Mirror Image (Capitol Chronicles Book 4)

by Shirley Hailstock

  "I want to see you," she told him. Her hands went to the knot at his waist, pulling it free. She reached up, pushing the robe over his broad shoulders. He was naked beneath it. Boldly she looked at him. His body was magnificent—hard muscle, brilliantly defined, tight waist, shoulders to die for, legs strong and athletic. He was all male, made to pleasure a woman. Tonight she was that woman.

  Her gown was long with wide straps and slits up the sides. She pushed the straps down and slid it to the floor, standing straight for Duncan to look at her as she'd looked at him. She felt no embarrassment. She'd stepped onto a bold new surface and she liked it.

  His gaze took her in as it had downstairs. The burning inside her pulled at her center. She closed the distance between them, sliding her hands over his smooth skin as she stared into his eyes. She let her flat palms skim over his nipples. They extended into her hand, sending her signals that she was affecting him. In the valley between her hands she placed her open mouth, tasting him. She shuddered, his hands taking hold of her upper arms. Aurora went on, pushed forward by a need she didn't know she possessed. She slid her tongue over him, round his nipple and upward. She felt him tremble. It thrilled her, pushed her on.

  Her hands circled his waist, caressing him as she let them learn his body. Like a blind woman she smoothed over his skin, feeling the quivering muscles play under the skin. Downward her hands traveled until she was holding him, erect and hard in her palms. She rubbed her palm over his tip. He grabbed for her. His jaws tightened.

  "You've got to stop," he told her in a voice heavy with emotion.

  She didn't stop, she pushed him further, massaging him more, using her hands as erotic weapons.

  The hands on her arms tightened, communicating difficulty in maintaining control. Aurora relished it, smiled at his drive, pushing him further and further. She wanted him to snap. She pushed her hips into his, feeling his erection against her legs, glorifying in the shock of passion that fissured through her when his body connected with hers.

  She found his mouth again and pulled herself up his body, wrapped her legs around him, and tried to climb inside him. Duncan backed her up to the bed and fell with her onto the covers. His hands took over touching her, tasting her, bringing to life any nerve ending that wasn't totally and fully alive and sending rapturous pleasure throughout her body.

  He reached into the drawer of the nightstand just before she rolled him over, straddling him, looking down at the man whom she was bringing to the brink of insanity. She took the condom, flicking the silver foil aside, and covered him with it. Her own mind had left her. Instinct and need replaced it as she leveled herself over him and guided him inside her. Her head fell back as she initiated the primal rhythm and began her ride. Duncan's hands grabbed her hips and guided her, picking up the pace.

  She watched his face. His eyes closed. His mouth slightly open as emotions warred for dominance. His hands took her breasts. Aurora's back arched as she went wild over him. Sounds she'd never heard formed deep in her throat and gushed forward like a foreign language. Duncan understood it, spoke it with her.

  Aurora felt the sensation begin. She wanted to scream. She could feel it coming, building, like a giant wave she couldn't stop, a force that made her work harder, faster, burning her, consuming her with passion. She'd never known she had an elastic center. She was equally surprised when it snapped, freeing her voice.

  She heard herself calling Duncan's name over and over. Another voice blended with hers from a long way off. She reached for it, listened, heard.

  The rush caught her, pushed her forward like the mushroom effect of an atomic blast. Warmth passed though her, turning her into a fireball that raged and clawed for oxygen. Like a blazing inferno, it gulped everything in its path as Aurora maintained the ride of a lifetime. It transformed them from living flesh and blood to rapturous light as she climbed into the stars. Without form they joined hearts, minds, bodies, in a beautiful spangle that flung itself to the heavens and created a galaxy.

  Aurora collapsed. Her breathing was hard, open-mouthed, and audible. She lay on top of Duncan, hearing the combined thumping of their two hearts. Her hands moved over his skin, fast and frenzied. Like a starving animal she refused to relinquish touch. Her mouth took his in a violent kiss that ended in silent worship.

  This was new ground. Aurora knew if she made love with Duncan for the rest of her life it would never be the same. It would always be new and fresh and like the first time.

  ***

  Duncan stared at the ceiling. Aurora lay next to him. His arm cradled her to his side. He could say tonight was the first time he'd been ravished. Aurora had been shy when she came through the door. That had changed. Beneath her surface she was a tiger, and tonight the tiger was loose. Duncan glanced at her and smiled. Her breathing was slow and even. Moonlight played across her features. His blood drained to his loins just looking at her.

  She satisfied him sexually. He'd never wanted a woman as much as he wanted Aurora. Yet he couldn't help but wonder what had driven her tonight. For days she'd been totally withdrawn, except for the time she spent on the stage. After the taping tonight she'd worked out on the gymnastics equipment. He thought she'd exorcised her demons. After the way she made love to him, he hoped he had done it.

  ***

  "Ohhhh," Aurora groaned the minute she tried to move. Every muscle, every bone in her body ached. She remembered her stint on the gymnastics equipment yesterday. She hadn't worked through one of those routines in three years, and today she was going to pay for it. She could only imagine what tomorrow would feel like.

  "Duncan," she called, opening her eyes and looking for him. His side of the bed was empty. She wondered what time it was, but turning over to see the clock would take too much effort. She closed her eyes and remained still until she remembered the show. She had to get back and ready for today's performance. Pushing her feet to the floor she sat on the edge of the bed, trying to muster enough strength to stand. She longed for her four-poster bed to have something to hold onto. Duncan's bed offered no such support.

  Pushing herself up she hobbled to the bathroom and into the shower. Warm water poured over her. She let the pulsating heads beat on her arms, her back, her legs. When she stepped out and wrapped herself in a huge towel she felt only slightly better.

  "Coffee?" Duncan offered her a cup from across the room. He'd prepared breakfast and set it on a small, round table in front of the window. Aurora attacked the coffee as if it could save her life. "Is this your usual morning demeanor?"

  She eased herself into a chair, her muscles protesting as she sat down. Refilling her empty cup she looked at him. "I feel as if someone's killed me, and I just don't know it yet."

  "Well, it wasn't me."

  Aurora stopped her cup midway to her mouth. He looked at her smugly, his expression telling her he remembered every second of last night. She'd been the aggressor then and she knew it. She hadn't been able to help herself. She'd never had sex like that before. She couldn't call it anything else. They'd made love in the guest house, but last night was pure lust, raw sex. Aurora never knew it was possible and certainly hadn't thought she was capable of initiating it, leading it.

  She hid behind sarcasm. "Do you have a complaint?"

  Duncan stood up and came to her chair. He stooped to eye level and held a crisp slice of bacon out to her. "Not a one," he teased. "You can ravish me every night."

  She snatched the bacon. It snapped in her hand. He turned away. She bit down on the bacon and smiled at his back. When he'd fixed her a breakfast plate and set it before her the smile was gone.

  "I need some clothes," she said.

  He took his seat, resting his chin on his elbow. "I have nothing that will fit you. I would be willing to lend you a towel."

  She glanced down at the white terrycloth fabric as she broke a piece of buttered toast. “What do you think the guards will say if I come back wearing only a towel, and a monogrammed one at that?"

  "
That I'd gotten lucky." He threw her that devastating smile. "They have no idea how right they'd be."

  Aurora had no comeback. She ignored him and ate the delicious breakfast.

  "I'll get your gown." Duncan left her alone then.

  By the time she pushed her plate away she knew she had to leave him. Staying on would only make things worse. She wasn't just falling in love, she was already in love, and despite Duncan's plans to return to California she thought it was time to get out.

  Last night had shown her what life with Duncan could be like, what sex with him was like, and what making love would be like. She also knew what hell would be like. It would be being without him. She'd defined it herself, and would have to live with it.

  Duncan didn't return with her gown. She found a sweater in the armoire and slipped into it. It covered her to her knees. She pulled white socks up to cover her bare legs then went in search of him.

  She found him standing in front of the door with an envelope in his hand. On the floor, next to her nightgown, lay a Federal Express package. "What are you doing?" she asked.

  He turned to her. For a moment she didn't think he saw her, didn't think he heard her. "Movies," he said. "I've got the backers. I'm going to Hollywood."

  Stunned, Aurora grabbed the newel post and tried to smile. "This is what you wanted," she said. She'd known he was going, that it wouldn't be long, but now it felt as if she'd already lost him. How can you lose something that was never yours? she asked herself. "When do you go?"

  "Not for weeks yet, but everything is falling into place. Things are working out so smoothly it's almost frightening."

  Aurora stepped down from the last stair. "What is the movie about?"

  "Come on." He grabbed her hand and took her into his office. Equipment looking identical to that in the studio filled the room. Books and scripts lay on shelves around the room and a desk crowded with papers sat in the corner. Duncan went directly to one and pulled it out. "This is the script.” He handed it to her.

  She read the title and author's name on the bound cover: Hostage by Duncan West.

  "I didn't know you wrote."

  "It's what I started out doing."

  "May I read it?"

  "You want to?" His eyebrows rose.

  Aurora nodded. She took a seat in a comfortable chair before a laid out but unlit fireplace and opened the script. Duncan left her after a moment. For two hours she read, from beginning to end. Closing the last page, she knew this would make a great movie—an action adventure about a pilot who gets caught up in a relationship with a woman in a small town. On the surface everything looks fine, but beneath are secrets that plunge them into a life-and-death struggle.

  He came in almost the moment she finished the last page. She felt he'd been pacing outside the door while she read. Dropping down on a chair in front her, he asked, "What did you think?"

  She could tell her opinion made a difference to him. "It's going to make a wonderful movie," she said.

  "Why?"

  She pushed herself up in the chair and leaned forward. "First, it's not a buddy movie. It has great characters who try to protect each other. The action is riveting, and the developing relationship between the two main characters is natural. One doesn't overshadow the other."

  "This is what you really think? You're not just saying that?"

  Aurora wondered why he didn't believe her. He'd sold the script. "I'm not a critic," she told him. "There's only—"

  "Go on."

  "I can't quite see the karate scene," she said. "When the protagonist, Jane, tries to save her lover's life, I can't see her doing the things you've written."

  He looked at her for a moment. Aurora had the feeling he was deciding something. "You don't think she'd do it, or you don't think it's something she would be able to do?"

  "I don't think she'd be able to."

  "Stand up." It was an order.

  Aurora stood. "What are you going to do?"

  "I'm going to act out the scene with you."

  Aurora started to resume her seat. "I don't know any karate." Duncan took her hand and pulled her up.

  "Good, because neither does Jane."

  Aurora hadn't expected to get involved in a karate lesson, especially in her current state of dress. She wore nothing under the sweater and only socks on her feet

  "We start with him holding her like this." Duncan turned her around. He put one arm around her throat and the other around her waist. Aurora felt it impossible to move. His hand was just below her breasts and her nipples were hardening at his touch. "All right," Duncan said. "See if you can throw me."

  "Throw you? My muscles won't let me sit down normally in a chair. How am I going to lift your weight?"

  "It isn't so much that you lift my weight as using it against me." He demonstrated, but Aurora was still at a loss. "Try it now."

  Aurora didn't have a clue as to what to do. Her arms ached and Duncan behind her didn't conjure up images of strength—that pulled at her weaknesses. Still she tried, but nothing worked. Soon she felt Duncan laughing at her. Anger came to her rescue. She stomped on his foot, ignoring the muscular pain, and jabbed her elbow into his ribs. The surprise threw him off guard. He released his hold on her neck. She slipped down, grabbed both his legs, and pulled. He went down.

  "See, that's what I would have done. No karate needed." Turning, she saw him sprawled on the floor. His eyes were closed. She'd hurt him. He'd bumped his head. Hundreds of thoughts went through her mind, all of them horrible. She rushed to him, pulling his head onto her lap.

  "Duncan," she cried. "Duncan, say something."

  He didn't open his eyes. Quickly she turned and grabbed for the phone. It banged out a ring as it hit the floor. Nervous, she punched in 9-1-1. Then Duncan's hand came around her and pushed the switch hook down. "That wasn't karate," he said.

  Aurora was both glad and angry at the same time. He was all right.

  "Why did you do that?" She hit at him, but he grabbed her arms and wrestled with her on the floor. In her present state she was no viable adversary. Her sweater rode up and Duncan pressed his knees into her body and used his hands to pin her to the floor. She lay still, breathing in and out heavily.

  "It looks like this is a much better way to handle that scene," Duncan said, laughing at her. "But look at the trouble it could get you into." Then he lowered his mouth and took hers in a kiss that curled her toes.

  Chapter 12

  Concentration had always been his strong suit. Duncan would tune out anything he didn’t want to bother him. Growing up with sisters who lived on a different plane, he’d often tune out music, their constant conversation and noise. Duncan prided himself on being able to work under any kind of circumstances. But he'd never met anyone like Aurora before.

  She not only crossed his mind constantly, she invaded him, wormed her way into every part of his functioning mind, and made herself at home. His body was not immune, either. He could still remember having her in his bed and on the floor of the library. With her he was like a madman, unable to control his actions, letting instinct drive him until he fell over the edge. One day he wouldn't come back. He'd simply burn up in her flames like an astronaut tasting the friction of reentry. Duncan smiled at the thought.

  "A grin like that could only be caused by thoughts of a woman."

  Cooper Dean's bulk hogged the doorway of Duncan’s office.

  “How’d you get pass the guards?” Duncan asked.

  “I gave them the password,” he said without a thought. Opening his coat, he showed his badge.

  Duncan was glad to see his friend. Coop came forward, taking the hand Duncan extended. He sat in one of the leather chairs in front of the desk as Duncan resumed his seat.

  "What've you got?" Duncan asked.

  "Not much." Coop let out a sigh. "Whoever this guy is, he's good. We haven't found anything. It's as if he disappears into thin air."

  Duncan knew Coop's feelings on this. Only the movies could make pe
ople disappear. In life they were only temporarily out of sight.

  "We'll find him. It’s Aurora who's the mystery."

  "How so?" Duncan leaned forward.

  "I've interviewed her former employers, her friends and peers, even the people who hired her to pose as Marsha Chambers. For the most part no one has a bad word to say about her. I got the usual amount of professional jealousy. She was good at her job, sometimes too good."

  "What does that mean?"

  "She worked for Social Services in New York."

  Duncan nodded. "I know that."

  "She wasn't supposed to work the streets. She did."

  "That sounds like her," Duncan said.

  "Kids in trouble, young mothers, abused women, she'd jump in her car and go help them. More than once she came between a pimp and his girl. One tried to kill her, but she took him down and got away."

  Duncan's heart jumped at someone trying to hurt her. Then he remembered her taking him down. He'd hit the floor hard. "What about this pimp? Do you think it's him, trying to hurt her now?"

  Coop shook his head. "We checked on him. He's serving seven to ten for manslaughter. He killed one of his girls during a fight."

  Duncan shuddered to think that Aurora had been part of that kind of world. "Any others?"

  "Most have moved on. A couple of them are dead. One other can't be located. Disappeared about a year ago and no one's heard of him. He'd been tangled up with something big. My assumption is he's now part of a bridge or building project within the greater New York-New Jersey area. All of them were petty criminals. None were into jewelry—definitely not of the quality of the pearls Aurora received."

  Coop had good instincts. Duncan knew he could bank on them. "That leads us back to Marsha."

  "Yeah. I'm seeing her later. I thought I'd come by and talk to you first.”

  "About Marsha?"

  He nodded. "Does she have any known enemies?"