A Rare Gift

Page 6

He tilted the glass in her direction. “People who throw those kinds of words at me generally live to regret them.”
She leaned back against the sofa and grinned at him. “Good thing I know your bark is way worse than your bite.”
“Are you sure about that? I haven’t bitten you—yet.”
Whoa. Where had that come from? It had been a bonafide sexual come-on, and Calliope nearly self-combusted right there. Heat flared through every part of her. The whole room seemed to go up in flames, or maybe that was just her, and likely because of the way Wyatt’s gaze burned into her. Her ni**les tightened and everything that was female in her shouted for joy.
Usually never at a loss for words, she had no idea what to say.
Wyatt downed the brandy, then stood. “Well, I should go.”
She shot off the sofa. “What? Are you insane? There’s two feet of snow out there. You’re not going anywhere tonight.”
He arched a brow. “You thinking of holding me prisoner here?”
“I might if you come up with another dumbass idea, like trying to drive in that.”
“It’ll still be there tomorrow morning, Calliope.”
“By tomorrow the road crews will have been out all night, spreading salt and plowing. The streets will be in more decent shape than they are right now. What if you get stuck getting back home? It’s not like you’ll have an easy time getting a tow tonight. I’m sure there are a lot of cars getting stuck.”
He gave her a dubious look. “We don’t live in a major city. I can call Roger. He owns one of the two wreckers in town to give me a pull.”
She crossed her arms. “Or you can use some common sense and not be one of those idiots on the road tonight.”
“I think you’re trying to keep me here for your own nefarious purposes.”
She laughed. “Yeah, all one hundred thirty pounds of me, plotting devious things against all—” she looked him over, “—two-ten of you?”
“Two-twenty-five.”
“So you’re nearly twice my weight. I’m sure I could pounce on you and take you down.”
She saw his jaw clench.
“You could try.”
“I could, couldn’t I?”
It sure was warm in here, and the sexual innuendos were flying around the room like crazed bats. She supposed she could cut to the chase, but it sure would be nice if Wyatt came after her for a change. She was tired of being the one doing the chasing.
He finally settled back down on the sofa. “I’d rather you stop calling me an idiot.”
“Since you’re sitting and obviously staying, I’ll refrain from further insults as to your state of mind.” She grabbed his empty glass. “How about a refill?”
“Got any beer? That shit’s too sweet.”
“Sure.” She refilled her glass while she was in there, handed him the beer and slid back onto the sofa, pulling her legs up behind her.
“Would you like to watch television?”
“Not much of a TV watcher.”
“Neither am I.”
He studied her. She pushed her glasses up.
“What do you do at night?” he asked.
“I read. I’m usually so exhausted by the time I get home, I eat dinner, take a hot bath and soak for a while, then curl up with a good book and generally pass out early.”
“Kids are exhausting, huh?”
She laughed. “They can be.”
“What made you decide to open a day care center?”
“That’s easy. I love children. Always have, ever since I got my first babysitting job as a teenager. I knew then that I wanted to do something with kids.”
Something flickered in his eyes. “Why not become a teacher?”
“I do have a degree in early childhood education, thought about becoming a teacher, but the little ones wrap me around their fingers and don’t let go. I worked at a lot of day care centers while I was in college, and my career naturally progressed in this direction. I apprenticed under a director near my college, and worked as a director at one in Nebraska for a couple years. When the opportunity came up to buy out Miss Bettie, I leaped on it because I could own my own business, and it gave me a chance to come home.”
“It’s a lot of work.”
She nodded. “It is, but it’s so rewarding. The staff is amazing, and I feel like I’m doing something important. I can’t imagine how worried these parents are, having to leave their little ones while they go off to work. I like to think I can ease their minds a little, knowing their babies are being well taken care of.”
He took a long swallow of beer. She liked watching the way his throat worked, liked the beard stubble on his jaw, wondered what that would feel like on her face—and other parts of her body.
Again, that abrupt flash of heat scored her from the inside out.
She really should stop thinking of sex, especially sex with Wyatt. Especially when Wyatt sat less than a foot away from her. His fear that she might pounce on him? Not too far from the truth.
He laid his empty beer can on the table. She got up.
“I’ll get you another.”
He grabbed her hand. “I know where your fridge is. I can get myself another beer if I want one. You don’t have to wait on me.”
“I don’t mind.”
He released her hand and she hurried into the kitchen. What she really needed was a minute or two to catch her breath. She opened the refrigerator, letting the cool air bathe her face. She took a deep breath to calm down her riotous libido.
Geez, Calliope. You aren’t sixteen anymore. Get a grip.
She stood, closed the door and turned around, then gasped when she found Wyatt standing right there.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Wondering what the hell you’re doing. Hell of a time to take inventory of the fridge, don’t you think?”
“Oh. Uh. That wasn’t what I was doing.”
He placed his palm on the refrigerator door, right next to her shoulder. “Yeah? What were you doing?”
“Looking for this, of course.” She handed him the beer.
He took it from her. “You’re a little odd, Calliope.”
“I prefer quirky.” She skirted around him and headed back into the living room, conscious of him right on her heels.
Wasn’t this what she wanted? Him going after her?
So why was she suddenly so skittish?
Likely because she was out of practice. It wasn’t like she had a parade of men chasing after her. Going after Wyatt was one thing, because she was pretty sure he wasn’t going to take the bait.
Now that he seemed interested? Yeah, that was another story.
He was a lot of man. Could she handle him?
She blew out a breath and stared at the brandy.
“Calliope.”
She lifted her gaze to his. “Yes?”
“Would you like me to take off?”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t want you to leave.”
“This is uncomfortable for you. For me, too.”
Damn. She’d screwed it up. She’d hesitated. But she wasn’t a quitter. She leaned forward. “I’m not used to having men over.”
“Ever?”
“Uh…no.” She’d never brought a guy to her house. It was too…intimate. Of course she’d had sex at college, and there had been Steve’s apartment. Then there was that one time at the motel with Bobby. But no, she’d never brought a man here. She’d never had a long-term relationship because no guy had been…keepable.
“So you’re a virgin.”
Her head shot up. “I am not.”
His lips quirked. “Yeah, I can tell you’re full of experience.” He got up and went into the kitchen.
Irritated now, she followed. “You can’t tell anything about my…experience.”
He tossed his empty beer can in the trash, then turned to face her. “Honey, you’re like a lamb facing down a wolf.”
She quirked a brow. “And you’re the big bad wolf, I suppose?”
He grinned. “You got it.”
“You think I can’t handle you?”
“I know you can’t handle me.”
“Try me.”
He laughed and moved past her. “I don’t think so.”
Now she was pissed. He was treating her like a child. “You prefer more experienced women.”
“I don’t want any woman.”
“You lie. Ever since we met up again you’ve been dancing around your attraction to me. But because I’m Cassie’s sister, you’ve held back because you’ve got some screwed-up notion that we’re one and the same.”
He looked her up and down, his gaze raking over her body. “Calliope, you are nothing like Cassandra. Not in appearance, not in actions, not in any way.”
She knew how he felt about Cassie. It wasn’t an insult.
“So you’ve given up trying to compare me to my sister.”
He held up his hands. “Throwing the white flag on that one. You win.”
Her lips curved. “I don’t know about that, Wyatt. Seems to me we both win. So why not take what you want—what we both want—and quit fighting it?”
Her heart pounded as she stood in the middle of the room, her hands on her hips. Only a few feet of distance separated them, but she wasn’t going to cross that distance. If he wanted her—and she knew damn well he did—he was going to have to bridge the gap.
He stared her down. He was mad, whether at her or himself she didn’t know. Frankly, she didn’t care. It was now or never because she wouldn’t ask him again.
He came to her in two fast strides and jerked her into his arms.
And then he hesitated, his lips just inches from hers.
Don’t walk away. Not again.
His gaze bored into hers and she nearly melted to the floorboards. She knew from the smoldering look in his eyes that he wasn’t walking away this time. When his mouth came down on hers, the first contact of his lips stole her breath.
She went up in flames and her body exploded in a wildfire of heat.
Chapter Six
There was nothing gentle about this kiss. This was no sweet seduction. It was a full-on siege. Wyatt wrapped his arms around her, one hand gravitating to her butt to draw her against his erection. Calliope shuddered at the feel of him, so hard and ready as he plundered her lips. He slid his tongue inside and she moaned, arched against him, slid her hand in his hair and held on while his tongue played with hers.
She was lightheaded as sensations pounded at her. The softness of his lips warred with the scrape of his beard against her face and the steely hardness of his body as he moved against her. And when he cupped her breast, his thumb brushing her nipple, she whimpered at the sheer pleasure of it.
He pulled his mouth from hers, his eyes dark and full of hunger.
“Say no.”
She blinked. “What?”
“Tell me to go.”
“No.”
He backed away. She grabbed his arms. “That’s not what I meant. Don’t go.”
He raked his fingers through his hair. “If I don’t leave now, I’m not leaving until morning.”
She was panting, her br**sts painfully full, her sex throbbing with need for him, and he wanted to have this discussion now?
“That’s the general idea, Wyatt.”
“If I stay tonight, I’m sleeping in your bed. With you.”
She resisted the urge to suggest they likely wouldn’t be sleeping much, instead stayed silent, her chest heaving with the force of her breaths. “Can we get back to the kissing part? I really like the way you kiss me.”
“I just wanted you to be sure.”
“I’m sure. And thanks. Now kiss me.”
The smile he gave her was the kind any sane woman would call dangerous. He pulled her glasses off and set them down, put his hand on the nape of her neck and drew her close.
He hovered, his lips just an inch from hers. “You make me crazy, Calliope.”
She palmed his chest. “Trust me. The feeling is mutual.”
And then their lips touched again, and it was like a burst of fireworks. Wow, he really could kiss. Wyatt was formidable, no doubt about that. Her toes curled, her legs felt like jelly, and she was damn glad he had all that muscle in his frame to hold her up, because she sank against him, sighing against his lips as he overpowered her with his sheer masculinity. She breathed him in, the scent of outdoors, brandy and beer mingling together.
When he lifted her in his arms—and she was no lightweight—she felt small and feminine, and decided she liked that sensation.
He moved down the hall and bent to open her bedroom door, found the light switch and flipped it on, then settled her in the middle of her bed, coming down on top of her, his mouth taking hers again in a kiss that made her writhe with impatience. She wanted clothes off, needed to feel his bare skin against hers. She reached between them, pulling at his shirt.
He lifted, straddling her, and unbuttoned his shirt. She laid her hands on his thighs and watched as he pulled the flannel shirt off and the T-shirt underneath, leaving his torso bare.
She sucked in a breath. Wide shoulders, well-muscled chest and arms, and flat, washboard abs, not from time spent at the gym, she imagined, but from honest-to-God labor. She snaked her hands along his stomach and farther down, where a soft line of hair disappeared into his jeans. She reached for his belt buckle but he snatched her hands away and placed them on the bed.
“But you’re not na**d yet.”
“I’ll get there.” He lifted her sweatshirt over her stomach, leaned down and pressed a kiss to her belly.