Лорет Энн Уайт – Heart of a Hero: The Soldier's Seduction / The Heart of a Mercenary / Straight Through the Heart (страница 9)
Her eyes were fastened on his face; her hands fell to rest against his chest for a moment before she moved away. She cleared her throat. “I understand it’s going to take some time to get used to being a father,” she told him, indicating the baby playing at their feet. Her voice was huskier than normal.
His body was having no trouble understanding that the woman he’d dreamed of for months—hell, years—was standing practically in his arms.
He exerted a little pressure until she stopped resisting and let him draw her forward. “It’s amazing that we created that.”
She nodded, looking straight ahead at his throat rather than tilting her head back. “It’s a miracle.”
He pressed a feather light kiss against her temple and felt her body shudder. “I’m still pissed at you. But thank you.”
“I, ah—I don’t think—”
“Don’t think,” he urged. “I won’t if you won’t.”
He wanted to kiss her. He’d dreamed of it for so long that he could hardly believe this was real. Releasing her wrist, he put one finger beneath her chin and lifted her face to his. “Kiss me,” he said. “Relax and let me—ahhh.” In unison, they made an involuntary sound of pure pleasure as his thighs pressed into the cradle of her hips and his hardening body nudged the tender flesh between her legs.
He couldn’t wait anymore. He dropped his head and fastened his mouth on hers, kissing her hard and deep, pouring all the longing and frustration of the past two years into the embrace. He felt her hands clench on his shoulders, but she wasn’t pushing him away. Oh, no. He felt the way she melted against him, the way her fingers dug into his flesh and he knew she was going to be his again. But this time, he promised himself, he wasn’t going to be a cad, wasn’t going to leave her without a word.
This was a dream, Phoebe thought. It had to be. She’d imagined Wade kissing her so many times in the past year that it felt unreal to have him here, holding her against him. His tongue demanded her response, his big arms molded her close to the lean strength of his body. His state of arousal was impossible to miss, plastered against him as she was.
And memory rushed in, recalling the other time they’d been in this kind of embrace….
She was in heaven.
Phoebe nestled her face into Wade’s throat and felt him shudder as they danced. This was a dream. It had to be. But oh, what a dream. She never wanted to wake up.
“Hey, you.” She felt Wade’s lips move against her forehead.
She lifted her head and smiled up into his gray eyes. Even in the low light on the dance floor, they seemed to blaze with heat and desire. For her? She was definitely dreaming.
“I want to take you home tonight.” His voice was rough. “But I can’t. You’ve got the car.”
“You can drive,” she offered. “Since we’re practically going to the same place.”
“I wish we were going home together,” he said. “I’d like to hold you all night long.”
His frank words were shocking, in a knot-in-the-belly exciting kind of way, and she knew her eyes widened.
“I don’t want to rush you,” he said quickly. “I realize this is new—”
“It’s not new for me,” she broke in. She reached up and placed a soft palm against his cheek. “Wade, don’t you know I’ve—” loved you “—wanted this for a long time?”
He placed his hand over hers, holding it in place as he turned his head and pressed a hot kiss into her palm. He closed his eyes briefly. “I’m a dope. I never realized—”
“Shh. It’s okay.” She didn’t want him to feel bad, or awkward, about anything. “Let’s just start from this night.”
“That sounds like a solid plan to me.” He smiled. Then his hand slid down, freeing hers as he cupped her chin and lifted her face to his.
She caught her breath, sure he was about to kiss her. Oh, God, she would melt right into the floor if he did—
“What’s going on here?” The voice was strident, female, furious—and familiar.
Phoebe jolted, tearing herself free from Wade’s arms.
Melanie stood in front of them, hands fisted on her hips. “Thanks for taking such good care
“Back off, Mel.” Wade’s voice was cool and commanding. “You didn’t even notice I was leaving. Why the scene now?”
“Wade.” Melanie turned luminous blue eyes on him and, instantly, the anger vanished and tears welled. “You—you brought me to the reunion. Why would you treat me this way?”
Wade shook his head. “Save the act for somebody who buys it. You couldn’t have cared less what Phoebe and I were doing—”
“Phoebe and you.” Anger distorted Melanie’s pretty features and she tossed her long, shining hair back. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on Phoebe. “Sneaking around behind my back. My own sister. My twin. You’ve always wanted him, haven’t you? You’ve been in love with him the whole time, but he was mine.”
“That’s enough.” Wade took Melanie’s elbow, but she shook him off. Around them, people had stopped dancing and were staring openly, watching the drama unfold.
And Melanie loved it, Phoebe knew. She was the quintessential drama queen. This act was perfect for her.
“No,” Melanie said, and her voice grew shrill. “That’s not nearly enough. I will never forgive you for this, Wade. And you.” She stabbed an angry finger in Phoebe’s direction. “I wish I never had to see you again!”
And with one final toss of her bright tresses, Melanie whirled and stomped away, fury radiating from every move. The only thing that spoiled it was that she’d had far too much to drink and she staggered as she headed for the door, jostling a gaping group of classmates. “Get out of my way,” she shrieked. She had worked herself into a sobbing fit of tears by that time.
Wade turned back to Phoebe. “We’d better go after her. She’s had way too much to drink.”
“Yes.” She nodded. “It’s a good thing she doesn’t have a car.”
“Come with me.” He held out a hand.
She shook her head, her throat clogged with sobs. “No. She’ll be impossible if she sees me. You know she’ll calm down if she doesn’t see us together.”
Wade nodded, letting his hand drop to his side as he acknowledged the truth of her statement.
She turned and walked to the table where her small evening bag lay. “Here.” She extended her car keys. “You take her home. I’ll catch a ride later.”
Wade took the keys. Then he caught her hand with his free one, bringing it to his lips for a moment. “I’ll call you,” he said.
Her heart leaped at the tender gesture. Could he really mean it? Could this evening, the moments between them on the dance floor, really be the day she’d dreamed of since she was old enough to feel her heart beating faster in his presence?
She offered him a shaky smile. “I’ll look forward to it,” she said, clutching the promise to her heart as he started away.
Just then, they heard tires shrieking in the parking lot.
“What the hell…?” Wade began to run full-out.
Phoebe rushed after him. She reached the door just in time to see her car flying out of the parking lot and down the road, and she knew immediately what had happened. Melanie knew Phoebe kept a spare key in a magnetic box in the wheel well. She’d taken the car.
Phoebe tore her mouth from Wade’s. “This isn’t—we can’t do this.” She was embarrassed that she was practically panting. And then she realized that she had a death grip on his wide shoulders. And worse, she’d made no move to separate their bodies, which were stuck like two slices of the peanut butter bread she often slapped together for lunch.
Wade’s eyebrows rose. There was a glint in his eye that looked almost dangerous. “We just did.”
“Anymore,” she tacked on belatedly, removing her hands and stepping back, forcing him to release her.
“Ever?”
“Ever.”
“Because…”
“Because your life is in California—” she spread her hands “—or wherever, and mine is here in New York now.”
“Mine won’t be wherever anymore,” he informed her. “I’m going to live here if that’s where you two will be. It’s not half-bad.”
“It gets really cold in the winter.”
“I lived at West Point for four years, remember? Believe me, I know how cold it gets here.”
“You always said you wanted to live somewhere warm,” she reminded him.
“Being around for my daughter is a lot more important than worrying about the temperature. So your reasoning doesn’t hold. What else is bothering you?”
“Well…It isn’t fair of you to spring this on me without giving me a chance to think about it.”