Chapter Nineteen
He had been ready to grovel, but before he could utter a word, his arms were full of woman, his senses steeped in her scent, his mouth captured by her soft, urgent lips. An apology would have to wait.
Kicking the door shut behind him, he lifted Hannah into his arms without taking his mouth from hers.
He had never been to her New York apartment, but he had noticed the sitting room on the right, so the bedroom had to be on the left. Somewhere.
“Last door,” she said against his lips, and he got there in two long strides.
He lowered her onto the bed and stood back, just staring at her. In most of his dreams she had been wearing this little red number. Smiling, she leaned back on her elbows.
Without taking his eyes off of her, he unbuckled his belt, lifted his shirt over his head, and tried to push the zipper of his pants down. “I was going to go slow,” he said through clenched teeth, struggling with the zipper, “but I haven’t been with you for two damn weeks.”
Swearing, he yanked on the zipper until it finally gave way and he could kick his pants to the side. When he looked up, Hannah was staring up at him, now wearing only that smile she’d spoken about yesterday.
He was a dead man. That was his last coherent thought as he moved over her.
*
Hannah drowned in Darryn’s hot gaze as he hoisted himself above her. His eyes raked feverishly over her. She had been dreaming about being with him like this for the last two weeks. But she hadn’t realized how quickly one look from him could make her lose control.
She was burning for him, light-headed with need.
Unashamedly, her body lifted upward, urging him to hurry.
But his lips only teased hers, not claiming hers like they had minutes ago.
With a grunt, her arms and legs snaked around him, pulling him closer so he would have to stop torturing her and kiss her.
Fusing her mouth with his, she held him tightly. Every centimeter of her skin was plastered against his. She was amazed at how perfectly the upper part of his body fit around her curves, as if their bodies had been designed precisely for one another.
*
He desperately tried to remember that he was supposed to be civilized, but he was losing control. Her scent infiltrated every cell of his body, heated his blood until it raced through his veins and thundered in his ears.
Her back arched and he let go. Folding her long tresses around his one hand, he moved her head so he could get to her throat, to the soft spot just below her ear.
She gasped; he pushed her back so his hands and mouth could move over her damp skin. Frantically, he savored and caressed, but he had to get more of her, needed more of her.
His mouth moved farther down over her heated flesh, possessed her breasts.
It was impossible to breathe. The air around them was too thick. Flames were licking just below the surface of his skin, overheating his entire system. She was as desperate to touch him, to taste him, her hands clutching and unclutching his shoulders.
His hand found her wet and ready for him. He lifted his head to watch her. Her eyes were closed, her face aglow with pleasure. Shuddering, he stroked her body. He craved her, he needed her, now.
His muscles quivered as he hoisted himself above her. She opened her eyes; they were wild with passion, dark with want. She whispered his name over and over again.
Blind with need, he pushed into her and she clamped around him. He was finally where he wanted, needed to be. With her, in her, a part of her. He was home.
*
She was burning, burning, burning. Passion had blurred her vision and she couldn’t see anything.
There was only Darryn—his breath in her ear, his hands on her body as he took them up and up to a height she’d never reached before.
There she clung to the moment until he trembled above her.
With her name a mantra on his lips, the tempest finally swept them away to a point where time and place had no meaning.
When Hannah opened her eyes, she stared into Darryn’s. She was lying on her side, her hands tucked under her face. He was lying on his elbow, staring down at her.
She put out a hand and touched his face again. “You’re really here.”
He smiled and bent down to kiss her. “I’m here,” he said, trailing a hand lazily up and down her side. “I behaved like an idiot when you called. We were in a meeting, and I was ready to punch this one guy…”
She winced. “And I phoned wanting phone sex! I still can’t believe I did that,” she said, her face in the palm of her hand.
“Hey,” Darryn said, taking her hand away. “I love it that you’re not too shy to show me what you feel.” He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows. “Next time you phone, asking me what I’m wearing, I’ll tell you.”
A blush crept up her neck. “I’ve never done anything like that before,” she said. “But with you…I become a brazen hussy!” she cried out and pressed her face in the pillow.
His hand stopped stroking her side and cupped her breast. “Any schoolboy’s fantasy.” He chuckled and kissed the top of her shoulder. “I love you,” he whispered, kissing her back. “And I love what you do to me.” His words disappeared on her skin.
Hannah sighed and turned on her back. Her arms slid around his neck. “I love you too,” she whispered. “I hate being away from you,” she said and kissed him.
He stilled.
“What?” she asked.
“Your modeling career…I’ve been thinking. It’s your work that’s keeping us apart,” he said.
Hannah could actually feel her blood cooling. “So, you think my work is the problem?”
“Well, yes. If you’re not working, you can be with me and we can travel together when I have to be somewhere. What do you think?”
“What do I think?” she asked softly.
Before he could answer, though, she shoved him away and scooted off the bed. Grabbing the sheet, she quickly folded it around her body, her hands shaking.
“What?” Darryn asked, totally bewildered.
Grinding her teeth, she rounded on him. “What do I think?” she repeated. “Thank you for realizing that I actually do think—really big of you. I love you, but you are behaving like a complete jerk. What made you think that I would leave my job to be at your beck and call?”
“Because we’ll be together?” he said, clearly dumbstruck that she hadn’t jumped at the chance to leave everything behind her at the drop of a hat.
“Together? And for how long? Until you’ve had enough of me, until you discover I’m not what you thought I was? How long did you have in mind?”
He slipped off the bed and pulled on his pants. “Hannah, I don’t know, okay? I don’t have everything figured out, but I mistakenly thought because you love me, you’d be happy to stay with me!”
“Come to think of it, your job is also keeping us apart. If you’re not working you can stay with me, go with me when I travel. How does that sound?” she asked coolly.
*
Darryn stared at Hannah, not quite sure he’d heard her correctly. But the tilt of her chin and the battle in her eyes confirmed her words.
“I…I…” He didn’t know what to say. He closed his mouth. This was not how he thought this conversation would go. “You’re being unreasonable. I’m leaving,” he said, buttoning up his shirt.
Her eyes blazed but she inhaled deeply. “Of course you’re leaving,” Hannah said and turning her back on him, walked regally toward the bathroom. “You are not getting what you want. I don’t want to heel when you want me to. I’m the one being unreasonable, so why would you stay?”
Just before she closed the door, the sheet slipped, giving him a last glance of a sexy thigh.
And of course, his body reacted immediately to the sight.
“Damnit, that’s not what I said!” he shouted after her.
But the bathroom door remained closed. Undecided, he looked around him. Why the hell was she so difficult? He was part of a business; what a ridiculous notion to think he’d quit his job. Of course he couldn’t simply walk away.
Staying here for the moment was not going to accomplish anything. He’d give her a day to think about what he’d said, and then he’d try to talk to her again.
*
Hannah listened with her ear against the door. After a few moments, the sound of footsteps down the short corridor reached her. It was silent for a few minutes before the front door was opened and closed.
She felt like crying, but she was so angry she could throw something. Her job was keeping them apart? And when she’d turned the tables on him and asked him to leave his job, she was being unreasonable?
Tears threatened to escape, but she wiped her eyes crossly. Crying was not going to solve anything—it left her with swollen eyes and a blocked nose and the problem still unsolved.
She opened the bathroom door and walked back into her room. Her gaze fell on the unmade bed and she turned away quickly. Grabbing her laptop, she stormed out of her room. Coffee. She needed coffee, and then she had to talk to her sisters.
Glancing at her watch, she sent a text to Caitlin. She needed man advice urgently, she didn’t care what time it was. Her sisters and Dana would have to figure out quickly how they could all get to one place so that they could Skype.