Death of a Waterfall (The Hayden Falls Saga) (6 page)

But oh, how she wanted to feel him. To place her hands on his hard abs and feel his muscles tense beneath her touch. As he approached, she watched his body, seductively outlined by the light. Her breath caught in her throat when he reached out, took her hand, and gently pulled her to him. It was as if they were two halves of a mold that fit together perfectly. She sucked in a breath and held it. Was he going to kiss her? A small part of her wished he wouldn't, while the rest of her screamed for it.

Donnie cupped her face in his hand, caressing her cheek with his thumb. Teghan's eyes fluttered closed at the feel of his lips coming close to hers. It was like the time she'd stuck her finger in a light socket; a jolt of searing hot energy shot through her body, but then eased away, leaving her stunned and aroused. "We shouldn't do this," she whispered, her lips brushing against his as she spoke.

"Do you want me to stop?" he said. Teghan shook her head as his lips pressed against hers.

"Oh, Teegy!" Trevor yelled.

Teghan's eyes snapped open and she took a large step away from Donnie. He looked just as irritated as she felt. Clearing her throat, she tried to focus. It was useless. Damn her brother!

Trevor entered the cave. He looked back and forth between her and Donnie with a smirk on his face. "What's going on back here?"

"Nothing. I was just showing Donnie around."

"Sure you were." His voice was dripping with skepticism.

She walked to her brother and stood inches from his face. "I swear to God if you tell Alex about this, I'll tell Dad you're planning on dropping out of school," she hissed into his ear.

"Tell Alex about what? There isn't anything going on, remember?" Trevor winked at Teghan.

"What do you want?"

"You're the only sober one here. Go to the store and get some snacks, would ya?"

"Really?"

"You're also the one with Dad's credit card."

"Fine, I'll go in a few minutes."

"Thanks, Teegy." He turned and walked out of the cave.

Teghan blew out a breath. Her heart was still racing and her hands were shaking. "I guess we should get back to the party."

Donnie walked next to her, standing so close she could feel his heart beating. "Not yet," he said, firmly planting his left hand on her hip while the fingers of his right hand bunched in her hair, gripping her head and bringing her lips to him. His tongue parted her lips, slowly grazing over her tongue like a lazy river before adjusting the angle and deepening the kiss with a firm, hungry stroke of his tongue.

Teghan snaked her hands over his hard biceps, down his whipcord-lean stomach, and around his waist. His body felt like heaven beneath her fingers. She hugged him closer to her--close enough so she could feel the length of his erection pressing against her cotton sundress. A tiny mewl of pleasure tore from her throat when his lips left hers and trailed icy hot kisses across her jaw and down her neck. She put her head back to allow him greater access, only to feel him drag his mouth up her tingling flesh until he found her lips again. His tongue dipped inside her mouth, caressing her tongue with diabolically slow, shallow strokes. "Donnie," she whispered against his lips, not wanting the pleasure to end but knowing it had to.

He cupped her face in his hands giving her bottom lip a light kiss before tracing her mouth with his thumb. A gentle smile touched his lips.

Her mind clouded. "We can't, I mean, we shouldn't. Alex will..."

Donnie's forehead dropped to hers. "I know," he whispered.

Oh, to hell with Alex!
Teghan clutched his face in her hands, stood on her tiptoes and slanted her mouth over his.
Stop it, Teghan!
She started to pull away until Donnie locked his arms around her back and held her close, kissing her with a hungry recklessness. She arched into him, losing herself in his embrace. His kiss stole her ability to think. She couldn't be trusted to remember her own name.

Donnie dropped his hands to her lower back and squeezed her body against him. "Teghan," he breathed.

She forced herself to release his lips and push him away. Teghan stared at him, chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. His lips were red and swollen from her kisses, tempting her, daring her to take more. God, how she wanted to. But she couldn't. Instead, she inched her way toward the entrance and said, "This can't happen again."

~ * ~

Teghan arrived back at the party, her arms filled with snacks. She was still reeling from her kiss with Donnie. As soon as she stepped through the sliding glass doors, she was mauled by her brother and their friends.

"Thanks, Teegy," Trevor said.

"Anything for you, Trev, Trev," she said. "I stopped at Pappy's and ordered a sheet pizza. It should be here within a half hour."

"Woo hoo!" Alex shouted before finishing his beer and sitting at the patio table.

Teghan took a seat next to Annabelle. Her gaze wandered toward Alex and Beth. In the short amount of time she'd been at the actual party and not in the cave with Donnie or getting food, she'd noticed they hadn't strayed too far from each other. It shouldn't bother her, but it did. What bothered her more was the unexplainable guilt she felt about kissing Donnie. It was obvious Alex didn't care about flaunting his affections toward Beth. She sipped her beer and listened with half an ear to the conversations going on around her.

"I'll never forget that time we all snuck out and went to Sandy's farm. We got so drunk that night." Trevor laughed while shoving potato chips in his mouth.

"Ew, Trevor, that's so gross." Teghan frowned. She swore her brother had no manners.

"If I remember correctly, that was the first time Teghan got drunk," Alex said.

Teghan laughed. "And when we got home, Annabelle had a brilliant idea to go swimming. It was like four in the morning or something. The water was ice cold."

"How would you know? You never got in," Annabelle said.

"That's right," Trevor said. "You mumbled something about drowning. Then you passed out on one of the lounge chairs."

Everyone laughed.

"Yeah, you jerks left me there too. Do you have any idea how hard it was to explain to Dad why I was sleeping outside in my bathing suit?" Teghan shook her head and smiled. "He knew I was hung over. And lying to him."

Teghan finished her beer and sat back in her chair, stealing glances at Donnie every chance she got. He winked at her and her heart all but stopped. Man, he was gorgeous. Her mind wandered back to their kiss. Instinctively, she licked her lips, to which Donnie responded with a smile.

Teghan looked over to see Alex's arm around Beth's shoulder. He was whispering in her ear and she was giggling.
How dare he do this to me at my house?
A searing pain formed in Teghan's gut as she stifled the scream that threatened to tear from her chest. That's it. Game on, she thought as she got up from her chair and took a seat next to Donnie.

Chapter Five

"Damn you, Trevor," she cursed under her breath. Teghan put the last of the empty beer bottles into a garbage bag, tied it and set it outside the door. She tossed the pizza box and the wrappers from the snacks in the trashcans in the garage before locking the front door and shutting off the lights. Despite everything she'd said to Trevor earlier, there was no way she'd let him get caught or face their parents alone, which is why she was the one cleaning up while he snored on the couch.

She walked into the kitchen and stopped. The stench of vomit filled the room and made her gag. "He is so gonna owe me for this." Teghan grabbed a roll of paper towels from the counter, coiled half the roll around her hand, and kneeled in front of the chunky mess. "Uh, this is so gross." She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Want some help?"

His soft voice cracked through the silence like a thunderclap. "Jesus Christ," Teghan gasped, falling back onto her haunches. "You scared the hell outta me."

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you," he said. Donnie knelt beside her, the other half of the paper towel roll in his hand.

Teghan covered her nose with her arm and watched as Donnie cleaned up the vomit. "I'm gonna kill Trevor," she said.

"He did this?"

"I don't know who did this." She nodded toward the vomit. "But if he hadn't had this party..."

Donnie laughed. "You have to admit it was fun."

Teghan gave him a cock-eyed look. "Yeah, cleaning puke is exactly how I like to spend my Friday night. It doesn't bother you, does it?"

"Not really." He shrugged. "After my dad left, my mom started hitting the bottle pretty hard. I got a crash course in vomit removal."

"Oh," Teghan said. She chewed on her bottom lip, thinking of what to say to him next.
Bonding over puke. Nice, Teghan, real nice.

"No biggie. She's been in recovery for almost eight years now. That's what matters."

"Good for her," she said with a smile.

"It's obvious this really bothers you though. Let me take care of it," he said. "Get me the trash can?"

Teghan got up, grabbed a trash bag, and held it open for Donnie to throw the soiled towels into. After putting the bag in the garage, she returned to the kitchen to find Donnie washing his hands. She leaned against the doorframe and watched him. "Thanks for your help."

"No problem." He dried his hands. "Is there anything else I can help with?"

She surveyed the kitchen and decided the few dirty dishes could wait until morning. "I don't think so."

Donnie turned around and leaned up against the sink. "Got a mop?"

"In the utility closet," she said, pointing toward the tall thin door next to the refrigerator. Teghan watched as Donnie mopped the floor. She had to be dreaming. Trevor had never been this willing to help her clean up. Neither had Alex, for that matter. Why the hell was Donnie?
Who cares why? Just shut up and enjoy it. If he's willing to do this now, imagine what he'd be willing to do for you if he was your boyfriend.

She felt like a jerk standing around watching him clean when just moments earlier she'd been cursing Trevor for leaving it all to her. Teghan moved to the sink and filled it with hot, soapy water. One by one, she scrubbed the glasses and forks clean. All of her senses were on high alert. His cologne tickled her nose; with each forward push of the mop, his otherwise light breathing increased. From the corner of her eye, she could see his muscles rippling beneath his tee shirt as he moved the mop back and forth across the floor. Her mind flashed back to the way his hard body had felt against her, the way he'd held her so close. In that brief moment she'd felt safer than she'd ever felt in Alex's arms. A wave of heat engulfed her body. She opened the window above the sink. The cool night breeze caressed her face, dropping her body temperature a few degrees.

"I'd suggest opening a couple more windows to air it out in here," Donnie said.

Teghan cleared her throat. "Uh, yeah, of course." She continued to wash what remained of the glasses, refusing to acknowledge that Donnie was now standing behind her. It was working. Until she felt his hand on her hip. She managed to keep her breathing steady, too. Until she felt him gather her hair into his hand and trail his lips down her neck. Her fingers curled around the edge of the sink, her body frozen, yet burning with need as he nibbled and bit, his teeth sending shivers down her arms. "Donnie," she whimpered. "Please don't do this again."

"Do what?" His mouth tugged on her earlobe.

Teghan shrugged him off and took a few steps away. She stared at him for a brief moment before walking out of the kitchen and toward the backyard. Why did his touch have the ability to frazzle her like it did? And why couldn't she let herself enjoy the feelings he caused? There was no denying that she craved them.

"Teghan?"

She turned to look at him. "What?"

Donnie walked up to her. "Why do you keep running from me? What are you so damned afraid of?" He followed her gaze toward the two-person swing. "So this is about Alex?"

"It's always about Alex," she said. Teghan kicked off her sandals, sat down beside the waterfall, and put her feet in the water.

Donnie followed her. "What the hell does that mean?" He toed off his shoes, sat beside her, and dipped his feet in the warm water.

Without answering, Teghan averted her eyes and stared at their feet. She noticed Donnie's second toe was much longer than his big toe. His fourth toe and pinky toe were not completely split; instead they were shaped much like a capital Y. This little imperfection made him more attractive to her, and in a strange way it comforted her to know he wasn't as perfect as he appeared.

"Teghan?" He gently nudged her.

"Things with Alex are...complicated." She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before looking once again at the swing. Alex was curled around Beth's half naked body, his arm draped over her stomach, his hand tucked under her shirt, gripping her braless boob.

"That bothers you, doesn't it?" Donnie asked, nodding his head toward Alex.

She shrugged. "No reason it should."

"But it does," he pressed.

She swallowed hard. "Yes, it does."