Keisha was still mulling over Canyon’s words hours later, even after she’d taken a shower and gotten into bed. Why did his acceptance of her apology make her feel worse instead of better? And why did her mother have to bring up her father?
A mental image of the man who’d fathered her flashed through Keisha’s mind. The physical resemblance was there for even a half-blind man to see. She had her father’s eyes, nose, lips and forehead. He’d seen it that day, and she had seen it for herself. That day he had discovered just what a fool he’d been to think her mother had betrayed him. The sad thing was that it had taken him fifteen years to realize the truth.
Since then, he’d made several attempts to reach out to her, but she didn’t want anything to do with him. She’d even gotten upset when she’d found out her mother had given in and let him back into her life. Her mother didn’t think Keisha knew, but she did.
Easing out of bed, Keisha decided to go downstairs and grab her ereader off the coffee table where she’d left it earlier. It was past midnight, so she would read a novel until she got sleepy. She didn’t have any court cases this week, which was good, and she had spoken to Mr. Whitock. After explaining the situation, he had agreed that she should take the week off.
Sliding into her robe, she checked on Beau one last time before leaving the room to go downstairs.
* * *
Canyon stood at his bedroom window, staring up at the sky. He resented the seesaw of emotions coursing through him. One minute he was filled with so much anger about all Keisha had done, and then the next minute he was overcome by a need for her that could erupt into desire with very little effort.
And that kiss last night hadn’t helped matters. It had only proved that the physical chemistry between them was stronger than ever. His need had flared up so swiftly he could have taken her then and there. That was why he had ended the kiss the way he had. His desire for her had been so sharp it had cut into everything, including his common sense. She could ignite desire in him without even trying.
Like earlier that day, when he’d come in from outside and she’d been talking on the phone to her mother. He had stood leaning against the refrigerator, feeling tightness in his loins. A warm rush of heat had flowed through him. She looked damn good in her jeans, which emphasized her lush curves and shapely backside. He could have ogled her for hours. And when she’d turned around he’d been captured by her incredibly beautiful face. His senses had been reduced to mush.
And then he had accepted her apology. While he was working off his anger outside, he had remembered how he and his brothers used to fuss and fight and how his mother would make them apologize to each other. His mother always told them not to apologize or accept an apology if they didn’t really mean it.
Canyon rubbed a hand down his face. He had accepted Keisha’s apology because he believed she’d been sincere in making it and regretted keeping Beau from him. To continue to feel bitterness and anger toward her wasn’t healthy, not for him and not for his son. And very quickly Beau had become the most important person in his life.
As far as the issue of Keisha still believing that he was a cheating bastard, that was something that would not keep him up at night. She could think whatever she wanted, he didn’t care anymore. As long as she didn’t keep him from his son then he could deal with anything else. Besides, he no longer loved her. But he did want her. Lusty thoughts were keeping him up, making it hard to sleep. He’d already told Dillon he was taking tomorrow off. He had spoken with Roy McDonald, who had agreed to meet with him and Keisha at noon tomorrow to complete the paperwork to change Beau’s last name.
When he’d mentioned the appointment to Keisha earlier tonight she’d said she would need Beau’s birth certificate, which was at her home. So he would take her there in the morning to get it. He’d gotten the okay from Pete earlier yesterday that all prints had been lifted and it was okay for Keisha to bring order to her home. Canyon had already made arrangements to take care of that, as well.
He stretched his body, deciding to go downstairs and walk outside for a while. Seeing the sky from his bedroom window was nice, but on a night like this he preferred being beneath it.
* * *
Keisha made it across the living room before she collided with a hard muscled body. A spark of desire flashed through her the moment they touched. When she reached out to grab Canyon, to stop herself from falling, she touched his bare chest and heard his quick intake of breath. His arms went around her waist to steady her.
“Oh, sorry, Canyon. I didn’t know you were still up.”
“I wasn’t. I couldn’t sleep and thought I would take a stroll outside,” he said in a deep, husky voice.
“Oh. And I came downstairs to grab my ereader off the table where I left it earlier.”
“Couldn’t sleep again?” he asked.
“No, I couldn’t sleep again.” Why were they still standing here with her hands on his chest and his hands around her waist? And why was his heart beating so fast beneath her palms and why was hers beating just as rapidly? And why were so many too-lusty thoughts flowing through her brain, causing heat to stir and making every cell in her body throb as she inhaled his manly scent?
“You want to go with me outside?” he whispered.
She swallowed. She couldn’t. She shouldn’t. But in an instant, she knew that she would. Dropping her hands from his chest, she said, “Okay.”
He let go of her waist and entwined his hand with hers. “Come on.” He led her across the room and out the door.
* * *
The moment they stepped onto the porch Canyon stopped to breathe in the warm August night air. He then glanced up at the sky and a sense of calm flowed through him. Something else flowed through him, as well. An affirmation of the thoughts he’d had earlier this evening.
“This sky still holds special meaning to you, doesn’t it?”
He glanced over at her. “You remember?”
She chuckled softly. “How could I not. Because of you, I’ve grown fond of the sky, as well. I haven’t gone so far as to buy a telescope or anything like that, but I find myself staring up at it a lot.”
“Still certain you’ll see the man in the moon?”
She snickered. “Yes.”
One night he had brought her up here and she’d been convinced that if she kept looking hard enough then she would see the man in the moon. It had all been in jest, the kind of fun they’d enjoyed together. They’d shared all their secrets...even the silly ones. Later they had made love in the backseat of his car. “Let’s sit down on the steps.”
Other than the sound of crickets chirping, the night was quiet. There was a gentle breeze coming off the mountains, twirling around the canyons and valleys. He had a feeling it would rain later in the week. He could deal with any kind of weather, other than a heavy snowstorm. All Westmorelands detested snow, except for Riley. His brother actually looked forward to blizzards.
Canyon glanced over at Keisha. He hadn’t allowed himself to think that one day she would return to Denver and sit beside him under his sky again. Underneath Flash. But she was here. Now if she could only get beyond the hurt and anger she felt were justified.
She was leaning back on her arms and staring up at the sky. What she was thinking? How she was feeling? There had been so much animosity between them, but he hoped they could continue to find common ground without hostility and bitterness, for their son’s sake.
“What are you thinking?” he decided to ask her.
When she glanced over at him he saw a semblance of regret in her eyes. “I was thinking of how things could have been.”
If you hadn’t screwed up, he figured she didn’t add. He was fully aware that she still placed the blame for their three-year separation at his feet, but it wasn’t justified. However, he refused to think about that tonight. “Sometimes it’s best not to go back, Keisha. The best plan of action is to let go and move on.”
“Is it?”
He gave her a tight smile. “I think so. It’s a matter of forgiveness on all accounts...especially if it’s a past you can’t change.”
She arched her brow, but didn’t say anything as she stared at him. He knew how that analytical mind of hers worked. She assumed he was hinting that she should forgive him...but that was far from the truth. As far as he was concerned he hadn’t done anything that needed to be forgiven. And to give himself credit, unlike Zane who hadn’t tried getting Channing back when she left town, Canyon had done everything he’d known how to do to get Keisha back.
He figured she had run home to her mother in Texas, and he had tried calling but she’d changed her cell phone number. He’d even gone to see Bonita and pleaded with her to contact Keisha and tell her the truth but she’d refused. Bonita wouldn’t even tell him why she had blatantly lied about the entire situation. And when he had sought out Bonita’s ex, to see if Grant could shed light on why Bonita had done what she’d done, he’d only learned that Grant had moved away.
Finally, bitterness and resentment had settled in and he’d decided that if Keisha assumed the worst about him so be it. He would not try to run her down and plead his innocence. If she didn’t trust him, then he was better off without her.
But then she had come back to town. As far as he was concerned, her return had been a game changer. Especially since he’d found out she’d given birth to his son. Now he couldn’t help raising his hand and smoothing out the frown that had settled around her brow.
“What are you doing?” she asked in a quiet tone.
He smiled. “You’re working yourself into another headache by thinking too much, about all the wrong things.”
“Am I?”
“Yes.”
Several moments of silence hovered between them. He felt it, that physical chemistry that was always there. They could try to ignore it, try to put a cap on it or they could give in to it. No need to think it would ever get out of their system because that wasn’t possible. No matter the time or the situation, he would always want Keisha.
He felt the pounding in his heart and, of their own accord, his fingers moved from her brow, brushing a lock of hair from her face before slowly sliding down to her lips. The tips of his fingers grazed softly across her mouth, and he heard the breathless sigh in her throat when her lips parted.
Old habits die hard. In the past, whenever her lips would part on a breathless sigh, he’d known just what to do about it. The same thing he was about to do now.
Shifting his position, his arms slid around her waist as he lowered his head and took her mouth with a possession that rocked him to the core.
* * *
Acting on instinct and insatiable hunger, Keisha’s tongue mated passionately with Canyon’s. For now, she was willing to do what he suggested, let go and move on. And she refused to question why something she’d thought impossible was now feasible. Canyon made sure she continued not to question by kissing her such that her yearning for him came back into focus. Her desire for him manipulated her emotions in a way she couldn’t combat. He was reducing her to a ball of urgency and need. An entreaty for more escalated through her. He deepened the kiss, taking control of her mouth with firm strokes, making even more intense moans flow from deep within her throat.
Canyon stood and drew her up with him, not breaking their kiss. His hands moved to her backside and eased her closer to the fit of him, flexing his hips against her. She could feel the hardness of his erection, pressing against the juncture of her thighs, triggering more greed within her. It was a greed she’d kept dormant for three years, and the slow yet urgent strokes of his tongue were bringing that greed back to life.
He slowly pulled his mouth from hers and she knew the need to breathe was the only reason he’d broken off the kiss. She saw how his handsome face was bathed in the moonlight and the way his gaze held hers hostage while her body churned and blood rushed hotly through her veins.
Suddenly, as if neither of them could withstand the lust overtaking them, Canyon swept her into his arms and carried her back into the house and upstairs to his bedroom.
* * *
No man should want a woman this much, Canyon thought, putting Keisha down. She looked like a tempting miniature morsel in the ocean of covers on his huge bed.
While he watched, she scampered to her knees to remove her robe and then her nightshirt. He couldn’t help but stand and watch her undress. When she had tossed aside the last piece of clothing, leaving her naked and totally exposed, the bulge in his pajama bottoms hardened, swelling to gigantic proportions.
When she eased up, stretching her body, she showcased a pair of firm breasts, a small waist, a flat stomach and curvy hips. His gaze dipped lower to the juncture of her thighs and his mouth watered.
Growling with primitive savagery and a feverish hunger, he eased his bottoms down his thighs as his gaze remained focused on her. He knew every measure of that body. Had touched it. Tasted it. Devoured it. Emotions clogged his throat when he saw where her interest lay as he stood before her totally naked.
“You’re still the Grand Canyon, I see.”
He couldn’t help the smile that spread across his lips. At that moment, it didn’t matter what she believed or didn’t believe. Tonight his sheets would get scorched to oblivion when he made love to her. “Glad you think so.”
He moved over to the bed and joined her, pulling her into his arms and easing her onto her back against the pillows, intending to lick every inch of her skin, starting at her lips. He whispered, “I missed you and I intend to show you how much.”
And then he began his feast, holding her hips when she squirmed in pleasure beneath his mouth. By the time his tongue reached her breasts and supped on the protruding nipples, he felt them harden even more in his mouth. She called out his name but he only continued his sensuous assault, determined to remind her how good they were together and what they had once meant to each other.
* * *
Keisha shuddered with sensations as Canyon’s mouth moved across her body, leaving no area untouched. His hand moved from her hips and drifted lower. She gasped at the feel of his fingers settling between her legs, sliding through her curls. At the same time, his mouth licked circles around her naval, causing a moan to rise in her throat.
And just when she thought there was no way she could take any more, he parted her womanly folds, slid a finger inside of her and began stroking her intimately. No woman could survive his skillful hand and she closed her eyes against the sensual torture.
Moments later, when she felt his tongue replace his finger, her eyes flew open. “Canyon!”
If he heard her scream his name he didn’t let on, instead he deepened the kiss and intensified her agony, stroking his tongue in the right places, using his hands to lift her hips off the bed to get his mouth closer to her. Every nerve ending in her body strummed with intense pleasure.
Her body jerked when an orgasm tore through her and she screamed his name again and again. When the last spasm left her body, she slowly opened her eyes and watched Canyon reach into the nightstand and pull out a condom pack. He quickly sheathed himself, eased his body over hers and gazed down at her, his eyes filled with absolute possession and passion.
“Look at me, Keisha,” he said in a low command. “Look at me and see the man I am, the man you’ve always known. One day you’ll know that I could not have betrayed you. Not when I have loved you from day one. Not when after all that’s happened between us, I still love you.”
She held his gaze and her heart pounded. And as she read the truth in his eyes, she felt her own fill with tears. Because she knew at that moment she had been wrong. “Oh, Canyon...”
He leaned down, licking the tears that flowed down her cheeks before taking her mouth in another ferocious kiss. Cupping her hips, he lifted her and entered her in one long, hard thrust, going deep, all the way to the hilt. And then he began moving, stroking, thrusting in and out—making love to her with an intensity that snatched her breath from her lungs.
Lifting her legs, she wrapped them around his waist, tightening them in a firm grip as another orgasm ripped through her. She knew the exact moment the pinnacle of a climax consumed him, as well. He released her mouth and threw his head back. His growl permeated the air as he continued to stroke deep inside of her.
Then his mouth returned to hers and blood surged through her veins. He kissed her with an intensity that made her shiver inside. Moments later, he released her mouth and she whispered, “I’m sorry,” in a broken tone. “I am so sorry.”
He cupped her face in his hands, kissed the side of her lips and said softly, “I accept your apology, sweetheart.”
* * *
Canyon wasn’t sure why he awoke in the middle of the night. But when he opened his eyes and shifted in bed the clock on the nightstand indicated it was almost four in the morning. And the spot beside him was empty. He would have thought he’d dreamed last night had it not been for Keisha’s feminine scent that was infused in his bedcovers.
When he heard a sob, he glanced over at his bedroom window. Keisha stood there, staring out into the night. She was crying. Concern tugged at his heart and he slid out of bed, walked over and put his arms around her. As if she needed his strength, she turned in his arms and buried her face in his chest, wetting his skin with her tears.
He tightened his arms around her. “Shh. Don’t cry. It’s okay. It doesn’t matter anymore.”
She pulled out of his arms and looked up at him with tearstained eyes. “Why did she lie, Canyon? Why did she deliberately tear us apart?”
He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her again. “The only person who could answer that is Bonita, sweetheart. Unfortunately, she took the reason to the grave with her. We might never know.”
She tossed her head back and looked up at him. “How?”
He lifted a brow. “How?”
“Yes, how can you stand the sight of me after all I did, all I said and believed? How can you forgive me when I’m having a difficult time forgiving myself? How can you think you love me?”
Canyon sighed deeply while tracing a path up and down her back with his hands. He wondered what he could say to help her understand. “I was hurt and angry for a long time, Keisha. I convinced myself that I hated you for what you did to us. And then when I found out about Beau, and realized what you’ve deliberately denied me for two years, I became furious.” He paused. “But Dillon made me realize a few things.”
“What?”
“First, that you had a choice. You didn’t have to keep Beau when you found out you were pregnant. You hated me and thought I had betrayed you. He was a reminder of what you thought I did. Yet you chose to have him and for that I am grateful. And Dillon made me see that if the roles had been reversed, and I had come home to find another man in bed with you coming out of the bathroom in just a towel, I would have thought the worst, as well.”
“But Bonita lied through her teeth. She intentionally wanted me to believe the worst about you.”
And you did. He forced that thought to the back of his mind. “Doesn’t matter, you know the truth now. I had convinced myself I didn’t love you. I even thought I hated you at one time. But all it took was kissing you, holding you in my arms and making love to you to show me what my true emotions were. I discovered the truth that there is a thin line between love and hate.”
Not giving her a chance to say anything, he swept her off her feet and into his arms. He carried her over to the bed.
“I checked on Beau, and he’s sleeping peacefully,” she said, looking at him.
“Good, because for the next hour, you won’t be.” Then he captured her mouth with his.