Gansett Island Boxed Set Books 1-16 (Gansett Island Series)

by Marie Force

  He immediately understood and sat up, releasing her so abruptly she nearly cried out from the loss.

  “God, Daisy. I’m so sorry. I got carried away.” He looked positively stricken, which made her ache. He’d been nothing but kind and decent and patient with her—everything Truck had never been.

  “No, it’s my fault.” Her hands were shaking and her heart was beating so fast she worried she might pass out or something equally embarrassing. “I didn’t mean to freak out. I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you like that.”

  “You didn’t,” she said, on the verge of tears. “You were wonderful the way you always are, and I didn’t want to stop. It was just that feeling of being smothered…”

  “I get it, and I’m sorry I didn’t think of how you might react to that. It’s only been a couple of weeks.” His hand cupped her face, his thumb caressing her cheek so gently her eyes closed against the rush of emotion. “You’re so sweet, Daisy. I’ve been dying to kiss you for days. Weeks.” His voice was gruff and sexy, and her crush was on the verge of blazing completely out of control.

  She opened her eyes because she wanted to see him. “Really?”

  Nodding, he continued to stroke her face with just the soft movement of his thumb. “I was so afraid to touch you. I didn’t want to do the wrong thing.”

  “You didn’t. It wasn’t you. It was me.”

  “You’ve been through a traumatic ordeal. It’s going to take some time to be comfortable in a situation like that again.”

  “I was comfortable. I was so comfortable. But then…”

  “You didn’t like having me on top of you.”

  She shook her head as a tear slid down her cheek. “I don’t want to scare you off. I like you so much. I look forward to our time together…” She stopped herself when she realized she might be giving too much away.

  “You haven’t scared me off, and I like you, too, and the time we’ve spent together. I look forward to it all day while I’m working.”

  “So do I. Every day I wonder if I’m going to see you, and I get all giddy at the thought of being with you.”

  He brushed the tear from her cheek and touched his thumb to her bottom lip, rubbing it back and forth.

  Daisy put her tongue in its path, touching the tip to the pad of his thumb.

  His eyes narrowed with barely restrained desire that made her wonder what might’ve happened if she hadn’t panicked.

  “Can we…”

  “What?”

  She forced herself to look at him. “Can we try again? Please?”

  “I don’t want to scare you.”

  “You won’t as long as you don’t do that on-top thing again.”

  His hand dropped from her face as he leaned his head against the back of the sofa. “Do whatever you feel like doing. You’re the boss.”

  Daisy rolled her bottom lip between her teeth as she contemplated the sexy buffet laid out before her. She released two buttons on his shirt and slid her hand inside to rest just below his collarbone.

  He drew in a breath, and his heart beat fast beneath her hand.

  His reaction fueled her courage as she leaned in to place a string of kisses along his jaw. Late-day whiskers poked at her lips, stinging and abrading them. She glanced down and saw his hands gripping his thighs and was encouraged to know he wasn’t unaffected by her clumsy attempts at seduction or whatever this was.

  She worked her way to his lips, teasing him with light touches of lip to lip before she moved down to his neck. The pulse of his heartbeat throbbed under her lips, beating in time to the throb between her legs. It had been such a very long time since she’d experienced true desire.

  “Daisy,” he said, sounding tortured. “I want to touch you. Is that okay?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “Come closer.” He held out his arms to her, and Daisy straddled his lap, feeling the press of his arousal between her legs as he drew her in closer to him. “Is this okay?”

  She nodded, moved by his concern.

  He massaged her back in small circles that made her want to weep from the undeniable pleasure.

  “Feels good,” she whispered.

  With his hand on the back of her head, he drew it down to his shoulder, encouraging her without words to relax against him.

  She sank into his embrace, which would’ve been totally innocent were it not for the brush of her nipples against his chest or the insistent throb between her legs as she squirmed for a tighter connection with his erection.

  He gasped, and his hands tightened on her back.

  “Sorry, did I hurt you?”

  “No,” he said with a tight chuckle. “Not at all.”

  Realizing he was aroused filled her with a kind of feminine power that was all new to her. It also filled her with a sense of mischief as she rocked against him again, drawing another hiss from him.

  “You little minx,” he whispered. “You know you’re making me crazy, right?”

  “I am?” It was fun to be playful with a man, to know she was completely safe in his arms, to know he wanted her as much as she wanted him, even if the timing of such desires wasn’t ideal.

  He continued the massage in slow, sensual circles down her back. When he reached the waistband of her jeans, she thought he might work his way back up, but he kept going down, cupping her bottom and squeezing. “Okay?” he asked, endlessly considerate.

  “So okay.” She couldn’t seem to get close enough to him as the throb between her legs intensified. “David…”

  “What, honey? Tell me what you need.”

  She’d never been very good at telling men what she needed, and now was no exception. “I don’t know.” Moaning, she rested her forehead on his shoulder. “I don’t know.”

  “Move against me.” With his hands on her hips, he urged her to move against the hard column of his erection.

  “Does it feel good for you, too?” she asked, trying not to pant like a brazen hussy, which was exactly how she felt at the moment. But she was too aroused to care.

  “So good. Could I touch you?”

  “Yes, yes. Please.”

  He found the hem of her top and dipped his fingers underneath, drawing a gasp from her when he made contact with her back. Leaving a trail of sensation, he worked his way up, releasing the clasp on her bra as he went. “Still okay?”

  “Mmm.” With her head on his shoulder, she breathed in the clean, fresh scent of him as his hands moved over her ribs, his thumbs teasing the underside of her breasts. She was on the verge of begging, but the words froze on her tongue when he filled his hands with her breasts. “Oh.”

  “Still good?”

  “So good. Don’t stop.”

  “Kiss me.”

  Daisy raised her head and brought her lips down on his right as his fingers found her nipples, rolling and squeezing ever so gently. The combination triggered a powerful orgasm. Luckily, his lips muffled the sound or she might’ve woken the kids.

  Completely undone by the experience, she collapsed against him, her breasts still pressed against his warm hands.

  “Feel better?” he whispered, making her smile.

  “So much better,” she said through panting breaths. “As soon as my head stops spinning, I’d be happy to return the favor.”

  “No need.”

  She found the strength to raise her head and meet his gaze. “I know I don’t have to. What if I want to?”

  The pounding of heavy footsteps on the stairs to Maddie’s deck had Daisy scrambling off his lap and attempting to right her clothes and hair before they were caught fooling around on her friend’s sofa.

  David drew a pillow over his lap, making her giggle.

  His face flushed with embarrassment. “Glad you find it so funny. I feel like I’m fifteen.”

  By the time Mac and Maddie came through the door, Daisy and David were sitting on the sofa, the picture of innocence as Jake and Anne went at it on TV.
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br />   “Home already?” Daisy asked them as she took note of Maddie’s glassy eyes. “And together?” As far as she knew, they’d been out separately with their friends.

  Mac zeroed right on David sitting next to her, but didn’t say anything.

  “They crashed us again,” Maddie said, her words slurring ever so slightly. “They always crash our girls’ night.”

  “It’s a good thing we did.” Mac held his wife against him, which Daisy suspected was critical to her remaining upright. “Someone had a tad bit too much champagne.”

  “I had just enough champagne,” Maddie said with a goofy smile. “It’s put me in a really good mood.”

  “Hush,” Mac said. “Let me get her to bed, and then I’ll give you a ride home, Daisy.”

  “I’d be happy to take her,” David said.

  Mac looked at David for such a long time that Daisy wondered what he was thinking. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”

  “Not at all. I’m going that way anyway.”

  “Okay by you, Daisy?” Mac asked.

  “Of course.”

  “How were my babies?” Maddie asked, hiccupping softly.

  “They were great. Thomas wasn’t too keen on sleeping for a while, but I think he’s out now.”

  “Thank you for staying with them. I owe you.”

  Daisy waved a hand in protest. “No, you don’t. Go to bed. We’ll see ourselves out.” As Mac ushered his wife upstairs, Daisy stood on wobbly legs and was grateful for the hand David placed on her elbow until she steadied herself.

  “I just need one minute,” she said. “Be right back.” She went into the downstairs bathroom to fasten her bra and freshen up. Standing before the mirror, she was startled by the flushed, satisfied look to on face. She rested her hands on her cheeks, as if that might remove some of the color that had settled there. It didn’t work.

  Resigned to her face giving away her heightened emotions, she returned to the family room. David had cleaned up the popcorn mess and was washing the bowl.

  “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “One of us had to do it. Why not me?”

  “Thank you.” Daisy dried the bowl and put it away, cleaned the popcorn maker and wiped up the kitchen.

  David held her denim jacket for her and turned off the TV, chuckling at yet another sex scene in the movie. “They must’ve been exhausted after filming,” he said, making Daisy laugh as he opened the sliding door to the deck and gestured for her to go out ahead of him.

  A motion-sensitive light came on as she went down the stairs ahead of him. He held the door to his silver sedan for her, and she sank into the buttery-soft leather with a sigh of pleasure. Everything about this evening had been a pleasure. Other than the one moment of panic, she’d gotten through her first post-attempted-rape encounter fairly well, all things considered.

  She tried really hard not to think about that awful night with Truck when she’d nearly been killed in the midst of his meth-fueled rage. He’d held her down and tried to force himself on her. He’d been too stoned to finish what he’d started, but he’d left her bruised and sore and traumatized from the effort.

  From the driver’s side, David reached over to take her hand. “What’re you thinking about?”

  “Unpleasant memories and how they came back to haunt me tonight.”

  “Only for a second, and we worked through it, right?”

  “Right.” As her throat tightened with emotion, she squeezed his hand in gratitude. “Thanks for putting up with me.”

  “It’s certainly no hardship. I like being with you.”

  She turned to look at his strong profile, illuminated by the streetlights as they left Mac and Maddie’s driveway and headed for town. All too soon, he pulled up to the curb outside her house.

  “Do you want to come in for a little while?” she asked, feeling uncertain about what would happen now that they’d kissed, among other very nice things.

  “I’d love nothing more than to spend more time with you tonight, but I’m afraid of things going too far too fast.” He reached over to do that thing he did with her hair and her ear. “You’re not ready for too far too fast. And…”

  “And what?” Daisy asked.

  His smile faded. “There’re things about me you should know before this goes any further.”

  “What kind of things?”

  “The kind that might dull that shine in your eyes when you look at me.”

  “Do my eyes shine when they look at you?”

  As he nodded, an aura of sadness clung to him. “You won’t look at me like that anymore when I tell you what you need to know about me.”

  Daisy thought about that for a moment. “I’d like to hear anything you want to tell me, but no matter what it is, I’ll never forget the extraordinary kindness and compassion you’ve shown me since one of the worst nights of my life. I’ll never forget the conversations we’ve had or your understanding tonight when I fell apart a little bit. So whatever it is, you should know I won’t forget any of that.”

  “You’re very kind, Daisy, and you’re probably far too good for me.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “I haven’t always been an honorable person. I’ve made mistakes that have hurt people.”

  Operating on instinct at this point, she reached out to him, cupping his face and turning him to look at her. “How can you say you’re not good enough for me? You’re a doctor, for goodness sake.”

  “All those years of school didn’t necessarily make me a good person.”

  “Did you learn from these mistakes you made?”

  “Yeah,” he said, releasing a bitter laugh. “You could say I definitely learned my lesson.”

  “And these things you did that hurt people, would you do them again?”

  “Never.”

  “Then it sounds like whatever it is you’re so ashamed of happened for a reason. It happened so you’d learn what kind of man you want to be—and what kind you don’t want to be.”

  Twirling a lock of her hair around his finger, he said, “How did you get so wise?”

  “A lot of hard knocks of my own, literally and figuratively.”

  “I don’t want to be another of your hard knocks.”

  “Then don’t be.”

  “We need to talk about this stuff. You need to know what you’re getting into.”

  “Can we talk about it sometime soon? Tonight has been so lovely. It doesn’t feel like a night for deep confessions.”

  He smiled as he leaned in to kiss her. “It was lovely. Thanks for inviting me.”

  “Thanks for keeping me company.”

  “I’m going to be off-island tomorrow into Tuesday. Could I call you while I’m gone?”

  Daisy hated the dismay she experienced at knowing she wouldn’t see him for a couple of days. “I’d love that.”

  He pulled out his phone and programmed the number she gave him. “I put it in my favorites. See?”

  “I feel very honored.” And oddly enough, she did. While still grappling with a bit of anxiety over what he felt he needed to tell her, Daisy refused to allow anything to ruin what had been a rather perfect evening.

  “Come on, I’ll walk you to the door.”

  As they walked up the stairs to her front door, she was glad she’d forgotten to turn on the porch light when she left. She didn’t need her nosy neighbors checking out who was bringing her home.

  Daisy used her key in the new door Mac had installed after Truck kicked hers in. It was sturdy and made her feel safe, even when she knew there was nothing to be afraid of. Standing in the doorway, she was hit with a sudden bout of shyness as she wondered if David would kiss her again. She sure hoped so.

  “I’ll call you,” he said.

  “I’ll look forward to it.”

  When he started to turn away, her hopes were dashed until he turned right back and put his arms around her. He bent his head and came toward her slowly, probably giving her time to say no. But that
wasn’t the word she longed to say. Yes was far more like it.

  What started as a soft, sweet kiss soon took a turn toward something much deeper and more carnal. By the time he pulled back from her, Daisy had her arms tight around him. His hands were on her bottom, holding her snug against his arousal. She wanted to purr from the pleasure of his embrace.

  “I should go,” he whispered against her lips.

  “I should let you.”

  She felt rather than saw his smile as he withdrew from her with a sigh that sounded regretful.

  “Save Tuesday night for me?”

  “It’s all yours.”

  He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “See you then.”

  She went inside and watched as he got into his car and waved when he drove off into the night. The door closed with a solid thunk, and she turned the dead bolt Mac had also installed for her. Leaning against the door, she brushed her fingertips over lips that still tingled from David’s passionate kisses.

  How, she wondered, would she live until Tuesday? The thought was followed by another, this one much darker. What did he have to tell her and would it change how she felt about him?

  Maddie sat on the edge of the bed and tried to remain upright while Mac helped to remove her top.

  “So, David and Daisy, huh?”

  “Apparently. He’s been really nice to her since that business with Truck.”

  “Does she know about his track record?” he asked with a bitter edge to his voice. Mac would never forgive David for cheating on his sister, but he’d also never forget that David had saved Hailey, who would’ve died at birth without him. Maddie knew his feelings toward David were somewhat complicated, to say the least.

  “I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it.”

  “Maybe you should warn her.”

  “Maybe I will.” With his belly right in front of her, what else was she supposed to do but dip her hands under his shirt and take a feel of her favorite washboard abs?

  “What’re you up to, Madeline?” he asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

  “Champagne makes me horny. I had no idea!”