Giving that some thought, he dialed another Sacramento number and immediately reached the young man who had so quickly arranged last night’s entertainment.
“Chico? George here. I have another small job, but I’d like you to handle it personally. It’s a rush again, but absolutely no physical contact will be required. There will be a little extra in your envelope next week if you do this well.”
* * *
“Come on, Ellery, you may as well admit it. You’re having fun.”
As much as she hated admitting anything to Luke, she couldn’t deny that he’d been right again. “Yes, I’m having fun. But I’m still hoping I don’t dance by anyone who recognizes me!”
Luke had to practically drag her onto the dance floor for her first Texas Two-Step, but once she realized how easy that was, she let him show her the Cotton-Eye Joe, and from there they progressed to a few more complicated dances. Though she wasn’t ready to allocate one of her car radio buttons to the country station, the music was a lot more enjoyable than she thought it would be.
Dinner was as good as promised, although she opted for barbecued pork instead of ribs because of the messy factor. Plus, they were seated far enough away from the loud speakers to continue their conversation. Once she relaxed, she was able to enjoy Luke’s keen sense of humor, especially when it was directed toward people other than herself.
All in all, she wasn’t just having fun, she was having great fun. There was only one thing preventing it from being one of the best dates she’d ever had. She still had a smidgeon of doubt about his honesty. Her intuition kept telling her he was hiding something, but she no longer believed it had anything to do with politics. Whenever she introduced a political topic, the look in his eyes shifted to forced interest. She would bet if he had a secret, it was something personal that he didn’t want her to know about.
Her first guess, despite his firm denial, was that he was married, or at least in a committed relationship of some kind. Throughout the evening she questioned him, tested him, tried to trip him up with his own stories, but he never slipped or gave a blatantly contradictory answer. His attention remained solidly on seducing her.
Not that he was being rude or lewd, nor did he break his promise not to talk about a serious relationship. It wasn’t even the way he gazed at her or touched her or held her while they danced—although all of those things were wonderfully entrancing. His manner of seduction was so subtle that it was being conducted on a sub-surface level.
The whole time they were eating, talking, laughing and dancing, his body chemistry was murmuring erotic love poems to hers.
What she did know, without a single doubt, was that if she didn’t have sex with this man, she would regret it for the rest of her life. When she was old and gray and all alone in the world, he would be the one she would wistfully remember as “the one who got away”. As the years passed, his mystique would probably grow into monumental proportions.
The only way to keep that from happening was to accept the fact that he wasn’t there to spy on her and let her body have what it wanted… now. Once that was done, the mystique would evaporate and she would be able to put him completely out of her mind. Though she had been celibate for several years, she was now quite glad that she had stayed on the Pill to regulate her periods.
A love ballad began and Luke drew her into his arms for the kind of slow dance she was more accustomed to. Now that she had made up her mind about what she was going to do with him, she let herself thoroughly enjoy the way their bodies instinctively moved as one, and how lovely it felt to have her hand enveloped by his.
And how his lower body teased her with a promise of rare pleasure.
It was up to her to let him know when and how she wanted to end the evening. With her next breath, she put an end to the teasing by relaxing her body fully against his. After she was certain he noticed the difference, she whispered into his ear, “I’d like you to take me home now.”
“But I’m not ready to let you go.”
She leaned back, so he could see her face. “You don’t have to let me go until tomorrow morning.”
The drive home was quiet, as though they both feared that words might jeopardize the precarious balance they had settled into.
Because she had already decided to give in to her urges, she stroked his cheek. His smile encouraged her to leave her fingers at the back of his neck as he drove. She didn’t completely understand it, but somehow, when they were touching, she felt… different.
Before the night was over, she intended to know whether the difference was only temporary or whether it was something she needed to fight with all her being.
She had felt comfortable with him all evening but as soon as they were back inside her apartment, anticipation had her feeling nervous again. “Would you like a glass of wine? I’m not sure there will be—”
His finger lightly touched her mouth to quiet her. “Relax. Come sit down with me.” He held her hand as they walked to the sofa and sat down close together. “I had a very good time tonight,” he said with a soft smile as he ran his fingers through her hair.
She started to lower her gaze then made herself look directly into his eyes. “I did too.”
“Since you’ve made it abundantly clear that you don’t want to hear any talk of an ongoing relationship, I won’t tell you how I’m feeling about us… as a long-term, exclusive, committed couple. And I won’t say a single word about how perfect we are for each other or what we could accomplish together. But I think you should know that as far as I’m concerned, nothing more has to happen between us tonight. Or tomorrow night. Or for another month, if that’s how long it would take for you to be more comfortable with me.”
Her fingers tiptoed up his shirt buttons and stopped to toy with the top one. “But what if I just wanted to do some more kissing? You warned me that you probably couldn’t stop a third time.”
He took a slow breath. “I could. If that’s what you really wanted.”
She undid his top button. “What if I wanted to do a little bit more than kissing?” Slowly she unbuttoned the next and the next. “What if I wanted to,” her fingers slipped beneath the fabric and found his nipple, “touch?”
His crooked grin let her know he was finally catching on and was more than ready to jump into the game. “I suppose that would be all right…” His hand trailed down her neck and brushed over her breast. “As long as I can do the same.” With the barest pressure, his palm circled over the peak.
She inhaled sharply as her nipple puckered in instant response and a spear of pleasure shot straight down to the base of her body.
His hand massaged her breast more firmly as he nuzzled her ear. “But if you’re going to react like that, I’m going to think you want to do more than just touch.”
Reining in the primal urge beating deep within her, she murmured, “Well, there’s touching,” her hand moved downward to his belt, “and there’s touching.” She cupped the hardening flesh between his thighs.
It was his turn to suck in his breath. “That’s true.” His hand eased from her breast to her knee, then began working its way up her inner thigh. “Just let me know when you want something more.”
She opened her legs to allow him equal rights then gasped when he took them. “I… I think… it would be all right… if you kissed me now.”
Their mouths crashed together, hot and hungry, eager to satisfy. Their bodies shifted and moved until they were stretched out on the couch. What their hands had aroused now pressed together, perfectly matched and equally demanding.
Ellery had wanted to control the pace, control him, but it was futile. Whatever it was that happened when they touched was not controllable. “Luke…” she whispered breathlessly. “I want more.”
Too cramped on the couch, they intended to move to the bedroom but only made it to the carpeted floor. Anything more comfortable was much too far away. Shoes were kicked off and clothes and underwear were thoughtlessly abused as they were tug
ged on, yanked off and tossed across the room.
There was only a moment’s respite, when Luke remembered to remove a handful of condom packages from his jacket pocket. Ellery couldn’t help but laugh. He may not have counted on sex that night, but he had certainly come prepared for plenty of it.
The tiny, humorous break made no difference, however. The instant his mouth returned to hers, she was seriously on fire again. Anxious fingers groped and kneaded. Desperate mouths sucked and nipped. But there was only one thing that could satisfy their burning need for each other. And as soon as they were finally rid of all the obstacles between them, Ellery welcomed him into her body with an audible sigh.
But her relief was short-lived, for when he began to move within her, the wildfire blazed with a life of its own. There was no way to hold it back or even slow it down. The voracious hunger was all-consuming, and much too soon, they had no choice but to give themselves up to it.
Ellery felt her body rise to a level of sensual pleasure she had not known existed. As wave after wave swept her along, she knew once was not going to be nearly enough.
Ever so slowly, her heartbeat regulated and awareness of her surroundings returned. Luke began to roll off her, but she clenched her vaginal muscles around him and rolled with him, so that they remained joined on their sides.
“I’m not ready to let you go yet,” she explained, mimicking his earlier comment to her. He flexed deep inside her, still hard, as though he hadn’t had the powerful climax she knew they had shared.
“You don’t have to… until tomorrow morning,” he returned, remembering the words as well as she. His lips brushed softly back and forth over hers until she picked up the rhythm.
With the urgency removed they began anew, gently exploring, slowly discovering each other’s most sensitive areas. They were even able to find the willpower to prolong the sweetness while they relocated to her bedroom before starting all over again.
* * *
Chico figured he’d hung around long enough for what he was being paid. He had the answer George was waiting for. The bitch was definitely banging the guy she was out with tonight and it didn’t look like she would be finished with him anytime soon.
He had never met George personally and couldn’t tell whether the client was hoping to catch the chick with another man or hoping his suspicions about her were wrong. Either way, Chico just hoped he would come through with the little extra he promised after he heard the report.
* * *
It had taken a while, but they were finally sated enough to think of something besides sex.
“Ellery?”
“Hmm?” She felt deliciously drowsy, lying in his embrace with their legs entwined.
“Do you ever go by anything besides Ellery?”
“Sure. Some people call me Miss or Ms. Winters.” She felt his chest shake with quiet laughter.
“I mean, like a nickname. Ellery seems so… formal. And it has three syllables… such a mouthful to say in the throes of passion.”
“I could always call you Madigan… or Professor—maybe Doctor?”
He smirked at her. “Talk about a mood killer. How about Elle?”
She pretended to consider that for a full five seconds. “Well, that might work. After all, it is how Brandon and a few of my other lovers have addressed me.”
“Nuff said. How about Ellie? At least that brings it down to two syllables.”
She shook her head. “No. That’s—never mind. Just no.”
“Hmmm. I guess I’ll just have to come up with one of my own. How do you feel about Pumpkin?”
“How do you feel about having your nose hairs plucked?”
“Cupcake?”
“Remember that threat I made about aiming for softer flesh?”
He grabbed her hand and held it to his chest. “All right, I’ll keep thinking.”
“Don’t strain yourse—” She jerked upright. “Did you feel that?”
He sat up beside her. “What?”
“A tremor. Turn the light on.”
“I didn’t feel anything.”
“Just turn the light on, dammit!”
“Okay, okay.” He leaned over and switched on the lamp. “Gawd, Ellery. You’re pale as a ghost. What’s the—” Before he could finish his question, another, more noticeable tremor rumbled through the apartment, rattling a few loose objects. The terrified expression on Ellery’s face was answer enough. He wrapped his arms around her and held tightly. “It’s probably just a mild one, but if you want, we can go sit in a doorway or a closet—”
“No!” she shrieked.
Her eyes were wide and glazed. He didn’t know what to do except keep holding her. “It might help if you talked.” She shook her head against his chest. “How about if I talk? Will that help?” She nodded. “Okay. Let me try to think of a story I haven’t told you yet. I know. A few summers back, someone dared me to jump out of an airplane naked…”
In a soft, steady voice, he continued on from one story to another until he felt her relax. When thirty minutes passed without another tremor, he gently eased her back down onto her pillow and stroked her hair. “I’m an even better listener than I am a talker.”
She forced a half-smile. “Sorry about that. You mentioned dark fears before. You just witnessed how courageously I face my worst.”
“How do you handle it when you’re alone?”
“I recite multiplication tables and swear oaths to move out of the state as soon as possible.”
“I suffer from nightmares. Sometimes it really does help to talk about it.”
“Yes, that’s what both of the psychiatrists I went to said repeatedly.” If he had pushed her to talk she wouldn’t have, but he simply lay down beside her and continued to stroke her hair. With a sigh, she lowered another barrier against him.
“I was seven years old. My mother had gone to the store, so my father and I were alone when the first tremor shook the house. He insisted we go sit in the coat closet because it had the best support, but I wouldn’t go in without my favorite teddy bear.” She paused for a moment then decided to tell him the rest of it.
“He tried to convince me the bear would be fine even if the whole house came down, but I was spoiled, so I whined and got my way. He closed me inside the closet while he went to fetch my bear. A couple seconds later, another shockwave vibrated through the house, but this one was big. It seemed to go on forever. I heard a lot of loud crashing, like the whole house really was coming down around the closet. Then I thought I heard my father shout my name. I tried to open the closet door, but something was blocking it. I screamed for him to get me out, but he didn’t come.”
She had to stop again, this time to take a deep, calming breath. “I sat there, in that pitch-black, tiny little closet, for three hours, before my mother came home and freed me.”
“What happened to your father?” Luke asked quietly.
“He was right outside the closet door when that wave hit. The curio cabinet next to the door fell on him and crushed his windpipe. They said he was killed instantly. That was what was blocking the door—the cabinet, on top of my father. My precious bear was still in his hand.”
“My God, no wonder you had to see psychiatrists. I don’t know that anyone could have helped me get over something that awful.”
“Actually, the doctors helped me to forgive myself for causing my father’s death, but it was a friend I met a few years ago who taught me some tricks to cope with the leftover fears.”
“Like reciting multiplication tables during tremors?”
“And at a few other times, like when I have to ride in an elevator. I also carry a flashlight in my purse in case the lights ever go out unexpectedly.”
“Was your father the one who called you Ellie?”
She nodded. “After he died, I never wanted to hear it from anyone else. He thought Ellery was too stuffy for a little girl.”
“It’s too stuffy for a big girl too.”
“It’s st
ill better than Pumpkin or Cupcake,” she said, managing a real smile.
“Don’t worry, before we retire to our rocking chairs, I’ll come up with one we both like.”
“Planning on sticking around awhile, are you?”
He kissed her nose. “Even longer than a while.” He planted a trail of kisses down her throat to her shoulder.
She knew she should discourage him from thinking about her in terms of decades, but as his tongue circled her nipple, she forgot what she was going to complain about.
* * *
Ellery awoke in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and was surprised that Luke was not next to her. She was certain she had implied that he was welcome to stay the night. Had he gone back to the motel? She doubted that, since his primary goal seemed to be to convince her to let him stick around indefinitely.
She heard a noise in the other room and thought she saw a dim light. Perhaps he had simply gone out to the kitchen to get something to drink. She put on her robe and went to check on him, but only got as far as the bedroom doorway. It took her several seconds to make sure she wasn’t mistaken about what she was seeing.
Luke was holding the steel flashlight from her purse and was looking through the files she had brought home from work. Her blood froze in her veins. “You should have told me you were interested in the environment,” she said, barely controlling her rage. “I would have been glad to make you a copy so you could read those papers in better light.”
As he whirled around, he dropped a set of keys on the floor. “I can explain,” he said as he tried to retrieve them, but she was faster.
“These are my office keys.” Her gaze flew to her open purse. “Did you take anything else?”
“I’m not a thief.”
“No, you’re a spy.”
“I’m not a spy either,” he insisted. “Please let me explain. I didn’t want to get you involved.”
“Oh really? Well, I hate to tell you, pal, but you’re in my home, nosing through my purse and my files. And that was definitely my body you fucked last night. I’m about as involved as a person can be. Now get the hell out of my life!”
Twisted Hunger Page 22