Night Music (14 page)

“She ought to know better,” Marsh finished, and strode out of his house.

“Who are you to say my granddaughter isn’t suitable! She’s a damn sight more suitable than your family deserves!”

Lettice gaped at Marshall, absolutely speechless. Less than two minutes ago he had roared up her driveway and roared into her home. She had expected her grandson to throw himself onto Hilary in a fit of rebellion. Instead he’d thrown Marsh at her. She had to give Devlin credit for one-upping her. And she had been wondering how to blast Marsh out of his hiding place since the fishing trip. This wasn’t what she’d had in mind, however.

“Someone should have paddled you years ago, woman!” Marsh shouted, looming over her as she stood in the center of her sitting room.

“I never would have thought you were so kinky, Marshall,” she said as she regained a shred of composure.

His eyes bulged and his face turned bright red. Obviously he was attempting to hold on to his temper. Lettice raised her chin in defiance. If she
was going down for the count, it would be fighting all the way.

“You should be so lucky,” he snapped. “How dare you say such a thing about my granddaughter.”

Lettice tried a calm tone. “I like Hilary very much. I admire her greatly. But, Marsh, you’ve said yourself that Devlin and she aren’t suitable—the last time you came blasting in here, remember?”

“I said your grandson wasn’t suitable for my granddaughter. There is a
big
difference, and one that has nothing to do with your snobbish attitude.”

“If one isn’t suitable, then clearly the other isn’t suitable,” she argued logically. “Although your attitude is just as snobbish in its way. Still, you’re right. They are not suitable for each other. I do not understand why you’re fussing, now that I finally agree with you.”

He shook his head in frustration. “Because you aren’t agreeing with me. I told you once to leave my granddaughter alone, and I’m telling you now for the last time.”

“But I
have
left Hilary alone.” She gave him an arch look. “You’re the one who’s butted in. Look at you now, butting and fussing. Are you sure you’re not protesting too much?”

Marshall stiffened. Lettice could see him struggle for words and braced herself. He looked like a volcano about to blow.

“Not! No! Ridic—!” He pointed a finger at her. “You!”

Then he turned and stormed out of the house.

Lettice let out her breath and sank gratefully into the nearest chair. She had never seen Marsh quite so mad before—and that was saying something.
Devlin never should have repeated her words to him. She’d certainly never expected him to. That silly child, she thought, then corrected herself.
This silly old woman
. She never should have said it to Devlin in the first place. If Devlin had told Marshall, would he also tell Hilary? She hadn’t considered that. The last thing she wanted was to hurt Hilary. She’d only thought to motivate her grandson. If she disapproved, then he would automatically approve. Maybe she was just a meddling old fool after all.

Mamie, her housekeeper, poked her head around the dining room archway. “You okay?”

Lettice nodded. “No bones broken.”

“Lucky you.”

Lettice gave Mamie her regal look. “I could cut your Christmas bonus.”

Mamie sniffed. “You’ve been threatening that for thirty years.”

“There’s always a first time.” Lettice smiled wryly. “By the way, I don’t believe Dr. Rayburn will be having lunch with me.”

“I had that feeling,” Mamie murmured.

“I’m back,” Devlin said.

“So I see,” Hilary said.

“You did say we could talk in the morning,” he reminded her.

“I did say that, didn’t I.”

“It’s morning.”

“Late morning.”

“Still morning.”

Two minutes more, Hilary thought in resignation, and she would have been gone. That is, if she hadn’t overslept, she would have been gone. If she hadn’t had a restless night, she wouldn’t have
overslept, and she would have been gone. If she hadn’t thought she’d fallen in love, she wouldn’t have had a restless night, and she wouldn’t have overslept, and she would have been gone.…

Hilary got off the mental merry-go-round. She’d ridden one merry-go-round all night over what she was feeling for him, and she wasn’t about to start another. Still, she opened the door wider and gestured for him to enter. Whatever she was feeling, she had come to a decision this morning. A decision she intended to keep.

Devlin walked inside. Hilary shut the door and instantly felt trapped. She had to force herself to turn around and face him.

He was wearing jeans and a soft chambray shirt, whose blue color intensified the startling contrast of his blue-green eyes and tanned skin. Rather than suppress, the clothes contributed to the sensuality he always exuded. She felt light-headed and more confused than ever. She walked past him and into her living room.

“I’ve thought about where we should go,” he began, following her. “Somewhere that the grandparents would enjoy, feel comfortable in. So I eliminated Hedonism One and Two. However, a cruise would be ideal. You said you didn’t get seasick on a cruise—”

“Devlin,” she interrupted. “We need to talk about something else. Please, sit down.”

Eyeing her warily, he sat on her sofa. To her surprise, he didn’t slouch like the first time. She sat in a chair opposite him.

“I’m not going away with you,” she said, folding her hands on her lap. “I’m not doing any more of this matchmaking. It’s over.”

“But why?” he asked.

He looked shocked, and that surprised her too. She had her answer ready, though. “Because we’re not making progress with them. We’re kidding ourselves that they’ll ever get together. They’re both too set in their ways. It’s over, Devlin. We made a valiant try, but it’s over.”

“One lousy fishing trip is not a valiant try!” he argued.

“It’s hopeless. Let’s just admit it and be done.”

“Has my grandmother talked to you this morning?” he asked.

“No,” she said, puzzled. “Not since we left the dinner party. Why?”

“No reason.” He stood up and began to pace the room. “Look, Hilary, I think our grandparents are worth all the effort we can put into them.” He stopped in front of her chair and gazed down at her. “I think if we get them into a setting where they can’t retreat to their respective corners as usual … where they’re forced into each other’s company over a period of time … they’ll have to deal with each other. They’ve been lonely for a lot of years, too many years. Your grandfather’s sinking into a deep depression: You said so yourself. Think of this as one all-out, last-ditch effort.”

He looked so earnest, so pleading, that her heart flipped over. She forced herself to be strong. “Devlin, really. Nothing’s worked so far—”

“Exactly!” he broke in. “Hilary, I’ve been … selfish about a lot of things. For a lot of years. I’d like to make it up … to a lot of people. My grandmother’s one of them.”

“I understand how you feel,” she said slowly, trying to find the proper words. His own words nearly broke her willpower. “There are things I would like to make up to my grandfather. But
there are things we can’t make up. This is one of them.”

“When the hell did you turn into me?” he asked, his hands clenching. “Dammit, you’re not giving things a chance—”

Hilary couldn’t stand it. She jumped up and started to walk out of the room. “I can’t! I just can’t!”

Devlin was after her, grabbing her arm and spinning her around before she reached the doorway. “Why can’t you? I don’t understand.…”

His voice trailed away as he stared into her eyes. Emotions, uncontrollable and irrepressible, ran through her. His body was so close to hers, the air between them felt squeezed.

“What’s the problem, Hilary?” he asked, awareness glowing in his eyes. “This?”

His mouth covered hers.

Nine

Her mouth was soft, incredibly soft, even though he’d taken her by surprise. A man could easily lose himself in her and not resurface for days, Dev thought, pulling her closer. It was always like this with her.

As he’d looked into her eyes, he’d known what the problem was. It was her. She wanted him, and she was afraid of what he stirred in her. Even now her hands were clutching his upper arms, ready to push him away. But she didn’t. She pressed her body more tightly to his.

He wanted her with an intensity that shocked him. He wanted everything with her.

She pulled back when he would have deepened the kiss, turning her face away and unintentionally exposing the creamy flesh of her neck. He couldn’t resist and planted tiny, almost biting kisses just under her ear, then soothed them away with his tongue.

She gasped, her nails digging into his muscles. The pleasure-pain they created was potent.

“Devlin, please.”

“What do you want me to please?” he murmured against her warm skin. Why had he ever thought her cold?

“I don’t know,” she whispered back. Her hands crept up around his shoulders. “I shouldn’t. I can’t.”

“Hilary, this isn’t for show,” he said, lifting his head and looking straight into her eyes. “The hell with the show. This is for us.”

The moment the words left his mouth, he knew they sounded like a line, one of many he’d used without compunction on women in the past. He meant them this time, though, and he had the sinking feeling they would cause the rejection he was desperate to avoid.

A shudder ran through her, then her lips were on his again. Their tongues instantly mated, swirling together in a frenzy of need. His head spun with the sensations she created, and his blood pulsed thickly through his veins. He ran his hands down her spine, wanting to protect her and yet crush her to him at the same time. The way Hilary responded, beyond anything he had a right to expect, was a constant amazement for him. With each new thing he discovered about her, he was bound to her even more. She generated a lot of emotional bonds without even trying, and much as he had fought them, he hadn’t been able to stop them. A deep satisfaction ran through him at the notion.

Every coherent thought flew out of his head as a little moan escaped her. He reached up and knotted his hands in her hair, pulling her head back and deepening the kiss even more. Minutes seemed to stretch into eternity as the sweet taste
of her became his only focus. But then the need to touch skin, flesh to flesh, grew desperately.

“The bedroom,” he gasped, burying his face in her hair. He tried to regain enough control to make their lovemaking proper, to take care of her. This was Hilary, and he wanted it perfect.

“No … here … now,” she murmured.

“What?” He hadn’t heard right, he thought dimly.

“Please, Devlin.” Her mouth was on his again, like a white-hot fire.

“But …”

Without another word she pulled him down to the living room floor.

Protests and questions were on his lips, but he resisted the urge to say them. He didn’t know what had happened to the Ms. Prim Hilary he knew, but he didn’t want the magic to stop.

Clothes disappeared in a fumble of fingers. He touched her everywhere, kissed her everywhere, grateful for the gift she was giving him. Her skin was soft, softer than he’d ever imagined. Her breasts fit his hand as if made for him, the nipples tight with her need. He traced them with his tongue, teased them with his lips, pulled first one, then the other into his mouth, tasting the honeyed flesh. He traced the curves of her body, and the satiny feel of her skin drove his control to the breaking point.

Hilary clawed at him, giving herself up to the sensations Devlin created within her. A primitive wildness rampaged through her, and she couldn’t stop, even if she wanted to. And she didn’t. Not now, not ever. All her resistance had evaporated the moment he looked at her and knew what she was trying to deny. She had known, too, that he’d
meant it when he said this was just for them. Those words had broken the final barrier for her. Their desire had grown despite the way they fought each other, and neither of them could resist any longer. She had never taken any true risks in her life. She had never wanted to—until now. It might be, just might be, that Devlin felt the same way she did. She couldn’t risk not having that. She couldn’t wait any longer.

His hands sparked a blinding heat as his mouth lifted her to the brink of sensual insanity. His skin was like smooth, hard steel beneath her hands. She delighted in the feel of the dark, silky hair that covered his chest, and she traced the line of it down beyond his waist. She tested her hands against the firm muscles of his thighs, the rougher hair of his legs almost tickling the sensitive flesh of her palms.

His fingers caressed her thighs, then found the inner softness of her, stroking her until she was groaning and writhing with her need of him. It was instinctive for her to give him the same kind of pleasure, to feel the same kind of need in him. The unique scent of him filled her nostrils, imprinted itself forever on her brain. She could taste his heat on her lips. Just when she thought she would explode from denial, he pulled her under him and plunged inside her.

She gasped at the way every inch of them fit perfectly together … at the rightness of it. Nothing had ever felt so right before. He buried his face in her neck. His lips were feverish on her skin, his breath hot and rasping. They moved together instantly, triggered by the same internal signals. They ebbed and flowed as one, the love swirling in and out as they surrendered to the eternal intimacy
that bound man and woman to each other. Hilary clung to Devlin, and he clung to her, as emotions and need clashed together in a final crescendo, bringing them to the quiet peace of oblivion.