Desert of Desire (5 page)

He opened the front buttons at her bodice one by one, nibbling on her skin until he slid the soaked fabric off her shoulders.
Her dress dropped to the ground, leaving her standing before him wearing only her panties.
Her nipples grew to tight, tingling peaks that ached for his touch.

He got on his knees and looked up at her, his blue eyes smoky, burning with
lust
. His tongue tickled the skin on her stomach, slowly climbing to her wet breasts. He pulled her taut nipple into his mouth, and Eve sucked in a breath, thankful for the water, lest her body would incinerate
on the spot
. She grabbed at his head, her fists gathering his damp hair and forci
ng him to continue his
sweet
plunder.

He looped his fingers into her panties and rolled them down her legs. She stepped out of them, kicked them aside
knowing there was no turning back now
.

What am I doing?

But desire
trumped every rational thought.

Beau
pulled away and looked up at her.
He
reach
ed
toward the shower faucet and shut it off. “This is the desert. Can’t waste precious water.” Then he tugged on her arms. She sank to her knees, facing him
, filled with carnal anticipation.

“Speaking of precious commodities,” he held his hand against her cheek.

She leaned into his touch. They kissed, this time hungrily. He guided her to the ground,
trailed
his fingers along her neck, her shoulder, her breasts. White hot need flooded her veins, rendered her incapable of resistance.

Her universe shrank to
Beau
’s Garden of Eden. Above her, flowers canopied their
makeshift
bed, filling the air with sweet scents. He dotted her skin with light kisses, working his way to her belly, her inner thighs. Warm, w
et sensations between her legs lifted
her torrid need
higher until ecstasy deluged her system. W
ave after
exquisite
wave of pleasure wracked her body, leaving her throbbing and hungry for more.

“I’ll be
right back,” she heard him say.

He was gone but a moment, then he lay beside her and slipped on a condom. His eyes questioned hers.

“Please,
Beau
. Make love to me.” Urgency punctuated
her
every word.

He whispered her name, softly, sensuously as he
started
inside her, slowly at first.
Inch by heavenly inch he
advanced. Erotic friction set off a burning flood of bliss.
She raised her hips, meeting his thrusts, grinding into him. He pushed deeper and deeper into her
, drawing her closer to the edge of rhapsody once again
. She wrapped her legs around him, forcing him against her. Her insides melted into
him in a crescendo of ecstasy.
Slowly, she drifted back to earth. Beau kissed h
er face, her neck, her breasts setting off sparks everywhere he touched.

The pulse at his temples fluttered and his face reddened with restraint.
Muscles on his neck corded. His strokes grew faster, harder then he
moaned, long and low.
His
face contort
ed
in pleasure and wonder.
Then he collapsed over her, his heart thundering against hers.

They lay there, locked in passion’s afterglow, recovering.

She eased herself to a sitting position and stared at him. “I’ve never done anything like that before.” She shook her head and squee
zed her eyes shut for a moment.
“I mean I’ve done this, but not walked up to a man taking a shower and practically seduced him.”

He smiled, his fingers tracing circles on her leg. “So you’ve seduced men who weren’t taking a shower?”

She grinned. “You know what I mean. I’m not in the habit of seduction at all.”

“Really?
Too bad.
Because you’re quite good at it, although I offered no resistance.”

Heat rushed to her face as she searched the area for her dress, finding it nearby, a soggy mess. She held it against her chest and slid away from him. How could she have made love with the subject of her article?

Beau
propped himself up on one elbow, his expression
suddenly serious. “Why do I get the feeling you regret what we just did?”

She pursed her lips. “I…I don’t know what came over me. I saw you there and I…”

“You wanted me. And I wanted you from the
minute
I first saw you. The more we talked last night, the more sure I became.” He got up and walked to the shower.

Removing a large bath towel from a hook, he handed it to her.

She quickly wrapped it around her body.

“Things happen for a reason, Eve. You came out here to write a story about me. We created a new story, at least the beginning of one.”

She shook her head. This was only sex—amazing sex—but only sex. The pull she felt toward him had to be loneliness, nothing more. “We live almost three thousand miles apart,
Beau
. We can have no story. You dwell in this beautiful garden you’ve created. But it’s not real.” She pointed toward the mountains in the distance. “That’s what’s real. This is the middle of a desert, not an oasis. What we have is only a mirage.”

He folded his arms across his chest. “You won’t convince me you didn’t feel what I did when we made love.”

She looked away, afraid he’d see the truth in her eyes. How could she tell him she’d screw it up if they pursued a relationship, as she’d ruined the few she’d tried? She wouldn’t risk her job, her home, her life to be with
a man she hadn’t known more than a single day
when she knew it would end in heartache for both of them. “It’s not meant to be.” She pulled the towel tightly around her and started toward the house.

“Let me prove you wrong.”

She stopped walking. “And how do you propose to do that?”

“Leave that to me. Go get dressed. We’re going out.”

She shook her head. “I’ve got to write my story. When will we do the interview?”

He nodded. “All right. First the interview, then we go.”

* * * * *

Twenty minutes later they met in the living room.

“Okay,” she began. “When did you know you wanted to be an author?”

He shifted on the couch and crinkled his forehead. “I had to find a way to pay the bills.”

Being so close to him made it difficult for her to concentrate on work. Images of what they’d done in the garden kept barging into her head
, her skin so dark against his
.
“All right. What made you want to plant a garden here, in the desert of all places?”

“It’s where I live, the most beautiful place in the country. Big cities make my skin crawl.”

She bristled. “We have gardens there too, you know.”

He smirked. “A couple of flowerpots on a balcony hardly qualifies.”

“So you’re a garden snob.
”

“I just don’t get why anyone would choose to live in an urban jungle when they could be somewhere like this.”

“I happen to like where I live. There’s culture and electricity and…oh yeah, jobs.”
Yet the notion of living in the beautiful oasis he’d created seemed like a fairytale.

“I made my own job. That’s why I write. If given the choice, would you really choose the city over this?”

She forced herself not to think about the possibility of spending any more time with him in this
beautiful
place.
“How many people can make a living at something like you have?”

He pinned her with a knowing smile.
“You didn’t answer my question.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “I thought I was the one doing the asking.”

“Do you have a nice home in New York?”

She thought about her tiny apartment with bars
on the windows. “I have a very…
lovely place.” Her gaze swept the large room with its
colorful
garden view. “Can we stick to the interview please?”

“Of course.” His self-satisfied grin irritated her. He’d
seen through her lie, damn it.

When she finished with all her questions, she stood. “Okay. Now I’m yours.”

“Promise?”

Heat coursed through her. Since when could a man turn her libido on with just a a word?
Ignoring his question, she followed him to his car. The drive took them through some of the most amazing scenery she’d ever seen.

He parked his truck on a scenic overlook next to the Grand Canyon then climbed out.

Eve joined him at the railing. The canyon seemed to stretch on forever and held more purples, blues and browns, more stunning formations that she could have
imagined
.

Sweeping his hand across the vista, he smiled. “What do you think?”

The beauty and the sheer scope of the place took her breath away. A majestic condor circled overhead before it landed on a nearby cliff. “I’ve seen pictures but I never knew.”
Her heart was racing.

“Can’t be captured. You have to be here to understand, to commune with it. It changes you.”

She looked at him
. “Someone else said that too.”

They spent the afternoon walking along the rim, holding hands and talking. After dinner at the El Tovar Hotel, they watched the sunset paint the canyon in darker shades.
She couldn’t remember enjoying a day more, or a man’s company.

Her
head swam with confusion during the drive back to Sedona. She had no doubt she’d begun falling for
Beau
and for his world
, despite just meeting him
. “You have so much beauty around you,” she said as they neared his house.