We're One (7 page)

His hand consistently grasped hers, and his arm tucked around her waist navigated them everywhere together. She never left his sight except for personal emergencies. Simmering tensions hovered over the two, who were bleary-eyed by the time they stumbled into the first hotel they came across in London. Sharing a room with twin beds created no problem whatsoever. By the time he’d finished in the bathroom, she’d passed out under her covers.

He moved the table out from between their beds and shoved his closer, close enough that he could reach out and touch her. He lay down and glanced her way. A constricting wall of tenderness attacked his throat, while sweet jolts of sentiment swept through him. She was the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen, and he accepted that she’d become lodged in his heart so firmly that he’d never clear her out. His thoughts waged a war with the sleep waves hovering. His heavy eyelids battled and lost the struggle. Reaching across the short space, he dropped his arm around her waist and slept.

Early the next morning, Crystal gazed at her sleeping partner’s profile thinking she’d never seen a more attractive man. The chitchat at the hotel acknowledged Rhett, who eerily resembled his namesake in
Gone with the Wind
, to be the more handsome Parks brother, but she begged to differ. He stood taller, was more arresting maybe, but he was also haughty in a way that was off-putting. Whereas Ashley, a close double, was every woman’s dream man—good-looking but approachable, wealthy but fun-loving. And, whoa! He epitomized “sexy.”

How in the world could any woman trust this man for anything other than a momentary fling? She lay back and wondered how it would feel to have his hands on her, caressing sensitive areas, roaming over her body, touching places even she whizzed over so as not to produce any reactions.

Sometimes as she watched a romantic film the spasms created in her lower parts unsettled her and made her wonder about making love and what it would be like. But unfortunately, to do “it” properly a man was necessary, and that put a stop to her imagination.

No man! No way!

Not for her!

Until now...

She suspected it was important to get near him, so she crept over to his bed and lay down, cuddling her body as close as she could get. He shifted and mumbled a name. Not hers.

She slapped him.

“What the hell...!” He went from prone to crouch in a few seconds, and she went over the side. “What the hell?” he yelled again. “Did you hit me?” Disbelief spread over Ash’s face.

“Not really. I wanted to wake you up, but you had a spasm and pushed me hard.” She stayed on the floor hoping to make him feel bad. It worked.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I must have been dreaming.”

“I’m sure you were. Probably nightmares, about an ugly witch.”

“Hm, I don’t remember. Let me help you up.” He reached down and clasped her hand, pulling her gently towards the bed. “Were you frightened by something?”

Should she lay it on thick and pretend, or be herself? If she had any chance of reaching her goal and getting laid, then maybe she should go along. Did women actually play these scenes?

“I got a tiny bit scared. I thought I heard a noise, and I wanted to be closer to you.”

He cuddled her to him, her head cozy on his chest, and he lay back down. She tentatively placed her leg over his thigh, a posture that felt as natural to her as the foetal position to a baby. The protrusion sticking into her didn’t feel natural, though, and neither did the stiffness she felt taking over his body. One minute he rested back, snuggling her to him, and the next he became a sticklike figure full of tension and rigidity.

Everywhere!

She was getting to him. But why did he just lie there like a mannequin? Did she have to do all the work?

Her lips moved to where the skin on his throat morphed into the hair on his chest. She whiffled her nose like a bunny until she finally settled on a place to nip.

“Ow! You little devil!” He pushed her under him in order to angle over her. “You’re playing with fire, brat. You know that, don’t you?”

“Uh-huh!” She nodded her head, hoping the smile on her face invited, hoping she’d got it right.

Seems she did.

His lips zeroed in on hers, and with a groan he covered her mouth and her body all at the same time. Intense sensations blasted through her system. Not being able to breathe seemed unimportant.

Fever! That’s what it reminded her of. The debilitating weakness her system had experienced when she’d suffered pneumonia and her fever spiked to a hundred and three. Identical impressions entered her memory for fleeting seconds, then floated out again as her other senses took over.

She smelled the spicy cologne on his cheeks as he kissed her neck, nudging and angling her with his nose and mouth. The faint but pleasant tobacco aroma of his favourite cigarettes attested to the fact that it was Ashley Parks laying claim to her body.

His breathing reverberated in her ear. The low growly sounds spiked her blood pressure and shot electrical impulses from her overworked brain that attacked and weakened her ability to think.

Watching him, no longer an option from dilated pupils, stopped. Her lids closed over eyes darkened with desire. His hands, skimming her body, rubbed and caressed, distracting her. She loved the feeling as he encountering erotic zones and, with a gentle swipe of his hot palms or press of his nimble fingers, brought them to life.

Her skin felt clammy, sensitive, quivery, until he soothed and turned it to pure silk.

The wetness flowing waiting for his entry, gushed out of her, creating a powerful frustration he dealt with as his fingers searched and found entry.

Her trembling had him hesitating for seconds until she reached for him, her lips erasing his worry. She became aware that his body shook also, but not quite as much as hers. It was different, as if intense control forced his limbs to react. He glided over her, rubbing this way and that. Her mind lost function and pure instinct went to work.

Her breasts swelled from the attention of his lips as he kissed and played with them. Miraculous flutters, bordering painful, increased her pleasure, and she reacted by swivelling her hips, panting erratically, and praying for release from the intensifying reaction turning her insides to fire.

His growls increased, then changed to moaned whispers as if he had to connect with her spirit, not just her physical body.

“My God, you’re lovely. Your skin is velvet soft. I love your skin.” The multitude of kisses he scattered every which way proved that he did indeed appear to like her skin very much.

What do you say at a time like this, when talking clearly has become superfluous? She was never much of a talker. She whimpered a groan instead, hoping he’d be satisfied.

He wasn’t. “What did you say?” Persistence, she decided then and there, was not a great quality.

“I said, ‘Thank you.’” Would he get her sarcasm?

“You’re wet for me. I love your wetness, it’s—it’s inviting. Do you know how wonderful that is?”

Nope, he didn’t get it at all. She couldn’t help but play along. “Thank you. Consider yourself invited.” She kissed his shoulder and ran her hands over and down his damp back while shifting her hips upwards to verify the truth of her words.

“I don’t think I can wait much longer, sweetheart. I—God, I need you. But I want this to be good for you.”

“For heaven’s sake! I want you, too. I want you now, I...”

“Please! Plea...!”

His words broke off as he shifted and found his way home. The groan to follow was the lowest and loudest so far. She shuddered from the earthy animal sound that sent ripples of pleasure all over her body. She felt him enter her. The tight opening, gratifying for her—absolutely, but it must be affecting him in a way she didn’t understand. It was like making love to the sounds of an erotic chant. His harsh breathing and multiple moans increased, proof he loved the snug fit.

So did she! Holy heavens! So did she!

With each wriggling move, each push, her body’s adrenaline stimulated all her major organs until her sounds became pants and whimpers to match his. Her brain shut off completely, and a slow unfurling of a sweet emotion began in her heart.

All that faded as a swirl of tingling contractions started in her lower regions, connected with the aching sensations from her breasts, and settled in the place where a slight pain came and went with hardly any discomfort.

He was home, and she welcomed him, her hips lifting to meet his thrusts and her arms clinging to keep him from stopping. One last meeting of their lips, as he kissed her so deeply that she felt as if he’d drawn her right into his soul, ended her virgin curiosity and lifted her straight to heaven, keeping her writhing there for long moments of pure joy.

They collapsed, joined together. Their damp skin slid over each other as they settled, nestling together, eyes closing.

His rustling movement to light up and the scent of his tobacco must have awakened her. He hovered near, peering at her through the tendrils of smoke.

“Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” His gravelly voice overflowed with concern, and he watched closely the emotions flitting through her eyes. As soon as she’d registered his presence, he’d seen her innocent pleasure, followed by swift recall and ending with blissful euphoria. She enchanted him.

Best of all, she didn’t look at all sorry.

It had been his major worry as he’d watched her cuddle close, sleeping the sleep of the innocent—or at least the recent innocent—thanks to him and his wicked ways. Should he regret he hadn’t taken more time to court her? Should he have waited until the furor had died down over Arnie, until life felt normal again?

Too late to worry about it now, he guessed. He’d had his way with her and, as soon as possible, he planned to have his way again. He stubbed his cigarette out in the ashtray, taking those seconds to let his mind wander.

Never before in his life had a woman turned him on the way she did. Her skin, like velvet on a rose petal, her body that never stopped moving and tantalizing, drove him insane, and her lips that drank all the love he had to give would haunt his dreams for many nights to come.

The teasing husky voice broke into his musings and brought his attention back her way. “Hurt me? No you didn’t hurt me. You woke me up to the wonderful world of sex. Let’s do it again, because in case you’re unaware of it, I’m a bit of a perfectionist, and I wasn’t exactly sure if I’d gotten it right the first time.” Her hand snuck out to rub his chest and twirl her fingers through the damp curls swirling there.

For a few seconds the ends of each hair she touched sent silent messages along to the rest of the hair on his body, making them stand straight up, and they in turn sent tingles to his lower half, making it stand up, also. He quickly turned on his stomach and captured her face in his tender palms before she could use her lips to follow the path her hands had taken.

He groaned. Or was it a growl. Whatever, it seemed to react strongly on her as he watched her eyes’ slumberous come-on darken to passion. Oh, oh! She embodied trouble but with a capital L. He was a goner.

Her voice intrigued him with its husky tones.

She murmured, “I love it when you make that noise. It’s almost animalistic, and you know me with animals. I evidently have an affinity with them.”

“You certainly have one with me, my love, but we can’t take any more time now. We have to get you to safety, and I have to find Rhett before he leaves England to head back to Vegas. I need to bring him up to date on the Arnie caper. I won’t feel totally safe until we’re in Bury, where I have friends to help us in case anything goes wrong.”

“You are a stickler, aren’t you? When you get something in your mind, you don’t let up. What does it matter if we’re...?”

“Crystal?”

“Oh, all right, already. Boy, what a baby. It’s your way or the highway. Males are such control freaks.”

Wrapping her in the blanket and carting her to the bathroom stopped her tirade. Closing the door with her on the inside while he remained on the outside ranked as one of the hardest choices he’d made in a long while, but necessary.

He had to keep her safe. She didn’t get Arnie like he did, and she hadn’t heard the stories floating out there about the kinds of jobs the maniac took on, where people disappeared. Not only did he look like a bulldog, he had the reputation of one for sinking his teeth into a job and invariably following through. Ash had the uncomfortable, frightened belief that Arnie might prove to be the one person who could make him lose his cool.

Make him pick up a weapon.

Make him use it.

“What do you mean, they’re gone? They weren’t scheduled to return Stateside until next week.” Standing on the doorstep, bags by his side, Ashley was blindsided by the latest news.

“Come in, please! Come in.” Dr. Andrews stepped back and threw open the door. His face, wreathed in smiles, exuded a warm welcome. “Ashley, my boy, it’s good to see you.” Extending his hand, he waited for Ash to put down the suitcases again so he could handshake and hug the young fellow he obviously liked.

After greeting their pleasant host, Ash placed his arm around the pretty woman standing quietly next to him and introduced her. “Dr. Andrews, this is my close friend Crystal Davis.”