Everything but the marriage (18 page)

Devlin suffered from claustrophobia. Not an uncommon problem. A lot of people had it to some degree. Devlin obviously had more than just a mild touch of it. He'd been holding on to his control with nothing but willpower. The ride up in the elevator had obviously been a short stay in hell for him.

It was a rare show of vulnerability from a man who went to great pains to show only his strong side. An-nalise felt a wave of tenderness. If he'd told her how he felt, she'd have happily volunteered to walk up all thirty flights with him. But of course he wouldn't admit to being afraid of closed-in places. And he wouldn't welcome any mention of it, either.

Despite his reluctance to attend the gathering, she noticed that DevUn didn't seem out of place. He didn't exactly circulate, but he made himself pleasant where necessary. He spent some time talking to Michael Sinclair, who'd designed, not only the project whose completion was being celebrated, but also Devlin's house.

Michael's wife, Brittany, was a friend of Kelly's, and Kelly made it a point to introduce Brittany and Annalise. The three of them chatted comfortably. By the end of the evening, Annalise felt as if she'd furthered her fledgling friendship with Devlin's sister and perhaps made a start toward another friendship with Brittany Sinclair.

In all her years of being moved from one foster home to another, she'd never had a chance to build friendships. After a while, she'd stopped trying. It simply hurt too much when the time came to give them up. Talking with Brittany and Kelly, she fdt a deep regret for all the years she'd done without the sort of easy camaraderie she saised between the two of them.

It was a pleasant evening, but Annalise wasn't sorry when Devlin touched her elbow and suggested that they had a long drive ahead of them. She'd had a nice time, but it had been a long time since she'd been around so many people all at once, and she'd forgotten what an exhausting experience it could be.

She felt Devlin tense as they stopped in front of the elevator, and she bit her lip, wishing she dared to suggest that walking down thirty flights of stairs was a long-time desire of hers. The doors slid open and Devlin stepped through them with all the enthusiasm of a man facing a firing squad.

They had the elevator to themselves. The doors had barely closed when Annalise turned and wound her arms around Devlin's neck, pulling his head down to hers until thdr lips met.

Devlin felt his mind go blank with surprise. Though he'd always encouraged her participation in bed, this

was the first time Annalise had ever shown any hint of sexual aggression.

And this was more than a hint. He sucked in a quiet breath as she lowered one hand from his shoulder and boldly cupped her fingers over the growing bulge beneath his fly. Passion exploded in the pit of his stomach.

He forgot all about his hatred of enclosed places. In fact, he forgot where they were. His hands slid down her back to cup her bottom, drawing her forward. Annalise gasped. Her hand left him and she caught at his shoulders for balance as he lifted her off her feet to press her against his thighs, showing her just how successful her attempt at distraction had been.

His Kps slanted over hers, his tongue plunging between her lips, taking possession of her mouth the way he longed to take possession of her body.

The elevator shuddered shghtly as it arrived at the ground floor. Devlin's hands released her reluctantly, letting her feet touch the carpeted floor just as the door slid open.

Annalise stared up at him, her eyes dazed. Her impulsive attempt to distract him from his surroundings had been so successful she'd very nearly forgotten where they were.

"Shall we?" he murmured when she showed no signs of moving.

"Shall we what?" She sounded as dazed as she felt. Devlin's mouth curved in a smile, his eyes gleaming with purely masculine satisfaction.

"Go." He turned her in the direction of the doors and gave her a gentle push.

Neither of them said a word during the drive home. Not by so much as a word or a glance did either acknowledge those torrid moments in the devator. They might have been completely unaware of each other.

But that wasn't the case. Annalise could fed the tension that hununed between than like a tautly pulled wire. If she'd thought the fiie that had been ignited would die out during the long drive, she realized how wrong she'd been.

She didn't have to touch Devlin or even look at him to be acutely aware of him. He didn't have to put his hands on her to make her skin tingle with awareness. There was only one way for the evening to end, and the anticipation was the most arousing kind of foreplay. Proof positive that the mind was the most powerful erogenous zone.

By the time he stopped the truck beside the house, she wasn't sure her knees would support her. Devlin shut off the engine and thrust open his door without a word. Annalise pushed open her own door, but be-fore she could shde to the ground, Devlin was there, his hands circling her waist. He lifted her easily to the ground.

Annalise had to lock her knees to keq) from simply collapsing at his feet. But even that didn't help when he slammed her door shut and then crowded her back against the truck.

"Do you know how much I want you?" he whispered raggedly.

If she hadn't already guessed, she would have now. Caught between the cool surface of the truck and the

heat of his body, she could feel his arousal pressed against her stomach.

"All I could think about all the way home was how much I wanted to be inside you, feeling you close around me, all hot and damp."

She bit her lip to hold back a whimper of need, closing her eyes against the glittering intensity of his. His hands slid up from her waist to cup the weight of her breasts, his thumbs brushing over her nipples, bringing them to full arousal beneath the thin fabric of her dress.

Momentarily satisfied with her reaction, he shifted his attention to her hair, his fingers searching for and disposing of the pins that held it in place. It tumbled over his forearms in a heavy silk curtain. He buried his fingers in it, tilting her head up until his mouth could find hers in a quick, hard kiss.

He bent suddenly, lifting her in his arms with a movement so full of urgency that Annalise felt her breath stolen from her. Lx)bo lifted his head from his paws to watch them from the comer of the porch he'd claimed as his, but he seemed to sense that this was not a time to draw attention to himself.

They were barely inside the front door before Devlin was letting her slide to her feet, his fingers searching for the zipper at the back of her dress even as his mouth closed over hers.

Passion spiraled between them at a dizzying speed. The dress fell to the floor and he hfted her, arching her back over his arm so that her breasts were thrust upward. Annalise caught her breath on a sob as his mouth closed over her. He sucked strongly at her nip-

pie. She felt the pressure deep inside, a hot liquid pool in the pit of her stomach.

Her fingers wound in his thick, dark hair, holding him to her as he switched his attention to her other breast. She twisted against him, seeking relief for the throbbing ache between her thighs.

She was only vaguely aware that he was moving, carrying her easily, never ceasing the sweet tormait of his mouth on her breasts. By the time he at last allowed her to slide slowly the length of his body, she didn't have the strength to do more than cling to his shoulders. He eased her back and down. It wasn't until she felt the bed beneath her that she realized he'd brought her into the bedroom.

"My God, Annalise!" The words were torn from him as he realized for the first time that she was wearing nothing but a pair of scandalously small blue panties and a matching lacy garter belt that held up a pair of sheer stockings.

Seeing his stunned expression, she stretched, drawing up one leg and arching her back. For the second time that night she saw beads of sweat dampen his forehead, but for a very different reason this time.

"Do you like them?" she asked him, her voice husky and seductive. She'd felt deliciously naughty when she bought them and positively wicked when she put them on. Now she felt all woman, a temptress in sapphire silk.

"Like them?" He licked suddenly dry lips. "If I'd know you had them on, I'd have been hard all night," he admitted.

"I bought them just for you." She ran the toes of one foot down his leg. "Is that a gun in your pocket or are you happy to see me?" As a Mae West imitator, she wasn't Ukely to make it professionally. But Devlin didn't seem to care.

"Fm very happy to see you," he said with a husky laugh.

He disposed of his clothes in record time, popping several buttons from his shirt when they refused to yield to his shaking fingers. Annalise felt her body flush in anticipation as the last of his clothes hit the floor, revealing the magnificent strength of his arousal.

She reached her arms up to him, needing to feel him against her. She needed to feel him inside her, driving away the emptiness. Not just the physical emptiness but the emotional hollowness that only he could fill.

At the sight of her reaching for him, Devlin felt his pulse pound in his temples, batoning at all rational thought beyond the primal need to feel her beneath him, to feel her holding him.

His need was too great to allow time for dealing with anything as complex as garters. The delicate silk panties tore. Annalise didn't care. Her need was as deep as his.

Her fingers clung to his shoulders as he came down to her, his hips wedging her legs apart. He entered her with one smooth, hard thrust, burying his aching flesh in the damp heat of her.

She cried out as the deep ache in her was at once eased and sharpened. It wasn't enough. It couldn't ever be enough. She lifted her legs to take him deeper.

wanting—needing—to feel him in every fiber of her being.

The feel of her long legs, still sheathed in the thin nylon stockings, pressed against his hips made Devlin groan. He surged heavily against her, feeling her nails dig into his shoulders as she met his every thrust, her breathing coming in deep sobbing gasps.

It was too intense to last very long. Devlin felt the delicate tightening of her body around him. He struggled to hold off his own climax, wanting it to last forever. But feeling Annalise shudder beneath him, hearing her call his name at the height of her pleasure, he felt himself dragged headlong into the vortssK of her peak.

Annalise felt Devlin swdl even larger inside her and then a guttural cry was torn from him. She clung to him, letting his shuddering completion drive her higher still until nothing existed in the universe but the two of them.

Devlin's body was heavy on hers, but it was a welcome weight. She'd never felt as complete in her life as she did when she held him in her arms. His breathing was still ragged when he moved to relieve her of his weight. She murmured a sleepy protest and clung to him.

"FU crush you, sweetheart." The only time he used endearments was when they were in bed, another small intimacy that she savored. Reluctantly she loosened her arms, allowing him to ease to the side.

"You realize, of course, that you could have caused me permanent physical damage," he said conversa-

tionally. He slid his arm under her shoulders and drew her closer, tangling his fingers in her hair.

"What did I do?" She rubbed her hand over his muscled chest.

"Kissing me like that in the elevator," he reproached her huskily. "Especially when there wasn't anything I could do about it until I got you home."

"Gee, rU try not to do it again."

"Things like that can do permanent damage to a guy." Since he was carefully arranging her hair across her breast as he spoke, his fingers lingering on the tender peak of her nipple, Annalise didn't think he was too upset.

"Fm sorry," she whispered, her back arching in an unconscious invitation as he stroked his thumb over her. She'd never have believed she could feel arousal so soon after the soul-shattering lovanaking they'd just experienced.

"I suppose I could be persuaded to forgive you," he said softly. He shifted so that he was leaning on one elbow next to her, his shoulders blocking out the dim light.

"You could?" Her voice was little more than a whisper as his fingers trailed across her stomach to find the lacy waistband of the garter belt.

"But it would take some pretty powerful persuasion," he warned her.

His mouth closed over hers, muffling the soft moan that suggested she was willing to be as persuasive as he liked.

Chapter 11

It was a scorchingly hot summer day when Reed Hall's rental car rumbled down the driveway. Anna-lise had spent the morning pulling weeds from the small flower bed she'd put in on the curve at the end of the driveway, but the heat had driven her to retreat to the shade afforded by the porch.

Devlin had invested in a glider to supplement the lawn chair that had been the porch's only furnishing. Annalise settled into its cushioned comfort, drawing one leg up under her, leaving the toe of her other foot on the floor to keep the glider in motion.

Beauty had joined her after directing a token hiss m Lobo's direction, a gesture that was greeted with magnificent indifference by the big dog. Annalise had worried about his reaction to Beauty and her kittens, but it had proved a groundless concern.

Lobo, for all his dangerous looks, had proved to be endlessly tolerant of assorted kitten-launched attacks. In that respect, he reminded Annalise irresistibly of Devlin, hiding a marshmallow-soft interior behind a forbidding exterior.

The heat had a somnolent effect. She was drowsily contemplating whether or not to expend the energy required to go into the house and stretch out on the bed when she heard a car turn off the road onto the lane.

Devlin had been hanging drywall in the living room, but the sound of the car drew him out onto the porch.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Annalise asked him, sitting up to watch the dust-covered sedan approach.

"No." He narrowed his eyes against the bright sun.

The man who slid out from behind the wheel nearly matched Devlin's six feet two inches, but any resemblance ended there. The sun caught in hair of such a pale blond it approached white. Where Devlin was broad shouldered and sohd, this man was slender, though the casual knit shirt revealed the taut ripple of muscles in his arms. He moved with an easy grace that made Annalise think of athletes she'd seen on television.