The Return of Brody McBride (25 page)

“Anything happens, you call me.”

“You know I will. Hey, put Rain on.”

He held the phone up to her. “Hello.”

“Goodnight, Mommy,” her two little girls voices cheerily came over the line.

“What are you two still doing up? It’s late.”

“Uncle Owen let us watch a movie and eat popcorn and have hot chocolate,” Dawn announced. In the background, Owen told the girls not to tattle on him. Smiling, the phone jostled and Autumn’s voice came on the line. “Mom, did you talk to Dad?”

Brody pulled Rain down onto his good leg. His hand slid under her sweater and glided over her stomach as he nuzzled her neck. Every nerve sparked to life at his touch.

“Yes, honey. I had a long talk with your dad.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine, honey. He understands what happened and how important it is for you to stay with us. We’ll do everything we can to make sure what happened before never happens again. Uncle Owen is there with you tonight. I’ll be there when you wake up in the morning.”

“Promise.”

Rain pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to hold back the tears. Autumn had been doing so well this last year. She went for long stretches without thinking or fearing Roxy. Brody’s return stirred it all up. The first year after Roxy took Autumn, the little girl could barely cope any time Rain was out of her sight for more than a few minutes. Preschool had been difficult. Autumn had a hard time making friends and interacting with the other kids. She’d clung to Dawn and used her as a shield. Dawn had become Autumn’s protector.

“I promise when you wake up, you’ll smell breakfast, and I’ll be there waiting for my morning hug.”

Brody took the phone. “Hey, baby girl.”

“Hi, Dad.”

“Are you having a good time with Uncle Owen?”

“He’s a lot of fun.”

“We had a lot of fun when we were kids. Listen, baby girl, would you like me to come and have breakfast with you and Dawn in the morning?”

“Yeah. Can I have another piggyback ride?”

“Sure, baby girl. Pretty soon, I’ll get some horses here at the ranch and I’ll take you girls riding.”

“That sounds awesome.”

“Great. Now you make sure Uncle Owen reads you three books before bed and you sleep good. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Okay. And Mommy will be here.”

“Yes, baby girl. Mommy will be there. I promise.”

They said goodnight again to both girls and Brody set the phone on the table. Rain leaned against him, the silence in the room lengthening.

“I came back because I wanted to make a life with you,” he said quietly. “I thought it would be so easy.”

She cast him a sideways glance and he smiled sheepishly.

“Don’t get me wrong. I thought we’d have a few knock-down-drag-out fights. You’d yell, cuss, call me every dirty name in the book. Stomp your pretty little foot and hiss and spit at me.”

“I sound like a terrible shrew.”

He laughed, the rumble in his chest absorbed by her back. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tight. “Not a shrew. A woman scorned with a rightful wrath I deserved, but didn’t exactly want to face.”

“I think I’ve been quite understanding and forgiving so far.”

“You’re a saint. I really thought you’d make my life a living hell. I figured I’d at the very least have to buy you some expensive baubles and kiss your pretty feet.”

“You really have a thing for my feet.”

“In the summer, you’d paint your toes. You had a sexy little ankle chain. Gold with a star charm.”

“I lost it in the lake the summer before you left. The clasp must have broken.”

Brody’s hand slid up the inside of her sweater. He made lazy circles up her spine and massaged her sore muscles. His hands were magic. Her nerves danced to life. Heat pooled in her lower belly as he both relaxed and woke up her body, tuned it to his sensual touch.

“You said my coming home would bring Roxy back. Until tonight, I didn’t understand what that meant for Autumn. I’d do anything to keep her safe and happy. Erase the fear in her voice tonight because you aren’t with her. If I thought leaving would keep Roxy away, I would. It would kill me, but I’d do it for you and the girls.”

“That isn’t the answer, Brody. I’ve dealt with Roxy the only way I could over the years and paid her off. You hold the real power. You’re Autumn’s father. You can keep her from Roxy.”

“That’s exactly what I plan to do. I have a few ideas of how to accomplish that, but I’m not sure how far Roxy will go to manipulate the situation.”

“You mean try to get as much money as she can out of you.”

“It’s not the money I’m worried about. It’s her dragging me to court and tying this thing up for the next few years. It’s the thought of her being given visitation rights that kills me. We can’t let that happen. Autumn’s so fragile now. Her only sense of security is you.”

“If you’re concerned she won’t feel safe with you, Brody, it’s only a matter of time. She’s just met you. Give her a chance to know you.”

“She saw me hurt her mother.”

“I don’t want to go backward. Let’s move on to the fact that you’re Autumn’s father. She needs you. Dawn needs you.”

Brody’s arm circled around her back. His hand slid up her ribs until he cupped her breast. Leaning up to her, his breath feathered over her skin and he whispered in her ear, “Do you need me?”

Her mouth fell open on a sigh when his thumb brushed over her straining nipple.

“Lace.” His warm breath caressed her ear. His tongue traced her earlobe before he nibbled the sensitive skin behind her ear. “What other surprises do you have for me?”

Rain stood and took a step away. He looked so good slouched on the couch. His strong legs spread wide, his jeans molded to every contour of muscle. His navy blue T-shirt stretched across a wide expanse of chest, the sleeves tight over his biceps. She liked his shoulders. Strong, rounded, tapering up to his neck.

“Like what you see, honey?”

Ah, that same cocky, confident attitude when it came to women, her, looking at him with such appreciation. She loved that about him, because once, now, he was hers. She was the woman he wanted, needed. She’d always known something special existed between the two of them. It had taken her until now to realize he spoke the truth. She was the keeper of his heart. Just as he held hers.

“You’ve always been the sexiest, most handsome man I’ve ever seen. You know what I like best about you?”

“What?” He leaned forward, planted his forearms on his knees, let his hands dangle between his legs. His eyes on her. She thought of a predator hunting his prey.

Gazes locked, she pulled her sweater over her head and let it fall to her side and land at her feet. “The way you love me,” she said breathlessly.

Heat surged through her body from her face down her throat to her breasts, the same journey his hungry eyes made over her skin. Her breasts tingled, her nipples tightened to small buds. She ached to have him touch her.

“I haven’t loved you well.”

She knew what he meant, but she’d decided she was only moving forward. To something good. Something wonderful.

“You gave me a night of extraordinary love. I want more.”

“I don’t think I can be that gentle with you right now. I’m too hungry for you. It’s been a long time, and I need you desperately.”

“I’ve waited a long time for you. I have no doubt you’ll find a way to make it up to me later.”

“I thought you needed to get home. Make breakfast for the girls in the morning. Autumn needs you.”

“While I find your concern for her truly heartwarming, tonight is about you and me. We need this, Brody. Besides, if you send me home, I’ll be sleeping with Owen. He took my bed tonight.”

She almost laughed at the feral look in his eyes.

“Forget it, you’re staying with me.” He stood and stalked her as she stepped back for every step he took toward her.

She smiled seductively and undid the button on her jeans.

“Don’t. I want to undress you, discover what other secrets you’ve got hiding under your clothes. More pink lace?”

“Take me to bed. Find out.”

“Quit backing away from me.”

She started this, but making love to Brody again made her nervous and giddy all at the same time. “If I don’t, we’ll never make it to the bed.”

“Would that be so bad?”

Ah, that smile. The lighthearted spark in his eyes. God, how she’d missed both.

“I want to be lying on something soft when that hard body comes crashing down on me.”

“Oh, baby, I’ve got something hard for you,” he teased, his eyes closing to slits as he stared at her breasts. His tongue swept across his bottom lip. She stumbled over her own feet and hit the last tread on the stairs. She hit her bottom and fell back as he came down on her and took her mouth in a deep kiss. She opened to him, his tongue taking possession and he held himself above her on his hands. Since he’d left some room between them, not wanting to crush her back into the wood stairs, she slid her hands up under his shirt and splayed her fingers wide. Tentative at first, she grew daring and mapped her hands over the contours of his flat belly, up over sculpted muscles and back down. Desire bolstered her boldness. One hand went over his lean hip, the other slid over his rigid erection pressed along the length of his fly. Her fingers traced the length of him, big and thick; her palm smoothed down and back up. He groaned and hissed in a breath when she did it again.

This is the Brody she remembered. All power and strength mixed with infinite patience, giving her time to settle in and reach for him.

Free from the kiss, she scrambled up from underneath him and made it up two steps before he grabbed her from behind. One of his hands splayed across her belly, pulling her back against him, his erection pressed to her bottom. Her head fell back against his shoulder, her breasts rising into his hands. She reached back. With her hands on his hips, she held his body to hers, rubbed against him, and his hands cupped, molded, teased her breasts. He took her taut nipples between his fingers and plucked and played until she moaned.

With his lips on her neck and a nudge from behind, she took each step plastered to the front of him. When they reached the loft, he turned her in his arms, hauled her up to her toes, cupped her bottom and brought her slamming into his chest, their hips pressed together, his cock nestled in between her thighs. He rocked against her, and the heat in her lower belly flared. His mouth found hers. Locked in a passionate kiss, he walked her backward to the bed. His lips trailed down her throat to her breasts. His tongue traced the lace trim of her bra and her hands fisted his short hair. She held him to her, probably hurting him, but he didn’t seem to care as his tongue made the same journey over the mound of her other breast. He kissed his way down the valley between her breasts to her stomach. With each warm and soft and wet kiss his tongue flicked out to taste and tease.

He landed hard on his knee when he kissed her navel. Bending down wasn’t good for his injured leg. When his hand pressed against her chest, she dropped willingly onto her back on the bed. He stood to look down on her. She scooted back to the pillows and thought he’d come down on the bed and lay beside her. Instead, he took a minute and just stared. Never uncomfortable around him—in fact, his gaze lazily traveling over her body heightened her anticipation.

He stalked toward her along the side of the bed. The outline of his rigid cock drew her gaze as his hands went to his jeans and undid the button. He slid the zipper down and freed his swollen flesh still hidden behind his black boxer briefs. She bit her lower lip and met his eyes.

He sat, reached out and brushed her hair from her face, his hand smoothing down her neck to her breast. He took it in his palm, his eyes hungry, watching as his hand molded and played.

His hand dipped low on her belly and traced the edge of her jeans, his finger sliding just under the material before—fingers splayed—he smoothed his hand up her body to her breast again.

“You’re so beautiful. I want to see you when I make love to you, but I don’t want you to see me.”

He turned his back to her and reached up to turn out the single light beside the bed. Kneeling behind him, she stayed his arm and pulled his hand back.

“You bought candles.” The table beside the bed held three pillar candles, one taller than the next. A wooden box gleamed in the light from the lamp.

“I wanted to give you a little romance. I thought I’d have to seduce you to get you here.”

Tension infused his big body. “Brody, I swear to you, the scars don’t matter.”

To prove it, she bit the meaty part of his shoulder at the base of his neck and smoothed her tongue over the small hurt. Her hands glided up and down his arms and shoulders.

“You’re so strong. I love the way you feel. All hard and tight and smooth.” She kissed her way up the side of his neck, her breasts brushing against his back until she got to his ear. “Light the candles, Brody. Watch me burn and come alive while you make love to me.”

“Ah, God, Rain. You don’t know what you do to me.”

“The same thing you do to me every time you look at me, touch me, want me the way you do.”

She waited while he opened the wood box and took out a pack of matches and laid a condom on the table. “Aren’t you prepared,” she quipped.

“Yeah, I’m a boy scout. Actually,” he said over his shoulder, “this time I didn’t want to leave anything to chance. Before you and after, I was always careful.”

Except that one other time. The words hung in the air between them. God, how she wished . . . wishing wouldn’t change anything.

She turned off the light herself. The candlelight danced on the walls and his face.

“From this moment forward, there’s just you and me.”

His whole body deflated with a deep exhale. He reached down and quickly untied his work boots and kicked them off, pulling his socks off afterward. He reached back to pull his shirt over his head, but she grabbed the bottom and pulled it off for him, tossing it to the floor. It only took a second to unclasp her bra and dangle it over his shoulder before she dropped it, and her breasts pressed against his back. His body tensed at the intimate contact. Skin to skin, the peaked tips of her breasts grazed his skin, so sensitive now, she gasped.