Paula cursed the whimper she heard coming from her throat. It didn’t stop her from nuzzling her ear against his mouth, angling it to gain more of his attention. Still, she was desperate to keep some semblance of the upper hand.
“She—she’s gone, Linus.”
“Is she?” He rotated his thumb while increasing the pressure of his treatment at her ear.
“Is she?” He murmured the question this time. His mouth traveled from her lobe to her jaw and finally the corner of her mouth. There, he nibbled and sucked her bottom lip until she granted him access.
The deep, steady thrusts of his tongue had her offering quiet wavering moans and instant participation. Paula met his thrusts with her own, all the while shifting to claim greater attention from his skillful thumb at her crotch.
Linus wanted her closer too and stood to accomplish that. In the midst of their kiss, her honey-toned thighs curved about his lean waist to lock him in a lush embrace. He broke the kiss then, hungry for the fragrance that clung to her skin.
“It’s just down the hall,” she said.
“What is?”
“Where I sleep.” Her tone was innocent in its simplicity.
Far from innocent, Linus’s grin was a devilish one. Not tonight, he vowed.
Chapter 5
She had him stripped of his suit jacket and shirt by the time they’d made it to her bedroom. There was no need to hold on for support as he carried her down the long, electric-candle-lit corridor that only led toward one destination.
His strength had always been a turn-on, even when it was terrifying. Paula gave a mental shove to wedge the idea from her thoughts. She would not linger there. Not in that part of the past. Not tonight.
Lashes unsettled with girlish fluttering, she inclined her head to leave Linus’s mouth more room to play. He didn’t let the offer go to waste. His teeth nibbled and grazed; his tongue lingered on her collarbone and the silken dip at the base of her throat.
When they arrived in the suite at the end of the hall, Linus barely took a second to scan the room. His route was set once he located the bed, a king-sized oasis occupying a round, sizable platform in a far corner. A voice in his head—a faint one that wasn’t too hard to stifle—reminded him that there were other things, issues, they should be focused on. They’d get there; there was no other plan besides that one—the one that involved them getting back together—as far as he was concerned.
Still, Linus knew he’d have to have Paula’s cooperation to see that endeavor through. Unfortunately, she was against any conversation that addressed their past. Linus didn’t blame her; only, until they dealt with said past, there was no future for them. And he’d settle for nothing less than a future with Paula Starker. If the physical level was the only plane she’d meet him on, so be it. He’d happily give whatever she asked of him. In the midst of their bliss, he’d make her listen to him. Listen to him or forfeit the pleasure he’d have her craving again and willing to do anything to satisfy.
At least that was the way he hoped it’d turn out. Forfeiting himself pleasure wasn’t a part of the plan he would look forward to enacting. Linus spanned the platform steps and rested back against the generously pillowed headboard once he eased them down to the bed. He straddled Paula across his lap and let his forehead drop to her shoulder when her sex was nudging his. He groaned, and the sound brought a curious smile to Paula’s mouth.
“You sound tortured, Mr. Brooks.”
Her playful acknowledgment had Linus resting his head back, eyes closed. When he opened them, Paula’s lashes fluttered anew with the sensation evoked by the sultry potency of his gaze.
“What?” she queried, watching while he grinned.
“I didn’t come here for...this. Didn’t come...prepared.”
She smiled, slightly tilting her head. “I see.” With that, she leaned over to pull open a drawer on the bedside table that was fashioned of the same creamy wood as the platform and bedframe.
Linus peered into the open drawer to discover, among other things, a generous supply of condoms. “What a lucky guy I am,” he said. “They’re all my size.” He took out a few of the packets.
Paula shrugged half-heartedly. “It’s the only size I buy.”
Aside from the rigid set of his jaw, Linus’s expression was unreadable. “Don’t you worry about offending a guy who doesn’t measure up?”
“If they’re offended, they don’t need to be here.” She enjoyed the way his jolting stare strayed across the assortment of toys littering the drawer. “Are you offended?” she asked.
Linus didn’t supply an immediate answer. He wasn’t offended, but he was pissed. Thankfully, however, he was able to stop before torturing himself with questions of how many men she’d taken to her bed. All that mattered then was where he had her now.
Paula pulled her shirt over her head, leaving her in nothing but lacy gold panties hugging her hips. “Are you too offended to stay?” She tweaked her earlier question.
“I’ll deal with it.” In seconds he was resuming their kiss.
Paula cupped his face, languishing in the feel of his flawless shave beneath her fingertips. He kept her occupied with the act, scraping the roof and sides of her mouth until he’d enticed her tongue to tangle with his. Her responses were breathy moans that filled the room alongside choked gasps that kept time with the deft strokes his thumbs applied to tend her breasts more appropriately.
Paula rested her hands above her head and arched her back so that he’d leave no part of her breast untouched. Linus hadn’t intended to. He suckled her nipples until they glistened and puckered for more. His lips and tongue plied her areolae and the surrounding mounds with wet open-mouthed kisses.
Paula let her memory surge, allowing glimpses of similar moments to take residence closer to the surface. Back then, she’d believed no one could surpass Linus’s skill in the bedroom. Later, she had told herself those were just the ideas of an inexperienced girl. Now, years later and leagues away from inexperienced, she realized her perspective was right-on. He was still a thorough lover.
“L.” The letter was wrapped in a sob when she felt his mouth on her sex.
Panties long gone, his hands had taken their place at her hips. His lips feathered over her clit before the tip of his tongue explored the tightly packed bundle of nerves. Paula squirmed, and he gave her hips a warning squeeze but didn’t abandon his task. Linus fixed on the hypersensitive nub and only treated her moist folds to brief brushes from his lips.
It was enough. When his tongue circled the bud and sucked, Paula knew she was moments away from coming apart. Linus must’ve known that too, for that’s when he stopped. He put Paula on her stomach before she could lash out. Instead of a verbal gripe over his tactics, she was releasing a muffled moan into one of the many pillows that were strewn across the bed. On his knees, Linus smoothed a hand over and under her hip and took possession of her core. His free hand cupped a breast and kept her secure off the bed and against his chest to give his fingers more room to play.
Paula, so erotically restrained, had no choice but to take what he subjected her to, the way he subjected her to it. It was a choice she highly approved of. His thumb took on the task of working her clit while his middle finger claimed her core as it grew wetter.
Lightly, he gnawed her shoulder, ego humming as her appreciative gasps filled the room. Proof of her pleasure doused his skin, coating the finger thrusting in moisture. She was more than ready for him, yet the tiny hiccupping sounds she made as he took her were hard to put an end to. Besides, the persistent clutch and release of her intimate muscles around his finger pulled his attention to how tight she was.
The memory of what she’d felt like when he’d claimed her virginity kept him suspended between the past possession and the one he now ached to reinstate. He flipped her onto her back and resumed the fingering as well as the kissing. Wi
th his free hand, Linus undid his belt and trousers, kicking free of them along with his boxers, socks and loafers.
Blindly, he smoothed a hand across the tangled peach comforter in search of the condoms he’d already pulled out. With expert efficiency, he tore a packet in half and applied protection. Paula could feel her heart lodged squarely in her throat when he pulled her to the center of the bed. Her eyelids felt heavy, drugged, while his thumbs massaged her folds, spreading them to accept him.
Linus took her swiftly, unapologetically possessive, as if to remind her of how woefully lacking her sex life had been since his absence. Her eyes flared in surprise before they returned to their drugged state. The only indication she gave of discomfort was the small grimace that curved her mouth once Linus filled her with every rock-hard inch of his wide sex.
Paula could actually feel the organ spreading her walls as it speared deeply, deliciously. She wanted to lock her legs around him and take him impossibly deeper. Linus prevented her, keeping his hold secure at her spread thighs. Slowly, he pumped his hips, rotating them ever so slightly to send waves of sensation vibrating through them both.
The pleasure was shattering. Paula treated Linus’s thighs to the same massaging touch he did hers, though she was nowhere near capable of covering the expanse of his. His limbs were onyx dark and cut with muscle, much like his sex—strong and coaxing as it took all she had to give.
Paula labored to drive down the rushes of her impending climax. She wasn’t at all ready for the moment to end. Linus released one of her thighs to brace his weight on a fist in the covers. He caged her beneath his body, which was toned and sleek as a living weapon. Awed by the planks of chiseled abdominals and generous pectorals, she reached out to pair touch with the sensation that sight had roused.
The stimuli was abundant and incomparable, their mutual moans of elation heightened. Linus’s perfectly defined body took hers with such deft mastery. Paula’s skin glistened from a mix of exertion and his kisses. The urge to climax hit her hard, and she could feel the unmistakable ooze of need pooling beneath her bottom. His erection showed no signs of losing its...capacity. His strokes remained consistent and unquestionably satisfying.
“I’m not done yet, DA Starker,” he murmured while his tongue outlined a ripe, honey-brown nipple.
Paula’s laughter melded with a moan. Her body was instantly primed for more.
* * *
He woke before she did, with no plans to leave. He had to, of course. In spite of what they’d spent the better part of the night indulging in, they were still nowhere close to being anything other than old flames enjoying missed activities. Paula was still in deep sleep, and Linus celebrated the fact.
Leave it alone—walk away—chalk last night up to one final spark between old lovers...
Though the silent voice grated on his nerves, he knew it spoke the truth. There was still time to walk away—to let things rest between him and Paula as they had for the last several years.
And then what? Go back to his life and watch as she went back to hers? Perhaps. That might’ve worked before. After last night though...did he really think he could walk away from her after that? Did he really believe that his carefully constructed rage management wouldn’t obliterate under the pressure? It would. He knew that better than he knew what he’d have for breakfast that morning. All it would take would be for him to see her handling the simplest task such as grocery shopping, or something more involved and outrageous, like being on the arm of her latest newsworthy squeeze, and he’d lose it. He’d lose it simply over the fact that she wasn’t his.
Last night though, she had been his—all his, and he wanted to keep it that way. There was no place in his realm of tolerance for him to watch her with anyone else after last night. There was, of course, a price to having her back—to having her be all his. He had to give her the truth about that night. The entire truth? He was still debating on how much of himself he would have to—or was ready to—lay bare to her.
He skimmed the back of his hand down her bare back and shook his head in approval of its silken quality and of the woman herself. He knew she’d settle for nothing less than the complete story. It was who she was, and he couldn’t blame her for that curiosity. Despite his unwillingness to make a return dive into his past, he knew that when all was said and done, he could settle for nothing less than giving it to her.
Hating the plan but knowing it was his only recourse, Linus reluctantly shoved away the covers. He allowed the back of his hand one last skim across her shoulder before he forced himself from the bed.
Chapter 6
When Paula forced her eyes open that morning, she was greeted only by the shambled mess that had become her bedroom. There was no sign of Linus. Good.
It was good, wasn’t it? She was glad he was gone, wasn’t she? It was best that he was gone; there was no doubting that. Having him there when she woke, indulging in the aftermath rituals of soft talk, cuddling and future planning...it’d be too much. They weren’t there yet.
Correction. They weren’t there—period. End of story. The voice in the back of her head called that a load of bull. The accusation was met by a muttered curse from Paula as she kicked her legs free of the covers that still managed to cling to the mattress.
It had to be the end of their story—she wouldn’t survive another blow that took him away from her. Better to go on doing without him than to risk losing him again.
Who says that would happen?
Paula curled her fingers into her hair, hoping to stifle another query she didn’t want to answer. The fact was, Linus couldn’t be part of her life until she knew what it was that drove him out of it in the first place. He was prepared to tell her that story, but she couldn’t, wouldn’t let go of past fears and heartbreak long enough to let him. Sure, she feared losing him again—he was a man a woman would kill to have. She’d even told herself that the woman inside her was in control and that she’d gotten over him.
None of that was at the heart of it though. It wasn’t even at the foundation of it. Hurt feelings were at the foundation of it. Talk about the little girl inside making a comeback! What the hell was that about?
Hurt feelings were the very last thing she should be allowing to wage war on her thoughts. She was the DA, for goodness’s sake! And yet...there they were. She’d let Linus Brooks in all the way, and when she had been at her most trusting, her most vulnerable...
Paula shook her head. She wouldn’t allow it. No way would she let him just work his way back into her head and her heart, follow it up by a sob story and apologies and have things be the way they were. To hell with that.
And last night?
Again, the smug voice made its presence known. Paula couldn’t deny it an answer this time. Last night, the girl and the woman were of one accord. She’d wanted every millisecond of what Linus had given her and more. Admitting that, giving in to that, didn’t mean he suddenly had carte blanche status with her heart again, did it? Hell no, it didn’t.
She tried to tug her pillow free from a corner of the dresser, stood and kicked the pillow instead. No, it did not mean that, and still...she knew that somewhere tucked away deep, a part of her was overjoyed by what had happened between them last night. A part of her was overjoyed by the fact that there was much more at work the previous night than consenting sex based on need and mutual attraction. It was a part that operated on a level that surpassed womanly sensibilities and girlish desires.
It was the part that knew she’d been making love to the man she loved. Giving in to Linus last night didn’t mean he suddenly had carte blanche status with her heart again. It meant his status had never been revoked. Whatever aspects of the past still needed tending to, in reality they held no ruling over her heart and what it wanted despite the wounds it had endured.
Paula supposed keeping his story at bay was her last attempt at maintaining some level of h
er dignity, her control. She couldn’t control the fact that she was still a sap for him. Refusing to let Linus ease his conscience by explaining that night allowed her to uphold the illusion that she wasn’t. Petty, but it was all she had. Even sadder was the fact that she wasn’t at all convinced she’d uphold the illusion the next time she saw him.
Which would be later that day, she mused, recalling the plan they’d made last night. He was to provide her with more material regarding the Miranda Bormann case. Linus was dropping everything off to make it “easier for her.”
Paula gave her pillow another kick and went to throw herself back on the bed. Meeting him was not a great move if the plan was to drive out images of them together. The sheets were still fragrant with them. She moaned as their activities replayed in her mind with brilliant clarity. Instead of stripping the bed of its dressing and memories, she turned her face and inhaled to her heart’s content. She’d tell him it couldn’t happen again—that was her only option. The only one that would keep her sane, anyway. She’d resist him. She could do it—she knew she could. She was no weakling. She was the DA, dammit!
The phone on the night table was ringing. With the reminder of who she was fresh on the brain, she answered with stern impatience coloring her voice.
“Starker,” she all but snarled.
“Good morning to you too,” Linus greeted. “Are you okay?”
Her heart seized. “I’m fine.” She celebrated the strength of her response. There was no need to speak of the throbs and slight lances of pain that shot through her core when she moved...or heard his voice through the phone.
“I didn’t mean to leave you to handle that mess we made of your bedroom,” he said. “You were sleeping so deep, I didn’t want to wake you.”
“Not a problem,” she said breezily. It was true, and she’d never been more grateful to have a housekeeping service than in that moment.
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