Stand-In Father (Intimate Moments)

by Warren, Pat

  Grace’s lips thinned as she debated about telling him the truth. While it was true he’d left in a big hurry, he’d also come back. That scored a lot of points with her. She removed her glasses and sat back. “They were arguing in the kitchen. Neal had already moved out, but he had the nerve to come to Megan and ask for money to pay back his loan shark. She lost it, told him to leave and never come back. She had a check in her pocket from a guest who’d checked out earlier. He lunged at her, trying to get it. She fell and hit her head on the kitchen counter, right over there.”

  Alex didn’t even realize his hands had balled into fists.

  “And do you know what that coward did when he saw the blood? He ran away. I found her there, bleeding and dazed, took her into the clinic. Six stitches it took. The bastard!”

  He couldn’t have phrased it better himself. “And still she took him back in when he got sick?”

  Grace nodded disapprovingly. “Took him in and nursed him. I’d have slammed the door in his lying face.”

  “Thanks for telling me.” Alex forced himself to relax. “Where is she?”

  Grace allowed herself a weary sigh. “She’s outside picking flowers up on the hill.”

  Alex leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, then hurried out the side door.

  Grace stood and walked to the window, curious as to what kind of reception Mr. Alex Shephard would get from Megan. Her friend had tried to hide her feelings during the past seven days, but Grace had noticed the haunted eyes and the restlessness that hinted of sleepless nights. Would Megan send him packing or welcome him with open arms? Grace wasn’t sure.

  Peering out, she spotted Megan halfway up the hill, just starting down, both hands full of flowers. She watched as Alex started the climb. It didn’t appear as if he called out because her eyes were downcast as she carefully watched her footing around the rocks.

  Grace knew the moment Megan became aware of him. She stopped, obviously stunned. Then she saw Alex start to run the rest of the way up the hill. She could just make out Megan’s wide smile as she dropped the flowers and ran to meet him. In seconds, they met in a fierce embrace, then Alex picked her off her feet and swung her around. Grace could hear distant, delighted laughter drift through the screen door. Then she saw Megan’s arms wind around his neck as Alex stopped turning. So close together, not even a shadow could intrude, they kissed.

  Eyes suddenly damp, Grace stepped away from the window. Some moments were too private to be witnessed. She prayed that Alex hadn’t returned to lift Megan’s hopes only to dash them again later.

  It was back, Megan thought, the rich male taste she’d been dreaming of nightly. The hard, masculine hands that held her close to his pounding heart, the ones she’d been longing for since the last night she’d been in his embrace. The sweet euphoria that chased away all rational thought. It was back. He was back.

  She’d pictured his return, imagined it, craved it. She’d mentally rehearsed what she’d say and do. All of that paled in light of the real thing. All of her anger at the way he’d left, her ache over his stealthy departure, her pain at not hearing from him for seven long days and nights—all of it forgotten in this glorious moment. None of it mattered, not really. He was back.

  She trembled in his arms, humbling him. Alex gentled his hold, yet kept her very close. The familiar scent of her wound around him, the wild taste of her exploded on his tongue, and the soft, womanly feel of her straining against him aroused a throbbing need he could no longer ignore.

  He’d tried to stay away, tried to tell himself she was just an interlude, a pleasant memory. But the memory only sharpened with each day away from her and the need for her only grew and the desire he’d tried to bank only increased. He’d never felt like this for any other woman. Not for Cynthia whom he’d married. Not for any of the women who’d wandered through his life, eager to please and be pleased.

  Megan wasn’t like that. She was hesitant, initially shy, then almost reluctantly reaching out to touch, to taste. She wouldn’t pursue, wouldn’t call him back, wouldn’t phone. She wanted, yet was afraid of her wanting. She vacillated, sometimes pushing him away, then drawing him close. Despite years of marriage, she seemed almost untouched.

  Letting her slide down his body, Alex ended the kiss, but eased his head back from her only slightly, staring into her sky blue eyes. “I’m sorry if I hurt you by leaving like that,” he said, his voice thick with emotion, with desire.

  “Shh,” she whispered. “You’re here now. That’s all that matters.” She might regret this later, Megan knew. Probably would. But for this moment in time, she didn’t care. All her life, she’d walked a straight line, done the right thing. There came a time when a woman had to follow her heart.

  “I’ve missed you. I couldn’t stop thinking of you.” He spoke only the truth, truth he’d only recently admitted to himself.

  “Oh, Alex.” She buried her face in his neck, inhaling his special fragrance, content to stand there like that for the rest of time.

  For a wild moment, he imagined taking her there on the hilltop, following her down to lie with her amid the wildflowers she’d gathered, with the scent of the sea teasing them and the gentle summer breezes caressing them. It was a fantasy he’d dreamed of many a sleepless night. But the reality was that Grace was a short distance away and one or more of Delaney’s guests could return and wander out any moment. He wanted privacy, to be alone with her, to spend hours learning her.

  Bending, he slipped a hand beneath her knees and picked her up into his arms. She gave no resistance, instead laying her head on his shoulder as he turned and started down the hill. The time had come and they both knew it.

  Alex avoided even looking at the side door, unwilling to meet Grace’s judgmental gaze, going around to the back door and up the stairs. Not knowing if his old room was occupied, he continued on up to the third floor until he reached Megan’s room. Inside, he bumped the door closed with his hip, then paused to turn the lock before carrying her over to her cozy double bed.

  Megan’s heart was thudding so hard she was certain he could feel it. Her desire had brought her this far, but now, faced with the inevitable, some of her anxiety returned. As her feet touched the floor, she finally met his eyes.

  “It’s new, this bed,” she told him, needing him to know, despite her fears, how special this moment was for her. “It’s the only thing I replaced after Neal moved out.”

  The sweetness of her confession, her need to tell him that he wouldn’t be using the bed she’d shared with her husband, touched him. “Thank you for telling me.” He kissed her then, a soft, lazy kiss, drawing out the pleasure by holding back. Then he grew impatient again and followed with a hard kiss that nearly sapped all her strength.

  But before things got out of hand, Megan felt the need to say more. Her hand on his chest, she eased back. “Wait. We need to talk, please.”

  Talking was the last thing he wanted or needed, but he had no intention of rushing her, knowing greed would end things before they’d begun. “About the night I left...” he began.

  “No, not that. We can talk about that later.” Megan ran a shaky hand through her wind-tossed hair and sat down on the rose-colored quilt covering her bed. “I want to warn you that I might disappoint you.”

  That again, Alex thought. Her fears. What in hell had Neal Delaney planted in her head to make her believe she was disappointing? Still, he couldn’t just dismiss her feelings, for he could see they were very real to her.

  Alex sat down next to her, took her hand. “Listen, Megan, not every woman whose husband strays has a problem. Did Neal say you did?” He needed to know just what she’d been told.

  “No, not in so many words. It’s just a feeling I have. Why else would he have needed other women?”

  Alex searched for a way to explain. “Some men have affairs to prove to themselves that they can get any woman they want. It’s an ego thing.” They’d fought, Grace had told him, over bills, the jobs he’d lost, the
loan shark. “If the two of you were quarreling a lot, his self-image was probably not so hot. What better way to feel you’re special than to find some willing woman? Maybe he even wanted you to find out, to show you he was attractive to others.”

  Megan thought that over. Neal had seemed to flaunt his women, not caring who saw him with them.

  Alex watched her carefully as she considered his words. “The fault wasn’t yours. It was his. I know that for a fact because I’ve kissed a fair share of women and there’s no way you’re the problem, Megan.” She was quiet such a long while that he wondered what she was thinking, feeling. He had to get through to her. “That you could even think any of that was your fault staggers me. Don’t you see what a coward he was, shoving you, hurting you and then running away, rather than face what he’d done? How could you believe anything a man like that said?”

  Shame had her coloring, then raising her eyes to his. “Grace told you that, too?”

  “Don’t be angry. I badgered her and I’m glad I did.” Hands on her shoulders, he stood and drew her up with him. “None of what happened was your fault, Megan. Let me prove it to you.”

  “What if I’m right and...” She gasped as he pulled her close against his hard body and dipped his head to trace her ear with his clever tongue. “Alex, I—”

  “Do I excite you, Megan?” he asked, his lips shifting to her temple, then gently grazing the small pink scar.

  A shiver raced up her spine as he moved his attention to the sensitive skin along her throat. “You know you do.”

  “Then why can’t you believe how you excite me?” He opened his eyes and watched the sunlight dance in through the slatted blinds at her window, light and shadow on her beautiful ebony hair. He thrust his long fingers into its thickness and tipped back her head, watching her eyes grow dreamy. “Believe me when I say you’ve brought me to my knees like no other woman’s ever done. You’ve got me twisted into knots, I want you so much. I didn’t sleep last night for thinking of you, and a lot of other nights, as well. I drove here today like a madman, so anxious to see you, worried you wouldn’t want me.”

  That he should even consider that baffled her. “Oh, but I do. I want you so much. It’s just that I’ll die if I disappoint you.”

  “Stop worrying.” Alex framed her lovely face with his big hands, then kissed her slowly, hoping he wouldn’t mess this up by rushing her, praying he could hang on to his own tenuous control. She needed slow loving, gentling, infinite care, and he honestly feared he might not be up to the task, his own needs crying for release.

  She was wearing a full red skirt and a white blouse with a red tie at the scooped neck. His mouth made love to hers while his hands moved to undo the tie. Working slowly, he finally felt the knot give, but as he began to slip the blouse from her shoulders, he felt her stiffen.

  “It’s all right, Megan,” he murmured into her mouth, then occupied her with another kiss. His hands caressed her smooth arms, then her shoulders, soothing, stroking. His tongue traced her lips from corner to corner, then back again before moving inside and engaging hers in a gentle duel. He swallowed her soft gasp, knowing she was finally distracted, then shifted his hands to her back to unbutton her skirt. It slipped to the floor with a soft swish while her fingers closed over his forearms as if attempting to control his actions.

  Almost lazily, he kissed her closed eyelids, then returned to her mouth. The kiss was soft, seductive and mind-numbing. He felt her shudder right before her knees buckled slightly. It was his cue to ease her onto the bed.

  His mouth again on hers, his one hand slipped off her sandals as he toed off his own shoes. She wore no slip, just silken panties. Too soon to wander there, he told himself, and moved his hand up to caress her shoulders. He felt her tongue grow bolder and fence with his, heard her labored breathing and knew she was becoming more involved, overcoming her initial hesitancy.

  Alex was aware how vulnerable she’d feel if he exposed too much of her while he remained fully clothed. So while he rained kisses over her face, he unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans and shoved them off. He had a few anxieties of his own. Moment of truth, he thought as he sat away from her and whipped his shirt off over his head, tossing it aside. Waiting, watchful, he saw her eyes go to the very long scar that crisscrossed his abdomen.

  Her breathing unsteady, Megan forced the mists to clear as she studied the scar. It had to be a foot and a half long, bisecting the blond hair that trailed from his chest down into his briefs. She remembered he said he’d had surgery last year. He appeared to be waiting for her reaction. Silently, she rose on one elbow and pressed her lips to the center, much as he’d kissed the scar on her temple.

  “Ah, Megan,” Alex sighed, then kissed the top of her dark head. Before she sank back, he grabbed the hem of her blouse and pulled it off, watching her cloud of hair settle around her lovely face. She was so beautiful and, finally, so trusting as she lay looking up at him.

  He bent to her, kissing first one breast then the other through the thin silk of her bra. Automatically, her fingers dug into his hair, pressing him closer. He drew on her deeply and felt her hands clutch, heard a soft moan escape from her. She hardly noticed when he unfastened the bra and dropped it to the floor. Her skin was satiny smooth, her bones delicate, her frame slender. His hands skimmed along her rib cage, then moved lower to caress the soft skin of her inner thighs.

  Megan was too steeped in pleasure to be afraid, to be concerned that she wasn’t doing her part. She heard his heavy breathing, felt his strong heart beating beneath the fingers she splayed over his chest, and knew he was as excited as she was. If only she could be all he wanted, needed.

  His patience astonished her. Almost lazily, his mouth played with hers while those long fingers traveled over every inch of her. When he slid her panties down her legs, she was too involved to protest. Her own hands wandered over his smooth, hard back, the strong, tense muscles. She could see how aroused he was, yet still his hands lingered, his mouth explored unhurriedly.

  She was used to fast and impatient, to rough and ready, to a passionless coupling that had left her feeling unfulfilled and ashamed. She’d blamed herself, thinking she’d been too tame, too inexperienced, too inhibited by her mother’s strict teachings about how a lady should behave. After Neal had gone, she’d been secretly relieved, glad there’d be no more pressure to perform for so little satisfaction. Then she’d set aside all feelings of passion and desire, deciding they were for others, but not her.

  Until Alex.

  Now she’d been lulled and coaxed into an intimacy she’d never dreamed possible. Her body would no longer be still, moving of its own accord as his hands caressed every secret place, to be replaced by his lips and tongue as Megan struggled with new and glorious sensations. She was helpless to stop the sudden, dizzying climb, to do anything but react with a low sound from deep in her throat as the first peak hit.

  Alex watched the stunned surprise on her lovely face as she turned toward him. Then, with just another light touch, he sent her soaring again, wanting to show her what her own body was capable of. This time, her cry of release was muffled as she buried her face in his shoulder.

  Before she was fully recovered, he slipped off his briefs. Reaching for his jeans, he dug out his wallet, then the foil packet, and took the time to protect them both. Then he leaned over and gazed into eyes hazy with passion and satisfaction. He saw her smile like the Cheshire cat as her arms reached out for him.

  Shifting, he entered her and paused, giving her time to adjust to the feel of him. Straining for control, his own completion long overdue, he finally began to move. But this time, he could linger no longer. The ride was fast and furious, his arms holding her close, her hands clenched at his back. Even so, he felt her shudder mere seconds before he let himself go.

  His final thought was that she’d definitely been worth the wait.

  She lay sprawled over him, the side of her face pressed to his chest, listening to his heartbeat settle. H
er own, Megan was certain, wouldn’t calm for days. Perhaps weeks.

  Alex raised a hand to brush her hair from her face so he could see her eyes. “So then, as you were saying, you’re undoubtedly going to disappoint me?”

  That sobered her and she propped herself up on both elbows. “This is going to sound like some scene out of a really bad movie, but was that really all right for you?”

  He couldn’t help it. He laughed. At her chagrined look, he stopped. “I’m sorry, but that’s so funny as to be unbelievable. Did you think I faked it? Women can, I hear, but men? Not on your life, lady.” Still, he realized what she wanted to know. Not was that all right, but was I all right. Alex cupped her chin, gazing into her worried eyes. “Megan, you have no idea of your incredible appeal. It was far more than all right. It was over the top, off the charts, a home run.”

  She frowned. “You wouldn’t just be saying what you think I want to hear?”

  “Absolutely not. Now it’s my turn. How about you?” He doubted that he had to ask. The flush on her face was still evident. But men liked to hear the words, too.

  Megan touched his face with just her fingertips, in joy, in wonder. “I honestly never knew it could be like that.” She blushed, remembering. “So powerful, so...so wonderful.”

  His smile was pleased and just a bit smug. “Told you.”

  “I guess you did.” She rolled off him and lay back, feeling a contentment she couldn’t put into words. Turning her head, she noticed his scar again and reached to touch the light ridge. “This must have been a very serious surgery. What did you have done?”

  Here goes nothing, Alex thought, his eyes on the ceiling. “A liver transplant.”

  Megan’s interest was aroused. “Really? That’s what Neal was waiting for when he died. I think I already mentioned it. Did you have a disease, too?”

  Alex nodded. “I borrowed a guy’s razor and got hepatitis C. I never dreamed it would be that easy to catch a potentially fatal disease.” He hesitated, then went on. “I have a new liver now—and no trace of disease. So you’re safe.”