Vet's Desire (23 page)

And if she
didn’t want that loss…

“I’m afraid
I’ll never see you again,” she whispered. “I’m afraid if this
doesn’t work out, that you’ll leave me behind and I’ll never find
myself again. I’m so afraid of falling and having no one to catch
me. But mostly, I’m afraid if you walk out the door now, I’ll never
see you again.”
And I’ll never get over you
.

There was a
small movement of his head. “I can’t promise you what I don’t know.
I can’t see into the future. But Cindy, I can promise that I’ll
give this relationship everything I have, that I’ll give it my all.
I’m not promising to be a Prince Charming, God knows I’m far from
it. I just want to be with you, to give us a chance.” His breath
stirred the hair at her temple. “Please, Cindy, just give us a
chance.”

His hands ran
soothingly up and down her back, and she relaxed against him,
allowing his words to sink into her, analysing them through her own
fears and emotions.

She feared
never seeing him again, she wanted to be with him. To give them a
chance, she realised. It had hit her then, when she’d thought he
was getting up and leaving. Hit her hard. Tim Clarke had walked
into her life and taken a corner of her heart.

Would it last?
She didn’t know. He couldn’t promise. But she could give it a
chance, give him a chance, give them a chance. If Tim had felt
strongly enough about it to bare his feelings, something he found
abhorrent, then surely she could give it a chance.

Love, if that’s
what it was, was worth a chance.

“Okay,” she
said softly. “Let’s give it - us - a chance.”

With a sigh of
relief, his arms tightened around her. “You won’t be sorry, I
promise you that.”

“Good. Remember
that I have a soldier brother who’s been trained to hurt, and I’m
not afraid to use him.”

Tim pulled back
and she saw the grin on his face. “I’ll remember.” His grin faded.
“But mostly I’ll remember that you gave me a chance.”

Leaning
forward, Cindy stopped a hairsbreadth from his mouth to whisper,
“You better be worth it, Clarke.” And then she kissed him, a soft,
sweet kiss that brushed his lips.

The gentleness
of his return kiss had her knees shaking at the simplicity of it,
the beauty, the caring he poured into it. Tim held her like fragile
glass, his kisses gentle, exploring, never demanding more than she
was willing to give him.

Cindy was
definitely ready and willing to give him more, but she played him,
enjoying the gentleness, glorying in the knowledge that he found
her desirable, beautiful, that he wanted more from her than just
sex.

That he wanted
more from her than he ever had from any of his other
relationships.

Her kiss
deepened and he followed quickly, taking it over within seconds,
taking control, and she couldn’t help the inward shiver of delight
as he demanded entrance, his tongue forging in to sweep through her
mouth and drink of her essence.

His desire for
her was evident in every kiss now, every touch, his hand at the
small of her back slipping down to cup her bottom, his other hand
at her breast.

“You better
have good intentions towards my sister, Clarke,” a voice grated
warningly from somewhere at the furthest reaches of her conscious.
“Or I’ll break those damn hands making free with her.”

Slowly, Tim
lifted his head and she saw the heat, annoyance and resignation
mingled within his eyes before she licked her lips - his taste was
like honey to her buzzing senses - and looked over his shoulder to
see Marty standing in the doorway with Alex behind him.

Marty was
staring daggers at Tim, while Alex was looking at her with his
brows raised in silent, polite query.

“Do you mind?”
she snapped.

“Only if you
do,” Marty replied.

“Does it look
like I do?” She pulled her skirt back down her thighs as Tim rose
to his feet, partially shielding her from her brothers’ gazes.

Taking her
hand, Tim pulled her to her feet before stepping around to stand
beside her, his arm sliding around her waist as he looked at Marty
and Alex. “Your sister and I are dating.”

A small smile
flickered across Alex’s mouth. “Really?”

“Yes. Got a
problem with that?” Tim glared at Marty.

“Hey, as long
as you’re doing right by her, I’m fine.” Marty glared back at
him.

“Excuse me,”
Cindy interrupted in annoyance. “Since when are you my keeper?”

“I know this
jerk’s record with women,” her brother replied. “You’re not going
to be another notch on his bedpost.”

“You are such
an arse. If
I
choose to be a notch, it’s none of your
business.”

“She’s not
going to be another notch,” Tim said at the same time.

“Sure it’s none
of my business,” Marty told Cindy. “My business is breaking his
dick off if he does anything disgusting.”

“If it was tit
for tat, yours would have been snapped off a long time ago by an
angry male relative of those women you’ve bedded like a tom cat
around bitches in heat,” she returned hotly.

“A slight mix
up of the animal kingdom,” Tim said. “Tom cats have queens, dogs
have bitches.”

By this time
Alex had wandered into the kitchen and was investigating the
contents of the saucepan on the stove. “Spaghetti? And you didn’t
call me? You know I love spag, Cindy.”

“Get rid of
Marty and I’ll make you as much as you want,” she informed him.

“Nah. This is
much more fun.” Taking a spoon, he stirred the contents of the
saucepan. “You nearly burned this.”

“She nearly had
something else burned.” Marty hadn’t stopped glaring at Tim.

Tim grinned
suddenly and it was enough to have Marty bristling like an
anteater.

“Hey.” Stepping
between the two men, Cindy frowned in annoyance. “Marty, go away. I
don’t have patience with your holier-than-thou attitude. And Tim,
stop stirring.”

“I’m not
stirring,” Tim drawled. “I’m just being friendly to the brother of
the woman I’m…”

Marty’s
nostrils flared.

“Dating.” Tim
smiled broadly, hooking an arm around Cindy’s waist and drawing her
back against him so that he could nuzzle the top of her head.
“Mmmm, you smell good.”

Tim was out to
stir Marty and her dumb brother was falling for it. Cindy looked at
Alex, the only sensible sibling she had at that moment.

Her sensible
sibling was adding more mince to the saucepan.

“What are you
doing?” she demanded.

“There’s not
enough meat in here for all of us.”

“Who said you
were invited?”

“Hey, you’re
making spag bog. I’m invited.” He started peeling another onion.
“You can get rid of Marty, though. That’d mean more for me.”

It was obvious
that her brothers weren’t going to leave her and Tim alone. Tipping
her head back, she looked up at Tim. “We have company.”

“We could go
back to my place,” he offered.

That had Marty
practically breathing fire.

“Actually…” Tim
looked thoughtfully at her fuming brother. “Hold that thought. I
think Marty and I need to have a little chat.”

Immediately she
shook her head. “Oh, no. That’s not going to happen. Marty can mind
his own damned business. This is between-” But then she was talking
to empty air as Tim followed Marty outside and shut the door behind
them.

She started to
go out after them but Alex grabbed her arm. “Leave them.”

“No way. You
know what Marty’s like.”

“Exactly. And I
know what Clarke’s like. Let them sort it out.”

“It’s none of
Marty’s bloody business-”

“He’s your
brother. He’s protective. Let him be.” Alex steered her over to the
cupboard.

She tried
unsuccessfully to pull her arm from his hand. “I’m tired of his
attitude when he does the same to other girls.”

Alex’s
expression was mildly understanding. “He also knows Clarke’s
reputation. Can you blame him for being a little concerned?”

“Well, you
don’t seem too concerned,” she retorted.

“Marty’s
handling it.” Getting out a saucepan, he put some water into it and
set it on the stove. “Where’s the spaghetti?”

“For God’s
sake, Alex!”

Her brother
straightened, his eyes narrowing a little. “Tim’s a playboy. You’re
our sister. Marty’s just having a talk to him, all right? Nothing
is going to happen.”

A muffled thump
sounded from outside, followed by an oath and another thump.
Something hit the door.

Cindy closed
her eyes and groaned.

“See?” Alex
said cheerfully. “Nothing wrong at all.”

The door opened
and Tim and Marty walked back inside. Tim was gingerly rubbing his
jaw while Marty crossed over to the freezer, reached in, grabbed a
packet of frozen peas and sat at the table with it held to his
eye.

Folding her
arms, she looked angrily from Tim to Marty. “All sorted out?”

“Absolutely.”
Tim dropped a kiss on the top of her head before crossing to the
kettle, checking the amount of water and turning it on.

“Top notch.”
Marty looked at her from his one good eye.

Alex just
stirred the mince.

“I give up,”
said Cindy.

“Wise choice,”
agreed Alex.

Whatever had
gone on between her brother and Tim, it had cleared the air, or so
she presumed because who really knew how men thought? Marty was
much friendlier and the mealtime was pleasant as they sat around
the kitchen table eating Spaghetti Bolognese.

More than aware
of Tim sitting opposite her, however, Cindy found her gaze drifting
towards him more often than not when she thought no one was
watching. He sat so easily, eating spaghetti with a dexterity that
she envied - really, how did he manage not to get it on his shirt?
- and chatting with her brothers as though he hadn’t just given one
a black eye.

Both Alex and
Marty were big of build, Marty from his love of the gym and Alex
from his life as a soldier, and next to them Tim looked lean, yet
his strength was there in his biceps that bunched as he lifted the
fork and moved. Her gaze slid down a little lower to his t-shirt,
and she knew from when he’d held her that his lean build was
deceptive. Tim had muscles all right, lean and hard.

It was enough
to make her mouth a little dry.

Lifting her
gaze, she found Tim looking directly at her, his brown eyes
kindling with heat, and he gave her a slow, seductive wink that had
her blushing a little and sliding her gaze away. And feeling more
than a little heat herself right at the junction of her thighs.

Then she felt
it, a slow slide of his sneakered foot up the outside of her calf,
and she almost swallowed the mouthful of spaghetti she had without
chewing it. She sent him a warning glare - good God, her brothers
were at the table! - and he simply winked again and turned to
answer Marty’s question.

Relaxing a
little, she continued eating, but less than a minute later she felt
a bare toe trail up the inside of her calf. The man had the legs of
a giraffe, long enough to reach her and tease her for his own
amusement.

If she cut him
off from sex, it would serve him right. When he glanced at her, she
mouthed it.
No sex
. His eyes brightened.

Oh shit, he
took that as a personal challenge and showed it by giving an
impressive stretch that had his t-shirt pulling tight across his
rather yummy chest and slouching down in his chair while pushing
his empty plate away. Picking up the glass of apple juice, he
continued speaking to Marty and Alex while running his toe up
higher to play with the inside of her knee.

Cindy nearly
spilled her drink.

Marty continued
animatedly talking about cars while Alex slid her a shrewd glance
but said nothing, a faint hint of humour in his usually sombre
eyes.

Shifting a
little in her chair, she shot a glare at Tim. His toe retreated and
she breathed a sigh of relief, but then it started to run up the
outside of her leg. She aimed a kick in his direction but he was
too fast, dodging her with ease.

Marty wasn’t so
lucky and he yelped.

“Shit,” Cindy
said,. “Sorry.”

“Cripes,” Marty
replied.

Tim smirked at
her. Time to change strategy.

While he was
occupied talking to Alex, Cindy shifted her legs aside subtly. When
Tim shot a glance across the table, she just knew his intrusive big
toe was searching for her again.

Marty jumped
and yelped again. “What the hell?”

Tim jerked in
his chair and sat upright.

Alex just shook
his head while Cindy smirked at Tim.

“Hell, man,”
Marty complained to Tim. “If you want to play footsies, do so with
my sister.”

“Oops,” said
Tim.

“You almost had
a game of tennis going on there,” Marty added.

“Jesus.”

“Yeah, you’d
need your maker right now if you’d gone any higher, let me give you
the tip.”

This time Alex
snickered.

Cindy demurely
peeked at Tim from beneath her fringe to find his cheeks a little
flushed from his close encounter with her brother’s unmentionables.
His gaze when it found her promised retribution.

She couldn’t
wait.

The atmosphere
between them was definitely getting a little sexually charged with
anticipation, though the conversation remained light, skimming many
topics, and by the time it was over and Alex and Marty were doing
the dishes, everyone was relaxed.

Al woke up and
demanded his dinner, and Tim took charge of him.

“Aw look,”
Marty said as Tim attended to the kitten. “Dad’s got baby duty
tonight.”

“Jealous?” Tim
drawled.

“That’s my
nephew you got there, Doc. Just treat him gentle.”

Tim rolled his
eyes.

“We better get
going.” Alex placed the tea towel on the rack. “Got an early
morning call tomorrow.”