A Stranger's Touch
Page 23
Dulcy could pinpoint the exact time the clouds in her head and heart had blown away, making her decision crystal clear. When she’d watched Jason Polansky rip up that prenuptial contract and his bride rush across the room and into his arms, blubbering like a fool. She realized that when it came to love, real love, the victims were all fools. Sweet, wonderful, irresistible fools who had no more control over their hearts than they did over the weather. And she’d known what she had to do.
Now she watched Quinn push from his stool, and her heart pitched. She forced her feet to move to the other side of the pole in a swinging motion she’d only practiced once with the help of the girls in the back. She’d found it amazing that they’d been so welcoming, transforming a plan that was nothing but a wispy fantasy into sexy reality.
Quinn moved closer to the stage. Every cell in Dulcy’s body reacted.
Never had she felt so connected to another human being. He was the shadow to her light. The action to her reaction. He made her want to say, do and be all the things she had only dreamed of. He made her yearn to be her.
Tearing her gaze from where he was making his way to the stage, she slowly turned around and bent at the waist, propping her hands against her knees and thrusting her bottom into the air, grinding her hips in a decadently provocative way she’d watched the other strippers do. Displaying herself in a way she would never have imagined herself capable of. And growing incredibly hot knowing he was the one man on earth who wouldn’t tease, taunt or ridicule her. She trusted him implicitly. And while she still questioned her ability to trust herself, trusting him was a good start.
She rose and turned back to face him. She was surprised to find him standing before the stage. The man her jacket had landed on hurried up next to him, waving a bill. Quinn thrust a hand against the guy’s chest. “Uh-uh, buddy. This one’s all mine.”
Dulcy’s breath caught in her throat and her limbs froze. She could do little more than gape at the thoroughly dark and aroused and proprietary expression on Quinn’s face. He lifted a hand and slowly crooked his finger, indicating for her to come to him. And she did. Oh so willingly.
He caught her around the waist and pulled her flush against him. She slid the length of his aroused body until she was standing in front of him, off the stage. His eyes were nearly black in the darkness, his pulse pounding at the base of his neck. “Does this mean what I think it does?” he asked, his fingers splayed across the small of her back, setting her skin on fire.
She smiled. “I don’t know. What do you think it means?”
“You want me. Bad.”
She laughed, pressing her hips more firmly against his. “That, too.”
A couple of boos sounded from the small crowd. A fumble sounded over the speakers, then the announcer said, “Looks like we lost Dulcy. But don’t look now, Candy’s stepped in to take over.”
Quinn grinned, standing cemented to the spot. “You mean there’s more?”
“Oh, yeah. Much, much more,” Dulcy whispered. Her gaze slid to his mouth, his provocative, delicious mouth, and she gently pressed her lips against it.
“Tell me,” Quinn said, his voice gravelly.
“I want you. In my bed. In my life,” she said. “I love you, Quinn Landis. And I think you love me.” She slid her hand between them, then around to the back of her bikini bottoms, tugging out the envelope she’d hidden there. She held it aloft. “I want you to go on my honeymoon with me. Tomorrow. Fiji. So we can talk about where we go from here.”
Quinn was silent, his face intense as he seemed to gauge her intent. Then he cleared his throat and bent to kiss her thoroughly. “For how long?”
“Ten days.”
His grin made her knees go weak. “Not enough time.”
“Oh?”
“No.” His lips sought and found the sensitive area at the base of her neck. He pressed a kiss there, on her jaw, then ran his tongue the length of her bottom lip. “I have a suggestion of my own.”
Dulcy moved to ask what, but couldn’t seem to force the word out of her mouth. She stood spellbound, waiting for him to go on, her senses swirling.
“We make it a true honeymoon.”
Dulcy’s knees did give out.
Quinn caught her and held her tightly against his chest.
“Are you asking what I think you are?”
He nodded. “I’m telling you I love you, more than the air that I breathe. And I want you, Dulcy Ferris, to marry me, Quinn Landis. Now.”
She glanced around. “Here?”
He chuckled quietly. “I think we’d have a hard time finding a preacher on the premises. No. Not here. But somewhere. Soon. Very soon.” He moved until his mouth rested against her ear. “I want you in my life. Not just for the next ten days, but forever. I want to make love to you until you can’t get out of bed. I want you to have my, our, children.”
“Children?” She wavered. “As in plural?”
He nodded, amusement and love shining from his eyes.
In that one instant, Dulcy saw the rest of her life unfurl in front of her like the best fantasy of all. She saw herself keeping her apartment in the city, where she would work three days a week, then spending the rest of her time at Quinn’s ranch with him, Esmerelda and what would eventually be the additional members of their family.
“Is that a yes?”
She nodded emphatically, not trusting herself with words. Tears flooded her eyes and desire pooled in her stomach.
“I didn’t hear you.”
She tried to swallow the emotion choking her throat. “Yes. I said yes.”
He swept her up into his arms and strode purposefully for the door. “That’s what I thought you said. Now, let’s get out of here.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-6140-6
A STRANGER’S TOUCH
Copyright © 2002 by Lori and Tony Karayianni.
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