Trustworthy Redhead

by Iris Johansen

  Alex’s arms chained her to his muscular form, rolling her over so they lay side by side on the blanket. His lips probed hers in hot, drugging kisses that left her aware of nothing but a nameless hunger. His mouth moved from hers to bite gently on the sensitive cord of her neck, then down to the fullness of her breasts, lingering on the golden flesh of her cleavage before his hands moved slowly to unfasten the chiffon top. Instinctively her hands rose to stop him. It was all happening too fast. Alex’s eyes were glazed with passion as they glanced up impatiently to meet her own. He took her lips again, slowly, sensuously, sending her into a world of erotic sensation. She could feel the muscles of his thighs go taut as his hands cupped her breasts, teasing the peaks through the thin material. She gasped, the muscles of her stomach tensing, her breasts swelling at the stimulation that was causing a fluid melting in every limb.

  “You’re beautiful, do you know that?” he muttered, his lips parting from hers briefly, only to dip down to taste again and again the honey of her lips in hot, scorching kisses. “When you were dancing, all I could think of was getting you alone so I could have all that beauty to myself. I want to see you, every lovely inch of you.” His gaze still holding hers, his hands moved deliberately to the front fastening of the midriff.

  Sabrina didn’t try to stop him this time. She knew with a rush of primitive pride that she wanted him to look at her and find her desirable. He carefully parted the flimsy chiffon barrier and gazed down at her, his eyes dark and intent. He was absolutely still for a moment, before he made a low sound of mindless hunger and lowered his lips to caress the taut, rosy peaks. She arched convulsively as his hands cupped her naked breasts that his burning mouth was caressing.

  She gave a little cry that was half protest, half plea. “No, please, Alex.” She was on fire, yet feeding on the flame, the writhing captive of a response she’d never experienced. Pleading with him to stop, knowing that if he did she would hate him for withdrawing this exquisite torment of the senses.

  With easy strength he rolled over until she was on top of him, their bodies fitting together with unbelievable intimacy. His lips covered hers in a long, hot joining while one hand held her hips glued to his thrusting body, and the other caressed her naked back. As their lips parted, he buried his mouth in the hollow of her throat. “God, I’m aching for you. I’ve been in a fever for you, Sabrina. You’ve got to belong to me.”

  She couldn’t answer. What had seemed impossible a few hours ago was now happening. She lowered her lips to his with a sense of inevitability, a moth to the flame he’d fired so skillfully. She kissed him with a sweet responsiveness that may have lacked Alex’s experience but evidently was more than satisfying, to judge by the shudder that wracked his body.

  His arms tightened around her convulsively for a moment, then with a muttered imprecation he rolled over abruptly and tore himself away from her. She lay where he had left her, staring at him in hurt bewilderment. Her body suddenly chilled when separated from his warmth.

  He sat a few feet away, his arms clasping his knees, his body rigid. He fumbled in his shirt pocket for a slender brown cigarette, lighting it with a shaking hand and inhaling deeply. He glanced at her. “Please cover up,” he said, his eyes fixed compulsively on her bare breasts. “I’m trying my damndest to keep my hands off you.”

  Sabrina’s hands flew to the front of her midriff, his sarcasm making her feel suddenly cheap. She sat up, fighting tears, fumbling at the fastening of the chiffon top.

  “Wait.” He was kneeling beside her. With urgent hands he parted the midriff and gazed for a long moment. Then, lowering his head, he kissed each taut peak lingeringly. “I didn’t mean to be so sharp, sweetheart. It’s just that I’m aching for you.”

  Sabrina drew a shaky breath, leaning toward him yearningly.

  He drew back slowly. “You’re so damn lovely,” he said roughly. He pulled the top closed reluctantly, fastening it slowly. Then he took her in his arms as carefully as if she were a beloved child and rocked her soothingly. “And so very much mine. I’ve never felt so close to anyone in my entire life. It scares the hell out of me, love.”

  She buried her face in his shoulder, her arms slipping around his waist very naturally. She’d been subjected to so many tumultuous and bewildering emotions with him that she gratefully accepted the comfort he was extending. “You don’t want to make love to me any more?” she asked wonderingly. It seemed impossible that he could stop so abruptly when she was still aching and throbbing for more.

  He laughed shortly, his hands stroking her silky hair gently. “Oh yes, I want to make love to you. I came within an inch of taking you on this damn blanket.”

  “Then, why …” Her voice trailed off as some fugitive feeling of shame overtook her. Was she so lost in his sensual web that she would plead for him to make love to her? The thought sent a shock of distaste through her, dispelling the euphoric mood generated by the wine and his sexual expertise. She stiffened in his arms and tried to draw back, but at the first signs of withdrawal he bound her tighter to him with instinctive possessiveness.

  “I’ve got an idea we’re going to be something special together,” he said thickly. “I didn’t want to start our relationship like some sex-starved adolescent at a drive-in movie. When I get you into bed, I may not let you out for a week, so we’d better be comfortable.”

  He kissed her quickly and then reluctantly let her go. He bent to bundle the blanket and hamper into a careless pile, then stowed them in the trunk of the car. In a matter of minutes they were traveling the streets of Galveston. Alex didn’t speak until they’d left the outskirts of the port city and were speeding down the Gulf Freeway toward Houston.

  “You’re coming home with me tonight,” he told her quietly. “I’ll take you back to your place to pick up your clothes. You won’t have to bring much, just enough to last until I can buy you others.”

  “I can’t do that!” Sabrina cried, shocked out of the dazed bemusement his lovemaking had woven about her.

  Alex’s mouth hardened ruthlessly. “If you think I’m going to let you spend another night with that lover of yours, you’re mistaken,” he said, his hands tightening on the steering wheel until his knuckles whitened. “I’m going to own you completely, Sabrina, and if anyone so much as touches you, I’ll destroy him.”

  There was an implacable sincerity in his voice. Sabrina shivered uncontrollably at the picture his words evoked. She knew she could never live the life he’d planned for her even to repeat the exquisite sensual pleasure he’d shown her. After the freedom she’d known all her life, the role of a rich man’s possession would stifle her. Even if there hadn’t been her responsibility toward David, the situation would have been impossible.

  “For how long?” she asked bitterly. “Until the next curvy body catches your eye?”

  “Do you want me to say forever?” he asked. “I don’t believe in forever.” He reached over and caressed her thigh. “Will it satisfy you to know that I can’t imagine anyone else in my bed? And that this is the first time in my life I’ve felt that way?”

  She pulled her leg away from his touch, liking it far too much. “It wouldn’t work,” Sabrina said shakily. “You’d soon get bored with me. I’m not terribly brilliant or fabulously talented. I’m probably not even the prettiest girl you’ve known.”

  “No, you’re not,” he said coolly. “You’re intelligent, but no Einstein, and I’ve known many women who were more classically beautiful.” He grinned mischievously. “I’ll have to judge your other ‘talents’ later.” Then he sobered. “I won’t be bored with you, Sabrina. You fit me. I enjoy your spirit and independence, and you have a bright, clear-thinking mind.”

  “So it’s my brain that attracts you?” she scoffed.

  “No,” he admitted, “that’s only a plus.” His dark eyes ran over her lingeringly. “There’s a sexual chemistry between us that’s stronger than any I’ve ever known. I find you infinitely desirable. You can turn me on more by tiltin
g your head or wrinkling that aristocratic little nose than any other woman can by doing a striptease. I want you to know that I’ve never kept a woman before. I’m not saying there haven’t been plenty of women. I’m no celibate. I take what’s offered, but I’ve never wanted the responsibility of a permanent mistress. I’ve always found it easy enough to satisfy my physical needs without the demands of that type of relationship.”

  “Then why start now?” Sabrina asked coldly, imagining with a twinge of hot anger the many women who’d appeased those needs.

  “Trust a woman to misunderstand,” he growled. “I’m trying to tell you that I think of you differently. For the first time in my life I want a woman totally dependent on me. I want to buy your clothes, pay your bills. I want everything you have to come from me.”

  “That’s pretty chauvinistic, isn’t it?” she asked caustically. “I’m a person in my own right, not some kind of robot programmed for your pleasure.”

  “I don’t want a robot, Sabrina. I want a warm, responsive woman in my arms.”

  They’d arrived at the apartment complex and Alex drove unerringly to her apartment area and parked smoothly. She didn’t remind him about her car. She only wanted the security of home now. After switching off the engine, he turned to her. He pulled her close and buried his face in her hair. “God, you’re good to hold. I’ve been wanting to touch you since we left the beach.” His mouth covered hers urgently, as if he were starved for the taste of her. Sabrina melted against him, forgetting everything but the potent magic he stirred in her. “I needed that,” he groaned hoarsely, when their lips finally parted. “I can’t take much more of this.” He pushed her away, and ran his hand through his hair. “I’ll give you forty-five minutes. If you’re not down here by that time, I’m coming up to get you.”

  She gazed up at him, tears misting her emerald eyes. Her gaze lingered yearningly on the bold, cynical features she probably wouldn’t see again after tonight. She’d do all she could to further that aim, out of sheer self-preservation. Alex had reached out and touched her, and not only on a physical level. That other, more ephemeral closeness could be infinitely more dangerous to her. “You really expect me to do it, don’t you?” she asked wonderingly. “Disrupt my life, give up my friends, turn myself into some sort of plaything for your gratification.”

  “Don’t be a fool, Sabrina,” he said, frowning. “I could have taken you on that beach tonight and you wouldn’t have done a thing to stop me. You want me as much as I want you. Do you think I can’t feel it when you’re in my arms?”

  “No, I must be pretty obvious,” she said simply. “I don’t have your breadth of experience, and I can’t hide, or connive, or mask my feelings. I wanted you to make love to me and I couldn’t have stopped as you did. If you hadn’t stopped, perhaps I’d be committed to you in a way that would make you uncomfortable.”

  She backed away from him, pressing against the door as he reached for her. “No, don’t touch me!” She shook her head desperately. “You did stop, so we’re both saved. Believe me, I don’t want to feel any sort of commitment to a man like you. It would destroy me. There’s no room for you in my life. Stay out of it, Alex!”

  “You’re not going back to him,” he said harshly, his dark eyes blazing. “You belong to me!”

  Sabrina wrenched her arm away and jumped out of the car. She turned, her breasts heaving, her flaming hair wild about her pale face. “I belong to myself! I won’t be owned or pampered or made into something I’m not. I won’t be your mistress, Alex.” She turned and stalked away.

  His voice followed her with soft intensity. “You will, Sabrina, I promise you. You will.”

  Angelina was sitting on the couch in front of the television set but she looked up with a sigh of relief as Sabrina came into the apartment. She leaned forward to flick off the set. “I’m glad you’re home,” she said, her plump face concerned. “When Hector phoned, he was yammering something about Lamborghinis and over-sexed bozos. I couldn’t make heads or tails out of it.” Her gaze narrowed on Sabrina’s flushed face and suspiciously bright eyes. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” Sabrina said throatily, shrugging out of her cape. “David wasn’t worried, was he?”

  “I just told him you were working late.” She stood up and straightened her flowered overblouse. “He’s downstairs in our apartment with Gino. They’re going to watch that National Geographic special together. I’ll send him up to you when it’s over.”

  “Has he had his dinner?”

  “Of course he’s had his dinner,” Angelina said indignantly. “Would I let the boy starve while I had enough lasagna to feed an army?”

  “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” Sabrina said, smiling with an effort. “I should have known you’d take good care of him for me. You always do.”

  “I should think so,” Angelina sniffed, as she crossed to the front door. She paused and her face was suddenly serious. “You know that we’re always glad to have David at any time, Sabrina. He’ll always be safe with us. You can’t go on devoting your entire life to him as you’ve been doing for the past two years. You haven’t even had a date since David came out of the hospital.” She frowned sternly. “If you want to see this young man again, you do it.”

  “I won’t be seeing him again. There’s no way it could work out for us.” She smiled sadly. “Besides, he’s not the type of man you’d approve of my becoming involved with, Angelina. His intentions are definitely not honorable.”

  “Neither were my Gino’s.” She grinned impishly. “For that matter neither were mine.” She turned to leave and then suddenly whirled back to face Sabrina. “I forgot to tell you. David’s father called this evening while you were out.”

  “Jess?” Sabrina asked worriedly. “Was he calling from the ranch?” Jess called every Saturday evening with clocklike precision to speak with David. Any deviation from this norm made her definitely uneasy.

  Angelina nodded. “He asked you to return his call when you came in.”

  As the door closed behind Angelina, Sabrina was already moving across the room toward the phone on the end table.

  Jess Bradford’s deep voice answered at once.

  “Jess, this is Sabrina. Is Sue all right?”

  “She’s fine, Bree,” Jess shot back. “I knew you’d jump to conclusions when I called. The doctor says she’s doing better than she has for quite a while.” There was a long pause. “But she doesn’t think she’s up to coming to the rodeo this weekend. I thought I’d give you some warning so you could prepare David.”

  “Oh, Jess, he’s going to be so disappointed,” Sabrina wailed. “He’s worked so hard to get back his old skills. We’ve been going down to the stable every Saturday for the past seven months. Can’t you get her to change her mind?”

  “I don’t even want to try, Bree,” Jess said simply. “I can’t risk her losing ground now that she’s on her way back. I almost lost both of them when David was hospitalized.”

  “I know, Jess,” Sabrina said, her voice gentle. In many ways, Jess’s ordeal had been the worst—Sue’s nervous breakdown when she was unable to accept David’s problem had literally torn him apart.

  “It’s not that she doesn’t want to see him,” Jess went on wearily. “She’s begun to talk about him again. Nothing much, just a remark now and then. But at least it’s a start.”

  “Yes, it’s a start,” Sabrina agreed softly. David had been born when Sue was in her early forties and she’d almost given up hope of having a child. David had seemed a miracle to her, and the bond between them had been one of the strongest and most loving Sabrina had ever known. Yet it hadn’t been strong enough for Sue to bear David’s tragedy. The only way she’d been able to survive her pain was to close herself away from all thought of David. She hadn’t even been permitted to see him since he’d left the hospital.

  “I don’t think this would be the time for her to see him anyway,” Jess said, a thread of anxiety in his voice. “What if he gets hur
t in the rodeo while she’s there? Are you sure Swanson okayed his entering the competition? The doctor won’t even let him drive a car!”

  “There are different skills involved,” she answered patiently. “The reason David isn’t allowed to drive is the monotony factor. The doctor thinks he might lose concentration and have an accident. It’s very difficult not to pay attention when you’re on the back of a bucking bronco. You know that David can do anything with horses, Jess.”

  “I know he could,” Jess said pointedly. “He’s not the same person, Bree. You know that better than anyone.”

  “That doesn’t mean we have to write off everything he was before,” she argued passionately. “He can do this, Jess. And by God, I want him to have his chance!”

  “Okay, simmer down, Bree,” Jess said. “I know you wouldn’t let him ride if you thought there was any chance it was unsafe. I was just concerned.”

  “So am I, Jess,” she whispered, closing her eyes. She’d been frightened out of her wits since the moment David had told her he wanted to enter the competition. “But he really wants this. He’s been riding in the Houston Rodeo since he was sixteen. We can’t keep him in a cocoon forever. He’s got to begin to live again.”

  “I know you’re right,” Jess said wearily. “It’s just so blasted difficult to accept. I guess I just want to take care of him.”

  “You’ll be here on Saturday, then?” Sabrina asked.

  “You’re damn right,” he said gruffly. “Tell him I’ll be there with bells on. Juan Mendoza is lending me his box at the Astrodome so we’ll practically be in David’s lap when he takes home the prize money.”

  “I’m so glad, Jess,” Sabrina said huskily. “He needs all the support we can give him.”