A Most Shocking Revelation (13 page)

He stood beside her, her hand curled into his. “It could use a few more ornaments, but it was the best I could do in the time that I had.”

She slipped her arm around his waist and leaned her head against his shoulder. “Is this what you really did when you disappeared tonight?”

“Nope. I hired a few elves. Actually some of the kids who have gotten into trouble lately. Just minor offenses, vandalism, that sort of thing, including the boy that was involved in the wreck the other day.”

Val looked as shocked as she had been when she'd first viewed the tree. “You let them in your house when you weren't here?”

“Yeah. I figured I'd give them a chance to work off their debt to society by doing this. After they finished, they were supposed to go over to the convalescent home and help the Historical Society ladies hand out gifts to the residents.”

She turned into his arms and kissed his cheek. “Just one question, Sheriff. Where have you been keeping your white horse?”

He grinned. “In the closet with my white hat.”

“You are just full of surprises tonight.”

“And I'm not done yet.” Taking her hand in his, he led her to the hearth and flipped on the switch that illuminated the fireplace. “I thought you'd appreciate this one the most.”

Gavin watched Val's gaze track upward to where the green construction-paper Christmas tree, decorated with misshapen glitter ornaments, hung above the mantel. He watched the wonder pass over her expression and her hand flutter to her mouth.

Moving behind her, he circled his arms securely around her waist. “This is compliments of Mrs. Brady's third-grade class. I spoke to them last month about the job, and she returned the favor by making this a special art project.” He pointed at the tree. “I like the star at the top, even though they did leave the
E
off the end of your name. Kind of gives it a special charm, don't you think?”

Again Val faced him, her blue eyes clouded with tears. “I think this is probably the most wonderful thing anyone has ever done for me.”

“It's only fair considering what you've done for me.”

She lowered her gaze. “I haven't done anything for you, Gavin, except get sick and borrow your car and your guest room.”

“You're so wrong, Val. You've brought a lot to my life.” He pulled her against his chest, close to his hammering heart, and tipped her chin up. “It's been seventeen years since I've had holiday decorations in my house, and I thought it might bother me. But seeing the look on your face, knowing how much it means to you, it makes me feel great. At peace, I guess you could say, for the first time since my parents' deaths.”

“I'm glad.” She said it softly and with a sadness Gavin couldn't ignore.

He drew in a deep breath in preparation to tell her exactly what he was feeling. A first for him. “I love you, Val.”

Taking him totally by surprise, she wrested out of his arms and turned her back to him. “There's something I have to tell you, Gavin.”

Considering her serious tone, he had a gut-level feeling that he might not want to hear that
something.
Namely she didn't feel the same about him. “Val, look at me.” When she slowly turned to him, he said, “Whatever it is you have to tell me, if it's not good news, it can wait until morning.”

She studied the slate floors and kneaded her hands. “I don't think it should wait.”

He definitely didn't want to get into this, at least not right now. “Do you have some kind of disease?”

Val's gaze zipped to his. “No, that's not it.”

“A husband or boyfriend waiting for you somewhere?”

“No. Nothing like that.”

He brought her back into his arms. “Then that's all I need to know. Right now, I want to make love to you, unless you don't want that.”

Gavin held his breath until she said, “I want that more than anything. And you're right, it can wait until morning.”

 

Now that Gavin had told her he loved her, Valerie knew it was wrong to put off the inevitable. But at the moment she didn't care about right or wrong. She only cared about being with him this final time. Still, when tomorrow arrived, she would answer his gifts with one of her own—the truth.

Right then, her focus centered on Gavin standing behind her in the great room, a glowing fire and the blinking lights providing the perfect backdrop, several blankets and pillows laid out on the floor providing the perfect place to make love. He slid the zipper down, parting the fabric and taking the dress with him as he glided his warm lips down her spine. After turning her around, he kissed his way back up her body, pausing to press his mouth against the sheer triangle of her panties. He stood and rimmed a finger beneath the lace band securing the stockings at her thighs. “All night I imagined you wearing these and nothing else,” he said, his voice incredibly low, intoxicating. “I want you to leave them on.”

“All right,” Valerie said, all she could manage as he effortlessly removed her bra and tossed it aside.

Gavin seated her on the edge of the sofa and removed her heels before taking his place beside her. He worked his boots and socks off, then came to his feet to face her, shedding his tuxedo one article at a time at an agonizingly slow pace. When he finally
stripped out of his briefs, Valerie's stomach was tangled in nervous knots of anticipation and a strong heat had settled between her thighs.

She was completely captivated by the feel of his callused hands skimming up her legs to her panties that he soon slid away. He nudged her back on the sofa and knelt before her.

“You're shaking,” he said as he splayed his palm across her trembling belly.

She smoothed a fingertip over the cleft in his chin. “It's not because of any kind of illness, I promise. It's just being here like this, with you.”

He captured her lips in a gentle kiss before finding her gaze once more. “I've wanted this all week.” He twined his fingers with hers. “Us, together again.”

So had Valerie. Little else had occupied her mind today. “So have I. In fact, I had all this energy last night and I started to wake you. But I knew you hadn't slept all that well when I was sick, so I didn't have the heart.”

“I wasn't too tired to make love with you. I never will be.” His expression turned somber. “I want to make you happy, Val. I want you to feel better than you've ever felt before. Not only tonight but every time I make love with you.”

Little did he know, this would probably be the last time. “You already make me feel that way, Gavin.”

“But I want to do more.” He nuzzled his face between her breasts. “I plan to do more.” He lifted his head and studied her eyes. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes.” And she did, with her very life.

“Then just hold on to me.”

He pulled her forward until her hips were at the edge of the cushions and parted her legs. With one hand clasped tightly with hers and the other beneath her bottom, he leaned forward and trailed his warm lips down her body. She knew exactly where he was going and what he was about to do. She also recognized that to trust him with this much familiarity was totally foreign to her. But she had all the faith in the world that he would take her to a
plane she'd never been before, a place she wouldn't easily forget, as if she could ever forget anything he'd done for her to this point.

Valerie would never forget his incredible skill either, she thought when he made the first gentle pass of his tongue over her sensitive flesh. Never forget the heady feeling of being totally at his command, everything bared to him without reservation. He knew exactly where to center his attention, precisely how much pressure to apply to keep her balanced on the threshold of coming apart before he backed off ever-so-slightly. Just when she thought she might actually go insane with the need for completion, he did it again, teasing her into a mindless fervor, only this time he grew more insistent with his competent mouth.

When the demands of her body began to take over, Valerie gripped Gavin's hand tightly, her erratic heartbeat echoing in her ears. And with the glide of his finger inside her, the deep pull of his lips, the climax barreled down on her with such force her whole body jerked.

His name left her mouth in a harsh whisper, her breath following in a series of ragged pants. A steady stream of tremors continued long after her respiration returned to normal, and she wondered if she would ever recover.

Gavin released her hand and left her, bringing Valerie back around to the here and now. She opened her eyes to find him taking care with a condom before coming back to her. He lifted her legs and pulled her knees to his chest, then joined his body to hers with a deep thrust. He emitted so much power, so much strength, so much raw sexuality that Valerie could only watch him in awe. Watch his dark gaze connect with hers. Watch the glow of the flames play across his beautiful face.

Then suddenly he completely withdrew from her. “This isn't what I want.”

An edge of panic threatened to destroy her blissful mood. “What's wrong?”

“I want to be closer to you,” he said as he held out his hand.

“I want you close to me.”

Valerie experienced another bout of persistent tears, but she blinked them back as she'd learned to do so well. She could cry later, after he was asleep and unaware that she wept for what they could never have together. “I'm all for being closer.”

Gavin whispered, “Come here,” then guided her to the makeshift bed on the floor before the fire. He laid her back gently, then moved atop her. Without hesitating, he guided himself inside her again, this time wrapping her securely in his hold, kissing her softly, touching her with such gentleness that Valerie feared she might cry whether she cared to or not.

But Gavin soon turned her attention to him as he used his hands and his own body to bring her back into the realm of pure sensation. Valerie had often heard women talk behind their hands about being consumed by passion in the arms of a lover, and before now she'd always scoffed. Because of Gavin, she understood that completely, due to her absolute conversion into a truly carnal being.

He had no qualms about taking their lovemaking to a wilder level and letting it be known that his sole aim was to lift her right over the edge with him. Driven by her newfound sense of daring, her need to please him as he'd pleased her, Valerie mustered all her strength and rolled until she was seated on top of him.

Gavin tangled his hands in her hair as his look of surprise melted into a half smile. “Oh, yeah.”

She responded with her own, “Oh, yeah,” and a suggestive shift of her hips. He lifted toward her again and again, their bodies damp and slick from their efforts and their hands in constant motion over each other. After a time, Valerie picked up the pace, saw Gavin's eyes go nearly black, felt his frame growing rigid beneath her. With another hard upward thrust of his hips, she climaxed, and so did he.

Valerie collapsed against Gavin's chest, her arms limp at his sides and her cheek resting near his shoulder. He tightened his hold on her, one hand gently cradling her head, the other caressing her back. They stayed that way for a long while, content to hold each other, touch each other. She had never known such
peace, had never experienced such contentment, and she didn't want it to end.

But end it must, that much she realized. Still, she had more than a few memories to carry home with her and maybe, just maybe, that would be enough. It would have to be enough. What other choice did she have?

Gavin lifted her head and kissed her with the sweet, sweet tenderness she'd come to know so well in his arms. “As much as I like the floor,” he said, “I think we should go to bed now.”

She allowed him to help her up, their arms wrapped around each other's waists as he guided her into his bedroom, then into his bed, where she took the spot she'd occupied for the past several nights.

When he went into the bathroom, Valerie rolled to her side, facing the window so he wouldn't see how much he had affected her. She clamped her hand over her mouth to muffle the sobs and tugged the covers up to her shoulders to drive away the cold, but neither worked. She willed herself to stop crying with the last of her declining control.

Gavin returned a brief time later and settled against her back, the way he had on those nights when she'd been racked with fever and out of her mind. Tonight she didn't have a fever—at least not the kind brought about by the flu. But she must be out of her mind for not blurting out the truth before he had changed her mind with his declaration.

First thing tomorrow she would tell him. In the morning, in the harsh light of day.

After a time the sound of Gavin's steady breathing, the loosening of his physical hold on her, told her that he'd fallen asleep. She memorized this moment and accepted that with the dawn came the end of her temporary paradise. And even though he wouldn't be able to hear her, she whispered what was first and foremost on her mind and in her heart. “I love you, too, Gavin.”

 

In a not-quite-awake haze Gavin opened his eyes to find Valerie had rolled away from him onto her back, one arm raised
above her head on the pillow, the other draped across her abdomen. The faint light filtering through the window washed her features in a muted glow, a face that he wanted to see every morning and every night from this point forward. While she slept, he continued to watch her, immersed in the absolute need to protect her from anything and everything. He loved her more than he could say, wanted her more than anything he'd ever wanted in his lifetime. Quietly he inched closer and buried his face in her hair, driven by the need to touch her. If he had his way, they'd stay in bed all day long, with no interruptions. They could have their little talk, and if luck prevailed, she would tell him she loved him, too. Provided she did love him. His instincts kept telling him that was true. But then, his instincts hadn't always come through for him, particularly when it came to matters of the heart.