Blindsided (Indigo Love Spectrum) (12 page)

Norris blinked. “What?” he said just above a whisper.

Dahlia couldn’t tell if he hadn’t heard what she said or
was surprised by it. “I said I know Reese and Gail.
They’re clients and friends.”

“Wait a second. You knew about her and didn’t tell me?”

“No, no, no. I didn’t know you were her father until
you told me last night. I wanted to say something, but I
didn’t want to put myself in the awkward position of answering questions for you that I had no answers to.
The call I got this morning was from Reese. And after learning what I had, I needed to talk to her. I wanted to
make sure she was all right.”

“You two are close?”

She nodded. “We are. She’s like another niece to me.
My brother’s children are in their teens, but since
Quentin’s a serviceman and constantly moving, I don’t
see them very often. Reese is such a sweet girl. It was easy
to get close to her.”

“She was upset when she called you. How is she?”

“She’s good. Better. Dealing with everything and
what it means. I told her to go out and have some fun.”

“With Diana Monroe.”

Her eyes narrowed. “How did you . . .”

“Lara mentioned they were friends. I saw her father
later on, and he told me they were together.”

“
I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my connection to them, Norris, but it just felt like the best thing to do.”

“It’s okay. I understand.”

“Do you?”

“Yes.” He smiled. “You’re Switzerland–-neutral
ground.”

“That’s exactly what I am. I’m glad you understand.”

“Sweet Dahlia, it’s easy to understand things with
you.”

Norris pulled her from the couch and crushed her
body to his, kissing her like a man possessed. Never
breaking the kiss, he directed her to his bedroom. Dahlia
drew closer to him, drowning in his scent, reveling in the
majesty of his touch. Her heart might be in a battle with her head, but her body knew exactly what it wanted. And
in this moment, that was all that mattered.

* * *

Only when they reached the bed did Norris release
Dahlia’s mouth. He watched, transfixed, as her tongue
slid against kiss-swollen lips. His flesh tingled. How he
wished at that moment those lips were his. He pressed his
hand against her face, staring deeply into her eyes. “You
take my breath away.”

Dahlia sighed softly. The expressiveness of her brown
eyes got him every time. They said so much more than
she ever allowed her words to say. For the last several
weeks, he’d been struggling with how to deal with the
feelings he’d developed for her. Now, as he gazed into those telling eyes, he saw the truth she seemed deter
mined to keep secure deep within herself.

Norris recalled earlier in his living room when for a split second he thought Dahlia would speak the words he’d been longing to hear. She didn’t make that much
hoped for confession, but instead admitted to having a
relationship with his daughter. The woman he loved
already loved his daughter. All the ingredients they
needed for a happy future were laid out before them.
Friendship, respect, attraction, and the deep but
unspoken love they had for each other. Everything he
wanted was within his reach, he just had to hold out his
hand, and convince Dahlia it wouldn’t hurt to take it.

Norris slipped his fingers under the straps of Dahlia’s dress and slid them off her shoulders. He had to make her
see that acknowledging those ingredients, this relation
ship, wasn’t a bad thing. Tonight, he would show her that
it wasn’t.

Easing the straps further down her arms, Norris
watched the delicate fabric fall away from her body, exposing her full breasts to his feasting eyes. Dahlia
stepped out of the heap around her ankles and kicked four-inch heels from her feet. Only a scrap of lace he
could hardly call panties rested about her hips.

Norris engaged in a shameless sweep of her body.
From the bright red polish coating the toenails of her
pedicured feet, to her luscious, long legs, curvy hips,
ample breasts, and saucy smile. His arousal throbbed des
perately in his slacks, aching for the relief he would find in the heaven between her thighs.

D
ahlia took a couple of steps forward, loosening the
buttons on his shirt. Her sweet lips trailed along his
chest, greeting every inch she exposed with a feathery soft
kiss. Norris managed to keep his buckling knees from giving way when her palms brushed his straining arousal
in an attempt to relieve him of his belt. Her every touch
turned him on more and more.

Yearning to feel Dahlia’s soft body pressed against his,
Norris stripped the clothes from his body and crushed
her to him, kissing her hungrily, passionately.

He lowered Dahlia to the bed, raining kisses along
her neck and shoulders. She moaned his name. He trailed
lower, taking an erect nipple between his lips, suckling
one and then the other, enjoying her blissful cries. Led by
his tongue, Norris continued on his journey. He poked
inside her belly button and then lingered around the
waistband of her sexy underwear.

Peeling the panties from her waist, Norris lowered the
scant material down her legs and to the floor. Dahlia’s
knees bent and her thighs parted in silent invitation. He
grew harder as her spicy sweetness beckoned to him.
Heeding her call, he reached inside his nightstand drawer
and pulled out a condom.

“Let me help you,” Dahlia said, removing the foil
package from his hand.

Deep moans rumbled in Norris’s throat, the feel of
Dahlia’s soft hands against his raging length driving him
crazy. With the condom in place, Dahlia guided him into
her waiting heat, inch by inch, until he filled her completely. Her arms curled around his back.

N
orris stayed motionless inside for a long moment,
enjoying the feel of her velvety warmth all around him.
Dahlia whimpered beneath him, but he wouldn’t move.
He closed his hands about her waist, halting her desire to
move.

“Norris, please.”

He nuzzled her neck, remaining embedded inside
her. “Please what?” He pushed inside her. “This?”
Dahlia closed her eyes, moaning. “Oh, Norris.”
He thrust again. “This?”

“Yes!” Her short fingernails dug into his back.
“Yes?” He delivered another long stroke.

“Oh, yes, Norris. Yes.”

Norris freed her waist and their bodies moved
together, finding an immediate rhythm in the age-old
lover’s dance. Dahlia’s legs closed around his waist,
pulling him in deeper with every thrust of his hips.
Norris smiled into her neck. She wasn’t about to let him
stop now.

Their bodies moved with expert precision. Dahlia held
fast to his backside, meeting his every thrust as though she
knew his movement before he made it. As many times as
they’d been together, it had never been like this. They were
joined as one, moving as one, loving as one.

Norris turned on his back, holding Dahlia in a close
embrace as their bodies continued to stroke. Dahlia’s
whisper soft kisses dusted his neck and trailed down his
chest. His body trembled with the feel of her tongue
against his nipple. He whispered her name. His move
ments increased.

D
ahlia buried her face in his neck, gently nipping at
the skin. His hands cupped her backside, maintaining the
tempo of their bucking hips. He brushed his lips over her
shoulder, his trailing tongue mopping the tiny beads of
sweat salting her skin. Release neared with every thrust of
their hips, and when he reached nirvana, Norris wanted
Dahlia with him.

His hands on her hips, Norris flipped Dahlia to her
back and entered her with renewed urgency. His lips
found hers, squelching her cries with a deep kiss. Their
tongues connected, mating as frantically as their joined
bodies.

Dahlia nipped his lips and arched her back, bringing him as far as he could go. Norris pushed into her once
more, crying his release as Dahlia did the same. Their
bodies crashed to the bed, their breathing heavy, labored.

Minutes later, his body still tingled from his earth-
shattering release. If he knew this was what love did, he
would have been open to the idea a lot sooner.

“Somebody took vitamins,” Dahlia said between
breaths.

Norris laughed. “So it was good for you, too?”

“Good?” She closed her eyes, purring like a content
kitty. “Good doesn’t begin to describe it.” She snuggled
against him, kissing his chest. “That was so much better
than good.”

“For me, too.” His fingers combed the flattened curls
of her hair, while the fingers of his other hand twined
with hers. “It was different this time.” He kissed her nose.

“You can say that again.”

“
No, I mean it was
really
different. The most incred
ible and unexpected kind of different.”

Dahlia’s body tensed against him. She released his
hand and eased up, holding a pillow to her chest.
“Norris, the sex was wonderful, but . . .”

“Sex? Dahlia, I know you’ve been fighting what’s been
happening between us for a while. I have, too, but what just happened here was more than sex. We connected on
a totally different level tonight. We made love.”

“Norris—”

“No, Dahlia, you said it. What we just shared was incredible. Can you imagine how much more incredible
it would be if we stopped pretending things haven’t
changed?” His fingertips slid along her arm. “Things
have changed.”

Dahlia jerked her arm away. “Stop it, Norris! I don’t
want to do this. I’m not pretending anything. I like
things the way they are, and I want them to stay that
way.”

“What way? It’s not no-strings sex anymore, Dahlia. I
can’t undo this and make it something else. I love you.”

“Damn it, Norris! Why did you have to say that?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, because it’s true.”
Dahlia shook her head. “You ruined it.” She left the
bed and reached for her clothes.

“Ruined it?” Norris pulled up, stunned by her reac
tion. “What are you talking about? Dahlia, where are you
going?”

“Home.” She slipped on her panties and pulled on
her dress. “You changed our arrangement, Norris. It was
s
upposed to be two consenting adults giving and
receiving physical pleasure.”

“Having sex!” he barked.

“Okay, having sex. Whatever it was, it didn’t entail
feelings.” Dahlia stepped into her shoes and trailed her fingers through her hair, bringing life to the curls of her
short style.

“I didn’t plan to fall in love with you, Dahlia. I never expected to fall in love with anyone. You think it was easy
for me to say those words to you?”

“It seemed pretty easy to me.”

“Couldn’t have been too easy. I didn’t hear you saying
them back! But that’s okay, because you showed those
words to me in this bed. We were of one mind when we
were of one body. You can deny it all you want, but I know the truth.”

“That’s your truth, Norris, here’s mine. We’re over!”

Norris left the bed and stepped into his slacks, shaken
by her words, but not deterred. “You don’t mean that,”
he said.

“I do.”

“You say a lot of things, but your eyes give you away.”

Dahlia dropped her head. Teardrops fell to the floor.

“You’re crying because you know I’m right. You care
about me. Hell, you love me. I know you’re scared to
trust and you’ve shut yourself off to relationships because
of what Jonah did, but . . .”