When he felt her shudder around him he rolled his hips and rocked into her one final time before exploding, releasing the orgasm he could no longer hold back, and joining her as the two of them climaxed together.
An hour or so later, in a better frame of mind than she had been earlier, Sam got out of the car when Blade parked it in her driveway. He had fulfilled another one of her fantasies and she was happy about it. Sex had to be one of the best stress relievers.
And to top things off, after leaving the office he’d taken her to the restaurant on the corner. Instead of getting takeout, as she assumed they would, he had parked the car, come around and opened her door, took her hand and led her inside the restaurant, requesting a table at the window.
During dinner, it had been quite obvious that he was watchful and alert. Every so often she would see him looking around, checking out anyone who’d entered the restaurant. But sitting across from him, sharing a meal and telling him how her day had gone had been nice.
“Other than the nail salon and spa, do you have any other appointments this week?” he asked as he waited for her to walk around the car.
She didn’t look at him as she pulled her key out of her purse. “Yes, I have a doctor’s appointment on Friday.”
“A doctor’s appointment?”
“Yes,” she said, still not looking at him. “My regular checkup.”
It wasn’t completely true. There was nothing regular about the appointment she had made with her doctor. She was late, and for someone whose cycle was always regular, that concerned her. But then, she knew all the stress of what she was going through might have had something to do with it.
But something Syneda Madaris had said that night at the party in Houston still stuck in her mind.
…the thing about a Madaris man. If he wants to get you pregnant, a simple thing like a birth-control pill or a condom isn’t going to stop him….
She glanced over at Blade when he took the key from her hand. Although the two of them had spent the last three weeks making love practically each and every day, there was no reason for her to assume he wanted more out of the relationship. And he was definitely not a man who’d want a baby.
He enjoyed her. She was a novelty. She was a first for him in many ways. A woman he had shared sensual confessions with. But she knew that once he got tired of her, he would walk away without looking back. She knew it and she accepted it because she loved him. She appreciated him caring enough to protect her. But he’d explained in the beginning that the reason he was doing it was to keep Mac, Peyton and Luke from worrying.
“You’re expecting a delivery?”
She glanced up at Blade and then at the box that was sitting on her doorstep. “No.” She glanced at the label. “It looks like a box from Mom. She’s always sending me stuff if she sees something she thinks I’d like. Unfortunately, I inherited her shoe fetish. I’m sure you’ve noticed I have quite a few.”
Blade nodded. He had noticed. But still…
“When you get inside I want you to call your mother to verify she sent you this package.”
Sam rolled her eyes. “Is that really necessary?” she asked, opening the door.
“Yes,” Blade said. “It’s necessary.”
“Fine, I’ll do it,” she said, tossing her purse on the table. “Will you at least bring the box inside the house?”
Blade looked over at her. “I’m not touching that box and neither are you. Just get your mother on the phone, Sam.”
Sam glared. “I hope you know if I call her she’s going to wonder why I’m even asking, when I know she’s sent me stuff before.”
“Doesn’t matter, Sam. Call her.”
When she narrowed her eyes, he said, “Please.”
She smiled sweetly as she went back to the sofa and grabbed her cell phone out of her purse. “Sure, Blade, now that you’ve begged.”
He ignored her comment as he thought about the box sitting on her doorstep. He wasn’t a paranoid person, but for some reason he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He heard the conversation between Sam and her mother and knew what she was going to say before she’d hung up the phone.
Blade was already pulling out his cell phone and dialing 9–1-1.
Chapter 23
The man meant to kill her.
That was a fair enough assessment to make, Detective Adams thought, as he glanced over at Sam and Blade. Blade was holding her in his arms while her face was pressed against his chest.
The bomb squad was leaving after detonating what had been a bomb. Had she opened the box, it would have blown her and anyone standing within twenty feet of her to smithereens. He could tell that Sam was upset and afraid, and rightly so. To finally realize someone meant to kill you was enough to cause anyone distress. And it hadn’t been one of those amateur, homemade bombs. Whoever had put it together knew exactly what he or she was doing. It was someone who knew enough about chemistry and physics to make a fairly sophisticated explosive device.
“I suggest the two of you find somewhere else to go tonight,” Detective Adams said. “And the fewer people who know where you are the better until we can find out who’s behind this. The only thing the guard at the security gate knows is that the package was delivered by the regular FedEx delivery man for this route.”
Detective Adams took in a deep breath. “Chances are the deliveryman didn’t have a clue what he was delivering. In fact, if someone had broadsided his truck, he and everything within twenty feet would have been blown up.”
Blade’s lips tightened. Although he had called the police he had hoped it was a false alarm. The bomb squad had closed off the area while they investigated the package, and once they discovered it contained live explosives set to go off when the package was opened, they went to work.
“Mr. Madaris?”
“I heard you,” Blade said, trying not to show his anger, especially toward anyone associated with the police. They had been more than helpful, considerate and very efficient. He just didn’t want to think about what could have happened to Sam if she’d opened that box. His arms tightened around her just thinking about how he could have lost her.
“I understand you’ve called Alex Maxwell into this,” Detective Adams said.
Blade nodded.
“Then I’m confident we’ll have the person responsible sooner rather than later. We don’t have the manpower or resources that he seems to have. With Maxwell’s help, we’ll have this lunatic behind bars before he can try anything else.”
Blade hoped so, too. He wouldn’t rest until the person who had tried to hurt his woman was captured.
He leaned back and looked down at Sam, and could tell she was still in a state of shock. “We’re leaving here tonight, Sam. I want you to go upstairs and grab some things. We’ll be gone for a few days, at least three to four.”
The police and bomb squad had already done a thorough sweep of her house to make sure that nothing had been tampered with and there had been no forced entry. But until the authorities talked to the FedEx driver, no one was taking any chances.
She glanced up at him, and the look Blade saw in her eyes nearly ripped his heart out. The fire was gone from her eyes. But he knew that eventually it would return and when it did it she would be mad as hell at the person responsible. Her temper would be out of control, and it would be the one time he wouldn’t mind seeing it.
“Do you need me to help you pack, sweetheart?” he asked softly.
She shook her head as she stepped out of his arms. “No, I can do it. I’ll be back in a few.”
He watched as she walked up the stairs.
Ignoring how badly her hands were shaking, Sam hurriedly went through several drawers in her bedroom, pulling out items and throwing them in the suitcase on her bed. Enough for three or four days, as Blade had said.
She paused for a moment to take a deep breath when reality hit hard once again. Someone had tried to blow her up. Someone truly wanted her dead. She actually felt
weak in the knees knowing there was a person who hated her enough to want to end her life.
“Samari?”
She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, then turned around. Blade rarely called her Samari except when they were making love. “Yes?”
“Come here, baby.”
She quickly crossed the room and walked right into his open arms. “I promise you that we will get this guy,” he whispered.
She heard the conviction and the determination in his voice. “I know. But all this time I thought…I was really hoping that it was a bad joke. I never really thought that someone actually wanted to hurt me.”
She drew in a deep breath. Now she knew and she would never be caught off guard again.
“Luke, this is Blade.”
It took Blade a good fifteen minutes to tell his cousin what had happened. It would have taken less time if Mac, who’d been standing next to Luke, hadn’t kept interrupting by asking questions.
“Assure Mac that Sam’s okay, just shaken up a bit. We’re at one of those resort hotels in the mountains that have a cluster of chateau-style villas, and we’re staying put for a while. Alex is supposed to arrive in the morning and he’ll head straight to your place. I want you to bring him here, Luke. And you might want to check your rearview mirror periodically to make sure you aren’t being followed.”
Blade gave Luke the name of the resort and their villa number. “I don’t know what information Alex has for us, and other than contacting you, I haven’t made any other calls. The fewer people who know where we are the better. And have Mac clear Sam’s calendar, because she won’t be back in the office this week.”
Moments later he ended the call and placed the phone on the dresser. The resort was a pretty nice place if you needed somewhere to hide out, and until that lunatic was caught he intended to keep Sam right here. What nearly happened today had taken a good twenty years off his life.
He glanced up when he heard the bathroom door open. She had showered. They usually took showers together, but he’d needed to call Luke to apprise him of what had happened. Of course, both Luke and Mac were furious, but grateful Sam was okay.
Blade saw that she was wearing the bathrobe supplied by the hotel, and knew that she was naked underneath. Sex should have been the last thing on his mind but it wasn’t. He would always want her, anytime and anyplace. But now, what she needed was for him to hold her, assure her that she was safe.
“Are you okay?” he asked softly.
She nodded as she tried drying her hair with a towel. “Yes.”
He crossed the room and took the towel out of her hand. “Sit,” he said, pulling out the chair at the desk for her.
She glared up at him and he saw some fire returning to her eyes, but not enough to suit him. When she sat in the chair he went about drying her hair. This was the first time he’d dried a woman’s hair, but then there had been so many firsts with Sam.
“I called Luke and Mac and told them what happened,” he said.
She didn’t say anything. She simply nodded.
“Mac is going to clear your calendar for the rest of the week.”
She nodded at that, too.
“We’re staying here for a while. At least till Sunday, and then we’ll decide where we’ll go. If I have to, I’ll take you back to Houston, to Whispering Pines. Nobody can get on that ranch unless Jake wants them there.”
When she still didn’t say anything to that, he said, “And I want you naked for the entire time we’re here.”
She turned around, glared at him, stood up and snatched the towel out of his hand. “You horny bastard, don’t hold your breath!”
He laughed. “Hey, the fire’s back and I love it. I was beginning to miss your smart mouth.”
When Sam realized what Blade was trying to do, she threw herself into his arms and pressed her face against his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. She needed his strength. And she would give just about anything for his love.
Blade held Sam tight for a long moment and then picked her up in his arms and carried her over to the bed. “I just want to hold you, sweetheart. Nothing more, I promise,” he said, tucking her close to his side as he stretched out in the bed. “I really need to hold you.”
There was no conversation between them as he held her, needing to have her close to him as much as it seemed she needed to have him close to her. A few moments later, he said in a strained yet husky voice, “I could have lost you, Sam. Damn, I could have lost you. And what scared me most is the thought of losing you without letting you know how much I love you.”
Her body went still and for a moment he wasn’t sure she was breathing. “Sam?”
She shifted slightly and turned in his arms to meet his gaze. “You love me?”
He reached out and traced the tip of his finger down the side of her face. “Yes. And I’m not saying that to try and put pressure on you or anything. I know you don’t love me yet, but I might as well warn you that if I have anything to say about it, you will eventually.”
Sam had to fight the tears from falling from her eyes when she whispered, “I do.”
Blade lifted a brow. “You do what?”
She reached out and placed the palm of her hand against his cheek. “I do love you.”
He pulled back slightly and stared at her. “You do not.”
She couldn’t help but grin. “I do, too.”
She moved up in the bed and leaned over him. “I love you, Blade Madaris, and that’s what scared me the most, too. The thought that I could have died and you would not have known how I felt. You would have had no idea how much I love you.”
“Oh, baby.” Blade pulled the woman he loved into his arms and covered her mouth with his. This was his woman. He loved her more than life itself and was determined more than ever to protect her. Nothing in this world was more important to him than her.
Chapter 24
When Sam awoke the next morning it was to find her body curled up close to Blade with his large arm slung over her hip, as if he needed to make sure she was there, plastered to him and safe from harm. She shifted her body and smiled, knowing she truly had something to smile about.
Blade loved her.
She never considered herself a crybaby, but she felt tears welling up in the back of her eyes. The two of them were an unlikely couple. He had been the player and she, the player hater. And she had done all the things to him that had been her trademark. And he still had come back. He had been there when she needed him. If she would have defied him and opened that box, she would not only have taken her life but taken his, as well.
She closed her eyes when she realized just how close she’d come to doing that. That damn lunatic. That crazy person had a lot of friggin’ nerve to want her dead. She couldn’t wait until he was caught and when he was, she would—
“The fire is boiling over in your eyes now. You’re pretty hot in more ways than one,” Blade said, lifting her up and placing her on top of him. She’d known he’d only wanted to hold her, but after his sensual confession that he loved her, she had wanted him to make love to her, and he had, several times. And she had drifted off to sleep with him still embedded deep inside of her. It hadn’t been the first time they’d gone to sleep that way, and she was going to make sure it wasn’t the last.
“What time is Alex arriving?” she asked. She was ready to hear what he had to say.
“His flight got in a couple of hours ago.”
Her eyes widened. “That means he could be on his way here,” she said, trying to pull out of Blade’s arms.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m getting this.”
And then he kissed her in the way she was getting used to being kissed by him. It was a long, drawn-out, make-your-panties-wet kiss. The only problem was she wasn’t wearing any panties.
She pulled back and broke off the kiss. “Come on, Blade, we have plenty of time for that later. We need to get dressed.”
He released her and she eased out of bed.
“I want to be dressed with the coffee brewing when he gets here, and I need to shower first.”
Blade watched her walk into the bathroom in all her naked splendor, and when he heard the sound of the water running, he decided he wanted to take a shower, as well. He eased out of bed and followed the woman he loved.
“Thanks, Sam,” Alex said, accepting the cup of coffee. He glanced over at Sam and Blade and thought something was different. Oh, he’d known since the other night in Houston that they were having an affair, but Christy thought it was more than that. Seeing them together now, he was beginning to think so, too.
He watched how Blade was keeping her within easy reach, and when she moved, so did Blade’s eyes. She was rarely out of his sight. If Blade hadn’t already fallen in love with her, then he was more than halfway there.
Alex bit into his bagel. Luke had stopped by a deli and bought a dozen of them. Sam had eaten only one. He, Luke and Blade had practically finished off the others.
“So, you think you know who sent the bomb, Alex?”
That question came from Blade. He, Alex and Luke were in chairs in the sitting-room area of the hotel room. Sam was perched on the arm of Blade’s chair and his arm was wrapped around her waist.
Alex took a sip of his coffee. “I think so, but first let me tell you who I don’t suspect any longer.”
Blade nodded. “All right.”
Alex opened his notepad. “First, Tyrell Graham.”
Sam’s gaze sharpened. “And just what is good old Tyrell doing these days?” she asked.
Alex met her eyes. “Nothing. The man is dead. He was shot by his girlfriend last year and she’s presently serving time for it. She caught him cheating and blew him away.”
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