Murphy's Law (13 page)

“Let’s not think about the past. Both of
us have nightmares that we’ve had to live through. This is right. You are the
man for me. Right now you’re the only one I want.”

* * * *

Murphy hadn’t meant to tell her
everything. He’d wanted to scare her away, but Sara Sheldon turned out to be
stronger than he’d expected. He hadn’t told anyone what he’d done in Azbakastan
and oddly, he didn’t regret telling her. She didn’t judge him. He did enough of
that himself. She took it rather well, considering the caliber of what she’d
been told. It wasn’t every day a woman found out the man she was about to make
love to had betrayed his country and family honor.

She accepted people’s mistakes. She had
seen some of the worst society had to offer and survived, as had he. They had
that in common. She knew about living in the past. He would never go back to
that place except in his nightmares, but Sara still lived hers. She was a
prisoner as he had been. A prisoner of fear, with no end in sight. He could lay
his past to rest once and for all by telling his family what he’d done and
asking forgiveness. They would forgive, he knew, but that didn’t make it any
easier.

His arms slipped around Sara’s waist and
he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, salty from her tears. This woman’s
emotions ran deep. She loved as fiercely as she lived and he no longer saw that
as a weakness. It made Sara strong.

When he pulled away she whispered, “I
hate them, Murphy. I hate them for what they did to you and those girls.”

Murphy knew at that moment he was lost.
She didn’t pity him or judge him. She didn’t read anything else into what he’d
told her. Her convictions were strong and she was truly an amazing woman. Her
faith humbled him.

For the first time in a long time, he
felt free. He had a few things to do before he could be completely free of his
past, but he finally felt like facing them. And he owed it to the woman
scowling at him with tears shining in her bright blue eyes. A woman who had
stumbled into his life and turned it upside down.

“Me too, sweetheart,” he murmured.

She traced the scar on his face. “This
is a symbol of everything that is good, Murphy. We can never forget what goes
on around us and how lucky we are to have what we have. We can’t forget what’s
important.”

Family. Forgiveness. Life.

“We won’t,” he assured her and kissed
her again.

He lowered her to the blanket and
shrugged out of his shirt. He had never wanted a woman like he wanted her. This
was more than just sex. When he looked into her eyes, he knew it was true for
her too.

She hadn’t been with anyone in a long
time, and he doubted her husband had taken the time to cherish her as a woman
should be. He was determined to go slow and make it good for her. Sara had been
robbed of so much in her marriage, he wasn’t going to deny her this one thing.
The least he could do for the woman who brought him back to life and showed him
just how wrong he’d been to close himself off from the family who loved him.
She deserved that much from him.

* * * *

Sara was drowning in sensation. Murphy’s
mouth traveled down her neck with the patience of a saint. Everywhere his lips
and tongue touched, she broke out in goose flesh and her skin heated.

She was nervous and scared and excited
all at the same time. Her inexperience could ruin this for Murphy and turn him
away. But, as his lips closed around her nipple, she forgot all about her fears
and let out a loud gasp of surprise and pleasure. Kent had never been into
foreplay and now she knew what a mistake that had been. No wonder sex had never
been any fun.

Burying her hands in his hair, Sara
arched into his mouth and moaned when he flicked his tongue over one nipple and
then the other. She felt the pull low in her belly. Murphy’s hands were on the
waistband of her jeans. She didn’t protest when he unfastened them and pulled
the zipper down. She lifted her hips so he could remove them, and blushed when
he gazed down at her plain white cotton panties, so far from sexy.

Murphy rose onto an elbow and stared
down at her, his eyes the color of clouds before a thunderstorm and just as
turbulent. He made her feel sexy when he looked at her like that. Her fears
evaporated.

“You are so beautiful,” he murmured in a
husky voice as he reached out and traced a line from her chin to her navel with
his finger. His touch, feather light and tender, made Sara smile. She felt
beautiful with him.

Her belly quivered when his fingers
feathered over it. Heat pooled in places she had never known it could. She
would treasure the time she spent with Murphy long after she was gone. No
regrets.

He looked up and met her eyes. “Am I
scaring you?” he asked softly.

“What I’m feeling scares me, but you
don’t. I trust you, Murphy.”

Something flickered in his eyes. “I
don’t want to hurt you.”

Sara’s eyes glazed when he lowered his
head and pressed his lips to her navel, dipping his tongue inside and making
her shudder. Her limbs turned to jelly when he moved lower and pressed a hot
kiss through the barrier of her panties. His thumbs hooked on the waistband and
gave a tug. Sara lifted her hips and helped him remove them. She felt a
moment’s uncertainty when he rose above her and stared down at her. With a
wolfish grin he dipped his head and touched the very heat of her. The sensation
was so powerful that she dug her nails into Murphy’s shoulders, not sure if she
wanted him to continue or stop.

“Murphy,” she gasped.

His head immediately came up.

“I…I’ve never…I can’t…” she stammered,
embarrassed. Kent had tried to give her an orgasm but she had never been able
to have one with him and he soon quit trying, calling her a prude, and moved
on.

“Trust me, Sara,” Murphy murmured.

“But, I can’t--”

“You will for me. Lay back and relax. I
promise you’re going to like this.”

He had never been more right. Sara lay
back and he took her to the stars. His clever tongue and hands brought her to
the edge of ecstasy with little effort. Sara felt herself approaching something
but didn’t know what, felt it building until she could no longer control it.
She liked the sensation and wanted to see where it took her, but part of her
wouldn’t let go. What waited for her on the other side?

“Let go for me, Sara,” Murphy said.

She did. She put her trust in his hands
and let him take her over the edge. With a cry, she flew. Dots erupted behind
her eyelids as she spun out of control. She grabbed Murphy’s shoulders to stay
grounded. Afterward, she laid back, gasping for air, and smiling like a fool.
Murphy stretched out beside her and gently tucked a strand of damp hair behind
her ear. Sara opened her eyes and grinned at him.

“I’ve never been able to do that before.
Thank you.” She glanced down to see he still wore his jeans. “There’s only one
problem. You’re overdressed.”

Murphy grinned when she sat up and
helped him remove his jeans. He had given her a gift she couldn’t repay. She
had believed herself sexually incompetent and he had proven her wrong. All of
her past fears were gone and now she wanted Murphy inside her.

She let her gaze travel over his naked
body and heat washed over her anew. She hadn’t known it was possible to get
aroused from the sight of a man. He was long and lean and solid muscle. Her
beautiful scarred hero. When she lifted her head, she saw a flicker of
vulnerability in his eyes. She pressed a kiss to each scar on his chest and
then over his rippled abs, feeling empowered when he shuddered.

“Never forget what these scars
represent, Murphy,” she whispered against his skin.

Suddenly Murphy rolled her beneath him
and kissed her. She kissed him back with all the emotion she felt and wrapped
her arms around him. He positioned himself between her legs and she welcomed
him. He broke the kiss so he could look her in the eye when he entered her. She
expected it to hurt but she was hot and wet from his kiss, and her body
accommodated him.

He moved inside her. “Am I hurting you?”

Sara threw her head back and moaned.
“No. Please, don’t stop.”

“Not a chance,” he muttered and surged
forward.

Sara met him stroke for stroke, quickly
rising to a fevered pitch and gripping his shoulders to keep from spiraling out
of control.

Murphy slid out and then back in and she
almost came apart. She was surprised she could do it once, stunned she wanted
to do it again.

“Please, Murphy,” she begged.

Murphy took her lips in a savage kiss
that led them both over the edge. She clenched tight around him and her climax
drew his from him. He stiffened, growled and shattered with her. Together they rode
out the storm and when it was over, collapsed on the blanket.

Sara rolled on top and hugged him. He
smiled as he tried to catch his breath.

“That was amazing,” she said. “I can’t
believe you made me…wow.”

Murphy wrapped his arms around her and
kissed her hard on the lips. She grinned when he pulled away.

“Can we do that again before we go
back?” she asked. “I really enjoyed myself. You, Jon Murphy, are an excellent
lover.”

“And you are insatiable. I believe I’ve
created a monster,” Murphy murmured before kissing her again, lingering this
time.

Minutes later they were both breathing
hard.

“Well, what do you say?” Sara asked,
wrapping her hand around him. “One more for the road?”

Murphy growled and rolled her beneath
him. It was well after dark by the time they returned to the house.

Chapter
13

Sara set a stack of plates on the table
and started laying one on each place mat. Abby followed behind her and gave
everyone a glass. MaryAnn mixed a salad in the kitchen while Justine went onto
the porch to get the sun tea jugs. Alice was grilling great-smelling steaks on
the barbeque grill.

A wave of nostalgia touched Sara as the
kids came in to get Abby and take her outside to play before dinner. Sara
smiled and took the glasses from her so she could go play, and laughed when
they all tumbled out the back door. Her head had been in the clouds ever since
last night and her body still hummed from the kiss she and Murphy had shared
this morning behind the barns.

She and Abby were happy here. Even with
danger lurking in the distance, Sara was able to smile and forget her troubles
for a while. Murphy’s family included her and Abby in everything. It felt like
a real home and made Sara long for one of her own. She would miss Murphy and
his family when she left.

The thought of leaving made her sad. She
didn’t want to leave this place. Ranching wasn’t a lifestyle she had ever
considered, but she really enjoyed the reward of a hard day’s work.

She sighed, not realizing she stood
there holding a plate in midair, staring off into space until Justine walked in
and chuckled.

“Daydreaming, again?” she asked.

Sara blinked and blushed. “I guess I
was.”

“It wouldn’t have anything to do with my
brother, would it?” Justine asked with a sly grin.

Sara’s blush intensified as she set the
plate on the table. How could she tell Justine she would leave with a broken
heart when the time came?

“It does, doesn’t it?” Justine prodded.
“This is so cool. I knew I wasn’t imagining the chemistry between the two of
you. MaryAnn owes me ten bucks.”

Sara’s eyes widened. “You bet on us?”
she gasped.

Justine danced in a circle of victory.
“Yep. I bet that Jon wouldn’t be able to hold out until the danger passed and
MaryAnn bet he would because he’s so stubborn. Looks like I won.”

Could this get any worse? She’d thought
she and Murphy hid their attraction fairly well. Boy, had she been wrong.

“I never meant for this to happen,” she
said.

“Hey, I think it’s great. I think you
and Abby are the best thing that ever happened to my brother. The two of you
are good together, and MaryAnn and I would love another sister.”

Tears welled in Sara’s eyes and she
quickly turned away. She would like nothing more than to become a part of this
family, but Murphy wasn’t going to marry her. He was certain he wasn’t the man
for her even though he had stolen her heart the first night she’d met him. She
was in love with Jon Murphy and there was nothing she could do about it.

“I would like that too,” Sara admitted.
“But Abby and I can’t stay here. Stephen will eventually find us and I couldn’t
live with myself if I let anything happen to this family because of me.”

Justine came over and slipped an arm
around her shoulders. “You aren’t going anywhere,” she said. “Even if things
don’t work out with Jon, you and Abby are staying here until this is all over.
There is nowhere safer on the planet. No harm will come to you here. We’re
pretty tough here in the north. We’ll manage a cocky city boy. He doesn’t stand
a chance.”

Sara laughed and hugged her.