Come Home Again (The Donovans) (13 page)

The door opened, and Delilah stepped through with a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry to just drop by, but your assistant said your schedule was clear, and I had a list of participants to review with you, if you have the time.”

Nate couldn’t help the jolt of elation once he saw her. But then she’d always affected him like that. “Hey, Lila.” He immediately relaxed. “Sorry for barking at you. Crazy day. I spent half the day chasing down a worm trying to hack the system and—” Nate stopped talking and cocked his head. He studied her carefully. Even though she wore a semblance of a smile, something was...off. Her eyes were unfocused, and her smile tight. “What's the matter?”

She opened her mouth, then sighed. “Nothing. Just a hell of a day. Sorry to pop in on you like this, but I was going through the list and figured you’d be better at it than I would, so I took a chance that you’d still be here.”

He narrowed his eyes and studied her. He knew that look. She was going to attempt to shove aside whatever was bothering her and grind through her day. Classic Delilah. “Want to talk about it?”

She laughed without humor. “Actually no. The last thing I want to do is talk. Sort of been talked to death all day.”

Just like always, his body gravitated toward hers, but right now, he just wanted to hold her. And just like always, the moment he tried to fight the feeling, it felt like someone carved his heart out with a dull instrument.
Danger
. “Can I help?”

“Do you have chocolate or a very large, medieval goblet-sized glass of wine?”

“Sorry, no. But how about a ride?”

Delilah blinked up at him. A light flush dusted her cheeks. “I—”

Nate chuckled. “Mind out of the gutter. I meant on my motorcycle.” Okay, so not entirely true. Every time she was near, he almost always had a mental image of her riding him, her full breasts overflowing his hands. He cleared his throat deliberately to clear the image.

She shook her head. “I’ve never been on a motorcycle before.”

“Well, there’s a first time for everything. C’mon. You’ll have fun.” And it would help him keep his hands off her. If they stayed here, he’d be tempted to pick up where they left off last night. And they had to work a couple of things out before he did that.

Delilah’s lips tipped into a smile. “Fun. I could use some fun.”

And he wanted her to have fun. Problem was, he also wanted her to have fun with him. “Then by all means, let’s go for a ride.”

###

M
aybe this was a mistake. The moment Nate had handed her a helmet, Delilah had wondered about her sanity. She eyed the metallic monster of a bike. Was that thing safe? Hell, she’d never seen anything like it. And no wonder. When she’d seen him on it, she’d looked it up with Willow. It was worth over a hundred grand. She shouldn’t be looking at it, let alone riding the damn thing.

He climbed on, and she hesitated. “I’m not sure about this.”

His smile was calm and easy going. This wasn’t the over-charming confident Nate she knew. “It’s okay, Delilah. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. All you have to do is trust me.”

Trust
. The one thing that didn’t come easily. Especially with him. She swallowed. She could hand him back his helmet and head home. Maybe finally get some sleep. Take the weekend to herself and go see her family and recharge. Or, for once, she could allow herself a little fun.

Despite their past, she wanted to trust him. Underneath the time and distance, new clothes, and new job, he was still the same. The one who’d taught her to throw a punch so she wouldn’t break her hand and helped her drive a stick shift when her father had been too frustrated. Nate would keep her safe.

She slipped on the helmet and slid onto the bike behind him. He’d given her a hoodie to wear, despite the warmth of the night. He’d donned a light leather jacket, but had left it unzipped.

She slid her arms around his waist, and they both stilled. Under her palm, his hammering heart beat a speedy rhythm into her flesh, tattooing it.

“Oh, and Delilah?”

Thanks to both their helmets, his voice was low and muffled. “Yeah.”

“Don’t close your eyes. You’ll miss all the fun.”

From that moment on, the roar of the engine made it impossible to speak. But words weren’t important as they whizzed around the streets of uptown. Admittedly, she had to close her eyes a couple of times when they’d gotten too close to a taxi or two, but mostly she’d listened and taken in the whirling lights of the city. Nature wove in with concrete and created a blurred tableau of buildings and trees as they whizzed through Columbus Circle, then briefly through Central Park before they headed back toward downtown.

The energy of the city helped her drown out everything else. The people became a sea of faces and colors and swatches of fabric billowing in the breeze of the early evening.

Even though the Tomahawk seemed huge to her, they were still able to whiz between traffic, making their progress significantly swifter than if they’d been in a car. It wasn’t long before they hit midtown and were bombarded with billboards of models advertising the latest perfume or jeans or fashion line. The show crowds were starting to fill the streets as tourists crammed the sidewalks and hustled to their early dinners that would precede their Broadway experiences. When was the last time she’d seen a show? Years certainly, and only when her parents came to visit.

She and Willow always talked about going, but of course, she was always working. How much of her life had she wasted because she’d been chasing after the Michael Ross types and cleaning up their messes? She’d certainly lost enough sleep. Maybe Jake was right. Maybe she needed to create some emotional distance and focus on herself.

Once they hit Soho and Chelsea, the streets became so crowded they couldn’t fly through with ease anymore. Now people stared at them. Well mostly the bike. She and Nate were anonymous. When Nate finally turned them back toward his apartment, she held on to him a little tighter, finally letting herself feel what she’d been afraid to acknowledge. She was happy he was back. Grateful that he was okay. And she wanted him. Even more than the shy, sixteen-year-old her had wanted him.

And for once, she wasn’t going to do what she should. She was going to do what she wanted.

T
wo hours with Delilah wrapped around him had been simultaneously exhilarating and torturous. It certainly didn’t make Nate want to keep his hands off of her. After their ride, he’d taken her to his apartment. He told himself it was because he wanted to talk in private. Away from prying eyes and eavesdropping ears. The moment they were back in his apartment, though, the confines felt too small and constricted, like there wasn’t enough air to go around.

Delilah took in his apartment, and he wondered how it must look to her. It was the first time he’d given any thought to the impersonal prints he had on his walls, or the stark modern furniture, or the complete lack of warmth. He’d lived here for two years, but part of him had been afraid to settle in, in case it was only temporary.

She smiled up at him. “It’s different than I pictured.”

“Oh? What did you picture?”

She laughed. “Wires. Lots of wires.”

He couldn’t help but return her easy smile. “In my spare bedroom. My whole setup’s in there. I learned from your folks how to keep a place clean. Sorta stuck with me, I guess.”

She glanced around again. “Yeah, I can see that. Not a stich of clutter anywhere. My place would drive you nuts.”

With a sudden pang of longing, he found he really wanted to see her place. “I doubt that.”

Her tongue peaked out to moisten her bottom lip. “Thank you for the ride, that was...” She exhaled. “Awesome. Unlike anything I’ve ever done before. It was just what I needed.”

“Anytime.” He shoved his hands into his pockets to keep from reaching for her. “So do we have a new convert?”

Her eyes went wide. “I definitely want to ride again. It’s terrifying, and awesome, and calming all at the same time.”

He grinned, knowing exactly how she felt. “That’s how it starts. Before you know it, you’ll be asking me to borrow the bike.”

“Oh, I don’t think so. That thing is terrifying. But maybe something smaller. Though, I like the idea of living dangerously.”

He could tell she was on edge about something. Her whole body practically hummed. Maybe she was feeling it too. Primed. Ready. Like she’d spent the last two hours with his chest beneath her palms and she couldn’t take it anymore either. Nate rocked onto his heels. “You’re staring.”

“I guess I am.” Very deliberately, she stepped in front of him. Holding his gaze, she placed her palms on his chest.

His muscles gave an involuntary leap, and he barely stifled the groan. “Delilah, what are you doing?”

Her dark gaze met his, and he clenched his jaw against the need. With sheer force of will, he managed to keep his hands in his pockets. And he might have been at least twice her size, but he didn’t have the strength to push her away. He
wanted
her to want him.
Needed
her to want him. Needed to know he wasn’t the only one losing sleep.

Her voice was soft but firm when she spoke. “Living dangerously.”

With shaky hands, she lifted the hem of his T-shirt and slipped her hands beneath. Her feather-soft fingertips scorched a path of heat from his waist to his pectorals. She pulled him to her, flicking her gaze to his briefly before her eyelids fluttered closed and she pressed her lips to his.

It wasn’t quite a kiss, just a whisper of lips meeting, really. But as he breathed out, she breathed in, and vice versa. It wasn’t long before he started to feel like he might die without her to supply him with air. “What do you want from me?”

“I want what I’ve always wanted. You to make love to me. I used to think about you touching me. Kissing me. Back then, you starred in every one of my fantasies.”

Oh shit
. His hands trembled, and Nate struggled for control. “And what about now?”

“You still have this way of making me ache.”

She was barely touching him, and he was already so close to losing it. He wanted to pick her up, back her up against the wall, and bury himself so deep inside her that they couldn’t separate themselves for a week. He needed her like he needed his heart to keep beating. But he didn’t want to give her the wrong picture. He wasn’t the kind of guy she’d want in the long run, and he didn’t want her getting confused.

She nipped his jaw, then followed the love bite with a small lave of her tongue. His knees almost buckled. He dipped his head to meet her gaze. “I want to give you what you want. To help you alleviate that ache. But I want to make sure this is what you want.”

She nodded. “I’m tired of fighting it.”

So was he. “Lila?”

“Mmm,” she whispered as the tips of her fingers started miniscule fires all over his torso.

“I’m going to kiss you.”

She grinned revealing a dimple. “We’re already kissing.”

He couldn’t help but return her smile. “Then allow me to show you what I’m really capable of.”

He should have been gentle. He
meant
to be gentle. But as soon as he pressed his mouth to hers, electricity kicked through his whole body. Lust chased away every thought until he couldn’t think.

Delilah moaned as he licked into her mouth, and his dick jerked. Those throaty sounds of hers drove him crazy. He dragged her closer as lust coursed through his body, and Delilah molded herself to him.

There was no hesitation in her kiss. When his tongue chased hers, she met the demand, sliding hers against his, tempting him into a wicked game. Low in his belly, lust pulled at his tenuous control, and he had a fleeting worry that he might possibly come inside his pants.
Get yourself under control.

Nate dragged in steadying breaths as he pulled back. “Delilah, what are you doing to me?”

When she lifted her heavy-lidded gaze to meet his, her pupils were dilated. “I could ask you the same thing.”

Backing her against the wall of the living room, Nate finally let go of his control. Every cell in his body urged him to hurry, to bury himself inside her deep. But when he kissed her again, she slowly melted into him. Her tongue teased and drove him mad.

She had the power in her touch and in her kiss to burn him.

Without breaking their kiss, he slid his hands down her arms and brought them up to wrap around the back of his neck. He pulled back momentarily. “You are so beautiful.”

In some darkened corner of his brain, an alarm bell rang. It tried to warn him of the danger she posed. That now, like then, he was too caught up in her. Trapped in a web of her making. That extricating himself would be painful. But he didn’t care. As she ran her fingers through his hair, all he could think about were those hands and where he wanted them. How much he wanted her to be his, if even just for now.

Delilah arched into him. The curves of her full breasts pressed into his chest. He slid his hands under the silk of her blouse. When his thumbs came into contact with the soft flesh of her belly, they both hissed.

Nate slid his hands up her satin skin, pausing when he encountered the satin of her bra. He watched her carefully as he lightly skimmed the soft flesh, but let his hands continue to travel upward, pushing her T-shirt over her head.

The fabric fluttered to the ground without a sound, and he turned his full attention back to her exposed flesh.
Shit
. She was stacked. “God, you’re so fucking perfect.” Her full breasts pushed against the fabric of the satin, and he desperately tried to swallow around the sudden mouthful of sawdust.

He reached behind her. He bent his knees and dipped his head, making sure their gazes met as he silently asked for permission. When she nodded, he exhaled the breath he’d been holding and released the clasp.

Delilah slid the straps off her slim shoulders then arched her back in silent offering.
Shit. Perfection. So lush. So full
. Taking advantage of her arched form, he hovered his mouth over a puckered bud for a moment. She shivered in his arms. Pressing his lips over the raised peak, he suckled her gently. Her answering moan was low and throaty, and Nate tugged harder, trying to taste every rich flavor of her skin.