That he should even consider that baffled her. “Oh, but I do. I want you so much. It’s just that I’ll die if I disappoint you.”
“Stop worrying.” Alex framed her lovely face with his big hands, then kissed her slowly, hoping he wouldn’t mess this up by rushing her, praying he could hang on to his own tenuous control. She needed slow loving, gentling, infinite care, and he honestly feared he might not be up to the task, his own needs crying for release.
She was wearing a full red skirt and a white blouse with a red tie at the scooped neck. His mouth made love to hers while his hands moved to undo the tie. Working slowly, he finally felt the knot give, but as he began to slip the blouse from her shoulders, he felt her stiffen.
“It’s all right, Megan,” he murmured into her mouth, then occupied her with another kiss. His hands caressed her smooth arms, then her shoulders, soothing, stroking. His tongue traced her lips from corner to corner, then back again before moving inside and engaging hers in a gentle duel. He swallowed her soft gasp, knowing she was finally distracted, then shifted his hands to her back to unbutton her skirt. It slipped to the floor with a soft swish while her fingers closed over his forearms as if attempting to control his actions.
Almost lazily, he kissed her closed eyelids, then returned to her mouth. The kiss was soft, seductive and mind-numbing. He felt her shudder right before her knees buckled slightly. It was his cue to ease her onto the bed.
His mouth again on hers, his one hand slipped off her sandals as he toed off his own shoes. She wore no slip, just silken panties. Too soon to wander there, he told himself, and moved his hand up to caress her shoulders. He felt her tongue grow bolder and fence with his, heard her labored breathing and knew she was becoming more involved, overcoming her initial hesitancy.
Alex was aware how vulnerable she’d feel if he exposed too much of her while he remained fully clothed. So while he rained kisses over her face, he unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans and shoved them off. He had a few anxieties of his own. Moment of truth, he thought as he sat away from her and whipped his shirt off over his head, tossing it aside. Waiting, watchful, he saw her eyes go to the very long scar that crisscrossed his abdomen.
Her breathing unsteady, Megan forced the mists to clear as she studied the scar. It had to be a foot and a half long, bisecting the blond hair that trailed from his chest down into his briefs. She remembered he said he’d had surgery last year. He appeared to be waiting for her reaction. Silently, she rose on one elbow and pressed her lips to the center, much as he’d kissed the scar on her temple.
“Ah, Megan,” Alex sighed, then kissed the top of her dark head. Before she sank back, he grabbed the hem of her blouse and pulled it off, watching her cloud of hair settle around her lovely face. She was so beautiful and, finally, so trusting as she lay looking up at him.
He bent to her, kissing first one breast then the other through the thin silk of her bra. Automatically, her fingers dug into his hair, pressing him closer. He drew on her deeply and felt her hands clutch, heard a soft moan escape from her. She hardly noticed when he unfastened the bra and dropped it to the floor. Her skin was satiny smooth, her bones delicate, her frame slender. His hands skimmed along her rib cage, then moved lower to caress the soft skin of her inner thighs.
Megan was too steeped in pleasure to be afraid, to be concerned that she wasn’t doing her part. She heard his heavy breathing, felt his strong heart beating beneath the fingers she splayed over his chest, and knew he was as excited as she was. If only she could be all he wanted, needed.
His patience astonished her. Almost lazily, his mouth played with hers while those long fingers traveled over every inch of her. When he slid her panties down her legs, she was too involved to protest. Her own hands wandered over his smooth, hard back, the strong, tense muscles. She could see how aroused he was, yet still his hands lingered, his mouth explored unhurriedly.
She was used to fast and impatient, to rough and ready, to a passionless coupling that had left her feeling unfulfilled and ashamed. She’d blamed herself, thinking she’d been too tame, too inexperienced, too inhibited by her mother’s strict teachings about how a lady should behave. After Neal had gone, she’d been secretly relieved, glad there’d be no more pressure to perform for so little satisfaction. Then she’d set aside all feelings of passion and desire, deciding they were for others, but not her.
Until Alex.
Now she’d been lulled and coaxed into an intimacy she’d never dreamed possible. Her body would no longer be still, moving of its own accord as his hands caressed every secret place, to be replaced by his lips and tongue as Megan struggled with new and glorious sensations. She was helpless to stop the sudden, dizzying climb, to do anything but react with a low sound from deep in her throat as the first peak hit.
Alex watched the stunned surprise on her lovely face as she turned toward him. Then, with just another light touch, he sent her soaring again, wanting to show her what her own body was capable of. This time, her cry of release was muffled as she buried her face in his shoulder.
Before she was fully recovered, he slipped off his briefs. Reaching for his jeans, he dug out his wallet, then the foil packet, and took the time to protect them both. Then he leaned over and gazed into eyes hazy with passion and satisfaction. He saw her smile like the Cheshire cat as her arms reached out for him.
Shifting, he entered her and paused, giving her time to adjust to the feel of him. Straining for control, his own completion long overdue, he finally began to move. But this time, he could linger no longer. The ride was fast and furious, his arms holding her close, her hands clenched at his back. Even so, he felt her shudder mere seconds before he let himself go.
His final thought was that she’d definitely been worth the wait.
She lay sprawled over him, the side of her face pressed to his chest, listening to his heartbeat settle. Her own, Megan was certain, wouldn’t calm for days. Perhaps weeks.
Alex raised a hand to brush her hair from her face so he could see her eyes. “So then, as you were saying, you’re undoubtedly going to disappoint me?”
That sobered her and she propped herself up on both elbows. “This is going to sound like some scene out of a really bad movie, but was that really all right for you?”
He couldn’t help it. He laughed. At her chagrined look, he stopped. “I’m sorry, but that’s so funny as to be unbelievable. Did you think I faked it? Women can, I hear, but men? Not on your life, lady.” Still, he realized what she wanted to know. Not was that all right, but was
I
all right. Alex cupped her chin, gazing into her worried eyes. “Megan, you have no idea of your incredible appeal. It was far more than
all
right. It was over the top, off the charts, a home run.”
She frowned. “You wouldn’t just be saying what you think I want to hear?”
“Absolutely not. Now it’s my turn. How about you?” He doubted that he had to ask. The flush on her face was still evident. But men liked to hear the words, too.
Megan touched his face with just her fingertips, in joy, in wonder. “I honestly never knew it could be like that.” She blushed, remembering. “So powerful, so...so wonderful.”
His smile was pleased and just a bit smug. “Told you.”
“I guess you did.” She rolled off him and lay back, feeling a contentment she couldn’t put into words. Turning her head, she noticed his scar again and reached to touch the light ridge. “This must have been a very serious surgery. What did you have done?”
Here goes nothing, Alex thought, his eyes on the ceiling. “A liver transplant.”
Megan’s interest was aroused. “Really? That’s what Neal was waiting for when he died. I think I already mentioned it. Did you have a disease, too?”
Alex nodded. “I borrowed a guy’s razor and got hepatitis C. I never dreamed it would be that easy to catch a potentially fatal disease.” He hesitated, then went on. “I have a new liver now—and no trace of disease. So you’re safe.”
“Oh, I know that. It’s just...you and Neal having such a similar problem. What an odd coincidence.” He rolled toward her, needing to keep it light, to distract her. And he knew just how. “The world’s full of coincidences. And speaking of that—” he trailed a fingertip around the peak of one breast and watched it change, swelling to his touch “—it would seem you haven’t had quite enough yet. By another odd coincidence, neither have I.”
Megan felt the sensual pull, but reality was settling in. She glanced at the bedside clock. “It’s two already. Ryan will be home soon and—”
And his mouth covered hers with a long, soul-shattering kiss. By the time it ended, her arms were wrapped around him and her lips reluctant to lose contact. “Not for another hour. Plenty of time.” He went back to work.
Grace checked in the new occupants of the second-floor French provincial room and showed them to their suite, then paused at the foot of the stairs leading up to the third floor. She hadn’t heard a sound from up there in over two hours. Apparently, Megan and Alex were getting along just fine. She didn’t know whether to cheer or start worrying again.
Down in the kitchen, she poured herself a glass of iced tea before sitting down to read the morning paper, the one she seldom got to till evening. But it was a relatively quiet day. Except perhaps up in Megan’s room.
Well, it was about time. Megan was too young to spend every waking minute working and every night alone in her bed. If only Alex was trustworthy.
She sipped tea and skimmed the paper, turning pages until she spotted an article that caught her attention. The words “Shephard Construction” jumped out at her. Leaning closer, she read the whole piece, then sat back thoughtfully.
Shephard Construction, Alex’s company down in San Diego, had just received a grant of $1.2 million to do some work for the government on a navy project. That was a lot of bucks. She’d had no idea his firm was so large, so prosperous.
Which had to mean Alex was wealthy. She knew that Alex’s mother and brother were both dead, meaning he was his father’s only heir. So one day, possibly soon, this lucrative company would be all his. Which had Grace wondering even more why a man of such means, obviously well educated and well traveled, would show such interest in a small-town girl like Megan.
Not that Megan was a girl. She most decidedly was a woman, and a beautiful one at that. But she also was small town. She’d barely finished high school before marrying, and although she was intelligent, she hadn’t attended any fancy finishing schools or colleges. If this relationship of theirs was to continue and possibly become permanent, how would Megan fit in with Alex’s friends and relatives?
She remembered Alex telling her that his father had worked his way up, that even his mother had worked in the company, and that Ron had had his sons start at the bottom. So the Shephards hadn’t inherited their wealth. But they’d undoubtedly had quite a bit of money for a lot of years. And money changed people.
Maybe she was jumping to conclusions, Grace decided. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to check out a few things. At the very least, she should find out so she could inform Megan. After all, forewarned was forearmed. She was sure her friend had thought of Alex as coming from some small family company, not some multimillion-dollar firm. Even though he’d paid off her second mortgage, they still hadn’t realized he was in the big time. That was a clue that should have warned them.
Grace glanced again at the picture showing Ron Shephard shaking hands with a government official. Yes, this was definitely the big time. She remembered the day Ron had stopped in at Delaney’s. He’d seemed even more confident and self-assured than his son. That alone was intimidating.
Rising, she went in search of the phone book. A call to Dun & Bradstreet should tell her all she needed to know.
“I can’t let Ryan find us up here in bed together,” Megan said in an effort to persuade Alex to let her up. He was curled around her spoon fashion, his big hands covering her breasts still tingling from their second lovemaking.
Lovemaking. What a beautiful word. She couldn’t stop smiling.
“Of course you can’t.” Alex nuzzled into her neck. “I locked the door, remember?”
“I need to get up and take a shower.”
“Mmm-hmm. In a few minutes.”
“I shudder to think what Grace is going to say.”
“Do you answer to Grace?”
“No, but I’ve never had to deal with anything like this, walking downstairs after several hours spent on a sunny afternoon in my room behind locked doors with a man. She’s going to know.” She made as if to rise.
“Wait. Don’t leave yet. I want to hold you for a few minutes longer, just hold you.” Replete, relaxed, he was honest and vulnerable. “My mother used to hold me when I was little, and I’d fall asleep listening to her heart beat. So nice.”
Megan’s heart turned over. As quietly as that, love was born. She brushed back his hair and wrapped her arms around him. “I’m right here. You rest.”
A full twenty minutes later, Alex untangled himself and stretched. “Mmm, that was a great nap.”