Chapter Twenty-Two #2
I stood awkwardly looking down, watching as his fingers deftly undid the buttons.
I felt like a five-year-old at school, I expected to see mittens on strings poking out of each sleeve.
His hands came up to tug the lapels from my shoulders, they brushed my neck.
Three thousand volts registered immediately but even as the brief flash died away, despair flooded in.
His eyes had slid away from mine, his hands jumping away.
Had I imagined the merest flicker of distaste in them?
My shoulders slumped, a tiny rogue sob escaped.
‘Hey,’ said Daniel softly, his face creasing in concern. This immediately set me off. More sobs broke through, my eyes filling with tears that poured helplessly down my cheeks. God, men hate tears. He must have had enough tonight. Which made me sob harder. Bloody hell. I couldn’t look at him.
I felt him push my coat down my arms. Heard the buttons chink against the floor as he tossed it aside. Strong arms enfolded me, pulling me into a hard chest. The next thing I knew I was sitting, tucked onto his lap, close enough to see the soft stubble breaking through on his chin.
‘It’s OK, you’re safe,’ he murmured, his eyes looking directly into mine. They looked worried. Leaning closer still, his mouth began tracing up the trail of my tears, wisping past my damp eyelashes and coming to rest on my forehead. ‘It’s OK.’
Weeping uncontrollably now, I sputtered incoherent apologies. ‘I . . . I’m . . . sssorry.’ My gulping breaths interspersed the words.
His hold tightened, pulling me closer. We sat like that for a minute as my heaving sobs calmed.
Apart from the hiss of the gas ring and the plops of soup bubbles, there was silence.
I could feel the rise and fall of his chest against me.
Then very gently his lips moved downwards, until they found mine.
Instant conflagration! The second they touched, something burst. Every pent-up emotion — all the fears of the day — were poured into that kiss.
Thank God for painkillers! Our mouths were urgent.
His lips firmly moulded mine and I kissed him back wholeheartedly.
There was no hesitancy or gentle teasing.
This was tongues duelling; breath gasping harshly; his hand holding my head firmly.
Spontaneous combustion was only seconds away.
The bitter, acrid smell of burning soup butted in. As I pulled back slightly, Daniel tightened his hold and carried on kissing me. I twisted my head to mutter against his mouth.
‘Soup . . . burning.’
‘Sod . . .’ He kissed me again, pulling my head back to slant his mouth back over mine. ‘The . . .’ Those delicious mind-numbing lips honed in again before coming up to murmur, ‘soup.’
I was starting to melt. The kiss was penetrating erogenous zones I didn’t know I had. My body was beginning to do that pliable thing — bones going all supple and all the while a core of heat building.
Any doubts about my desirability and whether he still wanted me had gone up in smoke. Literally.
* * *
BEEP, BEEP — the ear-piercing shriek of the smoke alarm censored the kiss. We drew back, chests heaving, little pants escaping, looking at each other.
‘And I was worried about damaging you any more,’ he said dryly, his lips brushing against my face as he spoke. I gave a wan smile and touched his face.
‘Just what the doctor ordered — definitely the kiss of life.’ My shyness receded. ‘Better turn that soup off — we don’t want to make it a hat trick with the emergency services by needing a fire engine. I think we’ve used up our 999 call-out ration for today.’
Tipping me to my feet and grasping one hand, he switched off the soup with a deft flick of the wrist, marched up to the alarm and pinged out the battery.
Still clutching my hand, he led me through to the lounge.
Flipping on a lamp, he pulled me down with him onto the sofa, pulling me close with an arm around my shoulder.
‘I’ve lost my appetite. Now where were we?’
‘Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, I think,’ I said, eyeing his lips longingly before very slowly and deliberately sliding my gaze to meet his.
‘Do that any more and I’m not going to be responsible for my actions. I’m having a difficult job trying to keep my hands off you as it is.’
‘I don’t want you to. I’m all right,’ I said, my hand lifting to stroke his neck and slide up into his hair.
‘Sweetheart, you don’t look it.’ He softened the words, gently circling my bruised cheek.
‘After tonight, I might need a bloody pacemaker fitted. My heart damn near stopped when Emily and Barney phoned me. Then when I saw you with blood pouring down your face and tied up in that chair, I wanted to . . .’ He shook his head, hands tensing, the tendons standing proud.
He didn’t need to finish. I had a pretty good idea. I’d seen his face at the time.
‘It was a hell of surprise when I heard Emily come in. Suddenly she was being as nice as pie although she did tell me you’d never be interested in me.’
‘Well — at least you know that’s completely wrong.’
I looked up at him, took a deep breath and said, ‘I did then. I’ve been . . . having doubts since we got here. I’ve caused you so much trouble in the last twenty-four hours. You seemed a bit . . . I thought . . .’
God, was I being weak and needy? Was he just being nice now — because I’ve had a traumatic experience? One of my voices sarcastically shouted, ‘Yes, of course he’s just being nice — with a kiss like that.’
‘Olivia, have you any idea how much control I’ve been exerting? I hate to say this but you’re looking pretty banged up. After what you’ve been through today, you might not want me manhandling you — although . . .’ his Adam’s apple dipped as he swallowed, ‘I realise now, I got that bit wrong.’
Smiling gently, he traced my collarbone with one finger. ‘I really regret not insisting you moved in the other night. I should have done the caveman thing, slung you over my shoulder and brought you back here.’
‘I was trying to make life easier with Emily. Although I guess she knows now.’
‘Yeah, I kind of gave it away tonight,’ mused Daniel, a reminiscent smile on his face.
He brought both hands up to my face, smoothing my undamaged cheek with his thumb, looking intently at me.
A little shiver unfurled down my spine in anticipation.
‘I should have told you first, but surely you know? You must have realised on Sunday. I don’t make a habit of asking women to move in with me.
You are the only woman I’ve ever even considered wanting to have here.
You do know that I’m absolutely one-hundred-per-cent crazy about you? ’
My heart flipped with happiness and my stomach dropped as if I’d jumped out of a plane.
‘In fact, I still owe you for that little performance the night at The Grayling.’
‘That?’ I gave him a mischievous smile, trying to breathe normally as my heart was still going skitter scatter. It felt as if at any moment it might burst out of my chest. ‘You deserved it.’
His eyes glinted playfully. ‘Er . . . run that by me again. How?’
‘I was mad at you, treating me like one of the lads.’
‘Sweetheart,’ he kissed me, ‘you are most definitely not,’ he punctuated his words with another pert kiss, ‘one of the lads.’ He ended with a final peck on my lower lip.
‘None of them have underwear like that. I tell you I was in a terrible state in the car that night. I’d been doing my best not to think about you since Ben’s bloody party because I thought you were in love with someone else and suddenly it hits me like a truck that I have the serious hots for you.
I have a rampaging hard-on and, you, cool as a cucumber, saunter off telling me to go downstairs to wait for the car. ’
I grinned at him, a little shudder of cat-that-licked-the-cream running through me.
‘Sorry,’ I said, not meaning it, which he knew damn well from the twitch of my lips.
‘Honestly, I am keeping you under lock and key. Don’t even think of going anywhere without me for at least a century. I don’t think my heart can take it.’
I placed my hand on his chest, I could feel the steady beat, beat, beat of his heart. ‘I think it’ll survive . . . with lots of love and attention.’
‘Promise.’
I nodded slowly, my eyes drinking in the tenderness in his. There was a pause, my own heart slowed, it was my turn.
‘Daniel, I’m not going anywhere. I’ve been tying myself in knots since that night in Casualty.
It was so bad that I nearly didn’t come this weekend .
. .’ I tutted showing my irritation, ‘except I couldn’t stay away.
It was supposed to be my one last . . .’ My words were swallowed with an enormous yawn.
‘You need to go to bed, you must be shattered.’
I looked ruefully at him, another yawn escaping. ‘Sorry.’ I sighed. ‘I’ve been running on adrenaline for ages. I’ve just hit empty.’
‘Come on,’ he said firmly, pulling me to my feet. ‘Bedtime.’
A lightning tingle shot through me as his fingers slipped between mine. Switching out lights as we went, he led the way up the little staircase, both of us ducking our heads at the top narrow corner. Outside the bedroom door, he let go of my hand and opened it to let me through.
* * *
I’d taken a quick look at my injuries before I’d left the flat but with a stampede of policemen about, I wasn’t given time to dally.
I nearly died when I saw myself in the bathroom mirror.
My cheek had swelled to Quasimodo proportions; my mascara would have rivalled that of a seventeen-year-old Goth; and I had marginally less colour than a corpse.
At my horrified squeak, Daniel came to stand behind me, his mouth tightening.
I touched my cheek, wincing, it was starting to feel painful again as the tablets were wearing off.
‘You could have told me how awful I look,’ I said with a pout.
He quirked an eyebrow in response.
‘OK, maybe not, but I could have cleaned up.’