teasing wasn't enough. She thread her fingers through his hair, tugging his scalp and pulling him closer until he backed her up against the wall. His body flush with hers, her breasts pressed hard against his chest while his solid erection thrust between her legs.
She sucked in a breath and rolled her hips from side to side so his hard member created friction that built, waves of desire rocking her body. He thrust his tongue inside her mouth, mimicking the action they both so desperately desired while his hands wreaked havoc with her breasts. Over her shirt, beneath her shirt, she couldn't keep track of all the sensations buffeting her body.
She wanted him now and began to tug on his jeans in an effort to free him so he could push inside her and fill her the way she wanted. Needed.
'Slow down, baby,' he murmured as his lips slid over the sensitized skin of her cheek.
She shook her head. 'The hell with slow.' She reached between them and pulled her T-shirt over her head and tossed it onto the floor.
His heavy lidded gaze met hers before traveling lower. As he took in the lace covering her breasts and taut nipples, his pupils dilated and his eyes glazed over. She had him now and while he watched, she reached up and released the front clasp of her bra, then slowly, teasingly parted the cups, revealing her full, aching breasts for him to see.
'You think you can tempt me into moving at your pace?' he asked in a voice gruff with desire.
She straightened her shoulders, thrusting her breasts toward him. 'I don't know. Can I tempt you?'
He cupped her breasts in his hands, his warm flesh palming her heavy mounds and then he lowered his mouth, encircling one nipple with his tongue. His touch reverberated between her thighs, the emptiness more engulfing than ever before.
With deliberate care, he teased her with his teeth, then with his silken tongue slowly lapped at the same place he'd grazed. Different textures, different feelings, but one thing never changed. He took his time, until her hips bucked and she writhed with the need to have him fill her hard and fast.
'You made your point,' she gasped. 'You have way more control than I do.'
He raised his head, his dark gaze meeting hers. 'That wasn't the point I had in mind.'
She leaned her head against the wall, trying not to weep or beg. 'Then what was it?'
'That I can't resist you.
After laying her on the bed, he pulled off first one boot, then the other. Next he slid his hands beneath her short skirt, letting his palms skim her thighs as he hooked his fingers in her panties and pulled them down and off her legs.
'I'm really not into slow, either.' He stood beside the bed and undressed quickly before rejoining her on the mattress where she'd propped herself against the pillows. Then as if to prove his words, he moved between her thighs and lifted her, unveiling her to his heated stare.
Her own gaze was just as hot as she took in his erection. Long and hard, the head of his penis was poised at her moist entrance. She pulsed there, dewy and empty, her desire for him surpassing the physical. She was in love with him. But she feared if she said the words aloud, she'd scare him away for good.
She was an open, honest person, as she'd told him from the beginning, and she didn't plan to leave without making her feelings known. But she wasn't about to frighten him off before she’d expressed those feelings in the ultimate act one more time.
His hands pushed her skirt up higher. His palms then encircled her thighs, his deep stare never leaving hers at the same time he thrust deep, giving her absolutely everything she physically needed.
Emotionally she wondered if she was always destined to lose.
Buried deep in Annabelle's body, looking down at her beautiful face, Vaughn understood that he'd never made love before. Not like this. The distinction between that and sex had never been so great. But he knew he couldn't handle that emotion at the moment when the rest of his life was in pure upheaval.
He pulsed inside her, feeling her slick walls around him. He needed her now and she was here, alive, unharmed and all his. Lacing his fingers through hers, he raised her arms above her head and eased himself out of her body, then in. Out and in. Until they picked up the rhythm that was all their own and he lost himself in everything that was uniquely Annabelle.
Afterward they slept, woke and ordered in dinner, and made love once more. To Vaughn's relief, not once did Annabelle look for any sort of deep discussion or insist they dissect their feelings.
As she slept beside him, he felt the clock ticking away. Now that Roy had been arrested, there was no need for Annabelle to remain in Greenlawn. Though he'd need her expertise to get the lodge up and running, there was no unknown crisis to contemplate dealing with the next morning. She could treat him like any other client and return to work from her Manhattan office. The thought caused his stomach to twist in tight knots.
If he'd read the emotion in her eyes correctly, there was every possibility that with one word from him, the right word, Annabelle would stay by his side. But he needed to have the courage to believe. Believe someone like Annabelle could invest in him for the long haul and not be disappointed in the end. Obviously much of his past still haunted him but Annabelle wasn't just anyone and his heart told him to trust in her. He just didn't know if he could believe that deeply in himself.
ANNABELLE DRESSED and stood beside a sleeping Vaughn. Her bags were packed and loaded in her car. The animals, including the cat who loved to sleep on Vaughn's pillow, waited for her to start the long drive back to Manhattan.
Her heart pounded hard in her chest as she leaned down and brushed a kiss on his forehead. A deep sleeper, he rolled over but didn't wake up. She smiled and studied his profile for the last time.
He was such a good man. He'd even bared his greatest embarrassment to Roy in an effort to make the man understand why Todd would bond with Vaughn more than his father. He'd done it to save Annabelle's life. She'd loved him before and she loved him even more now.
Unlike the other relationships where she'd invested emotion but gotten nothing back in return, Annabelle couldn't regret a minute of her time with Brandon Vaughn.But during their brief relationship she'd learned much about herself, not the least of which was that no matter how much she loved, she wasn't going to follow in Lola's footsteps. She wasn't about to spend her life pining for a commitment from someone who felt too unsure to provide one.
She reached out and stroked his cheek. 'I love you.'
She thought he smiled or maybe she just wished he had. Either way Annabelle had enough self-respect to walk away now with her head held high.
She could survive without Vaughn, even if she wished she didn't have to.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
VAUGHN AWOKE and discovered Annabelle was gone, leaving him alone in his large bed and even bigger house. He couldn't think of a day that had started worse. The words
He stormed through the house in a foul mood. He checked her room only to find she'd packed and taken everything that belonged to her. Natasha the rabbit was gone as was the cat who'd begun to curl up on top of Vaughn's pillow whenever he was around. A quick phone call told him Annabelle had even stopped by Mara's to collect Q-Tip, a sure sign she didn't plan on coming back.
He ought to be pleased that his life was back to normal. He had a truckload of work ahead of him if he wanted to step up the construction schedule. He'd never make up the time lost caused by the fire but at least he wasn't waiting for the next incident of sabotage. And he no longer had Annabelle here as a tempting distraction.
Vaughn's head pounded and he slung back two aspirin, then called Nick for a ride to the lodge where he'd left his truck. Half an hour later, the doorbell rang and though Nick was early, Vaughn went to let him inside.:
Instead he had a shock waiting for him when he
His headache increased. 'Hello, Mother. What brings you by?' Because Estelle's visits were few and far between. To come bearing food was even more unusual.
'I heard about the awful incident at the lodge. That dreadful man pulling a knife on poor Annabelle. She must
