He had been shocked and then thrilled to learn that the woman draped over him seemed to instinctively sense his every need and desire. The incredulity of hearing that she had dreamed of him so long ago had grown into a certainty. No woman could know a man that completely if she had not been intimately involved with him time and again.
How it had happened would remain a mystery forever. She knew nothing about him, yet she had written of the pain and ugliness he had suffered as a young man and had narrated the sad years of his early life with a storyteller’s loving hand, leading him to realize that every bad thing that had ever happened in his life had strengthened him for his future.
Would he fall asleep sometime before the dawn and awake to find she had been nothing but a wet dream? He didn’t want to tempt fate. He wanted to be awake when she opened her eyes. He shifted and drew her soft skin against his cock and sighed with pleasure as she wriggled and moaned. Oh yeah. He could seriously deal with this.
David held the phone away from his ear as his furious manager exploded on the other end of the line.
“Where the hell are you? They had to cancel all your matches here in Milwaukee. They threw in a double diva tag team match to cover for your sorry ass. The least you could do is tell me when you’re off with some floozy and too tired to travel!”
Frank James’ tone was livid. David rubbed his forehead and said softly, “Sorry. I’ll make up the money somewhere else along the road. Tell them I was transported to another galaxy by aliens and won’t be back until they’ve finished testing me.”
“What the hell are you doing? You go chasing after that book broad? You get yourself tossed into the slammer?”
“Yes and no. I can’t explain right now, Frankie, but you’ll be the very first to know.”
As he hung up the phone and rubbed his unshaven jaw and stretched slowly, her voice asked softly, “Are you in a lot of trouble with your boss?”
He jerked his head around to see her standing in the hallway, dressed in that sinful piece of blue silk she had retrieved at some point, her eyes concerned and her coppery hair mussed from lovemaking. He rose from the sofa and moved across the room, watching the way her wide green eyes darkened at the sight of him, shirtless and wearing only a pair of unzipped jeans he’d dragged out of his suitcase when he’d gone to answer the phone.
“He’s not my boss. Just my manager. And he makes enough money from me. I don’t jump when he calls.” His voice was husky and low. God, how he wanted to pick her up and slide his cock back inside her once again.
His hands slipped around her small body and he bent to catch her mouth hungrily, ignoring her breathless protest. He felt her sag against him, heard her little moan and the deep sigh of pleasure and he swung her from the floor into his arms. He wanted this woman. He wanted her now. He wanted her under him. On top of him. Bent over the bed. Sitting on the countertop spread wide for his enjoyment. He wanted to do so many things to and with her, he ached. He didn’t realize she was struggling until he was halfway to the bedroom.
“David. Stop. We can’t stay here fooling around all day. I have commitments and so do you.”
He cut off her protest with a searing kiss but after a few moments she wriggled out of his embrace, forcing him to set her on her feet again. Her face was pink and her eyes sparkled with pleasure. He groaned and put his hands on his lean hips, fighting to get his body back in line.
“So last night was just a one-time deal then?” He watched her face and the play of emotions flowing through it. “That’s all you wanted?” His body throbbed with need and she wanted to skip out on him? He couldn’t believe it. It had never happened to him before.
She swallowed hard, as if finding what she had to say very difficult. “David, last night was incredible. Last night was my dream come true. I think you must know that. But dreams don’t stay wonderful and satisfying if you bury yourself in them and exclude the other things in your life. Believe me, I would love to spend the whole day in your bed but I have people who are counting on me. And so do you.” She gazed up into his face and turned to the entryway mirror to fix her messy hair.
He stared down at her as she ran her fingers through her coppery red curls and she stuffed the ivory pins back in to secure a quick knot. He ran his fingertips slowly along the curve of her neck and she shivered and closed her eyes. “I can’t walk away from you when you do that.”
“Then don’t walk away.” His voice was thick with need.
She turned and met his gaze and a sad little smile curved her lips.
“What?” he growled, frowning at her.
“Usually this goes the other way, you know.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Usually the woman clutches the man’s arm and begs him to stay and he says, ‘sorry, babe, but I have things to do, places to be’.” She sighed softly as her fingers trailed over his whiskery cheek.
He stared down into her face, unsure what she was trying to say, until she stood on tiptoes and brushed his mouth with hers. “You will always be my dream lover, David Chance, no matter where you go. No matter where your future takes you. I will never be able to forget you. But you will forget me. That is a certainty.”
He felt like she’d just slugged him in the gut. He couldn’t seem to get his breath. She couldn’t be fucking serious?
She backed away and smiled up into his confused dark eyes. “I’ll put another face on my next novel and I will see to it that you get a full model’s session pay and royalties on the first five books I wrote. I think that’s only fair. I hope that’s enough. And I’ll end the series about Chance Davis with number six. Chance Davis died last night. And Chance Braza goes on without having to worry about the world knowing his secrets. No one will know but you and me. And I can promise you that your secrets are safe in my heart.”
She touched his rough cheek gently with a hand that trembled. He caught the hand and turned the smooth palm to his mouth. “So this is it? You just leave and I go on to Milwaukee and we never meet again?” He sounded almost angry.
Sam wanted so terribly to pull him to her and kiss him but if she did, she would be making him stay when he needed to be cut free and let go again. A sort of romantic catch and release.
He had brought magic into her life last night. But it would be the most unrealistic thing in the world for her to ask him to stay. The exquisite night spent together had done something amazing for both of them. David Chance would benefit from it, just as she had. But he had his own life, while she had hers. And they couldn’t possibly be further apart. She had to keep her head tacked on. This was her dream. That’s all it was. But it was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do, walking away. Or at least, that’s the way it always ended in books. “Two ships passing in the night” and all that. Trite, but true.
“Thank you so much for last night, David. You were everything I ever dreamed you were.” She reached for her bag and smiled brilliantly up into his eyes. “Go catch that plane to Milwaukee and I’ll see that your money reaches your business manager.” And then she was gone.
He stared at the door for some time after she’d vanished through it. His body was throbbing with need. His mind was rebelling.
What the fuck?
Had he just been dissed by a woman half his size? Had she really just fucked him and walked out of his life like he was some fucking gigolo?
By the time his brain kicked back in and his indignation forced his feet to move, she was gone. And by the time he stormed into the lobby, his feet bare and his fly hanging half open, to demand if the front desk clerk had seen her leave, he realized that about twenty women were staring at him like he’d just served himself up for breakfast on a silver platter. He flexed his massive shoulders and rolled his head, then backed into the safety of the elevator just as they began to rush forward.