by Debra Webb
She smoothed her hands over his powerful back, reveling in the feel of his strong body. No matter how she tried to pretend otherwise, she had never wanted anyone else like she wanted Nathan Blackrope. Her heart and soul belonged only to him. She could have today with him even if tomorrow never came. And she wanted today—this moment in his arms.
Nathan’s tongue continued to tease and stroke hers, his lips ravishing and at the same time soothing. Paige tucked her fingers into the waistband of his jeans and circled his waist, stopping on the snap. She popped the snap and then slid the zipper down. Nathan groaned into her mouth as she reached inside and touched him. Holding him so intimately sent a surge of pure feminine possessiveness through her that paralleled the feeling she had experienced when she had held her baby son in her arms for the first time. Nathan was part of her—he always had been and he always would be.
Paige pulled herself free of his kiss and knelt before him. She carefully eased his jeans down, freeing him. Nathan never wore underwear—just muscle and denim. The thought sent another sphere of heat spiraling between her thighs. Paige tugged his pants the rest of the way off and flung them away.
Her gaze moved up his muscular thighs. Her heart skipped a beat when her eyes paused on his heavy arousal, silky skin pulled tight across his hardened need. Nathan’s hands fisted at his sides while she took her time exploring his body. Paige glided her hands over his narrow hips and taut stomach in a whisper of skin against skin. Her gaze swept over his smooth, broad chest to the arms that could cradle tenderly or hold passionately.
She smiled up at his handsome face. A face so amazing that it took her breath away. His hair lay against his shoulders and chest, a curtain of silk that beckoned to her touch. Nathan Blackrope. Even his name made her insides twist with desire.
His eyes remained closed. He was waiting. Waiting patiently for her to have her fill of looking at him. She pressed her lips to his stomach, next to his naval. A ragged breath slipped past his lips into the quietness of the room. “Are you sure this will be okay?” she asked, outlining the bandage with her fingertips.
“Yes,” he said hoarsely.
Paige stood and slipped her arms around his neck, aligning her body along the length of his. She closed her eyes and glorified in the wonderful feel of his strong body.
Nathan moved his hands over her already heated flesh, touching, caressing. He nuzzled the hollow of her neck and inhaled deeply. His hands tangled in her hair as he took her mouth. She opened for him as his tongue plunged into her waiting mouth. He caressed... explored. His hardened length nudged her belly. She arched into him. He groaned and kissed her more deeply.
“I’ve wanted you for so long,” he whispered against her cheek. “You can’t know how much this means to me.”
She tightened her hold on his neck. “I know how much it means to me.” She pressed a kiss to the pounding pulse at the base of his neck. Her chest felt so heavy. She wanted to tell him things she didn’t even understand herself. She wanted to shout hysterically with joy and at the same time she felt the overwhelming need to cry. But all conscious thought ceased when Nathan lowered her onto the bed.
His skin felt so hot against hers. She inhaled his unique scent. Drew that special essence into her, filling herself, aware of only him leaning over her, looking into her eyes.
Her heart pounded, defeating any lingering doubts. She arched against him. “I’m on fire,” she whispered against his neck. “I can’t wait any longer.”
He pinned her hands above her head. His intense gaze settled on hers. “Burn for me, Paige,” he murmured as he nibbled her lower lip and then moved to her neck. His tongue and teeth working in perfect harmony, like magic. Torturing and then soothing her flesh as he made his way downward.
He licked one pebbled nipple, and took it between his teeth and tugged. Teased it with the tip of his tongue before opening his mouth to take as much of her breast as possible, then sucking.
She moaned and tried to pull her hands free to touch him, but he held her firmly, heightening her need.
Nathan moved to the other breast and worked the same magic. Heat pooled between her thighs as his hungry mouth moved over her belly and circled her navel. He pulled her arms down to her sides, but still kept them gently pinned to the bed.
“Nathan,” she gasped when he moved lower still. She desperately wanted to touch him. “Please,” she moaned. His hands slipped free of hers and she immediately buried her fingers in his hair.
He pushed her thighs up against her belly and wider apart. One hand on the back of each thigh, Nathan squeezed methodically as he lowered his head to please her in a way she had never known before. His breath on the sensitive, exposed area sent a shock rumbling through her. He flicked his tongue between the folds of her most feminine flesh. He explored slowly, patiently until he found the budding heart of her desire. He paid special attention there.
Her blood pounded in her ears. She arched wantonly against his mouth. “Nathan, please,” she begged. She couldn’t take much more of this.
He slipped his tongue inside her in response. She writhed uncontrollably at his stunningly erotic invasion. He circled her and thrust, again and again. Wave after wave of sensations swept over her, focusing on the center he continued to torture. When the tightening began he thrust his tongue harder, deeper and then he drew it across her pulsing nub. Paige cried out as release rocked her.
Before the waves subsided, Nathan buried himself fully, completely inside her. His lips found hers and he kissed her with such need that she thought she might cry. The sensation of being filled by him overwhelmed all other sensory perceptions. She was one with him at last and she wanted to hold him inside her and cherish him forever.
Nathan didn’t thrust for a long while, satisfying his immediate need with grinding himself against her, pausing and then grinding again.
Her heart constricted when she realized what he was doing. He was giving her time to adjust to his size, restraining his own needs for her comfort. She did cry then. Hard as she tried not to, the tears slipped out.
He kissed her cheeks, her eyes. He drew back and stared down at her in the semi-dark room. “Why are you crying? Am I hurting you?” He shifted to withdraw.
“No,” she said quickly, tightening her hold on his waist and wrapping her legs around his. “You’re not hurting me.”
He brushed his lips to hers. “Then why are you crying?” he asked again, holding his lower body still save for the throbbing inside her.
“Because you’re so gentle and it’s been so long,” she murmured.
“Paige.” He looked deeply into her eyes. “What’re you saying?”
“There’s never been anyone but you.” She tried to slow her racing heart and the thrill that zipped through her body when she saw the impact of those words in his eyes.
He brought his lips back to hers and kissed her slowly, reverently. With great care, he began to thrust inside her. With each long, slow stroke he whispered sweet words to her. She didn’t know what the words meant, she only knew that he spoke to her in the language he used when he wanted to express an emotion so strong that he couldn’t find the words to do so in English.
The waves crashed down on her again. The tremors started so deep... so far away. Nathan moved faster, harder, urged on by her responsive sounds. Closer and more powerful the tremors came until she could hardly bear the pressure. She clutched him to her and begged him to hurry.
He uttered a tormented phrase. His body felt rigid and unconquerable. He fisted his hands in the sheets and increased the force of his movements. He cried out her name and then her own climax took her.
A lifetime of memories flashed through her mind as she acknowledged what her heart had known all along. She loved Nathan with all her heart and soul and nothing would ever change that. Not time, not misunderstandings, not her father, nothing.
Nathan’s own release came hard. He collapsed, grinding his hips into hers one last time.
They
held each other until their breathing had returned to normal. Nathan eased onto the mattress next to her and rested his head against her belly. Blue-black silk fanned over her skin. He caressed her sweat-dampened body. Talking wasn’t necessary. She could feel what he felt. Nathan still loved her, too. She knew from the words he had spoken to her during their lovemaking, though she had no idea what he had said. She knew by the way he had looked at her when he realized there had been no one else but him. And she also knew by the tender way he held her now. He loved her. Her heart rejoiced.
“What’s this?” he asked, raising his head to look more closely in the dim light.
“What?” Paige asked with a dreamy smile.
“This.” He traced the slightly raised mark of her caesarean scar. The same line of flesh that had been reopened to remove all that made her whole.
Paige stilled. She had forgotten about that. How could she answer that question? There had been complications and she hadn’t been able to have Jesse naturally. Fear slipped into her anxious heart. No matter how much Nathan still loved her, he would hate her when he found out the truth about his son. This wonderful feeling they shared right now would only be temporary. Paige’s heart ached. And even if he forgave her for that, he would never want her now. Nathan wanted lots of children and Paige could only give him one. The one she had kept from him for four years.
“Paige,” he whispered. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing,” she muttered. “It’s a surgical scar. I...I had surgery. You know, female stuff.”
“What kind of female stuff?” he asked, frowning.
Paige kissed him on the cheek. “I hope you’re not in too much pain,” she said, changing the subject. She glanced at the bandage on his stomach and winced when she saw the bright red. “Nathan, you’re bleeding again. We shouldn’t have—”
“Believe me,” Nathan interrupted, “I didn’t feel any pain.”
Chapter Nine
Paige smiled pleasantly at each person she met as she strode leisurely down the corridor to the District Attorney’s office. A glorious morning for revenge, she thought. She glanced at her watch. Nine fifteen. Her timing was perfect. Paige opened the door and entered the DA’s domain. She greeted the receptionist in the lobby as she crossed the room. There was no need to ask directions. She had been to Joe Myers’s office before. She strode down the long hall that separated the individual suites. At suite 218 she entered the office of Myers’s personal secretary.
“Good morning, Miss Weston,” Sandra, a plump lady in her mid-fifties, greeted Paige with an efficient smile.
“Good morning, Sandra,” Paige said, returning the smile. “I’d like the see Mr. Myers, if he’s available.”
“He’s on the telephone right now, but as soon as he’s finished, I’m sure Mr. Myers will be happy to see you. Would you like some coffee, Miss Weston?”
“No, thank you.”
Paige sat down in one of the three chairs in the small waiting area, crossed her legs and smoothed the gray skirt of her suit. She directed her gaze to Myers through the glass wall that separated his office from Sandra’s. He sat, reared back, in his leather executive chair that certainly wasn’t government-issue. He had already noticed Paige and nodded, acknowledging her presence.
She couldn’t hear his conversation with the door closed, but she could see the changing expressions on his face as he spoke. She knew perfectly well that the person on the other end of the line was her client.
Before leaving Trinity, Paige and Silas had synchronized their watches. Calvin had placed his call from Silas’s office at exactly twelve minutes past nine and Paige had timed her arrival perfectly three minutes later. Myers couldn’t possibly suspect that Paige had put Calvin up to making the call when she sat right before his eyes.
She smiled a secret smile and picked up a magazine to occupy her hands and eyes until Myers finished tightening the noose around his elegant neck.
After several minutes of conversing with Calvin, the door to Joe’s office opened and he stuck his head out. “Paige, come in,” he announced enthusiastically.
“Thank you.” She rose and followed him into his office. Myers closed the door behind them.
“Have a seat.” He gestured toward the chair in front of his desk. When Paige had made herself comfortable, Myers took his seat. “What can I do for you today, counselor?” he asked, with a roguish smile.
“Actually, I think there’s something I can do for you,” she said. Her cell phone chirped on schedule. “Excuse me, Joe.” Paige retrieved the compact phone from her purse. “Yes,” she said to her caller. “Great.” She closed the phone and deposited it back into her purse. She straightened in her chair and set her gaze back on Myers.
“You were saying?”
“I’d like you to drop the charges against my client, Calvin Jefferson,” she said pointedly.
Joe laughed long and loud. “You must be kidding. He’s an important link in our case against Malcolm Reed.”
“You know those drugs were planted in his locker as surely as I do. The combination on his locker has been tampered with. The kid is as clean as they come. You know he’s innocent.” Renewed fury swept through Paige when she considered the unfairness of the case against Calvin.
“If I were a betting man, I’d bet you’re right.” He smiled and raised one eyebrow. “But you see, I need Calvin and I have absolutely no intention of giving him up.”
“Okay, if that’s the way you want to play,” she warned. The intercom buzzed. Before Myers could press the button to answer, Paige interjected, “That’ll be Calvin.”
Myers frowned at her and then pressed the button.
“Yes?”
“You have a call on line one, Mr. Myers.”
Myers reached for the telephone without taking his eyes off Paige. “Joe Myers,” he said into the receiver. As he listened, a pallor slid over his salon-tanned face.
Paige knew Calvin was playing the tape he and Silas had made of Myers’s unethical offer. When Myers dropped the receiver back into the cradle, rage glittered in his eyes.
“Just what do you hope to accomplish, Paige?”
“I don’t want to stir up any trouble, Joe. I think we can work this out amiably. You drop the charges against Calvin and I’ll forget about your little offer.”
“No way. I need Calvin.”
“How about I sweeten the deal for you, Joe?”
“What do you mean?”
“There are two guys who work directly for Malcolm Reed sitting in Haywood County Jail. Sheriff Holt says the two are very anxious to cut a deal, especially since one’s up on an assault charge. That would be assault with a deadly weapon.”
Myers straightened in his cordovan leather chair. The anger in his eyes quickly changed to eagerness. “You’d better not be jerking my chain,” he said warily.
“A.J. Davis, Calvin’s cousin, is probably the one who planted the drugs if I had my guess, with Baby Dave Simmons. A.J. is a very close associate of Malcolm’s, by his own account and according to Calvin. Baby Dave seems to be A.J.’s confidant.”
“You realize that I’ll have to check into this before I can give you any assurances,” Myers told her skeptically.
“You have twenty-four hours.” Paige stood. “After that, I talk to Judge Mattson about your little offer.”
“Be reasonable, Paige,” Myer shot to his feet. “These things take time.”
“Sheriff Holt can hold A.J. and Baby Dave for twenty-four more hours. After that I can’t promise you anything extra. Good day, Joe.”
Paige hurried to her car, then slipped behind the wheel and buckled her seat belt. She couldn’t wait to see Jesse. Maybe she would just spend the rest of the day with her little boy. She and Jesse could treat Beatrice to lunch. Someplace besides McDonald’s.
After that she would go back to Trinity. To Nathan. She leaned her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes. She relived the memory of Nathan’s hands on her body, touching her
everywhere. Heat simmered in her veins and she smiled. She took a long, deep breath. She moistened her lips and recalled the taste of his skin. Being with Nathan made her feel complete.
That one night they shared together so long ago had been beautiful—special. Paige had been completely inexperienced in the art of making love, but Nathan’s ability as a lover had more than made up for her lack of skill. Nathan had been patient as best he could considering the state of mind he’d been in at the time. He had needed Paige so much that night and she had needed him. They had clung to each other as if the world would end in the next minute.
When she had thought that Nathan had turned to someone else, rejected her, Paige assumed that her father had been right, that Nathan didn’t love her. She had never been able to get close to anyone else. Not that she feared inadequacy, but because she had always loved Nathan, even if he didn’t love her. And then, of course, there was Jesse. The birth of her son had turned her world upside down, sent her on a new journey. A journey that altered the course of her life forever. Paige had bloomed like a rose opening to the sun, become the true person she wanted to be. Not the carbon copy her father had wanted her to be.
Now, she sighed and opened her eyes. All she had to do was straighten this mess out with Nathan. She had prepared herself for his hatred. She loved Nathan more than life itself, but she could endure his hatred for Jesse’s sake. Her son needed his father a great deal more than Paige needed a lover.
She started her car and pulled out onto the busy street. She had always known what lay in store for her. One night of love and tenderness hadn’t changed anything. But at least she had a memory or two to hold in her heart. She wouldn’t kid herself about the future. Nathan would hate her when she told him. And she would tell him. Just not today, she decided.
~*~
Sweat rolled down Nathan’s back as he stacked the last of the hay bales nearest to the loft door. The winter supply was almost depleted as always at this time of year. With the pastures growing greener every day, haying the horses wouldn’t be necessary much longer.