Love in San Francisco ; Unconditionally

by Shirley Hailstock

  Leo smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t said she loved him but what she’d declared had given him hope, so he kissed her.

  This kiss had been a long time coming, so it had to be a good one. He pressed his mouth to hers softly, their clean, sweet breaths mingling, and they got closer until they were fully covering each other’s mouths. His arms drew her into his embrace. Her arms encircled his neck, and nature took its course.

  They were both trembling with pleasure, the pent-up longing finally released. The anticipation was not better than reality. When they came up for air, Leo breathed, “I want you. But I want so much more for you than I can give. That’s why I tried to avoid you.”

  Meghan was silently crying. “The way I see it, we’ve wasted enough time. Let’s start living. The day of the wedding, you said you were perfectly capable of having sex, right?”

  “Mmm-hmm,” Leo said against her fragrant neck.

  “Then let’s have some at your earliest convenience, Professor.”

  “Tonight?” he asked hopefully.

  “You take Shari home, and by that time I’ll be at your place,” Meghan said, hurriedly formulating plans. “Thank her for me, will you? For coming with you tonight. Because tonight was our lucky night.”

  “Babe.” Leo reminded her of what he’d just told her. “I may die at any time.”

  “And I may die at any time,” Meghan said. “But I’m not spending another night without you. So go speak with your date and I’ll go speak with mine, and I’ll meet you at your place soon.”

  She stood on tiptoe and kissed him for good measure. It was as wonderful as the first one had been. “Now, get moving!” she ordered saucily.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Leo said, grinning. He was so relieved he hadn’t scared her off, it was as if this good fortune were happening to another man. It felt like he was having an out-of-body experience, albeit a happy one.

  Then something pertinent occurred to him and he spun around. “Hey, beautiful!”

  Meghan turned, her smile never wavering.

  Leo took his house key off his key ring and handed it to her. “You’ll probably get to my place before I do, and I wouldn’t want you to have to sit in your car waiting for me.”

  Meghan looked at him with admiration. “Good thinking. No alarm code?”

  “No,” he said and gave it to her.

  “All right, then, see you later, Mr. Darcy.”

  He smiled and slowly followed her back to the ballroom entrance, thinking that maybe his luck was changing. And then he remembered that he hadn’t told her about his sterility, which, if he were being honest, was probably the worst of his maladies. He closed his eyes and blew air between his full lips in frustration. More shocking news before they made love would not be well received. He was certain of that.

  What was he going to do?

  Chapter 10

  Meghan went around the table at the party whispering good-nights to her sisters and parents before telling Andre she was ready to leave. Her grandparents were on the dance floor.

  Lauren looked aghast when Meghan whispered in her ear and got up to give her a quick hug. “You’re leaving so soon?”

  Meghan didn’t want to get into it with Lauren, so she distracted her by saying, “Have you noticed that every Gaines girl here is with a mate or a potential mate? You’ve got Colton by your side. Desiree has Decker. Mina and Jake are expecting. And even Petra has that gorgeous Chance Youngblood looking at her like she’s something good to eat.”

  “You didn’t mention yourself,” Lauren pointed out.

  “I’m leaving to spend some quality time with Leo,” Meghan said.

  That was all she needed to say. Lauren kissed her on the cheek. “Well, thank goodness you two were able to finally get past whatever the hell you had to get past! Go, go, and be gentle with him. You haven’t had any in about a million years.”

  Meghan laughed. That was the Lauren she knew and loved.

  Andre didn’t prove to be a problem. He was texting someone when she returned to her seat beside him. She took a quick glance at his phone’s screen and saw it was Sharon.

  He looked up guiltily and smiled at Meghan. “Sorry, she’s been hitting me up all night. Says she misses me. We usually kick it on a Saturday night.”

  “It’s still not too late,” Meghan told him, “because I’m ready to leave.”

  Andre grinned. “Really?”

  “Yes, let’s go,” Meghan said.

  * * *

  Leo, on the other hand, was reluctant to disturb Shari because she was having a blast talking to Virginia and Marjorie.

  When he could get a word in edgewise, he whispered in her ear, “Meghan and I talked.”

  Quick on the uptake, Shari smiled at Virginia and Marjorie and said, “Ladies, it’s been my pleasure.” She rose and gave Leo a curt nod, denoting he should follow her.

  Leo said his good-nights with alacrity, and followed Shari to the exit.

  She beamed at him when they got outside the noisy ballroom where they could hear each other without difficulty.

  “So you’ve worked things out?”

  “Yes,” Leo said triumphantly.

  “You’ve made plans for later,” Shari assumed. Her dark brown eyes were lit with excitement. She didn’t even wait for Leo to confirm. She began walking toward the closest exit. “Come on, Leo. Take me home so you can get to Meghan.”

  Leo didn’t have to be told twice.

  * * *

  When she got home, Meghan made quick work of packing an overnight bag for herself and Chauncey, who she was not going to leave in the house alone for however many nights she and Leo would be spending together. She was optimistic it would be more than one. It was just Saturday, after all. They had tonight and Sunday night to revel in before they both had to go to work on Monday.

  She parked at the curb in front of Leo’s house about an hour after she’d gone home to pack. She didn’t pull into the driveway because she didn’t want to block the garage. She went into the house with just her shoulder bag and overnight bag and disabled the alarm. Malcolm gave a half-hearted bark when she entered the house, recognized her and started happily wagging his tail.

  “It’s just me, boy,” Meghan hastily said. “I’m going to get Chauncey now, then I’ll let you outside.” But she thought better of that. He was already excited and might not be able to wait.

  She opened the door to the fenced backyard. “Be back for you soon!”

  Once Chauncey was in the house and out of her pet carrier, she went in search of Malcolm. “Be patient. He’s outside taking care of business.”

  Meghan made sure the house was secure, then she went in to find something to drink.

  At her house, she’d changed out of her party dress and into a pair of jeans, a soft, long-sleeve T-shirt and a pair of black leather flats. She wanted to be comfortable but sexy, and those simple items of clothing all fitted her curves to perfection. Plus, she had to think of things like how easy Leo could rip them off her. They wouldn’t be hard to remove.

  She found a good bottle of wine in the fridge and got two wineglasses from Leo’s very neat cabinet above the sink. Out of curiosity, she looked in other cabinets, which were all in perfect order. Was she getting involved with a Monk? She enjoyed watching the TV show about an obsessive-compulsive detective.

  She decided she would let the wine sit on the counter next to the wineglasses until Leo got here. By that time it would be the perfect temperature to drink, not too cold, but not warm, either.

  She was nervous. Excited, but nervous. And Leo’s heart. Dear God, why did life have to be so complicated? Sure, he’d been living with the condition since birth. He’d said it was congenital. She knew people could live with a heart murmur until they were senior citizens. Most of them didn’t even take medication for it, but were advised to li
ve life in moderation: eat right, exercise, avoid stress. Leo certainly did appear to eat right and exercise, but the mere fact that he was living with a condition that could kill him was stressful.

  She adopted a Scarlett O’Hara attitude and told herself she would think about that another day. Tonight, she was going to make love to the man.

  She heard scratching and looked behind her to see Chauncey at the back door. Her smart girl had figured out Malcolm had gone through that door. “All right, I’ll see if the deed is done,” Meghan said and went to check on Malcolm.

  He ran into the house as soon as she opened the door and went straight to Chauncey. The dogs dashed into the living room to Malcolm’s corner, where his bed was. Malcolm grabbed a toy from his bed with his teeth and put it at Chauncey’s feet. Chauncey accepted it and took it in her mouth, shaking it and growling as though she were a hound after a rabbit.

  It was while Meghan was watching this spectacle of dog behavior that the doorbell rang. Obviously, Leo didn’t keep a key hidden somewhere outside like a lot of homeowners did.

  She went and peered through the peephole. Yes, it was her handsome professor, smiling happily. She unlocked the door and pulled him inside. “I thought you’d never get here!” she cried, grinning.

  Leo had taken off his bow tie, and his silk shirt’s collar was unbuttoned. Both his hands held packages, yet he still managed to pull Meghan into his arms and kiss her soundly.

  Joyful barking greeted him as the dogs ran circles around their legs. “Hold on, hold on,” he said. “What’s going on up in here? A man can’t come home without everyone jumping all over him?” He grinned at Meghan. “With the exception of you, of course. You can jump all over me anytime you want to.”

  He went and set the packages on the island’s countertop. Then he pulled Meghan into his arms again. Gazing into her upturned face, he said, “Listen, on the drive over here it occurred to me that we haven’t even gone on a date yet. Well, not an official date. And we’re already talking sex, so I thought I’d at least go through some of the dating rituals with you before picking you up and taking you to the bedroom.”

  Meghan laughed, eyeing the packages on the counter. “What do you have in mind?”

  Leo showed her. From the plastic bags he pulled a dozen red roses, so fresh there were still minuscule water droplets on their petals, a box of Godiva chocolates and the cutest stuffed bear Meghan had ever seen, so small it could sit in the palm of her hand. She recognized the brand as belonging to a company that made chew toys for pets.

  “Aw, thank you. You even brought a gift for Chauncey.”

  Leo chuckled. “To get in good with the woman, you’ve got to win the pet over.”

  “Smart man,” Meghan said, then threw her arms around his neck and kissed him again. When they parted, she said, “I’m making up for lost time. Since I wanted to kiss you the first day we met, I figure you owe me about a thousand kisses.”

  “Okay,” Leo swiftly agreed and bent to kiss her. “One, two, three...” After three, the kisses quit being pecks on the lips and transformed into foreplay.

  Meghan sighed and relaxed, her body feeling light, as if with very little effort it could mold itself to fit perfectly against Leo’s hard form. He was solid to the touch and warm, and he smelled wonderful. She breathed deeply, taking his heady essence into her lungs. His scent was woodsy and clean. All male and undeniably sexy. It had been hell keeping her hands off him for months.

  * * *

  Leo tried to slow down and enjoy every second of finally having Meghan in his arms. The pheromones were kicking in, though. He’d known they were physically drawn to each other. He’d felt it each time they were together, but to actually feel her in his embrace, her skin touching his, the warmth, the smell of her—it all worked to render him her slave.

  When they broke the kiss, Meghan said breathlessly, “I took the wine out of the refrigerator and got two glasses. Would you like a glass?”

  Leo didn’t need a stimulant—he was already quite stimulated—but he sensed she wanted to slow down, and anything she wanted was his pleasure to give her. “Sure, I’ll pour.”

  While he poured the wine, Meghan leaned on the counter and propped her shapely bottom up on a stool, a saucy smile on her face. He handed her a glass of wine and they playfully tapped the rims of the glasses together in a silent toast.

  “I wanted to know more about your condition,” Meghan said, trying to sound as though this were an everyday conversation, not one of the most important of her life.

  “You want to know if you can kill me during sex.” Leo interpreted her meaning.

  She lowered her lashes and sighed. “Yes.”

  “Sex, like any other exercise, is good for my heart,” Leo said with a gentle smile.

  “Rough sex?” Meghan asked.

  “Yes.”

  “The kind of sex that makes your eyes roll back in your head?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “Screaming is allowed?”

  “The more the merrier.”

  Meghan set her wineglass down and shot a very suggestive look his way. “Any condoms in those bags?”

  Leo produced a box from the bottom of one of the bags. “I’m always prepared.”

  “Bless you, Mr. Darcy.”

  Leo’s bedroom was very large. And made to look even larger than it was because the only furniture in it was a king-size bed with an upholstered headboard, nightstands on either side of it. Meghan assumed he stored all his clothing in the nearby walk-in closet. A glance revealed it was a large room with multiple shelves. There was also a spa-like master bathroom.

  Leo switched on the lamps on the nightstands. He then took off his suit jacket and began unbuttoning his shirt. “Welcome,” he said. “This is my sanctuary, and I hope you’ll be comfortable here, too.” Meghan sensed he was saying all of this because he was nervous. “I’m a big man, so the bed’s big and the headboard’s upholstered because I like to read in bed, and a soft headboard is appreciated then. No dressers or bureaus, as you can see. I get dressed in the closet. It’s roomy in there and has a couple of floor-to-ceiling mirrors that show me how I look.”

  Meghan went into the organized closet, and sure enough, his clothes were hanging neatly: pants with pants, shirts with shirts, jackets with jackets. There were shelves of folded sweaters and athletic wear. A large bureau with four drawers probably held his underwear. A six-tiered shoe rack was filled with several pairs of shoes. A tie rack was next to it.

  It was like a mini men’s shop. I am involved with Monk, Meghan thought.

  Leo joined her in the closet, and when she caught their reflections in the mirror, she gasped. He’d removed his shirt, and the man was breathtaking shirtless. She’d known his body was rock hard, but she hadn’t imagined how ripped he was. His arms, chest and stomach had the muscular definition of a professional athlete. The kind who hit the gym on a daily basis, not one who just got in shape for the season.

  “Anal retentive, huh?” Leo said of his closet, his baritone seeming to reverberate off the closet walls.

  “You’re organized,” Meghan said after calming down enough to speak, “and that’s a good thing. You’re probably never at a loss for what to wear to work, are you?”

  “I pick out what I’m wearing the night before,” Leo admitted.

  “Of course you do,” Meghan said, turning into his embrace. They kissed briefly, and Leo started trailing kisses down the side of her neck. She turned, and he kissed her throat. She removed her T-shirt and presented him with her back. He unhooked her bra and her full breasts spilled into his big hands. They slowly moved back out to the bedroom while her clothing remained on the closet floor.

  * * *

  She unbuttoned her jeans and unzipped them. Leo was happy to roll them down off her shapely hips and she stepped out of them, leaving them on the hardwood floor of t
he bedroom. She’d kicked her flats off in the closet, so she was now standing in front of him in a pair of soft pink hip huggers. The pink went beautifully with the caramel color of her brown skin, Leo thought as he divested her of them, too.

  After a quick perusal of the area below her belly button, he noted she didn’t color her hair. “You’re exquisite,” he said, his breathing labored.

  Meghan showed no embarrassment in being naked. It was obvious she worked out because she was toned, slightly muscular while still being curvaceous. Which was to his satisfaction, because he liked something to hold on to when he made love to a woman.

  She held his gaze confidently and with just a little arrogance, which made him smile. He was glad she knew her strengths and wasn’t shy. She glanced down at the bulge in his pants. He’d tried to play it cool and will his erection to stay in control of itself, but hey, he was just a man, a horny one at that, and nature would not be denied. He was ready for her.

  Her hand went to his slacks, which he regretted not doffing earlier. But he gently loosened her grip, saying, “I’d better do it. One touch from you in a sensitive area, and it might be over for a good twenty minutes.”

  Meghan smiled. “We wouldn’t want that to happen.”

  Leo was out of his pants, briefs and socks in record time. They were in bed moments afterward, kissing, hands roaming over each other, reveling in the wonderful sensations and the utter miracle that was the human body.

  “Oh, my God, you feel so good,” Meghan moaned.

  She caressed the backs of his arms, his biceps, his chest, his stomach. She kissed his ear and his cheeks, avoiding the beard, which was softer than she’d imagined. She kissed his forehead and ran her hands through his hair, which was soft, too. She straddled him and stroked her hands across his muscular chest. All the while, his member was growing larger. She could feel him move against her as she sat directly on top of him, her vagina throbbing. She wanted him so badly.