by Sami Lee
But apparently that was nothing special.
David reached into the back and opened the car door for Keaton, who tumbled out and trotted up to the veranda alone. Eventually, David spoke, his voice scratching his throat. “We’re here. You’re free to go.”
Sarah remained in the passenger seat, her arms crossed over her chest. She stared out the windshield, as David did. Quietly, she said, “I’m not saying this weekend hasn’t been amazing.”
“You don’t have to sugarcoat anything for me. I get it, you’re not…” He was too embarrassed to complete the sentence. You’re not in love with me sounded so pathetic. He tried for something less humiliating. “You’re not willing to give us a shot.”
“It’s not as simple as that for me. You don’t understand.”
“Then make me understand.” Anger swelled, blessedly pushing aside the hurt—temporarily. “I’m not worth the effort, is that it?”
“No, that’s not it. I…I’ve been here before. I’ve let infatuation blind me to the truth and I won’t let myself do that again.”
David stared at her. “Who was he?”
“Someone I met a long time ago. I was…God, only twenty-two. He was an artist, a sculptor. I’d never met anyone like him. When I was with him it was like nothing else existed, nothing else mattered. He was so antiestablishment, so the opposite of every man I’d dated. I thought he didn’t care about material things. When he asked me to marry him, I didn’t hesitate.” She let out a derisive sound. “I was so happy.”
David listened in silence, calling himself all sorts of fool for the cold jealousy that seeped through him. But hearing Sarah talk about another man like that stung. His tone was gruff. “What happened?”
Sarah sighed. “My father offered him a quarter of a million dollars to get out of my life. He took it.”
Who was her father, J.R. Ewing? And as for her former fiancé…what a bastard. “He was an idiot with no clue what he had in you.”
“You’ve got that right. If he’d held out until we were married he could have walked away with so much more.”
“That is not what I meant.”
“Don’t do this, David.”
“Do what?”
“Be nice. Be supportive. Don’t try to convince me my relationship mistakes were all the other party’s fault.”
“If the guy chose cash over you, the end of your relationship was entirely his fault.”
Letting out an exasperated huff, Sarah yanked on the handle and shoved open the car door. David followed suit, matching her long strides toward the porch. Over her shoulder, Sarah yelled, “You don’t get it!”
“What am I supposed to get? That you once fell for an opportunistic prick and so you’re resigning yourself to a life alone?”
“Twice. I accepted two proposals from opportunists.” Sarah pushed open the front door, stalked through it and headed for the bedroom, presumably on a mission to collect the few things she’d brought with her. She walked to the dresser, gathering the items she’d left out on top of it and shoving them into her bag. “Brent was no better. He had money but not the kind of reputation the Harrington name could give him. That’s all he wanted from me. I can only thank my lucky stars I found him screwing some bimbo over his office desk before the wedding, instead of after.”
“Jesus.” David dragged a hand through his hair. “What’s wrong with these guys?”
“There’s a common denominator here you’re ignoring.” Sarah flicked him a sharp glance. “Me.”
“You didn’t deserve what either of those jerks did to you. You’ve had some bad luck, that’s all.”
“No. Once is bad luck. Twice is poor judgment.” She shook her head firmly. “Three times would be utter lunacy.”
“So what are you saying?” David asked, his tone cooling. “That I’m just like your ex-fiancés? You still think I’m after your money?”
She didn’t quite answer that. “We can’t just ignore that I have it. People will think—”
“I don’t give a flying fuck what people think!” David roared, causing Sarah to jump. Lunging forward, he grabbed hold of her arm. He lifted her hand and pressed it to his shirt, over the spot where his heart was thumping wildly against his chest. He forced her to stare into his eyes, hoping she’d see the depth of emotion in them and know it wasn’t a fabrication. “All I care about is how you feel.”
“How I feel isn’t the point.”
“Bullshit! Tell me the truth, damn it.” His heart pounding against his ribs, David searched her face, hoping to find the answer in her expression. “Tell me what you see when you look at me. A man with dollar signs on his mind? Or the only man who’s ever truly loved you?”
David’s heart pounded against her palm and Sarah tried to imagine him faking this kind of ardor. She’d told him she’d experienced emotions like this before but that hadn’t been the truth. What she’d had with Travis Lund was little more than immature lust compared to this…this swamping sense of desire. What she felt for David was deeper, more poignant than what she’d experienced at twenty-two.
But at thirty-three, surely she was supposed to know better than to blindly follow her heart?
“Talk to me, Lady Sarah.” His voice was silky, coaxing. If he’d continued to yell Sarah might have had the strength to yell back, to cut him out in one swift laceration. But the raw emotion in his tone, the slight tremble in his fingers when he touched them to her chin, made her heart quake in response. “Look at me now and tell me what you see.”
Although she tried, Sarah couldn’t see her past mistakes in David’s espresso eyes. She could only see now, this moment. She could only see the truth of his emotions and have faith in them, despite every ounce of common sense that warred with that faith. Swaying toward him, she reached for his shoulder and clung to it.
“I see myself,” she confessed. “You look at me like you really see me, like we’re simply Sarah and David and nothing else matters.”
His smile appeared, the joy in it shaky yet incandescently bright. Curling his hand around her nape, he brought their foreheads together so their panted breaths mingled in the narrow gap between them. “That’s right. Nothing matters but us. There’s only this.”
When he angled his head to kiss her, Sarah met him halfway. She couldn’t resist the pull between them. The instant their lips met, a surge of desire rose within her like a geyser. Need was like a hot force propelling her forward. She didn’t kiss him—she ravaged his mouth. Catching her mood, David kissed her back with the same brutality. He bit her lips, thrust his tongue out to meet hers.
With frantic hands, Sarah reached for his jeans, releasing the top snap and parting the fly over the solid ridge of his erection. His flesh was hot against her knuckles. Sarah curled her fingers around him through his underwear, rubbing the searing length of his arousal through the layer of cotton.
He muttered a curse, reaching for her jeans and fumbling with the buttons. Sarah helped him and together they pushed the denim and the white cotton underwear to her knees. Impatient, David thrust a hand between her legs, probing her opening and finding it slick and ready. He groaned his appreciation and shoved two fingers high and tight inside her.
Sarah arched, grabbing the timber slats of the bed behind her for balance as she threw her head back. “Yes! Oh yes.”
His eyes were glazed as he watched her respond to his touch. He circled his thumb over her clit and Sarah almost came right then and there. She stopped herself only with the thought that she wanted more. She wanted David’s cock inside her—she needed it.
“Fuck,” he swore, clarity coming to his expression. “I need a bloody condom.”
“No.” She didn’t want him to move even a foot away from her. If he did she might come to her senses and deny herself this—this last, precious time. Turning her hands on the bed’s timber railing, Sarah swiveled so her back was to David, her ass nestled to his groin. “I’m on the Pill. I want you inside me. Now.”
“Oh Ch
rist.” David flexed his hips, the move pressing his solid cock into the valley between her ass cheeks. “Are you sure? You trust me?”
Sarah might have laughed if she wasn’t teetering on a tightrope of need so precarious every muscle in her body held tense. Trust the man who wouldn’t do a thing with her until he’d driven fifteen miles to buy condoms from a smart-mouthed teenager? David was responsible, caring. He’d told her he hadn’t had a woman here since Melissa, and Sarah believed him.
She peered over her shoulder at the mixture of caution and passion in his countenance. “I got tested after Brent and there hasn’t been anyone but you since. Please, David.”
To reiterate her point, Sarah thrust her ass back, wiggling it against David’s erection. The action elicited the response she was aiming for. With a groan of surrender, David repositioned himself so the head of his cock ran along the seam of her pussy. Sarah pressed backward, seeking more. With a vicious yank, David grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it upward, exposing her breasts. He took one nipple between his thumb and forefinger and tweaked it at the same time he pushed forward, impaling her on his cock.
The sense of rightness, of fulfillment, shocked Sarah, as it did every time. It almost made her orgasm, merely from knowing it was David inside her, David drawing back before driving in again, so hard and full she cried out in sheer delight. David, his breath hot on her neck, his hand warm and skillful at her breast, his hips ramming viciously into her ass as he fucked her cunt like a man possessed. With her jeans still tangled around her knees, Sarah could barely move and she didn’t want to. She didn’t want this to end.
But the urgency propelled her upward, her body reaching for release even as she wished she could linger, stay with David buried deep inside her forever. He bit into her throat, causing a shiver to run straight from that spot to her throbbing clit. Intuiting her response, David trailed his hand downward, searching for and finding the inflamed nub. He fluttered a finger over it.
Crying out, Sarah gyrated, helpless to hold back the beginnings of a climax.
David’s pace accelerated in reply. “Feels so good with nothing between us. I’m going to lose my cum inside you.”
She felt his shudder, heard his animal moan. He was coming and the knowledge made Sarah explode in a burst of magnificent sensation. Banding an arm around her torso, David held her against his solid body, supporting her as her knees turned to water and her grip on the bed slipped. Still buried deep and thrusting his last, he held her tight and whispered into her ear, his voice hoarse, “God, I love you, Sarah. I love you.”
How long they stood together, clutching each other like people lost at sea, Sarah had no idea. By the time they gathered the presence of mind to detangle themselves and pull clothing back into place, Sarah’s cheeks were damp. When her nose began to run, she could no longer silence her sniffles.
David reached for her, turning her in his arms and gathering her against him. “Don’t cry, lady. It doesn’t have to end. It can’t.”
Determined not to give in to the urge to sob, Sarah eased away from him. Without meeting his eyes, she gathered the one bag she’d brought with her and held it against her chest like a shield. “My life will taint this, David.”
“That’s insane.”
Sarah shook her head. “My father will offer you money.”
As he had before, he responded with a question. “And do you think I would take it?”
She smiled, the truth giving her nothing but sadness now. “No. But he’ll poke holes at this relationship, he’ll hunt for your weaknesses. In short, he’ll disapprove and in the process make it difficult for you to be with me. And I have reporters following me a lot of the time. They’ll write about you in magazines, say you’re a con man.”
He pushed out a rough snort. “I don’t care.”
“I’ll move back to the States.”
That silenced him. Sarah fancied she actually heard his heart screech to a stop. “When?”
“I don’t know. But my job is usually based in New York.” Sarah thought of all the things she loved about this country—its abundant sunshine, laid-back inhabitants, the spectacular scenery. Then she remembered the snake and how odd the quiet here at Windy Valley sounded to her ears. She was used to hustle and bustle. This place wasn’t her. “I don’t belong here. I’m sorry, David, but I can’t do what Melissa did. I don’t want to draw this out and make it more painful than it needs to be. This wouldn’t work and it’s better we both face that now rather than later.”
When he simply stared at her without saying anything, Sarah finally forced her legs to work. She walked on autopilot to the bedroom doorway. A few extra feet and she’d be in the hallway then outside, heading toward her car. She could do this, one step at a time.
David’s voice stopped her before she could exit the bedroom. His query made her grip the doorjamb with shaking fingers. “If things had been different, do you think you could have loved me?”
The raw pain in his voice made a sympathetic pang lance her chest, stealing her breath. She wasn’t even sure her voice was audible but her whispered response sounded as loud as a sonic boom to her. “I love you now.”
Then she was running. Screw the one-step-at-a-time stuff. If she didn’t sprint she’d never leave.
Sarah ran all the way to her car, Keaton trotting beside her. She ignored him as she got behind the wheel of the Mercedes and started it, the road ahead of her turning blurry as she drove away.
Chapter Fourteen
For a man who owned a winery, David figured he’d seriously underutilized alcohol in the past. In the week after Sarah left, he did what he could to remedy that oversight.
“Pissing the profits away,” Phil had joked when he’d come over one night to find David already deep into a bottle of red, uninterested in going into town to visit the pub.
David figured he was fine where he was. No people around to annoy him, razz him about being so cut up over a woman. He didn’t doubt the few blokes he called mates and even plenty of those he didn’t would know about the American sweetheart who’d spent a weekend out at Windy Valley. Phil owned the butcher shop, and despite being a burly hulk of a man he gossiped better than a little old lady.
No, David figured he should stick where he was, with the silent vines standing sentinel outside and the dogs snoring peacefully beside him. So Sarah was gone and she wasn’t coming back. Fine. He didn’t need her. He didn’t need anybody.
Some guy called, claiming to represent Shelton Holdings, a conglomerate that owned several upscale hotels in Australian capital cities. He wanted to order some product to stock in their restaurants as part of a campaign to showcase boutique winemaking. At first David thought it was a joke, something Phil arranged to get some kind of reaction out of him besides numb disinterest. But after a while it dawned on him that the guy on the phone was serious.
And David smelled a rat.
“It’s her, I know it,” he raged to Kerri after he hung up. “Shelton Holdings, Harrington Enterprises. These rich people all know each other. She must have put the guy up to it.”
Kerri shrugged. “So what?”
“She can’t do something like that,” David spat. “Manipulate my life from afar. Who does she think she is?”
“A woman who cares about what happens to you?”
“Don’t be smart.”
“I’m not.” Kerri merely arched an unimpressed brow at his snappy tone. “If she really did arrange this, she cares a lot more about you than you do for yourself right now.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means stomping around here barking orders half the time and getting drunk by yourself the rest is no way to live. And if you’re saying you told this guy from Shelton to piss off, I’ll begin fearing for your sanity.”
A tingling sensation attacked the base of David’s spine, moving upward until he grew downright uncomfortable. Kerri’s description of how he’d been behaving the last week was not pretty but
he had to face the fact it was accurate. He was miserable but it wasn’t fair of him to spread it around. “I didn’t tell him to piss off,” he mumbled. “I said I’d get back to him.”
The relief in Kerri’s sigh made David feel worse. This wasn’t even her winery but she cared deeply about what happened to it—to him.
“Why don’t you let me handle it?” Kerri suggested. “I know what this place can produce as well as you and I’m in more of a mood to schmooze.”
Weakened by his sense of remorse, David agreed. “Yeah, okay.”
Kerri studied him, her expression softening. “Call her, David.”
He shook his head. “I already played all my cards. There’s nothing more I can say.”
“If she did arrange this Shelton deal, it must be because she’s thinking about you.”
“I thought you didn’t like her.”
“I never said that. She was the one who didn’t trust me. Thought I had designs on you or something, which I did find rather insulting.”
“I know. She had some history, that’s all. Infidelity, that sort of thing.” Infidelity, betrayal, a father who meddled far too much in her life as far as David was concerned. When it came to relationships, Sarah had sure been up against it. Thinking clearly about it for the first time since last week, David understood Sarah’s position.
Which didn’t make her refusal to take a risk on him hurt any less.
“I didn’t know that,” Kerri said. “I might have tried harder to set her straight, let her know I’ve only ever thought of you like a brother.”
David stopped pacing and turned to stare at Kerri. “Really?”