The judge had awarded Bianca one-night-a-week temporary visitation with Nina, starting today. The judge had given them the next month to gather information or work out an agreement before he revisited the case.
Thank God for Sebastian's artful negotiations or things might have played out so much worse. He'd managed to wedge in a provision. Kyle would pay Bianca's expenses and hire a nanny to stay with Bianca and Nina during the twenty-four-hour visitations. At least they had the reassurance the baby would be cared for, and Bianca couldn't skip town with Nina. They'd all stayed at the courthouse until arrangements had been made with the sitter they'd used during their D.C. trip.
He'd done everything possible for now. And still, it didn't quiet the roaring inside him. The sun sank as hard and fast as his gut. What if they still lost Nina? The love he felt for his daughter slammed through him all the more once he had to watch Bianca walk away with his little girl. Seeing the devastated expression on Phoebe's pale face at the loss had only hammered home his failure.
His headlights swept around the next curve, sharper than he'd expected, and he forced himself to slow down. He wouldn't be any good to Nina or Phoebe if he totaled the car. His hands shook so hard he decided to pull off the deserted road until he regained control of the fears broadsiding him.
Kyle guided the sedan onto a secluded parking area sandwiched between dunes with towering sea oats. The wind tore in off the ocean, bits of spray pinging on the windshield.
His hands fisted against his knees, tighter, tighter again as if he could somehow hold back the swelling frustration inside him. Muscles tensed and bunched up his arm until he slammed his fist against the dashboard with a curse.
He welcomed the bolt of pain that shot up his arm. He considered giving the leather a second go … until he saw the tears streaking down Phoebe's face.
Ah, hell. Those tears hurt him far more than if he'd broken his hand. "I'm sorry, Phoebe, so damn sorry."
Sorry for more things than he could even put into words right now. He gathered her against his chest, and she didn't even protest, just sagged against him. A choking sob caught in her throat. She gripped his suit coat until her fingers dug into his shoulders, the same fears and frenzy radiating from her that he felt inside himself. He thumbed away two tears streaking down her cheek, rested his head against her brow, murmuring whatever consoling words he could scavenge out of his own stark arsenal.
Phoebe burrowed closer, turning her face toward his caress, toward him. "Touch me," she whispered, her voice hoarse and agonized, "hold me, make the emptiness go away."
Kyle stilled. She couldn't possibly be suggesting they …
But then she pressed a kiss into his palm, her lips moving against him as she spoke, "I can't stand one more moment thinking about what happened. I need you to give me something else, something wonderful, to think about."
All his frustration gathered force with a purpose-giving Phoebe the distraction, the outlet, even a momentary relief from the pain. He guided her face up to his. Their mouths brushed. Held.
Phoebe's fists unfurled from his suit coat and her fingers crawled across his back to clamp him closer. Passion exploded inside him, feeding off all the frustrated emotions that had stockpiled within him since Bianca's out-of-the-blue call. Hell, since Phoebe had shut him down after sex in the airplane.
Kyle slid his hands up to cup her face, to fit their lips more surely against each other, to deepen the kiss and contact and connection. All the frenzy of the day channeled into the moment, seeking an outlet.
He grazed his fingers down her back to cradle her hips, guiding her onto his lap the way he'd fantasized about doing when they'd made out by the shore in the Aston. But, where that night had been about seduction, this moment was about release.
She slid over his legs, her pink-cotton wraparound dress bunching up around her hips. The fabric parted along the side at the wrap, exposing her rose-colored panties. He slipped his fingers along both hips, twisting the silky fabric until the underwear … snapped. He brushed aside the scraps until she pressed against him, moist and hot.
She sprinkled desperate kisses along his mouth, his jaw, nipping and tempting with her tongue and teeth. The last rays of sun faded. The dusk of night sealing them in darkness, heightening his other senses as he inhaled her vanilla scent mixed with the musk of sexy want.
Her panting breath synced up with his. Phoebe tore at his belt, making fast work of his fly and freeing him from his boxers. She stroked him, already throbbing and hard in her hand. The touch of her cool fingers spiked his need. He clenched his teeth, scavenging for bits of his shredded control long enough to fish his wallet from his back pocket. His eyes adjusting to the dark, he plucked out a condom.
She rocked her hips against him, her body bare and welcoming. His jaw flexed, his throat moving in a slow swallow as his lashes went heavy for an instant and he fought the urge to close his eyes.
He tore open the packet. "Wait."
"No patience tonight." She snatched the birth control from his hand.
"I agree."
"Now shh … " She rolled the condom along the length of him, urgently, efficiently.
Phoebe straddled his lap, kneeling over him as she positioned herself. He cupped her buttocks and guided her down on him until they sat together, connected. Cradling her in his palms, he thrust and she writhed and they moved in tandem, knowing each other's bodies and needs better this time.
She squeezed her arms tighter around him, echoing the clasp inside as well that urged him closer and closer to completion as surely as her breathy moans and sighs and demands for more, harder, faster. Now.
Wind rolled in off the ocean, carrying salt and sea spray through the vents. Their mating was raw and sweaty and intensely consuming. It went beyond sex. It was different being with Phoebe, and that scared the crap out of him, because if she left, nothing would be the same, nothing would be as good.
Her moans grew louder, louder till the sound of pleasure filled the car. She clawed at his shoulders, anchoring herself deeper as he watched the shadows play across her face, watched her come apart. Her breasts thrust forward with the powerful arch of her spine again and again, her neck exposed in a graceful arch. He felt the damp strength of her release. She contracted around him, massaging him … over … the edge.
His head dropped against the seat rest. He rode the surging release rolling in wave after wave of expanding explosions. He wasn't even sure anymore if the roaring in his ears came from the ocean or his own body.
He combed his fingers through her hair, her face tucked against his neck. They hadn't solved anything out here by the ocean, but at least she wasn't crying anymore.
He dropped his chin to rest against her head.
Damn it all to hell, what a time to understand her powerful connection to her dead husband. Because right now, Kyle knew he would find a way to make her love him, no matter how long it took.
Phoebe had to do something, anything.
The pure helplessness of waiting to see Nina home again safe and sound was eating her alive. Sitting cross-legged on her bed, she clicked through the keys on her laptop computer, surfing the Internet for anything she could find on child-custody battles. She needed to arm herself with as much knowledge as possible. Kyle, too, had his laptop out, but he'd set up on the patio outside her suite. Only a few more hours and they would pick up Nina.
Neither of them had strayed far from Nina's room. Did he feel closer to their daughter here, too? She couldn't even hazard a guess. Since they'd made such frantic love in his car, Kyle had completely shut down. He'd spent most of the night working at his computer, even after his family had returned. He'd surprised her when he'd climbed in bed with her at about two in the morning, making slower, more thorough love to her with his body, his mouth, his words, but said nothing about his own needs or pain. But being with him hadn't distracted her from worrying about Nina as much as it had rocked her to the core.