Deceive Her With Desire (13 page)

But he also knew, after the emotional turmoil of the past twelve hours, Deirdre sure as hell wasn’t ready to hear
that
confession.

Ayden pulled the Jag into the dooryard of the farmhouse. There weren’t any neighbors visible in either direction, cars either. It occurred to him Deirdre’s welfare had taken priority over his undercover work. Not a smart move on his part. Not when Jameson seemed to be breathing down his neck. He hadn’t really been on the top of his game over the last few hours.

There was nothing he could do about it now.

Deirdre reached for the door handle, too tired to open it, her hand fell back to her lap. “I need a shower,” she mumbled.

“What you need,
Deirdre,
is some food and rest. You barely ate anything at the diner. Meghan promised to call if there was any change. You don’t need to be back at the hospital until this afternoon. You guys have a pretty good system going there. Rotating shifts with your mom.” Lifting her hand, Ayden rubbed it against his lips. “I don’t have any pressing business meetings today. Everything I need to do can be done by phone. Let me take care of you.”

“I’d like that.”

With a firm arm around her waist, Ayden nearly carried her into the house and pushed her into the bedroom with all its girly frills and pastel colors. He stood in the bedroom doorway until the water in the shower started running and he heard that quiet little sigh he’d come to recognize as Deirdre’s contentment.

Now, Ayden rummaged through the modern kitchen, its cherry cupboards, dark granite counters, and stainless steel appliances harmonizing with the country charm of the old house. He wasn’t much for the
morning after
routine, but somehow it seemed natural for him to be bumping around brewing coffee and gathering random ingredients for breakfast.

Despite the gravity of their situations, his with the DEA and Deirdre’s with her family, Ayden felt oddly at peace cooking in her kitchen. He had no idea what she’d need from him today. Whatever it was, he’d be here to give it to her.

When her phone rang, worried it was her
family,
Ayden grabbed it off the wooden table and answered without checking her caller ID.
“Deirdre’s phone.”

“Who’s this? Is Deirdre all right?” a worried female voice he didn’t recognize asked.

“Austin Schaeffer. Deirdre’s fine she’s in the shower.”

“Who’s this?”

“I’m her…” He wasn’t exactly sure how to define his relationship to the woman who’d wrapped herself around his heart.
“A friend of Deirdre’s.”

“Black Jag asshole
who
nearly ran me over yesterday?”

He laughed, realizing he was talking to her friend and co-worker, Rachel. “That’d be me. But most of my friends just call me Austin.” He wondered exactly what Deirdre had said to Rachel yesterday after he’d left the estate.

“Yeah well,
Black Jag,
you’re only in my good graces ‘
cuz
you took care of her last night when she needed a friend. She’s been through a lot lately with her dad and…everything.”

He wasn’t sure if she referred to the arrest or Deirdre’s ex.

“Don’t you fuck with her heart or you’ll have me to answer to,” Rachel said.

Ah, her love life.
“Her heart’s safe with me.” The words came out without thought, surprising him with their intensity.

“Whatever. I actually just called to tell her everything’s copacetic with Jameson. Mark and I’ll work in town with the kids today.”

“I’ll let her know.”

“And Jag…”

“Yeah.”

“She says you’re one of the good guys. Don’t disappoint.”

Chapter 9

“Ayden?”

He turned to find Deirdre standing in the kitchen doorway, a silky blue robe barely hiding her athletic curves. She’d wrapped a pink towel around her head. The dark circles of worry had faded, leaving only the honey glow of her almond eyes for Ayden to admire. The shower had done wonders for her.

He held up her phone. “I wasn’t sure who it was so I hope you don’t mind that I answered it.”

“Was it? Is my…”

“Oh, Christ, no.
It was Rachel” Ayden extended his arms, meeting her half way as she willingly filled the void.

“Thank God. I don’t think I—”

“
Shh
. Stop worrying. Dr. McCarty seemed to have things stabilized.” He pulled her tight, burying his face in the softness of her neck. “Rachel just wanted to tell you that she’s got everything lined up for today and not to worry.” He breathed deep, filling his lungs with floral shampoo and soap. He grazed his teeth along the slope of her throat and dug his fingers into the weight of the world she carried on her tense shoulders.

“
Mmmm
, that feels so good.”

His heart tripped all over itself as he pulled back to see the desire clouding her eyes. He wondered who was supporting whom. “Deirdre, you need to rest. And I made some eggs.”

“I have more eggs.” She
tipped
up on her toes, pulling his bottom lip into the heat of her mouth, grazing it with her teeth. “What I
need
is
you. I need to feel alive, Austin. I want to drown in the mindless abandon of what you do to me.” She dipped her head, looking up at him through those thick lashes. Her bottom lip pouted playfully. “You wouldn’t deny a woman in need, would you?”

“I wasn’t hungry for eggs, anyway.”

She jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and he carried her to the stove turning off the eggs and bacon. His cock swelled with each step out of the kitchen. Ayden thought he’d had his fill of her last night, but he was wrong. Where Deirdre was concerned, there never seemed to be enough.

“I can’t deny you anything.” Ayden nuzzled her neck and worked his hands into her robe. The hot flush of her skin against his fingers shot all the blood in his body straight to his groin. On autopilot, he carried her back to her bed, a four-poster canopy with lace draping everything.
Very feminine and definitely too girly for Deirdre.

Deirdre read the confusion in his expression and giggled.

“I know. It’s not what you expected.” She dropped her legs, pulling the dress shirt from his jeans in one motion. “This used to be the family homestead, until I bought it from my parents.” Undoing his belt buckle, her hands worked feverishly to strip him naked. “When I moved in we gutted this room first. Ah, there we go.” The metal clasp of the belt clanked on the wood floor as his pants pooled at his feet. “When it came to decorating I let Brianna…” Her hands froze on his hips, and little red flags filled her cheeks. “Sorry.”

“Never apologize for your past, Deirdre.” He kissed her nose. “Both of us have one.”

“Anyway, I haven’t been in here since she left.
Had no reason to need the double bed.”
Deirdre
shimmied
his boxer briefs seductively down his hips. “Later, we can do this in my old room. Nothing’s changed since I was a teenager. It’ll give you that bad boy feeling of sneaking in.”

He laughed against her ear, his tongue circling the dainty shell. “I’m thinking you snuck
out
, rather than the other way around.”

“Oh, how well you know me.” Deirdre palmed his erection, the pad of her thumb circling the mushroom tip. ”Enough talk, I can’t wait a moment longer, Austin. Just love me.” She breathed the words hot on his neck.

Ayden wondered if Deirdre realized she’d used the
love
word.

“Make love to me. Right here, right now. Make me forget everything outside this room.” Deirdre kept talking. He wasn’t sure if it was the caffeine or the endorphins making her ramble, either way he loved the sound of her voice.

He pushed the robe off her shoulders and the towel from her hair unable to resist the need to give her everything she wanted.

* * * *

Deirdre’s lids hung heavy on those chocolate pools that looked at him filled with an emotion he wouldn’t define as lust. He’d never been in love, so he wasn’t sure if it was that emotion sparkling in her eyes. But there was definitely something there. She looked sexy as hell, lying naked next to him on her bed, the sheets pooled around their bodies. He realized he wanted to give Deirdre everything her gaze was asking for. Perhaps he was only projecting and hoping this one-night fling turned into a three-day romp-fest was beginning to mean something more to her as well.

To hell with the DEA.
To hell with Jameson and the drug bust.
Only Deirdre mattered to him at the moment. She was the best thing to come into his life in a very long while. Ayden wanted his real name tripping off her lips when he brought her to orgasm. She had shared her pain, her worry and her family, had held nothing back, and now he wanted to do the same. Reveal all his secrets. He
needed
to tell her everything. His heart pounded its way into his throat.

“Deirdre, we need to talk.”

“That sounds ominous.” Leaning down, she pulled the heavy quilt from the foot of the bed over them and couched her chin on her fists stacked on his chest and stared up at him, her eyes filled with trust.

Shit.
He really didn’t want to dampen the mood by muddying these tranquil waters with his past, his present— their future.

“Whatever it is, Austin, let’s get it out there, deal with it and move on.” Her bottom lip disappeared between her teeth. Concern furrowed her brows and clouded her eyes. She thought he was leaving her like all her former lovers had, but that was the furthest thing from his mind.

“Deirdre, I’m not going anywhere.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead, pulling her tighter to his body. He hoped that was true. He hoped Deirdre would want him after he told her the truth. Cocooned in the warmth of their bodies, Ayden felt secure. He wanted her to know everything. But he didn’t want to lose what he’d found. Deirdre stretched the length of him, her warm breath feathering across his chest.

“You don’t know me,” he said.

“I thought we were getting to know each other. So, we skipped the dating part, but this is the twenty-first century. We’re both adults. We can—”

He pressed his mouth to hers. She parted his lips with her tongue, intent on deepening the kiss, but he pulled back.

“Why is that the only thing that shuts you up?”

“I—”

He put a finger to her mouth. “No, Deirdre.
My turn for a confession.
I need to tell you something. It’s important. Please let me.”

And she did.

He told her about Jameson, the DEA and the undercover persona of Austin Schaeffer, about the mission in Miami three years ago—and how he’d killed his little brother.

* * * *

For the fourth time, Deirdre filled Ayden’s coffee cup. His restless hands didn’t seem to know where to land. He burned his energy dragging the mug from the table to his mouth and back again.

Nearly an hour had passed since she’d coaxed him out of the bedroom and forced him to eat. Their empty plates lay ignored on the kitchen table at his elbow. The spark of fire in Ayden’s eyes had burned itself out as he told her about the tragic losses of the people he loved. The day-old stubble on his haggard face added to his dejected look of frailty. He’d come to her home to take care of her, but he was the one in desperate need of support. His confessions had sliced through her heart, and by the look of things, nearly broken him.

They barely knew each other, yet the emotional storms of the last twenty-four hours had forged a bond that left them clinging to each other like life rafts. Now it was her turn to rescue him from himself.

Setting the decanter in the coffeemaker, she turned back to him.

“Ayden.”
She rolled the name around on her tongue. It fit him so much better than some town in Texas. Deirdre wasn’t angered by his deception. He’d done it to protect her. But the fact that the man slumped in the chair at her kitchen table shouldered a burden he didn’t need to slog around just pissed her off. Deirdre only hoped she could help him see he wasn’t to blame. “Tell me
exactly
how Thomas died.”

Somewhere, somehow, he’d missed a clue, a small scrap of information, anything that would prove him innocent of deserting his own brother.

Ayden turned his head toward her with slow precision, his eyes still focused on some distant memory. “I’ve already told you. The details don’t really matter do they? It’s my fault.”

She closed the distance between them in two long strides. “No, damn it. I don’t believe that.” His head jerked back as her palm slammed into the wooden table. “Tell me again.
Every detail.
Maybe you missed something.
You and all the DEA assholes who blame you for his death.
I may have only known you for four days, Ayden Scott, but one thing is perfectly clear to me. You would lay down your own life for someone you love. I don’t believe you would kill your own brother, either deliberately or unintentionally. There’s another explanation. Just tell me again.” Pulling out the chair, Deirdre sat down next to him, her hands resting on the twitching muscles of his forearm. She softened her voice. “Please, Ayden.”