Memories (13 page)

 "No, that's okay. I can do it myself."

 "Okay." She walked a few steps toward the bedroom, hesitated, and then looked back. "Do you mind if I use the bathroom first? I promise I won't be long."

 "That's fine, take your time."

 Dani nodded. "Okay. Well, good night."

 "Good night."

 She walked the rest of the way into the bedroom and closed the door behind her.

 Michael watched her the entire time, his elbow leaning on the arm of the sofa with his face propped up in his hand. He heard the door to the bathroom close from the inside and the water running in the sink and he sighed at the closed door.  He lifted himself off the couch, slid over the television on its rolling cabinet and began making up the sofa bed for the night.

 Dani entered the bathroom from the door in her room and softly closed the hall entrance before turning on the tap to wash the day's make-up off her face. She quickly creamed and rinsed, then stared at her reflection for a moment as she dried the last of the drops from her skin.

 She couldn't help but wonder if she was doing the right thing and it made her angry to be so indecisive about her feelings. She always knew what she wanted and rarely had a second thought about it. But with Miguel, it was different. In only a twenty-four hour period, she'd had a complete change of emotions for him, from hatred to caring again, from coldness to warmth. There was no doubt about it that the old feelings for him had revived as soon as the hatred had melted away. The way he'd held her hand today as they walked in the mall, and tonight during the movie, had opened her heart to him again like no other gesture could have. But how could she even think of spending the night with him in her bed after only one day?

 Dani shook her head to clear her thoughts and finished her nighttime routine, rubbing lotion over her face and brushing her teeth. She tossed the towel and washcloth in the wicker hamper and opened the hallway door to let him know she was done before heading into her bedroom and closing her door to the bathroom behind her.

 Walking to the window, she stared out at the quiet sky that only the night before had been howling and streaming with rain and thunder. Now the stars shone brightly in the cool fall air, and she watched them a moment, again thinking about the turn of events from the night before. She closed the open window, pulled the curtains shut and then went over to her dresser to take out a nightgown and change for bed.

 From the bathroom she could here sounds of water running as Miguel readied for bed and she smiled into the dresser mirror as she pulled the short, peach colored satin nightgown over her head. It was a simple slip style, loose and flowing from its thin straps that crisscrossed in back. Twirling once in front of the mirror, making the skirt rise and fall from her thighs, she wondered if Miguel would think she was sexy in this. Then she got mad at herself for even thinking it and turned down the bed, determined to go to sleep.

 The bathroom door squeaked slightly as Michael went back out to the couch. Dani sat in her semi-dark room with only the light from the bedside lamp, wondering if he was in bed yet, remembering how they had slept together the night before and how warm and comforting it had felt. Sitting on her bed, her back against the pillows, she tucked her legs up under her nightgown and hugged them close, thinking, and thinking some more, about Miguel and the feelings that were growing within her. Was it really possible that her feelings could change so quickly? Could she really believe him when he said that he still cared?

 Thoughts of the past enveloped her, and she indulged her senses with them. The touch of his thick, silky hair through her fingers, his bare arms holding her close, the tickle of his beard as he kissed the hollow of her neck. With a deep intake of breath she allowed herself to remember it all, and as she did, she finally knew what she wanted and what was right. Dani knew that she wouldn't regret her decision, no matter what the outcome in the morning. With her resolve leading her, she quietly padded across the bedroom floor, opened the door and took two steps into the hall with her hand extended toward Miguel.

 Michael had been standing beside the couch, shirtless and barefoot, wearing only jeans, poised to turn out the light before getting into bed when he heard Dani's door open and saw her standing before him, her hand offered out to him. He didn't need to ask what it meant, he knew what she was saying to him, and although it took him by surprise, it seemed so natural to walk toward her, take her hand in his and follow her into the bedroom.

 Together, hand in hand, they entered the bedroom and Dani stopped when they reached the side of her bed and turned to face Michael. They stood that way a moment, quietly facing each other holding hands. Finally, slowly, Michael bent to place his lips on Dani's and they kissed softly, lips barely touching before he pulled away only inches from her face.

 "Are you sure?" he asked huskily, his breathing making his chest rise and fall against her breasts.

 "Yes," was all Dani said as she stared into those warm gray eyes. The same eyes she thought of as cold steel only days before.

 Again, Michael lowered his head toward hers, but this time his kiss became more demanding as his hands let go of hers and slowly found their way up her arms to the bareness of her shoulders. Dani placed her arms around his neck, returning his kiss and embrace with equal intensity, their bodies fitting together perfectly as they had so many years ago.

 When the kiss ended, Michael once again pulled away slightly, but this time only to look at Dani as he slowly slid the straps of her nightgown from her shoulders. As the silky gown crumpled to the floor, he took a sharp intake of breath at the sight before him. She was as beautiful as he remembered, even more so as maturity had filled out the places that youth had not yet fully developed. Slowly, he kissed her neck, trailing his lips down over her shoulders to the full, curved tips of her breasts. His hands explored each curve first before his lips followed, moving from her breasts, down across her firm stomach and finally reaching the warm, loving spot that was waiting for him. Gently his hands slid down the satin underpants she was wearing and those too fell to the floor to join the nightgown at her feet.

 On his knees in front of her, he kissed the very part of her that wanted him most and a low moan escaped from Dani's lips as he explored with his tongue, his hands caressing the back of her legs.

 Yes, Dani thought, this was how she remembered it and she tilted her head back and allowed herself the pure pleasure of his touch as her fingers ran through his silky hair. The warmth of his tongue filled her and flowed up through her entire body until she could stand it no longer and wanted to feel his full body pressed against her own.

 Gently she pulled him up and pressed her entire length against him as he continued kissing her neck, face and lips. Running her hands over his chest and stomach, she explored the tightness under her fingertips, then tugged at the upper buttons of his jeans, loosening them enough to reach her hands inside and feel the firmness of his own body. Her breasts pressed tightly against his chest while her hands explored him freely as their breathing became stronger and more intense until neither one could contain themselves and the feelings they were evoking.

 Michael gently eased Dani onto the bed and quickly undid the rest of the buttons on his jeans, eased out of them, then joined her. Together they caressed and fondled, kissed, nipped and held each other until both needed to end the torture of wanting.

 As Michael slid his full length above Dani, he stopped a moment and studied her face. She smiled and brought her hands up to his face, tracing the outline of his jaw with her fingers through the silkiness of his beard. The gesture was so simple, yet it melted his heart as her fingers slowly made their way across his jaw line and down his neck, her own eyes smiling up at him.

 He bent his head low. "Do you have protection?" he whispered into her ear.

 Dani had to clear the fog from her head a moment before she realized what he meant. She smiled and pointed to the nightstand draw. Michael leaned over and opened it, pulling out a small blue packet from a box inside the drawer. His eyes sparkled with amusement as he looked from the packet, then back to her.

 "Left over from the Stallone boyfriend?" he asked teasingly.

 Dani chuckled warmly. "Jealous?"

 Michael leaned over her and softly kissed the hollow of her throat. "No, because I'm with you now."

 Dani reached up her arms. "Here," she told him taking the packet from his hands. Quickly she opened it and ever-so-slowly rolled it over him.

 Michael reached out and ran his fingers through her hair, a moan escaping his lips as she did it. Then, finally, both joined together in the pleasant release of body and spirit.

Later, they both lay in the quiet room, curled under the cotton quilt. Michael had turned out the light on his way back from the bathroom and lay beside Dani, his left leg lying possessively over her. Strands of city lights from below filtered through the edges of the curtains, illuminating the room just enough so Michael could study Dani's face as they lay facing each other.

 Dani seemed unaware of his searching eyes as she unconsciously followed the trail of the scar that ran up and down Michael's leg. She knew its winding path perfectly, like a river beginning at the knee and zigzagging down to the ankle where it ended in a large expanse of scarred skin like a river flows into the wide ocean. This was his legacy of Vietnam, the scar that held together the leg that he had almost lost. It was proof that his nightmares were real, proof that would never let him forget his tour in hell.

 Michael continued watching Dani's face, savoring the way her hair framed it and the smoothness of her skin in the semi-darkness. Her expression was tender and caring, reflecting the way she was touching his leg now, as she had so many times in the past. She had accepted his pain without flinching or being horrified by it, so unlike any other woman he'd known. Even though she had been so young, she'd been more woman than any other who'd passed through his life.

 He reached over and brushed the hair away from her face, tracing it behind her ear, making her turn her soft eyes toward his. "What are you thinking?" he asked quietly.

 She continued to trace her finger up and down his leg as she answered him. "I'm two-thousand miles away, nineteen years in the past, lying in a bed in a small apartment where I spent the happiest time of my life." Her eyes reflected her trip into the past, all hazy and misty.

 "Those were happy times," he told her, running his hand down her bare arm and stopping to hold the hand that was touching his leg. Together they made the slow trip up and down the river.

 "Do you really remember much about our time together, or are your memories just a haze of me and all the other women who passed through your life?" She wasn't angry or accusing, only searching for the truth.

 Michael rolled over onto his back and Dani's hand trailed and stopped to rest on the inside of his thigh. She cocked her elbow and rested her head in her hand, staring down at Miguel as he studied the ceiling. But his expression was not as she had expected. His lips had a touch of a smile on them and his eyes sparkled in the dim light.

 "I remember the first time I saw you in regular clothes, not that silly green uniform you wore at work," he said. "You were heading out the diner door into the May sunshine wearing tight bell-bottomed jeans, platform sandals and the tiniest yellow tank top with ties going up the front. And I remember thinking how much I'd like to see it untied."

 "Which you did," she commented slyly.

 He turned his head a little towards her and continued. "I remember the first time I took you to the beach alone, without Vanessa. It was windy and cold and you borrowed my sweatshirt as we walked along the shoreline. All I could do was look at you with your golden hair blowing back, the sweatshirt billowing around you and I wished I was that sweatshirt, encircling you."

  "I remember the first time we made love," he continued softly. "And how sweet you looked yet so inviting and how scared I was that I might hurt you. How for the first time in my life I wanted to protect someone; thought of someone else's feelings over my own. Like the way I felt tonight. That I wanted you, yet I wanted to protect you from any harm that might come your way."

 Touched by what he said, tears stung Dani's eyes and spilled uncensored down her cheeks. Never had she known how deeply he'd felt for her. Never had she dared dream he had feelings for her at all.

 "You really do remember," she whispered and Michael reached up and brushed away a tear that rolled down her cheek.

 "Yes," he said. "And I always will." Then, slowly he took her back into his arms as together they found the passion between them again. The passion that had never really died even in the disguise of hate. The passion that only two people who knew each other completely could share.

Chapter Fifteen

 The morning sun peeked through the edges of the curtains and spread its warm long fingers across Dani's back as she lay half under the quilt. She opened one eye slightly, then turned her head in the other direction, snuggling deeper under the blankets, wanting to return to the dream that had drifted through her sleep.