Race For Revenge (Lynsey Stevens Romance)

by Stevens, Lynsey

  ‘What was that secret little smile for back in the restaurant, Miss Mathieson?’ Shiloh asked teasingly as he fastened his seatbelt.

  Danni blushed in the covering darkness. ‘I was only thinking about the wonderful meal,’ she improvised guiltily.

  ‘I’m glad you enjoyed it,’ he said easily as the engine throbbed to life.

  They spoke occasionally on the short journey back to Broadbeach and in no time they were turning into Danni’s street. Shiloh pulled the car in to the kerb in front of the house and switched off the ignition. The car’s interior was dimly lit by the panel lights and Danni’s heartbeat had accelerated as she fumbled nervously with the buckle of her seatbelt.

  Shiloh flipped off his own harness and reached across to help her with hers. His hands moved over hers and the buckle was undone. Her hand was still clasped in his and with a sigh he leaned back in his own seat, keeping hold of her hand. Her fingers naturally twined with his and she turned her head so that she could watch him in the semi-darkness.

  Danni’s body was stiff with tension, her overriding emotion one of disinclination to have the evening end. Shiloh turned to look at her and she knew he was smiling. Some of her tension seemed to leave her, although her heartbeats still continued to race.

  ‘Thanks for a great evening, Danni,’ he said quietly. ‘I haven’t enjoyed myself so much in ages. Glad I talked you into coming?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes, I’m glad I came. I’ve enjoyed it, too.’ Danni’s voice sounded unnatural to her ears.

  He raised her hand to his lips, kissing her softly on her palm. At the burning touch of those lips her fingers curled strongly within his. Her eyes flew to his face and in the confines of the car the flame of attraction between them sparked and ignited.

  She heard him murmur her name huskily before his lips found hers in the darkness. As they touched passion flared between them. The forcefulness of possession in that kiss took Danni momentarily by surprise, but her senses responded involuntarily to his demands. It was a response she had never given before to any man and the wonder of her feelings filled her with a fear that had about it a touch of bittersweetness. It was all happening far too quickly. Her hands were crushed between their bodies and as the sensation of fear reached her consciousness she pushed her hands against him while her lips parted beneath his in spontaneous surrender.

  Reluctantly Shiloh lifted his lips from hers. His fingers were twined in her hair and he brought her head closer to him so that his lips rested against her temple.

  Trembling in his arms, Danni yearned to feel the touch of his lips on hers once more, but somehow she was afraid of where that inciting kiss might lead. She felt very young and naive, but recognised from the slight trembling of his own body that he was keeping himself under tight control.

  His lips moved slowly down to her earlobe, overwhelming her senses to such an extent that she was unable to control the surge of response which swelled and engulfed her. All thought of resistance disappeared and she turned her face until her lips could feel the ecstasy of his touch once again. His kiss probed and gently teased as their ardour rose.

  In the dark recesses of Danni’s mind a little bell tinkled warningly, but she was too carried away on the wave of her response to pay heed. The strap of her dress was pushed from her shoulder and his lips left a trail of fire over the smoothness of her skin to settle in the hollow at her throat where a pulse throbbed her heightened awareness of this man’s attraction. His lips moved downwards to the valley between her breasts while his hands caressed her, burning through the material of her dress. That material was all at once an encumbrance. She wanted him to touch her without the thickness of the material between them, and she knew he wanted it, too.

  He moved to get closer to her, only to knock his knee sharply on the console between the seats. Biting off an epithet, he raised himself so that his body, the upper part at least, was against hers.

  Danni strained nearer, her hands slipping inside the softness of his shirt, moving sensuously over his firm skin, now slightly damp with their lovemaking. His own hands moved over her creating havoc with her senses.

  How long their next kiss lasted Danni couldn’t have told. Perhaps it would have gone on forever, but a car coming towards them flashed its headlights on to high beam and the brightness of those lights in Danni’s eyes brought her down to earth as the warning bells began to ring again with increased intensity. When Shiloh went to draw her back into his arms she reluctantly resisted, resting her forehead against his lips while she pulled the strap of her dress back into place.

  He sensed the change in her and placing a hand on either side of her face looked into her eyes, large and bright, then at her lips, swollen and trembling from his kisses. For a moment Danni thought he would pull her into his arms again, but instead he smiled down at her a little ruefully and kissed her gently on the tip of her nose.

  ‘I know you’re right, sweetie, but at this moment I sure wish you weren’t,’ he said huskily, and moved over into his own seat, keeping her hand clasped in his. He laughed softly. ‘Believe it or not, I fully intended to shake your hand and bid you a chaste goodnight. Well, perhaps I thought a nice friendly kiss on the cheek might have been in order.’ His voice smiled. ‘My intentions let me down miserably, didn’t they?’ His fingers gently played with hers. ‘Must have been the devil on my shoulder whispering wicked thoughts into my ear.’

  A smile tugged at Danni’s mouth. ‘He must have been whispering in mine as well,’ she said shakily.

  He reached out and gently touched her lips with one finger and she pursed her lips against it in a soft kiss.

  Shiloh’s eyes blazed, reminding her once again of a jungle cat’s. ‘Danni,’ he said in a tortured voice, ‘don’t look at me like that or I won’t have the strength to leave you tonight.’ He closed his eyes and rested his head back against the headrest.

  The way Danni felt at the moment she could have curled up in the contoured comfort of the Lotus beside this man until the end of time. Had anyone suggested last weekend that she would be sitting with this particular man, the imprint of his lips still filling her with newly awakened yearnings, she would have been the first to scoff at the incongruity of it. In fact, if anyone had told her how it would be even half an hour before Shiloh had called for her this evening she would have laughed in disbelief. Perhaps the feelings of what she had thought was dislike had all the while been sparks of physical attraction.

  She looked at the firm lines of Shiloh’s profile and a tide of feeling rose within her so that she had to prevent herself from reaching across to touch the chiselled strength of his features. It’s too soon, cried an inner voice, and Danni moved slightly in a fever of indecision, admitting to herself that she desperately wanted to know more of this man.

  Her movement brought Shiloh’s gaze back to her face. ‘I guess I should let you go inside. You have to go to work tomorrow and I can imagine your friend—what was her name? Lisa? I can imagine what kind of connotation she would put on our evening if you turned up late with your eyelids propped open.’

  Danni laughed. He was right about that. ‘I’m on late shift tomorrow,’ she told him, ‘so I don’t start until ten-thirty and I finish at eight o’clock.’

  ‘Well, I could keep you here for ages yet, with a clear conscience,’ he squeezed her hand, ‘except for the fact that I have to be in Brisbane tomorrow at nine o’clock, with all my faculties about me.’

  Danni sat forward in concern, glancing at the luminous dial of her wristwatch. ‘It’s almost one o’clock,’ she said in surprise. ‘I didn’t realise it was so late. It feels as though it should be eleven at the very latest.’

  ‘Time has flown, Danni, my love, while we’ve been having fun.’ He shifted stiffly in his seat, rubbing his leg as though he had suffered a cramp. ‘Come on, I’ll walk you safely to your door.’

  They walked up the path, his hand
resting lightly on her waist and the soft silkiness of his shirt brushing her arm. He took her key from her and unlocked the door, reaching inside to switch on the light in the foyer of the old Colonial-style home. Taking her chin in one hand, he moved his lips gently on hers for one heart-stopping moment.

  ‘Danni, you’re bewitching. I wish—’ he paused. ‘I wish I didn’t have to go up to the city tomorrow.’ He sighed. ‘Something tells me I should spirit you away to a deserted atoll somewhere on the Great Barrier Reef. We could sit back and let the whole crazy world sail by without us.’

  Danni smiled, her hand clasped in his. ‘That’s always been a dream of mine, to live on a tropic isle somewhere far away from the rat race. Blue skies, white sands, green coconut palms, Brad Pitt.’ She laughed. ‘I think I read “The Swiss Family Robinson” at a very impressionable age.’

  ‘Me, too.’ Shiloh laughed with her. ‘We’ll have to explore the idea further when I get back.’ He looked down at her. ‘Brad Pitt indeed! We have an old saying peculiar to the O’Rourke clan which goes, and I quote, “One Shiloh O’Rourke in the hand is worth two Brad Pitts on the screen”.’

  Danni laughed and leaned against him. ‘How long do you expect to be in Brisbane?’ she asked, happy in the thrill of knowing he wanted to see her again.

  In the shaft of light falling through the open doorway from the foyer his expression barely changed, only the smile in his eyes faded. Had she not been looking again at their unusual colour she would have missed that subtle variation. As it was, the change was so fleeting that she thought she might have imagined it.

  ‘I’m not exactly sure,’ he replied carefully. ‘I may be flying down to Sydney from Brisbane if my business meeting goes well. By all accounts it will and then I hope to be back sometime next week. Maybe Wednesday.’

  ‘Oh.’ Danni’s heart sank. All of a sudden the thought of not seeing him for a week was dejecting.

  He pulled her closer, locking his arms about her and resting his chin lightly on top of her head. ‘Don’t tell me you’ll miss me?’ he asked softly, lifting his head so that he could look into her eyes.

  Her eyes moved over his face, drinking in each feature, committing every part of it to memory, afraid of the tumult of emotion that threatened to engulf her. A feeling akin to panic rose within her and once again she shied away from making a commitment, from putting into words what she suspected was going to be the understatement of the year. Somehow she had a foreboding that she would find the days while he was away unusually long and lifeless.

  His proprietary smile told her he had read her mind and he lowered his lips to hers in a lingering kiss. The kiss began as a gentle and tender goodbye, but somehow deepened until they clung convulsively together, carried away on a tide of desire that neither of them tried to control or wanted to abate. Danni could feel the tension in his thighs burning through the thin material of her dress and her own legs turned to water. Then he had put a space between them, his breathing ragged, as though he had been running a long distance. Danni felt their separation as a physical wrench.

  Shiloh shook his head in what was almost disbelief. ‘I think I should be gone, Danni, otherwise we’ll be here all night, and I mean that quite literally.’

  Her face flamed at the meaning behind his words and she knew with a shock that she would not resist him if he did want to stay. And she’d never felt that way before. He touched his finger to his lips, then placed his finger against Danni’s lips. ‘I wish I could make it back for your race at the weekend. What time will you get home on Sunday night?’ he asked softly.

  ‘Not late. I should be home by seven. We take the car back out to Mallaroo, then I stay the night and come back for work on Monday morning,’ she told him.

  ‘Fine. I’ll ring you there at about eight o’clock if I can get to my phone.’ He went down the steps and strode up the path. At the gate he turned and raised one hand and before Danni could move the red glow of his tail lights was disappearing down the street.

  With a bemused half smile on her face she walked inside and locked the door after her, her arms wrapping themselves about her body in sheer wonderful pleasure.

  You don’t know a thing about him, said a voice inside her, but she refused to listen. She was riding too high on the heavenly cloud on to which Shiloh had lifted her with his kisses. Her smile widened and she didn’t give her previous misgivings another thought.

  Danni scarcely had time to stow her bag in her locker in the staffroom next morning before Lisa came rushing in all agog. Danni was expecting Lisa’s inquisition and had prepared herself to answer innumerable questions.

  ‘At last you’re here, Danni. I’ve been beside myself with curiosity all morning to find out how your evening went,’ began the other girl. ‘Where did you go? What did you wear? What was he like?’

  ‘Lisa, please!’ Danni held up her hand. `How can I answer your questions when you race them in one after another?’

  ‘Sorry, Danni, but you know how excited I’ve been for you.’

  ‘I don’t know why, Lisa, I’ve only known the man for a week.’ Danni kept her voice ‘matter-of-fact. When she actually put that into words it seemed unbelievable. But it was the truth, she had only known Shiloh for a week, less than a week, while she felt as though they had known each other for ever.

  ‘So you’ve only known him a short time. That’s by the way,’ Lisa was saying offhandedly. ‘All it takes is a moment and, as I said before, I have a feeling about this.’ Her eyes held a dreamy look of impending romance.

  Danni shook her head in mock exasperation as the head librarian walked into the room.

  ‘Morning, Danni. I hope you’ll give Lisa all the details. We haven’t had a coherent word out of her all morning,’ remarked Sue, who was thirty-six and happily married with two teenage children.

  ‘Well, there isn’t much to tell. We went to the Old Coach House restaurant in Surfers Paradise, we dined, talked and danced and then he took me home.’

  Sue smiled as Lisa’s face fell.

  ‘But, Danni, was that all?’ Lisa’s voice was filled with disappointment.

  ‘You’ve read too many romances and watched too many movies.’ Danni winked across at Sue, feeling a bit of a fraud. ‘What else did you expect? That we’d elope and live happily ever after?’

  ‘Elope? Danni, you wouldn’t elope, would you?’ Lisa’s face showed horror. ‘You wouldn’t do us out of a perfectly good wedding when you know how we love them?’

  Sue and Danni burst out laughing.

  ‘Lisa, you make me feel like reaching for my walking stick and crocheted shawl,’ remarked Sue as she returned to the library proper to attend to a borrower.

  ‘Come on, Danni,’ begged Lisa. ‘Please tell me about your evening.’

  Sighing, Danni picked up a list of books she had to check. ‘I did have a very good evening, Lisa. I wore my blue crepe dress, the one I bought about two weeks ago when we went up to Pacific Fair, and we did have a delicious meal. There was a very nice band playing and a small dance floor, so we danced and talked some more. In fact, we found we had quite a lot in common.’

  ‘Oh, Danni, I’m so glad! He’s so handsome,’ Lisa beamed.

  ‘Don’t let your imagination run away with you now. We went out once and had a very enjoyable time, that’s all,’ Danni stated emphatically, as much for her own benefit as Lisa’s.

  ‘What happened when he took you home? Did he kiss you goodnight?’

  To her annoyance Danni felt herself blushing. ‘Lisa! You are the nosiest person I know. What a thing to ask!’

  ‘Well, did he?’ The other girl was unrepentant.

  ‘Well, what do you think?’ Danni tried to brazen it out.

  ‘Judging by your blush I’d say he did kiss you goodnight, and very satisfactorily, too,’ Lisa chuckled. ‘Don’t worry, Danni, your secret’s safe with me.’

/>   Danni tried to look reprimanding but ended up laughing reluctantly. ‘You really are incorrigible, do you know that?’

  ‘When are you seeing him again?’ Lisa asked, unabashed.

  ‘Next week, maybe,’ she replied cautiously.

  ‘Next week?’ Lisa raised her eyebrows. ‘And why maybe? I thought you said you enjoyed yourself?’

  ‘I did enjoy myself, and “next week” because he’s going, has gone actually, down to Sydney on business and won’t be back until Wednesday at the least,’ Danni explained. She made no mention of Shiloh’s prospective phone call on Sunday in case it didn’t eventuate. She told herself she mustn’t build that call up into anything more than it was.

  ‘What sort of business is he in?’ asked Lisa.

  Danni did a double take. ‘Actually, I’m not sure. I can’t remember him mentioning anything about his business. Oh, it must be in engineering. He did say he spent some time in the UK in some position to do with engineering.’

  ‘Oh.’ Lisa frowned. ‘Well, it’s bad timing on his part, this business trip. How does he know you won’t get snapped up in the meantime?’

  ‘Snapped up?’ Danni laughed delightedly. ‘By whom, pray?’

  ‘You never know, do you? Anyone could walk into the library, take one look at you, and that would be that. For that matter, what about the ever faithful Dallas Byrne? If you raised your little finger he’d come running, and that’s a fact,’ reminded Lisa.

  ‘And you know perfectly well that I’m not interested in Dallas in that way,’ replied Danni. ‘I like Dallas very much, but as a friend, nothing more. It could never be any more than that.’ Especially after last night, a little voice whispered secretly in her heart.

  Lisa nodded. ‘Poor Dallas! He’ll just have to learn to live with that, although I can tell he hasn’t given up on you yet. You know, Dallas’ whole trouble is that he’s too nice. He’s not bad looking, allowing for his red hair, so I’m sure if he tried a bit of caveman stuff you’d think more of him. He sits back and lets you make all the running when he would have been better off telling you that you were going with him and that was that.’