Darlene hadn’t noticed Mike’s amorousness. She had wanted to kiss him from the time she walked into Boyd’s house that morning, but he had behaved then and since as if they were under his partner, Cody Johnson’s, stern gaze.
“With your self-control, you can handle it. I love dancing with you, and I’m going to enjoy this.”
“Go on and have fun. I’ll see if it’s everything I expected.”
She snuggled closer. “You said I was beautiful. That’s all I need.”
He kissed the top of her head. “You started a fire, so you’d better think about how you’ll put it out.”
“I’m not worried,” she said as his arm tightened around her. ‘You’ll protect me.” She stood back to look into his face, and his heated attraction in it. She eased back into the cradle of his chest.
The haunting song ended, and Mike led her back to their table. “Let’s have a glass of wine or something,” she said. “I don’t want this night to be over.”
He ordered a vodka tonic for himself. “What would you like?”
“Vodka Collins, thank you,” Darlene said.
The drinks came, and he raised his glass to her. “You’re supposed to miss me the minute you get on that plane.”
“I miss you just thinking about it.”
She looked at him and glimpsed the blatant need blazing in his eyes. Stormy eyes. He immediately looked away, and she knew that he was embarrassed at having such naked desire. Without thinking about it, she grasped his hand. Her reward was a clear but silent question. She shifted her gaze away from him and sipped her drink.
Mike signaled for the waiter, paid the bill and reached for Darlene’s hand. “Shall we go?”
Her entire body seemed to quicken, and goose pimples tingled across her bare skin. She stumbled a little as he helped her from her chair, and his arm slid around her shoulder.
“Easy, sweetheart. I won’t let anything happen to you. Not now. Not ever. Trust me.”
“I do,” she whispered. “I don’t know why, but I do.”
He hadn’t questioned his feelings as closely as he probably should have. But he knew he wouldn’t get her out of his system, and with five or six hundred miles between them, he had to hold her as closely to him as he could while he had the chance.
Outside the door of her hotel room, he held out his hand for her key. She handed it to him without hesitation.
“May I come in?”
She immediately took his hand, opened the door, and led him inside the room. Through the window, his gaze captured the lights of the city reflecting off the Mississippi River.
“It’s beautiful at night,” he said. “And so are you.”
“Should I get something from the minibar?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I’m fine.” He had to get her to relax. “Do you have a terrace?”
She nodded and opened the door that led to the balcony. He stepped out on to the terrace, extended his hand to her and wrapped her in his arms. Might as well put it on the table, he told himself.
“You’re nervous and shy,” he said as he stroked her bare arm. “Not at all the feisty and sassy Darlene who was so irreverent yesterday. Can you tell me what’s troubling you?”
She didn’t speak for a few minutes, and he didn’t press her. “I’m not all that worldly,” she told him. “I’ve only had one boyfriend, and we parted about three months after… Well, it didn’t work for me.”
“I see.”
“Do you?” she asked him.
He did. She wanted some assurance that he knew what she was referring to.
“You were disappointed in bed?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Then you did the right thing. If the two of you couldn’t make it work, then it wouldn’t have been wise to continue the relationship. Are you still friends?”
She laid her head against his shoulder. “We’re friendly when we see each other in public, but that’s all.”
“That’s civilized. Very often, it’s no one’s fault.”
She stepped back and looked at him. “You think so? I wasn’t attracted to him as I am to you.”
He tipped up her chin and stared into her eyes. Even in the darkness he could see the desire in her eyes, but there was fear, too. Still he wanted her. The thought that if he made love to her, he’d begin to need her made him uneasy.
He tilted his head down, flicked his tongue along the seam of her lips and pressed for entry. She opened her mouth and swallowed, sucking his tongue as she would a lollipop. The movements simulated an orgasm. Mike began to perspire, and he could feel his shirt sticking to his back. His blood coursed through his veins swiftly to his groin. He tried to step back from her, but she wouldn’t let him.
“Do you want me to leave or what? Tell me what you want.”
“I want you to kiss me.”
“I am kissing you.”
“You’re not,” she said, rubbing her hips against him. “Honey, my body aches. You know what I want.”
He moved his hands toward the strapless bodice of her dress, released her left breast, lifted it, fastened his mouth to the nipple and began to suckle her ravenously. “Mike, oh my,” she said. She locked her legs around him and undulated her hips. He bulged against her body and did his best to let go of her, but she wouldn’t allow him. He stepped back into the room, slammed the balcony door shut with his foot, and made it to the bed, where he placed her body underneath his.
“If you don’t want to make love,” he said, short of breath, “let me know now. I was on fire for you even before we danced. Darlene, honey. I won’t push you into anything you don’t want, but I am just a man.”
He looked into her face and thought he would erupt right then, right there. She licked her lips and regarded him like a woman addicted. “I don’t want you to leave me. Help me get out of this dress. Nobody makes love in a dress.”
“What?” He told himself that if he laughed, he’d ruin the moment. Sitting up, he unzipped her dress, slid it over her hips and draped it across a chair. Then he kissed her bare belly, removed her shoes, stood and looked down at her.
“You’re the most beautiful being I ever saw.” He took off his clothes as fast as he could. He stood over her wearing only his briefs. He leaned down and kissed her. “May I?”
“Yes.” She lifted her hips, and he removed her red bikini panties.
“Aren’t you going to take that off?” She pointed to his briefs. “Let me do it.” She moved to the edge of the bed and eased down his briefs. Wide-eyed and eager, she stroked him, watched him jump to full readiness, then leaned over and sucked him into her mouth.
“Hmm. You taste good. I never thought I’d like that.” She realized that she might be misleading him. “I’m not experienced, Mike. I…I mean, I don’t know much. But I…I need to be with you.”
“Don’t worry, darling. Just relax and follow my lead.” He gazed at her beautiful body, the rounded hips and full bosom, and sucked in his breath. A smile spread across her face, sweet and so trusting.
He rested one knee on the bed, staring down at the treasure before him, his blood pulsing in his loins.
She opened her arms and licked her lips. “Come here.” His body shook. He’d never wanted a woman so badly in his life. “Come, honey,” she whispered and spread her legs.
He tumbled into her open arms and looked down at her. Could he possibly be in love with a woman he’d known less than three days?
Her hands caressed his back until he eased his body over hers, kissed her eyes, her cheeks, ears, nose and lips. He wanted to touch every inch of her, to make certain that she never wanted another man. She turned her face in a silent plea for his affection, and when she parted her lips, he thrust his tongue into her, but only for a second. Then his lips seared her neck, throat and her breasts. Her squirming told him what she wanted him to do to her, as he stroked her erect nipple.
“Honey, please. You know what I want.”
She didn’t have to beg. He
wanted desperately to wrap his lips around her nipple, and when he pulled it into his mouth, she cried out.
“Yes. Oh, yes.”
When his tongue touched her nipple, her hips swayed up to him, and she tried to throw her leg across him. She could hardly stand the heat building in her. “Mike, I’m so… I…I need you inside me. Please, I’m so hot.”
But he charted his own course. Releasing her breast, he swirled his tongue in her navel, kissed the inside of her thighs and felt her tense. “Give yourself to me, sweetheart. I want to have it all. Relax and let me love you.”
When he hooked her knees over his shoulders, she nearly panicked anticipating what he’d do next, but when he kissed his way from her knees to the top of her thighs and then sucked her clitoris, screams of pleasure poured out of her. He didn’t linger, but made his way up her body.
“Take me in, baby. I can’t wait any longer.” She took him into her hands and brought him to her. He pushed for entrance.
“You said you’d had some experience, but there’s a barrier here. Have you been penetrated?”
“I thought so.”
“I’m not so sure. This may hurt. Do you want me to go on?”
She wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could. “Yes. Yes. I need you.”
He brushed her lips with his. “Relax as best you can.” He stroked her clitoris until he felt the liquid flow over his fingers. “Now. We’ll go slowly.” He pressed gently. She tried not to react to the pain. Finally, ignoring his warning to move slowly, she grasped his buttocks and swung her body up to him. She sighed and squirmed under the pressure. It had hurt. The worst pain she’d felt in her whole life.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, kissing her eyes and her cheek.
“Are you all the way in?”
“Yes. I don’t understand. You’re a virgin?”
“A what? But—”
“Shh. We’ll talk later,” he murmured. He reignited the fire in her, sucking her nipples and massaging her clitoris until she again grabbed his buttocks and swung her body to his, getting the friction she needed.
As if convinced by her action that she was ready, he began long, slow thrusts, slowly increasing his strokes, whispering words of endearment, encouraging her. “That’s it. Aw, sweetheart, yes. Love me, baby. Yes, just like that. Yeah!”
A strange heat began at the bottom of her feet, and then her thighs began to tremble. “Mike. Oh…I can’t stand it.” The squeezing and pulsating in her vagina wouldn’t stop, and the feeling persisted such that if she didn’t burst, she’d die.
“Yes, you can stand it, baby. I want you to give yourself to me. Don’t struggle with it. Just concentrate on what I’m doing to you. Do you need it faster? Harder? Concentrate.”
“I am. I am. Oh, I think I’m dying right now. Help me.”
With a hand under her hips, he stroked powerfully, harder and faster. And then she felt herself clutch him, gripping him, and her whole body tingled. “That’s it, baby. Oh, yes.” He rocked her.
“I can’t stand it. Mike, I’m dying.” Her vagina tightened its hold on him, pumping and squeezing until he cried out. “You’re mine. Mine, do you hear!” He gave her the essence of himself and collapsed.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me the truth. I know you were having an orgasm, but did you come before I came? I couldn’t hold out any longer.”
“I…if there’s any more, I’m not sure I can handle it. It was wonderful.”
“Let me rest for a minute. Then we’ll talk.”
“Okay. Does it hurt every time?”
He stared down at her. “Did it hurt the other time?”
She shook her head. “No. It didn’t.”
A smile spread across his face. “Good. Darlene, I’m the only man who’s ever been inside of you.”
He rested his head on her shoulder, and she wrapped her arms around him. Suddenly, he rose up. “Excuse me a minute.” He separated them, swung off the bed and headed toward the bathroom. He came back a few minutes later and handed her a warm, damp cloth.
“Use this to wash off.” She stared at him with what must have been a quizzical expression. “Please, Darlene. It’s important.” She took the cloth, did as he said and looked around for a place to put it. But to her chagrin, he took it from her, looked first at it and then at her, and she’d never seen such a happy expression on his face.
“What is it?” she asked him.
“I wanted to be sure, and the stains on this cloth are proof. As I thought when I entered you, this was your first time.” He disposed of the washcloth, got back into bed and put his arms around her.
“If you had known that you were still a virgin, would you have taken me here tonight?”
Darlene had to think about that one. “Yes,” she said at last. “I would have, but I probably would have been more modest.”
He kissed her shoulder and her breasts. “I hadn’t given it a thought, and it wouldn’t have mattered. But the thought that you have never been penetrated by another man but me just blew my mind. And, since you thought otherwise, I wanted evidence.”
When his lips brushed over her breast, she felt a stirring deep inside. “Can we, uh…can we make love again tonight?” she asked him.
His eyes reflected his hope and excitement. “Yes, of course. But you’re probably too sore.”
“No, I’m not, and we won’t see each other again until next weekend, so…”
His laughter floated through the room and, minutes later, he was driving them on the road to sweet paradise.
She knew he wanted to spend the night with her. But she imagined her sister Tyra wagging her finger, Maggie looking exasperated and Clark…Clark would be ready to take Mike on. With that thought, Darlene drifted off to sleep.
“I’d better be going,” Mike said at about two o’clock the next morning.
“I’ll call you before I leave,” she said, wondering how she would feel away from him.
“I’ll be here at eleven, to drive you to the airport.”
And so he was. She couldn’t understand his apparent disconnectedness on the drive to Memphis International Airport. He wasn’t nervous, but he was not the man-in-control whom she had become accustomed to. As they approached the security area in the airport, and he could go no farther, he put her bag down, grasped her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “I hate it that you’re leaving me. Promise me that you won’t see any other man.”
She reasoned that no sane woman would make such a promise to a man she’d known less that a week. “Mike, we’ve known each other less than a week.”
From the expression on his face, she was fairly certain that he hadn’t expected that response. “Considering what happened last night, time is irrelevant. I need to know that you’re mine.”
She reached up and kissed him quickly on the mouth. “There won’t be anybody else, Mike. I’ll call you when I get home.”
He pulled her into his arms and demanded a fiery, openmouthed kiss. “You’re precious to me. Don’t forget that.”
“I won’t.” She left him standing there and made her way into the line for the security check.
Darlene unlocked the front door with her key, found Maggie in the kitchen and hugged her. “How was it?” Maggie asked, wiping her hands on her smock. Maggie rarely wore an apron.
“Fantastic,” Darlene called back, already charging up the stairs to her room. She went to her desk and searched through the Rolodex until she found Edward Hathaway’s number. Then sat down at her desk and dialed it.
“Hello, Edward, this is Darlene.”
“Darlene! It’s good to hear from you. What a nice surprise.”
She didn’t think as highly of him as she once had, and she was not in the mood for banalities. “Edward, I need to talk with you for a minute. Could we meet at Starbucks for a cup of coffee? I promise I won’t keep you long.”
“Sure. When?”
“Right now if you ca
n make it.” He’d think it one of her hasty, ill-conceived ideas, but he’d be wrong this time.
“Would you like me to come by for you?”
“Thanks, but I can walk there faster than you can drive here. See you shortly.”
Edward Hathaway owed her an explanation, one that she would believe. She changed into a conservative but attractive summer dress, piled her hair on her head, added some big hoop gold earrings and dashed into the kitchen.
“I’m meeting somebody at Starbucks for a few minutes. I’ll be back shortly, and we can talk then. I’m not eating there, just having coffee.”
Edward waited for her at a back table. He stood when she entered the coffee shop.
“My goodness,” he said as he leaned down to kiss her cheek. “You’re glowing. You look fantastic.”
“Thanks. I’m only having coffee.”
He ordered coffee, and brought it to their table. “You’re in a very sober mood, Darlene. What is it?”
She sipped the coffee, marveling that he remembered her preference for cinnamon. “I’m telling you more than you need to know, Edward, but I have no choice. What happened the night we went to bed? I had thought that you made love with me, but you didn’t. What was that all about? What happened and why?”
He leaned back and looked her in the eye. “I’ve been expecting these questions. Almost immediately after we were in bed…no, even while I undressed you, I had the feeling that I had seduced a child. I know you were twenty-seven, but I realized that you were an innocent, that you didn’t even know how to touch a man, and that your feigned sophistication was a cover-up.”
“Why didn’t you teach me?”
“I couldn’t do that, because I had not decided what I wanted for us, whether I wanted our relationship to be exclusive. I didn’t want to hurt you, and you had me to the point of explosion, so I got relief elsewhere. I knew that unless you were experienced, you wouldn’t know the difference.”
“But that didn’t work for me and I needed much more.”
“I’m glad of that, and I’m also glad that you found it.”
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