Authors: Elizabeth Moynihan
Destiny's Whisper (56 page)
“What the hell’s so funny?” Dani growled dangerously.
“You really love him, don’t you?”
Dani’s eyes widened in shock, her heart hammered in her chest and she looked ready to spit nails. “You’re out of your mind. I don’t care if I ever seen him again. If he walked through that door on fire, I wouldn’t throw a bucket of water on him!”
Chloe leaned in close to Dani, almost nose to nose, and whispered, “Bull!”
“In fact, I’d look for a bag of marshmallows and roast one on his burning carcass!” she stated with arrogant bravado.
Chloe’s burst of laughter had Dani’s anger lifting a notch. “Dani, you’re full of it, and you know it. You’re so far gone for the man, if he walked through that door, we’d probably all be thoroughly embarrassed by the indecent things you’d do to him!”
Dani crossed her arms, and cast the most disdainful look she could manage at Chloe. “You know not what you speak of.”
Chloe’s smile widened. “I know exactly of what I speak and that’s what’s pissing you off. You’ve finally met someone you can’t twirl around your little finger and it’s driving you crazy. You’ve met your match, Dani.”
Dani tried for a superior, haughty look and scoffed, “Hah!”
“Nice comeback. That certainly put me in my place,” Chloe joked.
Dani felt ready to explode, her emotions fluctuating between needing to laugh or cry, howl in frustration or sink into silent oblivion, to curl into a little ball and simply disappear.
The sounds of laughter from the others in the room suddenly surrounded her, threatening to suffocate her with their joy when all she wanted was the peace of silence. Her head pounded, a deafening chant that called Hunter’s name, her blood pulsed hotly in response. “I’ve got to get out of here,” she mumbled, and calmly made her way through the hotel suite and into the silence of the hallway.
Jordan watched her daughter’s silent departure, and quickly joined Chloe. “Is she all right?”
Chloe nodded. “She just needs a little time to herself.”
“Don’t we all?” Jordan asked quietly.
Dani blinked in surprise when she found herself standing in the large room that enclosed the pool, completely alone. She’d had no conscious plans to come to this spot; she had simply needed to walk, to find peace, to be alone.
In this quiet room, encased by glass, with the clear, blue, sparkling water reflecting in its tinted panes, and filled with thriving greenery, she focused on the peacefulness. Listening to the gentle bubbling sounds of the nearby Jacuzzi, she imagined her pain floating away on the bubbles, into oblivion, never to hurt her again. With a wistful sigh, she kicked off her shoes and socks, rolled up the legs of her snug jeans as far as they would go, and stepped into the steaming, swirling water.
A rush of warmth washed over her as the bubbles worked their magic on her feet and calves, and she sat on the concrete edge of the Jacuzzi. “Damn,” she hissed as she felt cold water saturate the seat of her jeans. Standing up, she shook her head in disbelief. Anyone in their right mind knew better than to just sit down, anywhere around a pool, without looking to see if water had been splashed on the concrete. Now she’d get to spend her time thinking with a wet butt!
It took all of two minutes before her bottom was so cold she was ready to rethink her options. Glancing about the huge room, she found herself still alone. A brief look at her watch told her, her chances of having anyone else come to the pool, at this late hour, were next to nil; it took her ten seconds to wiggle out of her wet pants and toss them in the general direction of a lounge chair. She swept another quick look around the empty room. “What the hell,” she mumbled, pulled her sweater over her head, and threw it toward her pants. Standing knee deep, in swirling warm water, she found herself clad in nothing but a skimpy pair of peach silk bikini panties and a matching mini camisole that left her tummy bare.
The silk became nearly transparent as she lowered herself into the steaming water, her heart picking up it’s pace as the warmth rushed through her and made her blood race. Closing her eyes, it was easy to imagine it was Hunter’s hands racing over her body, setting her on fire, making her knees turn to jelly and her mind go blank.
“I don’t know of anywhere in the world what you’re wearing would be considered appropriate swimming apparel,” Hunter’s deep voice stated huskily.
Dani’s heart stumbled. “Go away, Mr. James,” she was happy she managed to make her voice sound disinterested, or at least she thought she’d managed to.
Hunter chewed the inside of his lower lip, as he tried to control the desire to step into that boiling water and claim what his body kept insisting was his. His heart and his body clearly knew what he wanted, his mind was telling him he was crazy to even think such a thing. It was safer to go with his mind, at least for the moment. “I am; I came to say good-bye,” he offered quietly.
Dani’s heart bumped yet again. With a detached nonchalance she displayed, but didn’t feel, one slim arm lifted from beneath the bubbling water, and she wiggled her fingers in farewell. “Later,” she offered flatly, without even opening her eyes to look at him.
Hunter stood frozen in place, confused, and more than a bit angry, at her response. Granted, he’d dreaded saying good bye to her, had been terrified he’d see her eyes fill with tears and pain, and been even more terrified he wouldn’t be able to leave her. But, never, in his wildest imaginings, had he expected this cold,
see you later, pal
, attitude. “That’s it?” he growled dangerously.
Dani’s hands clenched beneath the water, and struggled to hold on to the facade of strength she used as a shield against Hunter’s powerful magnetism.
Don’t look at him, or you’re lost!
She told herself. “You came to say good-bye, you said it. Now you can go on your merry little way and forget all of us,” she stated haltingly, hating the way her voice stumbled over the last few words.
Hunter felt the thick wall he’d built up around his heart start to crumble at the pain he heard in her voice, and knew he was standing at a crossroads in his life. He had a decision to make that would dictate the path his life took, a life filled with rampaging emotions, surprises at every turn and Dani, or a life filled with
things
but no one to share them with. It took his heart two seconds to start his feet moving forward, sending him fully dressed into the steaming water of the Jacuzzi.
Dani’s eyes sprang open as she heard him splash into the Jacuzzi and come to a stop before her, dropping to his knees and placing his hands on the tiled seat on either side of her slim hips. Speechless, she gazed into his caramel brown eyes, only a short distance from her own.
“Danielle Janae Rocmanov, you are infuriating, exasperating, exhausting, stubborn and beautiful; but one thing you are not is forgettable.”
Dani found herself melting beneath the warm onslaught of his gaze, entranced by his deep voice, mesmerized by the shape of his mouth and memory of how it felt against her own. Her deep green eyes were dazed, her mind unable to put two thoughts together, all she could do was shake her head in confusion. “I don’t know what to say,” she quietly whispered.
Hunter smiled, his eyes glowing warmly as they traveled her bruised, but beautiful face. “Don’t say anything, Danielle. Just kiss me,” he murmured, as his mouth claimed hers in a kiss filled with promises of tomorrow.
Dani’s hands came up to cradle Hunter’s slightly rough cheeks, her fingertips tingling at the sensation, and she sighed as his lips left hers. Eyes the color of the deep forest delved into those the color of deep caramel, lost in their caring depths. “Tell me this isn’t the end,” Dani asked cautiously.
A gentle smile curved his lips. “Danielle, it’s only the beginning!” Hunter’s deep voice intoned, his mouth capturing hers and feasting on the warm softness she so generously offered, sharing himself in return and for the first time in his life, he felt a freedom he had never known.
And he was right; it was only the beginning!
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