Return of the Runaway Bride (22 page)

In a flash, she was captured by some strange mental time warp and flung back to
that
night…
that
moment… when they'd made love for the very first time.

She'd been so young when they'd first started dating that Daniel had insisted that the physical intimacies they shared didn't go too far. Even months later, after they had professed their love for one another and Savanna felt 'ready'… ready to go further… ready to prove her love by giving him all she had to give, he was determined that they wait.

They both suffered months of needless frustration, she'd felt. He already owned her heart. He was already in nearly every waking thought she had. Why shouldn't they express themselves in what she'd always believed was the purest form of love? It was implied in every Jane Austen novel she'd ever read, was blatantly depicted in every romantic movie she'd ever seen. Sex was the most normal and natural declaration of the heart. Besides that, the hormones raging through her body were enough to drive her completely insane. Savanna needed some sort of release.

When she had pushed him, he'd been adamant that they would wait until her eighteenth birthday, and although she had thought it was a sweet gesture on his part, she was just as adamant that they would not. She began saying and doing everything she could think of to force him to surrender to her wiles. Oh, what a spicy, seductive battle it had been.

Never would she have guessed that his breaking point would be seeing her in a pair of flannel boxer shorts.

She tilted her head to the side, brushing at the lock of hair that tickled her upper arm. "What happened to you that night?" The question came out in a feathery whisper.

Silence swelled and stretched between them until she could hear her heart thudding, and with each passing second the desire he felt for her grew. She saw it in his eyes, sensed it in every tense muscle of his body. His throat convulsed as he swallowed. And she realized that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.

Finally, he moistened his lips and answered, "I don't know." Then he immediately shook his head. "No. That's not true. Not true at all."

He slipped the wine glass from her hand and set it on the coffee table, and once he leaned back on the sofa, he reached out and picked up one end of the sash of her robe.

"I'd been away at college," he began, studying the sash as if the satin held some great secret. "I hadn't seen you for weeks."

The letters she'd written him had been filled with her angst.

"It had been almost impossible to focus on my classes. I was surrounded by my friends, my classmates and my professors, but I don't think I've ever felt so lonely in my life. I didn't think the semester would ever end."

She'd suffered the same distraction and desolation.

"I was expecting you Friday night," she told him. "But you surprised me."

His left shoulder lifted then fell. "I finished exams a day early. Packing up and driving home just seemed like the thing to do."

Savanna's heart constricted. "You threw pebbles at my bedroom window."

"I couldn't wait until morning to see you."

A knot of emotion rose in her throat and she swallowed in an attempt to allay it.

He'd missed her.
Wanted her.
That came as no surprise. He'd loved her. She'd loved him.
Desperately.
But the sheer magnitude of what they'd felt for each other struck her in a poignant and powerful way.

She curled her fingers and tucked her hand beneath her chin. "This might sound corny as hell, but I felt like Juliet that night, opening the window to my Romeo."

"Oh, yeah."
He snickered. "That's corny as hell."

"Daniel!" She gave his arm a light slap, but she couldn't help laughing too.

His smile lingered as he admitted, "At least you've been able to put a positive spin on it."

Her jaw went slack. "You don't think of that night as something good?"

"No, no, it's not that." His brow tensed. "It's just that I was conflicted. I still am. I couldn't help feeling that what we were doing was so wrong." He went very still. "Let's face
it,
what I'm saying is true. You were still seventeen."

"My birthday was just a few weeks away." Her point was all but lost in the sulky tone of her voice and the childishly stubborn lift of her chin.

"Savanna, we made love right here." He touched the couch cushion with his index finger. "We had unprotected sex in your father's study." He arched his brows as he added, "And your parents were asleep upstairs."

She pressed her lips together, unable to deny the truth of what he said. They had both fretted for days and days afterward, until she'd cycled and they realized that they were safe.
 

Daniel closed his eyes then, emitting the tiniest of groans. "But there were things about that night that were
so
right."

He captured her hand in his and looked into her eyes. He gently pulled open her fingers. The kiss he placed on the center of her palm was deliciously soft, but the addition of a small, hot lick shifted everything. Her blood pulsed thickly through her veins. And when his dark gaze met hers again, she knew without a doubt where this was headed.

"We probably shouldn't," he grated.

"You're probably right."

Savanna ran her tongue over her lips, pondering. She wasn't a teenager any longer. And if there was one thing she'd learned since leaving Fulton all those years ago, it was that calm, rational thinking was the best way to make decisions.

To hell with that, she thought, pulling her hand from his and sliding her bottom onto his lap. The feel of his day-old beard against her fingertips was utterly tantalizing.

Doubt sparked in his eyes and he said her name, but she silenced him with a kiss.

"You want this," she whispered against his mouth. "I want this."

Bare hunger shoved aside any hint of misgiving he might have been feeling. His hand skimmed along her thigh, skittered beneath the hem of her robe. His touch was scorching hot and softer than the satin she fully intended to shrug out of. The lacy elastic of her panties was no hindrance as his fingers slid beneath it to trace the curve of her hip.

He said her name again, but this time his low, ragged timbre expressed every ounce of the desire rushing through him.

Her need for him pulsed, hot and wet.

"Shut up, Daniel," she said. "Just shut up and make love to me."

Chapter Nine

"Can I give you a hand?" Savanna asked.

"Sure." Sheila motioned for Savanna to sit beside her on the back step. "Snapping beans is probably my least favorite chore."

Picking up a long, firm green bean, Savanna snapped off both ends. "I haven't done this since I was a little girl." She tossed the bean into the bowl at Sheila's feet and reached into the bag for another.

"I can remember the smell that permeated the whole house when Mom cooked up a pot of beans and potatoes. She'd add some smoked ham." Savanna rolled her eyes and smacked her lips at the memory. "It tasted as wonderful as it smelled."

Both women fell silent, the sound of snapping hovering in the hot afternoon air.

"Where are the kids?" Savanna asked.

"I hired the
Stevensons
' daughter to take them to the park." Sheila smiled wearily. "Patty's nearly eighteen. And she's really good with Amanda.
Keeps an eagle eye on my little urchin."

"You look tired," Savanna said. "You should be taking a nap instead of out here in the sun doing chores."

Sheila shrugged. "It's got to get done. Besides, I'm okay." She shot Savanna a lopsided grin. "Haven't you heard? Being tired is synonymous with being pregnant."

"Still," Savanna said, refusing to back down until her concern was voiced, "you should take care of yourself."

"I do," Sheila said. "Don't you
worry.
" She gathered another handful of beans. "Jim says plans for the dinner are going well."

She nodded. "It's almost scary. Businesses are calling me to offer their help. I've never had anything like this happen before. People from all over the county are calling. This fund-raising dinner has been smooth sailing from the very beginning."

Sheila lowered her head, intent on her bean snapping. In a low voice she commented, "Looks like your relationship with Daniel has been smooth sailing too."

Savanna chuckled and gave Sheila's knee a light nudge. "Hey, you don't have to hedge. I don't mind telling you about what's happening between me and Daniel."

"Well…" Sheila raised one shoulder. "I don't want to seem nosy."

"You're my friend," Savanna told her. "You could never be nosy."

At that, Sheila surrendered to her curiosity, sliding an inch closer. "So tell me."

"Things are...great."

Sheila's hands stopped and lowered into her lap.
"Why the hesitation?"
She studied Savanna with concern. "From the tone of your voice it sounds as though you don't think things between you and Daniel should be great."

"It's not that." Then she sighed. "I came back to Fulton to straighten out everything. To explain to him what happened six years ago."

"And you did that.
Right?"

"I think so." The three small words harbored a boatload of doubt. "And, like I said, things between us are good. But I just don't understand myself." She twirled the green bean between her fingers without really seeing it. "I don't understand what it is I'm feeling."

"Tell me. Maybe I can help."

Savanna snapped the stem off the bean. "I really enjoy being with Daniel."

"There's some law against that?"

Smiling, Savanna said, "Of course not. I'm happy that we're getting along so well. It's just that I never expected to...feel so..." The rest of the sentence withered as she searched for words to express herself. Inhaling deeply, she started again. "He just makes me too happy."

Sheila's brows drew together.
"
Too
happy?
I've never heard of such a thing."

"Sheila, I feel all giddy inside when I'm with him. I find myself worrying about what I'm wearing, how I look. When we're together, I'm afraid I'm going to say something wrong, something to embarrass myself. I'm just, I don't know, on edge all the time.
In a good way, of course.
And when he kisses me…"

"He kisses you?" Sheila's eyes were wide.

Savanna nodded. "Yeah. He has," she said, her voice taking on a dreamy quality. "And when he touches me…"

"
What?
You two got down and dirty, and you didn't tell me?"

"I'm telling you now."

Sheila snapped the bean she held in her fingers, tossed it in with the others,
then
set the bowl aside. "I don't mean to be nosey or anything, but was it, you know, good?"

The mere memory of that night still made her breathless. "Sheila, it was better than good."
More better
, she thought, grinning to herself. "Daniel came over and we started talking about the past. We just got caught up in memories; that was all it was. But it was… earth-shattering." The image of him untying the sash of her robe and slipping it off her shoulders made her shiver, even now. "We shouldn't have, of course. Daniel even said so. And I knew he was right. But you know how bull-headed I can be."