by Alexia Adams
“Unless you want a steak knife in your back, I suggest that we at least move into the living room,” she said seconds before she spun on her heel and exited the room.
“Kat.” He grabbed her arm and swung her against him. Her soft breasts were crushed to his chest as he kissed her, but rather than rush the moment, he let his senses savor the taste and feel of her. Her moan of arousal as he moved his lips across her jaw erased all other thoughts from his mind. Her right lobe was next on the menu. He’d never known a woman to have such sensuous ears. His tongue flicked out to trace it, and Kat shivered in his arms. She was so responsive. If his hands weren’t investigating the curve of her arse, pulling her up and into his erection, he’d have clapped them in delight.
“You mentioned something about going down on your knees,” she said.
“Greedy thing, aren’t you? But I haven’t finished with the top half yet.” He released the hooks on her bra and moved back to let the scrap of silk and lace flutter to the floor. The breath he’d just drawn in left him in a whoosh. “God, you’re magnificent.” His gaze held hers as his hands explored the bounty before him. The blaze of desire in her eyes strengthened his resolve to make this spectacular for her.
“You know, you’ve seen me in my underwear four times now, and the best I’ve gotten is a brief glimpse of your chest.”
He glanced up from where his tongue was flicking her nipples. Much more pressure in his trousers and he’d have the world’s largest diamond in his pants. “Whose fault is that? You think precious stones sit on the surface waiting to be discovered? You have to go find the treasure.”
Her husky laugh spiked his blood pressure. “Don’t I need to stake a claim first?” But her hands were already on his belt. Standing was not going to be a viable option much longer. He picked her up, her thighs straddling his as she worked his belt free from his trousers. His shins connected with something hard. Who the hell thought to put a coffee table in front of the sofa? He managed not to drop her, and once she was safely seated, he sank to his knees between her legs.
“Anything you find is all yours. My turn first, though, so sit back and let me rock your world.”
“Well, you are the host, it would be rude of me to argue who gets to go first.” She spread her arms along the back of the sofa, then lifted her hips so he could remove her panties and garter belt, leaving only her stockings and stilettos. Kat held nothing back, baring herself to his gaze and touch. Her willingness to be vulnerable, open herself to him, triggered a need to protect as well as pleasure. Sex before had always been about physical desire and, occasionally, conquering. This was the first time he’d also wanted to cherish. Give of himself as well as take.
He started at the sensitive skin under her ear and made his way down her body, nipping and licking until she writhed beneath him. “Having fun?” he asked as he arrived at her core.
“Please…” She ended on a moan as his tongue flicked her bud. Forget chocolate-covered strawberries, this was the real dessert.
“I did say there’d be begging. Want me to stop?”
“Don’t. You. Dare.”
Seconds later, she screamed his name as she climaxed. Remington. Not Wolfe. The intimacy of using his first name gouged a channel into the armor protecting his heart. As the tremors lessened he sat back on his heels. She raised her eyelids, a wicked smile created a dimple in her cheek. If the lick of her lips was anything to go by, he was in for a world of payback. Bring it.
“Is it my turn now?” she asked.
He stood, and she grabbed his trousers and briefs and pulled them down his thighs. His erection sprang free, like a prisoner finally released after a lifetime internment. What chance did he have of lasting more than two minutes?
She stood before him in only her stockings and heels, her eyes fixated on his cock. Two minutes may be an exaggeration. “Are you going to do more than look?”
She pushed on his chest with one finger, and he took her place on the sofa.
A moan escaped him as she used the drop of precum at the tip of his cock, and with one finger, circled the head. Her breasts dangled down in front of his face but he knew if he touched them, he’d come, and he wanted to be inside her when that happened.
“Today is your lucky day,” she said in the understatement of the decade. Two of her fingers were now stroking either side of his rigid erection. “Because I am greedy, and I want you inside me.”
“There’s a condom in my trouser pocket,” he said. Her whole hand grasped him, now sliding up and down in a sensuous torture.
She sank to her knees, not releasing him, and reached behind her to grab his jeans. She pulled out three connected condom packets and held them up. “Presumptuous much?”
“Boy Scout.” The ripping of a foil packet had never sounded so welcome.
Before she sheathed him, however, her tongue made a slow tour around his rigid erection. He groaned and clenched the sofa cushion to stop from rocking fully into her mouth. “You said you wanted me inside you.” As much as he’d love for her to continue, he wanted to sink into her tight pussy and lose his mind there.
“Hmm, I like this, too.” But she took pity on him and rolled the condom on before straddling him.
Rather than take him inside her, she circled his cock around her opening. Pressing then moving away. His sanity left, taking his restraint with it. “I thought patience wasn’t one of your virtues.”
Kat’s smile only got bigger. “It’s been a while for me. I’m savoring.”
“How long?” He focused on her eyes, glazed with passion.
“Two years at least.” She circled him again at her entrance, rubbing him against her clit. They both moaned.
“I promise you, we will do this a half dozen more times tonight. You can savor later.” He grabbed her breasts and sucked hard on one nipple while his finger and thumb rolled the other. She sank down on him at last. Encased in her tight, hot core, he gave himself over to the sensation. Kat lifted herself up on her knees and plunged back down. Her hands were on his shoulders, her head thrown back, her breasts bouncing in front of his face as she lowered and raised herself on him.
He attempted to control the tempo with his hands on her hips, but that, too, was a lost cause. He came with a snap of tension that winded him. Still she rode him, adjusting the angle of her hips so he rubbed against different parts of her. With a long shudder, she orgasmed again, tightening around him in waves. Astonishment and euphoria consumed him as he climaxed for a second time.
Bloody hell.
She collapsed against him, her sweat-slicked skin sliding against his, her breasts crushed to his chest. He buried his face in her neck, breathing in her scent, heightened now by sex. His tongue sneaked out and licked some of the salt from her skin.
Apocalyptic. That was the only word he could think of to describe what had happened between them. It was almost too good. When their heart rates had finally returned to semi-normal, Kat raised her flushed face, a huge smile crinkling her eyes. “My God, I’ve just made love with Remington Steele.”
He closed his eyes. Her laughter caused her body to contract around him. Well, if a woman was going to laugh at you, this was the position to be in. “I’d thought you’d forgotten about that.” The armor around his heart took another hit.
She kissed him, her teeth nibbling his lower lip until he opened his eyes again. Flushed from their lovemaking, her face alight with laughter, she was so beautiful. “Nope. That’s an epic name. Now will you tell me the story?”
“If you promise never to use my middle name in public, or when you have clothes on,” he added as her breasts rubbed against his chest, rekindling the fire that had barely died down.
“Are you really in a position to negotiate?” She lifted herself slightly, and he grabbed her hips to reseat her. He wasn’t ready to leave the heaven of her body yet.
“Do you want to hear the story or not?”
“Okay, I promise.”
Maybe he could distract
her while he talked so she didn’t remember. Moving his hands from her waist to her breasts, he rubbed his thumbs over her nipples. “I told you that right after I was born my mother dropped me off with the nanny and then left.”
She nodded and took a deep breath in, pushing her breasts more firmly into his hands. “The nanny named you?”
“Sort of. It was approaching the deadline to register me, and so my parents sent her a document authorizing her to do it on their behalf. They’d already chosen Remington, as it’s an old family name. She added the Steele to match her favorite TV show, and thus it became my name.” He flicked her nipple with his tongue, hoping that would end the conversation.
“I love that show, too.” He raised an eyebrow. She was way too young to remember it. “It’s on one of those golden oldie channels when I’m working through the night.”
“Are you calling me old?”
“Never. And, for the record, you are way hotter than Pierce Brosnan, even in his prime.”
“You have just redeemed yourself.” He buried his face in her breasts again. Odds were, he’d never get enough of them. At least not in the short time they had together.
“Does that mean I can have the strawberries and champagne now?”
She shifted on him again and once more his cock flicked to life. “Ever had a champagne shower?”
“No. Sounds messy.”
“Which is why we have to do it in the bathtub. You grab the wine and berries and I’ll meet you in the en suite to my bedroom.”
She lifted off him, and he closed his eyes at the sensation of sliding out of her body. Thank God he’d finished the prototype necklace for the bicolor sapphire this afternoon. For the next thirty-six hours he had nothing to do except Kat.
Time to get busy.
Chapter Eight
Kat pushed her hair out of her face and tried to see over Wolfe’s shoulder to catch the time on the bedside clock. The champagne shower with a “hunt the strawberry” mini-game had been followed by regular shower sex, then drying-off sex, before they finally made it to the bedroom where Wolfe spent an entire hour discovering every pleasure point she had. Despite her daily workouts, she ached in places she didn’t know she had muscles, not to mention the stubble burn on her inner thighs. Next time, she’d insist he shave before sex. Then his body shifted against hers, and she didn’t care if his cheeks were smooth or not, she just wanted him.
But as addictive as he was, she had to keep in mind that this was only temporary. Even if she didn’t have her past and identity issues, Wolfe was ambitious, and she’d always come in second place to his career. No way in hell would she settle for that.
Easing away from his heat, she’d almost reached the edge of the bed when his hand grabbed her arm. “Where you going?” At least that’s what she thought he said. His face was buried in a pillow.
“Back to my hotel room.” Or she would if her body listened to her brain.
He raised his head. His eyes were barely open but they blazed as his gaze caressed her naked chest. “Why?”
“I don’t do sleepovers.” Or awkward mornings where she had to pretend indifference when her heart wanted commitment.
“Make an exception.”
“I…”
“Stay. Please, Kat. I want to hold you through the night and wake next to you in the morning.”
Damn, why did he have to sound so sincere?
“I think it’s already morning.” It was a token protest. She snuggled back beside him, her head on his chest. Both his arms came around her, anchoring her body to his. A huge yawn contorted her face. A few more hours wouldn’t hurt.
Wind whipped rain against the windows. The storm that had been brewing last night had finally hit. She waited for the tension that normally seized her muscles to come. It didn’t. Bad weather always reminded her of the first few weeks she’d lived on the streets, sheltering in doorways and under bridges, trying to find some protection from the elements—the sting of sleet as it pelted her skin and the cruel bite of cold, so deep it burned right to her bones. For the first time in over a decade, held against Wolfe’s broad chest, she felt safe. Protected. Cherished.
The next time she woke, she was alone. Rain still pelted the glass, and not even the triple glazing could muffle the sound of the wind whistling past the building. She pulled the blankets higher on her shoulders and looked around the room.
Wolfe sat on a chair at the foot of the bed. His lips a tight line, his eyes narrowed. If he hadn’t wanted her to stay, he should have let her go when she’d woken at five. Her eyes darted to the clock. Eleven a.m.
“You’re Russian, not American.” His tone was flat, unemotional.
Her stomach roiled. Could she bluff her way out?
“Why do you say that?” She pushed her hair off her face and sat up, the blankets clutched to her chest.
“You talk in your sleep.”
Her sister had often complained about Kat keeping her awake with a running monologue. Evidently she hadn’t outgrown it.
“So I speak Russian. I also speak Spanish. I don’t recall you ever asking about my linguistic abilities.” She held her breath.
“I know what Russian sounds like when spoken by a native.” He abandoned the chair and sat next to her on the bed. The mattress dipped, but she managed to stop from rolling into him. “Why did you lie to me?”
She shrugged. “I lie to everyone.” Her eyes darted around the room. Her clothes were probably still in the living room where they’d first made love.
“I want a straight answer, Kat. Why did you lie about your nationality?”
She hugged the blankets closer to her. “It’s safer.”
“Are you in danger?”
“Not as long as everyone believes I’m an American named Kat Smith.”
“Are you wanted in Russia?” He ran a hand through his hair and from the state of it, it wasn’t the first time he’d done that this morning.
“Technically, but there’s no warrant for my arrest or anything so you don’t have to worry about Interpol knocking on your door.”
“So, why pretend to be American?”
She pulled in a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. Was it pounding because she’d been discovered, or Wolfe’s nearness? “Kat Smith is American. She has an American birth certificate, went to school in Florida, has a US passport…”
“Did you assume some other woman’s identity?”
“No. She’s entirely fictional, well the Kat Smith that I created is. I’m sure there are some legitimate ones around.”
“For Christ’s sake, Kat, just tell me your story. I won’t divulge anything you say to anyone, ever.”
“I’ve already told you more than I should.”
His hand slid into her hair and his thumb ran over her cheek. “I need to know.”
“Why? We’re temporary colleagues who are playing at a relationship. What difference does it make?”
“We stopped playing the moment you kissed me in my office.”
“That was part of the game.”
“It may have started as a game, but our mutual response wiped all the cards off the table.”
All these mixed metaphors were too much to handle on a few hours’ sleep…while she was naked…in his bed.
“Even if we stopped playing, it’s a temporary thing, a delightful interlude, remember? Ten days from now, I’ll be on a plane back to San Francisco, and you’ll be heading to the UAE to collect all those amazing jewels the crown prince has been hoarding.” Maybe reminding him of his ambition would divert his attention from her past.
He was too smart for that. “I was misled once before by a woman and it almost destroyed my company. Either you come clean about your past or this ends now.”
“My past does not jeopardize your company.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
“And if I choose to end this now?” Except she couldn’t because she had to get to Russia to find her sister. Could she tell hi
m just enough to appease him and still keep some of her secrets?
“Then send me your invoice and I’ll find someone else to finish the job.”
He’d called her bluff.
“Okay. I’ll tell you, but not here. Give me ten minutes to dress and I’ll meet you in the kitchen. Any chance you’ll have coffee ready?”
He pulled a pink dress shirt out of his closet and tossed it on the bed. “You can wear that. You’ve got five minutes, and I’ve made waffles to go with the coffee.”
Breakfast and an interrogation. How nice.
…
Wolfe flipped the waffle maker lid up, carefully extracted the fluffy golden circle, and added it to the pile. After the calories he’d burned last night, a full English breakfast would have been more appropriate. But the way his stomach churned, he didn’t figure he’d be able to keep something that heavy down.
Last night had been the greatest sexual experience of his life, though he’d had many that were fantastic. Kat was not only incredibly sensual, she was able to laugh at herself, and him, too, she was adventurous, and best of all, she didn’t want to talk everything to death. Now he knew why. Because it was so much easier to keep track of the lies when you didn’t say much.
When he’d stopped her from leaving in the night, his plan had been to wake her with breakfast in bed and then spend most of the day there, with maybe an excursion to the shower. Her husky laugh had woken him at eight and he’d been about to put his idea into action, when her sleep-filled voice had stopped him. He hadn’t understood anything she said, but he knew she’d been lying about where she’d come from.
It had niggled him from the start. And although he’d called off his private investigator once Kat discovered he’d had her checked out, the initial report had come through. Yes, she had a Florida birth certificate and electronic school records, but when his PI had spoken to people she’d allegedly gone to school with, or lived next to in her early teens, no one remembered her. It wasn’t unheard of for someone to be forgotten, but he couldn’t believe that no one remembered her.