Against the Heart (8 page)

When he didn’t reply, but just kept staring at Meri, she stepped into the breach.  "I think it’s a great idea," she said.

"So do I," Heddy added, smiling.  "There’s an auction the end of next month.  I hear they have some very good brood mares coming up for sale.  Maybe you could find one you’d like to breed."

"I wouldn’t mind raising a couple more colts," Daniel said, taking a sip of wine from one of the stemmed goblets.

"I love colts," said Lily.

"I think it’s a great idea, Dad," Ian finally said, forcing himself to concentrate on the conversation.  "Who knows, you might even make some money."

Daniel smiled and nodded, apparently pleased with the notion. 

It seemed like a blink before Heddy was serving her famous chocolate-chip bread pudding, along with the rich dark coffee Meri had brewed.

Then supper was over and they cleared the dishes together.  Meri and Heddy washed while Ian dried, and Daniel put the dishes back in the sideboard, Lily keeping up a running dialog as he worked.

"My, it’s really getting late," Heddy said with a glance at the antique oak clock.  "I walked down instead of driving.  I wonder, Daniel, if you would mind walking me back home."

Their eyes met across the kitchen and the air seemed to sizzle between them.  "I could do that," Daniel said.  "Let me get my jacket and your wrap."  His father flicked him a glance.  "Don’t wait up.  We might watch TV for a while."

Ian bit back a smile.  "Have fun," he said, wishing he was going to have the same kind of fun with Meri his father was going to have Heddy.

Standing next to her mother, Lily yawned.  "I’m sleepy, Mama."

"Come on, honey.  Time for bed."

"I’ll carry her up," Ian said.  Scooping the little girl into his arms, he carted her up the stairs, Meri right behind him.  She held open the door for him and Ian carried Lily over to the bed and set her on her feet.

He bent and kissed her cheek. "Sleep tight, kiddo."  His gaze went to Meri and the longing inside him stirred.  For a heartbeat neither of them moved.

"I...umm...need to get her undressed and ready for bed," Meri said, ending the moment with a dose of reality.

Ian just nodded.  "Good night."  What he wanted from Meri, he couldn’t have.  Not without feeling guilty.   

Meri looked as if she wanted to say something, but instead just shook her head.  "Good night, Ian."

He walked out of the room and softly closed the door.  Tomorrow Meri was planning to leave.  Ian still hadn’t figured a way to stop her.

Heading down the hall, he went into his room and closed the door.  It was late and the house was quiet.

It didn’t matter.  Ian knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep.   

Lily slept in the twin bed a few feet away, but Meri was wide awake, her mind whirling with images and memories. 

Tonight had gone exactly the way she had planned.  The setting, the food, Daniel and Heddy.  Even the way Ian had stared at her all evening, as if she were the only one in the room.  He’d complemented her on how beautiful she looked while his gorgeous blue eyes told her how much he wanted her.

She hadn’t expected the desire in his eyes would make her want him, too.

Meri wasn’t a fool.  She knew Ian wasn’t interested in any kind of relationship.  He had never pretended he was.  But she was in love with him and nothing she had experienced had prepared her for the soul-deep yearning she felt for him.  Feelings Meri knew deep in her heart she would never know again. 

Shoving aside the covers, she sat up in bed and pulled her long white sleep-tee over her head and tossed it away.  She had taken the combs out of her hair, but hadn’t re-braided it.  Maybe she had been planning to go to Ian all along.

She grabbed her pink flannel robe, wishing it were silk, shrugged it on and headed for the door.  Feet bare, naked beneath the robe, she padded quietly down the hall.

As she glanced back over her shoulder, she considered knocking on Ian’s door, giving him some warning, but the sound might wake Lily and she didn’t want to take the chance.

Turning the knob, she quietly slipped into the bedroom.  The curtains were open, moonlight streaming in to softly light the darkness.  She could see Ian lying in bed, his muscular chest bare, the covers pushed down to his waist.  She saw that his beautiful blue eyes were open and watching her as she entered his room.

She didn’t speak and neither did he.  For several seconds, she just stood there, giving him the chance to send her away.  Instead, he swung his long legs to the side of the bed and stood up completely naked, started walking toward her without the least embarrassment.  With a body as amazing as his, she didn’t blame him.

"Meri..." 

A little sound escaped from her throat as he drew her into his arms and his mouth came down over hers in a long, taking kiss, a kiss that seemed to brand her as his.

One of his big hands sifted through her hair, gliding through the strands, spreading the wavy mass around her shoulders.

"Like silk," he said.  "And fire."  Ian kissed her again, a deep, burning kiss that send heat spearing out through her limbs.  His lips traveled to the side of her neck, pressing softly, trailing fire wherever they touched.

"I need you," he whispered.  "I need you so much."

She reached up and cupped his cheek, felt the roughness of his late night beard.  "I need you, too, Ian."

Gently, he stripped off her robe, then stood back to look at her.  "God, you’re beautiful.  I tried to imagine what you’d look like this way, but I wasn’t even close."  Kissing her again, he lifted her into his arms and carried her over to the bed, settled her in the middle of the mattress and followed her down.

"I’ve dreamed of this," he said between soft kisses that turned deep and erotic, careful to keep his weight on his elbows.  "I’ve wanted you since the first time I saw you."

Her heart squeezed.  She loved him so much.  "I only have tonight.  I wanted to spend it with you."

Ian kissed her long and deep, and everything inside turned hot and liquid.

"I should send you away," he said, "but I can’t.  Not tonight."

"I know."  She had known from the look in his eyes at supper that if she came to him tonight, he would make love to her. 

She felt his big hard hands cupping her breasts, taking their measure, testing the weight, urging her nipple into an aching bud.  His mouth followed his hands, his tongue gliding over the crest, nipping and tasting, making her skin feel stretched tight, sending warm moisture into her core.

She was hot.  So hot she began to shift restlessly beneath him on the bed.  She could feel his erection pressing between her legs, thick and hard, demanding the warm, welcoming heat of her body.  She parted her legs, heard Ian’s quick intake of breath.  He kissed her deeply, taking his time, then he left her for a moment, returned and began to ease himself inside.  Meri arched upward, taking him deeper, wanting more, eager to feel all of him, eager to be joined with him, if only for tonight.

"Meri," he whispered, claiming her mouth in a wet, erotic kiss as he buried himself in her soft, slick heat. "I’ve wanted you for so long," he said.  "It seems like I’ve been waiting forever."

Meri bowed beneath him, taking him deeper still, feeling the hot rush of pleasure, the building need.

Ian groaned.  "I want to please you," he said.  "I want to make it good for you, Meri."

Her fingers dug into his powerful shoulders as he started to move.  Just the words, letting her know that she mattered, that she was in some way important to him, was enough to send a burst of heat rolling through her.  She arched upward, moving in rhythm to his heavy thrusts, their bodies aligned as if they had been designed for each other.

He began to move faster, deeper, harder.  "Come for me," he said.  "Please, Meri."  And the soft command sent her over the edge. 

She cried out his name as sweet pleasure tore through her, a rush so hot and pure she closed her eyes, wishing she could hold onto the moment forever. 

She felt Ian’s muscles tighten, knew a second sweet rush of pleasure as he continued to drive in and out, heard the low groan deep in his throat as he reached his own powerful release.

Long seconds passed, their hearts beating in unison, their breath mingling in the darkness.  When he started to lift himself away, she clung to him, refusing to let him go.

Ian kissed her one last time.  "Sweet Meri," he said.  "My beautiful sweet Meri."

Closing her eyes, she turned away, thinking how much she loved him, knowing how lonely she would be without him, praying Ian wouldn’t see the tears that tracked down her cheeks.

CHAPTER NINE

Morning sunlight streamed into the kitchen.  Ian flicked a glance at his father, who stood gazing out the window, watching Meri on her way out to the barn to get Lily.  Her car was already packed with the meager possessions she owned.  Ian had been trying all morning to find an opportunity to talk to her, convince her to stay.

"So you’re just going to let her go?" Daniel asked darkly.  Ian wasn’t sure what time his father had come home from Heddy’s, but it was late, sometime early this morning.  By then, Meri had returned to her own room down the hall.

"You think I want her to leave?  She’s in trouble, Dad.  I knew it when she came.  I don’t want her to leave anymore than you do.  I want her to stay here where she’ll be safe."

Ian dug out his iPhone, showed his father the email he had received that morning from L.A.  "I ran a background check, started doing some digging.  I didn’t like doing it, but I was out of alternatives."

"What is it?  Is Meri a criminal or something?  Because if that’s what you’re saying, I don’t believe it."

"She isn’t a criminal.  From what I can tell, she’s exactly what she seems.  She was born in San Bernardino.  Her folks were killed in a car wreck when she was ten.  After that, she was raised in a series of foster homes.  She got in trouble a couple of times, shopping lifting once, vandalism--though she claimed she was trying to stop the kids who were actually doing it."

"Sounds like our Meri."

He looked down at the email message.  "At sixteen, she was sent to a foster home run by a woman named Eleanor Vandermeer.  Apparently the two of them connected.  Vandermeer helped her get through high school and two years of city college before Meri went off on her own.  She was working as a bookkeeper for a guy named Arthur Battistone, an attorney in LA, when she got pregnant.  She was twenty-three."

"If you called L.A, you must have been talking to Ty."

One of his cousins was a P.I. in Los Angeles and damn good at his job.  Ian had a lot of Brodie cousins scattered around.  The men tended to be ex-military, or work in some kind of law enforcement.  And with all of them, family came first.

"I talked to him.  He sent this email an hour ago.  According to Ty, a guy named Joey Bandini is listed as Lily’s father on her birth certificate.  One of Meri’s friend said he was a good-looking guy she met on a too-much-tequila night, a one-night stand she’s regretted ever since--except for Lily, of course."

"So this is the guy giving her trouble?  This Bandini fellow?"

Ian nodded.  "Apparently Meri and Mrs. Vandermeer stayed close over the years.  When she died six months ago, she left Meri a small inheritance.  Bandini showed up a few weeks later.  According to this friend Ty talked to, the guy figured there was a lot more money than there actually was and started harassing her, demanding money, threatening to take Lily away from her if she didn’t give him more of the cash she’d received.  Meri took off.  Spokane is as far as she got before she ran out of money."

"So she’s running from this, Bandini.  What’s his story?"

"A total loser.  Drug user.  Got out of jail about a year ago for selling crack cocaine.  He’s got a record for assault but it’s always been against women.  I guess Meri figures if she can get far enough away from him, she can have a normal life."

"You’ve got to stop her.  You’ve got to help her before this guy hurts her, maybe even hurts Lily."

Ian’s gaze went to the window.  "I need to talk to her, but I’m afraid if I push her, she’ll run again, and I won’t be able to find her."

"Why don’t you just marry her?  You’re in love with her.  I can see it in your face every time you look at her.  Or maybe you don’t think she’s good enough for you."

Ian felt the words like a knife in the heart.  "Her past has nothing to do with it.  I’m just...I’m not ready to get married.  I’ve never even thought about it."

"You don’t think you could be faithful to one woman?"

He thought of Meri in his bed last night, how right it had felt, how perfectly they fit together.  How he wanted her again right now, right this very minute.  The idea of sleeping with another woman made his stomach burn.  "That isn’t it."

"Then what is it?"

"It’s not that simple.  Marriage is a lifetime commitment.  It isn’t something you rush into."

A woman’s high-pitched scream interrupted whatever his father might have replied.

"Meri!"  Ian bolted for the mudroom, slammed out the back door and started running toward the barn.  Meri raced toward him, braids flying, her face as pale as last night’s moon.

"Ian!  Ian, he took Lily!  Oh, God, Ian, he has Lily!"

Ian caught her hard against him.  She was shaking all over, tears streaming down her cheeks.  "Bandini, right?"

She wildly nodded.

"We’ll find her, Meri.  I promise you, we’ll find her."  Dammit, he should have acted sooner.  Now if something happened to Lily...Ian's chest clamped down at the thought.  He'd find Meri's sweet little girl, bring her home safely.  He wouldn't fail either of them again. 

"He-he wants money."  She swallowed, her fingers trembling as she pressed a piece of paper into his hand.  "I found this in the barn.  He wants fifty-thousand dollars.  Oh, God, Ian, I don’t have that kind of money.  What am I going to do?"

Daniel spoke up from beside her.  "You listen to me, young lady.  Ian and I...we aren’t going to let anyone hurt your little girl.  You hear me?"