Chapter Seven
He needed her. It was a throbbing burning in his chest that matched his aching arousal. But it was more than that. It was a sensation that she was hiding something from him. Once she had been an open book. Now? A mystery. What had put that panicked look in her eyes when she’d seen him?
Megan Young was driving him out of his mind. He wanted her in his bed, but he found he needed her trust even more. He needed…all of her, which was ironic as hell since he held back parts of himself from her.
For two hours, he’d watched her in that dress. The color reminded him of that last blush of coral when the sun sank into the ocean. And the fit? Like a man’s hands sliding along her curves.
Damn it.
On stage, Megan introduced her mom. Catherine gave her speech while dinner and dessert was served. Adam could not recall a word of the speech or a bite of his food. He watched as Meg moved through the throng, stopping to chat with smiles or one of her husky laughs. She belonged here. In this town. The one his parents chose just to make sure that he never forgot his brother.
It was her home.
And his hell.
He narrowed his gaze when he saw Lawrence approach the group Megan was chatting with. Mentor, his ass. That man wanted Megan.
Not happening, not while he was here. A voice in his head tried to remind him that he had no claim on Megan. But the rest of him, the primal man, rode right over that voice and drove him to act. He put down his ice water and strode up behind Megan. He paused as she spoke to a woman.
“I have a deposition Monday at lunch when I usually come by, so I’ll stop over tomorrow and take a look.”
The middle-aged woman reached and out took Megan’s hand. “Oh, thank you, Dr. Young. The poor dog was just left on the doorstep with no sign of her puppies. Emily found her this morning.”
“No problem. We’ll take care of her.”
Lawrence said, “Why don’t we give Dr. Young a break from work.” He turned a smile on her. “Megan, how about another dance?”
“I’ve already asked her for this dance,” Adam said keeping his gaze on Lawrence. He put his hand on her shoulder.
She straightened so suddenly her back hit his chest. “Adam.”
The feel of her against him, the skin of her bare shoulder beneath his palm made him burn with a possessive fire. He wrapped his other arm around her waist. Lowering his head, he rubbed his cheek against the tumble of red curls flowing down her back. “Come dance with me,” he said into her ear. “I’ve missed you.”
He felt the shiver ripple down her spine.
She tilted her head up. Confusion. Surprise. Wariness. And desire. They were all there in her gaze. “And if I say no?”
He ran his thumb below her ribs. “You won’t.” He couldn’t bear it if she did. If she rejected him, he’d walk away, but it would cost him something too painful to even consider. He had to play this out with Megan. He’d have to walk away at some point. He knew it and hated it.
They hovered there, the seconds ticking off louder than the band’s music. Adam felt the stares of the others. He didn’t care. Only Meg mattered. This woman currently filling his arms, her sweet weight against his chest, the rich curve of her ass in his groin, the scent of her hair saturating him.
Lawrence stepped closer to her. “I thought you said you weren’t dating? That you had no time with your s—”
“Sorry!” Megan cut him off. “I promised Adam this dance. He’s an old college friend,” she added while twisting from his hold, then tugging Adam toward the dance floor.
Adam blinked at the sudden change of heart, but quickly caught up to Meg’s determined stride. They arrived on the dance floor as the current song ended. Couples around them clapped.
The strains of a new song began. Wicked Games.
Smug at getting her away from that other veterinarian, he reached for her, but Megan spun and, putting her back to him, she raised her arms over her head and swayed to the darkly sexual music. He stared at the vibrant curls of her hair sliding over her long back, hitting the top of her waist.
His throat went tight, his chest hot, and he thickened instantly with arousal as he watched her sway, watched the curve of her backside cupped in that dress. Before he realized what he was doing, he reached out, wrapped his hands around her hips, and tugged her close against him.
She laughed as she bent her knees to shimmy down, then back up, her back sliding over the front of him as her long arms reached up in graceful swirls. Her fingers grazed his face, sweeping through his hair in butterfly touches. There and gone.
Holy Christ, he wanted more. Some part of him realized she was blatantly seducing him. A complete turnaround from her attempts to keep their relationship a secret, but there wasn’t enough blood left in his brain to worry about that now.
Tightening his fingers around her hips, he found her rhythm and danced with her, let the music sink into them both, and felt something akin to true happiness in the moment.
Leaning his mouth to her ear, he said, “You know what you’re doing to me, don’t you?”
He saw her lips curve. “What you did to me last night?”
“Oh hell, yeah.” He drew in a breath. “I’m going to do that again. This time, though…no panties.” His brain was on fire with the image.
Megan turned in his arms to face him. Her cheeks were flushed, and she was so damned beautiful.
“How do you do that?”
He slipped one hand over her shoulder. “Make you burn for me like I burn for you?”
“Yes.” She breathed the word out. “It’s almost hurts the way I need you.”
He leaned closer. “I can make it stop hurting. Give you pleasure.” Adam was aware of the people around them. It was pure survival for him to always be aware. He wanted to get her somewhere private where all his attention could be on her. Just Meg. “Come to my room with me.”
“You have a room? Here?”
“I do.” The band was beginning a new song. He trailed his hand down her arm and caught her hand, tugged her off the floor and out the French doors onto the patio. At the waist-high fence, he kissed her.
…
Megan lost her breath as his mouth descended on hers. Her thoughts scattered. He caught her hair in his hand, tugging just enough.
She opened her mouth.
He invaded her, filled her. This was crazy! People were around, and yet all she could think about was Adam. He pressed his body against hers, his arousal hard against the softness of her belly.
Ripping his mouth from hers, he looked into her face. Heat poured off him. “I never lose control. You do this to me. Come with me. Now.” He fought past the raging need to bury himself deep inside her. “You can say no to sex, just let me hold you. Have you all to myself for a little while.”
She couldn’t get her wits about her. She should ask where, tell someone, but then she looked into his eyes and saw a mix of searing lust and unending need and there was no part of her that could deny him.
So all she said was, “Yes.”
Adam slid his hands to her waist and lifted her effortlessly. “Swing your legs over the fence.”
She did, feeling a new thrill go through her.
Releasing her, Adam hopped the fence, grabbed her hand, and ran over the lush grass.
“Wait!” Laughing, she held onto his arm and took off her heels. They resumed running, the lights of the clubhouse retreating. Night fell around them like a velvet caress. The grass was damp and cool beneath her feet, while Adam’s hand was warm around hers. They passed a pond, heard the gentle movement of the water, and headed to the guest cabins tucked in a tree line. Her heart beat harder, and she grew slightly winded. But for the first time in years, Meg felt young, sexy, and free to be just a little bit wild.
As they neared the edge of the grass, Adam stopped and swept her into his arms. “I don’t want you stepping on rocks or debris, or stubbing your toe in a crack.” He strode over the flagstones, following the curving path to a cabin bracketed by two cypress trees. He fished out a key while still holding her, unlocked it and walked in.
She barely saw the wood-beamed ceiling, pecan-colored walls, or planked floor covered in rugs. With her still in his arms, he paused between a small kitchenette on the left and living area on the right. “Want to stay out here? Or go in the bedroom?”
“Bedroom. ”She breathed it out, her need for him flooding her with an unbearably sweet pain.
His eyes flared with heat, and he carried her into a bedroom at the back. A lamp shed a soft light onto a huge four-poster bed covered in a patchwork quilt. He lowered her legs and slid her down his body. He sank his hands into her hair, finding the pins and releasing them. He massaged her scalp where the pins had clipped her hair up at her temples, but left it free to fall down her back.
The sensation of his long fingers sliding over those tender areas made her moan.
“Damn,” he muttered. Framing her face with his hands, he kissed her. Hard. Deep. Relentless.
Until she was kissing him back. Tasting him, feeling the wet heat of his tongue against hers. She sucked in his lower lip, grazing it with her teeth. More. She wanted more. Her dress was too tight, her breasts too heavy.
He pressed one thigh between her legs, sliding against her cleft and rocking with just the right friction.
She ran her hands over his arms, down his waist, and held onto his firm backside. Trying to get more. She whimpered against his mouth.
Tugging her head back, he looked into her eyes. “Do you ache for me, sweet Meg?” Pushing his erection against her belly, he said, “Like I ache for you?”
His eyes were dilated, his face flushed. “Yes. I can’t wait any longer.”
“I’m all yours.” He let go of her and yanked off his jacket, pulled off his tie. He undid his shirt and ripped it out of his pants.
As he stripped, her body grew tighter. Never had she needed him like she did now. When he undid the belt and opened his pants, she saw the line of hair that trailed down his taut stomach, her mouth dried, and she curled her fingers into her palms.
His gaze stayed locked on her as he guided his pants and boxers down. The long, thick column of his arousal sprang free.
She reached out and traced the length of him. One hand wasn’t enough. She used both to cup him, sliding along the delicious length.
Adam kicked his pants away and caught her hips. “Turn,” he said, his voice a harsh command.
She released him and lifted her hair. Adam’s fingers found the zipper and pulled it down slow and steady. The gown fell away, exposing her skin to the cool air and the scorching heat of his gaze.
“Thong and nothing else. That’s damned hot.” He turned her around, pressed her back to the bed, caught the thong at her hips and tugged it off. He got a condom from a drawer of the side table.
“I’m taking the birth control shots. I’m safe from pregnancy.”
He rolled on the condom and climbed on the bed beside her. “I’m always careful.” He leaned down and kissed her, starting with her mouth and working his way down her body.
The thought that he was careless once came and went before she could hold onto it. Nothing mattered but the feel of him. He drew her nipple into his mouth, his hand wandering between her thighs, and she was lost.
She trailed her hand down his belly, following that thin line of hair over his rippled muscles to his penis. Closing her fingers around him, she brushed her thumb over the sensitive tip. He groaned, pushing into her hand. Then he reached down, moved her hand away, and covered her body. Settling between her thighs, he positioned himself, then slid into her.
She caught her breath as he filled her body, and in the process exposed the part of her that had been empty all these years. The intensity of her feelings, of the physical sensations, swept her into a place only he could take her. She writhed beneath him, trying to capture more.
“Yes. Show me what you want.” He caught her face, kissing her as he began to thrust harder and deeper, until she was panting, clawing at his back. Her entire being focused on him pulling out of her, then pushing back in through all her sensitive folds.
She couldn’t get enough. “I can’t…” She arched, never having gone this high.
Adam pushed up on one arm. He moved his other arm beneath her thigh and eased her leg up a bit, then he increased the strength of his thrusts, creating a hot streak of wicked sensations building to unbearable tension.
“Look at me,” he said.
She opened her eyes and saw true masculine beauty. His face was pulled tight, stark, his eyes blazing.
“Now, Meg. Come now.” He shoved into her, filling her with everything he had.
She came apart as spirals of pleasure detonated and he kept it going, angling his thrusts, giving her bliss that bordered on sweet agony. And just as she began to come down, he let himself go.
Burying her face in his hair, she felt the spasms of his orgasm take over. She held him tight, milking his pleasure just as he’d done for her.
Hours later, she woke up covered in nothing but warm male. Adam was at her back, his arms around her, one thigh thrown over her hips. It was dark and quiet except for his soft breathing. In front of her, the glowing dials of the bedside clock read two a.m.
Adam had been both fierce and tender, making love to her over and over.
Always with a condom.
She remembered his words about using a condom even though she was on birth control. Always careful.
Except that one time after his parents’ funeral.
That was on both of them.
But making love with Adam and not telling him about Cole?
That was on her.