His Perfect Woman (Harlequin Superromance) (18 page)

Going onstage to give his speech about why establishing the clinic was so important to him was easy to do after that because Melissa had done the groundwork and gained the audience's support with images of the good it would do all of them. She'd watched with tears sparkling in her eyes while he revealed his hopes for the future, that of following in his
grandfather's footsteps and growing old in a town that cared for its own.

Bryan thought he saw a look of longing on Melissa's expressive face when he talked of the years ahead. But was it real? Had she realized the emptiness in her life because of her attitude?

The auctioneer returned and asked for everyone's attention. Bryan got choked up watching Meg wheel his grandfather onstage to hear the grand total announced. Added to what Bryan had already saved and the sum his grandfather himself had donated, the urgent-care clinic was funded in full.

Thunderous applause roared through the room. Bryan hugged his granddad a long time, neither of them wanting or able to let go.

Later Meg and Tilly drove his granddad home. The band played a slow, jazzy tune and Bryan searched the rapidly thinning crowd and assorted hotel staff for Melissa. When he spotted her, he swallowed the last of his drink and slowly approached.

“Thank you so much for coming,” Melissa said, shaking Carl Detaill's hand. “I appreciate the compliments and hope you've had a fun evening.”

“Oh, we did, we did. And I insist you think about what I said. I meant every word.” The man winked at her and nodded.

Suddenly aware of his presence, Melissa shot Bryan a look, her smile faltering. “I will,” she murmured, her lashes falling low over her eyes. “I'll be in touch.”

The hospital board member held out his hand. “Dr. Booker, congratulations on a
very
successful event. I'm impressed with the turnout and all your hard work. When the hospital said our support was limited, well—let's just say I imagine there are a few board members wishing now we'd helped you
get the ball rolling so we could've been more involved. Regardless, I wish you much success.”

“Thank you. I hope you enjoyed yourself.”

They exchanged a few more pleasantries before Detaill and his wife walked away. Studying Melissa, Bryan noticed she continued to avoid eye contact. “What was that about?”

“Oh, nothing. Just chitchatting. You know.”

“Is something wrong?”

She inhaled and blinked up at him. “No. But before I forget, I want to let you know how great you were tonight. Your speech was wonderful and quite moving. I spotted quite a few audience members crying and several donations were upped after you spoke.”

He shoved aside the doubts he had for a later time and grinned. “That's great. I'm glad to know people aren't as unfeeling as they sometimes seem. Not when it comes down to the good of a community. But now, it's our turn to celebrate. Dance with me?”

Melissa glanced around them. “Bryan, it's late—”

“All the better.” His gut tightened when she surprised him by laughing, the sound nervous, a little strained, but playful.
Playful
on Melissa was unexpected.

She glanced at the ornate clock on the wall. “The band is only going to be here for another fifteen minutes or so.”

He held out his hand. “Then what are we waiting for?”

Ignoring the noise of the staff bustling about cleaning up the dirty dishes, he pulled the unprotesting Melissa into his arms and twirled her onto the dance floor. Tiny white lights twinkled over their heads, candles burned low in their glass holders. The ambience was romantic and seductive, the perfect end to a perfect evening of giving.

Melissa looked up at him, her lips parted and tempting.
Bryan pressed her closer with a hand on the small of her back, his fingers stroking her satiny-smooth skin and eliciting a shiver in response. Smiling, he kissed her temple and swayed to the music, the feel of her body rubbing against his sending desire flooding into his groin. One song blended into two…three.

Melissa's hand gripped his, trembling, the other resting on his shoulder, every now and again sliding down his chest or up to his neck as though she forgot herself long enough to enjoy the feel of him. He didn't speak, didn't want to do anything to bring her to awareness of what she did. Didn't want the night to end.

The band paused and, without stopping the slow, swaying motion, he glanced at them and saw them staring back, the room virtually empty, the auction guests gone. Lightly, Bryan lifted his hand from her back and rubbed his fingers together, indicating he'd pay them to play longer.

A couple of the band members shook their heads with expressions of regret, but the saxophone player nodded. Almost immediately rich notes filled the air, a popular love song.

Bryan returned his hand to her back, gently smoothing it down the length of her spine, dipping beneath the low-cut material to touch and tease. A sound left her, a shuddering, revealing moan, her breath moist and hot on his neck. Slowly, the act drawing on every ounce of restraint he managed to maintain, he kissed her temple, trailed his lips down her cheek. He waited, hoping. Aching. And then her mouth lifted to his.

Bryan took what Melissa offered, plunging his tongue into her sweetness, but keeping the caress light. Wanting her to want more, want him, as much as he wanted her. He didn't know how long they stayed like that, kissing, dancing. Their
bodies barely moved, but they put out enough heat to set the room aflame. Finally, unable to withstand any more and praying she'd follow, he raised his head and let her see everything. His desire, his need. His love. Hoping she'd give him a chance. Maintaining eye contact, Bryan cradled her face and kissed her again. “Come upstairs with me,” he murmured against her lips. “Melissa, let me show you how beautiful you are.”

Amazingly, a shy nod was his answer. Bryan kissed her again, hard and fast, then took her trembling hand in his. He pulled some bills from his pocket and dropped them onto the table closest to the dance floor, lifting a hand to the sax player in thanks while leading her to his room.

S
ILENT AND BREATHLESS
,
Melissa allowed Bryan to guide her through the plush hotel and into an elevator. She expected the trip upstairs to be awkward, but Bryan didn't wait for the doors to close. He hauled her close and kissed her again. Made her forget about the people in the reception area, the maid sweeping the lobby floor and the reservation clerk eyeing her enviously.

Bryan kissed her hungrily, licking her lips and sucking her tongue, sending her heart rate soaring. How did he do that? Make her feel sexy and warm and beautiful?

When he lifted his head, she realized the elevator had chimed, indicating they'd arrived at their destination. She didn't remember him pressing a button. Bryan captured her hand again and led her down the hall to the ornate door of a suite. Had he expected her to—

“I'd hoped tonight would end like this, Melissa. With
you,
no one else.” His husky tone revealed his sincerity.

Inside the suite, she swallowed nervously and waited while he locked the door. The light-headed feeling she'd come to associate with Bryan's kisses turned into a fight-or-flight instinct born of fear. She wanted this. Wanted him.
But could she?

He drew her into his arms and even though she raised her
head for a kiss, hoping he'd make her forget, Bryan simply held her close and she opened herself to him a little more although she warned herself against it. This one night… This could only be
one
night. She couldn't handle more than that. Couldn't handle more of Bryan or—

“I want more, Melissa.”

She lifted her head and stared up at him, only now aware she'd spoken aloud. Wetting her lips, she fingered the black silk tie he wore. “If you can…if
I
can… Bryan, it's just tonight. One night, and only one night, and then we'll never talk about it or—”

“Why set limitations? I want
you,
Melissa, not a fling. Not a one-night stand.” He cupped her face in his hands, his expression fierce. “I want to make love to you. I want…I want to be with you—”

“You can.
Tonight.
”

“Melissa—”

“I can't give you more. I
can't
. If this isn't enough then…I'll go.”

“No.”

“Bryan—”

Bryan smothered her protest and gasp of surprise when he swept her into his arms. She gripped him tight and broke the kiss after a long moment, unable to breathe due to the panic surging through her.

His mouth nibbled her neck as he carried her through the sitting room and to the bedroom. The bed had been folded down in preparation and an ornate lamp cast a soft glow.

Bryan sat on the edge of the bed with her in his lap and smoothed his hand up her arm, fingering the strap of her gown. “You're going to hyperventilate. Breathe with me. In and out. Nice and easy.”

She tried to follow the pattern he set, but when he stroked
his knuckles along her chest and followed the deeply plunging V, she faltered.
Could she do this?

Bryan stopped touching her and took off his tuxedo jacket. Watching him was heady, every woman's fantasy come to life. A breathtakingly gorgeous man undressing for her, looking at her as if she were the only woman he had ever wanted. Soon her breathing was under control because her thoughts shifted to him instead of herself.

She followed his movements with her hands, balanced herself on his lap while she fingered his tie, then pulled it loose. Bryan sat still, letting her unbutton and pull and tug and stroke to her heart's content. Discovering, learning him the way she had in her dreams.

“You're…perfect.” She hadn't meant to say the words aloud, but his response surprised her. Bryan's hands shook. They actually
shook.
And one glance at his face said it wasn't in nervousness but need. He wanted
her
. His expression was both tender and fierce.

Bryan nudged her chin up until she met his gaze. “So are you. To me, you are perfect, Melissa. My beautiful, perfect, amazing woman…kiss me.”

Instead of giving in and doing what they both wanted, Melissa got to her feet. She avoided his gaze but noted the stillness in him, knew he thought she was leaving and relished the rough growl that rumbled from deep within him when she kicked off her heels and curled her toes into the thick carpet.

She held out her hands and pulled him up to stand in front of her. Her fingertips traveled down, over his pecs, the desire-hardened expanse of his stomach, paused at the cummerbund he still wore. Smiling, she followed the bank of material around his waist to where it fastened and unhooked it, letting
it drop to the floor. That done, she pressed a kiss to the center of his chest and unfastened the last of the shirt buttons.

Bryan stroked her arms and back while she worked. More than once she found herself smiling, loving it when his nipping distracted her and she had to regroup and begin her various tasks again. He didn't rush her, didn't push. No, Bryan let her look her fill and ground his teeth when she tested his restraint. Tentatively, teasingly, she unfastened his slacks and let them drop to his ankles, the sight of him standing in his underwear at odds with his sexy reputation.

Several seconds passed before Bryan gave her a playful scowl and stepped out of the pants, toed off his socks, and used the act as an excuse to kiss her with a seductive stroke of his tongue. “What?” he demanded, his voice strained.

Her cheeks heated even more. “It's… I would've…um, thought you a briefs or commando guy. That's all.”

His hands slid down her back to her hips, squeezed her rump and pressed her to the ever-expanding bulge beneath his boxers. “Um, B-Bryan…” She frowned, barely noticing when he smoothed his hand over her shoulder to trace the crease with a fingertip.

“I know what to expect, Melissa. Don't be afraid. Never be afraid with me.”

“But…the lights.” She shook her head, her gulping swallow audible and thoroughly embarrassing. “I can't…not with the lights on. Please.”

Bryan bent and grasped the switch, then hesitated. “This is for you, Melissa, not me.” A twist of his fingers plunged the room into darkness. That done, Bryan returned his hand to her waist, found the short zipper of her dress.

She pressed him backward onto the bed to keep him from touching her. “Not yet.”

He caught her hips with his hands. “Then lie down with me, let me feel you. Let me touch you the way I want to touch you. The way I
need
to touch you.”

Bryan's husky plea removed the last of her reservations. She put her knee on the bed, allowed him to guide her down, press her against him. She shifted closer to his seeking hands and felt his fingers wrap around her ankle where they slid with agonizing slowness up her calf, stroking the ticklish back of her knee before moving to her thigh. His knuckles smoothed over her skin, teasing, higher and higher until—

He growled long and low. “A
thong?
Sweetheart, you could've warned me.”

The all-male comment drew a throaty laugh from her. “I couldn't wear anything else with this dress.”

“Thank God.”

Smiling, she wished she could see his face, his expression, but knew to see him, he'd be able to see her. Unless— “Bryan, can…could I wear your shirt?”

His hand tightened on the tiny string at her hip and pulled. “No.”

Melissa shivered as Bryan uttered the word, the sound low and amazingly sensual.

“I want to feel you, all of you,” he continued. “I want nothing between us but skin.” Her panties gone, his hand returned to her thigh. “Roll over.”

Inhaling shakily, she hesitated a long moment, then rolled away from him. She felt Bryan shift on the king-size bed, felt him find her skirt and lift it out of the way. He straddled her legs then and tugged the dress upward, the cut allowing him to pull it over her head easily.

Melissa pressed her chest to the cool sheets, and moaned when Bryan's hands dropped to her shoulders and proceeded
to massage her back. He seemed in no hurry, but she felt the tension rising in him, the way his hands weren't quite steady, the way his body felt hot and hard and heavy. Just like her own.

His hands stroked lower, the base of her back, over her hips, where he stopped and squeezed. “You have the most beautiful behind.”

She gasped, unable to lie still when he cupped the flesh, his thumbs dipping inward, between her thighs.

“And your legs,” he murmured, dropping a kiss to one hip before sliding lower. “Do you know how many times I've fantasized about your legs? I'd hang back to watch you run, the way your muscles bunch—” his fingers gently tightened “—and release.”

She buried her face in the soft mattress with a moan, but she wasn't so oblivious she didn't catch Bryan's low murmur of praise. In an instant he turned her over before she could voice a protest, then covered her with his body.

“Say you want me, Melissa.”

He doubted that? Bryan kissed her, hard and rough. The room spun, but Bryan was her anchor. Her gift to herself and the first step toward the future.

“Say I'm not the only one so turned on right now that all I can think about is being with you, inside you, forever.”

He kissed her again before she could protest the forever part, then tore his mouth from hers and nibbled on her neck. His teeth sank into the muscle at the base with just enough pressure to have her curling her legs around him, sliding the hardest part of him against her. She whimpered, a part of her shocked she could make such a sound. Part of her thrilled that she could, after everything she'd been through.

“That's it. Melissa…sweetheart.”

He kissed his way lower, but she was in such a dazed state it took her a moment to realize his destination.

“B-Bryan, no.
No
.”

He caught her hands in his when she tried to push him away, secured them above her head with one hand and freed the other to stroke her chest. Slow, tender caresses that left nothing hidden.

Tears stung her eyes and she turned her face away, tried to roll over. How could she have thought she could do this? “
Don't.
Bryan, please don't ruin this.”

Bryan ignored her, murmuring words of comfort and praise, searching out her scars with his fingertips and lips. Lying beneath him, trapped by his hips and the hand holding hers, she waited for his body to react. For his erection to dwindle. For her magical night to stop.

“Can you feel me touching you?”

She didn't answer, wouldn't. Some nerves had been damaged or destroyed by the surgery, some not. What did it matter though? He wouldn't be able to make love to her. Not now.

“Melissa?” Bryan raised his head and even in the darkness she felt his stare. He hesitated, then pinched her lightly.

She jumped.

“You can feel me,” he murmured, a smile in his voice. “Good.”

Good? That was all he said before she felt him shift into her, felt the warm, wet slide of his tongue over her skin, over her scars. She strained against him in a feeble attempt to get away, but it was more to hide her sobs than to escape his touch. She couldn't—he
couldn't—

“Beautiful.”
Kiss.
“Brave.”
Kiss.
“Melissa…ah, honey, you are so beautiful. Smooth and sleek and
strong
. So strong.”
Another chuckle. “Proud. We're going to clash, you and I, but I can't wait. You're a woman to be reckoned with. A fighter.”

She bit her lip, tried to hold them back.

“Shh. Don't cry. Ah, honey, don't cry.” Bryan placed one last lingering kiss right over her heart before lifting his head and taking her lip into his mouth, smoothing his tongue over the hurt she'd caused and cradling her face in his palm.

The warmth he'd shown her, the tenderness, set her free. Instead of being angry over his high-handedness, she turned ferocious, her tears forgotten, and kissed him with every ounce of desire and pain and want inside her. She arched her back, needing to feel him, needing him to touch her even though she knew come morning, when she had to leave, her heart would be broken just like her father had warned. But she had tonight. Hours and hours until—

She shoved that worry aside, her fingers clinging to the hand holding hers. Having no way of touching him otherwise, she raised her knees and encircled his hips with her legs.

Another rough chuckle left him. “Not yet. You in a hurry?”

“Yes.”

Bryan kissed her again before he rolled to the side of the bed and fumbled, mumbling under his breath. A moment later he mumbled again. “You've got me so crazy I can't— Melissa, I need to turn on the light.”

She rolled onto her stomach and grabbed a pillow from the headboard, holding it to cover her chest. “Um, okay.”

The lamp came on. She blinked at the sudden brightness, then watched him search for the condoms in the drawer. He kept his back to her, his focus on what he was doing, and for that she was grateful. He knew how she felt, knew why she felt it and yet—

A thought registered and, before she could squelch it,
Melissa bent her knees, crossed her ankles, lying in what she hoped would pass as a seductive pose. She might not have a future with Bryan, but she wanted one moment in the light when she could see him. When he could see her and…like what he saw? “Bryan?”

All movement stilled. Bryan looked at her, his mouth parting to draw in more air as his hot, heavy-lidded gaze slid down her body lying propped atop the pillow and lingered on her butt, her legs. He tossed the condom onto the bed by her hand and shucked his boxers before climbing back onto the bed beside her.

“Th-the light.”

“What about it?”

She blinked at him. Why hadn't she thought that far ahead? Fear swamped her. “Bryan…”