Only, something seemed different this time.
The excitement, the danger, the recklessness and urgency-it was all there. Times ten. But this wasnt the kind of man she knew or had ever known.
Teague, she whispered in a hesitant voice, when Daisy knew shed never had a hesitant bone in her entire body. But that seemed to be the precise problem. Her body. The body that was slowly, mercilessly turning into shambles.
Hed already pulled her sweater over her head, sent it soaring somewhere in the dark shadows. His big, callused hands slipped in the waistband of her pants, then, lingered long enough to cup her fanny, then slid her black slacks down her thighs to her ankles. Then-possibly because he couldnt keep his weight on his bad ankle any longer-he sank down to the couch. Only he didnt sit down immediately. His mouth trailed down from her breasts to her ribs to her navel, chasing the same path as his hands did on her derriere.
She was wearing underwear. French underwear. Tap pants, ivory with lace. And thats where his mouth stopped traveling. He lingered there, first kissing the lace, then the ivory satinnot kissing bare skin, never kissing bare skin. But the whisper of satin was hardly a barrier.
An embarrassed groan whispered from her throat, the last sound she made. She couldnt seem to keep oxygen going in and out of her lungs. She reached for him, found the muscles in his back bunching and clenching for her touch. His mouth came back to hers, and while his lips clung to hers, held hers intimately, she pushed at his shirt, pushed at his jeans, pushed at his zipper.
At some point they seemed all tangled up, her trying to pull him on top of her on the couch-Teague trying to pull her on top of him. Somehow the couch got abandoned. It was just too hard to find it with her eyes closed and nothing on her mind but touching him and being touched. The scratchy carpet at least cushioned her bare back, and still he kissed her, rubbing his pelvis against her bare tummy now, so she could feel how hard and urgently he wanted her.
The fire suddenly sent a fireworks of sparks up the chimney. A log tumbled to the grate. All this time, theyd been warm enough with the fire, as long as they wore all their clothes, yet now they were both peeled down to near bare flesh-give or take socks-and she was still amply warm.
Hells bells, she could have swum in the snow and might still need to do that just to cool off. That funny thought surfaced, but it wouldnt stick. It should have stuck. Sex was fun. It made life worthwhile. It made a woman feel alive, feel important, feel her own power. But it shouldnt tear a girls soul out, should it?
Daisy was no baby about this. She knew life. She couldnt be fooled by fairy tales, not anymore. But damn. This yearning seeping through her, eeking through her, aching through her, was scary and troubling andcompelling.
Teagues eyes suddenly opened, found hers, held hers. You ready? he asked her.
Oh, yes. Ten times yes.
If we fall off the world, we do it together.
Yes.
I dont give a damn about tomorrow. Youre mine tonight.
Yes. And youre mine.
Ah, hell, yes. And then he thrust inside her, his head thrown back, the pulse in his throat throbbing as hard as hers was. Yes. He thrust again, looked at her. Oh, yes, he whispered that third time, as if he were finally there, impaled as deeply inside her as any man had been, any man would be or could be.
And then it was just as he said. She tipped off the world. With him. Into him.
She woke up to a nightmare. One instant shed been burrowed in a cocoon of warmth and safety; the next, there was a frantic thud in her tummy and fear slamming in her pulse.
Her eyes shot wide. Yesterday morning shed been wakened by a cell phone, and from somewhere in the house the same phone was beeping now. Everything else was a jolt of a surprise, though. Sunlight sneaked through cracks in the curtains. Every light and lamp in the Cunningham house seemed to be turned on. New noises emanated from everywhere-the hum of a refrigerator motor, a radio in another room, the clang of hot water pipes. A man was wrapped around her as if he were the birthday boy and she was his present.
Faster than a blink she realized power had been restored and the blizzard really did seem to be over. But the man spooned around her, protecting her from dragons and darkness and all There was the nightmare.
Guilt hit her brighter than the daylight. Maybe shed curled up with Teague that first night, but nothing serious had happened. She could forgive herself a lost moment in time. But last night
Last night shed made love with him-a near stranger. She didnt do that. Ever. She was capable of being very foolish, of making impulsive decisions, of choosing the wrong men. But shed never been a complete and total idiot before.
That cell phone, the low-whiskey baritone said to the curve of her neck, keeps ringing. Apparently the callers not going to give up. You want me to get it?
No, I will. Youre just going to hurt your ankle if you try to hustle. And it has to the sheriff. It was. Unfortunately, she couldnt discover that for sure until shed charged out from under the covers naked as a jaybird. The cell phone was in the kitchen, plugged in, but obviously the power hadnt been on long because the connection was scratchy.
Daisy Campbell, if you hadnt answered soon, I was going to have a heart attack. I thought something happened to the two of you!
No, were both fine, George. She whirled around, searching frantically for something in the torn-up kitchen to cover herself with. The only thing in sight was a scratchy-looking carpenters apron. Useful for covering up the front of her. Marginally. Sort of. I just couldnt get to the phone any faster, but were both all right.
Good. Plows have been out on the road for a good three hours now. We should be getting into your neck of the country within the next hour. Thats the best I can do. Youre high on the list, but we had to clear the highways and town before we could head out for the back roads. I take it your patient survived the night?
Her patient. The one with the head wound and the sprained ankle. The one whod made love to her mercilessly and tirelessly for most of the night. Um, he seems to be less injured than I first thought.
Well, thats good. Still, we should be able to get him checked out at the hospital this morning. Now, as far as you getting to your place-
The furnace wasnt working at my parents house. That was why I trekked over to the Cunninghams to begin with.
All right. When I get off the phone with you, Ill
George said something else. She had no idea what. She had no idea when she stopped talking and hung up, either, but suddenly Teague seemed to be standing in the doorway, wearing jeans almost zipped up, looking her over quietly, thoroughly.
His carpenter apron was draped over certain strategic spots and it wasnt freezing like before; the furnace had obviously been chugging hot water through the radiators for several hours. Yet feeling Teagues eyes on her made her feel barer than cold.
Everything about him tracked memories from last night. His tousled hair-she remembered riffling her fingers through that thick, wiry hair, dragging him closer to her, demanding more kisses, deeper kisses, more-intimate kisses. She remembered the taste of that narrow mouth and those smooth, seductive lips. She remembered the exact moment shed put a love bite on his left shoulder. She even remembered his bare feetyelping when hed suddenly touched her with those cold toes, and then laughing, laughing just before hed pressed her into the blankets and taken her down with another kiss.
By night hed been her loverbut by daylight he was a stranger. A stranger shed shared more with-more honesty with-than she had with her husband. She didnt know what to make of that, except that there wasnt a man on the planet who unnerved her. Ever. Until now.
To add insult to injury, the son of a gun had looked darn good in the shadows, but man, he looked downright wicked in real light.
Her stomach suddenly skidded down another slippery chasm. Relax, she tried to tell herself. It wasnt love. Shed been foolhardy to sleep with a stranger, but its not as if she were in love with him.
She could handle a mistake. God knew shed had a lot of experience making those. But she wasnt sure she could survive falling in love with the wrong man. Not again.
The way he kept standing there, looking at her, she sensed he was thinking about pouncing again. Leaning against the doorjamb, protecting his ankle by leaning on the makeshift cane, he should have looked weak and pitiful, and instead somehow the darn man managed to be making sinful, irresponsible, reprehensible promises with those sleepy eyes.
Worse yet, some idiotic part of her heart loved those promises. Wanted him to pounce. Wanted to be wicked with him all over again. For Petes sake, youd think her mind had taken off for the North Pole and refused to come home. She said firmly, Theyre going to rescue us in less than an hour.
Damn.
She wasnt going to smile. She was going to stay tough. Youre going to mind real food? Getting back to your own bed and your own place?
He stepped forward. Im going to mind not being trapped with you tonight. Id have liked another five or six days with you. Minimum. Trapped together. Just like this.
A new flutter kicked up in her pulse. Not just a sexual-zing flutter, but a downright dangerous, feather flutter. He was beginning to touch that soft place that she never let anyone near. Pound on a wall, what harm could you do? But pound on that soft spot, and a girl could get hurt really badly.
She knew how to be a wall. For damn sure, she knew how to keep her heart from being broken again. Naw, she said lightly. Adventures always fun. But too many days of it, and wed have run out of condoms-and food-and youd probably have started to worry that we were getting too attached, developing A Relationship or some crazy thing like that.
You think Id worry about that, do you?
Nothing she said seemed to erase that dangerous gleam in his eye, so she aimed straight for the best defense there was. The truth. We couldnt last, Teague. But Im not going to regret last night, and I hope you dont.
I dont.
She hesitated. She wanted-needed-to be careful, but she didnt want to leave the conversation with him being hurt in any way. She said softly, Last night, I feel likewe made a memory.