by Sara Orwig
“We’ll see what I can find.”
“Do I need to come out with you and check there is no vagrant living there now?”
Smiling, she shook her head. “No. My chauffeur will be with us. Duke is a retired police officer who is a chauffeur now.”
“Ah, an ex-cop. That’s the first good news since I saw your red limo in my parking place.”
She laughed and leaned forward, placing her hand on his forearm, feeling the solid muscle through his sleeves. “The first good news? I’m disappointed. You rate that above meeting me, above this evening together, above dancing with me—”
He leaned over the table until his face was inches from hers and she felt as if she was drowning in his blue eyes. “You’re out with me, dancing with me, because you want something from me. Not one second of this evening is because you want to be spending the evening with me.”
His words were harsh, but the look in his eyes wasn’t. His gaze conveyed desire and she couldn’t move or catch her breath. Her heart pounded. If the table hadn’t been between them, she would have expected him to kiss her right there and she wanted him to, which shocked her.
“That isn’t exactly accurate,” she said breathlessly. “You felt something when we met—deny that, Wyatt.”
“Okay, so I did. You’re a beautiful, sexy woman.”
The words heated her and her desire intensified. “I wanted to go out with you tonight and I think you’ve enjoyed this evening, too,” she whispered.
“I have, but I can’t forget that you want something from me.”
“That doesn’t have one thing to do with having fun dancing with you,” she said, still breathless. “We—”
She stopped and sat back as they heard a slight knock on the door right before it opened. Their waiter brought their dinners—prime rib for Wyatt and chicken breast for her.
While they ate, Wyatt told her about Texas legends he knew and she tried to charm him, realizing she was having a better time than she had had in a long time. After dinner they danced to more loud rock and it wasn’t until over an hour later when the band played a ballad that Wyatt took her in his arms to slow dance.
Being in his arms heightened her awareness of him, made her think of kisses and wanting to be alone with him. She danced with him, aware of his height, his body against hers, his legs brushing hers.
“I think you’ve been scared to slow-dance with me. It’s taken until almost midnight for us to have this first slow dance,” she teased.
He looked down at her and she couldn’t get her breath. “Fear isn’t the emotion I’ve experienced with you,” he said. His voice had lowered again, that warm, husky timbre that was as tangible as a caress. “Far from it. You know the effect you have. I want you in my arms, Destiny. I have all night.”
Her heart began to thud and as they pressed lightly together while they danced, she wondered if he could feel her heartbeats.
“You want me, Wyatt, even though I don’t think you like me.”
“Like? You’re spectacular, a gorgeous woman. I’ve enjoyed being with you tonight.” A muscle worked in his jaw and his eyes were a vivid blue.
“Thank you, but I don’t believe you’re really dazzled. Maybe I’ve started something here that I shouldn’t have,” she whispered.
“You started it when you entered my office today,” he said. “As they say, ‘Be careful what you wish for.’”
“That applies to you, too.”
He spun her around and dipped her low so she had to cling to him as she gazed into blue eyes that conveyed his desire. She forgot the other dancers, the band, everything except Wyatt. He made her want to close her eyes and raise her lips to his for a kiss. He swung her up and they stood on the dance floor for an instant while her heart drummed and she couldn’t move. Then he began to dance again, dancing her to the sidelines.
“Ready to head home?” he asked in a voice that implied much more.
“Yes,” she answered. He took her arm lightly to walk back to their table, leaving the door open as they entered the small room and she retrieved her purse.
In the limo ride back to the airport, and in the plane, she couldn’t take her eyes off him. Her whole body seemed to vibrate with the anticipation of what was to come when they touched down in Verity.
Finally, when they reached her hotel and he helped her out of the car, she turned to him. “Would you like to come up for a drink, Wyatt?” she asked.
“I’d like that,” he replied, following her to her suite.
She could feel him watching her, and her back tingled as she walked ahead of him into the living area. “You’ve probably been in these suites before, haven’t you?”
He nodded. “The old-fashioned furniture was selected to replicate the early-day furnishings of the hotel.”
She watched while he dropped his suit jacket on a chair and loosened his tie to unbutton the collar button. His gaze held hers and there was no mistaking the desire she saw in his eyes.
“There’s a fully stocked bar,” she said. “What would you like to have?”
He closed the distance between them, standing in front of her, and she couldn’t get her breath as she looked up at him. While her heart hammered, she anticipated his kiss.
“Finally,” he said softly, sliding his arm around her waist and pulling her up tightly against him in a way he had not done while they had been dancing.
Her insides twisted and heated, her breasts tingling as his gaze lowered slowly and he looked down at her.
“I’ve been waiting all night for this.” One by one he drew the pins out of her hair until finally her red locks spilled over her shoulders and fell in disarray around her face.
With both hands he combed his fingers through the curly locks, and the light tugs on her scalp were tantalizing. Desire was intense, a yearning she couldn’t understand because she’d never felt it so strongly, and for Wyatt, of all people, someone who was blocking what she wanted. They were at odds, no matter how civil they both were. Unlike her grandmother she couldn’t blame it on Wyatt being a Milan while she was a Calhoun. This wasn’t because of a feud. It was because they were at cross-purposes. His goal was to keep the status quo of his quiet life and town while hers was to unravel the mysteries of the past that might undo Wyatt’s peace at the same time.
She was afraid he would find a way to keep her out of the house or keep her from airing the show later. Yet at the moment, none of that mattered. All she knew now was that his arms were around her and she was caught and held in the compelling vivid blue of his thickly lashed eyes. She turned her face up slightly. Stubborn sheriff, a Milan—it no longer mattered. She wanted his kiss.
All the time he had freed her hair, he had gazed into her eyes, the depths of his conveying a promise of pleasure.
Wanting him with an intensity that had built through the evening, she tilted her head, closing her eyes to relish the feel of his hard body against hers, his arms holding her tightly. Finally his mouth covered hers. With her heart pounding, she wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging tightly, feeling her world shift and change. His kiss was possessive, as if he were taking her heart, claiming her as his own. She trembled with sudden hunger and need.
She savored being in his embrace and kissing him, feeling his rock-solid muscles pressed against her, his arms holding her tightly while his kisses made her want to be free of the barriers between them.
“Wyatt,” she whispered, feeling the stubble of his beard against her lips, running her fingers in his thick hair at the back of his head.
“Wyatt,” she repeated, pulling his head close again and pressing her mouth against his, her tongue tangling with his. All evening Wyatt had teased, flirted, touched and danced and all her pent-up control had spilled out. Now desire became a white-hot flame that consumed her. It had been a long, long time
since a man had made love to her.
She never felt Wyatt’s fingers undoing the buttons on the sleeve and shoulder of her dress, but after the kiss, he leaned away a fraction and lowered the top part of her dress. Cool air brushed her shoulders, and her heart drummed as he looked at her and cupped her breasts, his thumbs playing lightly over the sensitive buds, making her gasp.
She had come to Verity for research, and had given little thought to meeting Wyatt. She had never expected to be swept off her feet this way. She hadn’t expected to feel this dizzying need for his kisses and caresses, or the hungry longing that she hadn’t experienced before. Her reaction to him, both physical and emotional, shocked her each time they had touched, but now in his arms with him kissing her senseless, kisses that claimed possession, that threatened to capture her heart, her need for him consumed her. She gasped for breath, raising her head slightly to look at him, and the impact of the need in his expression made her knees go weak and heightened what she felt. Her fingers went to his shirt and she opened the buttons until she pushed his shirt away.
She ran her fingers over his rock-hard, sculpted chest.
Locks of dark hair had fallen on his forehead and his mouth was red from their kisses. She closed her eyes as desire rocked her while he caressed her breasts lightly.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered, burying his face against her softness, his tongue stroking her.
With a moan of pleasure, she ran her fingers through his thick, coarse hair. Sliding her hand down over his broad shoulder, she felt the solid muscles. As he suckled her breast, she gasped.
He raised his head and looked down at her with hooded eyes. Drawing her to him, he leaned over her, kissing her possessively until she was on fire and all reason had fled.
She clung to him, dimly aware this was what she had wanted, yet feeling she was the one headed for heartbreak and Wyatt was the one taking her heart. She didn’t want to feel this desperate need for him and for his loving. She didn’t want to lose her control.
“Wyatt, wait,” she said, leaning away and gasping for breath at the same time as she wanted to pull him back and remove the last barriers of clothing between them. “We just met—”
“I don’t think that matters,” he whispered. “You want this. You made that clear with our first kiss.” He drew her into his embrace again. His gaze devoured her, his hands stroked her and he pushed her dress over her hips, letting it fall around her ankles.
She moaned. Lost in a haze of desire, she couldn’t think straight. A part of her knew this was where the evening was headed as she flirted with him, but was lovemaking what she had really intended? She couldn’t answer that question, as his kiss demolished all thought and she could do nothing but yield to the passion he incited in her.
She showered her own kisses on him, trailing them down across his chest, running her fingers over his hard muscles. He groaned and pulled her up to kiss her.
With clothing soon tossed aside, Wyatt picked her up and carried her to bed.
His hands drifted over her in light, feathery caresses that built her need to a fever pitch. Finally, one thought broke through.
“Wyatt, I don’t have protection.”
His eyes narrowed a fraction before he left to get a packet from his wallet. When he returned, she caressed his thighs, wanting him more than she would have ever dreamed possible. How could she want this man who was so totally different from everything in her life? How could she feel this way about him when she had just met him hours earlier? She ached to pull him close, to make love and hold him. She knew he had no idea how rare, how shocking her reaction to him was.
He came down to kiss her, sliding his arm beneath her to hold her to him, and as he entered her slowly, he paused. It had been a long time since she had made love and she suspected he had been startled, but the hesitation was fleeting and gone as she tightened her arms to hold him.
With a cry she arched to meet him, and when she had taken him fully she moved with him, in perfect synchronization, as if they had known each other’s bodies for years.
She sensed that he struggled for control, felt the sweat beading on his shoulders and brow. Yet he continued kissing her, pumping and filling her, and he drove her to the brink.
“Wyatt,” she cried his name, torn from her in a pounding need for his loving as her long legs tightened around him. She held him against her heart, moving with him, dazed and spinning into ecstasy.
Release burst with a fury, a blinding surge of fulfillment and rapture that spilled over her. With one last thrust he groaned and climaxed, taking her with him to another heart-stopping release. She gasped for breath as she clung to him, lost in sensation.
As their pulse returned to normal, his weight came down on her and she ran her fingers over him and hugged him against her heart. Lost in euphoria, she would have to sort out her thoughts and feelings later.
Wyatt rolled on his side, taking her with him while they clung to each other. She was conscious of one emotion. Shock. She was shocked by how desperately she had wanted him, how strongly she felt for him. Right now she didn’t ever want to leave his arms.
“You’re a sexy, beautiful woman, Destiny,” he whispered, kissing her temple, then trailing tender little kisses to her mouth. “I think we might have been headed to this moment since we met,” he said.
Smiling at him, she raised slightly to place her mouth on his, her tongue stroking his, stirring his arousal.
He pulled her down to kiss her hungrily, hard and passionately, as if they hadn’t just made love. In minutes, he rolled over her, moving between her legs.
Her heartbeat raced as the fire he’d sparked in her ignited into flame. She wanted him more than ever and more than she would have thought possible. She felt bereft when he moved from her to get protection and then rejoiced when he drew her into his embrace once again.
All logic and thought had stopped and she moved blindly, yielding to desire, not weighing consequences.
Pulling her to sit astride him, he entered her. They moved in unison, a heart-pounding rhythm that sent her into a dizzying spiral of need. His hands roamed over her, storming her senses until she cried out in ecstasy along with him.
She fell across him, holding him, while he wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her.
He looked at her, brushing locks of curly hair away from her face. “You’re an enigma.”
“You could tell I haven’t made love in a long, long time. There haven’t been many men in my whole life that I’ve been deeply involved with,” she said, wondering whether that scared him or not. “News you may find difficult to believe. I know I convey a different image.”
“That you do. You surprise me again. You’ve been a steady stream of surprises,” he said, running his fingers lightly over her lower lip. She brushed a kiss on his hand and he smiled at her.
“You’re casting your own spell, Destiny.”
“You’re incredibly sexy, but even so, I’m not going to agree to pack and go home because you want me to.”
“I don’t recall asking or giving you any conditions before we made love,” he said, toying with her hair as he talked.
He turned on his side and held her close so she lay facing him. “You’re stunning.”
She felt a blush heat her cheeks. “On one level we can communicate and we’re compatible, thank goodness. For a while our differences became minimized. When you see that I’m not going to cause the town harm, maybe we can get along.”
“I’d say we’re getting along rather well,” he said, toying with her bare breasts and stirring her yearnings again.
“Yes, we are, Wyatt,” she whispered. She raked her fingers slowly through his hair, watching the short, dark brown strands spring back. “I want you to stay here in my arms tonight. It’s already more than half past two.”
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��Shortly, I will get up, shower and dress to go home. I don’t care to have it all over town tomorrow that we were together here all night.”
She smiled and traced circles on his bare chest and ripped abdomen. “You’re embarrassed for people to know you’re with me?”
“Of course not. I’m a private person and like to keep what I do private if possible. I suspect you don’t understand that and you don’t feel that way. You’re a public figure and it’s good for your career to have the world want to know about you.” He shrugged. “To each his own.”
She laughed. “I’m accustomed to attention and I’m not sure with my bright auburn hair I could keep people from noticing me even if I wanted to.”
“Beautiful hair. I like your hair,” he said, playing with the long strands and letting them curl around his fingers. They looked into each other’s eyes and once again she felt that sizzling current of electricity arc in the air between them to send sparks flying.
Breaking the circuit, he stood up and grabbed his suit pants. “I’ll shower and dress and go.”
“So we’re not going to see each other again?” she asked, pulling the sheet to her chin and placing her hands behind her head. The sheet followed the curves of her body.
He leaned down, sliding an arm beneath her and kissing her. His mouth was hard, possessive, his tongue stroking hers slowly.
Moaning softly she wrapped her arms around his neck to return his kiss. He raised his head a fraction. “We’ll see each other again and we’ll make love again. This hot attraction hasn’t cooled yet for either one of us. I can feel your pulse and it’s racing as much as mine is,” he said in a husky voice.
Releasing her, he walked away, gathering the rest of his clothes and then leaving the room without looking back.
She got up to pick up her things and go to the shower in her adjoining bathroom, still tingling and wanting Wyatt’s kisses, his touch and his body in bed next to hers for the rest of the night. How had it never occurred to her how much she wanted him, or that she would respond to him the way she had? It was a surprise development and one she didn’t want or like. They were very different people with a feud and an old house between them. The Wrenville project and the feud could become bigger problems in their lives, something Wyatt had already made clear he didn’t want to happen. Even so, she couldn’t stop wanting him. Her desires and responses were not going away and she wouldn’t be able to ignore them. Was she in any danger of falling in love with him?
