Chapter Six
Megan was on sensory overload. Adam surrounded her, his hard chest and taut stomach pressing against her, showing her his strength.
His mouth, oh God he tasted of dark chocolate and a flavor so erotic, it made her frantic. Dimly, she remembered the no-sex promise. As she ran her hands over his back, all that warm, rugged skin, her fingers tripping over ridges of muscles and catching on old scars, she was glad he’d forgotten it. Trailing down over his belt to feel his tight butt in his jeans, she admitted the truth to herself.
She needed this. Wanted him. And just for this short while, she gave herself over to it.
His thick arousal pressed through their jeans. He slid down, his hardness leaving her hot center. His mouth trailed over her jaw, into the curve of her neck. His tongue hot and wet. Shivers danced over her skin. Then he rose, hovering a few inches over her. Cool air rushed in and she squeezed her eyes shut, her fingers digging into his waist, trying to bring him back.
She wasn’t ready for this to end. Not yet. “Adam.” She forced her eyes open, looked down at him.
The intensity of his stare, the harsh need pulled his face tight. “Let me. I need to taste you. This…” He leaned on one arm, drew his other hand over her bare shoulder, trailing over her skin with wicked heat, to the front clasp of her bra. He popped it open and drew the material apart. He cupped one breast, sliding the pad of his thumb over her nipple. Hot sensations shot through her, making her arch.
He made a sound deep in his throat and bent over her, drawing her other nipple into the wet heat of his mouth. He tugged and rolled one, sucked the other. The dual sensations rose, higher and sharper, making her moan. Her belly tightened with need. The ache between her thighs bloomed. She couldn’t take any more.
“This I can give you,” he said. “I want to give you pleasure, Meg.”
His voice was thick, rough, sexy. The tight skin over his cheekbones had darkened with color. He drew his hands down her stomach, his gaze hot on her skin.
Megan’s stomach clenched with a flare of worry. Did he see her stretch marks? They were thin, silvery, hard to see against her pale skin. But what if—
His hands caught the clasp on her jeans. Unbuttoned. Unzipped. Pulled them down her legs. In a swift motion, he slipped off her shoes and her pants. Then he was back, pressing his hips between her legs. He sucked in a breath, his chest expanding. “Damn, Meg. So pretty.” He drew one finger along the top edge of her matching green panties, following the line from one hipbone to the other, then over the material to touch her intimately through the cotton.
His jaw flexed and his throat worked as he visually drank her in.
Megan felt a wave of desire and power rush her. It burned the backs of her eyes to see this man, so hard, so strong, a man who walked into danger over and over for his country, who had suffered for his country, to see him look at her this way. The heat, the need, it shattered her ability to think of anything but Adam.
He slipped his hand deeper, cupping her through her panties, touching and stroking as she swelled and throbbed in response. He leaned over her, drawing his tongue up her stomach to capture one aching nipple as he slid a finger beneath her panties and deep inside her. She cried out, wrapping her arms around his head, holding him to her as he touched and stroked her. Then he kissed back down her belly and kept going.
She couldn’t catch her breath. Her nipples were so sensitive even the air made her shiver. Deep in her belly, tension pulled tighter and tighter. He gave her no respite.
Gently, he nipped at her hip with his teeth, then soothed the sting with his tongue. She clenched her thighs around him. He caught her legs, pressing them wider, and settled to his knees, staring at her panties. Raising his eyes to meet hers, his face flushed deeper. “That is the sweetest sight. Your panties are damp, clinging to you.”
Blood roared in her ears. This was…more. Something was happening.
He kissed her through her panties, dragged his tongue over her and pressed the damp cotton into her. Megan thumped her head back, her entire body rising. Not enough, there was never enough of him.
One of his hands caught her hip, holding her to him. Another hand swept aside her panties and then he was there, kissing her, as if he were drinking her in. She shattered, erupting with hot waves of pleasure. Everything was gone but what Adam was giving her. He stayed with her, pushing her higher, then bringing her down with soft kisses and sending her flying apart again until she finally calmed enough to realize he was settling her panties back into place. He loomed over her, caging her again as kissed her.
She slipped her hands down his back, trying to get between them to touch him. She could feel his arousal against her. He pulled her hands up and held them tucked between their chests. Before she could open her mouth to protest, he said, “Know why I left your panties on?”
She shook her head, unable to understand where he was going with this. She knew he wanted her. Oh, not forever, not for a lifetime, but for sex.
“If I’d taken them off, if I’d…” He ground his jaw for a few seconds. “Tonight is for you, Megan. I can’t give you commitment, I’m not that man.” Agony flickered in his eyes. “I can’t be that man. Ever. But I can give you pleasure. Trust me for that.”
In that moment, when his barriers were down, she saw Adam. And what she saw broke her heart.
…
“How did the big date go?” Sienna Lorey’s image stared at him from his laptop screen.
They often worked together via Skype when Adam traveled. Right now, he avoided his assistant’s nosy gaze by focusing on the electronic copy of the country club blueprints. He had walked the entire golf course, buildings, outbuildings, memorizing every detail. “Where are the blueprints of the hotel?”
“I’m getting them. The first copy wasn’t updated with their latest remodel, so I called and they’re sending over their most current blueprint. Now stop avoiding my question.”
He shifted his gaze from his iPad to his laptop screen. Sienna had her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail and wore workout clothes. She was working from home, rather than the office in L.A. today. Her glasses hid the worst of her dark circles, but he wasn’t fooled. He hated her exhaustion.
“Rough night?” Damn, he worried about her. Was doing work with all of the guys, all Trace’s friends, keeping her from healing? Keeping her stuck in grief?
“Get that look off your face, boss. I’m fine. You’re the one tangling with your past right now.”
He leaned back in the chair and ran his hand over his face, glanced at the dining room table he was currently using as a desk.
A spike of volcanic heat blasted through him at the memory of last night. The way Meg had responded to him, the way she’d looked at him. She’d made him feel like a god.
After she’d left, he’d showered and taken care of his raging hard-on. Then spent much of the night going through his parents’ shit in all those boxes.
The pictures.
All these years and he still couldn’t face them. Fucking coward, that’s what he was. He had medals proclaiming him a hero. He had given them all to his little brother. Left them on his grave. That was the only time he had gone back to San Diego, where Brady was buried.
He felt a warm gentle sensation on his right leg. Looking down, he saw Ellie. She sat next to him, her head resting on his leg. She had stayed with him as he’d tried to decide what to do with the pictures. Burn them? Put them back into storage somewhere?
“That’s it, I’m coming out there.”
Sienna’s voice jerked him from his thoughts. Fighting down the ghosts, he studied the computer. “No. I’m fine.” Taking a breath, he said, “I saw Megan last night. We had dinner. We’re catching up. Now can we work?” He’d asked Megan to come over tonight, but she’d said she was busy. She couldn’t see him Sunday, either, but promised to call him about next week. He was trying to be patient.
“Did she mention her mom running for mayor?”
He blinked. “Catherine Young?” He’d met her a few times when he and Meg had dated. Looking back, he wondered why Megan had let him get away with avoiding family events for the most part.
“Now Catherine Sullivan.”
Adam sat forward, startling Ellie. He put his hand on the dog’s neck, rubbing that spot she liked beneath her chin. “That’s why I didn’t recognize her name when I checked the club’s schedule. She’s having a fund-raiser gala at the club tonight.”
“Yep. I’ve already bought your ticket. For business, of course. You need to check out how the staff works, find the flaws in security. After all, there will be a mixer in the clubhouse after the gold tournament.”
Adam sighed. “Why do you jerk me around like this?”
“Be nice or I won’t have a tux sent over from the local monkey suit store.”
“Yeah,” he said dryly, “because that would break my heart.”
“Sarcasm duly noted. I also reserved one of the guest cottages at the country club for you. You’ll want to check that out as well.”
Adam knew what Sienna was doing. He’d told her about Megan, that she was the woman he couldn’t forget. What he hadn’t told Sienna was that he could never be the man she wanted. There were things locked inside Adam, trapped there, that he couldn’t talk about. He actually could not say the words. His throat would close up, strangling him with guilt if he tried. He was that screwed up. The only time it came out was his nightmares.
But Sienna didn’t know that, no one did. And looking around the house, he realized that when he made love to Megan, he didn’t want it to be here, where ghosts and guilt haunted him.
…
Megan slipped through the country club’s French doors leading to the patio to call Bridget, her best friend and babysitter when her mother wasn’t available. She sucked in a breath of cool air, tinged with damp chlorine from the well-lit water feature. People milled around by the heaters, holding drinks and chatting.
Quickly, she made her way across the flagstones to the intricately designed wrought-iron fence. She slipped her phone out and made the call. A few minutes later, she’d spoken to Cole, telling him she loved him. Bridget was in the middle of reading his favorite books to him. They were fine. She was spending the night, so Megan didn’t have to worry about what time she got home.
Megan put her phone away. For a moment she stood there, her hands on the waist-high fence, a light breeze fluttering the slit skirt of her long gown around her legs. The moon shone down over the lush green grass of the golf course. She thought of Adam. The way he kissed her, touched her…his tenderness had punched through her old anger. For the first time, she understood he gave her what he had to give, with a sweet intensity that had rocked her right to her very soul.
She sucked in a deep breath. He was truly haunted, and this town…her…they hurt him in a way she couldn’t grasp. He had come back from war with a new edge, tougher and more brittle. What was the right thing for her to do? Let him go without telling him? Give him the freedom he needed from his past? She knew he hated Raven’s Cove, had always wanted to escape it. Now he was selling the house, his last tie. If he never knew about Cole, he would finally be free of the town. But that wronged both Adam and Cole, and she knew it. But if she told him, then what?
She knew he wouldn’t stay in Raven’s Cove. Cole would be shuffled between them with long car rides or trips on a plane. Growing up in two different homes.
Her throat tightened. She loved her baby so much, she wanted to protect him from any possible pain. But that wasn’t realistic, was it?
“Dr. Young.”
She startled at the voice behind her, and her stomach clenched. Nathan McCray. He wore a tux and too much arrogance to suit her. He was part owner of the country club, and the golf course, which was named after him. “Mr. McCray, it’s very nice of you to come tonight.”
“I like your mother’s ideas for the town. I’m supporting her campaign.”
Megan didn’t know where this was going. Did he think he could use his support as more blackmail? “Thank you. I know my mother appreciates it.”
He looked around, then back at her. “Look, Dr. Young, I was angry last week in your office. I said things I shouldn’t have, and I’m sorry.”
“For the bribe or the threats?” The words were out of her mouth before she thought about them.
“That wasn’t a bribe.” He frowned at her as if she was a child. “That was a fee for your expert testimony. You misunderstood.”
“Okay.” She didn’t trust the man, but she didn’t need him for an enemy, either.
“I still disagree with your assessment of Celtic Fire, but I was wrong to lose my temper that way. I hope you’ll accept my apology.”
“Of course.” She didn’t know if he was sincere or if this was a new tactic. “As long as you understand that I won’t lie under oath.”
He sucked in his lips for a second. “That’s good, because lying under oath is perjury. Enjoy your evening.” He turned and walked away.
Megan stared after him. What had that been? First he came in to her office and tried to bribe her, then he apologized? Which was the real Nathan McCray?
A burst of laughter from inside the ballroom reminded her where she was—the fund-raising gala. This was her mother’s night. She strolled into the sparkling grand ballroom. One side of the room had round tables set for dinner, and beyond that, the stage with her mother’s campaign photo and slogan on the wall.
To her left were the band and the dance floor. The far side of the room held the bar where people surrounded her mother. Megan smiled, glad to see things were going so well. She was headed toward her mother when she spotted her mentor, Lawrence Hamilton.
“Lawrence!” She held out her hands, truly pleased he was here. She’d worked for Dr. Hamilton at the Raven’s Cove Animal Hospital until she’d decided to open her own practice.
Grasping her hands, Lawrence smiled, showing his perfect white teeth. “Megan, you look lovely.” He leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Did you save me a dance?”
“Naturally.” She let him lead her onto the dance floor. Placing her hand on his shoulder, they moved to the music. “It means a lot to me that you came tonight.”
“Wouldn’t miss it.” He settled his hazel gaze on her. “You really do look stunning. Very chic with your hair up off your face and spilling down your back.”
“Better than my usual ponytail, huh?”
Lawrence looked like he was born to the country club life. Tanned, fit, light brown hair, and sexy eyes. He was past forty, but he looked younger. He loved golf and tennis. Megan liked tennis, but golf bored her.
“You work too hard. You always did, but at least when you worked for me, I could keep an eye on you and make sure you went home at a decent time.”
“These days, I have a reason to go home,” she said, thinking of her boy.
“How is Cole?”
“Busy.” She laughed. “Just like a rambunctious puppy. I don’t know how the canine moms do it with a whole litter.”
“Me neither,” Lawrence said, guiding Megan out of the way of an oblivious couple. “I burned off a lot of energy playing with my brothers and sister growing up.”
“There is that,” she said.
He looked down at her. “Are you seeing anyone?”
“Dating? No time for that.” She laughed, keeping the conversation light. For sure she didn’t want to talk about Adam. “You’ve played golf with Nathan McCray, right?”
He paused for a second, and then said, “Sure. Why? You’re not interested in him, are you?”
She shook her head at the absurd question. “I’d like your opinion on something, though.” She quickly outlined the incident with Nathan in her office and the subsequent apology.
Lawrence rolled his eyes. “Nathan can be a hothead. Back when he was on the pro golfing circuit, his temper was legendary.”
“Should I be worried?”
He sighed. “I did try to warn you that going out on your own would be tricky. This kind of thing, it could damage a young practice like yours,” he said, thoughtful. “I’ll talk to Nathan.”
“Oh, no. I don’t expect you to do that. I just wanted your opinion.”
“Independent as ever, aren’t you, Megan? But this really isn’t a big deal. I treated Celtic Fire for a few years. Talking to Nathan won’t be a problem.”
Real affection spread through her. In some ways, he was like a father figure to her. “Thank you. For talking to Nathan, of course. But also for handling Debbie’s decision to bring Celtic Fire to me with such grace.”
“Hey, I trained you, remember? It just means I’m that good.”
Smirking at him, she said, “And that modest.”
The music ended. Putting his hand on her back, he led her off the dance floor. “Didn’t I just finish dancing with the most beautiful woman in the room?”
Amused, she opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by a new voice.
“Megan.”
She whipped her head to the left and got an eyeful of Adam. In a tux. One that barely contained his broad shoulders. He wore it with casual ease, but his golden brown eyes glinted dangerously at her. “Adam, what are you doing here?” She couldn’t get her head around it.
“Who is this, Megan?” Lawrence asked, his tone sharp.
Real panic bubbled beneath her rib cage. She didn’t want Lawrence to mention her son. She quickly introduced the two men, but her thoughts were spinning. What if someone mentioned Cole? Her guts tightened. This could be a disaster. First she had to get rid of Lawrence. “Thanks again for the dance.”
He glanced at Adam, then kissed her cheek and said, “We’ll talk later.” He strode off.
“Who is that guy?”
Adam’s scent tantalized her senses. “Lawrence is my mentor. I worked for him at his animal hospital when I was first starting out.”
He glanced over to where Lawrence stood at the bar with Nathan and a few others. “He wants to be more than your mentor.”
“You’re jealous?”
“Apparently,” he said with a soft chuckle. “And I don’t like it.” His gaze softened as he looked at her. He reached out and ran his fingers over her bare shoulder and down her arm. “You look stunning, Meg.” He caught her hand in his. “I don’t know if I should dance with you or pick you up and take you to the first room I can find with a door that locks.”
His voice was pitched low, and his fingers left a trail of heat that tingled through her. “Adam, I—what are you doing here?”
“Security detail. I have the schedule for the country club and saw the fund-raiser for tonight. I knew you’d be here.”
She tried to ignore the thrill coursing through her at the idea that he had searched her out. “We agreed not to see each other like this.”
He tugged her closer. “I thought I could control myself, but last night…it wasn’t enough. I can still taste you, Meg. And technically, I’m here on business.”
Heat bloomed from her chest. Her entire body clenched at the memory. She was losing control over everything around her too fast. Disaster loomed like threatening black clouds moving in from the ocean. And yet her breasts swelled and her panties dampened.
“Adam? Is that you?” Her mom slipped up to them. “It is you.”
He released Megan’s hand and his face slid into a relaxed grin. “Hello, Catherine.” He kissed her cheek. “You look lovely.”
“Megan didn’t tell me you were in town.”
Both of them turned to look at her. It felt like a hundred spotlights fell on her. She knew she was flushed. “I…it hasn’t come up.”
Catherine touched his arm. “It’s good to see you looking whole and safe. We’ll catch up after the dinner.” She caught Megan’s eye. “Time for us to go onstage.” Then she walked away.
Megan stood frozen to the spot. By the bar, she saw Nathan watching her. Darting her gaze to Adam, she blurted out, “I have to go.” Her stomach twisted with worry. She had to convince Catherine to keep Cole a secret—at least until she herself was ready to tell Adam that they had a son.