Chapter 7

Indie buried her head in her tote as she searched for her key fob. It wasn't until she found it and looked up that she saw the familiar tall figure leaning against the car"s hood, his hands folded on his chest.

Ignoring the painful thudding of her heart against her ribs, she considered passing him to go to her vehicle without any acknowledgment at all. But good manners had her giving him a relaxed look and an even cooler greeting.

"Mr. St. Clair."

"We need to talk," he said with a preamble as he leaned off the vehicle and approached her. There were several other businesses in the complex, including a sports bar. Several patrons had spilled out onto the terrace and directly viewed the well-lit parking lot. "Not here," he added tersely, realizing that curious looks were thrown their way.

"I have nothing to say to you."

"I will follow behind you." He went into his vehicle without waiting for her to agree or disagree.

For one irrational minute, she thought about being perverse and just either sitting in the vehicle or going back inside the store, but she figured he would probably follow her inside. Grinding her teeth, she pulled out of the lot and went home.

Traffic was surprisingly light at this time of night, and she made the journey to her house in less than fifteen minutes.

Driving in, she parked in front of the garage and exited the vehicle. Studiously ignoring the car and the man who had alighted, she marched up the steps and inserted the key into the lock.

She was going to hear him out and insist that he leave. She was tired, and sleep had eluded her all of last night. She was also on the verge of emotional collapse, with her feelings veering close to the surface.

"Am I allowed to ask about Madison?" Leading into the living room, she gestured to a chair by the window and took the one near the electric fireplace.

"You may."

His deep, autocratic tone raised her hackles. She would not be polite and offer him a drink—absolutely not. Turning to face him, she plopped her hands on her hips, dark brown eyes blazing. "Well? How is she?"

"She is excited about her upcoming trip to Disney." He had not taken the seat but was leaning against the window, watching her with hooded eyes.

"You are sending her away." Indie felt a strange twist inside her heart.

"I am sending her to a theme park that she enjoys," he said. "It has nothing to do with you."

"Will you be going?"

"No."

"Why am I not surprised?"

His eyes flared. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It's none of my business-"

"You are damn right it's not."

"You invited yourself into my home, so you will hear what I say. That little girl is dying to get your attention.

Every time we talk, it is ‘Daddy this' or Daddy that.' She told me a story about her mother leaving her at the hospital and doing so for money, and if that's true if a woman could purposefully leave her baby like that, can you imagine what sort of effect that has on a child? And you work all the time-"

"You want to be careful about saying anything else." His voice was dangerously soft and sent shivers up and down her spine.

"You are right." Dropping her hands, she suddenly felt the emotional upheaval crashing down on her. "Please leave."

"You have been doing all the talking." He pointed out.

"I am tired and not in the mood for company or conversation." She had turned to leave the room when he caught up with her at the doorway. Clamping his hand on her arm, he turned her to face him.

"I did not come here to talk," he said tersely, eyes searching her face.

"Why did you-" She sucked in a breath when he stared at her lips. "No." She whispered. "Let go of me."

"I cannot get the taste of you out of my head," he told her harshly. "And believe me, I have been trying. I want you."

"No." She shook her head wildly. "This is not a good idea."

"You think I have not been considering that argument?" He shook her, his fingers digging into her arms. "I told myself that I should stay the hell away from you, that nothing good will come of this."

"Then you should listen. That's a very sound argument."

"My head is saying that, and my body-" He was pressing her against the wall, his large body against hers. The familiar jolts of desire were streaking through her, proof that she had not imagined it.

"I have tried." His voice had dropped a decibel, his eyes hooded as his head bent towards hers. "Your tears touched me." His hands cupped her cheeks as he tilted her head up to his. "I hurt you. It should not matter to me, but it damn well does. I want you. Christ! I want you so damn much!"

Before she could say anything, he was crushing her mouth with his. Indie felt the jolt turning into an electric shock, jerking her body into utter and complete awareness. Her head told her she should push him away and insist on him leaving, but her heart was screeching that she should allow him to stay.

Her starved body melted into his as her hands went around his neck. Her mouth eagerly returned a kiss that had taken on a significant and heated life. She had never been kissed like this before, never felt this liquid fire coursing through her body. Or felt this stinging awareness, this potent longing, the hunger clawing through her body.

Her hands locked around his neck as she surrendered completely to the aching pleasure coursing through her. And she wanted so much more. Maybe she had not been with a man for so long, or perhaps this man was bringing out all these startling feelings inside her.

Royce was drowning. With his body pressed against hers, he could feel the hardening of her nipples through the thin material of her red and blue striped blouse. His cock was settled snugly between the vee of her thighs, and the lust, the desire to have her, was raging out of control. And he wanted more.

He could not understand this naked longing to have a woman he had just met. But ever since, he had gone to the store, even before that. Something had happened since he had seen her at his daughter's party and heard them talking in her room.

The longing intensified when he saw her tears, which he had inadvertently caused.Dragging his lips from hers, he kissed the delicate skin of her ear and then moved to her cheek until he was kissing her chin and then her throat.

His cock was throbbing painfully, begging for release, and he was determined to get it.Lifting his head, his smoldering gaze held hers as he struggled for control.

Indie stared at the pulse ticking in the hollow of his strong throat as she avoided his eyes.

"We both know what this is."

Finally lifting her head, she met his gaze and felt another jolt. His face was stern and taut with passion.

"It's not a good idea." His body was pressed against hers, and she could feel the evidence of his arousal. "I cannot get involved with you."

"I am not asking for any involvement."

Lifting her chin, she met his gaze. "I see."

"Do you?"

"Yes. You want to have a one-night stand."

His lips lifted in a thin smile. "I have a feeling this will be more than one night." His hands cupped her face. "I don't believe in relationships; the only thing I have to give is my body, nothing else. I want you for some reason, and it's not going away. I would like to make love to you."

"And if I say no?"

"Then you would be depriving both of us." Bending his head, he brushed his lips against hers and felt his body shuddering as her breath mingled with his. The hunger for her was astonishing, and the urge to pull her down on the board floor and drive himself into her.

"Give me your tongue," he whispered hoarsely. When she did, he captured it between his teeth, sucking it into his mouth and sending fire into her belly. A moan escaped her as her hands wrapped around his neck, her body arching against him.

His hands raced down to wedge themselves at her back and wandered down to the voluptuous curves of her butt.

With a restlessness that was driving his actions, he reached to the front to cup her breasts, feeling the hardened nipples against the lace of her bra. Impatient to feel more of her, he popped the buttons of her shirt and unhooked the front clasp of her bra.

The feel of her bare flesh was more than he could bear. Tearing his mouth from hers, he eased away so that he could look at her, and the sight of her breasts spilling from his palms had a startling effect on him.

With a muffled groan that seemed to be torn from his chest, he lowered his head and pushed the left breast up; he was able to taste the rigid flesh with his tongue.

A startled cry escaped her as his mouth touched the flesh. Her puckered nipples swelled under his avid attention, and Indie felt her knees giving out.

When he started to suckle, everything inside her turned liquid.

Another moan escaped her when he lifted his head.

"Your bedroom," he said harshly, body vibrating with a need so intense that he could barely stand.

"Yes." Tugging the tattered blouse over her breasts, she stumbled out of the room and up the stairs, with him following behind her. Pushing the bedroom door open, she stopped in the middle of the room and realized that she had not bothered to tidy up.

The bed showed evidence of her restless night, the sheets a tangled mess. That had never happened to her before, and of all the things happening inside her, the one thing that stood out was that she had invited this man - one who was not even supposed to be here; she had asked him into her messy bedroom.

It was not just the bed; clothes were strewn on the floor of her closet. She had overslept this morning and had pawed through her closet, trying to find something to wear.

"I have to tidy up."

He gave her a startled look and realized that she was serious.

"That does not matter," Seeing the dazed look on her face, he bridged the gap between them and clamped his hands on her shoulders. "I don't care."

Pushing the tattered blouse that she was clutching to her chest off her, he cupped her breasts. "I don't care," he repeated. "Get on the bed." He ordered, and she complied immediately, backing toward the bed like she was in a trance.

He wanted until she had climbed in before taking a seat on the edge of it. With trembling hands, he cupped the generous breasts, his thumbs stroking the nipples and watching as they lifted proudly.

"I want to see the rest of you." He rasped. Moving down to her feet, he removed her shoes and then her dress pants. Indie had to resist the urge to cover herself with the sheets as his eyes roamed over her body hungrily.

Making quick work of dragging off his clothes, he climbed in next to her, his head propped on his hand as he continued to stare at her.

"Please stop." She whispered as the silence dragged on.

"Why?" He lifted a hand to cup her breast.

"You are making me uncomfortable."

"Am I?" he mused.

"Yes." She was squirming restlessly as he continued to caress the nipple.

"Not my intention." His head bent as he slid a little further down so that he could get to her nipple. "I just want to taste you."

Her body arched toward his mouth as he seized her nipple, his tongue toying with the rigid flesh. Indie felt the liquid fire unfurling inside her belly as he continued to torture the flesh. One hand was drifting down her body, settling on the quivering flatness of her stomach while he ravaged her nipple.

It occurred to him that this entire thing was different, that aside from his disastrous relationship with Madison's mother, his emotions had stayed locked inside a box, and he had lost the urge and interest to make love to a woman until now.

The need for this one woman was so frightening that he was going to have to sift through it at a later time. But right now, he just wanted to make love to her until they were both exhausted from the act. Right now, he had to have her, or he was going to go insane.

And he was trying to prolong the act, to stretch it out so that he could be completely thorough. But she was making it incredibly difficult. Her voluptuous curves were pressing against him in such a way that it was making it extremely difficult to continue his exploration of her flesh.

"Stop moving," he whispered hoarsely, lifting his mouth off her breast and climbing over her.

"I can't." Her voice was hoarse and throbbing, her fingers digging into the sheets. She was beside herself. He was driving her to places she had never been, and she did not know how to handle her feelings. The emotions were too close to the edge, and she could feel herself erupting. "I am hot." She admitted.

"So am I," he told her grimly. Grabbing her hand, he uncurled her fingers and wrapped them around the thick, pulsating length of him. "This is how hot I am."

Her eyes flew to the flesh he was forcing her to hold. He was well-endowed, she thought hazily, staring at him. "Touch it." He invited thickly, almost out of his mind with need.

"Where-"

"Here." Moving her hand, he guided her finger to the tip. A moan escaped her as she felt the slippery flesh.

"Like that." He hissed through his teeth as she moved her finger over him.

"Yes."

His back arched as his body quivered in pleasure at the slow movements of her finger. His eyes bored into hers, and she felt her insides turning into jellylike softness as she met his gaze. Nothing had ever felt this erotic before. She had never done this with anyone before, and it was so potent and significant that she felt tears in her eyes.

"Enough," He whispered hoarsely, removing her hand. "I am on the verge of climaxing, and I want to come inside you." He had not brought protection with him, but that was the last thing on his mind. He was feverish with the need to have her.

With that in mind and only that, he moved over her, settling between her thighs. Her nipples were wet and slightly sore from his eager and hungry mouth. He had almost suckled her until she was raw; that was how much he had wanted to feast on her flesh.

His eyes held hers as he reached between them to guide himself into her. Her thighs parted instinctively to allow him even more access. He entered her slowly, watching her reaction, his body jerking when her eyes widened and her lips parted.

She was so damn tight, he thought frantically, wondering if he was hurting her. But the expression on her beautiful face was not pain; it was wonder and a yearning that matched his.

"Wait." He whispered when she started to move.

"I can't."

"You have to." He sank in even deeper until she was wrapped around him like a vice. His breath soughed through his chest, and he knew he would not last. His large body jerked, and he found himself driving into her, automatically lifting one of her legs and bending it at the knees.

"Oh, good Christ," he whispered, lowering his head to hers. "I am not going to last." He gasped as she moved. "Wait-" Nothing like this had ever happened to him before.

He was hot, burning with a fire raging out of control. "Give me a minute."" He kissed her, scorching her with a kiss that was made to burn through her entire body. But then he couldn't stop what happened next.

She moved, lifting her body to his, frantically urging him to do the same. He drove into her with a force that drove her into the padded headboard. She came violently, her body arching and twisting as the climax crashed into her. She dug her fingers into his back and shoulders, body arching and trembling.

He tried to slow things down again, his body out of control. But he could not stop it. Lifting his lips from hers, he buried his face into the soft cushion of her neck as he shot his load into her.

She had her hands wrapped so tight around his neck that he could not move, not that he was able to anyway. His heart was hammering inside his chest, drowning out everything else. Her nipples were branding his chest, smashed against the hairs covering his flesh. He was still deep inside her, still half erect, much to his shock.

Forcing himself to move, he shifted and turned her sideways so that they could still be intimately locked together. And he had no idea what to say to her. He wanted more. This would not be a one-time thing, that much he could tell. He would wait until they were recovered before he started again.

Her dark brown eyes lifted to his, and he felt a jolt at the soft intimacy of her gaze. He could not allow himself to feel, but this was getting away from him.

She was getting to him in ways he thought he had effectively buried. His body yearned for her with an unsettling intensity. Even now, intimately joined to her, he could feel himself hardening. And he was aware the second she thought it, too, in her eyes widening.

"Yes," he acknowledged harshly. "It seems that I am violently attracted to you."

"What a way to put it." She said softly, studying his face.

"What do you want, Indie?" He asked her suddenly.

"A baby." She had not meant to say it, but it spilled out and had him staring at her in shock.

"Pardon?"

Her fingers curled into the hairs on his chest, and she could feel his heart beating unsteadily. She had not thought this through, and none of this made sense. But she had never felt this way before. She had fallen in love with the daughter, and now it seemed she was in love with the dad.

"The doctors said I can"t conceive," She lifted her eyes to his, steeling herself for his rejection. "But I have hope and will not give that up."

"You want a baby with me."

"Yes."

"Why?" He asked harshly, ignoring the strange thrill of her words.

"Because I -" She bit her lip. "I don't know," she said instead.

"You are lying." Clamping his fingers on her chin, he jerked her face up to study her. "Talk."

His tone was silky and deceptively soft.

"I have never felt this way about anyone before, and I would be a perfect mother to Madison." She ended in a rush.

"Ah," his lips twisted cynically. "And now we have the real reason. My daughter."

"No. You think I planned this?" She cried. "When you kissed me at the store, you started something I could not understand. I still don't. I wanted you to stay away from me, and even though I missed seeing your daughter, I was happy that she had not visited. At least that was what I told myself." She sighed softly. "I don't need this complication."

"Neither do I. I already told you that I am not in the market for a relationship."