“I think you’re crazy. I would have been a wonderfully easy mark last night! I was flying like a kite! You didn’t even touch me. And now here we are, in broad daylight, and you ask if I want to sleep with you as if you were suggesting a movie!”
He smiled then, his dark lashes flickering down over his eyes for a moment. “Jade, the fact that you were flying like a kite is exactly why I didn’t touch you. I didn’t like your attitude.”
“My attitude!”
“Umm. I had this feeling that you’d decided on an experiment. It was as if you were thinking, ‘I suppose I have to enter the world of the living somewhere. If I drink enough, surely I can crawl into bed with a man again. And this seems to be a pretty good specimen. All the limbs are there, no rotten teeth, and he even has all his hair left.’”
“Oh, stop it. You’re awful!”
He shook his head. “Honest, Jade. That isn’t awful. I wanted it to happen in broad daylight. I wanted you sober. I wanted you to know exactly what you were doing. I wanted to ask you an honest question, and so help me, I want an honest answer. You know exactly what you feel by now. Do you, or do you not, want to sleep with me?”
Her eyes lowered. She was trembling. She could tell him no, and he would accept it. They would walk back into the kitchen and maybe finish the champagne and he would take her home.
But that wasn’t what she wanted at all. She was dying for the touch of his hands, longing to lie down beside him. She had thought of little else since she had met him, yet it seemed so awfully hard to admit that she desired him. Why couldn’t he have made it easy, lulled her into bed, saved her from…honesty?
“You, uh, haven’t made things particularly easy,” she commented.
“Easy isn’t always best, Jade.”
“I—”
Oh, thank God…he was going to help. Long strides brought him to her. His fingers, strong and tense, closed around her shoulders. His eyes were wonderfully persuasive when they met hers, and when he spoke his voice was deep and rough with passion.
“Do you really need the flowery phrases? I don’t want to use them, but I can give you more honesty. That first day at practice I kept staring at you. And every time you moved, I tried to remove your clothing in my mind. Rip it off. I tried to figure out what it was about your eyes that held me as fascinated as a kid. What it was about your hair that made me long to touch it. At your house that night, I shook like a leaf. It was all I could do to keep from attacking you, sweeping you into my arms. I almost forgot everything but the urge to have you. No, not have you, make love to you. Because that’s what I want it to be, Jade. An act of love. Not some physical experiment for which you have to be half loaded. I want you. I want to touch you, caress you, embrace you…love you. But only if you want it, too.”
She could only stare at him stunned by his vehemence. She was shivering with anticipation.
“Here?” she breathed. “Now?” The word was a bit of a squeak.
He smiled slowly. “Here. Now.”
“What if—”
“Harrison said the place was mine as of today, Jade. The movers will be coming in tomorrow. The front door is locked. No one is going to disturb us.”
“Uh—”
“Well?”
She closed her eyes and leaned against him. “You’ve never even kissed me,” she mumbled against his chest.
“I can rectify that.”
“Please, will you?”
He caught her chin and lifted her head. His mouth came down over hers and she thought that simple action was the most erotic she had ever known. He was all the warm and wonderful things that she had thought he would be…and more. His kiss was explosive, full of hunger and longing. He was demanding as if they had been lovers always, yet he was tender, too, as his tongue learned each secret of her mouth. His touch overwhelmed her senses. She felt each stroke of his tongue throughout her body. Sweet spirals of sensation swirled through her limbs. She laced her fingers around his neck, loving the coarse dark hair at his nape. She was alive and strong with longing, weakened with the thrill of fantasy rewarded. He was warm and wonderful, and she savored the feel of his tongue in her mouth, the brush of his thumbs, the wonder of his arms.
Gently, he broke away from her, and she began unbuttoning his shirt at the cuffs. But when her fingers moved to the buttons on his chest, she hesitated and flushed slightly.
“May I?”
“Please,” he said. She couldn’t meet his eyes, but found fascination in the work of her fingers. Her fascination grew when the tailored plaid shirt fell to the floor. She leaned against the wall of his chest, pressed her lips to his flesh, delighted in the feel of the little dark hairs tickling her flesh.
For a moment he put his arms around her and held her there. She felt the tempo of his heart, like an ancient beat, bringing music to her blood. It was wonderful just to be held there, just to feel his arms around her. And then it wasn’t quite enough, and her lips touched him like hummingbird wings, kisses that brushed his throat, his shoulders, his collarbone. His breath quickened; she heard it catch in his throat, felt him shudder as his arms tightened around her.
And then he was holding her away from him again, smiling into the confusion in her eyes.
“My turn,” he told her huskily. “I want our loving to be just as I envisioned it the first time I saw this room. You…here…in front of this window. With the sun pouring in, catching the light in your hair.” His hands were at her nape, moving on her zipper. The long, zzzzz sound sizzled through her.
The simple silk halter dress fell to the floor with a whisper. She started to murmur something, to move toward him. He shook his head, and his intense gaze, filled with both tenderness and fervor, halted her.
He knelt before her and removed her sandals, tossing them aside one by one. Then he rose, a presence that blotted out the sun, the sky, and the day beyond the window. She smiled, mesmerized.
His fingers found the hook of her bra, released it, and brushed against her breasts. She shuddered at that light contact; her breath caught as the bra fell to the floor. His fingers moved beneath the band of her slip and bikinis, taking them from her with an unhurried grace that left her both naked and so keenly aware of her own flesh that his slightest touch could bring a cry to her lips. She longed to hurl herself against him, to hide herself, to give herself, to bury herself within him.
“No…” he said softly, and his hands moved to her hair, spreading it over her shoulders. “You…here…in front of this window. The sun in your hair, pouring over your body. The very first time I was in this room, that was all I could see.”
“Ohhh…” she whispered. The breeze from the open window fluttered the sheer gauze drapes, played against her skin, so cool when she was so hot. “Please…Jeffrey…”
“Umm,” he murmured, and he lifted her up and carried her the few steps to the bed. He lay down beside her, leaning on an elbow so that he was slightly above her. He smiled at her, his long fingers sliding gently between her breasts, stroking her bare ribs and belly.
“I’ll never forget that night when I came to your house and you were wearing that exquisite robe with the deep V neck. All I could think about doing was touching you.” His hand came to her breast, the palm resting over the nipple, the fingers curling in an embrace. “Touching you, tasting you. Holding you in my mouth.” His hand moved to cup her breast. His dark head lowered, and his mouth closed around her nipple.
Heat tore through her, and she cried out. Her fingers knotted in his hair, and she shuddered in reaction. Was it the long wait that made it so very sweet? Or was it his expertise, or his tenderness and honesty?
His knuckles skimmed over her stomach as his mouth moved in a more demanding caress. His hand grazed the heart of her desire, and she shuddered again. He moved on to stroke her thighs, leaving her quivering.
Her fingers left his hair to travel over the taut muscles of his shoulders and back. They found the waistband of his jeans and probed just beneath
it, silently pleading that he should be as naked as she was herself. He stood, no laughter about his mouth now, just a tautness that spoke of desire gone too long unfulfilled.
She watched as he kicked away his shoes, then reached for his belt buckle with both hands. He stripped away his jeans and briefs in an easy action that had her heart slamming against her chest. She was a little afraid and totally fascinated.
It had been so easy to imagine a lover, imagine his kiss, his arms around her. But now he was real, a man of flesh and blood and pulsing life. She had never imagined she would feel this kaleidoscope of emotion: the longing to touch him, the hesitancy, the sense of wonder that in moments they would be lovers.
She was shaking as he came back down beside her. He touched her easily. One hard leg was thrown over hers, his palm rested upon her belly, and his eyes, indigo with passion, were fixed on her face.
Her fingers entwined nervously with his where they lay against her. “You’ve…had a lot of experience.”
“Some.” He kissed the pulse point in her throat, then her forehead, and the lobe of her ear. “But never like this.”
She believed him. He was being absolutely honest with her.
He raised their entwined fingers and his hand tightened around hers.
“It’s been a long time?” he whispered.
It didn’t occur to her to be anything but honest.
“Two years. Not since…Danny. And never before Danny. I’m afraid I’m not very experienced.”
A smile touched his lips, but his words were as gentle and tender as his touch.
“I can rectify that….”
His mouth claimed hers again, hard and forceful, eliciting a sweeping passion within her. The passion took flight within her, swirling and spiraling and growing until it was all she knew. She felt the hardness of his leg against hers, the knotted tension in his body. His hand was constantly moving, stroking her breast, her hip, her thigh. It came to the juncture of her legs and invaded with the same sureness his tongue had shown in the moistness of her mouth. The bold rhythm of his touch sent her arching against him, gasping at the sensation.
His mouth left hers and buried itself in her throat. He uttered things that made no sense to her, for she had never felt so delirious, so desperate to ease the want, the emptiness, the need for him.
“Oh, God, Jade, I’ve got to have you. Now. I—” His mouth found her breast, adding even more fuel to the fire that consumed her. “I meant to wait, to play, to touch every inch of you.”
He slid down her body, between her knees and parted them gently. Where she was so keenly sensitive, he touched her with the passion of his kiss. The sensation that followed was so sweet that tremor after tremor racked her. She tried to wrench herself away, alarmed at the flood of ecstasy that swept over her like an incoming tide.
But then his arms were around her again, and the rock-hard length of his body was against hers. She dared to open her eyes, to meet his determined gaze. Briefly, she touched her tongue to her lips; then his were there again. The kiss rocked them wildly.
In the next moment he was entering her, exploding into her with a thrust that filled her body with wonder. She closed her eyes. Her body moved with his. Moved and moved.
She seemed to explode all over again, and this time the explosion left her so completely sated and tranquil that it was long moments before she drifted back to reality. She was damp with the sheen of exertion, shivering from the force of their lovemaking. And try as she might, she could not convince herself that they had only made love, like billions of men and women before them. She was convinced that nothing had ever been like this, nor could anything ever be quite like this again.
“Oh” was all she could whisper. She tucked her head into his chest, hiding there as he chuckled softly, gliding his fingers over her hair, holding her close.
But he didn’t let her hide for long. He slid down the bed so that his eyes were level with hers. His thumb stroked her cheek. “I’m sorry. I meant to be slow and completely seductive, the most giving lover you could ever encounter. The fantasy got the best of me. I’d imagined you before that window and then in my arms so many times that when I really touched you, I thought I die if I couldn’t be a part of you right then.”
Jade felt suddenly shy all over again, stunned at the depth of their intimacy. She blushed as she remembered each erotic moment.
Her lashes lowered. “I…I don’t think I could have handled anything more. I’ve never felt quite like this. So close to dying if I didn’t reach something, so close to heaven when I did.”
He laughed, but there was such honest pleasure in it that she couldn’t be offended. “My God, babe, are you a sweetheart. But I promise, I’m going to make it up to you.”
She spoke in a muffled voice, her mouth half buried in the pillow. “You! But I…I barely touched you. I—”
“I didn’t give you much of a chance. But feel free anytime. I plan to give you lots and lots of opportunities.”
“Jeff,” she whispered, opening her eyes and staring at him with the awe she was feeling.
But then they both started, because the phone rang, right next to the bed. The loud noise seemed to destroy the intimacy of the moment.
Jade sat up, drawing the spread around her as they both frowned.
“Who would be calling?” she asked.
“I guess anyone might have known we’d be here,” he muttered, reaching for the receiver, totally relaxed in his nakedness.
“Hello?”
“Who is it?” Jade asked.
He didn’t answer her. Whoever it was had brought a very pensive look to his features. A frown tightened his brow; his jaw grew hard. The pulse beating in his temple now had nothing to do with passion, and everything to do with anger.
Still, when he spoke, his voice was even and controlled.
“Thanks, Toby. I appreciate your calling, and I’m glad you thought of the house. What? I’d say that I’ve moved in as of today. Yes, she’s here. No, no. I am glad. I’ll handle the situation.” His eyes flickered over to Jade for a second, but she felt that he wasn’t really seeing her.
Then, even while he was still talking, there came another sound that startled them both.
The front door opened and slammed.
“I thought you said you locked the door!” Jade exclaimed.
“I think she’s here now, Toby; I’ve got to go.”
Jeffrey hung up the phone, looking very grim. Immobilized by shock and confusion, Jade watched as he reached for his briefs and jeans. Only slowly did it occur to her that he knew who had just entered the house and that the “who” was a “she.”
She muttered something that didn’t bear repeating and dashed for her clothing just as the woman’s voice drifted upstairs.
“Jeffrey? Jeff—are you here?”
Jade was mortified and burning with fury. She couldn’t get her bra hooked. Jeff tried to help her, but she jerked away, staring at him with an accusatory glance.
“Look, I didn’t—”
“Don’t touch me. Who…? Put your shirt on!”
But he didn’t seem very concerned about his shirt. “Jade, dammit, I didn’t plan this. I had no idea she was in town.”
“Who?”
“Diana.”
Diana. His ex-wife was downstairs, for heaven’s sake. No, she was coming up the stairs.
She managed to get into her clothes in thirty seconds flat. Her sandals were still lost somewhere, the bed looked undeniably tousled, and dammit, so did she. As for Jeffrey, he didn’t seem at all concerned that his shirt still lay on the floor and that they were both barefoot. He seemed angry, nothing more. Clearly, he was not about to hide his activities.
“Jeffrey…?” The soft, melodic voice floated to them once more, and then she was there, standing in the doorway.
She was beautiful. Stunning. Her hair was almost jet, sleek and stylish with fluffy bangs that complemented the perfect oval of her face. She had the darkest, most a
lluring eyes Jade had ever seen. Her casual blouse and three-quarter-length slacks might have come right off a page of Vogue. And she was built. Oh, was she built. She had high breasts, a tiny waist and long legs.
How could I ever compete? Jade wondered, and she wondered at the same time how she had ever allowed herself to fall into bed with Jeffrey. She hated him; at the same time she couldn’t bear to lose him. She wanted to die, she was so embarrassed at being caught. She wanted to strangle Jeff because it was all his fault.
“Hello, Diana,” he said coolly.
Diana paused, assessing the situation. Then she smiled charmingly at him. “Ah, Jeff, still the same old jock, I see. In town for a few weeks and you’ve already discovered afternoon delight.
Jeff didn’t smile. “Diana, this is Jade McLane. Jade, Diana.”
“How do you do?”
Diana moved into the room with no hesitancy, reaching out a hand to Jade. Jade automatically accepted the elegant hand, all the while furious at finding herself in such a situation. Diana, on the other hand, seemed amused and completely at ease. When her eyes fell on Jeff, they did so with possessive affection. She didn’t seem to be at all alarmed or annoyed that she had discovered him with another woman.
Why should she be worried? Jade thought bitterly. Look at her. She knows that all she has to do to get Jeff back is to crook a finger.
“What are you doing here, Diana?” There was anger in Jeff’s voice.
“Oh, don’t be such a bear, Jeffrey. Jeff, Ms. McLane, I am sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt or barge in on anything. I just got to missing Ryan so terribly!”
“You could have called me.”
“You know me, Jeff. I just hopped on a plane.” Her voice faltered—very prettily, Jade thought. “Jeff, you’ve always promised that I could see him when I wanted. And you’ve always been so wonderful about it. I…I just didn’t hesitate. You don’t mind my coming to see my son?”
His jaw clenched; he closed his eyes a moment. “No, Diana, you know that you can always see Ryan.”
The Game of Love Page 11