Fireflies and Magnolias (25 page)

For so long, Mama had chosen everything she ate with an eye toward keeping her waistline thin. It had been more than annoying. That thought reminded her of her discussion with her daddy. She’d fussed about it after coming home from their family dinner, thinking about what he’d asked her. Could she give her mama a chance? She still wasn’t sure.

“You’ll be happy to know I told my daddy about my work at the clinic too,” she told Clayton. “Rye and Daddy might worry, but they understand how important it is to me.”

“I expect they’d react differently if they knew what happened at Jasinda’s.”

Were they going to fight over that again? She decided to divert him. “I might also have told daddy we were…”

When she paused, he looked up from spooning his collard greens. What in the world was she supposed to call what they were doing? Her mind searched frantically for a word, and his lips pursed like he was trying to keep from laughing at her.

“Spending time together,” she finished.

Leaning his elbows on the table, he stared at her. “Is that what we’re doing?”

It was tough to ignore the urge to kick him under the table. “Oh, stop being odious. I don’t know what to call it. It’s not like I was going to tell my daddy you and I had kissed each other. And I don’t plan on telling him or Rye whenever we go out dinner. I figure those details are between us… Come to think of it, I don’t see why the details of my time at Community Legal should be any different.”

“Because you almost got killed,” he said in a hard tone. “That’s usually something a person shares with their family.”

“Has Rye ever done something reckless that almost got him killed?” she boldly asked him, knowing the only way to deal with Clayton at times like this was to treat him like a debate opponent.

He lifted his shoulder. “I couldn’t say.”

“Bull. You know he has, but he didn’t tell any of us, did he?”

“Princess, disowned sons don’t tell their parents anything. That’s what being disowned means.”

“I know what the word means. Do you plan on telling my brother when we make love?”

He choked on his trout, and she gave him a triumphant smile.

“Need me to come over and beat you on the back, sugar?” she asked sweetly.

“You are the most outrageous woman I have ever met,” he answered when he finally stopped coughing.

“Thank you,” she responded and resumed eating.

Point for her, but she knew their game hadn’t ended. Clayton would come back with his own volley soon. It was the way between them. Part of her wished for that comfortable understanding they’d achieved on Saturday and part of her couldn’t wait to be challenged again.

His eyes roved over her body for the rest of the meal, making a flush rise on her cheeks. Her skin grew more sensitive. Everything inside her slowed down. She could even feel the heat from the lights in a new way now. And she couldn’t stop thinking about them making love for the first time.

Not when she knew he was thinking about it right now too.

By the time he paid the bill and walked her to the door to her car, she’d decided to make another stand. She turned to him and put out a hand to prevent him from opening her car door.

“How about we go to your house? I can see your horses. It’s early yet.”

His chest rose audibly under the streetlight. “It’s nearly nine o’clock. They’ll be asleep in the barn.”

So he was going to be that way, was he? She stepped closer. “Then how about a drink at my place.”

“There’s a perfectly good bar inside the restaurant we just left,” he told her.

She was done bantering with him. She leaned up on her tiptoes and brushed her mouth across his. He didn’t put his arms around her, so she quickly ended the kiss. He was holding back again, and this time she wasn’t standing for it. Not when she was ready to move forward. Without even looking at him, she opened her car door and climbed in.

“I’ll see you at your place then,” she told him sweetly and shut the door on his shocked face.

Chuckling now, she started the engine and ignored the rapping on her window.

“Amelia Ann.”

She pulled out of the parking space, leaving him standing there, and headed to his house.

She wasn’t going to let Clayton get in the way of them being together. Not when it was so clear they were meant to be.

She’d left him standing there!

No woman had ever talked to him like that, completely ignoring his wishes. Part of him was thrilled by it. Part of him was pissed.

He’d tried to be noble tonight. Send her home like any good man would. Like her brother would expect him to do. He’d been pretty pleased with the way he’d held onto his willpower after she launched her dynamite earlier, exploding lust throughout his system.

Do you plan on telling my brother when we make love?

Didn’t she realize that comment had given him a hard-on the size of Alaska, the biggest state in the U.S. of A? A hard-on the size of Connecticut or Delaware was permissible in public places, but not Alaska. Hell, the woman had no sense, just no sense.

And now she was apparently driving out to his house. Well, enough was enough.

She was sitting on his front steps when he drove up, not bothering to pull around to the garage. And dammit all to hell if a firefly wasn’t winking around her. He slammed his door, wanting to raise his fists to the heavens. It was
not
a sign.

“Go home, Amelia Ann.”

She shook her head. “No.”

Anger roared through him as he strode toward her.
“No?
You’re being childish. Go home. It’s a Monday night, for Christ’s sake.”

The tilt of her chin looked mutinous as she stood up. “Do you object to making love for the first time on a Monday?”

His pelvis might have twitched. “We are not making love tonight. You’re going home, even if I have to haul you into the car.”

She put her hands on his chest, and he jerked back from her touch. Her eyes searched his. “Why are you fighting this? We both want each other. You know it. So do I.”

“Because this is reckless,” he told her. He’d never said such a thing to a woman before, and he’d never denied sex to a woman he desired.

“I’m not being reckless. I’ve thought it all through. Clayton, I’m on birth control now,” she said, lowering her head and staring at the ground, “and I suspect you are responsible enough to take care of your sexual health.”

Boy, when she put it out there like that, his body went haywire. “Sugar—”

“Don’t tell me you don’t want me!” she whispered feverishly, meeting his eyes again. “I
want
to be with you. I know I wasn’t ready before, but I am now. Please don’t turn me away.”

The thread of hurt in her tone pinched his heart. “If we do this, it changes everything.”

“I’m not afraid of that.”

He believed she meant it. “Well, you should be.” He eased away from her and walked over to the front door, not opening it. “I’m not ashamed to say I am.”

She appeared beside him. “Why are you so afraid?”

Jesus. Did anyone ever willingly talk about this shit? “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Her hands were gentle but firm as she turned him to face her. “I’m responsible for my feelings, Clayton. What are you really afraid of? That I’ll hurt
you
?”

Amanda’s face flashed into his mind, and he scrubbed his cheeks with his hands instead of cursing the blue streak stuck in his throat. “This is getting way too uncomfortable.”

Her deep breath was punctuated by the determined tap of her foot. “If we’re going to be lovers, I expect there will be some uncomfortable moments between us. Talk to me. Tell me what’s really holding you back.”

Lovers? Is that what she thought they were going to be? Somehow it seemed illicit and old-fashioned all at once.

“I didn’t expect you to handle this…situation this way.”

She gave a tortured laugh. “I don’t know
how
to handle this situation. It’s a first for me. I’m just trying to be as honest as I can. I’ve read honesty produces intimacy.”

“Oh, sweet holy hell,” he said and strode across the porch, not able to bear the heady scent of her desire for him mixed with her magnolia fragrance.

“I’m scared too,” she whispered from behind him. “And nervous. I’ve never done this before. I was rather hoping you’d take charge a little and guide me through it. I mean I’ve read books, but…”

His gut burned like a forest fire now. If she could be as honest as that, she deserved the same from him. “If we do this, there’s no going back.”

Was he really agreeing to this? Where was his moral fiber? Didn’t he care anymore that she was Rye’s younger sister? No, all he cared about was that she was his—and about to become more so.

“I told you I don’t want to go back. I want to move forward. With you.”

She stepped in front of him and took his hand. Raising it, she placed it on her breast. Her heart was beating crazy-fast, just like his own was.

His mind went blank, and he touched her soft cheek. “Promise me you won’t regret it.”

Her mouth twitched. “Only if it sucks.”

That prompted a reluctant laugh from him. “It won’t suck. That I can guarantee.” Then he felt nerves of a different kind rise in his belly. “It might be a little uncomfortable for you…in the beginning.”

He’d never been with a virgin, but he’d heard stories. Might have looked it up on the Internet in the last couple of days, not that he was about to admit
that
to a soul.

A soft blush was creeping across her cheekbones, visible in the porch lights. “I realize that. I’m sure it’ll be okay.”

Her tone said otherwise, and he knew then that she was right. He would need to take the lead some.

“I’ll make it good for you, I promise. Will you trust me?”

Trust. That fragile bond he felt with so few people. But he felt it with her, though he’d only just now realized it. And didn’t that scare the shit out of him.

She raised his free hand to her other breast. “I trust you, Clayton. Please make love to me.”

Make love. He hadn’t made love with anyone except Amanda, and that had turned out to be an ugly lie. The thought of being that vulnerable again made his gut quiver. But if this beautiful woman could stand here so bravely and bare herself to him, he could take a risk too. And although it had been hard to tell her he cared the other night, he’d meant every word.

Amelia Ann Hollins had captured his heart.

He stroked her breasts just once before dropping his hands and gathering her against his chest. “Come here then.”

His mouth lowered a fraction, and she rose on her tiptoes to meet him halfway. That was Amelia Ann for you. She was always meeting him in the middle, like no woman he’d ever known.

Her lips were soft and sweet, and then they parted to let him take the kiss deeper. Soon they were groaning from the dance, and her hands slid to his waist and tugged on his shirt.

“Let’s take this inside,” he breathed against her mouth, overwhelmed by the allure of her.

Grabbing her hand, he led her to the door and unlocked it in one brisk motion. Once they were inside, he kicked it shut. Thankfully, he left his lights on timers when he went out for the evening, so soft lamplight accentuated the delicate curves of her face. She was so beautiful, and he wanted to make this so good for her, so good she’d wonder how she’d ever lived without it.

He lowered his mouth to her cheek and then traveled to her brows. When her eyes closed, he felt her eyelashes caress his lips, and the sensation was arousing beyond belief. Soon the temptation of her lips, all rosy and swollen, became too strong to resist and he sank into the taste of her—all hot, willing female. Her hands tugged at his shirt then, and without breaking the kiss, he helped her pull out his shirttails. Her fingers traced the sides of his waist, then the curve of his back, teaching him a new definition of sensuality.

He marveled over how a gentle touch from her slim hand could be so arousing and erotic. He broke their connection and cupped her cheek.

“Oh, honey, the things you do to me.”

Her smile was like sunshine pouring through the clouds after a rainstorm, and his heart—the one he’d thought frozen forever—burst its former confines.

He was in love.

Amelia Ann shivered as Clayton voiced his desire, and the hard ball of yearning in her belly spread across her body. It was happening. They were finally coming together. While her body was overwhelmed with sensation, her heart was clear.

She loved him.

This was where she wanted to be.

Since he seemed intent on not kissing her for the moment—like he was gathering his control again—she leaned up and kissed the line of his jaw. Ran her hands up the bare skin of his chest under his shirt. Since it was buttoned, she had limited access to his body, but somehow that made it more exciting.

His muscles jumped when she skimmed her fingers down his belly, causing her to grin. She had no doubt he wanted her, and she reveled in the feeling.

“All right now,” he said in a husky voice. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m not the one needing encouragin’.”

The clipped word only signaled the strength of his desire. “You’re not?”

“Shut up,” he said in a playful tone.

His hands slid down her bottom, causing her to jerk against him. His throaty laugh made parts of her body clench. He found the zipper on her dress and slid the garment down. It pooled to the floor, and she kicked it aside because it felt a little naughty and playful, along with her heels, bringing her down three inches in height to just below his shoulder. His mouth twitched, and then he looked at her.
Really
looked at her.

His gray eyes reminded her of a wolf she’d once seen on their property in Meade. They were hungry and focused, and it suddenly embarrassed her to be the focus of such pointed attention. Did she please him?

“You’re so beautiful,” he finally ground out and put his hands on her, obliterating her fears.

His thumbs stroked the rise of flesh above her cream strapless bra. Her skin felt extra sensitized all of a sudden, and when their gazes met, a bolt of lust struck her core.