That does seem like the sensible solution to our problem.
Your problem, he said in a flat tone.
And yet
There is not going to be a yetdamn you.
She blushed. Her eyes remained downcast. What if I cant be as sensible or as rational as you? What if I
Not if you crawled
She went white at that code word.
You broke up with me, remember? he said in a softer tone.
And youll never be able to forgive Her husky voice had dropped, tooto something that sounded close to shame or regret.
Thats right.
Leave her alone. Cool off. Talk football outside with Sam.
But she looked so small and vulnerable. Suddenly he couldnt stop staring at her lips and wondering how long since anybody had kissed their wet, pink fullness. Wondering who else knew how they tasted. These thoughts got him so riled, North pushed his way inside, grabbed her, backed her against the red flowers on the foyer wallpaper and pressed his body firmly against hers.
She swallowed. Her eyes shone nervously; her cheeks blazed a brighter hue, but for once, she didnt try to run.
Suddenly his breathing was fast and irregular. Why? Why do you always goad me? Why do you always have to push?
II dont know. I-its just the way I am with you. I dont like it that I do it, either. North
Shut up, he said silkily.
Then he touched her cheek with the back of his hand, ran it along her throat. Her skin was smooth and soft. Womanly soft. And hot. So hot. She was burning up just like he was.
Let me go, she whispered.
He stroked her hair. Not just yet. You touched me. You led me on.
Youre too easy.
He grinned. If only you were as easy.
She shut her eyes as if to shut him out.
Your desires are every bit as deep and dark as mine, he murmured. Have you found someone else to satisfy them? Just asking her drove him crazy.
Her lashes fluttered. Her smoky eyes darkened. No
How longsince youve been held? Kissed?
Not sincethat night. She turned deep red.
Me, either.
Why the hell had he admitted that? Unwanted desire for her wound him tighter. When she tried to run, he seized her arm again. Not yet, darlin. Youre not going anywhere. Not just yet. Not till Ive had a final taste.
Melody was tall, but he dwarfed her. Easily he scooped her closer. When he snugged her hips against his, she quivered, and even the slight response on her part that warred with the wild panic in her eyes made him explosively needy. Always, always she drove him past the limits of his careful control.
Why do you always bully me? she whispered.
Sometimes I think because you want me to.
Dont say that.
What do you want, Melody? Whats so wrong
An electric silence hummed between them. She was nervy, yet secretly thrilled and eager, too.
You scare me, she said breathily.
You scare you. You ought to know by now I would never hurt you. Or force you
Thats exactly what youre doing.
I just want to touch you. He wanted to slide his fingers inside her again, to know she was wet as shed been that night, despite all her puritanical and hung-up assertions to the contrary.
She shut her eyes, half opened her mouth and sank back against the wall. If only
God, it had been so long. Six months since that wonderful, awful night. He had told himself, never, ever againnot with her. Then the minute he set eyes on her, the minute she touched him, she had him again. More than anything he craved to kiss her, to run his hands through her long, soft hair, to do all the things shed forbidden him to do.
What would she do this time if he tried? What would she say? What would he do if she ever let him? Hed wanted her so damn much. Hed waited so long.
Maybe he would have held himself in check if Melody hadnt reached up and brushed her fingertips against the crisp black hair above his white collar. Maybe. But even though her touch was light and tentative, he felt her feverish response behind it, and that alone set him off.
He seized her shoulders to pull her toward him, wondering if this time shed
His head came down. Her lips pursed eagerly as she lifted them. In the fraction of a second before their mouths touched, he thought she whispered, Im sorry, North. So, sorry.
But before he could deepen their kiss, he heard the brisk patter of Dee Dees footsteps. Quickly he straightened, and Melody twisted her crimson face away, so her mother couldnt read her.
Is that you, North! Dee Dee shrieked from the other end of the hall as she rushed down the hall that was papered to look like a voluptuous garden gone wild in spring.
He froze.
Melody jumped free and began smoothing her hair.
NorthMelody
Dee Dee, who was golden and gorgeous and looked years younger than she was, smiled as they hastily backed away from each other and began to fidgetMelody with her sash after shed finished on her hair and he with his tight collar.
Its so good to see you, dear. Dee Dee smiled knowingly as she came forward and stretched on tiptoes as if to peck his dark cheek. All he felt when her glossy lips hovered close was the stir of her warm breath against his skin. Im the chairman of the charity ball, so I was on the phone and couldnt get the door.
You said Melody was in Austin.
Did I? Dee Dee smiled up at him artlessly. You know Melody. Shes as fickle as Texas weather, and I suppose were about due for a norther.
After this hellish summer, something a little cooland frosty might be a welcome change, he agreed thickly, his eyes on Melody.
Sams out back, Dee Dee said. When an alarm buzzed in her kitchen, she started. Why dont you join him, dear? And while youre outside, make sure he doesnt burn up my rib eyes. Meanwhile, Ill go get you a beer out of the fridge. Then she flew to the kitchen to check on whatever she had in the oven.
Its only one evening together, North muttered in a hoarse whisper to Melody. Surely we can be civil and behave ourselves in front of your parents for a few hoursfor their sake. For ours, too.
Only one night? Melody looked a little strained as she smiled up at him. Oh, no, North. I quit my job. Im home to stay. Or at least Ill be at Nanas. You and I could see each other anytimethat is, if we wanted to.
Which we dont.
Speak for yourself. The last thing I intend to do where youre concernedis behave myself.
Nana was her grandmother.
I thought south Texas bored you.
I was wrongabout a lot of things.
He remembered her apology right before their kiss. What things? What do you mean?
Ill be around. Thats all.
You said you loved Austin because it was wild. That south Texas and I bored
Her parting shots had cut him to the quick. At one point shed said he was so ultraconservative that she felt stifled and dead anytime she was anywhere near him.
Well She paused. Im here for a while. Not because of you, but because Im going back to school. To get a masters and a teaching certificate.
Teaching? You said you didnt want to settle for any sort of traditional roles like wife or teacher that women used to be forced into by macho men.
I was a child. Naturally I wanted to be glamorous and special. She paused. I guess I figured out I like kids. I figured out some other stuffthat I like, too.
Like men? Like sex? Like me?
As if she read his mind, Melody notched her chin upward a bit defiantly, and he found himself drinking in the beauty of her long slender neck and wondering if she really might be referring to sex.
With this degree and certificate, Melody continued, I can work anywhere in the world. Ill be independent.
So that was it! She hadnt come back because of him. This was about her infernal determination to be independent of him. To stay single.
Not that he cared.
So you still want to travel? he whispered, making his voice both insolent and admiring. To see the world?
To be free, she agreed, but her tone was low and urgent as if this really was important to her, as if making him understand mattered.
Sexually free?
She turned red again. Is that all you ever think about?
That does seem to be a burning issue when youre around.
Which is why I wanted to get as far away from you as I possibly could!
To have more of your little adventures?
Her eyes blazed. You dont get me at all. I shouldve known better than to try to talk to you. You wouldnt understand.
He understood, all right. She teased him. Did she want real adventures with other, wilder men, who werent so predictable, who didnt bore heras he did?
You might get into trouble. I worry about you.
Well, dont. Her eyes smoldered. This isnt about you, North.
Something cold coiled around his heart, and then he saw that she was trembling.
Youre right, of course, he forced himself to agree. We broke up. Or rather, you broke up with me. You said were
Finished. And you said Her voice was tight and sad, and he realized his parting shots had hurt her, too.
Hed said she was doing him a favor.
She was right. They were finished. It was what shed wanted, what he wanted, too. He was a rancher, born and bredtraditional to the core. He couldnt change that. He couldntnot for her, not after everything shed done.
Even so, the thought of other men touching herof her touching them
That shouldnt have bothered him. But his stomach twisted, and a bleak, lonely wave of despair washed over him as he considered working his ranch, dating other women, even Mariawhile Melody had romantic adventures.
II guess Ill go and get dressed, she said after an awkward spell.
When she left him, Norths gaze followed her. Her waist was slim, the flare of her hips and thighs enticingly sweet. That short red silk thing made her look leggy and coltish. He couldnt seem to move till she disappeared from his view.
Then he adjusted his collar and raked his hand through his hair. So what if he had to endure one miserable night with her?
Theyd catch up on old times. Then he really would forget her. Hed see Maria on Saturday, and maybe hed find a bad girl on the side to sleep with. From now on, hed drown himself in other women instead of work.
The only reason Miss Melody Woods was getting to him tonight was that shed burned him so bad, hed avoided all women since her.
Until Maria, he reminded himself. Maria was perfect for him. At least Jeff said so.
Could he help it if Melody looked good enough to eat, and that he was starved?
One night with her.
What could possibly go wrong?
Smile. Its the second best thing you can do with your lips.
Why did those infernal words keep repeating themselves like a broken record? Why did he keep imagining her mouth on his body?
He didnt like the heat those images brought.
One night.
That was all.