Here to Stay (16 page)

Nathan’s mouth fell open and his heart
hammered unmercifully as his gaze moved over her body. A black silk
teddy dipped breathtakingly low between her breasts and arched high
on her hips. Sheer, black stockings stopped mid-thigh in a band of
black lace. Nathan suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

“After that,” she slipped off one black heel
and propped her foot on a bale of hay, “all I could think about was
you.” She rolled her stocking down ever so slowly, pausing briefly
at her ankle. Paige pulled the sheer stocking from her foot,
allowing it to glide over her smooth thigh before she tossed the
scrap of black nothing to the floor.

“Me?” he asked lamely. His brain had stopped
functioning. Nathan squeezed his hands into fists and tried to calm
the volcano erupting inside him. He licked his lips and forced his
gaze away from the long, shapely legs tantalizing him.

Paige smiled. “Of course, you,” she said
sweetly as she removed the other stocking with the same painstaking
slowness as she had the first. Barefoot and all but naked, she
turned and took the few steps that separated them, her slender hips
swaying provocatively.

The contrast of her porcelain skin against
the black teddy made his body hum with white-hot desire. A new line
of sweat seeped into his bandana. His hardening flesh pressed
painfully against his jeans.

“Paige,” he murmured. “You’re driving me
crazy.”

She slid her hands across his bare chest. He
closed his eyes and shuddered with need. Her hot mouth closed over
one nipple. Nathan clenched his teeth against the groan that rose
in his throat. Whatever he had done to deserve this, he prayed he
would live to do it again.

When she’d had her fill of torturing that
nipple, she traced a path with her tongue to the other one. She
sucked hard and this time Nathan couldn’t prevent the groan from
escaping. Her fingers tugged at his belt and then the snap of his
jeans. She slid his zipper down and reached inside.

He grunted a startled, strained sound as her
fingers wrapped around his sex. “Paige.” For the first time since
she had entered the loft, Nathan allowed himself to touch her. The
cool silk sent sparks of heat discharging in his rigid body. He
slipped his fingers beneath the fabric he found incredibly erotic
to touch her smooth, warm skin. He stroked one firm, full
breast.

Paige pushed his jeans over his hips. She
dropped to her knees in front of him and dipped her tongue into his
naval.

“Wait,” he protested, trying to pull her back
up. He sucked in a harsh breath as her soft mouth moved lower. “You
don’t have to do this,” he struggled to say.

“I want to,” she told him. Passion glittered
in her blue eyes when she stared up at him. She smiled and then
licked his length in one long, even stroke.

Nathan closed his eyes and groaned a
surrendering sound as Paige continued to pleasure him in the way
every man dreamed his woman would. His heart pounded and his senses
took flight, soaring heavenward like an eagle. Nothing else
existed, only time and space as Paige took him higher. Desire
twisted through his body, simultaneously ravaging and
restoring.

He reached a plateau of pleasure he had never
dreamed of and suddenly he wanted desperately to bring Paige there
with him. His passion-clouded gaze dropped to her. His breath
caught at the look of love on her face as she gifted his body
selflessly. Nathan took her face in his hands and brought her gaze
to his. “Come with me,” he whispered hoarsely. Her wide-eyed,
sensuous expression wrenched his heart.

Nathan pulled Paige to her feet and slid his
arms around her waist. He took her mouth as gently as he could
considering he felt ready to blast off. Her arms went around his
neck, her tongue invaded his mouth. She moaned softly as he could
wait no longer.

He cupped her bottom and lifted her. Paige
wrapped her legs around his hips and arched into his groin. Nathan
half stumbled to the stack of hay some six or seven feet away. His
mouth never left hers as he positioned her on the stack. He fumbled
between her thighs to find her special softness.

Paige arched against his hand. “Hurry,
Nathan.”

He kissed her harder, filled her hungry mouth
with his tongue, drinking in the sweet taste of her. He found the
slick heat he had been searching for with trembling fingers. He
tested her readiness and almost lost himself in the fire. His knees
went weak with emotion.

“Now!”

“Okay…okay,” he mumbled against her lips.
Nathan pulled aside the scant strip of silk and thrust inside her
welcoming body. A deep, guttural sound echoed in the vast loft as
he buried his need deep inside Paige.

She called out his name and tightened her
hold on him. She showered his face, neck, and shoulders with kisses
as he moved slowly inside her. The sensation of being inside her
was incredible. Every muscle in his body felt hardened, every nerve
ending acutely sensitized.

He held her hips firmly in place, his lips
pressing against her soft hair. He couldn’t hold out…He was going
to loose it, but he wanted to make this last. He clenched his jaw
and withdrew all the way to the tip ever so slowly. It took
everything he had to ease himself unhurriedly back into her
fire.

She threaded her fingers into his hair and
thrust her hips upward. “Harder, Nathan,” she whispered. “I don’t
want to wait.”

The move sent him over the edge. Nathan
thrust harder, faster, tension sizzling up the length of him each
time he drove into her wet heat. His world tilted when she cried
out with release, her feminine muscles gripping him like a hot
vise. “I love you, Paige,” he whispered hoarsely as release took
him. “
I love you
,” he repeated. Only then did he realize he
hadn’t spoken in English.

“Nathan,” Paige whispered and took his face
in her hands. Her gaze locked with his. She kissed his lips.

He searched her eyes. He waited for her to
say the words he so wanted to hear. But they never came. He saw the
love on her face, in her eyes. Why wouldn’t she say what she felt?
How could he risk telling her when she held back? He had told her
he loved her in the throes of passion, it just came out in Apache.
But now, his rational side reemerged. Pride held him silent.

Paige tightened her legs around his hips,
pressing him more deeply inside her. “You’re amazing, Nathan
Blackrope.” She traced the line of his jaw. “Truly amazing.” She
took his lips with hers and Nathan felt himself harden once more.
He groaned and began the slow, easy rhythm again.

~*~

Paige paced the entry hall once more as she
waited for Joe Myers to call. Calvin shifted restlessly from his
propped position against the newel post at the bottom of the
stairs. He ran a hand over his face.

“Why don’t he call?” Calvin asked for the
fifth time, anxiety tingeing his voice.

“He’ll call,” Paige assured. The telephone
rang, startling her despite her anticipation of its ring. She
yanked the receiver up and answered with a breathless hello.

Calvin watched as she listened. “That’s just
what I wanted to hear. Okay, I’ll tell him. And Joe, thanks.” Paige
smiled as she hung up the receiver. “Yes!”

“Well?” Calvin asked, his eyes wide with
anticipation.

“The charges have been dropped! You’re off
the hook, Calvin!” She hugged him and they spun around in the
middle of Robert’s entry hall.

“Thank you, Miss P. I owe you.”

“I say we celebrate! Get your partying shoes
on, Calvin, we’re going to Bubba’s.” Paige snatched up the receiver
to invite Nathan and Silas.

“All right,” Calvin agreed, slapping Paige a
high five.

~*~

Two hours later the four sat around a table
at Bubba’s having an after dinner beer, except for Calvin, who had
cola. Even on Monday night, most of the booths and tables were
filled and country music blared from the jukebox.

“To Silas,” Paige announced, raising her
frosty mug, “the mastermind.” She had come up with the initial idea
to trap Myers, but Silas had devised the method.

Glasses clinked in agreement.

“What’s this I hear about you retiring,
Silas?” Nathan asked after downing a long swallow of foamy
brew.

Paige’s gaze flew to her friend. “You’re
retiring?”

“It’ time, little girl, I’m sixty-five. I
want to see some of this old world before I leave it.”

“This doesn’t have anything to do with Robert
getting married, does it?” Nathan asked pointedly.

“Perhaps.” Silas shrugged. “I’m sure he’ll be
too busy with his new wife to play poker with me three nights a
week.”

Paige’s heart went out to Silas. “We’ll just
have to find you a girlfriend,” she offered.

“Bite your tongue,” Silas barked. “I’m my own
man. I don’t need a woman telling me how to live my life.” His
incensed expression generated a burst of laughter from
everyone.

“I’m sorry. It was just a suggestion,” Paige
amended.

An attractive, middle-aged waitress sidled up
to Silas’s place at the table. “Could I get anything else for you,
darling?”

“No, thanks. I’m fine.” Silas smiled up at
the woman, who practically melted right before his eyes.

“Hey, they’re playing our song,” Nathan said.
He took Paige’s hand and pulled her up.

“What song?” she asked, dumbfounded. She
tried to decipher the melody and the odd look on Nathan’s face. “I
didn’t know we had a song.”

Nathan leaned toward Paige to whisper in her
ear, “We do now.” He smiled a wicked, heart-stopping smile and led
her out onto the dance floor. “Besides, this could be our
song.”

She concentrated on identifying the song as
Nathan folded her in his arms and pulled her close.

“Like I told you before, even if I’d known
I’d lose you, I wouldn’t have done anything differently.”

She nodded, the words of the song sinking
in.

“I wouldn’t have missed this dance for
anything.” His lips touched hers, lightly, lovingly. “I know you’ll
be leaving—”

“Nathan—”

He touched a finger to her lips and shook his
head. “Don’t say anything, Paige. For just a little while let’s
pretend that everything’s right between us.”

He pulled her close and held her tightly.
Tears welled in her eyes as she realized that he was right. This
moment was all they had. Her heart lurched. Time was running out
for her. The lyrics of love floating from the jukebox taunted her.
She closed her eyes and clung to him for what might be the last
time. He was hers right now.

“I like your dress,” Nathan whispered against
her hair.

“Thank you,” she whispered back. She smiled
to herself. She had rushed into town after calling Nathan to this
informal celebration and searched every shop on Main Street for
this flimsy little sundress. If tonight was going to be her last
night with Nathan, she wanted to make it special.

She absorbed the heat coming from his body.
Felt the power of his strong arms. Inhaled the essence that was his
alone. She lost herself in his instinctive rhythm to the music.
I love you, Nathan Blackrope
, she said silently.
I always
will
.

~*~

Paige watched Calvin disappear into Robert’s
house. She looked up at Nathan, who stood watching her without
speaking. He had come around to the passenger side of his truck to
assist her in getting out, but that’s as far as they had gotten.
The truck’s interior light cast a dim glow, then faded to darkness.
They both stood in the near darkness, not saying anything. She
could sense that Nathan understood their time together was almost
over.

“I had a great time,” he said finally.
“Thanks for inviting me.” His black eyes pierced the darkness,
sending a spear of heat through her.

“Calvin and I couldn’t have done it without
you, Nathan.” She smiled and placed a tentative hand against his
tense jaw. Oh, how she wished she could change the events that were
about to take place.

He crushed her to him and kissed her with an
urgency that made her chest ache with guilt and pain. Paige plunged
her hands into his beautiful hair, felt its silkiness. She wanted
so for this to last forever. To tell him that she loved him. But
that would only make matters worse when she told him about Jesse.
She could never let him know how desperately she needed him. She
knew she had to let him go—let him find someone else. Her heart
grieved at the thought. Nathan deserved someone who wouldn’t hurt
him the way she was about to.

He kissed her harder, and Paige felt the
desperation in his rigid body. Tasted the despair on his lips. She
ached for him, for what she knew he wanted. Tears stung behind her
lids. If she could only undo the past, she could make him happy—she
knew she could. But she couldn’t change what had happened. Instead
she held this moment in the palm of her hand, her dark secret
poised to crush them both.

Nathan slid his hands under her dress and
squeezed her bottom. He lifted her and placed her on the edge of
the truck seat. “I need you, Paige,” he groaned into her mouth,
then leaned her back onto the seat, imprisoning her with his strong
body.

Desire gripped her with such urgency that
Paige dared not speak for fear of what she might say. She ripped
his shirt open, buttons clicked against the dash and to the floor.
Her fingers splayed over his chest. She would never forget how his
skin felt beneath her touch. Smooth, hot, stretched taut over
rugged muscle. This had to be the last time. After tonight Nathan’s
feelings toward her would be irrevocably changed. He would never
again be hers.

Desperate kisses. Hands everywhere at once.
Ragged breaths and ripping cloth sounded in the silence. And then
he was inside her, filling her. Nathan groaned and took her mouth
with his. His kiss was long and deep, heart wrenching.