Bayou Born (Fleur de Lis Series) (15 page)

But a headline about a dead college instructor flashed in her head. She tensed.

“Relax. You’re safe. This is a protected place with coffee and food before the drive back. Listen, local cops sit and wait for drunks to leave the bars down the highway a mile. Neither of us needs to make the police-blotter list tomorrow.”

When James got close to the door, close enough to press the handle, it poked her butt. The front door opened, and once across the threshold, he set her on her feet. She swayed, a definite margarita wobble. He caught her. Was this a game they were playing?

“Anyone home?” she called sing-songing-ly. When no one responded, she giggled. “No one’s home. Are we breaking and entering? No. Couldn’t be that because you didn’t break anything. No door. No glass. Maybe your back. Carrying me up those steps. Are you okay?” She swayed. Being drunk wasn’t so bad. She giggled, remembering the lengthy lecture her grandmother gave about the demons of alcohol.

Taking a step from the doorway toward the living room, she tried to balance on both feet, but swayed. James caught her, picked her up and plopped her on a couch that faced a large stone fireplace.

“I’m not a sack of potatoes.” She frowned.

“Pumpkins. Potatoes. I could think of other ways of describing you.”

He knelt in front of her, put a pillow on the armrest of the couch and guided her to lie back. He scooped up her feet, dropped her shoes, and let her stretch out long on the couch.

“You mean descriptions like the ones that sleazy bartender used at the Library?”

If he heard her, he ignored her question.

“I’ll make some coffee and get us some food,” he said.

She rose to sitting when he walked around the couch and toward the kitchen. The place had a definite cabin feel, but in Mississippi, houses built on stilts were called camps in the bayous and flood-prone areas. “Is there water nearby?”

“We’re waterfront on the Itchneetucknee River. This is my grandparents’ escape.”

She collapsed back down on the couch, her eyes too heavy to stay open.

A few minutes later she woke. The aroma of fresh-brewed coffee lifted to her nose, but she wasn’t ready to let go of her margarita buzz. The mellowness relaxed her. All thoughts of anything else disappeared. But—the desire she experienced on the dance floor with James had not diminished a bit. She squeezed her legs tightly together, then stretched long. She had an itch that demanded scratching.

What would James think?

He appeared suddenly before her. She shuttered her eyes, almost squinting to see him. Could he read the need she was certain reflected in her eyes?

He placed a plate with hunks of cheese, torn bread, and fruit spreads on the coffee table. Due to her nervousness earlier, she’d not eaten much. She had cravings, all right, but food was not what she wanted.

Grandmother was right. Alcohol was indeed a drug. It had removed her inhibitions.

James reappeared with two mugs. He placed them on the table, then reached in his shirt pocket for individual creamers, and then retrieved sugar packets from his pant’s pocket.

“I don’t know how you take your coffee.”

She scooted to sit with her knees bent. James sat on the couch beside her feet.

“Two creams. Two sugars.”

James added the ingredients to her drink. He handed the mug to her. She noticed that he drank his coffee black and made a mental note. She snuck a few glances at him as she blew on the hot liquid in her cup. He seemed lost in contemplation. Since they’d crossed the threshold, the carefree ease they’d enjoyed before appeared to have remained at the bar. Maybe the hominess of the room had killed his mood?

“I’m sorry I feel asleep. This is nice, but we probably should be going soon.” She couldn’t look at him, instead watched the steam rise from her too-hot coffee.

“Actually, I think things work out like they’re supposed to. Fate.”

“Me falling asleep?”

She watched him ponder his response. His seriousness started to worry her.

“No, our meeting was fate. And
everything
since then.” His chocolate brown eyes softened when he smiled at her. A quiver shot to her gut as he ran his hand from her knee to her bare foot. He stroked her ankle. She wanted to move, but couldn’t.

“Our very first meeting at the bookstore definitely wasn’t planned. James, you’d been avoiding me up to that point. But the rest of tonight? A non-date. The huge margarita—too much for one person to drink. Then, a place with food and coffee. You planned this, didn’t you?” She looked at him warily. What had she gotten herself into? The more she learned about him, the more she wanted to know. But the closer they got, the more she wanted to run. How did he freeze her in place and at the same time, leave her wanting more?

“No. You’re jumping to conclusions. I didn’t—”

“Why did you kiss me back there?”

He went very still. Dangerously still. He put down his cup and locked his eyes on hers. Her breath caught. She stared back. She refused to back down.

The feeling that washed over her wasn’t fear.

He angled his body, his shoulder against the back of the couch, then pulled her feet into his lap. His gaze kept her hypnotized. He spoke her name softly, “Branna.”

“Uh-ha?” Her heart raced. She set her coffee mug down.

“I’m gonna do it again.”

She gulped.

He rose and picked her up, carrying her while keeping his eyes on hers. It was barely ten steps to the hallway. The moment at hand made her remember the kissing game she’d played in high school, “Ten minutes in heaven.”

Down a dark hall, James turned into a room, then lowered her to a bed. Her head rested on a pillow. He sat beside her, their hips touching. He bent, and his lips hovered just above hers. His warm, strong hands cradled her face. The tingling from his touch intensified. Her insides quivered. If he didn’t make a move, she was going to die.

His eyes searched hers as though asking a question.

She answered by rising to sit. Closed the distance between them. Their lips melded.

She kissed him hard. Desperately.

James deepened the kiss, sucking on her bottom lip. His tongue found access to her mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and her body arched, pressing hard against his. An ache deep inside her grew, and she strained against him more.

Without breaking contact, he stretched out on the bed next to her, and then pulled her back beside him.

A voice she recognized in her head shouted for caution and reason, but she left the “good little girl” back in Bayou Petite. Here, she was a woman.

A woman in control.

She rolled on top of James, lying against the full, solid length of his body. She cupped his face with her hands and gently kissed him. He threaded his fingers through her hair, then rested one hand on the back of her head, the other beside her neck. The hard rise in his jeans left no room for doubt. He wanted what she did. She gyrated her pelvis into his, something she wouldn’t have ever done with a man she’d only known a couple of days, let alone a man she’d never been out on a date with before.

“Branna?”

She tilted her head and then leaned close to him, her chin on his shoulder. His breath softly blew against her ear, and shivers reached her toes.

“You asked earlier, ‘How far are we going...’”

He wanted to talk now? “Yes?”

James stilled. She could tell he held his breath.

“We’re going to go as little or far as you want tonight.”

Her insides melted. Desire magnified to full bloom. She pressed her lips to his, hard. Her hands reached for his, and she laced their fingers together.

Then, she whispered in his ear, “It’s all or nothing.”

Straddling his hips, she removed her blouse and unhooked her bra. A move she’d never made before. She pushed herself to standing on the bed, then stripped, dropping each piece of clothing in a pile on the floor.

Beneath her, James, his eyes trained only on her, wrestled off his clothes. They landed on top of hers.

As she lowered herself, James rose to a sit and ran his hands up her calves, and then her thighs. Heat from his tingling touch coalesced in the apex of her legs. The intensity made her weak. Had her bones melted?

She slid and straddled him. His hardness settled inside her. Her hips undulated.

Bravely, she faced him.

When his mouth captured her breast, she braced herself, hands on his shoulders.

The sensual stimulation was unbearable.

She’d lost all control of her body. She moaned, unembarrassed by the sound. She gloried in skyrocketing—all the way to heaven.

The moment was exactly what she wanted. She silenced the scold from the proverbial “good girl” in her head. Silenced it completely.

She stilled when James moved under her, wanting to experience each sensation.

They rocked together, up and back. Up and back.

Each move made her move more. Want more of him.

She tensed. Heaven exploded into bursts of shiny stars. Quivering warmth bathed her body. An experience so luxurious she never wanted it to end.

Later, when they lay tangled in the sheets, fingers threaded together, hip to hip, thigh to thigh, the clock by the bed beamed the time overhead. It was nearly two in the morning. She needed to go home.

Sitting up, she turned to reach for her clothes. James pulled her back and put his finger to her lips when she started to protest.

“Shhh,” he said softly. “The next best part is yet to come. Just sleep with me for now.”

He pulled her close, wrapped her arm around his waist, settled her head on his shoulder, then rubbed her arm in long soothing strokes. James had a power over her she wasn’t in the mood to question. She drifted off, a deep contentment lulled her soundly to sleep.

Later, she woke with a start. Disoriented, she sat up, unsettled to realize her still nakedness. She grabbed the sheet to cover her body and looked around the bedroom.

Perfectly framed in front of three tall windows, was the silhouette of a man. James stood tall with his back to her. He was lean and muscled, and in the moonlight, looked like a god carved from marble. He appeared to survey the dark.

The proverbial “good girl” voice in her head screamed,
Now you’ve really done it!

What had she really done? She looked around. A strange house. A strange bed. With a man who was nearly a stranger.

Oh God. She’d never drink again!

James must have heard her ruffle the sheets, or maybe he heard her panicked thoughts. He turned and faced her. Fear fled at the flash of his warm smile. The way it crinkled the corners of his eyes. All she could think when he walked toward her, moved with complete male grace, was that she had kissed him there, and there, and there.

When he reached her, he pulled back the sheet and exposed her nakedness. He kissed her softly at the base of her neck. Her pulse throbbed there. She couldn’t breathe, not from fear, but from sweet anticipation. What would he think if she massaged him
there
, and then had her way with him?

“My turn.” His voice sounded husky and sexy. “I promised. The next best part is yet to come.”

He started a slow assault with his hands and his lips, caressing her shoulders, then moved to her chest, as though he treasured her body.

Delight tickled her insides. She gave in to the sensation of weightlessness. His mouth floated kisses over her breasts. His fingers caressed the inside of her thighs, moving in slow circles, inching higher and higher on her legs. In mere moments, he would have her drifting to meet heaven again.

The ecstasy was unimaginable. The craving was more than she could bear. Alcohol wasn’t the demon addiction. Making love with James had to be.

James teased and tantalized her skin, stroked and sucked her body until she was begging for more and hanging on, trying not to fall off the edge of the earth.

He joined his body with hers. Filling her. They moved at a slow even pace, together as one. They rode the waves of pleasure.

He caressed her butt as they rocked. She grabbed tight to his shoulders for support and arched her back when he carried her to the top of the cliff of pleasure, the place where they both wanted to be...she felt his shudder as she heard her own long guttural moan.

Then they melted back to earth.

Had he somehow taken her bones?

Her body was so languid, further movement was out of the question—at least for another hour or so. Maybe the rest of the night. As her breathing returned to normal, James turned on his side, spooning her from behind. His hand draped, resting on her waist.

She never shared loving making with Steven that ever closely resembled what had just happened. And, her “good girl” argument to Biloxi had been that sex couldn’t possibly be satisfying outside of love...Well, she’d have to rethink that now.

She didn’t have words for the experience with James, but that didn’t matter. The corners of her mouth turned up. She was a later bloomer in more ways than one. She finally understood what Camilla had been telling her, about the burn, the need, and the euphoria so potent is was a drug. One that took you to the highest mountaintop, then launched you to the stars.

James was the perfect lover.

Had she really thought those words?

She had a lover?

She had a lover.

Oh, no.

Chapter 15

In the first light of early dawn, the room looked unfamiliar. Sitting up, Branna clutched a sheet to her chest. The banging in the kitchen had to be James, right?

What were you thinking
? The “good-girl” voice in her head started to lecture, and her heartbeat zoomed to the edge of panic. Had she walked through a magical door in Lakeview or simply lost her mind? Maybe there was something in her drink last night. Otherwise, how could she rationalize, let alone explain that she’d been intimate with a man she barely knew.