Haven Creek (26 page)

Morgan released Nate’s penis, and then rested her head on his thigh. It wasn’t her intention when she took him into her mouth to make him come so quickly. However, it was the first time since she’d slept with a man that she’d felt totally in control. And she liked it.

“Nate?” His response came in the form of a moan. “Are you all right, baby?”

“I don’t know. I can’t move.” His disembodied voice sounded as if he were across the room.

“You don’t have to. I’ll clean you up.”

She slipped off the bed and went into the bathroom. A wicker table held an ample supply of towels and facecloths, as well as tiny bottles of shampoo, conditioner, bath gel, and body lotion. Turning on the hot water in the basin, she squeezed a dollop of gel on a facecloth, then wrung out the excess water.

Nate lay on his back, one muscular arm thrown over his head. He shuddered when she removed the condom and drew the cloth over his groin. “What on earth did you do to me?”

Morgan smiled. “I hope I made you feel good.”

He shook his head. “You did more than that. Now I want to reciprocate.”

Perhaps in some intimate way she’d communicated to him what lay in her heart. It’d begun as a childish crush, blossomed into unrequited love, and then faded when she realized she’d lost him to another woman. It was the love she’d selfishly withheld from the other men in her life.

“You can do that later,” she said.

Nate took the cloth from her, dropping it on the pile of discarded clothing. “Come lie next to me.”

Morgan paused. “Let me turn off the lights first.”

She picked up the cloth, leaving it in the bathroom, and then walked around flicking off the lamps. After she’d gotten into bed, Nate turned off the bedside lamp, and the cottage was plunged into complete darkness. Morgan smiled when he pressed his chest to her back. They cuddled, spoonlike, his heart beating in a slow, measured rhythm against her back.

Nate blew his breath on the nape of her neck. “Thank you for giving your inhibitions the night off. The roles reverse tomorrow, when I do the same with mine.”

“What do plan to do to me?”

“I’m not going to tell you,” he said with a laugh. “I just have to make certain you’ll enjoy it.”

There came a noticeable pause before Morgan asked, “How often do you come here?”

“This is the first time since I moved back.”

Morgan closed her eyes. “Why now?”

“Because of you,” he answered. “I could’ve spent the night with you in the Creek, but seeing my truck parked at your house or yours at my place would exacerbate the talk about us.”

“I don’t care what people say about me, Nate.”

“But I do,” he countered. “A man can do something and people say that he’s just being a man. But it’s different with a woman. Folks talk about how many times Trina has been married, but no one opens their mouths about Harry Hill’s boy making babies with different women all over the county. He’s—what?—twenty-five or twenty-six, and he’s fathered at least nine kids.”

Morgan shifted into a more comfortable position. “I don’t blame Harry Junior as much as I do his baby mamas. First of all, he’s too old to live at home. His parents know he’s trifling, and so do the women he sleeps with. What I can’t understand is why these women are willing to risk their health by having unprotected sex with him. And I’m shocked that they all know one another. Harry Junior don’t work, don’t want to work, and will never work as long as his mother takes care of her grown-ass boy.”

Nate whistled softly. “Whoa, baby. I didn’t mean to rile you up.”

“I can’t help but get riled up when men don’t step up and take care of their children. If you don’t want to take care of them, don’t have them.”

“Please don’t put me in the same bag as Harry Junior. I don’t know about the future, but one thing I do know for certain is that if I get a woman pregnant, I
will
marry her and take care of my child.”

“You’d marry her knowing you don’t love her?” Morgan asked.

“If I’m sleeping with her for any length of time, I’d have to have feelings for her, Mo. As for love…that’s a word that’s bandied about much too glibly. I love my car. I love my job, etc., etc., etc. Two people can always grow to love each other if there is trust and respect.”

“Unfortunately, there are too many men who don’t think like you do, Nate. Look at who they admire. Basketball and football players; rap stars who are embroiled in paternity suits with their baby mamas. I have no problem with being a single mother, but I don’t plan to become a baby mama.”

“What’s the difference?” Nate asked.

“A single mother could be divorced or have adopted her children.”

“Why would you adopt when you can have your own children?”

“I might end up not getting married or being too old to have a child.”

Nate’s arm tightened around her middle. “I’d be willing to father a child with you.”

Morgan’s mind reeled in confusion. He’d talked about never becoming an unwed father, and not wanting to remarry, so why was it okay to talk about getting her pregnant?

“That’s not going to happen, Nate,” she said softly.

“Why not?”

“Because that would mean us getting married.”

“I can think of worse things, Mo.”

She threw off his arm and sat up. “Oh, really? Are you certain you’re not schizophrenic?”

Nate also sat up. “Of course not.”

“Well, you could’ve fooled me. You told me emphatically that you’ll never marry again. Why the change of heart?”

“That’s before I got to know you.”

It didn’t matter how much she loved Nate. Morgan didn’t want to conceive a child or get married without love. “We had an in-depth conversation for the first time six weeks ago, and then I asked you about it last night, so why the change of heart? What more do you know about me now?”

“I know all I need to know.”

“And that is?” she asked.

“I watched you tonight with that little girl. You didn’t hesitate when she asked for your monkey. Then there was Queenie and her kids. I’d heard that her husband walked out on her and that she’s been struggling financially. Her folks are elderly and on fixed incomes, so there’s not much they can do for her and their grandchildren. You didn’t have to do what you did.”

“Throwing away food is sinful. And because you witnessed a couple acts of kindness you talk about wanting to marry me?”

“Given time, I’m certain we can fall in love with each other. You can’t deny we’re not good together in and out of bed.”

Morgan wanted to scream. “Why do you make it sound so clinical?” His arms went around her shoulders, pulling her close.

“I’m trying to be reasonable and considerate. You were the one who said you wanted to wait a few years before you would consider marriage and motherhood. If we do this thing, take things to the next level, I want it to be sooner rather than later. I don’t want to become a father for the first time at forty. By the time our kids reach school age I’ll probably be completely gray and other kids will start teasing them, saying I’m their grandfather.”

Morgan laughed despite the seriousness of their conversation. Somehow this wasn’t how she’d envisioned Nate proposing to her. He made it seem like a business deal. Even though Morgan loved Nate, one thing she wasn’t was desperate. She refused to accept a marriage proposal without love. The two were indivisible.

“Marriage is not a business deal,” she flung at him. “It’s not a joke or something to play around about.”

“Remember, I’m the one with more experience when it comes to marriage and business deals, and I’m sorry, baby, I didn’t mean to insult you.”

She buried her face between his neck and shoulder. “Apology accepted. I should’ve realized you were speaking hypothetically,” she said, inhaling the lingering scent of his aftershave. Morgan knew her namesake would be proud of her. She was thinking with her head instead of her heart.

Nate buried his face in her short hair. “The only thing I’m going to ask is that you give me a chance to love you the way you deserved to be loved.”

Morgan swallowed hard in an attempt not to cry. Pressing her fist against Nate’s back she bit her lip. She nodded, because the lump in her throat wouldn’t permit her to speak. She wasn’t certain how long they held each other before Nate eased her back onto the mattress, cradling her to his chest until she fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.

N
ate adjusted the pillows under his shoulders as he supported his back against the headboard. Ribbons of sunlight filtered through the shutters, threading their way over the bed.

He woke early and lay motionless, watching Morgan as she slept.

Sleep hadn’t been as kind to him. He still had to come to grips with the realization that he’d indirectly proposed to Morgan. He hadn’t gone on one knee to ask if she would marry him. He’d just thrown it out there as if discussing which restaurant they would go to for dinner. She’d accused him of being clinical and he’d denied it.
I can think of worse things.
Why did he say that to her? He shook his head in disbelief. She deserved a lot better than a backhanded marriage proposal.

Nate hadn’t lied when he told Morgan that, given time, he was certain they would fall in love with each other. It had taken six weeks for him to come out of his shell, and he had Morgan to thank for that. If she hadn’t solicited his involvement in the Angels Landing Plantation restoration, there was no doubt he would’ve continued as a loner.

Knowing he was going to see Morgan brightened his workdays, and their sleeping together had become an added bonus. When he’d suggested becoming her love slave, Nate never imagined she would take him up on his offer. He’d done it as a challenge, to see if she was willing to shed her inhibitions. And she had, shocking him when she’d given him the most exquisite blow job he’d ever had.

He knew that sharing incredible sex wasn’t enough to form the basis of a marriage, or to salvage a shaky one. It went beyond that. There had to be love, mutual respect, and trust. And for him, trust superseded love, because people fell in and out of love every day.

Bryce telling Nate that he was going to become an uncle again, and Morgan calling to inform him that Rachel had given birth to identical twin boys, had renewed his desire to become a father. It’d taken him about six hours to carve, sand, and prime matching bookends for the twins. And when he’d visited the Parlor Bookstore to look for children’s books, he’d wanted the gift to be for his own children. Watching Morgan interact with the little girl struck a chord in him that was shocking. If or when he fathered a child, he wanted a woman like Morgan to be the mother.

Nate smiled when Morgan let out a soft sigh. He knew she liked him. Morgan had been forthcoming with that, but he wondered if she would ever love him. When she confessed to loving him when he gave her the gift, he knew she meant platonically, but what about romantic love? His feelings for her were different from what he’d experienced with any other woman. Whenever he was with her, he experienced a sense of peace.

Without warning, Morgan opened her eyes. A momentary expression of confusion crossed her features before she smiled. “Good morning,” she mumbled, covering her mouth and hiding a yawn.

Nate nuzzled the side of her neck. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

She moaned. “I slept great. What time is it?”

“I don’t know. I don’t own a watch.”

Rolling over on her back, Morgan met his eyes. “How can you go around without a watch?”

Sliding off the mound of pillows cradling his shoulders, Nate rested his chin on the top of Morgan’s head. “I don’t have to punch a clock, so I don’t concern myself with the time. I wake up before the sun comes up and I go to bed when I’m tired.”

“No rules, no stress,” Morgan mumbled against his bare chest.

“There you go,” he drawled.

“If you weren’t here with me, then you’d probably be working.”

Nate wiggled his nose when wisps of Morgan’s hair brushed it. “No, I wouldn’t. Shaw and Sons is closed for the duration of the fair.”

“What would you be if you weren’t a carpenter?” Morgan asked, continuing her questioning.

“A carpenter.”

“You never wanted to be anything else?” Morgan asked.

“Nope. Are you hungry?” he asked, smoothly changing the subject.

“A little, but I’d like to go for a walk along the beach first.”

Whipping back the sheet, Nate dipped his head and fastened his mouth to Morgan’s buttock, causing her to gasp. “Do you think I could have a little snack before we leave?” He inhaled her silken skin, recognizing the aroma of vanilla and white musk along with other unrecognizable notes in her perfume.

“Please don’t,” she pleaded.

“Don’t what, baby?”

“I have to go to the bathroom.”

Nate slid off the bed, scooped Morgan up into his arms as if she were a child, then carried her to the bathroom. He placed her in front of the commode and took a step backward, staring at the bloodred polish on her toenails. “Nice color.” His gaze moved up, lingering on a pair of firm breasts that reminded him of large chocolate muffins topped with Hershey’s Kisses. “You have beautiful, perky breasts.”

Morgan crossed her arms over her chest. “Do you mind?”

His eyebrows lifted. “Mind what?”

“Giving me some privacy.”

“I thought you gave inhibition time off so you could be a naughty girl,” he said teasingly.

“Naughty has nothing to do with this.” Morgan was still smiling when Nate left her in the bathroom. She returned to the bedroom minutes later, smothering another yawn with her hand. “I need a shower so I can wake up.”

“We’ll shower together.” He stared deeply into her eyes. They were dark, unfathomable, and he wondered what she was thinking at that moment. “This is the first time in a very long time I don’t feel alone.”

Morgan traced the letters of the tattoo on his chest with her forefinger. “You shouldn’t,” she said in a feathery whisper. “Not when you carry her over your heart.”

He placed his hand over hers. “I’m not talking about my mother, Morgan. I’m talking about you.” Nate increased the pressure on her fingers when she went still. “I’m not perfect. I’ve made mistakes, but there is one thing I know. I will never hurt you.”

Morgan lowered her gaze, shielding her innermost thoughts. “Call me crazy, but I believe you.”

He pressed his mouth to her forehead, astounded at the sense of peace he always found whenever he shared the same space with her. She was right. Although they weren’t able to change their pasts, they did have the power to determine their futures. And he wanted this woman in his arms for a very long time.

Reaching for a condom and picking her up, Nate walked back into the bathroom. He placed the condom on a shelf in the shower stall. Turning on the faucet, he adjusted the temperature as water flowed over their bodies. Cradling her face between his hands, he kissed Morgan with all the emotion he could summon for the woman who had affected him as no other had. His hands came down, moving over her throat, shoulders, breasts, and belly. He’d become a sculptor, his fingertips caressing every dip and curve of her body.

His hand moved up her inner thigh, finding her moist and pulsing. Nate was loath to remove his hand when he reached for the packet. Seconds later, fully sheathed, he wrapped one arm around her waist, lifting Morgan while easing his erection into her hot, tight body. They moaned in unison when flesh joined flesh.

Her arms curved around his head, her legs around his waist, and together they established a slow, deliberate rhythm in which they ceased to exist as separate entities.

Nothing mattered to Morgan except the unbridled passion escaping beyond the boundaries of common sense. She felt pleasure swirling between her thighs like a vortex, and she gasped in sweet agony with each thrust of Nate’s hips. Her nipples swelled against the hardness of his chest, and she wanted to get even closer as their bodies moved in perfect rhythm, in exquisite harmony with each other.

“Nate!” She screamed out his name when he touched her so deeply she felt him in her stomach. She closed her eyes. Then her love and passion eddied through her like hot butter. The explosions continued as she melted all over him. Seconds later, he groaned deeply in erotic pleasure, moaning her name over and over until it became a litany. He eased her down to the floor of the shower, where they lay, limbs entwined, waiting for their breathing to resume a normal rate.

Smiling, Morgan opened her eyes. “Sharing a shower with you is fun.”

Nate buried his face between her neck and shoulder. “It was beyond fun, baby. It was spectacular.”

Somehow they found the strength to stand up. Reaching for the bath sponge, she squeezed a generous dollop of gel on it and handed it to Nate. He became a sculptor once again as he soaped every inch of her body. She repeated the favor, and when they emerged from the bathroom wrapped in thick white towels, Morgan knew the unbridled act of love had changed her forever.

Nate sucked in his breath as he descended the steps of the jet that had touched down at Las Vegas’s McCarran International Airport. The desert heat seemed to swallow him whole. He pulled his shirt from the waistband of his slacks. It was two o’clock in the afternoon local time, and the mercury registered 113 degrees.

He would’ve looked forward to returning to the city where he’d spent so much time if it hadn’t been for Morgan. They’d spent the three nights of the fair on Sullivan’s Island. After the first night she brought Rasputin with her, the cat opting to spend most of his time sleeping in a patch of sun in the guesthouse. They returned to Cavanaugh Island midafternoon on the Fourth.

As promised, Nate had become Morgan’s sous-chef, chopping and dicing ingredients for her gumbo. She’d won second prize in the one-pot contest, losing to Kara’s cousin Virginia Patton-Smith, who entered a red rice and sausage dish. Gussie garnered a first prize ribbon for her sweet potato pie, and the Danes went wild. It was the first time in four decades that not one but two Dane women took home ribbons in the cooking contests.

The fair came to an end Sunday morning at the stroke of midnight with a spectacular display of fireworks, accompanied by synchronized prerecorded patriotic music. Those who hadn’t gathered on the beach watched from their porches or backyards. The nighttime sky was ablaze with color. Morgan had invited Francine and David to an impromptu backyard barbecue, where they’d lounged on recliners to watch the fireworks. Nate told David he was unable to join them for Morgan’s birthday celebration, but urged them not to change their plans.

A dark luxury sedan maneuvered onto the tarmac at the same time Nate stepped off the last stair. One of two flight attendants followed, carrying his bag. A wide smile split Nate’s face when he saw a very different-looking Dwight alight from the rear of the car. Missing was the long hair, beard, tie-dyed shirt, and sandals. They were replaced with a crisp white shirt, dark tailored slacks, and slip-ons. The two men embraced as the chauffeur took Nate’s bag from the flight attendant.

Nate studied his former business partner, marveling at his conservative appearance. “You look great, DW.”

Dwight ran a hand over the stubble on his head. “I’m getting used to the new look. I’ve lost my belly and started working out. I’m still seeing a neurologist because I have cognition issues. Enough about me.” He patted Nate’s shoulder. “Let’s get out of this inferno.”

Ducking his head, Nate slipped into the air-cooled Mercedes-Benz sedan. Dwight got in and sat beside him. “I can’t believe I used to work outside in this heat.”

“That’s when you were young and stupid,” Dwight said, laughing.

“I wasn’t that stupid,” Nate countered. “I made a lot of money in those days.”

Large gray eyes met his. “Do you miss those days, Nate?”

Nate’s gaze shifted to the back of the driver’s head. “Not at all. My life is very different now.”

“Talk to me, buddy.”

He told Dwight everything about his return to Cavanaugh Island.

“What’s up with you and this girl?” Dwight asked. “Are you in love with her?”

“Why would you ask me that?”

“Because I know you better than you know yourself. Your voice changes whenever you mention her name. Now, what’s up?”

Stretching out his legs, Nate glanced out the side window at the passing landscape. “I’ve told her that I like her.”

Dwight cocked his head. “You like her?”

“I like her a lot.”

“Do you love her, Nate?”

“I don’t know,” he said after a noticeable pause. “She’s different, unlike any other woman I’ve ever known.”

“Including Kim?”

Nate exhaled an audible breath. “They’re like night and day.”

Dwight smiled. “I guess you’re saying she’s a winner.”

“What makes it so crazy is that I indirectly proposed to her.” He repeated to Dwight what he’d said to Morgan.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Dwight shook his head. “I’ve never known you to be so indecisive. You can’t mention marriage without telling her you love her. I learned that the hard way when I asked Nicole to marry me. I’d showed her the ring, but she refused to take it because I hadn’t told her that I loved her. I paid more than three hundred thousand dollars for a mother of a rock, and she gave me the stink eye because I didn’t say those three little words. It was only after I called her mother and she told me why Nicole had an attitude that I swallowed my pride and told her what she needed to hear, what I knew to be true in my heart.”

“Do you love her?”

“Hell, yeah, I love Nicole. If I didn’t, I never would’ve asked her to spend the rest of her life with me in the first place. Now, when am I going to return the favor and stand in as your best man for the second and, hopefully, the last time?”

Nate massaged his forehead with his fingertips. “I don’t know. She’s giving me mixed signals. One minute she claims she’s not able to balance marriage, motherhood, and a career at this time in her life. And then the next she says that’s exactly what she wants.”

“How old is she?”

“She’ll turn thirty-three on Saturday.”

“You’re talking about the day after tomorrow? Why the hell didn’t you say something, Nate?”

“Remember I’d asked you whether you could the change the date, and—”

“I know what I said,” Dwight interrupted. “If I’d known Saturday was your girlfriend’s birthday I would’ve changed your flight reservation.”