'Yes, it should. I said I'd give you time, but you want this.' He was pulling her down on the floor. 'Don't you?'
Oh, yes. More than water in the desert, more than fire in winter. His hands reached out to grasp his shoulders. 'Harley will…'
'He'll let us know when he comes into the house.' He was unbuttoning her blouse. 'Damn, I've missed you.'
'Ridiculous,' she said unevenly. 'It hasn't been that long.' Yet it seemed forever, she thought dazedly. She knew what he meant. The hunger had been there, ignored, but waiting. 'This isn't going to make any difference. I won't let it.'
'I'll take what I can get. If you think you can walk away from me afterwards, do it.' He pulled off his shirt and threw it aside. 'Just don't lie to either one of us that it won't make a difference. Every time makes a difference.' His palm was rubbing her, caressing her. 'Every single touch…'
MADNESS.
Her breath was coming in gasps as she forced herself to unclench her fingers that were digging into his shoulders. 'I have to go. I need to-' She closed her eyes. She didn't want to go. She wanted to stay here and hold him and then do it again. She pushed him away and sat up. 'Harley and Renata will be back soon.' She grabbed her clothes and jumped to her feet. 'I'm going upstairs and find a bathroom.'
He didn't move, watching her as she moved toward the door. 'Have I ever told you that you've got a spectacular ass?'
'No.'
'Probably too busy with more important observations,' he said. 'Like the way you squeeze around me until I go berserk when I'm-'
'Be quiet.' She glanced at him over her shoulder. 'In case you haven't noticed, I'm walking away from you, Grady.'
'I noticed.' He smiled. 'And now you know that you can do it. It's not as if I have some Svengali power over you. So why not enjoy ourselves at every opportunity? Life is short and you never know what's coming around the corner.'
He did have power over her, she thought. Just staring at him lying there naked she could feel a stirring. She had never seen a more beautiful male specimen and that male could do things to her that no one else had ever done. She was no Galatea, but the sexuality between them was too strong to ignore and she should be wary. After today nothing was clearer.
'No?' His gaze was narrowed on her face. 'I'm having a hell of a time getting you to bypass that control fear. Think about it. There were moments when I wasn't in control, when you made me feel weak and sappy as a high school kid. Maybe I should be wary of you.'
She moistened her lips. 'Maybe you should.'
He smiled. 'I'll take my chances. Every time I sense a weakness, I'm going to move in.' He made a shooing motion. 'Go get dressed. I'll bring your suitcases up and put it in one of the bedrooms. I'll see you at dinner.'
'Okay.' She flew up the stairs and moved down the hall throwing open doors until she came to a bathroom. A few minutes later she was stepping into a tub shower and pulling the plastic curtain. The cold water was a shock on her warm, relaxed flesh, making it taut and firm. She wished it could also shock her mental faculties that had not been able to prevent that sexual encounter from happening.
Forget it. So she had wanted Grady and took him. He was right, if he had power over her, she had also been aware her touch could weaken and make him shudder. Why shouldn't they enjoy-
That's what Grady had said. Persuasion or control?
It was too dangerous to opt for persuasion with a man who had controlled her memories for all those years.
But sex was sex. It wasn't as if there was anything deeper, that she was in-
No! She wouldn't even go there. She would get Molino and then dive back into the life she had chosen before any of this craziness had revealed itself. Lord, that life seemed far away and alien now.
Alien? It was her present existence that was weird and alien. It was frightening that she hadn't instantly realized that fact. Grady had said she had changed, but she'd still be able to go back once this was over.
Lord, she hoped she'd be able to go back.
WHEN MEGAN LEFT THE BATHROOM, she passed Renata in the hall carrying an armful of bed linens.
'I'm putting these in the washer and then I'm going to hit the shower myself,' she said. 'This place must not have been rented for years. It's kind of sad to think about it. Like a little old lady who's been neglected and forgotten.'
'That is sad.' And she found it curious that Renata would make that comparison. 'You like this house?'
'Yes, particularly that wraparound front porch. It reminds me of a house in Boston. I lived in with my mother. I was only five or six, but it seemed… embracing.' She shrugged. 'Or maybe I thought so because I didn't see that much of my mother. I was shuttled back and forth between her and my father in Germany and that year was a good year.' She headed for the stairs. 'I took the second bedroom on the left since I noticed your suitcases were in the first one.' She glanced over her shoulder. 'Only your cases. You're not sleeping with Grady here?'
'No. Not that it's any of your concern.'
'I just wondered if I was going to have to tiptoe around the 'situation.' ' She made a face. 'Then I guess I wouldn't have had to be tactful and gone shopping with Harley.'
'Tactful? You?'
'I can be tactful. I think it's a mistake for you to sleep with Grady. He's a Controller and I don't know how you could trust him. But if he brings you pleasure, then I want you to have it.'
'Thank you,' she said dryly.
'I probably said that wrong. You'd never guess that I'm considered very well spoken at the office.'
'No, I'd never guess.'
'But in the office it's as if I'm an actress on a stage. It's easier.' She started down the steps. 'I'll get these sheets in the washer and then I'll put in a meat loaf before I take my shower. Harley says he going to make his favorite dessert.'
'Baumkuchen.'
'That's it. It took forever to find all the ingredients.'
'Then I guess you didn't have time to buy your missile launcher,' Megan said teasingly. 'Grady said you'd have trouble finding it in Dalton, Georgia, anyway.'
'If I'd wanted it, I could have gotten it. Mark would have found a source.'
'Your cousin must be an amazing man.'
'Amazing? You could call him that.' She called back, 'You make the salad. Okay?'
'Okay.' She finished toweling her hair as she headed for her bedroom. The encounter with Renata had done her good. It had brought her back to a form of normalcy that didn't revolve around Grady and her feelings for him. There were other people in the world, other viewpoints, other goals. There were memories of childhood and wraparound porches and Cousin Mark who was an enigma still to be deciphered.
With any luck she'd be able to concentrate on all those peripheral figures tonight and forget about Grady.
IT DIDN'T WORK.
She couldn't have been more acutely conscious of Grady during dinner. She was aware of his every move, every intonation of his voice. Dammit, she hoped it wasn't obvious to Harley and Renata. It was ridiculous to feel like this.
She escaped right after Harley's Baumkuchen. She murmured an excuse and fled to the wraparound porch with which Renata had been so enamored.
The moon was almost full and shining brightly over the woods in the distance. She took several deep breaths. That was better.
'Megan.'
She went rigid. She didn't turn around. 'I don't want to talk to you right now, Grady.'
'I didn't think you did.' He came forward to stand beside her. 'And that's okay.' He pulled out his cell phone. 'How do you feel about talking to Molino?'
