And now she was attempting to seduce him. Despite his declaration that he’d never touch her in that manner, he was worried. He’d never before been so extraordinarily attracted to any woman. She had an abundance of courage and spirit that were undeniably sexy, and sleeping with her entwined in his arms certainly hadn’t helped the situation any.
However, after what Michelle had done to him, he simply could not violate the dictates of his conscience by having sex with another man’s wife. But as his traitorous conscience insisted upon reminding him, Larissa and her husband had been separated for the past six months. Despite everything Keswick had told him, there were always two sides to every story. In addition to catching her husband with the hookers, Larissa possibly had additional, compelling reasons for having left him. She might leave him again. She probably would leave him again.
If so, would she take her two children with her this time?
Well, none of that was his concern. He was delivering her to her husband tomorrow, and it was time to start putting some emotional distance between them.
When he strode back into the room, the little calico jumped off the foot of the bed and twined around his feet, purring loudly. He hated to put the cat outside but, with no litter box, he couldn’t see that he had any choice. The unhappy cat cried and scratched at the door for several minutes, making him feel irrationally guilty.
He lay down on the edge of the bed. Larissa gazed at him expectantly and, when he made no move toward her, said, “Excuse me. You can take these handcuffs off now.”
“Since you’re in such a frisky mood tonight, I think it might be better if I leave them on.”
She immediately rolled onto her side and draped a leg over him, coiling her lower body around him like a supple snake. When his cock immediately rose to stand at attention, she grinned. “See? Hands aren’t everything.”
When he tried to shove the leg away, she tightened it around him. “Stop screwing around, Larissa.”
“Don’t be such a prude.”
“Did you take it as a personal challenge when I said I wouldn’t have sex with you? If so, you’re wasting your time. I meant what I said. Nothing is going to happen between us.”
“I swear to you, this is not about you letting me go. Something about this situation has kicked my libido into overdrive. You want to. I want to. We’re alone in a motel room. Let’s take advantage of the situation.” Mischief gleamed in her green eyes. “We can wrestle again if that’s what it takes to get you in the mood.”
His cock jerked as her words spiked his desire up yet another notch. “Go to sleep.”
She laughed and rubbed her thigh against his cock, which throbbed almost painfully. “Such sterling principles you have. Don’t you think it’s a little late in the game to be worrying about what’s right and what’s wrong?”
He gazed at her, his resolve rapidly weakening. Jesus, he could not make love to a married woman. Not only would it be a breech in the trust Keswick had placed in him, if Keswick found out he’d screwed his wife, he could kiss goodbye to the second forty thousand. Deliberately being crude, he said, “I’m not going to fuck you because you don’t really want me to.”
She immediately rolled onto her back. “Put your hand down my pants.”
“Why?”
“So I can prove that I really do want to.”
Knowing he was making a mistake but unable to stop himself, he slipped a hand under the elastic waistband and slid it down the silk of her lower belly to the smooth and hairless juncture of her thighs. “Ah, Jesus, you’re so wet.”
Eyelids heavy, she murmured, “Told you so.”
His eyes closed as a wave of intense longing flooded through him. Her skin was velvety against his palm, her sex as plump and juicy as a sun-ripened peach. Struggling to control his raging passion, he said, “Then you should have taken care of yourself while you were in the shower.”
“Is that what you do?”
“How else would I get any sleep with you wrapped around me all night? But, you’re wasting your time because — no matter what you do or say — I am not going to free you.”
“I know that. I’m still going to beg you to let me go, but I give you my word of honor I won’t throw in your face the fact that we made love. Pull my pants off.”
“Jesus,” he muttered. Whether or not she threw it in his face, the knowledge of what he’d done would torment him. “What if I free one of your hands and you take care of yourself?”
“While you watch?”
Once again, his cock jerked at the mental image her words brought to mind, and a rush of desire surged through his body. Mutual masturbation had its merits, and there’d be no guilt afterwards to plague him. But whom was he kidding? It might start out as self-pleasuring, but it definitely wouldn’t end that way, and making love to her would be a mistake of astronomical proportions. “No. I’ll be in the bathroom.”
“Doing the same for yourself? Where’s the fun in that?” When he made no reply, she added, “Come on. This is a win-win situation.”
His hand was still down her pants. When he lightly caressed her, she moaned aloud. Alarms wailed in his head and, tempted almost beyond all logic and willpower, he ordered himself, Get up now, before it’s too late.
He shifted his gaze to her face to find her watching him with heavy-lidded eyes. “Ple-e-e-ease?”
“No.” Despite his denial, he continued to caress her. His hand was cupping her mound and, seemingly of its own accord, the tip of his middle finger barely penetrated her. When her pelvis arched up against his palm in an attempt to drive it deeper, he finally lost all restraint.
Rising onto his knees, he grabbed the waistband of her pants, yanked them down her legs and over her feet, then stood and quickly peeled out of his pajama pants while gazing down at her gloriously naked body. Oh, sweet Jesus, she was beautiful.
But despite the fact that she was begging him to make love to her, doing so with her physically restrained would be tantamount to rape. As he quickly unlocked the cuffs, the corners of those luscious lips curved upwards. “What’s wrong? Not into the kinky stuff?”
“Shut up before I change my mind.”
The moment her hands were free, she whipped her tee shirt over her head and dropped it on the floor beside the bed. He turned off the bedside lamp, throwing the room into near-total darkness, and pulled off the ski mask. When he eased down beside her, she immediately rolled atop him, which was a good thing. If she were on top, she couldn’t very well later that he’d forced himself upon her.
Nor could a troubled conscience.
He reached up to clasp her face between his palms and brought her mouth down to his. Their lips melded and locked. When he opened his mouth, her tongue immediately found his. She kissed him long and deep, her tongue sweet and restless in his mouth.
Breaking off their kiss, she dipped her head to his chest, taking first one nipple, then the other, into her mouth, sucking and flicking her tongue across them and making his cock throb. She trailed kisses down his stomach and, just as her mouth was about to close over his cock, the warning — Teeth! — blared across his brain in brilliant neon. Hooking his hands beneath her armpits, he hauled her back up.
“What’s wrong?”
“You don’t have to do that.”
She laughed, deep and throaty. “I was joking earlier when I said I bite. I promise I won’t.”
“Sorry, I’m not taking that chance.”
“You don’t trust me?”
“What do you think?”
She found his mouth in the darkness and gently nipped his lower lip. “Suit yourself. You don’t know what you’re missing.”
Unfortunately, he could imagine.
She rose up slightly to position herself. She was so wet her body was already prepared to receive him. As she slowly impaled herself on him, he gripped her hips and moaned, “Ah, Jesus.”
Hot, wet, and deliciously tight, she rode him with an excruciatingly slow deliberateness, sl
iding down his shaft until he was sheathed as deeply as possible, then reversing direction, rising up until only the very tip remained within. Lost in her moist, velvet heat, his desire staggered him. As her soft moans filled the darkness, he longed to see her beautiful face aglow with passion, and silently cursed the necessity of extinguishing the light.
Deprived of his ability to reason, he was aware of nothing but the smoldering fire slowly devouring him. Grasping her hips with his hands, he began thrusting up into her with rapidly escalating force. As a deep core of molten heat arose within him, he warned, “I’m going to be fast the first time.”
Her response was a breathless whisper. “Then I hope we get to the second time before the sleeping pills kick in.”
Ah, shit. He’d forgotten about the fucking pills. He shifted his grip, tilting her hips. He knew he’d hit the right angle when her breath abruptly quickened. Increasing the tempo, she continued rocking back and forth above him.
All at once she cried out, a long, keening wail. The sound made his entire body go rigid. Not breathing, he hovered for an endless moment on the very edge of the precipice. Then his own orgasm hit with the impact of a freight train. He cried out as well, bucking his hips beneath her.
As their cries gradually diminished, she collapsed forward onto his chest. Still partially erect, he remained sheathed within her heat, relishing the scented tangle of her silken hair while his hands explored the glorious curves of her body.
* * * * *
Larissa breathed deeply, savoring the masculine scent of him. The man even smelled sexy.
Still astride him, she pushed herself up. In the darkness, she ran her hands over the crisp hair on his chest and body, learning the rippling firmness of his chest and taut abdomen, the feel of the muscles that bulged in his arms. He shuddered occasionally with the aftershocks, the hard muscles quivering beneath her touch.
Her hands worked their way up his neck to feel the sharp plains of his face. When she ran a thumb gently over his lips, he reached up to pull her face down to his, devouring her mouth with his own. Desire continued to skitter through her stomach and burn low in her belly, despite her own orgasm.
And what a surprise that had been.
Well, maybe not that much of a surprise.
He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight to his chest, sparking little tingles of pleasure from her swollen nipples. “Jesus, Larissa. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like that.”
“I know I haven’t.”
“No regrets?”
“Absolutely not.” Strangely, it was true.
She pressed her lips against his neck, and could feel the working of his throat muscles as he swallowed. “Larissa, I … uh … well … I just want to say that I’m deeply sorry for everything. There’s no excuse for what I’ve done.”
“Let’s not talk about that now.” She found his mouth with her own. He kissed as well as he did everything else. He didn’t simply kiss her, he made love to her mouth. He was still inside her and she began to move back and forth in small movements.
Very soon, he was fully erect once again. He broke off their kiss and, clasping her tightly to him, rolled them over so he was on top. He started with long, slow strokes, pulling all the way back, and then thrusting deeply. Her body was still swollen and so exquisitely sensitive that the pleasure was almost unbearable. Moaning, she clenched his shoulders and brought her legs up to wrap around his waist, her hips meeting his thrust for thrust. His mouth locked onto hers again as their bodies collided, the two of them moving with a shared urgency.
She’d always been limited to one orgasm. Although the one was usually a good one, it was all she’d ever been able to achieve. But now, the tension started to build again, coiling deep in her pelvis, winding tighter and tighter. As the rocking of her hips increased in tempo, he matched her pace. Her breathing got erratic, her limbs began trembling, her moans tapered off into whimpers.
His breath was hot on her ear as he whispered, “Come for me, baby.”
As if his words had flipped a switch, her back arched and she cried out, digging her nails into him as a second fiery explosion took place within her, the fierce gusts of pleasure engulfing her.
He kept going, striving for his own second orgasm. Larissa was acutely aware of every square inch of her body, her every nerve ending wound exquisitely tight. When he kissed her, she kissed him back with fervor.
Reaching down to hook his arms under her knees, he raised her legs over his shoulders. When she groaned and involuntarily brought her palms up to shove against his hips, he immediately paused. “Are you okay? I don’t want to hurt you.”
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “Keep going.” She gasped as he resumed, but he started out slowly and shallowly, going just a tiny bit deeper with each new thrust, giving her body time to adjust to the size of him. Soon she was arching up to meet him.
“Oh, god,” she breathed. “Oh-h-h-h. Oh, god, don’t stop. Don’t stop. Whatever you do, please … don’t …” She cried out as the third orgasm exploded, a lightning blast of rapture that seemed to go on forever. It triggered his second, and their mutual cries of ecstasy echoed through the small room as swells of unbearable pleasure spiraled up and battered her until she was limp and exhausted.
* * * * *
Chase rolled over and lay beside her in the dark. “Jesus,” he murmured when he could finally speak again. “Oh, sweet Jesus, that was fantastic.”
She uttered a sigh of pleasure. “I told you we’d be good together. We should have done this days ago.”
He pulled her into his arms and nuzzled her neck. “Believe me, I wanted to.” He knew he should be feeling guilt and regret for what he’d just done, but he simply felt too damned good to allow a guilty conscience to plague him.
“You’re lucky I took the sleeping pills, or I’d have kept you up all night.” She paused for a moment, and he thought, Here comes the guilt trip. However, she surprised him by whispering, “We should stay here an extra day.”
“As much as I’d like that, it wouldn’t be prudent.”
She propped herself on elbow and ran a hand lightly through the hair on his chest. When she lowered the hand to his stomach, tracing the ridges on his abdomen with the tips of her fingers, his muscles quivered and jumped. “Call your client and tell him we’re having car trouble.”
Although it sounded like a damned good idea, he said, “I can’t do that.”
She leaned down to give him a leisurely kiss that went on forever and, even though he’d come twice in the past hour, his cock began stirring back to life. “We could spend the entire day in bed.”
Reaching up, he traced the line of her lips with his thumb. “It wouldn’t be—”
“—Right?” she finished. “It’s a little late to concern yourself with moral concepts such as right and wrong.” Her words slurred slightly, a clear sign the sleeping pills were taking effect. “I’m too sleepy to argue with you now but, in the morning, I’m sure I can come up with a suitable inducement for staying an extra day.”
“We’ll see.”
“Yes, we will.” She gave him one last kiss, and then eased down beside him, one hand on his chest. “But in any case, thank you.” Her breathing grew slower and deeper and, within minutes, she was asleep.
Damn it! He shouldn’t have given her the pills. At least, not so early.
Then a horrible thought occurred to him. How would she react in the morning? Would she be upset? Would she claim he’d taken advantage of her while she was under the influence of the sleeping pills?
Had he taken advantage of her while she was under the influence?
No, he hadn’t. She’d begun her seduction before he’d given her the pills. His guilt lay in not having stronger self-control. But now that they’d already driven off that particular bridge, he considered her suggestion. What if he did call Keswick claiming car trouble? Shit happened. The idea of spending an entire languorous day in bed was immeasurably appealin
g.
However, a whole day’s delay might make Keswick suspicious. In addition, it would make turning her over to her husband even more onerous.
If Keswick truly was her husband.
He cursed all the nagging little doubts that had crept in over the past few days. If she’d cleaned out her husband’s bank account and run off, then the husband would be the first person she’d suspect, yet she’d never once mentioned him, in fact, denied ever having been married. Of course, that didn’t necessarily mean anything. She could simply have decided to stand by her original story to the very end.
But what if she really had shot a man in her bedroom, and he was now delivering her to that very man?
There was no fucking way he could take such a chance.
Unbidden, an image came to his mind of the two of them together as a couple. Clearly, she didn’t hate him. Even though she’d had an ulterior motive in seducing him, there was definitely chemistry between them. If he released her, would she be able to forgive him? And, if so, would she ever be able to trust him enough to have a relationship with him?
He shook his head, realizing how ludicrous his fantasy was.
No, he’d destroyed any chance of a relationship the moment he’d abducted her. Nevertheless, in the morning he’d confront her with everything Keswick had told him and see what she had to say about it. Then, if even the slightest doubt still lingered, there was only one thing for him to do: Drive her to the nearest airport — or, if she truly was afraid to fly — the nearest Greyhound station, give her money for a ticket, and allow her to walk out of his life forever.
The decision pained him greatly, although it did seem to loosen the tightness in his chest. He leaned over to kiss her, then eased down beside her.
The Heart Has Reasons Page 17