by Lori Foster
Hoping she looked apologetic rather than relieved, Emily asked, “Could you get that, please?”
It rang two more times before Judd turned and picked up the receiver.
She knew right away that asking him to answer the phone had been a mistake. The look on Judd’s face as he tried to explain who he was would have been comical if Emily hadn’t already suspected who her caller was.
When Judd held a palm over the mouthpiece and turned to her, she braced herself.
“It’s your father, and he wants to talk to John. By the way, he also wants to know who I am and what I’m doing here answering your phone.” Judd tilted his head. “What do you want me to tell him, babe?”
Lord, Emily. You’re in for it now.
* * *
“It’s over and done with, Em. You might as well forget it.”
Ha! That was easy for Judd to say. Emily had no doubt her parents were headed home right this minute. Of course, it would take them time to get here, but still, she was already dreading that confrontation.
“Come on, Emily. You know John didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Of course he didn’t. It’s just that my parents could rattle anyone.” But why did John have to tell them Judd was her boyfriend. Lord, if they showed up before everything was settled, she’d either have to admit Judd was a detective, and accept their unending annoyance for involving herself in something they’d expressly forbidden, or she’d have to tell them he was a...a stripper. She could just imagine their reactions to that.
“I wish I’d talked to them, instead of John.”
Judd turned his face away from her. “I offered you the phone, honey. But you just gave me a blank look. I didn’t think you wanted to talk to them. And even if you had, what could you have told them? That I was a traveling salesman who just picks up other people’s phones?”
She shook her head. “No. But I might have thought of something. And John’s been so solemn since he talked with Father. I have no idea what they talked about—other than their conversation about me—but I know it couldn’t have been pleasant. John’s been sullen and sulky ever since, barely eating his dinner and running off to bed early. I wish he’d talk to me about it.”
“He’s all right, Em. He just needs a little time to himself.”
Emily barely heard him. She stood up and started to pace the room, her mind whirling. Then she threw up her hands in frustration. “Oh, this is just awful. What am I going to do?” She didn’t really expect Judd to answer, since he’d only been watching her with a strange look on his face. “You can’t possibly realize what a trial my father can be. He’s so judgmental, so rigid. Once he takes a stand, he never backs down.”
Judd put his hand at the small of her back and nudged her toward the stairs. “Come on. It won’t do you any good sitting down here and worrying about it. I’d say you probably have a couple of days before your folks get here, and by then, I’ll be gone. So you’re probably worrying about nothing.”
They were halfway up the stairs, when Emily realized what he’d said. She turned to him and gripped his arm. “What are you talking about?”
He wouldn’t look at her, but continued up the steps. “I don’t want to cause you any problems. So I’ll make certain I’m out of the way before they get here. Maybe John can say he misunderstood the situation, or something.”
Judd started to go to the room Emily had given him the night before. She rushed up the remaining steps to catch him. “Wait a minute.”
Judd lifted one dark eyebrow in question. “What?”
What are you going to do now, Emily? Just blurt out that you want him? He doesn’t really seem all that interested anymore. She swallowed and tried to find a way to phrase her request without sounding too outrageous. “I...um.”
Judd frowned and walked closer to her. “What is it?”
She glanced toward her brother’s room, then took Judd’s hand and urged him away from the door. When they were outside her bedroom, she stopped. Judd made a quick glance at the door, and this time both his eyebrows lifted.
Emily drew a calming breath. “I don’t want to disturb John. And I don’t want you to misunderstand.”
Judd waited.
“It’s about what I said before. I didn’t mean that I wanted you to leave. I was worrying about John, not myself. My parents might not approve of my having you here, but then, they approve of very little when it comes to me. I’m almost immune to their criticism. But John isn’t.”
“So you’re worried about him, not yourself?”
She didn’t want to lie to him, that wouldn’t be fair. “I can’t say I’m looking forward to explaining you. After all, if I tell them the truth, they might interfere, and then your case could be jeopardized.”
“What will you tell them?”
Judd had slowly moved closer to her until he stood only a few inches away. Already she was responding to him, and he hadn’t even touched her yet. “I don’t know. But I don’t want you to—”
He laid one finger against her lips. “You’ve told me all kinds of things you don’t want, Emily. Now tell me what you do want.”
“You.”
The way his eyes blazed after she said it reassured her. Her fingers trembled when she reached up to touch his chest. “I want you, Judd. It’s a little overwhelming, what you make me feel. I’ve never felt anything like it before. But last night, you gave a part of yourself to me. Now, I want to do the same for you.”
His eyes closed and he drew a deep breath.
Emily took his hand and placed it against her heart. “Do you see what you do to me? It’s probably wrong of me to like it so much—” She had to stop to clear her throat as Judd’s fingers curled around her breast. The heat in her face told her she was blushing, both with excitement and with her audacity, but she was determined to tell him all of it. “When I was engaged, I thought I knew what excitement was, and it was wonderful because it was forbidden. I felt wild, and just a little bit sinful. But that was nothing compared to how I feel with you.”
“How do you feel?”
“Alive. Carnal.” She felt the heat in her cheeks intensify with her outrageous admission, but she continued, “Not the least bit refined.”
“God, Emily, you’re the most refined, the most graceful woman I’ve ever seen.” His tone dropped and his thumb rubbed over her nipple. “You’re also remarkably feminine and sexy. Just thinking about how wild you get makes me so hard I hurt.”
She licked her lips, then stepped closer still so she could hide her face against his chest. “There are...things, I’ve wanted to do to you, Judd.”
His body seemed to clench, and his voice, when he spoke, was hoarse, “What...things?”
Smiling, Emily whispered, “Don’t you think we ought to get out of the hall before we...ah, discuss it?”
She’d barely finished speaking before Judd had opened her bedroom door and ushered her inside. The light was out, but Judd quickly flipped the wall switch. Now that they were out of the dim hall and she had his undivided attention, Emily felt very uncertain about what she had to say. But Judd was staring intently, and waiting, so she forged ahead.
“The last time...well, I know I took you by surprise.”
He traced her mouth with a finger. “You can surprise me anytime you like.”
“That’s not what I mean. You see, even though I try very hard to be proper...” She glanced at his face, saw his fascination, then carefully pulled his teasing fingertip between her lips. Her tongue curled around him as she gently sucked and she heard him gasp. She licked at his flesh, lightly biting him.
“Oh, Emily.”
She forgot he watched her with intense scrutiny. She forgot that such displays could be embarrassing. She could only think of the many things she wanted...
She released his finger and he dropped his hand to her buttocks, cuddling her. With a deep breath and a nervous smile, she blurted out, “I’m afraid I’m a fraud. I’m not at all proper. At least, you s
ee, not when I’m...”
“Turned on?” His words were a breathless rasp.
She gave a painful nod of agreement.
There was no smile now, but his eyes showed wicked anticipation, and a touch of something more, something she couldn’t recognize. “Are you turned on now, Em?”
The rapid beating of her heart shook her. Heat pulsed beneath her skin, making her warm all over, making her nipples taut, her belly tingle. It was so debilitating, wanting him like this. “Very.”
“And you want to do...things? To me?”
Again, she nodded, feeling the husky timbre of his voice deep inside herself. “If you wouldn’t mind.”
His long fingers curved over her bottom and began a rhythmic caressing. “Tell me what things, Em.”
Pressed so close to his body, it was impossible to ignore the length of his erection against her belly, or the warmth of his breath fanning her cheek. She went on tiptoe and nuzzled her mouth against his throat. “I want to taste you...everywhere.”
His hands stilled, then clenched tight on her flesh. Against her ear, he whispered, “Oh, yeah.”
She pulled his shirt open, and rubbed her cheek over the soft, curling hair there. “I’d like to have you...beneath me, so I could watch your face. You are such an incredibly handsome man, Judd. When you stripped for me...at least, it felt like it was just for me...”
“It was. It made me crazy, the way you ate me up with your eyes. I had to fight damn hard to keep from embarrassing myself that day.”
Not quite understanding what he meant, she tilted her head back and stared up at him. “How so?”
His lips twitched into a smile. “You make me hard, Em, without even trying. But watching you watch me... It was the first time I thought stripping was a turn-on. Before that, it was only damn embarrassing.”
“I’m looking forward to watching you again.”
He groaned, then kissed her, sucking her tongue into his mouth. Emily almost forgot that she wanted to control things this time, but with a soft moan, she pushed Judd away.
“Emily...”
“No, wait.” She had to pant for breath, but she was determined. “Will you take your clothes off for me, Judd?”
He blinked. “Will I... How about we take them off together?”
Reaching for his shirt, she said, “Of course,” but Judd stopped her hands.
“I meant, we should take our clothes off, Em. I want you naked, too. All those things you want to do to me, well, I want to do them to you.”
Her mouth went dry. Just the thought of Judd kissing her... She shook her head. “No. Not a good idea. This is my turn...”
“Let’s not argue about it, okay?”
She could see the humor in his gaze, and his crooked smile. He was so endearing, so charming, so... “I’ve never undressed for anyone before.”
There. She’d made that admission. She knew her face was scarlet, but she simply hadn’t considered that he might want her to display herself. He was the stripper, not her.
Even as his fingers went to the waistband of his jeans, Judd murmured, “Fair’s fair, Em.” His eyes challenged her, and while her fascinated gaze stayed glued to his busily working fingers, Emily nodded.
She started to untie the bow to her dress, but Judd caught her hands. “No. This one is mine. I thought about doing this—so many times—since we first met.” He took the very tip of the lace tie between his finger and thumb, then gently tugged. It pulled open and the ends landed, curling around her breasts. Judd carefully separated the looped strips, while the backs of his fingers brushed over her nipples again and again. Then he slid the tie—so very slowly—out of her collar. Through it all, Emily didn’t move.
It was the most erotic thing she’d ever had done to her.
She barely noticed when Judd tucked the lace tie into the back pocket of his jeans. And then he began stripping again, prompting her with a look to do the same. She felt horribly awkward, and very self-conscious. Her body wasn’t perfect like his, but rather too slim, too slight. Where Judd looked like every woman’s vision of masculine perfection, she was a far sight from the women’s bodies displayed in men’s magazines.
After unbuttoning her dress, she stepped out of her shoes, trying to concentrate on what Judd was doing, rather than on her own actions. Next, she took off her nylons, tossing them onto the chair by her bed. She saw Judd go still for a moment, then saw his nostrils flare. It hit her that her disrobing excited him. He’d already removed his shirt, and now his jeans, along with his underwear, were shoved down his legs. He stepped out of them, then fully naked, he turned his attention to watching her. There was no disguising his state of arousal. His stomach muscles were pulled tight, and his erection was long and thick and throbbing.
She drew a shuddering breath. “Judd?”
“Go on, honey.” When she still hesitated, he said, “You’re doing fine, Em. Now, take off the dress.”
His words hit her with the impact of a loud drumroll, and she couldn’t swallow, her throat was so tight. She saw a slight smile hover on his mouth, and he said, “I’ve had some fantasies, too, babe. And seeing you strip is one of them.”
“I can’t.”
“I’m not talking about doing it in front of an audience. It’ll just be you and me.” Then he lowered his gaze to where her hands knotted in the dress. “Take it off, Em.”
She wanted to, she really did. But it wasn’t in her to flaunt her body, not when she felt she had nothing to flaunt. She looked away, feeling like a failure, afraid she’d disappointed him. Tears of frustration gathered in her eyes, and just when she would have begun a stammering explanation, Judd touched her.
“Shh. It doesn’t matter, honey.” He pulled her close again. Emily kept her face averted.
Judd pushed the dress down her shoulders, then worked it lower. The soft material slid over her arms and caught, for just a heartbeat, on her narrow hips, then went smoothly to the floor.
Judd’s breath left him in a whoosh as his gaze dropped to her black lace panties and stayed there. Emily suddenly didn’t feel quite so awkward, not with the intense, heated way he watched her, as if she were the most fascinating woman he’d ever seen. She skimmed off her bra, then offered him a small, nervous smile.
“Incredible.” His gaze finally lifted from her panties to her face. “If I’d known what you were wearing under that dress, I never would have lasted this long.” He lowered his head for another long, heated kiss, and at the same time, slid his hands into her underwear, his large warm palms cradling her bottom. His fingers explored, probing and stroking, and Emily clung to him. Before the kiss was over, her panties had joined the rest of their clothes and then she urged Judd to sit on the side of the bed. She dropped gracefully to her knees before him, then reached out and encircled his erection with both hands. He was breathing hard, his thighs tensed, his hands fisted on the bed at his sides. Emily leaned forward, feeling her heart pound, and took a small, tentative lick. He jerked, and a rough broken groan escaped him.
Emily felt encouraged and anxious and excited. She leaned forward again, rubbing her breasts against his thighs, her nipples tingling against his hairy legs. Then she closed her mouth around him, gently suckling and sliding her tongue around him, feeling him shudder and stiffen. Judd gave a long, low, ragged groan and twined his fingers in her hair, leaning over her and holding her head between his large palms, urging her to the rhythm he liked. His hands trembled. So did his thighs.
For the first time in her life, Emily was able to indulge in her sensual nature. Judd encouraged her, praised her, pleaded with her. She loved the scent of his masculinity, the texture of his rigid flesh, so silky smooth and velvety. She gave him everything she could, and he gave her the most remarkable night of her life. She knew, if Judd left her now, she wouldn’t regret a single minute she’d spent with him.
And she also knew she’d never love another man the way she loved Judd Sanders.
Chapter Nine
; THE BAR WAS crowded as women waited for the show to begin. Emily felt a twinge of jealousy, thinking of all those women seeing Judd in his skimpy briefs, but she kept reminding herself it was necessary for him to perform.
She’d left John, still acting contrary and withdrawn, at her house. It seemed it only took one phone call from her father to destroy all the headway Judd had made with her brother. Judd told her not to worry, that he was certain John would work everything out. But John was her little brother, and she couldn’t help worrying about him any more than she could stop worrying over Judd.
He was obsessed with catching Donner. Anytime Emily tried to discuss it with him, he went every bit as silent and sullen as John. She supposed he had to get into a certain mind-set to be able to work his cover. After all, not many men could pull off being a stripper. But she hated seeing him act so distant. Even now, as he lounged beside her sucking on an ice cube he’d fished from her cola, she wanted to touch him, to somehow reach him. But he ignored her.
“There aren’t any men here tonight. It doesn’t seem likely that Donner will come.”
She knew Judd had heard her, despite her lowered voice. But he didn’t look at her when he replied, “He’ll come. I feel it. And there aren’t any men because it isn’t allowed. It’s ladies’ night. But Donner has free run of the place. He’ll be here.”
The look in his eyes, the way he held himself, was so different from the Judd she knew. She felt alone and almost sick to her stomach. She had wanted Donner so badly, but now, she only wanted to protect Judd. From himself. From his feelings. And most especially from his self-designed obligations to a dead man.
Before Emily could comment further, Judd glanced at the watch on his wrist, then said, “I have to go get ready.”
He straightened, and Emily tried to think of something to say, anything, that would break his strange mood. Then Judd leaned down and lifted her chin with the edge of his fist. “Do me a favor, babe. Don’t watch. If you do, I’ll start thinking about last night, and I might not make it.”
Emily blinked. “I thought you wanted everyone to believe we had an...intimate association.”