A Father's Promise

by Marcia Evanick

  "I'll make a few phone calls and see if I can round them up." A flush of excitement tinted Thomas's checks. "I'm going to need a pair of eyes to read me the names in the books."

  "I'll do it." Sydney volunteered.

  "No, I'll do it." Ellis had already caused Sydney to lose enough time at work. "After we locate the year-books, you go to the nursery. Trevor and I will keep your father company and fix dinner. I don't want you home until six." He knew the nursery closed at five, but Thomas had told him that before the accident she never got home before six.

  "But I want to help." Sydney didn't look upset that he was dictating to her. She looked mad as hell. "This whole plan was my idea."

  "I know, Syd, and I thank you." He reached over and covered her hand with his own. "You have been missing a lot of work lately because of me." And your father, but he didn't voice that. Sydney didn't need to hear it and Thomas already knew it. She also had been missing a lot of sleep, but he didn't think he was the sole reason for that, either. "Tomorrow night, after Trevor's tucked in, we can have another brainstorming session to see where we stand." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "We are going to need you for legwork later, but for now, I can read your father the names of the boys in the yearbooks and take notes."

  "Ellis is right, Sydney. We are going to need you later. Go to work before your employees decide to fire you." Thomas stood up and stretched. "I think we're done for the night. I don't know about you two, but Trevor wore me out with all his questions. I think I'll head for bed."

  He carefully watched the way Thomas stretched and yawned. It was an act. Thomas hadn't been worn-out by his son, as he had feared. Sydney's father was discreetly leaving the two of them alone. Not for the first time, he had to wonder if Thomas sensed what was going on under his roof. He doubted it. Thomas didn't strike him as a man who would leave his daughter, his own precious and beloved daughter, alone with a wolf. Tonight he was definitely feeling like a wolf. A big, bad and extremely hungry wolf.

  "Night, Dad." Sydney watched as her father made his way out of the room.

  Thomas used his cane to tap against the doorjamb.

  A moment later Ellis could detect the light tapping of the cane as Thomas made his way up the stairs.

  Silence filled the room.

  He turned, looked at Sydney and wondered what made her so different from the countless other women he met every day. Sydney was beautiful, that was an undisputed fact, but he had known more glamorous women who had expressed an interest in him. He rarely, if ever, returned their interest. Sydney had a body that curved in all the right places and made him think of cool sheets and hot sex. None of the other women had inspired such instantaneous lust, not even Ginny, when he was married to her.

  His thoughts turned to Trevor. His son had taken a liking to both Sydney and Thomas. When he was helping Trevor to get ready for bed, the boy had asked if Sydney was his girlfriend. He had been taken aback by such a question, until Trev explained that Kyle's daddy had a girlfriend. Kyle's parents were in the middle of a messy divorce and poor Kyle and his little sister had been drawn into the center of the fight. He had asked Trev how he would feel if he did have a girlfriend. His son had once again astounded him by telling him it would be okay because Sydney baked great cookies.

  During his drive back to Jenkintown this morning, he had been worried about Trevor becoming too fond of Sydney and Thomas. Now he realized how trivial that seemed when one looked at the whole picture. He had more important things to worry about. His son's health had to be his top priority. Besides, Trevor couldn't have picked a better surrogate family than Thomas and Sydney.

  Sydney glanced up from the pad of paper on her lap.

  He met Sydney's curious glance and smiled. Yeah, Trevor was right, her cookies weren't half-bad.

  "What are you grinning at?" Sydney self-consciously checked her hair and frowned.

  "You." He moved close enough to smell the light floral scent she always wore. "You made quite an impression on Trevor today."

  "I did?" Sydney tossed the notepad onto the coffee table with the rest of her paperwork and turned to face him. "What did he say?"

  "He wanted to know if you're my girlfriend." Sydney looked adorable with her feet tucked up under her bottom, so anxious to hear what his son had said.

  "He didn't!" Sydney looked horrified at the thought.

  "He did." Sydney didn't have to appear that startled and distressed by the prospect of being his girlfriend. "You're not doing wonders for my ego here, Syd."

  "What did you tell him?"

  So much for his ego. If he was really lucky, he might be able to scrape what was left of it off the floor and tuck it back into that pocket marked Pride before he went to bed. "Since I'm not in the habit of bringing women home with me and introducing them as my girlfriends, I was more curious about how he knew about daddies having them." He inched close enough to press his jean-covered thigh against her knee. "Turns out the little boy from up the street, who plays with him occasionally, parents are going through a messy divorce. Kyle's dad has a girlfriend, and I believe that's what initiated the divorce in the first place."

  "Lovely, and their little boy knows about it?"

  "Oh yeah. Kyle knows, the neighborhood knows and the dueling lawyers know. Hell, everyone knows, including my son." He had been disgusted by the whole sordid affair, but he couldn't have done anything about it. He had been so concerned about protecting Trevor from medical jargon and the possible outcome of his illness that he hadn't even thought about what the neighbors were up to.

  "Did you discuss this with him?"

  "Somewhat." His heart hadn't been in the mood for a deep heavy conversation with his son while he was giving him a bath in the St. Claires' tub. He saved the intense emotions for when the doctors gave him news to pass on to Trevor. "The topic of divorce didn't seem to go with his bathtime buddies." Trevor had packed a small bag of his favorite tub toys and brought it with him.

  "Divorce must be a very painful topic for him, considering the situation between you and his mother."

  "Trevor doesn't know we're divorced. He doesn't remember his mother at all. Ginny and I thought it was best that way." He had made sure that his son wouldn't be pulled in two different directions. He had witnessed firsthand some of his employees going through messy divorces and somehow the kids always ended up in the middle of them all. He had seen fights over holidays, birthdays and who was paying the orthodontist bill. He hadn't been about to drag his son into that battle. "Ginny wasn't cut out to be a mother."

  "So why did she have Trevor?"

  "Our marriage was in deep trouble, and Ginny thought a baby would help hold it together. About four months into her pregnancy she knew she had made a mistake."

  "She considered Trevor a mistake?" Sydney not only looked appalled, she sounded it.

  "No, for all Ginny's faults, she loved Trevor enough to let him go." It might have cost him a small fortune in divorce court, but she kept her end of the bargain. "She was also the first to get her blood tested to see if she'd match."

  "So what did you tell Trevor about his mother?"

  "Nothing really. He just knows he doesn't have one." He knew in the future he and his son would have to have a father-to-son talk about Ginny.

  "His mother hasn't seen him at all, even when he was sick?"

  "No. It may sound cruel, but I believe it's easier on everyone this way." He knew Sydney had been adopted when she was ten. Trevor's not knowing his biological mother was probably a real issue for her, and he could understand that. But Trevor was his son and Ginny was his spoiled and selfish ex-wife. Sydney, who opened her home and her heart to his son, deserved to hear some of the truth.

  "I believe it's better for Trevor to think he doesn't have a mother than to know his mother tricked me into getting her pregnant to hold on to a crumbling marriage and an open-ended checkbook. Once she realized that being pregnant didn't help the marriage or make her glowing or radiant, she wanted to terminate the p
regnancy. Whatever had been between Ginny and me was gone. For five months I paid dearly, until Trevor was born. I allowed Ginny to stay until she had recuperated from what she referred to as 'the ordeal' and then she was on her way."

  Sydney stared at him for a long time before she said, "I think you might be right. Ellis." She glanced down at his hands resting on his thighs. "One day you're going to have to tell him, though."

  "I know, but not yet." He opened one of his hands and held it out to her. Sydney's warm palm connected with his palm as her fingers entwined themselves around his. "He has a lot on his plate for now."

  "It doesn't seem fair, does it?"

  The sorrow in her gaze pulled at his heart. "No, it doesn't." He tugged on her hand and drew her closer. He loved his son with all his heart and was doing everything within his power, and beyond, to help Trevor. But now, right now, this very minute, he needed something more than a sympathetic ear and an understanding heart.

  He needed Sydney.

  "Know what really doesn't seem fair?" He drew her closer and watched her soft green eyes widen with perception and a touch of desire.

  "What?" Sydney's gaze fastened onto his mouth.

  "That I haven't gotten to kiss you once since I arrived." He released her hand and wrapped his arms around her waist.

  Sydney's arms had nowhere to go but around his neck. "You noticed that, too?" Sydney smiled at his mouth before placing her lips against his.

  Chapter 8

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  Sydney couldn't resist the temptation of Ellis's mouth a moment longer. By the scorching look in his eyes she would have to say he had reached the end of his tolerance too. With the touch of his mouth and the sweep of his tongue, heat assaulted her body like an inferno.

  Strong arms pulled her closer and she uncurled from her position in the corner of the couch to practically stretch out on top of Ellis as he twisted sideways and lay back, taking her with him. Her arms clung to his neck as she continued to meet the thrust of his tongue with slow swipes of her own and breathless abandonment.

  Someone moaned, and she couldn't tell if it was Ellis or herself. It didn't matter. The only thing that did matter was the feel, the taste of Ellis. She had never wanted like this in her life. His mouth was promising her things she had never dared dream.

  She shifted her hips and felt his arousal, long and hard, press against her thigh. This time she was positive it was Ellis who groaned. The tip of her tongue traced his upper lip before her teeth gently nipped at his fuller lower one. His arms tightened around her. She raised her head and, using her arms to support herself, she stared down at him. The look in his gray eyes had gone from scorching to predatory.

  He reached up and buried his fingers in her hair. "Witch."

  She pressed her head against his fingertips and arched her neck. She felt his mouth skim down her throat. "Was that a compliment?" The way the word witch had tumbled off his lips it had sounded like a cross between a prayer and a curse.

  Ellis arched his hips against her thigh, letting her know exactly what condition he was in. "Only a witch could make me ache so badly after one kiss." His fingers slipped to the base of her skull and his thumbs moved to below her jawbone and tilted her face upward, giving his searching mouth wider access to her throat.

  She matched him ache for ache, only hers was a soft warm liquid ache pooling at the junction of her thighs. Wanting him to know that he wasn't the only one who felt painfully aroused, she said. "That would make you what … a warlock?"

  Ellis pulled back from tracing the V at the base of her throat with his tongue to glance up at her. "Are you aching, Sydney?"

  She closed her eyes. She had never before asked a man to make love to her. The all too few times she had been with a man it had just seemed to happen. Ellis wasn't going to allow her to casually slip into a relationship with him. He was going to demand her full undivided attention. "If I tell you I am, will you make it go away?"

  "Eventually." Ellis chuckled softly against her throat as he released her jaw and lowered his hands to her waist. "But first I'm going to make you ache some more." With a tender tug he jerked her farther up his body, until his mouth was in a direct line to her breast. "You want to ache some more, don't you, Syd?"

  She kept her eyes closed as she felt his warm fingers start to undo the buttons running down the front of her blouse. Her breasts grew heavy with anticipation and her nipples hardened against the lace of her bra. Ellis had never touched her there. The warmth of his fingers brushed against the curve of her breast, making her tremble. "Oh, I want all right." She wanted so badly, she was about to shatter into a million pieces.

  The last of her buttons came undone and Ellis pulled the blouse from the waistband of her jeans. The silky material fell to each side of his chest, giving him a clear view of her breasts covered in an emerald green bra. Strong, blunt-tipped fingers reached up and toyed with the front clasp on the bra. "You're going to have to open your eyes, Syd."

  "Why?" She didn't want Ellis to see the need that would be clearly visible in them. Wanting him was one thing. Needing him was something totally different.

  His fingers traced the edges of the lace across the top of her breasts. "I want you to see me take my first taste of you." His fingers took another path, this time they skimmed her nipples, causing her to jerk back.

  Her eyes flew open in shock and she glanced down. Her gaze slammed into Ellis's. He had been watching her face, not her breasts which were suspended in her bra not six inches away from his mouth. His face looked taut and flushed with desire, yet he hadn't really touched her. He wanted her to watch him as he touched her.

  Her whisper trembled with excitement and embarrassment. "You want me to watch?" She had never watched before. Satisfying the urges of one's body was done under the covers and in the dark, not with two seventy-five-watt bulbs burning on either end of the couch and without a blanket in sight.

  Ellis locked gazes with her as he lifted his fingers once more and released the front clasp of her bra. "I need you to watch."

  She felt her breasts swing free, the lace tugging on her swollen and hard nipples. She swallowed the sharp cry that filled her mouth. Her arms trembled as she held herself above his waiting mouth.

  Ellis's hands were tender as they brushed aside the lace and cupped the two pale mounds. Rough thumbs grazed her nipples, making them quiver in need. His breath bathed her skin in its warmth. "You're beautiful, Sydney." His lips reached for one of the nubs. "Are they ready for me to taste them?"

  She gazed at him in anticipation. Ellis wanted her to watch and she was drawn more by the excitement of his request than the need to close her eyes in embarrassment. "I…"

  He reached up and captured the nub deep in his mouth.

  She felt herself jerk and she arched her back, thrusting herself deeper into his mouth. Her eyes closed in ecstasy as Ellis's teeth tenderly pulled on the bud.

  "Open your eyes, Sydney." Ellis's thigh inserted itself between her legs.

  The hardness of his thigh between her legs caused a moan to rumble deep in her throat as her hips slid against him. "Why?" A tingle of pure pleasure shimmied from her nipple down to the wet junction between her thighs.

  Nimble fingers unsnapped her jeans. The rhythm of her hips matched the gentle tugging of his mouth on her nipple. Everything seemed connected. Her pounding heart echoed his breathing. His soft groans reverberated the rhythm of her hips. Why hadn't she realized before that making love was a well-orchestrated dance?

  The heat of his palm pressed against her abdomen and slowly slipped beneath the waistband of her jeans and her silk panties. Fingers burrowed through curls and stroked her moist center.

  Ellis released her nipple from between his lips. "Sydney, look at me."

  A trembling "Why?" was torn from her throat before she clamped down on her lower lip with her teeth. She opened her eyes and glanced down at him because she was fearful that he would stop the wonderful, marvelous things he was doing to her bod
y. His eyes were no longer gray. They were burning silver.

  Ellis increased the rhythm of his fingers as her thighs moved farther apart. The tip of one of his fingers slipped inside and out of her with every thrust of her hips. "I'm going to be watching your eyes when you climax."

  She never heard of such a thing. Why would he want to watch her as she climaxed? "I don't understand."

  "You don't have to, Sydney, just feel." Ellis cupped her one breast with his free hand and squeezed the nipple between his thumb and forefinger. When her hips arched in response, his finger slipped all the way inside, making her want more.

  Much more.

  She felt the tension coil and twist as she thrust her hips faster and harder against his hand. She had reached the center of the vortex Ellis had brought her to, yet she couldn't look away from his eyes. He held her gaze as the storm within her broke and she was hurled over the edge. Deep within her she could feel the tiny contractions signaling her release, gripping him tightly.

  As the last of her climax faded she closed her eyes in mortification and allowed herself to finally collapse against Ellis's chest, burying her face in his shirt. Humiliation didn't even begin to describe what she felt.

  Ellis had just given her the most mind-shattering sexual experience of her life and he was still fully clothed. Not one button on his shirt was undone. His shoes were off, but that was because he had taken them off before he had given Trevor his bath. If she was able to move, she would find some deep dark hole to climb into.

  "Are you okay?" Ellis's voice was raspy and uneven as it feathered against her ear.

  Both of his hands were slowly rubbing her back as if she were fragile and would shatter at any moment. She had news for him—she had already shattered and he had witnessed it all within her eyes. With her ear flattened against his chest she heard the thundering of his rapid heartbeat. His arousal, which surely had to be past the aching point, was still pressed into her hipbone. No, she wasn't okay. She was humiliated. Two of his buttons pressed against her cheek as she mumbled into a third one, "I'm sorry."