Page 16 of Rainwater
Corey’s body tightened. What he would give for her to touch him like that with that look on her face. He rose from his chair and gathered the child in his arms. Her weight was nothing, her body soft in sleep. With a murmur, Ellie turned toward him and slipped her arms around his neck. Emotion tightened his throat and chest. A powerful longing for a life he had denied himself a long time ago surged up in him with a fierceness that had him breathless.
Jennifer led the way and he watched the elegant way she moved, the soft sway of her hips as she climbed the stairs. Corey got a glimpse of the beautiful house decorated in tasteful southwestern designs. Colorful Navajo rugs covered the hardwood floors, and dun-colored pottery adorned oak tables.
Ellie’s room was typical for a girl her age. A bedspread decorated with horses lay on a canopy bed, matching curtains hung at the windows. He laid her down on the bed, where Jennifer had pulled the top blankets away. She came around him and pulled off Ellie’s boots and covered her.
He watched her fuss over her child, removing the elastics from her braids and unplaiting her hair, loosening the shirt the girl wore and tucking the blankets around her. The tightness in his chest changed to an ache so powerful he had to turn away. He made his way back through the house, gathered up his hat and coat, then exited the house, unable to bear seeing what he could never have.
He would leave as he promised himself he would. All alone, he could still feel Ellie’s slight body in his arms. Damn, what would it be like to hold a child of his own? What would it be like to have a life he created call him Daddy and look at him with eyes full of love? The thought twisted his gut with pain. He would never know. He would never father a child.
He sensed Jennifer’s presence even before she touched his arm. Suddenly there was light and heat and he jumped from the sizzling contact. She must have felt it, too, because she backed up slightly as if he were some kind of wild animal she must be wary of. And maybe he was.
Chapter
Four
He turned around and she gasped audibly. Hunger, heat and loneliness stared back at her. She recalled his hot seeking mouth, so soft and demanding, and she remembered her response. Just as hot, just as demanding. Huskily, his voice full of need, he said, “Darlin’, come here.”
Panic clutched her heart. If it was a battle of wills, then she had an uncomfortable feeling she would lose. He could crook that little finger at her and she would melt into a marshmallow. She wanted to run; she could feel the need to flee inside her. But when his face came into the light, she couldn’t. His eyes glowed a pure aching turquoise so full of loneliness and need she felt as if she could cry. She took a step forward and he made no move. None whatsoever. He was so still he could have been a statue. She took another, and when she was close enough to him, she stopped.
Very slowly, as if he knew she was frightened, he reached out and pulled her close against the lean hard length of him. Jennifer began to tremble, and she wanted so desperately for this man to be hers. That thought scared her down to her toes.
His eyes gazed deeply into hers as if he was searching desperately for something there. Something that his life depended on. She could feel the rapid rise and fall of his chest, her breasts crushed against him.
She thought he would kiss her. She was so sure that what he wanted was her body. But instead of taking her mouth in the hungry way he had this morning, he just moaned softly and laid his forehead against her shoulder.
Her chest filled and burned. This tenderness was unexpected. It was easy to say no when she believed that he wanted something physical. The way he held her spoke more clearly than his words could.
For a full minute he held her, just held her in the soft hushed night. It seemed as if the bugs were awed by his magic, for even the chirping grew silent. As awed as she was by his heartbreaking charm. It felt so good to be cradled in his arms, so warm and safe. He smelled so good. So musky, so male.
Softly, almost a whisper of sound against her ear, he asked, “Can I touch your hair?”
“M-my hair?”
“Yes, darlin’,” he said patiently. “I’ve wanted to from the moment I first saw you.”
“Why?”
“It’s like fire in the sun and so silky-looking. May I?”
“Oh, God,” she whispered on a breath of air. Not meaning to say yes out loud, she did, anyway. “Yes.”
Gently he reached up and threaded his fingers through her hair, letting it flow through his hands.
“Where the hell is your husband?” he asked suddenly, harshly. He leaned closer, breathing deeply of her scent, and placed soft, warm kisses on her temple.
Jennifer was so surprised by his question, she couldn’t speak for a moment. She didn’t want to talk about Sonny with thisstranger, this man who had come to her rescue out of nowhere. A guardian angel in a rough, dangerous package. Trust came hard where men were concerned. She wasn’t going to open up to him. He was leaving. What could her answer possibly matter to him?
“I don’t know you. That’s a pretty personal question.” She evaded out of necessity. Out of self-preservation.
He nodded, bringing his face closer to hers. Her eyes dropped to his mouth and she couldn’t seem to stop the overpowering need to feel him beneath her fingers. Gently she traced the outline of his lips, touched his mouth, and the contact fulfilled something basic and female inside her. The potent need to touch a virile, powerful male. Yet, there were many other things about him she liked. His integrity. His gentleness. His honesty.
He closed his eyes, and his voice was thick with desire and longing when he spoke. “Believe me, Jennifer, if it was only hot, mindless sex involved, I wouldn’t hesitate for one minute.”
Hot, mindless sex. She couldn’t breathe. This man stirred feelings in her that she never knew she possessed. Heated thoughts of Corey stripping her, straddling her, taking her, rushed through her mind. The powerful attraction was unwanted, stunning in its potency, and so frightening. And all she had to say was, “Yes.”
“I want to get to know you, too,” he offered, instinctively answering her unspoken thoughts. Grabbing her hand, he pressed her palm to his mouth, then moved it to his face.
She swallowed convulsively and he watched her throat move, wanting to put his mouth there and feel her swallow against his tongue. “Intimately,” he added, his eyes moving from the soft column of her throat to her face. “I want to know what you’re thinking behind those deep green eyes. For the first time in my life, I want to explore a woman emotionally as well as physically.” He felt her stiffen against his body. He was baringa part of himself uncharacteristically, but he was so tired of running.
