Blue Mist of Morning (20 page)

"I think you'd better go with me, Anne," he muttered
stiffly. "To put it bluntly, Jenny might need you if they are there and
we get there too late. I don't imagine Kirt would be a very sensitive
first lover for any girl."

Warmth tingled in Anne's cheeks as she agreed. "No, I'm
sure he wouldn't be."

"We'll leave as soon as you can get ready then."

"I'm ready now."

"No, not quite. It's unusually chilly tonight," Ty
reminded her. "Get a jacket or something, and I'll meet you downstairs."

The silent, tension-filled drive took over two hours and
seemed even longer than that to Anne. Every time she glanced cautiously
at Ty, she saw that he was gripping the steering wheel so tightly his
knuckles were white. His carved profile, silhouetted in the light from
the dash, was menacing. She swallowed with difficulty, and her heart
pounded every time she looked at him. She had a feeling Kirt Callen
would wish he'd never even spoken to Jenny before this night ended.

As Ty parked the Mercedes in front of the house, Anne
suddenly realized that something was missing. "No cars," she remarked.
"But I guess they could have parked them in the garage."

"Maybe," Ty said as he thrust open his door with more
violence than she had ever seen him display before.

"There are no lights on in the house either," she added a
moment later, as they reached the front door. "I hope that doesn't
mean…"

"That they're already in bed together," Ty finished for
her, his tone threatening. "Kirt had better hope it doesn't mean that,
too."

As it turned out, entering the house was blessedly
anticlimactic. No one was there, and Anne felt a mixture of relief and
disappointment. She hadn't wanted to even imagine what Ty was going to
do to Kirt if they'd found him here, yet now that they hadn't, they had
no hope of finding Jenny tonight.

"Where could she be?" Anne asked urgently, after Ty had
checked all the rooms and they were standing once again in the entrance
foyer. "Do you have any idea where else Kirt might have taken her?"

"None whatsoever," Ty replied, thrusting his hands deep
into his trouser pockets as a frown etched his brow. "
Blast
!
We're not going to find her tonight. You know that, don't you?"

Anne nodded, unhappiness darkening her eyes. "Oh, Ty, I
feel responsible for this mess. I obviously didn't read Jenny's mood
correctly. She seemed so much more content since we got back from St.
Croix. I just didn't think she was ready to take a step like this. But
I was wrong and I'm so sorry. If I'd known she might do something like
this, I would have warned you…"

"Hush, Anne," he commanded softly, touching her cheek with
the back of his hand. "This isn't your fault. If it is, then it's mine,
too, because I didn't think she was capable of this either. But maybe
we both simply forgot that people who aren't stupid can act stupidly on
occasion. And apparently, this is one of those occasions for Jenny."

"She's just so confused," Anne whispered miserably. Then a
sudden hope brightened her face. "Call Mrs. Wilkes, Ty," she urged
excitedly. "Maybe Jenny changed her mind and decided to go home. She
could be there right now."

He shook his head. "I doubt it. I think that's wishful
thinking on your part."

"But it wouldn't hurt to call and be sure. Please do, Ty."

His eyes narrowed and swept over her intently, but at last
he nodded. Then he indicated with a gesture that she should precede him
into the glass-enclosed living room, so he could make the call from
there.

When he reached Mrs. Wilkes, Anne learned nothing from his
end of the conversation. After he had asked about Jenny, he listened
for awhile, thanked the housekeeper, then replaced the receiver. But as
he turned to Anne, he was smiling, though somewhat sheepishly. "I think
we have a classic case of over-reaction here," he announced wryly.
"Jenny has called Mrs. Wilkes and left a number where she can be
reached. Fortunately, I recognize the number—it's Beth
MacKay's. I know Beth's parents, so I don't think Jenny is lying about
being at their house, because she knows it would be very easy for me to
find out if she wasn't there. So it looks as if we jumped the gun a
little, doesn't it? Jenny isn't spending the weekend with Kirt."

Anne's relief was so intense that she reached for his
hands without thinking. As her chilled skin made contact with the
warmth of his, Ty caught her fingers in a gentle grip. "Your hands are
freezing. Are you that cold?"

"Well, it was pretty chilly outside, but I'm fine, really."

"I'll get you a brandy," he said, leaving her to go to the
bar. A moment later, he returned with a small crystal snifter, which he
gave to her.

Taking a sip of the warming brandy, she watched as he went
to start a roaring blaze in the stone fireplace. When he had finished,
she was happy to go warm herself before the leaping flames.

Leaning one elbow on the mantel, Ty smiled down at her,
but as he started to speak, a persistent scratching noise at the front
door claimed his attention. "Goldie, no doubt," he said wryly, as he
strode from the room.

A few seconds after he had opened the front door, the
golden dog trotted into the living room, her tail wagging an
enthusiastic welcome as she headed straight for Anne. "Why, I think she
remembers me," Anne said, a pleased smile curving her lips as she
scratched behind the dog's ears. Dropping onto her knees on the fur rug
before the fireplace, she stroked Goldie's silken coat, then glanced up
at Ty. "Who takes care of her while Ellie's away?"

"Ellie's oldest grandson comes by every day to feed her."
With lithe ease, Ty settled onto the rug beside Anne and patted the
dog's sleek head. Then, leaning back on his elbows, he watched the
crackling flames lick over and between the logs in the fireplace. "But
I'm sure she's missing Ellie. Dogs need to be with people."

And indeed, Goldie seemed grateful to have some human
companionship again. Stretching out between Anne and Ty, she rested her
soft black nose on his thigh, heaved a sigh of pure contentment, and
promptly went to sleep. For a while there was silence in the room,
except for the popping and crackling of the logs in the fire. Warmed by
the fire and the brandy, Anne sighed contentedly, too, and smiled at
Ty, as the soft sound attracted his attention.

For a long moment, his blue gaze drifted over her, then he
stood abruptly, reached down for her hands and drew her up to stand
before him. "You must be getting hungry. I know I am. We missed dinner,
remember," he said tonelessly. "Why don't we go see what we can find in
the kitchen? I'm sure Ellie left the refrigerator bare, but there must
be some canned goods in the pantry."

With Ty's help, Anne made a delicious little supper, and
after they'd eaten, they returned to the living room where the fire was
dying down. To Anne's surprise, Ty added a couple more logs, arranging
them with a poker until the flames were leaping again. Apparently
sensing her watchful gaze, he turned and said nonchalantly, "It's past
ten-thirty, so I suggest we spend the night here. There's no point in
driving back to Alexandria this late when we're both tired."

She nodded in agreement. Refusing to stay would have made
her look foolish. Yet, the irony of the situation wasn't lost on her.
They had rushed up here to save Jenny from being seduced, and now Anne
found herself alone for the night in an isolated house with the man she
loved, the man she knew she might not be able to resist if he attempted
to seduce her.

Ty, however, apparently had no such intentions. After
spending another hour talking in the living room, they went upstairs
and he bid her a cool goodnight.

Though Anne hadn't expected to fall asleep easily, she
did, almost the moment her head touched the pillow. Emotionally weary,
she slept deeply for awhile. Some hours later, however, she drifted
into a state of partial awareness, knowing that she was cold and
shivering, yet still too much in the grip of sleep to do anything about
it. She had put on one of Jenny's nightgowns, but it didn't seem to be
keeping her warm at all. Then she felt a sudden gentle weight settle on
the bed, and her eyes flickered open. Seeing the large dark form of a
man beside her bed, she gave a soft, startled cry.

"It's all right, Anne. It's only me," Ty quickly assured
her, his voice low and melodiously comforting. "I'm putting another
blanket over you. The furnace seems to have broken down, and it's
freezing in here."

Fully awake now, Anne became immediately aware of the fact
that her nose felt like a small iceberg on her face. As she touched it
with equally cold fingers, she also noticed that Ty was shivering as he
stood by the bed, clad only in a short terry robe. A totally
unreasonable compulsion made her hold out her hand to him, and she
whispered, "Come to bed, Ty. We can keep each other warm."

"I don't think that's a very wise idea," he muttered, but
her persistence was his undoing. As she caught one hand in hers, then
drew the covers back invitingly, he could no longer resist. Lowering
himself down onto the mattress beside her, he pulled the covers back
over both of them.

Anne tensed, yet the delightful warmth of Ty's body close
to hers was so enticing, that she soon relaxed again. She made no
effort to resist, even when one muscular arm went around her slender
waist and Ty unceremoniously turned her over onto her side, then curved
his lean, dangerous body around the slightness of hers. When his hand
spread open possessively across her abdomen, she did tremble a little,
but he ignored that reaction and resolutely drew her tight against him.

"Go back to sleep, Anne," he commanded softly, close to
her ear.

At that moment, sleep was the last thing on her mind. As
his warm, minty breath stirred tendrils of her hair and tickled the
sensitive skin of her neck, desires much more intense than her need to
sleep flared deep within. Yet, as she started to turn over to face him,
his arm round her waist clamped her firmly against his hardening
thighs, forcing her to be aware of his swift, upsurging response to her
every movement.

"Be very careful, Anne," he warned huskily. "Unless you
want more warmth in this bed than you bargained for, I advise you to
stop moving."

"But Ty," she began, shifting nervously against him.
"I…"

"Just be still," he muttered harshly. "Or you'd better be
prepared to accept the consequences, and I don't think you are. Are
you?" And when her lack of an answer became an answer in itself, he
gave an exasperated sigh and once again told her tersely to go back to
sleep.

The lilting call of a bird in the gray light of dawn
awakened Anne later. Her eyes fluttered open, widening slightly, as she
saw that in her sleep she had turned toward Ty and was now lying in his
embrace. There was an evocative heaviness in the arm flung across her
breasts, yet she made no move to escape. She didn't want to disturb
him. His head rested on her tousled hair on the pillow, and her gaze
moved almost hungrily over his lean face. In sleep, he looked younger,
despite the dark stubble of a day's growth of beard on his chin, and
there was a gentler curving of his firmly carved mouth.

She impulsively feathered her fingers across his cheek.
Though her breath caught as he suddenly opened his eyes, she smiled
rather shyly. But Ty didn't return the smile. The initial drowsiness of
his gaze quickly altered to a hypnotizing, consuming passion, and the
fiery blue glint that flared in his eyes impaled the luminous gray of
hers. His hand slipped down to cup one breast as he muttered, "Anne,
you shouldn't look at me that way."

Her half-frightened gasp was captured by a seeking,
possessive kiss that sent her senses spinning. Hardening lips that
conveyed little gentleness plundered the softness of hers and opened
her mouth to the invading tip of his tongue. Yet, there was tenderness
in the large hand that possessed her straining breasts, squeezing and
caressing and teasing the sensitive peaks until they hardened beneath
the touch of his fingers. Pushing her straps off her shoulders, he
pulled her gown down, seeking bare skin. As the rough edge of his thumb
rubbed slowly over first one pulsating nipple, then the other, a
consuming blaze was ignited in her. Her fingers tangled in his hair.
She arched against him, exquisite sensations quickening inside her as
his tongue explored the sensitive flesh of her inner cheek.

With his muffled groan, his hand covered one slight
hipbone, pressing her back into the softness of the mattress and
holding her fast as he rolled over swiftly, pinning her body beneath
his. Brushing her hair back from her face, he kissed her again and
again, taking her soft trembling lips with a devouring passion she soon
realized was beyond his control.

She struggled instinctively, pressing her hands against
his broad muscular chest, but such resistance was ineffectual beneath
his superior strength. As his teeth closed gently on the soft curve of
her lower lip, she twisted beneath him, and at last, managed to drag
her mouth from his. "Don't," she gasped. "Ty, please, I can't."

"This time you can't stop me, Anne," he whispered roughly,
catching her face between his hands. "I need you too much."

She was truly afraid of him. Fear surged through her
veins, mingling with the hot desires aroused by his hard lips taking
hers again. Afraid of herself for wanting to surrender, terrified of
his uncontrollable passion, she pushed against him again, and a soft
sob escaped her as one hard knee parted her thighs. Tears spilled from
her eyes, wetting her cheeks, and she couldn't stop them.

"Blast it, don't cry," Ty muttered gruffly after a moment.
Then, with a curse uttered beneath his breath, he rolled over and sat
up on the edge of the bed, massaging the back of his neck with an oddly
shaking hand. As he turned his head, his narrowed gaze swept over her.
When he saw that she was still trembling violently, he stood and glared
down at her, his expression grim. "I can't take much more of this," he
warned tautly, a glint of passion still in his eyes. "You're going to
have to decide whether you want me or not, Anne, and you'd better
decide soon."