No. At the moment, no, she didn’t care. She loved the feel of being on the powerful Harley with Sam. It was a moment snatched out of time. They couldn’t speak, so they couldn’t argue. They were wrapped so tightly together, each of them could feel the heat of the other’s body.
Her own heartbeat was hammering in her chest and she thought she felt a matching rhythm coming from Sam’s body. Anna swallowed hard and rested her head against his broad back. Her grip on him tightened as the rumbling of the engine vibrated her body and jolted every already-sensitive nerve ending.
Christmas lights blurred into a stream of color as they whizzed past. Shoppers hurried along crowded sidewalks. Pine garlands were strung across the street from lamppost to lamppost. Carols pumped from one of the stores they passed and she smiled behind her helmet. The giant Christmas tree in the town square glittered, while overhead, stars slipped in and out from behind clouds.
She didn’t know why he’d taken her on this ride, but she was so glad he had. Anna felt alive in a way she had never known before. She wanted this night to never end, but of course, it did.
He slowed the motorcycle down as they pulled into the driveway of his home. Light spilled from the windows onto the lawn in golden patches and Mrs. Soren’s car was gone from its usual parking space.
They were alone and instantly, Anna felt tense. It had been so liberating, riding behind Sam, tearing along the coast. But now they were back and nothing had really changed between them. There was that amazing sense of chemistry that burst into life whenever they were together. But at the heart of things, they were on opposite sides of a figurative wall.
He hit a button on the handlebars and as one of the garage doors opened, he steered the bike inside. An overhead light came on with the opening of the door and when he shut off the engine, the silence was deafening.
Reluctantly, she released her death grip around his waist, ignoring the empty feel of her arms. She reached up to pull off her helmet and shook her hair back. Her voice was soft and nearly breathless as she said, “That was amazing, Sam. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” He climbed off the bike, then took both helmets and set them on a nearby bench.
She was still sitting on the black leather seat, afraid to stand up for fear her legs wouldn’t support her. The engine was off, but her body was still vibrating. In fact, it felt as though every cell she possessed was electrified. Her gaze locked with his and she took a long, slow breath.
In the pale light, his blue eyes looked gray and stormy. She was willing to bet that the same wild passions were shining in her own eyes.
“Sam-”
“Anna-”
They spoke together and then closed their mouths in sync. Anna was edgy and she knew it. There were too many thoughts running through her mind. Too many emotions clamoring to be noticed and acknowledged. Carefully, she swung her leg over the back of the bike and stepped down onto the gleaming garage floor.
She swallowed hard. “You know, maybe I should just go now.”
“Don’t.”
Her gaze snapped to his. Every breath was a challenge. Her heartbeat was so frantic that she could hear the roaring pound of it in her own ears. A damp, hot ache settled between her thighs at the same time tension gathered in her chest. She wanted to whimper with the force of the want nearly choking her. But acting on what she-they-were feeling wouldn’t solve anything. Wouldn’t change anything. It would only make things worse.
“Sam, you know as well as I do that I should leave.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want you to and I don’t think you do either.”
“It’s not about want.” Unfortunately, she added silently.
“It’s all about want,” he answered, walking toward her with slow, deliberate steps.
Every step that brought him closer to her sounded like a gunshot in the quiet. Anna’s pulse was racing and her breath was now chugging in and out of her lungs. When he was close enough to touch her, Anna instinctively leaned in toward him. Her better judgment was being tossed aside. While a still-rational corner of her mind warned her that she was making a mistake, a much more powerful voice within told her to take what he offered. She knew then she wouldn’t be leaving. Not until the desperate ache inside had been eased.
He scooped both hands into her hair, cupping her head in his hands, then he drew her closer, lowered his head and kissed her. Anna was done for.
Plain and simple, Sam Hale swept all common sense right out of her mind. He silenced that warning shriek inside her and awakened the part of her that wanted. Needed.
She was blistered by the heat racing through her. She welcomed it, moved into him and wrapped her arms around him. Nestling as close to him as she could, Anna gave him everything she had.
Their tongues tangled in a fierce dance of desire. Breathing became secondary to the rising tide of passion erupting between them. Hands moved, explored, claimed. Bodies melded and whispered words of hunger rattled through the silence.
Finally, he tore his mouth from hers, stared down into her eyes and demanded, “Come with me.”
She met his gaze, saw exactly what she needed to see and knew that denying him wasn’t an option. Because she didn’t want to leave. She wanted to feel as alive as she had on the back of that motorcycle-alone in the dark with him.
“Yes,” she said softly. “Now.”
Hand in hand, they raced across the yard, Sam’s longer strides forcing Anna to run at his side. She laughed shortly, the sound escaping into the night and dissolving like soap bubbles.
He opened the back door, drew her inside and closed the door behind them. Swinging her up against him, he held her so tightly she could hardly breathe. Yet she didn’t care. All she cared about was his mouth on hers, his hands stroking up and down her back in a proprietary manner that absolutely thrilled her.
“You taste so damn good,” he murmured, breaking away to nibble at the base of her throat.
She sighed because she didn’t need words to tell him what she was thinking, feeling. He just knew.
He slid his hands up under her shirt, skimming his fingertips across her skin until she was shivering in his arms. Then he smiled down at her and said, “Not in the kitchen, damn it. Upstairs. In my bed.”
Here was her last chance, that tiny voice in the back of her mind whispered. Last chance to back out before she made what could be an incredible mistake. She stared up into those amazingly blue eyes of his and nodded. “Yes, Sam.”
He grinned, swept her up into his arms and headed for the hallway.
“I can walk,” she said on a laugh.
“Your legs are too short,” he countered. “I’m faster.”
“Good point.” She snuggled into him, kissing his neck, the underside of his jaw. Her hands slid across his chest and she felt the pounding of his heart beneath her palms.
He took the stairs at a dead run and rushed her down a dimly lit hall so quickly that she noticed nothing. Then he was stalking into his bedroom and Anna took a quick look around.
Boldly masculine, the furniture was big, dark and heavy. Deep blue drapes were pulled back, allowing the moonlight to pour through the wide windows to lay across a bed big enough for four people to sleep comfortably.
But sleeping wasn’t on her mind.
He set her on her feet and instantly reached to pull off his shirt. Anna watched and took a short, sharp breath at the first sight of his broad, bare chest. Muscular and tanned, he actually rippled when he moved and she wanted nothing more than to be held against that expanse of warm, golden skin.
In seconds, they were naked. Sam tugged the navy blue duvet off the mattress and then they were tumbling onto the cool, crisp sheets. He seemed to be touching her everywhere at once. Her body was humming with sensation and her mind fogged over as he dipped one hand to her core and cupped her heat.
“Sam…” She lifted her hips into his touch, seeking more, needing more.
He leaned on one elbow, looking down at her
, watching her eyes as she twisted and writhed beneath his touch. She read a desperate craving in his eyes and that only served to inflame her own desires.
He dipped one finger into her warmth and she groaned, lifting into his touch. Her hands moved up and down his arms, nails scraping along his skin. His thumb caressed that one small nub of sensation until Anna felt as though she were about to splinter into a million jagged pieces.
Her breath was strangled as she fought to reach the pinnacle that was waiting for her. She needed it. Needed him. “Sam, please. Now. Inside me.”
He dipped his head and took one of her nipples into his mouth, licking and nibbling, before suckling at her until she felt the draw of his mouth all the way to her toes. She grabbed at his shoulders, then stabbed her fingers through his thick, dark hair. Holding his head, she drew his gaze to hers and whispered, “I need you, Sam.”
“I’ve got to have you, Anna. All of you.” He shifted then, moving over to kneel between her parted thighs. Scooping his hands beneath her bottom, he lifted her off the mattress and as she fumbled for something to hold on to, he covered her aching heat with his mouth.
Anna hissed in a breath and closed her eyes only to open them again an instant later. She wanted to watch him. Wanted to see as well as feel what he was doing to her. His lips and tongue moved over her flesh with a deliberation that pushed her higher and higher. He tasted her, licked her and took her to the very peak of that release she knew was waiting for her.
Then he pulled back and left her dangling over the precipice.
“Sam!” She called his name in a broken voice and heard the desperate need in her tone. “Don’t you dare stop now,” she warned.
That smile of his curved his mouth as he shook his head. “Not stopping, Anna, just shifting gears.”
He laid her down on the mattress, caught her gaze with his and entered her body in one long, smooth stroke. She gasped, arching into him. He filled her completely and as her body stretched to accommodate him, she lifted her hips into him to take him deeper.
“Easy…” He whispered it, the word almost strangled. “You start moving and this is going to be over way too fast.”
She smiled up at him, and pulled his face to hers for a kiss. “I’ll take my chances.”
“My kind of woman.” He kissed her back as his body moved into hers, setting a fast rhythm that she eagerly matched.
He pushed her higher and higher and Anna felt herself spinning completely out of control. She’d never known anything like this. This was so much more than she’d expected. So much more than anything she’d ever experienced.
It was magic, she thought wildly. The very magic she’d dreamed of finding one day. And it was more than the incredible chemistry they shared, Anna thought with a start. She was falling for Sam Hale-and there was no way that this would end in anything but misery.
Sam had already told his brother that she wasn’t, in effect, “good enough” for him. So why would she be good enough for Sam himself?
Heart suddenly aching, she looked up into his eyes and was held, spellbound as she shattered. Her body clenched around his and she held him tightly to her as he followed her into the sensation-filled abyss.
Seven
“You slept with him.”
Anna hadn’t expected the truth to be quite so obvious, but she shouldn’t have been surprised. Tula had gotten home from visiting her cousin and had come straight over to talk, bringing a bottle of wine with her. Now that they had the wine poured and were settling in for a good talk, Tula had taken about five seconds to blurt out her suspicions.
Anna blinked at her friend but didn’t bother to deny the obvious. “How could you tell?”
“You’re practically radioactive you’re glowing so brightly,” Tula said as she plopped down on Anna’s living room couch. “Man, go away for a few days and the whole world tips on its axis. I thought you hated Sam.”
“I thought so, too,” Anna muttered and dropped onto the other end of the sofa. Shoving both hands through her hair, she shook her head. “Honestly, I don’t know how this happened. He made me so mad at first and then, we started talking and he’s really funny and nicer than I thought and he kisses so well and before you know it, we were on his motorcycle looking at Christmas lights and then we were at his house and in his bed and boom.”
Tula stared at her for a long moment before whispering, “Wow.”
“Yeah, wow.” Anna shifted her gaze to the Christmas tree, where a few packages lay in a bright carpet of color. Shaking her head, she idly said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know-” She said it automatically, then stopped herself. “That’s a lie. Yeah, I am. For all the good it’ll do me.”
“Oh, Anna, it could work out.”
She smiled, in spite of the growing sense of dread inside. “I don’t think so. He didn’t think I was good enough for his brother, remember?”
Tula waved that off with a sniff. “Please, you were way too good for Garret.”
Anna laughed. She’d always been able to count on her best friend. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling she’d had since leaving Sam’s bed the night before. That she was on borrowed time and that she was feeling a lot more for him than he was for her. There was simply no way this was going to end well.
“Thanks for that,” she said, reaching out to squeeze Tula’s hand. “But I’m tired of thinking about me. Tell me why your cousin Sherry wanted to see you so badly.”
Tula sighed and reached to the coffee table for her glass of white wine. “You’re not going to believe this, but Sherry’s pregnant.”
“Really? Who’s the father?”
“I don’t know,” Tula said and took a sip of her wine. “She refused to tell me. But what’s worse, she hasn’t even told the guy he’s going to be a father.”
Anna couldn’t imagine keeping something like that to herself. “Why would she do that?”
“I don’t know.” Tula frowned. “I told her that if the guy was worth sleeping with, he’s worth telling him the truth, but she wouldn’t listen.”
“So why’d she want to see you?”
Tula leaned back into the couch. “She wanted to name me the legal guardian of the baby just in case something happens to her.”
“But she hasn’t even had it yet.”
“You know Sherry. Afraid of everything. Although,” Tula said, “she’s not scared of raising a baby alone, which would absolutely terrify me.”
“Did you agree to be the baby’s guardian?”
“Sure I did,” she said. “We’re family.”
“So,” Anna told her, picking up her own wine, “we’ve each had a busy few days, huh?”
“Guess so,” Tula agreed. “Though yours, I’m thinking, was way more fun.”
The next few days were a blur of stolen moments and passion hot enough to burn a man to a cinder. Sam dreamed of Anna at night and thought of nothing but her during the day. Every time he was with her, he wanted her more.
Scrubbing one hand across the back of his neck, he kicked the wall behind his desk and hardly felt the pain. He’d come into the office to avoid Anna at home. He couldn’t see her without wanting his hands on her and he couldn’t think when he was touching her.
How the hell could Sam lay claim to Anna when he had practically forced his brother to walk away from her? Would his brother ever forgive him? Could he risk losing his only family on the chance that what he and Anna had was lasting? “Mr. Hale?”
He looked up as his assistant opened the door. “What is it, Kathy?”
“A Mr. Cameron here to see you.”
Shock had him speechless for a second or two, but he recovered quickly. “Send him in.”
Sam stood up to greet Anna’s father and the older man shook his hand with a wary look. Suddenly, Sam felt a little uneasy. After all, he was sleeping with the man’s daughter. “Good to see you, Dave.”
/> “Sam.” The man glanced around the spacious office before settling his gaze on Sam’s again. “I won’t take up much of your time. Just thought we should have a little talk.”
“About what?” Oh, he knew what.
“Anna.”
“Ah.”
“Crystal Bay’s a small town,” Dave was saying. “Secrets are impossible to keep. So I figure we both know what’s going on.”
“Meaning?” Sam asked, unwilling to give any information on the off chance that Dave was still in the dark.
The older man frowned at him. “Meaning, I know you’ve been seeing my daughter just as you know my company’s in trouble.”
“Dave…” What the hell was he supposed to say? He knew Dave Cameron was a proud man.
He lifted one hand in a bid for silence. “Whatever’s between you and Anna is your business. You’re both adults. What I’m here to tell you is, contrary to what everyone in town is thinking, I won’t use my daughter as a bargaining chip for business.”
Scowling himself now, Sam took a deep breath. “And I wouldn’t use her either.”
Dave studied him for a long minute. “Then we understand each other?”
“I think so,” Sam said, bristling a little under the man’s close scrutiny.
“Fine, then. I’ll wish you a good day and be on my way.” Dave started for the door, then stopped and looked back. “One more thing. You hurt my little girl and we’ll be having another talk.”
The man was gone before Sam could respond. But then, what could he possibly have said? He felt like a damn teenager after a dressing-down. The hell of it was, he had the feeling he’d deserved it.
Christmas was just a few days away when Anna finally finished the mural in Sam’s home office. She could admit to herself that when she’d begun this job, she’d actually considered giving him some ghastly painting. A horrific view out an artificial window. But that idea hadn’t lasted more than a moment or two. Her own professionalism prevented her doing anything less than her absolute best.
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