Trust Me (30 page)

His finger touched the very tip of her breast and stayed there, brushing the nipple ever so lightly.

Several seconds passed as they stared at each other, held by an attraction that was stronger than Skye's ability to resist it. Then, slowly, she reached up and untied the bow that held the top of her dress in place.

As the fabric dropped, she knew by the look on his face that nothing would stop them now.

With a low growl, David cupped the soft flesh of Skye's breasts while using his tongue to explore every inch of her mouth. Then he shifted, because in some dim, scarcely thinking part of his brain he knew he needed to lock the door.

"Making love won't help anything," he muttered, but clicked the dead bolt into place.

"I don't expect it to change anything," she said. "You can walk away afterward, forget about me."

Obviously, she had no idea how much she meant to him. "You think if we have sex we'll be able to move on as if it never happened?"

"Yes," she said confidently.

But David suspected that was her own need talking. Regardless, he was in too deep to back out now. His hands were lifting her skirt....

Somehow, amid the breathless, frenzied groping he managed to pull back long enough to admire her, to take in what he'd been dying to see since he'd first met her in that hospital room. Sympathy and righteous anger had come before desire, but not by much. He'd wanted her from the beginning, hadn't he? Even with his divorce barely behind him, even with a much more idealistic view of his ability to resist the temptation she posed, he'd wanted her.

Staring at the smooth curve of her left breast, his hand shook as he rubbed the tip against his palm. When she gasped and shivered at the contact, he took advantage of her parted lips to kiss her again. 'Tell me you're on birth control," he muttered several crazed seconds later.

She froze. "No. I--I haven't made love in years."

The only condoms he possessed were probably still in the nightstand next to the bed he'd shared with Lynnette. But he couldn't stand the disappointment filling her eyes--knew he wouldn't be able to stand his own disappointment if they had to stop now. "I'll pull out," he said.

She didn't verbally agree, but her hands were almost frantic in their attempt to unfasten his pants. And when she touched him, he felt every 190

muscle in his body quiver in response.

It'll be okay, he thought. I'll pull out. There's nothing to worry about.

But the moment he got her panties down and felt her close around him, so warm and tight, he knew he was asking too much of himself. Although he'd never had problems taking the necessary time, he feared he was going to embarrass himself today. And, sure enough, as she locked her legs around him, he felt his control slip.

He didn't have the staying power he normally did. Not with her. He was about to warn her, but every moment felt so indescribably wonderful he put it off another second and another--until she shuddered and whispered his name, and that was it. He couldn't hold off another second, another fraction of a heartbeat. He finally forced himself to withdraw, but he was pretty sure he hadn't done it soon enough.

"We might be in trouble," he whispered as they both slumped against the wall, trying to catch their breath.

But it wasn't until his heart rate had returned to normal that he fully appreciated what that might mean.

"That was stupid," he muttered.

Skye didn't comment, wouldn't even look at him. Which told him he needed to swallow the disappointment he felt in his own irresponsible actions and shut up. She didn't need anything else to worry about, not after everything she'd been through already. Besides, what were the chances that this encounter would result in a pregnancy? He knew it happened, but it wasn't all that common, was it?

"You okay?" he asked as they cleaned up.

She nodded but wouldn't really give him her full attention. Instead, she focused on retying the halter part of her dress and using the mirror to fix the strands of hair he'd knocked loose from the clips that held it up.

He reached over to straighten the sad-looking bow at her neck, but she stepped away. "It's fine. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about anything, okay?"

Their eyes finally met in the mirror. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.

She offered him a tremulous smile. "Just what I said. It was...nothing.

A moment of weakness, that's all. Don't beat yourself up over it."

"Skye--"

"I have to get back to the fund-raiser." She took a last peek in the mirror, rubbed away some smeared lipstick and hurried out.

David wasn't sure how to interpret her reaction. She probably didn't know what to make of what had just occurred any more than he did. A torrid 191

affair wasn't characteristic of either one of them.

He considered going after her. He knew they should talk. But he needed a few minutes to come to grips with what he was feeling--the resulting euphoria, his desire for more of the same and the cold, clawing fear that once might prove damaging enough.

He thought of his son. He'd left Jeremy at home with a babysitter so he could corner Skye in a hotel bathroom. Way to do exactly what you 'd been trying to avoid, you idiot.

And he'd told himself he'd be safe. That there'd be people here.

Still, he couldn't bring himself to completely regret the encounter. He hadn't experienced anything so emotionally intense since...he couldn't remember another time. He'd always been able to think straight, to act cautiously, no matter what he was doing.

Stepping up to the sink, he splashed some cold water on his face and was drying his hands when he heard a knock at the door.

"Dave? You in there?"

Tiny. Now he decided to appear....

David opened the door and sent his friend an irritated look. "It's a little late for the cavalry, don't you think?"

"I told you not to count on me. Besides, how was I supposed to know where you'd gone?"

"There aren't a lot of options around here."

Tiny grinned knowingly. "I figured my timing might be a little off when I saw Skye come into the ballroom looking so..."

"So what?"

"Rumpled." FromTiny's mischievous grin, David knew he'd just resisted the impulse to state her flustered appearance in a cruder fashion.

"Do I look as 'rumpled'?" David asked, trying to brush the wrinkles from his clothes.

Tiny clapped him on the shoulder and started leading him back to the ballroom. "No, youjust look satisfied," he said with a laugh. But Tiny was wrong. David wasn't satisfied. That encounter in the bathroom had only increased his appetite.

"You're quiet tonight," Charlie said to Skye as they danced to the band's rendition of Celine Dion's "All By Myself."

"I'm just tired," she said. And she still had a long night ahead of her.

The fund-raiser wasn't even half over. She would've gone home--she'd already achieved that lunch date with the senator, which was as much as she could aspire to in her current frame of mind--but she couldn't face the thought of returning to the delta house alone.

192

"There're a lot of people here. At five hundred bucks a head, you guys have raised some good money tonight."

It was a struggle to get through the small talk, even when it concerned The Last Stand. But Skye didn't want to concentrate on the lyrics to the song, either. They were especially poignant after her encounter with David and the emptiness she felt in knowing he considered it a mistake.

That was stupid....

Maybe so. But she couldn't keep herself from reliving every moment.

She could still smell his cologne on her clothes. And when she closed her eyes, she could feel him inside her....

"Skye?" Charlie said.

Opening her eyes, Skye searched her recent memory for his last comment. He'd been talking about the fund-raiser, the money... "I won't know the exact amount until we close. That's when we're doing the direct drive."

"What's that?"

She could feel David's gaze on her from where he stood at the periphery of the room. He'd been watching her ever since they'd left the bathroom, but he hadn't approached.

Realizing that she owed Charlie more attention than she'd been giving him, she forced herself to smile and put some cheer into her voice. "We're going to have several of our past clients tell their stories. Then we'll ask people to raise their paddles if they're willing to commit $10,000 to help them and others like them."

"Ten thousand dollars? You really think people will step up and pledge that amount?"

"I do. The money helps victims now, fulfills an immediate need, which is very motivating, especially once you see what some poor souls have suffered."

She was afraid he might make another reference to her own experience with violent crime or the shooting, but he didn't. He must've gotten the hint when she left the table earlier.

"I saw a burn victim when I first got here."

"That's Gina Wilkinson. She's on the program."

"What happened to her?"

"Five years ago, she told her husband she wanted a divorce and was nearly burned alive when he drugged her and set fire to the house that very night. She lost one of her twin boys to the blaze." Skye's voice softened as she thought about Gina. "She's a powerful speaker."

"That's tragic," he said. "But...ten thousand dollars is a lot. What if no 193

one feels they have that much?"

"The bids go down from there. The last call is at the hundred-dollar level."

"Since I didn't pay to get in here, I think I can handle that much, at least." As Charlie turned her to the music, he must've spotted David watching them because he jerked his head in David's direction. "What's up between you and that detective? Are you guys seeing each other or something?"

Skye cleared her throat. "No."

"Well, he won't let you out of his sight. I think he wants to hook up with you."

He already had. She'd never experienced a frenzy like that. She tingled at the memory of it. But she knew allowing herself to want more was crazy. Her life was spinning out of control. Tonight she'd pulled up her dress in a hotel bathroom for a man who planned to remarry his ex-wife. Last night she'd shot and killed an intruder.

What would she do next?

"He's here because he's helping me with a case," she said. She didn't mention that it was her own case.

The song came to an end, and Charlie let go of her. But Skye didn't want to sit down, didn't want to create an opportunity for David to speak to her. It seemed easiest to pass the time in the middle of the dance floor, buffered from deep conversation by the loud music. "Want to keep dancing?"

Charlie hesitated, obviously reluctant, but he acquiesced when she moved closer. "Okay, I guess. If you do," he said, but he'd just slipped his arms around her waist when David put a hand on his shoulder. "Mind if I cut in?"

Charlie shot Skye a meaningful glance and stepped back. "Not at all.

I'm ready for a drink."

Then Skye found herself in David's arms, swaying slowly to "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston.

David didn't say anything as they danced. He was holding Skye a little too close for propriety, knew it wouldn't look good if anyone decided to notice, but he couldn't seem to stop himself. All he could think about was her openmouthed kisses, and making her gasp and moan and call out his name the way she had only thirty minutes before. He wanted to rent a room, but that fell under the category of "premeditated," which was even worse than a "hit and run" in the bathroom.

Still, he'd already screwed up and would be paying a heavy price.

194

Why not make the evening worth the repercussions?

He imagined running a shower and letting the water cascade over Skye's breasts as he licked away the drops. He could go out and buy some condoms first, meet her later. Then no one would see them leave together.

But if they were going to rendezvous, they needed to make the arrangements now. His babysitter couldn't stay too late.

"Will you get a room with me?" he murmured.

Skye pulled back a few inches. There was a touch of surprise in her expression and also something else, something he couldn't name. "Tonight?"

"Yes." If he didn't act immediately, guilt would set in. Then he wouldn't be able to indulge the cravings that were driving him mad.

I know you'll make the right decision. You 're a good man....

Mentally, he shook his head, trying to rid himself of that echo. The hunger was too strong, too visceral to keep fighting it. Maybe, if he succumbed and made love to Skye until he was satiated, he'd be able to control his wayward desires and start over, behave more rationally.

"Are you asking what I think you're asking?" Her eyebrows drew together in confusion.

"I didn't get enough. Did you?" He smiled for Sheridan's benefit; she was watching them from a few feet away, where she was dancing with her own date. He turned Skye slightly, away from Sheridan's prying eyes, and whispered in her ear, "I'm dying to make love to you again."

"And you want to get a room here?"

"Unless you'd rather go somewhere else."

She angled her hips to exert more pressure on his groin, and he felt his blood rush south. The smell of her, the feel of her--it was absolutely intoxicating. He couldn't even think of Lynnette when he held Skye in his arms.

"But you'll go back to her, right?" she said. "You're already planning on it."

If he ever wanted to look himself in the eye again, he had to.

When he didn't respond, she stiffened and tried to draw away. "Forget it."

"Wait. I--I don't really have a choice," he finally answered.

The hurt in her eyes wounded him more than any cutting words she could've uttered. "Then I don't have a choice, either, David. I won't take the leftovers. Just...just leave me alone, okay?"

"Wait! That's not how it--"

"Ms. Kellerman?"

Skye had begun to free herself from his grasp, but David didn't want 195

her to walk out on him before he could say something to make her understand. He hung on, only to be blinded by the flash of a camera.