Surrender (14 page)

Moments later, breathing deeply, he tore his mouth from hers and looked down into her desire-glazed eyes and knew they were a mirror of his own. Had they continued kissing, their “nice kiss” would have flared out of control like wildfire again.

“Alex,” she whispered. “I want to make love with you.”

Alex straightened abruptly, remembering what she’d said was one of her plans…that she had been saving herself for him. He then remembered his relationship with her family, especially her brothers. The Maxwell brothers and the Madaris brothers had always been close since they had grown up in the same neighborhood, lived on the same street, their houses only a few doors from each other. Although they’d been older than he, Justin, Dex and Clayton had always treated him like a younger brother and their father, Jonathan Madaris, had always treated the two fatherless Maxwell brothers as sons. He knew that everyone, including his own brother and mother, would expect him to treat Christy with the utmost respect.

He sighed as he took a step back, reaffirming the
decision he’d just reached. “No, Christy. Your virginity is a very special gift that should go to your husband.”

“But you’ll be my husband one day.”

“No, I won’t.” He needed to make her understand. He didn’t want her to think the kisses they’d shared had changed anything. There was no way, although he knew that he was attracted to her, that he could continue to let her think something would ever come of it. He had to convince her that there could never be anything between them other than friendship. “What happened a few minutes ago was nothing but a case of lust, nothing more. You understand that, don’t you?”

She shook her head. “No, I understand love, Alex, not lust. I love you.”

Overwhelming frustration gripped him when he immediately thought of the hell that would break loose if anyone knew she thought she felt that way about him. Drawing a deep breath, he slid his hands into the pockets of his tuxedo slacks. He knew he had to get firm, and bring to an end what could be happening between them…for both of their sakes.

“I love you, Alex,” she repeated softly when moments passed and the silence between them had stretched.

He laughed, and the harsh sound was intentional, to mock what she’d just said. “Love? You don’t know a thing about love, especially not the man-woman kind. It’s time you grew up and let go of childhood dreams and fantasies, because that’s all they are,
Christy. You’re not promised to me, and I’m not promised to you. The sooner you accept that, the better off we’ll both be.”

Without giving her a chance to respond, he angrily opened the door and walked out.

N
etherland tossed the towel aside after drying the water from her body. A few moments later, she slipped into her nightgown. She glanced at herself in the bathroom’s mirror and inhaled deeply at the sight of her puffy eyes. She had cried all the way home from the hospital and wanted to cry even now but was determined not to. At least she had found out how Ashton felt about wanting a child before things had gotten too serious between them.

She suddenly paused, thinking she’d heard something, then shrugged, figuring it was Rome returning from tonight’s affair at Sisters. But then something in the air made her shiver and at the same time, some
thing warm settled down inside of her, making her stomach spin, her body burn.

She slowly stepped out of the bathroom and glanced around her semidarkened bedroom and breathed in deeply. Although she couldn’t see him she knew Ashton was there. Somehow he had gotten past her alarm system again. Why had he come? There was nothing left for them to say to each other. She could never give him the child he would want one day.

But still, knowing that didn’t stop her breathing from slowing down. Nor did it stop the nipples of her breasts from hardening against the soft fabric of her gown with the knowledge that Ashton was somewhere in the house.

Then she saw him.

He was standing in the shadows across the room, watching her but not saying anything. An element of some type of sexual charge penetrated the atmosphere surrounding them, increasing and sharpening their awareness of each other. She took a deep breath as self-preservation instincts surged through her but they didn’t stand a chance right now, not with her adrenaline pumping fast and furious through her veins and with her breathing becoming long and deep.

And especially not when he took a step forward into the light.

All she could do was to stand there and stare at him. His eyes were darker than usual. His hair was undone and flowed around his shoulders, held back by a headband. He had taken the time to stop by the
hotel to change clothes. He was no longer wearing his marine uniform but was wearing a pair of jeans and a fringed cowhide vest that was open, exposing a bare muscular chest that glistened with a thin sheen of sweat.

He took another step. Then another. Stalking slowly and increasing her heart rate with every move he took. Parts of her…all of her throbbed with the electrical energy surging between them—stimulating, invigorating. Arousing.

He came to a stop in front of her. The look in his eyes quickened the sparks that were going off deep inside of her. Taking a deep breath she looked directly into his eyes. “Why did you come, Ashton? Why are you here?”

He gave her a slow, sensuous smile and said calmly, “I came to kidnap you, Netherland.”

Before she could comprehend what he meant, he quickly reached up and touched an area on the side of her neck, directly underneath her ear. His hand felt warm and firm.

That was her last thought before everything went black.

Rome’s fingers curled around Jada’s as they walked from his car. There was a brisk wind in the air and when she shivered, he instinctively gathered her close as they went up the stairs to her apartment.

When they stood in front of her door she turned to him. “Would you like to come inside?”

He smiled. “I was hoping you would ask.” Moments later he reached for her hand before she opened the door. “Thanks for asking.”

After a minute or two of strained silence she smiled and said, “You’re welcome.”

Once they were inside Rome closed the door behind them and immediately pulled her gently into his arms. “Can I kiss you, Jada?” He always asked, never assuming anything.

She looked up at him with both of her hands resting on his firm chest. “Yes. Please.”

And so he did. With amazing gentleness, he touched his lips to hers, tasting her and letting her taste him. Without breaking the kiss, he picked her up in his arms and carried her to the sofa and sat down with her in his lap.

He continued kissing her for a few moments before finally coming up for air.

“Rome!” Her breath came out deep, uneven and she tightened her arms around his neck. “Hold me. Please hold me,” she whispered softly, tightening her hold around his neck.

He held her as she requested, loving the feel of her in his arms. He wanted to do more than just hold her, but knew she wasn’t ready for such a big step in their relationship yet, and he didn’t want to rush her. Tonight, like the other nights before, he would just sit and hold her and make her feel special, as special as he thought she was. He would be leaving next week
for Camp Pendleton in California, but he intended to return to Houston to see her every chance he got.

The need to keep her a part of his life was monumental to him.

“I enjoyed myself here tonight, Miss Gilford.”

Rainey looked up from what she was doing and met Howard Reeves’s heated gaze. She smiled. “I’m glad. If you’re ever in town again I hope that you drop by.” She had found out from Nettie—who for a short while had sat at the head table—that he lived in Chicago and was head of security for Chenault Electronics, a nationally known company.

A slow smile touched his lips. “I intend to do just that. But I was hoping I could get you to dance with me before I left. Will you dance with me, Miss Gilford?”

Rainey glanced around the room. A number of people had left already and only a few couples remained on the dance floor. Since Nettie wasn’t there it would be up to her to close up the restaurant, which meant she had a lot to do. But the thought of taking a few minutes of her time and dancing with Howard Reeves was tempting. Too tempting to turn down.

She gave him her hand. “I’d love to dance with you, Mr. Reeves.”

He took her hand in his. “Call me Howard.”

“And I’m Rainey.”

The orchestra was playing a slow jazzy tune by Miles Davis when Rainey went into Howard’s arms
on the dance floor. Desire, the likes Rainey had never felt before, sizzled through her bloodstream the moment he pressed her body against his. The two of them stared at each other, and a strong sizzle of sexual awareness touched the both of them. It had been that way all night, whenever their gazes had met across a crowded room.

“What do you think is happening between us, Rainey?” Howard asked in a deep voice, close to her ear.

Rainey’s breath caught in her throat. Heat traveled up her legs. She cleared her throat and swallowed hard. “I don’t know. What do you think is happening?” She didn’t want to act coy and not acknowledge what the both of them knew but she wanted to hear him say it.

“I think we’re seducing each other. Maybe intentionally. Maybe unintentionally. Whichever one it is, it’s working big time.” He pulled her closer as his hand caressed the part of her back the gown she wore didn’t cover. She shivered beneath his touch and leaned her head back to look up at him. She shivered some more when she saw the heated desire that was evident in his eyes.

“I don’t believe in casual affairs, Howard,” she said while she had a mind to do so.

“Good. Neither do I,” he said on a soft exhale of breath. “A long-distance affair will be difficult but in our case, one I believe is crucial. I want to get to know you better.”

She gave him a slow smile. “And I’d like to get to know you better, too.”

“How about if I make plans to come back and see you next weekend, or is that rushing things?”

Rainey’s smile widened at the thought of seeing him again in a week’s time. “No, I’d love seeing you again next weekend.”

“All right, then, it’s a date.”

She placed her head back on his shoulder after saying, “Yes, it’s a date.” She knew that it would be a date she would be looking forward to.

Later that night Rome found a note from Ashton taped to the refrigerator door. It read:

Rome lifted a brow after reading Ashton’s letter. Nettie had surprised even him when she had entered
the bidding on Ashton. And he thought it had been a good strategic move when the colonel had bidden on himself, which had allowed him to select the woman he wanted. That woman had been Nettie. He had made that clear in front of everyone present. Rome couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to make Ashton want to take Nettie away now.

He decided to trust Ashton and patiently wait for his call.

N
etherland woke up and lay perfectly still. Although her mind tried to assure her that everything was all right, she knew it wasn’t. For starters, she was not in her bedroom, nor was she in her bed. But the strange thing about it was that she was wearing her own nightgown.

Turning her head on the pillow she slowly glanced around a room that was totally unfamiliar. She blinked, trying to figure out where she was. The last thing she remembered was…Ashton.

She quickly sat straight up in bed.

“I was beginning to think I’d applied too much pressure to that nerve.”

Netherland traced Ashton’s voice to the doorway.
He was standing there wearing the same clothes he’d worn when he had shown up at her place. She blinked. Her mind was kind of foggy as to when that had been. Last night? This morning? Yesterday? “Where am I?” she decided to ask.

Ashton came into the room and stood opposite the bed. “You’re at my ranch on the Cherokee reservation in Oklahoma.”

“Oklahoma!”

“Yes.”

“But how did I get here?”

“I chartered a plane and brought you here.”

Netherland shook her head, trying to remember. “You came to see me last night at my place. Right?”

“Yes.” He walked over to a table and picked up a chilled bottle of water out of an ice bucket.

“And you touched me, here,” she said, placing her hand beneath her ear as she remembered him doing.

He turned around to her as he poured water into a glass. “Yes.”

“I don’t remember anything after that.”

He walked over to her. “You wouldn’t. I placed you in a deep sleep.” He handed her the glass of cold water. “You need to drink this. Your body will experience extreme thirst for a couple of hours or so.”

She took the glass he offered. After taking a sip, she looked up at him and asked. “You put me in some sort of unconscious state?”

“Yes.”

In a way, that really didn’t surprise her. The man
was able to bypass alarm systems, for heaven’s sake. “Why? Why did you bring me here, Ashton?”

He sat on the side of the bed. “There are some things you and I need to work out.”

Netherland looked at the glass, then back at him. “Some things can’t be worked out, Ashton.”

He inclined his head slightly when he said, “There’s nothing that can’t be worked out between us.”

A part of Netherland—a big part—wished that was true, but knew it wasn’t. “How can I fight a vision, Ashton? Especially when it’s a vision that isn’t true but one you believe in. Maybe I should have told you earlier of my inability to have children but I—”

“You can have children.”

Netherland raised a brow as she looked up at him. “Excuse me?”

“I said you can have children.”

She released a deep, angry sigh. He was taking the news of her infertility worse than Erik had. At least her ex-husband had accepted what she’d told him. Ashton didn’t want to do that. He was in a state of denial. “I believe I know my body a whole lot better than you do,” she snapped. Netherland’s anger increased when Ashton had the nerve to smile.

“Yes, Netherland, for now you do but that will change soon enough. By the end of the week I will know your body better than anyone. Even you. Trust me.”

Netherland thought about that for a minute, then said in a soft voice, “It’s not about trust, Ashton.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Would you force yourself on me?”

The expression on his face indicated he thought the question was ludicrous. “Of course not!”

Netherland released a satisfied sigh. Now they were getting somewhere. The only thing she could count on right now was his sense of honor and doing what was right. It was something a marine lived by. “And you would not keep me here against my will, would you?”

A rogue grin tilted the corners of Ashton’s lips. “Now that I
would
do.”

“Why?” she asked, taken aback when she saw determination stamped all over his features. She drew a deep breath and looked away, avoiding the irresistible and tantalizing look in his eyes.

“Because like I told you earlier, we need to work out some things.”

She forced herself to look back at him. “Some things can’t be worked out with words, Ashton.”

“I don’t plan on using words, Netherland.”

The husky tone of Ashton’s voice made Netherland feel hot inside when a mental image of what he’d just alluded to flashed in her mind. She quickly took another sip of the cool, refreshing water, appreciating the smooth liquid as it worked its way down past the knot in her throat. “You’re not a doctor, Ashton.”

His gaze lingered on her damp lips. They were lips he had a firsthand knowledge of. “I didn’t say I was.”

Netherland met his stare with a frustrated glare. “Then what are you claiming to be?”

He reached out and gently traced his finger along her cheek. “The man who loves you.”

Netherland sucked in a gulp of air, and tears immediately came into her eyes. “Not if you can’t accept my deficiencies.”

“I could if there were any. If you couldn’t have my child I would adopt in a heartbeat. Your inability, if there was one, to have children would not keep me from loving you or having you in my life forever.”

“If that’s true, then why can’t you accept what I’m trying to tell you?” she asked, placing the glass of water on the nightstand next to the bed.

“And why can’t you accept what I’m trying to tell you? What are you afraid of? That I may be right?”

“No,” she said quietly. “That you might think you’re right but in reality you’re dead wrong. I had a severe case of the mumps at eight, Ashton. The doctors told my parents then that it had left me unable to conceive. I went to a doctor again myself at eighteen who, after examining me, verified what my parents had been told ten years before.” She looked down at her hands that were folded in her lap before looking back at him. “Don’t you think I want to be able to conceive a child? But I’ve accepted that it won’t happen and have gotten on with my life. I’m not alone in this. About six million women in the United States can’t conceive or have difficulty conceiving, so I don’t feel like the isolated case Erik made me out to be.”

“Erik?”

“Yes, my ex-husband. Since he’d always wanted a big family, he didn’t take the news of my infertility too well. That’s the reason he divorced me.”

Ashton’s gaze narrowed. “The man was a fool. There were other alternatives. The two of you could have adopted.”

“Yes, but he didn’t want that.”

Ashton reached out and took her hand in his, feeling the need to touch her. “What exactly did the doctor claim was wrong with you?”

Netherland released a pent-up breath before saying, “The problem is with my fallopian tubes. There’s some sort of an obstruction that can’t be surgically corrected. My chances of ever conceiving are less than twenty-five percent. So what does that tell you?”

“That there is a twenty-five percent possibility.”

Netherland shook her head, pained at the thought that he still didn’t want to accept what she was telling him. “Perfect!” she snapped, almost at her wits’ end. “I just told you I had less than a twenty-five percent chance of getting pregnant, and you still want to play the part of the optimist?”

“When we make love, I
will
get you pregnant, Netherland.”

Despairing anguish touched Netherland’s heart because all it took was a look in Ashton’s eyes to know he believed that. He actually looked confident. “And what do you have, Ashton? Super sperm or something?”

He shrugged. “No. As far as I know, they’re the regular kind,” he said calmly.

Netherland’s chest expanded as she inhaled a deep breath. Never had she encountered a man who was so stubborn. “Well, it wouldn’t matter if they were super sperm; they couldn’t get past my blocked tubes.”

Ashton stood. “Want to bet?”

Netherland frowned at him in sheer frustration before rolling out of bed. “And just how are they going to do that?”

“There are ways. I can show you better than I can tell you, Netherland. And it’s all about love, faith and the gift of fertility that will be given to us when the time comes. The Cherokee people strongly believe in the power of loving, faith and healing. As my intended mate you have to believe in your heart that things will work out. Since you believe you have a medical condition that’s keeping you from conceiving, what do you have to lose for me to prove otherwise?”

“You can’t prove otherwise, Ashton. There are too many factors involved that may not work, one of which is the timing.”

“The time is right.”

Wariness reflected in Netherland’s face. “How do you know?”

“A man knows when his mate’s body is ready to conceive. Let me prove to you that I know what I’m talking about.”

The eyes looking down at Netherland were deep,
dark and compelling as they tried to rid her of any doubt she had. He reached out and took her hand in his.

“Trust me, Netherland. Trust me.” Then his mouth slowly came down on hers, demanding a response, eliciting her trust, binding her to him—body to body, soul to soul, heart to heart.

Netherland told herself that she would not get caught up in Ashton’s kiss, but found herself caught up in it anyway. The dappled sunlight that filtered through the window bathed her with heated rays while still another kind of heat consumed her.

Ashton’s heat.

His fingers moved up and down her back as he held her to him while his tongue plundered her mouth, taking everything she had and still demanding more.

He wanted her trust. He was demanding it.

“Ashton,” she moaned softly when he finally broke off the kiss.

“Seven days, Netherland. That’s all I want. I’m asking that you place yourself in my care for seven days. I left Rome a note letting him know that you’re with me. I also told him to let Rainey know to take care of Sisters while you were gone. And I packed you plenty of clothes. So there isn’t any reason I can’t have you to myself for the next seven days. Is there?”

At the moment, Netherland couldn’t think of one. She shook her head.

“And is there any reason why you can’t trust me?”

A warning sounded somewhere deep inside Netherland, and a part of her wanted to plead her case
again, to make him understand. But she was tired of fighting him, trying to make him see that nothing, short of a miracle, would get her pregnant.

“Ashton…”

“Trust me, Netherland.”

After a tense moment of silence between them, she finally said, “I trust you, Ashton.”

“And you will give me seven days?”

“Yes.”

He pulled her back into his arms and held her close as relief coursed through him. “You won’t regret it. Now I suggest you get back in bed and get some rest. Later today I’d like to show you around.”

Netherland nodded slowly. A riot of emotions clamored within her, but when she gazed into the warmth of Ashton’s dark eyes, that held both assurance and confidence, she wanted to give him more than just seven days. The part of her that loved him with all her heart wanted to give him the rest of her life.