by T. J. Kline
“I’ll walk you to your house.” He laced his fingers in hers and walked her to the front door, waiting as she unlocked it. Now was the time for her to finally tell him to stay, to tell him how she felt, and to apologize for the way she’d acted.
“Mind if I see the kittens one last time?”
Her heart sank when she heard the finality in his voice. It sounded too much like a good-bye. Her pulse picked up speed again, her heart pounding against her ribs. She either had to give up trying to control this situation, give in to the feelings she had for Gage, or let go of them altogether and lose the one chance at finding love with someone who accepted her for who she was.
Leah looked at Gage, trying to force her mind to make the decision her heart had already made. His eyes glowed in the light from the porch light, but he looked sad, troubled, as if he wanted to say something but wasn’t sure what to say.
Leah’s heart raced in her chest as they stepped into the entry, her pulse beating out the words in a frantic rhythm. Don’t do this! Stop now! Don’t say anything!
Part of her felt like a caged animal, desperate to run away, to hide from the man who held her captive as surely as if he had handcuffed her to his side. She wanted to hold onto her belief that he wanted something from her she couldn’t give, that he wanted to change her. But Leah was having a difficult time reconciling that man with the one who’d crawled under her house to rescue kittens. Or the man who’d held her as an anxiety attack wracked her body, leaving her a trembling mess. Or the man who’d made love to her with such reverence.
Part of her couldn’t turn away from him, couldn’t deny what he’d been making her feel since she’d met him on the side of the road what felt like an eternity ago. How could this man have reached into her soul the way he had in so short a time if he wasn’t the man she thought he was? Wasn’t it more likely that the fraud, the lie, was Gage trying to act like the cold-hearted businessman he’d forced himself to become?
There’s no going back.
Leah didn’t care. Her hands found his waist. Instead of pushing him away, she wrapped her arms around him, bracing her chin against his chest. “I said you couldn’t make me fall for you.”
“I remember.”
His voice was uncertain, as if he expected her to disappear, or ask him to leave. His hesitation was a contradiction of the confident, self-assured man she’d seen up to now.
“I lied.” She lifted onto her toes and pressed her lips against the curve of his jaw. “I already have. I love you, Gage. I think I’ve loved you since that night you stayed here and listened to me talk about my past. I didn’t recognize it as love then, but it was. You’ve seen the darkest parts of me, and you’ve never even batted an eye. I can’t help but love you.”
“Leah.” His voice was gravelly as his fingers buried into her hair, capturing her mouth with his, making desire curl through like morning fog, rolling in slowly, invading every crevice of her heart.
Her hands slid up his back, her fingers digging into the flesh desperately, unsure whether her heart was finally leading her toward her dreams or steering her directly into the face of disaster. With Gage’s body pressed against hers, she honestly didn’t care.
In a short time, he’d taught her to hope again, to quit listening to her doubts and fears. She needed him, needed to believe in him, because he believed in her. And if what he’d taught her to believe was a lie, then she really was the woman she’d tried to leave behind in Bakersfield, the woman she’d been outrunning since she was sixteen.
She needed to believe he was good and honorable and trustworthy, in spite of his mistakes, because then she could be as well.
GAGE DIDN’T WANT to question her, didn’t want to ask if she was sure. But doubts niggled at his conscience. Even as she tugged at his shirt, as his tongue swept into her mouth, the taste of her stripped away his sanity.
“Leah, wait.” He took a step back from her, his back hitting the door and just missing the paw of the Lab who had curled up behind him, realizing Gage was no threat to Leah. On the contrary, he was sure she posed a threat for his psyche. “You said—”
“I know what I said.” Her voice was breathless as she stepped into him again, pressing her lips against his neck, his jaw, and his lower lip. “And you were right, the falling part is easy. You promised not to hurt me, and I’m choosing to trust you.”
Gage ran his thumbs toward her chin, tipping her face so she could see the promise in his eyes. “I remember, and I still mean that, Leah.”
“I know you do.”
Gage slid his hands over her hips, lifting her so she could wind her legs around his waist as he carried her further into the house. He heard the growl from the living room before an excited whine sounded from the kitchen.
“Down, Razor,” Leah ordered.
The growling stopped immediately, but the whine closed in on them as Bingo began circling in front of Gage’s legs in a blur of black and white fur, nearly tripping him up and forcing him pause at the kitchen.
“Why do you have these dogs again?” Gage muttered against her lips as he flipped on the light to see both kittens sprawled along the back of the couch while Chaz lay in the middle of the living room on his back, spread-eagle and sound asleep.
“Because they’re therapy dogs to help with the kids. They’ve been good company for me when you were gone.”
He turned, settling her rear on the kitchen counter. “Leah, you know I only left because you told me to. It was something I never wanted to do.” He brushed the hair back from her face and kissed the tip of her nose. “I’ve been trying to figure out a way to convince you to let me back in since the morning I woke up with you in my arms. Nothing in my life has ever felt as good as you do.”
“But my past—”
“Is behind you. Just like mine is behind me.” Gage shook his head. “We both know you’re moving beyond it as well as you can. Look at what you’ve been able to accomplish. You’re a doctor. You’ve turned something awful into a way to help people.”
“I’m still kind of a mess,” she admitted, hanging her head.
Gage tipped her chin up with a finger. “I’ve made a few messes of my own. Maybe we can help each other clean them up.”
“I don’t know how to do relationships, Gage.”
“I’ll help you figure it out. You’re good enough at it to make me fall in love with you.” He bent down and brushed his lips over hers. “You’re something special, Leah. Just because you don’t see it, doesn’t mean no one else does.”
She sighed, leaning into him and letting him take her into his arms again. Now that she was his, he couldn’t get enough of her. His hands wanted to touch every inch of her, his lips needed to taste her. He wanted to wrap himself around her and bury himself within her.
“Ow! Son of a bitch!” Needle-sharp claws dug into his ankles as both kittens climbed up his pant legs. Leah tried to hold back her laughter as he bent to pluck them from his jeans by the scruff of the neck. “You two are monsters.”
“I think they missed you, too.”
“You missed me?”
She nodded, tugging him closer by the front of his shirt as he set the kittens on the counter next to her. “I even missed your cheesy lines.”
“Hmm, you mean like how I’ll never have to see the sun again because of the light in your eyes?” He pressed a quick kiss to her temple. “Or how I’d like to write a love song on your body with my lips?” His mouth found the hollow behind her ear, and he felt goose bumps break out over her arms.
“Yes, those cheesy lines.” He felt her shiver against him, and her voice was breathless.
“You know what I missed?” His hands slid up from her hips to rest on her ribs, his thumbs grazing the swell of her breasts, his lips finding the curve of her collarbone. “The way you whisper my name and the way you lean into me when I kiss you. And the way I can see you choosing to trust me in spite of your reservations.”
“Gage?”
“Hmm
?”
Her fingers dug into the muscles of his back, pulling him closer, and she arched her body toward him as he slid his hands around to her back. She wound her legs around his thighs and dragged him a step closer, so that they were practically fused from shoulder to hip. His body throbbed, protesting every stitch of clothing they wore.
“If you really love me, you’ll take me into that bedroom and show me right now.”
He smiled against her flesh, thrilled that she no longer felt the need for pretense between them. “My pleasure.”
Gage wrapped one arm around her waist and let his fingers trail over her shoulder as he brushed her hair to one side and pressed his lips against her heated skin.
He lifted her legs around his waist and carried her toward the bedroom. “Besides I don’t want any kitten claws digging into my skin.”
She arched a brow and gave him a wicked grin. “We’ll lock the cats out, but I can’t promise anything.”
Gage groaned and settled her on her feet again, turning her so her back was against his chest, his lips trailing kisses along her shoulder as he removed her clothing, letting it fall to the floor around their feet. Leah sighed and let her head fall backward, leaning against him as his hand moved up to cup her breast, his fingers brushing the sensitive peak. She arched into his touch, and it was his undoing.
His hand trailed over her belly, lower, and Leah whimpered as his slid a finger into her folds, his own body straining to be free from his clothing. She spun in his arms, reaching for the button of his pants, but he beat her to it, ridding himself of the confining garments quickly. He wanted to feel her body against his, with nothing separating them.
They fell onto the bed together, a tangle of arm and legs, hands and lips, eager to touch and be touched. Gage couldn’t get enough of Leah—her heated skin, the sweet honey scent of her, the taste of her on his lips—and tried to control the tempest of desire raging through him. She rose over him, straddling his hips.
“Wait, Leah.”
She smiled softly and, as if reading his mind, she carefully leaned over the side of the bed to retrieve his pants. “In the pocket? Or do you need your wallet?”
“Wallet.”
Gage wasn’t sure how he was even able to form a coherent thought with the wet heat of her sex pressed against him. His body throbbed in response, twitching against her, and Gage prayed he could even last long enough to get the condom on. He plucked the wallet out of her hands as she threw the pants aside. Taking the package from inside, he tossed the wallet on the bedside table.
“Let me.” She didn’t offer him a chance to deny her request before taking the condom from his hand.
Pressing kisses over his chest, she continued to move lower. Gage knew this exquisite torture was too much but when she pressed a kiss to his hipbone, electricity shot through him and he gripped her upper arms.
He let out a growl. “Not this time.”
Leah’s hand moved over his inner thigh, her fingernails carefully raking the sensitive skin before moving to palm his length. “Okay,” she whispered, her voice sweetly seductive, “next time.”
Once she sheathed him, her lips pressed hot kisses over the planes of his stomach, over his chest and back to his mouth. This wasn’t the slow, seductive lovemaking they’d shared the first time. She wanted to be in control, to prove something, both to him and to herself, but Gage was helpless to contemplate what it might be when she straddled him.
His fingers dug unto the soft curve of her buttocks as Leah met his gaze. He could see desire in her eyes. Like warm bourbon through his veins, it spread, heating him as he basked in it for a moment, until she slid down the length of him.
Slowly, agonizingly slowly. Gage arched his back, a groan of pure ecstasy ripping from his throat. Bracing her hands against his stomach, she rode him, her hair falling forward to cover her face. Gage wanted to see her, to watch her let go of the control she held so tightly.
“Look at me, baby.” Gage heard the plea in his own voice, but he didn’t care. He wanted her to know how much he needed her. He moved his hand to the nape of her neck, pulling her down so that her forehead rested against his, looking deeply into her eyes.
Leah opened her eyes, focusing on him, and he felt her tremble in his arms as her release shook her to her core. Gage couldn’t hold back any longer as he poured himself into her, heart and soul.
He wouldn’t hide anything from her again. Tonight they had taken their relationship to the next level. She admitted she’d fallen for him, and he was going to be just as transparent, no matter what it cost him.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
LEAH TOOK A tentative sip of the hot coffee and set it on the railing of the porch as the three dogs played a game of tag in the yard between her house and the main house. Gage came out and circled his arms around her waist from behind. Pressing a quick kiss to the shell of her ear, he made her entire body heat in response before he rested his chin on her shoulder.
“What has you so deep in thought?”
“What happens next?”
“You mean with us?” She nodded. “This is where we’re supposed to live happily ever after, Leah.”
She turned in his arms to face him and gave him a dubious look. “You know me. I’m not exactly a fairy-tale kind of girl.”
“We’ll just take it one step at a time.”
She arched a brow and shot him a doubtful look. “I’m not exactly the fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants, wait-and-see type either. I’ve had enough unknowns and chaos in my life. I like having a plan.”
“You didn’t plan on me, and look how well that turned out.”
She smiled back at him, brushing her lips over his, reveling in his quiet groan of pleasure. “That’s true, but you have a company to run, and a new foundation to start up in the city. My work is here.”
“I told you I wasn’t going to leave you. Apotheo is going to be based out of Sacramento. My life is nothing without you in it, so wherever you are is where I’ll be.”
“I see the two of you patched things up.”
Jessie smiled brightly as she came around the corner of the house. Alfalfa leaves dusted her clothing, and Leah knew she must have just finishing feeding the horses. She tried to slip from Gage’s arms, but he held her tight, glaring at Jessie.
“We did.”
Leah was surprised by the intensity of his tone, practically daring Jessie to say more.
“Relax, Gage. I’m happy for you both.”
“What?” He loosened his hold on Leah, obviously surprised by Jessie’s admission. “But you said—”
“I know.” Her grin pulled to one side, and her eyes sparkled impishly. “But, you’ve also stepped up and proven that I was wrong. I’m big enough to admit it.”
Leah looked from her boss to Gage, wondering what had actually transpired between them without her knowledge.
“Does this mean you’re not cleaning your things out of the cabin? Because I have a big group coming next Thursday, and we could use the space.”
The thought of Gage leaving, even to move to Julia’s a few minutes through the pastures, made Leah’s heart plummet.
He nodded to Jessie. “Dylan and Julia already made up the spare room for me, so I’ll get the rest of my things out today.”
Leah heard the broodiness in his tone, making her feel more confident in the fact that he didn’t want to leave. With his hand resting on her waist, it felt right to be in his arms, to have him standing on her front porch sharing coffee with her first thing in the morning. It had felt right to see him in the kitchen this morning with the dogs. Almost as comforting as it had been to wake up in his arms.
“Jessie would probably let you stay here.”
The words fell from her lips, but she realized she had no desire to take them back. There was no hesitation or fear. She ignored the knowing smile on Jessie’s face.
His gaze fell on her face, searching. “Are you sure?”
She wound her arms around his wais
t. “Someone needs to help me with all these animals.”
“Now that sounds like the best plan I’ve heard.” Jessie laughed as she made her way through the dogs, now playing tug-of-war with a stick. She whistled and her shepherd, Moose, trotted beside her. “You and Nathan can get your plans in motion while Leah and I actually get some work done,” she teased.
Gage peered into Leah’s face. “I don’t have to stay here if you don’t want that, Leah. I don’t want you to feel pressured.”
“I don’t. I also don’t want you even a few miles away.”
Gage dipped his head, his mouth meeting hers in a kiss that made her release another fingerhold on the pain of her past and reach toward the promise of a future with Gage. She might not believe in fairy tales, but Leah had just changed her mind about happily ever after.
Acknowledgments
THERE ARE SO many people to thank for helping me along this incredible journey. The first three people I want to thank are the ones who keep me sane on this roller coaster ride, my editor extraordinaire, Rebecca Lucash; my agent, Suzie Townsend; and Sara Strickler. The three of you keep me laughing and throwing my hands in the air to enjoy even the scary parts of the ride.
To my BFF, Codi. I can’t thank you enough for the late nights and early mornings of brainstorming, mind-melding, and plot twisting. You “get” me like no one else, my sister-from-another-mister.
To my writing buddies and Country Crew members. I absolutely adore each and every one of you and know that my life is a party now because of you!
To my readers. My heart soars every time I hear how much you love these characters that rattle around in my brain, begging for release. Nothing makes me happier than to know they are as real to you as they are to me.
To my family. I could never continue to do what I do without your support. From nights when you’ve had to fend for yourself to listening to mom prattle on about people who don’t really exist as if they do. And, for my husband, who is too often neglected in favor of fictional heroes, know that you are the one I base all of these heroes on. I love you guys to the moon and back again!