The Bridal Path: Ashley Read online

  Dillon couldn’t argue with that. He felt as if he’d been waiting a lifetime for just this moment.

  * * *

  Ashley had never felt so exquisitely sensual in her entire life. With Dillon’s naked, aroused body under her own, with warm water lapping gently at their skin, she felt as if she was in the middle of every sexy, romantic scene she’d ever seen in the movies. An image of Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr tangled heatedly together on the sand as waves crashed around them came immediately to mind.

  The slow, deliberate slide of Dillon’s hands over her hips made her heart race. When he touched her already sensitive nipple with his tongue, a fire blazed to life low in her belly. The hard press of his arousal against her thigh teased and taunted. She ached to feel him inside her, to know the magical wonder of truly making love with him after wanting him for so terribly, terribly long.

  Okay, maybe her teenage yearnings had been all about rebellion and daring. Maybe this hunger to be united with him still had its roots in rebellion. She didn’t know, didn’t care. All she knew for certain was that she craved the intense feelings he stirred in her. She needed to feel special and desired. She needed to recapture the sense that she was someone, that she was special, that she was perfect.

  She had lost all that in one cutting conversation with her agent. Dillon remembered, though, and he had started to give it back with one heated glance. Now, in his arms, she felt whole again. She felt like the Ashley Wilde who could triumph over anything.

  Her insecurities of the night before seemed to have vanished. She had taken an incredible risk earlier, practically begging him to make love to her, but she had known deep inside with a woman’s intuitive confidence that this time he wouldn’t refuse, that he couldn’t walk away a second time.

  It didn’t matter that the real problem hadn’t gone away. She wasn’t instantly thinner. She wasn’t magically cured of all the doubts and insecurities. She knew the path ahead of her was still uncertain, her future plans clouded.

  But at this moment, she could push that aside for the incredible sensation of feeling like a desirable woman again. If nothing more ever happened between her and Dillon, if he walked out of her life and never looked back, he still would have given her that. He would have reminded her that the way she felt about herself could be communicated to others. If she felt sexy and wanton, then she was. Dillon had detected the difference in her at once and responded to it. That was all the proof she would ever need that she could control her own destiny, at least in matters of the heart.

  Satisfied by this discovery, she closed her eyes and gave herself up to the wild stirrings of her body, the more and more intense caresses that left passionate yearnings in their wake.

  Just when she felt her body reaching the edge of a mind-blowing climax, Dillon’s touch retreated.

  “I am not making love to you for the first time in a bathtub,” he said, his voice tight and ragged with the same sort of raw hunger Ashley was feeling.

  With surprising agility, he rose in one graceful movement, Ashley cradled in his arms. He carried her into the bedroom and gently lowered her to the bed. She couldn’t recall a time when she had ever felt more cherished.

  In bed, the sensual assault began again with lingering caresses and slow, deep kisses.

  For a man she’d always assumed would be demanding and dangerous in bed, Dillon was astonishingly gentle. Yet there was no mistaking the urgency of his desire or the possessiveness behind his claiming. He made every inch of her his with a stroke of his finger or the brush of his lips.

  And when she was quivering with need of her own, he slid into her oh-so-slowly, filling her, then retreating and filling her again until in a spectacular explosion of sensation, he made her totally, everlastingly his.

  Chapter Nine

  “Poor old Mrs. Fawcett should see us now,” Dillon said as Ashley stretched luxuriously beside him.

  “Are you kidding? She’d burn up the phone lines trying to find my father.” Apparently feeling emboldened by what they had just shared, she lifted herself until she was sitting astride him, then gazed into his eyes. “And I for one am not interested in being joined up here by him.”

  “Ditto,” Dillon said, trying to ignore the provocative sensations that were already slamming through him again. To his deep regret, making love to Ashley hadn’t gotten her out of his system. He feared he might be well and truly hooked. “But we should talk about what just happened here.”

  “Why? We’re two adults. We both knew exactly what we were doing.”

  “Did we? How would you describe it?”

  “We made love.” Her expression faltered ever so slightly. “Didn’t we?”

  “I did.”

  “You say that as if you’re not so certain that’s what I did.”

  Dillon hated to ruin a perfectly incredible afternoon, but he wanted things to be very clear between them. Whatever had drawn Ashley to this hideout hadn’t magically gone away. It would be terrific if he could be part of the solution, but he sure as hell didn’t want to become part of the problem.

  “I’m not certain,” he agreed.

  “Dillon, I don’t do things like this every day. That should tell you something.”

  “It tells me you wanted me, that for today, at least, you needed me. It doesn’t give me a single clue about what’s really going on in that brilliant head of yours, though. For all I know you may be on the rebound. You may be using me as a way to mend a broken heart.”

  She was shaking her head adamantly before he finished. “No, this had nothing to do with another man. You can trust me on that.”

  “Okay. But you were using me, you were trying to prove something.”

  She rolled away from him and gathered a sheet around herself. “Look, I’m sorry if I did something wrong, if this didn’t work for you,” she said, tears brimming in her eyes.

  Dillon promptly felt like the worst possible kind of a jerk. Kneeling in front of her, he framed her face with his hands. He brushed her tears away with his thumbs. She trembled at his touch.

  “Sweetheart, I assure you there was nothing wrong with anything that happened here. Nothing,” he repeated emphatically. “But I need to know why it happened. I’ve been here with you for days now. I’ve seen something in your eyes I’ve never seen before. You’re vulnerable. I don’t want to think I’ve taken advantage of that.”

  “You haven’t.”

  He wasn’t reassured. “Then, please, tell me what this was all about.”

  Even though her lips quivered, they began to tilt into a smile. “Do you realize that thousands and thousands of men and women hop into bed together every single day and they don’t need explanations?”

  “No-fault sex?” he suggested. “Sorry, sweetheart, but despite popular opinion of my sorry reputation, it doesn’t work that way for me. When I sleep with a woman, it means something. The potential consequences are too great for it not to.”

  Her eyes widened. “You mean…oh, my gosh, we didn’t…I could be…”

  Dillon nodded. “The last thing I expected when I came up here was to find you waiting for me. From the minute I saw you, I knew we’d be together sooner or later, but I didn’t expect it this soon or I would have hightailed it into Riverton for some protection.”

  He brushed her hair from her face. “You don’t need to worry about most of the possible consequences, but there is a chance you could get pregnant. If that happens, no matter where you are or where I am when you find out, I want to know. Understood?”

  Ashley swallowed hard, looking vaguely thunderstruck.

  “Ashley?”

  “I’ll tell you. I promise,” she whispered eventually. She sighed. “As rebellions go, this one was a doozy, wasn’t it?”

  So, Dillon thought, he finally had his answer. She had admitted what he had only guessed before–that making love with him had been no more than a long-delayed rebellion. Riverton High’s Miss Perfect had slept with the school delinquent. Hallelujah
and amen!

  And even though he knew more about rebellion than most people learned in a lifetime, even though he’d embraced it as a life-style for a very long time, discovering that it was the only motive behind the most incredible lovemaking of his life hurt like hell.

  He looked at Ashley and his heart ached. Suddenly he couldn’t bear it a second longer. He brushed a lingering kiss across her forehead, gathered up his clothes and took off.

  It was ironic, he thought as he rode off. He had come to Trent’s cabin because it was a place where he had always been able to think clearly. Now it was the last place on earth he could gather so much as a coherent thought.

  * * *

  Ashley wasn’t entirely sure when she realized Dillon’s mood had taken a nosedive and that she was in some way responsible for it.

  She went over their heart-stoppingly beautiful afternoon detail by detail. She recalled his demand that she tell him if she discovered she was pregnant.

  Then, only moments later, he’d climbed out of the bed they had shared, tugged on his clothes and disappeared without a word. She’d heard the roar of the Harley shortly thereafter. She hadn’t seen him since.

  It was now well past nightfall, and she was beginning to worry that he’d taken off for good. She couldn’t help wondering if he’d simply gotten what he wanted from her and seen no reason to hang around any longer. That would certainly be par for the course with the downhill skid of the rest of her life these days.

  How could she have foolishly gotten the idea that there was something special between them? Maybe Dillon was just like everyone else in the world, after all, eager to grab whatever was offered without any thought to giving anything back.

  Her snake of an agent had certainly operated under that particular code of ethics, if you could call it ethical to bad-mouth a client the minute there was a dip in the demand for her services.

  For all she knew, Dillon was just like him. What did she really know about the man he’d become? Nothing. She didn’t even know exactly why he’d come to the cabin in the first place or why he had hung around after discovering her there. His hints about stress could have meant anything.

  Ignoring the glimmer of hurt she had detected in his eyes, she was swept away once more by confusion. All her doubts about his past surged to life again, along with even deeper uncertainties about his motives toward her. He might have been hanging around just to irritate her. Or maybe he had no place else to go.

  Despite his denial that he was in trouble with the law, she had no idea if he was in the sort of trouble he used to thrive on getting into. Maybe he’d never broken any major laws, but he’d certainly wandered into some gray areas. Since he was disgustingly silent on the subject of his life, she had to wonder what he wasn’t telling her. At the same time, he seemed perfectly content to let her think whatever she wanted to about him.

  As lonely and bereft as she’d felt when she’d fled to Wyoming, she’d been all too grateful for his presence. She got some credit for asking pointed questions, but clearly lost when it came to accepting evasive answers. It was possible that she had been incredibly foolish. She’d been so quick to look forward to their lazy walks and late-into-the-night conversations that she’d pushed aside her doubts about him.

  Now that she thought about it, she realized they had rarely talked about anything of consequence. Arguments about the most romantic destinations in the world were about as heavy as the conversations had gotten. Dillon had traveled to an impressive number of exotic places for a man who’d left Riverton with little more than the clothes on his back.

  Sitting all alone in the bed they had just shared, she let her imagination run wild. Perversely, thinking of him as some sort of international art or jewel thief gave her an odd thrill. She’d always wanted to do something totally rebellious. Maybe she was finally living on the edge of danger. If he’d only talked about his exploits, she could have experienced his world vicariously.

  At least thinking about Dillon’s potential list of sins had kept her from having to do any serious soul-searching about her own life. Even if he never came back, she supposed she owed him for providing that distraction.

  At the sound of an engine, her spirits quickly soared. So much for listening to her head’s doubts rather than her heart’s certainties. All that really mattered, it seemed, was that he had come back, after all. The past hour’s moping had been over nothing. Clearly, she was losing it if she couldn’t even spend a few minutes alone without thinking the worst.

  Hopping out of bed and yanking on a robe, she forced herself not to race for the door. In the living room, she chose a spot in front of the fire to wait, listening for the sound of his footsteps on the porch.

  His approach, though, was astonishingly quiet, his tread surprisingly light. When an equally light, rapid tap came on the door, her heart leapt into her throat. So, it wasn’t Dillon after all.

  Biting back disappointment, she opened the door to find Dani standing there, her expression a mix of relief and concern. She gave a quick nod of satisfaction. “So you are here. I thought as much. May I come in?”

  Ashley sighed and reluctantly stepped out of her sister’s way. “How did you find me?”

  “Process of elimination. I started in New York and worked my way west.” She studied Ashley with a big sister’s quick but thorough appraisal. “Your agent says you fired him. Care to tell me what that’s all about? Or why you’re moping around here in your bathrobe at five in the afternoon?”

  A blush crept up her cheeks. “No,” Ashley declared firmly on both counts. “Would you like some tea?”

  “I’d prefer some answers, actually.”

  “Dani, I love you dearly, but you are my sister, not my mother. Stop fussing over me.”

  Dani sighed heavily. “Is that why you left Three-Stars, because I was hovering? That’s what Sara said. She told me I drove you away with all my questions. I’m sorry if I was responsible for you leaving.”

  Ashley smiled ruefully. “You don’t have to feel guilty. Actually, I left because you’re clairvoyant. You see straight through me.”

  “I see. What is it you didn’t want me to figure out?”

  She knew her sister well enough to realize that this was only the beginning. Despite her momentary contrition, Dani would nag and push until she learned all Ashley’s secrets. Ashley’s only hope was to delay the process.

  “Could we talk about this later?” she pleaded. “I’m starved. Even if you don’t want some tea, I do. I haven’t eaten since breakfast.” She headed for the kitchen, leaving Dani to trail along after her.

  Once she’d convinced her sister that there would be no conversation without food, Dani’s nurturing nature kicked in. She stepped in and took over, briskly putting together thick sandwiches and brewing a pot of herbal tea while Ashley retreated to the table.

  This was the way it had always been among the three sisters, Ashley recalled, relaxing at last. Dani’s maternal instincts had made her the mother hen. Sara and Ashley had balked at the perceived interference, yet they had loved their big sister for caring so passionately.

  It was about time Dani had a brood of her own to flutter over, Ashley decided.

  “Heard anything from Daddy?” she asked, rather than bringing up what she really wanted to discuss–her sister’s marital status. Dani caught enough grief on that subject from their father. He’d been trying to marry her off to some rancher friend of his for years. Balking at that had been the most sensible thing Dani had ever done, even if it had cost her the kids she wanted so desperately to have.

  “He’s cut a wide swath through Phoenix and Scottsdale,” Dani said as she put their food on the table. “He says there’s no one there except a bunch of people sitting in the sun and waiting to die.”

  “I thought that was why he went there,” Ashley said. “I thought that was his idea of relaxing.”

  “No, actually when he left he said he wanted to kick up his heels. I expect him to venture to L.A. or Ve
gas one of these days and come home with some twenty-five-year-old with a cowboy fixation.”

  “God forbid,” Ashley said with heartfelt horror.

  “We can’t make choices for the ones we love,” Dani pointed out dutifully.

  “I’m glad you said that,” Ashley chimed in. “Maybe that philosophy will keep your nose out of my business.”

  “Nice try,” her sister said briskly. “But I’m not so easily dissuaded, especially when you’re hiding out up here in a place you always claimed to abhor.”

  “No, that was you. I don’t even give this cabin much thought.”

  “But it was the first place you could think of to run to. Why is that?”

  “Because I figured no one would think to look for me here,” she said pointedly. “Especially you, given the way you shudder at the mention of it. I wanted to be alone.”

  Danielle Marie Wilde was not used to taking hints. It seemed unlikely she would start now. The grim, determined set of her lips confirmed that.

  “When you give me the answers I want, then you can be alone,” she said. “Sometimes it actually does help to talk, you know.”

  Ashley scowled at her. “Fine, let’s talk, then. I swore just two minutes ago that I wasn’t going to bring this up, but I can’t help it. When are you going to find yourself some decent, loving man and have a passel of kids to worry about?”

  Dani merely smiled at that. “Do you honestly think that will get me off your case?”

  “I can always hope.”

  “It won’t,” she assured her. “Being born my baby sister came with a guarantee. You get a lifetime of me worrying about you. That won’t stop no matter how many kids I have, not that there’s time left for me to have too many.”

  “Dani, you are barely thirty years old. You can have all the kids you want. You just have to find the right man.”

  “Riverton is not exactly crawling with candidates,” she said with an air of resignation. “Look, can we stick to the subject? We were talking about you.”