One Night With You (23 page)

“Nobody's coming in here tonight,” he said, and set her on her feet, threw back the bedcovers and stood staring at her. “It's been so long since I was inside you that I…I need you so badly, and I'm afraid I'll mess things up. It may not work for you the first time, but trust me, I'll make it right later.”

“I don't want finesse, love, and I don't need skill. All I want is to climb that mountain where you always carry me and to come alive in your arms.” She let her hands slide down to his swimming briefs and inch toward the target but not touch it. He dragged her swimming top over her head, pitched it aside and locked her body to his. She parted her lips and he plunged into her, twirling and dipping, kissing her as if he'd been starved for the taste of her.

She put his left hand on her breast. “I need to feel your mouth on me.”

He bent his head, sucked her nipple into his mouth, pulling and feasting like a hungry man. She sank her hands into his briefs and pressed his buttocks to her, wiggling against him for the friction she needed.

He stopped kissing her and gazed down at her, his eyes pools of brown heat. “Do you want me?”

She squeezed his buttocks. “You know I do.”

He picked her up, placed her on the bed, and rolled the bikini bottoms over her hips. She lifted her body toward him, unable to control it, and he tumbled onto the bed.

“Woman, you do something to me.” He locked an arm around her shoulder and brushed kisses on her forehead, eyes and cheeks before he inserted his tongue between her lips and began stroking and pinching her nipple. She didn't want all of that; she wanted him inside her.

“Get in me, honey,” she moaned. “I'm just as starved for you as you are for me.”

But that seemed to heighten his determination to do it his way. Her body stiffened when his tongue began swirling around in her navel, for she knew what would come next. He parted her legs and let her feel the tip of his tongue.

“Oh, Reid,” she screamed as his marauding tongue began to knock her senses into disarray. He stilled her swaying hips with his hands and let his educated tongue drive her to within a minute of climax.

“I can't stand it,” she moaned. “Please, honey, let me have it.”

“I will.” He licked his way up her body, handed her a condom, put his head on her breast and whispered, “Can you take me in now?”

She pulled up her knees, put the condom on him, buried him into her, and he began to move. Almost at once, her thighs started trembling, heat pelted the bottom of her feet, the squeezing and pumping in her vagina took possession of her and she sank into a vortex of ecstasy.

“Are you all right?” he asked her.

“Yes. Oh, yes.”

“Oh, baby!” he shouted, and as zonked on him as she was, she could nevertheless feel his complete surrender as he collapsed in her arms.

He didn't know how much time had passed, and he still couldn't harness his strength. Slowly, he raised himself up and looked down at the woman who had the power to bring him to his knees.

“Kendra,” he said, startled. “Why are you so…so solemn, sweetheart? I was sure you had an orgasm. What's wrong?”

“I don't know. It's just…I don't believe that shacking up makes sense, and even if it did, it's not suitable for a female judge in a small town. But we can't even be together in peace once in a while. I have a house, and you have an apartment, but we have to go out of town if we want to make love. And then, we always have to be so careful not to get me pregnant.”

“Do you want to get pregnant?”

“No. I want to have children, and I think you would make a wonderful father for them. If I could have that without getting pregnant, I wouldn't hesitate for a second.”

He couldn't help laughing. When Kendra got testy, she didn't force you to imagine it. She put it right there in your face.

“I know it isn't easy, but if you'll have confidence in me, we should be over this by autumn. I want to spend my life with you, I refuse to ask you for a commitment until I have something to offer you. Right now I have only promises. And as long as I'm charged with negligent behavior as a result of that collapsed building, I don't consider it appropriate to ask you to marry me.”

“So if you lose the case, I can go to hell? Is that it?”

“Of course not, but wouldn't it be the end of my career? By opening this case, I'm taking a chance.”

“I don't want to hear that. You are going to win it. Oh, Reid. I'm so happy when we're together like this.”

“You're the one who said we shouldn't be seen consorting before that trial, and it makes sense. It's only a little while longer, sweetheart.” She bit his lip gently, and he felt himself harden again within her.

“Any more where that came from?” he asked her. She nodded, and he drove them to ecstasy.

“You light up my life,” he told her later. “I'm going downstairs and get those margaritas and some sandwiches. Sex makes me hungry.”

“I thought you said you were starved for me,” she said and flipped over in the bed. “Hurry back, and be sure and get plenty of sandwiches. I've got some more work for you to do.”

“Yeah? I'll make fast tracks.” He knew his face was one big grin. Nothing made a guy feel bigger than to know that his woman wanted him. He was going to double his prayers for success with that trial. God help him if he lost.

S
he had hardly been able to bear the joy of being with Reid, of having his loving arms envelop her as if she were the most precious being in the world. Her heart beat as if it wanted to dance out of her chest. If only she could be with him always!

She rolled out of bed and headed for the shower, singing as she went. For the first time in her life, she'd spent an entire night wrapped in the arms of a man she loved. As the water cascaded over her body, she had a sudden feeling that she might drown. But even after she stumbled out of the shower, a sense of apprehension plagued her. She couldn't understand why, after such a precious night with Reid, she felt threatened and un-characteristically insecure.

Never one to bathe herself in sadness, she lectured herself. “You're being silly, girl. Button it up. You've got a man who adores you and about whom you're nuts. What more could you, a forty-year-old spinster, want?”

She stopped suddenly, midway on the stairs. Wasn't that the problem? She was forty, a big-shot judge whom people admired and respected, but who else was she? She didn't really have Reid, and maybe he would never truly be hers. And although she had a lovely house, she didn't have a home: no children ran up and down the stairs and around the house calling for mama, and Reid did not slide into her bed every night and fold her into his arms. Worse, maybe he never would. She willed herself to continue down the stairs, walk into the breakfast room and smile.

It soothed her only a little that Reid rose from the table, went to meet her, put both arms around her and greeted her with a kiss. She held him to her with such strength and enthusiasm that he stepped back and regarded her with raised eyebrows.

“Are you all right?”

“Super,” she lied. “I couldn't be better.” She smiled at the others who had already begun eating. “Good morning, everybody. Looks as if we're going to have a great day.”

Both Arnold and Philip eyed her quizzically, but she ignored their skepticism and did her best to change whatever impression she'd given them, smiling when she didn't want to and laughing at remarks that weren't clever or witty.

She made it through most of the day, but her pretense had begun to wear on her.

“Would you like to go for a ride?” Reid asked her in the midafternoon, in what she perceived as concern for her.

She caught herself just before shrugging her shoulders, for she knew that indicating disinterest would exacerbate his worries about her odd behavior. “It's too hot to take the horses out, and considering that long trip back, a car ride doesn't seem attractive right now.”

His gaze seemed to penetrate to her very depths, a strobe invading the distant darkness. “Something isn't right,” he said, “and it's been that way all day. It seems to me that, after last night, you should be bubbling with happiness. But you're not—you're miserable. I've never seen you this way.”

Kendra knew that her behavior had to cause Reid anxiety, for he was, if anything, a very perceptive man, and she wanted to comfort him. She leaned against him and rested her head against his chest, murmuring, “Don't worry, darling. I'm just tired. One thing is certain. I love you more than ever.”

He clasped her to him and stroked her head, shoulders and back, but the twitch in his jaw, the unfamiliar, steel-like clutch of his fingers on her left shoulder and his jagged breathing belied the calm that he sought to express. Tension still gripped him.

“I…think I'll take a nap,” she told him. “By dinnertime, I should be fit as a fiddle.”

He walked with her toward her room. “That may be a good idea.” At her room door, he said, “Kiss me, sweetheart, and don't pour it on thick.”

How could she tell him that, even after a night of loving, she needed the real thing, not a sample? She sucked his tongue into her mouth and prepared herself to enjoy her rising passion and to enjoy the sudden bulge of his sex against her belly, but he broke the kiss.

“Let's postpone that until after dinner, sweetheart. Since you don't want to go riding, I'd like to help Philip with something, and this seems like a good time. Okay?”

She kissed his cheek. “Of course. I'll see you around six-thirty.”

Although she tossed in bed for nearly three hours, she was not able to sleep for one minute. Tired and exasperated, she dressed and decided to stroll around the estate. Perhaps if she exhausted herself physically, she would fall asleep that night. She left the house through the kitchen, stepped out on the deck and took a deep breath of the late-afternoon air. A soft breeze pushed her hair away from her face, and the perfume of roses from Doris's garden filled the air.

She walked toward the fields, thinking that with not a single human being or animal in sight, it was as if she were the lone individual in a world of green trees, flowering plants and abundant crops. It hadn't occurred to her that the property would be deserted on a Saturday afternoon when the workers had time off. As she passed one of the barns, she picked up a stick and continued toward the river.

The ocean, lakes, rivers and streams always gave her a feeling of serenity and peace. Anticipating a few minutes of calm and peace by the river, she quickened her steps. After half an hour, the distance to the river seemed much farther than when she had ridden there by horseback with Reid. An hour elapsed, and she stopped walking and leaned against the stick that she had picked up by the barn.

Perhaps the river was just beyond that little thicket, so she struck out in that direction. However, she soon discovered she hadn't entered a small thicket, but a forest. Worse still, darkness encroached. What was she to do?

“I've been phoning Kendra for the last half hour to let her know we're having pre-dinner drinks,” Doris told Reid, “but she doesn't answer. She can't be in the shower that long unless she's trying to turn herself into a prune. And that phone in her room rings loud enough to wake the dead. Maybe you'd better go up and see if she's all right. I didn't like the way she acted this morning.”

Neither had Reid. “I'll run up and see if she's awake.” When she didn't answer his persistent knock, he opened the door and went in.

“Kendra!” After calling her several times and determining that she was not in the room, Reid ran down the stairs and into the family room where Philip, his father and Max sat with Doris drinking wine, beer, a margarita or lemonade, according to their choice.

“Kendra isn't in her room.” He didn't bother to minimize his concern. “Did any of you see her?”

No one had. “Maybe she went for a walk,” he said as alarm settled over him. “Philip, do you mind if I take Casey Jones and canvass the place for her?”

“That's a good idea. I'll saddle Mountain, and we'll go in different directions.”

“Right,” Max said. “Count me in.”

He appreciated their help, but knowing that he had it didn't ease his disquiet. He didn't know what he'd do if he lost Kendra.

They rode out past the strawberry patches to the grazing land and stopped. “Let's check back at this point every fifteen minutes,” Philip said.

“All right. She loves the water,” Reid told them. “Maybe she went to the river.” He headed for the stream beyond the thicket, and his heart plummeted when he didn't see her there. He rode Casey Jones up and down the riverbank for several miles in each direction, didn't see her and headed back to the checkpoint, praying that he'd see her there with either Max or Philip.

“I went all the way down to the ravine,” Philip said. “I can't understand it.”

“She wasn't on Bunker Road, either,” Max said, running his fingers through the few strands of blond hair left on his head.

“She must have gotten lost.” He looked around as dusk settled in and told himself not to panic. “It's almost dark. You two go back to the house and eat your supper. I have to find her.”

“You're not serious?” Philip snorted.

“We go back when you do,” Max said. “I sure hope she didn't wander into the woods.”

“Right,” Reid said, “and she could have if she was looking for the river.” He turned Casey Jones around and headed for the woods. Reid remembered that Casey hated traveling after dark, so he lit the way with his flashlight. When he reached the edge of the woods, he called her name.

“Kendra. Kendra, where are you? Answer me, Kendra.” If only he'd thought to bring a foghorn. “Kendra!”

He pulled his horse to a stop. Either he heard his name, or he had begun to hallucinate.

“Reid!” This time, he knew he heard it.

“Kendra. Keep calling me. Keep on yelling. I'll find you, sweetheart.” He turned Casey Jones in the direction from which the sound of her voice came and eased the horse along slowly so that the horse's hooves would not drown out her voice.

“Reid!” The sound was closer now, close enough that he could hear the fright and unease that it communicated, and he had to force himself to go slowly.

If I can't see her, maybe she can see me,
he thought, and aimed the flashlight around, lighting a semicircle, hoping that she would see it and gain comfort from it.

“Reid!” Her voice was so close now.

“Are you all right? Don't move.”

“Where are you?” she screamed. “I can't find you.”

He realized that she was behind him, turned and directed the flashlight to the trunk of a tree, and mercifully the light caught her walking away from him. He jumped down from his horse and rushed toward her.

“Kendra! Baby, are you all right?”

She turned, ran to him, and he grabbed her, locked her in his arms and sobbed into her hair. “Kendra. Sweetheart! I thought I'd lost you.” He held her and rocked her as tears cascaded down his cheeks. He didn't know how long he stood, deep in the dark woods, holding her in his arms. It could have been a few minutes or half an hour.

“Reid,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “Oh, Reid, I was so scared. All these strange noises, and I was afraid of wild animals.”

“I know you were, and for good reason. Let's get out of here.”

He didn't tell her that the rustling leaves, the sounds of breaking sticks and the strange conversations of the night animals would have unnerved him if he'd been lost. He took her hand and, with the flashlight to guide him, found his way back to Casey Jones, whose snort amounted to a message that, although he'd waited, he hadn't done so with patience.

Reid put Kendra in the saddle and mounted behind her. He didn't worry about finding his way out of the woods, for Casey Jones always knew the way home. A sense of brotherly love and deep gratitude pervaded him when he reached the checkpoint and saw Max and Philip waiting.

“She lost her way,” he said, knowing that both men would accept the simple truth without prodding for reasons.

Philip took out his cell phone and called Doris. “Kendra was lost in the woods. Reid found her, and we'll be home in a few minutes.” Arnold had alerted two of the workers who awaited them at the barn to relieve them of the burden of grooming their horses.

“Thank God, you're safe,” Doris said to Kendra, but even as Kendra acknowledged the end of the danger, she stood before them rubbing and wringing her hands as if in despair. Doris draped her arm across Kendra's shoulders. “Do you want time to freshen up before supper? I'll bet a drink wouldn't hurt you a bit, either.”

“Thanks, Doris. I would like to freshen up. It won't take but a few minutes.”

“I'll go up with you,” Reid said. “I need to wash up, too.” When he emerged from his room twenty minutes later, he saw her standing outside her room door wearing a yellow sundress, and she would never know how happy the sight of her made him.

“You look so pretty,” he said, “but right now you'd look pretty to me wearing a tow sack. I died many times since the sun went down this evening.”

“I'm sorry I caused you so much worry, Reid. I only wanted to sit by the river for a few minutes.”

“It's all right. I want to hold you so badly, but I don't trust myself to touch you because they're waiting for us.”

She walked ahead of him, almost unable to believe that she was at last in a modern, well-lit house, and that she no longer feared ravishment or injury by a wild animal or a poisonous insect. She had always hated the darkness. At dusk, an automatic switch turned on a light in her foyer, and she slept with a night-light in her bedroom and bathroom. Since early childhood, darkness had been her nemesis.

At the foot of the stairs, she stopped and waited for Reid. “I was scared,” she told him, “but I knew you wouldn't rest until you found me, and knowing that comforted me.”

He took her hand and squeezed it, communicating to her the tenderness he felt, a silent symbol of what he felt in his heart.

Very little alcohol was consumed in the Dickerson household, so it startled Kendra to see Philip drink two margaritas before supper.

“Philip hasn't settled down yet,” Arnold told Kendra. “You scared the insides out of him and all the rest of us.”