by Morgan Fox
Surprisingly to herself, she desired two men that she could never have, and those alarming emotions churned deep within her soul.
As for Clay, there was something incredibly powerful about him, and so dangerously sexy. Maybe it was the fact that he saved her life. Maybe it was because he was a familiar face in a town full of strangers. Maybe it was the perfect calm he placed over her, making her feel safe and secure, something she hadn’t felt in a long time.
She didn’t know, but her instincts were telling her it was something way deeper than any of that. Clay was the reason she could use to persuade herself to linger in a town like Temptation. How strange that she had thought that same thing about Hunter.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, thinking about how much she would love to find a man like him to fall in love with. To find a man like Clay to spend her life getting to know, and to finally experience what it would be like to enjoy every waking minute in that passion-filled haze.
Suddenly, an overwhelming dread flooded through her system. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that that would never happen as long as Warren Michaels was somehow a part of her life. He’d never allow her to find someone like that. Warren would do just about anything to see that her life was ruined if she wasn’t aligning herself with him specifically. She really had no idea just how far he would go.
Kicking off her shoes, she decided to get ready for bed. Stripping out of her sundress and underclothes, she pulled out the nightshirt from her suitcase and put it on. Crawling underneath the sheet and comforter, she curled up on one side and prayed that sleep would take her fast. Reaching over, she turned off the light, and the room sank into total darkness.
* * * *
The moment she opened her eyes, she knew he was watching her. Her heart raced with dread the same way it always did when she realized he was ogling her. The warning signs were everywhere, and the creepiness that crawled along her skin, alarming her that he was near, was stronger than ever. Warren had once again found her. Alone.
Before she could scream for help, he was on her. His lanky, naked body covered hers, and he used his legs to part her thighs, wedging himself against her. The weight of his frame pressed her down. His hand covered her mouth, preventing her from crying out, while his lips kissed and suckled her body. Wet caresses covered her cheeks, chin, neck, and chest. Her stomach quivered as the fear of helplessness settled around her. She was not going to get away this time. This time he would succeed in violating her. She was too weak against him, and there was nothing she could do to stop him from hurting her.
Struggling with all her might, somehow she wiggled one hand free and clawed at his eyes. He growled in anger, and within moments she was screaming at the top of her lungs for help. His hard, powerful fist crashed down upon her temple, silencing her. Vision blurry and unsteady, she wondered how long it would be before he possessed her, took from her what he’d always warned he would.
Warren’s vile breath brushed along her ear as he growled with contempt, “You never should’ve run from me, Delilah. I warned you what would happen if you did.”
Her eyes widened as unyielding fear drenched every inch of her. The moment her vision locked in on the wicked grin that eclipsed his lips, she hated him more than she ever had. Then, he dipped his head lower, and she did all she could do. She screamed.
“Delilah! Delilah, wake up!” Clay’s voice was loud and fierce as he called out to her, over and over again, ripping her from her treacherous nightmare.
Sweaty and breathless, she shakily sat up. Tears soaked her cheeks as she realized that it was only a dream and she was still safe and secure with Clay. Instantly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed the trembling of her body to subside. She didn’t care if he thought she was weak. What mattered to her was that she was with him, safe and protected. The overpowering relief left her body erupting in uncontrollable sobs.
“Shhh, it’s all right, you’re safe now. Whatever was in your dream can’t hurt you now,” he whispered softly against her cheek. “I’ve got you, Delilah. I’ve got you.”
As he held her close, the crisp scent of soap filled her nostrils. Slowly, her sanity was restored as she felt the warmth of his smooth, damp flesh beneath her hands and fingers. Gently, she eased back to look at him.
He sat beside her, hair still wet from the shower he must have been taking. Her eyes swelled at the sight of him. Having his tantalizing body this close and this unclothed on her bed caused her blood to pump wildly through her veins. She licked her lips and glanced down at the towel draped around his hips. A long slit slid high up his strong, muscular thigh. The seductive effect he had on her was spellbinding and a little frightening.
He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. I would’ve grabbed a robe, but I don’t own one.”
She shook her head and tried to smile. “It’s okay, Clay. I’m glad you’re here. I was a little freaked out by my dream, but I’m not anymore.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
She pursed her lips together. No, she didn’t want to talk about it. Warren was the devil in her nightmares, and he was never far away, no matter how far she ran. He was the one thing that made her deathly afraid.
“Not really. I’m just glad I’m not alone tonight.” She reached down and squeezed his hand.
Slowly, he reached forward and turned on the light. The glow that illuminated his body made him so much more enticing than he had seemed in just the light that filtered into her room from the hallway. She couldn’t help but feel a little naughty as she envisioned herself licking the droplets of water from his body. Was it wrong to want him to kiss her?
“Look, I’m sorry I acted like an asshole with Hunter today. I never meant for that to happen. It’s just that I may have gotten a little—”
“Jealous,” she blurted out with an arched brow and teasing grin. The idea that the big, strong sheriff had gotten jealous created a wild flutter of excitement that sank deep into the pit of her stomach. She liked the idea that he had those kinds of emotions where she was concerned.
He sighed with a smile, sweeping back a strand of her hair that had fallen forward, tucking it behind her ear. “I guess you could say that.”
For what felt like an eternity, they just stared at each other. Deep-flowing warmth charged up her body and settled around her chest, neck, and face. Hands clammy with nerves, she couldn’t believe how much she wanted Clay, needing him to kiss her and allow her to make love to him. The feelings were almost desperate in nature. It was the strangest, most powerful yearning she’d ever experienced.
“I should probably go,” Clay stammered.
“No, wait,” she said, grabbing hold of his hand as he stood, keeping him from leaving her side. She hadn’t meant to sound so frantic, but she couldn’t help it. For so many reasons, she didn’t want him to leave. She desired him, wanted him to stay with her. Tonight. “I don’t want you to go.”
He studied her, his hand slowly wrapping around hers. “Delilah, I’ll only be across the hall. I’ll keep your door cracked open if it would make you feel more comfortable.”
She shook her head. “That’s not what I mean.”
Again he looked at her, his eyes deepening with understanding. The war raging behind his heated gaze told her that he wasn’t sure if what she desired he could provide. She knew he feared hurting her. She didn’t expect a relationship and understood that was a commitment he could probably never give her, but she didn’t care. She wanted him for at least one night and needed him more than he ever could imagine.
She gently tugged at his hand, coaxing him to sit back down in front of her. She’d show him what she wanted and pray he didn’t reject her.
He sat, his body slightly rigid. Her stomach swirled with apprehension but more so with passions she wanted to share with her sheriff.
My sheriff.
With the gentle caress of her hand, she stroked the side of his face, still smooth from his morning shave. As she touched
him, he never looked away. Then, she wrapped her fingers around the back of his neck, closed the distance, and lightly pressed her lips against his.
He pulled away and stood, looking like a nervous and scared child. His chest rose and fell quickly. Swallowing hard, he whispered her name.
“Please, Clay. Don’t…” She felt an overwhelming tightness fill her chest. She didn’t know what else to say.
He glanced down to the floor, and she could see a million and one thoughts racing in his mind as she stared up at him. When he glanced back to meet her gaze, she swallowed the dryness in her throat.
“Are you sure?”
Leaning back onto the bed, she parted her legs so her inner thighs caressed his outer. She tugged at the towel around his hips, loosening the material until it dropped to the floor. For a moment, she admired him, taking in what she could of his gorgeous body and hardening cock.
Smiling devilishly, she breathlessly demanded, “Shut up, Sheriff, and get down here and kiss me.”
Instead of doing as she requested, with a growl he swooped her into his arms and hauled her up against his chest. Her arms instinctively wrapped around his neck. “I’m not about to make love to you on my guest bed.” Holding her tightly against him, he claimed her lips, kicked open the door, and stalked like a man on a mission to his bedroom, all the while kissing her as if his life depended on it.
* * * *
Gently placing her upon his king-size bed, he turned the lights on in the room and then moved back to the bed, reaching down to pull the silky nightshirt up over her head. Slowly, his fingers caressed the top part of her thighs, tracing up over her hips, ribs, and breasts, gliding sensually over her warm, inviting flesh.
His heart beat fiercely in his chest, a thunderous roar that drowned out every other sound in the room. Tossing the fabric to the floor, he marveled at the exquisite temptation laid out before him. Her long, lean legs, round hips, and the feminine curves of her waist had his eyes feasting and his hands itching to feel every inch of her delectable body, but it was her breasts that had his mouth watering with desire. The perfectly round mounds and rosy-pink nipples called to him, begging him to place those delicious berries into his mouth, sucking until he could no longer wait to taste the other.
Torturously, she eased back onto her elbows, her body lying straight across the bed. His eyes trailed from her intoxicating eyes, down her long neck and shoulders, past her erect nipples, and settled on the golden patch of hair between her thighs. As he admired her, she slowly parted her legs, giving him a slight peek of things to come.
“What are you waiting for, Sheriff? Do you need a formal invitation?” Her sultry voice had his cock so hard it almost hurt.
“I’m deciding.”
“Deciding on what?”
With an arched brow, he said plainly, “Where to begin.”
She smiled, and the alluring curve of her lips made him want to start there. He crawled onto the bed, encouraging her legs to part even further as he placed his hips against her pelvis. His cock pressed teasingly between her legs.
Damn, I want to sink inside her body. I want to feel her moist heat envelop me.
Soon, he told himself, very soon.
Hovering over her, he crushed his mouth against hers and drank in the kiss that he’d been dying for since the moment he’d seen her in that sexy sundress. A hundred times over in his mind, he’d kissed her like this. Tasting her lips and tongue, enjoying the untamed woman he knew thrived deep inside her.
As he sampled her mouth, her nails teased along the skin of his arms and shoulders, tickling at the back of his neck. It had been a long time since a woman had touched him this way. The sensations had him wondering how the hell he had been able to survive without it. Delilah felt like heaven in his arms. The feel of her hands and fingers massaging his skin, the brush of her nipples against his chest, the caress of her smooth thighs over his waist, everything about her was divine. She clung to him like she had no other choice, and he craved that connection.
Perfection. That was exactly what Delilah was and how she felt in his arms.
Kissing her lips, chin, and neck, he eased down to take the wild berry into his mouth, suckling her the way he had envisioned doing. Desire flooded his system as he tasted her milky-white flesh. Drowning in passion, he had to know every inch of her body, had to have her the way a man starved for a woman would.
As he kissed her breast, he slowly trailed his fingers down the flesh of her belly, past the patch of hair and folds of her pussy, surging past her clit until he found the wetness he had hoped to discover. Gently, he eased his middle finger inside her cunt and began fucking her in slow, controlled strokes. Instantly, her body responded to his touch, writhing beneath him as he teased her pussy, one finger diving deep inside the moist folds of her sex, while his thumb toyed with her clit. Watching her squirm as he brought her into the depths of pleasure had him pressing his hips forward and pounding his cock into the mattress.
“Oh, Clay,” she panted, her nails digging into the flesh of his shoulders.
Her hips rocked back and forth, and he took that as a sign to increase the rhythm in which he massaged her clit and pussy. After a few short seconds, he felt her entire body tense around him and a throaty moan purred from her lips. She was coming. He could feel her pussy tightening around his finger and the area becoming more soaked by her arousal.
Slowly, Clay rose to his feet and reached into his nightstand to grab a condom. Putting it on, he crawled back onto the bed, positioning himself between her legs. He was going to have her now. He was finally going to be inside her tight, warm body. The awareness had him wanting to come before he even got started.
Closing his eyes, he calmed himself with a few deep breaths and then grabbed his cock and placed it at the entrance of her cunt. He eased inside her, inch by tantalizing inch, until his cock was seated all the way in. Glancing down at her, he saw the passion and lust bombarding her heavy-lidded gaze. The flutters of her quick breaths brushed over his face.
Pumping his hips forward, he began a slow drill inside her, fucking her with great care. He wanted to see her come again. The flush of her cheeks, the quickening of her breath, everything he saw in her had him wanting to make her beyond insane with pleasure. Again he thought she was perfect. The way she looked, felt, tasted, everything was simply exquisite.
His balls tingled with the awareness that it wouldn’t be much longer and he’d find his own release, so he focused strictly on her. He moved up on his knees and positioned himself deeper inside her pussy, pushing her legs up for better access. The moment he did, she moaned as if he hit the spot that would surely have her screaming from unbound, explosive sensations.
Swirling his hips, pumping harder, driving deeper, he didn’t stop his pursuit to satisfy her once again. His heart raced so intensely in his chest as he took her hard and fierce but still with so much care. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and she cried out, fingers and nails digging into his back. Eyes closed, she quivered in his arms as her body rode the euphoria of her orgasm.
Then, as if he could no longer contain his own need, he pumped his hips like a wild beast, driving his cock like a piston inside her. It didn’t take long for him to roar like a lion from desires exploding in his mind and body. Satisfied, he collapsed on top of her, easing to the side and pulling her into his arms.
Neither spoke as their bodies relaxed and their breathing returned to normal. He continued to hold Delilah as close as he could, knowing that the moment he released her, the passion and desire they’d felt for each other would be gone. Sadly, he wished that was not how it had to be.
Chapter Five
Clay woke to the sound of banging coming from his front door. Pushing off the covers, he grabbed a pair of jeans he’d tossed to the floor and stabbed his legs in one after the other. Turning, he noticed a wide-eyed, wavy-haired blonde staring at him from his bed. He wasn’t sure how it was possible, but she looked even more beautiful with her hair ma
tted up at the back of her head and dark makeup smeared under her eyes.
“Good morning,” he said, smiling at her, and then glared toward the hallway as he heard the annoying banging coming from the front door once again.
“Seems like someone really wants to talk with you,” she muttered.
Nodding, he told her, “Apparently so.” He stalked to his bedroom door but, before leaving, turned back to her. “You might want to get dressed. When people show up at my door this early in the morning, it’s never a good sign.”
Clay looked through the peephole of his front door before opening it. With a groan, he placed his forehead against the hardwood and rolled his head from side to side. His fists were balled up against the white wood. Now that Hunter Boyd stood at his threshold, he didn’t think he could handle a morning that started out this way. Stiffening his spine, he grabbed hold of the doorknob, yanked it open, and glared at his unwelcome guest.
He preferred to start his day making love to the woman who had delighted his senses and awakened his heart. In years, he hadn’t felt so many intriguing emotions. Grinding his teeth, he prayed this wouldn’t take long so he could resume a more pleasant morning, one that didn’t consist of staring blankly at the face of the man who was perhaps his only competition for Delilah’s affections.
“What do you want?” Clay barked.
“What do I want?” Hunter repeated angrily. “I want you to tell me why Delilah’s hotel room was busted into last night. What the hell’s going on?”
“Clay?” her soft, melodious voice called out from behind him.
Hunter scowled, eyeing Clay from head to toe. His voice dipped low as he asked, “Why is she here with you?”
Standing in the doorway with only his jeans on, he knew Hunter must be aware that something happened between him and Delilah. Clay wasn’t the type of man to just strut around barefoot and shirtless.
Delilah came up alongside him and smiled sweetly at Hunter. “Are you going to invite him in or just make him stand there like a stranger?”
