Blue Moon (4 page)

Just then the band struck up the cords for Shania Twain’s
Man
,
I Feel Like a Woman
.

Jennifer squealed. “Come on.” She grabbed Sam’s hand, pulling her toward the dance floor. “Sis, you love this song.”

Yeah, but—

Before Sam knew it she was center stage. The female vocalist pushed the microphone into her hand. For a moment she just stood there taking in the audience and Kyle. Watching him, needing him to lust, to want her like he had years ago, she raised the mic to her lips and began to sing.

The crowd went wild.

Everyone stopped dancing and the world belonged to Sam. Even Kyle watched from across the patio. Her heart began to beat with the rhythm of the drums. Her hips following the rhythm as she kept him in view. Shamelessly, she felt free. Sexy. Wanton.

Maybe she was playing with fire, but she didn’t care. Neither he nor Cathy could hurt her anymore. Tonight she was invincible.

Kicking off her shoes, Sam leaned against the lead singer’s back and slinked down his body and then slowly up again. The throng roared. Kyle moved closer, until through a drink-induced haze she could see the heat in his eyes.

Oh yeah
. Sam remembered that flame of desire. She swayed, feeling a little lightheaded, but then Kyle had always made her feel that way.

By the time the song ended, Sam was out of breath. From out of nowhere someone pressed a glass of champagne into her hand. She didn’t think—she just drank. When she tried to step away, the lead singer grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips. His sexy smile was all she needed to remain.

Maybe… Just maybe tonight…

From the corner of her eye, she saw Brad grab Kyle by the arm, but her mind was spinning. Where had this other glass of champagne come from?

Sam staggered. “Oh God.” The glass fell from her hand, shattering on the floor. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

Kyle shook off Brad’s grasp, closing the distance between him and Sam. The damn woman looked green around the gills. Her painful expression made the strings around his heart tighten. Not hesitating, he swept her up in his arms.

“Kyle?”

“Yes, baby.”

Her eyes rolled and she grew silent, limp.

Fighting his way through the crowd, he headed for the stairs. Yes, there was a closer bathroom, but Sam would die if she lost the contents of her stomach in front of everyone. Besides, her mother looked fit to be tied as her scowl caught his eye. The last thing Sam needed was a lecture tonight. Like a limp rag, her head bobbed with each step he took.

“I-I don’t feel w-well,” she slurred.

“I know. Try to hold on.”

Several times her shoulders heaved and he half expected her to spew recycled champagne all over him, but finally they were in the bathroom adjacent to her bedroom.

Flipping the commode lid up, he gathered her hair into a fist, pinning it back when her stomach erupted. Her tortured sounds made his chest ache for her. Hands resting on the seat, her head half buried below it, she continued to retch.

When she finally fell quiet, her cheek resting on the edge of the toilet, he positioned her hair over a shoulder and moved to the sink. Wetting a washcloth and grabbing a glass of water, he returned.

“Swish this around in your mouth and spit.” He placed the cup in one of her hands. “When you can stand you can brush your teeth.”

She glanced up at him with bloodshot eyes.

Kyle tried not to smile, but he did. “It’ll make you feel better.” He flushed the commode.

After a moment or two, she did as he suggested. When she finished, he gently wiped her mouth then her face. Even with her drunk as skunk, he loved her so much. Pent-up emotion made his eyes blur.

He cleared his throat. “Can you stand up?”

“I think so.”

Sam released an agonized moan as she got to her feet with his assistance. Propping her against the sink, he released her long enough to locate her toothbrush. He squeezed a thin line of minty paste on it, before he handed it to her. Then he left her, closing the bathroom door behind him.

The queen-size bed squeaked beneath his weight as he sat and waited, wondering when she appeared if she would throw him out. While anticipating the worst, he looked around the room. All the pictures of her and him were gone. Even family photographs containing Cathy were absent. The smell of Sam, of wildflowers and woman, hung in the air.

When the door opened, Sam appeared. Her legs crossed in front of each other as she zigzagged, before stumbling backward to lean against the wall.

Eyelids heavy, she licked her lips. “Why are you here, Kyle?” She spoke in a low, drawn-out way that emphasized the amount of alcohol she had consumed.

The bed springs squeaked again as he got to his feet. “You needed me.”

Shaking her head tipped her off balance and she struggled to right herself. “No!” Sam shoved a hand out, stopping him. “I don’t need you. I don’t need anyone,” she mumbled.

“Baby, let’s not fight.” Kyle was tired of being at odds with her. He just wanted to hold her, be close. Maybe even take care of her.

Sam blinked as if her vision dimmed. “Fight. No.” On unsteady legs, she made her way toward him. “I—” Again, she staggered. “I’m tired. Sleep. That’s w-what I n-need.”

“Let me help you undress.”

“No!” Her eyes became as large as saucers. “I don’t need your h-help.”

Unsteady, she reached for the hem of her little black dress and pulled it up. For a moment she struggled with the material, huffing and cursing, until she pulled the gown over her head. The silk slithered out of her grasp and onto the floor.

Kyle’s jaw dropped.

Dressed in only a low-cut, push-up bra edged in black lace with matching, ass-molding boy shorts, Sam was pure, unadulterated sex. Blood rushed to his groin, instantly hardening his cock. The ache sent his arousal from zero to one hundred in a single heartbeat. His pulse jumped and took off. When her hand went behind her to unfasten her bra, Kyle knew he had to stop her.

“Baby, I don’t think that’s wise.”

Sam frowned. “What?” Leaning forward, she glared at him. “
Sooo
, you don’t think—” Her feet did a little two-step before she came to a stop. “I c-can measure up to my s-sister?”

“Sam—”

Too late. The scrap of material fell away, revealing small but firm breasts he used to cradle in his palms, spend hours worshipping, tasting.

The smirk she gave him did nothing to extinguish his desire. If anything, her little striptease was doing just the opposite.

Holy shit. His cock firmed even more.

“Sam, please.” His plea only seemed to urge her onward.

She shot him a shit-eating grin before she slipped her thumbs in the elastic of her boy shorts. Her smile turned sultry as she began to inch the panties down. Her hips moved to some sexy tune that must have played only in her mind, but her svelte motions were enough to put his imagination into full gear.

To his surprise he discovered she waxed. Something she hadn’t done two years ago. The realization both excited and infuriated him.

Who had she waxed for? The thought came and went just as quickly.

In utter agony, he watched her silky panties move down her thighs, past her knees, to pool around her ankles. Stepping out of them was another thing. Each time she tried, she stumbled. Her brows pulled together in a line of frustration.

Kyle would have laughed, but he couldn’t breathe nor tear his gaze from her sensual body. When she was finally naked before him, he managed to drag in a strangled breath.

Beneath shuttered eyelashes she looked up at him. “Do you want me?” She licked her lips again, but this time it was a slow, smooth motion that had his heart thudding against his chest.

Oh God. Yes.
He wanted her more than anything in this fuckin’ world.

Kyle took a step toward her. “Are you sure you want this?” Even as he asked, he began to unbutton his shirt.

Tossing back her golden mane of hair, a humorless laugh spilled from her lips. “Why not? You can’t hurt me anymore.”

He paused. The pain of the last two years slammed hard into him, stealing the air from his lungs. Inhaling, he reached for something to say. “Sam, I never meant to hurt you,” was all that came to mind.

Silently, she just stared at him. Then her bottom lip began to quiver. “Why, Kyle?” A tear raced down her reddened cheek, another one close behind. “I loved you.” Her knees suddenly buckled.

Kyle barely caught her before she collapsed and fell to the floor. Cradling her in his arms, he moved to a plush chair by the window and sat with her in his lap.

“Hush, baby.” Gently, he rocked her. “Please don’t cry.”

Through broken sobs, she murmured, “I want to know why.”

But he didn’t have an answer for her, not one they hadn’t hashed over before. “I don’t know how it happened. I can tell you that I’ve never been attracted to your sister, and if I’d been sober that would have never happened. We would be married. Maybe even have a child.”

That only seemed to make things worse. She wept harder.

Kyle did the only thing he could—he held her, handing her an occasional tissue, until finally her tears dried.

Chin resting on her head, he couldn’t help but wish things had been different. “I missed you, Sam.”

“Kyle?”

“Yes, baby.”

“I n-need for you to l-leave.”

Sam was shutting him out.

His eyelids closed as his world began to crumble again.

What had he expected? Maybe in his scrambled brain, he thought that they would end up in bed. That making love to her would right the wrong? That in her alcohol-induced haze she would listen to him. Forgive him.

“Let me stay, Sam. Please.” Desperation rang loud and clear. His embrace tightened. It would take more self-control than he possessed to walk away from her tonight.

Sam pushed out of his arms and stood. Refusing to look at him, she made her way to the dress lying on the floor and picked it up, clenching it protectively before her, although the gown hid very little from his view.

She didn’t need to speak. Kyle could see determination settle in her now puffy eyes.

Getting to his feet, he came to stand before her. Without a word, he snaked his arm around her. His hand speared through her hair, dragging her head up so that she was on tiptoes as he forced her lips to his.

Gentleness was not his objective. He wanted her to remember his touch, his taste.

Without warning, violent lust exploded inside him. Fighting the battle to breathe and conquer her at the same time, he inhaled as white-hot desire surged wildly through his veins.

She was sweet heat, fire. A drug he had missed.

Kyle would never take her against her will, but he wasn’t above doing whatever he had to do to convince her that loving him tonight was right.

His lips moved over hers, his tongue pressing past a gasp. A mere whimper echoed from her throat as her dress dropped between them. Like a warrior fighting for his life, he devoured her mouth. His tongue pushed beyond her lips, stroking and tasting, until she surrendered. Raising her hands, she slid her fingers into his hair, gripping, before she arched against him and melted.

Oh yeah. She remembered.

A rough growl rumbled from somewhere inside him. Lips slanted over hers, he jerked her to him, closing the distance between their bodies, and then he deepened the kiss.

Hot little nipples, hard as pebbles, moved across his bare chest, but it was her cool palms sliding his unbuttoned shirt off his shoulders that triggered another growl.

Breathless, he tore his lips from hers. “I need you, Sam.
Now
.” The ache in his voice went bone-deep.

As he laid her on the wide bed, staring down at the rapid movements of her swollen breasts, and her flat abdomen, Kyle felt a sense of balance right his world. Long, blonde strands of hair haloed her face. Her eyes were haunted, shadowed with uncertainty. How he wished he could vanquish the demons—make her laugh again.

“You’re beautiful,” he breathed, moving to stretch out beside her.

“Kyle—”

He placed a finger to her swollen lips. “Let me love you, baby.”

Before she could answer, he leaned in and gently blew a stream of warm air across a rosy nipple. His arousal climbed, as he watched the small bud tighten and bead. When his wet tongue circled her flesh, she turned her head away from him, her back rising into his caress. While he laved attention on one breast, he fondled the other. Slow kneading motions, as his fingers rolled, pulled and pinched her nipple.

He smoothed his palm across her ribcage, over her abdomen, and further downward. His pulse sped.
Please. Don’t stop me
.

Hand trembling, he rimmed her swollen folds, fingertips caressing, before he slid a single digit into the small opening. Moist. Warm. Creamy heaven.

“Kyle!” Her ragged cry filled the night, delighting him.

“Tell me you want this,” he muttered against her breast. While he waited for her answer, he drew slow circles around her clit.

“I—” Her body bucked beneath his hand.

He squeezed the little bundle of nerves between his thumb and index finger.

“Yes,” she hissed. Her hips rose to meet each of his advances.

Two fingers disappeared within her, pumping slowly in and out. “Say the words, baby.”

She groaned, low.

“Say it,” he demanded.

“I. Want. You.”

It was all he needed to hear.

Kyle slid between her thighs, raising her legs so that her knees were bent, feet flat upon the bed, her silken flesh glistening with a satin sheen, bared to his gaze. Inhaling, he breathed in her feminine fragrance. This was what he missed most. The taste of her. The way she tugged his hair, releasing an unbridled cry when she came.

“Kyle?”

He didn’t respond. Instead, he bent down and savored.

Chapter Four

Sam couldn’t breathe.

How they got where they were was beyond her recollection. The last thing she remembered was asking him to leave. Now all she knew was she had to feel his mouth upon her pussy. Her hips rose as his tongue flattened across her slit.