He knelt, lifted my leg over his shoulder and leaned forward, kissing my dark curls, rubbing his jaw, shadowed with a hint of a beard, along my thigh.
“Sweet, sweet woman,” he whispered.
I turned my face to the ceiling, holding his head like a precious gift as he made love to me with his skillful tongue. When I could no longer hold back, I came in a rush, my fingers entwined in his dark hair, gripping fiercely to keep from screaming in ecstasy.
He smiled up at me and licked his lips.
“I love the name Cade.” His name rolled from my mouth, breathless from my shuddering climax. It sounded so right, so natural. Cade and Charlie.
He stood then and peeled off his shirt, and I held my palms to the wall, enjoying the simple, masculine beauty of his body. He reached for his belt, I touched his hand, and with understanding he allowed me to kneel before him and do to him what he’d done to me.
I pressed my hand to his crotch, giving rise to his masculine hardness. He felt heavy and thick, tailor-made just for me. I already knew how we fit; I already knew he’d adjust to the right to gain deeper penetration. It was as though we’d had sex for years together.
His hands smoothed over my hair as I took him in full into my mouth, drawing slowly over his silky tip, delighted to lick the dew from his head. He stood, legs apart in front of me, not masking the sighs of my ministrations with teeth and tongue.
“You’re still on birth control?” he whispered, taking my hands and pulling me up against his chest.
I nodded once before he kissed me hard and backed me to the wall. He lifted me, easing me onto his erection, and I smiled as he shifted to the right and felt him slide deep inside my core. We stood for a moment just like that, not moving, just relishing our joining.
He held his forehead to mine. I still wore my bra and nothing else. He wore only a pair of black dress socks. My heart tugged at our reflection in the mirror. Here we were, secret lovers in a stolen moment of passion. It was so sweet, so completely forbidden, and yet neither of us could deny our need.
“You smell so sexy,” he whispered, nuzzling his mouth under my chin. His biceps bulged as he braced me around his hips and offered languid kisses over my shoulder and face.
“I could stay this way forever, Charlie. I don’t know what I’m going to do.” His mouth closed over mine in a kiss that spoke more of commitment than fast, thoughtless sex.
“What about your fiancée?”
“There isn’t one.” He lowered his face to my shoulder and left soft kisses there. I should have been ecstatic, really, but the absence of a fiancée left him single and me still married.
“What happened?” I shifted my back against the wall and hooked my ankles around his waist, angling to draw our bodies closer. His hands held my hips as he began to move inside me.
“There never was a fiancée, Charlie. Your husband told me to tell you that.” He withdrew and pushed deep, the slick friction between us providing a sensuous treat. My body began to tighten again, my breasts to tingle. I pushed my shoulders back, shoving my aching breasts into his face.
He did not skip his rhythm as his mouth closed over the lace of my hardened nipple, teasing it between his teeth, pulling it gently until I opened my mouth with a tiny scream.
“Shhh,” he cautioned with a deep chuckle and kissed me long and hard as he pumped into me with unbridled need, tearing a shattering climax from my body. As I released myself, squeezing my pelvis to milk his thrusts, seconds later he toppled over, his hot seed shooting into me.
Savoring the moment, I kept my arms around his neck and buried my face in his shoulder. It was a stupid thing to do, and if Paul ever found out, this man might lose more than his job.
“Why would he do that?” I leaned back and held his gaze even as our bodies parted from one another.
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I thought maybe you could tell me.” He slipped on his boxer briefs, and it was hard not to stare at his magnificent body and remember where we were.
Of course, Cade didn’t know of the many lovers my husband had hired as a guise to pleasure me, but really for his own amusement. “He can be very controlling at times.” If I left it at that, perhaps he wouldn’t ask any more. Perhaps we could move on and let this be the last time we saw each other. My stomach churned with the idea of telling him that he wasn’t the only man my husband paid to have sex with me.
He held up my dress as I slipped into it. His hands ran down my bare arms.
“I want to see you again, but I have to tell you something and I hope it makes more sense to you than it does to me.”
Cade’s warm brown eyes searched my face. Nothing much made sense to me at the moment, except that I was beginning to regret what I’d just done. And regret was not part of who Charlie was.
“He called me about a week ago and hired me to keep an eye on you.”
I stared at him. What in the world was Paul up to? “Keep an eye on me? Why? Why would he call you?”
The flashback of my expression the day Cade left me at the hotel sprang like a nightmare into my mind. Had Paul seen it?
Cade shrugged. “I have no clue. He just said that he felt he could trust me. He thought maybe you might be seeing another man.”
I laughed and quickly covered my mouth, realizing we were still locked in the men’s dressing room together. The statement was so absurd at first I could only stare at him. It was clear now that Paul had me where he wanted me. He’d seen the look in my eye, known what I felt with Cade.
I had to get out of there. I pulled on my panties and stuck my feet in my sandals. For all I knew these mirrors were part of his voyeuristic web. I hoped I hadn’t already endangered Cade by this chance encounter. “I need a tie.” I spoke hurriedly, gathering my purse and hat. I fumbled with the doorknob, frantic to open it, to get away from the mirror and the small room. Cade gripped my shoulders.
“Charlie, wait, what’s going on? My God, you’re trembling. What is it? You can tell me.” He tried to turn me to face him, but I held tight to the door.
I couldn’t face him. The darkness of my agreement with my husband, of whoring myself to other men for his pleasure in the name of love made me want to vomit. “I can’t. Just leave it at that, okay? I can’t.”
“Charlie, has he hurt you? Has he threatened you in some way? There are people…agencies who can help with this kind of thing. Let me help you.”
His comfort scared me, made me wish for things that could never be mine. I forced myself to think he couldn’t afford to keep a woman like me, not on a clothier’s paycheck.
I forced my sunglasses on my face and straightened my shoulders. “Don’t try to contact me, and if my husband asks, you must tell him that I came in, but be sure to tell him that I only talked about him. Tell him I behaved as coldly toward you as if we were strangers.”
“We aren’t strangers, Charlie. You know that,” he whispered softly against the back of my head.
“Leave me alone. Forget this ever happened—forget we ever met.” I jerked open the door and scanned the area before stepping out into the open space in front of the bay of mirrors. I caught my reflection, seeing the fear on my face.
Don’t you cry. I gave my image a stern, silent warning. Make it clean. Make it believable.
“Thank you for your help. I’ll be sure to put in a good word for you to your boss.”
He stared at me from the door to the dressing room. His shirt, disheveled, hung loose over his dress pants. He was still barefoot.
I left him, made my purchase and climbed into the limo without looking back.
“Everything satisfactory, Ms. Charlie?” Jenkins glanced up at me through the rearview mirror. I couldn’t trust him. At the moment I couldn’t trust anyone. I had to figure out what I was going to do. If I divorced Paul, would he use the tapes to prove I was cheating on him? By the time I was able to get proof of his myriad of technical equipment, he’d have it all torn down. Whatever I chose to do or not do, it neede
d to be carefully thought out.
“I found a nice tie for Paul’s birthday, but I think the mimosas I had at lunch have given me an unbearable headache. Please drop me at the suite. I’ll stay in town this evening.”
“Shall I notify Mr. Paul, then?”
“No, I’ll contact him when I get there.”
“Very good, Ms. Charlie.”
Chapter Five
“You’re sure you don’t want me to come into town?” Paul’s voice soothed like cool compress through the receiver. I knew if he did, I’d not have a moment of peace.
“Not tonight, sweetheart.” I nearly choked on the words. “I just need to sleep. I’m sure by morning I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, then. Sweet dreams, dear. I’ll keep watch over you while you sleep.”
His offer sent a shudder down my spine. “No, Paul, I’ve covered the mirrors. Tonight I don’t want to think about anything but sleep, do you understand?”
“No, you’re up there all alone and the surveillance helps keep an eye on things. It’s more for your protection than anything. I’ll activate the cameras—”
“Don’t, Paul. I’m on the thirty-third floor. No one can reach me up here.”
“Except me, of course.”
“Except you, of course,” I said placatingly. My head was throbbing in earnest now.
“You’re sure you’re okay? I can send Jenkins with something for—”
“Paul, please just give me some private time. I promise to call if I need anything, really.”
“Promise?”
“Absolutely,” I lied. I’d sooner choke on my own spit than ask this weasel for anything, but I couldn’t afford not to have a plan, and it had to be infallible.
“All right, then. I’ll call you in the morning to arrange for the car to come around. When you get home, I’ll have the cook fix us a nice breakfast, with mimosas. You like mimosas, don’t you, Charlie?”
I sat down on the edge of the bed, holding my hand to my forehead. “Yeah, I do, but the couple I had at lunch today really threw me. They must have made them with exceptional champagne.”
“Nothing but the best for my girl,” he cooed.
The tone of his voice caused me to blink. It wasn’t possible. How could he have known where I would be for lunch? What was he doing to me?
A panic rose in my gut. What if that waiter knew? What if Paul had paid him to put something in my drink? “I need to go lie down, Paul.”
“Sure, sweetheart. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The receiver clicked and the sound of it echoed in my ear. I stared at the receiver. He hadn’t told me, as he always did without fail, how much he adored me.
Something wasn’t right.
I showered, closing the door, and later slipped into my sweatpants and hoodie that I used for workouts. The hot shower had helped to clear my head, but my stomach still roiled. Scrounging through the cupboards, I found some chamomile tea, nuked a hot cup and curled up on the couch, staring out at the darkening sky.
I’ve no idea how long I sat there, letting my life play like a movie in my head. The first time I met Paul, how he never wanted me to bring up the topic of his other wives, how he was selfish, admitted openly that he didn’t want kids. He wanted to give me everything my heart desired. And he’d kept true to his word.
I hugged my arms and leaned my head against the back of the couch. The room grew dark as I stared through the picture window at the neon lights of the city beginning to dot the skyline.
A sound startled me, pulling my attention to the dim shadows of the front door. There in the shadows I saw the silhouette of a man standing in the foyer, watching me. Without thought, I leaped over the couch and grabbed the floor lamp, flicking the switch in the process, momentarily blinding the intruder.
“This apartment has surveillance cameras crawling all over it. You’d be wise to leave now before the alarms go off.”
“The alarms aren’t going to go off, Charlie. And you’ve done a remarkable job of covering all the mirrors. That’s where the cameras are hidden, aren’t they?”
At the sound of Cade’s voice, I let the lamp slide from my fingers and returned it to the floor. “What are you doing here? How did you get in?”
He was dressed in black clothing from head to foot. Only his handsome face was exposed.
“I’m pretty handy with alarm systems as well as locks, Charlie. I figured this one out the afternoon we spent together. It really wasn’t that difficult.”
My mind reeled with confusion.
His eyes narrowed, studying me for a moment. “I suppose you’d like an explanation?” he offered, sauntering down the two steps into the living room. He headed for one of two leather chairs flanking the French provincial fireplace. Cade eased down into the seat and crossed his leg over his knee, as if he had all the time in the world. He worked at pressing the fingers of his leather gloves tighter on his hand.
I stared at those leather-encased hands, remembering how they had felt a few hours earlier caressing my body.
“You see, when your husband hired me the first time, I had to guess that any man who had enough money to hire a guy to have sex with his wife was a man who would likely strike a bargain to get her back.”
My brain went numb as I stared at Cade. My sweet, gentle lover with soft brown eyes—those dark orbs that now glinted as they held me captive. “I don’t understand.” I thought I was going to be sick.
“The thought hadn’t occurred to me until this afternoon, really. After he approached me a second time, the seed began to form in my head. And shortly after you left today, the whole plan fell into place. I just needed to fill in the details, and hopefully the rest will be as easy.”
“The rest?” I swallowed hard, forcing the bile back down my throat.
“It’s fairly simple, really. I kidnap the wife, demand the ransom, collect it, but unfortunately they’ll never find your body. Eventually the case will be closed.”
“You plan to kill me? You’d planned this all along?” My throat was parched with fear. I looked around the room searching for a weapon…anything to defend myself. However, the furnishings were sparse on purpose. It helped to create an ambience of anonymity for Paul’s videos.
“Oh, no, not all along, Charlie. I just realized it’s the only way, don’t you see? Now, are you going to come quietly, or are we going to get the police up here, where they are sure to find all those incriminating tapes your husband has?”
My eyes welled. He knew all about the others. But what about the tape with him and me on it? “They’ll check the tapes after I’m gone, and they’ll find the one of you and I that afternoon.”
His grin sparkled in the low light of the room. He held up a video case, wiggling it in his hand.
“That one will be with his wife.”
“You think you’ve thought this through, don’t you? You’ve no idea how possessive my husband can be. How powerful his connections are.”
“It’s infallible.”
I stared at him and wondered if he was as clever as he thought he was. Still, he was right. I had no option but to go along with his plan. “Fine, just let me get my things.”
He grabbed my arm as I walked past him. “You won’t need it where you’re going. Come on, Charlie.”
I jerked my arm from his grasp.
“Look, I’m sorry it has to be this way, but you’d do the same in a heartbeat. You know you would.”
In the dark shadows of the night, Cade did not detect the flicker of regret in my eyes.
Chapter Six
“Mademoiselle?” A shadow fell over my face and I shaded my eyes against the brilliant sun. My thoughts had drifted to dreams of my lover’s sighs as he cherished my body, a temple to his pleasure, an offering to our mutual lust.
I looked up at the face of reality, beneath my sun hat. The beauty of skin bronzed by the tropical sun I allowed only on my limbs, never my face. My lover took my hand and brought it to his lips.
&nb
sp; “You slept well last night?”
“Yes, thanks to you.” I smiled.
“You realize there was no other way to save you, but to trap him like that.”
“Of course, darling. It just took me some time to put it all together. I have my vulnerable side, he played on it and you recognized it and took control of the situation. You take such good care of me.”
I shut my eyes briefly as a warm tropical breeze caressed my near-naked flesh. I’d worn little than next-to-nothing bikinis for the better part of the past month. I could spend my life here, quite content, just as we were at this moment.
“You seemed to enjoy last night?”
I peeped open an eye, smiled at him and swung my legs over the side of the hammock. He was a handsome man and the time spent in the sun had given color to his face. His once-dark hair, now threaded with silver streaks, held continental allure. Holding his gaze, I padded across the redbrick patio, dusted with the silky white sand of the beach beyond. With great care to let him view the backside of my pearl-and-crochet thong, I sat in his lap, nestled my bottom into his crotch and took his face in my hands, kissing him passionately.
“Yeah, I like that, Charlie. I like that a lot,” he whispered, staring into my eyes.
“Darling, did Jenkins get to the car before the authorities found it?”
He nodded toward the breakfast table where the morning paper lay. Beside it was the black videotape.
“Paul, promise me that you’ll destroy this one—it’s not one of my favorites.” I stroked my husband’s cheek, imagining his hand on my breast. He was physically unable to, of course, but I knew, as always, he would make sure that if I wanted a hand to touch me, he’d have a tantalizing lover for me by sunset.
“I’ll see to it, sweetheart. Whatever you want.” He lifted his chin for another kiss.
I kissed him again and glanced down at the headline.
“Man charged in kidnapping/extortion plot of wife of Erich Technologies tycoon.”
Cade had let his greed surpass his desire. It was too bad, because I had so enjoyed being with him. However, Paul had warned me of the risks. He’d said there might be men who couldn’t see the gift they’d been given having just one day with me. He was right. Paul was always right.
Mirror, Mirror Page 3