by Sable Hunter
“I found her, Bobby.’ Roscoe’s words were music to his ears.
“Where?” This was the message he had been waiting on – and Bobby was ready. All he needed was an address or a telephone number and he would be on Miss Ceelee like white on rice.
“I’m on her tail right now,” Roscoe sounded funny – like he found the situation humorous.
“What highway are you on?”
“It’s not a highway.” Roscoe explained mysteriously.
“Well – whatever it is – just tell me. Give me your ‘twenty’ and I’ll head that way.” Bobby gathered his billfold and his keys, ready to roll.
“That won’t be necessary.” Bobby was fast losing patience with Ethan’s friend. Just because they were more than client and investigator did not mean that Roscoe could get away with jerking him around.
“Dammit, Roscoe!” Bobby couldn’t stand the suspense – he needed to know where Ceelee was – right then!
“She’s slowing down. She’s parking,”
Bobby froze, waiting for what Roscoe would say next. He seemed to be alone in the house. Where was everybody? “Where are you, Roscoe? Talk to me,” Bobby demanded – tired of the game.
A soft knock sounded at the front door. At first, Bobby resented the intrusion – next came suspicion. “Aren’t you going to answer the door?” Roscoe drawled. “And don’t ever say that Bo Roscoe doesn’t deliver.” A dry laugh came over the phone, then a drier, “You will get my bill.” Disconnect.
Too afraid to hope, he opened the door – and there she was. Her small, sexy gasp told him clearly that she had had no idea that he would be opening the door. “Bobby?”
Cecile’s whole body tingled. “Bobby?” she was repeating herself. God, her hunch had been right! Her Bobby was Bobby Stewart! ‘Her Bobby,’ she derided herself. How presumptuous of her. One moment she was standing on the outside looking in, the next she was lifted up in his arms and cradled close to that magnificent body that she had been fantasizing about for weeks.
“Ceelee! Thank God!” he buried his head in her neck and inhaled her fresh, clean, sweet scent. “How? Hell, I don’t care. I’m so glad to see you – you’ll never know how much I’ve thought about you.” Bobby wasn’t trying to hide his joy at her arrival and when her little arms crept around his neck to hold him close, he thought he’d died and gone to heaven.
“I’ve thought about you, too,” she confessed softly. “You’ll never know how much.”
Bobby couldn’t help it, his lips found the soft skin of her neck and he rained kisses on the silky smoothness. His mind was so fogged with relief that it took him a few seconds to realize that she was trembling. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
“There was this man – I think he was following me. I was afraid that I wouldn’t make it safely inside,” she clasped his shoulders and Bobby felt like a heel.
“Oh, baby – that was Roscoe – he’s harmless.” He rubbed his nose against her cheek. He couldn’t believe it – she was here! He had her in his arms and she was not only letting him hold her, she was clinging to him like a sweet little honeysuckle vine. But part of it was nerves – and that was his fault. “I thought I had lost you baby – all I had was a first name and the last 3 digits of your car plates . . “ before he could say anything else, Ceelee was pushing back and trying to look him in the face.
Ceelee didn’t know whether to be flattered or even more nervous – “You were looking for me? I mean, that man was looking for me?” They were still standing in the door
“I couldn’t forget your kiss, baby. I couldn’t forget your beautiful face.” She had on a sleeveless red sundress and he took advantage of all of that exposed creamy skin by running his hungry hands up and down her arms. “Roscoe is a family friend, he has a PI firm.” Then, it dawned on him – what was she doing here? Roscoe didn’t bring her to him – he followed her here. Not wanting to convey anything but relief at her presence, he asked carefully – “Sweetheart, did you come here looking for me?” He doubted it, but a guy could hope.
Cecile knew it was wrong, but she couldn’t keep her hands off of him. His wide, hard chest was like a magnet to her palms and she molded and caressed him through his cotton shirt. A groan slipped from his mouth, and he clasped one hand and brought it to his lipsnbsp; She was just about to answer him when a squeal came from the porch behind her. “Cecile, you’re here!”
Bobby was confused. Annalise had scrunched in between them and had Ceelee in a girl hug that clearly indicated they had met before today. “Cecile?” He backed up out of the door-way to let the whole crew in. As Alex, Ethan and Scarlet made their way into the house, Cecile was lost in the excitement of introductions and greetings. For a moment, Bobby thought that he had been forgotten, but when Ceelee’s eyes met his over Annalise’s shoulder – he saw that she was still aware that he was there – and that was all that mattered. “Bobby, this is Cecile Fairchild. She’s my editor at Passion Publishing, my best friend and my bridesmaid. Cecile, this is Bobby, Ethan’s brother.”
The group parted and left them facing one another. Bobby wondered how they should play it – but the decision was taken out of his hands. His water sprite stepped forward, extended her hand and pretended they had never met before.
“Hello, Bobby. It’s so nice to meet you,”
He took her hand in his and played along, determined to get to the bottom of this mystery as soon as he could get her behind closed doors. “Cecile, I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. It seems like I already know you.”
~ Chapter Four ~
Her beautiful green eyes shot him little darts of warning. Well, tough! He had been yearning to be with her for weeks – and if she didn’t look so sad and unsure he would have demanded answers and to hell with hiding the fact that he knew the taste of her kiss.
“Bobby, would you help Cecile with her bags? Put them in the room next to yours.” Annalise gave Cecile one more hug. “You get settled and then we’ll try on our dresses. Scarlet has created a fabulous gown for you; it’s going to look gorgeous with your coloring.”
Bobby did an ‘after you’ gesture. “It’s the fourth door on the right, Ceelee,” he refused to call her anything else. “We’ll put your luggage in that room….” As soon as they were out of earshot of the others, he finished his sentence, “no, excuse me, third door on the right – I get confused.” He watched her follow his directions. “Go on in sweetheart,” said the spider to the fly.
“Bobby, we need to talk.” She turned to look at him just as he was closing the door, leaving her alone with him – in a room, with a bed. ‘God, give me strength,’ she prayed. She was so aware of him. He casually placed her luggage on a low chest and then turned to face her. Again, she verwhelmed by his size and masculinity. Bobby Stewart was a gorgeous man. He wore a pair of athletic shorts and a tight t-shirt that let ever muscle stand out like it was sculpted from bronze. His biceps were as big as her thighs and the thin cotton did nothing to hide his rippled set of abs. Lord, his body made Carl’s look like a stick figure. And he thought he wanted her? He was mistaken.
“Do you like what you see, sweetheart? You don’t have to stand way over there and just look – you can come close and touch,” his voice had lowered and, as far as Cecile could tell, Bobby had gone into full seduction mode. Lord, how was she going to resist him? And did she want to? Closing her eyes, she reminded herself how vulnerable she was and how foolish it would be to get into a situation to be hurt, yet again. But when she looked up – he was on the move. Like a huge, graceful tiger – he stalked her. Cecile backed up – it was an instinctive move of self-preservation. When her knees hit the back of the bed, she swayed, momentarily losing her balance – and when she did – he pounced.
The bed creaked and groaned as it protested the sudden drop of solid man onto the mattress. God – did he know what he was doing? He was on top of her – over her – surrounding her – but, she lay there completely safe and unharmed, for he bore his weight on his arms an
d one knee. “You’ve done this before,” she managed to croak.
“A time or two,” he chuckled. Their faces were so close; she could feel his breath against her cheek. “I don’t care why you came – baby – I’m just thankful you’re here.” Without waiting for permission, he covered her lips with his and drank deeply from her mouth. Without preamble, he made himself at home in her kiss – letting their tongues soothe one another and reacquaint themselves in the age old dance of seduction. Weeks of fantasizing and longing coalesced into a devouring kiss that surpassed both of their expectations.
She fisted her hand in his hair, holding his head fast – taking her pleasure – making little grunts of delight that made him smile as they paused to draw in a bit of necessary oxygen. Damn! He was happy! He had her back in his arms and all was well with the world.
Cecile was right where she wanted to be – for just a second, she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him hard. This was paradise; to be held and kissed by a man who seemed to want her as much as she wanted him. But Carl’s words came back to haunt her – ’I can’t even get an erection with you. You’re not sexy enough to make a man want you – you’re a plain, frigid excuse for a woman.’ “Oh, Bobby,” she placed her hand on his cheek and rubbed her thumb over the lips that had made her so happy. “It’s so wonderful to be here with you. When Annalise mentioned that Ethan had a brother named Bobby, I let myself fantasize that it was you.”
He kissed her finger, drawing the end of it into his mouth and giving it a little suck. “Doll, my fantasies about you were off the charts. Now you’re here in my arms, and we can make all those fantasies come true.” He leaned over to join their lips once more, when she stopped him.
“We can’t.”
Was she teasing? “What do you mean, we can’t?” “We’re two consenting adults – why, can’t we enjoy one another?” He lowered his hips, just enough, so she could feel how much he wanted her. “Feel that? I want you, desperately. Do you want me? Are you soft, wet and ready for me?” Bobby knew he was being an insensitive, macho, alpha male jerk – but God, he had dreamed of this moment for months.
“Don’t be mad,” she caressed his cheek. “I may edit erotic romances, but in real life I’m sort of a dud in the sex department. I’d only be a disappointment. I assure you, you‘re not missing out on anything.” Just as soon as she verbalized her thoughts, she regretted it. Honesty was not necessarily the best policy. Averting her face from his, she wished she was anywhere but in his arms. “I need to get up,” she pushed gently at his shoulders, her whole body awash in a blush that was created by shame as well as sexual tension.
“Hold on there, sugar. You can’t make a ridiculous statement like that and just think I’m going to let it pass.” He captured her chin in his big hand and gently held her, unwilling to let her get away from him. “Look at me,” he demanded. Slowly, Cecile let her eyes meet his and what she saw took her breath away. If a man could put his heart in his eyes – he had done it. “Now where did that come from? Every time we touch, your little body lights up like a Fourth of July fireworks display. Honey, you set me on fire and we haven’t even been naked together – yet.” A fact he intended to remedy as soon as possible.
A single tear slipped from her eye, she had said too much already. Again, she pushed against his shoulders, but it was like trying to move a mountain. He wasn’t going anywhere. God, what was he doing? With a tender touch, Bobby kissed away her tear. His lips moved from the corner of her eye, down over her cheek to tease her trembling lips. “Now what in the world do you have to cry about? You’re in my home – in my bed – and under the hard body of a man who would love to claim you as his own.”
Cecile couldn’t help it, she laughed. He was so sweet. “I thought this was my room.”
“Do I look stupid to you? Do you think I was going to let the chance pass to get you right where I want you?”
“No, you don’t look stupid, at all. But… you don’t understand.” She was just about to try and explain to him why they shouldn’t get more involved when a knock sounded on the door next to the room they were in. “Cecile! Are you unpacked yet?”
At the look of dismay that came over her face, Bobby felt his protective instincts come forth. “You stay here. I’ll go out and get her off your sceand you can come out in a few minutes. Okay?” Before he got up, he kissed her once – long and hard. “And this isn’t over – not by a long shot. You and I will be right here, in this bed – together – tonight.” With one powerful graceful move – he was up and off the bed. Slipping out the door, she heard his voice as he talked to Annalise and lured her off into some fabricated mission to give Cecile time to exit gracefully. Lord, he was a doll! A handsome, sexy, living doll. How she wished that she were brave enough to take him up on what he was offering.
He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She was absolutely adorable. Watching her laugh and joke with Scarlet and Annalise had his cock armed and ready like a heat-seeking missile.
“I’m watching you watch that sex editor like she’s a T-Bone steak and you’re a starving dog,” drawled Alex who hadn’t taken his eyes off of Scarlet for more than a few seconds at a time. “What about that girl you were so hot to find from Dallas – the one that Roscoe’s been helping you look for?”
Bobby sipped his long-neck brew, plotting how he was going to get Cecile alone. The girls had tried on dresses, looked at pictures, ooohed and ahhed over wedding plans until he thought he would go stark-raving mad from an erection that was lasting longer than any Viagra commercial had ever warned about. Shifting restlessly and rearranging his bulge, he leveled with his brother. “She is the girl I’ve been looking for. Cecile and Ceelee are one and the same.”
Alex looked over at Bobby in surprise. “Dehelyousay? Well, if that isn’t a major plot twist. What a coinkydink!”
“Coinkydink?” Bobby laughed at his brother’s awful sense of humor. But, when he looked at Alex he could tell that the smile and laughter was all for show. “What’s wrong?” Alex was looking at Scarlet with the saddest expression in his eyes.
“She’s sick, Bobby,” Alex revealed in an agonized whisper.
Bobby whirled around to face his brother. “What? Who’s sick? Scarlet?”
Alex took Bobby by the shoulder. “Keep your voice down, bro. Scarlet doesn’t want Annalise to find out.” When they were safely outside the house, Alex sat down heavily on a bench and held his head in his hands. “She’s got kidney failure – she’s been sick for quite a while. The doctor told her that she only has a few weeks till she’ll have to be on dialysis.”
He stopped talking and grew terribly silent. Bobby had never seen his brother cry and it wasn’t something he ever wanted to see again. “What can we do?”
Alex wiped his face. “Believe me – I’m moving heaven and earth to try and find an answer. I’ve called doctors and lawyers – Ethan is helping me – I’m trying to find out if I can add her to my insurance policy and if – by some miracle I might be a good match to donate a kidney myself.”
“I’ll be glad to be tested,” Bobby didn’t hesitate – although he knew that a sacrifice like that would mean the end of any football career that he might ever contemplate. But seeing his brother in such pain made him want to fight windmills.
“Thanks, buddy. You don’t know what that means to me.” Alex looked at his brother, “She’s so sweet – you wouldn’t believe the gift that she gave me.”
“I saw it – I liked what she made me, too.” Bobby was talking about the tapestries – but Alex had something else in mind.
“Not that – something far more precious.” Alex leaned his head back against the trunk of a pecan tree and sighed. “Bobby, when she got here – she had this list. I found it – it was some sort of a ’bucket list’. There were pages of stuff that she wanted to see or do while she still felt well enough to enjoy them. Do you know what was #1?”
Bobby shook his head. He had never seen his brother like this – it hurt Bo
bby’s soul.
“She wanted to make love, at least one time while she still felt good. And she wanted it to be with someone she could trust,” Alex whispered.
“Well – what – who?” Bobby stammered around, not knowing what to say.
“That was the gift – Bobby. She gave me her virginity – she let me make love to her.” Alex looked off into the distance as if trying to see into the future. “It was unlike anything I’ve ever known. I’ll never be the same. I can’t keep my hands off of her – and, I can’t let her go – she belongs to me now.”
“What can I do?” Bobby wanted to help in any way he could.
“Would you pray for her?”
“I’ll pray harder than I’ve ever prayed in my life.”
*****
“Why don’t you help me grill the steaks, Ceelee?” Bobby swatted her on the butt with a dish towel.
Annalise and Scarlet were so caught up in cake making ecorating that Cecile had quit worrying whether or not they suspected she and Bobby had met before. Besides, what did it matter? “Sure.” She wanted to be alone with him, anyway. He was still looking at her with those hot, hungry eyes and she needed to let him down easy. Hurting him was the last thing she wanted to do.
They went to the cooking pavilion which was about 500 yards behind the main house – out of sight – next to the banks of the creek that wound through the grove of native pecan trees. “It’s beautiful here Bobby. You have a lovely home.”
She held his spices and turning utensils while he put the big slabs of meat on the grill. Once he was finished, he lowered the lid to the cooker – took everything out of her hands and sat it on the side table – and picked her up. She gasped at the unexpected pleasure. Walking over to a chaise lounge, he sat down with her in his lap. “First things first,” reaching a hand under her hair, he pulled her to him. “You are so sweet; I’ve been hungry for your kiss for hours,”
She didn’t even think to protest. Her nipples were hard, her clitoris was swollen and her panties were so damp, she was afraid that she would leave a spot on his jeans. And all of that was before he touched her. “Mmmm,” she moaned. This time there was no tender forays, no nibbles or licks – she opened her mouth and he took total and complete possession. She strained against him, wanting to be closer – wanting to merge herself with him in the most basic way possible.