by Madelon Smid
Sam stepped out the front door to beckon the limo forward and quickly stepped back in. “Sorry, Jake. I called this one wrong. There are a couple of your long time followers waiting out there.” His voiced hardened with anger. “God, man, don’t you ever get a break? I couldn’t do it.”
“And I’m not prepared to anymore,” Jake stated. “In the early years we had a symbiotic relationship that met both our needs. Now, they’ve become like vultures hovering over my relationship with Siree. I was half expecting to find it dead when I arrived. I’m relieved to know there isn’t a corpse for them to pick at, and I’m going to make sure there never is. For right now, I’m going to have to get her out the back way, before they—”
Siree and Sharon walked up to them.
“They?” Siree tilted her head and fixed him with a look that told him she’d guessed the answer.
“A couple of media hounds are camped out by the limo. I’ll call Thomas to bring it around to the back and take you out that way.” He ran his hands through his hair. “I’m sorry about this, Siree, Sharon. You’re not safe with me in the picture.” He pulled out his phone and stepped across the foyer to make the call.
Siree watched him detach himself from them, struck again by how alone he looked. She cast a questioning glance at her mother, who nodded her head in rapport.
“Don’t bother, Jake. I’m happy to walk out the front on your arm. Let them do their worst. I’m not hiding anymore.”
Sam gave her a huge smile of approval and, bowing, offered Sharon his arm. “No more games.” He mimed raising a glass in a toast.
“No more games,” Siree echoed and raised her own invisible glass with Sharon following suit. She turned to Jake. He looked undecided for the first time since they’d met.
“This might not be a good idea,” he said. “The stalker will see the press coverage. I don’t want her threatening you.”
“It’s not your decision. I want to be with you, and I’m prepared to take the risk. You’ve done everything you can to protect me. But I’m responsible for my own choices.” Siree tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and tugged him toward the door. “Just keep the bodyguards close by,” she whispered.
He held back, his thoughts turning inward. When she tugged again, he placed his hand over hers. “Give me a second.” He brushed at his bottom lip then bracketed his mouth with his free hand, looking down at the floor.
Sam broke the stand off. “You said you weren’t going to let them feed off you anymore,” he reminded him.
Jake looked at Sharon, calmly standing beside the door. He remembered their conversation and her certainty Siree needed to conquer her fear of the press to live fully.
“Let’s do this,” Siree urged.
Jake lifted his phone and instructed the driver to pull up to the front door. With his hand on her elbow, he stepped onto the street and crossed the brief distance to the limo. Lights flashed, the two intrepid paparazzi rushed toward them yelling questions into the quiet street.
“Who’s the new lady in your life, Jake?”
He pressed forward, refusing to answer.
“Desiree McConnell,” Siree replied. “I know you guys seldom check your facts, but do check your spelling.”
He handed her into the limo, stepped back to help Sharon enter. Sam whacked him on the back. “So much for the vultures,” he hooted.
“Why don’t we go dancing?” Siree suggested the minute the limo pulled away from the curb. “Sam, you must know some good nightclubs.”
“I do, and would be happy to give the driver directions to the best, but I’m afraid I have to make it a night. I have a really early flight to Denver tomorrow.” He faked a yawn that didn’t fool anybody.
“I’m ready for bed, myself,” Sharon said, looking so energized she could dance all night. “Maybe you could drop us off, and Jake would be kind enough to take you dancing.” She looked at him.
Jake picked up his cue. “I’m too wired to sleep yet. I’d be happy to go clubbing.” Siree and Sharon were savvy enough to know the media would follow him, but neither brought up the subject and Siree didn’t ask him to make arrangements to protect her. He settled back, staring out the window into the dark night, his mind working the puzzle of Siree’s sudden change in attitude. Her slender body pressed against his side. Her light scent beckoned him closer. He inhaled the subtle note of green moss and fresh linen unique to her. He breathed it in like a talisman making all well. Just being in proximity to her through dinner had gone a long way to settling his restlessness. Now he had her all to himself for several more hours, her lithe body in his arms, her smiles and laughter just for him. He felt like a priceless treasure gleamed within his reach.
****
Siree ran the gambit of the paparazzi with the nonchalance of a pro. She tucked her hand into Jake’s arm, tilted her chin, and flashed him a smile as they moved at a fast pace from the limo to the club. He whisked her in the door and up to the maître d’, who led them to a discreetly-placed table at the back of those ringing the floor. She sank onto the padded bench while he ordered her a green apple martini and requested a double scotch for himself. She tugged playfully on his sleeve. “I really do want to dance, you know. It’s been ages since I had any fun.”
Jake caught her slender fingers and pressed them against his lips. His eyes met hers over their entwined hands. “If I let the other men in this club get a good look at you, I won’t see you for the rest of the night. Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”
“Well, I did want to look nice.”
“Nice?” His eyes lit with amusement. “You, in clinging red, go so far beyond nice. Other women can’t even get there.”
She tugged a tendril of her hair. “Well, tell me, what do you think about my hair?”
He hid his instinct to smile, surprised by the little girl insecurity in the amazing woman’s body. Her pupils expanded to absorb her irises and he knew his response mattered a lot.
“I can’t think when I look at you. My mind fills up with images of you naked, without a veil of hair keeping you from my sight and my hands.” He dropped his voice, the husky note becoming more prominent. The words fed his hunger. “Desiree, my heart’s desire, you are stunning with shorter hair. You appear liberated, bright and courageous and strong.”
“Thank you. I accept your fine compliment with pleasure.” She sat back while the waiter set their drinks in front of them and left. “But it doesn’t get you out of dancing with me.”
“There is only one thing I want to do more than dance with you.” He swallowed a mouthful of scotch, hoping the burn would give him some control. Holding Siree close in public would require every bit he had. He rose and came around the table to tug on her hand and lift her to her feet. “Another first for us,” he whispered in her ear, turning her into his arms.
Siree whirled into the joy of dancing. Jake made a wonderful partner, moving from the arrogance of a tango, to the playfulness of a samba then teasing her through several rhumbas. By the time she’d been in the vicinity of his swiveling pelvis, had her vision filled with his tight butt and narrow hips, a light film of perspiration coated her body and it wasn’t the exertion causing it. Her bottom pressed into his stomach. Jake leaned over her, gyrating their hips in a circle then spun her free. Her dress lifted high, showing plenty of bare thighs. He pulled her into him again. Like a flame finding oxygen, she pressed her breasts against the rapid rise and fall of his chest, felt the damp heat of his shirt.
She wanted to fasten her mouth on his and feed until sated, but didn’t think that she’d ever get enough. She wanted to cry Jake, take me home. For the last hour they’d been locked in a competition to see who would fold first. She was determined it be him. She danced away from him, whipping her hips in a sensual fury while she lifted her hair off her neck. Pleasure shot through her when Jake’s nostrils flared. He glided toward her with the intent of a panther scenting his prey. She swiveled, presenting her back. Her hips still gyrating, sh
e looked over her shoulder giving him what she hoped was a come hither look.
“You win. I’m going to embarrass us both if I stay on the floor in this condition.” He tucked her against his front and steered her toward their table. But he didn’t seat her. Instead, he fastened his teeth on her earlobe and gritted out, “Are you going to come back to the hotel with me?”
She registered the shiver that ran all the way down her back, and tilted her head to the side to give him better access. She half noted flashes going off, but couldn’t raise the least interest in it. Jake’s lips traced a line down the side of her neck. His teeth closed over the bundle of nerves at the juncture of her shoulder.
“Yes.” Her voice disinclined to work, she nodded, and found herself hustled out the door of the club in seconds. The limo pulled up. She ran through another gauntlet of flashes. The door slammed, closing them into the cocoon of safety, the gasp of their breathing and the rustle of clothing as they turned to each other the only sound.
“God, I want you.” He scooped his arms under her legs and settled her across his thighs. “Do you have any idea how much I want you?” he growled against the straining flesh that rose above the tiny bodice. “I thought you were as beautiful as a Botticelli angel the first time I saw you, but tonight, dressed in flame, sparkling and full of life, you burn me up. I want to feel all that energy surround me. I want to sink into the heart of you and feel you beating around me.”
His words impassioned her. She pulled his mouth to hers and opened to him like an angel offering her soul. Jake tasted like scotch and seduction. Their tongues tangoed, their lips romanced. They lost themselves in moist heat and satin sighs. She melted against him, reveling in the rock hard muscles. Sexual tension stretched between them, tighter, tighter until it threatened to snap. The limo sped through the city streets. With a groan, he disengaged long enough to press the intercom. “Go directly into underground parking, to the penthouse elevator,” he rasped, his attention on her kiss-stung mouth. He closed his teeth over her bottom lip, tugging gently on the plush satin, demanding she open to him.
The lost are found, he thought, sinking into the wet silkiness of Siree’s mouth. Oh, God had he been lost without her.
They teetered into the elevator together. He turned to press the button and Siree pressed her hand against his buttocks.
“Cheeky,” he purred. He covered her hand with his and turned. Her hand trailed across his taut butt, narrow hip and flat stomach. It settled over the bulge beneath his fly. “That’s what I do with cheeky women. I turn the other cheek.”
“This doesn’t feel like a cheek to me.” She cupped her hand around the length of him and measured it up then down, flashing a siren smile when she heard the quick intake of his breath.
In retaliation, he cupped his hands around her firm bottom and lifted her into his pelvis, rubbing back and forth against the heated delta between her thighs. The elevator pinged.
She stepped into the plush bedroom of the suite, lifted her hands to the zipper at her back and lowered it, never taking her eyes from him. He thought he might go into cardiac arrest. He tugged his tie off, plundered the buttons on his shirt. Jacket and shirt hit the floor at the same time. Every second his heated skin didn’t touch her satiny flesh counted. He toed off his shoes and ripped off his socks, visually tracking the slither of red. It slid down her body to the floor, leaving her standing in a red lace thong and five inch red sandals. Every inch of her skin gleamed.
She bent from the waist, seductively straightened, flipping her hair back. “No veil tonight.”
The words, coming slow and sensual from her kiss-softened lips, broke the last of his restraint. In two strides, he reached her, picked her up and tossed her on the bed. He came down after her like a prowling beast.
If Siree had any intention of toying without paying the piper, she would have been alarmed. Clearly, Jake’s control had snapped. She reveled in his need, driving his passion higher with her hands, and mouth and whispered wants. She gave herself unstintingly, exposing her desire for him and her vulnerability.
She wrapped herself around him, moaning her approval when he rolled on a condom and buried himself deep. She clung to him with inner muscles, arms, and legs. Her lips raced over his chest and neck. Her nails scraped across his back. She gave herself up to his sensual attack, trusting him to give her the petit mort they met together.
Bliss. She drifted from some world of the spirit back into her satiated body. His head rested in the crook of her neck. He had not left her, only turned them on their sides to take his weight from her lungs. Their chests rose and fell in sync. Their hearts hammered in time. Molded into one entity by ecstasy, they fought to retain that singularity. Remorseless time pulled them back into their separate identities. Left with the mutual desire to return to that place of oneness, they started the climb again.
Chapter Nine
From the window of the Boeing 747, Siree saw Vancouver spread beneath her like a summer bride. She stroked apricot gloss onto her lips and took in the full effect of her light make-up in the mirror. Excitement stained her cheeks peach and turned her eyes gold. In minutes Jake would be here to pick her up. They’d been apart for ten days and it felt like her heart had leaked love and loneliness all that time.
After finishing the spa weekend with her mother, she had gone back to work, taking two back-to-back assignments, one in Ottawa, the other in Miami. Jake had circled the globe twice over the past ten days. They’d texted each other through the day, brief messages sharing the whimsical and worrisome. At night they relished the screen time they stole from their hours of work. She would drink in his image like a dehydrated wanderer coming across a clear stream. Lounging on the bed in her hotel room, she shared her day with him and listened avidly while he told her about his.
Always he started the conversation by asking her how she was coping with the media. She assured him the press left her alone for the most part. When a journalist confronted her, she handled it with a light and friendly touch, which kept the sharks from circling. She just had to put up with it until Jake’s long-term strategy began to work.
“I’ve chosen the new face of JDI,” he’d informed her only the night before. “He’s in my PR department already. I like his style and he thinks fast on his feet. He’s put out quite a few fires with the right angle already. He’s ambitious and handles the journalists like a pro for all he’s a few years younger than me. He’ll start taking all the press conferences, plus the charity and public relations events I attended before. Soon the press won’t remember what I look like or care. Then they won’t be chasing after information and photos when we’re together. We’ll become two has-beens.”
She searched the beloved face on her monitor for each nuance of expression. “Will you miss it? Are you just giving it up to please me?”
“Not a bit.” His mouth stretched in a long, slow smile. “I have a much better use for my time. Are you wearing anything under that terry robe?” His voice dropped half an octave and took on a husky tone.
She felt like a tsunami had just washed her out to sea on a wave of desire. Her nipples tightened, her body softened and readied itself.
“I want you to be sure about this.” She tried to stay on track.
“I’m sure I want to know. Push the lapel a little wider so I can see for myself.”
She felt the flush climb her neck and fought not to do as he asked. “Jake, be serious. You’ve done so much for me already. If you love that kind of life, I don’t want you to have regrets when you’re not living it.”
He exhaled a long breath, combed his fingers through his hair then met her eyes. Even through the screen his energy ramped up when he focused on her concern. “That lifestyle worked when I didn’t have any personal connections to worry about. My networks are self-sustaining now. I’m not interested in dating the type of women who thrived on the attention. It served its purpose, but now that purpose is no longer there. Frankly, I’ve felt like I’ve just drop
ped a big weight off my back. This will give me a lot more time for things I want to do, things that are growing in importance. It allows me to put my new priorities first.” He hesitated as he searched for words to persuade her.
She believed him. While considering her needs first, he recognized other plusses floating to the surface of his decision. Jettisoning the subject with a smile of relief, she brought her index finger up to the V of her bathrobe and inched it wider, delighting in his quick inhalation and the lust burning in his eyes.
“Just four more days.” His image shifted on the monitor and he winced. “You’ll get yours,” he threatened. His eyes fixed on her every action.
She raised the finger to her lips, sucked on it and circled her areola until it beaded.
“You little vixen,” he hissed. “You know I’m not going to get a minute of sleep tonight. As soon as you get off that plane, I’m going to have my way with you.”
She laughed, her gaze tracing his taunt features. “I don’t think all the people at the airport will appreciate that.” She reveled in the sound of his laughter. Jake took his responsibilities so seriously, it gave her immense pleasure when she lifted him above them. She blew him a kiss. “I still have a few hours of number crunching, so I have to go.”
He groaned. “God, I wish I could kiss you, all over, all night. Dream of me.”
“That’s a given.” The screen went blank, and she pulled her robe back into place, already fantasizing about him.
****
Touch down. Siree forced her quivering body to stay still while her plane taxied to the gate and came to a halt. She almost skipped down the ramp and through customs, grabbed her luggage with a shake of her head at the man who tried to carry it for her, and hurried to the entrance. She saw the familiar face of one of Jake’s drivers and headed for him. “Hi, Thomas. Jake said he’d send you ”
“Yes, Ms. McConnell. He told me to get you to him fast and safe.”
“Fast and safe works for me.” She poked his arm. “Especially if he wants it.”