t find anything beneath her but water. She swallowed hard as adrenaline fizzed through her veins. “Sol? How deep is the bottom?”

  “Fifteen, maybe twenty feet.”

  Plenty deep enough to drown in.

  He tried to pull back to look at her, but her arm was wrapped too securely around his neck. “You ain’t scared, are you?”

  She felt the color drain from her face as she tightened her grip.

  “Oh, c’mon, you can swim.”

  “Of course, I can.” In a pool. Where the water was clear, there were no currents, and she could see the bottom at all times.

  She wasn’t sure what he did, but they lost buoyancy and went under. Only for a second. When they came up, he grabbed her forearm and tugged. She realized she’d tightened her grip, nearly strangling him. Loosening her chokehold was all she could manage.

  “Could we go someplace . . . shallow?” she asked, her voice shaking, as he drew an unfettered breath.

  “You really are scared.” He moved them far too slowly toward another bank. “Son of a . . . Back when we were married and came here, that’s why you always hung on to me. And here I thought . . .” His lips tightened.

  She knew what he thought: that she couldn’t keep her hands off him.

  He’d brought them into the shadow of the tree with the rope.

  “I was pretty gullible, huh? Thinking you couldn’t bear to let go of me.”

  She put her feet down, found smooth rocks under her, and took her first worry-free breath since entering the pool. The water came to her shoulders. One crisis averted. Two if she counted the
yellow jackets. Reassured she wasn’t going to drown, she let herself bob up, so she was face-to-face with him.

  “You weren’t gullible. I didn’t hang on to you back then because I was scared.” That was true. He had always made her feel as though he would keep her safe, come hell or . . . well, high water. “The way I remember it, swimming was not what we had on our minds.”

  Sol’s lips twitched. Of course he remembered. Back then, skinny dipping had been just another excuse to get naked together. The thought only reminded her that he was naked now. Apparently, it reminded him, too, because he touched the hem of her T-shirt and said, “Yellow jackets like bright colors. You should take this off.”

  Georgia rolled her eyes at him. “You never give up.” But she was smiling when she said it.

  His eyes smiled back at her. “I’m only trying to save you from getting stung. You know me. Can’t resist playing the hero.”

  “And if it happens to get me out of my clothes?”

  “I’m only thinking of what’s best for you,” he teased with a smile, his gray eyes soft. “You don’t want to draw those yellow jackets over here.”

  Georgia couldn’t help smiling back at him. They clung together, the water lapping softly against them, gazing into each other’s eyes and smiling like fools.

  She’d known she should stay out of the water. If that yellow jacket hadn’t buzzed her, she would have stayed safely on the bank. Being in the water with Sol was dangerous. The end of summer was only a month away, and everything would change when she went home to Dallas and Daniel, with his new open attitude about marriage.

  She wouldn’t belong only to herself anymore. Daniel would be there, standing between her and Sol. She and Sol deserved more than that, didn’t they? They deserved a last hurrah. One final time together.

  “Truth or dare?” Sol said softly.

  “Dare.”

  His smile widened. Then his lips found hers.

  The kiss was gentle, barely a meeting of the lips. It asked nothing from her, and for a moment, she simply savored his mouth on hers. Then she slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. His hands slid under her shirt, framing her ribs. She shivered at his touch. His big hands on her skin made her feel small in comparison.

  Their lips parted. She saw herself in his eyes, but it was the tenderness there that took her breath away.

  “Georgie Porgie, puddin’ ‘n pie,” he said softly.

  She ducked her head into the side of his neck, knowing what was coming.

  “Kissed the boys and made them cry.” His hand smoothed her hair. “And when the girls came out to play, Georgie Porgie ran away.”

  Sol was going to ask why she’d run away from him, from their marriage. He’d never accepted her excuses. Not really. She waited for the question, but he surprised her.

  “Don’t run away from me. Not this time.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  She didn’t know if he meant right that moment or forever. She couldn’t promise forever, but for now, she wasn’t going anywhere. She traced a line from temple to jaw with her fingertips then pressed her hand to the side of his face. “I’m here and I’m not running.”

  He turned his face into her palm and kissed it.

  His work-roughened hands slid under her wet shirt and up her torso as his kisses traced down her jaw. She let her head fall back, giving him access to the length of her neck. Her gaze lost focus as she stared up at the sky through the leaves of the tree. The excitement dimmed as she realized where they were: not just out in the open but at the swimming hole, where anyone could show up at any time.

  “Sol.”

  “Mm.” His lips vibrated against her skin with the sound.

  She brought her head up. “Sol,” she said in little more than a whisper. She tried again, louder. “Sol, what if someone shows up? They’ll see . . .”

  Sol’s lips moved against her collar bone. “The kids won’t be back, and the older ones . . . It’s time for chores.”

  “You’re sure?” With what his lips were doing, she wasn’t certain she really cared.

  “Yeah, I’m sure.

  “Oh. Okay. Good.”

  His hand slid up and molded to her breast. Georgia gasped then reached down and caught the bottom edge of her shirt. While she pulled it off over her head, his fingers found and released the fasteners on her bra. He lifted her in the water as he pushed the cups from her breasts. When his mouth closed over her nipple, the heat of the contact sent an electrical shock to the juncture of her thighs. He caught her nipple between his teeth and tugged gently. The shock turned into a continuous sizzle. She gasped, feeling like a roman candle with a lit fuse.

  Georgia threaded her fingers through his soft, wet hair.

  His hands cupped her wet, denim-clad bottom, pulling her against him. She wrapped her legs around his hips, feeling the length of him through her jeans. Flexing her thighs, riding the hard ridge of his erection, she wished her clothes would evaporate like a morning mist under a hot sun.

  His fingers found the button of her jeans, then the zipper. She dropped her legs and, not waiting for him to coax her, struggled out of the wet denim. Sol inhaled sharply, as if she’d caught him by surprise, but it had always been this way with them. Giving in was so easy when they weren’t fighting.

  She tossed her jeans onto the bank, where they landed with a wet plop beside her shirt. Her bra followed. All that was left between them was a scrap of wet, pink, nylon panties, barely visible against her skin. Their bare legs tangled, the feel of his skin sliding through the water, brushing against hers, made them feel somewhere beyond naked. As though they’d shed more than their clothes. As if he were under her skin, a high racing through her blood, a want dug in soul deep.

  Sol slid his fingers inside and stroked her. Georgia moaned against his throat. She wanted more of him. If this was going to be the last time . . . She couldn’t think about that. It made the yearning too hard, too intense.

  Georgia reached down and wrapped her hand around his erection, pulling a long moan from deep in his throat. The sound seemed to reverberate against her bones, echoing into her flesh. She needed to get closer to him. She needed him inside her.

  Sol helped her shimmy out of her panties. She wrapped her legs around him, pulling him close. One of his hands found its way to her bottom as their mouths reconnected in a hot, deep kiss. He rolled one of her nipples between his fingers, sending sharp spikes of lust south.

  “Sol,” she spoke against his mouth, “if you don’t take me now, I’m never speaking to you again.”

  He made a noise halfway between a moan and a chuckle. “Dammit. I brought condoms, but they’re in my pants.”

  The pants were on the far bank they’d vacated when the yellow jackets had shown up.

  “I don’t care,” Georgia said. He always swore he wore protection with everyone else. That she was the only one he’d risk impregnating. She was finally willing to take him at his word, but it was an excuse. She didn’t want anything between them. If it was the last time . . .

  “Now, Sol.”

  His erection found the hollow between her legs, but he only half followed her instructions as he lined up against her nether lips, stroking up to brush her clit. Back, then up, back, then up. Georgia’s breath came hard. Lust and pleasure threatened to swamp her, but it wasn’t enough. Not this time.

  She wanted to crawl inside him, to meld into him, to have his blood pump through her veins, through her heart, to never let him go. Instead, she’d have to settle for taking him inside her. Nothing less would do. An impatient whine escaped her.

  A growl erupted from deep in his chest. He shifted, changing his alignment. Full of expectation, she started to draw a deep breath. The breath turned into a gasp as he thrust hard into her.

  He didn’t give her a chance to move against him. Instead he assailed her, pounding deep, so hard all she could do was tighten her hold on him and think, Yes, with every stroke. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes . . .

>   And far sooner than she wanted to, she went up in flames, like a mythical phoenix, catching fire, burning to white-hot ashes, so she could be reborn in Sol’s arms.

  ###

  Her heart was still beating wildly when Sol snuggled his face into her wet hair to nip her ear. “Damn, Georgie. That was good.”

  That was the understatement of the century. “It was nice,” she murmured, knowing he wouldn’t be able to let that go unchallenged.

  He pulled back to look into her eyes. “Nice? That’s all you got out of it? Just . . . nice?” He sighed. “I suppose I could try again.”

  “That would be . . . nice of you.”

  “Well, you know, anything for you.”

  “You will try harder this time, won’t you?”

  He threw back his head and laughed. Georgia’s heart did a back flip. Nothing was a sexy as this man laughing. Especially when she’d made it happen.

  “Ah, Georgie.” His grin was infectious. “We’ll just have to keep doing this until I get it right. Hmm. That might take a few years.”

  She didn’t like the reminder that they didn’t have a few years. At most, they had until the end of summer, and the way they normally fought, she couldn’t guarantee even the next five minutes. She shoved that thought to the back of her mind—way, way in the back—and focused on the moment. “If you need that much practice, maybe you should start soon.”

  “Have I ever mentioned that you can be a little demanding?”

  “I don’t recall that.”

  “Well, do you recall that a man needs a little time to recharge?”

  “Ah, yes. That I do recall.”

  His arms tightened around her when she nibbled his ear.

  ###

  Sometime later, they lay side by side on the bank, looking at the cloudless, blue sky through the leaves above them. The sun had moved significantly toward the horizon, and Georgia guessed it was around seven. Every once in a while, she heard the distant jingle of a bridle as one of their horses shook its head before returning to grazing.

  Sol entwined his fingers with hers. “So how come I didn’t know water scares you?”