James strode over and stood beside her, so close that his muscular thigh touched hers. He put his arms around her and she hugged him back.
“Hell. I had no idea how bad this was.”
Marina closed her eyes and dug her fingers into his back, as if her life depended on him.
He pressed her close. “I believe what you’re telling me, Marina. I do. It’s just so damned difficult to use what you’re saying so I can protect you and Lizzie. I don’t know who or what I’m fighting.”
She could feel his heart beating. His stomach was taut and hard against hers and a rush of desire hit her so hard she didn’t know if it belonged to him or her.
“I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.” He looked into her eyes, then looked away. “I’m really attracted to you.” He glanced at her as if afraid how she’d take his news.
Marina smiled. His admission brought a welcome relief from the stark tension that consumed her. “I know.” She could feel it. When he held her, his feelings for her surrounded her in a heady mixture of love, desire and protection.
“Is that because you’re psychic?”
“You keep looking at my breasts.”
James’s face fell. “Man, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be sleazy.”
Marina laughed. “I can feel your thoughts too.”
Instead of being disturbed he looked relieved. “How do you feel about me?”
“I’m holding you, aren’t I?” She really liked him and yet, due to her last disastrous relationship, she was scared to take it any further.
He smiled into her upturned face. “Yeah. And I like it.”
“I thought you didn’t play where you lay,” she said.
“I’m not playing. I’m serious about you.”
James’s body against hers felt so right. He was honed and lean from his constant training. His jeans were slung low over his hips yet somehow, although the change was small, he no longer looked like the sexy guy next door. This leaner, hungrier look suited him.
He stroked her face. “We’re not going to stay here waiting for the cops to pin something on us because they’re too lazy to investigate this properly. I’m going to fight this all the way. I’m going to look after you.”
“Shush.” She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.
She didn’t know what was going to happen tomorrow. The ordinariness of life had disappeared to be replaced by a craziness she couldn’t bear. All she wanted was for the knife-edged fear to go.
Hard and hungry, he kissed her back. His arms tightened around her so that she could feel his heart hammering.
All that mattered was her and him. The taste of him was tantalizing. Arousing. A hint of what would come. She breathed in deeply so that her breasts squashed against his hard chest, the movement making her nipples peak. James smelled out-of-the-shower fresh and his scent made her hunger to savour more of him.
All her fear melted away as he kissed her, his tongue teasing hers. Sheer, hot excitement made her tremble with desire. She wanted him.
James had a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and was not scared to take on anyone. But admitting her worst fear—that the murderer had her in his sights—had clearly shaken him. He moaned and took a fist full of her hair, tilting her head back so that she was exposed to the full force of his kiss.
She responded by pressing herself against him so that her hips locked against his powerful thighs. Against her belly, she could feel his rock hard erection, and a thrill of pleasure ignited along her spine.
In one sure movement, he picked her up. He didn’t need to say anything. They both knew what was going to happen.
Chapter 14
James clearly couldn’t think of anything else except getting her naked. He lowered her on to the bed and his fingers rapidly undid the buttons of her lacy top. The buttons were tiny and his fingernails were trimmed so short he fought to get an edge. The intense look in his eyes made Marina offer assistance.
“Here, let me,” she said, her beautiful mouth curving into a smile.
James groaned as she slowly unbuttoned one, then another and another. “That’s so sexy, the way you do that.”
Marina revealed a creamy bra embroidered with flowers. She dropped her top on the ground. “Aren’t you going to take anything off?”
“Yeah, sure,” he muttered, not taking his eyes from her for a moment. He kicked off his shoes and undid his belt.
Before she could get to her bra, he reached around her bending to kiss her along her collar bone and expertly unclipped her bra. He cupped both of her breasts in his hands and kissed each nipple like he was worshipping them. He breathed in deeply, nuzzling her throat, giving her little kisses and nips as if he couldn’t get enough of her. “You smell of roses.” He ran his thumbs over her nipples in a circular motion so that they puckered under his touch.
She sighed, her eyelids fluttering. “I like it when you do that,” she said, putting her hands on his shoulders and pulling him down to kiss him again.
He shuddered in pleasure.
When his tongue touched hers and danced she sucked on it very gently.
He gasped, breaking the kiss. “Wait!” In one sure movement he ripped off his t-shirt and flung it to the ground.
Marina laughed at his agitation. She reached down and unzipped his pants. He rose and stepped out of them, along with his boxers. She stroked him, savoured the length and feel of him.
He groaned with excitement. Yet, despite the erotic pleasure he pulled away from her touch. “You’re not naked.”
“I’m shy,” she answered.
“I’m beyond caring. Get naked with me.”
She was wearing a long skirt, which had more buttons. James cursed under his breath.
“Do you want to see me that badly?” she asked, tilting her head.
“I wanted to see you naked from the moment you walked into this apartment. I’ve wanted to rip that blue wrap you wear from your body every time you’re in it. Do you have any idea what it has been doing to me, knowing that you’re naked under it every time you come out of the shower?”
She undid three buttons and slid the skirt over her hips.
“I love your body,” he said.
She pulled off her matching underwear. It was sheer, silky and embroidered with flowers like the bra.
“No Brazilian?”
She shook her head. The corners of her mouth turned down. “I knew you were going to be disappointed.”
He exhaled loudly and she realized he’d been holding his breath waiting for her to unveil. “Oh no, I’m not. You’re sensational.” He sighed. “So sexy.”
Marina pulled him down onto the bed and rolled on top of him. She looked him straight in the eye. “When I touch you I can tell what you’re thinking. I can feel your thoughts, so I know you’re telling me the truth.”
James moaned as she rocked gently so that the pressure of her pelvis pressed against his. He ran his hands over her skin. “You’re so smooth, so perfect. You remind me of one of those Botticelli paintings.” Slowly, he moved his hands down her back over her bottom before resting them there and cupping her cheeks pressing her into him.
She sighed and arched her hips. “That feels so nice when you do that.” Her stomach muscles contracted. “Every time I’ve been scared, I’ve wanted you to touch me.”
“Just when you’re scared?” he said, his voice husky.
“No. When you come into my bedroom with my cup of coffee, I’ve wanted to pull you into bed,” she said.
“Yes, well, this is what I’ve wanted to do to you.” He rolled onto his side so that she toppled off him onto the mattress. He moved down the bed and between her legs, pulling her knees over his shoulders.
He ran his tongue lightly over her lips before finding her clitoris. He pressed his tongue over it and licked gently.
Marina groaned and spread her legs wider.
Her whole body trembled as he stroked her rhythmically with his tongue. He parted her with his fingers and
continued to play with her. He teased her at first, lightly lapping at her until she strained for him.
“Please,” she cried, arching her back. “Please.” She reached down and scrunched his hair between her fingers.
Her whole body trembled and a deep moan left her lips as he licked her from the base of her sex to her clitoris in one sure motion before oscillating over her bud.
Her fingers tightened in his hair and he stayed circling his tongue, matching the pace of her rolling hips.
A groan started deep inside her body and ended in high-pitched cries, but he didn’t let up until she ceased trembling and slumped to the bed.
She saw that her sighs of pleasure made him smile. When he looked at her, his green eyes intense with desire, she realized just what a generous lover he was.
He muttered something under his breath, reached down to the floor and pulled out his wallet.
“What are you doing?” complained Marina.
“Getting a condom,” he said, digging it out of his wallet and throwing the wallet to the ground. He sheathed himself and moved between her legs.
Marina looked down and a shiver of anticipation coursed through her body. He guided himself into her, slowly first because he was big and the head of his penis was a tight fit. She opened her legs further to let him in.
He entered her, filling her and she wrapped her legs around his hips. His body was so hard and strong she closed her eyes and gave into sensation. She had to enjoy what she had now, every single minute, because she suspected she may not have much time left.
* * * *
That night Lizzie sat on Fabio’s bed watching him as he did his round of weight training. His biceps bulged with the repetitive action and the veins on his neck and temple stood out so that they looked like ink-drawn lines.
“Marina had a strange sort of fit today,” she said.
“Uh?” Fabio grunted.
Lizzie knew he didn’t mind her talking to him as he practiced, so long as she didn’t ring him at the gym when he was with a client. Often she didn’t get much of a reply beyond a grunt when he trained at home, but that was okay with her because she liked to chat.
“It happened after I showed her the printout of the photo you gave me.”
Fabio glanced at her. “Uh?”
“I called her at home and she seems fine now. Quite relaxed. I’m not worried because I told James to look after her.”
“Ugh!” Fabio snorted, not looking particularly impressed at the sound of her brother’s name.
Lizzie wasn’t happy that her lover and brother didn’t get on, but it was James’s fault. Men didn’t like being told their testicles could shrink. Her brother could be embarrassing at times.
A rivulet of sweat worked its way down Fabio’s temple. She noticed he hadn’t done his hair and his roots were obvious. How like a man not to care. She wondered if she brought some hair dye if he’d let her do him tomorrow. She liked the way they had matching hair colours. It was one of the things about him that had first attracted her.
The weights clunked to the floor signaling that Fabio had finished weight training. “What do you think, Lizzie Lu?” He flexed his biceps. “Do you think I’m getting bigger?”
It was only last night since she’d last seen Fabio and she certainly didn’t think he could have changed in size overnight, but she knew the right answer would please him. “You’re looking great.”
“Like the next Mr. Sydney?”
“Yup,” nodded Lizzie.
He came and laid beside her on the bed, smelling of sweat. Lizzie wrinkled her nose appreciatively. She wasn’t fussy about body odor the way Marina was. She liked the way Fabio smelled. Young. Horny.
Just the way she was feeling.
He pulled Lizzie close. Although his skin felt tacky from his training she didn’t complain because she liked the heat of him.
“Guess what I did this afternoon?”
“Let me see.” Lizzie giggled. “Trained?” She rolled her eyes. It was hardly a guess. She traced her fingers along the line of his chest feeling the ridges of his muscles.
“No. I’ve been on the internet trying to find out more about that porn star. You know, the one who looks like your roommate.”
Lizzie felt the smile freeze on her face. She stared at him and her eyes narrowed. Not porn again.
Fabio climbed off the bed, strode across the room, picked up a pile of paper from his printer tray and carried it over to her. “Check this out. She was famous in her time and her name was Pixie.”
She watched as he spread lots of photocopied pages out, all of them black and white photos of the woman who wore Marina’s face from another time. Her stomach twisted with distaste. Seeing Marina’s likeness had interested her the first time, but this had a weird voyeur feel.
“How long did you spend doing this?” She noticed the different website addresses on the bottom of each page.
“All afternoon.” He shrugged. “I didn’t have appointments at the gym.”
“Shouldn’t you have been training?” She tried to keep the accusatory tone out of her voice.
“Look at this woman. What a body. Bet your roommate looks like this naked.”
Lizzie’s insides turned to water. “I don’t want to see anymore and I don’t like you looking at this woman either.” Nor did she want her boyfriend to be thinking about her roommate.
Fabio looked sheepish. “I have to have breaks from training otherwise I get muscle fatigue. I thought you wanted me to find out more.”
“No, I don’t.” Not if it meant Fabio was going to spend hours obsessively searching the internet for pornographic photos that looked like Marina. Not if that likeness had such a strange effect on her flatmate that she collapsed in the middle of shopping.
“This could be Marina on the internet.” Fabio stared at her expectantly.
Lizzie felt her anger build. “I don’t want to hear about this anymore. It’s sleazy and disgusting.”
“I thought you’d be interested in seeing more pictures since Pixie is so like Marina. I spent a lot of time doing this for you. I had to search a lot of sites.”
She felt the muscles clench in her jaw. “No, you didn’t,” she said through gritted teeth. “You did it for yourself. I’m not interested in pornography.”
Fabio’s face flushed. He looked as if her words were a slap to his face. “Since you’re not interested you won’t want to know how she was murdered.”
“She was murdered?” Lizzie’s voice was small. Fear rippled up her spine as Marina’s words echoed in her mind.
“Strangled.” He gave a short, sharp nod. “And they never caught the guy who did it.”
Chapter 15
Marina smiled at the client sitting in the salon chair. There was only one, a blonde in her thirties with a beehive hairdo reminiscent of Ivana Trump post-Donald.
“Serena Porter?” she asked.
The woman nodded.
“Hi, Serena. I’m Marina. I’m doing your treatment today. Come this way.” She ushered Serena up the stairs before her, noticing the cut of Serena’s suit and black stilettos encrusted with diamantes. She looked more Double Bay, a classy suburb in Sydney’s east, than Darlinghurst Road, where the dress was either Grunge, New Age or remnant Hippie.
She couldn’t resist glancing down at her client’s shoes. “Great heels.”
Serena stopped, turned and smiled so that the rim of her plump top lip curled over toward her nose.
Her dermatologist had been heavy handed with the collagen. A beautician could always tell.
“I bought them at a shoe sale in Chapel Street last week,” Serena boasted. “I live in Melbourne, but I fly here for business every month.”
Chapel Street had the best shops and although Marina wasn’t a shopper like Lizzie, she did like shoes. “They’re really something.”
Serena had petite feet and the high heels not only gave her legs a slender line, but they looked easy to walk in.
“They s
ure are. Even at over six hundred dollars, I had to fight through a crowd of women to get these. There’s nothing like a designer shoe sale. Women were guarding piles of shoes, then throwing them on the floor if they didn’t fit. The place was littered with shoes. The salesmen were begging them to put them back on the racks but no one was listening to them.”
Marina took a sharp intake of breath. “Did you really say six hundred for a pair of shoes?”
“Nearly seven hundred actually.”
She reached out to steady herself on the wall unable to comprehend spending that much on shoes.
Serena shrugged her slender shoulders. “I don’t care. I had to have them. They change how I feel about myself. I’m sexy when I wear them.” She sashayed up the stairs to the landing.
“I get it,” Marina said, watching the sway of Serena’s hips.
It was funny how different indulgences made a woman feel sexy. Marina loved having her curls blow dried straight after a trim, so that her hair had a swing when she moved and not a girly bounce. She was glad she didn’t have to pay a fortune for the experience though.
“This way.” Marina showed her client into her cubicle. “Could you please put these on and change into the gown?” she said, handing her client the disposable underwear and terry-cloth gown. “I’ll be back when you’re changed.”
Marina stepped outside and waited. Glancing to her right, she saw that Lizzie’s door was closed. There was already a bunch of roses at the door. She shook her head. Lizzie should dump Fabio and forget about him. She didn’t like the way he was screwing with Lizzie’s head.
“Are you ready, Serena?” She tapped on the door.
“Come in.”
Marina opened the door and walked in. “Are you having the Full Brazilian, a Heli-pad or a Runway today?”
“What’s a Heli-pad?” asked Serena.
“That’s a little square.”
“And a Runway is when you leave a strip of hair, I take it?” said Serena.
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