Every Waking Moment

by Doreen Roberts

  She soon realized, however, that Blake had no intention of giving up control. His touch was sure and incredibly arousing. Again and again he found new sources of her pleasure, teaching her things about her body she’d never suspected.

  He built a fire in her, then slowly stoked it until it consumed her. Her body arced beneath him of its own accord, while she writhed helplessly under his expert hands. He took his time, manipulating her until at last, her control finally snapped.

  For the space of a second or two she panicked, afraid of the overwhelming sensation of being completely at his mercy. It scared her to realize the extent of his control over her. Her body tensed, while she gripped his hand.

  “Relax,” he murmured close to her ear. “Just trust me. Go with the feeling, ride with it. Let it take you where you want to go.”

  She heard his words dimly through the drumming in her head. Digging her hands into his shoulders, she gave herself up to him, trusting in his touch, striving for the release that seemed so close and yet so unobtainable.

  Higher and higher she flew, until it seemed as if her body would explode into a million fiery fragments. She cried out again and again, and then, as she hovered on the brink, she heard him mutter, “Now.”

  “Yes!” The word hissed through her teeth as the final surge took her even higher. Then unbelievably, magically, she found it. And it was every bit as wonderful as she’d been led to believe.

  She floated for a moment or two, marveling again at the sensations rocketing through her body. Then a new urge took over. Now she wanted to give back the pleasure he’d given her. She wanted to hear him moan with it.

  She touched him hesitantly at first, then more aggressively as her confidence grew. Aware of his rising excitement, she grew more excited herself. Briefly she wondered where all this assertiveness had come from. Maybe it had always been there, and just needed someone like Blake to nurture it to life. Then she gave up wondering in the heady delight of discovering new ways to give him pleasure.

  Finally he’d had enough of her joyful experimentation. With a sharp groan he flipped her onto her back and hovered over her for a breathless moment, his face flushed, his breathing harsh and his eyes burning with urgent need.

  His chest rose and fell, gleaming with a thin film of sweat as he lowered himself slowly and entered her. He was gentle at first, but then his passion caught hold. She had thought he’d aroused every conceivable sensation she was capable of, but in that moment she felt an overpowering sense of fulfillment—the ultimate union, the joining of bodies, the final mating of man and woman.

  Up until now the pleasure had been mostly physical, but now it was spiritual, as well, and infinitely beautiful. She clung to him as she was swept up in the rising throes of passion, joining with him as he strove for release. When it happened, she was there with him, rejoicing in the conquest, elated to have given him all that she had to give.

  She lay quietly in his arms afterward, listening to the steady thud of his strong heartbeat beneath her ear. With her body pressed against the length of his, she felt a tremendous sense of peace. At that moment she felt invincible. Nothing could hurt her. Not even Mike.

  Blake was still awake long after she’d drifted off to sleep. His body was at rest, but his mind would not give up. He was acutely conscious of the woman whose naked body lay pressed to his.

  Her hair felt silky on his chest, and the gentle rise and fall of her smooth, soft breasts sensuously brushed his skin. She smelled of flowers and the sweet fragrance of sex. He felt a rush of tenderness and tightened his arm about her. She murmured sleepily, snuggling closer to him.

  He wanted to protect her, and felt a desperate need to erase the bad memories that must haunt her life. He couldn’t take away the pain and loneliness of her childhood. That was something she would have to deal with in her own way. He couldn’t take away the memories of her miserable marriage, either. Time would eventually have to take care of that.

  What he could do was to try to erase the stigma left on her by Mike Stevens. One way or another, he was going to catch up with the bastard. And when he did, he would make damn sure that Stevens confessed that he’d been lying about Gail’s involvement in the murder.

  No matter what it took, Blake promised himself, he would make Stevens admit the truth. Then he would make sure that Gail’s name was cleared from the record, officially and publicly.

  He turned his head and gently brushed her forehead with his lips. He felt a bittersweet pang as she stirred against his chest. He might not be able to give her the stable home and secure love that she craved so badly. But he would give her back her good name. If it was the last thing he ever did.

  Chapter 9

  Gail awoke early, before it was light. She knew at once that something was different, but it took a second or two before she remembered. He lay on his side, his back toward her. She could feel the warmth of his body. The full measure of her love seemed to fill her mind, erasing everything else for the moment.

  How she loved him. And how she longed to know everything about him. He’d always been so close-lipped about his past. Now that they had finally broken down the barriers, perhaps he would tell her what it was that had hurt him so.

  She wanted to take the pain away, to envelop him in her love and make him forget whatever it was that had painted such bitter lines on his face.

  Gently, she rolled closer, trying not to disturb him. He murmured, then his body tensed and she knew he was awake. “It’s all right,” she whispered. “It’s only me.”

  He stirred, reaching back to touch her. “Hey, ‘me.’” he whispered back.

  She snuggled closer to him, curling her arm across his stomach. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “I can’t think of a better way to be woken up.”

  She skimmed his back with her open mouth and heard his murmur of pleasure. “Maybe I can. How about this?” She moved her hand down his belly.

  This time his response was more urgent. He rolled over and pulled her closer to him. “You didn’t tell me you were insatiable.”

  “You didn’t ask.” She wriggled against him, delighting in the feel of his nakedness.

  “I don’t know if I have the energy left to go a second round.”

  “We could have fun trying.”

  She nipped his shoulder with her teeth and he growled an answer deep in his throat. Flipping onto his back, he pulled her down on top of him. “Okay, lady, do your worst. I’m all yours.”

  It didn’t take her long to bring him to his knees. To her immense satisfaction he found the energy, and to her intense delight and amazement, she found it even more wonderful than the first time.

  “Sweetheart,” he muttered, as they struggled to catch their breath later, “if I’d known it was going to be like this, I’d have taken you to bed the first day I set eyes on you.”

  “You’d have had a fight on your hands if you’d tried.”

  He chuckled. “I don’t doubt that. You were so wary of me when I first saw you, I half expected you to thrust a gun in my side and demand to see my credentials before you would talk to me.”

  “You were pretty intimidating.” She sighed. “If I’d known you were a cop. I wouldn’t have been so scared of you.”

  “I couldn’t let you know that. I thought you were aiding and abetting an escaped convict.”

  “And I thought you were aiding and abetting the man who was trying to get my daughter.”

  “It’s a wonder we got together at all.”

  She smiled and turned her head to look at him. The cold morning light had begun to seep into the room through the drapes, and she could see his strong profile. Very gently, she traced the outline of his nose with her finger. “Even when I was afraid of you, I was fascinated by you.”

  He reached for her hand and laced his fingers through hers. “Well, you were definitely the most desirable woman I’d ever laid eyes on. It was all I could do to keep my hands off you.”

  She grinned. �
��I’m glad I didn’t know that. I had enough trouble dealing with you as it was.”

  He sent her a rueful glance. “That bad, huh?”

  “You’re just not a very good liar. I had the feeling right from the start that you weren’t a real-estate agent from Seattle.”

  “I pulled that one out of thin air. How was I to know I was dealing with an astute, intelligent woman who just happened to have lived in Seattle?”

  “I guess that was a stroke of bad luck for you.”

  “It wouldn’t have been if I hadn’t spent so much time with you. Originally the plan was to make contact, then just keep you in sight until you met up with Stevens, nab him and take him back to Portland.”

  She thought about that for a moment. “Then why did you invite me to dinner?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I talked myself into believing that I could keep a closer eye on you if I pretended to be interested in you. The trouble was, I wasn’t pretending. The more I was with you, the more I wanted you.”

  “You did a very good job of hiding it. I was convinced that you were only doing your job.”

  “I guess I’m a better liar than you give me credit for.” He turned his head, and his expression grew serious. “I want you to know, I don’t make a habit of doing this.”

  She smiled. “Neither do I.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you, Gail.”

  A cold finger of apprehension disturbed her fragile contentment. “I’m a big girl,” she said lightly. “I know what I’m doing.”

  “I hope so.”

  He turned his head to look back at the ceiling, and his set face filled her with dismay. Pushing away her unsettling doubts, she sought to change the subject.

  “How did you become a cop?”

  “My father was a cop. I never thought about being anything else.”

  “Are your parents still alive?”

  He paused for a moment before answering, as if the subject was painful. “No,” he said at last. “My father died trying to talk a spaced-out kid out of jumping off the roof of a high-rise. The bastard shot him, then jumped anyway. The shock of it all killed my mother. She died of a heart attack a month later.”

  She squeezed his hand, her heart aching for him. “I’m so sorry. Were you very young at the time?”

  He shook his head. “I was married. It was one of the things that helped break us up.”

  “That must have been a tough time for you.” She held her breath, silently willing him to talk about it.

  He was quiet for a moment or two, then he let out a long sigh. “We were both very young. I was a rookie on the force and was gone a lot of the time. It must have been hard on her, every time I was late getting home, waiting for a phone call to tell her something bad had happened to me. She finally grew tired of it. After my father died, she stopped waiting around. I’d come home tired and hungry and she’d be out somewhere. Sometimes she stayed out all night. We fought a lot, and finally she asked for a divorce.”

  Gail felt a surge of anger against the woman who had thrown away what she would kill to have. “That’s terrible. Just when you needed her the most.”

  He shrugged. “I couldn’t blame her for wanting out. What I do blame her for is not telling me she was pregnant until after the divorce. By the time I found out, she’d married someone else. The guy offered to adopt the baby, and I knew there was no point in fighting it. I had to do what was best for my child. To this day, I’ve never set eyes on my daughter.”

  Now she knew what had caused him so much pain. She remembered the first time they’d had dinner together. What was it he’d said? “My biggest regret in life is missing out on being a father.”

  She could give him that if he would let her, she thought, with a surge of excitement. Heather adored him, and he seemed to love her just as much. They needed each other, and she couldn’t have picked a better father figure for Heather if she had set out to look for one.

  Not only that, she could give him children of his own. She had longed to have more children, and a brother or sister would be good for Heather. The thought of bearing his child brought tears to her eyes.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to depress you with my sob stories.” Blake turned on his side and propped up his head with his elbow. “What were you thinking about so seriously?”

  She was so tempted to tell him. Maybe if he knew what she was willing to offer him, he would realize how much they could have together. Before she could answer him, however, the shrill ring of the telephone made her jump.

  Instantly alert, she reached for the receiver. Her heart skipped when the curt voice of a stranger answered her.

  “Blake Foster.”

  “Just a minute.” She handed him the phone, her newfound peace shattered. “It’s for you.”

  He took the phone from her, and she felt cold when she saw his expression. Tension once more drew hard lines around his mouth, and his eyes reflected his apprehension. “Foster, here.”

  He listened intently, his fingers curled tightly around the receiver. She saw his knuckles whiten momentarily, then he muttered, “Thanks for letting me know. I’ll get back to you.”

  His colleague must have said something else, as Blake listened some more, then said briefly, “No, I’ll handle it.” He handed the receiver back, his serious expression telling her that something significant had happened.

  “He’s here, isn’t he?” she said unsteadily.

  He nodded. “He’s been spotted in the area. The sheriff thinks he’s holed up in one of the cabins out at Deep Frost Lake. He says the snow’s thick out there, but I should be able to get in and check it out.”

  She felt as if a giant hand squeezed her lungs. “You’re not going alone?”

  “It’s my job. It’s up to me to take care of him.”

  “But what if he’s armed?”

  “So am I,” he reminded her gently. “Don’t worry. If I think I need backup, I’ll holler.”

  She clung to him, burying her face in his warm, smooth shoulder. So this was what it was like to send the man she loved into danger. “Please, be careful,” she whispered. “I know what Mike is capable of.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve done this before.”

  “Knowing that doesn’t make it easier.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.” He looked at her for a long time, his eyes troubled, then he took her in his arms. “I want you to stay here in the house until this is over.”

  “No.”

  He looked as if he were about to argue with her and she laid a finger over his lips. “No, Blake, I’d rather be at the bookstore. At least there I’m on Main Street, and I’ll ask Polly to come in this morning and be with me. If I stay here all alone, Mike could easily get into the house and overpower me. I’d be helpless to stop him.”

  “I could probably arrange protection for you.”

  “I’d rather be at the bookstore.” She kissed him on the mouth. “Please? I’d feel safer there.”

  He let out his breath in a long sigh. “All right, but I don’t like it. I’ll be out of touch while I’m on the road.”

  “If anything happens I’ll call 9-1-1,” she promised.

  “All right. Just promise me you’ll be careful, and please don’t leave the store until I come and get you, okay?”

  “Okay.” She held his face between her hands. “You be careful, too, please? I want you back in one piece.”

  He gave her a faint grin. “I kind of prefer it that way myself.”

  “You have time for breakfast?”

  “If we make it fast. I’m going to need you to take me back to the hotel to get my car.”

  “Oh, right, I’d forgotten about that.” She was already clambering out of bed as she spoke, dragging the comforter with her. She called Darcie first, who assured her that Heather was feeling right at home.

  Gail cut off her teasing questions, saying she was late for work. She joined Blake in the shower, then dressed
in a warm, salmon pink dress and a black blazer. She poured cereal into bowls while Blake made the coffee, and they ate in companionable silence. By the time they were ready to leave, it had started snowing again.

  Several minutes later, Gail pulled up in the parking lot of the Alpine Inn, conscious of a terrible ache of fear. She wanted to cling to him, beg him to stay safe and come back to her. Instead, she managed a shaky smile. “I’ll see you when you get back.”

  He hesitated, then reached for her, pulling her against him while he gave her a long, hard kiss. “Take care,” he said briefly, then opened the door to get out.

  “You’ll call me when you get back?”

  “I’ll do better than that.” He looked back at her over, his shoulder. “I’ll come to the bookstore and take you to lunch at the diner.”

  It sounded like such an anticlimax that she actually managed a laugh. “I’ll look forward to that.”

  Turning back to her, he cupped her chin in his warm fingers and kissed her briefly on the lips. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him.”

  “Just make sure he doesn’t take care of you.”

  He pointed his finger at her in a mock salute. “Count on it.”

  She watched him crossing the parking lot with an easy stride, the snow swirling around his shoulders and bare head. His shoes left deep imprints in the white blanket that covered the pavement.

  He had more to worry about than taking Mike into custody, she thought, as she backed out of the space. If the snow kept up like this, the road to the lake would be tough to travel. She only hoped he wouldn’t be stranded out there with his prisoner.

  She drove slowly back to town, squinting to see the road through the steadily slanting snowflakes that fell wet and. heavy across her windshield. When she reached Main Street, however, the traffic had already churned up the snow, and she made it easily to her parking spot across from the bookstore..

  She sat for several seconds in the warmth of the car; hugging her tense body, reluctant to unlock the door and leave her fragile security. As far as she could see, no one stirred on the deserted, windswept street. It seemed as if she were the only person alive here.