Body Heat (Vintage Category Romance) (13 page)

He withdrew his finger and placed himself over her to easily glide himself inside of her.
Staring into her eyes, he thought she looked like a…a frightened doe. “I know you’re so tiny…and I’m….”

“
It’s okay, Darian.” She clasped his head in her hands, pulling him closer, not wanting him to break the spell.

He whispered against her.
“I won’t hurt you, Blaire. I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“
I know,” she murmured against his lips.

He leaned back then and placed his hands on her small hips.
The tip of him sought what he was after and entered her. She was small, oh, so small, and so tight. So good. He plunged further, leaning closer over her, his hands now pushing up beside her breasts, steadying himself over her. Blaire flinched. He looked up into her face.

And saw the tears and the small grimace.

He was nearly there, had nearly sheathed himself with her body. His body urged himself on, but he found himself fighting against nature—something was wrong.

Something is wrong.

“Blaire?”

She reached for him,
clutching his shoulders; his lips grazed her ear, her tongue tasting his neck. “Don’t stop now, Darian,” she whispered. “Please, don’t stop.”

“
Pixie…?”

“
No,” her panicked voice came to him, her body arched into his. “Darian, love me.”

He broke away gazed into her eyes.
“Now?”

She nodded.
“Now,” she breathed.

He plunged into her, watching her face, dying with the expression of pain that washed over it, grimacing at the heel he was, reveling in the pleasure of the feel of her tiny body wrapped around him.
Then sharing the joy of her tears as her pain turned into passion and she arched against him again and again as she met his hurried thrusts, his groans of pleasure as he shuddered over her at his completion, her moans of satisfaction against his—for the agony and the ecstasy of what he had taken from her.

When they were through,
when he had separated himself from her, he gathered her into his body and held her, caressing her, kissing away her tears, tenderly holding her as if she might decide to slip away from him. As if he had broken her and didn’t know how to fix her back.

Finally, as he held her head against his chest, threading his fingers through her hair, he murmured to her.

“You have given me the greatest gift.”

He felt her head shake from side to side against him.
“No,” she whispered back. “You have given the gift to me.”

Placing a finger under her chin, he lifted her face to his so he could stare forever into the pools of blue that were her eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Blaire hesitated.
Why didn’t she tell him? “I was afraid. I wanted you so badly. I didn’t want you to turn me away.”

He closed his eyes and nodded.
“I would have, you know.”

Touching his beard, Blaire stretched up to him and kissed him lightly on the lips.
“I know.”

“
Did I hurt you?”

She shook her head slightly.
“It would have hurt me more if you’d have stopped.”

Darian pulled the covers up over them and cradled her against him as close as he possibly could.
“I needed you tonight, Pixie.”

Blaire closed her eyes and squeezed
away a couple of tears. “I needed you,” she whispered. “Just don’t walk away from me now, Darian. Not now. I don’t think I could live through the night.”

Laying a soft kiss on the top of her head, he pulled her tiny body into his even closer than before.
“Honey, there’s not a thing on this earth that could make me walk away from you tonight. Not one thing on earth.”

Then as she clung to him, his chin resting on the top of her head, Darian stared out into the dark night and thought about how he was going to convince her to leave tomorrow.

Chapter Seven

Blaire woke to an empty bed and the smell of frying bacon.
Smiling, she threw her arms up over her head and stretched beneath the covers, relishing in the feel of the warm sheets against her nude body. Instinctively, she placed her hand on the side of the bed next to her where Darian slept with her curled into his side, remembering the feel of his ribs against her cheek, his taut abdomen under her palm. She pushed her face into pillow that held his head throughout the night and drank in his scent. Never in her life had she ever dreamed she could be so happy. Never before had she been in love.

Flinging back the covers, she sat up in the bed and watched her lover from behind as he stood at the stove cooking breakfast.
Her lover! Cooking breakfast for her! This was the stuff of romance novels and movies, wasn’t it? Things like this didn’t happen to real people, right? Let alone people like her?

Not being able to contain the smile that spread across her face, Blaire rose, noticing that Darian had laid out clothing for her at the foot of the bed.
What a man! Khaki pants, a shirt and sweater, socks, underwear—her shoes on the floor beneath them—all laid out, perfectly folded and waiting for her. Well that was where he’d made his mistake, she thought jokingly. She had no need for clothes today. In fact, she didn’t care if she ever wore clothes again. She had no desire to ever leave here. And clothes? What would they need clothes for?

For that matter, she had no need for food either.
All she simply needed was him. In the precise way she had him last night. All over her body.

Silently stepping across the plank floor, giddy with anticipation, she slipped behind him and slid her hands around his waist.
Her fingers dipped beneath the waistband of his jeans, tugging on the tail of his shirt. She startled him, she could tell, for he flinched and his abdomen muscles tensed at her touch. That’s right, baby, she thought. Tense up those muscles for me. She felt her smile turn wicked, and that surprised her.

Blaire tightened her grip and laid her cheek against his back; she felt his chest swell deeply as he took a deep breath and heard his sigh.
Then quickly, he grasped both her hands, broke her embrace, and spun around to face her.

Her smile quickly faded into nothing.

The beast is back.

“
What are you doing?” he barked.

Shocked, Blaire stepped back, dropping her hands.
Her eyes narrowed and her head swam. “I don’t know. I guess I thought…”

She let her words trail off.
He didn’t move. His expression didn’t budge. He simply stared with steel gray eyes that penetrated to the very center of her heart—painfully.

“
You said you understood. You agreed.”

“
Understood?” Blaire had to fight the anger boiling up inside of her. Or was it hurt? Maybe fear. “Understood? Understood what?”

“
That all I could give you was one night.”

Swallow your pride, Blaire.
Keep whatever shred of dignity you can
. “One night of
what
,
Darian?”

“
Sex!” The word shot out of his mouth like a bullet. Then as if the word sex alone had primed his Alpha male hunger, she watched his gaze rake over her naked body from head to toe.

“
Well if that’s all it was, then what makes the difference?”

He ignored her.
“Get dressed and get your gear, I’m taking you back to your car.” He turned and stalked toward the door.

Blaire
’s mouth fell open at the shock of Darian’s words. Then she snapped it shut in the next instant. Where was the man who made love to her last night? The one who held and caressed her so gently, who said he needed her? Who said she had given him the greatest gift? Where was he?

Running.
He’s running away again, Blaire.

“
Sex, huh?”

He turned, tension filling his face.
“Yeah, right.”

“
You are a damn liar!”

This time it was his turn to look bewildered.

“What?”

“
I said you are a liar.” Blaire stepped across the room to him, more determined than ever to get to the bottom of this. “What’s wrong with you Darian? You certainly can’t deny what we shared last night was more than sex. It was a lot more than that and you know it.”

He turned away from her.
“I don’t know anything.”

Grabbing his arm, she pulled him back to face her.
“Don’t walk away from me, Darian MacGlenary.”

His
glare pinned her. “Get dressed.”

“
Why?”

“
Because I told you to, that’s why.”

“
No. You are not my keeper.” Blaire stood her ground.

His face tensed even more than before but held an air of confusion.
“All right then, don’t. I can take you out of here clothed or naked. Whichever you prefer.”

“
I’m not leaving.”

“
Like hell you’re not. You’re leaving right now.” He again turned away. It was then she noticed her gear was all packed and stacked near the door. He’d planned all along for her to leave. Ever since he’d gotten up this morning. Bending over to pick up her duffel bag, he then slid the briefcase under his arm and turned to look at her. “Let’s go.”

No, I
’m not leaving.
Blaire crossed her arms over her chest and struck a solid stance. “So that’s it, huh? One roll in the hay and you’re ready to get rid of me? Why Darian? Have you stopped to ask yourself that question? Why in the hell are you so damned sure you want to get rid of me so soon?”

He didn
’t answer, but stared across the room.

“
What? No answer?” She stepped closer, taunting. “Well, let me see if I can make things a little clearer here. You’ve wanted me underneath you since the first night we slept in your bed together. You know it, so do I. I might have been a virgin, but I’m not that naive. And since we’re being honest here, I’ll admit it, too. I wanted you, Darian. I wanted you more than I’ve ever wanted any man. Of course that was more than obvious. The thing is, you can’t handle a little emotion, can you? We shared a small piece of something last night. You can’t deny that. You felt it and so did I. And it scares the living hell out of you, doesn’t it?” She paused for moment to catch her breath and then continued, her voice softer, her eyes penetrating his. “Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret. It scares the hell out of me too, but I’m not pushing you away Darian. I want more. I want to work it out together. I’m not running away.”

“
I’m not running either.” The expression on his face didn’t break.

Blaire shook her head slowly from side to side, a slight smirk forming on her face.
“No,” she chuckled, “you’re pushing
me
away.”

“
Get dressed. There nothing for us, Blaire. You’re leaving.” He opened the door. “I’m going to start the jeep.”

Jeep!

Blaire leaped across the room to him and stopped him before he left the door. “Jeep!
Where in the hell is a jeep? You said you didn’t have any transportation out of here?”

His gaze caught hers and held.
“I lied.”

“
You lied? And why Darian? Did you ever stop to think why?”

A cold breeze blew in the open door and Blaire shivered, still naked, standing before him.
He didn’t answer. She grabbed fistfuls of his flannel shirt at chest level, oblivious to the cold and how her body was responding to it. He stood solid, unmoving. “I’ll tell you why. You wanted me here. You wanted to keep me here. For what reason, I don’t know. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to leave here without a fight. I’ll be damned, Darian.” Blaire could feel the backs of her eyelids stinging with tears. She knew she sounded desperate. She knew she was begging, but she didn’t care. She didn’t care one damn bit. She wasn’t about to throw away the only good thing that had happened to her in her life because he was too stupid to see.

“
You felt it as I did, Darian,” her voice softened. “You felt it, I know you did. You told me you needed me.”

L
ooking into his face, she watched his expression softened a bit, but his voice was still gruff. “I did need you last night. But I don’t need you today.”

His words cut deep.
Blaire pushed him away and stepped back into the cabin. Her tears falling steadily now, she lashed out. “I don’t believe you.”

“
Believe it, Blaire,” he interrupted. “I don’t need you. And you don’t need me either. After all, you’ve got Mastin. Why the hell you haven’t let him make love to you, I don’t know. You sure moaned his name enough when you were unconscious. But the fact of the matter is, he can give you a whole lot more than I can.”