He hopped off the bed and reached beneath the mattress for his magazines. He flipped through the magazines until he found what he was looking for. The show bill he’d saved from the night the club finally featured her. He’d been waiting months for a show bill with her on the front of it. And there she was. The beautiful, incomparable Tangie. Or as she was now known, Mikayla Shroeder. She had money, plenty of money. And he was willing to bet she’d pay a nice bit of it to keep her little secret a secret.
Rick smiled to himself. Lady luck had decided he deserved a break. Maybe this was the beginning of a winning streak. He considered driving back into the city, but with Leo’s goons all over the place he decided that wasn’t the best idea.
He tucked his magazines back in place and headed out of the trailer, looking for a few guys to sucker into a few hands of poker.
Chapter 16
Mikayla sat beside Dusty on the hard bench and held her breath as Joannie maneuvered across the tightrope thirty feet over their heads.
She leaned toward Dusty and whispered. “This is nerve-racking!”
Dusty smiled. “Just remember, Chris has been doing this for fifteen years, and Joannie has been doing it for eight. They know what they’re doing.”
Still the drumroll played in the background, the bright spotlight shone on the young girl, who looked so tiny far overhead, and Mikayla found herself clutching Dusty’s hands in her own.
After what seemed an eternity to the people below, Joannie reached the other side, turned and took a small bow to the loud applause of the crowd. Without hesitation, she then reached up and grabbed the swinging bar and swung out over the crowd to meet her partner Chris on the other side.
“Know how they met?” Dusty whispered.
“How?”
“They were competing for the same job with a circus in Russia and while they were waiting to audition, they got the idea if they presented themselves as a team they would have a better chance.”
“But they didn’t even know each other. How could they audition together?”
He looked down into her eyes. “Sometimes, the rhythm is just right. Some people have that kind of chemistry.”
She smiled. “Oh, really?”
“Yep.”
“You know anyone else with that kind of chemistry?”
His smiled turned into a grin. “As a matter of fact, I do.” He placed a quick kiss on the tip of her nose and turned his attention back to the show.
When Mikayla looked around Joannie and Chris were gone and the equestrian portion of the show was beginning. She wondered how had he distracted her so she hadn’t even noticed the change.
They watched the entire show, eating everything that passed on the aisle way from cotton candy to hot dogs. Halfway through the show, Mikayla looked up at Dusty to find him watching the show with an almost dreamy expression.
“What are you thinking?”
He looked at her with the same expression. “I had forgotten how much I loved this.”
She frowned. “Then why did you leave it?”
“No, you misunderstand. I love the circus. I do not love circus life.” He shook his head. “Living in twelve different cities in a week. Do you have any idea how many schools I’ve attended in my lifetime?” He held up his fingers as if counting and then sighed in frustration. “Damn, I forgot. I used to know.”
Mikayla reached up and touched his face. “It’s okay. I understand—I do. You wanted some sense of stability. I can relate.”
“Can you?” he asked, his eyes watching her face. “Where did you grow up?” Dusty saw the veil of distrust come over her eyes.
“Up north,” she said, and then began clapping as the riders all stood on the backs of the horses in unison.
Dusty knew he would get nothing else out of her about where she grew up. It was amazing the way they spent so much time together, so much time just talking, and yet he still knew so little about her.
He studied her pretty profile, wondering if he would ever be allowed to know the whole woman. She started laughing and he realized it was because the clowns had come in. Eight little people all dressed in suspenders and firemen hats climbed out of a tiny car. It was one of the oldest plays in the book and yet it never failed to make the crowd laugh. Dusty had often thought it was like watching a favorite episode of a television show again and again. Even though you already knew everything that was going to happen, you still loved it.
A few minutes later, the clowns climbed back into their car and rolled away and in rolled a giant cannon.
“Ah, here’s me.”
“What?”
He gestured to the cannon. “From age twelve to sixteen I was the human cannon.”
Mikayla’s eyes widened. “Isn’t that a bit young to be shooting you out of a cannon?”
He laughed. “Sweetheart, they weren’t actually shooting me out of the cannon.”
She frowned in disappointment. “They don’t?”
Dusty paused, wondering if he should say any more. The look on her face looked as if he had just told her there was no Santa Claus.
“You have to remember in the circus, a kid is put to work as soon as he can walk. You are taught the life from day one.”
She smiled. “Well, I’m just glad it didn’t do any permanent damage.”
They watched as a boy of about fourteen waved to the crowd before climbing into the cannon.
“That’s Curran, Alexia’s son.”
“Alexia the fire eater?” she asked with awe.
“The one and only. You didn’t get a chance to meet her the other day, did you?”
She shook her head. “Okay, I’ll introduce you later.”
She beamed up at him as if he’d just offered to introduce her to her favorite rock star. If he’d known she loved the circus so much, Dusty thought, he would’ve invited his family to come stay awhile ago.
They watched the show until the very last elephant had taken its victory lap around the tent and the crowds were clearing out.
From where he sat Dusty could see most of the people were locals, but many he’d never seen before. Which just went to show, when the circus was in town people would find it.
Afterward, as promised, Dusty led Mikayla back to Alexia’s trailer to introduce her. When Mikayla produced a copy of the program and asked Alexia to sign, Dusty almost laughed out loud, but wisely held it in as Alexia autographed the program.
After he checked in with his father to be sure everything was under control, he led her back up to the house, taking the long route along the stream that ran through the property.
Walking hand in hand over the lush grass, Mikayla asked, “Why did you buy so much property? I mean, you use about a quarter of it for your house and the hospital.”
“Overcompensating, I guess.”
She laughed. “You have nothing to compensate for.”
“Thanks.” He flashed her a brief grin.
“Seriously, why so much? Granted it comes in handy when your family arrives, but I don’t think you bought it with them in mind.”
He thought about the question for a while before answering. He could give her some witty little response, but he wanted her to know the truth. He wanted her to know him, and he hoped it would allow her to open up so he could get to know her.
“Think of it like a kid who grows up with too little to eat. They are the people who become hoarders later in life. Or the runt who’s always trying to prove himself.
“In a way it really is overcompensating. I never had anything of my own, no home except the circus. I never lived in a house or even an apartment. So as soon as I could afford to I bought up as much land as I could. Something completely mine.” He touched an oak tree as they passed by it, running his hand over the rough bark. “Mine.” He whispered the word, but in the silence of the night, Mikayla heard.
He stopped and turned her to face him, then looking deep into her eyes, he repeated the one word, “Mine,” and lowered his lips to hers.
<
br /> Mikayla opened to him. Wrapping her arms around his neck she pulled him closer until she could feel his body against her own.
His hands roamed over her blue-jeans-clad body touching every curve, every line. He’d memorized every inch of her and his fingers remembered. Soon his warm mouth was on her neck as his tongue traced every vein, sending chill after chill through her whole being.
Mikayla could feel his growing erection against her stomach and she wanted nothing more than to lie down on the damp grass with him.
But instead, he took her hand and started running. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
“To the house, to my bed.”
She followed him as he led her through the trees with the sure step of someone who’d traveled that way many times before. He was right, this was his land, his home, and he cared for every bit of it. The parts seen and appreciated by people and the parts never to be known to anyone but him.
Mikayla knew that was how Dusty would love a woman. Every part of her. The surface beauty the world saw, and the soul of a woman. Dusty would want to know the soul of his woman and Mikayla was not sure she was ready to share her soul with him or anyone else, for that matter.
As those thoughts raced through her mind, they came upon the back entrance into his elegant brick house. And within minutes they were both inside. Dusty never slowed.
Mikayla noticed the quiet right away. “Where are the dogs?”
“They come and go as they please, through the door in the kitchen.” He continued to pull her along through the house and up the stairs, stopping when they reached his bedroom. “With everything going on down at the circus camp, I’m sure they’re getting into trouble.”
He shut the door behind them and turned to face her. “Finally.”
She smiled. “In a hurry, are we?”
He laughed. “Yes, but that’s not what I meant.” He wrapped his arms around her waist. “Since the first time we made love, I’ve wanted you back here in my bed, here with me.”
She glanced back over her shoulder at the big bed. She’d been here before with him many times, but he was right. Up until tonight they’d only made love there once.
“Does your bed have some kind of magical powers that makes sex better?”
He kissed her neck, picking up right where he’d left off. “No, but I want to wake up every morning and remember you lying next to me. I want to walk through that door at night and see your beautiful, naked body waiting for me. And I have a good imagination and all, but there is nothing like the real thing.”
“Well, here I am.” She lifted both arms and Dusty took the opportunity to lift her cotton top over her head along with her bra, and in one fluent motion she was topless.
“Now, just do that with your legs and we’ll be good to go.” He grinned.
She turned, casting a seductive look over her shoulder and walked to the bed. “No, you’ve got to work a little harder to get in my pants.”
“Since when?”
She turned with a frown. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He caught up with her and began planting kisses on her face, neck and shoulders even as his hands covered her bare breasts. “Nothing, nothing. I meant nothing. Don’t get mad—not now,” he whispered.
And the kisses seemed to appease her because he could feel her relaxing in his arms. She began un-buttoning his plaid shirt. He was eager to help her, giving up on the buttons and pulling it over his head.
The motion carried them both over and onto the bed where they never let go of one another. Soon they were a tangle of blue-jeans-clad legs and bare breasts to bare chest, letting their mouths guide the way as they licked and sucked and tongued every inch of bare skin available.
Mikayla felt as if the hot, throbbing penis pressing against the blue jean material was going to pop the bottoms, but still Dusty held her with gentle arms and kissed her with the slow caress of a man who had nothing but time. His large hands roamed over every inch of her, touching, squeezing and claiming until her whole body was arching in need.
He climbed off the bed and removed his own jeans and underwear before pulling hers off. She waited with what little patience she could form as he dug around in his nightstand and found a condom. He donned it and then he was back over her flesh to flesh, ache for ache, and Mikayla wasn’t sure how much longer she could wait.
With precision, he pressed his penis against her wet opening, careful not to enter her just yet. He was torturing her, and Mikayla moved her body in every imaginable way, trying to force him to give her what she needed.
But he knew what she was doing, and held himself away.
“Please,” she whimpered, needing him to finish, to complete her, to make the aching stop.
“No, baby, I can’t.” He kissed her shoulder.
“It’s okay,” she whispered, running her fingers across the hard planes of his back. The moisture in the middle told her he was as desperate for her as she was for him. “It’s okay.”
He pressed his face against her neck and she felt his whole body shake with a suppressed shudder. As if surrendering to something stronger than himself, he shifted his body, lifted her hips and plunged deep inside of her.
Mikayla could not hold back the cry of pleasure that exploded through her whole being. It was as if he’d set off some kind of incendiary device in the center of her body and she felt herself convulsing as wave after wave of indescribable pleasure flowed through her.
Dusty released his own cry of pleasure, as he shifted his body once more, putting his weight on his hands as he plowed into her body. All Mikayla could do was hold on to his muscular arms as he poured himself inside her.
Several minutes later, the pair lay cuddled together. Mikayla’s head rested on Dusty’s chest. Dusty lay with his one arm wrapped around Mikayla and the other folded behind his head. “Mikayla?”
“Hmm.” She yawned. The aftereffects of love making with Dusty were always the same; complete and utter exhaustion.
“What city did you grow up in?”
She was quiet so long, he wondered if she had indeed fallen off to sleep. “Why?”
“Because you have never told me. You say things like, ‘up north’ or ‘an urban area.’ I’m not even sure what the hell that means.”
“What does it matter?”
“It’s a part of you.”
She was quiet again for a long time before she said, “Atlantic City.”
Dusty smiled, feeling as if he’d won some kind of contest. “A Jersey girl.”
“I guess.” She yawned again. “Satisfied?”
He kissed the top of her head. “For the moment.”
She sat up in the bed, pulling the covers with her. “I think I better head home.”
Dusty continued to lie where he was, watching her through narrow eyes. “Why don’t you spend the night?”
“Can’t. Got too much to do tomorrow.”
“Am I being punished for asking too many questions?”
She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“It just seems like everything was fine until I started asking questions.”
She lay back down, folding her arms across his chest. “You’re being paranoid. I just have a lot of work I need to get done. That’s all, nothing more.”
He watched her face for several long minutes before he said, “Okay.” He moved from under her and got up from the bed. “Just let me get my clothes on.”
He bent to pick up their clothes from the floor, and Mikayla watched him, knowing she’d ruined their perfect mood with her insecurities.
“What a rude host you turned out to be.”
He stood and turned to her with a confused expression. “I beg your pardon?”
She stood on her knees and crawled across the bed to the edge and placed her arms around his neck. “Well, when you come to my place I offer you my shower before you leave.”
He smiled. “Wanna take a shower?”<
br />
“Well, I was thinking, why don’t we take one together. You know, to conserve energy.”
His smile turned into the beautiful grin she loved so much. “You know, I’m all about doing my part to conserve energy.” He reached down and swooped her up in his arms and carried her into the bathroom.
When they pulled out of the horseshoe drive an hour later in Dusty’s small sports car the loving mood was back.
Dusty told stories about growing up in the circus and what a shock the world was to him once he left it. Mikayla laughed all the way back to Miami and even when he arrived at her house she did not want the night to end.
“Wanna come in?”
He lifted an eyebrow. “I thought you had work to do.”
“I do, but I’m home now. So I can play with my boy toy a little, and work a little, play a little, work a little.”
“Boy toy?”
She laughed. “Oh, I’m sorry. My male amusement.”
“How is that better?”
“It’s not.” She burst into a fit of laughter. “But I was hoping you would think so.”
“I got your boy toy—right here!” He reached over and tickled her side and Mikayla fell into a fit of laughter.
Mikayla practically fell out of the car trying to get away. Leaning back in, she kissed him. “I had a great time today. Thanks for letting your family use your property.”
“You were right, it makes sense. How can they get up on their feet if they can’t make money?”
She smirked. “And you want them to get up on their feet, don’t you?”
“Hell, yeah. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s been kinda fun seeing them all again after all these years, but it will be nice to see them leave as well so I can have my home to myself again.”
“Selfish.”
“Says the lady who lives in the city, far, far away.”
Chapter 17
After Dusty dropped her off with a single kiss that promised more to come later Mikayla floated up the stairs to her front door. She paused and glanced back over her shoulder again, knowing he was long gone, but still feeling his presence.
She placed the key in the lock and opened the door. No one had ever made her feel the way Dusty did. When she was with him, the world was a different place. He made anything—no, everything, seem possible. He gave her hope.
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