Too Grand for Words (BookStrand Publishing Romance) (26 page)

She turned in his arms. “You can’t promise that. No one can make a promise like that,” she said.

He leaned forward and brushed her lips with a kiss. “I just did promise, and I don’t break my promises.” He cuddled her. “We’re both tired. Let’s just sit down and relax,” he whispered into her hair.

She resisted.

He didn’t want to let her go, but he couldn’t stop her. His real fear was that he’d never see her again, and that thought made him cold.

“You say I won’t ask for anything—you’re wrong. I asked you before what you want from me, because frankly I don’t have anything to give. You keep dropping hints as if there are tomorrows for us. There aren’t. I told you that already. I live in another country, far away from you. I’m not scared of you, I’m scared for you. I don’t belong here. I don’t belong in your world, and I’m not willing to take the chance that something will happen to you.” She pulled herself from his grasp, and put some space between them.

Anger started to fire on all cylinders inside him, but it was anger born from frustration. “Do you want to know the truth, Moira? I’ll tell you what I told my brother this evening.”

She clasped her hands together, her chin jutting in the air as he took a step toward her. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because I’m going to tell you the truth, you always want to hear that—right?” he said.

Moira’s gaze swung to everything around her, except him. “I’m going to go. It’s been a long day. You need some sleep and so do I.”

Obviously, she didn’t. He let her get halfway to the door. “Stay with me, Moira. Please, don’t walk out that door, because if you do, I know I’ll never see you again.” She stopped in her tracks. “I’ve blocked myself from everyone except my family. I haven’t trusted a soul, especially women. You’re not the only one who’s lived a lonely life, but I never felt alone, until I met you.”

She toed the carpet, concentrating on her foot. “I think I would go crazy wondering all the time, if I were you. Not knowing if the woman you’re with wants you for who you are. At least—that’s what Mandy thinks, and she’s a smart woman. Just by looking at someone, she somehow knows who’s good and who’s—not so good.”

Mandy was an honest, down-to-earth kind of person, a lot like Moira in many ways. He knew how to read people as well, and he guessed that Mandy would be able to read him. “And what does she think of me?”

She turned to face him. A tear rolled down her cheek. “She—she thinks you’re a decent man and that you want more than a vacation fling.”

“She’s right.”

“A man like you is not supposed to look twice at someone like me. It’s like a freak of nature, where a dog and cat fall in love.”

“Are you falling in love with me, Moira?” he whispered. It was a good thing he had a strong heart, because he honestly thought it was about to explode.

“No.”

“You’re lying.” He pulled his jacket off, and tossed it over the dining room chair. “If you’re bent on leaving, answer me one question before you go?”

She wrapped her arms around herself, waiting.

“Why do I miss you? I’ve never missed anyone before. I hate the feeling I get when I’m not with you. That means something right?”

“Las Vegas is all about indulgence, Steven. You came here for business and pleasure. I came here for a break as well. We–we’re friends,” she stuttered.

“Friends?” He squeezed his lips together to stop from grinning. “I don’t make love to my friends, Moira. They don’t touch me, like you touch me. When I leave them, I don’t think about them every second I’m away from them.”

She quickly brushed a tear away from her cheek, and looked him straight in the eyes. “Sometimes two people simply see something in each other that they can relate to or maybe it’s desire or want, I don’t know. They feel comfortable together, for a while, but then it always falls apart.”

“I don’t believe that you want anything from me, even though you know I could give you anything you wanted. Every woman I’ve ever met had dollars signs winking in their eyes when they found out who I was, except you. I can read people, too, Moira. I can read you.” Letting out the breath he’d been holding, he waited.

“I don’t want anything from you. I just want to leave Las Vegas with my heart intact.” Her expression crumpled. “You don’t understand.” She bit her lip, but she couldn’t stop the tears. “You’re inching your way into my heart.”

He had her in his arms before she could even think about escaping. He lifted her into the air and twirled her around. It shocked her right out of her tears. “I don’t normally believe in fate, Moira. I think we make our own. At least”—he paused—“we can change it if we want to. I lost seven years with you. Sweetheart, it was the biggest mistake of my life not coming to find you then.”

“Steven, you’re acting crazy.” She pushed her hands against his shoulders, trying to scramble away from him.

“I’m crazy all right.” He set her on her feet, burying his fingers in her hair. “I’m crazy about you, and I’m not making the same mistake again,” he said.

“What?” Her jaw slackened.

An enormous grin spread across his lips. “I said”—he paused, watching the shock change to disbelief—“I’m not making the same mistake again.” He leaned over and kissed her, and kept kissing her.

“Steven.” She pulled away from him, gasping for breath.

“God damn it, woman, if you say one more time we don’t belong together, you’re getting a spanking.”

Her lips formed an immediate “O.” “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Ya wanna bet?”

She closed her mouth immediately, taking his warning to heart. Good thing, too, because he would have done just that.

She let him guide her to the couch. She laid her head against his chest, and he folded her in his arms. “You’re right, it’s been a long day. The best kind of day.” Nothing could wipe the grin off his face. “Moira—”

She straddled his lap.

“I’m not a writer like you, but I can tell you that your beautiful eyes to your warm heart, in three days has changed my life—changed me, just by being you.”

“I think the near miss tonight made you nuts.”

He kissed her sweetly. “You saved my life—again.”

“You were doing the flying. You’re the one who saved our lives, after my gypsy curse almost dragged us from the sky.”

“If you hadn’t seen that other chopper we’d be in a pile of metal at the bottom of the canyon. I don’t believe for one fucking second that you’re cursed, and if you are, then I’ll find a way to break it.”

“Steven, be serious.”

“I am serious, even if it means importing a witch doctor from the heart of Africa to bathe you in chicken blood.”

She snorted. “You probably would, wouldn’t you?”

“I’ll drag your sweet ass to the four corners of the earth, and shoot you into space if I have to, but at the end of the day, I know I’m right.”

She wrapped her arms around him, and hugged him tightly. “I don’t think I should ask.”

“You’re not an angel of darkness, Moira, you’re just my angel. It doesn’t matter if we met in Las Vegas, or a coffee shop on a corner in Vancouver. You could have been standing in the rain, under an umbrella at a bus stop, and you would have stopped my world right there.” Her green eyes gazed into his. She was still trying to figure him out. She kissed his cheek, and curled into his chest without a word.

It wasn’t long before she fell asleep. He gently picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.

“I should go home,” she said dreamily, waking in his arms.

He slipped her clothes off and tucked the sheets around her small frame. She snuggled in as he sat on the edge of the bed. He stayed with her until he could see she was asleep again. His heart softened as he looked into her peaceful face. She did remind him of an angel.

“You are home, Moira,” he whispered. “You’re home wherever I am.” He kissed her forehead and wandered back into the living room.

He poured a finger of scotch and downed it in one gulp as he looked out at the expanse of lights and the darkness of the desert sitting behind the strip. Thoughts tumbled in his mind, but the only thought he wouldn’t allow was the one that said that maybe she wouldn’t fit into his world.

His brother was wrong. She belonged with him. There was only one reason why they had become so close in such a short time. He’d met his soul mate. The one woman he could trust. He’d never trusted a woman before in his life, never believed he could. She’d come into his life like an unexpected storm. Her warmth and exotic beauty swept him into a world of feelings he never knew he was capable of. There was no going back to cold and empty.

Her heart and honesty made him almost helpless when he was with her. He wanted to give her everything. Everything he had, he wanted to share with her. It was as if he had never known a day that she hadn’t always been part of him. She was his other half. He accepted her without question.

But there was a big problem squatting between them. When she figured it out, he knew they weren’t strong enough yet to get through it. He wouldn’t admit it to Dane, but she would walk away from him, and probably never forgive him—even if it wasn’t the truth.

He undressed and climbed into bed beside her, resting his cheek against her breast. Listening to the slow beat of her heart, he closed his eyes. She hugged him fiercely in her dreams. This sweet woman had fallen for him, but she tried so hard not to show it. He knew she would give him a hug and a kiss, and walk onto that plane two days from now and never look back.

His heart clenched with the thought that he might never see her again after tomorrow. There was no more time left, he had to tell her what he had been holding back. He kept stalling, hoping for a better time, but there would never be a right time.

She came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body, drying her hair. Draping the extra towel at the end of the bed, she crawled onto it, kneeling in front of him. She looked into his eyes, her wet curls dancing around her face.

“How do you look so incredibly exotic all the time?” he murmured with a glint in his eyes.

“Ahh.” She laughed. “You’re under the spell of an old sea witch. I’ve perfected it.” She sat back on her haunches. “I didn’t make breakfast, but I ordered some.”

Steven reached out and released the towel from her body with one finger. “I bet you’re an awesome cook, too, aren’t you?” he said, kissing her, not waiting for the answer. He rolled her onto her back, his desire burning in his eyes. His thumb gently brushed her nipple, and a ripple of excitement passed through her.

“I just had a shower,” she said sternly.

“Too bad,” he purred, licking her lips, tempting them to open for his tongue.

His fingers wandered down to sensually entice her sex, and within seconds her body responded with her slick moisture. His hunger for her swept her resolve away.

She pushed him over and rolled on top of him. He suckled on her breast, her body arching with his touch, craving more. Sliding down the bed, leaving a trail of kisses along her stomach, he found his way to her thighs. He trapped her hips in his hands above him, licking the wetness that gave away her need for him. Curling around, she sought the hardness that pressed against her.

Her soft tongue ran along his shaft as his hunger took itself out on her sweetest place, making her excitement flare, and her hips sway in his grip. Both of them became lost in the sublime yearning and heat they brought out in each other.

Her body couldn’t resist him, and neither could she. She wanted him in her mouth. She wanted to make him writhe with her touch. That was all she wanted. She went wild on his shaft, loving it, licking it. He clung to her, pulling her nub between his lips, ravaging her. He spread her folds, and slid his tongue into her channel then stiffly darted in and out of her.

She cried out, losing all hold on reality, and her body shuddered with pleasure. The orgasm hit her so violently all her senses ruptured at the same time. He licked her slowly, his tongue circling her clit, letting her ride out the full pleasure until she stopped shaking.

She leaned forward on her knees and opened herself to him. He kneeled behind her, his hands sensually grazing her skin until he grasped her hips, and entered her from behind. A carnal sound erupted from his throat when he filled her.

He plunged into her, stroking her. He was so hard she thought her body would tear open. His fingers snaked around her hips, teasing her, squeezing her softly and then hard, until her legs and his fingers dripped with moisture. Her wetness made him wild, his ecstasy making her hotter by the second. Her thighs shook with anticipation. She met every plunge, wanting him deep inside her.

“Deeper, Steven,” she pleaded, as the bliss climbed inside her. He groaned in response when her muscles contracted around him.

“Oh God, Moira,” he roared as he came in her so hard she felt it fill her up, his shaft pulsing inside her. She shuddered, stricken with her own release, clenching him as he drove himself deep.

He stroked her gently with a lazy roll of his hips, bringing her back from heaven, their bodies trembling with the memory.

He pulled out of her, folding her so tightly to him he almost crushed her. “I didn’t hurt you?” he asked, looking into her eyes with concern.

She shook her head and shimmied up his muscled body, kissing him on the forehead, and then his cheek and finally his lips.

“Jesus, Moira.” His voice broke with emotion. “I—”

“Breakfast is here,” she interrupted, smiling uncomfortably.

A knock on the door interrupted them, and he looked at her a little strangely.

“It’s my job to anticipate,” she said with a smirk. “There’s a little sea witch in every woman, ya know.”

“There’s certainly a little lusty one in you,” he said.

When she tried to get up, he pulled her deeper into his arms.

“Not so fast, sweetheart,” he purred. “I’m not finished with you yet.” He dipped his head to take her breast in his mouth, circling her nipple with his tongue.

She gasped, the feeling of excitement growing in her belly. She felt the moisture of their lovemaking between her thighs. “God, how do you do this to me?”

He turned her onto her back, sliding her hands slowly above her head, locking them with his strength. “I can’t wait to tie you up and love you for twenty-four hours straight, Ms. Viterra,” he growled in her ear. “I’m going to love you every way I know how.” His lips found the pulse in her neck, and he nipped at it.

“That sounds a little kinky, Mr. Porter,” she declared softly.

“You’d be surprised what I think about doing to you when I’m not with you.”

“That hasn’t been very much. You’re sure someone didn’t slip you some kind of exotic drug that turns eyesight from seeing ugly troll into beauty queen?”

“Moira…” he warned, his look darkening. “Beautiful is the woman I see when I look in your eyes. You, with your exotic curves and curls a little messed, like someone’s just made love to you.” He kissed her deeply.

His gaze made her stomach flutter even now. She saw so much strength in this man. “You’re a smooth talker, Mr. Porter. You must have had a lot of practice to be so good at this,” she whispered, her lids slipping closed as his tongue covered her body with little licks of excitement.

He nibbled on her nipple slowly, teasing it with his tongue. His eyes, only half open, looked into hers. “I’ve never made love to a woman before you, Moira. I’ve never felt anything until I touched you.”

His full lips, swollen and red from kissing her, made her hungry. Her body swayed under him, taunting him to enter her, and he was happy to oblige—slowly, gently, thrusting into her.

“Jesus, I want you forever,” he whispered on her skin.

A familiar rhythm began between them. An exotic tempo their hips had already memorized grew, building the heat and passion to a frenzy.

* * * *

They enjoyed a leisurely breakfast together, and when they were done he reached for the red rose that sat in the vase, pulling it slowly out as he stared at her. He leaned over and presented it to her. Moira gave him a small smile and took it from him, laying it against her heart. They could speak to each other without words, but he knew he had to start talking fast or everything would come apart.

“Moira—”

Her phone rang, and she reached for it. She grinned at him. “Hey, Callie, what’s up?” She listened for a while then shrugged. “I don’t know. Yes, I remember promising you that.” She rolled her eyes. “Today huh? Oh boy, okay fine. Just a second, Cal.” She gave him a resigned look. “I promised Callie I would do the Big Shot with her. Everyone else has chickened out.”

He nodded. “I told Dane I might meet him for a round of golf before he leaves.”

“Give me an hour, Callie, and I’ll meet you out front of the hotel, okay?” She hung up. “Is something amiss?” she asked.

Moira read the look on his face. It probably said what he felt, serious, worried “No.” He shook his head, clearing his throat. “You’re sure you’re not going to have a heart attack on that thing?”

“Achh, that’s nothing. You should’ve seen some of the storms I went through on the Lifeboat.”

“Okay.” He chuckled. “Think you’re going have to tell me about that.”

“Someday,” she said.

Someday, did that mean she was thinking about them together?

“I’m just going to go use the bathroom and clean up.” And she got up abruptly.

She’d slipped up. She said something that had intimated a future, and now she was going to berate herself for doing it. In her mind, tomorrow was still it, and what happened in Vegas would stay here. He leaned back in the chair determined not to let her walk out of his life.

* * * *

After giving her a lasting kiss he said, “I’ll be back at five to pick you up for dinner. We need to talk about something. It’s important.”

She leaned away from him. “If it’s important should we talk about it now?”

“No, it can wait till tonight.” He smiled at her, seeing the disturbed look in her eyes. “Have a good time scaring the shit out of yourself,” he teased. “And don’t forget to get the T-shirt.”

She looked at him with her teeth clenched. “Is it that bad?”

“Oh yeah,” he said, laughing at her expression.

“Oh Gawwwwd.”