Authors: Elisabeth Naughton
He sure the hell hoped not. Because he knew for certain he’d never survive losing her again.
Chapter Fourteen
Simone sat upright in bed when she heard the crash.
Glass breaking. From somewhere downstairs. Someone was in the house.
She threw back the covers, reached for the baseball bat she kept under her bed, then opened her bedroom door as quietly as she could. Nothing moved in the hall. The only light shone from a nightlight in the bathroom. She padded soundlessly across the hardwood floor, pushed Shannon’s door open. Her daughter lay on her belly, arms over her head, dead to the world in deep sleep.
Her pulse pounded hard as she moved for the stairs. Two steps from the bottom, the wood creaked, and she froze. Her heart lurched into her throat. From the direction of the kitchen, she heard the sound of broken glass being scraped across the ground.
She swallowed hard, lifted the bat above her shoulder, and inched her way toward the kitchen. Steve had always talked about getting a gun. She’d told him he was stupid. But right now…now she wished she’d listened. She was five feet two, and even though she could swing a bat with the best of them, against a home invader, her measly DeMarini was nothing. She just hoped she got in one good shot that scared the bastard away before anything bad happened.
“Dammit.”
She froze just outside the kitchen door at the sound of the voice. Shit, she needed to call 911. What the hell was she doing trying to handle this alone?
She took a step back just as the kitchen door pushed open. Without thinking, she lowered the bat and swung.
A muffled oof echoed to her ears, followed by the sound of a body hitting the floor. Hard. Adrenaline surging, she rushed into the kitchen, lifted the bat again, ready to strike out. Mitch held up a hand to block her.
“Dammit, don’t hit me with that thing again!”
“Mitch?”
“Who the hell did you think it was?” He gripped his stomach as he lay on the floor, his upper body twisted in on an odd angle against the island cabinets. “The tooth fairy? Dammit, woman, I think you cracked a rib.”
She let go of the bat.
Oh, shit. Mitch
. Wood clattered against the floor. Stepping over to him, she dropped to her knees and lifted his face to hers. “What are you doing in my kitchen?”
“I was hungry. Chinese food always leaves me hungry in the middle of the night.”
The Chinese takeout. Ryan’s office. Kate asking Mitch to stay with her and Shannon tonight because she was worried about them. She’d been so freaked out when she’d awoken, she’d forgotten everything else.
“Oh, my God. I’m sorry,” she said, helping him sit up. “How bad is it?”
“Bad enough. But my ego’s bruised more than my body. I just got my ass handed to me by a girl.”
He was cracking jokes. He couldn’t be hurt that bad. A little of her anxiety eased. “I heard glass shatter. I thought someone was breaking in.”
In the dim light she watched a nervous expression creep over his face. “Yeah, that was me. I dropped a pitcher of lemonade trying to get to a beer in the back of your fridge.”
“You—” She eased back onto her heels and laughed.
“Now you’re laughing at me? Great. My manhood is shot.”
“It’s not you,” she said between giggles. “It’s this. All of it. This entire situation is completely nuts.”
“Tell me about it. And what the hell are you doing coming down here when you hear a suspicious noise anyway? We need to have a chat about you not being the too-stupid-to-live horror-movie chick.”
She shot him a look. “While we’re at it, we’ll discuss your caveman tendencies.”
He rubbed his ribs. “Damn, you hit hard.”
“Here, let me look at it.”
He pushed her hands away when she reached for the hem of his shirt. “What are you, a doctor now too? No way.”
“I’m not gonna hurt you.”
“You already did that.” He shifted out of her reach.
“You’re being a total baby. Just let me have a look.”
He deflected her touch once more.
“Mitch.”
“Simone,” he tossed back, staring at her.
There was just enough light coming from the panty that she could see the intensity in his eyes. “Why won’t you let me touch you?”
“Because you said it wasn’t a good idea. These are your rules, not mine, sweetheart.”
“I don’t—”
“Understand? Yeah. I get that. So let me spell it out for you.” He dragged a hand through his hair. “If you touch me, I’m gonna touch you back, how about that?”
“Oh.” Her skin grew hot. Her hands stilled on her knees. The temperature in the room seemed to jump ten degrees as they stared at each other. Sparks of awareness arced between them.
What was it about him that called to her? It was more than his good looks. More than his silly sense of humor. It was something else. Something she wasn’t ready for.
Long seconds later, he broke the eye contact, then grunted as he pushed himself up from the floor. All long legs and sculpted muscle. “Yeah, you know, I’m just gonna clean up the mess I made.”
She rose, reached out to him. “Mitch—”
He captured her wrist so fast, she didn’t expect it. Heat gathered beneath his fingers, and when he turned to face her, she saw the hunger in his eyes. A hunger that radiated all through her body and lit up her skin like an electrical current had been turned on.
“Okay, here’s the deal, Counselor. I’m crazy about you. In a way I’ve never been crazy about anyone else. Ever. I realize you’re representing my sister. I realize I’m a conflict of interest to you. But if you touch me again, I’m gonna forget all about your irritating ethics and take you right here against the cabinets. No ED drugs needed. And trust me when I say, you will enjoy it. We both will.”
The air choked in her throat. Desire coursed through her body. A desire she hadn’t felt in years. The carefully constructed life she’d created since Steve’s death hovered as if on a precipice.
“Mitch…”
A muscle twitched in his jaw. “Yeah?”
“Kiss me before I have a chance to say no.”
His mouth was on hers before she even heard him move.
***
Water beaded on Kate’s skin. Bubbles slid down to pool at her feet. She closed her eyes and drew in the fresh, clean, soapy scent, the same one that lingered close to Ryan’s skin, the one she’d smelled when he’d pressed that muscular body of his against hers last night.
She turned her face under the hot spray in his guest bathroom. After a sleepless night, she was more exhausted than she’d been yesterday. Had he slept in that guest bed recently? She’d been sure she could smell him on her pillow, all but feel him on the sheets.
The muscles in her stomach bunched as she ran the bar of soap down her skin, over her abdomen, imagining his hands doing the same…his lips. A sharp ache pulsed between her thighs. Heat shot straight to her center.
He’d said he wanted her, that he’d been dying to touch her. But that was before they’d discovered her records at the nursing home, before he’d realized what this was all about. Since then, he’d been gentle and caring but somewhat withdrawn. Almost as if he were afraid to get too close.
Her fingers skimmed her breasts, and shards of desire ricocheted through her body. For some crazy reason, she didn’t want him to back off. What she wanted was his hands on her like they’d been before, that sensuous mouth devouring hers, to feel him deep inside her body. That burning ache grew to fiery levels as she imagined him in the shower with her, imagined tracing the hard lines of his body with her fingers. With her tongue.
He was just down the hall. All she had to do was go to him, to ask for his touch. Shaking with need, she braced both hands on the tiled wall of the shower and drew in gulps of air. Technically, he was her husband after all, wasn’t he? That wouldn’t be asking too much.
Common sense seeped in, dampening the fire. Yes, he was her husband, but she didn’t know him. Not in any way that mattered. All she knew was she was wildly attracted to a man she barely knew. That they had some incredible connection she couldn’t comprehend. That she wanted him with a passion she hadn’t experienced before.
Would wild sex solve any of her problems? Would it make her remember a life that seemed foreign to her? Would it help her understand what had happened? Would it make him see her as Kate?
That was the most important question.
She hadn’t missed the fact he had yet to call her that, that he avoided saying her name altogether. She knew when he looked at her, he saw Annie. He didn’t see the woman she was now. Would sex change that?
Probably not. But, oh, it would be good. And it would crush the pulsing ache she felt now and whenever he was close.
The sharp knock at the bathroom door brought her head up. She flipped off the water and ran unsteady hands over her hair, squeezing out the moisture to run down her body. “Um…just a minute.”
“Coffee’s done,” Ryan said through the closed door. “Breakfast is almost ready.”
He was just on the other side of the door, in her bedroom. She had but to flip the lock and he could be here with her, right now. Had he read her mind?
Shaking, she stepped out of the shower and grabbed a plush white towel from the rack, then wrapped it around her body. Her breasts tingled. Warmth pooled in her abdomen. On a deep breath, she forced herself to relax. “Okay. I’ll, um, be right down.”
“Do you need anything?”
Yes. You. Now
.
She swallowed the words before they could slip out of her mouth. “Um, no. I’m fine.”
“Okay. Don’t take too long.”
When his footfalls fell silent, she dropped to sit on the closed toilet lid. A smart woman would recognize she was in over her head and get the hell out of his house. But of course, she wasn’t going to do that. She was going to stay here and suffer until she worked through these insane desires.
Or until she jumped his bones. Either way, she was screwed.
She put the thought out of her mind, slipped on jeans and a T-shirt. Then she brushed on mascara in the hope it would hide that tired look in her eyes, and slicked on some pale lipstick. Glancing at her reflection, she couldn’t do anything but frown. Her curly hair was a mass of wetness, but she didn’t want to take the time to dry it. She needed coffee and a good dose of reality more than a dry head.
She made her way into the kitchen and found Ryan standing at the stove with his back to her. That fire built again, heat careening through her veins as she watched him. He was barefoot, wearing loose-fitting, faded jeans and a light blue T-shirt stretched seductively across wide, toned shoulders. His blond hair was still damp at the edges from his shower, and her fingers itched to tangle in it like they had yesterday.
Oh, man. If she didn’t get in control of this wild need, she was in for big trouble.
Clearing her throat, she stepped into the room. “Smells good. I didn’t know you cooked.”
Ryan turned at the sound of her voice, and heat arced between them. A heat she saw from the way his eyes darkened, he felt too.
He looked away quickly, but not before her breasts tingled all over again.
“Coffee’s over there.” He gestured with the spatula in his hand.
She poured a steamy cup of coffee, drew in a deep whiff of the enticing brew. Prayed it would settle this impossible hunger inside her. But something told her this hunger would only be sated one way.
She turned, leaned back against the counter, and eyed him over her mug. God, he was sexy. Not for the first time, she was awed by the fact she’d been able to snag a man like Ryan Harrison. Those shoulders, the tapered waist, that firm butt… She couldn’t take her eyes off him. She’d felt that body pressed up against her yesterday. Had tasted that mouth with her own. If they hadn’t been interrupted, she’d have known what every inch of him felt and looked like.
Fire flared in her veins. Shot straight to her sex.
She was losing it. She needed to remember what was important. Finding answers. Not wild, erotic, X-rated sex with the man in front of her.
She cleared her throat. Sipped her coffee again. “This is wonderful.”
He flipped off the burner, turned, and crossed to her. She looked up with surprise and confusion as he plucked the mug out of her hand. Something dark lingered in his eyes. Something dangerous and, oh, yes…something
hot
.
He slid a hand around the nape of her neck, then pulled her to him and covered her mouth with his own.
Her legs nearly went out from under her. She dug her fingers into his shirt and held on for dear life, opening her mouth to his, drawing his tongue inside, sliding hers over and around his as she returned the kiss with everything she had in her.
Yes, yes, oh, finally, yes
.
He tasted like mint and coffee, smelled like the soap she’d run all over her body, and felt like pure heaven. Her hands streaked up into his hair and fisted, her mouth turned wild and greedy against his. Her blood pumped hot as his hands slid down to her waist, drawing her even closer to his body. When his hips pressed into hers, she felt his erection, already hard and hot and so very eager for her.
“I couldn’t sleep last night,” he murmured against her lips, tipping her head with one hand to kiss her deeper, using the other to draw her shirt up so he could palm her breast. He squeezed just hard enough to make her gasp. But it didn’t hurt. It felt good. So good. “All I could think about was you in that bed, naked. I was hard the entire night.”
“You were?” she managed. The news thrilled her. Exhilarated her. Made her wet with anticipation. She kissed him harder.
“Yes,” he groaned, kissing her again and again. He let go of her neck, used both hands to push her shirt up over her breasts, then pulled back and looked down at her puckered nipples. And when he groaned all over again, her sex contracted.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. Warmth unfurled in her belly as he palmed one breast, as he lowered his head and laved his tongue across her nipple.
Pleasure arced to her pelvis. She dropped her head, threaded her fingers in his hair, leaned back against the cabinets and moaned long and low as he licked her again and again, as he flicked her nipple with his tongue, as he drew her deep into his mouth and finally suckled.