When We Touch(17)

The conviction in his voice told her that even if his efforts didn't pay  off, he'd put up one hell of a fight. "Then I believe you'll make a  comeback. If not this season, the next."

He didn't respond. She feared he knew her encouragement was simply that-encouragement.

"For now you need to get some sleep," she said. "Or you won't convince anyone that leg has healed."

They'd reached his room. She hesitated at the entrance, expecting him to  continue on himself but, keeping one arm around her shoulders, he  touched her face with the opposite hand.

When she looked up at him, he held her chin so that she couldn't look away as he murmured, "Come to bed with me."

* * *

Brandon knew Olivia had every reason in the world to say no. She'd just  been through a terrible breakup. She probably wasn't over Kyle. The last  thing she needed was to make love with a man who'd soon be leaving,  most likely for months. At the moment, he had no clue where his life was  going, whether he'd ever ski again, what he'd do if his comeback turned  out to be a bust.                       
       
           



       

But he couldn't help trying to capture and hold on to the special quality that made her so difficult to forget.

"Brandon-"

At the distress in her voice, he released her. He wouldn't pressure her,  didn't want her to regret giving in once it was all over. "Never mind,  honey. I know it's been a hell of a year for you." Figuring she'd hurry  to her own room, he limped to the bed and dropped onto the mattress. His  damn leg was aching again. Some days were worse than others. Tonight,  the pain had gotten so bad he thought it might drive him insane.

But then she was there with her clothes off, and the pain disappeared beneath a flood of euphoria.

* * *

Olivia supposed she'd known this was coming. Brandon had always been  different from the other boys and, as an adult, he was different from  the other men she knew, too. So even though a lot had changed in recent  months, nothing had really changed. Meeting him again had shown her that  as much as she'd cared about Kyle, she'd already accepted that their  romantic relationship was over. She'd gotten farther beyond the  heartbreak of it than she'd dreamed.

"That's it, honey," Brandon whispered as she slid her hands up under his  T-shirt to run her fingers over the ridge of his pectoral muscles, his  nipples, the sprinkling of soft hair that covered his chest. She liked  that he was encouraging her to cast her inhibitions aside, to touch and  taste him as eagerly as he was touching and tasting her. They hadn't  even bothered to turn off the lights. Being able to see his expressions  and reactions added a whole other dimension.

When her bare skin first came into contact with his, he sucked air  between his teeth and held her still as if he needed a moment to  recover. "You've got me so excited I can hardly breathe," he whispered  hoarsely.

She loved the power that knowledge gave her. He probably realized she  would or he wouldn't have made the admission. He was generous that way,  and she appreciated it. "There's just one problem … "

He gazed up at her. "What is it?"

"I don't want to hurt your leg."

Even the guttural sound of his laugh made her happy. "I don't want you  to worry about that," he said. "All I can feel is how badly I want you.  Kiss me."

When her mouth met his, Olivia groaned. It felt as if she'd been waiting  for this day since the last time he'd kissed her, in high school.  Closing her eyes, she parted her lips and welcomed his tongue in her  mouth, enjoying the fact that she was in control and he didn't seem to  mind.

"You kiss even better than you feel," he told her.

"Good. Because I want to kiss you again."

He rolled her beneath him as the kiss grew wetter and more heated. Then,  anchoring her hands to the mattress above her head, he lowered his  head.

Olivia gasped when his mouth closed over her breast. She was so wound  up, so desperate to release the building tension, she wanted to rake her  nails down his back. But she could only arch into him because he was  still restraining her hands.

"Ah, you like that?" he murmured as his tongue made arousing circles.

She liked him. She almost said so-almost blurted out that these  sensations would be meaningless to her if he were anyone else. But she  knew that would make him uncomfortable. It's impossible not to love him,  his mother had said. That was true-but it was equally true that he'd  never commit.

He spent considerable time on her other breast, the sensitive skin on  the inside of her arms and her neck before releasing her wrists. Then  she was free to touch him wherever she wanted, and she took full  advantage of it-until his mouth returned to hers and his fingers found  the part of her that wanted him most.

"Brandon … " Her voice caught on his name.

He was so engrossed it took him a second to respond. "What, sweetheart?"

He sounded dazed. She knew she probably sounded the same. Or maybe she  sounded desperate. She was certainly feeling desperate, craved nothing  more than the completion he promised.

"Do you have birth control?" she asked. "Because I … I have nothing."

"I bought some condoms this morning." His mouth was at her breast again  but his fingers … they were torturing her even more sweetly.

"This morning?" she repeated.

He lifted his head long enough to grin at her. "I was thinking positive."

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Oh, you were."

"Couldn't help hoping."

Catching handfuls of his hair, she laughed as he settled himself between her legs.

"Do it now," she whispered.                       
       
           



       

He kissed her tenderly. "I've waited a long time for this."

She liked that they'd left the lights on, that she could see him. He was male beauty and athletic grace. "God, I love-"

He hesitated. "What?" he whispered when she stopped.

She'd been about to say, "Everything about you." Those exact words  almost came out despite her efforts to hold them back, but she managed a  more acceptable substitution. "The way you make love."

He stared down at her. "Thank you. I love the way you make love, too."

That was nice of him, she thought. He sounded so sincere. Then she  locked her legs around his hips, drawing him as deep as possible.





Chapter 11



Brandon reached for Olivia before he even opened his eyes, but she was  no longer in his bed. His hands met with cool, crisp sheets instead.  Only a hint of her perfume remained.

He rolled toward the scent, breathing it in, remembering. Then he shoved himself up on his elbows to listen.

Silence. She wasn't showering. She wasn't moving around in the kitchen.

She was gone from more than just his bed.

"Damn," he muttered, disappointed. But at least his leg wasn't painful.  The terrible ache that was becoming such a part of his life had  disappeared as completely as Olivia had. Of course, given how often  they'd made love in the past three or four hours, he had too many  biochemicals flowing through his bloodstream to feel anything  unpleasant. But these days he checked for pain every time he woke up  because he never knew when just walking was going to be a battle.

Today was a good day. He was exhausted after being up so much of the  night, but it was the kind of exhaustion that comes with complete  satisfaction. The only thing better would to be to feel her bare skin  under his hands one more time.

He almost drifted back to sleep. But then he began to wonder if she was  gone until she ran some errands, until after the wedding, or for good.

Dragging himself out of bed, he tested his leg to see if it would  complain when he put pressure on it, breathed a sigh of relief when it  didn't and went to check the other bedroom.

"Already?" he grumbled when he saw it.

She'd taken her suitcase with her.

* * *

"Are you really with Kyle's brother?" Nancy asked.

Olivia had been so busy this morning pulling together the last-minute  details of the wedding that she'd managed to avoid spending any time  alone with her mother or her sister. To get everything done, she'd had  to stay focused. When Nancy and Noelle stopped for lunch, Olivia grabbed  a sandwich and moved gratefully on without them to get the right  colored candy for the reception.

Fortunately the jars she'd ordered online had arrived. That meant she  didn't have to use the less attractive ones she'd bought yesterday. But  now that the chairs, tables and decorations were in place, and the  caterers, minister and disc jockey were primed and ready, she only had  to make sure everyone was prepared for the photographer at three. So she  and her mother were getting a manicure while Noelle was having her hair  curled and stacked in an arrangement that could've been featured in  Bride Magazine.