Читать книгу Wanted: Father for Her Baby: Keeping Baby Secret / Five Brothers and a Baby / Expecting Brand's Baby - BEVERLY BARTON, Beverly Barton - Страница 12

Making love should always be this wonderful, this intense. Every fiber of her being felt Frank’s touch. What had begun with soft gentleness quickly progressed to ravaging hunger. She needed him—wanted him—as a woman wants only that one special man. For her, Frank Latimer was that man.

His mouth was hot and demanding. His tongue probed, then plunged. The kiss consumed her, possessed her. Her body surrendered to the pleasure, reveling in the luscious abandonment. How long had she waited to be with him again? It seemed like forever. Frank was special, different from any other man she’d ever known. They fit together so perfectly and had from the first time they’d made love, as if they were old lovers who had long ago memorized every inch of each other’s bodies. He had touched her physically and emotionally on a level she’d never experienced.

He rose up and over her, his big naked body magnificent, his erection projecting outward boldly. As he settled between her thighs, she caressed his sex. He shuddered. She smiled, loving the power she possessed to arouse him unbearably. He allowed her to pet him for a few moments, then eased out of her grasp and probed her body, seeking entrance. Opening herself up to his invasion, she cried out when he entered her, the sensation so satisfying. She loved the feel of him inside her. Big. Hard. Hot.

She looked up at him. He tossed back his head and closed his eyes. Instinctively she lifted herself and wrapped her legs around his hips, bringing him deeper inside her, increasing his pleasure and hers. He groaned. She sighed.

“I can’t get enough of you, Slim.” He whispered the words as he nuzzled her ear.

“I know the feeling.” She kissed his neck.

He withdrew, then plunged deep and hard, burying himself completely inside her. He alternated deep thrusts with heated kisses and damp, demanding forays to her breasts. She tingled from inside out, on fire for him. The tension inside her built gradually, increasing with each earthy, erotic word he spoke. His grunts and moans mingled with an occasional, barely discernable graphic phrase. He told her what he wanted and what he was going to do to her. She responded with incoherent mumbles and escalating desire.

The urges inside her grew in intensity. Not yet, I want it to last longer, a part of her begged, while another part of her demanded, Now, damn it, now. It’s too good to wait.

What was that ringing noise? she wondered. And where was it coming from? Hadn’t she unplugged the phone in her bedroom as she usually did when she and Frank were together? Go away, she wanted to scream. Leave us alone. We’ve waited such a long time to be together again.

The ringing continued.

Leenie’s eyelids popped open. She groaned when she realized she’d been asleep and only dreaming of being with Frank. It had seemed so real, so breathtakingly real.

Suddenly the telephone stopped ringing. Groggy, her mouth dry as cotton, her head filled with cobwebs, she forced herself into a sitting position. She still wore the clothes she’d had on the evening before, including her shoes.

What time was it? How long had she been asleep? Leenie glanced at the lighted digital clock on the bedside table—7:40 a.m.

As she slid her feet off the bed and onto the floor, yesterday’s events flooded her memory. She and Frank had argued about rescuing Andrew. She had been damned and determined to go to Memphis, totally irrational, uncaring that she wouldn’t have known where to go once she arrived there.

She had taken her frustration and rage out on Frank. She had actually hit him. Repeatedly. And he’d just stood there and let her vent, let her pound his chest with her fists. How could she have done such a thing? She’d never been a violent person.

Oh, Frank, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.

She vaguely remembered him lifting her up into his arms and carrying her back into the house and…What had happened next? He had laid her on this bed, then Kate had sat with her, talking softly, assuring her that everything possible would be done to bring Andrew home. And then someone gave her an injection? Who? Had Frank called a doctor? Why couldn’t she remember clearly?

An insistent rapping on the closed door drew Leenie’s attention. “Yes?”

“May I come in?” Kate Malone asked.

“Yes, please.” She needed to ask Kate some questions and find out what had happened to her yesterday evening.

Looking like morning sunshine in her brown dress slacks and gold sweater set, her long blond hair neatly restrained in a loose bun at her neck, Kate entered the bedroom. “How are you feeling this morning?”

“Like I’ve been drugged.”

“You were.”

Leenie lifted a questioning eyebrow.

Kate smiled. “Forgive us?”

“What are you asking forgiveness for?” Leenie asked.

“You were hysterical, then emotionally wiped out. We couldn’t get you to stop crying, so Frank and I agreed that you needed a doctor. We phoned Haley Wilson and she arranged for her physician to make a house call.”

“It was Haley’s doctor who came to the house? I guess that’s the reason I didn’t recognize him.”

“She tried your doctor first, but he was out of town.”

“What did Haley’s doctor give me—an elephant tranquilizer?”

Kate chuckled. “Are you that hungover?”

Leenie rubbed either side of her forehead with her fingertips. “I feel as if I’ve been run down by a Mack truck.”

“Despite that fact, are we forgiven?”

Somehow Leenie managed to get up. When Kate came toward her, she nodded. “You’re forgiven. And I’m okay. I don’t need any help. However, I do need a shower.” She glanced down at herself. “And I need a change of clothes.”

“We thought it best to just let you—”

“We? You and Haley? Or you and Frank?”

“All three of us.”

“Where is Frank?”

“That was him on the phone. I tried to get to it before the ringing woke you, but—”

“Frank isn’t here?”

“No, he left last night, as soon as you went off to sleep.”

“I guess I can’t blame him for leaving. I said some terrible things to him.”

Kate reached out and took Leenie’s hands in hers. “He didn’t leave because of anything you said or did. And he’s coming back later today. He went to Memphis.”

Had she heard Kate right? “Frank went to Memphis?”

“He phoned Moran last night and asked if he promised to stay out of the way, could he just be there in town, at FBI headquarters, and wait around for word on Andrew.”

Emotion tightened Leenie’s throat. She had accused Frank of not caring about Andrew. But he did care, didn’t he? Why else would he have gone to Memphis.

“Do you know what time the meeting is today?” Leenie asked.

“The agents are set to go in posing as adoptive parents at ten o’clock.”

Leenie pulled her hands from Kate’s and hugged herself, determined not to fall apart again. “Why did Frank call? Is there a problem?”

“He called to check on you,” Kate said. “When he left here last night, he was worried sick about you.”

“Was he?”

“Yes, he was. You’ve got to know that despite the emotional barrier Frank has erected to keep the world at bay, that man cares about you. It’s so obvious to anyone watching him when he’s around you that he’s in love.”

“Kate Malone, I do believe you’re a romantic. Otherwise you’d never think Frank was in love with me. I doubt he’s capable of falling in love.”

“He is. He just doesn’t know it yet.” Kate looked Leenie square in the eyes. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

Leenie sighed.

“I know it’s none of my business, but—”

“Yes, I’m in love with the big lug. I’m so in love with him that it hurts.”

Kate smiled. “Why don’t you take a shower while I fix us some breakfast?”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

Kate turned and headed for the door, then paused, glanced over her shoulder and said, “Frank will call us as soon as he knows anything. If the agents get to see the baby, they should be able to tell if it’s Andrew or not from all the photos the feds have of him.”

“Even if they can’t take him away from those horrible people today, I pray that it is Andrew. At least then, I’ll know he’s safe.”

Frank held his breath, a heartfelt plea repeating in his head, when Special Agents Currie and Rushing returned to the field office on Humphreys Blvd. He waited impatiently while Moran spoke privately to the two agents who had posed as potential adoptive parents. Despite all his training and the lifelong habit of employing logic before emotion, right about now Frank was thinking like a father. A father whose son had been kidnapped.

The office door opened and Moran came out alone to meet Frank. Please, God, please, let that baby be Andrew.

“Sorry it took so long,” Moran said.

“Is he or isn’t he Andrew?”

Moran shook his head. “No.”

Frank felt as if he’d been sucker punched.

“The baby Rushing and Currie was shown is six months old, has reddish blond hair and has a small birthmark on his right arm,” Moran explained. “Definitely not Andrew Patton.”

“Which means Andrew is still out there, his fate unknown. He might not have been kidnapped by this abduction ring y’all are investigating.”

“Just because this baby wasn’t your son doesn’t mean he won’t come up on the auction block in a few days or few weeks.”

“I’m not sure his mother can hold it together for a few more days, let alone a few more weeks.”

“Dr. Patton seems like an amazingly strong woman to me,” Moran said.

“Even the strongest person can break under the kind of pressure Leenie is living with on a daily basis. That baby—our baby—means everything to her. If I can’t give her some kind of hope that I’ll be able to bring him home to her…”

Moran nodded, then glanced down at the floor. “Yeah. Well…yeah.”

Uncomfortable discussing such an emotionally personal issue, Frank changed the subject. “How much time before this operation comes to a head?”

“That’s confidential info.”

“I don’t want specifics. No date, time, place. Just a general idea. I think I’ve got clearance for that much, don’t you?”

“A week. Ten days tops. But possibly sooner.”

“How soon?”

“A few days.”

Frank drew in a deep breath and released it slowly. “Once the operation’s in motion, would you let me know? Just in case Andrew is caught up in things.”

“Are you sure you want to know before it’s all over and done with?”

“I probably don’t want to know, but I’d appreciate a call beforehand anyway.” What Frank didn’t say, but suspected Moran knew anyway was that he needed time to prepare himself in order to be strong for Leenie if the worst happened.

Moran clamped his hand down on Frank’s shoulder. “There’s always a chance we’ll find Andrew. Tell her that. Give her that much hope.”

“False hope?” Frank asked.

“I honestly don’t know.”

Somehow knowing it was Frank, Leenie grabbed the telephone when it rang at two-thirty that afternoon. Her hand trembled as she placed the receiver to her ear.

“Hello.” Her voice quivered.

“Leenie…”

“I’ve been waiting for your call.”

“I know and I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner. I’m on the road, heading back to Maysville. I should be there soon.”

She knew the news was bad; if it had been good, he’d have already told her. “The baby wasn’t Andrew, was he?”

“No, honey, it wasn’t Andrew. I’m sorry.”

“Me, too.” She swallowed. Tears welled up inside her, but did not surface. She was all cried out.

“Moran said that there’s a good chance another baby will come up for adoption soon. Maybe in a few days. The next one could be Andrew.”

“Yes, it could be.”

“Please don’t give up hope.”

She closed her eyes and willed herself to remain totally in control. Crying wouldn’t change anything. Hysterics wouldn’t help Andrew. And blaming Frank only hurt them both.

“I won’t give up hope,” she told him. “You shouldn’t either.”

“You’re right.”

“Frank?”

“Huh?”

“Thank you for going to Memphis to be there when…I’m sorry I was so rough on you yesterday. I couldn’t see beyond my own hurt to—”

“It’s okay, Slim. Honest. I didn’t mind being your whipping boy, if it helped you. God knows I’m not able to do much else to help.”

“That’s not true. Your being here helps.”

He didn’t respond for several minutes.

“Frank?”

“Yeah, I’m here. Just wishing I was already in Maysville with you. I’d really like to hold you in my arms right now.”

“Me, too. I sure could use a hug.”

“Give me about forty-five minutes and I’ll hug the life out of you.”

“Is that a promise?”

“Damn right it is.”

Kate had made herself scarce after telling Leenie she thought she’d go into town for dinner and a movie. “I need a break, if you think you’ll be okay here alone until Frank gets back.” She hadn’t fooled Leenie for a minute. Kate had left so that Leenie and Frank could be alone. But now that she heard Frank’s car pulling up in the driveway, Leenie wasn’t sure she wanted to be alone with him. She was so needy right now, so desperate to be held and comforted. What if Frank’s actions were rooted in his desire to take care of her? She didn’t want him being kind to her. She wanted him to love her.

Bracing her shoulders and willing herself to be calm, she opened the front door and waited for him. The moment she saw him, her stomach did a wicked flip-flop and sexual awareness zinged along her nerve endings. Their gazes met and held for an instant and then Frank was there, grabbing her and pulling her into his arms as he walked her backward into the house. Using his foot, he slammed the door shut. He clutched the back of Leenie’s head, his big fingers spearing into her hair. She gasped half a second before his mouth came down on hers.

He ate at her mouth, his hunger desperately obvious. She wrapped her arms around him and returned his kiss with equal fury. Rational thought ceased to exist. For her. And she suspected for him, too. They wanted each other. Needed each other.

Help me make the world go away was her last coherent thought before she tore at the buttons on Frank’s shirt. He released her only long enough to shrug off his jacket, then he shoved her backward and onto the sofa. She all but ripped off his shirt and buttons flew everywhere. They shared kiss after passionate kiss as he yanked her sweater over her head and hurriedly removed her bra. She gazed up at him when he came down over her. He blocked out the rest of the world. Life itself began and ended with Frank Latimer and with this moment out of time.

When his mouth took hold of her breast to suckle and tease, Leenie bucked up against him. His hands dipped under her to lift her hips so that she felt his pulsating erection pressing into her mound. She slid her hand between them and cupped his sex.

“I wanted to make slow sweet love to you,” he told her in a hungry, whispered rush of words. “But I don’t know if I can wait.”

“I don’t want slow and sweet.” She rubbed herself provocatively against him, naked breasts to hairy naked chest. “I need it fast and dirty.”

Her slacks landed on the floor, followed quickly by his. Her panties flew through the air and perched on a nearby lampshade. His briefs sailed off and onto the coffee table, atop a copy of Psychiatry Today.

His tongue lunged into her mouth just as he hoisted her hips upward to meet his hard, conquering thrust. He hammered into her. She went wild. Blind to everything except Frank. Deaf to everything except the beating of their hearts. Speechless, their only sounds those of grunts and groans and moans of powerful pleasure.

As they went at each other, hot, hungry passion ruling their actions, they toppled off the sofa and onto the floor. Frank rolled her over and placed her on top of him. She rode him at a frenetic pace until she came. Her climax hit her like a tidal wave. Fierce and overwhelming, wiping her out completely. Just as she cried with release, he took the dominant position and with one final stab sent himself over the edge. Growling ferociously, he jetted inside her, not giving a damn that he’d forgotten all about using a condom.

While ripples of the sexual aftermath glided through their bodies, Frank and Leenie lay in the living room floor and held each other. Naked, sated, tension drained from their bodies, he touched her tenderly as she caressed him. Those unbearably sweet moments after the loving prolonged their escape from harsh reality.

Leenie cuddled close. Frank cocooned her in his big, strong arms. She felt safe and protected. And loved.

Please, God, even if he doesn’t love me, let me hold on to that hope for a little while, just as I’m clinging to the precious hope that You will keep Andrew safe.

Frank kissed her temple. “Should we talk?”

“No. Not now. Later.”

He stood, then held out his hand to her. She rose to her feet and together they gathered up their scattered clothing and walked arm-in-arm into Leenie’s bedroom.

“How long did Kate say she’d be gone?” Frank asked.

“Long enough for an early dinner and a movie.”

He tossed his clothes on a nearby chair. She did the same.

Frank led her to the bed. She went with him willingly.

She needed Frank as she’d never needed him before, as she’d never needed another human being. Only he could share her every thought, her every feeling. He offered her solace and sweet moments of forgetfulness. Apart, their fears and worries were more than either could bear. But together, holding on to each other for dear life, they could manage to survive a few more hours…a few more days.