A Most Shocking Revelation (8 page)

He braced his hands on her bottom to halt her and, on afterthought, worked her off his lap and laid her back on the rug. After whipping his own shirt over his head and hurling it away, he stretched out partially atop of her. He kissed her again as he rubbed his chest against her breasts, savoring the feel of her against him. A long time had passed since he'd been this close to a woman, feeling her heart beat rapidly against his. But then, a long time had come and gone since he'd wanted to be this close to a woman, other than Val.

Gavin left her mouth to look at her, seeing what he wanted to see—needed to see—in her expression. Her eyes remained closed but her bottom lip trembled as she shifted beneath him again. He found the pulse at her throat with his mouth and then kissed his way down her throat to the cleft between her breasts. Without hesitation, he drew a nipple into his mouth, using his tongue to caress her, to taste her, even knowing that in a matter of minutes he'd want more than just the foreplay. He'd want it all.

Before that could happen, he had to know if she wanted it, too. Without any misgivings or possible regrets. He raised his head and looked at her straight on. “Tell me to stop now, Val, before I can't.”

Her eyes drifted open and she shook her head. “I don't want you to stop.”

He experienced a rush of relief, but he still needed more confirmation. “If we keep going, you're not going to hate yourself in the morning, are you? You're not going to hate me?”

She slid her finger down his jaw. “I'll never hate you, Gavin. I'm ready for this to happen. I promise.”

That was all he needed to know. But as he lowered his mouth back to hers, the grating sound of his portable radio echoed in the room.

“Sheriff O'Neal, highway patrol needs assistance working an MVA on Route 16.”

 

Before Valerie could respond with her own aggravated oath, Gavin leaned his forehead against her shoulder and muttered, “Dammit.”

“Do you copy, Sheriff?”

He sat up, retrieved the handheld radio from the coffee table and depressed the button. “Yeah, I copy. I'll be there in ten.”

After setting the radio down hard, Gavin stared at her, looking more than a little displeased and a whole lot frustrated. But then, so was Valerie. “Obviously I have to go.”

Valerie grabbed her top and held it against her breasts, thinking fate was having a fine time keeping them apart—and probably with good reason. “Will it take long?”

He grabbed his shirt and tugged it over his head while she did the same. “I don't have any idea. Depends on how many cars are involved and the extent of the injuries. Traffic control in these conditions is important, otherwise we could have a major pileup.”

Valerie couldn't deny her own disappointment even though she understood why he had to go. Maybe this
was
some sort of sign, a warning that she should reconsider what she had almost done. What she still wanted to do—make love with him. “I'll be here when you get back.”

“And I'll be back as fast as I can.” Gavin came to his feet. “If
I know you're waiting for me in my bed, that will make doing my job a whole lot easier.”

“I'll think about it.” And she would, long and hard.

He leaned over and gave her another deep kiss, then he was gone out the kitchen door before Valerie had the presence of mind to move. After a time she stood and walked down the hall on weak knees, engaging in a serious mental debate all the way to her designated bedroom.

She hadn't been able to tell him the truth once she'd recognized that he couldn't accept her past in light of his convictions when it came to crime. But he'd said that her mistakes didn't matter to him. He'd also said he didn't want to know about them, and maybe that was best. In his eyes, she was only Valerie, a woman worth knowing. A woman he desired. A woman with no past.

In Gavin's arms, she hadn't cared about the pros and cons of getting involved with him. She'd only cared about the way he'd made her feel. She only cared that for once in her life, she'd felt truly free to explore her own sexuality without reservation.

Pushing all caution aside, she decided to wait in his bed for his return. Wait to enjoy a few stolen moments, a sweet respite from that past, before she left him for good—and hope that someday he would forgive her and understand why she couldn't tell him. Why she needed him to see her in a good light before he learned about the bad.

Before she went to his room, she still had one thing left to do. As always, she turned to her nightly writing to sort things out, her hands trembling as she retrieved the journal.

At 6:00 a.m. Gavin walked through the back door and went straight for his bedroom. Fortunately he'd had a ten-minute drive and cold weather before he'd reached the accident to aid him in his recovery following his interlude with Val. He'd also had the reality of a two-car wreck with multiple injuries to get his mind off her and onto business. Clearing the carnage had taken longer because of the conditions, and luckily no one had been killed.

On the drive to the accident site he'd remembered what he hadn't had available in the house—condoms—so the interruption had probably been for the best. And the lone convenience store on the way back to the ranch didn't open until seven, so he would just have to wait until later to prepare. Another intrusion directly resulting from his job. But come hell or more highway mishaps, he was going to make love to her tonight, even if he had to toss his radio down the old well out back.

Even if he couldn't have her this morning, he was still curious to see if Val had followed his instructions. When he reached his room, he found her there, curled on her side away from him, the bedcovers bunched at her feet as if she'd been restless most of the night. He could definitely relate to that, especially now when he saw she still wore the same too-big shirt and nothing else aside from a pair of sheer white panties. He had a bird's-eye view of her bottom, and, although he was dog tired and needed some sleep before he had to go into the office in a few hours, his body came back to life at the sight.

Caution crept in, sending Gavin to the bed, where he tugged the sheet over Val, then made his way to the opposite side. He could go to one of the guest rooms or to the couch or he could stay strong, stay in control and climb in beside her. After all, he didn't have to touch her. He just had to develop an iron will.

With that thought, he tugged off his T-shirt and pulled off his boots and socks but left his jeans on. Stripping down to his briefs might prove to be too tempting, even if his pants were more than a little tight at the moment. As quietly as he could, he slipped into the bed and stretched out on his back, remaining on top of the covers. He glanced at Val, relieved that he hadn't woken her,
because if she made one move toward him, he might forget about sleep and the reasons why they couldn't finish what they'd started last night.

He laid one arm behind his neck, rested his other across his bare abdomen and closed his eyes. For almost an hour he counted the ticks of the clock and cursed the dawn's light streaming through the window. He went over a mental to-do list and added a call to the Dallas crime lab to request return of the evidence from the Durmorr murder. He stiffened like a stubborn mesquite tree—every inch of him—when he felt the mattress dip beside him.

Opening his eyes, he sent another glance at Val, discovering she'd turned over, her gaze trained on his face. “When did you get in?” she asked in a sexy morning voice.

“A while ago.”

“Why didn't you wake me?”

Because that would have been a bad move. “I decided you needed your sleep, and so do I.”

“Oh.”

He hated the hint of insecurity in her voice and hated even more that he'd put it there. “I also knew that if I woke you, I'd want to take up where we left off last night. But since I realized I threw out my last condoms last week, I figured that probably wasn't a great idea.”

She rose up on one bent elbow and supported her cheek with her palm. “Any particular reason why you threw out the condoms?”

“They were out of date.” A really sad commentary on his life.

“I plan to pick some up today as soon as the drugstore opens, unless you tell me we don't need them.”

“Unfortunately we do need them. I'm not on any kind of birth control.”

That figured. Against better judgment, he slid his arm beneath her and pulled her close to his side. “Now let's both try to get some sleep, although I'm not sure that I can. I'm pretty keyed up right now.”

She snuggled closer to him. “Was it a bad wreck?”

The wreck was only one reason for his current state. Having
her so near was the other. “Yeah. A kid got in a hurry trying to make his curfew and took out a car. They both ended up in the culvert.”

“They're okay, right?”

“They're alive, although the driver of the car was hurt pretty badly.”

“How old is the boy?”

“Almost seventeen, and I've had trouble with him before. He has a souped-up truck and he's been caught speeding. He better hope the man he rammed is all right, otherwise he might be going to jail.”

“The roads were slick. I'm sure he didn't intend to hurt anyone.”

Valerie's defense of the kid surprised Gavin, although it probably shouldn't have. She had a lot of sympathy when it came to “crimes of necessity,” something he'd learned last night. Something that had been bugging him, although he wasn't sure why. “Intended or not, he did hurt someone and he'll have to face the consequences.”

She sighed. “I guess you're right.”

They fell into silence for a long moment and Gavin thought she might be sleeping, until she asked, “Do you always wear your jeans to bed?”

He wore nothing to bed. Ever. “No.”

“Then why do you have them on now?”

“Because if I take them off, then that means both of us will be in bed in our underwear.”

“So? You can handle it. You're a tough guy.”

“I'm still a guy.”

“Okay. Suit yourself.”

Val sat up and scooted toward the end of the bed, giving him another banner view of her butt. Before she crawled off the mattress, he reached up and clasped her arm. “Where are you going?”

She sent him a sour look. “To my bed so we can both get some sleep, at least for an hour or so.”

“Look, Val, I've been cold all night long, and you're warm. I want you here.”

She turned around, one leg dangling over the edge of the mat
tress. “Then I propose another option. You take off your jeans, climb under the covers and this time I'll stay behind you for a change. You shouldn't be uncomfortable because of me.”

Hell, he'd still be uncomfortable without his pants. A nice kind of uncomfortable, if there was such a thing. Still, taking off his jeans wasn't the best option, because he wanted her wrapped soundly in his arms, close to his body. But if agreeing to that kept her in his bed, he'd deal with it. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Fine.” She worked her way back onto the bed and under the covers. “You can undress now.”

Gavin slid off the bed onto his feet and turned his back on her as he skimmed off his jeans. He didn't want her to see his current predicament, otherwise she'd definitely leave. Still facing the wall, he stretched out on the bed beneath the covers, then reached behind and pulled her arms around him. He could feel the warmth of her breath between his bare shoulders. Worse, he felt the softness of her breasts pressed against his back. No way would he be able to sleep with her so close to him.

And to make matters worse, she patted his stomach right above his navel. “Are you okay now?” she asked.

“Not if you keep doing that.” When she moved her hand to his chest, like some masochistic fool he slid it back down to his belly.

“You're too much,” she said.

She
was too much, Gavin decided, and she was also shaking—from laughter.

“You think this is funny?” he muttered.

“I'm sorry,” she said, followed by another giggle.

In spite of the lack of wisdom, he rolled to face her. “I'm not sorry. I like to hear you laugh. You don't do it often enough.”

Her expression went somber. “You're the first person in a long time who's given me a reason to laugh.”

In another lapse of sanity, he slipped his leg between her bare thighs, bringing them as close as they could be with them both still dressed in their underwear. “Just call me the Good Humor man.”

She ran her toes up and down the inside of his calf. “You're definitely a good man.”

He pushed against her. “Want me to show you how good I can be?”

She frowned. “Either roll over or let me go to my bed before we get into trouble.”

He lowered his mouth to within an inch of hers. “Just one little kiss first.”

She frowned. “You don't know the meaning of a little kiss.”

“Where you're concerned, that's definitely the truth.”

Truth or not, Gavin kissed her anyway, deeply, urging a response from her. She also responded, when he slid his hand and palmed her breast beneath the shirt, with a soft sigh and a shift of her weight. Her response grew stronger when he slipped his hand down her belly, continuing beneath her panties to curl his hand between her thighs. Even if he couldn't have any relief right now, he could give her some. And that's exactly what he intended to do.

He worked her panties down, allowing him plenty of room to touch her, which he did without mercy, drawing a small sound from her mouth that was still firmly joined with his. He touched her lightly at first, then more insistently, until he had her exactly where he wanted her, opening up to him, lifting her hips toward him. Accepting him. Needing him. He broke their kiss to watch her face as he slid a finger inside her just in time to catch the pulse of her climax. Her eyes drifted close, her breasts rose and fell rapidly, her bottom lip trembled, and he wanted her with a fierceness he could barely contain.