"Wolfe. I'm getting the feeling that you're not paying attention to me."
He drew back with an innocent expression. "Why, sweetheart, of course I'm paying attention to you."
"If you were paying attention, you'd be naked by now." With a furtive smile, he rolled to his back and started to unbutton his jeans, but she pushed his hands aside and reached for the buttons herself. Once she'd undone them, she knelt between his legs and took hold of the waistband. She worked her way backward on her knees, pulling his jeans off as she went. And the moment she got a look at what lay beneath, she froze, staring at him in total awe. Then amazement.
Then anticipation.
"Well," she said, a little breathless, "I guess I should have expected it. After all, you do have big feet."
She pulled his jeans off the rest of the way and tossed them aside, then crawled forward again and slipped her palms from his knees all the way up his thighs to his hips and back down again. He closed his eyes with a sigh of satisfaction. As she continued to stroke him, his breathing escalated, his hands opening and closing in a slow, mindless rhythm.
"Oh, sweetheart, that's good," he murmured.
Good thing, because she loved touching him like this. She also loved the unexpected. In a flash of pure devilment, she dipped down and streaked her tongue right up the length of that amazingly large part of him.
His eyes sprang open. He sat up instantly and took her by the upper arms, then bowed his head and let out a long breath.
"Wolfe?" she said innocently. "Is something the matter?"
"You can't be doing that kind of thing. Not right now."
"You didn't like it?"
"Like it?" He gave her a strangled laugh. "Hell, yes, I liked it. And if you do it again, I'm going to have to handcuff you. Then comes the duct tape right over your mouth."
"Hmm. Kinky."
"Kinky, hell. It's self-preservation. I don't want this to be over with. Not just yet."
"Maybe next time?"
"Definitely next time. But for now—"
"Are you telling me that I can't even touch you?" She smoothed her fingertips down the length of his erection, then circled her fingers around it and stroked it once, twice—
He grabbed her hand and pulled it away, exhaling sharply. He spun around, fumbled for his jeans and shoved his hand into one of the front pockets.
"Condom," he muttered. "Where's a damned condom?"
Wendy smiled furtively. "I think you put them in the other pocket."
He stuffed his hand into the other pocket and fished around wildly.
"Wolfe," she said. "Relax. We've got nothing but time."
He shot her a look of disgust, then finally retrieved one of the little plastic packets. "There," he said on a breath of relief.
She took it out of his hand. "Okay," she said brightly. "Just lie back, and I'll—"
"No way," he said, yanking it right back and holding up his palm. "You stay away." He ripped the packet open with his teeth, then looked at Wendy a little sheepishly. "No offense."
Wendy smiled. "None taken."
In seconds he'd rolled the condom on, then lowered her to her back and rested on his elbow beside her again, stroking his palm along her cheek and kissing her gently. "Are you ready for me, sweetheart?"
"Touch me and find out."
With his eyes fixed on hers, he pressed his palm to her abdomen, then moved his hand lower, finally dipping his fingers between her legs, stroking there slowly. She was already so hot and slick that the slightest touch sent shivers radiating through her whole body.
"Yes," Wolfe murmured. "That's exactly how I want you."
She was dying for him to get on with it, but he kept touching her, teasing his fingers against the most sensitive part of her, his urgency transformed into a single-minded attempt to drive her crazy. Soon the random sensations began to narrow and coalesce, and she couldn't help moving against him, arching up to meet him as he stroked her. Her fingers tightened against the rug, and before long she had a death grip on the pile, her eyes squeezed closed.
"Enough," she told him breathlessly.
"Oh, yeah? Why is that?"
"For the same reason you wanted me to stop," she said, squirming beneath his hand.
"I thought you said we had nothing but time."
"Well, time's about to run out. Believe me. Where are those handcuffs?"
"Sorry, sweetheart. I'm in charge of those."
"First the remote, now the handcuffs. What do I get to be in charge of?"
"Absolutely nothing," he murmured, still caressing her. "I'm taking care of everything."
She opened her eyes and saw him staring down at her. She'd had plenty of sex in her life, but never had a man looked at her like this, as if she was the center of his existence, as if nothing else in the world mattered to him but being right here with her right now.
Then his expression grew somber. "I'm so sorry about the things I said to you the other night," he said softly. "I swear I'll never do anything like that again."
"Just make love to me. That's all I want."
He moved between her knees and rose above her, and her heart nearly exploded with anticipation. Resting his palms on the rug, he slipped inside her with a gentle thrust, and the sudden intense pleasure ripped a moan of satisfaction from her throat. Wolfe froze, holding himself motionless above her.
"Wendy? Am I hurting you?"
"Hurt? Oh, you have got to be joking." She took his face in her hands, stroking it with her thumbs to erase the concern she saw there. "The only way you can hurt me now is if you stop."
In spite of her eagerness, in spite of how wet and seemingly ready she was, still she sensed his restraint, his knowledge of just how big he was and how easily he could hurt her. But she knew he wouldn't. She knew he would control every move he made, protecting her from pain and giving her only pleasure, freeing her mind to relax and her body to let go.
He lowered himself to his elbows and began to move inside her, taking her with smooth, steady thrusts, which released tiny quivers of excitement inside her. He moved slowly, building incrementally, and she clutched his shoulders and curled her legs around him in a silent plea for more. With every thrust she seemed to open more to him, and he pressed on, deeper and faster, until the spark inside her began to catch fire. But still she felt his muscles clenching with the effort it took to hold himself back.
"More," she said breathlessly. "More."
"I don't want to hurt you."
"You won't. Just please … please…"
On his next stroke, she rocked her hips up hard to meet his, and on the next one, too, and the next…
"Easy, baby … take it easy…"
"No!" she said, pushing herself against him as hard as she could. "Wolfe, please … I want it … I want you…"
That was the moment his control snapped.
Slipping his arm beneath her, he buried his face against her neck and fell into a hot, intense rhythm, but she was so ready for him that there was no discomfort at all, only pleasure. For a few tense seconds the world seemed to contract around her, every molecule spinning tighter and tighter, and then…
Like the sudden flare of a torch, a scorching sensation swept through her. She gasped and gripped his shoulders, arching up to meet him.
"Wolfe … yes … oh, yes…"
As she shuddered beneath him, a groan rose in his throat, and he fell into her with even deeper, more powerful thrusts. She could feel his climax as surely as she felt her own, and she wrapped herself around him, clutching at him wildly as he surged against her, driving her from pleasure right into ecstasy. The feeling seemed to go on forever, hitting every nerve ending with electricity, then traveling to her mind to explode in bursts of light and color.
As the feeling wound down, Wolfe lay over her for several moments, his muscles quivering beneath her palms. Then he laced his fingers through her hair and kissed her lips, her cheek, her forehead. "You're incredible," he said breathlessly, and
she hoped the fact that she could barely mumble a reply told him that she thought the same about him.
Finally he rolled to one side and pulled her along with him. She curled up in his arms, still breathing hard. She draped her thigh over his, and he ran his hand up and down it in long, soothing strokes. In unison, they each took a long breath and let it out slowly, then laughed a little at the unexpected harmony.
Being with Wolfe was so unbelievably good that Wendy thought she was still asleep and she'd dreamed the whole thing. But that wasn't true. He was real, he was here, and she didn't think she'd ever felt so content in her entire life. And then she had the most uncanny feeling that this was her life.
But that was crazy. Their paths had crossed only for these few moments in time, and soon they'd be going their separate ways again. So why did she feel as if she'd perish if she was more than a foot away from him, much less a thousand miles away in Los Angeles?
No. Don't think about the future. Think only about what's right here and right now.
For the rest of the day they stayed in bed, touching, sleeping, making love. Evening came, and they ate enough to keep body and soul together, then went back to bed again and watched only half of something dumb on TV before they were making love all over again. Later that night, after they'd turned out the lights and were on the verge of sleep, Wendy reached up and stroked Wolfe's cheek. He opened his eyes.
"There's something you never told me," she whispered.
"What's that?"
"Your first name."
He paused. "Michael."
"Michael," she repeated, trying it out.
There was a long silence.
"It's just nice to know," she said. "But I think you'll always be Wolfe to me."
* * *
The next morning, Wendy woke early. She took a shower, got dressed, then came back and sat down on the bed beside Wolfe, waking him with a gentle kiss. He blinked his eyes open, and a look of distress came over his face.
"Hey," he said, as if he barely recognized her with clothes on. "What's this?"
"If I stay away any longer, Ramona's liable to fire me. How are you feeling?"
"Good enough to take those clothes right off you again."
"Sorry. Can't go to work naked."
"But you can stay here naked. Come here."
He took her by the hand, pulled her back and kissed her, and it was all Wendy could do not to hop right back into bed with him.
"What are your plans today?" she asked.
"I think I'll stay close to home. Make some phone calls. Do a little computer research."
"Then you'll be here when I get home tonight?"
"Yes. I'll be here."
She smiled. "I can't wait."
She gave him one more quick kiss, then rose from the bed. He settled back down to the pillow. She'd just about made it to the bedroom door when he called out to her.
"They keys to the Porsche are on the kitchen counter."
She froze, then turned back with a look of utter astonishment. "You're letting me drive your Porsche?"
"I'm worried about the Chevy's transmission. You might get stranded."
"You might, too."
"I'll drive the SUV."
She just couldn't wipe the surprised expression off her face. Clearly the pod people had removed the real Wolfe in the middle of the night and put a car-indifferent version in his place.
"Uh … sure," Wendy said. "Okay. Yeah. I guess I can drive the Porsche. Any special instructions?"
Wolfe settled back against the pillow and closed his eyes. "You wreck it, you die."
Wendy smiled and slipped out the door.
* * *
Chapter 13
« ^ »
It was uncharacteristically warm for a February morning, so Wendy tossed her purple coat into the back seat of the Porsche before climbing inside, smiling the whole time. Traffic was sparse. She made every stoplight. The Porsche drove like a dream. By the time she arrived at the office, she was still smiling. Driving a really hot car did that to a girl.
Oh, hell. Who was she kidding? It was sleeping with a really hot man that did that to a girl.
A few minutes later, when she was making a pot of coffee, she just couldn't help humming. Then singing. She stuck the filter in the pot with a little flourish, then measured out the right amount of coffee. She poured the water to the tune of "Singing in the Rain." By the time she flipped the machine on, she'd moved on to "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning," because it was. A very beautiful morning.
Ramona appeared at the doorway. "Show tunes," she deadpanned. "My favorite."
Wendy wiped a few granules of coffee off the counter with a damp paper towel.
"So what's up with you?" Ramona asked.
"Nothing," Wendy said, smiling a little on the outside and a lot on the inside. "I guess I just felt like singing."
"Was I seeing things, or is that Wolfe's Porsche out in the parking lot?"
"Yes. It's Wolfe's Porsche. Hot car, huh?"
"Come on, Wendy. What's up?"
There was no way she could hide it. The silly grin on her face gave it all away.
Suddenly Ramona's eyebrows flew up. "Oh, my God."
"What?"
"You're glowing."
"Glowing?"
"You know what I mean."
Wendy tried to suppress her grin, but it just wasn't happening. "Oh, okay. So I'm glowing."
"Does this mean you and Wolfe—"
"Now, come on, Ramona. I'm not one to kiss and tell."
Ramona walked over and pulled a chair away from the table. "Sit."
Wendy rolled her eyes. She poured each of them a cup of coffee and brought them to the table.
"Okay," Ramona said. "Last I heard from you, Wolfe was sick."
"He got better." She smiled. "Way better."
"Oh, yeah?" Ramona sat back in her chair with a satisfied expression, sipping her coffee. "That's good."
One of these days, if Wendy stayed around here long enough, she was going to be able to figure out what Ramona was saying even when she wasn't saying it.
"You know, he tries to act so tough," Wendy said. "But that's not really who he is at all, is it?"
"No. It's not. But most women don't come to that conclusion."
"Maybe they should look a little deeper."
"Yeah. They'd find out all kinds of surprising things." Ramona tapped her fingertips on her mug. "Wolfe came to work for me right after I took over this business. Did he ever tell you how that happened?"
"No. Not exactly. He said he was eighteen when you hired him, but that was about it."
"It's an interesting story." Ramona set her mug down on the table. "When he was growing up, the neighborhood he lived in started out nice enough. Then it got taken over by a really bad element. Drug dealers, prostitutes, gang activity."
"Gangs? Wolfe told me that was how he got that scar. He said they hassled him a lot, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle."
"Oh, he handled it, all right."
"What?"
"One day one of those guys stepped over the line."
"What do you mean?"
"There was a drive-by shooting at Wolfe's house. A bullet went right through the living-room window. It was meant for him. It got his brother instead."
"His brother, David? The one who lives in Houston now?"
"Yeah. It put him in the hospital. It was touch-and-go for a while, but he recovered. Wolfe knew who did it. He told the police. But days passed, and they still hadn't picked the guy up. Wolfe even saw him on the street a few times and tried to get the police out there to do something. Still nothing. Then one day he had enough."
"What did he do?"
"He grabbed the guy, dragged him down to the police station, slammed him down on the sergeant's desk, and said, 'There's your drive-by shooter.'"
Wendy's mouth fell open. "You're kidding."
"Knowing Wolfe, do you really doubt it?"
She didn't.
Wendy was astonished. Wolfe had mentioned his relationship with his brother, but she had no idea they had a history like that.
"Wolfe isn't close to many people in this world," Ramona said. "But when he loves somebody he loves them fiercely. And he takes care of them."
"His brother?"
"Yeah."
"You?"
Ramona smiled a little. "In a different way, but yeah. It was tough when I took over this business from my father. But even in the beginning, when Wolfe was barely an adult, he helped me every way he possibly could. He's the one person I know I can always count on."
"So have you and Wolfe ever…?" Wendy looked at her pointedly. "You know."
She shook her head. "No. It's never been like that between us."
"Have you ever thought about it?"
"Thought about it? Sure. I guess so. But sometimes people come into your life who are just meant to be friends. He means a lot to me, Wendy. I'm just so afraid sometimes that he's going to stay holed up in that weird apartment of his, and then one day he's going to turn around and wonder where his life went. And he's too good a man for that." She paused. "But then, you know that, don't you?"
She did. And suddenly she felt a little stirring of something she hadn't counted on. Something that went beyond the fun and excitement of the past twenty-four hours and edged right into respect and admiration and attraction of an entirely different kind, the kind that made her heart race with the desire to see him again.
Ramona rose from the table. "I have to head over to the courthouse. You and the boys hold down the fort until I get back."
After Ramona left the office, Wendy said hi to Ralph and Lonnie and got to work. Unfortunately, she was absolutely certain that her daydreaming was going to leave her seriously unproductive. Then somebody walked through the door who interrupted both her work and her daydreaming, and she resented the hell out of it.
TALL, DARK AND TEXAN Page 13