Rumor Has It

by Maureen Child

  Stars shone overhead. A Texas wind caressed her bare skin. Her lover’s eyes held hers. And Amanda surrendered to the inevitable with a groan of release and a whispered sigh that was his name.

  Seven

  She was limp in his grasp and Nathan had never felt more alive. His body hard and aching, his pulse scrambling, he continued to stroke her intimately, loving the feel of her slick flesh beneath his fingers. Her breath hitched and she jerked in his arms as her still-sensitive body reacted to his touch.

  No woman in the world affected him like this one did. With just a sigh, she could inflame him or bring him to his knees. Which is why he was here, he reminded himself. This was the plan. To have sex with her again so that he could walk away. He looked down into her face and saw a soft, satisfied smile. Saw her meadow-green eyes glazed with passion. Saw the rapid pulse beat at the base of her throat and he wasn’t thinking about walking away. He was thinking only of burying himself inside her. Feeling her body close around his again.

  “Nathan…that was…”

  “Foreplay,” he groaned past the hard knot of need lodged in his throat and waited for her reaction. He touched her again and she trembled. In his arms, she felt vulnerable, soft, and every protective instinct he had roared to life. In that moment, he wanted to stand between her and the rest of the world. He wanted to always see her like this, looking up at him with stars in her eyes and a breathless plea on her lips.

  Seconds ticked past as she looked into his eyes. He held perfectly still. He wouldn’t touch her again until she said yes. Until she admitted that sex was the one thing they both could agree on. That they both needed. He hoped to hell she’d say it. If she still said no, it just might kill him.

  She lifted one hand to cup his cheek and stroked her thumb along his cheekbone. “I’m tired of being sensible,” she said. “I don’t want to think about tomorrow. I only want tonight. With you.”

  He waited a beat or two, letting her words sink in. Then, for his own sanity, he demanded, “You’re sure?”

  She smiled and linked her arms behind his neck. “About this, yes.”

  “Thank God,” he muttered and spun her around in a quick circle before lowering her to the quilt spread beneath the gnarled, twisted arms of the oaks surrounding them.

  Quickly, they worked to clear the quilt, setting the wine aside and shifting the cooler off into the thick grass. The radio played on, music shifting now to a low, throbbing beat that seemed to echo what each of them was feeling.

  They turned to each other, tearing at clothing, needing to touch only skin. Needing to feel the heat that flesh against flesh created. The summer wind slid over them as hands and mouths rediscovered the magic that pulsed between them.

  Nathan couldn’t seem to touch her enough. The feel of her soft, smooth skin beneath his fingers fed the fire inside that was engulfing him. His brain hazed out, his vision narrowed until all he saw was her. The woman who had haunted him for years. The woman he’d lost and never forgotten.

  He eased back, taking a moment to just look at her, enjoy this moment when she was his again. Her hair spilled across the quilt beneath her. Her long, tanned limbs were lean and smooth and her breasts were high and full. His hands itched to cup them, to tease those pebbled nipples until she was moaning and arching into his touch.

  Shaking his head, he murmured, “Been thinking about this since that first day I saw you in the diner.”

  She laughed a little and the sound rose over the roar of the river to become part of the music of the night. “You mean when you walked in all fiery-eyed, wanting me to leave town?”

  “Yeah, only I didn’t want you out of town as much as I just wanted you,” Nathan told her, dipping his head to taste first one dark nipple and then the other.

  She gasped, then sighed, a slow exhalation of breath that seemed to slide right into the heart of him. When he lifted his head again, she looked up into his eyes and said, “You hid it really well, being all crabby.”

  He gave her a quick grin. “Couldn’t let the town gossips know what I was thinking. Hell, I didn’t want you to know what I was thinking.”

  “Oh, me neither,” she admitted, holding his head to her breast. Her fingers threaded through his short hair, her nails dragging across his scalp.

  He was on fire. His whole damn body felt as if it were lit up from the flames about to swallow him. “Shoulda done this days ago.”

  “Oh, yeah,” she whispered and arched into him as he moved down her body, trailing damp kisses along her skin…down her chest, along the line of her stomach and across her abdomen. She tasted of summer and smelled like a spring meadow. He was surrounded by her taste, scent, touch. And still it wasn’t enough. His body ached like a bad tooth. He needed her and damned if he wanted to need. Being sucked into a maelstrom of emotions hadn’t been the plan. The plan was simply to bed her, so he could get her out of his system once and for all.

  The plan. He fought to hold on to it. To remember why it was important. Nathan Battle didn’t do anything without a damn plan and once it was made, it was golden.

  And yet…his brain shied away from thinking at all. Nathan wanted to concentrate solely on this moment, not what had led to it or what might come after. All he wanted right now was to revel in finally having her here, beneath his hands again.

  Her body was long and slim with just the right amount of curves to tempt a man. In the starlight, her skin seemed like warm honey. He dragged the tips of his fingers across her flat belly and smiled to himself when she sucked in a gulp of air. He traced the tan lines that striped over her breasts and then along the narrow strip of paler skin that lay across the triangle of light brown curls at the juncture of her thighs.

  “You wear a tiny bikini,” he murmured and wished he’d seen her in it.

  She smiled. “No point in wearing a big one, is there?”

  “Nope, guess not,” he agreed, sliding one hand down to cup her heat. “What color is it?”

  She gasped and rocked her hips into his hand. “What? Color? What?”

  “Your bikini, Amanda,” he whispered, “what color is it?”

  He dipped a finger into her heat and she hissed a breath. “Is that really important right now?”

  “Humor me,” he told her and swirled the tip of his finger around an already sensitive spot.

  “Okay, okay, just don’t stop,” she ordered, then swallowed hard. “It’s white. With red…” She broke off and shuddered, as he continued to stroke her with slow deliberation.

  “Red what?”

  “Huh? Red? Right.” She nodded, licked her lips and wiggled her hips into his touch. “Red, um, dots. Polka dots.”

  “Sounds nice.”

  “Uh-huh,” she whispered. “I’ll be sure to show you sometime. But for right now could we…”

  “You want more?” he asked, knowing she did, drawing out the suspense, the waiting, the wanting, for both of them.

  “I want it all.” Her eyes snapped open and she met his gaze squarely. “Honestly, Nathan, if you don’t get inside me within the next minute or so…”

  “You’ll what?” He grinned at her, enjoying the frustration in her eyes, in her voice. “Leave?”

  She blew out a breath and scowled at him. “Funny. No, I’m not leaving, but Nathan—”

  He rose up over her, looked down into her eyes and whispered, “You’re still so beautiful.”

  “I’m glad you think so.” She sighed and reached for him, but he pulled back, grabbed the jeans he’d tossed aside a few minutes before and rummaged in the pockets until he came up with a foil square.

  “Pretty sure of yourself, weren’t you?” she asked wryly.

  “Pretty sure of us,” he told her as he ripped the foil open, then took another moment to sheathe himself.

  Her expression was care
fully blank as his gaze met hers and she asked, “Is there an us, Nathan?”

  That was a good question, he thought, his eyes locked on hers. And he didn’t have an answer. Yesterday, he might have flatly said no. Tomorrow, he might do the same. But now… “There is tonight.”

  A flicker of sorrow danced across her eyes and was gone again so quickly he could almost convince himself he hadn’t noticed it at all. He didn’t want to hurt her, but damned if he’d pretend something that wasn’t so. Besides, he didn’t want to think beyond the moment. Us? No, there was no us. But there was now.

  “No more thinking,” he murmured and ended any further conversation by taking her mouth in a kiss that left them both breathless. His brain went blank and his body took over. Her hands slid up and down his back, her neat nails scraping across his skin, letting him know that the hunger that crouched inside him lived within her, too.

  The past dropped away as they found each other again in the most elemental way. Every touch was a reaffirmation of what they’d once been. Every kiss and gasped breath was a celebration of what they were discovering now. In the warm summer air, they gave and took from each other until passion was a living, breathing entity, wrapping them so tightly together they might never completely be apart again.

  They rolled across the quilt, arms and legs wrapped around each other as the river rushed on and the music continued to pump into the night air. Wind whispered through the trees and their strained breathing added to the symphony.

  His hands moved over her body and every touch was achingly familiar while, at the same time, it all felt new, electrifying. As if this were their first time coming together.

  He pushed her over onto her back and went up on one elbow to look down at her. She looked like a summer goddess, stretched out on that blue-and-white quilt, with starlight dancing on her skin. His breath caught when she licked her lips and smiled up at him. Her eyes were glazed with a burning desire that reached out to engulf him in the same flames. The fire felt good after so many years in the cold, he thought wildly. But he wasn’t about to wait another damn minute before claiming her and all she was.

  He shifted, kneeling between her legs and when she parted her thighs and lifted her arms to him in welcome, he groaned in satisfaction. He pushed himself home in one long, smooth stroke and hissed out a breath at the sensation of her hot, tight body gripping his.

  She gasped, lifted her legs and locked them around his hips, pulling him deeper, tighter. She arched, her hips rising to meet his, drawing him as close as she could. Then she trembled as pleasure whipped through her—a bright, white-hot thing that glittered in her eyes. He felt her pleasure with her every sigh. Felt the tension coiling in her body just from the way she moved with him.

  As if they were somehow connected on a deeper level than just physically, he felt what she did, knew when he looked into her eyes how close she was to climax. He knew her as he’d known no other woman. Her body was as familiar to him as his own. Her passion as important as his own.

  Her hands clutched at his back, his shoulders, his arms. Every strangled breath and sigh fed the fires inside him. His hips pistoned into hers as he withdrew from her body only to plunge deep inside her heat again.

  Her gasps and sighs filled him, pushing him harder, faster, as he quickened the rhythm between them and she rushed to meet him. He took her mouth, his kiss demanding, hungry. She had demands, too. Silent, desperate demands that he met eagerly.

  “Nathan. Nathan.” His name became a chant that was caught up by the wind and tossed into the night sky. She whispered and pleaded, moving her body into his, fighting for the release that waited for her.

  And when the first tremor hit, she clung to him, riding out wave after wave of pleasure tearing through her. Nathan felt her body fist on his as her completion took her. Only then did he give himself up to the coiled tension inside, finally releasing his stranglehold on control, surrendering to what only Amanda could do to him.

  His body exploded, his mind shattered and when he collapsed against her, Amanda’s arms came around him in the darkness.

  * * *

  Amanda’s heartbeat was racing. With Nathan’s heavy weight covering her, she felt, for the first time in years, complete. Ridiculous to admit, even to herself, but without him in her life she’d always felt as though something was missing. Something vital.

  Now, here it was.

  But she didn’t know how long this could last.

  He’d already told her that as far as he was concerned they weren’t together. This was just sex. Stupendous sex, but just sex. If she made more of it than that, she would be setting herself up for pain and disappointment.

  He shifted and rolled to one side of her, drawing her with him until she was nestled against his chest. Amanda listened to the sound of his rapid heartbeat and knew that he was as affected as she was. Some consolation in that, she supposed.

  The silence between them stretched on for what seemed forever until she simply couldn’t stand it anymore. Best, she told herself, to be the one to speak first. To set a tone that would let him know that she wasn’t going to swoon into his arms or cry and beg him to stay.

  Not that she didn’t want to, but he didn’t have to know that, did he?

  “Nathan, that was—”

  “Yeah,” he agreed. “It was.”

  “So,” she said, lifting her head to look at him, “come here often?”

  He grinned, fast and sharp and her breath caught.

  “Haven’t been here in years,” he said. “Not since—”

  He stopped, but now she knew that he hadn’t brought another woman to what was most definitely “their” place. Funny how much comfort that brought her. Oh, he was no monk and during the time they were apart—there had no doubt been dozens of women in his life. She winced at that thought. But at least he hadn’t brought them here.

  “It’s beautiful here,” she told him, glancing at the moonlight on the water.

  “Yeah, it is. Look, Amanda…”

  Oh, that sounded like the beginnings of a we-have-to-talk speech. Which she really didn’t want to hear at the moment. She preferred the teasing, tempting Nathan who had just shattered her so completely. She didn’t want to talk to the dutiful and honorable Nathan. Not now.

  So she just wouldn’t give him the opportunity to turn this moment into a regret-filled this-will-never-happen-again speech. Abruptly, she sat up and reached for her shirt. Dragging it on over her head, she flipped her hair back over her shoulder and asked, “How about some of that wine?”

  He studied her for a long minute, then sat up and reached for his own clothes. “Sure, that’d be good.”

  “And cookies,” she reminded him, determined to keep a cheerful, nonchalant attitude. Standing up, she stepped into her panties and then her skirt, smoothing the material before sitting down on the quilt again. “I think we need more cookies.”

  Once he was dressed, he sat down opposite her on the quilt and watched her warily, as if she were a time bomb with a faulty fuse and could go off any second. “Cookies.”

  “Why not?” she asked. “Don’t you remember? Sex always gives me an appetite.”

  Unexpectedly, he smiled as he poured them each a fresh glass of wine. “I do remember all of the picnics we had in bed.”

  Stillness washed over her as memories slammed into her mind. So many nights they’d spent in bed, laughing, loving and then feeding each other whatever they’d been able to find in the refrigerator. “We had a lot of good times, Nathan.”

  He handed her a full glass, then clinked his to hers. “Yeah, we did. But, Amanda…”

  She cut him off and saw his jaw tighten at being interrupted. “Let’s just leave it there, okay? We had good times back then and we had a good time tonight. Isn’t that what you said earlier? We have tonight?”

  �
��Yeah, I did.”

  “So, let’s enjoy it.”

  “You are the most confusing woman I’ve ever known.”

  Amanda laughed. “I think I’m flattered.”

  “You would be,” he said wryly. “You always knew how to twist me around until I didn’t know which end was up.”

  He sounded almost wistful and Amanda’s heart lurched in her chest. Memories were swimming in the air between them, rising and falling as swiftly as the frothy waves on the nearby river. Amanda took a sip of her wine to ease the knot in her throat before she trusted herself to speak. “You used to like that about me.”

  “Yeah,” he admitted. “I did.”

  Her gaze caught with his. “I’ve missed you, Nathan.”

  “I’ve missed you, too.”

  And maybe, Amanda told herself, for tonight, that was enough.

  * * *

  “You had sex.”

  “Piper!” Amanda jolted and looked around the diner guiltily, making sure no one was within earshot. Thankfully, most of the lunch crowd was long gone and she and her friend had the back of the diner practically to themselves. Amanda grabbed her cup of coffee for a sip, then asked, “Could you say that any louder?”

  “Probably,” Piper said. “Want me to try?”

  “No!” Amanda shook her head and tried for a little dignity. What? Was the truth stenciled on her forehead? I had sex with Nathan last night. Who else had noticed? Oh, God.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Amanda told her, deciding to plead ignorance and let it go at that.

  “Sure,” her old friend said with a smirk. “I’ll buy that. And any bridges you might have lying around.”

  Amanda frowned and leaned back into the rush of cool air pouring down on her from the overhead air-conditioning vent. Irritating to be read so easily—and by someone she hadn’t even seen in years. Well, clearly there was no point in pretending with Piper. “Fine. Yes. You’re right, Ms. Mind Reader.”