The Traveling Kind by Janet Dailey

low voice said, “Charley?”
    She smothered her startled cry of alarm with her hand as Shad materialized from the shadows. Her hand slipped down to cover her rapidly beating heart.
    “You startled me,” she accused.
    “Sorry. I didn’t mean to,” he apologized and glanced beyond her to the bedroom door. “Is Gary all right?”
    “Yes. His leg was bothering him earlier and he took a couple of pain pills. I was just checking on him to make sure he was okay,” she explained. The initial surprise of his sudden appearance in the house had gone. In its place was the sharp memory of where he’d been. “What are you doing back so soon?” Charley challenged in an icy voice. “I thought you were going to stay out until all hours of the morning.”
    “I was.” His voice was low, unruffled by her tone.
    It was difficult to see his face in the shadowy dimness of the room. There weren’t any lights on downstairs. What light there was came from the stairwell or the yard light outside. Yet Charley could feel the disturbing intensity of his gaze.
    “Then what are you doing here?” Forced anger was her defense against him.
    “After I had my steak dinner, I went to a bar. There was this drunk there. . . .” His voice took on a different quality, gentle, almost caressing. “He kept singing ‘Charley is my darling.’ And I started wondering what I was doing in that bar when my Charley was here.’’
    Her heart cried out for him, loving him all the more for saying such beautiful words, but it hurt, too. Charley turned her head away, closing her eyes tightly.
    “Don’t say such things, Shad.” She pleaded with him not to hurt her anymore.
    “Why not?” he countered. “It’s what I feel.
    She tried to take the potency from his words by accusing, “You’ve been drinking.”
    “Yes, I’ve been drinking,” he admitted. As she started to walk away from him, he caught her wrist and pulled her around. She was in his arms before she had a chance to resist. “But I’m not drunk.”
    “Let me go, Shad.” She tried to twist out of his arms but they tightened around her, holding her fast. The warmth of his hands burned through the thin material of her robe, setting her flesh afire.
    “My God!” He issued the stunned exclamation under his breath as he became suddenly motionless. An exploring hand moved over her hip. “You don’t have anything on under this.”
    Aware of the imprint his body was making on hers, her own senses echoed the aroused note in his voice. Yet she tried to resist it.
    “Shad, don’t,” she protested.
    But he merely groaned and rubbed his shaven cheek against hers, brushing her ear with his mouth. “It’s no use, Charley. I’ve tried to stay away from you, but I can’t. Let’s forget about tomorrow. We have today. Better yet, we have tonight.”
    His mouth rocked over her lips, persuading and cajoling, sensually chewing on her lower lip until she was reeling. Restless male hands wandered the length of her spine, arousing and loving the feel of her. She was helpless against this loving attack.
    “We can’t go on like this, denying ourselves,” Shad muttered thickly as her lips grazed along his jaw. “It’s tearing us both apart. Isn’t it?”
    “Yes.” The aching admission was torn from her throat, the ability to reason lost.
    It was the answer he had been waiting for as he swept her off her feet and into his arms. Her hands circled his neck while her mouth investigated the strong column of his throat, savoring the taste of him. He carried her to the couch and lowered her to the cushions while he sat on the edge facing her.
    He leaned down to cover her parted lips with his mouth, his hard tongue probing behind the white barrier of her teeth to have the satisfaction of total possession. Raw desire licked through her veins, a spreading fire that left none of her body untouched. His large hands deftly loosened the buttons of her robe and pushed the material aside to expose her flesh