Texas Heroes: Volume 1 (69 page)

The ride to her townhouse was silent, but the silence was charged with layers of emotion: the low hum of intense desire, the yearning after so many years lost, the newly-discovered comfort of each other’s presence. Dev held Lacey’s hand the entire way, keenly aware that—even after what she’d done to him back then—he never wanted to let her go. He’d been kidding himself to think he didn’t still love her.

Please. Make this enough to shield her from hurt. Don’t let me be part of the pain. Let me be her comfort, not her tormentor
.

He didn’t want to screw up the revelation of her true identity. He wanted to manage it so perfectly that she could see the richness of having two families to love her. In addition to Lacey’s parents’ devotion, Maddie had enough love in her for the whole world. Mitch and Boone would give her strength.

But at heart Dev wanted to steal Lacey away from all of this, to keep her for himself, to be her guardian from all harm.

You’re an ice-cold witch
, he told Fate.
After all these years, after I thought I’d gotten over her, tried to forget that she even existed, you bring her back into my life and you make me the instrument of the biggest shock she’ll ever have to weather
.

Damn you
, Dev thought. Fate had pulled another fast one on Devlin Marlowe. But it was the gentle creature beside him who would bear the brunt if he didn’t do this right.

He pulled into Lacey’s drive and shut off the car, at war with himself over whether or not to say it now, to get it over with.

Lacey snatched the decision from him, sliding across the seat and wrapping her arms around his neck. Her silvery eyes glowed in the moonlight. “Thank you, Dev,” she whispered. “This is the best night of my entire life.”

Then she pressed her lips to his, and years of repressed emotion that was inside Dev blotted out everything else.
I’ve been waiting for you
, he thought in amazement.
All my life…all along, it was you
.

The time for words was past. Dev gentled the kiss, drawing back with regret. He got out, rounded the car and swept Lacey up in his arms.

Once inside, he headed with sure steps to her bedroom, remembering the night that he’d sat outside wondering if she was dreaming of him, knowing she would continue robbing him of sleep until they could settle what was between them.

If it was a battle, Lacey had won without firing a shot. That she’d turned her back on the boy mattered nothing to the man who understood now that life threw you a lot of challenges, but happiness was all about what you made of them.

She’d been so young, so protected. If he had a bone to pick, it was now and forever with Charles DeMille.

As Dev settled Lacey on the pale lavender silk duvet, the last thing he wanted to think about was Lacey’s father.

Her filmy skirt floated down around the legs that haunted his dreams, tucked up to display one pale, smooth thigh. Longing sliced through him, sharp and painful. Her eyes were huge and dark as moonlight silvered across her bed.

Just as they’d been on that night so long ago.

“It should have been you, Dev.” Her voice was throaty and low. “I wanted you to be the first.”

The ache in her eyes undid him.

“Shh,” he whispered, pressing one finger over her lips. “I’m here now.” He placed one knee on the bed beside her, leaning on arms suddenly gone weak.

“Dev?” Her breath wafted warm across his temple as he lowered his head to the pulse in her throat. “You need to know that except for one big mistake, there’s hardly been anyone. I didn’t want—” She cut her gaze away, then back. “None of them were you.”

Dev squeezed his eyes shut. “Lacey, if you want me to last, don’t tell me things like that.”

She clasped his head in her hands and forced him to face her. “I don’t,” she said fiercely. “I want you inside me. Now. I’ve wondered a thousand times how it would have felt—knowing that it was
you
, Dev—always your touch I should have known first.”

Sweet hell
. Dev took her mouth, no holds barred.

Lacey whimpered but answered with a hunger of her own, so powerful he could feel it vibrating her bones. She tore at his shirt, shoving it off his shoulders, then ran her fingers over his chest, nails grazing lightly at his skin.

Dev’s mind arced white with longing. With fingers turned clumsy, he tried to find the opening of her dress while Lacey’s own hands descended to his belt buckle.

“How the hell,” he muttered, “do you undo this damn dress?”

A slight smile ghosted over Lacey’s taut features. “Side—” she gasped, unbuckling his belt and fumbling for the clasp of his slacks. “—zipper.”

Dev grabbed her wrists. Chest heaving, he stared down into desire-drenched eyes. “Lacey, slow down. This is too important.” He settled her hands by her sides. “I don’t want to rush.”

Lacey’s smile was wicked. “We have all night, Dev. We can take it slow next time.”

“No.”
We might not have a next time
. Then he settled for what he could tell her of the truth right now. “I never expected this.” He glanced away, running one hand through his hair. Then he looked back. “I never thought I’d see you again, not after—”

Her eyes went dark and sad. “I don’t know why you did it, Dev, but it doesn’t matter anymore. We’re here tonight, and that’s enough.”

Dev frowned. “Why I did what?”

“There’s no reason to discuss it. It’s over.”

“What’s over? What is it you think I’ve done?” Unease crawled up his spine.

“We don’t have to talk about it.”

“Lacey, I need to know what you mean. Are you referring to that night?” He knew he didn’t have to specify which one.

Tears shimmered in her eyes. “Daddy told me what you did. I didn’t want to believe it at first, but then you never tried to contact me again, so I knew it must be true.” She looked away from him for a second, then her gaze returned to his. “It hurt so badly, Dev.” She swallowed hard. “But we were young. I don’t need to know why.”

“Tell me what you think I did.” Inside him, suspicion stirred.

“It’s okay. I understand. You were poor. I just wish you’d—” Her voice broke, and tears spilled past her lashes.

The boy inside him ached. “I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to write you, but he made me promise. I had to leave the next morning and stay away for good or my family would suffer. They’d already lost too much. I couldn’t bring them more pain.” His jaw clenched so hard he could almost feel teeth crack. “I wanted to—but I couldn’t. And you’d walked away without a backward glance. I didn’t think you’d care.”

Heartbreak filled her eyes. “I wrote you letter after letter from school in Switzerland. I sent them to your mother’s house. I wanted to understand why you did it, but you never answered.”

“I never got any letters.” He saw her eyes widen, then her brow furrowed. Dev’s gut twisted. “What did he tell you I did?”

She dropped her gaze and whispered. “You wanted money to walk away. It hurt so badly to know that, but I think I understand—”

The breath whooshed out of her as Dev gripped her shoulders and lifted her to sitting. “He told you I took
money
?” Rage roared through his veins. “He threatened me with
jail
, Lacey. He knew I wouldn’t take his money—I was working for him as little better than a slave because I refused to take one damn dime from him that I hadn’t earned. He made my family into a charity case, and he never missed an opportunity to rub it in my face that I couldn’t take care of them properly on my own.”

“You’re hurting me, Dev.” Her eyes were wide and dark, her face pale as water.

He let go instantly. “I’m sorry. God, I’m sorry—” He leapt from the bed and began to pace, scrubbing his hands over his face.

“I want to believe you,” she said in a tiny voice.

He whirled. “What?”

Lacey sat up, hands rubbing her upper arms as if she were freezing. “I said, I want to believe you.” She looked up at him, stricken. “But why would he do that?”

“Because,” Dev’s laugh was bitter, “as he said, I wasn’t good enough for his princess.” He clawed one hand through his hair, then exhaled sharply and went to her, kneeling at her side. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I held you too roughly. I wouldn’t hurt you for anything in the world.”

It was true. The last thing he wanted to do was to hurt her. Dev wanted to shake his fists at the heavens. Instead, he stared at the floor, shoulders hunched in defeat. Would she feel better or worse to know that the man who had done that to them wasn’t her blood father?

He felt a touch on his hair so light he could have imagined it. “He was wrong,” she whispered. “You’re special. You’ve always been special.”

Her slender hands framed his face, tipping it up to the moonlight where he could see the gentle outpouring of something that made his heart seize. Slowly, reverently, she lowered her mouth to his, pausing less than a breath away.

“Don’t let him win,” she whispered. “Come back to this bed and make love to me.”

If he could have handed her the world in that moment, he would have done it. With fingers that weren’t quite steady, he caressed her jaw.

Lacey’s lips brushed his, and the moment felt holy. When she deepened the kiss, he fought to hold back the outpouring of years of longing, of the unshed tears of a boy who’d been too bad, too poor, too young to become a man soon enough to keep those he loved from suffering.

Lacey’s kiss was both balm and torture. He pulled her off the mattress and onto his lap, gathering her into his arms and wishing he could hold off the world.

He drank in the succor like a man long in the desert, but even as years of pain eased, his heart squeezed.

I don’t want to tell you. I don’t want to hurt you
.

But he had no choice. With everything in him, he prayed he would do it right when the time came. Find the magic words to deliver the news without tearing her apart.

Then the sweetness couldn’t hold the fire at bay any longer. In seconds more, he could feel the lick of flames at his heels, hear the roaring of the inferno racing toward them.

She whimpered and squirmed in his arms. Dev bent over her to shelter her from harm, and took them deeper into the bliss.

It was everything, Lacey thought. This. This man. Dev, it was Dev she had waited for, Dev who’d been the reason that no one else was ever enough. Only Dev could ease the gnawing ache, fill the emptiness that had been her constant companion for years.

With that dawning of understanding, something inside her eased open like a flower in the light. Dev was her dark sun, her other half, the man who could finally make her whole.

And now Lacey burned, the long night of sweet torture teasing her nerve endings to screaming attention. Sliding her nails over his skin, she nipped at his lips, sought his tongue, pressed herself close enough that their skin could meld, become one.

Dev answered her with a power that flared through her like a starburst. His strong arms held her so close she could barely breathe, but she wanted desperately to be closer still.

“Dev,” she demanded, helpless against how he made her feel. “Now. Please…now.”

His fingers worked her zipper, then he slipped the halter strap over her head, sliding his hands down the open bodice and baring her breasts to his view.

Lacey had never felt more naked in her life, though she was only bare from the waist up. She lifted her hands to cover herself, but Dev grasped her wrists.

“No,” he said, his voice rough and low. Then he bent and took one nipple in his mouth.

Lacey cried out, arching backward, hoping Dev would catch her as ecstasy arrowed through every nerve.

He did, clasping her in his strong arms, holding her just loosely enough to give him access.

She squirmed in his lap, wanting to get closer, digging her fingers in his thick dark hair and squirming against him.

Dev chuckled and trailed a long, slow wet kiss across to her other breast.

When his tongue circled the curve, Lacey groaned. “I can’t stand it.”

He paused long enough to slant the devil’s own green eyes at her, smiling. “Yes, you can.” Then his eyes darkened and he covered her mouth with his own, kissing her as though she held the key to his survival.

He as though she weighed nothing, never breaking the hot, wet kiss that was melting her from the inside out. He removed her dress and laid her on the bed.

Then he knelt between her thighs, sliding her shoes off with his warm hands, cradling each foot as though it were precious, kneading them in a massage that rendered her boneless. “Oh…my….”

Dev grinned and slowly trailed his fingers up her calves. He bent and kissed the inside of one knee with a long, hot, wet slide of his tongue that continued up her thigh.

All languor fled. Lacey sucked in a breath against the sheer glory of it, squeezing her legs around his chest.

Then Dev lifted his head, his eyes almost black with longing. His warm hands banded her thighs, his thumbs stroking nearer and nearer as he gazed into her eyes with a sadness that made her want to cry.

“Forget before,” she whispered. “This is the only time that matters. This is our first.”

“Lacey…” He halted. “I should tell you—”

“Shh, not now— Whatever it is can wait.” She lay back. “Come to me, Dev. Make me yours. This is the night that was stolen from us.”

She slid her fingers beneath the lace of her panties, ready to remove them.

Eyes burning, Dev stopped her, imprisoning her fingers as he placed his mouth over the silk and blew hot breath over the most intimate part of her.

She gasped. Goosebumps danced over her body. He rose and those long, strong fingers took the panties with them. He removed two packets from his pocket and set them on the nightstand.

“Only two?”

He grinned. “I was trying not to make assumptions.”

“I have more.”

“Good. We’re gonna need them.”

Her heart thumped as they shared a smile. She watched as he stepped out of his shoes, removed his socks, then unfastened his slacks and slid them off. She bit her lower lip as she saw Dev’s body revealed to her for the first time.