Sullivan's Promise

by Joan Johnston

  She glanced over her shoulder at Cody and saw he was playing a handheld digital game. She kept her voice low so Cody wouldn’t hear as she asked, “Is everything all right?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “You were frowning.”

  “I was going to invite you out tonight, but I don’t know if we should leave Cody, after the conversation we just had with him.”

  “Cody’s fine. Where did you have in mind to go?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  “I don’t like surprises.”

  “Why not?”

  “Most of the surprises in my life haven’t turned out so well.”

  He smiled and said, “Maybe we can break that string tonight.”

  “Can’t you just tell me what you have in mind?” Too late, Vick realized how irritated she sounded. “I would love to go out with you. I’d just like to know where we’re headed.”

  He was quiet for so long she realized he was reluctant to reveal what he had planned.

  “Just tell me.”

  “Never mind,” he said curtly. “We can stay at the hotel.”

  “For heaven’s sake! It can’t be that big of a deal.”

  “It was to me,” he muttered, his eyes pinned on the road.

  Vick heaved a long-suffering sigh and threw up her hands. “All right. Fine. Surprise me.”

  He shot a questioning look at her, as though making up his mind, then focused his gaze back on the road. “I’m going to drop Cody off with Connor and Eve. They’re having dinner in town with their kids before they head back to their ranch. Then I’ll come back for you.”

  Her eyebrows rose. If Cody was spending the night with one of Rye’s Flynn brothers, he must be intending for the two of them to be out late. Or not come home at all.

  It suddenly dawned on her where Rye might want to go. She’d just have to wait and see whether they ended up at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar.

  RYE STOOD IN the hallway outside his hotel room and sniffed under his arms. Thank God the deodorant was doing its job. He’d splashed on too much piney cologne, and he was suffocating from the smell of it. He pulled a hanky from the back pocket of his jeans and swiped the nervous sweat from his brow and upper lip, then tucked the hanky back out of sight. He’d wanted everything to be perfect tonight.

  So far, everything was royally fucked up.

  Despite getting an ice cream cone from Moo’s earlier in the day, and expressing a willingness to stay overnight with his cousins, when Cody got to the restaurant where Connor and Eve were having dinner with their kids, he’d balked at the idea of spending the night with them. It had taken some fancy talking on Rye’s part, and an offer from Sawyer to play a video game Cody liked when they got home, to get him to stay. Rye had promised Connor and Eve that, if necessary, he’d come and pick Cody up tonight.

  He would. If necessary. Rye had an awful feeling he was going to get a call to come get his son at the worst possible moment. Was it any wonder he was on edge?

  Rye glanced at the closed door to Vick’s hotel room. He’d been in and out of the shower in five minutes, shaved and dressed in Levi’s, a Western shirt, and boots in another five, and had been waiting for her for forty-five. The last time he’d called her room, she still wasn’t ready. He paced the hall, jumpy as spit on a hot skillet. At least there was no one around to see him behaving like a teenage boy on his first date.

  He ought to forget about reminding Vick what they’d had in the past and focus on convincing her that what they had right now was worth keeping. That actually sounded like a better plan than reminding her of something that had been so amazing it couldn’t be duplicated.

  All he needed was a way to do that. Which wasn’t coming to mind. Better to stick with his first plan, even if it was filled with hitches. At least it was a plan.

  As Vick’s door opened, he ran a finger around the inside of his too-tight shirt collar, which was buttoned all the way up, with a bolo tie cinched at his throat. He swallowed over the aching lump in his throat, shoved his sweaty hands down the thighs of his jeans, and waited for her to step into the hall.

  His heart tripped when he saw what she was wearing.

  “You aren’t—” He had to stop and clear his throat. “You aren’t dressed.”

  “I thought we might stay in.”

  Her voice was husky, and her eyes looked sultry. She was wearing a full-length, filmy black nightgown with skinny straps that barely held the thing up, giving him a shadowy view of nipples and knees and all the titillating things in between. Blood surged to his neck, to his ears, to his groin. In an instant, he was hot and hard. She was holding on to the half-open door with both hands, as though she hadn’t yet decided whether to invite him in or shut him out.

  Rye was afraid to move, afraid he’d do something wrong, and she’d rescind the obvious invitation to take her to bed. He stood there, waiting for Vick to make the first move.

  It took him only a moment to realize his mistake. She’d already made the first move by opening the door wearing a see-through nightgown. As he stood there frozen, neither accepting nor rejecting her offer, he saw her confidence begin to falter.

  Her chin trembled, and her lashes lowered to hide her eyes.

  She gasped in surprise as he swept her up in his arms, shoved the door open far enough to get inside with her, and slammed it shut with the heel of his boot.

  She’d already folded down the bed, soft music was playing from her phone, and several candles flickered on surfaces around the room. She must have planned this in advance, since their hotel rooms hadn’t come stocked with candles.

  He grinned at her and said, “Am I being seduced?”

  She slid her hand around his nape, raising chill bumps, and met his gaze with a shy smile. “I thought I might give it a try.”

  He eased her bare feet onto the carpet beside the bed and settled his hands around her hips to keep their bodies aligned. “I think you just didn’t want to end up on one of those saddles at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar.”

  “That, too,” she said with a chuffing laugh.

  Rye was pleased to find her so willing to share her bed. And, he admitted, a little suspicious.

  Why this sudden change of mind? Vick had confessed that she not only had reservations about her feelings for him, but also concerns that he couldn’t turn his feelings for her around on a dime. She’d been reluctant even to go on a date with him tonight. He’d had to talk her into it. So what was going on here?

  What’s wrong with you, Rye? No man in his right mind turns down a night of sex with a woman he desires. Stop thinking and start enjoying what’s being freely offered.

  Except, he wasn’t only interested in having sex with Vick. He wanted a lifelong relationship.

  Her fingernails gently scratched the skin at his nape, raising goosebumps. Rye decided now wasn’t the time to try and figure out what was going on in Vick’s head. He would show her how much he cared by cherishing her body, by loving her with every part of his being, and sharing all of himself with her.

  They would have plenty of time to talk after they’d made love.

  He lowered his head and kissed Vick’s fathomless blue eyes closed, then kissed the tip of her nose and caressed each cheek. He finally found his way to her mouth and ran his tongue along the seam of her lips until she opened to him.

  Her nightgown came off with two flicks of his wrists, and cascaded to her feet. Vick flushed, but she didn’t lower her gaze or try to hide herself.

  Rye looked his fill. “You’re beautiful.”

  “I would return the compliment, but I can’t admire what I can’t see,” she said with a teasing smile.

  Rye yanked the bolo tie down and over his head, then attacked the too-small buttons on his shirt.

  Vick was laughing at his frenzy, and at the same time
unbuckling his belt, unzipping his jeans, and shoving both jeans and underwear down. He yanked the half-unbuttoned shirt off over his head, then sat his naked ass on the bed while he pulled off his boots and socks and shoved his jeans the rest of the way down and off. When he rose again to stand across from her, he was as naked as she.

  His desire for her was evident, but when she reached out to touch, he felt himself harden even more. A small drop of liquid appeared at the head of his shaft, and she slowly dipped to one knee, surrounded him with her hand, and licked it off.

  Rye thought he might explode. This was going to be over before it started if she kept that up. He raised Vick onto her feet and pressed her naked skin against his, rocking her in his arms.

  “Whoa, sweetheart,” he murmured. “We have all night.”

  “I want to do all the things we didn’t do the first time. I want this night to be different.”

  He wasn’t sure what it was he heard in her voice. Nervousness? Hope? He wished she would look at him, so he could get an inkling of what she was thinking, but her eyes were focused on his belly, where she was sifting her fingertips through the soft hair that trailed down to the thicker bush surrounding his sex.

  He’d wanted this night to be the same, only better, although that seemed a difficult, maybe even impossible goal to reach. So maybe she had the right idea.

  “All right,” he said. “All the things we didn’t do.”

  She met his gaze suddenly, her eyes filled with mischief. “Well, some of the things we did would be okay, too.”

  She obviously hadn’t forgotten their night together, but she wanted new memories. So did he.

  Rye took his time touching, playing with her, searching for the places he might not have touched before, seeking the ones that pleased her most. He marveled at how the flickering candlelight made her body a constant mystery. He watched her nipples peak into hard buds as he focused his gaze on them and took a nipple in his mouth to suckle as her body writhed with pleasure.

  Vick touched him in return, her tongue tasting, her hands teasing, her fingernails gently scratching in places he hadn’t known could bring so much pleasure.

  Rye’s knees threatened to buckle, which was when he realized they were still standing. His heart was pounding, his shaft was pulsing, and his throat was raw with emotion. It would have been simple to lift her and impale her and satisfy his desperate need for her where he stood.

  Instead, he took a step back and said, “Maybe we should lie down.”

  Vick moved in and out of the shadows like some mystical creature as she eased herself onto the bed to lie naked and exposed before him, allowing him to look his fill, to drink in her loveliness. He covered her body with his, inhaling the unique scent of her wafting from her heated body and feeling the human warmth of her from breast to hips. Rye slid his leg between her thighs to open them, to give him room to slide two fingers inside, and heard her gasp. He felt her hands clutching his hair, felt her teeth rake his shoulder.

  He released her and slid down far enough to slip her legs over his shoulders so he could taste her and tease her and bring her to the heights of pleasure. He loved her mewing cries, her moans, her guttural, animal groans of satisfaction.

  She returned the favor, causing him to gasp and moan until he stopped her, unwilling to spill himself until he was inside her. He heard her tremulous sigh of pleasure as he glided into her, slow and deep. Her hips lifted to urge him even deeper.

  Thrust and parry. Need and satisfaction. Desire and fulfillment.

  It had been good the first time. This was better. Far better. Vick surged against him, transporting them higher, taking them to peaks he’d never imagined. Rye felt himself coming apart and threw his head back, gritting his teeth against a pleasure so great it was almost pain, until, at last, a primeval cry of triumph was wrenched from deep within him.

  He lowered himself to Vick’s side, pulling her close, feeling her lungs sucking air along with his own. Surely, this night was a turning point. Surely, from now on, Vick would understand they belonged together. Surely, she could tell how much he cared.

  That was the last thought Rye had as sleep claimed him.

  When he woke up, she was gone.

  VICK’S HEART HAD finally stopped galloping in her chest after the hair-raising drive she’d just made along a winding road through an ominous forest on a pitch-black night.

  After Rye had fallen asleep, she’d heard his phone buzz and had a terrible premonition of disaster. She’d searched until she found his cell in the pocket of his jeans. When Vick saw who it was, she’d gone into the bathroom to take the call, so she wouldn’t wake him.

  Eve told her that Cody had woken up frightened by a nightmare and was tearfully pleading to go home. Vick had felt frantic to get to her son, to ease his distress, to hold him close and comfort him. She’d grabbed jeans and a sweatshirt out of her suitcase, pulled on her Uggs, and snatched her coat from the chair as she left.

  It never occurred to her, not once, to wake Rye. She could handle the problem on her own and would. It was what she’d done her whole life, taking care of herself, solving her own crises, doing what had to be done.

  With any luck, she would be back to her room—and back in bed—before Rye woke up. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was flying the coop again. She was done running away. Tonight had proved that.

  When Vick arrived at Connor and Eve’s ranch, Cody was sitting calmly at the bar in the kitchen drinking a cup of hot chocolate loaded with marshmallows. Eve and Connor hovered on either side of him in their pajamas, slippers, and robes, eyes bleary, hair askew. She thanked them, lifted Cody into her arms, strapped him in his car seat, and headed back the way she’d come.

  Vick wondered why Cody had been so insistent about leaving. He hadn’t stayed awake in the SUV more than a few moments, and once she laid him down in his bed, in the room he shared with Rye, he’d turned on his side and hadn’t moved again. Had he really had a nightmare? Or had he simply woken up and missed his parents?

  Cody had done pretty well, considering this was the first time he’d spent the night away from both of his parents. It had been a risky move on Rye’s part, but it had been worth it.

  When Vick had opened her hotel room door to Rye’s knock tonight, her heart had been stuck in her throat. What if he refused her offer? What if he told her to stop playing games and get dressed? She’d envisioned a thousand ways he could reject her.

  But he hadn’t.

  Rye had eaten her with his eyes. And tasted her with his lips. And made love to her with his nimble fingers and agile tongue and pulsing shaft until she’d come and come and come. What had happened between them, the things they’d never done before, and the things they’d done again, had brought them closer than she’d ever imagined two human beings could be.

  Dawn was still a ways off when Vick crept down the hall and eased open the door to her hotel room. She’d blown out all but the largest candle before she’d left, and it provided the only light.

  It was enough to see that the bed was empty.

  She shoved the door open wide, heedless of the noise it made. “Rye?” There was no answer. How long had he been gone? Where had he gone? He wasn’t in his room. He didn’t have a vehicle, but if he’d tried to leave, he would have seen the SUV was gone. And that she was gone.

  Did he think she’d run away again?

  Why, oh, why hadn’t she left him a note? Or woken him up? Rye wouldn’t have minded going after Cody any more than she had.

  She slid down onto the carpet beside her bed, her feet splayed, and tried to imagine where he might have gone. She came up empty. Rye didn’t know anyone in town except her family, and they were still strangers to him. He must be hurting terribly. He must feel like she’d abandoned him, although how he could think such a thing after the way they’d made love, she couldn’t i
magine. She started to call him and realized this wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have on the phone.

  Suddenly, she realized where he must have gone. Vick scrambled to her feet and then froze. A quiet cry of despair escaped as she realized there was no way she could go after him. She couldn’t leave Cody alone at the hotel, and Cody couldn’t go where she knew Rye was.

  Once she’d realized Rye wasn’t in her room, she’d moved Cody from Rye’s room to hers. She eyed her son as he slept on, oblivious to the whirlwind Vick felt swirling around her.

  Who could possibly help? Who would be willing to come all the way into town in the middle of the night to watch Cody?

  She turned to the one person who’d always been there for her whenever she’d needed love or comfort or encouragement. The one person who never failed to offer help when she needed it.

  Vick hit the speed dial and waited. And waited. She groaned and smacked her fist against the door when the call went to voicemail. “Leah, I don’t know where you are or what you’re doing, but I need you to call me back. It’s an emergency. My whole life depends on it.”

  “DON’T ANSWER IT.”

  Leah snuggled closer to Aiden and said, “I should at least see who’s calling at this hour of the night. It might be an emergency.”

  “Now that I have you in my bed again, and everyone knows we’re husband and wife, I have no intention of letting you out of it,” Aiden said. “Don’t touch that phone.”

  Leah left the phone on the end table. She’d taken Matt’s advice and told Aiden tonight that she was ready to move in with him. She had no regrets.

  “I’ll live with you until we get a new house built,” she’d said, standing on the back porch of his ranch house as the sun was setting. “Or you can live with me. The point is I don’t want to wait another moment to start our lives together.”