“I don’t believe that you want anything from me, even though you know I could give you anything you wanted. Every woman I’ve ever met had dollars signs winking in their eyes when they found out who I was, except you. I can read people, too, Moira. I can read you.” Letting out the breath he’d been holding, he waited.
“I don’t want anything from you. I just want to leave Las Vegas with my heart intact.” Her expression crumpled. “You don’t understand.” She bit her lip, but she couldn’t stop the tears. “You’re inching your way into my heart.”
He had her in his arms before she could even think about escaping. He lifted her into the air and twirled her around. It shocked her right out of her tears. “I don’t normally believe in fate, Moira. I think we make our own. At least”—he paused—“we can change it if we want to. I lost seven years with you. Sweetheart, it was the biggest mistake of my life not coming to find you then.”
“Steven, you’re acting crazy.” She pushed her hands against his shoulders, trying to scramble away from him.
“I’m crazy all right.” He set her on her feet, burying his fingers in her hair. “I’m crazy about you, and I’m not making the same mistake again,” he said.
“What?” Her jaw slackened.
An enormous grin spread across his lips. “I said”—he paused, watching the shock change to disbelief—“I’m not making the same mistake again.” He leaned over and kissed her, and kept kissing her.
“Steven.” She pulled away from him, gasping for breath.
“God damn it, woman, if you say one more time we don’t belong together, you’re getting a spanking.”
Her lips formed an immediate “O.” “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Ya wanna bet?”
She closed her mouth immediately, taking his warning to heart. Good thing, too, because he would have done just that.
She let him guide her to the couch. She laid her head against his chest, and he folded her in his arms. “You’re right, it’s been a long day. The best kind of day.” Nothing could wipe the grin off his face. “Moira—”
She straddled his lap.
“I’m not a writer like you, but I can tell you that your beautiful eyes to your warm heart, in three days has changed my life—changed me, just by being you.”
“I think the near miss tonight made you nuts.”
He kissed her sweetly. “You saved my life—again.”
“You were doing the flying. You’re the one who saved our lives, after my gypsy curse almost dragged us from the sky.”
“If you hadn’t seen that other chopper we’d be in a pile of metal at the bottom of the canyon. I don’t believe for one fucking second that you’re cursed, and if you are, then I’ll find a way to break it.”
“Steven, be serious.”
“I am serious, even if it means importing a witch doctor from the heart of Africa to bathe you in chicken blood.”
She snorted. “You probably would, wouldn’t you?”
“I’ll drag your sweet ass to the four corners of the earth, and shoot you into space if I have to, but at the end of the day, I know I’m right.”
She wrapped her arms around him, and hugged him tightly. “I don’t think I should ask.”
“You’re not an angel of darkness, Moira, you’re just my angel. It doesn’t matter if we met in Las Vegas, or a coffee shop on a corner in Vancouver. You could have been standing in the rain, under an umbrella at a bus stop, and you would have stopped my world right there.” Her green eyes gazed into his. She was still trying to figure him out. She kissed his cheek, and curled into his chest without a word.
It wasn’t long before she fell asleep. He gently picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.
“I should go home,” she said dreamily, waking in his arms.
He slipped her clothes off and tucked the sheets around her small frame. She snuggled in as he sat on the edge of the bed. He stayed with her until he could see she was asleep again. His heart softened as he looked into her peaceful face. She did remind him of an angel.
“You are home, Moira,” he whispered. “You’re home wherever I am.” He kissed her forehead and wandered back into the living room.
He poured a finger of scotch and downed it in one gulp as he looked out at the expanse of lights and the darkness of the desert sitting behind the strip. Thoughts tumbled in his mind, but the only thought he wouldn’t allow was the one that said that maybe she wouldn’t fit into his world.
His brother was wrong. She belonged with him. There was only one reason why they had become so close in such a short time. He’d met his soul mate. The one woman he could trust. He’d never trusted a woman before in his life, never believed he could. She’d come into his life like an unexpected storm. Her warmth and exotic beauty swept him into a world of feelings he never knew he was capable of. There was no going back to cold and empty.
Her heart and honesty made him almost helpless when he was with her. He wanted to give her everything. Everything he had, he wanted to share with her. It was as if he had never known a day that she hadn’t always been part of him. She was his other half. He accepted her without question.
But there was a big problem squatting between them. When she figured it out, he knew they weren’t strong enough yet to get through it. He wouldn’t admit it to Dane, but she would walk away from him, and probably never forgive him—even if it wasn’t the truth.
He undressed and climbed into bed beside her, resting his cheek against her breast. Listening to the slow beat of her heart, he closed his eyes. She hugged him fiercely in her dreams. This sweet woman had fallen for him, but she tried so hard not to show it. He knew she would give him a hug and a kiss, and walk onto that plane two days from now and never look back.
His heart clenched with the thought that he might never see her again after tomorrow. There was no more time left, he had to tell her what he had been holding back. He kept stalling, hoping for a better time, but there would never be a right time.
Chapter Fourteen
She came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body, drying her hair. Draping the extra towel at the end of the bed, she crawled onto it, kneeling in front of him. She looked into his eyes, her wet curls dancing around her face.
“How do you look so incredibly exotic all the time?” he murmured with a glint in his eyes.
“Ahh.” She laughed. “You’re under the spell of an old sea witch. I’ve perfected it.” She sat back on her haunches. “I didn’t make breakfast, but I ordered some.”
Steven reached out and released the towel from her body with one finger. “I bet you’re an awesome cook, too, aren’t you?” he said, kissing her, not waiting for the answer. He rolled her onto her back, his desire burning in his eyes. His thumb gently brushed her nipple, and a ripple of excitement passed through her.
“I just had a shower,” she said sternly.
“Too bad,” he purred, licking her lips, tempting them to open for his tongue.
His fingers wandered down to sensually entice her sex, and within seconds her body responded with her slick moisture. His hunger for her swept her resolve away.
She pushed him over and rolled on top of him. He suckled on her breast, her body arching with his touch, craving more. Sliding down the bed, leaving a trail of kisses along her stomach, he found his way to her thighs. He trapped her hips in his hands above him, licking the wetness that gave away her need for him. Curling around, she sought the hardness that pressed against her.
Her soft tongue ran along his shaft as his hunger took itself out on her sweetest place, making her excitement flare, and her hips sway in his grip. Both of them became lost in the sublime yearning and heat they brought out in each other.
Her body couldn’t resist him, and neither could she. She wanted him in her mouth. She wanted to make him writhe with her touch. That was all she wanted. She went wild on his shaft, loving it, licking it. He clung to her, pulling her nub between his lips, ravaging her. He s
pread her folds, and slid his tongue into her channel then stiffly darted in and out of her.
She cried out, losing all hold on reality, and her body shuddered with pleasure. The orgasm hit her so violently all her senses ruptured at the same time. He licked her slowly, his tongue circling her clit, letting her ride out the full pleasure until she stopped shaking.
She leaned forward on her knees and opened herself to him. He kneeled behind her, his hands sensually grazing her skin until he grasped her hips, and entered her from behind. A carnal sound erupted from his throat when he filled her.
He plunged into her, stroking her. He was so hard she thought her body would tear open. His fingers snaked around her hips, teasing her, squeezing her softly and then hard, until her legs and his fingers dripped with moisture. Her wetness made him wild, his ecstasy making her hotter by the second. Her thighs shook with anticipation. She met every plunge, wanting him deep inside her.
“Deeper, Steven,” she pleaded, as the bliss climbed inside her. He groaned in response when her muscles contracted around him.
“Oh God, Moira,” he roared as he came in her so hard she felt it fill her up, his shaft pulsing inside her. She shuddered, stricken with her own release, clenching him as he drove himself deep.
He stroked her gently with a lazy roll of his hips, bringing her back from heaven, their bodies trembling with the memory.
He pulled out of her, folding her so tightly to him he almost crushed her. “I didn’t hurt you?” he asked, looking into her eyes with concern.
She shook her head and shimmied up his muscled body, kissing him on the forehead, and then his cheek and finally his lips.
“Jesus, Moira.” His voice broke with emotion. “I—”
“Breakfast is here,” she interrupted, smiling uncomfortably.
A knock on the door interrupted them, and he looked at her a little strangely.
“It’s my job to anticipate,” she said with a smirk. “There’s a little sea witch in every woman, ya know.”
“There’s certainly a little lusty one in you,” he said.
When she tried to get up, he pulled her deeper into his arms.
“Not so fast, sweetheart,” he purred. “I’m not finished with you yet.” He dipped his head to take her breast in his mouth, circling her nipple with his tongue.
She gasped, the feeling of excitement growing in her belly. She felt the moisture of their lovemaking between her thighs. “God, how do you do this to me?”
He turned her onto her back, sliding her hands slowly above her head, locking them with his strength. “I can’t wait to tie you up and love you for twenty-four hours straight, Ms. Viterra,” he growled in her ear. “I’m going to love you every way I know how.” His lips found the pulse in her neck, and he nipped at it.
“That sounds a little kinky, Mr. Porter,” she declared softly.
“You’d be surprised what I think about doing to you when I’m not with you.”
“That hasn’t been very much. You’re sure someone didn’t slip you some kind of exotic drug that turns eyesight from seeing ugly troll into beauty queen?”
“Moira…” he warned, his look darkening. “Beautiful is the woman I see when I look in your eyes. You, with your exotic curves and curls a little messed, like someone’s just made love to you.” He kissed her deeply.
His gaze made her stomach flutter even now. She saw so much strength in this man. “You’re a smooth talker, Mr. Porter. You must have had a lot of practice to be so good at this,” she whispered, her lids slipping closed as his tongue covered her body with little licks of excitement.
He nibbled on her nipple slowly, teasing it with his tongue. His eyes, only half open, looked into hers. “I’ve never made love to a woman before you, Moira. I’ve never felt anything until I touched you.”
His full lips, swollen and red from kissing her, made her hungry. Her body swayed under him, taunting him to enter her, and he was happy to oblige—slowly, gently, thrusting into her.
“Jesus, I want you forever,” he whispered on her skin.
A familiar rhythm began between them. An exotic tempo their hips had already memorized grew, building the heat and passion to a frenzy.
* * * *
They enjoyed a leisurely breakfast together, and when they were done he reached for the red rose that sat in the vase, pulling it slowly out as he stared at her. He leaned over and presented it to her. Moira gave him a small smile and took it from him, laying it against her heart. They could speak to each other without words, but he knew he had to start talking fast or everything would come apart.
“Moira—”
Her phone rang, and she reached for it. She grinned at him. “Hey, Callie, what’s up?” She listened for a while then shrugged. “I don’t know. Yes, I remember promising you that.” She rolled her eyes. “Today huh? Oh boy, okay fine. Just a second, Cal.” She gave him a resigned look. “I promised Callie I would do the Big Shot with her. Everyone else has chickened out.”
He nodded. “I told Dane I might meet him for a round of golf before he leaves.”
“Give me an hour, Callie, and I’ll meet you out front of the hotel, okay?” She hung up. “Is something amiss?” she asked.
Moira read the look on his face. It probably said what he felt, serious, worried “No.” He shook his head, clearing his throat. “You’re sure you’re not going to have a heart attack on that thing?”
“Achh, that’s nothing. You should’ve seen some of the storms I went through on the Lifeboat.”
“Okay.” He chuckled. “Think you’re going have to tell me about that.”
“Someday,” she said.
Someday, did that mean she was thinking about them together?
“I’m just going to go use the bathroom and clean up.” And she got up abruptly.
She’d slipped up. She said something that had intimated a future, and now she was going to berate herself for doing it. In her mind, tomorrow was still it, and what happened in Vegas would stay here. He leaned back in the chair determined not to let her walk out of his life.
* * * *
After giving her a lasting kiss he said, “I’ll be back at five to pick you up for dinner. We need to talk about something. It’s important.”
She leaned away from him. “If it’s important should we talk about it now?”
“No, it can wait till tonight.” He smiled at her, seeing the disturbed look in her eyes. “Have a good time scaring the shit out of yourself,” he teased. “And don’t forget to get the T-shirt.”
She looked at him with her teeth clenched. “Is it that bad?”
“Oh yeah,” he said, laughing at her expression.
“Oh Gawwwwd.”
Chapter Fifteen
After surviving the worst ride in Las Vegas, Moira smacked Callie just for good measure.
“What was that for?” she squealed.
“Are you trying to kill me? I could have had a heart attack.” Her legs were still wobbling, and she thought she might just fall over.
“It was a gas, Moira. You know you loved it.”
They spent the rest of the day by the pool, improving their tans and talking girl talk, as usual.
“So where to tonight?” Mandy asked as she collected her things.
“Ah, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me.”
“We’re going for dinner at Vince Laker’s.”
“Okay then. Are you getting used to this yet or not?” she asked.
“Not. It still doesn’t make any sense.”
“Oh, geez, Moira, stop being such a hard ass. Remember, roll with it.”
“Thanks, Mandy, your words of wisdom are noted.”
* * * *
Steven drove them into the sloping hills surrounding Las Vegas, and into a high-class estate. Sweeping vistas and generous amounts of land lay around each mansion that grew out of the desert rock.
“It’s beautiful up here,” she said, looking out toward th
e city that never sleeps.
“It is.”
“I just love the desert,” Moira said more to herself.
He watched her in silence. The desert breeze played with her soft hair, swirling it gently around her shoulders.
“We certainly don’t have this in Canada.”
“No, but you have gorgeous country, too.”
She sighed. “Yet no Utah or Nevada,” she replied. He parked the car, and she stepped out. “So many people think the desert is empty, but there’s such a simple beauty to it. It doesn’t boast its presence. It lays open and uncritical for the eye to rest on.”
He stared at her. “Your words are so amazing when you describe something,” he murmured. “How you describe scenery and catch a person’s thoughts perfectly with a few words.” He shook his head. “You look at everything differently don’t you?”
She gave him a quick smile. “I guess I do,” she said with an uncomfortable laugh. “But you can’t not see it and feel it. Look at that sky. It goes on forever, and the openness that stretches below—it’s so peaceful. What isn’t there to love about the truth of nature?”
“You’re a daughter of Neptune, aren’t you?” he asked, standing behind her, gazing out toward the sweeping panorama of desert as he wrapped her in his arms.
“I suppose, but the sea is fickle. I hate her as much as I love her. I’ve seen her call her sisters storm and wind, and snatch those she’s tricked into believing they could control her. Like a banshee, she rages without regret, and takes men and women to a cold end. I’ve lost too many friends and coworkers to her benign wrath.”
“Benign wrath? That would be an oxymoron wouldn’t it?”
She nodded and looked up at him. “Now you understand the sea like I do.”
His mind popped with the revelation. He’d never thought of it that way. It made him wonder if he’d ever get on a boat again. If anyone knew the ocean’s power and treachery it would be her.
The endless blue sky and uncomplicated vista lay before them. She was right. The desert was simple and unaccusing. Maybe he should buy a place here, he thought. He looked across the dotted hillside. That wouldn’t be a bad idea. She loved the desert. Why not? Then he thought about what he was doing. What was he doing? He was making future plans again. His mind pulled him back to the present. He had to survive tonight first, and then maybe he could think about other things.
Too Grand for Words (BookStrand Publishing Romance) Page 21
