Edge of Time (Langston Brothers Series) (19 page)

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*
             
*

Craig wanted to shake her. “What do you mean it’s over?” His entire body was tight and primed, with desire burning relentlessly in his loins. Rather than cool his ardor her unexpected words had sent his manly cravings spiraling dangerously close to the edge of control. She looked so goddamned beautiful standing before him that Craig wasn’t sure if he should throw something against the wall to vent his anger over her announcement, or kiss her senseless.

Those huge, liquid brown pools were a smoldering vortex of conflicting emotions and her full round lips parted ever so invitingly just inches from his. Heat radiated from her body pressed intimately against
his hardness and he was… lost.

He lowered his head to claim her mouth in a heated kiss that
and she responded
so sweetly he was powerless to stop

Grasping her roughly against him Craig could hardly control his rampaging emotions. He kicked the door to the parlor shut and tore with a feverish need at the buttons of her day dress.
What he felt went far beyond animalistic ne
ed to have her b
ecause he finally unders
tood completely what
possessed people to fall in love.
T
he simple act of loving her was enough to sustain him for a lifetime.
F
alling to his knees he clutched her to him and traced a steaming trail of kisses down the warm creamy flesh below her breasts.
How he wanted her, longed for her, loved her…

“Marissa,” his voice was barely above a rasp. “I want you. Please don’t hold yourself from me, please. I love y
ou. Say… say you’ll marry me
.”

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Marissa clasped his head to
her bosom with tremulous hands, and drew
a cleansing breath, struggling to control the shredded emotions Craig’s plea had so effectively scattered to the winds. At that moment every fiber of her being craved his touch and she yearned to throw herself into his arms and know the rapture of making frenzied, passionate love to him. But this was not her time and place! This was the only thought allowing her to maintain even a tenuous grasp on her sanity.

For all that she wanted him, she still didn’t know if this was where her life was going to be. If the opportunity to get back home arose would she be willing
to turn it down for a man?

It didn’t matter.
N
ot really
,
because all points considered… it just couldn’t work.

This had to be done. Now! She was barely treading water, drowning in a whirlpool of her own making.

Pain swirling through her, Marissa tore away from the man whose pleas ripped at the tenuous seams of her soul. “Craig
,
I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I can’t!” Quickly pulling the front of her dress together, she warred with the knowledge that she wanted nothing more than to be ensconced in his
warm
embrace, know the rapture of making love with him.
She looked into his face one last time and… t
he
agony etched across his handsome
features rent what remained of her paper thin resolve.

She
melted.

Crumpling to her knees, she pressed parted lips to his. “Craig, oh God
…
I want you!” He grabbed her face between his hands, eyes searching her
s
before he took her lips in a
desperate exchange. She’d never be entirely sure how it happened but suddenly she was
floating,
his arms locked around her as he lifted her against him. He did not utter a sound as he pressed her back onto the sofa. Today, the weight of his body settling over her wasn’t suffocating. It was the embrace her entire soul
longed
for, and she opened to him in welcome.

Dragging his pale blue shirt up, she pulled it over his head, letting her fingers trail the
honed expanse of his back. H
e groaned.

“My love. Are you sure
about this?”

“Yes.” Her tongue dipped into his mouth, beckoning him closer.

“Really certain?” He lifted
her layers of petticoats until his hand found the curve of her thigh. “I don’t think I can co
ntrol myself if you run from me
screaming a second time.”

“I was never screaming,” she breathed against his mouth, but as his fingers slid further up her leg she wanted to. Oh! How she wanted to scream. “Craig, wait!”

“Christ, Marissa.” His entire body tensed as though he wanted to pull away and simply couldn’t. “Are we going to do this or not? I
really
can’t take it anymore.” His lips caught hers again. “You make it damn near impossible for me to behave as any sort of gentleman.”

“Before we start,” she said, which was apparently going to be soon because he was quite obviously ready,
now
, and so was she, “there is something I have to tell you.”

Craig settled himself between her legs, pulling her more securely beneath him, tracing the path of her hip with the flat of his palm. “I don’t care,” he murmured pressing deliberate, feather light kisses to the line of her jaw and down her throat to the swell of her breasts
.

“But—”

“I’m not naïve,
Marissa
. You were engaged once. I don’t care if you’ve been with another man.”

A glitter of tears blurred Marissa’s vision. Why did she want to cry at a time like this? “I--I think… I love you,” she whispered
,
twining her fingers thr
ough his softly curling hair,
searching the intense blue of his eyes; eyes so incredibly soft and adoring.

“And I you
,” he murmured, and then they were b
eyond words, locked together,
moving as one. She cried out again and agai
n for him to hold her closer…
tighter. She could
n’t get enough of him. She fe
l
t
him in every fracture of her damaged soul, and her body tingled
everywhere,
ready to shatter from pure physical pleasure, but there was more…

When he held her close, so close she could scarcely breathe
—
she didn’t want to breathe
—
she could
feel
his heart pounding a frantic rhythm against her ow
n. It tripped the cadence to a
dance that was all their own. She wanted to hold that sound, that sensation, to leave it imprinted in her
mind and
heart
forever
.

And when it was over
, he kissed her sweetly, ho
ld her in his
powerful
arms and again she wanted to cry, this time, not from joy, but from sorrow. How could she have done this to him? To herself?

Pulling away she made a miserable attempt to smile. “I have to go,” she said, unable to meet his gaze as she dressed, struggling to pull down the
mountain of petticoats
he’
d pushed up around her waist and
fasten buttons at the front of her
gown
.

“Marissa, no. Don’t leave. What is wrong? Is it because of what we did? I truly want to marry you. Please, tell me you are all right.”

Oh
,
God
, she moaned internally. His hand on her elbow was compassionate and gentle, and still he had absolutely no idea that this was it, all they would ever have, or why it must be so. It was over.
Over.

“I’m... fine,” she said, taking a step away, her legs
leaden.
“I just need to get back to Carolyn’s.”

“I understand. Let me get dressed. I’ll walk you home.” He turned to find his shirt and trousers, and she took the opportunity to flee.

She left his house at a dead run. A fissure the size of the Grand Canyon cracked straight down the middle of her heart.
I’m no better than Brian
, she told herself, sprinting across the street and causing a team of huge horses to swerve in their path. Harsh, silent sobs tore from her burning lungs and after several blocks of running she didn’t merely feel as if she were suffocating, she actually
was
. Near collapse, she ducked into an alley, silent tears streaming down her cheeks.

Craig would live, she decided. If she could survive Brian Whitely’s betrayal, then Craig Langston could survive hers.

But could she live without him?

*     *     *

Slumped exhaustedly over a desk at the hospital Marissa
pretended
to roll bandages while she dozed. She hadn’t slept well in days, searching tirelessly for a way home and fearing the moment her resolve to leave this place, leave Craig, would shatter. Of course whenever the resolve wavered the whispers about the “lady doctor from Atlanta” helped to steel her will
. Traitor… whore…
and of course the uncouth propositions,
“Hey, lady doc, how much to have you come by my place tonight?”
She couldn’t stay here. She’d even taken to wishing upon every shooting star gracing the nighttime sky.

“Marissa.”

“Yes
?” Her head snapped up and she jumped so quickly the chair toppled backward. “Sorry,” she mumbled in embarrassment as Genie and a balding gentleman of about fifty approached.

She righted the chair and clung to its back as Genie said, “Marissa this is Sheriff Hudson. Sheriff, my niece Marissa McClafferty. She was with me when we first saw the man digging in the woods behind my barn.”

In some surprise Marissa managed to smile at the gentleman. She’d all but forgotten the man with the lantern in the woods.

The sheriff offered a polite greeting before providing the women with an update. “As you know I’ve had deputies watching your farmhouse for some time now, but up until last night we hadn’t found sign that anyone had walked through your woods much less been digging out there.”

Genie nodded. “What happened last night, Sheriff?”

“My deputy, Rogers, spotted a lantern in the woods behind the barn and high tailed it over to see what was going on. Whoever it was got out of there before he could catch him; and I’ll be damned if we could find anything later. I tell you we couldn’t find a single footprint much less any sign of digging. There was no
thing. It was almost as though he saw a
ghost out there!” The sheriff shook his head in bewilderment
.
“We’re going to keep an eye out, but I think you ladies should remain in town for the time being.” Marissa and Genie quickly assented.