Read Close to Home Online

Authors: Liz Lee

Tags: #romance

Close to Home (6 page)

BOOK: Close to Home
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Chapter Five

Swallowing her indecision, she reached out, barely touching his arm with her newly manicured fingers.

That’s all the convincing it took.

This time when Donovan’s lips met hers, she forced all thoughts to stop and instead let herself feel, really feel. His lips, his arms, his face, his tongue. She took the kiss for all it was worth, intent on putting every ounce of every dream she’d ever had about this man into her response.

She barely registered the slam of her door as Donovan made his final decision. He leaned against her, pressing her back into the wall, pressing his erection against her and she gasped with the intensity.

Oh God. She’d wanted this for so long. She reached up and pushed the hair from his face the way she’d wanted to earlier, and when his eyes met hers this time, there was no deception. Just pure unadulterated want and need. She understood both.

He whispered her name, then his lips claimed hers before moving down her neck and back to her mouth.

When he pushed her shirt up, she forced herself to stop thinking about anything other than how good his hands felt on her bare skin. Nothing mattered but this moment.

His eyes burned her skin as he slowly pulled her bra from her arms and then his lips were on her breasts, on her nipples, suckling, leaving her breathless and begging for more and more and more.

And he laughed, the laugh from years before, the one she’d always imagined spoke of days of fun and nights of pleasure and no worries, and when she heard that, she knew she was doing the right thing.

“Oh God, Kacie Jo.”

Kacie Jo barely heard the words as he slowly moved his calloused hands from her stomach to her waist to under the waistband of her Levi’s. And when his fingers finally found the wet heat they were seeking, Kacie Jo thought she might die.

She moved against his hand, wishing she could tear the jeans and panties off her body and wrap her legs around him here in the hall with only the door behind her as a brace.

But Donovan had other ideas.

Slowly, he ran his fingers over her center and then against the outside of her jeans before trailing them up her bare stomach to her chest.

Her skin burned with his every touch, and she could tell he knew just what he was doing, just how he was slowly, surely driving her crazy.

When his lips moved to her ear, she pressed against him and gasped, and when he whispered “Sweetheart, if we don’t take this to your room, I’m going to make you come right here against your front door,” she finally understood the need for smelling salts. For the first time in her life, she honestly thought she might faint.

She led him down the hall, past the kitchen, past the living room to her room, all the while thinking, Oh my God, I’m taking Donovan Nelson to my bed. And as she made that small trip, she promised herself she would never be sorry for whatever happened next. Regardless, she would treasure this moment for the rest of her life.

Donovan followed Kacie Jo to her room and wondered how he’d had the mental capacity necessary to even think about a bed. He wanted her, wanted to possess her completely, wanted to bury himself inside her until she screamed.

But Kacie Jo deserved a bed. She deserved a whole hell of a lot more than that, but it would take a better man than him to walk away now. He wanted her and she wanted him. And dammit all, he was tired of fighting it.

Her room was decorated in blues and whites. Lace.
 

And all he could think was he’d never seen anything as erotic as Kacie Jo stripping her 501’s in front of her dresser mirror.
 

Her eyes never left his, and as he stood there watching, desire and something more took his breath away.

“Damn.” He spoke the words with reverence to the picture she presented and the woman she was. She stood there, naked. Her skin white, perfect. Her hips flared, her waist tight, her breasts high, her nipples the sexiest shade of dusky pink he’d ever seen. And the triangle of hair below her belly, God, he wanted her.

He moved to pull his shirt off, and she finally stepped forward to stop him.

“Let me.” She spoke the words like the temptress she was, and he was more than happy to be seduced by a woman like this.

She pulled his shirt up over his head and pressed her lips to his chest, her tongue gently laving his nipples leaving him hard and ready. But when he tried to hold her to him, she pushed his hands away and moved to the buckle on his belt. A few seconds later, she shoved his pants to the floor, and he found he couldn’t say a word.

When she took his full, hard length in her hand, he had to say something, anything, or he was going to embarrass himself. “Kacie Jo.” Pulling her arms around his shoulders, he buried his head in her hair. “I can’t. You can’t or we won’t…”

He felt her surprise at the words, heard her little “oh” of understanding and then, nothing mattered but completing what they’d started. He reached beside the bed and grabbed for his jeans, but her hand on his arm stopped him.

She reached past him to her bedside table, grabbed the unopened box of condoms and yanked the plastic covering free.

He grabbed the foil packet from her and slipped it over his hard erection. And then yes, finally, he slowly pushed her back on the perfectly made bed, fitting himself into the vee between her legs.

His lips ran across her neck once more, and he slicked his finger across the wet heat between her legs. She was ready. And as much as he wanted to wait, he couldn’t. It was now or never.

And then he was there, inside her, feeling nothing but her tightness as it slowly enveloped him.

Until suddenly, he found the barrier that shouldn’t have been there. He met her eyes with shock. “Kacie Jo…”

She didn’t let him finish the words, just pushed against him until the barrier broke and there was nothing but him pressed deep inside her.

He forced himself to be completely still. He didn’t know what to do, or what to say or if he could even make this good for her. What the hell was she doing? He didn’t want to hurt her.

“God, Kacie Jo.”

She shook her head. “Shhh. Don’t talk, just please…” She didn’t say anything else just stared at him with such deep longing, he knew he was lost. He just hoped he didn’t hurt her worse than he already had.

Slowly he moved away and her eyes closed, then she gasped with pleasure as he pushed deeper again.

And then nothing mattered but finding the ultimate completion in her arms.

Kacie Jo turned on her side and pulled Donovan’s arms around her. She didn’t know what she’d expected, what she’d envisioned.

She’d heard all about the first time from her friends over the years, and she felt sure this was better than normal, but there was this feeling, this something she couldn’t identify.

She’d never felt closer to a person in her life and she’d never be sorry she waited, never be sorry for this morning with Donovan.

He still hadn’t said a word, and she was surprised. He’d definitely been shocked, and she couldn’t blame him. A part of her said she should have told him earlier, but she’d been afraid he wouldn’t stay, that he’d change his mind and leave and she’d never see him again.

The way he kept running his hand up and down her arm was driving her crazy. Little shocks of pleasure shot from his fingers to the core of her being.

She wanted him to say something.

When his fingers trailed over her nipple, she gasped out loud. And when his hand ran over her stomach, she had to bite her lips to keep from whimpering.

She wasn’t sure what he’d think, but she definitely didn’t want him to believe she was disappointed because she absolutely wasn’t.

He ran his fingers over her stomach again and this time they trailed even lower, barely brushing the top of her thigh.

Oh God. He was doing this on purpose. Some kind of punishment for throwing that big virgin surprise on him like that, no warning or anything.

And then, suddenly, his hand was gently massaging her stomach, her legs, until finally, his fingers found her center. And then slowly, too slowly, he slipped a finger between her folds.

She couldn’t stop the gasp that followed. This felt so good.

When he did the same thing again, she heard her voice, heard his name, heard him laugh in response.

He thought this was funny? She’d have to take that up with him later. But as his fingers found the spot that left her breathless and almost begging, she didn’t much care what he did or said.

All she cared about was finding where these waves of sensation took her. And then, everything ceased to matter except the steady, soft feeling of his fingers as they moved on her in perfect tempo to her heartbeat.

She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see, couldn’t even think about anything. She wanted, she wanted…

Finally, sensation washed over her in wave after wave. Her legs trembled along with the rest of her body, and when she could finally speak, she closed her eyes and smiled. “Thank you.”

Donovan brushed a finger down her cheek. “Thank you.” His deep words rumbled over her entire body. She wished they could stay just like this. She turned and settled into the perfect crook of his bent elbow, still not believing she was lying in bed naked next to a naked Donovan.

“You could have told me.”

His words were still whispered as if he didn’t want to break this secret spell either.

“If I had, would you be here?”

He laughed softly to himself. “Probably not.”

“Then I’m not going to apologize.”

This time his laugh wasn’t soft. “I could definitely get used to this.”

Kacie Jo didn’t even think about her answer. “Do then.” He tensed beside her, and she wished she’d just stayed silent. “I’m not asking for anything here, Donovan.”

He didn’t say a word, just kept brushing his hand over her arm, driving her crazy with this new need that was worse now than ever before.

Deciding conversation was better left until a later date, she curled up against his side and concentrated on remembering this very moment. The way he felt, the way he smelled.

And then Donovan was there, moving over her, the laughter from earlier back as he trailed kisses down her body. “Judging by the size of that condom box, you planned for a long night. Ready for lesson number three?”

Oh, she’d planned all right. Kacie Jo didn’t even think about it, didn’t try to figure out the math, just smiled in an open invitation and sighed. “Absolutely.”

Donovan shrugged back into his shirt as Kacie Jo slept. They’d spent the entire day in bed. He couldn’t say he was sorry. But he knew that even though she said she wasn’t asking for anything, she was. Women like her didn’t hold on to their virginity and then just give it away for nothing.

She deserved someone who could give her what she wanted and needed. That someone was not him. He wasn’t the staying kind. Forever wasn’t even in his vocabulary.

He hoped she didn’t hold this day against him. God knew he’d treasure it for the rest of his life.

As he walked silently down the hall, he spied her teacher of the year plaque and straightened it for her.

For a second, he stood there, silently, forcing himself to imprint this moment on his memory. When he left here, it would be for good. He’d have to grab his bags from Grady’s, and Grady was no fool. This day had accomplished what he’d been trying to do for months.

When he walked out the door this time, it would close the Caldale chapter of his life.

Funny how something so new could be so enticing. Kacie Jo was like a drug. Completely intoxicating, totally addictive from the very first taste. Unfortunately, he was the dangerous one. If he stayed, he’d destroy her.

He was pretty damn good at destruction. About as good as he was at leaving. He still couldn’t believe he’d talked to her about B’en Ai. About the Middle Eastern island kingdom. But he hadn’t told her about the war, not really. And he hadn’t told her how he’d been too late to save another innocent woman. This one a princess, but no less innocent than Kacie Jo. No less special.

The difference was he’d tried to stay in B’en Ai until it was too late.

He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

Slowly, he closed the door behind him, saying a silent goodbye before he walked down the street on his way out of Caldale, Texas for the last time.

Chapter Six

Kacie Jo sat in the teacher’s lounge, laid her head on the table and closed her eyes trying to get rid of the nagging headache she’d sported since the principal had broken the news that her program budget was cut.

She tried not to close her eyes often if she could help it. Every time she did, she found herself remembering the ghost of a morning with Donovan.

No one knew where he’d disappeared to. Grady didn’t talk about Donovan at all other than to say he was back to his normal ways.

Well, she’d always known he would leave again. He’d never lied, never pretended to be something other than what he was.

All she had to remember that night was the black lace veil that currently sat atop her dresser in her room. Every time she looked at it, she remembered the way his lips had trailed down her neck to…

BOOK: Close to Home
12.57Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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