He leaned down and nuzzled her throat, then trailed his lips across her jaw, savoring the sweetness of her skin. She arched her neck to give him better access and dragged the tips of her nails lightly up and down his back, the shivers the sensation created only fueling the inferno blazing within him. When her hips rose to meet his, his body burned with the intense need to plunge into her heat, to lose himself all over again.
The ending he knew was coming was seared in the back of his mind.
“Besides,” he lifted his head, “I want to make you scream one more time before I have to take you home.”
He meant the comment as a tease, to dispel the weight settling in his chest and daring him to acknowledge the need twisting in his gut. An overwhelming need to see her again. One he firmly intended on ignoring. Leaving it at one night was best for both of them. One night was simple, uncomplicated.
“Shower with me.” He brushed his mouth over hers, relieved when she leaned into his kiss.
“Sounds heavenly.” She smiled, relief flashing in her eyes, and nodded.
He exited the bed, pulled her up with him and led her into the adjoining bathroom.
As much as he wanted otherwise, their relationship had to remain the way it was. He was leaving in a month’s time. He wanted to mend the bridge between him and his father. With any luck, he’d have the courage to visit the Hartmans and say all those things he should have said ten years ago, maybe even stop by Kaylee’s grave, and ease the wound on his soul from that nightmarish night. His heart, though, wasn’t in this town, and in the end, he’d head back to L.A. The last thing he wanted was to bring her pain or disappointment.
As they crossed the threshold into the bathroom, she pushed into his arms, lifted onto her toes, and nipped at his bottom lip. As he stood staring down into her gorgeous eyes, the truth hit him. He couldn’t do it, couldn’t let the night end on a lie. He owed her the truth. It was time he stopped running from the past, and it started with her. One night or twenty, if she was going to accept him for who he was, he had to be straight up with her.
Chapter Four
Cat leaned back against the kitchen counter downstairs. Behind her the coffee maker dripped, filling the small space with the sound of liquid streaming into the glass pot and scenting the air with the delicious aroma of a fresh brew. Her shower with Michael had been phenomenal. Her insides still tingled, and as they’d dried each other off, he’d kissed her gently, and told her he had something he wanted to tell her. He’d asked her to come down here and make coffee while he shaved.
The night had been exactly what she’d wanted it to be. A single night with a gorgeous man who made her feel alive, truly alive, for the first time in a long time.
She turned her head, scanning the kitchen around her. The house itself was small and quaint. One bedroom, which took up the top floor, containing the only bathroom. An open living room and a small dining room she’d passed on her way into the kitchen. The furniture was sparse and modest, everything done in warm, earthy colors. The place had a humble, homey feel that wrapped around her, somehow suiting the man she’d come to know.
The coffee maker began to sputter, and she turned, intending to search the cabinets for mugs when a picture on the wall opposite the stove caught her attention. In it, Michael sat with a dark-haired woman on a good-sized wooden deck. He was younger then, barely a teenager, and the woman appeared to be in her late forties. She clutched Michael’s hand, her bright smile lighting up her face.
She recognized the woman. Abby Brant. The Brants were the other big, prominent family in Crest Point. They played a huge role in supporting the community, were trusted and well respected. There’d been a Brant in Crest Point since before the town formed more than a hundred years ago. They were old money. Rumor had it their family was part of the original settlers who came during the gold rush in the eighteen hundreds. Nowadays, they owned a chain of five-star hotels scattered all along the West Coast.
They owned the bar she’d met Michael in. According to the Weekly Tribune, the town’s small newspaper, they kept it open as a piece of nostalgia.
“I wasn’t completely honest with you last night.”
At the sound of his voice, Cat turned to find Michael in the kitchen entrance. He wore jeans and a white T-shirt that clung to his torso like a second skin, outlining every solid muscle. His wet hair still had a tousled look, as if he simply dragged his fingers through it, but his jaw was now clean shaven and smooth. He looked … delicious.
She yearned to mold her body to his length and run her fingers over his freshly shaven chin, but resisted the urge. Their night was over, and it was time to separate her emotions from the night itself. “About what?”
“Who I am.” He pushed away from the doorway, moving into the room at a slow, easy pace.
The expression on his face had uneasiness settling in her stomach. Gone was the playful glint in his eye that had made their shower something she wouldn’t soon forget. Worry had seeped into his dark eyes. As if he had bad news, or perhaps was afraid of how she’d react.
She let out a nervous laugh. “It can’t be that bad — can it?”
His gaze flitted over her face, as if gauging her reaction. “I don’t think so, but it depends on who you ask around here.” He pulled the picture off the wall and stroked his thumb over the glass. “This is me.”
She nodded. “With Abby Brant. Judging by the look on her face, she’s very fond of you.”
“I sure hope so.” He let out a quiet laugh, and while his tone said he teased, when he met her gaze, the worry in his eyes was palpable. “She’s my mother.”
Her smile fell as exactly what he meant hit home. She knew him. Okay, she didn’t know him, but she knew of him. “You’re Michael Brant.”
No sooner had the name left her mouth than the memories flooded her mind, flashing like the snap of a camera light. When she was twelve, her mother had an affair with then-Senator Randall Brant, a very married, much older man. They were caught together on numerous occasions. There were even rumors he’d leave his wife for her. In the end, the senator paid her mother a large sum of money to disappear and keep quiet. It was why her parents divorced, and why they left Crest Point all those years ago. If she were doing her math right, Randall Brant would be Michael’s grandfather.
“Oh God.” Cat’s stomach plummeted as the fantasy of the night went poof! before her eyes. Michael was heir to a fortune. Here she was, the daughter of a woman who’d been well-known once for things that made Cat’s cheeks hot to think about.
Cat closed her eyes, shutting out the images. She’d spent her whole adult life running from the filth of her mother’s reputation. Now here it was, staring her in the face again.
A quiet thunk against the wall drifted to her, and Michael’s now familiar scent invaded her senses. His warm, soft fingers stroked her cheek. “Say something, Cat.”
She opened her eyes, caught once again like a fish on a hook in those fathomless dark eyes. He was here, telling her this, because he no doubt wondered what she’d think of him. The worry in those dark, searching eyes all but screamed that at her. But what would he think of her when he found out who she was?
Breaking the contact, she turned back to the cabinets, pulling open one in search of coffee mugs.
“Why didn’t you tell me who you were?” That you were someone even in my dreams I could never have? She wanted to hold on to the fantasy of her night with him, to cherish it. Now, the fantasy evaporated. Too much stood between them. Too many complications. The differences between her and Michael had become about so much more than him being a drifter. They were from two different worlds. Men like him, from families like his, dabbled in women like her from the wrong side of the tracks. Nick had taught her that. Even the secretary she’d caught him with was simply a toy to him.
A beat of silence passed, and Michael let out a
heavy exhalation behind her, a sound of acceptance, defeat, dejection. He stepped up behind her, his warm, solid body pressing against her back, pinning her where she stood. Reaching around her, he opened a cabinet door, revealing a shelf full of glasses and mugs. “Because I was afraid.”
His words and the truth behind them settled into her core. She knew that feeling. Too well. “Of what?”
“What did you need from me last night, Cat?” His hot breath teased her neck, the sensitive skin below her earlobe, and images invaded her mind. Of his mouth latching on there, leaving his mark. The possessive look in his eyes when he plunged inside her body, claimed her as his. How simultaneously wrong and right it felt to be claimed that way. They were strangers, yet deep down, she couldn’t deny she gave him a piece of herself last night.
“I wanted the fantasy. You were a little wild, a little dangerous. A Harley-riding bad boy in black leather with a wicked gleam in your eye who challenged anyone to try to judge you.”
A faint chuckle sounded behind her, so infectious one corner of her mouth curled in response.
“You were everything I wanted to be and exactly the type of man I never go for.”
“Is that why you took that ride with me? Spent the night with me? Because I’m different?”
She hesitated, her heart stalling in her chest, then shook her head. She spent the night with him because the façade intrigued her. The unexplainable pull between them and the uninhibited desire in his eyes sucked her in. The tenderness of his touch overwhelmed her. He overwhelmed her.
“No. I did it because I felt safe with you.” Safe to fulfill a fantasy without fear of it getting out of control, without fear she’d find out he really was every bit as dangerous as he appeared. And though she couldn’t explain how she knew, she’d bet every last cent she had that the only thing truly dangerous about Michael Brant were his discerning eyes.
“That’s exactly what I needed from you. The anonymity. You were the only person in this town who didn’t seem to know who I was, who hadn’t already formed an opinion of me. Over the years, I’ve convinced myself I didn’t care what people thought, but I came back expecting judgment. There are people here who aren’t fond of me. And with you, for one night, I was just a man. I had no name, no obligations, no expectations.”
He shifted closer, his body brushing her back, his heat seeping into her skin.
“I needed you.” His breath against her sensitive skin made her shiver. “I was just … me. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know if you’d ever heard of me, what you thought of Michael Brant.”
His hands slid onto her arms, his touch light and hesitant, as if he couldn’t resist but wanted to give her room to object. When she didn’t — couldn’t — those hands skimmed along her forearms, over the backs of her wrists, awakening every nerve ending along the way and setting the tiny hairs to standing on end.
His hands slid farther still, over the tops of hers, enveloping them. Warm skin on warm skin, a simple point of contact, and every cell in her body shuddered with the relief of it, the sheer pleasure. She drew in a soft, ragged breath, knew she owed him the truth in return, but the words refused to leave her mouth. She didn’t want to ruin what the night had been.
Instead, she told him a version of the truth. “I’ve heard of your family. I know you’re heir to a fortune. Your father owns luxury hotels. My father owns a bookshop in town. We struggle to make ends meet most months. Truth is, last night was a fluke. You and I don’t run in the same circles.”
She drew a deep breath, forced herself to turn and face him, and laid a hand against his chest. “But none of that really matters, because I need this to stay at one night, Michael.”
“Me, too.” He stroked his hands down her arms. “Let me at least make you some breakfast before I take you home.”
She offered him a soft smile and nodded. “I’d like that.”
• • •
An odd melancholy filled Cat’s chest when they pulled into the last available spot in front of her apartment building an hour and a half later. Mother Nature had provided a gorgeous morning — a clear blue sky, birds chirping and chattering, and the oppressive heat had yet to set in.
Wrapped in Michael’s jacket, Cat clung to his back, still reeling with the exhilaration of riding on his bike.
“The perfect end to a perfect night.” The words left her mouth on a blissful sigh as Michael cut the engine.
He made a sound of agreement at the back of his throat, but as he pulled the key from the ignition, the last shred of her high spirits evaporated. After pulling off the helmet, she turned her head and rested her cheek against his right shoulder. He took the helmet and hung it on the handlebars. Neither made a move to get off the bike and neither spoke.
The seconds ticked by as she struggled with what to say. His body tensed against hers and butterflies danced in her stomach. She’d spent the entire night exploring every inch of this man, but she hadn’t the foggiest idea what to say now. Thanks for a great time, have a nice life?
With a long sigh, she pulled away and slid off the bike. She lowered her gaze and straightened her skirt. It gave her hands something to do at least.
“I’m sorry to bring you home so early.” Michael turned a rebellious grin in her direction. “My family actually expected me yesterday, and my father doesn’t like it when I’m late.”
She couldn’t help but smile in return. The look in his eyes told her he didn’t care if he was on time or not.
He slid off his bike, slipped his hands into his pockets, and stood staring at her with soft, somber eyes.
An electric current of unspoken wants and desires buzzed in the air between them. That tiny part of her still wanted to see him again, and the black depths of his eyes echoed the same sentiment.
She had to end this here. Before she opened her big mouth and set herself on a path to destruction by asking him exactly that.
“It’s okay.” She shook her head. “You don’t have to walk me up.”
A smile touched the corners of his mouth, and he quirked a brow in challenge. “Are you that anxious to get rid of me?”
She sighed. Why did this have to be so hard? It was one night, with a stranger. Wasn’t it supposed to be easy? “This is just so … ” She paused and shook her head, at a loss to say more.
“Awkward.” He nodded. “Yeah, I know.”
She laid a hand against his chest; his warmth radiated against her fingers. “I don’t want it to follow us upstairs. I’d rather remember you exactly the way I met you.”
His eyes narrowed, playful. “Dark and dangerous?”
She let out a soft laugh, half from sheer nerves, half from relief. “Something like that.”
He’d given her something intangible, something more valuable than money. Immersed in nothing but him, without a care in the world, she’d been free from the fear and shame that had ruled most of her life. While she loathed relinquishing that feeling, she also knew she couldn’t let it go any further.
Michael, however, was nothing if not persistent. With a determined glint in his eye that dared her not to let him play the gentleman, he slipped his hand into hers. With a gentle tug on her arm, he moved onto the sidewalk and eyed the building. “So, where are you?”
“Right here.” With a defeated sigh, she nodded at the dark wooden stairwell in front of them. “Second floor.”
Their fingers still linked, he followed a step behind as she made her way up the stairs. Once again, silence reigned supreme, making her wonder what he thought. Did he feel the same awkwardness that twisted her stomach?
At the top of the landing, she turned to look at him, her heart fluttering in her chest when he stepped up with her. Towering over her, desire flared in his eyes, sending new shivers along her spine. In one long stride, he closed the distance between them, his hands seizing he
r waist. He tugged her flush against him, but the playfulness in his touch melted into something softer, more intense and needy, the instant their bodies met.
He leaned his forehead against hers. “You didn’t think I’d let you get away from me that easily, now did you?”
The quiet possessiveness in those words, the wistfulness in his voice, filled her chest with a torrent of confusing emotions. Slowly throughout the night, the dark and mysterious façade had come down. She’d gotten a glimpse of this man’s heart and liked what she’d seen. He was better than the fantasy.
Here, in his arms, she had the oddest sense of rightness. And his eyes … his eyes spoke to her, connected to some part of her, deep inside. Last night those sensations made for something incredible. Michael had taken her to heights she hadn’t even known were possible.
In the harsh light of day, they scared her to death. She didn’t want to see he was just a man, didn’t want to see his flaws, because she couldn’t chance he’d turn out like Nick. A playboy who only wanted to toy with her heart.
The thoughts flitted away as he leaned his head down and nipped at the curve of her neck. One hand slid inside his jacket she wore, his touch, light and tantalizing, skimmed the side of her breast, and she couldn’t contain the gasp that escaped. The tips of his fingers caressed her skin as he moved the collar aside, taking the strap of her top with it. He placed a soft kiss to her shoulder before straightening.
He fingered the lapel of his jacket. “I’m afraid I’ll need this back.”
“Darn. And here I thought you’d let me keep it as a souvenir.” She narrowed her eyes and jokingly clutched the lapels closed.
“I don’t think so.” He let out a soft laugh and shook his head.
He stepped back to give her room. She lowered her gaze and fingered the lapels before bringing them to her nose and inhaling. As she finally let the soft leather slide from her shoulders, a pang of remorse twisted through her stomach. She didn’t want to let it go.
Her Knight in Black Leather (Crimson Romance) Page 6