Could This Be Love?

by Lee Kilraine

  Of course, Pia knew the routine, so when Sijan asked her and Tynan to pick up enough food and supplies for a puppy when they were in town today, she picked up enough to handle all the passengers on Noah’s ark. When everyone settled down for the night, Jeff and Kent had generously taken the kittens and rabbits to the barn guest room where they were staying. Not wanting to be left out, Dirk volunteered to watch the ferret. Yes, Avery and Pia had enjoyed the irony, grinning at each other as they watched Dirk walk off with the ferret. The hamster was on top of the dryer in the laundry room since a hyper hamster on a hamster wheel didn’t make for a restful night.

  Roscoe and Peewee refused to leave Sijan’s side, so they were sleeping with him. Although, the pitiful whining and yapping echoing down the hall from his room probably meant Sijan wasn’t getting a lot of sleep. She couldn’t get the picture of Sijan driving with Roscoe shivering and shaking in his lap out of her mind. Every few minutes, probably when he thought she wasn’t looking, he’d slip his hand down to pet and comfort the dog. He’d almost run off the road when the little dog’s tongue had given the back of his hand a few licks of appreciation. Sijan had said he was trying to avoid a squirrel in the road, but Avery had seen what had really happened.

  Dressed for bed in her usual tank top and sleep shorts, Avery was ready to slip into bed when a long, pitiful howl echoed through the quiet house. Oh, the poor dogs. Heck, poor Sijan. It wasn’t fair to let Sijan suffer alone, since he’d only agreed to bring them home because of her. She headed down to Sijan’s room to see if she could help. When her knock wasn’t answered but the howling continued, she opened the door to peek inside.

  Sijan wasn’t in his bed, but she could see a light under the bathroom door. Another pitiful howl and then a nice baritone voice sang the opening verse to “Who Let the Dogs Out.” She opened the door to find Sijan sitting on the pink tile floor in a T-shirt and jeans, leaning against the tub with Peewee’s head resting on his thigh. Uh-oh. No Roscoe. The new dog bed under the sink sat empty. She peeked behind the door looking, but still no Roscoe. “Hey, Sijan, could you use a little help?”

  “Sweetheart, I thought you’d never ask. Please.”

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Avery cleared her throat and peeked into the tub. “Okay, but where’s Roscoe?”

  Sijan lifted his T-shirt to reveal Roscoe tucked up against his abdomen, sleeping like a baby.

  “Oh, so you don’t need my help.”

  “If I want to get any sleep, I do. As soon as I put him on the dog bed, he wakes up and starts howling. And that starts Peewee howling, which makes me want to howl.” Sijan scowled as he reached out, unconsciously rubbing Peewee’s head with one hand and patting Roscoe’s butt with the other. Even though he was supposedly a man who didn’t like itty-bitty yappy dogs that wore sweaters and old, ugly naked-mole-rat dogs, if he wasn’t careful those two dogs were going to adopt him.

  “Why don’t we try the warm water bottle and ticking clock trick? It works with puppies, but it might work on these two older beauties.” Avery crouched down to give Peewee some attention. “Do you have a hot water bottle and a travel clock?”

  “I think there’s a hot water bottle on a shelf in the linen closet over there and the travel clock is in my night table drawer.”

  Avery rose and found the water bottle in the closet. “Maybe you should get the clock from your night table . . . so I don’t invade—”

  Sijan sent her a heated look. “Avery, my life is wide open to you. Invade away.”

  The man was too sexy for words. Which would explain why she seemed to have lost the power of speech. And a sexy man taking care of a puppy? Please. What female alive could resist that? Liquid heat ran through Avery’s body, and she flushed from head to toe. She quickly escaped to find the clock.

  “I hope this works, Avery,” Sijan called from the bathroom. “I gotta tell you, my ass is killing me sitting on this cold tile floor for an hour. When I finally renovate this bathroom, remind me to install heated tile flooring.”

  Her heart clenched knowing she wouldn’t be here when he renovated his bath. She could picture Sijan in jeans, a tool belt, and nothing else, ripping out the pink tile, pink bathtub, and pink toilet. Oh, lord, she was losing it.

  Walking straight to the night table, Avery avoided looking at the king-size bed with chocolate-brown sheets. No, she wasn’t going to let herself notice the disheveled covers or imagine his large, strong body spread out on the luxurious mattress, where he had probably tried to sleep before the dogs had woken him. She definitely wasn’t letting the dark, woodsy scent float up from those disheveled chocolate sheets, wrap around her libido, and try to tug her down into them. To wait for him.

  Whoa. She shook that mental picture from her head and found the travel alarm clock in the drawer, being careful not to look at anything else, much. A couple of science-fiction books, a few biographies, one book of Shakespeare’s sonnets, and an unopened box of condoms. Ribbed. For her pleasure. Oh, boy. She slammed the drawer shut a little harder than necessary, knocking over a small carved statue.

  “Everything all right out there?”

  “Yes! I found them—I mean it. The clock.” Avery quickly righted the statue, then returned to the bathroom flushed and melty-kneed. Pushing a strand of her hair back from her too-warm face, she started to wind the clock, darted a look at him, and said, “I found the clock.”

  Sijan’s gaze ran from her pink cheeks, slowly down her body and back up. He grinned a sexy smile, framed by the slashing dimples his female fans couldn’t get enough of. “A box of condoms got you that flustered?”

  She certainly wasn’t going to mention her vision of his honed body moving with hers in those dark, scented chocolate sheets. For her pleasure. “No, not at all. I was afraid I’d find your copy of the Kama Sutra.”

  “It’s in my office. But I do have a book of Shakespeare’s poems that will melt your panties off in there.” He grinned. “If we ever get these dogs to sleep, I’ll even read you a few for a bedtime story.”

  Avery’s cheeks heated, figuring his deep, husky voice could read her grocery list and her panties would ignite on the first syllable. She quickly put the ticking clock in the dog bed and began to fill the water bottle with hot water.

  “Okay, fine. I’m for equal rights as much as the next man. You can read me a poem.” Sijan scooted Peewee’s head off his legs, so he could stand up to move the dogs over to their bed. “Come on, kids. Mommy and Daddy have stuff to do.”

  The water bottle slipped out of Avery’s hands, landing in the sink with a splash of hot water. “Oh, ouch.” She quickly grabbed the water bottle to stop the flow of water, screwing the stopper tight into the neck.

  Sijan placed Roscoe on the bed next to the clock before he straightened up to look at Avery’s hand. “It’s a little pink. Let’s run some cold water on it.” He switched the flow of water to the other tap and gently tugged her hand under the flow, his fingers gliding over and between hers. After a few seconds, he shut the water off and used a hand towel from the ring on the wall to dry her hand, slowly. Holy cow, she would bet what he was doing to her hand had its own separate chapter in the Kama Sutra. She pulled her hand away before she was tempted to jump him.

  “Okay, Peewee, into bed.” He looked at the larger dog, who sat at his feet staring at him patiently. Peewee obediently curled up next to Roscoe and the ticking clock. Sijan wrapped the hot water bottle in a towel and tucked it in next to them, then stood back up. All quiet. He took a step away and the whining started immediately. “Next idea, Dr. Doolittle?”

  “Take off your shirt.”

  Sijan did a double take. A slow grin slid onto his face. “Maybe we should leave the room so we don’t scar the children.”

  “Very funny. Now hand it over.”

  He stripped off his T-shirt, handing it over to Avery and looking sexy while doing it, darn it. She crouched down and slipped his shirt under the dogs’ front legs so they could smell Sijan. Like a charm, t
hey each sniffed a few times, then rested their heads on their paws and settled down. Avery grabbed him by the forearm and led him out, shutting the door behind them.

  “Thank heavens that worked. It’s nice to know I’ll get some sleep tonight.” He sank down onto the side of his bed throwing his upper body back on the mattress, his bare feet still on the floor. His naked upper body. The soft light from the bedside lamp illuminated the muscles in his arms and chest, accentuating each sinew, each hard edge. Sijan turned his head to look directly at her. “Avery. Please stay.”

  She couldn’t tear her gaze away from his half-naked body looking so hot in the mussed sheets. Her heart wanted one more night with him while her head warned it would be a painful mistake. She released the breath she hadn’t known she was holding. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  She walked to the bed and stood between his bent knees, looking down at his golden skin and chiseled face. His heated gaze sent a flutter low in her abdomen. She crisscrossed her arms and grabbed the bottom of her tank top, whisking it over and off in one move. Sijan sat up instantly, putting his head on level with her now naked breasts. He started to taste, but she held up her hand and said, “Wait, there’s more.”

  She slipped her hands into the waist of her cotton sleep shorts and silk panties and, inch by inch, skimmed them down her hips, and thighs. Slowly, like someone who unwraps a present by untying the bow and carefully removing the tape rather than ripping the paper. Letting them fall to her feet, she stepped out of them, bringing her even closer to Sijan, where she stood naked except for the desire she wore on her face. Sijan choked on his own breath when she pushed him back down on the bed and straddled his hips, her knees riding on either side.

  She wiggled carefully down on his jean-clad pelvis, tearing a growl from his throat. When he reached out to touch her, she leaned forward, pressing his strong wrists into the mattress on either side of his head. “Don’t move.”

  His eyes zeroed in on her breasts, which they really had to since her stretched-out position put them in his face. Watching his face get serious, she felt powerfully sexy and didn’t stop the smile that slid across her lips.

  “You know you’re killing me here, right?” Sijan’s voice scratched like sandpaper as it struggled out of his throat.

  “I think so, yes. I’ve put a lot of thought into this all week, Sijan. You’re a hard man to ignore.”

  He lifted his hips under her. “You got that right.”

  Avery saw the surprise on his face when she ground her hips down to meet his, adding to the combustion. One spark and things would flame out of control. “What I mean is I don’t think we need the Kama Sutra, or the spanking, or the handcuffs tonight.” She moved her hips in a slow, firm circle, riding him. If her breasts brushed against his chest while she kissed along his collarbone and along his neck where his pulse sped under her lips, then that was pure strategic planning on her part to drive the man out of his mind. “I just need to touch, and kiss, and lick you in every way I’ve imagined.”

  He groaned. “You’ve imagined making love to me? Like this?”

  She lifted her head to look in his eyes. “Yes. Is that wrong? Should I apologize?”

  “God no. I love everything about your imagination. Only, when did you imagine I’d get to take my jeans off?”

  “Oh, not for a while yet.” Avery went back to kissing and licking. She moved up his neck to his ear, drawing another moan out of him and down his chest to his nipples, running her tongue slowly yet firmly across one. Then she turned her head and lightly bit his firm bicep before soothing it with her tongue.

  He grunted and shuddered. “Avery, I’ll donate ten thousand dollars to the animal shelter if you let me take these jeans off now.”

  She sat up on his pelvis, causing him to suck in air when his gaze landed on her breasts again. Maybe the sexual tension was getting to her too because she lost her residual shyness and lifted her hands to cup her breasts. He growled when she touched them, letting her nipples slip between her fingers, teasing him.

  “Twenty thousand if you let me use my hands too.”

  She dropped her hands down along his ribs, caressing lightly while she considered the deal. “Well, okay, Sijan. That’s such a generous—whoa!”

  Sijan had her flipped, himself stripped, and his hands on her body in an instant. “Yeah, that’s me,” he said, licking her nipple before turning his head to pull the other one into his mouth as his hands stoked her breasts and belly. “Always thinking of others. It’s a sacrifice, all right.”

  Her laugh turned to a long, drawn-out moan as he moved his mouth and hands with a purpose down her body. “Sijan. Wait, please wait, I don’t think I can . . . oooooh, yeeesss.” Apparently she could. She reached down to touch him.

  “Yes, Avery. Touch me. Oh, damn, just like that.” Moving back up, he wrapped one hand behind her head and kissed her hard, sliding his tongue in rhythm with her hand. His other hand slid down to the very heat of her. “Avery, now. I need you now.”

  With surprise on her side, Avery was able to roll until she was on top again. She was sitting astride his pelvis, her hands on his chest muscles and panting for a breath. “Hold that thought, Sijan, because I need a little more time. I’m high maintenance like that.” And she worked her way down his body with her hands, lips, and mouth, taking him in and driving him insane.

  “Yes, Avery, god, yes.” He didn’t last long. Reaching out for the box of condoms, he quickly tore one open and handed it down to her. “Now, Avery. It has to be now.”

  She agreed and rolled the condom on quickly before swinging her leg over his hip again ready to ride. “Is this okay?”

  “Okay? Baby, this is my fantasy.” And as his hips rose to meet her, he used his fingers in a light teasing rhythm on her clitoris, his other hand firm on her breast.

  Avery lost the ability to think as they moved together, Sijan employed both his hands and mouth expertly, touching and kissing until she screamed out. Floating over the edge, she folded her body down onto his as he groaned his own release. They slowly brought their breathing back to normal.

  ***

  “Avery? You’re my kind of high maintenance.” Sijan lay with Avery’s head tucked under his chin, her heartbeat seemingly in sync with his and absolutely sure he wanted to live out the rest of his days like this with this woman. Her arms and legs relaxed, entwined with his in the perfect love-knot. He remembered thinking that the first time he’d seen her, and here they were, so beautifully entangled he hoped she wouldn’t want to cut loose. They could keep each other anchored to life. And to love.

  “Sijan, that was the sweetest good-bye,” she whispered into his chest, where she snuggled warm and naked in his suddenly stiff arms as she drifted off to sleep.

  Good-bye? Hell, no. That wouldn’t do, because she was looking and feeling an awful lot like his future. God knew she had too many reasons not to trust people. From the loss of her parents, to foster parents who had been too small of heart and conscience to love an innocent child. And the men in her life were no better, from the criminally perverted to the narcissistic bed-notching assholes. What would it take to get this woman to trust him? And was it even possible?

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Sijan was still wide awake thirty minutes later when his phone vibrated from across the room. Slipping out of bed, he tucked the covers around Avery, careful not to wake her. Grabbing his jeans and T-shirt from the floor, he slipped them on before snagging the phone off the dresser and heading through the quiet house for the kitchen. He had a missed call from Jerry.

  It was about time Jerry got back to him. He returned the call. “Jerry, what can you tell me?”

  “That I’m on your front porch. Let me in.”

  Sijan hung up the phone and walked to the foyer to let Jerry in. He had been expecting a phone call from him, but it figured Jerry would be anxious to see what they were shooting. He wasn’t a top agent for nothing. “What have you got for me, Jerry?”

>   “A whole lot of weird. I can’t figure out what’s going on or who bought the contracts, and I’ve spent all week working on every connection and source I have.” Jerry walked straight through the foyer and into the kitchen, where he helped himself to a beer from the fridge.

  He took a big gulp, then waved his arm out wide, beer and all. “And you know I’ve got connections all over the place.”

  Sijan rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. “Well, I don’t see how knowing that would help anyway. Whoever it is had a reason to buy the contracts. That reason is usually profit. I need to know if there are any other conditions about what we can or have to film, other than that all three of us have to be in it and we had to start it within two weeks? I mean, we assumed it meant a movie from a screenplay, but that’s not going to work.”

  Jerry shook his head. “Unbelievably, no. No other conditions. Wait, what? What do you mean, it’s not going to work? Three days ago, you told me you would be done yesterday. As in wrapped and in the can.”

  “We are. It is. It’s not going to work. We can’t release that movie.”

  “Let me be the judge of that. Let’s go watch it.”

  “You don’t want to see it, Jerry. The problem is it’s too damn good, but we still aren’t releasing it.” Sijan pointed his finger at him. “And that is going to kill you. You don’t want to see it.”

  “Are you kidding? Of course, I do.” Jerry startled and twisted his head around at the sound of a pitiful high-pitched howl. “What the hell was that?”

  “Oh, crap. Hold on. Grab me a beer and I’ll meet you in the theater.”

  Sijan grabbed Roscoe without waking Avery. Peewee anxiously followed on his heels.

  When he walked into the theater, Jerry almost choked on his swallow of beer. “What the hell are those?”

  “Dogs, Jerry.” He sat in the leather theater seat next to Jerry, a small table with their beers between them and Peewee at his feet. He lifted his T-shirt so Roscoe could slip under, then reached over to open his beer, all under Jerry’s amazed scrutiny. “Let me be clear. We can never release this movie. And remember, you asked to see it knowing that. Watch it and weep.”