by Ruth Langan
The music drifting up from the courtyard was louder in his room, and he swore as he hurried over to draw the balcony door shut. It didn’t help. He could still hear the strains of a haunting love song mocking him.
Was that all they knew? Love songs? He ran his hand through his hair and reached for the cord to draw the draperies. He didn’t want to see the stars, or the twinkling lights, or the happy people below. Before he could close them, he heard a sharp rap on the door and released the cord.
He stormed across the room and tore open the door, ready to throttle the intruder. “I didn’t order any…” His eyes, hot and fierce, narrowed on Celeste. His gaze raked her. “Now what? Didn’t you plunge the knife deep enough? Or did you think it might be fun to twist it, too?”
“Oh, Drew.” Her voice was strangled with unshed tears. “Don’t make this any worse for me.”
“For you?” He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest, taking in the way she looked, her eyes troubled, her lips trembling. For a moment he was almost tempted to comfort her. But only for a moment.
“May…” She glanced around. “May I come in?”
He shifted away from the door, leaving the choice to her. She stepped inside and closed his door, then leaned warily against it while he continued watching her.
“I don’t know how to handle this, Drew.”
“Handle what?”
“You. Us.” She looked absolutely miserable as she shook her head, sending hair tumbling over one eye. “I’ve always been so focused. Always known exactly what I wanted, and how to get it.”
She saw the grin that touched the corner of his lips.
“Oh yeah. I’ve noticed.”
“You know I’ve never been afraid of hard work, Drew. In fact, I thrive on it. But this… You… Us…” She lifted her hands, then clenched them at her sides, staring at the floor. “Ever since you came here, I’ve been lost. I don’t seem to know where I’m going, or why.”
“Join the crowd.”
At his terse words she looked up. “You, too?”
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t realize. You always seem so cool and controlled.” She stared into his eyes and could see his pain. Pain she’d inflicted. It cut to the quick. “I’m sorry, Drew.”
He shrugged. “I guess you figure I deserve it after leaving you and the company behind.”
“No.” She touched a hand to his arm. Just a touch, but she felt his muscles tighten. Felt him flinch. “This isn’t about revenge, Drew. I’m just so confused. You know how I need to analyze everything. Look at a problem from every angle, before making an informed decision. I’ve always hated making mistakes. And I’m so afraid that we’re going to let our…hunger for each other get in the way of our common sense.”
He looked down at her hand, resting lightly on his skin, and felt the heat starting to hum and pulse through his veins. A dangerous thing, he knew.
“Are you saying this…hunger isn’t just one-sided? That I’m not alone in wanting this?”
“I’ve never stopped wanting you, Drew.”
“But…?” He shrugged aside the tiny spark of hope that flickered for just a moment in the darkness of his mind. “I’m sure there’s a qualifier in there somewhere.”
Her voice trembled slightly. “But I’m afraid.”
“You have a right to be, Lessie.”
Just the sound of that name on his lips had her melting. She wished he would do more to persuade her. She longed to have him touch her, hold her, kiss her. But when he continued standing so still, watching her so carefully, she realized that it was up to her this time.
“When you left just now, I recognized another feeling, even stronger than fear.”
“What’s that?”
She lifted her hand to his cheek and felt him react as though she’d slapped him. “I want you to hold me, Drew. The way you used to.”
“Sorry.” He knew his tone was abrupt, but it was taking all his strength to hold himself in check. “That isn’t possible. If I hold you now, I won’t be able to stop.”
She lifted both hands to his chest. “Maybe this time I won’t ask you to stop.”
He closed his fingers around her wrists, halting her movements. “Nothing’s changed since I left your room, Lessie. I’m the same man I was before. You’re the same woman. I can’t make you any promises that will change things.”
“Then I won’t ask for any.” She stood facing him, her heart in her eyes. “Hold me, Drew. Kiss me. For old times’ sake.”
She saw the heat flare in his eyes. “If I do, it’ll be all the way. Otherwise we stop this right now. We go our separate ways and settle for nothing. Understood?”
She could feel the tension humming through him. Still, he stood his ground.
She found his control unbearably arousing. “I understand.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think you do, Lessie.” He released her wrists to run his hands up her arms, across her shoulders. Every touch of her was pure heaven. And pure hell. “I won’t be content with a quick tumble in the sheets.”
A little thrill of anticipation raced along her spine. She’d never been able to forget the way he made her feel with a single touch, a single kiss. Like she was the only woman in the world.
“I’ll want all of you. Your body, your mind.” He pressed his face to her hair. “The way it used to be. And more, Lessie. The way it never was before.”
She felt a sudden rush of fear at his words. But just as quickly the fear was replaced by the keen edge of excitement as his lips began moving across her face, burning a trail of kisses from her brow to her cheek, and then to her mouth.
Instead of kissing her, he traced his tongue around the outline of her lips, until she thought she’d go mad with the need to kiss him.
“Drew…” She tried to capture his mouth, but he kept it just out of reach, while his hands pressed her closer and closer against him, until she could feel the imprint of his hard body on hers.
“Tell me, Lessie. Tell me this is exactly what you want, too.”
“It is.” The words came out in a sigh of desperation. “I’m afraid. Afraid we’ll hurt each other again. But I’m even more afraid of letting you go without this last chance. Do you understand?”
“Completely.”
At last he covered her mouth with his and kissed her until they were both breathless. Then he kissed her again, this time lingering over her lips, loving the feel of them. Savoring the taste, the texture, the softness. Filling himself with her sweetness.
His head was already spinning. “In all the time we’ve been apart, I’ve been torturing myself with thoughts of this.” He whispered the words against her mouth. “Of touching you. All of you. Of kissing you until the taste of you filled all my senses and pushed aside everything else. Everything but you.”
She was struggling to keep her balance. Her world seemed to have tilted at a crazy angle. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on. “It’s been the same for me. I used to wake up, dreaming of your arms holding me. And find myself weeping when I saw that my bed was empty.”
He traced the shape of her ear, before tugging lightly on her lobe, sending darts of pleasure to her very core.
Against her ear he growled, “Some nights I swore I could smell you on my pillow. That perfume you’ve always worn would be there, taunting me. And I’d lie awake, praying for dawn, so I could lose myself in my work. When all along, all I really wanted was to lose myself in you.” He plunged his tongue into her ear, and heard her little hiss of pleasure. “All I’ve ever wanted was you. And this. Just this.”
He ran wet, nibbling kisses across her jaw, down her throat, lingering over the sensitive little hollow between her neck and shoulder. The fragrance of her perfume was stronger here, and he could see, in his mind’s eye, the way she always touched the stopper to her throat, and then lower, between her breasts.
“I have to see you. All of you.” Annoyed with the barriers between the
m, he tugged the cropped top over her head. He wasn’t surprised to find silk underneath. It was one of her little indulgences. She’d always loved the feel of silk against her skin.
To him it was just one more barrier to eliminate. He stripped it aside in one quick move.
“Ah, Lessie. You’re so beautiful.” His voice was gruff with emotion.
In the moonlight her milk-white skin seemed touched with gold. Against his fingertips it seemed even softer than the silk he’d just discarded. Almost reverently he trailed his fingers across the soft swell of her breasts, allowing his mouth to follow the trail until she sucked in a breath and held on to keep from falling.
He dipped a finger beneath the waistband of her soft silky shorts and tugged them free, until they joined the rest of her clothes at their feet.
He loved looking at her. At all that perfect, gilded skin and that mane of fiery hair. And those cool green eyes. At the moment they weren’t cool at all, but wide and troubled. Fear of what they were about to do had them even wider than usual, and the knowledge made him even bolder as he kissed her, long and slow and deep, hoping to put her fears at rest.
With a sigh of impatience she tugged his T-shirt over his head and discarded it, then reached for the snaps at his waist. She was frantic to get her hands on him. She needed to feel his body against hers. That beautiful, sculpted body, rippling with muscles. To feel it pressed to hers. Warm flesh to warm flesh.
He’d barely stepped out of his jeans before she was running her palms over the smooth, flat planes of his stomach, then higher, feeling the brush of dark hair against her fingertips. With a little hum of pleasure she followed with her mouth, trailing hot wet kisses across his chest.
He hadn’t expected the need to be so desperate. The desire to be so deep. With an oath he dragged her against him and savaged her with kisses.
Her breath was burning her throat. She felt her knees buckle and reached out wildly.
His arm was there, strong and firm. “Don’t worry, Lessie. I won’t let you fall.”
“I never doubted it, Drew.”
He found her, hot and moist, and took her on a fast, dizzying climb. He could feel the little tremors that rocked her as she reached the first peak. But before she could recover he was taking her up again. And then again. Leaving her no time to breathe. To steady herself.
“Drew.” She stared into those hot, fierce eyes, stunned by the darkness she could see.
“I warned you, Lessie. Not just the way it used to be, but the way it never was. This time, I want to take you places you’ve never been before.”
She felt a sudden shock as she realized that, though they’d been lovers, and had known each other as intimately as lovers could, this was a side of Drew she’d never seen before. This dark, dangerous stranger excited her, even while he frightened her. What surprised her even more was the eager way she responded to him.
He pressed her back against the wall and kissed her until she was weak and clinging. But with each kiss she could feel her own passion growing until she clutched at him and returned his kisses until she could barely breathe.
The heat rose up between them, clogging their throats, leaving their skin damp with sweat. The hot summer air seemed to have closed in around them until there seemed no relief for it. And still they took each other higher.
She’d never known such desperation. She wanted him. Wanted to crawl inside his skin. And yet she was helpless to end this hunger. A hunger that he continued to feed, while slowly driving her mad.
If it weren’t for his hands holding her, and his body pressing her to the wall, she knew she’d slip bonelessly to the floor.
She was almost grateful when he dropped to his knees and tugged her down beside him. She twined her arms around his neck, willing to go wherever he led her, the need for him growing with every kiss.
With a growl of pleasure he laid her down and cradled her in his arms, kissing her, touching her as no one else ever had.
“Please, Drew.” Her words were a fierce whisper against his mouth, begging him to end this sweetest of tortures.
Instead he slowed his movements, lingering over every kiss, every touch, drawing out each pleasure. He circled her breast with his tongue, then took the already erect nipple into his mouth and suckled until she writhed beneath him, mad with need. He moved to the other breast, nibbling, suckling, teasing until the pleasure was almost pain. And still he held back, keeping relief just out of reach.
He thought of all the endless days and nights he’d dreamed of this. Of lying here with her, loving her, bringing them both pleasure beyond their wildest dreams. But none of his fantasies had ever compared with this. The reality was so much sweeter than anything his imagination could conjure. He studied the way she looked, with moonlight spilling through the balcony window, bathing her in a golden glow. Her hair like fire against his skin. Her eyes, hot as emeralds, staring into his.
It excited him to know that she was as close to madness as he was at this moment. The kiss she begged for was his. His was the touch that left her weak.
It was his name on her lips as she sighed and dragged his head down for another drugging kiss.
The desire to take her, to end this terrible longing, nearly pushed him to the brink. Still he held back, tempting them both as they edged closer and closer to madness.
She sobbed and reached for him. This time he knew he could wait no longer. As he entered her he found himself murmuring words he’d never spoken before. Words of endearment. Words of love. Words straight from the heart.
“I love you, Lessie. I’ve always loved you. Only you.”
Through a blinding mist of passion she heard him. Her vision blurred and she struggled to focus on him. But all she could see were his eyes, hot and fierce, burning into hers. All she could hear was the pounding of her ragged heartbeat, like thunder in her ears.
“Drew.” His name was torn from her lips as she shuddered and reached for him.
She’d never known such strength before. Or such deep arousal. She wrapped herself around him, moving with him, climbing with him as they began to soar. Higher, then higher still. Until they seemed to touch the moon. There they exploded into a burst of blinding light. And drifted slowly to earth in a shower of glittering stardust.
Chapter 11
“You okay?” Spent, Drew lay on top of her, his mouth pressed to a tangle of hair at her temple. It felt so good. So right to be here, locked in her arms. As if, he thought, he’d come home.
She nodded, unable to speak. She was mortified to feel tears threatening again. She hadn’t cried this much in the year they’d been apart.
Seeing her reaction he was filled with remorse. “I never meant this, Lessie. I never meant to take you on the floor like a savage. The bed…”
She touched a finger to his lips to stop his protest. “I didn’t need a bed.”
“I’m a brute. I know I’m too heavy…”
“You’re not too heavy. And it isn’t the floor. It’s just…” She drew in a long, shaky breath. “I’ve missed you so much, Drew. So much.”
“Not as much as I’ve missed you.” He rolled to one side and drew her into the circle of his arms, then lifted her atop him, cushioning her body against his. Her hair swirled forward like a fiery veil, tickling his chest.
“There hasn’t been a day that I haven’t thought of you, and wondered how you were. You’ll never know how many times I went to the phone and dialed your number, then called myself every sort of fool before hanging up.”
She traced the curve of his brow. She’d always loved his face. This strong chiseled profile. The rugged features, softened by that smiling poet’s mouth. Those gray, mysterious eyes, hiding so many secrets.
“I did the same. A hundred times or more.”
“Too bad we never connected.”
She gave a wry smile. “What could we have possibly said? Hi. Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here.”
At her wistful tone he kissed the tip of
her nose. “That’s probably what we would have said to cover our true feelings. In fact, the higher up the corporate ladder I climbed, the more I realized I wasn’t having a wonderful time at all.”
“Neither was I.” She sighed. “I plunged myself into so much work, I used to fall into bed every night completely exhausted. But all the work in the world couldn’t keep me from thinking about you, and wondering how you were doing.”
“Then you’re not sorry…” He glanced at their clothes, strewn around the room like rags. “…that we came back to this?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know how I’ll feel in the cold light of morning. But right now…” She wrapped her arms around his neck and lowered her head for a long, slow kiss that started the familiar heat curling deep inside. “…I’m so glad I found the courage to come after you.”
“Yeah. Me, too.” He chuckled against her lips. “I wasn’t going to come back and beg again.”
“Is that what you were doing? Begging? And here I thought you’d come back in triumph.”
“Some triumph,” he whispered against her lips and was jolted by the sudden rush. She was like a drug. One taste and he had to have more.
He drew her down for another long lazy kiss until his head was spinning. Then, for good measure, he rolled them both over and began nibbling his way down her throat to her collarbone, then lower, to the swell of her breast.
When he came up for air he was fully aroused. “Sorry, but I have a lot of time to make up for. I think we’re going to have to try for seconds.” He nodded toward the bed. “What say I carry you to someplace more comfortable?”
“It’s too far.” She sighed and moved against him, brushing her mouth across his chest until he moaned. “We both have a lot of time to make up for. Starting right now. And I don’t want to waste a second of it moving from this spot.”
