Captain Mike Savoy hadn’t counted on seeing Delaney Richards again at his best friend’s wedding, let alone find himself falling in love with her. Now he has to convince her that the feeling is mutual—and permanent. But the past can be a killer. And the only way Mike can ensure a future with her is to send her away. To survive, Delaney must trust the heart that once betrayed her.
EXCERPT
Mike watched Delaney’s eyes sweep the repetitive-hued room, then the terrace. The double doors were open, allowing the breeze to raise the curtains puddling on the Gainsboro-colored carpeting. Beyond the silhouette of the city was framed in black filigree.
“You wanted a balcony,” he reminded her smugly.
She turned to him in openmouthed wonder, then walked through the living room and outside. Her fingertips brushed the back of the cushions on the wrought iron chairs as she made her way to the railing. “I don’t know what to say.”
He followed her. “Say you’ll stay here with me tonight.”
She studied him in bewilderment, as if the question was absurd. “Of course I’ll stay here with you. I’ll go anywhere with you.”
Because she loved and trusted him, he inwardly amazed. He brought her hands to his lips and kissed them. “I know how hard it is for you to trust someone again. I won’t let you down, I promise.” He hesitated, then decided the time had come. “I love you, Laney.”
He watched her eyes fill and mouth tighten as she bit back the tears. Then she choked, “I love you, too. I love you so much. And I’m so scared.”
Mike let out an overdue breath. “So am I. I’ve never loved anyone before.”
“Neither have I.”
He jolted back a little, nonplussed.
She shook her head from side to side purposefully. “That wasn’t real love. I know that now. That part of me didn’t exist before you.” She fell into him and the tears sprung from her eyes, dotting the collar of his white shirt.
Looking upward, he gave silent thanks. Then he said, “And as if that isn’t enough, my family loved you too.”
He felt her collective sigh. “They did?”
“Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t they?”
“For one thing, I was worried about was being compared to the other women in your life.”
“That’s impossible. There’s no one for them to compare you to. Not that they would anyway. My family isn’t like—”
“I didn’t mean that way,” Delaney demurred.
“Let me finish, please.” Suddenly agitated, he raked a hand through his hair and began to pace on the tiny terrace. “There is no one for them to compare you to because I’ve never introduced them to someone like you before. Occasionally I’ve brought a woman, a date, a friend, to family gatherings, but never the same woman twice. Sometimes we wouldn’t even stay the evening, let alone,” he glanced at his watch and confirmed his suspicions, “until midnight.”
She started to say something, but he thwarted it with his palm. “You’re right. There have been many women in my life, in my bed. Very few have met my family. None of whom I’ve given jewelry, missed when we’re apart for a few hours, thought about constantly, and rearranged my schedule for.” He returned to her. “And most importantly, loved.”
Her eyes were shining, dancing now. “You rearranged your schedule?”
Mike was beside himself. “Out of all that, the schedule was what you got?”
“No. I got the loved part at the end.”
“Laney,” he whispered with jagged breath. “Of course they loved you. I knew they would. What’s not to love?”
She laughed away the words. “Oh, I can think of a few things.”
“I can only think of one.”
Dismay replaced the goodwill in her eyes and her brow crinkled. “You can?”
“Yeah,” he declared evenly. “Loving each other isn’t enough for me.”
He watched the color drain from her face. “It’s not?”
“No.” He raised their joined hands. “I want you to belong to me. I want to belong to you too.”
“I do.” She tripped over the words. “I thought you already did.”
“I mean for good.” He stoked her cheek with the back of his fingers, knowing he’d been sure all along. “I mean forever. Can you see yourself loving me forever?”
She gasped, and with a measured nod managed, “Can you see yourself loving me forever?”
“I know I can. I know I want to. I want to make love to you tonight and every night for the rest of my life. You and only you.”
She seemed to believe him for the first time. “I want that too,” she gushed. “I could never be with another man now. I couldn’t bear for you to touch someone else.”
“I won’t,” he promised, cradling her chin in his hands. “Ever. I’m not asking you tonight. I won’t rush you. I just needed to know if—”
She quieted his lips with her forefinger. “The answer is yes. Whether you ask me tonight or ten thousand nights from now.”
Indescribably happy, Mike tasted her tears, then rested his forehead against hers. “That will have to wait until I can ask you properly. However,” his mouth found hers again and began to feed, “there is something I can ask you tonight.”
She tilted her head back as he showered her throat with kisses. “Hmm. What would that be?”
“I want to taste you. I want you to taste me too.”
That seemed to surprise, then intrigue her. She righted her head and found his gaze with wide eyes. “You can do anything you want to me.” Her tone was dark and full of challenge. “I’m yours, remember?”
He could do nothing but mumble her name, willing his moral compass to hold steady.
Her ensuing words made that nearly impossible. “You’ll be the first man to touch me that way. Now I wish you were the only man to touch me at all.”
Mike swallowed the shock and wondered if she could feel him hardening behind the zipper. “As long as I’m the last.”
She responded by silently backing up into the bedroom and reaching behind her. A second later the dress fell to the floor. “I’ve been waiting all night to show you what’s under my dress.”
He supposed the foghorns still boomed from the bridge, the seals continued to bark on the pier, the cars buzzed along on the street below. But Mike’s mind discounted all that. In his head, his hands were already running down Delaney’s tawny shoulders. They lingered at the curve of her breasts before pausing on her svelte waist and then resting on her willowy hips.
And his cock wasn’t far behind.
He shut the French doors behind him and loosened his collar. “I’ve been waiting all night to see what’s under your dress.”
“I told you,” she tantalized. “Didn’t you believe me?”
He cast aside his suit coat. “Oh, I believed you. That’s why I’ve been waiting all night.”
By mid-stride, he felt himself being yanked under her spell. By the time he reached her, his hands felt claw-like against the buttons of his shirt. Hers, on the other hand, were as agile as a cat’s. “You seemed oddly patient.” She wended her slender fingers down the shirt, holding him with a wolfish smile all the while. “I was beginning to wonder.”
“You’ll never have to wonder about that.” Tipping point reached and passed, he grabbed her wrists. “If I’d had my way, I would’ve taken you in the elevator.” He ripped the shirt off before she could finish, busting the two bottom buttons in the process. He made quick work of his pants, then lassoed her waist. Seizing her mouth, he straddled her to his middle. Her delta felt as hot and wet as her mouth tasted.
And he couldn’t wait to prove it.
He carried her to the bed and laid her down. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw his burgeoning erection. Wholehearted superlatives echoed on her lips as she extended her arms, inviting his wielding body to hers.
Suddenly Mike didn’t know what to do with his eyes, his hands, his mouth. He was still trying to collect himself when Delaney entreated in a concerned whisper. “Mike, come to me.”
“Not until you cum first,” he decided out loud. Kneeling, he pried her creamy legs apart and pressed his ravenous mouth to her triangle. He burrowed his face into her buttery pleats and began to lick. Long, lazy strokes at first, then short, quick ones. Rabid now, he couldn’t get enough of her sweet poison.
And the feeling was clearly mutual.
Her head shot up like a piston as he began devouring her. The rest of her fell back on the bed, allowing him access to all her folds. Her fingers curled the bed sheets as his tongue explored her every crease and crevice of her fleshy core.
With excruciating precision.
He felt her begin to unravel even before his name was audible. Stitch by stich he took her higher until, her spindle barren, she broke free. Her flailing hands froze in his hair as she surrendered to his unspoken pleas. Drenching him and quaking, she purred and peaked, nearly taking him with him.
Kissing his way, Mike rested his head on her stomach. Her pulse was quickening in her abdomen and the shallow breaths in her chest were strangulated. She was still reeling in the orgasm, he self-congratulated. And he was still wallowing in giving it to her.
Her eyes fluttered open. “That was amazing.” Her voice was blissfully exhausted. “I loved it.”
He crawled up to her. “I loved tasting every inch of you,” he told her around a gallant kiss.
Returning the sentiment, she eased him aside and started shimmying down the king-size bed. “Now let me return the favor.”
“Laney.” He caught her arm. “I won’t last long.”
“Good.” She left him with a naughty nod. His cock was leaking readiness and she used it to bring him to her. She gripped him at the base of his throbbing shaft and took all of him in her mouth. Then she began to suck.
Her prepossessing mouth was like a finely-tuned machine. Her cheeks hollowed out, her lips clenched, her fingers joggled.
And Mike’s body went slack for the want.
His groans filled the air as she engorged him. He felt his midsection jolt forward, his neck snap back, his eyes roll in his head. It was a titillation like he’d never known. And it was the only thing that could rival being inside her.
And still she sucked.
He could feel the pressure intensifying, the meter pounding, the flow building. He was already hard enough to make love to her. It was now or never.
After a brief internal debate, he tapped her head.
She slithered up to him with a contented smile and fiery eyes.
He positioned her on her side next to him and entered her from behind. Their low growls merged into a hedonic moan as the tip of him met her saturated cavern. Pressing his palms against her breasts, Mike bent his knees and pushed against her. She encircled his neck with her arms and they fell into an instinctual, mellifluous rhythm. Back and forth they swayed, her head tucked into the groove of his shoulder and the small of her back grinding against his stomach. He heard her baiting breaths against his cheek, her burning appeals in his ear. And just as he felt the judder of her orgasm, he drained himself into her.
