“Oh, Derek,” she breathed fondly, struck again by the vulnerability that occasionally appeared in him to surprise her. “Don’t you know you’re all the hero I’ve ever wanted? You’ve shown me that I never have to worry about being bored with you. That you’ll play with me, yet you’ll be there for me to lean on in a crisis. I had already discovered all those things about you even before I found out what you once did for a living. My only concern was that you would try too hard to change me into something I’m not, something I couldn’t be.”
“Summer, I don’t want to change you,” he rasped, stroking her cheek with one unsteady finger. “Don’t you know that I think you’re absolutely perfect, exactly as you are? I only want you to be happy.”
“I know that now, Derek. And I promise that I’ll listen to your advice and then I’ll use my own judgment about my decisions, just as you’ll do when I make suggestions to you.”
“Of course I will.”
“Think you can handle being involved with a college student?” she asked him, lifting a hand to touch his cheek.
He caught her hand in his. “You’re going back to school?”
“I want to work with those kids, Derek. Full-time,” she confessed. “I haven’t enjoyed anything that much in five long years.”
“You’ll be great with them. You’ll make a difference, Summer.”
“I hope so. I’m a little scared. I’m not sure that I can do it. It’s been a long time since I studied for a test.”
“Oh, love, I have no doubt that you can do it,” Derek crooned lovingly, cradling her face between large, capable hands. “And I’ll always be there for you, anytime you might need me.”
“I’ll always need you,” she whispered, looking up at him with eyes like liquid sapphires. “I love you, Derek Anderson. I’ll love you for the rest of my life.”
“And I love you,” he grated, sweeping her into his arms, heedless of the white wine that spilled over both of them. “Let me show you how much.”
“Yes, Derek. Show me. Now.” She put her arms around his neck and flashed her most brilliant smile for him.
Derek’s huge bed beckoned to them when he carried her into his bedroom, but rather than lowering her to it, he set her gently on her feet beside it. Then he kissed her, over and over, until both of them were trembling and gasping for breath.
Summer moaned and burrowed deeper into his arms, her silky hair brushing the underside of his chin. “Oh, God, Derek, I was so frightened for you tonight. Please don’t ever frighten me like that again. I wouldn’t want to live if anything happened to you.”
Overwhelmed by her admission, Derek crushed her to him with a sound deep in his throat that might almost have been called a sob. “I love you, Summer. I love you so desperately,” he muttered in a voice raw with need.
“Oh, Derek.”
He held her for a moment longer, then stirred against her, anxious to be rid of the garments that separated them. He undressed her with loving care, sliding the rose silk blouse from her shoulders and kissing each inch of flesh that he exposed. Then he reached for the snap of her gray flannel slacks even as he tugged impatiently at his own garments. They were both nude when he finished. Threading his fingers into the hair around her face, he lowered his head to rub his lips over her eyelids and cheeks.
Luxuriating in his tender caresses, Summer sighed. She felt as if she’d known this man all her life, his thoughts, his fears, his pleasures. She pressed against his hardened thighs and smiled at the low groan of arousal her action drew from him. This was her man in her arms, she reminded herself wonderingly, and she had so much love to give him.
He needed her love, she thought happily. Incredibly, he needed her as much as she needed him.
Derek was trembling when he moved his hands to her creamy, upthrust breasts, then lowered his mouth to taste them. Summer closed her eyes and clung to him for support, her fingers curling into his shoulders as she arched into him. She swayed unsteadily as Derek moved slowly downward. Only her hands on his shoulders kept her from falling as he dropped to his knees to nuzzle her inner thighs.
“Ah, Derek,” she breathed, finally sinking to the edge of the bed. “You’re driving me wild.”
“Good,” he rasped. “I like you that way.”
And then he came to her in a rush of need and desire that drove her back into the soft mattress with a cry of pleasure.
Derek stroked and tasted and nibbled every inch of her eager body until Summer was blazing like a torch for him. Not content this time to lie still beneath his ministrations, she pushed him onto his back and explored his body with the same thorough attention. Derek shuddered beneath her touch, causing her to laugh as smugly as possible in a voice that was little more than a ragged exhale.
Unable to hold back any longer, he twisted until she was beneath him again, making a place for himself between her thighs. Summer welcomed him with a murmur of encouragement.
“I love you, Summer,” he whispered, even as he surged into her.
“I love you, Derek,” she managed before the power of speech left her entirely.
In the lovemaking that followed, Summer found a degree of physical exhilaration such as she had never experienced before—not even before her accident. She had once thought that dancing provided the ultimate physical freedom, as close to flying as possible without leaving the ground. Then Derek led her into a dramatic climax that gave her the sensation of spinning through space, weightless, carefree, unhampered by old injuries or fears. Freedom.
Much, much later Derek stirred against the pillow, pulling Summer closer to his side as they snuggled together beneath the geometric print bedspread. “Lady, you are good,” Derek murmured with gently teasing approval.
Summer smiled against his damp shoulder. “Thank you,” she answered primly. “You’re not bad yourself, Derek.”
“Olympic-class?”
“Not amateur.” She lifted her head to kiss his jaw. “Definitely not amateur.”
“Well, this old pro is about to sign an exclusive contract. For life.”
“That sounds nice,” she told him warmly. “Very nice.”
“Just don’t expect many more weeks like this past one,” he warned her. “I’m really a very conservative kind of guy, you understand.”
“Mmm.” She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder, reserving comment on his questionable statement.
And then she lifted her head with a frown as a sudden thought occurred to her. “Speaking of conservative guys, what happened to Joel tonight?” she demanded.
Derek laughed softly but feigned ignorance. “What do you mean?”
“You know damn well what I mean. Just how long have you known Joel Tanner, Derek?”
“Six or seven years,” Derek replied casually.
“How did you meet him?”
“Let’s just say we were business associates.”
“Joel was a spy?” Summer gasped, falling back against the pillows.
“Courier, Summer.”
She shook her head, dazed. “I can’t believe it. And he seemed like such a gentle, sweet man.”
“You wouldn’t have called him gentle or sweet if you’d seen the way he saved my neck in Beirut three years ago,” Derek informed her, absently rubbing his scarred shoulder. “Joel’s got a bit of a temper, you see.”
“So that’s why you thought it was so funny that Connie was dating him. He’s just like you!”
Derek laughed. “We’re not that much alike. But Joel won’t let Connie walk all over him like that wimpy ex-husband of hers did. She needs a strong man like Joel to keep up with her. He’ll treat her very well, but he’ll know when—and how—to draw the line when it’s necessary.”
“You are a devious man, Derek Anderson.”
“I didn’t plan this, Summer. Joel and I got out of our government jobs at about the same time. He asked me to help him set up his accounting firm, and I did. He really was a client. I never expected him to fall for Connie at my pa
rty, but when they hit it off so well, I realized they made a good couple. Who knows, they might even decide to make it permanent, like we did.”
“Did we?” Summer murmured with a secret smile, fully aware that there was one question Derek had not yet asked.
“Damn straight,” he answered cheerfully. He settled her back against his shoulder and kissed the top of her head.
“How do you feel about children, Summer-love?” Derek inquired blandly after a few minutes of contented silence.
“Children,” she repeated thoughtfully. “As in ours?”
“Umm. Eventually. When you finish school.”
“Definitely worth consideration,” she told him gravely, dropping a kiss on his jaw.
“I might even let them make their own decisions, once in a while,” Derek quipped with wry self-humor.
“I’m sure they’ll appreciate it,” she murmured, already picturing the battles sure to take place in the Anderson home when their daughter became a teenager. Summer was enthralled with her vision of the future.
“When will you marry me?”
She smiled brightly. “I wondered when you would get around to asking me.”
“So answer me. When?”
“One month.”
“That long?” he asked, dismayed.
“Our families are going to be in shock as it is,” she pointed out. “We’ve only known each other for two weeks.”
“I’d have married you last weekend if you hadn’t been so damned stubborn about giving me time to think,” he growled. “All right, Summer-love, you have one month. Not a day longer, you hear?”
“I hear, darling. One month.”
She snuggled against him once more, then lifted her head again with a frown.
“Now what is it?” Derek asked.
“You’re sure my leg doesn’t bother you?”
“Dammit, Summer. Of course it bothers me. For your sake, not for mine. It tears me up to think of you bleeding and in pain, and of the sacrifices you had to make. I wish for your sake it had never happened, but it doesn’t make the least bit of difference in my feelings for you. Would it matter to you if I were the one with the game leg?”
“No, of course not. But you love sports so much.”
“I’ve participated in sports over the years because it was a good way to keep in shape for my work and to work off the tension that was an inherent part of my job. It also made a good cover. You can’t imagine how many deliveries I made in smoke-filled arenas and sweat-rank gyms. Even at checkpoints in marathon races. But I’m not going to leave you on the sidelines now that I’ve found you, my love. As a matter of fact,” he added, his hand straying to her breast, “I can think of several interesting sports we can take up together.”
“Mmm. I like the way you think,” she purred, finally allowing herself to be convinced that Derek did not see her as a burden or an object of pity.
“If it makes you feel any better, I’ll even tolerate a few gimp jokes. I still don’t think they’re particularly funny, but I’d hate for you to go back to thinking I’m a stuffed shirt.”
“Oh, Derek, I love you.” She rolled on top of him to cover his face with kisses. “I’ll never call you a stuffed shirt again.”
He laughed and hugged her close. “Didn’t I warn you once about making promises you might not be able to keep.”
A sinuous wriggle was her only reply. Derek’s grin faded as desire returned with breathtaking abruptness. He rolled on top of her and crushed her erotically into the pillows.
Summer murmured her pleasure and responded wholeheartedly.
When the telephone rang, Derek cursed softly and flopped onto his back, covering his eyes with his forearm. “My sister has lousy timing,” he muttered.
“You’re the one who demanded that she call,” Summer teased breathlessly, reaching for the telephone. “Hello?”
“Hi, Summer. Did I catch you at an inconvenient moment?” Connie’s voice asked hopefully.
“You might say that,” Summer replied dryly. “I take it you’re not spending the night here tonight?”
“You got it. Think Derek will be mad?”
Summer eyed her impatient lover. “Nope. Does this mean that Joel’s not still mad at you for almost being robbed?”
Connie sighed audibly. “Can you believe it? I had no idea I was getting involved with the Incredible Hulk. Remind me to try not to make him angry very often, will you?”
“You could always stop seeing him,” Summer suggested impishly.
“No way. I seem to have a weakness for bossy men. And if you tell Derek I said that, I’ll swear you lied.”
Summer laughed and promised to keep quiet. “Besides,” she added, “I seem to have the same weakness.”
“Yeah. Who’d a believed it?” Connie paused, then spoke again. “By the way, Summer, I think you and I need to have a talk with these two guys about what they used to do before they became respectable businessmen.”
Summer grinned. She’d known Connie wouldn’t be fooled for long. Derek had a tendency to underestimate his sister’s intelligence. “We’ll do that. Good night, Connie. Have fun.”
Connie giggled. “You, too, kid. Bye.”
Summer replaced the receiver and turned to Derek. “Connie’s staying at Joel’s tonight.”
“That decision,” Derek replied unconcernedly, “is entirely up to her.”
“My, my,” Summer drawled. “Is this Derek the Dictator speaking?”
“Umm. See what you’ve done to me?”
A tantalizing smile played around the corners of her kiss-swollen mouth as Summer looked at his tousled hair, which once again was displaying an endearing tendency to curl, his gleaming silver eyes and his almost boyish grin. She remembered the grim memories that had been in his eyes when she’d first met him, understanding now what had put them there. He had needed her in his life then, just as she had needed him. “I like what I’ve done to you,” she told him, no longer teasing.
“So do I, Summer-love. So do I.”
He pulled her down beside him and began to demonstrate quite thoroughly just how much he loved her.
“JUST LOOK AT the two of them standing there.”
In response to Connie’s grumble, Summer turned her head and looked across the room to where Derek and Joel stood in quiet conversation in front of the impressive glass wall of Derek’s living room. All around them the room was filled with chattering, laughing guests in brightly colored garments. Derek wore a beautifully tailored suit of a light gray fabric almost exactly the color of his eyes; Joel had chosen to wear navy. They looked exactly like two respectable, dignified businessmen. Summer turned back to her former roommate, tilting her head so that she could look up at the taller woman from beneath the small, net-trimmed brim of her white hat. “They look like a couple of stuffed shirts, don’t they?” she murmured with a laugh.
Connie sighed, straightening the full skirt of her emerald-green bridesmaid’s dress. “That’s exactly what we would have thought only a few months ago. What happened to us, Summer?”
“We were conned,” Summer answered without hesitation. “Completely taken in by a couple of mild-mannered businessmen with the souls of adventurers.”
“They wear their disguises well,” Connie mused, turning her gaze back across the room to look lovingly at the two men who’d made such changes in her life and Summer’s.
“Very well, indeed,” Summer agreed. “Excuse me, Connie, my mother’s trying to have a conversation with Clay. I think she might need rescuing.”
Connie grinned. “Your scheme to fix Clay up with Autumn certainly bombed, didn’t it?”
“Did it ever. They’ve been chatting like old buddies from the minute they met. No chemistry at all.”
“Ah, well. Maybe you can fix him up with Spring when she’s able to visit you.” To everyone’s disappointment Spring had come down with a minor illness that prevented her joining the rest of her family for the wedding, but she had promised to visi
t Summer and Derek in a few months.
Summer burst into laughter. “Now that would be funny.” Her eyes danced as she thought of her quiet sister paired with Crazy Clay.
Derek turned in the direction of Summer’s laughter, his heart warmed, as always, by the musical sound. He could feel his mouth tilting into a besotted smile at the sight of the petite, glowing woman who had been his wife for almost half an hour. She looked so beautiful in her mother’s antique lace, tea-length wedding gown Already he was counting the minutes until he could be alone with her.
“I don’t know about you, but I always start to worry when the two of them laugh like that,” Joel murmured at Derek’s side. “What do you suppose they’re planning?”
“I don’t know,” Derek replied with his piratical grin. “But, whatever it is, we can handle it, my friend. Excuse me.”
His long, confident strides moved him quickly through the crowded room to his wife’s side. He smiled at his thoroughly charmed mother-in-law as he slipped his arm around Summer’s waist. “You and Connie weren’t laughing at Joel and me a few moments ago, were you, Summer-love?” he asked her softly.
She looked at him with innocent blue eyes. “Why, Derek, would we do that?”
He chuckled. “Frequently.”
“So,” she challenged him lovingly, “what are you going to do about it?”
With a quick glance at her mother Derek leaned over and whispered into his wife’s ear exactly what he planned to do about it. His suggestion was definitely at odds with his appearance of utter respectability.
Blushing scarlet, Summer smiled in eager anticipation.
Hero in Disguise Page 18