Terms of Surrender (22 page)

Wrapping her fingers around him, she caressed the velvet-like length, marveled at the burning heat of his erection. His mouth claimed her nipple and as he blew a stream of cool air across the sensitive point, she bit back a moan.

With a firm touch, she pushed him onto his back and straddled him. His hands cupped her breasts. His hips rotated upward, rubbing his erection against the sensitive spot between her legs.

In his eyes, she saw heat, desire, admiration. Maybe he hadn’t been lying to her when he said he’d wanted her all these years past.

Hands resting on the bed beside his head, she lowered her head, capturing his mouth with hers, feeling the heat of his lips, the grind of his hips, the sensation of her senses spinning quickly out of control.

She broke off the kiss, trailing her lips across his shoulder, down his chest, stopping to flick her tongue across first one nipple, then the other. The light dusting of hair on his chest tickled her chin and lips, and his groan made her body dance with desire.

Progressing down the sharp angles of his rib cage, she heard the deep shuddering release of his breath as his hands sank into her hair. She continued to work a path down his abdomen, felt him shift on the bed with a restless movement, and when she reached her target, his manhood stood erect.

Harley caught him in her hand and stroked the silken length.

As she licked at the sensitive ridge and heard Gage groan, she felt the heat of her own desire pool between her legs.

Without warning, he grabbed her under the arms, tugged her up his body, and flipped her on her back. Capturing her wrists between his hands, he imprisoned her on the bed beneath his body.

“If you keep that up, it’ll be over before we get to the really good part,” he growled against her mouth as he shifted his body between her legs.

She opened her legs willingly, felt his erection nudge at the opening of her body and part the sensitive flesh around the center of her womanhood.

Harley arched her hips, welcoming him home, her gaze steady on his face, wanting to witness the moment when he slid inside and became hers…if only for a moment in time. As he released her wrists and positioned himself, she whispered, “Love me, Gage.”

The hallway light glowed in the background, illuminating the tension on his face, the burning desire in his gaze. He entered her a bit at a time, her body stretching to accommodate him, and with each stroke of his penis, desire gathered in her belly.

And in that second, she understood the truth of her words.

She loved him and in return, wanted him to love her back.

And then her thoughts were consumed by physical sensations too pleasurable to ignore.

As he rocked inside of her, as she matched her rhythm to his, as the tension in her body increased and she gasped his name, she saw his nostrils flare, his pupils dilate.

They crested the peak together, hearts thundering, breath mingling, bodies united. And Harley knew without a doubt…she wasn’t giving up the man she loved without a fight.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The next evening, while Harley prepared supper, the back door banged open and Laura raced into the kitchen.

“Unca Gage wants to know if it’s almost time to start the bar-be-cue for supper.”

Harley glanced down at her niece and felt her heart swell with love. “Almost, sweetie. Are you hungry?”

Sun-kissed curls bobbed as the little girl nodded her head.

With the flat of her hand, she ruffled Laura’s hair, then glanced out the window in time to see Lisa do a man-size belly flop on Gage’s chest. “Ouch.”

Laura, eyes level with the counter top, stood on her tip-toes to peer over the edge. “Did you get an owie?”

“No, sweetie.” Reaching down, she caught Laura under the arms, lifted her up to sit on the edge of the counter, and pointed outside. “I think Uncle Gage did.”

Laura twisted around to peer out the window and giggled. “Unca Gage is silly.”

“Silly as a circus clown.” Harley tore open a package of whipped topping and dumped it into a bowl. “Want to help me make strawberry shortcake for dessert?”

The curls bobbed again.

“First, we have to wash those dirty hands.” Harley lifted her niece up by the waist and held her over the sink. Laura sang a merry tune as she scrubbed her chubby hands.

When they returned to the task at hand, Harley asked, “Can you pour some milk into the measuring cup, please?” She held up the cup, indicating with her finger where to stop. “Right up to here.”

“’Kay.” Tongue lolling out of her mouth to assist her concentration, Laura tipped the jug of milk, and carefully poured it into the cup without spilling a drop.

“Good girl.” Harley was rewarded with a beaming smile as Laura handed back the jug. “Now we’ll beat it so it’s fluffy.”

Setting the beaters into the bowl, she turned on the controls, increasing the speed as the liquid thickened. Milk splattered and Laura giggled as she dodged the tiny droplets. When the cream stood up in fluffy white peaks, Harley turned off the mixer, popped out a beater, and offered it to her niece. “Do you want to lick this?”

Laura’s eyes widened. The curls bobbed again as she nodded her head and took the treat. “Can I share this with Lisa?”

“How about if you take this one to your sister?” Harley popped out the second beater and turned it over to Laura.

Laura licked at the cream, then held out the beater to Harley. “Want a taste?”

Harley leaned forward and licked a dab of the cream. “Mmmm, delicious.”

With the two beaters clutched in her hands, Laura tried to slide off the counter. Before Harley could help her, the back door swung open and Gage stepped into the porch, a giggling Lisa slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“What are you girls doing in here?” he asked as he loped up the steps, swung Lisa off his shoulder, and set her on the floor.

“Unca Gage. Unca Gage.” Laura held her arms out straight, a cream-coated beater in each hand. “Help me down.”

He grabbed Laura under the arms, swung her off the counter, and set her beside her sister. “What’ve you got there, sugarplum?”

Offering one beater to her sister, Laura licked the other. “Aunt Harley and me’s making dessert.”

“Looks mighty tasty.” Gage sidled up to Harley’s back and peered over her shoulder. “What’s on tonight’s menu?”

“Strawberry shortcake.” The heat of his body penetrated her cotton blouse and caused her to shiver with pleasure. She dipped a strawberry into the cream, turned in the small space between the counter and Gage, and held it out to him. “Want a sampling?”

He smiled down at her, leaned forward, and took the strawberry from her fingers into his mouth. As she watched him chew, all kinds of thoughts raced through her mind.

Like what she could do with the leftover cream once they tucked in the girls for the night.

“Tasty,” Gage murmured. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her hand up to his mouth. “I missed a bit.”

He licked the remainder of the cream off her finger, placed a kiss on the inside of her palm, and smiled wickedly. “I see another spot I missed.”

He leaned down toward her, his tongue sweeping the edge of her mouth before his lips brushed hers ever so softly.

Her knees turned to pudding. The girls giggled and began to sing in perfect harmony. “
Sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.
”

Gage pulled back slightly, heat in the depth of his gaze, his hands on the counter boxing her in. With a rakish smile shaping his lips, he shoved away from the counter and turned his attention toward the twins.

“Kiss Aunt Harley again,” they screamed in unison.

He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Can’t.”

“It makes her happy.”

Gage turned to look at her and sure enough, she felt a bemused smile tugging at her lips. What was going on with him? Why was he in this funny, playful mood when usually he preferred to keep his distance from them?

“Well now, we wouldn’t want to get her over happy, would we?” With one last lingering look at her mouth, he turned back to the girls, a stern frown on his forehead. “Are you girls almost done with those beaters?”

The licking and slurping progressed to a speed contest, and the girls eyed each other to see who could finish first. Laura handed her beater to Gage. A moment later, Lisa followed suit. They stared up at him with rapt, adoring attention.

“Now off to the bathroom and get those hands washed.” The girls squealed and raced out of the kitchen, jostling each other by the shoulder. Gage dropped the beaters into the sink, turned back to Harley, and set his hands against the counter, one on each side of her. “So where were we?”

A laugh of disbelief escaped her. “What’s with you today?”

“Have I told you yet that you’re irresistible?”

A soft snort escaped her. She caught it back when she noticed he was moving ever so slightly toward her, degree by tantalizing degree. “You just think making me your sex slave will stop me from leaving with the girls.”

“Won’t it?” Without missing a beat, he closed the distance between them and settled his mouth over hers, kissing her softly, taking his time as though testing this thing between them. Or maybe deliberately prolonging the anticipation of what would come later.

He pulled back slowly and continued to look deep into her eyes, and as the patter of little feet could be heard running up the hallway, regret mingled with desire. “Our company is returning and unless we want to be interrupted at a most inopportune time, I should probably keep my distance.”

Aching to feel his mouth on hers again, disappointment flared through her. “I suppose it’s too early for bedtime, huh?”

A smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “Not if it’s mine, honey.”

Two small bodies tackled Gage’s legs and he barely moved at the extra weight. His gaze still held hers and he whispered, “Remember where we left off.”

He pushed away from the counter and her, and peered down at the twins hanging off his legs. “Shall we go barbecue us some steaks, girls?”

“Yay,” they screamed, let go of his legs, and tore from the house.

Amusement drifting across his features, Gage shook his head, turned to the fridge, and pulled out the thawed meat. “You know, this family thing is kind of fun.”

Hope flared in Harley’s chest. She held her ground, tamping down the elation swelling through her.

Gage turned from the fridge, a plate of steaks in one hand, barbecue sauce in the other, and swung the door closed with his foot. “Want to eat out on the deck?”

“It’s cooler.” And less private. Attention diverted by the width of his shoulders, the lean cut of his pants, and the memory of what it felt like as he laid on top of her and made love with her, she didn’t notice his approach until he set the meat on the counter beside her.

Placing his hands on either side of her, he peered out the window. “Where are they?”

She looked over her shoulder and saw the girls in the frame of the window performing somersaults across the grass. “There.”

“Then I have time for this,” he growled, and sealing his mouth against hers, kissed her with the promise of more to come.

When he ended the kiss, as abruptly as he’d started it, he didn’t say a word. Just grabbed the plate and crossed the kitchen toward the back door.

The phone rang, slowing his progress. He snagged the receiver in his hand. “Hello?”

His gaze shifted to Harley, desire hot and heavy within the normally steely depths. He grunted into the phone, his expression turning somber, his gaze never leaving her face. Even when he hung up the receiver, he did it without looking away from her.

She steeled herself for bad news.

“The fingerprints match. It was Mike.”

“Why? No, never mind. I know why.” Fear and sorrow unfurled in her stomach, and she turned to look out the window. “Now what?”

Outside, the girls ran around the yard, carefree and unconcerned, unaware their life could change in a moment. She heard Gage’s footsteps as he crossed the room to join her, felt his hand on her shoulder offering comfort.

“You stay here until we find him. I’ll make sure he gets help. Those two little girls have to grow up without their mother. I won’t let them grow up without their daddy, too.”

With one last squeeze on her shoulder, he headed outside to toss the steaks on the barbecue. The girls came running, dancing around him in hungry anticipation, joy and adoration shining on their faces for the man who was their protector.

While Harley made herself go through the motions of preparing the salad and the rest of the meal, she wondered why life was so complicated.

In a perfect world, Hannah would still be alive.

And Gage wouldn’t feel the need to rescue every lost soul he encountered.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Harley came out bearing a platter of corn-on-the-cob, an enormous bowl of undressed tossed salad greens, and a worried frown that hadn’t been there twenty minutes ago when he’d kissed her. It was obvious she was fretting over the news about Mike and how it would affect the girls.

Something in Gage unfurled, waking his heart and his head to the realization that he’d never been happier.

Or more scared.

“What’s’zat?”

Dragging his attention from the woman who fascinated him beyond reason, he followed the direction of Lisa’s finger. “A robin.”

Laura joined their game. “What’s’zat?”

“An eavestrough.”

“What’s’zat?”

“A fence post.”

And so the game went on, the girls taking turns asking silly questions as he cooked the steaks and watched Harley move between the kitchen and the patio, bringing out plates and utensils and glasses of milk.

The white cotton blouse she wore snugged the curves of her breasts, the indentation of her waist, and stopped right above the waistband of her shorts. Every time she stretched to reach across the table, she gave him a tantalizing view of soft skin.

Her short-shorts clung to the sweet curve of her bottom. The shapely contours of her legs gave the impression they went on forever.

She straightened and caught him staring. A sultry smile teased the corners of her mouth as she quirked one eyebrow. “Hungry?”