by Cat Schield
“I think you mentioned needing to get some more work done this evening,” Scarlett said, standing up. “A security expert’s job is never done.”
“I think everyone here can sympathize,” Trent said, trying to keep his relief from showing as everyone made their way to the foyer. “All of us have been known to work some pretty unorthodox hours.”
“Thanks for the invite,” Logan said. “Next time, let’s do it at our house.”
The two men shook hands while the women hugged. Minutes later, Trent and Savannah stood alone in his empty house. He wasted no time pulling her into his arms and kissing her. From her passionate response, she’d been feeling the same sensual pull. Her fingers tugged his shirt free from his pants and dived beneath the hem.
He groaned at the pleasure of her palms skating along his bare back. Lifting her into his arms, he made for the guesthouse, instinctively knowing she would want to be nearby if Dylan needed her. His frantic heartbeat made it hard for him to take things slow, but as he lowered her feet to the floor beside her bed, he sucked in a calming breath, pushed her out to arm’s length and closed his eyes.
“Tonight we’re going to take our time,” he said, opening his eyes and peering at her.
She was flushed, her expression slightly dazed. She backed away and put her hands to her cheeks for a moment. Trent thought for sure she’d come to her senses. To his relief, instead of ordering him to leave her room, she stripped her asymmetrical tank over her head and cast it aside. Standing before him in a nude bra and khaki leggings, she threw her hands wide as if in surrender.
“I don’t know if I can.”
Trent loosened the buttons on his shirt and sent it sailing to join her top on the floor. “We have the rest of the evening to get it right.”
Her pale eyebrows rose. “That’s a relief, because I’m pretty sure we’re seriously out of practice.” She stuck her thumb inside the elastic waistband of her leggings and stretched them away from her body. “Would you like me to take these off, or do you want to do the honors?”
Trent’s mouth went dry. He stepped into her space and bracketed her waist just above the material. Her smooth skin was warm beneath his palms. Moving with slow deliberation, he dipped his fingertips below her waistband. His hands rode her curves downward, taking her leggings with them. She was trembling as he helped her step out of the snug pants.
While she unhooked her bra and slipped it free, he dropped a kiss on her stomach. Eager to revisit every inch of her, he trailed his fingertips from her instep to her knee. Her breath grew shallow, uneven. She set her hands on his shoulders and leaned on him for support as her legs shook. Still kneeling, he hooked his fingers into her cream lace panties and eased them down her thighs.
“I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” she gasped as his mouth grazed down from her belly button.
“Let’s see about that, shall we?”
Getting to his feet, Trent eased her back onto the bed and quickly divested himself of his clothes. She lifted onto her elbows to watch him, and he was aware of every greedy flicker in her blue gaze.
She propped one foot on the bed and waggled her knee in an enticing manner. “Come get me.”
He hesitated only long enough to fish several condoms out of his pants pocket. She raised her eyebrow as he dropped them onto the nightstand.
“It’s been too long,” he said, setting his knee on the bed.
Her hands slid up his ribs and across his back as he covered her with his body. “Too long since what?”
“Since I’ve had you all to myself.”
He kissed her then, stopping any further conversation and distracting her from the anguish behind what he’d said. She was all supple limbs and hot, welcoming mouth. Her tongue danced with his as they rediscovered each other with lips, teeth and hands. Nibbling his way down her neck, he found the sensitive spot made her writhe. Last time in his office, he’d been denied her beautiful breasts. He intended to make up for that.
A breathy moan broke from her lips as he swirled his tongue around her breast, making her back arch. She dug her fingers into his shoulders. Knowing exactly what she liked, he moistened her hard nipple and released a puff of air across the sensitive nub. Once again he was rewarded as her hips lifted. Her every moan, gasp and cry caressed his senses, the familiarity erasing their almost two-year estrangement.
Where once she’d been flawless, her body had now gained character. Motherhood had brought changes that he found vastly intriguing. He appreciated how her stretch marks testified to her maturity. And the extra weight she carried on her hips and butt lent her figure a lushness that enhanced her sensuality.
She protested when his fingers trailed across a stretch mark on her belly. “Motherhood isn’t kind to a woman’s body.”
He resisted when she tried bringing his hand back to her breast. “You are more beautiful than ever.”
“Next you’ll be telling me it’s okay that I packed on the pounds.”
“You’ve hardly done that. And I love every inch of you. I always have.”
He slid his shoulders between her thighs and filled his palms with her round backside. Her whole body trembled as he grazed his lips along the hollow beside her hipbone, and a ragged laugh escaped her.
It had been too long. Far too long. He licked her then. Her hips bucked in reaction, so he put his palm flat on her belly to keep her still. Her trembling increased as he tasted her excitement and found her ready for him. He flicked his tongue the way she liked and she moaned. At the sound he smiled. Then, he hummed against her, knowing it made her crazy.
“Yes!”
He needed her to remember how it was between them. To be the only man she thought of. Pulling out every trick in the book, he made love to her with his mouth, hands and voice.
“I want to hear that noise again,” he said, looking up to watch her expression.
“What noise?” She was almost too breathless to be understood.
“The one you make when I do this.” He repeated his action and wrenched a soft yelp from her throat. “Yes,” he purred, “just like that.”
In the past, he’d utilized his expertise to bring her to the edge of orgasm and keep her there. Once, he’d even drawn this out for an hour. But tonight she came the instant he slid one finger inside her. With her lips parted on a strangled cry, her body bowed. The length and intensity of her climax caught him by surprise.
“Words cannot describe how amazing you are at that.” A single tear slipped down the side of her face, and she brushed it away with the back of her hand before extending her arms to him. “Come up here and kiss me.”
He obliged, but kept the contact light and sweet despite the temptation of her parted lips and the fingers she’d tunneled through his hair.
“I’m going to return the favor, I promise,” she said, grasping his bicep with surprising force. “As soon as I’ve recovered.”
“Later.”
Trent reached to the nightstand and after two futile attempts managed to grab a condom with his shaking fingers. He caught the wrapper between his teeth and carefully tore it open. Hollowed out by the longing to be inside her, he sheathed himself in the protection and suckled her breasts as he settled between her thighs.
If the tantalizing movement of her hands down his body was intended to drive him mad, it worked. And based on the look she cast from beneath her lashes, she knew just how well. He didn’t care. His level of arousal was almost painful as she wrapped her long fingers around him. A groan tore from his throat.
Fighting the urge to drive into her heat, he unclenched his teeth long enough to gasp, “I promised we’d take our time.” He pulled her hand away from his erection. “I’m too close for much of that.”
“Not close enough.” Her pout made him smile.
Their lips came together again. The kisses were slow and sweet, a blending of tongue and breath. The mood shifted from frantic hunger to wrenching emotion. It was easy to forget the distance a
nd hurt that had separated them.
Savannah slid the sole of her foot over Trent’s muscled calf and let her hands roam over his chiseled torso. Each rise and dip of his glorious body was imprinted on her memory, but the real thing was so much better.
With her body building slowly toward another mind-blowing orgasm, Savannah stormed Trent’s mouth with her tongue and nipped at his lower lip. She rocked against him until he flexed his fingers on her hip and shuddered. His erection lay trapped against her belly, hot and eager for her. Her hands dived between them and stroked him.
“I can’t wait another second. I need you inside me.”
“I need that, too.” His voice rasped against her neck. “It’s been too long.”
When he shifted over her, she spread her legs and lifted her hips. Her head fell back and her breath caught as he positioned himself and thrust.
Stars exploded behind her eyes. “Magic,” she murmured, closing her eyes to glory in how her body stretched and adapted to accommodate him. The fit was always perfect. He was her match in this.
“How I’ve missed this.” Trent seized her mouth and began to move.
It wasn’t like the night in his office when they’d both been hungry and frantic. This time Trent stared into her eyes and laced his fingers with hers. The emotion shading his expression was so raw it threatened to rip her heart out. Savannah wanted to turn aside and not get sucked into the whirlpool of longing for things that could never be.
Trent would never want more than this. She’d learned to accept that, but at moments like these when he gave her everything he was, her foolish heart hoped that maybe this time it would be different. Shutting the door on such thoughts, she closed her eyes and let her other senses take over.
His ragged breath fanned her hot skin as he kissed her shoulder. They were both close. She recognized the tension in his muscles and the rising intensity of his low murmurings. He wanted her to come and wouldn’t let himself go until she did. Her climax waited, just out of sight. She was holding back, unwilling to reach for her pleasure, wanting to prolong the intimacy of the moment just a little while longer.
But her body wasn’t about to be controlled. The first sharp bite of her orgasm stopped her breath. Her eyes snapped open. She caught Trent’s satisfied smile as he watched her. The sight of him was enough to send her over the edge. Pleasure reared up and slapped her hard. Savannah exploded.
Trent’s muted exclamation came a second later. Savannah had a moment to appreciate that he’d kept his voice down in consideration of Dylan sleeping in the room next door before a second wave of pleasure rolled through her.
She was sunk. The pressure in her chest told her that what had happened tonight had opened a rift in her defenses she’d be helpless to patch. It would take time and space to heal, and she wasn’t sure she had the willpower to let either do its work.
In the aftermath of their lovemaking, Trent rolled over so that she was lying on top of him. He sent his fingertips skating along her spine in long, soothing caresses. She loved this part. The moments when Trent’s guard was still down and she could talk to him about anything. But tonight she had trouble thinking of a subject that wouldn’t lead to trouble.
Trent was the first to speak. “I’m sorry I was so angry with you for marrying Rafe.”
“We’d been broken up for months. And it had ended so badly. But I shouldn’t have started seeing Rafe.”
“I couldn’t believe how fast you got over me.”
She was surprised by his admission. “I didn’t get over you.” She frowned. “You were the one who didn’t want me.”
“That’s not true.”
Trent shifted them until they lay on their sides facing each other, legs tangled to maintain their connection. Savannah put her head on the pillow while he caressed her cheek. Her heart thumped erratically as she took in his somber expression.
“You told me you had no interest in getting married and having children,” she reminded him.
“That didn’t mean I didn’t want you. I just didn’t want the same things you did.” He kissed her forehead. “You were the one who decided to end our relationship. Not me.”
Savannah remembered how she’d ached the day she’d told him they were done. “I guess in the end, it doesn’t matter which of us called it quits. The fact is, we wanted different things and neither of us would be happy long term.”
“I don’t believe that’s true. I would’ve been happy with you.” The simple words sounded as if they came straight from his heart.
“But you didn’t want...” Children. Marriage.
“I felt backed into a corner by your expectations.”
“By my...?” She was horrified. If she could have put her dreams aside and been satisfied to just love Trent, would they have stayed together? She grew lightheaded at the thought of all the heartache she could’ve avoided. “How is that possible? I never put pressure on you.”
“No, you didn’t. At least not intentionally. But you had such an idealistic view of how you wanted your life to be.” His fingers toyed with a strand of her hair, tickling her shoulder. “Were you happy with my brother?”
“Our marriage was more about an understanding than passion.” She read no tension or hostility in his body as his hands played over her skin with lazy contentment. “He didn’t love me.”
“Did you love him?”
“Not the way a wife should. As I said, we both went in with our cards on the table. He wanted Dylan to carry on your father’s dynasty.” She shifted her head and kissed Trent’s bare shoulder.
“And you were okay with that?”
“I was scared and alone and pregnant. I didn’t know what I was going to do.” Remembering that time, Savannah winced. That woman had been forlorn and in desperate need of saving. “I auditioned for anything that came along, but no one wanted to hire a woman who was three months pregnant. And I was sick. All the time. They talk about morning sickness. I had all-day sickness.”
“I’m sorry it was such a hard time for you. And I’m glad my brother was there to help.”
Rescuing her had always been Trent’s thing. She could hear the regret in his voice and lifted her head to gaze into his eyes.
“He would have loved to hear you say that.”
Trent scowled and gave her hair a fond tug. “You always see the best in people.” He sounded like a weary big brother. “That’s what gets you into trouble.”
“I know you and Rafe never got along because of how your father favored him, but he wasn’t a villain.” Savannah wasn’t sure why she needed Trent to recognize an alternate view of his brother. “He was as hurt and frustrated as you were. Siggy dumped the entire burden of his expectations and the weight of West Coast Records’ legacy on Rafe. I’m not sure you realize how lucky you were to escape.”
From his closed expression, she could tell he didn’t believe her.
“Rafe wanted the business and he got it.”
One thing marrying Rafe had done was give her a front-row seat to the dysfunction of the Caldwell household. During the short months she’d been Rafe’s wife, she’d learned how much he’d been bothered by the rivalry Siggy had created.
“You’re right, but he didn’t want to be in it alone. He recognized that he needed your ability to scout new talent and Melody’s talents as a songwriter and producer. Siggy ruined his dream as much as he destroyed yours.”
“If you’re trying to convince me to like my brother, you’re wasting your time.”
“It’s not about you liking Rafe.” Savannah laid her cheek against his chest once more. “It’s about how the bitterness you carry for him keeps you stuck in the past.”
If Trent understood that Rafe had been Siggy’s tool, he might one day release some of the resentment that made him keep people at a distance. Maybe he’d stop running from love.
From her.
From being a family with her and Dylan.
Hopelessness swept over her. But could Trent ever see
her son as anything other than his brother’s child? And what would happen if he learned the truth? Would he hate her or could he understand why she’d chosen not to tell him?
Savannah kissed Trent, letting her love for him ignite her passion once more. His ardent response pushed her anxiety to the far reaches of her mind. She had time to sort everything out. Now all she wanted to concentrate on was this moment and this man.
Eight
“It’s so good to see you,” Savannah said, hugging her sister-in-law.
Because of Melody’s touring schedule, Savannah hadn’t seen her since Rafe’s funeral. For the past year she’d been traveling around the country opening for Nate Tucker and his band. Melody had lost weight but gained a little rock ’n’ roll flair. Dressed all in black, she wore a flared leather skirt and lacy T-shirt with ankle boots. Formerly happy to write songs and stay in the background, she’d resisted when Nate set out to convince her to open for his band. But the singer/songwriter/producer was nothing if not persistent when he recognized talent—in addition to being part owner of Club T’s, Nate had started his own record label and had a recording studio downtown.
“I’m excited to be in Las Vegas and can’t wait to get into the studio to put the finishing touches on my first album.”
“When do I get to hear some of it?”
“Soon,” Melody promised, her gaze darting to one side. “I wrote a couple more songs that I want to get into the studio and record. After that I’ll go through what I have and see what might work for the album.”
“I’m sure they’re going to be fantastic. All of them.”
“Where’s my nephew?” Melody asked. “I thought after what my father did you’d have a hard time letting him out of your sight.”
“Trent has him in the pool.” Savannah kept her expression as neutral as possible beneath Melody’s wide-eyed regard. “He’s teaching him how to swim, if you can believe it.”
“I can’t believe you’re here,” Melody said. “At Rafe’s funeral, you and Trent were on opposite sides of the room from each other the entire day. What changed?”
