by Karen Foley
“Of course, but not like this, And I live about five minutes from the ocean, so a trip to the mountains means having to drive for at least a couple of hours.”
“How do you like being on the coast?”
Lacey took a sip of her water and nodded. “I love it. I’m not sure I could be landlocked. Although this would be very hard to give up.”
“Leaving Black Stone Gap was the hardest thing I ever did,” he acknowledged. “But I understand why you love living near the water. My place in Virginia is right on the beach and I fall asleep to the sound of the surf.”
“Wow. That sounds amazing. My house isn’t quite that close to the water.”
“I’ll bring you to Virginia. We can fall asleep together.”
Lacey didn’t say anything. Instead, she slipped her arm through his and put her head against his shoulder. But he knew what she was thinking; that once she returned to New England, whatever it was they had would be over.
He brought her hand up to his mouth and pressed a kiss against her palm. Baby, he thought, you have no idea how wrong you are.
* * *
BY THE LIGHT of the bedside lamp, Lacey stared at her own reflection in the overhead skylights. She looked small and alone in the generous bed. She felt small and alone. The windows were black, and because she had the bedside light on, she couldn’t even see the billions of stars that she knew blanketed the sky.
How had her entire life changed in the space of two days? She’d never before met a man like Cole MacKinnon. She couldn’t stop thinking about him. She’d insisted on sleeping in the guestroom despite Cole’s objections. Somehow, it had seemed presumptuous of her to assume that Cole would want her to move into his room for the remainder of her stay, and she hadn’t given him the opportunity to try and change her mind. To his credit, he’d apparently meant what he said when he’d told her that any relationship they had would be on her terms.
Now she wished she hadn’t been so insistent on sleeping alone. Once she got home, she’d be alone every night. But Cole was meeting with Buck Rogan in the morning, and she wanted him to be well rested. Neither of them had gotten any sleep the previous night, and he needed to be sharp and alert.
With a groan, she rolled over and buried her face in her pillow, scrunching the soft mound in her hands. Even now, her body craved his touch. She thought of how she’d left him earlier, standing in the middle of the kitchen, watching her through heated eyes as she practically bolted for the stairs that led to the guestroom. She hadn’t given him the chance to pull her into his arms, knowing if he did, she’d be lost. She had no willpower where he was concerned; if he kissed her, she’d be toast.
She flopped onto her back, restless. She didn’t know how long she’d been lying awake, thinking about him. About them. Hours, it seemed. Memories of their lovemaking haunted her. God, she’d been so desperate for him. The only thing that had mattered was him, hot and hard inside her. He’d been so powerfully masculine, surging into her, his face taut with desire.
For her.
Her skin felt flushed and overheated. Just thinking about it made her want him again. Thanks to him, she was becoming familiar with the needs of her body, recognizing the slow, throbbing pulse that signaled her desire. Even her breasts ached, her nipples tight and erect.
With a despairing huff of breath, Lacey threw aside the sheet that covered her and swung her legs over the side of the bed. The room suddenly felt overly warm; suffocating. Even the circulating ceiling fan did little to cool her heated flesh. She thought longingly of the swinging bench on the front porch of the cabin. It had to be cooler out there than in here, and the idea of lounging on the cushioned swing with a bottle of chilled water seemed the perfect antidote to her current ailment.
She crept carefully down the stairs, alert to any sign Cole might not be sleeping. Given her current state, she’d probably attack him. She retrieved water from the fridge and headed for the porch. As soon as she stepped outside, she drew in a grateful breath. The humidity had dissipated and the temperature was, thankfully, cooler than it had been in her bedroom. She leaned on the railing, drinking in the cool night air as she tried to push away the thoughts of Cole that still threatened to invade her peace.
The night was far from quiet, however. The sound of crickets was everywhere, interspersed with the occasional hoot of a night owl, and the distant scream of something Lacey didn’t want to think about. Fireflies dotted the lawn below the deck, their blinking lights like a reflection of the overhead stars. Tilting her head back, Lacey studied them. She had never seen stars like this in the city. They were brilliant, and so abundant it was as if some careless hand had strewn billions of diamonds across the sky.
A masculine voice cleared itself behind her. With a small cry of surprise, she jerked upright and dropped the bottle of water that dangled from her fingers. Cole lounged back on the swinging settee, much as she had imagined herself doing. Copper lay sprawled at his feet, and now his tail thumped lazily in greeting. Cole wore a pair of boxer briefs and nothing else. His face, however, was cast in shadow and she was unable to discern his expression.
“I didn’t realize you were out here,” she said. “I couldn’t sleep. It must be the heat.”
Cole sat up and swung his legs to the porch floor. “I didn’t mean to startle you. Come join me.”
Lacey hesitated. She couldn’t be blamed for keeping him awake if he was already up. She was so tempted.
“Come here,” he said gruffly, reading her thoughts. “You just said it was hot up there—stay until you’ve cooled down.”
It was much cooler out here than indoors. Surely it wouldn’t hurt just to sit with him for a bit. Picking up her bottle of water from where she had dropped it, she crossed the porch and settled on the swing, tucking her bare legs beneath her. Cole’s arm rested along the cushion behind her head, and he used one long, muscled leg to push them into a gentle swing.
“So what’s up for you tomorrow?”
Lacey fingered her bottled water. “Well, if it’s not too much to ask, I need a ride back out to the Rod and Gun Club in the morning. I’m going to run through several more demonstrations of the GPS units with the team.”
In the darkness, she heard his small grunt of exasperation. “It’s not too much to ask, Lacey. I’m happy to drive you wherever you need to go. You know that.”
She slanted him a rueful smile. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”
“There’s a county fair over in Pikesville this weekend. I could pick you up early and we could head over there.” He continued to push the swing gently with his toe. “You might enjoy it.”
Lacey hesitated. Images of cotton candy, Ferris wheels, and strolling hand in hand with this man through the arcades was more tempting than she cared to admit. “Aren’t you meeting with Buck Rogan in the morning?”
“That’s just an informal meeting. I’m not officially on the clock until Monday morning. It’s supposed to be a gorgeous day tomorrow. It’d be a shame to spend it working.”
The gentle rocking motion of the swing was almost hypnotic. Lacey looked over at Cole; at all that lean, hard muscle gleaming softly in the moonlight. He’d said his meeting with Buck wasn’t formal and he wouldn’t actually begin working in the mines for a few more days. Acknowledging that it was useless for her to even try to resist him, Lacey uncurled her legs and stretched out until she reclined back against his solid frame. His arms came around her, and Lacey sighed in pleasure, admitting that this was what she had been missing, alone in that bed.
“I don’t know,” she mused now, teasing him just a little. “I’m not sure I can spare the time. I have a lot of work to do while I’m here.”
She thought he would tease her a little in return, maybe even use some physical persuasion to get her to agree to go with him. Instead, he was oddly quiet as he continued to push them with his foot.
“What is it?” she asked, twisting to look at him. “What’s wrong?”
“At the club tonight,
when I said I didn’t want you to go into the mines, I meant it. I don’t want you near those tunnels.”
“Why?”
Cole hesitated. “Call it intuition. I have a bad vibe about them and I’d feel a lot better if you just stayed away.”
Lacey stared at him, wondering where this had come from. “Cole, nothing is going to happen. I’m not afraid to go into the mines, and you shouldn’t be afraid to let me go.”
“What’s so important about this GPS unit that you need to field-test it inside the tunnels? You won’t be able to pick up a signal.”
“No, that’s where you’re wrong. You see, it’s a prototype that we designed for NASA. It can operate beneath the earth’s surface. The coal mines are the perfect environment to test its functionality. NASA wants us to start full production right away. This contract is huge for StarPoint Technologies, and could really put the company on the map. My boss is depending on me to get this done.”
Untangling himself from her, Cole stood abruptly up, causing Lacey to hang on tight as the swing lurched into unsteady motion. He raked a hand over his hair, seemingly oblivious to the fact he was wearing no more than a pair of boxer briefs.
But Lacey was aware. He was all satiny skin over sculpted muscles that layered their way down his stomach. She could see the faintest trace of dark hair that ran downward from his navel and disappeared beneath the waistband of his boxers. The briefs hugged his lean hips and molded themselves over the tops of his powerful thighs. They clung lovingly to the impressive bulge of his…
With a half groan, Lacey tore her gaze from where it was riveted, closed her eyes and took a healthy swig of the water, but the chilled liquid did little to cool her overheated senses. Swiping the moisture from her mouth with the back of her hand, she looked helplessly up at him.
“You need to trust me on this,” he said. “My best friend died in those tunnels. I won’t let you take that risk.”
Lacey felt her heart tighten with compassion and something else; a recognition of sorts. Setting the water bottle down, she stood up and slid her arms around Cole’s waist. He hugged her fiercely.
“Nothing is going to happen to me, Cole, I promise.”
“You don’t know that. Devon was an experienced miner who always put safety first. If it could happen to him, it could happen to anyone.”
“Listen to me,” Lacey said, using the calm, rational tone that she had perfected when talking with her mother. “I understand your concern, I really do. Don’t you think that I worry about you working in those mines? But I would never try to talk you out of doing your job. And this is my job, Cole. This means so much to me. If I can demonstrate that STAR is operational, the potential for saving lives is limitless.”
“It’s more complicated than that.”
“How so? You’re the engineer—is there something you know about the mines that you’re not saying?”
He sharpened his gaze on her. “What? No. I told you, it’s just a feeling I have. But I do know that the number of mining accidents has increased over the past few years.”
An image of her father lying trapped beneath hundreds of feet of rock flashed through Lacey’s imagination. “Is it just one mine, or all the mines in the area?”
Cole rolled his shoulders and turned abruptly to stare out into the darkness. “I don’t know. Like I said, I just get a bad feeling about it.”
Lacey understood. She dreaded going into those dank tunnels, but her father’s death compelled her to do just that. She’d never rest until she’d assured herself that STAR worked as intended. She wouldn’t be able to think of her father at peace until she found some way to ensure that another miner didn’t die the way he had. So even though Cole might have reservations about her going into the mines, Lacey knew she had no other choice.
“I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not crazy about the idea,” she confessed. “But I have a job to do. Maybe if you talked to Buck Rogan, he’d agree to let you come with me.”
After a moment, he blew out a hard breath. “If this is something you absolutely have to do, I’d prefer that. Would you mind if I came with you?”
Lacey couldn’t help it. Her entire body flushed with heat at his words. Her only excuse was that she’d been consumed with thought about him all night, and now here he was, almost naked and too tempting for her to resist. The empty aching sensation that had plagued her earlier became an insistent throbbing and her nipples tightened instantly. She wanted him again.
Badly.
“I’d like for you to come with me,” she said suggestively. “Over and over.”
“Lacey.” The word was no more than a husky whisper that caused a molten thread of desire to lick its way through her body. Bending his head, he kissed her neck, just below her ear. Lacey shivered as his lips teased the delicate skin. When he caught her earlobe between his teeth, she gasped softly.
“I want you.” His husky admission caused a tightening in her body and with a helpless exhalation, she sagged against him, tilting her head to allow him better access.
Her small surrender seemed to spark an answering surge of need in him. He made a sound that was half laugh, half groan, and swept her up into his arms. Lacey didn’t protest. Instead, she wound her arms around his neck and clung to him, burying her face against his neck. This was, after all, what she had been longing for since she had gone to bed, hours earlier, alone.
He strode swiftly through the house until they reached his bedroom. Lacey was breathless with anticipation by the time he shouldered the door to his room open and deposited her in an unruly heap on top of the bed.
“The light,” she urged softly. “Turn on the light.”
As he had their first night, Cole turned on the small lamp before dropping onto the bed beside her and gathering her close against his hardness.
“God, I’ve been dying to do this,” he growled. “I couldn’t get to sleep for thinking about you. About touching you…tasting you.” He laughed ruefully. “If you hadn’t shown up on the porch tonight, I probably would have come upstairs and begged you to have mercy on me.” His hands were everywhere, sliding over her back and down over the curve of her hips, while he buried his face in her neck and pressed his lips along the sensitive length of her neck. “God. It’s like I can’t get enough of you.”
His words were like an aphrodisiac. Throbbing with need, Lacey twined her legs around his and pressed her hips against him, telling him with her body how much she wanted him.
The man didn’t let her down. In one movement, he swept her nightshirt over her head and slid his hands beneath her bottom, lifting her so that she was pressed fully against him.
“Oh, yeah,” he breathed, his voice warm in her ear. “You make me crazy for you.” Turning his face, he captured her lips in a kiss that was searingly hot. Lacey moaned softly and wound her arms around him, pulling him closer.
This was what she had been longing for; this man in her arms, driving her wild with the things he did to her. She ran her hands down the length of his back, tracing her fingers over all that bare skin and reveling in his hardness. His lips slanted across hers and she welcomed the intrusion of his tongue, wanting to be closer still.
She was hardly aware of him tugging her panties off, and then there was nothing between them. Lacey dragged her mouth from his, her breathing fast and uneven. He pulled back slightly, keeping his weight on his elbows, and dipped his head to capture a nipple between his lips, drawing it into his mouth. She gasped in pleasure and instinctively arched against him, feeling him hot and hard, poised at the juncture of her thighs.
Lacey knew that at the slightest indication from her, he would take her to heaven. But suddenly, she wanted to be the one to take him there; to do things to him that would make him lose control. She pushed at his shoulders and with a bemused smile he rolled away from her. But Lacey didn’t give him a chance to question her, covering him swiftly with her own body.
“What? Hey—” He laughed uncertainly, but when Lacey d
ipped her head and traced the whorl of his ear with her tongue, he groaned and collapsed back against the pillows. She pushed his hands up above his head, and slid her own hands down the undersides of his arms, silently admiring the impressive bulge of his muscles. Her fingers continued downward, and she scooted backward until she straddled his thighs.
Sitting up, she looked down at him. Her breath caught at the sight he made. He was the embodiment of every fantasy she’d ever had. He lay still beneath her, but there was nothing remotely relaxed about him. His entire body was rigid and his eyes glittered as he watched her through half-closed lids.
“Now it’s my turn,” she whispered. “You see, I couldn’t sleep either because I’ve been wanting to do this all night.” She leaned forward until her breasts brushed against his chest and she traced her lips across his. He cupped the back of her head and drew her down for a more thorough, satisfying kiss. Lacey had intended to tease him, to maintain control of their love play until he begged her to release him. But when he smoothed his free hand along her flank and then reached between them to touch her intimately, she knew she was lost. He used his hands to splay her thighs even wider where she straddled him. Then there he was, hot and thick, moving into her little bit by little bit, until Lacey made an incoherent sound of need and pushed back, thrusting him fully inside her.
“Oh, man,” he groaned. “That almost feels too good.”
Lacey silently agreed, and slowly raised herself up until he was nearly free of her body, before pushing down once more, burying him to the hilt. The hot, throbbing sensation increased as she moved on top of him, gripping him tightly. His hands were on her hips, guiding her, and she watched his face go taut with pleasure. When he slid his hands upward to cup and knead her breasts, Lacey closed her eyes in mindless bliss.
“Yes,” she breathed.
“Look at me.”
The words were soft but insistent. She opened her eyes and stared down at Cole, seeing the raw, masculine desire on his face.
“I want you to look at me when you come,” he rasped. His expression had tightened, and seeing his desire mount just served to fuel her own. She knew he was close to losing control, but when he reached down and slid a finger over her swollen clitoris, Lacey was right there with him. With a soft cry, she began to orgasm. She might have closed her eyes but for his soft command.
