Return of the Prodigal Son (14 page)

Each time he thought he would surely have to take her, he found a newer, sharper hunger that demanded to be fed. And so he gave and took and gave, feeling the crest of desire grow and grow until it threatened to explode.

Blind with need, his lungs burning with every breath, he drove himself into her almost savagely and heard her gasp.

Though he was half-mad with desire, he went very still. “I’m sorry, Andi. I didn’t want to hurt…”

“Shh.” She wrapped herself around him, all hot flesh and avid, eager mouth. Her fingers dug into his back, her nails scraping as she began to move with him, climb with him.

He couldn’t stop now if he tried. His breathing was so labored he feared his lungs would surely burst. All he could see as he looked down at her were warm honey eyes locked on his. In those eyes he saw his own reflection. All he could hear was her soft breathy voice whispering his name.

For a moment he trembled on the very brink, hoping to draw out the moment of mating. Then he was moving with her, climbing, unable to stop the roller-coaster ride that had their hearts pumping, their blood rushing through their veins. Together they reached the crest and shattered into millions of tiny pieces before drifting slowly back to earth.

Andi’s eyes fluttered open and she found Donovan staring down at her.

“Sorry.” He touched a hand to her cheek. “I didn’t mean to be so rough.”

“I’m fine.” She could see the look of doubt in his eyes and closed a hand over his. “Really.”

“Yes, you are.” He leaned down to brush a kiss over her lips. “You’re better than fine. You’re absolutely incredible.”

“You’re pretty incredible yourself. That was—” she shook her head from side to side, as though unable to believe what they’d just shared “—amazing.”

“Am I too heavy?”

She shook her head.

“I have to be. I’m pressing you into the ground.” He rolled to one side, drawing her into the circle of his arms. “Are you cold?”

“After that?” She managed a laugh. “I may never cool off.”

“Sorry about the grass.” He glanced over at their clothes, strewn around them like discarded rags. “I guess I should have thought about bringing a blanket. But one touch of you and I lost my mind.”

“Do you do that often?”

He seemed fascinated with the dark hair that framed her face. He twirled a strand around and around his finger while staring into those big liquid eyes. “As a matter of fact, I pride myself on having a reputation for being cool under fire. But this was a new experience. Like being dropped from a plane onto a bleak glacier one minute, only to find myself on a lush island paradise with the most beautiful forbidden creature on the planet.” He drew her close and covered her lips with his, lingering over her mouth until they were both sighing.

When they finally came up for air, he ran a finger down the length of her throat to her breast. “Are you in a hurry to go inside?”

“Not especially. Why do you ask?”

He lowered his head, circling his tongue around one breast, then the other, until she moaned with pleasure. Against her warm flesh he murmured, “I can’t let you go yet. I want you again, Andi. Here. Now.”

She tried to hide her stunned reaction. “Can we? Again?”

His smile was potently male. “I can if you can.”

Returning his smile, she arched herself toward him, needing the press of his body on hers. “Why, Donovan Lassiter, you’re just full of surprises.”

“You want surprises?” He chuckled, sending a series of tremors along her spine. “I haven’t even begun yet, Ms. Brady.”

They rolled together in the cool, damp grass, laughing like carefree children.

Chapter 11

A
ndi sat up in the dark. It took her a moment to get her bearings. Sometime in the night they had left the fragrant allure of the rose arbor for the shelter of the house, where they’d made it as far as the sofa before falling once more into each other’s arms.

Donovan had proven to be the most amazing lover. In his arms she was able to forget the past. The pain. The turmoil.

In the three days that he was away she’d gone through so many changes. At first she’d experienced a sense of relief. For the first time since coming here, she had time to breathe, to think things through without the emotional roller coaster she was on each time she looked at him. But as the days wore on, she’d begun to worry that something terrible had happened to him. That was when she’d accepted the fact that, despite all the arguments to the contrary, she wanted him in her life. Though it shamed her to admit it, even to herself, this strange, dark loner had completely taken over her life and the lives of her children.

They ought to be all wrong for each other. He was moody, careless and far too wild. She was sane and sensible and, until this past year, the epitome of a suburban soccer mom. But there was no denying that when he’d left, she and her children had been under a dark cloud. And now that he was back, she felt unbelievably, gloriously happy.

She glanced at the shadowy figure standing by the window, naked to the waist, wearing only the pants he’d hastily pulled on.

It occurred to her that the night suited him. Dark. Brooding. Secretive. “Donovan? Is something wrong?”

His head came up sharply. He glanced over his shoulder. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you, Andi. Go back to sleep.”

Instead of doing as he asked, she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her lips to his back. “This night has been wonderful.”

“For me, too.” He closed his hands over hers and continued to stare out into the darkness, unable to shake the feeling that he was being watched. It irritated him that even here in this sleepy little countryside, his demons continued to intrude. “I was standing here thinking about all the twists and turns my life has taken.”

“Regrets?” She held her breath, waiting for his reply.

“Plenty. I don’t think it’s possible to live without making mistakes.” He gave a mirthless laugh. “I’ve made more than most. But we don’t get the chance to do things over. We just have to learn from past mistakes and move on.”

“And are you—” she swallowed, wondering if her heart would ever resume beating “—ready to move on now?”

Something in her tone alerted him to her fear. He turned and drew her into the circle of his arms. “I wish I could tell you. I just don’t have any answers. And that’s not like me. I feel like I’m at some sort of crossroads in my life.”

She lifted her head, trying to see his eyes in the darkness. “I don’t understand.”

He pressed his mouth to a tangle of hair at her temple. “I’m not sure I do, either. My whole life seems to have been defined by my father’s death. In that moment, everything changed.”

“Were you angry and defiant, like Cory?”

He sighed. “Every time I look at him, I see myself. I stopped being comfortable with the familiar things in my life and did everything I could to make myself and everyone around me uncomfortable. I took crazy risks. I hurt the people who loved me.” His voice lowered. “When I first met Cory, I recognized those same things in him. But I don’t know how to help him, because I don’t even know how to help myself.”

“You’ve helped him just by being here. By listening to him and understanding. As for you, Donovan, you seem fine to me.”

He framed her face with his hands. “That’s because you don’t really know me. If you did, you’d send me packing right this minute.”

“I’d never do that.” She pressed her lips to his throat and ran a trail of soft, butterfly kisses to his shoulder. “I know you don’t like to be tied down. But don’t leave me just yet, Donovan.” She stood on tiptoe and found his mouth with hers. “Please don’t go.”

He groaned and took the kiss deeper. Against her lips he muttered, “I couldn’t if I wanted to. I think you’re some kind of witch. Ever since I met you, I’ve been under the most amazing spell.”

“If this is a spell, it’s been cast over both of us.” She opened herself to him, pouring all her heart and soul into the kiss.

“You make me weak, Andi. So weak.” On a sigh he lifted her and carried her to the sofa.

Then there were no more words as they once again lost themselves in each other.

It wasn’t yet morning, and the two lovers had spent hours in each other’s arms.

Andi ran a hand along the raised scar that ran from Donovan’s shoulder to his waist and felt him flinch. Against his lips she whispered, “I’ve been meaning to ask you what this is.”

“Just an old wound.”

“Where did it happen?”

He stretched out his long legs and tucked his hands behind his head. “A place with no name.”

She couldn’t help smiling. He was so secretive. She curled up against him. “What were you doing in this place with no name?”

“Infiltrating a band of international terrorists.”

Her smile faded. Whenever he talked about his past, it was so matter-of-fact. As though everyone had lived that sort of soldier-of-fortune lifestyle. “Why would you do such a thing?”

“It was my assignment. I never questioned where I was being sent. That time I almost got away with the charade, but I was found out.”

“What did they do to you when they found out you weren’t one of them?”

“They tortured and killed me.”

She shot him a puzzled frown. “You mean they tried to.”

“I mean they believe to this day that they did.” His tone was patient. “You don’t want to know the details. But when they were finished with me, one of their comrades examined me and declared me dead. They dumped my body in the desert. And if they hadn’t left me alone in the middle of a sand dune, I’d have never been able to make my way back to safety.”

“Did you deliberately play dead?”

He gave a rumble of unexpected laughter. “Sweetheart, that wasn’t playacting. I was more dead than alive. And very, very lucky.”

“You call that lucky?”

“I consider myself fortunate that they think they killed me. Otherwise they certainly wouldn’t have stopped until they’d finished the job.”

She was shaking her head in disbelief. “Why would anyone want to do the things you’ve done?”

“I ask myself that sometimes, in the dark of the night.”

“Do you ever give yourself an answer?”

He grinned. “Not yet. But maybe one day it’ll come to me.”

He swung his legs over the edge of the sofa and began to dress in the predawn darkness.

She sat up with a look of alarm. “What are you doing?”

“Leaving. I think it’s best if I’m gone before the kids wake up.” He turned and gathered her close to press a kiss to her mouth. Just a kiss. But she felt the tremors all through her body.

As he released her she couldn’t help shivering. He’d made her no promises. She’d asked for none. But she couldn’t ignore the fear that ripped through her.

She watched him walk across the room. Each step away tore at her heart. She couldn’t keep from calling out, “Donovan?”

He paused.

“Are you…sorry about last night?”

“Sorry? Is that what you think?” He turned and strode across the room before dropping to his knees beside the sofa. Without warning he gathered her into his arms and kissed her with a fierceness that had them both gasping.

When he could finally find the strength to release her, he held her a little away. “Never think such a thing, Andi. You’re the best thing that has ever happened in my life. But I’m not about to forget that you have two little kids who are scared and confused and in pain. I think I need to tread very carefully here, so I don’t add to their pain.” He touched a hand to her cheek and felt another quick rush of heat. “Or to yours.”

Before she could say a word he got to his feet and walked resolutely out of the room. Once outside he drew in a deep draught of air.

Leaving her had been harder than he’d expected. Even now, as he climbed into his car and drove up the hill to his own place, he wanted, more than anything, to go back inside that house and love her until they were both sated. But it was a luxury he couldn’t afford right now. Perhaps, he thought with a frown, it was one he would never be able to allow himself.

Donovan spent the morning at his computer. As he scrolled through the file on the Adam Brady case, he began highlighting all the facts that pointed to Adam’s guilt, putting them in one column. Then he turned to all the questionable items that might prove otherwise and placed them in another column.

Now that he’d returned from D.C. with some answers, he was no longer convinced in his own mind of Adam’s guilt.

Frowning, he sat back, playing devil’s advocate. Was he honestly unconvinced of that, or was it because he had become intimately involved with Andi? If Donovan should prove Adam’s innocence, he would earn points not only with Andi, but with her children, as well. If, on the other hand, he should prove Adam Brady guilty, he risked damaging the people who were beginning to mean so much to him. There was so much more riding on this now. In the beginning, it had been merely a favor to an old friend. Now it had become strictly personal.

Annoyed with the direction of his thoughts he shut down the file and decided to e-mail his Washington connection with one more request. When he went on-line, he was surprised to find an e-mail waiting. The sender wasn’t a name he recognized. When he opened the post the words filled the screen.

BACK OFF RIGHT NOW OR YOU’LL NEVER SEE BRADY’S KIDS ALIVE.

Donovan felt his blood freeze in his veins.

With a muttered oath he picked up the phone and dialed Andi’s number. As always, whenever he’d felt the first hint of danger, his mind sharpened, his senses went on full alert.

With each ring of the phone, he felt the focus grow.

He was out the door and running to his car, the cell phone still clutched in his hand and still ringing. His tires spewed gravel as he raced down the hill and came to a screeching halt beside Andi’s van.

The sight of her kneeling in a flower bed had him running full tilt across the lawn toward her.

“Donovan?” Her smile bloomed. “I was just thinking about—” As he drew close she could see the look in his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Where are the kids?”