Flying in Shadows (The Black Creek Series, Book 2) (25 page)

Forbidden tears flowed freely down her face, stinging the cuts on her bad eye. Pent
up longing for the feel of his warmth, for the loving safety of his arms made her
legs wobble, then completely give out. She had been so sure she'd never feel this
again.

His large arms took her in as she collapsed. He picked her up. He kicked the door
shut behind them as he carried her into the living room. Gathering her, he sat and
cradled her silently in the middle of the couch—their couch.

For the first time in her life, she curled in a ball and forgot about everything in
her life, letting the tears fall—buckets of them. Sobbing as he rocked her, he stroked
her hair and whispered in her ear. She blessedly didn't think, only felt. Tears soaked
his shirt, leaving smears the color of pink blood.

Chapter 20

Andy walked a few steps through the parted crowd, then stopped. Why did this feel
like his last possible chance with... with her? Because it was. She knew everything
now. Understood everything. That he could see on her face. What he couldn't see was
her answer, her choice. It had been so long, too long? Patience and honesty was all
he had left.

"I never wanted to let you go." He waited where he stood. "You're the best thing that
ever happened to me. I left my heart with you on that bridge. I left my best friend.
Come home, Rosemarie."

One hand covered her quivering lips, the other she used for speed as Rose ran toward
him. A lifetime of memories sped through him as he watched her familiar jog: eating
crawfish at his uncle's house, breaking the board at her black belt promotion, her
valedictorian speech, her on TV, the feel of her under him, and the look on her face
the night on the bridge.

The crowd erupted into applause as she reached him, smashing her mouth to his. Ignoring
the crowd, lips and tongues danced like they'd never missed a beat. Like riding a
bike. He laced his fingers through her hair, lifting her from her feet with his other
hand. After all this time, how could she taste the same? Like home. How could she
smell the same? The peaches. He could feel her tears on his face as she wrapped both
legs around him and hung on. It was a meeting of mouths, of minds and of hearts.

When he let go, he slid her down, taking hold of the sides of her face, then pulled
back to look at her. And found everything he'd been missing.

The crowd silenced, and still neither he nor Rose looked around. Instead, he reached
down and scooped her up beneath her legs. She held onto his neck, pressing her cheek
to his shoulder and hanging on tightly in his arms.

She left Grace with the eagle. He left his worker with his SUV. They walked in silence
away from the crowd without so much as a wave good-bye.

Reaching her truck, he kissed her forehead and hung on a few more lingering minutes.

He slid her back to the ground between the truck and himself. When was the last time
he saw tears on that beautiful face? Looking at her with hands cupping her cheeks,
he used his thumbs to wipe them away.

Her mouth trembled as she spoke, "PDA." She let out a half-laugh before pulling him
in for a smooth, drawn-out kiss.

He leaned back and smiled wide. "Mmm. True," and opened the truck door. "Come with
me."

* * *

In his large ski boat, Andy and Rose slowly trolled along the coast of Seneca Lake.
Rose snuggled tightly in front of him as he drove. His heart wild, his mind void of
thought, the only feeling was of Rose tucked in front of him. She rested her head
against his shoulder, closing her eyes as the warm wind blew through her hair much
like the new path their lives were headed. Trees whisked by at a steady pace. Rose
tilted her face into him, eyes closed. She had never even asked where they were going.

The sun lowered in the sky, causing lines of stratus clouds to appear orange and pink.
The fresh smell of the water mixed with the aroma from the Tulip Poplar into a cocktail
of atmosphere.

With one hand on the steering wheel, one on the accelerator, he rested his cheek to
hers. She fit just as perfectly as she always had, nestled in the driver's seat with
him.

He felt her head turn before she spoke over the noise of the boat and the wind. "Is
this yours?"

"For the next week or two. Here." He reached in his glove box and handed her a pair
of sunglasses.

Smiling, she put them on and rested her head against his shoulder again.

He found the cove he was looking for. He dropped the anchor while she waited on one
of the padded seats at the front of the boat.

He gently pulled her forward, slipping in behind her much like he had at the wheel
of the boat. He felt like it had been a lifetime since he held her like this. He pressed
his lips just under her ear. Linking fingers with her, he whispered, "I feel whole."

Every inch of her content, Rose smiled and sighed. "Why only a week or two?"

"Hmm?" He tucked his face in her neck and chilled her when he smelled.

"Why will you have this boat for only another week or two?"

"That's when I'll unload her and the car."

She pivoted to look at him. "You're getting rid of the Maserati?"

He shook with bits of laughter. "Man toys." He pulled her back to him and ran his
lips along to her collarbone.

Closing her eyes in delirium, she focused. "Unloading?"

He tugged slightly on the shoulder of her shirt, trailing his mouth down her freshly
exposed skin. "I need the money for a down payment on a house."

She shivered, sat up and this time turned to face him head on. "I can't think straight
when you're doing that."

"We've had enough thinking to last us a very long time. Can we just be for now? We're
about to lose the daylight. You need to decide if you're all right with camping here
for the night."

Her insides woke, tightened, curled, and then everything traveled low in her stomach.
"First explain."

"Simple." He stuck his hand in a bag on the floor of the boat, pulling out two granola
bars and trail mix and handed her some. "Dinner of champions, cheers." He sat on the
seat across from her. "I can't marry you without a decent place for you to live and
we're not staying in either of our apartments."

She tried fiercely not to smile. "Don't I get a say?"

"House or apartment? Sure."

"No. Marriage." The smile took her over.

He looked around, took a deep breath in, then blew it out, letting his cheeks expand.
"Nope. Nope. You don't." He set aside the bag and stood, linked their fingers and
pulled her up. "You will never get away from me again."

Floodgates of emotion spilled around her. "I'm not hungry for food, Andy." She pulled
his hands around her, then released to copy the movement around him. Her fingers still
couldn't touch around his back. "I want to stay here for the night."

Their mouths joined in a swirl of tenderness and anticipation. He led his hand up
her back, over her neck and laced his fingers in the crops of red. Clutching a handful,
he carefully tilted her head back to sink into the kiss, parting her lips with his
tongue. His hand on her lower back pressed her closely to him.

She pulled his tucked Henley loose and her hands inside and up his back. Age had not
taken him. She could feel his heart beat rapidly, and it made her insane with need.
Sexy purrs of desire hummed low in her throat.

"Down below," she said to him. "Take me down below."

Andy didn't let go of her, just as he didn't from the time she'd ran to him that afternoon.
They twined and groped and twisted their way to below the deck of the boat.

The warm, humid air felt much like their first time, and she felt much the same yearning.
Only this time he was a man and she was a woman.

Without letting go, he held onto her hands as he locked the hatch behind him.

Patiently, she let him look into her, straight into her. Having an idea of what was
racing through his mind, she watched the expressions change as he looked at her with
flatter, then warmth, then seduction. The warm turned to hot and she braced. He grabbed
her face, thumbs on her cheeks with fingers wrapped over her ears and into her hair.
The rough feel of his hands was as sexy and male as the scent of him—clean wood, earth
and twilight.

Their mouths melted together, much like their bodies. He tilted her head farther,
deepening the kiss. She would never live without this again and knew she would never
have to. They dropped to the floor in a waterfall of need, toeing off shoes as they
went.

Andy attempted to rotate her out from beneath him, but this was no longer an inquisitive,
reserved Rose. She drove her hands down his back and over the muscle of his legs,
then traveled around to the front of him. He choked from her assault on his resolve,
making him crazy with frustration from all the damned material keeping him from her.

Impatiently, he tried to pull her shirt over her head. As it was too tight, she tried
to help and fumbled with the first button. She barely had released it before he took
her hands, grabbed at the line of buttons and muscled them apart. The sudden flash
of creamy white skin shined in the light of the setting sun. He caught his breath
and dropped his forehead to her chest. He could stay there, right there for a very
long time.

With eyes closed, he hitched one of her legs up and over his shoulder as he leaned
to her and trailed his tongue over the swell of flesh that lifted above her lace.
His insides shook. She was warm and slight sounds whimpered from her. He trailed a
hand down her neck, over the lace and down the silky skin of her waist.

Arching to him, she gasped, "Now." Sloppily, she tried to release her slacks.

He grabbed her wrists. "Me."

"Mmm." Her labored breathing was in direct contrast to the patient lift of her arms,
inviting him to finish with her clothes. He followed her lead, trailing his tongue
painfully slow as he went all the way to her feet. He traveled back up her legs, sending
her over an unexpected and brutal crest. Her fingers dug into his shoulders.

She pulled him up, and with shaky hands she could hardly control, groped off his shirt.
The feel of his body ripped a rush of memories through her. Nails scratched as she
rotated, carelessly dragging off clothing, grasping to feel every part of him along
the way. Trying to take him where he could take her. Everything around them was a
cloudy blur, with tight circles of sensation wrapping them together. She felt her
latch release and she spilled out into his hands. The only thing for them now was
flesh, hot and moist.

"Now," she repeated breathy. "I need you now."

His demanding lips kissed her as rough hands trailed down her neck, teasing circles
around her before moving his hands down and whispering, "More."

Her short nails held onto muscled flesh, this time at his back as she lifted to him
and cried out. Desperate, she struggled through the aftershocks to roll over and straddle
him. Taking his hands and linking fingers, she held on and lifted, taking him. Holding
there, joined, she closed her eyes with drunkenness before she let her head fall back.

Lifting, they began to move. She watched his eyes turn opaque with need as they sped,
the desperation of wanting to push that last bit closer, uniting. They didn't blink
as they held their gaze moving together. She saw his eyes turn from opaque to intense.

Andy drove, all control lost at the feel of her, blowing them both away with a power
that shook. As she collapsed over him, he shuttered with a need for her that he hadn't
quite satisfied. He gently rolled over, then lifted her breathlessly. With weak arms,
he picked her up and carried her to the single bed that doubled as a couch. As she
lay dizzy on her back, he took her hands, lifting them over her head and wrapped her
fingers along the small headboard. "You should hold on," and took her. Cheek to cheek,
he felt tears drip down her face until they both went over again.

Rose lay there with arms overhead, seemingly frozen in time. "Amazing," she breathed,
lifeless.

He laid his head on her chest, opening one eye to see her. "I hope I didn't set a
standard. A little pent up, you could say." Resting his cheek between her breasts,
Andy sighed. "I'm lost in love with you."