Turbulence (18 page)

And yet…now that she was safe and could look back over the past two days, she realized how close to the edge she had skated. Both the snake incident and the hair-raising flights could have turned out differently than they had.

Dana also knew that tomorrow could present just as many harrowing situations as today had. And if not tomorrow, then the day after, or the one after that. No matter how noble the cause, nothing in life came with a guarantee.

“We were pretty lucky ourselves,” she mentioned.

He nodded, his gaze intent in the candlelit room. “We definitely had our moments.”

The thought that had been at the back of her mind suddenly took shape. Hadn’t her parents taught her to strive for her dreams?

She took a deep breath and plunged ahead. “Did you ever think about the things you might regret never doing, for whatever the reason?”

“Once or twice,” he admitted.

“What were they?”

“Nosey, aren’t we?”

“Curious,” she corrected. “You know what they say, no one ever wished on their deathbed that they’d spent more hours at the office.”

He chuckled. “No, I suppose not.”

“So if you could do something over, what would it be?”

He fell silent. “I can’t think of anything specific.”

She didn’t believe that. “Surely there’s something, some choice that you wish you’d made differently.”

“There is one,” he said slowly.

Now they were getting somewhere. “What is it?”

“I should have asked Susan Templeton to my high
school prom. She was gorgeous. Still is. She’s a cover model now.”

Dana stared at him, incredulous. “That’s it? That’s what you regret? Not asking a girl on a date?” She might have known.

“Susan
was
a knockout, even as a teenager. And you did ask,” he reminded her.

That was true, and she couldn’t fault him for not giving the soul-searching answer that she’d hoped to hear.

“Now that I think about it,” he said, closing the distance between them, “that doesn’t come close to what I’m wishing for right now.”

Suddenly she was surrounded by heat, although he hadn’t touched her. Her breath froze in her chest as she waited for him to explain. “Really?”

He nodded, his gaze intent. “I know I would always regret it if we never made love.”

“You stole my line,” Dana said without the slightest hesitation. “If a person doesn’t go after what she wants, then she can’t complain if she doesn’t get it, can she?”

“Well now,” Micky drawled. “Was this the direction you were heading with this conversation all along?”

“Yes.”

For a long moment, he didn’t move. When he finally reached out to trace a line across her cheekbone, she thought she’d explode from anticipation.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “I don’t want you to have a bigger regret in the morning.”

She clutched his hand to her face and inhaled his scent. “I faced my own mortality several times in the last two days. I have friends who may have already spent their last moments on earth. I won’t be sorry.”

“If you’re just doing this to reassure yourself that you’re alive, then—”

Dana touched his mouth with her finger to silence him. “I know what I’m doing.
This
is what I want. To be here with you.”

A satisfied grin swept across his face. “It is?” He sounded as if he still didn’t quite believe her.

“It is,” she agreed. “We don’t always get a second chance. This is mine. Ours.”

“Once we start, I’m not stopping,” he warned her.

She flung her arms around his neck. “We only have an hour. I really don’t want to waste any of it by talking.”

Apparently he didn’t, either. He bent his head and kissed her until she couldn’t have spoken even if she’d wanted to.

This was sheer madness, the logical part of her mind warned. She hardly knew this man.

She knew enough, another part argued as he hauled her into his lap. She might not have known him long in terms of days and weeks, but they’d connected on a level where time had no meaning. And she’d learned more about Micky in thirty-six hours than she knew about some of the people she’d worked with for years.

At the moment, the only thing she needed to know was that his mere touch sent more excitement coursing through her veins than anything she’d ever done before. Nothing compared.

Absolutely nothing.

He’ll be here today and gone tomorrow,
a little voice warned.

That’s okay,
she answered as his mouth trailed a path down her neck and along her shoulder blade.
So will I.

Silencing all other thoughts, she let herself concentrate solely on the man who obviously intended to fly her to the stars and back.

She ran her hands over his torso, anxious to feel every bone, every muscle, every inch of skin. The rapid thump of
his heart was reassuring under her palm, and her own heart hammered an uneven staccato as desire took hold.

“We can’t do this here,” he murmured against her neck.

She tensed. “We can’t?”

“No.” He lifted his head, then stood before she could draw another breath.

The loss of the heat they’d generated suddenly made her cold and she stared up at him in the candlelight. She was about to protest, when he grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.

“The bedroom,” he said, “is for us.”

Micky blew out one candle and grabbed the other. His spare hand snaked around her bare waist, making Dana realize that her uniform shirt had come untucked from her trousers.

Without a word, he escorted her to the bedroom and the waiting king-size bed. Suddenly she hesitated.

“What’s wrong?” Micky asked.

He might not have lived without female companionship, but this moment was too special for her to share with the ghosts of his past liaisons. Before she could phrase her answer tactfully, he spoke.

“No one’s ever slept here but me,” he said as he placed the candlestick on the dresser. “Courtney, too, but I don’t think she counts.”

Dana smiled as she slid back into his embrace. “No, she doesn’t.”

With that final obstacle removed, buttons were undone, zippers unzipped, hooks and eyes unclasped in a flurry of fingers. Every inch of bared skin required attention of a delicious sort until Dana’s knees could no longer hold her and she became dizzy. Somehow, she found herself on soft sheets staring up at Micky.

The only word that flashed into her mind was
magnificent.
He was a picture of rock-hard muscle and tanned skin. But even if she’d found a flaw, she ranked a man’s sense of humor and intelligence higher than a handsome face and a lean physique. And Micky had all of the above.

“I’m going to leave the candle burning,” he said hoarsely as he gazed down at her.

Impatient, and as eager to see him as he was to see her, she would have agreed to every light blazing in the house if it would prevent further delays. “I don’t mind.”

He followed her down on the bed, and once again, every caress, every stroke of his hands reminded her of the gentle way he’d handled his plane. Just as he sent Maggie May soaring into the clouds, he did the same for her until she begged him to take her all the way. She wanted this to be as memorable for him as it was for her; to be a time he’d never forget; a time when he’d look back and smile.

A time for no regrets.

Vaguely she felt him shift position and heard a nearby drawer open, but she was too caught up in the sensation of his hand against her breast for her to think about what he might be doing.

A heartbeat later, his hips settled against hers and he slid home. She met his every move, his every thrust, until they’d established a rhythm that began slow and sure, then escalated to an urgency that carried her to heights she’d never experienced before.

Hanging on to the remnants of her control, she arched to meet him at the same instant he shuddered with his release. A swirl of heat and pleasure surrounded her as she slowly drifted back to earth.

M
ICKY WASN’T SURPRISED
when Dana immediately fell into a deep sleep. She’d been utterly exhausted before they’d come
to his house and she’d clearly spent her last reserves of energy. He was running low on steam himself and it took sheer determination to straighten the twisted top sheet and pull it over them.

It wasn’t cold in the room by any means. Dana’s skin still reflected an afterglow that gave him immense satisfaction. In fact, he was sure he’d find scorch marks on the mattress in the morning, but no matter how warm they had been and still were, he thought she’d prefer being covered when day broke.

Of course, he’d prefer otherwise. Watching her sleep, seeing the steady rise and fall of her breasts with each breath she took was a new experience for him. Normally he didn’t linger in his date’s bed, but he could no more tear himself away from Dana than he could purposely crash his plane.

Gazing down at her, he maneuvered their bodies so that her head rested comfortably on his shoulder. At least, he thought she was comfortable. She mumbled something, nuzzled her nose against his skin, then smiled. A second later, she edged her knee across his thigh and sighed.

Oh, yeah. She was comfortable all right.

He’d always been a morning person, and welcoming the dawn with Dana in his arms would make it extra special. Just as he’d known from his first flight that he was hooked, he knew from this encounter that he wanted to wake up with her more than once or twice.

He inhaled her scent and let his fingers enjoy the softness of her skin. It had been a dream come true to hear her say that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. Where they went from here was still a big question, but one thing was certain. Dana was fire to his kindling.

No one, not even Jillian, had come close to creating the same fire that he and Dana had created. He’d be a fool to think there was another woman out there who could do the same.

Tentatively he tried on the idea of seeing Dana on a regular basis, of eventually adding the responsibility of the wife and family he’d once dreamed of to his already full life. The image still fit tight, but not enough to send him running in the opposite direction.

His thoughts traveled beyond the next few days. He wanted to show her autumn in Texas, when the trees dropped their leaves and the air carried a hint of wood smoke from October bonfires.

He pictured her bundled in a coat, her skin kissed by the frigid air as snow fell on his parents’ ranch. He looked forward to watching her experience spring in Texas, when the grass turned green and the breeze turned warm.

But what did he have to offer her? Although his accountant was pleased that the Flynn Charter Service ledger for most months showed black figures instead of red, he was a man who worked long hours to make that happen. Would she be satisfied with a life where they were apart more than they were together?

Wait and see,
his conscience advised him.

He would, he decided. He’d rushed into his relationship with Jillian and look where it had ended. A pilot didn’t just hop in his plane and take off; he made preparations and conducted preflights to be certain that everything would work without a hitch. To ignore those rules as they pertained to his personal life spelled disaster.

Now wasn’t the time for life-changing decisions, though. It was too easy to make a wrong choice when emotions and feelings ran high, and he couldn’t imagine them running higher than right after mind-blowing sex.

It wasn’t sex, he corrected himself. They’d made love, and to call this experience by any other name would cheapen it.

For now, he’d enjoy the treasure in his arms and in his bed
and not think beyond the immediate. Later, when life in Turning Point turned back to normal, he could figure out what direction to take.

H
ER NECK ACHED
.

Dana groggily acknowledged the pain before she shifted her head to ease the cramp. Funny thing, but her pillow seemed rather hard, and as she bumped her forehead against a bony chin, she realized why.

Micky had been her pillow.

“Hey, there, sleepyhead,” he said with humor in his voice.

“You’re awake.”

“Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,” he returned cheerfully.

She moaned. “Oh, God. You’re one of those.”

“One of what?”

“Those hopelessly happy morning people.”

His chest rumbled with his chuckle. “You’re not, I take it.”

“Not until I’ve had a couple of cups of coffee. I don’t suppose the electricity is back on yet?”

“Sorry. We’ll have to go to the school gym or the command center.”

The pinkish hues of daylight streaming through his bedroom window suddenly registered on her foggy brain. Holding the sheet to her breasts, she bolted upright. “What time is it?”

“Six-thirty.”

“Damn! We were only supposed to be here a few hours. What will Mitch think?” She almost scrambled out of bed to find her clothes, but realized she’d have to give up her sheet and she felt too self-conscious to do that.

“He’ll think that you got a good night’s sleep when he sees how great you look this morning.”

Warmth stole across her face. He knew as well as she did
that if she appeared more alive this morning than ever, it wasn’t due to hours spent snoozing. Once they’d started, they simply hadn’t been able to satiate their need for each other, and so, by unspoken agreement, they’d worked on depleting Micky’s supply of condoms. Technically they’d only used three, maybe four, but each time had been as powerful as the one before.

Her body was definitely tuned in to his frequency.

“We should report for duty,” she said.

He slid the sheet down to her waist, then leaned over her to kiss her breast. “We should.”

A rush of desire ran through her and she melted inside. “We’ll be late.”

“We’re already late,” he pointed out before he gave her other breast equal attention.

She couldn’t stop her body’s response. It seemed pointless anyway, since this could easily be the last time they’d be alone.

“We are, aren’t we?” she asked, already primed to receive him as he rolled her on top of him. “Another few minutes won’t matter.”