Stop The Wedding!: Night Driving / Smooth Sailing / Crash Landing

“How far is it from Nashville to the Shiloh battlefield?” he asked.

“A hundred miles or more.”

He shifted on the bench. They were a thirty-minute drive from Nashville. At sixty miles an hour—their average speed pulling the U-Haul, a hundred miles would take them over an hour and a half. That meant it was over two hours to the Shiloh battlefield.

Tara started talking about the battle and her face lit up. Clearly, she’d done her research.

“I’m gonna go talk to them,” she said, hopping up and rushing over to strike up a conversation with the couple.

Boone sat watching her. He remembered what she’d looked like coming out of the bathroom at the B&B dressed in nothing but a towel. Freaking hell, his erection was already half-mast again.

A few minutes later, she came bounding back, chattering up a storm about the reenactment. He’d never seen a woman so worked up about a battle. He got to his feet and tossed the wrapping from their sandwiches into the nearby trashcan. He wished she’d get that worked up over him.

Since when? She gets on your last nerve.

Yeah? Well that was before the trip and before he really got to know her. He swallowed his inexplicable need to kiss her again. A craving to taste those luscious lips.

This was bad news. The way she made him feel. He’d already begun projecting into the future, picturing what life would be like without her. No impromptu visits. No surprise casseroles. No funny stories or jokes. Doing something nice for her would simply make it that much harder to let go. It was better for him to keep his distance. He’d just pay a couple of hundred extra dollars. Money ought to do the trick. There was no need for him to do anything personal for her.

“You wanna go to Shiloh?” he blurted impulsively.

She blinked at him. “What?”

“You want to go watch the opening salvos? The battle starts at dawn, right?”

Pure excitement flared in her eyes. “You mean it?”

“We are this close. It would be a shame to miss it. Especially since you have a family connection.”

“But what about getting to Key West in time to stop your sister’s wedding?”

“It’s a sixteen-hour drive from Nashville to Miami give or take. Throw in another two hours for the detour to Shiloh and two more to watch the beginning of the battle. That’s twenty hours. Still time to make it to Key West by Saturday afternoon.”

“Really?” She jumped up and down, a ball of exuberant energy. He’d put that expression on her face.

Boone was…well, hell…he was happy that he’d made her happy. “Sure. Why not?”

“Oh, thank you! Thank you!” She threw her arms around him and squeezed him tight. “I’m never, ever going to forget this. You’re absolutely awesome.”

“Which means we need to get a move on,” he said, alarmed by how good it felt to be clutched in her enthusiastic embrace. “Now.”

“Yes. Right. Let’s go.” She grabbed his hand, pulling him headlong toward the car.

Great. Now you’ve done it. You’ve bonded. You’re bonding with her. You, Toliver, are sunk.

THEY REACHED THE Shiloh National Military Park just before midnight, but after an hour of checking out the local motels, they were alarmed to discover that there were no vacancies to be had. Tara hadn’t even considered that.

“We can sleep in the car,” Boone said, with an amazing amount of patience.

“But your leg. You need a bed to stretch out in. Maybe we could drive back to the last town and see if they have any vacancies there.”

“The battle starts at dawn. It wouldn’t be worth the drive back and forth for just a couple of hours’ sleep. We’ll be fine in the car. I can put the seat back as far as it will go.”

Tara nibbled her bottom lip. She felt terrible about the motel situation. “Boone—”

“Stop over-thinking it.” He yawned. “Just pull into a parking lot and let’s get some shut-eye. Compared to what those Civil War soldiers went through, cramped quarters in a Honda is a luxury.”

“At least take a pain pill.”

When he didn’t argue but pawed the pill bottle from his pocket and swallowed two with the watered-down drink left over from their previous stop, she knew he must really be hurting.

She drove into the empty parking lot of a nearby mall, and by the time she killed the engine Boone appeared to be fast asleep, his fingers interlaced, hands resting on his chest.

Hyped up about the Shiloh battlefield reenactment, it took Tara several minutes to settle down. She put her seat back and squirmed around trying to get comfortable.

She lay on her right side, hands stacked under her head, watching Boone sleep. God, he was devastatingly handsome, even when he was asleep, maybe especially when he was asleep, because there was a vulnerable air to him now that he fought hard to keep at bay when he was awake.

Her heart thumped loudly and she had no idea why. She wished she could build a wall around herself the way he did, hold her silly infatuation at bay. Why did she have to fling herself headlong into everything? Including falling for the big lug?

Tara pulled in a sigh. What was it about him that had her heart tripping all over itself?

Maybe it was the inner gentleness he tried so hard to cover up, but couldn’t quite hide. Or maybe it was the way his hot eyes made her body heat up every time he looked at her, as if he’d never noticed another woman before.

A frisson of pleasure passed through her at the thought. That very well could be it.

For the longest time, she lay there, happy for a time simply watching over him. He deserved someone to look after him. He hadn’t had nearly enough of it.

She must have dozed off, because some time later something stirred her.

A throaty moan came from the other side of the car.

Boone! Something was wrong.

She jerked wide-awake and rammed her hip into the steering wheel. Ouch! She blinked, forgetting for a second where she was, her muscles cramped and achy.

“Get down!” Boone shouted.

Distressed, she ducked her head. Get down? What was happening? She shot a glance at the man beside her. He thrashed around in the seat, his eyes closed. “Stay back. There’s a bomb!”

Tara sat up, gnawed her bottom lip. He was having a nightmare. A lump swelled in her throat. Poor guy, the horrors of the past that he hid so well while awake overcame him in slumber. His inner battle reached deep inside her, touched her soul and broke her heart.

She didn’t know what to do. Should she try to rouse him? She’d heard somewhere that you shouldn’t startle soldiers when they were sleeping.

“Boone,” she whispered.

“No safe place,” he mumbled, grunted and then winced.

Did he have post-traumatic stress disorder? It would explain a lot about him. Why he kept to himself and put up emotional barriers.

It took everything that she had in her not to touch him. “It’s okay. You’re not overseas. You’re here, safe with me.”

He shook his head. “No, no.”

“Shh. Shh.”

His eyes moved behind closed lids, the rapid action of dream sleep. “Tara?” he whispered hoarsely.

“Yes, I’m right here.”

“Pretty Tara.” His tone turned dreamy and he reached out a directionless hand, slowly pawing the air as if he were stroking her.

Oh, wow. What now?

Unexpected tingles spread throughout her body. It moved her to see him so vulnerable. It might be dangerous to wake a sleeping soldier, but she didn’t feel comfortable eavesdropping on his dream apparently when he appeared to be dreaming about her now. “Boo—”

“So pretty.” His hand made contact with her hair, his fingers slid through it.

His touch sent her pulse reeling. “Ah, Boone.”

“I want you, Tara. I want you so bad.” His eyes were opened now, but his gaze looked dazed. Was he awake or still sleeping?

Her breath slipped shallowly through her parted lips. His hand moved to cup her cheek and he slowly sat up.

“Are you awake?” she murmured.

Instead of answering, his mouth caught hers in a demanding kiss. Every muscle in her body weakened even as she willed herself not to respond. This wasn’t right. Not under these circumstances. But the things he was doing to her with his tongue unraveled her completely.

“Tara,” he said her name, a hot whisper in the night.

She succumbed. There was no excuse for it. She wasn’t proud of herself, taking advantage of a man who might very well be sleep-kissing, but she was helpless to resist.

Dumb. Dumb. She knew it was dumb. Even if he were fully awake and in charge of everything he was doing, she should not be doing this. Because she was in danger of losing her heart to this man whom she would never see again after Saturday and if she made love to him, she feared it would seal her fate.

Whoa. Make love? You’re just kissing the dude.

Yes, but she wanted to do so much more with him. Had wanted it for months. Her pulse pounded. She leaned forward, leaned into the kiss when she should be pulling away from it.

His mouth moved from her lips to kiss the underside of her jaw, turning her into liquid pools of pure heat. A soft moan slipped from her lips.

Stop it. Snap out of it.

Sounded good, but she so didn’t want to. Reluctantly gathering what little sense she had left, Tara twisted away from him. “Boone, wake up.”

“I’m wide-awake, sweetheart,” he said, moving in to feather his tongue along the outside of her ear. “You taste delicious.”

Sweetheart.

He called her sweetheart. Now she knew he had to still be asleep. Sleepy Boone might be all lovey-dovey, but Awake Boone would never call her sweetheart. He thought she was annoyingly cheerful. She got on his last nerve. Hadn’t he told her that on more than one occasion? And yet, and yet…hadn’t something been changing between them these last few days?

Her stomach fluttered and her fingers tangled up in his soft, shaggy hair. So easy. It would be so easy to just give in and let nature take its course. She’d been doing it all her adult life. Which was the problem. She always let life’s currents carry her without much thought for the future, and so far that hadn’t been such a bad thing. But she was older now and, well, she was ready for something more permanent.

Huh? When had that happened?

Probably the day she’d learned about her mother’s illness. Even though her mom had an excellent chance for recovery, something like this made a girl reevaluate her life. Made her realize what really mattered.

Family.

A husband. Kids.

Struck by the revelation, she unthreaded her fingers from his hair. She hadn’t even realized she was finally ready for a long-term relationship. Too bad her body ached for this short-term guy.

“Down, boy,” she said, her light-hearted tone belying the crazy gallop of her thoughts. Determined to stop herself from making a big mistake, she planted both palms against his chest and immediately got snared in his dark-eyed gaze.

He searched her face and she could see he really was wide-awake. A long minute ticked between them with nothing but the sound of their heavy breathing to break the silence.

“Please…” she croaked, the word a helpless plea for him to override her objections and just kiss her again anyway.

Slowly, Boone nodded, dropped his arms and settled back into the seat.

“You were having a nightmare,” she ventured.

“Yeah. I used to have them all the time in the hospital. Sorry you had to see that.”

“I’m not. I’m glad.”

“That I’m a monumental wreck?”

“That you’re human.”

He cracked a wry smile. “You had doubts?”

“C’mon. You’re intimidating. Decorated war hero.”

He shook his head. “It’s not like you think.”

“That’s what I want to understand.”

“War really is hell.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“Somebody has to.”

“You feel it’s your place to clean up the world’s ills?”

“Once upon a time I thought that,” he said, his voice filled with regret. “But I’m older and wiser now.”

She leaned over the console between them, having no real plan. She should have turned on her side in the seat, back to him and tried to sleep, but she did not. Instead, she hovered over him, almost daring him to do something about it.

Why?

The question got lost in the soft growl that escaped him as he sat up to claim her lips once more. The pressure of his diligent mouth absconded with her will, left her elated and giddy. His generous tongue eclipsed any lingering protests. Treacherously, she relished him, betraying what she knew was right.

Oh, Tara, you’re so easy.

He tugged her over the console and arranged her on top of him. She straddled his waist, knees digging into the seat on either side of him. He ran his palm up the back of her neck, held her head still while he fully explored her mouth with masterful strokes.

She made a soft mewling sound and sank into him, letting go of all resistance.

His other hand tunneled between them, reaching up under the hem of her T-shirt. His knuckles skimmed her bare skin. His fingers tickled their way up. She’d slipped out of her bra before going to sleep, so there was nothing between him and her.

She shivered against him. This was exciting. She hadn’t made out in a car since she was a teenager.

“Hmm.” The vibration of his sound hummed against her lips.

He pushed up her shirt and slowly peeled it over her head, exposing her to the air. Then he commenced blazing a moist, deliberate trail from her lips to her throat and beyond. He cupped her breasts, weighing them in his palms. He teased one nipple with his mouth, the other with his fingers.

She squirmed, her body alive with sensation. Eager to trace the muscles, she splayed her hands under his shirt and pulled another groan from his lips when her fingers made contact with his flat belly.

Their mouths met again in a fierce clash, hungry, desperate. The same frantic way they’d kissed that first time in the Nebraska cornfield. Had it only been last night? It seemed a lifetime ago.

Through the material of his pants, she could feel him growing rock solid between her legs. Everywhere he touched her turned to liquid fire—her lips, her skin, until she was completely unbalanced. She felt as if she were falling—through time, through space, through sensation after sensation.

He sucked her nipple, his hands wrapped securely around her waist, holding her in place, keeping her steady. Balanced. He brought equilibrium into her life.

She threw back her head, arched her spine, ground herself against him until he groaned aloud.

They were lost. Carried away on lust and the sexual tension that had been mounting between them for months. Tara was ready and beside herself with desire for him.

Boone’s impatient fingers plucked at the snap of her white denim shorts. She had no idea how this was going to work in the front passenger seat of her Honda, especially with him in a leg brace, but she was game to figure out the logistics. She tackled his zipper with the same gusto he went at hers.

She ached for him. Deep down. Hard and helpless. A pristine pain so sharp and pure it felt as if it could never be sated. It terrified her. This contradiction of what she wanted and what she knew was good for her. But she could not seem to swim upstream against the sexual force pushing her to merge with this man. She did not really want to resist. Not in her heart.

His hand slipped past her waistband, moved aside the skimpy material of her panties, his fingers unerringly finding her trigger. Passion seized her body, moved through her in escalating waves. She grasped both his shoulders, holding herself aloft over him while he explored her tender feminine folds.

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