All That I Desire (17 page)

He felt his own smile. It was impossible not to smile around Skylar. He’d tried. He
bent to pick up her gloves. “Put these on. I don’t want you getting sick.”

For once she didn’t argue. “Neither do I. I have too much to look forward to.”

His fingers lightly tunneled through her hair. Skylar was going to be a handful, but
he was looking forward to every moment.

*   *   *

Skylar didn’t even try to keep the huge grin off her face on the way back to the castle.
She could have happily turned backflips. Once there, she went straight to the kitchen
with Rio beside her. To her surprised delight, he wasn’t lost in the kitchen. In less
than thirty minutes, they had pan-seared salmon, red-skinned potatoes, and broccoli
on two plates. True to her word, she sat in his lap.

“You do like pushing the limits,” Rio said.

Skylar felt the hard bulge beneath her hips. “I won’t embarrass you when we’re around
other people, but when we’re alone is an entirely different matter. I just like being
close to you.”

“That wasn’t a complaint,” he said, his eyes pinpoints of desire.

She shivered from the searing gaze. She still found it hard to believe that there
had never been a special girl or woman in his life. She wished there had been someone
to love him until they found each other. She wasn’t so selfish that she was glad she
was the first woman to matter to him. No one should be that alone.

His callused thumb wiped away the tears on her lashes. “Don’t cry for me.”

She shook her head, afraid if she opened her mouth she’d cry. Instead she placed her
head on his broad shoulder.

“Being alone is not the same as being lonely.” His wide hand swept up and down her
back. “Some people need people or things going on around them to be happy. I never
have. I’m content to be by myself. Or I was until I noticed you watching me.”

She lifted her head. “I’ve never done anything like this before. Nothing was ever
as important to me as being yours. No risk was too great. You certainly weren’t going
to make the first move.”

He looked thoughtful. “Somehow I knew that if I took you up on the signals you were
sending, my life would never be the same.”

“How do you feel now?” she asked, her hands clamped in her lap. She wanted him to
be as happy as she was.

“Truthfully?”

She swallowed. Nodded.

He smiled. “I’m a bit surprised you overcame every one of my defenses. I thought I
was winning for a while, but even before the night you gave me the ultimatum, I think
I was a goner. You’re a hard woman to resist, Skylar Dupree, and I’m glad I don’t
have to try.”

“Rio.” She melted in his arms.

His head lifted. “I need to check in with the other security teams.”

“Are you coming back?”

“Not tonight.”

Her shoulders sagged. She stood.

He came to his feet. “I’ll make sure after the last delivery tomorrow that I’m free
for the rest of the evening. How about that? We can go anywhere you want.”

“I’d rather stay here.”

“Ask Mary to cook,” he told her. “Tomorrow is the last delivery day, and it’s going
to be hectic.”

“I know.” And she was going to cook for them. “Give me a kiss and go take care of
things.”

“Ordering me around already.” He dragged her into his arms for a long, hot kiss. “I
won’t make breakfast, and tomorrow don’t wear anything distracting.”

“I’ll save that for tomorrow night.”

“See that you do.” He dropped a kiss on her nose and he was gone.

*   *   *

The next morning, when Rio saw Skylar in a gray cashmere cowl-neck poncho that reached
below her knees and matching pants, it confirmed what he’d already suspected. Regardless
of what Skylar wore, the wanting was just as sharp and intense.

She spoke, flashed him a sultry smile, then went back to working on her iPad. She’d
said hello to Conner and Henderson and waited for the first delivery.

Fifteen minutes later, the first of thirteen delivery trucks pulled up. While Henderson
and Conner helped the driver unload, Rio began opening the packages. Unlike the day
before, Skylar didn’t hover and make his body ache with need. She was going to behave,
but as the day progressed he knew that would quickly change when they were alone that
night.

He hoped he was up to the challenge.

*   *   *

It was almost seven when the last delivery truck crossed the drawbridge. With her
iPad beneath her arm, Skylar said good night and thanks, then headed inside with the
last item, an autographed baseball from the World Series champions, and placed the
prize in the waiting glass case.

She took a moment to turn in a full circle to view all the fantastic donations that
had been sent. Bids were steadily inching higher. The auction was going to be a success.
She pulled out her cell phone to call Mrs. Grayson to ask if she wanted to come—preferably
now—just as it rang. “Hello.”

“Hello, Skylar. I can’t make it tonight. I’m sorry,” Mrs. Grayson said.

“That’s all right,” Skylar said, a bit concerned. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes. Something unexpected came up. Did everything arrive?”

“Yes. It looks fabulous,” Skylar told her.

“I never doubted. We’ll talk tomorrow. Good night.”

“Good night.” Skylar disconnected the call. Her smile slowly grew. She and Rio would
have more time together. She hugged the iPad to her chest. She still couldn’t believe
that they were a couple. She giggled and went to the kitchen to turn the marinating
porterhouse steak, wash the vegetables, and check on the potatoes baking in the convection
oven.

Satisfied, she showered and changed into an off-the-shoulder, banded spandex dress
that fit her body like a second skin. Finally, she stepped into backless heels. She
pulled her hair up loosely on top of her head and let tendrils fall, giving the appearance
that one tug and her hair would fall.

She bit her lip and stared at the bed. Deciding there was no sense being coy or pretending
that the night might not end in her bed, she pulled the covers down, fluffed the pillows,
and left the table lamp on dim. If anyone had told her she’d be doing this even a
month ago, she would have denied it with her last breath.

But she hadn’t kissed Rio then, hadn’t felt the pull of his heated gaze, the touch
of his callused hand on her bare skin. She was gambling that Rio would be her first
and her last lover. She’d figured out that what Rio refused to say with his mouth,
he said eloquently with tender touches, hot kisses, and on rare occasions his eyes.
He cared about her.

“Here goes.” She opened her door and went downstairs to put the steak on the grill
and set the table in the small dining room. After breakfast, Mary had helped Skylar
take out the two leaves in the rectangular table so it now seated four. Much cozier.

Rio had said he’d be back in thirty minutes, and she wanted everything ready.

*   *   *

Rio wasn’t exactly nervous when he came back inside the castle for the second time.
He’d been in earlier, heard Skylar humming in the kitchen on his way to his room to
shower and change clothes. He tried not to think of the implication of that. It was
on his way back downstairs when it hit him. He wasn’t sure where the idea had come
from, but he went back outside to get what he wanted.

Finished, he went back inside. He saw Skylar leaning against the door frame of the
dining room. Arms folded, long legs crossed in a dress that hugged every luscious
curve of her body.

His body tightened. His breathing altered.

He was a foot away from her when her arms fell to her sides, and she uncrossed her
legs. He didn’t stop until their bodies touched. He expected the heat, but not the
almost uncontrollable urge to make her his in every way possible.

Her eyes darkened. Desire stared back at him. If she kept looking at him like she
wanted him for dinner, she might get her wish.

“Is that for me?”

He’d almost forgotten. For a moment he hesitated, then lifted the single long-stemmed
rose. She wouldn’t laugh at his first impulsive act.

She took the bloom, swallowed, and lifted it to her lips. “I love pink roses. Thank
you.”

“I know. Occasionally you have them on your desk in your Tucson office. You also received
a huge bouquet a couple of weeks ago,” he said.

She brushed the rose against his lips. “I told him before and after that he was wasting
his time. I had already seen what I wanted.”

His blood heated. “Skylar, maybe we better sit down and eat.”

“There’s something I wanted to show you first. It won’t take a minute.” She walked
off and he followed, hoping he could hold it together better than he was doing now.
His eyes caught on the enticing sway of her hips in the tight dress and he wasn’t
so sure.

She opened the door to her bedroom and went inside. Bad idea, he thought, but he followed
her anyway. They’d only be a minute. Automatically, he closed the door and stuck his
hands into the pockets of his slacks. Surely he could last that long.

She went to the bedside table, placed her rose on top, then came back to stand in
front of him. Her eyes were soft. “I was thinking the porterhouse will keep. So will
the vegetables and pecan pie.” Her arms slid around his neck, her enticing body pressed
against his.

Rio hardened. His hands lifted without thought to span her waist. Instead of pushing
her away as he knew he should, he inhaled her compelling fragrance as his mind filled
with erotic images of her with her beautiful hair spread on his pillow, her eyes heavy-lidded
with desire, her hand reaching for him.

She stepped out of her heels. “Maybe there was something else we’d both like to do
first.”

Her breathless voice made every nerve in his body go on full alert, called to him.
His breathing altered, became ragged. Need rushed though his heated blood, made rational
thinking impossible. All that he desired was standing in front of him. Yet if he took
that step, it would be irrevocable. There would be no going back.

He stared into her trusting face. He wanted this to be right for her and was shaken
inside that he wouldn’t be tender enough, that he’d mess this up for her. The women
before her had been experienced. He’d rather walk away than hurt her or see disappointment
in her eyes.

“I know you’re used to more experienced woman,” she said, a bit uncertain for the
first time.

“Easily forgotten.”

“I don’t want to disappoint you,” she went on to say.

Rio scoffed at the idea. “Impossible.”

She undid the clip on his hair, tossed it on the bed, and ran her fingers through
his hair. “I wondered what you’d look like this way.” The back of her hand grazed
his cheek. “Magnificent.”

She said the word reverently as she stared up at him with intense eyes, eyes he’d
never tire of looking into. This one courageous and outspoken woman had managed to
do what he’d never imagined possible. She’d taken up residence in his heart, a heart
he’d thought impenetrable.

“So are you,” he said.

As if aware of the shift from resistance to acceptance, her body sank more fully against
his, her mouth moved closer to his. He took the offering, his mouth gentle as it brushed
across hers when he wanted to rush. He caught the soft sigh of surrender and, more
than that, of trust. She deserved the words and the romance, but he wasn’t familiar
with either. There had been women, but they both had forgotten each other before the
night was over.

His head and hands lifted. Her hold tightened. “No! Don’t leave me.”

He couldn’t. He pulled the pins from her hair. The thick, silken mass tumbled around
her shoulders and into his waiting hands. He’d thought of this moment so often and
feared it.

She relaxed in an instant. Her eyes held his. “You make me ache with longing. Happier
than I ever imagined.”

And he’d gladly walk through hell before ruining this night for her. He didn’t know
how to make love to her the way she wanted, the way she deserved, gentle and sweet.

He couldn’t fail her.

Her soft lips brushed across his, her breath warm as she said, “I might have watched
you for two years, but I’ve been waiting for this moment a lot longer.” The tip of
her tongue glided across the seam of his parted lips. “I waited for you.”

No words could have humbled him more or been more troublesome. Yet as he stared down
into her face, a fierce yearning swept though him so deeply that he trembled, then
just as quickly he relaxed as he remembered the fierce protectiveness of her, her
uncompromising strength and courage.

He let himself go.

He pulled her more securely into his arms and fiercely fastened his mouth on hers,
as if he had no intention of ever stopping. The sweet, yielding taste of her heated
his blood and hardened his body. Every fear, every worry vanished from his mind. There
was only this woman burning passionately in his arms.

His mouth moved to her bare shoulder, nipped. She shivered and clutched his shoulders.
He would have laughed if he’d had the breath to do so. He should have known she wouldn’t
hide from the driving need swirling through them, but rush to meet it.

Her heart pounded so fiercely she felt light-headed and exhilarated at the same time.
She felt him peeling the dress from her overheated body, his large, rough hands and
lips following. She twisted, shivered, and enjoyed the twin assaults.

“I can’t get enough of you,” he murmured.

She felt the same glorious way. She tugged the shirt out of his pants. Too anxious
to feel his naked skin, she ran her fingers under his shirt. Now he was the one trembling.
Nothing at that moment could have pleased her more than knowing he was as affected
by her touch as she was by his.

“Me either. More.” She wanted more of everything and knew without a shred of doubt
that he’d give it to her.

He swung her up in his arms and carried her to the bed. Gently, he set her down and
looked his fill. All she wore was a lacy black thong with a lacy black bra that only
cupped the bottom of her incredible breasts. He swallowed.