by Sarah Morgan
Elisa’s tears spilled over. “You see? He’d rather be with you, a stranger, than with me. He knows I’m tense. I’m a terrible mother.”
“You’re a great mother.” Daniel spoke gently. “Sit down.” He handed her the box of tissues and she took a handful and plopped down as if she was too tired to do anything else.
“Sorry. Henry keeps telling me I should pull myself together.”
Daniel refrained from voicing his opinion on Henry. “You have two young children. Even without marital tension, that’s enough to put pressure on you.”
Elisa blew her nose hard. “I’m trying to do what’s best for them, but I don’t even know what that is anymore. One minute I think they’d be better off growing up in a two-parent family, but then Henry snaps at Kristy and Oliver’s asthma is getting worse daily, as are his tantrums. Henry takes it personally, and he accuses me of poisoning the kids against him.” Taking a deep breath, she stood up. “Right. I’m pulling myself together right now. Back in a moment.” She left the room and Marsha popped her head around the door, her eyebrows lifting as she saw Daniel pointing out various New York landmarks to a fascinated Oliver.
“Do you want me to take him? At least turn him the other way. He might freak when he sees the crowds in Times Square.”
“Good point.” Daniel shifted so that the toddler could see the Empire State Building. His eyes widened with wonder and he stretched out a chubby finger to the glass. Daniel smiled. “He’s pretty cute.”
Marsha leaned against the door. “Keep your voice down. If all those people who call you the Dark Knight and the Rottweiler could see you now, you’d be in trouble.”
“Then it’s a good thing they can’t. And just so we’re clear, if this little guy deposits body fluids of any kind on my suit we’ll be charging double.”
She folded her arms and tilted her head to one side. “You know, Daniel, the tough-guy act doesn’t quite work when you’re cuddling a toddler. I had no idea you were so good with children.”
“I had two little sisters. Plenty of practice.”
When Elisa came back she’d brushed her hair and applied more lipstick. She took the little boy back and Daniel settled himself on the edge of his desk.
“What happened?”
“Two days.” Elisa settled Oliver on her lap. “That was how long he lasted. He moved back in and then I caught him calling her two days later. Can you believe that? When he said we should get back together, I thought he meant it. I thought he was committed to doing this for the children, but it was all lies. Apparently I’m the one supposed to make sacrifices for the children, but not him. I can’t live like this but he tells me it will be bad for the kids if we split up.” Elisa’s eyes filled again. “Aggie said—”
“What do you think? Not Henry and not Aggie,” Daniel kept his tone neutral, but he was starting to think that if he heard that name again he’d break something.
“Honestly? I think it sounds like a life sentence. Not because I don’t love him, but because I do. Can you imagine how it would feel to spend your life with someone who doesn’t feel the same way about you as you do about them?”
Daniel was careful to listen and remain neutral.
Molly might think that not falling in love was a problem, but from where he was sitting falling in love with the wrong person didn’t look so great either.
Elisa sniffed. “I don’t want to be with someone who doesn’t love me. But he told me if I leave, he’ll stop me from seeing the kids.”
Daniel felt a pressure in his chest.
In his head he heard another voice, another time. Another woman sobbing.
If I leave, he’ll take the three of you. He told me he’d make sure I never see you again. It’s hard, but I have to stay. I won’t lose my babies.
“Mr. Knight?” Elisa’s voice cut through the memories, tentative. Unsure. “That’s why I’m here. I know you told me only to come to you for the legal stuff, but now I’m really scared that if I go through with the divorce he will stop me from seeing my kids. He said if I want to keep the kids, I have to stay.”
Daniel hauled himself back into the present.
He hadn’t been able to help his mother, but he could help his client, just as he’d helped countless others. “He’s not going to stop you from seeing the kids, Elisa. New York custody laws protect the best interests of the child. And judges take a dim view of parents who use their child as a weapon or a bargaining chip.”
“Are you sure? He’s so convincing—you probably don’t believe me…”
“I believe you.” Daniel had witnessed something similar firsthand. Witnessed his father’s threats and seen his mother cowed and intimidated, too afraid to fight back.
“Elisa, look at me—do you trust me?”
She looked and nodded, her eyes swimming with tears.
“Good.” He handed her another tissue. “Have you been keeping that written record we discussed? Doctor’s appointments for Oliver? Parent-teacher conferences for Kristy? You remember everything we talked about?”
She nodded again.
“So this is what we’re going to do.” He talked to her for an hour, devised a strategy and then left his office to find Kristy and Marsha playing with a doll.
Kristy beamed at him. “The search party found her.”
“That’s great.” Daniel looked at that smile and wondered how much of her childhood this girl would take with her into adulthood. Would she be wary of relationships? Would she take the risk or decide to stay single?
Maybe she’d become a divorce lawyer.
Whatever the future held for her and Oliver, he was going to make damn sure this family didn’t go through the same hell his had.
* * *
Molly had chosen her outfit carefully. She didn’t want to seem overdressed, but still the occasion warranted more than a pair of jeans. After a few false starts, she had settled for a stretchy dress in a rich shade of blue that made her feel sexy. She took advantage of the ride in Daniel’s elevator to change into heels and replenish her lip gloss. And as for what was under the dress—she gave a small smile—that was for her to know and him to discover.
Valentine wagged his tail approvingly.
“You’re going to have to look the other way,” she murmured. “You’re definitely too young to witness what’s going to happen tonight.”
And she’d made up her mind that it would happen. She’d subdued the part of her that thought this was a bad idea. It had been a long time since she’d even been tempted to do something like this, which made it both nerve-racking and exhilarating.
As he opened the door, her heart kicked up a notch.
His gaze held hers for a moment and then moved lower, lingering on her mouth before sliding down her body to her heels. He didn’t touch her, and yet it felt as if he had. Her skin tingled and her tummy did a gymnastic flip.
The moment was threaded through with a delicious tension, the atmosphere electric. She had a sense that he was going to reach for her right there and then in the hallway, but Valentine decided he wasn’t getting enough attention and pawed his legs by way of a hint. Daniel transferred his attention from Molly to her dog. It could have been a moment of respite but her body and brain refused to take it. Instead she found herself looking down on his wide shoulders, at the powerful jut of his thigh and the gentleness of his hands and imagining what lay ahead. His kiss had been all things. Gentle and decisive, demanding and intimate. It was impossible not to imagine the next step.
He rose, held her gaze again for a protracted moment and then gestured inside his apartment without speaking.
She was well acquainted with body language and nonverbal cues, but she was sure that never before had so much been said by two people who hadn’t even opened their mouths.
She followed him into the kitchen, her eyes fixed on his shoulders, her heels tapping on his floor. She wondered whether she should remove her shoes, but when she paused and reached down he turned and caught her a
rm.
“Don’t.” Just that one word, and a look that offered up a thousand more.
She could feel his tension. It was in his shoulders, the set of his mouth and the way he clattered around the kitchen.
He’d changed into jeans and a shirt, but his hair was still damp around the edges, suggesting he hadn’t long left the shower.
“I hope you eat steak. It’s one of the few things I can cook.” His words added a touch of normality, and a brake on her imagination that was sweeping her away on a dizzying ride.
“I love steak.” She put her bag down. She didn’t tell him she felt so nervous she wasn’t sure she could eat. She hadn’t been involved with anyone in such a long time and it was impossible not to think about how it had ended the last time. She pushed that thought away. If she thought Daniel was anything like Rupert, she wouldn’t be here. “How was your day?”
She could do this. She could conduct a normal conversation, or at least behave as if every thought in her head wasn’t jumping forward to the point where they were both naked.
“Let’s just say it became a whole lot better when you showed up at my door.” He opened the fridge. “You?”
“I-it was fine.” Maybe she couldn’t do this. She was starting to doubt her ability to speak normally, or focus on anything except the way she was feeling.
She was standing right behind him and she could see the way his shirt pulled across his shoulders and biceps as he braced his arm on the side of the fridge.
She felt the punch of cold air and wondered if there was some way she could fit her whole self inside.
“Wine or beer?” He spoke without turning his head and she closed her eyes.
“Beer.” Her mouth was dry. Her heart was pounding. “No, wait. Wine. I—I’ll have wine.”
His hand closed around a bottle and he turned.
His eyes gleamed, steel and slate, and then with no warning he cupped her head with his free hand and brought her mouth to his. She fell against him, dizzy, and he stepped backward. There was the sound of rattling, glass against glass. Something smashed. All she felt was the searing punch of heat, the stab of desire. Nothing existed but the moment. Everything else was forgotten. His day, her day, the past, the future, all of it vanished as their world centered on the moment.
His kiss was deep and explicit and her response was instant and equal. She kissed him back, sliding her arms around his neck and lifting herself on her toes. She felt his arms come around her and pull her in, felt the hard strength of his body locked against hers as he hauled her close.
Without lifting his head, he pushed her back a few steps and kicked the fridge closed with his foot. His mouth was skilled, demanding, and she melted under the scorching heat of his kiss, the rush of sensation overpowering her. They tore at each other’s clothes in an intimate collusion, ripping fabric and popping buttons until he was naked and she was standing only in her high heels. They’d planned nothing, and yet it felt planned, as if they already knew the moves, as if this was something they’d experienced a thousand times before. It was unfamiliar and yet familiar, and as he explored her with lips and hands he spoke only three words. I want you. And those words were said with such raw savagery that for a moment she felt her own power and reveled in it. And then she felt the warmth and strength of his hand on her back and the urgency of his mouth on her skin, and realized that he held an equal amount of power. She’d never felt this way before, the sexual energy, the desperation, the need. There was no question of making it to the bedroom. No question of pausing. She felt dizzy, unbalanced, and closed her hands over his shoulders, feeling the hard swell of muscle under her fingers.
She felt his hand lock in her hair, felt his mouth scald her skin and lock over the tip of her breast. The flick of his tongue made her cry out and he teased and tormented, using his hand and mouth to explore what turned her on until she was a seething mass of desperation. She could no longer think, only feel. As she closed her hand around the solid thickness of him, she heard him groan and felt him harden in her hand. Then he was powering her back to the sofa, although she had no recollection of moving from the kitchen to the living room. For a moment she was weightless, and she realized dimly that he’d lifted her, lowered her, and then she felt the solid weight of him, trapping her, caging her. Excitement streaked through her and she wrapped her thighs around him, arching in an agony of anticipation. She wanted him now, right now, but just when she needed him to speed up, he slowed down. She couldn’t make sense of it, couldn’t think. Her senses were swamped. She pressed her mouth to his shoulder, tried to speak, but then she felt him move down her body and felt the heat of his breath and the slick stroke of his tongue against sensitive flesh.
He savored, tortured, delayed, unmerciful in his determination to drive her to the highest peak of pleasure until she was sobbing and writhing under him. When he slid his fingers deep she came in a series of intense spasms that racked her whole body.
He eased himself up her body and gathered her against the warmth of his chest. She felt shell-shocked. In her pleasure-filled stupor she realized she’d never given herself so fully before this moment. She’d always held part of herself back. But this felt different. And it felt different because for the first time ever she wasn’t worrying about where this might lead or what came next. Nothing came next. There was just this moment. Now.
Liberated by that knowledge, she rolled him onto his back and lay across him, looking down into his eyes, relieved to see nothing there that worried her.
His eyes were hooded, his mouth curved into a satisfied smile. “Sorry. Did you say wine or beer? I might have been a little distracted.”
“I don’t remember. I was a little distracted, too.” She lowered her head and traced the roughness of his jaw with her lips.
“I was going to cook you steak.”
“Don’t say that word in front of Valentine.” She glanced at the dog, but he was dozing on the opposite side of the living room. “He’s made himself at home. I think he approves of you.”
“That’s good to know.” He groaned as she slid her hand slowly over the taut, flat planes of his abdomen and lingered. “We should go upstairs while I can still walk.”
“Do we have to?”
“We’ll be more comfortable.”
She wouldn’t have cared where she was, as long as he was there with her. “If you want comfort, I should remove my shoes.”
“Keep them on.” He cupped the back of her head in his hand and drew her mouth down to his, his message clear. This was a pause, not a halt.
She had no idea how they made it to his bedroom, but they did and he kicked the door shut and tumbled her down on the bed, ravishing her mouth, his hands skimming over her in intimate exploration until she was trembling and dizzy. She felt it all, every touch, every breath, every sensuous flick of his tongue, and finally, when she could stand it no more, she rolled on top of him. His eyes seemed darker, and he lifted his hands and framed her face in a possessive gesture, drawing her down for his kiss. It was as if he couldn’t not touch her, and she understood because she felt the same urgent need. Her hair fell forward, sliding over his hands, enclosing them both in a place where the outside world couldn’t intrude. For a while they stayed like that, kissing hungrily, holding nothing back, and then he speared the soft silken strands with his fingers and drew it back from her face before rolling her onto her back with intent and purpose.
Desire engulfed her, heated and sharp. She was dimly aware of him reaching for something from the nightstand and then she was aware of nothing but her body and his body, and the way he made her feel. She wrapped her legs around him and he entered her in a single silken thrust that drew a sob from her throat. She dug her nails hard into his shoulders, felt the hard bunching of muscle as he held himself back and forced himself to slow the pace. But she needed the pace. She needed it as much as he did. She moved her hips, arching into him, and then there was nothing but the pleasure, the slick, skilled rhythm that
matched the hunger in both of them. She needed all of it, all of him. She held nothing back. Neither did he. It bordered on wild. Uninhibited, intimate and unrestrained, they didn’t slow down or pause until release thundered down on both of them. They came together, the intensity of it blinding, and afterward they lay in breathless silence, limbs and bodies still intimately entwined. She felt the pressure of his hand, strong and protective as he held her, and of the slide of his hair-roughened thigh against the smooth silk of hers.
Keeping her entwined with him, he rolled onto his back. “How long did you say it had been since you had sex?”
“I might have been a little desperate.” She kept her head on his chest, waiting for her heart rate to steady. What they’d shared had been unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. Because their relationship was simple, she thought. Yes, that had to be the reason. She wasn’t worrying about what might happen next because nothing was going to happen next. Except maybe more sex. “You have an impressive amount of stamina. I hope I haven’t exhausted you.”
“Not a problem. I’m sure I’ll recover in a month or so, although I might need extra nutrients.” The light humor kept the moment from tipping into anything more serious. “Maybe I should cook dinner now.”
“You might have to do it on your own. I’m not sure I can move.”
“I’m not sure I can either. That was a perfect end to a hell of a day.”
“You had a hell of a day?” Concerned, she raised herself on her elbow so that she could look at him. “Tell me.”
“I can’t even remember now. I think you might have fused my brain.” His eyes were closed and she stroked her hand over his chest, tracing the line of hair that led lower.
“Do you want a beer? Wine?”
He opened his eyes. “It might not be cold. Did we close the fridge door?”
“I have no idea. But I do remember something breaking.”
“I think that might have been my self-control, but just in case it wasn’t we’d better not walk around in bare feet.” He sat up, delivered a lingering kiss to her mouth and sprang from the bed. “Don’t move. I’ll grab us drinks.”