Morning Man (33 page)

She chuckled. “See now, if I’d only known about that, maybe I wouldn’t have smashed my phone down in the first place.”

“You accidentally smashed it?”

“It might have slipped out of my hand.” She shrugged. “And somehow, it broke. I thought I’d fixed it but as it turns out, the memory got wrecked and it wiped out the entire phone book. I lost all my numbers, including yours.”

He smiled. “That’s the best you can come up with?”

“That’s the honest truth.” She held up her hand in Scout’s honor. “Think you can recite my number off the top of your head? Go on, I’d like to see you try.”

“Hmm. Okay, maybe you’ve got a point.”

“When you never called back, or I thought you hadn’t, I figured that you were off having some merry ol’ time without me,” she said. “I didn’t have your cell and your home number is unlisted so I couldn’t call. By the time I got to work in the morning, you were already on the air and when I was finished my shift, you’d already left the station. And if that wasn’t enough–”

Tack tenderly stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers as he listened. “Dear God, don’t tell me there’s actually more to this harrowing ordeal.”

“On top of it all, I forgot my stupid PIN code so I couldn’t access my voice mail. I finally remembered last night and played back your wonderful messages. After hearing all those things you said, realizing how hurt you were and knowing how much I missed you, well, there was no way I could take that job in Calgary.”

“They offered it to you?”

“Actually, I left before I found out for sure, but I have a feeling it was going to be mine. Just as well. I never much wanted it anyway.” She reached up and threaded her fingers through his hair, stealing a quiet moment to appreciate the joy of being able to touch him again.

* * * *

“So, you’re here to stay? For good?” he asked, unsure he could survive if her answer was no.

“I hate to break it to you, but you can’t get rid of me now, no matter how hard you try,” she said with a gentle laugh. “A lot happened while we were apart, even during the past fifteen, sixteen hours of trying to get back here to you. The most important was realizing exactly how much you mean to me.” She put her arms around his neck, and when he stared into her eyes, he could see clear into her soul. “I love you, Terrence.”

He smiled. “Even in spite of the fact that I’m only a good-for-nothing radio guy?”

“Even in spite of that.” She kissed him softly. “Because I now know that I’m not giving my heart to some radio guy. I’m giving my heart to someone I love deeply who will protect it and cherish it and it just so happens he works in radio.” She kissed him again, lingering longer this time. “Besides, it’s who he is when he’s off the air that made me fall in love with him in the first place.”

“God, I love you.” His heart beat fast and he wondered if it was actually possible to die from loving someone this much. Her lips were moist and warm and as he pressed further into her mouth, her body melted like butter against him. Her tongue licked at his and with an intense craving that went beyond lust, he kissed her deeply, claiming Dayna as his once and for all. “Hey,” he managed to speak when they eventually came up for air. “It must be after midnight by now.”

She eyes twinkled. “Which means it’s officially Labor Day.”

“Which means our eight weeks are up.”

“Which means we don’t have to wait anymore,” she said with a flash of that wicked smile that turned him inside out. “Make love to me, cowboy.”

Those five little words made him crazy with want as he spied the expanse of couch behind her. “Right here, right now?”

“Hmm. On second thought, I’d love to hop in the shower for a quick refresh. Would you mind if I met you in the bedroom?”

Tack shook his head. “Sugar, I’ve waited my whole life for a woman like you. What’s another ten minutes?”

She kissed him with a delectable promise of what was yet to come, then got up from the couch. “Before I forget, I brought you a little souvenir from Calgary.”

“Aw, you really should have.” He chuckled, watching her walk across the floor.

“It was the least I could do after you sent me those beautiful, long-stemmed roses.”

He searched his mind and came up empty. “Wait a sec. I didn’t send you roses.”

She smirked. “Yeah, I know.”

“Sorry,” he said with an apologetic shrug. “I’m not real good at the romantic stuff. I’ve never been much of a big gesture kind of guy.”

“It’s okay, I’m just teasing.” She came back holding a large unmarked box.

He shook it, trying to gauge the contents by its flimsy weight. “Gee, it’s not a Canadian league football, is it?”

“Just open it, smart ass.” She stood by and watched as he lifted out the straw cowboy hat with hand-shaped brim. “The sales guy said it’s the kind Toby Keith wears. Genuine country style.”

“Oh, baby.” He pulled it down tight over his head and struck a big-dog pose. “As Toby would say,
How Do You Like Me Now
?”

She nodded approvingly. “Very sexy. In fact, I wanna see you in that and nothing else tonight.”

“Tell you what. I’ll bring the hat to bed if you bring the fuck-me heels.”

“Well, if you insist, but I don’t think you’ll fit into them,” she said and smiled against his lips as they kissed.

* * * *

Dayna never wanted anything as much as she wanted to be with Tack. She knew exactly what he meant when he said he’d waited his whole life, not merely eight weeks, for this night. Although getting through the summer had proven to be an inhumane test of willpower, that unbearably long time period had provided her with the clarity to truly see and appreciate exactly what was in front of her.

After her shower, she dabbed perfume on her pulse points, then slipped into a soft, satiny camisole and pink bikini briefs. “Hope you’re ready for me, cowboy,” she said, flicking off the light. She crossed the hall and stopped at the bedroom door. He had turned down the covers and was in the process of lighting a candle next to the bed, the room awash in the seductive glow of the one already burning on the dresser. “I thought you said you weren’t any good at this romantic stuff?”

He turned and smiled, tracing her silhouette with his eyes. “Wow.”

“I debated whether to show up wearing only a towel, but I didn’t want you to feel overdressed,” she said, coming over to where he stood. “Not that we couldn’t remedy that situation right away.” She parted his open shirt, reveling in the solid wall of his chest under her hands. As the fabric slid from his shoulders, she lowered her head and pressed her mouth against his warm skin, the soft hair tickling her lips as she licked her way to his nipple. “I love the taste of you. Pure man candy.”

He cupped her face and gazed upon it with so much love that it took her breath away. Tunneling his fingers in her hair, he tilted her back to receive his kiss and she opened eagerly, welcoming him with abandon. Without letting go, he lowered himself onto the bed and brought her on top of him. He felt his way along her sides and around to her back, moving lower to hold down her hips as she pressed harder into him.

With a sudden gasp, she broke their kiss. “I hate to rush this beautiful moment, baby,” she said breathlessly, “but I really need you inside me now.” Her hands trailed down his stomach and met at the waistband of his jeans, making quick work of undoing his belt. She popped the button free and lowered the zipper before she reached inside, stroking the hard length of him. He groaned, and she stifled the noise with her open mouth, seeking out his tongue to lick and suck while her hand continued its sensual massage. Without any prompting, he worked his jeans and boxer briefs off and rolled onto her, the weight of his body parting her thighs and pinning her against the mattress. After lavishing kisses all over her neck and shoulders, he pulled back and grinned, his breath coming hot and fast. “Now look who’s overdressed.”

“Do something about that, will ya?” she panted, spreading her thighs more as her fingers dug in the smooth, bare flesh of his firm backside.

“All in good time, sugar,” he said, rocking his hips to push himself against her. “I want to make this last.”

“Oh, dear God.” Her head rolled back and she thought it might explode on the pillow. “Torture goes against the Geneva Convention, you know.”

“Lucky for us, we ain’t in Geneva,” he said, nudging her sheer cami up to her chin. “So let’s see if you can take it as good as you give it.” He cupped and squeezed the swell of one breast, rolling his thumb around the nipple until it puckered hot and tight before bathing it with his tongue. She moaned her approval, fisting his hair to hold his head in place as much as to hang on to something. By the time he’d devoted the same agonizingly sweet attention to the other side, her every nerve ending had lengthened and doubled in sensitivity. He trailblazed a row of burning kisses between her breasts to her stomach as her lips curved into a smile, knowing relief was mere seconds away.

“You know what I can’t stop thinking about? Getting another peek at that sexy little butterfly of yours.” He kissed his way down her body, sliding lower on the bed before finally peeling back the top elastic band of her pink briefs. “Where was she hiding again? Ah yes, now I remember.” Each of the softly-inked wings received gentle brushstrokes with his tongue while his hands eased down her bottoms until they were completely off. She clutched the pillow under her head, stealing a glimpse at him nuzzling between her legs before she clamped her eyes shut and saw stars.

Surrendering completely, her restless mind gave in to her body’s urgent need to yield to the pleasure, the honeyed heat of his mouth licking, laving and gradually building and winding the tension deep inside her. She writhed and when her hips rose up to meet him, he shifted, holding them down firmly in a silent reminder to let go and she did, allowing him to take her to whatever heights he intended her to reach. As the rhythm within grew stronger, more insistent, all she could think of was him and the heat and ache and want spreading everywhere, her taut legs shaking uncontrollably as her body clenched and twisted and trembled under his possession. The higher he took her, the tighter she spiraled and she never wanted him to stop, wanted him to stop–Oh God, never wanted him to stop–until a mind-blowing surge of relief overcame her. Darkness suddenly became screamingly, blindingly bright and heaviness gave way to lightness and she cursed and cried out for him, coming completely undone, rolling with every sweet shudder, releasing the tension inside like the spring-loaded valve of a pressure cooker.

When he finally stopped, she needed a moment to catch her broken breath, collect the shattered pieces of her mind, pull together the frayed ends of her nerves. There was definitely a good reason the French called it
la petite mort
, she moaned in her head as she slowly came around to resurrecting.

He stretched out next to her, smiling, as if waiting for a word, an utterance, an assurance. But in her weakened state, all she could do was mewl. “That good, huh?”

She nodded, reaching out for him in gratitude. “Oh yeah, baby,” she whispered hoarsely, still wracked by aftershocks. “I think I’m still coming. I may keep coming for days.”

He felt under the pillow for a condom, using his teeth to tear back the crinkly foil. “Then let’s not waste another second.”

She cupped her hand around his neck and pulled his mouth down to hers, devouring him with a renewed hunger as he maneuvered into position over her. Drunk with lust and dizzy with anticipation, her hands slid down his muscular back, pushing his hips downward. He taunted her with a series of excruciating movements, just a bit, just a brush, just a bump, and she thought the rush of heat and blood coursing through her pulsing veins would cause them to burst under her skin.

“Stop teasing and fuck me,” she demanded. In an instant, he took her, filling her, and they both moaned aloud, savoring the pure ecstasy of finally being together.

“Oh, God, Dayna,” he gasped, his eyes locked on hers as he slowly, deliberately began to move inside her.

Her mouth opened to speak his name, yet nothing came out but a soft, trembling sigh as she finally took a breath. She slid against his body, clinging to his shoulders as he kissed her deeply
. You’re like no one else
, she shuddered, their lovemaking transcending anything she’d ever known before.

He reached for her thigh, stroking the length of the leg wrapped around him, and gripped her waist tight with the other hand as he rolled onto his back, bringing her with him without completely pulling out.

“Smooth move,” she said, grinning from above.

“Thought you’d like that,” he said, gulping for air as she sank down onto him.

“You know what straddling you like this reminds me of?”

He nodded. “Our photo shoot. I wanted to fuck you so bad that day. And every day since.”

“Me too.” She swallowed her lust as the heat smoldered and spread deep in her core. His hands skimmed over her silky camisole until he was fondling both breasts through the slippery fabric. He tugged the lace hem upward, just high enough to bare her breasts at first, before deciding that the whole damn thing needed to go. She helped him strip it off and tossed it on the floor with the rest of their discarded clothes. If it was possible for him to get any harder, he did, and she rocked faster, her mouth opening in an “oh” as a barely audible but deeply pleasurable moan escaped her.