Audrey locked the back door of the shop and turned to Gray, her eyes tired.
Strangely, he didn’t want the day to end. Not yet, at any rate. Not when his heart was flying for Audrey.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Come to my place for dinner.” Say yes.
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
“Really. I’ll do takeout. What do you feel like?”
“Beer and ribs.”
He laughed. “Yeah? You’re an earthy woman, aren’t you?”
She nodded. “I have to return the van, though.”
“Okay, do that while I go to the bar and pick up the food. Meet me at my place.”
He turned to go, then had to make sure he wasn’t imagining that Audrey was going to have dinner with him. “Okay? You’re coming for sure?”
Did he have to sound so damn unsure of himself?
“Yes, I’ll be there.”
She climbed into the high seat of the van, flashing a little thigh.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
GRAY PICKED UP half a dozen bottles of Corona, a couple of limes and two servings of barbecued ribs, potato salad and coleslaw.
Three quarters of an hour later, Audrey sat on the floor in his living room, a froth of hot-pink, dark curls and laughing violet eyes. The remains of their takeout feast littered the coffee table.
“You’re a messy eater, you know that?”
She giggled and stuck a finger into her mouth to lick off the sauce.
Gray grabbed her wrist, because if he didn’t seize this chance, he would never forgive himself. He thought about her all the time, his feelings still sometimes clouded with panic and fear from sharing that one fateful huge event with her, both good and bad emotions around Audrey inextricably wound together. Inseparable. He wanted her, though, more than he’d ever wanted a woman. Even Marnie.
When he licked her thumb, drawing it across his tongue, a shiver coursed through his body. When he sucked her index finger into his mouth, she shivered.
He tugged her across his body until she draped across his thighs, her face a mere fragment of space away from his. This close, he could drown in her eyes, in their unusual color, and in the endearing warmth in their depths.
An open book, Audrey couldn’t hold anything back, or hide the tiniest part of who she was. He wanted to be part of her honesty.
Licking the sweet sauce from her bottom lip, he took his time loving her, savoring the soft skin on the inside of her mouth, laying her back with one hand holding her head and the other roaming her body.
He sucked the skin of her neck into his mouth, sure he was leaving a hickey and happy to do so.
With her boundless generosity, she’d granted him everything, had cradled and supported him through blinding fear, had given him back his self-respect.
He kissed the tender flesh behind her ear, felt her tremble in his arms, her body as giving as her soul.
His hand explored the hills of her wondrous breasts and the soft curve of her belly to the hot crevice between her legs. Her breathing hitched. She moaned, a small breathy exhalation of wonder.
He’d never wanted, craved, so much, to see a woman’s body, to see this woman’s being.
Slipping the pink buttons through their holes, he spread her dress open to reveal...perfection.
While he’d wondered often what feats of engineering held all of Audrey’s glory in place, he wasn’t prepared for the jolt of raw lust that burned through him.
French, sexy and incredibly un-PC, a corset in pink satin with white polka dots, trimmed with black lace, did insane things for her body, pushing here, nipping there.
He pressed one of the cups down, and her breast, with its large rosy nipple, popped out, generous and warm. He took it into his mouth. Nothing had ever tasted sweeter.
He cupped its feminine weight, and his thumb abraded the nipple. For endless minutes, he paid homage to her breasts, heating both Audrey and himself, leaving him edgy and aching.
He pushed up her dress and fluffy pink crinoline, crazy to see more of her voluptuous body. As he’d guessed, she wore stockings, but rather than a garter belt, they were held up by pink lace garters.
He grasped one and pulled it off her leg, along with the stocking. He caressed her shapely calf, her knee to her round thigh, so much beautiful skin softer than eiderdown.
A scrap of pink satin covered her mound, highlighted by one black velvet bow decorating her like a present. He unwrapped her as though she were birthday, Christmas and Valentine’s Day rolled into one, the best gift given by the sweetest woman.
Without warning, he flipped her over, because he had to see more of her or die.
The panties were a thong, barely there on a behind more delicious than ice cream and apple pie, more decadent than chocolate, more lavish than the anemic stick figures that populated fashion runways. She moved, raised her bottom high, subtly enticing him with the swells of her body. He touched her, traced those waves with his palms and ran one between them until he pushed the satin aside and entered her with one finger, her silken flesh wet and warm and welcoming, nature’s satin far softer than the fabric she wore, or anything man could manufacture. Velvety. Earthy. Home.
* * *
AUDREY STUDIED GRAY while he slept, brushing an errant lock of dark blond hair from his forehead.
He looked younger in sleep. Less severe. Less the successful CEO and more like a little boy. But he didn’t love like a boy. He loved like a man. All man.
She wanted to make love again. To pleasure him. For some reason, when they’d made love, he’d insisted on doing all of the pleasuring, but if he thought she would be a passive partner in this relationship, he had another think coming.
What exactly was their relationship? Audrey didn’t know, but she planned to do her best to make something lasting out of this. She’d wanted Gray for a long, long time. Even when she hadn’t liked him, she’d still desired him, but had held herself back.
No more. In the past two weeks, he’d been behaving like a friend, a true friend, as though he really cared what happened to her.
Today, he’d given her immeasurable support. He accepted the way she looked and how unique she was. You look stunning.
Gray still loved his fiancée, but she would take as much as he could offer, and she would work at making love grow, starting with a foundation of desire and the affection that had grown between them over the past month.
She already had a foundation. She’d known him when he was her little friend. Lately, she’d seen the ways in which the boy was still inside of the man, and her affection had grown into love.
She ran a hand along his arm, sighing with pleasure. She’d waited a long time for this.
Unwilling to wait until morning, greedy with pent-up hunger, she touched him until he moaned.
He came awake slowly with deep throaty murmurs while she loved him.
After he came, he kissed her, lingering for drugging moments, the man a secret sybarite under his proper business suits. What an unparalleled pleasure to experience Gray like this and a beautiful end to a spectacular day.
“Let’s shower together,” Audrey whispered.
“I like the way you think. Give me a minute to get my strength back.”
They made it to the bathroom eventually, after many more kisses. Audrey soaped Gray’s long, lean body, and he did the same with hers, finding pleasure spots she didn’t know existed, turning all of her skin into one giant sex organ.
“Stop that,” she whispered.
“What?”
“Making me so happy. I want to pleasure you, but I keep getting distracted by your hands.”
An arrogant chuckle was his only answer, that and more delving of those talented han
ds.
“I said stop it.”
“Not a chance, lady. Get used to it.”
Oh, she could. She really could.
They returned to the bedroom and curled into bed together. Audrey turned off the bedside lamp. Gray tensed in her arms.
“Shh,” she soothed. “I’m here.”
She felt him ease into sleep and held him for a long time. A deep satisfaction filled her. Gray.
* * *
THE CALL CAME at 11:46.
“Gray.” He glanced up from the document he’d been reading, still tired from last night.
Audrey had been stunning. Greedy. Generous.
And he loved the daylights out of her.
I don’t like you.
She must like him now. She’d spent the night with him.
This morning she’d gone off to celebrate her floral competition win with caving for the day, but he had work that needed to be done. Not that he would have gone with her into another cave anyway. Never again.
Hilary stood in the doorway of his office wearing a worried frown. “I know you told me you didn’t want interruptions, but you need to take this call.”
Her expression sent foreboding through him, and he reached for the phone.
“Gray?”
“Yes, Jeff, what’s up?”
“I got a call from a guy over near Glenwood Springs. Audrey went caving there this morning.” There was a rough exhalation on the other end.
“Jeff, this is sounding ominous.”
“My daughter... Little Audrey...”
Gray’s chest constricted. Fear bit into his psyche.
“Jeff,” he barked, tone sharp. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s bad. There’s been an earthquake. Ten people went in. There’s no way for them to get out. The entrance caved in.”
“That can’t be true.” His hammering pulse choked him. Panic cut off air to his lungs. He couldn’t believe anything would happen to Audrey, not after losing Marnie. He wouldn’t allow it. He couldn’t lose another woman. How had he allowed himself to care so much? “There must be a mistake.”
“No mistake. There’s been no contact with anyone inside. We don’t know whether they’re still alive.”
“I’m going out there. She can’t be gone, Jeff.”
“If you’re going, I want to go with you.”
“Can you be ready in fifteen minutes?”
“You bet. I’ll be ready and waiting.”
Scant minutes later, Gray pulled up in front of Jeff’s house. Jeff waited on the veranda. He’d aged. Those crevices beside his mouth that grief had carved into his face after Billy’s death, but had been filled in with Tess’s love, were back as deep as caverns. Even his salt-and-pepper hair seemed more salt than pepper.
Standing beside him, Tess asked, “Can I come?”
“Yes, get in.”
She had a bag with her. “I brought coffee and food. The drive’s close to three hours. Here.” She handed him a thermal travel mug. “It’s black. I didn’t know how you’d like it.”
Thank God for women like Tess, always ready with a helping hand and a calm head. Gray settled Jeff into the front seat and took off the second Tess climbed into the back and closed her door.
“Head into Denver and then west on I-70,” Tess said.
Gray cursed. Three hours just to get anywhere close to Audrey. She’d worked hard all summer and throughout September. She had earned a few days off with her caving buddies, but he’d missed her the second she’d left Accord.
He was a dollar short and a day late. He should have told her he loved her last night. He should have asked her to marry him. He should have begged her not to go this morning.
Gray drove fast, and halfway there was pulled over for speeding. The string of curses he let out was both inventive and comprehensive.
When the cop approached his window, Gray said, “Officer, I have to get to Glenwood Caverns.”
The officer nodded. “The cave-in.”
“Yes. I need to get there now.”
“I heard they’re letting only family through.”
“My daughter’s down there.” Jeff sounded rough. There was no doubting the man’s distress.
The officer worried his lower lip with his teeth.
“I’m her fiancé,” Gray lied.
The officer said, “Follow me. I’ll get you there.”
Gray sat on the officer’s tail until they reached the caverns.
Between himself and Tess, they pushed and pulled Jeff through a crowd of reporters, all while Gray issued a terse, “No comment,” to their questions.
“Who are you?”
“Are you related to the people who are buried under the rubble?”
When Jeff sucked in a gasp, Gray shot that last reporter a dirty look and told him to shut up. He didn’t care how rude he sounded. Buried was a stupid word to use if the guy had any suspicion they were related to the victims.
No, Gray refused to think of Audrey as a victim. He wouldn’t believe she was dead. She was strong, dammit. A survivor.
The officer got them right up to the front, where rescuers worked on clearing the entrance.
“How long will this take?” He faced a man who looked as if he was in charge.
“Who are you?”
“My fiancée is down there.” He brought Jeff forward. “This is her father.”
“Okay. This is how things stand. We don’t know what’s happening underground. The earthquake was mild, but we’re unsure how far back the cave-in went.”
Jeff groaned.
“If it helps, this is a stable system of caves. We have hope the only problems are here at the surface. It will take a while to clear the entrance, though, because we don’t want any more rock to come down.”
Gray thanked him. “We’ll wait and watch. Don’t worry, we won’t get in the way.”
“I’m not worried about that. It’s just that we’re in for a long haul. This will probably take all night.”
“That long?” Tess asked.
“Yes, ma’am. We’re being very careful.”
They stepped to the side where they sat on rocks as flat as tables.
“I wish I’d thought to bring blankets or heavy jackets,” Tess said. “If we’re going to be here all night, we’ll get cold.” She glanced at Jeff. “I can take you to a motel.”
Jeff’s jaw jutted. “Not on your life. I’m staying. I plan to be here the second my daughter walks out of that cave.”
None of them wanted to consider the alternative—that she might be carried out on a stretcher, injured, or in a body bag.
“Jeff, come hell or high water, the second Audrey gets out of that cave, I’m marrying her,” he promised, or threatened, depending on your point of view. “I shouldn’t say this to her father, but then I’m going to love the daylights out of her until she gets pregnant so she can never go back into another one of these infernal caves again.”
Jeff nodded emphatically. “Amen.”
* * *
AT ELEVEN THAT night, long after the sun had gone down, while Gray, Jeff and Tess sat on rocks that leached the heat from their bodies, the rescue efforts moved forward by painstaking inches.
Huge lamps had been set up on sturdy tripods, and the efforts continued without flagging into the night.
Paramedics had come forward to hand out thermal blankets to the families gathered at the site waiting for word of loved ones.
They folded some and used them to sit on, and then spread others over their shoulders, huddling close, with Gray and Jeff insisting on putting Tess between them.
Tess was right. They should have brought jackets, but it had all happened too quickly.
She pulle
d out the sandwiches she’d made, but ended up putting them away when none of them could manage more than a few nibbles.
How could Gray eat when he knew that Audrey was underground, cold, hungry and maybe even hurt?
Was she hurting? Was she remembering that dark time in the well with him? He wished he was down there with her. He would sing to her. He would hold her. For Audrey, he would be the strong one this time.
She meant more to him than his own life.
Just before dawn, a cheer went up. They’d broken through.
Gray jumped to his feet. He clasped Jeff’s upper arms. “She’ll be fine. They’ll get her out.”
A few minutes later, the news spread that there was another blockage thirty feet into the passage, and hope deflated. Silence returned, despair a palpable presence on the mountain.
An hour later, they broke through again. For minutes on end, there was confusion and then shouts, whether triumph or dismay was hard to tell from the outside. The shouts echoed around underground until one of the diggers ran out.
“We found them. They’re alive.”
Gray whispered a prayer of blessed thanks. Jeff slumped against him.
The rescuer waved to the paramedics, his gestures frantic. “We’ve got one woman injured. She needs attention. Get over here quick!”
The paramedics rushed in with a stretcher.
Gray grasped Jeff’s arm. “How many women went caving? Was Audrey the only one?”
“I don’t know.”
Gray stared around at the other relatives.
One by one, they said, “I’m waiting for my son.”
“My brother.”
“My fiancé.”
“My son.”
Not one other parent or sibling waited for a woman.
Gray covered his face with his hands. “Audrey.”
Endless, agonizing minutes later, the paramedics came out with an unconscious woman on a stretcher, her head swaddled in bandages.
Gray couldn’t see. He couldn’t, for the love of God, see whether it was his Audrey.
Too soon, he knew.
The other cavers came out in single file. All men.
Because of Audrey Page 27