Read Shattered Dreams (Moonchild) Online
Authors: Janet Lane Walters
Shattered Dreams (Moonchild) (15 page)
“She did. In January.”
“Why didn’t you return then?”
“The commute.”
“What?”
“Over two hours every day would have interfered with my job and dissertation.”
“Explain.”
“In January Gran asked me to apply for her job. I wanted to concentrate on finishing my doctorate and a consulting job. She didn’t tell me you were here until I agreed.”
Manon nodded. “Makes sense. Was easier for me. I would have completely closed you out then. My father had just died without answering any of my questions. I was angry at him and at you.”
He stroked her cheek. “After so long I feared you had found someone else and still used your maiden name.”
“There was no one.” The expression of delight in his eyes made her smile. “Just why would the commute bother you? People often travel that far to work.”
“I knew once I saw you my energy would be spent in pursuit.”
“I think I understand.”
“My turn for a question.” Rafe tilted her chin. “Why didn’t you do something about Tom’s attempt to lure you into committing insurance fraud?”
She lowered her gaze. “I thought he was being a pest like always.”
“But the bills?”
“Emma caught on after his second visit and didn’t bill the company. She tried to tell me but I didn’t listen.” Manon heaved a deep sigh. “Until you returned I never saw him as conniving or dangerous.”
Rafe brushed his lips over hers. “I’ve a feeling if he’d believed he had no chance and you had no protector he would have harmed you.”
“And now?”
“He’ll leave. We have the tape. You have documentation of his faked visits to your office.”
Manon rose on her toes. “Enough talk. Time for action.”
“What do you have in mind?” He flicked his tongue along her lips.
“Probably the same as you.” She opened her mouth and drew his tongue inside. With one hand she stroked his erection. Rafe’s groan spurred her to delve inside his shorts and run a finger over the head of his erect member.
He growled. “You’re killing me.”
“Just making a wish.”
“One I’ll gladly grant.” He pulled her hand free. “Any more wishing and the wish won’t be granted.” He clasped her hands. “Come.”
She laughed. “I will and so will you.”
As they walked down the hall, she glanced into the bathroom. Clothes and towels draped the sink, toilet and the floor. Training him into neatness would be a challenge and fun. A system of rewards could add a bit of spice.
Getting ahead of yourself.
She drew a deep breath. Though she hoped there was no reason to believe this was more than a physical relationship.
When they entered the bedroom, a burst of laughter erupted. “I’m not making love on a bare mattress.” A heap of covers and sheets lay in a rumpled pile on the king-sized bed. “Do you ever make it?”
“As seldom as possible. Made too many when I worked as a nursing assistant while going for my RN.” He unearthed the bottom sheet.
“No loans.”
“None that I could avoid.” He tossed the rest of the bedding on a chair
in the corner. “Worked nights, classes during the day and slept four hours every evening.”
She walked to the far side of the bed and joined the bed
making process. “Must have been tough.”
“Sometimes. Left little time for a social life.”
Manon rounded the bed. “Until college, I had no social life either. Father and I spent no more than a week or two in each city.”
He held out his arms. She stepped into the embrace. She opened her mouth and welcomed his tongue. Hers slid over his. Delicious threads of heat flowed through her. Tongues tangled, thrust and retreated. The scent of desire brought her need for him into focus.
Rafe’s hands slid beneath her shirt to open her bra. She raised her arms so he could pull her shirt over her head and slid the bra straps down her arms. Anticipation caused her to catch a breath filled with his aroma.
While cupping her breasts, he nipped her bottom lip. She slid her hands beneath the elastic waistband of his shorts to caress his engorged penis. He rubbed her nipples with his thumbs. Flames speared her core. Soft whimpers joined his guttural groans. She stepped back to remove her shorts.
Rafe stripped. Manon’s gaze centered on his erection. “My wish?”
“Will be granted.” He lifted her. “I want. I need. I’m ready to explode.”
Manon ran her hands over his chest. His nipples beaded against her fingertips and she followed the curvature of his muscles. She touched the scar on the side of chest, bent and pressed her lips against the rough skin. As she sank to her knees her hands slid along his hips and across to stroke the inner surface of his thighs.
“Manon.”
Desire rang in his voice. His hips thrust allowing the head of his penis to brush her mouth. She tongued the tip and massaged his sac. A salty taste and musky odor brought pulsing sensations sweeping through her.
“Ah, ah,” he moaned.
Slowly her lips encased him and drew him deeper. Her tongue glided over the rough surface. His growls caused fluid to gather in her panties.
With a groan, he withdrew. “Enough.”
“Why?”
“I want to see you. I want to explore your body by touch and taste.” He pulled her to her feet and lifted her onto the bed.
As she grasped the sides of her thing, he shook his head. “Leave it. Removal is mine.”
She held out her hands. “Rafe.”
“I’m here, love.” His voice rough with passion sent ripples of heat over her skin. He continued an exploration of her breasts and kissed his way down her belly. His fingers danced along the narrow strip of cloth and stroked between her legs. He brought his hand to his nose and inhaled.
“You’re ready,” he growled.
“And waiting.” She tried to edge closer to him. Rafe pressed his hands against her shoulders. “Be still.”
“I want you.” Yearning filled her voice.
He settled on his knees between her wide spread legs. With his teeth he caught the band of the thong and slid his hands beneath her rear. Slowly he pulled the cloth away. He paused to tongue her clit. His warm breath cooled the moisture. Manon bent her knees. He moved away.
Manon clenched her muscles. “Rafe, when?”
He pulled the thong from her legs. With a quick movement he tossed the bit of cloth to the floor. With hands and mouth he teased and caressed her breasts. He drew one into his mouth and sucked. The rhythm matched the pulses throbbing inside her.
“Please, please,” she cried.
He kissed his way down her belly. When his hands slid beneath her buttocks, she moaned. With mouth and tongue he stroked and sucked. She hovered at the peak. Then she slid into the flames that fused the shards of shattered dreams into a perfect present.
* * *
Rafe raised his head and met her gaze. The love and desire mirrored in her blue-gray eyes turned hope into reality.
He reached for a condom to sheathe himself. Manon’s flushed face and smile brought a memory of her first climax at his hands. She was his for now and forever.
As he bent to kiss her he saw desire rekindling in her eyes. Her tongue slid over her lips. She stroked his cock. “Another wish.”
“Soon mine will be granted.” Inch by inch he slid into her passage.
Manon wrapped her legs around his hips. He bent and kissed her with fierce possessiveness. He moved. In unison the dance began. Slow and fast, deep and shallow. The rhythm moved toward the heights.
Rafe raised his head. “Twelve years lost. Will be no more.”
“What?”
Instead of answering he began to thrust harder and faster. She moved with him. Perspiration rolled down his face. Pleasure and pain mingled. The slap of flesh on flesh, myriad aromas, moans, sighs, growls and cries mingled to form a symphony of sound surrounding them. He neared the peak. For an instant he hovered on the brink. His back arched. Her name poured across his lips. Seed spurted in a heavy stream.
Harsh breathing slowed. Her racing heart regained a normal rhythm. He covered Manon’s face with kisses. He rolled to his side and drew her with him. He stroked her back and ran fingers along her spine.
All he’d ever wanted was here in his arms. From the moment of their first meeting she had disarmed his deeply buried bombs of an
ger and rebellion. She’d given him a sense of being in the right place at the right time. Love had blossomed in an instant.
All that had been lost in the fog of amnesia and trampled beneath the lies she’d been told had vanished.
The moment she had entered the examining room, the dormant seeds of love had sprouted. The years of separation had ended. The time had come to stake his claim. He brushed his lips over hers. “I love you.”
Manon stroked his face. “I love you.”
Their mouths joined in a kiss, not of passion but of promise.
Rafe smiled. “I want to sleep at night and wake in the morning with you at my side.”
Her answering smile raised hope to full knowledge. “That can be arranged.”
“Marry me.” He rose on one elbow and gazed into her eyes.
“Do you mean that?”
“Yes.” He kissed her and left the bed. From the top dresser drawer he removed a small box. “I’ve wanted nothing more for twelve years.” He returned to the bed. “I would have given you this the night of our prom. Was in my pocket when I left to keep your father from turning our love into a crime.”
Manon scooted to sit against the pillows. “Show me.”
He kissed her palm. “My father gave this ring to my mother before he left and died. She never wore it.” He opened the box and removed a ruby and diamond ring. “Will you?”
“Yes.” She touched his face. “The past is truly gone.”
He slid the ring on her finger and pulled her into an embrace. “When?”
“Soon.”
“Can we wait until after Gran is
discharged?”
“I can handle that.” She slipped from the bed and started down the hall. “Come with me.”
He laughed. “If we’re going to the hospital we’d better get dressed.”
Her laughter joined his. “I’m going to the kitchen for ice cream. We’ll need the energy. Making love takes more energy than plain sex.”
He pulled her back and nuzzled her nape. “I’ll indulge you but you’re the only stimulus I need.”
She turned and wrapped her arms around him. “Welcome to
Fern Lake. I love you.”
“Now that’s a welcome I like. I love you, too.”
The End
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About the Author
Janet Lane Walters is a multi-published award winning author. To date she has published 35 novels, 10 novellas, 4 non-fiction books, and a number of short stories and poems. She lives in the scenic Hudson River valley, a setting in many of her novels. She bills herself as the eclectic writer and writes romances, from sweet to spicy, cozy mysteries, alternate world fantasies, historicals, paranormals and fantasy from YA to adult. She is the mother of 4 and the grandmother of 7. She lives with her psychiatrist husband who has no desire to cure her obsession with writing. Among her hobbies are Astrology and composing music. She also admits to housework as a hobby for isn’t that what one does in their spare time.
Also published by Books We Love
Code Blue
Gemstones
The Doctor’s Dilemma
A Double Opposition
Heart Throbs
Lines of Fire
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