Page 36 of The Night Ride
He’s the man of my dreams.Literally.I’d been dreaming about him since I was fifteen.
“Dance with me.”He rose from the barstool and held out his hand.
There was no way I would refuse him.I took his outstretched hand.I was zapped by an electrical current of sexual energy.It buzzed through my body.I stood, but he didn’t back away, our chests brushed against one another.He was tall, a good six foot and at five-two, I had to crane my neck.But then, I could look at him all day every day.
He led me onto the dance floor, threading our way through other couples until he found a spot for us.
He stopped and drew me into his muscular arms.His hands found their home just a smidge above my rear.I looped my hands around his neck as he pulled me close.His eyes were a thing of beauty, steel-blue that always made me think of the lakes back home.
But in his eyes, I saw my future.
The laughter and love we would share.The home we would make.I would be there to greet him every time he returned from a dangerous mission overseas.And he would hold me at night, where I would rest safe within the circle of his arms.
He was everything I wanted.Never in my wildest dreams had I ever believed it would be possible.Yet, he was here with me now, a small smile curled his full lips as he led us in a slow dance while a Patsy Cline song played on the jukebox.
I’d never wanted to sink into a man more.I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted anyone.
“You’re so beautiful.I’m not sure what you’re doing with an old geezer like me.”His lopsided grin shot straight into my heart.
“I think you’re perfect.”I couldn’t stop the admission if I tried.
Flames smoldered in his steel-blue gaze.His callused hand cupped my nape, tilting my head to his liking.
“You think so, huh?”he murmured low, the vibrations of his deep bass hummed through my chest and my nipples beaded.
“I do.”It felt like we had been crafted for each other.The rest of the world around us dimmed until it was just the two of us dancing together.
We could have been on a street corner in Paris or a club in Miami.The location didn’t matter.What mattered was us, here and now, as one song bled into another.The surrounding people changed but neither of us moved away.His arms felt like home and where I belonged.
I wasn’t sure which one of us moved first.It might have been mutual.Because our lips neared until our breaths mingled.At the last second, I closed my eyes.His lips brushed mine.Gentle at first, testing, and then deepened.I leaned in, surrendered to the sweeping tide of need.
He kissed me and the world stopped.Everything around us disappeared.We were in our own bubble.I didn’t know where he began, and I ended.All I knew was that I never wanted it to end.How could I when it felt like I had been waiting for him, for forever it seemed?
The music changed and yet we remained, locked in an embrace.
It was timeless.
It was true.
I clung to him as joy burst forth within my chest.For I knew he was the only man for me.I held on tighter.His job, his life, was dangerous, and I understood a fear unlike any I had known.He could die on some distant shore, another casualty in the line of duty.Yet there was nothing casual about this when the mere thought of him not existing was capable of bringing me to my knees.I didn’t want to be in a world where he didn’t exist.
“What the fuck?”growled a familiar male voice.
Aiden ripped his mouth from mine.“What the hell, dude?Why are you interrupting?”
I blinked and watched my brother get up in Aiden’s face.“Because it’s my sister.”
“Sister?”Aiden’s brows rose nearly up into his hairline.And he glanced at me with horror dawning in his eyes.
All the warmth, all the desire, drained from his eyes as if it had never been, and in its place was the impenetrable, unshakable soldier.He glanced at Evan, nodded.“My apologies.I didn’t realize it was Beth.”
In minutes I went from soaring at the highest heights where it felt like I touched the sky only to plummet and crash into barren bedrock with my heart bleeding out.
He didn’t realize it was me.All the dreams I’d clung to, that had gotten me through the hard times, a field of dreams I’d wished with all my heart and soul to be real went up in flames.
“Yeah, well, you should have.That’s no excuse.”Evan snarled, bumping into Aiden like he was egging him on for a fight.
“No, it’s not.I should have asked her name first.”Aiden backed away with his hands up and regret in his eyes.
