One Special Moment - Brenda Jackson [82]
Over and over he had made love to her. Then she had fallen asleep in his arms only to be awakened later by the feel of his warm breath on her neck, and the feel of his hand moving slowly over her body, causing her flesh to become hot once again.
Finally, after neither of them could handle any more pleasure and survive the experience, they had fallen asleep exhausted and their strength totally consumed.
But something had awakened Colby. Something had pulled her back into consciousness. It hadn’t been a sound that had awakened her, but a sudden thought, an alarming realization. She felt the need to think about it, work it out in her mind and come to terms with it. That need increased her urgency to be alone for a while.
Slipping into her robe, she walked barefoot across the room, opened the French doors and stepped out onto the dark balcony. She drew in a deep breath of the clean, crisp smell of the mountain air, wishing it could somehow cleanse her soul.
The great irony of it was that she had known from the very beginning what she was getting herself into. Sterling hadn’t made any promises to her. He had made it clear up front that he wasn’t looking for a permanent wife. But she had let herself believe she could make a difference in his life; a difference he would soon come to accept. Now she wasn’t sure that would happen.
“Colby?”
Sterling’s voice startled her. She’d thought he was still inside sleeping. She slowly turned around to him. “Yes?”
“Are you okay?”
She only hesitated a moment before answering him. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m just enjoying the night air.”
“Would you like some company?”
“Sure, but I thought you were sleeping.”
He came to stand before her. The musky scent of him combined with the potent smell of pine needles and mountain laurels, stirred her senses and made her even more aware of him.
“I was asleep, but I woke up and reached out for you and you weren’t there.” He put his arms around her, drawing her closer to him.
Colby leaned against him, absorbing his strength. She so desperately needed it now. He always managed to convey an aura of cool confidence. The only time she’d seen that confidence waver even just a little was when he had told her about Angeline Chenault’s visit. It was during that time that she had seen straight through Sterling’s pretense at being cool, confident and nonchalant.
“Do you want to tell me what really drove you out here?” he asked softly, as he leaned down and caressed her face with butterfly kisses.
“Talk to me, baby. Tell me what’s bothering you.” Then he drew her deeper into his arms as his hand smoothed gently across her shoulders and back.
“James came to see me today,” she finally said, knowing he’d been waiting patiently for her to answer.
He eyed her thoughtfully before saying, “This sounds serious.”
Colby nodded. “He found out about that Morton Industries stock you gave me. Homer Morton visited him and accused James of marrying me off to you to save Wingate Cosmetics.”
“So what did you tell James?”
“I told him the truth, all of it.”
Sterling raised one eyebrow at her. “In that case, I’m surprised he didn’t hang around to bump me off.”
She shrugged. “I talked him out of it.”
“I appreciate that.”
He sat down on a bench and pulled her down next to him, taking her hand in his. “And just what did you say to him that saved my life?”
Colby glanced up at him and wondered how Sterling would handle what she was about to say. “I told him I had no intentions of honoring that contract between us.”
“And he fell for that?”
“Yes, because it’s the truth, Sterling. I can’t give up my child,” she said seriously, and honestly.
Sterling released Colby’s hand and stood. He stared down at her. His expression was unreadable. “You’re totally serious, aren’t you?”
Tilting her chin, she stood and faced him. “Yes, so you might as well go ahead and sue me.