Love Storm (9 page)

When she awoke the following morning, Brooklyn’s entire body
felt limp and completely sated.
 
They’d
made love twice more before dawn, and although she was utterly exhausted, she
felt absolutely wonderful at the same time.
 
However, there was still a tiny part of her that feared what Ryan’s mood
would be, now that their passion had been satiated and morning was upon
them.
 
Would he have any regrets?
 
Turning her head, she peeked at him from
beneath her lashes.

She needn’t have worried.
 
He was already awake, and as soon as she opened her eyes, he rolled
toward her, nuzzling his face into the side of her neck as his left hand moved
upward to cup her right breast.
 
“Good
morning,” he murmured, his morning stubble ticking her skin as he kissed his
way along the column of her throat.

“Good morning.”
 
And
it
was
a good morning, a very, very
good morning, she realized, as a delicious tingle raced along her spine.
 
However, as Ryan’s lips drifted upward along
her cheek, she abruptly turned her head away.
 
“Wait,” she giggled, pushing at his shoulder.
 
“I need to brush my teeth first.”
 

“Tell you what,” Ryan countered with a seductive smile, as
his thumb moved in tiny little circles around her nipple.
 
“Why don’t we both brush our teeth, and then
we can broaden your education by taking a nice long shower and picking this up
right where we leave off.”

Brooklyn’s back nearly arched off the bed then, as he bent
his head and pulled her peaked nipple into his mouth, swirling his tongue
around the sensitive bud.
 
A muffled
“Umm, uh hmm,” was all she could manage.

Chuckling, Ryan rolled onto to his back and then climbed
naked from the tangled sheets.
 
Walking
around the foot of the bed to the other side, completely comfortable in his
nakedness, he grabbed Brooklyn’s hand and towed her from the bed and then
pulled her toward the bathroom.

Self-conscious in the glow of the bright morning sun, she
tried to snatch her robe up off the floor to cover herself, but Ryan merely
chuckled and continued pulling her along, naked as the day she was born.
 
She supposed she hardly had anything to be
embarrassed about, not after all of the intimacies they had shared last night,
but even so, this was all still a little new to her.

Since her own toothbrush was upstairs, Ryan grabbed an
unopened one from his travel kit and handed it to her, then picked up his own
from the counter.
 
Blushing a little, she
tried to avoid looking directly at the reflection of her naked body in the
enormous mirror mounted above the double sinks, as she quickly brushed her
teeth.

Once they were finished, Ryan moved to the shower and turned
on the faucet that controlled the water flow to the half dozen
showerheads.
 
And then, as soon as it was
hot enough, he pulled her into the large, walk-in tiled shower that was easily
big enough to hold four people at once.
 
There, standing within the circle of the hot, streaming jets of water, they
playfully soaped and fondled each other’s bodies in between steamy, passionate
kisses, until their desire for one another could no longer be held in check,
and Ryan finally took her up against the rear shower wall.
 
Their bodies, slippery and wet, moved as one
until they were both nearly mindless with want and ultimately found their
release.

Once she was able to think coherently again, Brooklyn
realized just how fortunate it was that Julia had convinced her to go on the
pill shortly after her breakup with Kevin, for Ryan had found only the one
condom in his wallet last night, and thinking he’d be alone at the cabin, he
hadn’t packed any extras into his suitcase.
 
Now that she’d experienced her sexual awakening, she couldn’t even
imagine spending the next several days with Ryan at the cabin without wanting
to make love to him again and again and again.
 
And though she tried to deny it, it
was
love, at least on her part.
 
As much as
she wanted to believe that she could spend the remainder of the week with Ryan
and walk away unscathed, she knew it wasn’t true.
 
But she would deal with that when the time
came.
 
For now, she simply wanted to
enjoy every single minute she had with him.

Over the next several days, Brooklyn and Ryan spent almost
as much time
in
bed, as they did out
of it.
 
Although they did manage to find
some time here and there to feed themselves, talk, frolic in the hot tub, and
watch a little football on TV, they were content to spend the majority of their
time wrapped in each other’s arms.
 
With
both of them knowing that she would be returning to Denver on Saturday and then
back to her job at the museum on Monday, they made the most of what little time
they had.
 
Even so, by Friday night it
still seemed as though neither of them had gotten nearly enough of each other.

“What are you thinking?” Ryan murmured, as Brooklyn lay
sprawled and sated atop his chest once again.

“That I could stay here forever, exactly like this,” she
replied softly.

“I think I could live with that.”
 
He ran his hands lightly up and down her
naked back, his fingers stroking her skin in feather-light caresses. “Are you
sure you have to leave tomorrow?”

“Unfortunately, yes.
 
The auction is on Wednesday, and I’ve got a ton of stuff to do before
then.”
 
The museum was looking to acquire
a few new pieces for their European Art Collection and they were holding one
last fundraiser, a lavish luncheon for their most generous patrons earlier in
the week, and she was scheduled to help with the event along with several other
interns.
 
She would also be attending the
auction on Wednesday, something she’d been looking forward to for weeks.

“Damn, I guess I’ll have to let you go then,” he replied
grudgingly.
 
Surprisingly, after spending
six nights with Brooklyn, five of them naked, it didn’t seem like nearly enough
time.
 
And although his hands and lips
had caressed nearly every inch of her luscious body, he never seemed to tire of
it.
 
The velvety texture of her skin
beneath his fingertips felt even better than the feel of the football in his
hands when he was about to score a touchdown, and the taste of her skin was
like the most potent of aphrodisiacs.
 
He
was as utterly captivated by her now, as he had been during their first night
together.

Listening to his words, Brooklyn couldn’t help wondering if
he did in fact intend to let her go, but in an entirely different sense.
 
For her, secluded within their idyllic
mountain hideaway, the past week had seemed more like fantasy than
reality.
 
Hidden away from the outside
world, they had been focused solely on each other, but what about later, when
they were both forced to return to the real world.
 
Their lives were so different.
 
He was a famous celebrity, and she was just
plain old Brooklyn Foster.
 
How could she
ever hope to be enough to hold on to someone like him?
 
So then, would everything simply go back to
the way it had been before, she returning to her life, and he returning to
his?
 
She’d told Ryan early on that she
had no future expectations, assuring him that she could handle whatever
happened or didn’t happen between them, once they left the cabin.
 
But could she?
 
Could she really?

“We still have tonight,” she said, thankful for that at
least, as she pressed her lips against the hollow of his throat.
 
With effort, she pushed the disturbing
thoughts aside, not wanting to ruin what little time they had remaining before
she had to leave.

Continuing to run his hands up and down her back, Ryan tried
to stay focused on the present, but even so, it was hard to keep from
contemplating the days ahead.
 
Although
they had made no promises to one another in regard to the future, he found the
thought of not seeing Brooklyn again once he returned to Denver difficult to
imagine.
 
However, though he’d certainly
changed a great deal from his days as a carefree bachelor, he wasn’t entirely
sure that he was ready to commit to another long-term relationship, despite the
powerful feelings he had for her.
 
And
with Brooklyn, a committed relationship was the only type of relationship he
could foresee.
 
She was far too special a
person to settle for anything less, and she shouldn’t have to.
 

And of course there was still that matter of him and Wade’s
friendship to consider.
 
If he and
Brooklyn became involved and then it didn’t work out, what would happen
then?
 
Would it end up destroying one of the
closest friendships he’d ever had?
 
It
was something he definitely had to consider.
 
Although, with Brooklyn lying naked and replete atop his chest, he
couldn’t help thinking that it might very well be worth the risk.

When they awoke the following morning, they made love one
last time, but to Brooklyn it seemed different somehow, more meaningful.
 
This time, as Ryan took her to the heights of
pleasure, there was a raw, aching tenderness to it that brought tears to her
eyes.
 
And when Ryan finally collapsed on
top of her, both of them lost to the incredible rapture of the moment, she knew
that she loved him with every fiber of her being, and that she always would, no
matter what their future held.
 
Tangling
her fingers into his hair, she breathed in the delicious, masculine scent of
him, imprinting it onto her memory so that she would never forget it.

For Ryan the moment was bittersweet.
 
He realized that their time together was
almost over, but even so, he wasn’t nearly ready for it to end.
 
And of course, knowing that once Brooklyn
left the cabin the perfect little world they had created around themselves
would vanish like a puff of smoke, he couldn’t help feeling a touch of
sadness.
 
But no matter what the future
held, he knew that he would always cherish their week in the mountains.
 
It had been one of the most special times of
his life.

Several minutes later, when they rose from the bed at long
last, Brooklyn did her best to disguise her tortured emotions as they headed
for the shower.
 
Tired and utterly
satiated from their final night together, she and Ryan managed to keep their
hands off of each other as they showered, leisurely soaping their own bodies
and washing their own hair under the spraying jets.
 

Ryan was done first, and graciously offered to make
breakfast as he stepped out of the shower, knowing that Brooklyn would likely
need some time to finish getting ready.
 
Casting one last lingering glance at the absolute perfection of her
naked form, he forced himself to turn away.
 
Grabbing a towel, he wrapped it around his waist as he moved into the
bedroom.

Entering the kitchen a short time later, her duffle bag
slung over her shoulder, she dropped it onto the floor as Ryan motioned for her
to sit down at the table.
 

Carrying over two plates, each topped with a thick stack of
pancakes covered in butter and warm maple syrup, Ryan set one in front of
Brooklyn and the other at the place setting next to hers.
 

“Thank you,” she said, hoping her smile didn’t appear as
artificial as it felt.
 
She was really
going to miss their late-morning breakfasts.

“My pleasure.”

“You do realize that you’re going to have to do
all
of the cooking now right,” Brooklyn
reminded him playfully, as she stuck her fork into the huge mound of flapjacks.
 

“Ugg, and the laundry too,” Ryan said with a grimace.
 

“Yep, that too.
 
But
I’m pretty sure you can handle them both.”

“I don’t know.”
 
The
laundry would definitely be a challenge, but at least he wouldn’t starve.
 
“How many of those TV dinners were left in
the freezer?”

Brooklyn laughed.
 
“I
think there are enough to get you by for another couple of weeks.”

“Let’s hope.”
 
His
specialties were grilled steaks and burgers, but he could also make a pretty
tasty omelet and decent stack of pancakes.
 
Otherwise, his culinary skills were fairly limited.

“Oh, and when you dry your clothes, don’t forget to put in a
dryer sheet, or else they’ll all be full of static when you take them
out.”
 

“Got it.”
 
His
housekeeper took care of the laundry at home, but Brooklyn had gone over the
basics of the high-tech washer and dryer with him earlier in the week.
 
If he’d been on his own, he probably would
have had to call his mom for instructions.
 
Sadly, he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d done his own laundry,
if ever.
 
He was spoiled and he knew
it.
 
Just another one of the many perks
of being a professional athlete.
 
“Anything else I might forget?”