Heartstealer (Women of Character3 (22 page)

She was unable to muster a defense,
her mouth for once silent. He was so damned attractive, rugged and hard as
nails. God help her, this emotion she felt hurt worse than anything she had
ever experienced. She knew she would never recover if she fell in love with
Sloan, she sensed it with every bit of her emotion. But Lord! How she wanted to
say the hell with it. How she wanted him.

"What are you doing to
me?" she protested half-heartedly.

"Shh, relax, let's
dance." His lips touched the top of her head, lingered.

He gently led her into a two-step.
"Listen to the music."

Her body followed his, entranced by
his nearness. They fit together so well. She stared at his mouth, that wanting
curling through her stomach. She should make short work of this attraction, but
she just kept wanting more. She leaned into him, testing his strength, enjoying
his mouth as they burned across her cheekbone, then feather-soft toward her
lips. She turned her head away slightly, avoiding that final contact, met those
eyes so close to her own. God! She could drown in those thick lashed eyes.

Her emotions were caught in a slow
spiral, a freefall different than anything she had ever known. Excitement
clenched her stomach muscles and made her tremble.

"Sloan."

"You sound worried." His
husky voice came against her lips.

She nodded.

"Me, too," he said,
showing a flash of his teeth. "Try to relax. I promise not to have my way
with you."

A laugh gurgled in her throat.

"That's it, ease up."

"I don't want―" she
broke off, calling herself a liar. She did want. She wanted Sloan.

She could see the dark shadowing of
hair beneath his shirt. Her fingers strayed there of their own accord, unable
to resist touching him. She groaned, but pushed back from him. "I need to
know something. Do you always romance your lone female guests?"

His reply came without hesitation.
"No, I make it a practice to stay away from the female guests. In fact, up
until you came, it was a hard and fast rule. I prefer my life the way it
is." He paused, one brow lifting. "I should say the way it was. Since
you arrived, life hasn't been the same."

"So tell me why me?"

"You don't give yourself much
credit. Take a look in the mirror, sweetheart...I won't lie. It's what first
attracted me to you. There’s a basic attraction I can’t deny, but
I’m afraid it goes deeper than that."

From the first moment she had been
attracted to him, the maleness of him, before she'd even had an inkling of what
he was about. Now, she knew this attraction went beyond physical, there was so
much more to this man. There was caring, strength and humor.

"Relationships involve
vulnerability, openness...I don't know if I can do this," she admitted
truthfully.

"I'm in the same boat,
sweetheart," he admitted huskily. "I was almost engaged a few years
back, someone I knew from my city life. She couldn’t handle the lifestyle
here."

"That’s the least of it
right now," she muttered. "I admit I’m all torn up inside. We
have to figure out where to go from this point."

"You're one hell of a woman,
Jacie."

"Does that bother you?"
She made her voice light, yet her entire body tensed. "It's the way I am.
I value my independence, although I admit it's taken a real shot in the arm
this past year."

"You're spontaneous, untamed
in everything you attempt...you hold back nothing. I admire you for it."

"But?"

"There might be some
reservations, but that's my problem, not yours."

"My family credits my
leap-before-you-look attitude to the fact I was born during a twister,"
she murmured.

"How does your father deal
with your mother skydiving?"

"He loves her," she said
simply. "Along the way they found common ground. I’ve been spoiled,
you know. Seeing my parents together, knowing how much they love each other,
you tend to want the same thing."

"When you leave will you
forget about us, Jacie, the nights, the days, the spell of the Catskills?"

"I can't believe I would,
though I am a city girl in and out." She mused. She stepped forward,
impatient with the distance between them. "I won't forget Sloan. Not the
mountains, their beauty, or...or you. You bother the hell out of me, Sloan
Wright."

His arms pulled her hard against
him. She pressed her face into his neck, and her voice was softer when she
admitted, "I don't know why, but you do. Don't you dare laugh," she
warned.

"Scout's honor, I wouldn't
dare."

"You're laughing."

"Am not."

"You think I'm crazy."

He nodded slowly, his lips barely
brushing across her lips. "Without a doubt. Crazy, impetuous, bold, brave.
Need I go on?"

"Why stop?" she slurred,
overcome with feeling. "You sound like you're just getting warmed
up."

"You certainly do that to me.
You're soft and warm and I find myself wanting to know more and more about you.
I think you’re pretty brave for a woman who’s all soft
inside."

She stepped back, pushing his hands
away. "Why do you have to say stuff like that?" she demanded.

"It's true."

"There's nothing soft about
me." She shook her head emphatically. "Nothing. I'm not like
that."

"Really?" he drawled,
dropping a kiss on her mouth. "I'll have to watch you more closely to find
the real you."

She groaned, giving in to her wants
and needs. His arms, his closeness just made her want more. She might be making
herself vulnerable but she didn’t care. There was something special
touching her where this man was concerned. She couldn't let him walk away.

She grabbed his wrists and looked
down at those calloused, capable-looking hands, then lifted her glance and
smiled, she couldn't help it.

"You're shivering," He
ran his palms over her arms.

"Reaction." Her laugh was
nervous, sounding more like a hiccup.

"I promise I don't bite."
His dark head bent towards her, his lips teasing at hers. "At least, not
very much."

When he leaned into her, her
fingers caught in his hair, urging him closer. It was a heady sensation,
kissing the man she desired. Her brain felt in a fog as desire clutched at her.

"Come to my cabin," he
murmured, his lips hot along her mouth.

"My place is right here,"
she said, not wanting to think beyond the moment.

Jacie closed her eyes as
Sloan’s fingertips brushed the hair back from her cheek. Passion held in
check glinted at her from dark-lashed eyes.

Tenderness touched her, causing
restless fingers to move in exploration across hard and muscled shoulders. She
explored the flesh covering his ribs, tracing bone and muscle curiously.

His stomach was hard and flat, his
waist narrow. Dark hair ran down to the button of his black jeans.

She stared at him, her mouth dry,
afraid, yet excited.

He ran his thumb along her bottom
lip, pulling slightly, coming to rest on her chin. "God, you're beautiful.
So beautiful."

She turned her head, met his lips
in acknowledgement of their mutual passion. Her hands crept higher, cradled the
back of his head, her fingers splayed through the silky strands. Her body
rested against his, the trust implied. On their outing by the pond she had
known this moment was not far off.

She heard his groan and rolled her
head back, letting him take her full weight as she clutched at the supple,
muscled skin of his back. Blindly, she learned the contours, her fingers
kneading his warm flesh. Lord, he was hard all over.

"Come to me, Jacie." His
voice was deeper than she had ever heard it.

She pushed upwards, pressing her
body to his. He was above her, his weight on his elbows. She wanted to feel him
on her, his heaviness against her, all the hardness of him. His hand splayed
across her stomach, making the muscles tighten.

"Easy, Jacie, there's
time."

"There's never enough,"
she said raggedly, knowing she must grab the moment. "Things change, this
opportunity might not happen again."

"Now that I've got you, I'm
not letting go."

Sloan stiffened and went still.

"Sloan?" Vaguely, she
heard the squeak of the door.

"Well, isn't this cozy,"
a jeering voice interrupted.

A hammering began in Jacie's head.
Her entire body jerked, then tensed. She looked past Sloan's shoulder at the
man in the doorway to her bedroom.

"Brad!" she exclaimed
hoarsely.

Brad carelessly dropped his jacket
on a chair. "If I'd known the plan for tonight, I'd have arrived
earlier," he remarked insolently. "Luckily, the girl at the bar
directed me to the right cabin. Looks like I'm just in time. I see you got
someone to stand in for me, Jacie." Wearing a tight-lipped smile, he
pushed his fingers through his sandy colored hair, eyes dark and cutting in his
handsome face.

She jerked her T-shirt into place
and sat upright, then realized Sloan's body shielded her from Brad's view. Brad
had not moved from the doorway.

"Who the hell are you?"
Sloan growled.

"Ask our Jacie," Brad
said carelessly. "You shouldn't leave doors unlocked if you don't want
people walking in," he went on, apparently unperturbed by Sloan's anger.

"Brad!" Angry and
frustrated, she said loudly, "Get out!" Why had he shown up now?
She’d told Bonnie not to come. What had begun so magically now felt
sordid.

Sloan was on the bed one moment,
then standing threateningly before Brad in the next instant. Jacie blinked
uncertainly.

Brad backed up a step, then
stopped, his jaw mulish. Jacie felt momentarily paralyzed. The two men stood
face to face, both about the same size.

She swung her legs over the side of
the rumpled bed. She hated her position in this. The silence was thick,
waiting.

"Forget it, Sloan," she
whispered, then cleared her throat. "I can take care of this."

He glanced over his shoulder at
her, his mouth a white line. She could see the muscles in his back tense.
Walking over to him, she touched his shoulder, the skin warm under her
fingertips. She curled her fingers against his warm shoulder. Regretfully,
huskily, she said, "Please, I'll talk to him."

Without a word he leaned down and
grabbed his shirt, pulling it on as he walked from the room.

The screen door swung back into
place with a thud.

"What the hell's going on,
Jacie?"

She turned from the sight of Sloan
walking away, aware of the dull, heavy ache in her chest. She turned to Brad,
outrage sharpening her voice, "You don't have the right to ask me that,
especially in that way. What do you think you're doing, coming into my place
like this?"

He took a deep breath, putting out
his hand. Carefully, she turned away and avoided the contact. Right now, she
didn’t want anyone touching her.

"Look―" He expelled
his breath harshly, waving a hand, "-- I'm sorry, I was out of line. I
shouldn't have stuck my nose in. I’ll go after him and apologize."

"You had no right...have no
rights where I'm concerned."

"I know," he agreed,
throwing himself into the chair on top of his jacket. His mouth turned down.
"I just lost it, I guess. I couldn't believe..."

She felt the color rising to her
cheeks. She turned to look out the window, trying not to imagine how it looked
to Brad walking in on them. How it was. "You had no right to barge in
here."

"I know, I know, I wasn't
thinking. Truth is, after I talked to you the other day, I was worried about
you. You sounded so distant. I admit I didn't handle things well after the
accident―"

"Brad, please." She put
her fingers to her temples, rubbing the skin soothingly. "Let's not go
over this. Right now I can't handle a post mortem on the past." Not after
watching Sloan walk away.

"I know, but I have to...I-I
feel like I have to make it up to you. I know I let you down."

"Forget it. As you said, it
was a shock. People react differently in shock."

"No, I should have seen the
whole picture. I was wracked with guilt, fear, a claustrophobic feeling,"
his voice thinned. It made her uncomfortable to hear it.

"That day at Angel Falls, I
should have let you take the time to check your parachute once more. I make no
excuse for it. I can't forgive myself, much less expect you to forgive me.

"That time I came to the
hospital, Con wanted to kill me, he would have if your father hadn't gotten
between us."

"Leave them out of it,"
she said tersely. If not for her father, her brothers would have had a
free-for-all with Brad. "You can't expect my family to feel otherwise
about you."

"I regret walking out on
you."

"I got over it, it's time you
did, too. I want you to leave right now."

"I can't forget it, I feel
like it's there between us, this insurmountable wall."

"There is no wall," she
said sadly. Then, more strongly, "There is no us."

"Jacie, please, give me
another chance." Strangely, she sensed a real desperation in his voice.
"I still love you."

His words shocked her, made her
hesitate. She walked to the door. "Brad, don't do this."

He came to his feet, his handsome
face hard and determined. "You can't say it's over. We had something
really great, we clicked, how can you say you won't even consider trying
again?"

Irritated now, she spun to face
him. "I lied Brad. It did hurt, your rejection. I don't trust you anymore.
I feel like I never really knew you. I thought we would get married and at the
first sign of trouble, you bolt."

"You can't turn me away. I
won't let you. I'll wear down your resistance," he said urgently.
"I’ll show you how much I care. I'll never let you down again. Say
you'll at least give it a chance."