His words about safety chilled her, reminding her of their reason for being here in the first place. While she didn’t doubt he was attracted to her, would they have ended up here on their own? Would he have pursued her had he just met her on the street? Old insecurities niggled.
“Spending eighty-nine-thousand dollars was easy?” She attempted to hide her unease with a joke like he did so often. “Why not hire a bodyguard? It would have been cheaper.”
“You know how you said you were jealous of my assistant?” He held both her hands, pressing them into the mattress, his erection thick against her stomach. “I felt the same at the thought of turning you over to some security guy.”
She arched up into him, enjoying the heat flaming hotter in his eyes. The scent of native flowers drifted on the breeze through the open windows, providing an intoxicating moment when she realized just how aware she was around this man.
A sense of power pulsed through her, and she embraced it, needing to feel in control of something here. “The attraction between us was pretty instantaneous.”
“Once the auction rolled around, I was so damn happy to see you out there in the audience.” He grinned down at her. “And then I was so turned on I had to keep my hands in front of me.”
Now that would have made headlines. “I thought that was just because of the handcuffs.”
“Oh, it was the handcuffs all right.” He squeezed her hand in his, still holding the handcuffs. “Thinking about ways that you and I could use them had me sweating bullets. Which brings us back to fantasies.”
“You’ve had fantasies, about me and handcuffs?” The simmering heat inside her flamed to life. “What exactly would you like to do with those handcuffs?”
“I wouldn’t want to shock a Vermont farm girl.”
“Please…” She tugged the handcuffs from him and dangled them in front of his face. “Shock me.”
* * *
Troy had never been one to turn down a challenge.
And the challenge in Hillary’s eyes was one he very much looked forward to fulfilling. He snapped one cuff around her right wrist and the other around his left, so they were shackled while facing each other. The past five days with Hillary had been beyond incredible, and with time running out, he hoped he could cement their bond before they left.
She blinked up at him in surprise. “I thought you were going to cuff me to the bed, Viking style.”
“Then I did surprise you.” He sketched his hand along her breast, which brought her hand to herself, as well.
She slid her free hand between them to stroke him but he manacled her wrist and pinned it against the bed.
“Troy,” she said, writhing against him, the ache inside her building, “I want to touch you, too.”
“We’ll get around to that. We have all night.” And if he had his way, they would have even longer.
“Who says you get to be in control?” She pressed back, knowing there was no way she could actually win in a contest of pure muscle, but maybe she had a chance in the battle of wills. “My. Turn.”
He laughed softly against her, the puff of air along her breasts sending fresh shivers down her spine. Then he rolled to his back, taking her with him. “Consider me at your command.”
Her smile of pure feminine power launched a fresh flood of testosterone pounding through him in answer. Her hands still linked with his, she kissed her way over his chest, lingering and laving her way down until…holy crap, her lips closed around him. His head dug back into the pillow as he lost himself in the moist and warm temptation of her mouth, the tempting sweep of her tongue. She shouldn’t be able to take him to the edge so fast, but then nothing was as he expected with Hillary.
The only thing he knew for sure was that he didn’t want this to end.
He tugged their cuffed wrists and hauled her upward, unyielding, and flipped her to her back again, the length of him pressed between her legs. The silky dampness of her let him know she was every bit as ready as he was. With his free hand, he tugged on a condom in record time and slid into her welcoming heat. He knew her body after all they’d done together, yet still he couldn’t get enough of her. Of the soaring sensation of being inside her with the scent of their mutual arousal perfuming the air.
The link between them was real, damn it. Every bit as real as the handcuffs binding them together. She had to see that, to believe it. He just needed to be patient and work past her insistence that her judgment in men was off. He needed to win her trust.
She hooked her ankles behind his back and took him deeper inside her, rolling her hips and bringing them both closer to completion. He wanted to wait—he had to wait—for her. Gritting his teeth, he held back his release, until finally, thank heaven, her breath hitched with the special sound that preceded her…cries of completion.
His own control snapped and he thrust again deeper, shouting with his own release jetting through him. Again. And again. Until he sagged on top of her, just barely managing to hold the bulk of his weight off her by levering on his elbows. He rolled to his side, their hands still locked together. He flung his other arm over his eyes, his defenses stripped back until he was unable to hide from the secret he’d been holding all day.
Salvatore had called after supper. Barry Curtis’s accomplice had been picked up trying to slip into Switzerland. Extradition was already underway.
Hillary was cleared to return to D.C.
* * *
While the morning sun climbed, Hillary rested her chin on her hands on Troy’s chest. The handcuffs rested on the pillow beside her. She would have to remember to tuck them away to play with again on another day. The whole Viking scenario held a certain appeal.
She kissed his chin. “You most definitely are not a monk.”
“Nice to know you noticed,” he said, his fingers tracing lazy circles on her back. “Have you checked under your pillow?”
Her hand went to her diamond necklace then over to her pillow. She tumbled underneath and her fingers closed around… Metal? She closed her fist around something square and pulled out…
“A cowbell?” Laughing, she rolled to her back, clanging the copper bell.
“Everything’s better with a little cowbell.”
“I can’t believe you got this.”
He rolled to his side, eyes on her face intensely, like he was looking for something. “You said I couldn’t buy you extravagant gifts, so I’ve been working within your system.”
“It’s sweet. Really.” She kissed him quickly. “I can honestly say I have never gotten one before.”
“What till you hear my cow jokes. What do you call a sleeping cow?”
“A bull dozer.”
“Okay, too easy.” He threw a leg over hers, the ceiling fan stirring the mosquito netting. “Mooo-ving on.”
She groaned.
“Why do milking stools only have three legs? Because the cow has the udder.”
She swatted him with a pillow, the cuffs clattering to the floor. “That’s awful.”
“I know. I went through a lot of corny jokes at school until I learned the nuances of humor.”
Something shifted inside her at those words, at the image of him “learning” to be funny, trying to fit in as he was tossed from school to school, his parents abdicating their roles in his life.
He flung his arms wide. “What? You don’t have any ammo to toss back? Roll out the computer geek jokes. Take your best shot. I’m bulletproof. More than that, I’m a bullet catcher.”
“You’re a cocky bastard.” But she sensed he hadn’t always been that way. But saying as much would take them to a serious level she wasn’t ready for, not yet. So she scrounged for a joke…. “Ethernet—something to catch the Ether Bunny.”
“Oh,” he groaned. “Talk about bad. You’re a rookie.”
She pushed for more, determined to keep it light and make the most of their time here before he told her they had to leave. “The truth is out there…if only I had the URL.”
“Better.”
“There are ten types of people. The ones who understand binary code and the ones who don’t.”
“Ahh,” he said as he sighed, pulling her close. “Now you’re making me hot.”
She splayed her fingers over his chest, traced four scratch marks she’d left earlier. “You’re crazy.”
“That’s very possible.”
A darkness in his eyes unsettled her. “I was joking.”
“I wasn’t. This genetic lottery thing…” He tapped his temple. “It’s enabled me to do some incredible things with my life. But sometimes it fails me on the basic things in life, things that everyone else has and takes for granted.”
So much for staying away from deeper subjects. She should have known there was no hiding, especially not with Troy. And she found she actually wanted to know. She needed to understand him. “Such as?”
“A family. One that functions and talks to each other and eats Sunday dinners together.”
“Troy,” she gasped, gripping his shoulders insistently. “You can’t blame yourself for your family friction.”
“I played my part. You know, I could have just sucked it up and gone to medical school like my father wanted. It wouldn’t have been that difficult for me academically,” he said with confidence but not arrogance. He hooked his finger in her necklace, sliding it back and forth. “I could have done some kind of research gig where I wouldn’t be around people.”
God, he was breaking her heart here. “I don’t know where in hell you got this idea that you’re not good with people. You’re charming and funny.” She covered his hand on her necklace. “A total original.”
“Like I said, it’s a game I learned and I’m cool with that.”
“Not a game.” She shook her head. “I think maybe you learned to share parts of yourself, in a way others can understand.”
She pressed her mouth to his before he could argue with her, her heart tumbling over itself with love for this man and sadness that she would soon have to leave him behind.
Eleven
Troy stood on the balcony, cell phone to his ear, trying to outtalk the monkeys and birds yammering in the trees. “Thanks for the update, Colonel. Glad to know Curtis is finally spilling his guts.”
“It’s a race between the two to make a deal. International money laundering doesn’t sit well with the authorities. And stealing from disadvantaged kids’ college scholarship funds plays even worse in the press.” Salvatore’s heavy sigh carried through the airwaves. “When are you and Hillary Wright coming in this morning?”
“Not this morning. But soon.” When he got around to telling her.
“Donavan,” the colonel said in the suspicious headmaster tone he’d honed over the years. “You’ve informed Hillary that all’s clear. Right?”
“Of course I will, tonight.” He leaned back against the rail, splinters snagging on his board shorts.
“Ah, Donavan.” Salvatore all but tut-tutted at him. “How can a man so smart be so damn stupid?”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, sir.” Troy gripped the balcony harder, splinters digging straight into his palms. “If that’s all, how about you roll me to the bottom of your on-call list?”
Salvatore’s mocking laugh faded as Troy hit the end call button and set the cell on the rail.
Time was running out. Even the cackling monkeys in the trees seemed to be mocking him for being an idiot. Salvatore was right; he couldn’t keep Hillary here indefinitely. He would take her home and just ask her out like a regular guy once they returned to the States.
Except he’d never done the “regular guy” gig all that well.
He heard Hillary’s near-silent footsteps approaching a few seconds before she placed her hand in the middle of his back, her fingers curving in with familiarity.
“Was that good news on the phone?”
“Yeah…” He looked down at the lagoon where he’d made love to Hillary for the first time. Would she come back here or was this some fantasy escape for her, one that would be over and done when she was back home? He would tell her after lunch. She would still be back before the end of her hastily scheduled vacation. He needed to use this last pocket of time to seal the deal. “Work stuff. Mergers. Money. Boring office crap.”
Hillary slid in front of him, wearing a floral sarong knotted over her breasts, a flower tucked behind her ear. She had sun-kissed cheeks and an ease to her that hadn’t been there before they’d come here. When they returned, would she wear those buttoned-up suits like armor to keep him out?
“I would think you’d be happy.” She sketched her fingers over his forehead. “You look worried.”
“I am happy.” He nodded, trying to shake the whole gloom-and-doom air weighing down his mojo. What the hell was up with that? He was the guy of the fedora hats and cool scarves.
She toyed with the string on his board shorts. “Let’s take brunch up to the roof today. I think it’s the only place where we haven’t made love yet.”
The vision of her with the waterfall in the background, mist in the air, wild outdoors all around them, took his breath away. He couldn’t lose her. He needed to bind her to him before they left, ensure they had a future.
“Do you ever think about having kids?”
Hillary leaned back, her eyes wide. “Are you trying to tell me the condom broke?”
“No! God, no.” Although the thought of a kid with Hillary didn’t scare him as much as it should.
A sigh moved visibly through her. “Then that seems to be a rather premature question.” She slid her arms around his waist. “Shouldn’t we figure out if we’re going to see each other after we leave here?”
“Lady, that’s a given.” At least he hoped it was. And if not, he intended to make it one. “And as for the kid question, I didn’t say our kids, I said kids. Period. When people date—like we’re talking about doing when we get back to the States—then they discuss their views on life stuff. Like having children.”
“Okay,” she said slowly, her voice wary, “then yes, sometimes I think about it.”
“And your verdict?”
Why the hell had that jumped out of his mouth now? Her answer mattered to him, more than he was comfortable with. He was supposed to be romancing her to seal the deal, not freaking her out with a full-court press.
“Honestly, Troy, the thought scares the hell out of me. What do I know about being a mom?” She spread her arms wide before tapping his chest. “And you mentioned genetics once. What about that? What if between our genes and the patterns we’ve seen, our kids… I mean… Ah, hell.” She shoved against his chest. “Why are you bringing this up now? We should be talking about whether to go out for pizza or steak.”
He shifted away from her, leaning back against the balcony. “I always thought I would adopt.”
His answer stopped her. She turned to face him again. “Really?”
“Sure, once I found the right woman to spend my life with, because I don’t know that I’m up to the task of parenting alone.”
“And you would adopt because of the genetics fears you talked about?”
“In part, maybe. But I also figure I have all of this money and flexibility and there are kids out there without homes. Maybe I could just say to hell with worrying about someone getting into trouble and go ahead and adopt a troubled kid. Help them turn it around, give a kid the same break I got.”
“You would do that?” She came back to him, leaning a hip against the rail. “Take in a child you already knew had problems?”
“If I had a biological kid who got into trouble like me and my brother did, I wouldn’t just write him or her off.” Memories of fights with his dad reverberated in his head. “And by problems, maybe I would take in a kid with medical problems, someone overlooked. I could pay for anything that kid needed. And hats. Lots of little hats for the kid.”
Her eyes welled with tears as she touched his cheek. “Are you for real? Or is this an act to make women lov
e you?”
“Would you believe me even if I said every word is true?”
He pushed back a wince at how he’d delayed for a day in telling her they could leave Costa Rica. He hadn’t lied, he’d just…
Quibbled.
That’s what Hillary would call it, and she wouldn’t be forgiving of what she considered a lie. But how could he let her go not knowing if she’d agree to see him again?
“The thought of believing everything you’re saying scares me. The fantasy is so much easier.” She pulled a wobbly smile. “Even with the handcuffs.”
“You’re worried I’ll hurt you.” Even the thought of anyone hurting her made him want to haul her in and hold her tight.
“Remember when we talked about your happy childhood memory?” She folded her arms over her chest. “When my sisters and I were little, we would ride around on the tractor with Dad. He told us we were princesses and that was our chariot. It was fun to pretend.”
“If you loved the farm so much, why were you so hungry to leave?”
“Because I realized all those times on the ‘chariot’—that was just to protect the queen while she was toasted.” She wrapped her arms around herself tighter, all but putting a wall between them.
“He was protecting his kids, you mean,” he said, trying to put a positive spin on things, to give her something happier to hold on to.
“If he’d been protecting us, he wouldn’t have enabled her. He loved her, but he was scared of her. He was scared if he pressed her to change, she would leave him.” She stopped and held up her hand. “Whoa. Wait. I screwed up that happy memory exchange, too. Anyhow, I left the farm, but I don’t hate it. I still go back to visit—my sister lives there with her family now that our dad’s gone. Mom lives in an apartment—when she’s not in rehab.”
To hell with distance. He hauled her against his chest again. “I’m sorry for all you’ve been through. I can see how that would make you wary. But you can trust me, Hillary—”
His cell rang on the porch railing.
An Inconvenient Affair Page 14