Authors: Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
God,
he thought he’d drown in the depths of her deep, dark eyes.
Somewhere he’d read eyes reflected the soul
and if true, this lady had to be beautiful deep within, inside as much as
out.
He thought he could read old sorrow
combined with hope and a healthy dose of desire.
Neither spoke as a moment stretched out into
two, then three.
Cecily moved
first.
Her left hand rose with the slow
motion of a sleepwalker to touch his cheek, her fingers separate.
She stroked his face, lighter than a soft
wind. Their eyes remained locked as she traced his lips with a single
finger.
She spoke his name aloud, her
tone rich and resonant.
Her
voice became a knife, sharp enough to cut away some of his emotional baggage in
catharsis. With a vulnerable corner of his heart laid bare, Daniel didn’t
think, he acted.
He grasped Cecily in
his arms and bent for a kiss.
His lips
burned fever hot as need rippled through his body like cold chills. The overall
effect made him almost physically sick, but he sought healing and as their
mouths merged into one, he thought Cecily offered the cure.
Dan
snared her lips with his and used his mouth on hers, more caress than simple
kiss.
He’d forgotten the taste of
lipstick on his tongue or how soft a woman’s skin could feel beneath his
hands.
As he inhaled her fragrance, a
blend of perfume, cosmetics, peppermint, the potpourri from her shop, and a few
elements Daniel couldn’t define, he thought he’d die happy smelling something
so sweet.
Cecily’s
hands made a circle around his neck and her fingers trespassed into his hair,
plowing through his short strands with slow deliberation.
Her breath lifted into his face and he sucked
in the air she expelled, an intimate exchange.
Daniel caught her bottom lip between his and almost nibbled.
Her tongue darted into his mouth via the
small space and the sensations of a French kiss, delivered with sexy style,
rocked his body.
Her tiny braids—cornrows,
he thought, they call them cornrows, shifted with enough momentum to touch his
arms and tickle.
As
he fastened his mouth tighter onto hers, his senses developed an acute
awareness.
Everything enhanced until Daniel
experienced touch, taste, and smell with intimate power.
Eyes open throughout the kiss, he saw with a
stark clarity and despite the darkness enveloping them, the subtle beauty of
her silhouette stole his breath.
He
heard each tiny sound, the smack of his lips against hers, the faint rubbing of
his T-shirt against her blouse, even the crickets singing in the weeds along
the lakeshore.
Her increased heartbeat
rang in his ears, and he swore he could hear her blood flow through vein and
artery.
When Daniel deepened the kiss, Cecily’s
low moan echoed in his ears and he realized seconds later, he made a similar
sound of pleasure.
Everything
shifted as they kissed, mouths fused together, and he knew this ranked as
significant.
A living force sprang into
being, fueled with their unbridled desire and consuming need.
He’d never experienced anything so deep or
profound, strong enough to turn his head with dizziness, terrifying enough to
shake his foundations.
Whatever it
meant, wherever it might lead, Daniel couldn’t begin to guess, but he planned
to follow until he grasped the meaning.
Blindsided
by the last thing he expected when he left Kansas City, mind reeling from the
possible implications to his career, heart pounding, and the doorway to his
inner self open to another human being for the first time in years, Daniel
hated to let go.
He
didn’t want the kiss to end, but he had to breathe so he pulled back and stared
into her amazing eyes.
Cecily
looked back without blinking.
Chapter Five
Whoever
the hell this man might be, he kissed like a pro.
Cecily reveled in his intense mouth on
hers.
Her body awakened from a long
dormant slumber, alive and needy.
He
brought out every ounce of horniness she’d ever possessed and increased it.
Willard Bradford the Fourth never made her
body heat up like a street rod about to drag race.
His attempts at kissing didn’t send liquid
fire burning through her veins or make her body limp as a discarded dish
rag.
She savored the physical pleasure but
sensed something beyond, a connection she couldn’t begin to understand.
If Daniel hadn’t stopped, she doubted she
would’ve possessed the willpower to say no and they would’ve done the deed on
the floor of the pier.
Probably filthy and fishy both but damn, I’d
have laid down like a street hoochie for him.
Daniel’s
eyes burned into hers as if he possessed the power of a wizard or shaman, and
she gave him back the look.
Questions
bubbled up in her chest but since she had no idea where to begin, she didn’t
ask them.
Not yet but she would.
And if Daniel answered, anything could
happen.
Cecily had never known a lasting
love, a solid romance.
Her high school
flings were little more than flirtation and experimentation.
Before she could find someone with possibilities,
Will came along and used his money to trap her in a marriage she didn’t
want.
Leaving Chicago to start over
never included a man, not in her craziest moments.
But it seemed like she might have found one
just the same.
“Do
you want…
”
Daniel
began and her body purred like a cat. She resisted the urge to rub up against
him, a good thing because he completed the sentence with, “…to eat now?”
No. I want to fuck you every
which way I can, upside down and inside out.
Aloud Cecily said, “Sure.”
As
much as she wanted sex, craved it worse than a kid wanting bubblegum, she
needed food, too.
She turned around and
began unpacking the chicken and potatoes.
Without plates, she made makeshift ones with a pile of napkins for each
of them.
Daniel watched her, face
inscrutable, and then slid onto the picnic table bench facing her.
Cecily ripped the bag open to reveal the
fried chicken and placed it like a platter between them.
Following her lead, he did the same with the
potato wedges, then he handed her the soda.
“Thanks,” she said.
His
lips parted as if he had something to say, but then he grabbed a leg and a
thigh instead.
“Dig in,” Daniel
said.
He crunched a bite of chicken and
nodded. “It’s pretty good.”
Cecily
picked up a breast and tore off the top skin with a layer of meat.
Although it wasn’t smoking hot anymore, it
remained warm and she put it in her mouth.
The crisp coating tasted pleasant and the chicken melted on her tongue,
tender.
God
, she thought,
I haven’t
had anything this tasty in a long time
. “It’s great,” she said and tilted
her left hand into a thumbs-up sign.
“Glad
you like it,” he said as he reached for a paper napkin. “The ‘taters aren’t
half bad either.”
After
owning her lips, Cecily wished he could come up with some better conversation,
but then she needed to make an effort, too.
She tasted one of the seasoned wedges. “Yeah, they’re good.
So, you live in Kansas City, I guess.
Are you from there?”
Something
she couldn’t name flickered in his eyes for a moment as he hesitated. “No, I’m
from Fort Worth,” he said. “I was born and raised there.
But I moved to Missouri a long time ago.
I work in KC but I live in Raytown, one of
the suburbs.”
“I’ve
never been to any of those places,” Cecily said. “It’s funny.
I’ve been to Europe, done Caribbean cruises,
and flown to Hawaii.
I’ve traveled to
Thailand, but I haven’t been much of anywhere in the United States.
Born and raised in Chicago, came here a few
weeks ago.
Except for New York City and
Los Angeles, I really haven’t seen much else in the good ol’ USA.
Have you traveled much?”
Daniel
waggled his hand back and forth as he grabbed a third piece of chicken. “I’ve
been a few places, all in the United States, on vacations.
I’ve traveled a little for my job, spent a
little time in Virginia and in Washington DC.
That’s about it.”
“So
you’ve never been out of the country?” she asked.
“No
and don’t regret it,” he replied. “I’ve been a lot of places for a Northside
Forth Worth kid.
There’s
still a lot of places on American soil I’d like to see.
But, no, I’m not well traveled like you.”
“Most
of it wasn’t so great,” Cecily said. “One wealthy hotel’s the same as another,
no matter where it’s located. I didn’t get the chance to see the things I
wanted or visit places I found interesting.
If I ever travel again, it’ll be my way.”
“Can
I ask you something?”
Mrs.
Bradford IV would have said ‘no’, but Cecily Brown grinned. “Ask me whatever
you like.”
“Why
in the hell did would a rich woman from Chicago pick Branson to open a store?”
“Boutique,”
she corrected. “Sometimes I wonder myself, but my cousin, Nia, she thought it’d
be a good place for me.
She’s been here,
doing the tourist thing, but I never saw it until I came. And I’ve been rich,
but it was my husband’s money, not mine.”
His
eyes narrowed and he asked in a harsher voice, “Are you divorced or what?”
For
a moment, his tone rankled, but she decided maybe he’d thought she could be
married. “Divorced and it was final a month ago. And now he’s dead.”
“Did
you take the bastard for half of his fortune?”
She
shook her head. “I don’t know why you want to know so much, but no, I
didn’t.
I didn’t want his stupid money
any more than I ever wanted to be his wife.
I asked for a settlement and got it. It’s my money to start up my
business and live on till I can make my own.”
His
expression shifted and lightened. “I’m sorry if I’m too nosey,” Daniel said.
“Just curious, I guess.”
So
was Cecily. “It’s all right. So, what do you do for a living?”
Whatever
she expected, it wasn’t for him to draw a deep breath and then choke on fried
chicken.
Daniel gasped and began
coughing, hard.
At first Cecily thought
he hadn’t wanted to answer, but as he wheezed and his face turned bright red,
she realized he was in trouble.
“Hey,”
she cried. “Are you okay?”
When
he shook his head back and forth, she jumped up and rushed around behind
him.
She whacked him hard across the
back, figuring if the old-fashioned action didn’t work, she’d attempt the
Heimlich.
A hunk of crisp skin flew out
of his mouth and hit the pier floor.
Daniel
inhaled with force and exhaled with a sigh. “Thanks,” he said in a
half-strangled voice.
“I think I’m all
right now.”
Hovering,
Cecily asked, “Are you sure? You scared the shit out of me.
Get a drink or something, make sure your
throat’s clear.”
His hand shook a little as he grabbed up his
soda and swigged some.
Looks like I wasn’t the only one scared.
“I’m fine.”
Her hands rested on his shoulders as she
savored the feel of his solid masculine flesh.
Cecily’s fright wasn’t feigned.
She’d been scared he might choke to death out here in the middle of
nowhere and she’d actually been worried about him.
Girl
you hardly know him, but you got worried about him like he matters to you.
You’re either crazy or about to jump off the
cliff into the unknown.
“Good,” she
said.
On impulse she leaned down,
cornrow
braids brushing his shoulder, and kissed his cheek.
“I’m glad.
I like you, Daniel Padilla,
and I’d hate to see you fall over dead on this old fishing dock.”
His
hand reached up and snared hers.
He held
it tight for a moment and said, “I appreciate your help,
querida
.
I think I can
finish eating now without choking.”