A Father's Promise (Intimate Moments) Read online

  “Trevor’s sleeping fine.” Ellis followed her into the shadows. When she turned toward him once again, he reached out and cupped her cheek. “Second thoughts, Syd?”

  She pressed her cheek into his warmth. “No.” The only other person who dared to shorten her name to the ridiculous-sounding Syd was Cindy. Sydney had gone through puberty and into adulthood with her best friend by her side and so Cindy had earned the privilege of calling her just about anything she wanted. When Ellis used the shortened version he made it sound intimate and special.

  “Nervous?”

  That was the understatement of the year. “What, you can’t see my knees knocking?”

  Ellis glanced down and grinned. “No offense, Syd, but dressed in that thing I can’t see anything but trim ankles, cute feet and painted pink toenails.” Ellis’s thumb stroked her jaw. “I shudder to think what kind of pajamas you are wearing under it.”

  She glanced down and frowned. Ellis had a point there. Any woman who wore more material than a bedspread for a robe was apt to wear flannel pj’s and kneesocks to bed. She didn’t own a pair of flannel pajamas, and the few pairs of kneesocks she owned were meant to be worn with jeans and work boots. She was one of those people in the world who preferred to sleep in the nude—she had been since she graduated from college. The feel of material wrapped around her arms or legs while under the covers made her feel claustrophobic.

  Sydney met Ellis’s gaze and tried for a casual shrug. “I’m not wearing any pajamas.”

  Ellis lowered his gaze to the front of Sydney’s robe and he had to swallow twice before he could unglue his tongue from the roof of his mouth. “What exactly are you wearing under that tent?”

  “A blush.” Sydney’s hand reached out and held the lapels together.

  Sydney was naked beneath the robe! He noticed the slight trembling of her fingers and wondered if it had to do with embarrassment or desire. The blush she was referring to was sweeping up her throat and tinting her cheeks a lovely shade of red. He would have given everything in his wallet to know exactly where that blush had started from. “You look adorable when you blush. Your face nearly matches your hair when the sun catches it.” He reached out and touched her heated cheek. “But I wish you wouldn’t do it.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s telling me that you’re embarrassed or something I said made you uncomfortable.” The confusion in her eyes pulled at his heart. It was very obvious to him that Sydney wasn’t used to entertaining men in her bedroom. That fact made tonight that much more special to him. “Tell me what you are thinking, Syd.”

  “I didn’t dress like this because of you.” Sydney appeared more mortified at her words. “I mean...I never wear pajamas.”

  He let out the breath he had been holding and relaxed. Sydney had been embarrassed or uncomfortable about her normal lack of sleeping attire, not because of him. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “It doesn’t?”

  “Nope.” He shook his head and tugged her closer. “I would have taken them off anyway.”

  Sydney whispered a soft “Oh,” and came willingly into his arms.

  He captured her soft whisper with his mouth, wrapping his arms around her and pressing her close against his aroused body. Desire boiled through his blood and turned into pulsating need. His tongue swept into her mouth. A low groan ripped through his chest as her tongue met his advance with sweet little stabs.

  Sydney’s hands caressed his back, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss. Pleasing musical purrs rumbled up her throat and mated with the kiss. He loved that sweet sound she made when they kissed, and silently vowed to discover if she would still be making it when her thighs were wrapped around his hips and he was deep inside her.

  He broke the kiss as Sydney tugged his shirt up and over his head. His fingers toyed with the belt on her robe. “You smell like raspberries.” He nipped the enticing curve of her neck, where the robe had slipped a bit. “Will you taste like them too?”

  Sydney trembled within his arms. “No, it’s not edible. The manufacturer only guarantees that I’ll smell like raspberries after a shower, not taste like them.”

  “Write them in the morning.” His mouth brushed aside the soft white robe and trailed a string of kisses to the curve of her shoulder. “Tell them to start research on making it taste like raspberries and that you’ll take the first case of the stuff off the line.” He gave her shoulder a tender nip. “I love raspberries.”

  His mouth skimmed downward as the robe slipped farther. The seductive curve of her pale full breast caused him to groan as he savored the soft flesh. “Scratch that last comment.”

  “What comment?” Sydney’s hands stroked the quivering muscles in his back as he restrained himself from picking her up, tossing her onto the bed and sinking so far into her it would take an act of Congress to get him out. He could feel each of her fingers quiver against his skin.

  “About tasting like raspberries.” The tip of his tongue followed the low sweeping line of the robe against her skin. “No manufacturer could ever duplicate your taste.” He lifted his head and met her gaze. Sliding his tongue slowly across his upper lip, he reveled in her flavor. “You taste like hot silk and sinful pleasures.”

  A blush started to sweep up Sydney’s cheeks once again, but he could see that this time she mastered it beautifully. Her hot gaze singed his chest as she smiled slowly. “What do you taste like, Ellis?” Sydney’s fingers teased their way through the scattering of curls arrowing their way down his chest.

  He captured her hand just as it reached the waistband of his boxers. “I’m going to taste like humiliation if you go any lower.” His arousal was painfully obvious. If she so much as touched him, he was going to embarrass himself beyond belief.

  He had wanted their first time together to be slow and sweet. He wanted to touch, taste and savor every inch of her body and make her feel things she had never thought possible. When he had to return home, he wanted to leave with Sydney knowing she had been loved, and loved well.

  Now he wasn’t even sure if he could last until they made it to the bed. The little prologue to their loving that had taken place in the den had nearly done him in. He had held her and watched as she had climaxed at his touch. He thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The next time she climaxed, he not only wanted to be deep inside her, he wanted to be with her all the way.

  If he had any hope of achieving that goal, he had better do something about it, and fast. Ellis reached for the belt on her robe and gently tugged.

  Sydney stood still as the robe gaped and slipped farther off her shoulders.

  He swallowed hard as his gaze followed the pale line of skin from between her breasts to the dark nest of curls at the junction of her thighs. The air in his lungs turned blistering as he forgot to breathe.

  Sydney lowered her hands and shrugged.

  The robe slid to her feet like a white puffy cloud. He knew she was beautiful, he just hadn’t realized how beautiful. Sydney looked like an angel. Twin mounds with jutting pink nipples begged for his mouth. A waist, so slim he could span it with his hands, pleaded for his touch. Legs that were both long and curved ended in rounded hips. And the thatch of dark curls guarding her secrets implored him to explore farther.

  He reached out and traced her collarbone with the tip of one of his fingers. “You’re beautiful, Sydney.” He felt her tremble beneath his touch and smiled. This time he knew she shook with desire. He could see it in her eyes.

  Eyes that were normally soft green burned with a fire as hot as his own. Sydney wanted him. His finger trailed lower and slowly circled one of her protruding nipples.

  Sydney swayed toward him and he needed no further response. She was his. With a quick movement he gathered her up into his arms and carried her to the bed. The comforter was swept onto the floor before he lay her across the mattress.

  Sydney held out her arms to him and softly whispered, “Please.”

  He shook hi
s head and stepped away from her tempting arms. “Soon.” Slowly he pulled a foil packet from his pocket and tossed it onto the bed before pushing down his boxers and stepping out of them. He couldn’t afford for her to touch him now. He would never last. He was beyond aching.

  Sydney shivered as he placed a kiss on the inside of her ankle. She reached for him, her voice filled with the same aching quality that he was feeling. “Ellis, please.”

  His mouth caressed her calf and teased the sensitive spot behind her knee. He gave her other leg the same slow treatment before kissing his way up her trembling thighs.

  Strong fingers pulled at his shoulders, forcing him to move away from his intended target. He didn’t mind. There would be other opportunities later for that particular kind of loving. His fingers trailed up the inside of her thigh as he kissed his way to the taut peaks of her breasts. His teeth lightly nipped a tight bud the same instant his finger slipped deep inside her moist and welcoming opening.

  Sydney arched her hips upward, pressing against his hand. The harsh quality of her breathing told him what he already knew. He released her and reached for the foil pack he had tossed onto the bed. “You’re ready for me, aren’t you?”

  “I’ve been ready.” Sydney reached for him, only he was quicker. He grabbed her hand and avoided her touch. Sydney glanced at their clasped hands and then at his arousal already sheathed in protection. “Why?”

  “If you touch me, Syd, it’s all over before it even begins.” He moved up her body, letting her breasts press against his chest. Berry-hard peaks poked their way into the hair covering his chest.

  The tip of his arousal pressed against her slick opening and she immediately wrapped her legs around his hips, dragging a low and powerful groan through his body.

  He felt himself sinking into her warmth and captured her mouth as he lost the battle against his control and plunged as deep as she could take him. The tight hot walls cradling his shaft sent him higher and higher. He pulled back and plunged again.

  Sydney matched his every thrust, sending him to the brink. He might be losing the battle but he’d be damned before he’d lose the war. He broke the kiss and gazed down into her flushed face. “Open your eyes, love.”

  Eyes brighter than emeralds stared up at him. “Ellis?”

  He pumped his hips faster and ground his teeth. He could see how close she was to the brink by looking in her eyes. She was teetering precariously over the abyss with him. He refused to go without her. He needed her with him.

  “I...”

  “Shh...I know.” He thrust harder and prayed for strength. He knew what was holding her back, fear of the unknown. He couldn’t blame her. This wasn’t like the prologue in the den. This was something else. He had never experienced this deep-seated need before. He didn’t understand it, all he knew was Sydney had to be with him when he reached the center of the vortex pulling him in.

  Ellis slipped his hand in between their bodies and cupped her breast. The rigid nub pressed against his fingers and he gave it a gentle squeeze as he thrust deeply once again. He saw Sydney’s climax in her eyes before he felt it in her body.

  As she shattered beneath him, he gave one last thrust and allowed the maelstrom to pull him over the edge.

  Chapter 9

  It was late the following afternoon when Sydney glanced over at Trevor and grinned. “Are you sure you haven’t done this before?” Ellis’s son was helping her unload a cart of red geraniums onto a table in one of the greenhouses connected to the store. His little hands were positioning each plastic pot just so.

  Trevor shyly shook his head and placed another plant onto the table. “What are these called again?”

  “Geraniums.” She knew he was trying to memorize the names of some of the plants so he could impress his father with all his newfound knowledge. “If you get stuck later trying to remember the names, I’ll help you out.”

  She reached for another tray, packed with fifteen blooming plants, from the top of the cart, and transferred them to the middle of the table. The tables were too wide for Trevor to reach the middle, so he was doing the rows closest to the edge. The huge cart that was used to transfer the plants from the back greenhouses, which were off-limits to the customers, to the greenhouses connected to the store was nearly empty already.

  Trevor glanced at the table behind them. “They’re pansies, right?”

  “Right.” She couldn’t help but be impressed. Trevor was indeed one very smart little boy who picked things up quickly. The sweet yellow and purple faces of hundreds of pansies nearly overflowed the table. Within the next week or so the weather would be warm enough to plant the bright flowers outside. “Next week, if you’re still here, maybe you would like to help me plant some of them around the house.” Her mother’s gardens were mostly perennials but she had peppered them with a few of her favorite annuals. Pansies had been one of her mother’s favorites.

  “Really?” Trevor’s dark eyes grew wide with excitement.

  “Really.” She reached out and ruffled the top of his head. She had seen Ellis do the same gesture and had wondered at its significance. Now she knew. Touching Trevor, even if it was only the top of his head, made her feel as if they had connected on some level. By the gleam of interest still sparkling in his eyes, Trevor appeared to be interested in gardening. Maybe it was the idea of digging in the dirt that sparked that gleam, but that was okay too. Every gardener loved to dig in the dirt. “I’m sure your dad won’t mind if you get a bit dirty.”

  She hoped that was correct. Over lunch, Ellis had seemed a little leery of allowing her to bring Trevor to work. She could understand his overprotective attitude.

  If she had a critically ill child, she would probably never let him out of her sight. It had been the bored expression on Trevor’s face that made her combat Ellis’s unease with assurances of his son’s safety.

  Trevor had watched cartoons and played with his animals the entire morning while Ellis and her father pored over the yearbooks she had brought down from the attic before she left for work. The little boy had jumped at the chance to spend the afternoon at the nursery helping out. She had enjoyed the pint-size company and the hundreds of questions that came with him.

  As for the boy’s father, she didn’t know what to think. Ellis had her spinning so fast she still hadn’t had time to catch her breath. She didn’t want to catch her breath. She wanted to feel his touch again.

  Making love with Ellis last night, not once but twice, had been the most incredible experience of her life. There was no other way to describe it. She didn’t want to describe it. She wanted to experience it again.

  Sometime before dawn she had fallen asleep in Ellis’s arms only to wake up alone to the shrilling of her alarm clock. The sheets had still been warm from where his body had lain, but he was gone. She had missed his warmth, but she had understood his reasons. There were two reasons, and they both had names—Thomas and Trevor.

  The fact that she had taken a lover while living under her father’s roof told her how desperately she had wanted Ellis. She had never so much as kissed a boy while in her father’s house. Ellis had been the first, and they had done a heck of a lot more than just kiss.

  Her father respected her as an adult and hadn’t been too happy with her when she had given up her apartment to move back home to be with him after the accident. Thomas had insisted that she needed privacy and independence. She had assured him she wasn’t about to give up either and that they would both have some adjusting to do.

  Taking a lover to her bed hadn’t been in her plans, but that was what she had done. Ellis was now her lover.

  She wasn’t going to change that fact. She couldn’t even if she had wanted to. What was done, was done, but it didn’t mean she had to flaunt their relationship in front of her father. They could be discreet.

  She didn’t believe in carrying around a bag full of regrets through life. The desire that flared between herself and Ellis had to be explored. She didn’t have one r
egret. Well...maybe one. She was dying to know what it would have felt like if Ellis would have...

  “Here you two are.” Ellis reached out and swung a grinning Trevor up into his arms. “I’ve been looking all over for you both.”

  The sensual vision that had been filling her head erupted into a thousand shattering pieces. The object of her fantasy was standing less than two feet away with a five-year-old boy clinging to his neck. This was Ellis the father, not Ellis the lover from last night.

  He gave her a smile that curled her toes and dropped her stomach down to her knees. Maybe she was wrong about that. His smile had lover written all over it. She was thankful that none of her employees were in the greenhouse to see that smile. They would have known what their employer had been up to in the middle of the night.

  She reached for another tray loaded with plants and busied herself arranging them onto the middle of the table. “Trevor and I are getting out the first bunch of geraniums for the year.”

  “First bunch?” Ellis glanced at the other three tables overflowing with white and pink geraniums. “It looks like you have enough here to beautify every house in Coalsburg,”

  “This will be picked nearly bare the first really nice weekend we get.” She placed the empty tray back onto the cart and reached for the last full tray of plants. “Trevor’s been such a big help.”

  Trevor scampered out of his father’s arms and reached for another plant. “I did all the outside ones myself.” Little fingers carefully placed the pot next to the last one he had set out.

  “You did!” Ellis appeared suitably impressed. “When we go back home, how about if we take some of these plants with us? I think they might look real nice by the front door. What do you think, Trev?”

  Trevor positioned his last plant before answering. “Wayne won’t let me plant them.” Big brown eyes stared up at her as if seeking her help. “Sydney said I could help her plant some around her house.”