Owen's Touch

by Lee Magner

  But it looked like he’d been in a prizefight. Mariana kept trying not to laugh, because it hurt when she did, since her face rather resembled a boxer’s, too. What a pair they made, she thought.

  But at least they were finally alone.

  Mariana approached Owen, stopping when she was about two feet from him. She hesitated, unsure whether she could touch him without giving pain, afraid there was no place on his body left unbruised or unbroken. He’d escaped the most-serious injuries, but he’d been badly shaken up by the force of the impact.

  “Oh, Owen,” she sighed. Tears welled up in her eyes. Her heart glimmered there, too. Her throat ached with a sudden swell of emotion, and she couldn’t continue speaking.

  Owen stood there, staring at her. He swallowed and let his eyes say what his voice momentarily could not.

  Mariana raised a trembling hand, laying the palm ever so carefully against his jaw. Their gazes held for a long, intimate moment. It seemed as if they were alone in the world. And all was right within it. Owen turned his head and pressed a tender kiss on her scratched and reddened skin.

  “I’m so glad you’re alive,” Mariana said, her voice soft and very unsteady. “That you weren’t more badly hurt...”

  As he reluctantly lifted his lips, she cautiously caressed the roughened skin of his cheek. Shaving had been skipped this morning once Owen realized how tender the fine cuts and bruises were.

  “Thank God for air bags and seat belts,” she murmured with heartfelt sincerity. The thought of how close she’d come to losing him made her breath catch in her chest. “I nearly lost you, Owen Blackhart. What would I do without you?”

  Mariana bit her lip to fight back a renewed threat of tears. She was afraid if she started crying, she’d break down completely for a while. She wasn’t used to feeling this close to the edge. She fought off the terror and struggled for composure. Owen, who she thought was looking pretty strained himself, was suddenly swimming in front of her as the rising tide of tears began blinding her.

  She rapidly blinked and tears collected along her lashes, clearing her vision. Owen’s gaze went to the silvery glitter. He closed the distance between them. Her arm slid over his shoulder as his lips brushed comfortingly across each tear-drenched eyelid.

  “No,” he countered in a very strained whisper. “I almost lost you, sweetheart.” He cleared his throat. “I hope there aren’t any other men out there hoping to do something like this to you or your sister.”

  She smiled tremulously and very carefully shook her head. Her neck and shoulder were still pretty sore, even with all the analgesics in her system. And every time she moved, she discovered a new muscle somewhere in her body that had been strained and didn’t mind complaining to her about it. Not to mention the entirely new set of headaches she’d acquired banging all over the ground twice.

  Owen breathed a sigh of relief, and the corners of his mouth lifted in a slight smile.

  “My insurance company will be happy to hear that,” he teased. “If this kind of thing became a regular occurrence, they’d be upping my rates.”

  He put his arms around her, carefully, since both of them had bruises and aches almost anywhere they touched. He didn’t give a damn how much it hurt him, at the moment. He needed to hold her. Needed to feel her close. Safe and alive. And in his arms. His ribs were bruised, and his head felt like it had been used for batting practice. But he needed the touch of her, the scent of her, the nearness of her.

  “Am I hurting you?” he asked.

  “Oh, no,” she replied, the same relief that he was feeling himself. “It takes the pain away.”

  They stood, savoring the light embrace, grateful to be alive. Finally, Owen smiled against her temple as he recalled their hospital visitors.

  “I liked your sister,” he admitted huskily, rubbing his face against her cheek affectionately. “She’s got grit. Like you.”

  “She was round eyed with awe of you,” Mariana confided, looking up at him with pride. “I know just how she feels, of course,” she added, a little smugly.

  Owen laughed, then groaned when he realized his ribs weren’t quite ready for such hearty amusement yet.

  Mariana immediately became anxious about him, but Owen shook his head, indicating that it wasn’t anything serious.

  “She doesn’t look exactly like you, does she?” he mused aloud.

  “I’ve got bruises,” Mariana joked. “I’m the black, blue and purple twin.”

  “Well, there’s that,” he conceded dryly. His eyes darkened as he thought about it. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you before you had to bail out of that car, Mariana. Before that son of a bitch ran you down. When I saw you in his car, pulling away from the courthouse—”

  He closed his eyes for a moment. When he reopened them, they burned with emotion. He gently kissed her mouth. Their lips clung. Breathing changed a little. His tongue lightly traced the inner edge of her soft lips. The kiss deepened. Darkened. Fused. And gradually, reluctantly eased. Owen lifted his head and looked into Mariana’s eyes.

  “Even without the bruises,” he continued, gazing at her with the intimate eyes of a lover, “your bone structure is a little different. And the color of your eyes. And the way you walk...”

  He brushed his lips across hers, back and forth, featherlight. Everything had to be done with great delicacy...until the bruises were healed in a few weeks.

  “Mmm,” Mariana moaned against his lips as he eased off the pressure.

  “‘Mmm’ meaning ‘more’?” he asked teasingly.

  Mariana leaned against him carefully and rubbed her face lightly against his chest.

  “‘Mmm’ for ‘don’t stop, please don’t stop,”’ she sighed mournfully. She heard the rumble of his laughter deep in his chest. “Do you think the doctor would approve of...more?” she mumbled against his shirt hesitantly.

  Owen made a rude comment about not needing to seek medical advice on this particular matter. Mariana laughed, then winced when she realized she’d bent a little too far and her hip was throbbing painfully in objection. Owen looked at her with sharpened concern. Mariana shook her head, waving it off. The pain had passed as quickly as it had come.

  “Louie was convinced that I was Maryanice,” Mariana stated, feeling rather hazy now that Owen was near. It was relaxing being in his arms. The fear was melting away. And the kindling of desire was beginning to dull most of her aches and pains.

  “Louie believed you were Maryanice when you were sitting not two feet from him in the car?” Owen asked incredulously. He held Mariana’s chin gently in one hand. “The man must have damn poor eyesight. Along with all his other major problems,” he growled.

  Mariana laughed again, reveling in the fierce expression burning in his eyes. Owen’s arm tightened around her, and he swayed slowly from side to side, as if they were dancing to a tender ballad. Mariana felt no pain. She smiled into his eyes and looped her arms around his waist.

  “Do you like to dance?” she asked curiously.

  “I never did,” he confessed. His gaze wandered over her. “Until now.” He slid his hands down her back, gently cupping her hips, molding her bottom, drawing her abdomen and thighs closer against his.

  “Maryanice called me at the hospital, just before I left my room to meet you,” Mariana said quietly.

  “Oh?”

  “She was on her way to the hospital where Louie was admitted. They’d called her. His condition deteriorated rapidly this afternoon. He didn’t make it, Owen.”

  Owen rested his chin on the top of her head. “Is your sister okay?”

  “She’s busy. I think she and several investigatory agencies will be trying to unravel Louie’s so-called businesses for months, if not years. However, she does have a lot of assets, and most of all...some control over them, finally.”

  “So she’ll be living in their house?”

  “For now.”

  “I’m impressed with your business manager. She certainly hung tough,” Owen re
marked in amusement. “I like her, too.”

  “And Cryssa was positively smitten with you,” Mariana teased him. Then, a little nervously, she added, “She had to return to Phoenix tonight.” Mariana hesitated. “She volunteered to cook for you if you ever came that way and found yourself in need of a meal.”

  Owen thought Mariana had more than a little difficulty delivering that message. She sounded jealous. He smiled slowly. He put his hands on her shoulders and held her a little away from him so he could watch her expression.

  “Tell her I appreciate the thought.”

  “If you insist.”

  Owen’s grin broadened.

  “And what are your plans, Mariana?” he asked softly.

  She looked away, trying to escape the intensity of his gaze. He captured her chin gently, forcing her to face the truth with him.

  “I’m not interested in eating with Cryssa unless you’re with me,” he declared. “I won’t stray, Mariana. We will fight about something someday. Most couples do, sooner or later. But it won’t be about another woman. You have my word.”

  “Oh.” Mariana stared at him, feeling weak in the knees from the determined expression in his eyes and the rock-solid conviction in his quietly spoken promise. Mariana blinked. “We’re talking about something more serious than dinner with Cryssa.”

  “Much more serious. Much more long-term.”

  “We hardly know each other,” she forced herself to protest. There was no point in being coy. They’d been through too much together to bother with that now.

  “That’s why people spend their lives together,” he murmured, his voice roughened with emotion.

  “To get better acquainted?” She couldn’t believe the words were actually coming out of her mouth. She could barely breathe. Her lungs had stopped functioning. Her mouth was dry. And all she could do was stare at him. She felt weak and giddy and hot and cold all at once.

  “It appears that I do indeed own a house,” he said dryly. “You’re welcome to stay in it as long as you like.”

  How had his eyes become so silvery? she wondered, dazed.

  “But...I have a house of my own,” she murmured. She half closed her eyes when she felt Owen’s lips slide slowly across her throat. She tipped her head back, giving him better access. “I’m glad you won the lawsuit, Owen.” She hadn’t had a chance to tell him how relieved she was that the court business was over and the judge had found in his favor.

  “People can have two houses,” he said against the side of her neck, slowly nuzzling his way across its tender flesh.

  “Uh-huh...” she said, through a haze of wonderful sensation. She put her arms around him and splayed her fingers across the muscled ridge of his back. She felt the heat and strength of his body through the layers of clothing, and vivid memories of lying against his bare, hard body came rolling back over her in rhythmic, agonizingly sweet waves.

  He caressed her in long, sweeping strokes, murmuring something about bicoastal living and two-career families and self-employed people working from their homes. And all she could comprehend was how right it felt to be in his arms. How much she wanted to spend the rest of her life like this.

  Mariana snuggled against his chest, listening to the strong beating of his heart. She was drowning in his scent and his warmth and his beautiful, trusted voice. His strong, reassuring touch.

  “Are you sure this isn’t a dream?” she whispered shakily. “And someday we’ll wake up and we’ll feel like strangers?”

  He looped his arms around her shoulders and swayed with her for a moment, considering her cautiously voiced fear. Then he held her a little away and looked seriously into her beautiful green eyes.

  “My life was a dream until I woke up the night that I scrambled down the mountainside and took your hand in mine and told you to hang on,” he said quietly. His warm gaze drifted down across her face to her lips. And back to her eyes. “I know there will never be anyone in my life like you. There never has been. And there never will be. You touch something deep inside me, something so hot and so aching that only holding you in my arms takes away the pain.”

  He rested his cheek against hers and whispered.

  “I knew I was falling in love with you, but seeing you nearly killed in front of me kind of speeded up my plans for courting you. I don’t want to spend months dating. I love you, Mariana. I want to many you. I want you in my life, every part of it, every day of it. I want to sleep with you. I want to feel your body in my arms when I fall asleep at night and when I wake up in the morning. I want to be there for you when you need me. If you can’t handle that, you’d better brace yourself, sweetheart, because I’m not letting you escape. If you want more time, we can talk about how to work this out. I’m free to come and go as I want. I have enough money to live on from my investments. I can work when I want to, where I want to, for whom I want.” He lifted his head and shrugged. “I can just as easily live in Phoenix as here. There are plenty of things I’ve wanted to do, but never had time to pursue because I was working for a living.”

  Mariana placed her hands on either side of his face, framing him and holding him still. She searched his eyes, and deep in the innermost depths of their silvery gray, she saw what she felt in her own heart. This was different. This was special. This was a once-in-a-lifetime love.

  “This is forever for me, Mariana,” he whispered against her lips. “Marry me, sweetheart.” His lips touched hers persuasively. “Give me your warmth and your humor and your courage and your love. I’ve ached for you. Before I ever met you. And ever since. Strike a bargain with me. Share the rest of your life with me, and let me share the rest of my life with you.”

  His mouth covered hers, and this time he let the urgency, the need show. He needed her. He wanted her with every masculine cell in his body.

  Mariana melted into his arms and opened her mouth, sealing the bond with her complete surrender. Since that terrifying night when his voice had brought her back from the darkness of death, she had felt connected to him in a very special way. But now she knew he felt that same incredible sensation for her.

  “All right,” she agreed, murmuring against his mouth. “I will marry you, Owen Blackhart.”

  He groaned and held her up in his arms. Until that moment, he had feared she might hesitate, might refuse. He hadn’t realized just how deeply he’d feared it until she’d said yes and freed him from the darkness.

  Against her soft lips, he achingly murmured the eternal pledge, “I love you, Mariana Sands.”

  ISBN : 978-1-4592-6588-2

  OWEN’S TOUCH

  Copyright © 1998 by Ellen Lee Magner Tatara

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 300 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017 U.S.A.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  ® and TM are trademarks of Harlequin Books S.A., used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

  Table of Contents

  Table of Contents

  Could you fall in love with a stranger?

  Letter to Reader

  Also by

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7


  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Copyright