Deadlier than the Male

by Sharon Sala

  Haley inhaled on a shudder and looked up. Even though he was bigger and older, he was still her Mack. She didn’t know what the future was going to hold, but this moment had been ten years overdue. “A lot of time has passed. Maybe too much. Are you married?”

  He shook his head.

  She stepped out of his arms, but instead of walking away, she began unbuttoning her dress. “I want this for me. It does not bind you to my future in any way. Okay?”

  Mack’s heart skipped a beat. It was his only hesitation. Within seconds, he’d pushed her hands aside and finished the job for her. In a single motion, the dress was off her shoulders and in an ebony puddle around her feet. He reached for her bra, then stopped, and for a long, silent moment looked his fill.

  Haley couldn’t stand it any longer. She stepped out of her panties, then reached behind her and unhooked her bra. When it all hit the floor with her dress, she exhaled softly. She was free—free of everything, including their past.

  When Mack began stripping, Haley’s heart started to flutter. Then she saw his leg and the long, puckered scar running from midthigh to well below his knee, and she was pierced by a sharp stab of regret for what he’d lost.

  Mack knew what she was thinking.

  “Don’t,” he growled, and picked her up in his arms and carried her to the bed.

  Haley shivered. So long…so long since this had happened anywhere else but her dreams.

  Mack slid into bed beside her, then buried his face against the curve of her neck, inhaling the scent of her perfume. Like the woman who wore it, it was bewitching.

  “You smell good. You feel good. I feel like I’m dreaming,” Mack whispered, and then began covering Haley’s body in an onslaught of kisses until she was writhing beneath him in a fever of need.

  When he finally rose over her, Haley’s legs parted of their own accord. When he slid into her, hard as steel and fully erect, she whimpered. But it wasn’t pain she felt. It was greed.

  “More, Mack, more.”

  He went deeper. Haley groaned.

  “Harder…please, harder.”

  Suddenly her head was against the headboard as their bodies ricocheted off each other like bullets off concrete. The sensation was crazy hot, and it still wasn’t enough.

  One minute rolled into two, then three, until spots began to dance behind Haley’s eyelids. At that moment cognizance gave way to madness as her climax washed over her. Wave after wave of mind-numbing pleasure burst and flowed in honey-thick motion, spilling into every nerve and muscle in her body until she was weak, shaking and gasping for breath.

  Mack held on until the very last moment, but when he felt her sweetness suddenly melt and spill all around him, he lost it. Her legs were around his waist, her hands locked around his neck. He was dying inside her, losing his sanity in heart-stopping increments, and he never wanted it to end.

  Then she moaned, and everything inside him came undone. His body bucked. His mind went blank.

  Ten years of longing and regret were wiped out between one breath and the next, leaving them spent and trembling in each other’s arms.

  Mack rolled, taking her with him. When she would have moved, he pushed deeper, keeping himself buried as far inside her as he could go.

  “No,” he whispered. “Not yet. I waited too many years to be here. Don’t make me move.”

  Haley threaded her fingers through his thick, dark hair, then cupped the back of his head and pulled his cheek against the curve of her breast.

  “I never could make you do anything,” she said.

  “That’s not true,” Mack said, and shifted until they were looking into each other’s eyes.

  “Exactly what was it I made you do?”

  He brushed his mouth across her lips, kissing her softly.

  “Fall in love,” he whispered, and kissed the tip of her nose. “With you,” he said, and kissed one eyelid. “Over and over,” he added, then kissed the other. “And over.”

  Haley sighed. Could they start over—right now, in this bed—and pretend the past ten years had never happened?

  “What are you thinking?” Mack asked.

  “I’m thinking about the ten years we lost,” she said. “Can we really get them back?”

  Mack shook his head, then propped himself up on one elbow and began tracing the shape of her mouth with the tip of his finger.

  “No. I’ve already lost those years,” he said. “What I want is the rest of your life. But I’m willing to take it slow, if that’s what you need. All I ask is that you don’t shut me out.”

  Haley’s eyes suddenly welled. “The night of the accident, your mother told me to go home, that I didn’t belong there at the hospital…with your people. I told her that I’d never had a home, and that the only place I ever belonged was with you.”

  Mack sighed. The poignancy of her words was a physical pain.

  “I’m so sorry. I can’t change what happened to you, but I can change your future…if you’ll let me.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. Like I said…the only place I’ve ever belonged was with you.”

  When she wrapped her legs around his waist, he quickened inside her. The sensation was all the aphrodisiac he needed.

  “Again?” he asked.

  Haley looked up at him from beneath those dark, sultry lashes, and then she smiled.

  “Again.”

  Chapter 5

  N ight had finally come, bringing the day from hell to an end, but Lena’s troubles were far from over. Learning that Haley and Mack had been planning to part company the night of the accident had been shocking. She hadn’t been able to get past “what if?” What if she hadn’t reacted so angrily on the night Haley graduated? What if she hadn’t sent Stewart out to bring her home? If she hadn’t, he would still be alive. But in the end, it all boiled down to one irrefutable fact: if Tom Brolin had chosen her instead of Chloe, none of this would have had to happen at all.

  She walked through the house, smoothing out a wrinkle in the carefully folded afghan lying over the arm of the sofa, straightening the drapes so that they were hanging in perfect folds, then fluffing the pillows on the sofa before stepping back to eye her handiwork.

  Everything was perfect. Everything except her life. It was in so much chaos it was pulling her down with it. When she glanced at the clock, her first thought was that Judd was late coming home from the gas plant. And then she remembered. Judd wasn’t ever coming home again. She’d made sure of that.

  She clenched her jaw and strode out of the room. It was time to go to bed. Sticking to a routine was how she got from one day to the next. Just because she was now living alone, that did not mean she could become a slacker.

  She took her shower, brushed and flossed her teeth, then smoothed night cream on her face and neck before putting on her gown. She wouldn’t look at herself in the mirror. She was a widow. It no longer mattered what she looked like, so she could suit herself. But the truth was, she couldn’t face herself and the damage she’d done.

  She started to leave the bathroom, then reached for Judd’s sleeping pills. He’d suffered from insomnia for years, and while she rarely had a problem, tonight she just wanted to go to sleep and forget. She popped a couple into her mouth and washed them down with water before crawling into bed. Within minutes she was asleep. And it was in sleep that her dreams turned to the past.

  The E.R. was in chaos. In her dream, the Brolins and the Shores were in adjoining bays, watching the doctors working over their sons and praying for a miracle with every breath.

  Stewart’s injuries had been assessed and the family informed. He had severe blood loss, as well as traumatic head injuries. His prognosis wasn’t good. They were already talking about transfusions and brain surgery, and Lena was in a panic. She’d kept her secret for more than twenty years, and now, in one night, it was all going to come down around her head. When she saw Tom Brolin step out from behind the curtain surrounding his son’s bed and head for the bathroom, she made an ex
cuse to Judd and followed.

  Tom was at the urinal when the door opened behind him. When he looked up and saw it was Lena, he nearly jumped out of his shoes, then cursed.

  “Are you out of your mind? This is the men’s restroom! Get out!”

  Lena peered beneath the stalls, making sure they were alone, and then began to talk.

  “The doctor said Stewart needs a transfusion.”

  Tom rolled his eyes and quickly zipped up his pants.

  “That’s not my problem,” he said. “For God’s sake, Lena, get out.”

  She grabbed him by the arm and spun him around. “That’s where you’re wrong,” she hissed. “Stewart’s blood type is AB negative. You have to donate.”

  Tom frowned. “Why is that my responsibility? Mack might—”

  “Because Stewart is your son.”

  Tom’s face went slack, and he grabbed on to the wall for support. She knew he was suddenly realizing the importance of what she’d said. AB negative, just like his.

  “You’re not serious?” he said.

  “I wouldn’t lie about something like that. Not…now. Not when it means his life.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.

  “Because you chose Chloe!” she cried. “You made love to me, and then you chose Chloe!”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t—”

  Lena slapped him, her face flushed in anger. “I don’t need sorry. Not anymore. I need you to donate blood to save our son’s life! That’s what I need. And I need you to keep quiet about it or you’ll regret it. I swear on my son’s life, if he dies, I’ll make you sorry.”

  Lena moaned in her sleep as her past sins continued to play out in a nightmarish rewind. Maybe if they’d actually had that conversation… Maybe…

  When a car driving past her house suddenly backfired, she woke with a start. Her heart was pounding, her nightgown stuck to her damp, flushed skin.

  Rattled by the dream, she sat up on the side of the bed and went to get a drink. It would be all right. This would all go away. Just like always, she’d taken care of the problem. But as she padded through the house, her gaze fell on the stack of sympathy cards the funeral director had sent home with her. Thank-you cards. She was going to have to send out thank-you cards for the flowers and the food.

  Satisfied that she had a purpose for tomorrow, she got her drink and had started back to bed when she caught a glimpse of her reflection in a mirror on the other side of the room. From this distance, and in the dark, it looked like Haley. It was the first time she’d ever seen the resemblance between them, and she hated it. The rage that had been simmering came back to a boil. How could she have given birth to such a cold, heartless bitch? Why was it her burden to be saddled with such an ungrateful daughter?

  She’d seen Mack at the church, but he hadn’t shown up at the cemetery. It could have been nothing—after all, it had started to rain. Lots of people who might have planned to go to the cemetery had changed their minds and gone home after the service. Lena couldn’t blame them.

  But the fact that Haley had left early and then Mack disappeared made her suspicious. She couldn’t control her daughter any more now than she’d been able to when she was young, but she would be damned before she would see them together again. It had been the cruelest of tricks that her daughter and Tom’s son had been attached in a way she and Tom never were. That was too much to be borne. And even though she got back in bed, her night was restless. She kept drifting in and out of sleep, kept waking in fits and starts, thinking that Tom and Judd were both sitting at the foot of her bed, pointing their fingers at her accusingly.

  Mack woke slowly, aware first of unfamiliar scents, then the fact that he wasn’t alone in the bed. That was when he opened his eyes.

  Haley was lying beside him, one hand tucked under her cheek, the other on his arm. Even asleep, she’d been unwilling to lose touch. He exhaled softly, then allowed himself to look his fill. He still couldn’t believe this had happened. He’d spent so many years thinking she hadn’t wanted him, and to find out she’d been told the same thing, that he hadn’t wanted her, seemed incredible. They’d spent the night waking up and making love, then falling back to sleep in each other’s arms. But last night had been about more than endless hot sex. Last night had been about healing broken hearts and wounded spirits.

  When he saw her eyelids beginning to flutter, he knew she was waking up. He wasn’t sure what she thought about making love in the morning, but he was about to find out. He propped himself up on one elbow and brushed a kiss across her lips, thinking he was going to wake her slowly. But when she suddenly reached out and cupped the back of his head and pulled him close again, he realized she’d been awake longer than he’d thought.

  “Surely you didn’t think you were going to get away with that one measly kiss?” she drawled.

  He laughed out loud as he rolled on top of her, then slid his hands beneath her hips.

  Her legs parted.

  He slid inside.

  Haley wrapped her legs around his waist. “Is that what you want?” she asked.

  “I want everything you’re willing to give me,” Mack said.

  “I make no promises, but take what you want,” Haley whispered, then smiled a slow, secretive smile as Mack began to rock against her, pushing all her sexual buttons and turning the passion dial up to high.

  More than an hour later, they were finally dressed and ready for breakfast.

  “Are you ready to start tongues wagging?” Haley asked.

  “What do you mean?” Mack asked, as they exited her room and headed down the stairs.

  “Us showing up somewhere to eat breakfast together means we probably spent the night together, too.”

  “Well, we did,” Mack said. “We’re adults. We answer to no one but ourselves, and besides that, there’s no one left to cause trouble about it.”

  “My mother,” Haley said.

  Mack shrugged. “Talk’s cheap, and as soon as I finish Mom’s house, I’m on my way back to Frankfort…hopefully with you.”

  Haley grinned. It was the first time he’d mentioned a future beyond this motel.

  “Is that where your business is located?” she asked.

  “The home office is there. I have three crews capable of working on three separate projects at once. Right now I have a crew in Savannah, a crew in Frankfort and a crew in Alabama.”

  Haley was thoughtful as he ushered her into his car. Once he got in, she fired another question.

  “Were you angry…about your athletic career?”

  Mack frowned, then took her hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “Honey, whatever I was at the time, it never had anything to do with you.”

  “But it was my brother who—”

  Mack’s expression darkened. “He nearly killed you, too. I don’t forget that. Ever.”

  “Okay. Then that’s that,” she said. “Question number two. How did you go from athletics to construction?”

  This time he grinned as they drove out of the parking lot. “Haley, honey, look at me. I’m six feet four inches…two hundred and thirty pounds of lean muscle mass, with two left feet and no skill in culinary arts. Which means…I used what God gave me, size and muscle. After I went back to college, I worked as an apprentice for one of Dad’s old friends on a construction site. I was strong. It was good therapy for my leg, and I found out I liked the business. Even better, I was good at it. One thing led to another, and here I am. How about you? Why physical therapy?”

  Haley never hesitated. She was as sure of her reason now as she had been the day she’d begun her training. It was her way of doing penance for what had happened. The bonus was that she’d turned out to like it.

  “Because of what happened to you. And like you, I was good at it, and I found out I liked it.”

  Mack’s heart swelled. Yet another reason to love the woman his girl had become.

  “I know there must be a lot of people who are thankful for your choice.”
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br />   Haley looked him squarely in the face, wanting to make sure she wasn’t reading this situation wrong.

  “Yes, there are, but I can do my job anywhere.”

  Mack’s smile widened. “Is that your way of saying you’re thinking about renewing our relationship?”

  Haley knew she was jumping into dark water without knowing what was down below, but she trusted Mack. For her, it was enough.

  “Yes, I’m thinking about it.”

  “Then I am one happy man,” Mack said, and took the turn into the parking lot of Martha’s Diner, parked and killed the engine. Then he leaned over and planted a kiss firmly on Haley’s lips.

  She sighed as he pulled away. “What was that for?” she asked, as her stomach did a flip-flop.

  Mack took her hand, feeling the strength in the muscles and thinking of all the good she was doing with her life. “Just because I could. Now. Enough of that. I’m starving.”

  Haley grinned. “Insatiable man that you are.”

  “And don’t you forget it,” Mack drawled. “After we eat…what’s your plan?”

  She didn’t falter in her decision. It was something that had to be done. “To confront my mother. I think we deserve to know what that feud was all about.”

  Mack frowned. He didn’t want to think of her getting hurt all over again. “You sure you don’t want to just let it go?”

  “As long as my mother draws breath, we’re going to be caught in the middle of her hate. I like to know who my enemies are and what direction they’re coming from.”

  Mack’s smile shifted. “I get what you mean. Okay…she’s your mother, so it’s your call. Now let’s eat.”

  He grabbed her hand and they walked into the restaurant together.

  It didn’t take long for word to get back to Lena that Mack and Haley had shown up together for breakfast at Martha’s Diner. She didn’t need a map to know how that had come about, and thinking about what her daughter had been doing when she should have been in mourning made her sick with rage. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. Haley should have to pay.