Page 44 of Gentle Persuasion

His mouth descended, but skipped her lips and slid down past her chin, taking her breath with him. His hands moved, almost of their own accord, across her body and down the slender shape of her until they came to the parting of her thighs. They stilled, and so did her heart.

“For me, lady. Let this happen for me.”

She sighed, dug her hands into his hair, and knew that she’d never be able to deny him.

“I’ll do anything for you, Cole.”

He groaned—a quiet sigh of desperate need that feathered across her belly. His mouth slid down across the tops of her thighs and sampled the texture, then paused. His breath on her skin was a warning of where he was about to go.

Debbie’s eyes flew open in shock and then fell shut, heavy with passion, as Cole moved into unexplored territory with his mouth and hands. She gasped. And then conscious thought disappeared.

Nothing existed outside the man…and his mouth…and what he was doing with his hands. It was all she could do just to focus on breathing. Everything he did seemed to make it stop. Every stroke of his tongue sent shockwaves of sensation rocketing through her, and every caress of his hands turned her body to liquid fire.

Cole felt the impending rush building beneath his touch. Every gasp, every moan she uttered made him crazy with need to be inside her when this happened.

But there was also the need to give without reservation to this woman. She’d already given so much and asked nothing in return. He knew what she wanted, but the only thing he was capable of giving her now, at this moment, was joy. A future was uncertain. He chose to live for the moment.

Sweet heat burst in his hands. He shuddered, feeling her passion as surely as if it were his own. And then it was. Cole moved upward, captured her gasps of pleasure and tasted her cry as release spiraled within her.

“Love you, love you,” she whispered against his cheek.

Ah, Deborah Jean, I love you, too. But his thought was never voiced as Cole moved between her legs and settled himself into the heat. A single thrust ended his last sane thought. After that, he could remember nothing save the feel of her legs around him, her hands on his body, and her tears on his face as he took them back into the fire.

***

“Good morning…California!” the disc jockey cried as Cole’s clock radio came on with maddening precision. “It’s six a.m. and another day awaits. Here’s a slow and easy wake-up call from Miss Bonnie Raitt with her latest hot single. Like the lady says, ‘I can’t make you love me, if you don’t.”’

Deep and husky, the singer’s voice wove a plaintive message that made Debbie wish she’d slept through the alarm. Oh, Cole. Not even my love can make your heart feel something it won’t.

Cole groaned and buried his face in the curve of her neck, unwilling to move or to tear himself loose of his lady. He dozed, unaware that Debbie was already lost in a world of hurt and despair.

Last night had been magic. But it was morning. And Debbie had waited all through the night for a word from this man that would make her world right. She’d been given pleasure. She’d been given joy. But the one thing she’d waited to hear was never spoken. He’d made love to her with deliberate and passionate skill. But he’d never said the words she needed to hear. He wouldn’t say, I love you.

The phone rang, jarring the moment, and Cole muttered beneath his breath as he rolled over on his back, taking Debbie with him. He grabbed the receiver before the second ring.

“This better be good,” he growled. And then his arms unconsciously tightened their hold on Debbie as he listened. And finally he spoke. “I’ll be right there.”

Debbie rolled over and out of bed, ignoring her nudity. “It seems I have no clothes,” she said, masking her pain with a teasing sarcasm.

“Debbie!” Cole’s voice was sharp. But his touch was gentle as she turned back to face him. “Don’t shut me out, sweetheart,” he begged. “Every time we get close, my job interferes, and then this wall comes up between us.”

Debbie smiled through tears. “Is that how it seems?” She shrugged into his shirt, using it for a cover-up, and pulled away from his grasp. “I didn’t know.” Her voice was shaky, but her meaning was clear. “I didn’t know we’d even been close.”

She halted his stunned argument with a wave of her hand. “Oh, I know we’ve been close…bodily.” The tears were thick behind her lashes. “But close? As in, heart-to-heart forever-love kind of close—no way, mister. You’re the one who refuses to face facts. You’re the one who shuts off whenever your job enters the picture. It’s not me who’s running. It’s you.”

She walked out of his room. The door shut with a quiet click, and Cole was left to absorb the truth of her accusations. He wanted to shout. He needed to argue…to fling her words back in her face. But he could do nothing in the face of truth.

Debbie slipped into her room and closed the door. She leaned back, letting the tears run. She tried to laugh away her foolishness, but there was nothing behind her lips but a sob. She’d known what she was getting into when she’d promised Lily she’d come. Only a fool would have ignored the warning signs that Cole Brownfield had left behind him when he’d run from Oklahoma.

But, love makes fools of us all, she thought. “Okay, mister. We’ve played dodge ball of the heart long enough. I give myself two more weeks, and then it’s time to pack it in. If you can’t see what you’ll be throwing away, then I guess I was the blind one, after all.”

Her muttered vow was harsh. But no one heard. And in the end, it wouldn’t have mattered if they had.

***

Cole was showered and dressed and in the kitchen, downing one quick cup of coffee when she walked into the room.

For one long moment, they stared at each other. He missed nothing of her still-wet lashes clinging together above eyes dark with pain, nor of the way her arms were folded across her chest—body language that told him he’d hurt her, and she was not open for more of the same.

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