by Jayne Castle
“Yes,” she murmured against his mouth. “It makes sense.”
He gathered her close with a heavy, shuddering sigh that elicited a response from deep within her. She wanted this man; had been wanting him on various levels and in various ways since the night she had first seen him. She’d had a month to wonder if she’d made a mistake. Tonight she would find out for certain.
Sabrina was vaguely aware of Matt reaching out to turn off the lights, but when he guided her to one of the two double beds in the room she recognized the soft intimacy that resulted from the lack of artificial illumination. The hum of the air conditioner was the only jarring note she noticed as Matt’s hands went to the white leather belt at her waist.
“You smell so good.” He inhaled deeply, burying his lips in her hair as he undid the belt. “I never could get that scent out of my head.”
“But I don’t wear perfume,” she protested with a soft smile.
“I know. I hate perfume.” The belt fell to the floor and he fumbled for the fastenings of the dress. “God, I feel clumsy tonight. I wanted to be smooth as silk with you this time around. Make it perfect.”
Didn’t he realize that his unsteadiness was incredibly reassuring and endearing? Sabrina trailed her fingertips through his hair, massaging the nape of his neck. The play of muscles beneath the skin of his shoulders enthralled her.
“I always think of a wonderful, free-running stallion when I touch you,” she marveled. “Even that first night …”
“Don’t talk about that first night,” he begged hoarsely. “I try not to remember that disaster.”
The cotton dress slipped to her feet and Sabrina was left standing in only her bra and panties. She trembled as Matt’s hands moved over her with aching hunger. Arms still wound around his neck, she lifted her face for his kiss.
“Sabrina,” he muttered, and then he was inside her mouth, drinking in the taste of her while he unfastened the bra.
She felt his palms graze lightly over her breasts before sliding down to her hips to remove the triangle of lace. When his fingertips traced into the inner curve of her thighs Sabrina moaned softly. He reacted to the sound, lifting her up into the heat of his lower body. “Have mercy, lady. I want you so badly it hurts!” There was no doubt about the aggressive desire permeating his body. Sabrina could feel the hardness in him, and the sensation stoked her own response. Her own fingers trembling now, she went to work on the buttons of his shirt, but halfway through the task Matt grew impatient.
“I’ll do it,” he rasped, stepping back to yank at the buttons. A moment later the shirt was on the floor beside her yellow dress. His low boots and slacks followed.
“You’re still wearing a knife,” Sabrina said, vaguely startled as her eyes skimmed over his naked frame. She raised her questioning gaze to meet his gleaming hazel stare. “Even here in Texas?”
“Forget the knife.” He undid the leather sheath with a flick of his fingers. “An old habit.” He didn’t glance down as he laid the weapon on the carpet beside the bed. Matt’s whole attention was on Sabrina. “Come to bed with me, Sabrina. I’ve been waiting so long for you.” He reached out to turn back the covers and then he reached for her.
“A whole month?” she tried to tease lightly. But he took the question very seriously.
“Much longer than that.” He pushed her gently into the sheets and came down beside her, his leg sprawling heavily over her. “God, you’re soft.” He groaned with anticipation and barely controlled excitement, bending his head to feather the peaks of her breasts with his tongue.
Sabrina ran her palms wonderingly over his back, tracing the line of his spine down to his sleek flanks. He reacted to her touch, arching his hips. She could feel the thrusting shape of his manhood, testing and probing against her thighs, waiting for the moment of possession.
But this time, Sabrina realized, Matt was intent on doing it right. This time he held himself fiercely in check while she relaxed and flowed under his touch. The last remnants of wariness left over from their first encounter faded into nothingness.
“Ah, Matt, please …” Sabrina gasped as his rough-tipped fingers traced delicate patterns across her stomach and then sought the sensitive secrets between her thighs. “Your hands,” she breathed as he stroked her with tantalizing care, “I never forgot your hands.”
“You’re so warm and so ready for me,” he murmured in awe, letting his fingers grow damp with the evidence of her arousal. “This time you’re clinging to me as if you’ll never let go.”
She could have told him that was because this time it was right. But Sabrina was unable to get the words out of her mouth in a coherent fashion, so she tangled her legs with his and lifted herself against him.
“No,” Matt ordered harshly, pushing her body back down onto the bed. “I won’t be able to do this properly if you torment me like that.”
“Matt, stop worrying about it,” she managed, sliding her fingers between their bodies to find the throbbing hardness of him. “Can’t you tell you’re doing everything perfectly?”
“God, honey, I feel like I’m going to explode.”
She moved her head in a slow negative on the pillow, touching him intimately. “No, you feel like a stallion ready to go over the fence.”
He didn’t respond verbally. Instead Matt seized her mouth with his own, his restraint clearly gone. He pushed himself between her legs, whispering fierce encouragement as she wrapped her thighs around his lean hips.
Sabrina felt him gathering himself and her and then he was moving heavily into her. She cried out, the sound losing itself in his throat. Her nails sank into the taut skin across his shoulders.
Matt forged deeply into her body, holding her with an almost savage strength. Sabrina clung just as violently, glorying in the melding of their excitement. She felt him wait for a moment, poised, while she adjusted to the impact his body had made on hers.
Slowly he began to move within her, his mouth never leaving hers as they found the primitive rhythm.
Sabrina’s sense of time became distorted. She could not have said how long the fiery ride lasted, but she knew that from the moment it began there was only one possible ending. Everything in her craved that ending, and she lunged for it with all her strength. “Matt, oh, my God, Matt!”
“Let it happen now,” he whispered against her mouth. “Let go of everything.”
Sabrina felt the spiraling tension within her release itself with shattering suddenness. She was dimly aware of Matt’s muffled shout of triumph and satisfaction, knew that she was being crushed passionately between the bed and the man, and then she and Matt were lying in a limp, damp tangle.
Slowly the reality of the motel room returned. Sabrina was aware of the hum of the air conditioner first and then she realized that the light streaming through the curtains was from a neon sign across the street, not the moon.
“It’s not exactly Acapulco Bay by night, is it?” Matt observed wryly as he stirred and reluctantly moved to the side. He gathered her close, seeking her expression in the darkness. “A lousy motel room with no view and no romance, and we have to be out in less than two hours.”
Sabrina smiled faintly, sensing his concern. She stroked the plane of his shoulder. “It’s all right, Matt. In fact, it feels perfect.”
He stifled a muttered exclamation and brushed his mouth against hers. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Thank God.” He flopped back against the pillows, pulling her down on his chest. “I think I would have committed hari-kari with my own knife if I’d screwed up this time.”
Sabrina tried to study his expression. “Was it so important?”
“It was important, all right. It was crucial.” He gave her a small, wicked grin, ruffling her already mussed hair. “As long as it was half as good for you as it was for me, I guess I’m reasonably satisfied.”
“Why?” she asked simply. Beneath her breasts she could feel traces of the perspiration on his chest and
the crispness of the hair that tapered to his waist.
“I just wanted to get you into bed and find out for certain what was going on between us.”
“One night in bed is enough to show you?”
He stretched luxuriously. “More than enough.”
“What is going on, Matt?”
He looked at her, his gaze unexpectedly intent. “A future.”
“You’re so sure?”
“I know I can’t walk away from it. I have to keep moving toward it. That’s as good a definition of a future as I’ve ever had. I want you, Sabrina, and after tonight the wanting’s just going to get worse. And I think that even though I didn’t do this in the most romantic style, you wanted me tonight and you’ll want me again. Am I right?”
“You’re turning into an egotistical, complacent, sexually aggressive male right in front of my eyes,” she complained in tones of mock despair. “What happened to the sweet, pleading man who was practically down on his knees begging for my favors earlier this evening?”
Matt’s eyes gleamed with very masculine amusement. “You granted the favors.”
“And created a monster in the process?”
“It’s one of life’s paradoxes. Pleading, groveling males turn into egotistical, self-assured bastards when they know they’ve satisfied their women.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for future reference.”
He shrugged with massive insouciance. “You do that. It’s a no-win situation for you, though.”
“Oh, yeah? How’s that?” she challenged, using her teeth lightly on his flat male nipple.
“Ouch. Watch it, lady. I’ve got bigger teeth than you have. I only meant it’s a no-win situation because to reduce me to the groveling, pleading state, you’ve got to deny yourself. Satisfy yourself and you automatically put me into the typical, arrogant after-sex syndrome.”
“Hah, I’ll find a way to have my cake and eat it, too.”
“I expect better minds than yours have worked on the problem,” he told her.
Sabrina bit him again. He just grinned at her, the devil looking out of his eyes. Sabrina gave up, turning serious. “What happens now, Matt? When are you going back to Mexico?”
“I’m not. At least not right away.”
“What are you going to do?” She frowned uncertainly.
“I’ve been thinking about it off and on since I picked up Brad. I’m inclined to get an apartment here in Dallas for the summer. Elena can run the bookstore in Acapulco. I can make a couple of trips down to check on things. In the meantime I’ll start looking for a respectable job here.”
“Because of Brad?”
He hesitated. “Partly. Partly because of you. Between the two of you I seem to have to do some future planning. It’s been a while since I had to worry about that kind of thing.”
Sabrina listened to the curious sense of surprise in his voice and wondered about the future herself. “What happens if Brad’s mother decides she wants him back at the end of the summer?”
“I guess it will depend a lot on what Brad wants. I’m not sure what’s going on inside his head, Sabrina. I know he feels rejected. Ginny and he have been at each other’s throats, apparently, for several months. Brad doesn’t like the guy she married. I gather the feeling’s mutual. I also get the feeling that if she’s forced to choose between her marriage and Brad, Ginny will take the marriage. Brad, I think, knows that. It’s almost as if he’s been trying to force the final confrontation. God knows why.”
“Maybe he just can’t take the uncertainty.”
Matt nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe. I can understand that. Better to know the worst than to be kept wondering what’s going to happen. Lord knows what kind of a father I’m going to make. I wasn’t much of one during the early years of his life. I was gone half the time and spent the other half doing battle with Ginny. As far as I can tell he’s only interested in some kind of fantasy military world. I’ve been thinking of using that angle to establish some kind of communication with him. As it stands now I hardly know my son.”
“You hardly know me,” Sabrina pointed out quietly. “You’re going to make a decision about staying in Dallas and finding a job based on two people you don’t know very well?”
“I want a chance to get to know both of you better. Staying in Dallas looks like the best way of doing that,” Matt said simply.
“You seem different from the way you were in Mexico.” It was true. Seeing a future did that for a man, Sabrina supposed.
He shifted slightly on the pillow, propping himself up on one elbow to examine her face. “Down there I was worried that an ex-major who had been forced to resign because of general stupidity might not be romantic enough to hold you. Up here I’ve started worrying that a forty-year-old, unemployed male with a rude, withdrawn kid might not be exciting enough to interest you.”
“You seem to spend a lot of your time worrying.”
“Only since I met you.”
“Reach any conclusions?” she asked.
“Fortunately for my peace of mind, you gave me a handle on the situation tonight,” Matt said softly.
“Think you can hold me with sex, hmmm?”
“You shouldn’t have given yourself so completely tonight, honey. You managed to give yourself away.”
The scraping of a key in the lock of the motel-room door cut off any reply Sabrina could have found to Matt’s outrageous claim. Startled, she automatically glanced toward the door. The next thing she knew Matt had left the bed with feral swiftness.
She stared in horror as he scooped up the knife sheath. He was nearly at the door when it swung open. Matt froze as he saw who the intruder was.
Brad stood on the threshold, staring at the naked man and the naked blade. For an instant utter silence reigned over a coiled tension that threatened to explode. Sabrina watched in shock as father and son confronted each other. A part of her realized that Brad was one very lucky young man. If he had seen the way his father had moved across the room he might have realized how close he’d been to finding the blade at his throat. As it was, she guessed he knew he’d had a close encounter with disaster. Several seconds passed before he took a breath.
“Get out, Brad. Go outside and wait by the car.” Matt sheathed the knife and walked forward grimly.
Brad’s eyes swung accusingly to Sabrina, who sat holding the sheet over her breasts. Even in the pale glow of light provided by the neon sign she could read the anger and resentment in that gaze that was so like his father’s.
“Sorry I came back too early. It’s your own fault, Dad. You should have told me you’d need the whole two hours to do it to her. I asked you how long it would take, remember?”
Matt dropped an iron hand on his son’s shoulder and shoved him back through the door. “I said get out.” He yanked the door shut behind the boy and drew a long, steadying breath. Sabrina knew that he was controlling both anger and the adrenaline that must have flooded his bloodstream the moment he realized someone was coming through the door. Slowly he turned to face her.
“I’m sorry,” he said starkly. “Goddamn it to hell. I’m sorry, Sabrina.”
Unsteadily Sabrina edged off the bed, scrabbling on the floor for her underwear. It wasn’t just the natural embarrassment she was feeling that made her movements awkward. She knew she was also reacting to the vestiges of explosive tension that still ricocheted around the motel room. Hastily she pulled on her clothing.
“Sabrina?”
“I think you’d better take me home, Matt.” She saw his right hand, the one that had been holding the knife, move in a flexing action. Each finger was stretched out before being pulled back into a tight fist. Then he walked across the room and began pulling on his own clothes.
“I’m not used to managing my life with a kid around,” Matt said gruffly as he stuffed his shirt into the waistband of his slacks. “I’ll slaughter him later.” He eyed Sabrina’s set face warily. “Honey, I never meant for you to be embarrassed like th
at.”
“I’m sure you didn’t.” Sabrina shook her head. “I’m not used to being embarrassed like that, either. I’ll say one thing. An evening with you always holds the element of surprise.”
“Jesus.” Matt closed his eyes in brief disgust. “I’ll kill him.”
“No, you won’t.” Sabrina smiled sardonically. “You’ll just chew him out. And I think that’s enough. The boy’s scared to death of me, you know.”
“Scared of you?” Matt appeared shocked.
“Sure. He sees me as a threat. Look at it from his point of view. He’s already lost one parent to another adult. Now he probably thinks he’s in danger of losing you.”
Matt was startled. “He’s not going to lose me.”
“Better tell him that,” Sabrina advised as she fastened her white leather belt and tried unsuccessfully to straighten her hair. “I saw the fear in his eyes, Matt.”
“You’re an authority on child psychology?”
“I grew up with two brothers. I remember the way they acted after my mother died, when my father began to see women friends. They were scared to death.” She, on the other hand, would have welcomed another female into the household. As it was, her father had not remarried, and Sabrina had been left to battle on alone against the all-male hierarchy.
Matt was watching her with an odd expression. “I see.”
“Explain your plans to him, Matt. Tell him he’s the most important part of them.” Sabrina turned toward the door. “Let him know I’m not a threat.”
Matt was beside her, reaching out to grasp her arm before she could open the door. When she glanced up at him, his eyes were full of a strange anger. Strange because it was directed at her and not at Brad.
“Why are you so sure you’re not a threat, Sabrina? Because you don’t intend to get seriously involved with a washed-up ex-military type who, on top of everything else, has a belligerent, resentful son? You never wanted anything more than a few nights in some hotel room, did you? You’re the lady who was out to live her own life on her own terms. I have a hunch I don’t fit too well into your long-term plans.”
