Winds of Heaven (11 page)

Their lips clung, parted, then met again. Passion skimmed her veins, robbing her of the last vestige of contentment and leaving her unbearably warm. Now her mouth opened eagerly to accept the imperative demands of his tongue. She had imagined this experience so many times, imagined the powerful seduction of his possessive embrace. But she had never imagined anything that came close to the yearnings that burned inside her. Desire stirred in the pit of her stomach, and her body arched against him in ardent communication.

Smoothly, without breaking the contact of the kiss, Nick sat up, pulling her with him. Then, one agonizingly slow button at a time, he finished unbuttoning her blouse and eased it from her. His lips traced a gentle path over her cheek to the sensitive spot below her ear. Kylie let her head fall against her shoulder to give him access to the curves and hollows of her neck.

Nick discovered each one with tantalizing deliberation as he loosened the fastener of her bra and freed her breasts. She felt wonderfully free and desirable as he leaned back to view her unconcealed beauty. Until that moment Kylie had never found beauty in her body, but now the look in his eyes told her it was there.

With hands that shook she reached toward him, obsessed with the need to see and touch him. He helped her pull the knit shirt up and over his head. Kylie tossed it aside and stared at the dark hair on his chest that invited her exploration. Her fingertips slid lightly through the crisp texture as Nick bent to take the tip of her breast into his mouth. Shivers coursed beneath the surface of her skin as he alternately teased and sucked her nipple. There seemed to be a soft melodic rhythm in the air, and gradually she realized it was the blending of their heartbeats. A melody so hypnotic that she lost all sense of time and movement in its song.

Kylie was dreamily aware that there was too much empty space around her, too much air cooling her. She cupped Nick’s face in her hands, letting her thumbs stroke the corners of his mouth as he kissed her flesh. Her eyes closed in sensual delight as he slowly pulled away from her breast and began to nip at the fleshy pad of her thumb. With a gentle nudge she persuaded him to lift his head and give her room to nestle into his warmth.

Enclosed in the cloak of his embrace, she tried to savor the myriad sensations racing through her. But his every movement brought some new awareness of him, turning the heat of desire to sublimated fire.

Against her breasts Kylie felt the sigh that rose in his chest with erotic roughness. Like rubbing against the nap of velvet. Rich and stimulating and infinitely pleasurable.

Nick rediscovered the taste of her lips as his hand glided beneath the back waistline of her jeans. The snug denim refused to give and trapped his palm against her hips. Kylie released the snap and zipper and moaned softly as he pressed her backward into the carpet. His fingers splayed across the heated skin of her stomach, slipped inside her bikini panties, and found the secrets of her femininity.

On some vague plane of awareness Kylie felt him strip away her jeans, knew she assisted in their removal. She knew also that she watched him shrug free of his clothes and caressed his body with her gaze. But the momentary separation seemed a superfluous interruption of their intimacy. She wanted Nick beside her, around her, and in her, and anticipation fueled the flames of her yearning.

He knelt beside her and lightly, tenderly stroked her. He investigated the supple length of her legs, beginning with fingertip circles of her ankles and moving steadily along her calves. Lingering over the slim curve of her thigh, he paused to trace, then kiss, the tiny birthmark there.

As he straightened to continue his exploration, Kylie thought she would melt in the silvery admiration of his eyes. Without haste he sculpted the contours of her stomach and hips and spanned her waist with gentle fingers.

Her breath caught as he took the weight of her breasts, cupping and molding his hands to conform to her curves. Still he wasn’t satisfied and renewed the stroking caresses across her shoulders and throat until at last he framed her face in his hands. Slowly he bent to take her mouth in a fleeting promise.

It seemed an eternity before his body blanketed her, before his lips branded her soul. And then eternity became meaningless as she was consumed by the union of their flesh.

All the torrid colors of a summer sunset blurred in her mind, and she whirled through their fiery center. She felt the searing heat of their brilliance, reveled in the radiance surrounding her, and held fast to Nick, the essence of the night.

They reached a wild explosion of sensation and then ebbed into languorous emotion. Cradled at Nick’s side, Kylie drifted into the soothing aftermath. The sound of his breathing lulled her, but reality intruded with the muffled chime of the grandfather clock. Eleven o’clock. Time for good-nights and separate bedrooms.

Nick tightened his arm around her and breathed a contented sigh. Kylie echoed the breathy vibration, knowing their nightly routine was altered irrevocably, just as everything between them was altered. For better or worse there could be no going back.

She wouldn’t even if she could. How could she possibly feel any regret for what had just happened? Perhaps foolishly she had allowed her impulsive heart to rule her head. Perhaps she should have given more consideration to the arguments her logic had offered- She could think of a thousand perhapses, but not one of them would dull the quiet feeling of discovery inside.

The storm of passion had swept aside her illusions and given her a glimpse of deep emotion. She was special to Nick, just as he was special to her in some intangible, inexplicable way. Tonight she had taken a risk, made a conscious decision, and there could be no regrets.

His breath fanned her cheek, and Kylie closed her eyes in exquisite wonder. Lovers. She’d never known it could be so good. As she lifted her lips to invite his kiss she wondered if there had ever really been a decision to make.

Chapter Six

It was the smile. Definitely the smile. Kylie leaned closer to her reflection in the mirrored tiles beside the tub. Above a cloud of iridescent bubbles the woman who looked back at her smiled. Serenely. Sensuously. Smugly.

Yes, Kylie decided. It was definitely the smile that betrayed her. She might have been able to ignore the mysterious sparkle in her eyes. And surely the softly persistent hint of blush in her cheeks wouldn’t be noticed by anyone else. But it was hard to explain away that smile.

Not that anyone had asked. Not once during the entire day had anyone asked. She had received compliments on her dress, her hairstyle, even on the shade of lipstick she wore. Each
thank you
she’d murmured in response had been chaperoned by a stern command to the silent laughter inside her. She had wanted to laugh aloud with the knowledge that her dress wasn’t new, her hairstyle was the same as the day before, and her lipstick was no more than a tinted gloss.

She was different because of Nick, because of the night spent in his arms. And the difference showed in the satisfied curve of her mouth.

She had drifted through the day like Cinderella at the ball—composed on the surface, tremulously excited beneath. No one could have faulted her morning lecture on self-discipline. No one could have known the self-discipline it required to keep her smile under control whenever she looked toward the corner of the room. And she’d looked often for the reassurance of his presence, for the gentle encouragement in his eyes. She had glanced at Nick, glanced away, and returned to share a secret look, sweetened with a lover’s promise.

Kylie lifted a wet fingertip to the mirror and tried to erase the smile, but it left her lips only to dance audaciously in her eyes. Wrinkling her nose at the image, she turned and sank up to her chin in the bath. It was warm and deliciously cozy, and even though she knew she shouldn’t, Kylie couldn’t resist lingering a moment longer. She was tempted to call to Nick and invite him to join her, but he was probably already dressed and waiting for her.

The thought of persuading him to skip Glynnis Claybrook’s party in favor of an intimate evening for two was enticing. But she had promised Stephanie. Well, she hadn’t actually promised because Stephanie hadn’t actually voiced a plea for support.

“Are you going to be at the party tonight?” Stephanie had asked. But Kylie had recognized the entreaty in the blue eyes and she hadn’t imagined the relief that edged Stephanie’s smile at Kylie’s affirmative answer.

Still, if Nick had shown even the slightest inclination to skip the party, Kylie knew she would happily have forgotten about Stephanie, Alex, Glynnis Claybrook, and the world at large. But Nick had seemed content with the plans for the evening. After work he’d taken her to a restaurant for dinner. When they returned to the house, he’d kissed her and whispered that she had just under an hour to get ready for the party.

And she had spent almost that amount of time lazing in the tub.

She moved one leg, sliding it across the bathtub’s porcelain bottom before raising her foot up out of the water. With toes pointed toward the ceiling Kylie watched the soap bubbles glide over her calf to splash into the bath.

Get out of the tub,
she told herself sternly.
The water is getting cold, and it’s getting late. Get out and get ready before Nick comes looking for you.

At the thought her smile returned in full measure. That was exactly what she was hoping for, of course. If Nick should find her like this, he wouldn’t remember the plans he’d made for the evening. She’d make sure of it.

With a determined sigh she sat upright, flipped the lever to open the drain, and forced herself to stand and step out onto the mat. As she rubbed her body briskly with the bath towel, Kylie decided she must stop acting as if the next few hours were all she had to spend alone with Nick. There would be hours after the party, all day tomorrow, the entire weekend, in fact. She still had another week and a half in Santa Fe and after that—

Her thoughts ran smack into a brick wall at that point, and Kylie flung the towel over the railing to dry and walked into her bedroom. All day she had successfully avoided facing the questions that followed words like
after that.
She didn’t want to consider the future. Not now, anyway.

She wouldn’t spoil this time of getting acquainted, this time of relaxing and enjoying every aspect of her new relationship with Nick. A discussion of the future would just complicate things right now: It would make demands that neither of them was ready to face. It was better to let these things develop naturally at their own pace.

There, Kylie thought as she pulled on her panty hose and a camisole top. That made perfect sense. You couldn’t rush emotions. It was better to take one day at a time and not make pointless speculations about the future. Perfectly logical reasoning, she congratulated herself. Positive thinking would achieve positive results.

But as the soft fabric of her dress slipped over her head and nestled around her in a smooth fit, her optimistic attitude faded. It was all perfect nonsense, she admitted. She wanted desperately to ask Nick how he felt about the future in general and a future with her in particular. But it was too soon for that, too soon to consider any kind of permanent arrangement.

So why did her thoughts keep coming back to words like
commitment and permanent?
Kylie whirled slowly to view her full-length reflection in the mirror. From the stocking-clad feet to the upswept cluster of curls crowning her head, she looked poised and composed. The dress was a misty blue complement to her femininity. Kylie smiled. Serenely, sensuously, smugly. Her thoughts kept coming back to words like
commitment
and
permanent
because she believed in happy endings.

Even if it was too soon to think about any kind of ending at all.

A quiet tap on the door brought her pivoting gracefully, eagerly in that direction. Nick pushed open the door and stepped inside, his expression exactly matching the happy feelings bubbling inside her. He was dressed in dark pants; he was without a jacket, and the ends of his tie hung loosely from his white shirt collar.

Her fingers ached with the longing to dishevel his dusky hair and touch the roguish slant of his lips. “Hi,” she said, her breath tumbling past the word to make it a whispery sigh.

“Hi,” he answered in the same bemused manner, as if they hadn’t parted company only minutes before.

“I guess I’m going to make us late,” she offered questioningly.

“I’d say that’s a pretty safe bet.” He swept a long appreciative glance over her. “I came to see if you needed any help.”

“Getting dressed, you mean?” Kylie taunted. “Somehow, I don’t think you’d be much help in that department.”

“I’ll admit it goes against my natural instincts, but I’ve always been intrigued by the scenes in old movies where the heroine needs some assistance with a hook and eye or a zipper or something. I’ve always thought it would be nice to have a woman fasten my cuff links or straighten my tie.” Nick lifted one wrist and pointed to the button fastening of his cuff with disdain. “But times have changed, and I don’t wear cuff links.”

Kylie shook her head in sympathy. “And I’m hopeless when it comes to men’s ties.”

“Maybe I could finish zipping your dress,” he suggested hopefully.

“Unfortunately this dress doesn’t have a zipper.” She made a slow turn to demonstrate.

“So I see,” he said with a frown. “Progress! Who needs it? No cuff links. No zippers. It’s getting damned hard to find an excuse for being late these days.”

Kylie stood, silently waiting, her senses absorbed in savoring his presence.

“Such a shame, too.” Nick crossed the room and stopped in front of her. He lifted a finger to stroke her cheek. “Especially since I’ve already phoned to say we’ll be late.”

“Mmmm. That is a shame.” She slid her palms over his silken shirt front and idly unbuttoned the top button. “I suppose I could change into a dress with a zipper.”

“That seems like a terrible waste of time and energy. I can think of much better things to do.”