Twisted Hunger

by Marilyn Campbell

  But what if he was sent to spy on you? What if he knows something that you could use?

  She had momentarily forgotten why she’d accepted his dinner invitation to begin with. She could not afford to avoid him completely, at least not until Brevowski checked him out. She had assured him that she could handle Lucas Madigan, and handle him she would. Somehow.

  The movie finally came to an end and Luke seemed to be as anxious as she was to get out of there.

  “Can I interest you in a drink, or dessert and coffee?” he asked as they headed toward their cars.

  “Not a chance,” she said lightly. “I have to work tomorrow.”

  “You could always call in sick.”

  “No. I couldn’t.” She already had her keys in her hand, ready to take off before that chemistry stuff had a chance to make her woozy again.

  “How about tomorrow night,” Luke suggested. “A real date, where I pick you up and try to impress you instead of fluster you?”

  She made a face at him. “I don’t believe you could get through an entire evening without goading me.”

  One corner of his mouth curved upward. “That sounds like a challenge if I ever heard one. But I’ll let you in on something I figured out during the movie. Most new couples are so caught up in their physical attraction that they don’t really get to know each other. In other words, they need to talk more and make love less. You and I, on the other hand, have been talking way too much.”

  She forced herself to get past his casual reference to their being a new couple and focus on contradicting his conclusion, but he didn’t give her the time needed. His hands framed her face and his mouth pressed against hers. It was gentle enough to allow her to escape if she wished, yet seductive enough to make her want to stay. She felt his caress flow with ease through her shields and reach all the way deep inside her.

  There could be no resistance to a kiss like that, or even room to think about it. There was only an imperative to return it. He patiently awaited her response and, the moment she moved toward him, he kissed her in earnest.

  His mouth teased and tasted and feasted on hers, awakening her dormant sensuality like a blossoming lotus flower. Wherever his hands touched, she felt his heat burning through her clothes.

  She had a flicker of concern that she was in trouble, but he slid his hands down to her hips and shifted her to feel the power she had over him. Leaning back against the car, she pulled him closer then moaned appreciatively when he gave her exactly what she wanted.

  All too soon, even that exquisite, rhythmic pressure was not enough.

  She slipped her hand between their bodies, groping for his belt buckle as she aggressively drew his tongue into her mouth. She had never in her entire life wanted anything as badly as she craved satisfaction from this man at this moment.

  She felt his mouth ease away from hers, and she tried to follow it, but he held her still.

  “You win,” he whispered hoarsely. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we have to stop.”

  Her fingers remained clamped on his belt as she pulled her mental faculties back from wherever they had gone. Her only consolation was that his breath was as ragged as hers. Other than that, she was mortified.

  He gently raised her hands from his belt and kissed each of her palms. “I really hadn’t meant to—”

  “Don’t say another word. Please.” She reclaimed her hands and picked up her keys and purse from the ground. She did not even remember dropping them. As fast as her quaking body allowed, she opened her car door and got in.

  Luke grabbed the door before she could close it. “Ellery, please, let me say something.”

  She started the car, put it in reverse and stepped on the gas. As he jumped out of the way, she pulled the door shut and drove off.

  * * *

  Teddy punched his fist against the steering wheel of his car. How dare that slut betray me like that! And in public, where anyone could have seen her.

  He slowly got control over his rage by reminding himself that she did not yet know just how deeply he felt about her or what his long-term intentions were. She was not aware of his plan to take her to the White House as part of the family rather than a staff member.

  On the positive side, he now knew she was a passionate woman. He really couldn’t blame her for seeking a little indulgence. At least she didn’t go home with that man. She had left him to deal with his hard-on by himself… just as she had left the TV star. Somewhere in her mind she had to know that she was saving herself for only one special man. He savored the idea of having a woman whose body was his and his alone. Unlike his wimp of a brother, he would never allow another man to use what belonged to him.

  That thought brought Vivian’s aging, but still needy, body to mind and, despite his moment of jealousy, the scene he had just witnessed had given him one hell of an erection. Knowing how much she would enjoy hearing how horny the leggy redhead was beneath her business suit, he called Viv to let her know he was on his way home and had something interesting to tell her.

  Recalling the promise he had made to her earlier regarding the delectable Miss Winters, he wasted no time getting back home. Much to his surprise, Vivian was already in his room and obviously had been thinking along the same lines.

  He stopped in the doorway and took in the superficial changes she had quickly made to make it look like an office. She was sitting behind a table dressed in a prim suit. A hand-printed sign on the table read “MISS WINTERS”.

  “Oh, Mrs. Jones,” she said distinctly, to be sure Teddy knew what role he was to play. “I can go over those party details with you now.”

  He walked in and sat down in one of the two armchairs sitting in front of the table.

  As she came around to sit next to him, she said, “But first I want to say something about our visit earlier today.”

  Teddy knew Viv had been in the office but he had no idea what had gone on between her and Ellery. Perhaps she’d been insulting and needed to be punished.

  “I was… intrigued.” She began slowly, purposely making him wonder which game they would be playing. “But nothing like that must ever happen again.”

  “I’m sorry, my dear, but you’ll have to be a little more specific. Nothing like what?”

  She sighed. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you? All right. The way you were looking at my mouth and my legs, and lingering over my breasts as though my nipples were showing… well, it wasn’t… appropriate. It made me feel… very sensitive. And when you put your hand…” She took Teddy’s hand and placed it high on her thigh. Catching on now, he immediately squeezed and pressed his fingers closer to forbidden territory. “Yes, when you did that, well, again, it wasn’t proper.”

  “But I want us to be friends,” he said, giving her another squeeze. “And the look on your face then was like it is now. Not objecting at all. Almost as though—” He quickly moved his hand from the top of her thigh to beneath her skirt and straight for the jointure between. “Why, Miss Winters, you’re not wearing any underwear.” His fingers easily found their target. “And you are extremely wet. Could it be that my oh-so improper advances today got you hot for me? Have you been sitting here all day thinking about what it would be like to have me do this?”

  She parted her legs wider and moaned when he gave her swollen clit a hard pinch. “From where I’m sitting, you’re not so prim and proper after all. It feels to me like you’re nothing but a dishonest, horny lesbo-slut, just hoping someone forces herself on you so you can claim you didn’t want it.

  “Oh please don’t. This isn’t right.” Her body slid down in the chair and she pulled her skirt up to her waist, clearly contradicting her words.

  He abruptly stood up and yanked her to her feet. “Oh no, you aren’t going to get it all your way.” He pushed and turned her around until she was reclining on the desk with her skirt gathered up at her waist. By shifting the armchair he was able to plant her feet on each arm with him seated in between, almost lik
e when they played gynecologist. But the strappy high-heeled shoes made it very different. His fingers immediately returned to her clit to keep her in line.

  “Admit that you want it from me.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She gasped as two of his fingers slipped inside her cunt while his thumb continued to put pressure on the outside nerve bundle.

  “Say you want a woman’s mouth on your precious pussy. Say you want my tongue licking you until you come.”

  “No. No. I can’t. It’s not proper.” She squealed as he brought her close to orgasm then removed his hand. “No! Don’t stop. Not yet.”

  “Then say it.”

  She whimpered.

  He clamped his hands on her knees so that she couldn’t close them to give herself any relief. “Say it or I walk out of here and you can take care of yourself.”

  She sucked air in through clenched teeth. “All right! You win. I want a woman’s mouth and tongue on my pussy. I want you, Mrs. Jones, to make me come all over your face.”

  Since she begged so prettily, Mrs. Jones energetically complied.

  As soon as she shuddered with release, she lowered her voice and ordered, “Now fuck me, you wicked stuck-up bitch.”

  He smiled and shoved down his pants. “Lucky for you, I happened to have brought a nice big dildo with me.”

  * * *

  Ellery spent most of the night trying to figure out what it was about Luke Madigan that had turned her into an animal in heat. What little sleep she got was wrecked by the old earthquake dream, with a new frustrating twist. While the ground around her kept opening up, instead of simply running to avoid the chasms, she was chasing after something that stayed just beyond her reach.

  She was further frustrated when she walked into the lobby the next morning and saw Luke waiting to intercept her.

  “I didn’t want to bother you while you were working,” he said, as though that was a satisfactory explanation for his presence. “And you didn’t give me your home number.”

  Her instinct was to keep walking right past him, but she ordered herself to behave like a grown-up. “Look, I am truly sorry about last night. I wasn’t… prepared for what happened between us. I still don’t know how I feel about it.”

  “Understood,” he said seriously. “So go out with me tonight, on a real date, not a dare, and we’ll talk about it together.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t. I… I’m, um, spending the evening with the friend who had to cancel last night.”

  “You know, Ellery, you weren’t the only one who wasn’t prepared for what happened between us. Will you at least give me your phone number so I can call you later?” He noted her reluctance. “Fine. You know where you can call me when you’re ready to face the truth.”

  He started to walk away then came back to her. “I almost forgot. I have something of yours.” He reached for her hand, turned it palm up and dropped three hairpins onto it.

  Chapter 14

  When Teddy arrived in the office with the morning’s clippings and gave her an incredibly sweet, shy smile, Ellery felt very guilty about what she was about to do. But when his question about their dinner plans took a full minute for him to sound out, she knew she could not go through with the promised date so soon after last night’s disaster. Diane had mentioned getting together tonight and that sounded more along the lines of what her case of nerves needed at the moment.

  “I am so sorry, Teddy. I need to postpone again. Everything just piled up… you know how it is. How does tomorrow evening look for you?”

  He swallowed hard and picked a piece of invisible lint off his jacket sleeve. “I’m g-going to Sssanta Mmmonica w-w-w-with Abe and Vivian. Mmmaybe next w-w-w-week w-w-w-will be better.”

  * * *

  Teddy paused on the stairwell landing outside of Ellery’s office door and took a slow, calming breath. He had been so positive that the stutter would not get the best of him, but her rejection had instantly shot an arrow into his bubble of confidence. She had not been able to meet his eyes when she put him off. That could have been because she felt bad about hurting his feelings.

  Or it could have been because she was lying.

  If he found out it was the latter, that there was no honest, business-related reason for her to back out of their date…

  He had not yet decided exactly what he would do if she’d lied to him. He only knew she would be very, very sorry.

  * * *

  “It’s hard to believe we could have come from such different beginnings and ended up being so similar,” Diane noted with a chuckle. They had been comparing their life histories since they arrived at the restaurant and had found almost no common elements until they reached their adult years.

  “Well, it is said that opposites attract,” Ellery offered with a smile that involuntarily morphed into a yawn. “Excuse me.”

  Diane smirked at her. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those people who watch the ten o’clock news because you can’t stay awake ‘til eleven! Or do you have some juicy excuse, like a male friend who kept you up all last night?” She raised her eyebrows in response to Ellery’s flushed cheeks. “C’mon, girl. Let’s hear some details. I’ve been on short rations for a while.”

  “It wasn’t like that.”

  “That’s okay. Just tell me what it was like. At this point I’d even appreciate some vicarious heavy breathing.”

  Ellery laughed. Maybe talking it out with another single career woman would help clear her head. “I met this man Saturday night.”

  “At the banquet? I thought you were there with Brandon.”

  “Yes, but that’s a separate story.” Without mentioning Brevowski or her suspicions about Luke, she briefly explained how he dared her into going out with him and the bewildering effect he had on her. “If you hadn’t canceled on me last night, I might not be in this predicament today.”

  “Hah! You can’t blame me because this guy lit a brush fire under you.”

  Ellery knew she was the only one to blame. “The problem is, I don’t want any man lighting that kind of fire under me. It… it takes away from… from the focus I need to achieve my career goals. You should understand that.”

  “Hmmm. I gather you don’t lose your focus with Brandon.”

  Ellery shrugged. “Brandon and I were casual lovers a long time ago. It was good. Actually, he is quite good, but in a rehearsed kind of way. It’s like… he knows where all the parts are and what to do with them to assure satisfaction.”

  Diane choked on that one. “That’s more than most men can do. But now I’m really confused. Brandon told me he was up here to spend time with you, but that you didn’t let him in your bed.”

  “That’s true,” Ellery replied, wondering when the two of them had such an intimate conversation. “I have to guard my reputation and Brandon is a media magnet.”

  “Don’t you mean media hog?”

  “Obviously, the time you spent with him gave you a good picture of the man.” Ellery paused, then decided to tell Diane the rest of the Brandon story in hopes she had some advice to share. “The truth is, he was pushing for an instant, long-term commitment, not a one- or two-night stand, and I’ve always intended to remain single and independent. But he got me thinking of the advantages to be had by marrying someone like him.”

  “Let me guess. He poses no threat to your career goals. In fact, his celebrity status could bring you some recognition if it was played right, and let’s not forget all that satisfactory sex.”

  Ellery giggled. “It sounded better when it was all inside my head. The one big thing that would stop me from accepting his proposal is that he’s always been a chronic womanizer. I couldn’t tolerate living with a cheat.”

  “Then there’s probably something I should tell you. Brandon made a pass at me after you went home the other night.”

  “Huh. Well, that certainly clears up the question of how serious he was about marrying me. Thank you for telling me.”

 
; “I wasn’t sure that was something you’d want to hear, even though I turned him down. Some women wouldn’t want to know. Of course, now that I know you aren’t madly in love with him, I’m sorry I didn’t take the opportunity to check out his well-rehearsed techniques for myself. But enough about the mechanical man. I want to hear about the one who scares the hell out of you.”

  Ellery’s mouth dropped open. “Why did you say that? I’m not afraid of any man.”

  Diane held up her hands defensively. “Down, girl. I was just rewording what you said before. We can change the subject if you want.”

  “I’m sorry.” She sighed. “You might have a point. The thing is, there was this chemistry between us, the kind that not only takes your breath away but strips you of all your common sense at the same time.”

  “And you consider that a bad thing?”

  Ellery shook her head. “No, not bad, I guess. Just too much of a good thing, maybe. I guess he does scare me in a way. I prefer to feel like I have some control over a man if I’m going to be alone with him. In this case, I don’t even seem to have control over me. Even when he’s goading me, I’m—” She touched her cheek. “See? I can’t even talk about him without heating up!”

  “Ooh, you do have a bad case, girl.” Diane leaned forward and spoke in a sincere voice. “Listen to me. I know what I’m talking about here. We oh-so independent, single career ladies need to get our hair mussed up every so often, just to keep everything balanced and working properly. And from what you’ve told me, you’re way overdue for a good tune-up.”

  The reference to her hair made Ellery think about the hairpins, and her cheeks flushed again. “Brandon invited me down to L.A. this weekend. Maybe I should—”