Eternally Yours

“One-thirty! I didn't mean to sleep so late,” she said, pulling herself up in a sitting position. She forced her gaze from his lips, full and inviting. Somehow they had never intrigued her before as they were doing now.

“You must have really been tired.”

“Yes, I was.” She didn't bother to add that she had lain awake most of the night thinking about him. She suddenly felt uncomfortable at his closeness, and a confusing rush of desire whirled inside her. He was dressed in a blue pullover shirt and a pair of white shorts. The masculine fragrance of his cologne was beginning to dull her senses.

She suddenly realized while she had been staring at him, he'd been doing likewise with her. “I need to get dressed.”

“Don't let me stop you. Just pretend that I'm not here.”

“Fat chance, Clayton Madaris!”

Clayton laughed throatily, and a disarmingly generous smile extended to his eyes. “I was afraid you'd say that.”

Syneda watched him stretch his body before standing. “Okay, Miss Walters, I'll leave you to dress in peace. But if you're not ready to go in twenty minutes, I'm coming back for you.”

Syneda watched as he left the room, closing the door behind him. She tried going back into her mind, into central control, to reset her emotions. She was not ready for the thoughts and feelings she'd begun having around Clayton.

“Senator, I'm glad you're back, sir. How was your trip?”

“The trip was nice, Braxter. It's always good to get away and spend some time with an old friend.” Senator Nedwyn Lansing studied the young man in front of him. As a senator's top aide, Braxter Montgomery at the age of thirty was the best there was. A graduate of Georgetown University, he had begun working for him over six years ago, serving him through almost two full terms. During that time he had gotten to know Braxter as well as the other members of his immediate staff. They were people he could depend on. But only a few he felt he could trust completely. Braxter was one of them.

“Is something bothering you, Braxter?”

“There's nothing bothering me, sir. But there is something I'm concerned about.”

“You worry too much.”

“I'm supposed to. That's part of my job.”

The senator nodded. “All right. Let's sit and talk.”

The two men took seats that were facing each other. “Okay, let's have it, Braxter. What's so concerning that you've missed lunch?”

Braxter eyed the forty-nine-year-old, light-complexioned black man with hazel eyes sitting across from him. He was a man he highly respected. Most people did. Where most senators did good things for their image, Senator Lansing did good things for the people he represented. He was often referred to by the media as the “people's servant.” His life was an open book.

It was a known fact he'd been a sharecropper's son from a small town in Texas not far from the border. His mother had died when he was five. With hard work and dedication, he had completed high school and because of his academic achievements, he had obtained a four-year scholarship to attend the University of Texas in Houston.

It was also well-known that he had never been married, although he'd been steadily dating a law professor at Howard University for the past couple of years. The only thing that had always puzzled Braxter was the senator's annual trip to Texas this time every year; the one he had just returned from. It was a trip he never talked about, other than to say he had gone to visit a friend.

“What I'm concerned about, sir, is your blockage of the Harris Bill.”

Senator Lansing raised a brow. “What about it? That bill needed to be blocked. I flatly refuse to support any legislation that proposes cuts in education.”

“Yes, Senator, and I agree with you. But blocking that bill won't be a popular move on your part. Especially with certain people.”

The senator nodded, knowing Braxter was referring to the creator of the bill, John Harris, and a few other senators who were considered Harris's cronies. “I can't waste my time worrying about some people, Braxter. I want to do what's right for the majority of the people in this country, not just a limited, socially acceptable few. Every child regardless of race, creed, color or social standing is entitled to a good education.”

Braxter smiled. He enjoyed seeing the senator fired up over an important issue. But his job as a senator's aide was to make him aware of what he could possibly be up against. Especially since the kickoff for his reelection campaign was less than two months away.

“I totally agree with everything you're saying. And according to recent polls, the American people are behind you all the way.”

“Then I guess those people whose noses are out of joint will just have to get over it.”

“I really don't know if they will, sir. By blocking that bill, you've stepped on a few toes. I have a feeling they'll step back.”

Senator Lansing smiled. “Let them. I have nothing to hide.”

“Do you remember the first time we met, Syneda?”

Syneda almost blushed under Clayton's warm stare. They were lying side by side on loungers at the pool. “Yes, it was almost two years ago, the night of Justin's cookout to celebrate his purchase of the ranch.” A smile touched her lips. “He was very much interested in Lorren that night.”

Clayton chuckled. “Yes, he was, wasn't he.” Clayton thought about the night he and Syneda had met. When he'd first met her he had thought she was about as explosive as a stick of dynamite next to a blazing torch. Just about any controversial subject could set her off. She had disagreed with him on just about everything. It had been a first for him. Most women agreed with practically everything he said.

There was a brief moment of silence before Syneda spoke. “Clayton?”

“Umm?”

“Why did you ask me if I remembered when we first met?”

“I was just wondering.”

Syneda gazed over at him but couldn't see his eyes behind the aviator-style sunglasses he wore. She wondered what his thoughts were and tried ignoring the funny, shivering sensation in her midsection just being near him was causing. Despite her best intentions, her eyes kept straying to him.

“Syneda?”

“Yes?”

“Did you bring a different bathing suit for every day?” he asked, lifting his sunglasses and squinting at her inquiringly.

She swallowed. Had he been checking her out the way she'd been doing him? “No, why?”

“Because I haven't seen you wear the same suit twice.”

“Are you complaining?” she asked. The smile on his lips sent her pulse spinning.

He gave her body a thorough once-over, which made Syneda's breath lodge in her throat. His gaze moved over her, traveling from her bare feet, up her thighs, past her waist. His gaze paused momentarily on her breasts, before moving to her face where it held hers.

“No. You won't get any complaints out of me. I think you look great. I don't know what happened between you and that guy you were seeing, but it was definitely his loss,” Clayton replied huskily.

The dark brown eyes that held hers appeared to have darkened. What Syneda saw reflected in them made her lose all conscious thought. She read appreciation, attraction, awareness and something she hadn't counted on: desire. Were those the things she saw in his eyes or the things she was afraid he saw in hers?

Stifling a low groan, she quickly came to her feet when she felt an odd rush of heat flare in her belly before moving lower. “Thanks for the compliment, Clayton. I think I'll go back to the condo for a while. There's a book I bought yesterday that I want to start reading before we leave for the cruise tonight,” she said hastily, pulling on her cover-up and grabbing her beach bag. “What time will we be leaving for the cruise?”

“Around seven,” he answered, the huskiness lingering in his tone.

“Okay. I'll be ready. See you later.”

Clayton watched Syneda walk back toward the condo. He took a deep breath with every step she took and with each sway of her hips. How in blazes was he going to get through the evening pretending their relationship hadn't changed? How was he going to spend the rest of the week with her and pretend not to want her when he wanted her like he'd wanted no other woman before?