Once and Always (Women of Character) (20 page)

"I'm through with my
chores," Danny said abruptly.

Mario turned.

"I can help you finish."
Danny added, then swallowed hard, ashamed that his hands were shaking.

"Thanks," Mario said.
"It's Danny, isn't it? I'm glad you're here. Tyler had told me to ask you
what I should do next."

On familiar ground, the remainder
of the tension eased inside Danny. "Don't worry, I can show you what needs
to be done when we finish here."

Ω

 Evening arrived softly, darkening
the sky to a dusky orange, the clouds glowing as they held the last bit of
light. For Anna, the quiet surrounding her and Tyler was in sharp contrast to
the hectic day they'd passed. After a quick dinner of hamburgers and fries
which she'd elected to cook, they'd walked to the barn for a last check on the
grounds for the night.

As they turned back toward the
house, Anna couldn't help but feel the companionship they'd shared all week had
a somewhat unreal quality about it, leaving her swinging between varying
degrees of hope and tense anticipation. Charting a new course could be
frightening, especially when she acknowledged she'd been a bystander in her own
life the last two years. That was changing. She was taking charge and she liked
the newly emerging Anna.

Tyler clasped her hand. She traced
the calluses on his broad palm with the pad of her thumb, recalling that
morning they'd made love on the hillside and the feel of those rough hands so
gentle on her skin. She squeezed his hand tightly, overcome by an excess of
emotion. She wanted to make love with him again. She almost felt starved for
his touch.

"Look Tyler." She
pointed to the old swing beside the path. "Remember how you'd push me on
that swing?" She left his side and sat down on the weathered wooden seat,
her back to him as she gripped the chains. "After the fire, I spent
countless hours on this swing, feeling sorry for myself. I'd just sit here some
nights and stare at the moon."

She lifted her head to look at the
stars. "Danny knew. He used to wait for me to go up to the house."

"Did he sit with you?"

Anna smiled. "No. The first
couple times I caught him waiting I told him to go away, but he'd just wait in
the shadows. I wasn't supposed to know he was out there, but we both knew the
other knew."

Tyler gave her a gentle push.
Keeping her eyes closed, Anna pumped her legs back and forth as she gathered
momentum. Leaning back against the force of gravity, she relaxed her shoulders
and dropped her head until her hair streamed out behind her. She could see
Tyler standing just beyond the swing's arc.

She laughed. "It's glorious
slicing through the air." Tyler stood so still behind her, and Anna
trailed her toes in the grass, slowing her momentum.

"Annie." Tyler hands,
firm and sure, cupped her waist, bringing her to a total standstill. She closed
her eyes as a shiver of reaction coursed through her. His touch had such power
to move her, make her forget about anything else. She clenched her jaw at the
pleasure of it, her body reacting to the slide of his hands up her ribs, across
her shoulders, where they massaged a moment and then slid down the outside of
her arms. She grew tense with anticipation, wanting him to continue. This was
no game they played. All week, the stakes had risen. Anna knew that soon, the
stakes would be so high that neither one of them would step back, and then
they'd make love again. It was a natural outcome, action and reaction, not
merely hormones or a result of the moonlight. When she and Tyler made love, it
would be because they knew and respected each other's skills and opinions. She
cared very deeply about him and she wanted to demonstrate that feeling to him.

Tyler's hands hovered at her
waist, then clasped her lightly as he pulled her back against him, the swing
tipping forward. She tilted her head back and looked at him upside down. He
bent forward and his mouth covered hers. It wasn't enough. Pulling away, Anna
stood and stepped around the swing, right into his arms. She latched her arms
around his waist, relishing the strength in him as he pulled her hard into him,
loving the taste of his lips on hers. She thought hazily, how easy it would be
to become addicted to his touch, to crave it every day. Each time they kissed,
the same heated feeling washed over her. She wanted to push the world and her
concerns back and just concentrate on him.

She took his face in her hands,
gently running her fingernails over his stubbled chin. Tyler was a complex man.
Despite a troubled childhood, he'd turned out to be an honorable, successful
businessman. She thought of her insider's view of him all week. He competently
directed crews of workers, took the time to rescue abandoned kittens and hired
a man who was down on his luck. All these impressions of Tyler swam in her head
as she wound her arms around his neck.

Tyler now held her in a vulnerable
position, physically and emotionally, but from all indications he was in no
hurry to take advantage. Part of her appreciated his consideration, but Anna
decided that tonight she would take the initiative. She intended to propel
their relationship forward to the next level.

Tyler cupped her shoulders with
his hands and she felt their fine tremor. "You know this isn't
enough," he said.

She nodded in agreement, wetting
her lips. "I want more," she said, hardly recognizing the rawness of
her voice. She gave a short laugh. "I don't want to wait one-hundred and
eighty days."

She lifted up on her toes,
bringing her weight against him, aware of the corded muscles in his arms as he
held her close. His head dipped and she felt the warm brush of his breath on
her cheek. Emotion pooled inside and she clung to him, her body trembling,
undeniably excited by his strength, his closeness. With exploring hands, she
traced the muscles along his back, letting her hands roam freely up to his
neck. She held herself tightly, tensely against him, and felt an answering
tension within him that told her he was as affected as she was.

Anna let out a faint gasp of
wonder when his mouth dipped into her neck, trailing a sensory path along her
shoulder. His breath was hot through her T-shirt as he moved lower, his mouth
lingering, and she felt caught up in a sensual haze of need.

"Let's go back to the
house," he said hoarsely.

"I'll be disappointed if it's
just to say goodnight and go our separate ways," she said boldly, leaning back
to stare into his eyes.

His hands pressed into her hips.
"I'd hate to ever disappoint you."

Anna gripped his fingers as they
walked toward the house. Never had she remembered the path being so long. She
felt impatient and had the notion to tug him along so they could run.

Tyler pulled on her hand as the
house came in sight and she spun lightly on the balls of her feet. He dropped a
kiss on her mouth, and then another. Anna felt certain she'd burn up if she
didn't have Tyler. At the edge of the lawn, she laughed and then half-ran,
half-jogged across the grass, her feet so light she swore she was flying. Tyler
raced beside her and they climbed the stairs to the verandah like a couple of
kids, their feet thumping noisily across the wooden deck. Her hand touched the
door handle first and she pulled open the outer storm door, but before she
could open the main door, he sandwiched her between him and the wood. Laughing,
breathless, she looked up at him in the glow thrown by the porch light, seeing
the happiness on his face. For a moment, the world seemed very still, and Anna
realized that the utter happiness she saw in his eyes scared her. If she messed
up, that emotion could be turned around and extinguished in less than a blink
of an eye. Thinking of her own responsibility in the actions she was about to
take, sobered her quickly.

"Let's go inside," he
murmured.

Watching his eyes, his mouth, the
longing intensified. She cared so much about him. "Yes."

Tyler nuzzled her cheek and the
hair rose on her neck and arms. Shuddering, her lids fluttered closed as he
wound one hand into her hair, moving it ever so gently to her neck, down her
shoulders, his touch light as it wove a sensual spell around her. His scent,
leather and the subtle fresh scent of cologne, seduced her with its
familiarity. One large palm settled flat and warm between her shoulder blades.
His other hand cupped the base of her skull as he drew her slowly, ever so
slowly, closer, pulled her up on tiptoes to meet his mouth; roughly, sweetly,
deliciously.

"Last opportunity to run for
safety," he muttered.

With a shiver Anna fumbled for the
doorknob and the door opened behind her. She gave a gurgle of laughter but
Tyler kept her close so she didn't fall backwards. His strength delighted her.
It had been so long since a man had held her with such care.

Overloading on sensory
stimulation, Anna welcomed the heat of lips hard and soft. She squirmed against
him. His mouth on her cheeks and neck fanned a curl of fire to a hungry ache,
clenching her stomach muscles into a painful knot. Vulnerable to his touch,
unable to help herself, Anna squeezed her arms tightly around him, feeling as
if she had been starved. Craving more, she wanted the ultimate union.

His hands were under her shirt,
touching the sensitive skin of her stomach, the callused palms gentle and sure,
remembering her pleasure points. Passion consumed her.

Anna was aware of harsh breathing
but had no idea if it was his or her own. She allowed her entire being to
become flooded with Tyler, his scent, his touch, the feel of him. . . rational
thought clouded and faded away.

Somehow they had reached the
second floor. Tyler's bedroom door stood open. She hadn't been inside the room
since he'd moved in. She barely had time to notice the deep gray carpeting underfoot
before they reached the bed. She twined her arms around his neck as she
followed him down to the wide bed with its quilted top.

"Annie." His voice had
turned low and husky. There was a flush high on his cheekbones and his eyes met
hers levelly. She lifted her shirt and pulled it over her head.

For a moment, her hair fell all
around her face, and before she could push it out of the way, Tyler's hand was
there. He had discarded his shirt also, and she looked at his chest, the
clearly defined ridge of muscle along his ribs, the deep breaths she could see
he was taking. His uncontrolled breathing told her she was not alone in this
feeling of excitement. She reached out a hand and boldly traced his ribs, then
the firm muscles along his chest, the rigid bone of his collar. She felt such
joy in touching him. His fingers traced the lacy edge of her brassiere, then
found the hook and soon it was gone, leaving her naked from the waist up.
Together they shucked their jeans.

Sitting on the edge of the bed,
Tyler took her foot in his hands, spread his fingers up her ankle and pulled
off her cotton sock, the pads of his fingers lightly scraping her instep. For
the second foot, he did the same, then he cupped her ankle and brought it to
his mouth, his gaze holding hers as he pressed a kiss on the inside of each
ankle. His palms moved up her legs and Anna clenched her teeth, trying to hold
back a ragged groan. The air left her in a whoosh as his hands cupped her hips,
lifted her up from the bed and pulled down her wispy briefs, tossing them to
the floor. He moved to stand beside the bed. Anna leaned forward, hooked her
finger in the wide band of his boxer shorts and pulled the corner down off his
slim hips.

Driven by an uncontrollable
eruption of emotion, she was almost unable to absorb all the sensations. Now,
as Tyler stood before her she wondered again for a vulnerable moment what this
handsome, talented man saw in her.

Tyler placed his knee on the bed
and came down to her level. The slide of his body along hers was an
unbelievable pleasure. They fit so well, lying side by side. Marveling, she
reached a hand out to bury it in the rich darkness of his hair, running her
fingers along the back of his head where the hair was short. His neck was
strong, yet she could feel the tremble in him as she delicately traced the
whorls of chest hair and felt wonder at her affect on this man.

She leaned down to taste his skin,
then absorbed his shuddering reaction.

Anna brought her breasts to
Tyler's chest, enjoying the soft hair her sensitive skin encountered. He hauled
her closer yet, so there was no doubt in her mind as to his desire as his leg
captured hers.

Tyler rolled on top of her and
reached over to the bedside table. She heard the drawer open, saw the condom
packet in his fingers. Tyler pulled her back to him and she wound her legs
around him, enjoying the hardness of his body while his lips and teeth branded
her.

Anna covered his big hands with
her own and looked into his eyes, and he made a low, guttural sound in his
throat as, in perfect attunement, they came together. Sensation rocketed to her
toes and up her body to the back of her ears. She held Tyler tightly and she
knew in an instant of blinding truth that she had truly and absolutely fallen
in love with this man once again and there was no going back.

Ω

Tyler pushed the tumble of
reddish-brown hair from Annie's forehead, trying to find his way back through
the lingering aftershocks from their lovemaking. Annie moved against him with a
soft sigh and he stroked the long curve of her back, untangling the thoughts
inside his head. The desire that had been riding him hard all week was only
momentarily appeased, he could already feel himself wanting more. Was this only
a physical release? No, he rejected that idea. They had discarded the past and
had to look ahead.

He looked down at her face as her
head rested against his chest, her eyes green and very serious. He cupped her
jaw and she kissed him, and Tyler wondered about the years they'd missed
together. He had to ask her, but he also knew the cold facts might dispel the
euphoria. "I need you to tell me what happened that day."