Songbird (9 page)

***

“
That was delicious,” Kyle said, finishing the last of the coffee she’d laced with tequila and a generous helping of cream. “I don’t get Mexican coffee too often up in Seattle.”

She sat beside him on the living-room couch, her bare feet, now clean and dry, tucked beneath her. “A definite drawback to being a northerner.”

“
There are other drawbacks I can think of.” Putting down his cup, he drew her into his arms, his lips against her hair. “I had a great time tonight.”

“
So did I.”

He held her against him for a moment, then bent his head and pressed his lips lightly against hers. He smoothed her cheek with his fingertips and kissed her again, and again, lingering longer with each soft touch of his mouth on hers.

A cloud of desire enveloped her, wrapping her in its swirling depths. She wanted to give in to her body’s yearning, to press herself against his hard strength and let his body imbue her with warmth. Instead, she gripped his shoulders lightly and whispered his name against his lips. “Wait,” she said. “We should—”

“
Should what?”

“
Say good-night. You’re going home tomorrow, and—”

“
Am I?” He brushed his lips against hers. “That depends on you.”

“
On me?”

He nodded, drawing back slightly. “I’ll be tied up in a meeting all day tomorrow, but the truth is, I’m in no rush to fly home. We’ve got Friday night and the whole weekend ahead of us. If you’ll let me see you again, if you want me to stay—I’ll be here until the last possible second—until Monday morning at dawn.”

Surprise rendered her speechless. Her heart began to pound.

He searched her face for an answer. “Do you want me to stay?”

He took advantage of her moment of hesitation to lower his mouth to hers. His hands roved across her shoulders, then tenderly massaged her back before sliding around to brush the sides of her breasts.

She tried to resist. She couldn’t. Melting against him, she lifted her arms to caress his neck, her fingertips lacing through the thick short waves of his hair. His mouth moved slowly, gently against hers, his kiss kindling a fire that burst into flame deep within her. His tongue circled hers, exploring, dipping deeper, deeper, as if searching for each hidden sweet taste.

He turned, lowering her gently onto the sofa. His hand caressed first one soft breast and then the other through the thin fabric of her shirt and bra. A thousand tiny explosions coursed through her. Her entire body began to throb with sexual awareness, from her breasts, so full and aching, to an exquisite hot wetness between her thighs.

A moan escaped her lips. He lowered his body on top of hers and recaptured her mouth in a deep burning kiss. She felt the evidence of his arousal, hard and insistent against her. It only intensified her desire.
Make love to me,
her body sang out at the same time as her mind shouted,
No!
With the last vestige of her self-control, she tore her mouth from his.

“
Kyle, wait,” she gasped. “This is...it’s all happening so fast. I haven’t known you long enough. I—”

“
I feel as if I’ve known you all my life,” he said huskily. His palm caressed her cheek, gently urging her to meet his warm gaze. This time there was another, more immediate meaning in the question he whispered feverishly in her ear.

“
Do you want me to stay?”

Five

“
N-no.” Desiree pulled herself out of his arms and jumped to her feet, her fingers trembling as they fumbled to straighten her T-shirt.

Kyle sat up on the couch and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs, hands clasped together. For a while he stared at the plush area rug beneath his feet, taking slow, deep breaths, as if struggling to regain his composure. His words, when he spoke, sounded clipped, yet still congenial. “Do you mean
no
, you don’t want me to stay the weekend, or
no,
you don’t want me to spend the night?”

Desiree turned toward the fireplace and stared at the dark, lifeless hearth, her fingers tightly interlaced to stop them from shaking: What was she doing? She’d wanted to go out with Kyle, there was no denying it, but she’d promised herself not to get involved with him. How could she have let things get so out of hand?

“
No... to both questions,” she replied, her voice tremulous.

His head whipped up. “What?”

She faced him again. “There’s no need for you to change your plans to go back to Seattle. I’m really sorry, but…” She swallowed hard, forcing herself to continue. “I won’t be able to see you tomorrow.”

His forehead furrowed in a puzzled frown. “Why not? Don’t you get off at six?”

“
Yes. But I have to work late.”

“
How late?”

“
There are a bunch of commercials I have to produce. It might take hours. I have to put music behind them, do the vocals, cut them onto tape, record them on cart—”

“
Cart?”

“
Short for cartridge,” she explained impatiently. “I should have done it tonight, but—”

“
Okay,” he conceded. “I get it. You’re busy tomorrow night. What about Saturday?”

“
I have to work all day. All weekend, in fact.”

“
All weekend?” He stared at her. “What kind of a schedule is that? You must get off sometime?”

“
I just got this new shift,” she said evasively. “The schedule’s not final yet.”

He stood up, shoved his hands in his pockets, the muscles in his forearms rigid and distended. “I see.”

Guiltily, she lowered her gaze. Her hands wanted to touch his cheek, his neck, his arms. Her lips yearned for the feel of his mouth on hers again, the taste of his tongue encircling hers. But she knew if he took her in his arms again, if she gave herself up to the thrill of his tantalizing caresses, all her willpower would fly out the window. He’d end up spending the night. And she couldn’t do that. Once she’d made love to Kyle, she sensed that her heart would never be able to let him go.

She took several steps back. An unpleasant shiver ran up her legs as her bare feet left the cozy warmth of the area rug and came in contact with the cold, hardwood floor. “Thank you for the walk on the beach, Kyle. It was wonderful. And thank you again for the roses. I—”

“
Desiree.” The deep, resonant timbre in his voice made her jump. “Stop talking as if this is goodbye. If you’re busy this weekend, I understand. I’ll call you when I get home. We’ll pick another weekend. I’ll fly back down.”

“
No.” Her back struck the credenza and she froze as he took a step toward her. “I’m glad I met you, Kyle. I really am. But I think it’s better if we end things here. I told you before, I can’t get involved with you…with anyone.”

He crossed the room in two strides and grabbed her gently but firmly by the shoulders. “We’re already involved.”

“
We can’t be—we shouldn’t be. You live too far away. It’s—” Her voice broke and she turned her head to avoid his heated gaze. “It’s just going to cause a lot of heartache for both of us.”

“
What if it does? I can stand a little heartache, can’t you? Isn’t it better than not feeling at all?”

She opened her mouth to respond, then closed it, unable to utter her intended denial.

“
Desiree, I’ve been alone a long time. I’m sick of it. There’s something special between us—and I’m not just talking about physical desire. I felt it the first moment I saw you, and I’m certain of it now.” One arm swept down to the small of her back and he cradled her against his chest, then lowered his face to hers. She stiffened slightly, struggling to maintain her resolve despite the warm glow of desire that rekindled within her body each time it came into contact with his.

“
I felt you respond to me,” he said. “I feel you responding now. You want me as much as I want you. Admit it.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the fiery eyes and sensuous lips so dangerously close to her own. She wanted to say No, but all she managed was: “Kyle, I—”

He cut off her next words with the pressure of his lips. His hands traveled across her back, up and down her spine, sending rockets of desire shuttling to uncharted regions of her body. Desiree’s mind reeled. The throbbing in her chest spread down toward her loins, where it pulsed a frenzied rhythm. The tiny part of her that could still think told her to break away from his embrace. But her body acted of its own volition. Her arms wrapped around his back. Her fingers grasped his shoulder blades, pulling him closer. She molded her body against his lean, muscled frame.

At her response he moaned, low and deep in his throat. Apparently sensing she’d resist no further, he relaxed his hold, took a ragged breath, and began to move his lips slowly, gently, persuasively over hers. His fingertips stroked through the silky hair at her nape. His warm, sweet breath fanned her mouth as his feathery kisses tickled and teased her lips, then brushed across her cheeks, nose, and jaw.

She felt her limbs melt like candle wax against a flame as he again lowered his mouth to drop a series of long, sensuous kisses along her neck and throat. Her breathing was short and shallow and she leaned her head back to allow him full access to her throat. She held him tighter, no longer certain her quaking legs could support her weight.

Ever so slowly he kissed his way back up her neck, across her cheek to her forehead. Then, tenderly, he folded her in his arms and brought her head down against his chest.

Silently, he held her.

Even if she had wanted to push herself away from him, there wasn’t strength left in her limbs. Her cheek lay against the softness of his shirt, and she could feel his chest, moving up and down in an erratic rhythm against hers as they caught their breath.

He was right; there was no denying the attraction she felt for him, and it seemed that he felt the same way. But what exactly did he want from her? A weekend fling? Someone to keep his bed warm on his business trips down south? Or did he imagine there could be more to it than that?

She knew that any kind of future between them was extremely unlikely, if not impossible. His home, his work was in Seattle, and hers was here. She knew what it was like to be separated from the one you loved. She’d never forget the loneliness of those long months without Steve, longing for his company at the end of each day, reaching out for him in the empty darkness at night. No matter who was to blame, she’d learned her lesson. If she wanted a career in radio, she had to remain free and independent. She couldn’t give her heart to any man.

“
Kyle,” she said, tilting her head back and fingering the lapel of his shirt as she looked up at him, “I can’t hide the way I feel about you. But I tried to explain last night—there’s no way a relationship can work between us.”

“
I heard what you said last night. Every word. Your lack of job security, the way you have to move every few years, all the excuses you’ve learned to cling to as reasons not to get involved with anyone. So you might get fired any minute, so what? We already live a thousand miles apart. What difference would another few miles make?”

All the difference in the world, she wanted to say. But she didn’t want to dredge up the painful memories she’d managed to bury so deep inside her. Still, somehow she had to make him see.

“
One of us will end up getting hurt,” she whispered. “I know it.”

“
You can’t know that.” He kissed her again, long and hard. “I’m not trying to predict how things will end up between us, Desiree. But let’s give it a chance. Let’s take things one day at a time. If it’s meant to be, it will be. I’ve waited a long time to find you, and I’m not about to give you up now.”

***

A bird chirped outside Desiree’s window. She opened her eyes and squinted against the first faint light of a grey dawn. She must have finally dozed off. How many hours did she toss and turn last night, thoughts of Kyle and his impassioned caresses burning into her mind, keeping sleep at bay?

Even now, her mind still spun with confusion. Why wouldn’t he listen to her? Why, when he left, did he insist that she would hear from him again? Why did that make her feel like shouting for joy?

It didn’t seem possible that they’d only met two days before. Nothing seemed the same. Her room, cast in shadows by the unfamiliar early-morning light, looked foreign to her. Her bed, which had always seemed so warm and inviting beneath the fluffy white comforter, had never felt so hard...so cold...so empty.

Her response to Kyle’s embrace filled her with equal measures of fear and exhilaration. No man’s touch had ever inspired in her such fierce desire. And what she felt was more than just a physical response. She enjoyed being with him, loved the sound of his voice, the knack he had of putting her at ease, the way he laughed at her jokes. In only two days he’d made her feel more beautiful, more feminine, and more desirable than she’d ever felt in her life. With the slightest encouragement, she could easily fall in love with him. And to do that…well, history had a way of repeating itself, and she knew
that
could only end badly.

What on earth was she going to do?

With a sigh, she threw back the covers and climbed out of bed. For now, there was nothing she
could
do. He’d left without saying when he’d call, or if he intended to stop by. She’d told him she’d be busy all weekend, so presumably he’d return to Seattle tonight. Or would he?