Tough Enough

by Jayne Ann Krentz

  But tonight the patio was empty. Margaret pushed back the sheet and got out of bed. A glance across the patio showed that Rafe’s room was dark. She smiled to herself as she imagined Rafe’s reaction if she were to go to his bedroom and awaken him.

  In her mind she visualized him sleeping nude in the snowy sheets. He would be on his stomach, his strong, broad shoulders beautifully contoured with moonlight. When he became aware of her presence he would roll onto his back, reach up and pull her down on top of him. He would become hard with arousal almost instantly, the way he always did when he sensed she wanted him. And she would ache with the familiar longing.

  Margaret hesitated no longer. She put on the new gauzy cotton dress she had purchased while shopping with Bev and slid her feet into a pair of sandals. Then she went out into the night.

  When she reached the other side of the patio it took her a few seconds to realize that Rafe was not in his room. She let herself inside and saw that the bed had never been turned down. Curious, she walked through into the hall.

  The eerie glow under the study door caught her eye at once. An odd sense of guilt shafted through her. The poor man, she thought suddenly. Was this how he was accomplishing the job of proving he could love her and run a business at the same time? Had he been working nights ever since she got here?

  She crossed the hall on silent feet and opened the door. The otherworldly light of the computer screen was the only illumination in the room. Rafe was bathed in it as he lounged in his chair, his booted feet propped on his desk. He had not changed since the party but his shirt was unbuttoned and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His dark hair was tousled.

  There was a file lying on the desk in front of him and a spreadsheet on the computer screen. He turned his head as he heard the door open softly. In the electronic glow the hard lines of his face seemed grimmer than usual.

  Margaret lounged in the doorway and smiled. “I know you think I’m a demanding woman, but I’m not this demanding. Honest.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Rafe casually closed the file in front of him and dropped it into a drawer.

  “Just that when I said I wanted our relationship to get a little more attention than your work, I didn’t mean you had to resort to sneaking around in the middle of the night in order to spend some time on the job. I do understand the realities of normal business, Rafe. I worked in that world for several years, remember?”

  Rafe’s mouth curved faintly. “Believe me, Maggie, love, our relationship has had my full attention lately. This—” he gestured at the computer screen “—was just something Hatcher wanted me to look at. I didn’t feel like sleeping yet so I thought I’d take care of it tonight.” He swung his feet to the floor and punched a couple of keys on the computer. He stood up as the screen went blank. “How did you find me?”

  Margaret smiled into the shadows as he walked toward her. “I refuse to answer that on the grounds that you’ll think I’m fast.”

  His laugh was soft and sexy in the darkness. “As far as I’m concerned, you could never be too fast for me, lady, not as long as I’m the one you’re chasing.” He stopped in front of her and drew a finger down the side of her throat to the curve of her shoulder. He smiled knowingly as he felt her answering shiver of awareness. “You went to my bedroom, didn’t you?”

  “Uh-huh. You weren’t there.”

  “So you went looking. Good. That’s the way it should be.” He kissed her lightly on the tip of her nose and then brushed his mouth across hers. His voice deepened abruptly. “Promise me you’ll always come looking for me. No matter what happens. Don’t run away from me again, Maggie, love.”

  She touched the side of his cheek. “Not even if you send me away?”

  “I was a fool. I won’t make that mistake again. I learned my lesson the hard way. Promise me, Maggie. Swear it. Say you won’t leave even if things get rough between us again. Fight with me, yell at me, slam a few doors, kick me in the rear, but don’t leave.”

  She caught her breath and then, in a soft, reckless little rush she gave him the words he wanted to hear. “I won’t leave.”

  He groaned thickly and gathered her so tightly against him that Maggie could hardly breathe. She didn’t mind. She felt his lips in her hair and then his fingers were moving up her back to the nape of her neck and into her loosened hair.

  She wrapped her arms around his waist and inhaled the sensual, masculine scent of him. She kissed his chest where the black shirt was open and felt him shudder.

  “Maggie, love, you feel so good.”

  Rafe moved backward a couple of steps and sank down into his chair. He eased Maggie up against the desk in front of him until she could feel the wooden edge along the backs of her thighs. His hands went to her legs.

  “Rafe, wait, we can’t. Not here, like this.” She stifled a tiny laugh that was part anxiety at the thought of getting caught making love in his study and part joyous arousal.

  “Why not here?”

  “What if someone hears us?”

  “What if they do?” He pushed the gauzy cotton hem of the dress up above her knees. Then he deliberately parted her legs with his hands and kissed the sensitive skin of her upper thigh. “Anyone with half a brain who might happen to overhear us should have enough sense to ignore us.”

  “Yes, but.” Maggie shivered delicately as she felt his mouth on the inside of her leg. His hands had lifted the skirt of the dress up to her waist. She heard him laugh softly as he realized she was naked under the cotton shift.

  “Ah, Maggie, love, I see you dressed for the occasion.”

  “You’re a lecherous rake, Rafe Cassidy.”

  “No, ma’am, just a simple cowboy with simple tastes. There’s nothing I like better than taking a moonlight ride with you.”

  “A moonlight ride? Is that what you call it?”

  “Yeah. You know something? I like you best when you’re stark naked.” He leaned forward again in the chair and dipped his tongue into the small depression in her stomach. Then his lips worked their way downward into the tight curls below her waist.

  “Rafe. Rafe.” Maggie’s hands clenched his shoulders. She felt unbelievably wanton and gloriously sexy as she stood there in front of him, legs braced apart by his strong hands. Her head was tipped back, her hair cascading behind her. She closed her eyes as his kisses became overwhelmingly intimate.

  “So good. Sweet and sexy and so hot already.” Rafe eased a finger into her.

  Margaret tightened instantly and cried out softly. She could hardly stand now. She leaned back against the desk, letting it support her weight. Rafe’s fingers stretched her gently and she dug her nails into his shoulders.

  “That’s it, Maggie, love. Let me know how it feels. Tell me, sweetheart.”

  “You already know what you can do to me,” she whispered in between gasps of pleasure.

  “Yeah, but I like to hear about it.” His eyes gleamed in the darkness as he looked up into her face.

  “Why?”

  “You know why. It makes me crazy.”

  She half laughed and half groaned and tangled her fingers in his hair. “You make me go crazy, Rafe. Absolutely wild. I don’t even feel like myself when you touch me like this.”

  “Good.” He stood up slowly, his hands gliding along her hips and then her waist and above her breasts. He carried the cotton dress along with the movement, lifting it up over her head. When it was free, he tossed it heedlessly onto the floor.

  Margaret had one last burst of sanity. “Your room. Just across the hall. We can …”

  “No. I like you just fine where you are.” He stood between her legs and lifted her up so that she was sitting on the desk. She reached back to brace herself with her hands as his mouth moved on her shoulders and traveled down to her swollen breasts.

  Rafe’s fingers went to the waistband of his pants. A moment later Margaret heard the rasp of his zipper.

  “Aren’t you going to at least take off your boots?” Marg
aret demanded in a husky whisper.

  “No need. This’ll work just fine.”

  She look down and saw that it would work just fine. “But what about … about the protection you always use?”

  “Got it right here.” He reached into his back pocket.

  Margaret heard the soft sound of the little packet being opened. “You carry that on you?” she gasped.

  “Every minute since the day you arrived. I want to be able to make love to you anywhere, anytime.”

  “Good heavens, Rafe.” She giggled, feeling more daring and wanton than ever. “Isn’t there something a bit scandalous about doing it like this—on top of a desk? With your boots on?”

  “This is my office, let me run the show, okay?” He caught one nipple lightly between his teeth.

  Margaret inhaled sharply. “Yes. By all means, go ahead. Run the show. Please.” She sighed in surrender and ceased worrying about decorum.

  Rafe eased her down until she lay across the desk in a blatantly sensual pose. Her legs hung over the edge, open and inviting. She shuddered as he moved closer.

  Margaret looked up through slitted eyes as Rafe probed her tenderly with his thumbs and then slowly fitted himself to her. She felt the excitement pounding in her veins and wondered at the magic between them. It was always like this. When Rafe made love to her he took her into a different world, one where she was wild and free and deliciously uninhibited—one where she knew she was temporarily, at least, the center of his universe.

  Margaret clutched at Rafe as he surged slowly, deeply into her. She tightened her legs around him as he braced himself above her, his hands planted flat on either side of her.

  “Maggie, love. Maggie. You’re so sweet and tight and, oh, sweetheart, I do love the feel of you. Incredible.”

  She watched the hard, impassioned lines of his face as he drove into her until she could no longer concentrate on anything except the tide of excitement pooling deep within her. She closed her eyes again, lifting herself against the driving thrusts and then she felt Rafe ease one hand between their bodies.

  He touched her with exquisite care and Margaret lost her breath. Her body tightened in a deep spasm and then relaxed in slow shivers that brought an intense pleasure to every nerve ending.

  “Rafe.”

  “Yes, love. Yes.” And then he imbedded himself to the hilt within her. His lips drew back across his teeth as he fought to control a shout of sensual triumph and release. A moment later he dropped back into the chair behind him and dragged Margaret down onto his lap.

  Margaret huddled against him, aware of his open zipper scratching her bare thigh. Rafe’s hand slid slowly, absently along her leg and up to her waist. His head was pillowed against the back of his chair, his eyes closed.

  “You are one wild and wicked lady,” Rafe said without opening his eyes. “Imagine just walking in here bold as you please in the middle of the night when I’m trying to work and seducing me on my office desk.”

  Margaret smiled to herself as a thought struck her. “You know something, Rafe?”

  “What?” He still seemed disinclined to move.

  “I couldn’t have done that last year when we were together.”

  He opened one eye. “Couldn’t have done what? Walked into my office and seduced me? You’re wrong. I’m a sucker for you. I always was.”

  She shook her head. “No you weren’t. We always made love on your schedule and when you were in the middle of some business matter I always had to wait until you were finished. I could never have interrupted you the way I did tonight and expected you to shut down the computer so that we could make love in the middle of your office. Last year if I’d tried anything like that you’d have patted me on the head and told me to go wait in the bedroom until you finished working.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Margaret lifted her head and glared at him. She saw the laughter in his eyes. “Of course, I’m sure. I have an excellent memory.”

  “I must have been a complete idiot last year. I can’t imagine ignoring you if you’d traipsed into my office wearing that light little cotton thing with nothing on underneath. You know what I think?”

  “What?”

  “I don’t think you’d have even tried it last year. You’d have waited very politely until I was finished. Maybe a little too politely. You were a very self-controlled, very restrained little executive lady last year. Cool, sleek and quite proper. I think the career in romance writing has been good for you. It’s made you more inclined to make demands on me.”

  “You think that’s good?” Margaret was startled.

  Rafe sighed, his eyes turning serious in the shadows. “I think it’s probably necessary. You’re right when you called me arrogant and bossy and tyrannical.”

  “You admit it?”

  “I admit it. I’m used to running things, honey. I’ve been giving orders so long it comes naturally. I’m also used to putting work first. My father always did and there’s no denying I was following in his footsteps. Mom let him get away with doing that. But somehow, I don’t think you’ll let me get away with it.”

  “And you don’t mind?”

  Rafe smiled slowly. “Let’s just say I’m capable of adapting.”

  “It’s not that I’m completely insensitive to the demands you face, Rafe, you must know that,” Margaret assured him earnestly. “I spent enough time in the business world to know that certain things have to be done and certain deadlines have to be met. But I don’t want your work to rule our lives totally the way it did last year.”

  He drew his fingers through her tangled hair. In the shadows his eyes were very dark and deep. “It won’t, Maggie. And if it ever threatens to, you know what you can do about it.”

  She grinned in delight. “Walk into your office and seduce you?”

  “My door is always open to you, Maggie, love.” Rafe kissed her lightly on the mouth and gave her a small nudge.

  “I’m being kicked out already?” Margaret reluctantly got to her feet and reached for her cotton shift.

  “Nope. We’re both going to retire for the night. It’s late and you and I are going to get up early to see Mom and Connor off to Sedona, remember?”

  Margaret yawned. “Vaguely. Going to walk me back to my room?”

  “You’re the one whose sense of propriety insists that you wake up alone as long as the parents are around. If I had my way, I’d just walk you back across the hall to my room.”

  “Going to sneak back here and work on the computer after you’ve tucked me in?”

  Rafe shook his head as he led her back across the hall, through his bedroom and out into the moonlit patio. “No, I saw all I needed to see. I’ve got an answer for Hatcher.”

  “It’s very sweet of you to not make a fuss about letting me spend the night in my own bed, Rafe.”

  “Anything for you, Maggie, love. Besides, things will be different when we have the house to ourselves, won’t they? I’m a patient man.”

  Much later Margaret awakened briefly. She automatically glanced through the glass door and followed the shaft of moonlight that struck full into Rafe’s bedroom. She couldn’t be positive, but it looked as if his bed was still empty.

  CONNOR AND BEV TOOK THEIR leave immediately after breakfast the next morning. Margaret stood with Bev in the driveway as the last of the luggage was loaded into the car.

  “We’ll be gone about a week, dear,” Bev said cheerfully. “We’re going to stop in Scottsdale first. That’s where I live most of the time now. This ranch is a little too isolated for my tastes. At any rate, I have some friends I want Connor to meet. And then we’ll drive on to Sedona. It makes a nice break this time of year. Much cooler up there in the mountains. There are several galleries I always like to visit when I’m there.”

  “Have a wonderful time, Bev.”

  Bev searched her face. “You’ll be staying on here with Rafe?”

  “Do you mind?”

  Bev smiled. “Not at all. I’m de
lighted. I was afraid you might head straight back to Seattle. In fact I told Connor that perhaps we should cancel our plans in order to encourage you to stay here with us a little longer.”

  “I told her, forget it,” Connor said as he walked past with a suitcase under each arm. He was followed by Tom who was carrying two more bags. “I was willing to help Cassidy get you down here but he’s on his own now. I refuse to help him with any more of his courting work. I’m too busy tending to my own woman.”

  Bev’s eyes lifted briefly toward the heavens. “Listen to the man.”

  Connor chuckled hugely as he put the suitcases into the trunk. He looked over at Rafe who was coming through the door with one last bag. “Hey, Cassidy. Tell your mother you can handle my daughter on your own from here on in. She’s afraid Maggie’s going to take off the minute our backs are turned.”

  Rafe’s eyes met Margaret’s. “Maggie’s not going anywhere, are you, Maggie?”

  Under the combined scrutiny of Bev, Tom, her father and her lover, Margaret felt herself turning pink. “Well, I had thought I might stay a few more days but that decision is subject to change if the pressure gets to be too much,” she informed them all in dry tones.

  “Pressure?” Rafe assumed an innocent, injured air. “What pressure? There’s no pressure being applied, Maggie, love. Just bear in mind that if you take off this time, I’ll be no more than fifteen minutes behind you and I won’t be real happy.”

  “In that case, I suppose I might as well stay. As it happens, I have a social engagement here on Monday evening.”

  That succeeded in getting everyone’s attention.

  “What social engagement?” Rafe demanded. “You don’t know anyone here in Tucson except me.”

  “That’s not quite true, Rafe. I also know your sister and her friend Sean Winters. I’ve been invited to a showing of Sean’s work.”

  “You’re going to some damned art show?”

  Margaret smiled serenely. “I thought you might like to escort me.”

  Rafe’s brows came together in one solid, unyielding line. He slammed the trunk shut. “Like hell. We’ll discuss this later.”