Heat of the Moment (6 page)

Even if they had, Shane realized he’d take the risk. He wanted Holly more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life.

Reaching up, he covered her breasts with his hands, enjoying the weight of them in his palms. She sighed and rocked her hips against his, rubbing herself along his shaft until he had to grit his teeth against the exquisite sensation. But when she reached down and took him in her hand, he groaned out loud. The sight of her slender fingers wrapped around his swollen flesh was incredibly erotic. He let her stroke him for several long seconds, until she slid her thumb across the crest where it glistened with moisture.

“Easy,” he grunted. “I’m not going to last if you keep that up.”

He took the condoms from her, tossing the extras aside and tearing one free from the wrapper. Holding his cock in one hand, he sheathed himself with fingers that visibly trembled. Glancing at Holly’s face, he saw her eyes were fixed on him and her face looked flushed. Her nipples thrust outward, and she continued to rock softly against him.

With his hands on her waist, Shane urged her up and fitted himself against her opening. Slowly, she eased herself down onto him and the sensation of her wet silk gripping him was so intense that Shane’s back teeth ached with the effort not to thrust hard and fast into her. Her face was a study in concentration, as if she, too, was finding it difficult to control her response. She caught her lower lip between her teeth and used her uninjured arm to brace herself against his chest. Late afternoon sun slanted through the skylights over the bed and picked out the blue highlights in her black hair. She’d closed her eyes and her lashes lay thick and dark against her flushed cheeks.

Shane wanted to look at her endlessly.

Then she began to move, sliding back and forth, rocking against him until he could no longer think. He moved his hands over her body, sliding them across the smoothness of her stomach and up over her breasts to trace the fragile line of her collarbones. Cupping the nape of her neck, he drew her down and slanted a deep, hard kiss across her mouth, thrusting his tongue against hers and matching the movement with his hips.

Holly groaned and angled her hips to increase the friction, the inner walls of her channel fisting hotly around him. Chase slid his hands to her bottom, cupping the perfect mounds of her cheeks as he drove himself upward. Holly used her thigh muscles to leverage herself back and forth along his cock, and her breasts teased his chest with each movement.

Reaching between their bodies, Shane found the slippery rise of her clitoris and swirled his finger over it, swallowing her soft gasps. Her movement quickened and she made an inarticulate sound of pleasure deep in her throat. Shane felt her muscles begin to contract, pulling him deeper. Her flesh clenched tightly around him, squeezing and milking him as spasms wracked her body. White-hot bolts of pure lust jack-knifed through him. He thrust deeper, intense pleasure gathering in the base of his cock and exploding outward. With a hoarse cry, he stiffened and wave after wave of release crashed over him, leaving him weak and shaking.

Slowly, he became aware that Holly lay boneless on top of him, her slender thighs still bracketing his own. She turned her face into his neck and her breath fanned his overheated skin.

“Wow,” she breathed. “That was…unbelievable.”

Silently, Shane agreed. Sex with Holly was off the charts. He should feel guilty about what they’d just done. She was his best friend’s sister, the only daughter of a man he both esteemed and admired,
and
she outranked him. All good reasons why he should never have touched her in the first place. But he found he couldn’t feel any regrets for something that he’d dreamed about doing for the past three years, since their last encounter. Even longer than that, if he was honest with himself.

He’d wanted Holly Durant since before she’d followed him into her father’s wine cellar and kissed the hell out of him seven years ago. He’d been infatuated with her since the day she’d first walked into Benjamin’s Drugstore as a giggling fifteen-year-old and had innocently sipped a drink while watching him work the counter.

As he’d gotten to know her better, he’d realized the sweet, southern belle image that she presented to the world was just a façade. Beneath the seemingly delicate exterior was a fiercely independent woman. Shane found the combination irresistible. She was also smart and supremely athletic. Shane had once watched her swim across the lake and back again on a dare from her brother. Nobody could tell Holly that she was incapable of doing something; she had a competitive nature and simply couldn’t resist picking up the gauntlet once it had been thrown down.

Sometimes, Shane wondered if that wasn’t the reason she wanted him. She liked the challenge; the thrill of the hunt. But what would she do once she finally caught him? If he gave her any indication that he felt more than just a physical attraction for her? At first she’d be thrilled, thinking she’d won. But once the novelty had worn off, he suspected that she would run as fast as possible in the opposite direction.

Sliding her to one side, he discreetly disposed of the condom and then gathered her back against him, taking care not to disturb her injured arm.

She shifted and propped her chin on her fist as she looked at him. “Hey,” she said softly. “You okay?”

Afraid she would see how he felt, Shane didn’t meet her eyes. Instead, he kissed her mouth and drew her back down to nestle against his chest. “Yeah. I’m perfect.”

She gave a soft laugh. “Yes, you are.”

Her hair tickled his jaw and he breathed in the clean scent, relishing the feel of her body pressing him into the mattress. He had a sudden moment of utter panic that this might be the only time they would have together, and he tightened his arm reflexively around her, holding her firmly against his heart.

Was this what he had felt the day of the attack, when Holly’s life had been in danger? As hard as he tried, he couldn’t remember anything about that day, but he suspected that what he felt now didn’t come close to the sheer horror he’d experienced then. There was a part of him that couldn’t even contemplate a world without Holly Durant in it.

Shane didn’t know how long Holly intended to stay at the lake house, or if her parents might follow her. For all he knew, they could arrive at any time. Nor did he want to risk Holly finding out how he really felt about her. Either way, he couldn’t stay. He had to leave. There was no other option. They could both be court-martialed for what they had just done. The only certainty that Shane had in his life right now was the military, and he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize that.

“Holly—”

She raised her head and laid a finger across his lips. Looking into her eyes, Shane saw that she had already anticipated his words.

“Shh,” she whispered. “Don’t say it. You’ll ruin it.”

Shane looked mutely at her. The words had to be said. Right now, she probably thought she’d won; that she’d finally caught him. But he couldn’t deceive her into believing that they had any kind of a future together. They absolutely didn’t.

“I know what you’re going to say,” she continued, “and I understand all the reasons why you think this can’t work.” She studied him somberly. “I won’t argue with you or try to dissuade you, but I want to ask you for a favor. Will you listen?”

Shane sighed inwardly, but couldn’t prevent one corner of his mouth from lifting into a reluctant smile. He didn’t think there was a man alive who could say no to Holly when she had her heart set on something. So without knowing what she might ask of him, he nodded.

“I’ve been crazy about you for almost ten years,” she finally said, as if choosing her words with careful deliberation. “You know that, right?” She gave a rueful laugh. “Forget I asked that. How could you not know? I’ve thrown myself at you every chance I’ve had. Like now.”

Shane blew out a hard breath. He
had
known Holly had a crush on him, but hearing her say she was crazy about him was like receiving a hard blow to the solar plexus, since he couldn’t give her what she wanted. If she even knew what she wanted. Even if his suspicions were wrong and she really did care for him, eventually, he’d hurt her.

“You
think
you’re crazy about me,” he said quietly, threading his fingers through the silken strands of her hair. “But the truth is you don’t even know me. You’re infatuated with some romantic image that you’ve carried around in your head since you were a teenager, but that’s not me, Holly. I’m a realist. I don’t have a romantic bone in my body.”

He thought she would become defensive, or act hurt. Instead, she smiled ruefully and ran the pad of her thumb over his lower lip, dragging softly at it before leaning forward to press a moist kiss on his mouth.

“Maybe you’re right,” she finally answered. “But that’s what makes my proposition so perfect.”

Shane’s body tightened in wary anticipation. “Proposition?” he repeated warily. “You said you wanted to ask a favor.”

She shrugged and warm color bloomed in her chest and neck. “A favor. A proposition. Call it what you want.”

“I’m listening.”

Holly ventured a glance at him, and Shane saw the cautious hope in her coffee-dark eyes. She chewed on her lower lip for a moment as she considered him. “Okay,” she finally said, “but first you have to promise that you won’t say no without at least giving this some thought. You can’t deny that we have chemistry, right?”

Shane thought of what they’d just shared and gave a small huff of laughter. The periodic table didn’t contain enough elements to adequately describe what happened when he and Holly came together. Pure combustion.

He rubbed a short tendril of her hair reflexively between his thumb and forefinger, admiring the texture. “I don’t deny it,” he replied.

“And you just said that I don’t know the real you.”

“Right.”

“But I think I know you well enough to guess that after today, you’ll insist on leaving the lake house.”

Shane was silent. She did know him, it seemed.

“I don’t want you to leave,” Holly continued after a moment. “In fact, I’m going to propose that we both stay here and explore this…this thing between us, whatever it is.”

Shane’s gaze sharpened on her, certain she was joking, but her expression was somber. “Holly…”

“I won’t ask you for anything you’re not ready to give. I just want—I just want—” She gathered her courage. “I just want
you.
For however long you’re willing to stay.”

Shane studied her earnest features. “So let me make sure I understand what you’re saying. You want the two of us to stay here at the lake house together, and you won’t have any expectations of something permanent.”

Her lips quirked into a sad sort of smile. “Right.”

“And what if you want more, but I decide it’s just great sex?” Shane didn’t think that would ever be the case with him and Holly, but he had to ask the question. He already knew that what he felt went beyond mere physical attraction, but he had to be certain that when the time came, she would let him go. He couldn’t give her the happily ever after that she wanted, but he didn’t want to hurt her.

Holly drew in a careful breath and Shane could see her struggling to find the right words. “I’ve thought about this more often than you could imagine. I promise that I won’t ask for more than you’re willing to give, and I won’t make a scene if you decide you have to leave.”

“Can you do that?” Shane asked quietly.

“I’ve been doing it for the past few years, haven’t I?” She swirled a finger over the small nub of his nipple. “After my graduation party, when we spent the night together in the boathouse, I woke up and you were gone. You didn’t even say goodbye.”

Her tone was light, but Shane heard the soft, underlying accusation and knew he’d hurt her. But what she didn’t understand was that he’d had to get out of there while he could. He’d known that if he stayed long enough for her to wake up, he’d take one look at those soulful dark eyes and he’d have been lost.

He’d have never left her if he thought there was any other way. But she’d just received her commission and her family was so damned proud of her, and she deserved more than a kid who’d opted for a GED rather than finish high school, and lived with his alcoholic father in a crappy apartment over the drugstore.

But to spend the next few weeks at the lake house with Holly, pretending they didn’t have other responsibilities or demands? To spend all day, every day, in her exclusive company? To make love to her again? It was like every fantasy he’d ever had was finally coming true. He’d be a complete idiot not to take full advantage of what she was offering. Except that in the end, he would still leave her. He hesitated.

“Your family. What if your parents come out here?”

“They won’t,” she assured him, sliding sensuously against him. “I told them I needed some time alone and they’ll respect that.” She drew one hand down the side of his body, tracing her cool fingers over the small muscles of his ribcage. When she reached his stomach and began playing with the whorl of hair beneath his navel, he couldn’t prevent his body from reacting to her. “But even if they did come out here, they’d probably be thrilled to find us together. My mother always had a soft spot for you, and my dad once said he thought you had what it took to be a fine officer. He respects you.”