The Lawman's Romance Lesson

by Marie Ferrarella

  And then he was kissing her.

  The moment his lips touched hers, Daniel felt the hunger, the hunger that he’d been doing his very best to bury, suddenly explode to life, going off within him like fireworks that were lined up end to end. Fireworks that were shooting into the air with a breathtaking intensity.

  Desires and emotions sprang up inside him, full-bodied and demanding to be recognized. Demanding to be satisfied.

  Holding Shania against him, Daniel deepened their kiss layer by soul-vibrating layer until he felt as if he was all but drowning in her.

  The enormity of what was about to happen if they continued on this path suddenly, glaringly occurred to Daniel, seizing his attention.

  Stunned and chastising himself, Daniel pulled back, even though he was still holding on to her shoulders.

  He saw the surprise in her eyes at the sudden separation.

  “Something wrong?” she asked, confused.

  Daniel couldn’t just walk away from her—even though part of him felt it was the right thing to do. But he couldn’t just leave without explaining why.

  “I’ve got an awful lot of baggage, Shania,” he told her.

  What he didn’t say was that he felt it wasn’t fair of him to bring that burden into a relationship. Lana had done a number on him, giving him trust issues, and that wasn’t fair to Shania.

  The simple statement was meant to be an apology as well as an explanation, letting her know why he had stopped kissing her—and why he felt it was best to just leave before things went too far.

  But Shania deftly aborted his apology with an equally simple statement. “Everyone does.”

  Was she telling him that was no reason not to continue? Or was she saying that she understood why he’d stopped?

  Or was she telling him that she had her demons too and that those demons—his and hers—shouldn’t be allowed to stand in the way of their search for happiness?

  He didn’t know.

  The only thing that he did know was that he wanted Shania, wanted her with a fierce, piercing desire that stunned him and rendered him unable to do anything else or think of anything—except losing himself in her.

  Still, Daniel wanted to be totally fair to Shania, to give her the opportunity to change her mind at the last moment and just walk away.

  “Are you sure?” he asked her, his eyes searching her face for his answer.

  Daniel watched in fascination as the smile blossomed on her face.

  “You know,” she told him, drawing closer again, “for a man of few words, I think you have just used up your allotment for the rest of the month.” She paused, letting the words sink in. “So just stop talking and kiss me before I start to think that maybe you’ve suddenly thought better of the whole thing.”

  That really surprised him. Did she actually think he thought that? How?

  “There is no ‘better’ than this,” he told her with such sincerity, Shania could feel the corners of her eyes moistening.

  “Then get back to it, Deputy Tallchief,” she “ordered,” opening her arms to him in a blatant invitation.

  The last of his good intentions were completely dissolved and he had absolutely no strength to keep her—or his own desires—at bay any longer. Pulling Shania to him, Daniel’s lips covered hers and he began kissing Shania with such fervor that there was no time to breathe, to reconsider what was happening or to once more attempt to call a stop to what was now so obviously inevitable.

  Her head was spinning as she felt him kiss her over and over, each kiss growing in magnitude and scope, more powerful than the one that had come before it. She could feel that there was a fire in his veins, a fire that not only consumed him, but had managed to melt away any of her own resistance, however minor that resistance was. That resistance was completely wiped out before it even had a chance to take form.

  Everywhere he kissed her, on her face, on her neck, on her throat, that part instantly joined the symphony of aroused sensations, responding to Daniel and fueling her growing desire for the ultimate fulfillment.

  His lips continued gaining more ground, moving ever onward until Shania felt as if all of her had been conquered. She had surrendered to him without even attempting to offer so much as the smallest iota of resistance.

  Why would she? Shania now knew that this was where it had all been going since the first moment that they had met one another.

  When Daniel suddenly stopped again, her head felt as if it was swirling. That made it difficult for Shania to pull herself together in order to form a coherent thought.

  Breathing heavily, she blinked and did her best to focus on him, waiting for Daniel to explain why he had stopped this time.

  “We’ve got an audience,” he told her in a low voice, nodding toward Belle.

  Turning her head, Shania saw the soft brown eyes that was watching their every move. At any moment, Belle might just push her way between them and easily ruin everything.

  Straightening up, Shania said, “Belle, sit,” in an authoritative voice.

  Daniel was impressed to see that the German shepherd complied, plopping her rear down on the floor, and then she went on to spread her body out like a bearskin rug.

  The next moment, Daniel felt Shania get up. His heart sank as he thought that the interlude was over. But then she was taking his hand.

  “Come with me,” she whispered.

  It never occurred to him to ask where—he just went with her, following wherever she was leading.

  Shania led him to her bedroom.

  As he continued to watch, Shania closed the door behind them, saying, “So Belle doesn’t decide to come and investigate.”

  His smile was warm as he murmured, “Works for me.” Taking her back into his arms, he asked, “Now, where were we?”

  Shania rose on her toes, her lips inches from his. “I think if you look very closely, you might just see where you left your place marker.”

  Daniel grinned just before his lips covered hers again, saying, “You’re right. There it is.”

  And then there was no more need for words, nor room for any because he was kissing her again, picking up just where he had left off. He did so with the same amount of fire and verve he’d built up to just before the feel of small, intense eyes watching him had caused him to stop.

  It felt as if any restraints, any of the barriers that might have been there, had all disappeared. There were no more obstacles, no more impedance to get in their way.

  When Daniel began kissing her again, it felt as if this was what he knew had been waiting for him all along. He tasted not just surrender in Shania’s kiss, but destiny, as well.

  His destiny.

  Because this wasn’t about conquest—it was about finally finding his other half, the woman he had been meant to be with all along.

  Don’t get ahead of yourself, the voice in his head whispered.

  The specter of fear hovered over him in the distance, a ghostly reminder that this wasn’t the first time that he had felt that he’d found the right woman, found the one he was meant to be with.

  But he’d been a naive kid then. Since that time, he had seen disappointment up close and personal, knew firsthand what heartbreak felt like. Had seen it in the face of the woman he’d believed loved him.

  It could happen again, that specter haunting him now whispered. This one could desert you just the way Lana did.

  Daniel shut out the voice, refusing to allow it back in his head.

  He felt as if he was completely drunk on desire. He could practically feel it pulsing in his veins, urging him to continue, to make love with this woman and take what she was offering. And if disappointment was waiting for him in the wings, he’d face it later. Right now, this need he had consumed him.

  Daniel began to undress her, drawing away Shania’s clothes from her body. He held
the urgency that throbbed in his veins in check to the best of his ability so that he could prolong the process, making it last.

  Making them both just that much more excited about the end of the journey that waited for them.

  As he went on undressing her, Daniel felt her hands on his body, opening up buttons on his shirt, pulling the material off his shoulders. He caught his breath as she pressed her lips against the skin that was revealed beneath.

  Slowly she wove a tapestry of warm kisses along the space that was uncovered, branding him.

  His breath caught in his throat, then began to come faster until he felt his heart hammering in his chest so much, it almost made him dizzy.

  Each movement she made, he matched it, then made one of his own which she in turn mirrored. The game continued like this until there was nothing left to remove, no place left to anoint. They were on her queen-size bed now, free of their clothing, free of any sort of restraints and inhibitions. And they were both on fire.

  Daniel worked his way slowly along her body one last time. He began at her throat and moved by small increments along her body as if he was attempting to commit it to memory by touch and by taste. As he skimmed his tongue along her belly, he could feel it quivering beneath him, the invitation crystal clear.

  Traveling back up slowly along her damp, palpitating body, he progressed closer by just fractions of an inch until he was almost directly above her.

  Daniel looked into her eyes, holding them captive with his own.

  Every breath she took he could feel along his own torso. It only fueled his own hunger.

  Holding Shania’s arms above her head, Daniel slowly threaded his fingers through hers, joining them together before he moved his body the last few increments of an inch closer to hers.

  Unable to hold himself in check any longer, Daniel moved his knee between her legs, parting them.

  And then he entered her, not quickly but with slow, deliberate determination.

  He heard her draw in her breath, felt her heart beating harder a second before he began to move within her.

  The dance began slowly, gently, as if he was afraid of disturbing the rhythm that they had just discovered. But when Shania began to echo his movements, then increase them on her own, he joined her, moving with enthusiasm and going faster and faster until they were both racing toward the end that they knew was waiting for them.

  Daniel felt her digging her fingertips into his shoulders, felt Shania arching her back as she emulated him thrust for thrust. He could feel the heat coming from her body as they were now racing toward the top of the summit.

  Reaching it together, they clung to one another as they felt the wave of fulfillment sweep over both of them, tossing their bodies down the steep incline.

  They held on to one another until the very end. And longer.

  The sound of labored breathing filled the room that was otherwise nestled in darkness. And they held on to each other, their arms wrapped around one another, until the feeling of ethereal well-being slowly began to recede and fade.

  When Daniel was finally able to gather himself together, he turned toward the woman whose body he’d just enjoyed and worshipped and quietly asked, “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  He felt her smile against his shoulder and could feel a longing begin to bud within him again, even though he’d honestly felt that it wouldn’t be possible. By all rights, he should have been too exhausted to breathe, much less go another round with her that even remotely approximated what they had just done.

  And yet there it was. Desire. Struggling to grow and take over.

  “I believe the expression is I’m feeling no pain,” she told him with a smile that made her eyes sparkle.

  “That usually refers to someone being drunk,” he told her.

  “Maybe I am,” she allowed. “Drunk on a feeling,” she added.

  “So I didn’t hurt you?” Daniel asked. He was worried now that maybe he’d gotten too carried away, been too focused on his own pleasure and not enough on what he was doing to her.

  She turned her face toward him. “No, you didn’t hurt me. You were miles away from hurting me, Daniel,” she assured him. Then, suppressing the smile that was trying so hard to surface, she asked, “Did I hurt you?”

  The dark hid her face from him and he didn’t see the smile that was there, so he addressed her question as if she’d actually asked him the question seriously.

  “No, you didn’t.”

  And then, when he heard the soft laugh, he knew she was putting him on. Daniel responded by pushing her onto her back and looming over her.

  “You’re slender. You couldn’t have hurt me unless you had an anvil strapped to your waist.”

  “That would have made what we just did almost impossible,” she told him. “Picture it,” she urged, amused.

  The glimmer of moonlight pushing its way into her room allowed him to see the wide grin on her face.

  “I have a feeling that we would have managed somehow,” he told her.

  She didn’t even try to hide her laugh this time. “I think we would have, too.” She threaded her arms around Daniel’s neck, arching her back so that her body was once again close to being sealed to his. “Interested in an encore?”

  His mouth curved as he looked at her. “You’re giving me a lot of credit.”

  “I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough,” she countered.

  Daniel could feel himself wanting her all over again with an urgency that was impossible to ignore. “I guess we’ll just have to see who’s right.”

  She smiled up into his face. “I guess so.”

  And then the words between them faded away as the dance that they had already shared once now began all over again.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “So where were you?”

  Daniel whirled around, startled to hear his sister’s voice as he passed through the living room. He had let himself into the house quietly even though he had expected Elena to be in her bed, asleep at this hour. The one thing he hadn’t expected was to be the subject of scrutiny as he entered his own house.

  Elena had apparently been waiting for him on the sofa. Closing the TV monitor, she was on her feet and circling him like an old-fashioned version of an interrogator closing in on her subject.

  “You were off work today and as far as I know, Forever isn’t in the middle of some crime wave, which means that the sheriff wouldn’t have suddenly pressed you into service. And that, in turn,” his sister concluded, “means you should have been home by now. You weren’t.” Elena now looked up at her brother’s face and repeated her question. “So where were you?”

  He didn’t care to have the tables turned on him this way. “Out.”

  “Out,” Elena echoed, enjoying herself as she took on the role that her brother normally played with her. “Out where?”

  Daniel waved away her question. “That doesn’t matter. I thought you’d be home, asleep—or taking advantage of the occasion and celebrating with your friends.”

  “I was celebrating,” she confirmed, never taking her eyes off Daniel.

  “And you’re back this soon?” he questioned.

  The Elena he remembered from not that long ago would still be out there. That she wasn’t was something to be grateful for—and he was, but at the same time he wasn’t all that happy about her delving into his life like this.

  “It’s late,” Elena said matter-of-factly. “And besides, someone once told me that I shouldn’t get carried away celebrating too hard.” Concluding her story, she pulled her lips back in a patient smile and, inclining her head, told him, “Your turn.”

  Daniel frowned at her. “I am not accountable to you, Elena. I’m the adult here, remember?”

  But his sister was not about to back off. “Someone once told me that age had nothing to do with it
. Family is always accountable to family.”

  She was right, but that didn’t help his frustration level at the moment. “Why is it that you remember these things when it’s to your advantage to remember?”

  Amused, Elena’s grin grew wider. “I’m a fast learner,” she told him. And then she looked at him with a knowing expression and asked, “Were you out with Ms. Stewart?”

  Her unexpected question caught Daniel completely off guard. Only his years of keeping his thoughts and emotions hidden saved him from giving everything away.

  “Why would you even ask that?” he asked.

  “Oh, please,” Elena cried, rolling her eyes. At least that was something he was familiar with, Daniel thought. But definitely not happy about. “Everyone knows you two are a couple waiting to happen.”

  “You sound like Miss Joan’s grooming you to be her understudy,” he commented, completely bypassing his sister’s question.

  And then Elena said the second thing that night that completely threw him for a loop.

  “Would that be so bad?” she asked him. “I mean, everyone looks up to Miss Joan and she seems to have her finger on the pulse of just about everyone and everything in and around Forever.” Because Daniel appeared so stunned, she pounced on her initial question. “Okay, stop stalling, Deputy Sheriff Big Brother. Where were you?”

  His eyes met hers. “I’d rather talk about you.”

  Elena didn’t give an inch. “And I want to know where you were.” Enjoying this game, she couldn’t help but laugh.

  He took that as an indication that she was backing off. Daniel softened, sitting down for a moment and nodding at the spot next to him. Elena took the hint and sat down.

  “How was the test?”

  Elena shrugged and then made herself more comfortable on the sofa. “It was okay—thanks to Ms. Stewart.” And then she doubled back to her first question. “So, am I right?”

  Daniel could only look at her, blindsided by her sudden about-face. “What?”

  Elena sighed dramatically as if he was using up her dwindling supply of patience. Slowly enunciating each word, she asked, “Were you out with Ms. Stewart?”