Once upon a Dream (23 page)

“I'll carry these candles in so we can find our way.” With a candle in each hand, Annie led the way while Ben stacked the dishes in the sink.

Then she returned to the patio for the carafe of coffee bubbling on the grill. As she poured two cups and set them on a tray, the fragrance perfumed the kitchen.

“I'll take that.” Ben took the tray from her hands and led the way to the great room, where more candles gleamed on the mantel. After setting the tray on a table, Ben lifted one of the candles and held the flame to kindling in the fireplace. Soon the room was ablaze with warmth and light.

“There now. That's better.” He turned and found Annie standing beside him, holding out a cup of coffee.

He accepted it and touched it lightly to the rim of hers. “Here's to our last night at White Pines.”

She wondered at the sudden ache in her heart. After all, this place meant nothing to her. Nothing except a hefty bonus when it was sold. Still, she couldn't help thinking that the Carrington family would one day regret their decision. But by then it would be too late. Someone new would be living here, creating wonderful new memories.

“Will you be sorry to leave, Ben?”

He studied her a moment before nodding. “Yeah. I never thought I'd say that. But tonight, remembering the good times, I realized just how much of my childhood is wrapped up in this place.”

“Maybe you should urge your mother to reconsider.”

He shook his head. “White Pines has sat empty now for three years. It's time to sell it to someone who can enjoy all that it has to offer.”

“But why not your family?”

He merely smiled as he stared at her. “You know what, Annie? You ask too many questions.”

“But that's my job. If I'm going to represent your family in the sale of this place, I need to know everything I can about it. I need to know if there's some flaw in the design that caused your family to stop coming to White Pines.”

He seemed not to hear as he stared into her eyes. Abruptly he took the cup from her hands and set it on the mantel beside his.

Her eyes went wide. “Ben, what are you doing?”

“I'm going to do what I've wanted to do ever since you floated down those stairs.” He drew her close and covered her mouth with his in a kiss so hot, so hungry, it melted every bone in her body. She could feel them, one by one dissolving, disappearing. Just a kiss, and she felt boneless and fluid. And completely undone.

When he looked at her, her eyes were huge with shock. It pleased him more than anything. “I really wanted this instead of shrimp and lobster. Instead of wine.” He ran nibbling kisses across her jaw and heard her sigh of pleasure. His teeth nipped lightly on her lobe. “All wine can do is go to my head. But you, Annie. You go straight to my heart.”

He darted his tongue inside, sending piercing little arrows all the way to her core. She made a sound that might have been pleasure or protest.

“Now I'm through wanting.” He ran his hands lightly down her sides, then closed them over her hips, and dragged her against him. “I've decided I have to have you, Annie. If I don't, I'm not sure my heart will survive.”

She simply stood there, her eyes wide and unblinking. She couldn't seem to move. Or to speak.

“Need some coaxing, do you?” He framed her face with his hands and kissed her so softly, so gently, it seemed almost no kiss at all. As gentle as a snowflake, as sweet as a single raindrop. But it was the sweetness that was
her undoing. With just the mere touch of his lips on hers, she felt her blood heat, her pulse rate begin to climb.

When he raised his head, she could see him watching her, his eyes narrowed on her with a look that was both pleading and puzzled. “It's your call, Annie. Tell me you want this, too.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to bolt, but she was rooted to the spot. She couldn't have moved if she'd tried, and though she had at least a dozen good reasons why she ought to refuse his offer, at the moment she couldn't recall a single one.

Like someone in a dream she wrapped her arms around his neck and offered her lips for another drugging kiss. Her voice sounded husky in her own ears. “Oh, Ben. I thought you'd never ask.”

F
OR THE SPACE
of a heartbeat the only sounds were their shallow breathing and the hiss and snap of the log on the fire. He stared into her eyes and saw the same smoldering need that was driving him slowly mad.

“I hope to hell I'm not dreaming.” He covered her mouth with his and took the kiss deeper. Against her lips he muttered, “If I am, don't wake me.”

Without warning he lifted her into his arms and headed toward the stairs. Halfway up, he couldn't wait any longer for another taste of her. As he lowered his mouth to hers, he felt a need that shook him to the core.

He couldn't recall another time when he'd known such a hunger. To taste. To touch. To possess.

He continued up the stairs and prayed for the strength to make it to the top before he gave in to the unbelievable passion that was nearly blinding him. With all the strength he could muster, he made it. Barely. Then he paused to kiss her again. A mistake, he realized at once. He should
have waited until he'd reached his bedroom. Or hers.

“Annie.” Pressing her back against a closed door, he struggled to keep the kiss gentle, as the others had been. But it was impossible. The need for her was humming through him, threatening to break free and rip apart the last shred of his control. “I'm not sure we can make it to a bed.”

“Okay. I guess.” She tried to laugh, but the sound came out on a choking sob.

His kisses were no longer gentle. Nor were the hands that moved over her, setting off sparks wherever they touched. Beneath the thin veneer of control was a violence that excited her even while it frightened her. This wasn't the urbane, civilized man who'd cooked dinner and served it by candlelight. This was the dangerous sailor she'd seen on the bay. A pirate, pitting his wiles against nature's storm.

And what a storm. It howled and raged between them, hurling them into a frenzy unlike anything they'd ever felt before.

His mouth demanded, devoured. His hands moved over her, possessing, arousing, until she was trembling with need.

“Wait.” She put a hand on his chest. “I need to catch my breath.”

“I don't want to wait, Annie.” He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to the palm, then to her wrist, then higher to the bend of her elbow. “I'm beyond waiting.”

“I can't…” Her sigh was laced with frustration and pleasure. She turned blindly up the hallway, toward her bedroom. “I need…”

“All right.” Sensing her fear, he dropped an arm around her shoulders and moved by her side. But after only a couple of steps he turned her into his arms and brushed his lips over her cheek, her jaw, her lips, loving the way her body reacted with a need that matched his own.

She drew back until she bumped against the closed door
of her room. But he kept his hands on her, his lips on hers.

This was a mouth to savor. Full, generous lips. And a taste so sweet he had to keep returning to it, again and again. He couldn't get enough of the taste of her.

He cautioned himself to slow down. When he did he saw the way her eyes glazed as he nipped her lower lip, then dipped his tongue inside. Her eyes fluttered closed.

He could almost feel her skin soften and heat beneath his fingertips. Could feel the way she tensed, then released a breath, filling his mouth with the taste of her. Her heart was pounding almost as much as his.

He'd always felt a need for control, and now that it was slipping away from him, he realized he didn't care. The only thing that mattered was this woman, this moment, this all-consuming passion threatening to devour them both.

“The bed.” With his mouth on hers, he reached behind her and twisted the knob.

As the door opened, the two of them nearly fell into the room. It was only Ben's arms around her that kept her upright. And then she was hauled against him, while his mouth fed on hers with a hunger that matched hers.

He sighed with frustration. He wanted her naked. He desperately needed to feel her flesh. As he lifted his hands to the buttons of her dress, he felt the way she trembled.

Trembled? It thrilled him as nothing else ever had. Though he wanted more than anything to strip away her clothes, he forced himself to put aside his needs and think about hers.

With a patience he'd never known he possessed, he skimmed his mouth over her face, whispering soft butterfly kisses across her forehead, her cheek, the tip of her nose.

She sighed. A long, drawn-out sound that went straight to his heart.

Calmer now, he brought his hands to the buttons at her throat. This time he was able to move slowly and delib
erately, without fear of tearing the delicate fabric. One by one, as the buttons opened and the bodice parted, he kept his eyes steady on hers. Finally, as he slid the dress from her shoulders, he lowered his gaze.

The sight of her nearly staggered him. “You're so beautiful, Annie. You take my breath away.”

“And you, Ben.” She tugged his sweater over his head and tossed it aside, needing to feel the warmth of his flesh. “You're beautiful, too.”

He was—all hard, muscled flesh and skin burnished from the sun. She moved her hands over his hair-roughened chest, the flat planes of his stomach. She loved the way he quivered at her touch. Her hands splayed over his chest, and she could feel his heart thundering in rhythm with her own.

Somehow it steadied her to know that he was as caught up in the passion as she, to know that they were taking this crazy ride together. And it was crazy. Or at least it had seemed so just minutes ago. Now it seemed the most natural thing in the world to be standing here in the dark, the only light in the room coming from the spill of moonlight through the window. The play of light and shadow over his face gave him an added look of danger. And this man, who just a day ago had been a stranger to her, now excited her as no man ever had. He was about to take her to the most intimate of all places.

He lowered his head to run soft, nibbling kisses down her throat and across her shoulder. As he did, she felt her breath catch in her throat. But when his mouth dipped lower, to the swell of her breast, she couldn't hold back the little moan of pleasure. Instinctively she arched against him, driving them both mad with need.

He tugged on the last button of her dress, allowing it to glide soundlessly over her hips to the floor, where it pooled at her feet. Then he lifted her to the bed and shed the rest of his clothes before lying beside her.

Moonlight turned the ends of her dark hair to flame and gilded her skin. For several seconds he studied her, loving
the way she looked. Like a beautiful, beguiling angel.

“You should always wear nothing but moonlight, Annie.”

She gave a husky laugh and reached out a hand to him. He surprised her by lifting it to his lips, where he kissed each finger. Then he leaned over her, allowing his mouth to roam over her torso, her ribs. With each touch of his mouth, she could feel the heat growing, and with it the need. Her breathing became more shallow as she felt herself slipping, slipping, deeper into that dark, demanding tunnel of desire.

“Ben, please.” She reached for him, but he resisted.

“Not yet, Annie. Not yet. Let me pleasure you. Pleasure both of us.” With lips and tongue and fingertips he roamed her body, fueling his own passion even as he drove her ever closer to the edge of madness.

He'd thought he wanted only relief from this blinding, aching need. But now he realized he wanted more. Much more. He wanted to touch, to taste, to savor. He wanted a feast, and here was a banquet of delight. The way she moved in his arms. The way she sighed with each new pleasure. It occurred to him that he wanted to touch not only her body but her heart and soul as well.

She thought she would die from the feel of those clever fingers moving over her. But when he found her, hot and wet, pleasure speared through her until it was close to pain. Sensation after sensation ripped through her, like arrows piercing her heart. She cried out until his mouth covered hers, swallowing the sound.

The air rose up between them, hot and thick, filling their lungs, making their breathing labored. Annie's body was on fire. Each touch brought fresh heat, threatening to sear her flesh, melt her bones.

Ben struggled to hold back, keeping relief just out of reach. Seeing her like this, without a shred of control, was the most erotic thing he'd ever experienced. He could feel his own control teetering on the very edge.

Somewhere in the deep, dark recesses of his mind was
the fear that he had driven them both too far. The last thing he wanted was to take her like a savage. But even as the thought formed, it was gone. As was every other thought save one. He had to have her now, this minute, or die. For there was a beast inside him, clawing to be free.

“Annie.” He breathed her name against her lips as he entered her.

He saw her eyes go wide, then flutter closed.

“Look at me, Annie.”

Her eyes opened, and he could see them glazed with passion.

“I want to see you. I want you to see me.”

As he began to move, she gave a moan and wrapped herself around him, moving with him, taking him higher, then higher still. Then they were sailing, skimming the waves until, caught in a whirlwind, they found themselves spinning out of control.

It was the most dizzying ride of their lives.

 

“Are you still alive?” He pressed his mouth to the hollow of her throat.

“Mmmm.” She touched a hand to his cheek, then let it drop limply against the pillow.

They lay, still joined, their breathing shallow, bodies slick.

“Sorry. I didn't mean to be so rough.”

“Me either.”

He leaned up on one elbow to look down into her eyes. They were crinkled with unspoken laughter. Ribbons of gold played across her face, giving her the look of a gilded angel.

He trailed a finger across her cheek. “That was…amazing. You're amazing. But then, you probably already know that. I'm sure you've been told that by dozens of men.”

“Hundreds.”

Again he caught that quick smile and he was able to
smile with her. He pressed his lips to her forehead and felt himself beginning to settle down. It was amazing how this simple act had quieted all the nerves. What he felt now was a sense of peace. Of contentment. It was something he hadn't felt in years. And it occurred to him that it was all because of this woman in his arms.

“Am I too heavy?”

“No.” It was the truth. She found the press of his beautiful body on hers to be pleasurable. She liked the feel of his long legs on hers. His hair-roughened chest brushing hers. Those arms, so strong they could break her in two, holding her as gently as though she were made of spun glass.

When he rolled to one side, and gathered her against him, she almost moaned in protest. Instead, as he ran a hand along her spine, she found herself purring like a kitten.

He lifted a finger to trace the curve of her brow, the softness of her cheek. Now, feeling pleasantly sated, he could take the time to really look at her. “Do you know how beautiful you are, Annie?”

“Tell me.” Her breath was warm against his throat. He found himself thinking that if she kept her mouth just there, he might go quietly mad.

“When I first saw you standing in the kitchen, I was sure I'd bumped my head harder than I'd thought and that you were just a figment of my imagination.”

“When did you decide I was real?” She skimmed a hand along his side, and he found the scrape of her nails against his flesh the most exquisite torture.

“When you threatened me with the knife. The minute I touched you, and felt that heat, I knew you were real.”

She sat up, her hair falling over one eye in a most seductive way. “You felt it, too?”

He merely stared at her. “So. It was the same for both of us.”

“I thought…” She shook her head. “I thought at first that I was imagining it. But when it happened every time
we touched, I knew it couldn't be all in my mind.”

“As long as we're in the mood for confessions, I'll tell you one more thing.” He reached up to play with a strand of her hair, twisting it round and round his finger. “I wasn't at all sorry when neither of our cars would start. I'd already begun to think it might be a fine idea to stick around for another day.”

She felt the curl of pleasure along her spine and wondered if he knew what his touch was doing to her. “And here I thought you were angry because you had to miss your business meeting.”

“I should have been. Any other time I would have been.” He tugged gently on her hair, drawing her face closer to his. “But the thought of spending another day in the company of the intriguing Annie Tyler certainly cushioned the blow.”

He cupped a hand to the back of her head and guided her mouth to his. Against her lips he muttered, “Why don't we go for seconds?”

“So soon?”

“You mean you're already bored with me?”

She laughed. “I mean, I didn't think you'd be up to such a feat.”

“You bring out the best in me. Or maybe it's the beast.” He drew her down on top of him and ran a hand along the length of her. “What do you think?”

“Why, Mr. Carrington, what a surprise.”

“Yeah. I'm just full of them.” He tangled his hands in her hair and pulled her close for another kiss.

This time, he promised himself, he would move slowly and give her the care she deserved. But as their kisses heated and their heartbeats started racing, all his good intentions disappeared. They were hurled once more into the eye of the storm. All they could do was cling desperately to one another, until they reached the next calm shore.

 

“Sorry our coffee got so cold. I hope this will make it up to you.” Ben was barefoot and naked to the waist, wearing only his grandfather's old pin-striped slacks, which he'd hastily pulled on. He handed Annie a flute of champagne, then climbed into bed beside her.