by Francis Ray
“Ayanna, are you there?”
“I was about to become one of those silly women, but you probably already guessed that,” Ayanna said in a wry tone.
“The thought had crossed my mind. You hid your disappointment from your father when he couldn’t make some of your school functions, but not from me.”
“But he always made a point to ask me the next day how it went and take time, just for the two of us,” Ayanna said softly. How had she forgotten that?
“He loved you,” her mother said.
Despite his missing school events or extracurricular activities, Ayanna had never doubted her father’s devotion. He wanted to make the city a safer, better place for his family and the community. His job hadn’t been easy, but he had never complained or shirked his duty. He was a man of principle. Just like Tanner. “Mama, you’re the best mother in the world,” Ayanna said, making her way to her lingerie drawer.
Her mother chuckled. “That’s nice to hear.”
“I’ll call you in the morning.” Juggling the phone, she shimmied into her panties and snapped her bra. “Right now I have to go apologize.”
“Tell Tanner to have a nice trip.”
“I will.” Ayanna stepped into her dress. “Bye and thanks.” Hanging up the phone, she zipped up her dress, picked up her purse, and hurried out the door.
“Mr. Rafferty, the security guard says Ms. Hardcastle is downstairs requesting entrance,” his secretary said, holding her slender hand over the receiver. “Would you like for me to go down and escort her up?”
Tanner couldn’t keep the surprise from his face, or the unease that followed. “Thank you, Mrs. Cater, I’ll take care of it.” Tanner rose from the head of the conference table where seven of his top executives were seated. “Please continue. I’ll be back shortly.”
“Very good, sir,” his secretary said, but Tanner was already heading for the door. He hit the stairs at a fast clip. If Ayanna came to break up with him, she could save her breath. He stepped off the bottom rung of the curved stairwell and started for the lobby. The instant he rounded the corner he saw her through the glass entry door. Her back was to him, and she was speaking to the security guard. The young man was grinning like a loon and standing much too close, Tanner thought with a savage twist of jealously.
He came to an abrupt halt. He had never been jealous of anyone or anything in his life. He searched his mind for another word to describe how he felt and couldn’t find one. Disturbed, he stared at Ayanna’s slim back, her sleek body in a soft dress that molded itself to her shapely curves with each breath of wind. Need clamored though him. He wanted her as he’d never wanted before. Ayanna was his.
The statement somehow smoothed the wrinkles from his forehead. He was just being his usual possessive self. He wasn’t jealous. Satisfied, he started toward them again.
As if sensing him, she turned while he was still several feet away. He didn’t expect the breathtaking smile on her face or her excited waving. Relief and pleasure rushed through him.
He couldn’t get to her fast enough. He pushed open the heavy glass door and was hit again by how beautiful and desirable she was. “Hi, Ayanna.”
“I know you’re busy but I wanted to talk to you if you have the time,” she said, smiling up at him.
“Come with me,” he said, leading her to a little alcove off the lobby. The area was empty, the lighting low and intimate.
“I came to apologize for my poor behavior. It was selfish of me not to want you to go. After you’ve acquired that property, maybe you’ll invite me down.”
“You can count on it,” he said, settling his large hands on her waist, bringing her closer. “I thought you were coming to tell me to take a hike. You surprised me.”
She rested her hands on his chest and enjoyed the unsteady beat of his heart. “I don’t think people do that very often.”
“They don’t,” he muttered as if she had insulted him.
“Let’s see if I can do it again.” She put her mouth on his, letting her body sink against him, soften against him as she took his mouth in a kiss that drugged his senses and made him forget everything but the woman in his arms. Their tongues touched, tasted, savored, and greedily sought more.
Feeling the edges of sanity blur, Tanner fought for control and barely won. Lifting his head, he stared down at her flushed face, her slightly parted lips, wet and swollen from his mouth, and cursed Marcel once again for making the trip to Hilton Head necessary. His breathing labored, his body and loins clamoring for something he could not give, he leaned his forehead against hers. “Right now I’d like to take you to bed and forget I have eight people in my office waiting for me.”
“Me too.”
In her face he saw desire equal to his own. “You’re certainly making it hard for me to go.”
Her trembling hand cupped his jaw. “I wanted to make it easier.”
“I realize that.” He turned his head, kissing her palm, then drew her tightly into his arms again. “The problem is, I don’t want to let you go.”
She pressed closer, feeling the heat, the hardness of his arousal, and the unwavering strength of his arms around her. “They’re waiting.”
“In a minute.” His hand made lazy circles on her back while he breathed in her unique scent, then he let his hand continue down to cup her hips against that part of him that ached to be inside of her. He moaned in sweet torture. If he didn’t stop now he wouldn’t until after he’d made her his.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” she asked, rubbing her cheek over the spot where his heart beat rapidly. “Do you need me to make a run for food or coffee?”
He kissed her on the side of the neck, inhaled her scent, and wished he could wallow in it, in her. His teeth closed delicately on her ear. She shivered.
“D-Does that mean you’re hungry?”
His ragged laughter sent more shivers rippling through her.
“T-Tanner?”
He heard the hunger of that one word. Now wasn’t the time to unleash it. He stepped back. “Go home while I have the strength to let you.”
“I wish I could help so you could finish up earlier,” she said.
“Thanks. We’re trying to decide on vendors … .” His voice trailed off and he stared down at her. “Maybe you can help.” Taking her by the hand he started for his office. “That place where you ordered Judge Wyman’s basket, could they do customized candy?”
“Sweet Temptation can do anything with chocolate. Julia Ferrington-Braxton is the owner. She has three stores. She came up with the idea of doing the basket for lovers that we sell at Leo’s.” Ayanna hurried to keep up with Tanner as he climbed the curved staircase. “She met her husband Chase, a Texas Ranger, on sort of a blind date at Leo’s.”
About to open the door to his office, Tanner paused and stared down at Ayanna. “It’s a smart man who sees what he wants and goes after it.”
“What about what the woman wants?” Ayanna asked, her brow delicately arched.
He answered without hesitation. “Since a smart man would only be attracted to a smart, intelligent woman, she, of course, would see the advantage of dating him.”
She shook her head. “How many years were you on the debate team?”
He chuckled. “All through high school and college.”
“Figures,” she said, a smile reluctantly tugging the corners of her mouth.
Still smiling, he opened the door and escorted her inside. The men in their tailored shirts stood as his secretary’s eyes narrowed behind her tortoise-shell eyeglasses. Tanner had left cranky and had come back smiling. All eyes went to the stunning and happy woman by his side, then to their joined hands. Tanner didn’t bring his lady friends to business meetings. Speculation ran rampant in their minds, but graciousness was their bread and butter. The executive manager immediately gave up his seat next to Tanner and moved to the end of the table.
The introductions were quickly made and the reason for Ayanna’s presence
explained. For the next thirty minutes she gave them the names of several reputable vendors she dealt with who met her demands for high quality and dependability. Although price wasn’t an issue to Tanner, she gave the business manager facts and figures, which would be multiplied many times over for the one-hundred-forty-six-room hotel.
Tanner listened approvingly. Ayanna knew her stuff. “Any chance you might leave Leo’s and come to work for me?”
She smiled at the teasing glint in his eyes. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
He stood and reached for her hand. She immediately placed hers in his and came to her feet. “I’ll see Ms. Hardcastle to her car.”
Saying good-bye, she left, her steps slowing as they made their way to the lobby. She stopped and faced him a few feet from the door where the security guard waited. “I’ll miss you.”
“Not as much as I’ll miss you.”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. After a long moment he stepped away, his eyes fierce. “I’m coming over as soon as I get back.”
Ayanna understood. The next time they were together they would make love. Her body burned. “I’ll be waiting.” Kissing him on the chin, she walked away on shaky legs.
EIGHT
Tanner had a bumpy flight and a miserable night. By the time his plane landed, he was in a foul mood. None of his irritation showed when Marcel greeted him, however. Nor did it later that afternoon when Tanner kept missing putts on the golf course. The higher his score, the more amicable his host became. By the time they reached the eighteenth hole, they were deep into discussion. Winning apparently put Marcel in a good frame of mind, but he was no pushover.
Tanner, his disposition unimproved, retired to his room that night, judging it would take at least a couple of days longer to cinch the deal. Deciding that calling Ayanna would make him miss her more and thus worsen his irritability, he woke his secretary from a sound sleep and gave her three specific requests. Finished, he went to take a shower. A very cold shower.
Ayanna couldn’t believe it. After three very long days and tortuous nights, Tanner had gotten the property and returned. Rushing into her bedroom after taking a quick bath, she threw a glance at the clock on the bedside table. 4:48 A.M. He’d be there in less than twenty-five minutes.
Quickly she slipped on the new peach-colored silk charmeuse pajama bottoms, then the dyed-to-match lace bed jacket over a mesh sleeveless baby tee with lattice edging. She’d debated a long time over the lingerie, wanting to appear alluring without being too eager, then groaned. She had passed eager days ago. She’d probably rip his clothes off.
Shaking her head, she picked up her comb. She had just completed her first sweep through her curly hair when the doorbell rang. Tanner. The comb fell from her hand. Her heart thudded. She didn’t think about how her hair was tangled and in disarray, that she wore no makeup, that he was earlier than she expected, that the intimate setting with candles and soft music was not ready. She just ran to the front door and jerked it open.
In his white shirt and jeans he looked good enough to gulp down whole.
They reached for each other at the same time. Their greeting was a long, hot kiss that left both shaking and eager for more.
“I missed you,” she said, her arms still around his neck.
“I didn’t think it possible, but you’re more beautiful than ever,” he said softly.
Beautiful. Her eyes rounded as she suddenly recalled her condition. Her nose probably outshone Rudolph’s. She pushed away his arms and took another backward step. “Please have a seat. I’ll be right back.” Without waiting for a reply, she tore off.
In her bedroom, she saw the rumpled sheets from another restless night of thinking about Tanner and decided to straighten them up first. Smoothing out the wrinkles in the pale blue Egyptian cotton sheets, she lamented that she hadn’t had time to put on the new ones or spray the sheets with perfume.
“Why bother?”
Ayanna jerked around. Tanner stood in the bedroom door. Slow and purposeful, he started toward her.
“You got my flowers, I see.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. Saturday she’d received a white basket overflowing with exotic flowers. She’d put them on the marble top of her chest of drawers across from her bed. Sunday she’d been surprised to receive white roses in a heavy crystal vase. She couldn’t imagine how he’d had them delivered. She went to sleep breathing in their lush scent and wishing Tanner was there. “They’re beautiful.”
“This is for today.”
Ayanna’s eyes widened and her mouth formed a silent O as Tanner lifted a large basket wrapped in iridescent cellophane from behind his back. She recognized it immediately as the one Leo’s sold in partnership with Sweet Temptation. Inside were lush strawberries dipped in white and dark chocolate, vintage champagne, a corkscrew, and two flutes and monogrammed napkins with the initial L. She had been so intent on him that she hadn’t noticed anything else.
“Should I open the champagne here, or do you want to go into the kitchen or den?” he asked.
Once again he was giving her a choice, but she had already made it. She sat on the side of the bed. “Here is fine.”
“Thank goodness.” Sitting beside her, he reached for the bottle of chilled champagne.
Ayanna smiled and plucked the glasses from the bed of shredded lavender paper. “Prepared, I see.”
“I was afraid my hands wouldn’t be steady enough,” he admitted as the cork gave a loud pop.
The stems wobbled in her hands. Tanner was a strong, self-assured man. Hearing him admit she affected him in such a way touched her deeply.
He filled both glasses, set the bottle back in the basket, then stared down at her. “To no more lonely nights.”
She shivered. “To no more lonely nights.” Their glasses clinked, their eyes locked on each other as they drank.
Tanner took her glass and set it with his on the nightstand. Standing, he dimmed the overhead lights, casting the room in intimate shadows, then came back to sit beside her. He slipped free the first satin-covered button on her bed jacket. “What time do you have to be at work?”
Her breathing quickened as he slipped the jacket off and kissed her bare shoulder. “After you called, I phoned Noah and told them not to expect me today.”
“You just saved my sanity.” His hot, greedy mouth fastened on hers as they tumbled back on the queen-sized brass bed, then he rolled, taking her with him, until he was stretched out on top of her.
With a hand that refused to steady, Tanner pulled the tee over her head. Her breasts were full and high, the nipples pouting. “You’re exquisite.”
Ayanna pushed up his shirt to find a chest ridged with muscles. “You’re gorgeous.” She put her mouth to his nipple and felt him shudder, then she was on her back and he was staring down at her.
“My turn.”
Ayanna felt the incredible heat and hardness of his body aligned with hers, watched in excitement and fascination as his dark head lowered. She heard him murmur her name just before his lips fastened on her aching nipple. She arched on the bed with a sharp moan of pleasure, her nails sinking into his shoulders.
He tugged on the hard peak, then the other, until she withered on the bed. When the pleasure built to a point she wanted to scream, his hand moved down her flushed body, finding the most secretive and intimate part of her. She cried out again and then again as he brought them together in a single thrust.
Nothing had ever prepared her for this moment. It was wild and glorious and frightening. She felt herself losing control, but even as her mind shied away, her hips lifted to take him in deeper and deeper.
“Come with me.”
The raspy voice, strained with passion and need, lured her as much as his body. She couldn’t deny either. She let go and felt herself spinning out of control, but even as she did she knew he would be there with her.
Tanner stared down at Ayanna, her face damp with perspiration, her nostrils delicately flared, her li
ps curved slightly upward, and realized she had surprised him once again. He hadn’t thought making love to her would negate the jagged claws of need, but he did think it would lessen. He had been wrong.
His hand swept away the sheet he’d pulled over her after they had made love. She was slim, elegant, lovely. His body stirred and hardened. He wanted her with a fierceness that shook him to the core. Possessing her body wasn’t enough. What would be? Her eyelashes fluttered, then lifted. The smile that had been forming on her mouth blossomed. Something tugged at him, a curious warmth. Possession might not be enough, but it would do until he figured out what was. Pulling her into his arms, he joined their bodies again.
Ayanna awoke sprawled across Tanner’s muscled chest, her leg sandwiched between his. Sunlight shone though the sheer curtains in her bedroom. Closing her eyes, she sighed in contentment as she felt Tanner’s hand stroke her back.
“It’s almost ten. You want me to fix you breakfast?”
Her mouth curved into a winsome smile at the thought of having a renegade prepare breakfast. “Would it be edible?”
“Let’s find out.” In one smooth motion he had her in his arms and was striding toward the bathroom.
Tightening her arms around his neck, she kissed his chin. “If you’re cooking breakfast, why am I getting up?”
He set her down in the shower stall and began adjusting the water temperature. “Because I want you near me.”
Her heart melted all over again. Looking at the hard muscles of his conditioned body made her shiver. She loved him deeply, irrevocably. There was no going back.
He turned, letting the spray of water pummel his broad back. “Then, too, I have this fantasy of us in the shower.” Taking scented soap from a dish, he worked up lather and began to spread it over her breasts, her stomach.
Her eyes drifted shut as his hands went to the inside of her thighs. “T-Tanner. I don’t think I can take this.”