by Ginna Gray
“Uh, oh, yeah. He said to tell you he forgot to do something and he’d be back in a little while.”
“I see.” The tenseness in her neck and shoulders eased another notch. She didn’t trust Julia. Despite her stepmother’s claim otherwise, when she’d realized that Mike had gone she had experienced a flash of fear that he’d recognized her after all, but apparently his departure had nothing to do with Julia. Leah sighed and rotated her fingertips against her temples. This whole fiasco was making her paranoid.
“So how did your mom and Mike—”
Quinton held up his hand to shush her, his gaze glued to the screen. “Just a minute, Sis.”
Leah gritted her teeth and waited. The pitcher shook his head at the catcher twice, then nodded. He scratched, spit a stream of tobacco juice over his shoulder and let fly with a pitch. The batter caught a piece of the ball and popped a high foul.
For what seemed an eternity, Leah waited through a string of fouls and balls called by the umpire.
“Bottom of the ninth and tied at three all, ladies and gentlemen. Astros up, two out, one on and a three-two count. Here comes the windup and the pitch....”
The bat cracked against the ball, and Quinton came to his knees, shouting.
“And it’s a high popped fly to centerfield... aaannnd...the rookie, Neely, has it to retire the side.”
“Shoot!” Quinton sank back down on the mattress and struck his knee with his fist. “If Jose coulda hit one to the outfield and brought Manning in the game would be over. Now we’re into extra innings.”
“That’s too bad. How did it go between your mother and Mike?”
As the Astros came out of their dugout and the Padres retired to theirs, Quinton plopped back against the pile of pillows with his hands clasped behind his head and grinned at his sister. “Hey, it went great. I guess we were worried for nothing. I think Mom really liked Mike. She was real friendly and asked him all kinds of questions an’ everything. She didn’t seem upset at all that I’d met my donor.”
“Good. And how about Mike? How did he seem?”
“Fine, I guess. He got kinda quiet after a while and let Mom do all the talking. Which was just as well, ’cause he could hardly get a word in anyway. Mom was in a really good mood, and you know how she gets all excited and yakky when she’s pleased about something.”
“Mmm.” Leah knew only too well. Julia could be charming and captivating when things were going her way. When they weren’t, she reacted with vicious anger and spitefulness out of all proportion to the situation. Leah supposed she should be grateful that at least her stepmother had been in one of her better moods when she’d decided to pull this stunt. Leah only wished she knew what Julia had said to Mike.
While the ball game dragged on through three extra innings Leah fidgeted and checked her watch every few minutes. The Astros finally eked out another run to end the game just as Mike walked in the door. His gaze barely connected with hers, before it skittered away.
“Hey, man, you missed it,” Quinton complained. “The Stros won four to three in extra innings. Man, was it exciting.”
Exciting? To Leah the game had been about as exciting as watching paint dry on a wall. Normally, she enjoyed baseball, but she’d been rattled by the surprise encounter with Julia and too edgy to settle.
“Hey, sorry I missed it, huddy.”
“Well, it’s a doubleheader, so you can catch the second game.”
Leah nearly groaned.
It quickly became apparent that she was not the only one having trouble settling. Instead of sprawling in one of the chairs as he usually did, throughout the first two innings of the second game Mike remained standing. His gaze followed the action on the screen, but he shifted from one foot to the other and jingled the change in his pocket. Quinton was so intent on the game he didn’t notice, but Leah did.
“Look, tiger, would you mind if Leah and I took off?” he asked abruptly.
“You don’t wanna see the game?” Quinton looked shocked, as though he couldn’t conceive of such a thing.
“It’s not that. I’ve got a lot on my mind tonight is all.”
Mike flashed his rascally grin, but for the first time since she’d gotten to know him, the smile seemed forced. She frowned.
“Besides, if I don’t feed your sister soon she’s gonna get cranky. You know how it is when she misses a meal.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. You guys better go. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He turned his attention back to the game and was already shouting insults at the umpire before Leah and Mike left the room.
They walked to the parking lot in silence. Mike appeared withdrawn and something about his expression made Leah uneasy.
“You want to ride with me or follow in your car?” he asked when they reached her car.
“I’ll take mine.” She gave him a tentative smile. “Actually, you seem to have something on your mind. Maybe I should just go home.”
“No!” he said quickly, then added softly, “no. Don’t do that. I want you with me.”
Sliding his hand beneath her hair, he cupped the back of her neck and pulled her close for a kiss. The simple action reassured her as words never could have. Sighing, she relaxed against him.
Though over almost before it had begun, the caress set Leah’s pulse to racing and short-circuited her thought processes. When Mike raised his head he smiled at her muddled expression and urged her into her car. “Stick close, okay,” he ordered, and gave the top of her car a thump with the flat of his hand when he shut the door.
During the ten-minute drive to Mike’s home Leah almost convinced herself that she was imagining things, reading something into his silence simply because she’d had a scare and was on edge. However, when they entered the house his face still had that tight-jawed look and his silence continued. Worse, he seemed to be avoiding her eyes.
“Mike, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. What makes you think something is wrong?” He turned away and walked into the living room. He shed his coat and tie, tossed them onto the sofa and walked over to the French doors. Outside, the roses bobbed in the gentle breeze and soaked up the last rays of sunshine.
Leah entered the living room slowly, her gaze on his broad back. Mike was usually so upbeat. She’d never seen him like this—tense and brooding, as though he were simmering inside.
“Mike, I’m not an idiot. Something is obviously bothering you. Why won’t you tell me what it is.”
“I’m just worried about a patient is all.”
“Is it?”
“Yes,” he snapped, and immediately flinched at his sharp tone. Massaging the back of his neck, he looked up at the ceiling. “Damn. It’s no use. I can’t do this.”
“Can’t do what?” Leah’s pulse began to pound in her temples like a kettledrum. Mike swung around, and his fierce expression made her throat go dry.
“I know why you didn’t want me to meet your parents, Leah.”
She felt the blood drain out of her face. Her heart seemed to drop all the way to her knees. “Y-you know?”
Tears filled her eyes until Mike was just a blurry image. Unconsciously, she held out her hands and took a step toward him. “Oh, Mike, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. But I can expla—”
“Stop it!” he barked, and she jerked to a halt, trembling. “Don’t you dare apologize. You’re not to blame. It’s them.”
She blinked. “Th-them?”
“How could they do this to their own son? To you?”
“I...I don’t understand.”
“I’m talking about your parents. Your stepmother told me that she and your father are leaving for Greece in two days. Two days! She was all aflutter about it. Dammit, Quinton is going home next week. This is a huge victory for him, and they don’t care enough to be there? What kind of people are they?”
Leah stared at him, her heart hammering. A welter of emotions careered inside her—surprise, relief, guilt. Hope. She swallowed around the constriction in her t
hroat and took another step forward. “They’re different from most parents, Mike. They don’t mean to hurt us. Truly, they don’t. It’s just that neither of them has strong parental feelings. It’s just not part of their makeup. I know that’s difficult for you to understand, coming from the family that you do.”
“It’s damned well impossible. When your stepmother told me they were leaving, I was so furious I wanted to slap her. I don’t remember ever being so furious with anyone or ever wanting to strike a woman before.
“Ever since she told me of their plans I’ve been trying to keep a rein on my anger. I didn’t want to upset Quinton. Or you. That’s why I left Quinton’s room earlier—to cool off before I talked to you. But I can’t shake off this anger. Dammit, how could they do this?”
“Mike, it’s probably just as well. Neither one is good in the sickroom.” Privately, Leah was glad that her father and Julia were leaving. Merely having them in her home for all these months had been a tremendous strain. Added to that, her relationship with Mike would be much easier without having to worry about Julia’s interference.
“Oh, I see. So they go traipsing off to play and leave it to you to look after Quinton.”
“Well, I always have. And I am a doctor.”
“Don’t.” He closed the gap between them and pulled her into his arms. Burying his face in her hair, he held her tight. “Don’t make excuses for them. Dammit, you were little more than a child yourself when Quinton was born. You shouldn’t have been saddled with that kind of responsibility at that age.”
“I didn’t mind.” She held him tight and rubbed her palms over his back in slow, soothing circles. Memories softened her eyes and brought a wistful smile to her mouth as she gazed over his shoulder. “Actually, I loved it.”
“Knowing you, I’m sure you did, but that doesn’t make it right. When I think about the kind of childhood the two of you had, how lonely and empty it must have been with no family around, no one to love you or support you when things went wrong, it tears my heart out.”
“Oh, Mike, don’t upset yourself. Quinton and I had each other. And Cleo. We did all right. Really.”
“All right?” He made a disparaging sound. “You deserve a helluva lot more than just all right. From now on I’m going to see to it that you have it.” He eased his hold and leaned back, tipping up her chin. His blue eyes were stormy with emotion, fierce with love. “Neither you or Quinton is ever going to be alone again. I swear it.”
“Oh, Mike,” she quavered. Tears welled in her eyes and her lips trembled. So much emotion swirled inside her she could barely breathe. Before she could say more he lowered his head and touched his lips to hers in a lingering kiss of such infinite gentleness and caring she thought her heart would surely burst.
When he raised his head he looked deep into her eyes for several seconds. Then he scooped her up in his arms and headed for the stairs.
Still holding her gaze, he climbed the steps slowly, purposefully. “You mean everything to me, sweetheart. Everything.”
Leah gazed at his beloved face through tear-filled eyes, too touched to speak, too ridden with guilt and regret to do anything but cling to him.
In the bedroom Mike lowered her to her feet with the greatest care, as though she were a piece of fragile crystal. He cupped her shoulders and looked at her in the last golden glow of twilight seeping in through the windows, his eyes lingering over her every feature, as though imprinting her face and the moment in his memory.
His hands slid up her shoulders, the sides of her neck. His fingertips sifted through the hair behind her ears as his thumbs feathered along her jaw. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, and Leah trembled.
Slowly, his hands glided downward. He slid the jacket of her moss-green suit off her shoulders and arms and let it drop to the floor with a soft plop. The backs of his knuckles grazed her collarbone as his fingers released the top button on her bronze-colored silk blouse. “So very beautiful. All of you.” One by one, his fingers worked open the remaining buttons. When he encountered the waistband of her skirt he pulled the slippery blouse free, worked open the one remaining button and spread open the edges.
Mike sucked in a sharp breath, and Leah’s knees went weak as she watched his pupils expand.
He stared, mesmerized, so long she felt her nipples pucker and harden against the dark-green lace bra. In a move akin to reverence, he raised his hand and touched her through the diaphanous lace.
A low sound—part shock, part ecstasy—tumbled from Leah. Arching her spine, she turned her face up to the ceiling and closed her eyes, trembling. Speech was impossible. So was coherent thought or movement. All she could do was feel while her body quaked and heated and absorbed the delicious sensations.
Mike noted every nuance of emotion in her face, the rosy flush that spread over her skin; felt the tremors that racked her; heard the raggedness of her breathing. He felt his heart thunder in his chest, his loins tighten. Watching her react to his touch was the most erotic experience of his life. She was so responsive, so open and vulnerable, she took his breath away. He was touching her with only the tips of his fingers, but the fragile contact was like setting a match to tinder.
He turned his hand and trailed his knuckles over the creamy flesh that swelled over the top of her bra, and smiled when she shuddered and whispered his name. He bent, and his mouth replaced his fingers, stringing kisses along the same path. The sensuous rub of his open lips, the warmth of his breath, left a trail of fire on the delicate flesh. At the vee of her bra he paused, and when his tongue dipped into her cleavage she swayed and moaned and plunged her fingers into his hair. Whether she clutched his head for support or to bring him closer neither could say. Neither cared.
“Mike, please,” she begged incoherently, moving her head from side to side. “Please.”
“All right, love.” He nibbled the side of her neck, along her shoulder, and reached around to her back to unhook her bra and draw the straps down her arms. The scrap of lace dropped to the floor with barely a sound. He straightened and gazed at her breasts, cupped them in his palms, ran his thumbs over the rosy nipples. Leah made an inarticulate sound and clutched his upper arms for support.
“Beautiful. You’re so beautiful.”
Mike ran his hands down her body, deftly unfastened her skirt and let it slide downward and puddle around her ankles. Hooking his thumbs beneath her panty hose and panties, he knelt and stripped the garments down her body.
Leah held on to his shoulder for balance, and at his silent urging stood first on one leg, then the other, as he pulled the two garments over her ankles and feet and tossed them and the skirt aside. Grasping her hips for leverage, he started to rise, but instead he paused and strung a line of kisses from her knee to the apex of her thighs, then nuzzled the triangle of honey-colored curls there.
Her fingers dug into his shoulders. “Oh, Mike. Mike.”
“I know, sweetheart. I know.” With the tip of his tongue, he traced a wet line along the juncture of her thigh and her body. A violent shudder rippled through Leah, and as she cried out he pressed his face against her abdomen.
The slight scrape of his beard stubble on the tender skin, the brush of his hair against the undersides of her breasts, was a sweet torment that threatened to buckle her knees. She moaned and tugged at his shoulders. Obeying her silent plea, he surged to his feet and swept her up in his arms in one swift motion. His mouth closed over hers as he bent his knee into the mattress and laid her down on the bed as though she were the most precious treasure in the world.
Their lips parted slowly, and he looked deep into her eyes. “I love you.”
Tears banked against her lower eyelids, and she touched his cheek with trembling fingers. “I love you, too, my darling. So much more than I can ever say.”
Lifting up on his arms, Mike looked at her, his gaze drifting down her naked body. His nostrils flared and his breathing roughened. The pulse at the base of his throat throbbed erratically. With a
featherlight touch, she placed her fingertip on the spot, and Mike sucked in his breath.
In a lightning-quick move, he rolled off the bed onto his feet and began to strip off his clothes, his gaze holding hers all the while. Leah gazed back, trembling. She felt self-conscious, but excited beyond words.
Fascinated, she watched him step out of his shoes and at the same time snatch open the buttons on his shirt and strip it off. The sight of his muscular shoulders and broad chest, with its shadowy triangle of dark hair, kicked her pulse rate up another notch. It made her feel almost wanton to watch him, but she could not have looked away if her life had depended on it. He was so utterly masculine, so beautiful, just looking at him made her weak.
Desire flushed his face; urgency gave it a steely hardness. In one motion he yanked his belt free of the loops and tossed it aside. It hit the carpet with a soft thud that seemed loud in the taut silence. He unfastened his trousers and shucked them, along with his underwear and socks, and for a few brief seconds he stood before her, magnificently naked and aroused.
Leah’s heart did a roll in her chest, but she had no time to admire his beauty. In only seconds he once more bent his knee into the mattress, and she held out her arms to him.
The solidness of him, the feel of his warm flesh touching hers, was heaven. “Mike. Oh, my love,” she murmured on a sigh.
After that, for a long time the only sounds in the room were the rustle of sheets, the gasps of labored breathing, the murmurs and moans and sighs of love. Passions were high; needs, desperate, demanding; and soon they were one, locked together in the ultimate embrace as old as time.
Driven by love and passion, they rocked to the timeless rhythm, striving for the heights. At last, their undulating bodies tensed. An instant later their cries of completion shattered the hush of the room.
They collapsed together, boneless and replete, their entwined bodies slick with sweat, painted golden by the last rays of the setting sun.
Chapter Twelve
Six days later, Quinton was released from the hospital.
That morning, Mike surprised Leah when he showed up unexpectedly at her front door.