by Cathie Linz
“It appears that Jason is getting married.”
“You sound stunned by the concept,” Courtney noted, sipping her coffee from her Yogi Bear mug.
“I am,” he admitted.
“It figures.” Tucking her pink oxford shirt more securely into the waistband of her jeans, she then perched on a breakfast nook stool and nibbled on a blueberry granola bar.
“What figures?” Ryan demanded in irritation.
“It figures that something like marriage and commitment would never cross the mind of a man like you.”
“And how would you define a man like me?”
“Someone who’s afraid of commitment,” she said bluntly.
His hazel eyes flashed. “I’m not afraid of anything.”
“Of bullets or felons, no,” she agreed. “But you are afraid of commitment. Of the responsibility of being in a relationship, of having to think about someone other than yourself.”
“Are you accusing me of being selfish?”
She refused to answer his question. She didn’t want to fight with Ryan today. So she changed the subject. “What have you heard about Brutus? Have they caught him yet?”
“No. The Zopo brothers are proving to be damned elusive.”
“Surprise, surprise,” she muttered under her breath.
He heard her and was not amused. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that I’m going crazy being cooped up in here all day!” she replied irritably. “You said it would only be for twenty-four hours. We’ve already been here longer than that and there’s still no sign of them catching the Zopos. I need to get some fresh air. Can’t we go out on the beach? It’s a gorgeous day outside.” She pointed to the blue sky visible through the corner window over the kitchen sink.
Ryan shrugged. “So sit on the deck.”
“I already spent five hours sitting on the deck yesterday. It’s not the same. I want out! This is the first sunny day we’ve had in two weeks. I need to get out in it, take a walk, move around. I could put on a disguise.” She warmed up to the idea, knowing if she stayed in this love lair another hour with Ryan she’d go crazy. “There are some women’s clothes in the closet. Stay right there. I’ll show you what I mean.”
Since Ryan had been deliberately tempting her for days, she couldn’t resist turning the tables on him by putting on a leopard print bikini along with a short curly black wig. She hadn’t worn anything this daring or revealing in some time and while she’d filled out some, she didn’t look half-bad.
Ryan apparently thought so, too, because he went slack-jawed and his hazel eyes glazed over. But beneath that dazed expression was a flare of hungry heat. He went on to practically devour her in a visual caress that went from the top of her head down to her bare toes, leisurely perusing every inch in between.
“You must be kidding.” His voice sounded raspy and dry, as if he hadn’t used it this decade. “You’re not seriously thinking of going out in public dressed or should I say undressed like that?”
“I thought you wanted the old Courtney back,” she challenged him. “The one who dressed to please herself.”
“I’m beginning to see the advantages of the more demure Courtney. There’s no way I’m letting you out in that.”
She did a pirouette for him. “You don’t like it?”
“I like it just fine, but I wouldn’t be the only one seeing it. You’d garner too much attention.”
His reference to their reason for being there dampened her high spirits somewhat.
“Wasn’t there something in the closet more concealing?” he demanded gruffly.
Her next selection was all khaki and made her look as if she were ready to go on safari. There was even a pith helmet on the top shelf.
To give him credit, Ryan got the joke and laughed. Thankfully he didn’t insist she wear that getup. “I’ve seen you in enough khaki. Here, let a pro handle this,” he said.
She already knew he was a pro at handling her, from giving her a neck massage to stealing a kiss.
From the closet he selected a pair of jeans two sizes too big for her and a denim shirt with sleeves so long they had to be rolled up several times over. To finish the picture, he grabbed a baseball cap and carefully gathering her hair and wrapping it around his hand, he gently stuffed it beneath the cap. “There.” Taking a step back, he looked her over. He added a large pair of garish sunglasses to her ensemble before nodding his approval. “Now from a distance you can’t tell if you’re male or female. Much better disguise. Until you walk.” He frowned at her. “Don’t sway like that.”
“Like what?”
“That” He pointed to her hips.
“I’m more concerned with keeping these loose pants up,” she muttered, tugging on the belt loops.
“That belt should keep them in place just fine.”
“Should being the operative word here. And now you want me to worry about my walk?” she said in exasperation, shoving the slipping sunglasses back up her nose.
“Just don’t make it so girly.”
“How about this?” She strode across the room with a bowlegged smugness that would have done a cowboy proud.
Ryan cracked up. “You don’t approve?” she demanded, hands on her hips.
“Fine. That will do. So what if people think you’ve got rocks in your pants. Now here are the rules. You stick close to me, and we don’t interact with anyone else.”
“Sure. Fine,” she hurriedly agreed. “Just get me out of here.”
A few more minutes in his presence and she’d run into his arms and beg him to make love to her. Instead, she was the first one out the door. Or she would have been, had Ryan not grabbed her by the arm and checked things out first before giving her the nod.
She was glad to see he wasn’t wearing the greenand-black flannel shirt he’d worn yesterday when she’d melted in his arms. Instead his shirt was shades of brown, drawing attention to his rough-and-tumble hair which was already falling over his high forehead.
Drat, she was doing it again. Drooling over him. Some fresh air should clear her mind.
Following Ryan, she noticed the lazy surefootedness of his walk, not to mention the sexy curve of his denim-covered butt. Curses, she was at it again. Determinedly she switched her attention to her surroundings.
The house had a private staircase leading down to the beach. Courtney hadn’t seen it before, because the entrance gate was almost obscured by greenery. The wooden steps were steep and there were plenty of them. She didn’t care. It was glorious to be outside. The sun shone down on her, the sea breeze teased her cheeks as seagulls soared up above.
For the rest of the day, she and Ryan roamed the beach, hand in hand, exploring wave-washed coves, listening to the surf and watching the antics of the seagulls.
In one particularly broad expanse of sand, Courtney decided to build herself a sand castle, complete with romantic turrets, using an abandoned child’s bucket they’d found.
“Hey, you’re pretty good at that,” Ryan congratulated her. “Ever thought of entering the Sand Castle Contest they have at Cannon Beach each year?”
“I don’t like the competitiveness of contests,” she said, rubbing the sand from her nose while wondering how it got there in the first place. “I just like building things for my own enjoyment.”
Ryan had gotten plenty of enjoyment from watching her cavorting around the beach earlier. She was like a kid, yet he was very much aware of the woman’s body beneath the disguising clothing. Her smile flashed as bright as sunlight on the waves.
She was biting her bottom lip, her expression one of intense concentration as she carefully delineated the castle windows with a stick. She’d already collected a pocketful of sea offerings, from shells to bits of driftwood. These she used to decorate her creation.
“There! I now declare this castle open. Tours start on the hour,” she said in her best guide voice.
Ryan imagined the pleasure of touring her body on the hour, of
exploring every nook and cranny, of running his hands over every delicious inch of creamy skin.
The sound of children laughing distracted him from his X-rated fantasies. The kids were playing tag with the waves and before he knew it, Courtney had bopped off to join them, her feet bare, the hems of her oversize jeans rolled up to display her dainty ankles.
Swearing under his breath, he quickly checked out the surrounding area, noting that the kids’ parents were farther up, keeping a watchful eye. Their calls drew the kids back in their direction, but Courtney continued her game, shrieking as the cold water washed over her feet.
The wind had kicked up and the waves weren’t wimpy. They often caught her unawares, splashing up her legs.
Laughing and wet she returned to collapse in the sand beside him. “Those waves are something else again. They didn’t look that big.”
“You look about ten.”
She arched a brow at him. “On a scale of one to ten you mean?”
“I meant age-wise.”
“Gee, thanks.”
Courtney felt worlds better after spending the afternoon outdoors. She’d never been one to stay holed up inside for very long.
By the time they finally returned to their temporary home, her feet and calves ached from walking on the sand. A hot bath in the decadent tub helped but not enough. Ryan caught her wincing after dinner.
A few moments later she found herself spread out on her bed, wearing little more than a white cotton robe and a smile.
“Oh, oh, oh,” she moaned, “that’s so good. Don’t stop, don’t stop.”
“If I’d known giving you a foot massage would get this kind of response, I’d have done it a lot sooner,” Ryan said.
He poured more peppermint lotion onto his large hands and started on her left foot. As before he began with the heel, rubbing the ball of his thumb from side to side while working his way toward the sensitive arch. Her skin tingled with grateful appreciation.
Now he was running his bent knuckles over the entire sole. She was going to melt right there on the bed.
Then came the pièce de résistance. Her toes. One by one he caressed them, massaged them, his hands slick from the lotion.
Once again, her gasps and breathless exclamations of pleasure filled the air. He moved from her feet up her calves, his fingers lingering at the back of her knee.
Courtney wanted him so badly she couldn’t see straight. Could you go blind from sexual frustration? She wasn’t about to find out, because this was it. The time had come.
9
MAKE LOVE TO ME. She wanted to tell him the words, but they were locked in her throat. Held there by fear and longing.
Then words weren’t necessary as Ryan stopped massaging and began caressing. He began with tempting swirls to the backs of her thighs, sliding his fingers beneath the short hem of her robe. Then he smoothed the material against her skin, traveling on top of it, the heat of his touch burning through the white cotton.
Tracing her spine with gentle fingers he tunneled beneath her long golden hair to settle on the back of her neck, brushing the downy hair there, before swirling onward to the curve of her ear. She melted even more. Leaning down, he whispered in her ear. “Tell me what you want.”
“You,” she whispered in return, rolling onto her back as he straddled her body. The movement created a friction of his hard body rubbing against hers, increasing the aching hunger tenfold.
Pulling his head down to hers, she kissed him. The hunger was immediate, the passion familiar. This was Ryan. The man she loved. The man she’d always loved. She didn’t want to think, she just wanted to feel—feel his arms around her, his hands slipping beneath her thin robe to caress her.
At first he was barely touching her, his fingers grazing but not lingering over the curves of her breasts. Her nipples tingled with the need to know the feel of his touch. And then he cupped her in the palm of his large hand as the robe slid away, leaving nothing between her creamy skin and his long fingers.
Their kiss took on a new level of intimacy. So did his caresses. He stroked the underside of one breast with his index finger, teased the rosy crest with the ball of his thumb until it firmed in lush arousal. Then his seductive mouth descended as he tempted her nipple with his tongue.
She gripped his shoulders, pleasure swirling through her. “I want you,” she gasped. “Now.”
“Shhh,” he soothed her, gently combing his fingers through her hair, lifting it away from her face and spreading it across the black silk sheets as if it were her crowning glory. And all the while, he was kissing her parted lips, his thumb rubbing the skin beneath her ear in a mesmerizing motion that spoke of building passion. Because his other hand was also rubbing, farther down, in the one spot that yearned for his touch.
In Dvoák’s New World symphony there was a passage that had been made into a song called “Going Home” and that’s what it felt like when she was wrapped in Ryan’s arms. As if she’d come home. As if this was where she was meant to be.
She loved him. The knowledge slipped into her heart. She’d never really stopped loving him. That’s why she hadn’t been able to get this intimate with another man. Because it had never felt this right.
Their lovemaking took on a dreamlike quality, an erotic celebration created not just by the cool slipperiness of the black silk sheets and the surrounding mirrors but by the enduring passion that flared between them. The bed was king-size and they made use of every inch of it as Ryan tossed off his clothing with hasty urgency. When he was as naked as she was, he grabbed a latex condom from his jeans pocket. Once protection was taken care of he rejoined her, his lips consuming hers with unmistakable hunger, the thrust of his tongue imitating the thrust of his body as he joined with her.
Courtney lovingly welcomed him. The ecstasy went beyond sensation, transporting her into a new realm of wonder and bliss. Bending her knees, she rolled over him to perch atop his glorious body and smile down at him with Eve-like triumph.
“You like that?” His voice was raspy with passion.
“Mmm.” Her breathy sigh was catlike. “Don’t you?”
“Yes,” he growled before showing her exactly how much.
Completion came quickly as her entire being hovered on the peak of excitation before beginning the free fall into total satisfaction.
THE NEXT MORNING, Courtney woke to see a reflection of herself in the mirrored ceiling. She was smiling. And she looked as well loved as one of those naked nymphs in the mural on the bathroom wall.
Her gaze sought out Ryan, before registering the sound of the shower running. So he’d been unable to resist trying out the deluxe shower in her bathroom. She wished he’d wakened her to join him. Some of her muscles gave a twinge as she stretched. Remembering what they’d done in the middle of the night and again just before dawn made her blush.
The sound of the phone ringing startled her. She wondered whether or not she should answer it before recalling that Ryan had arranged to have her calls forwarded to this number.
“Hello?” Her greeting was hesitant, her voice still husky with sleep and remembered passion.
“Good morning, malenka,” Anton declared cheerfully. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”
Pulling the sheet around her, Courtney sat up in bed while casting a wary look toward the bathroom where Ryan was still taking his shower. “I’m so glad to hear from you,” she whispered into the receiver. “I’ve been so worried.”
“And I about you. You sound…different”
“Must be because of call forwarding.”
“Are you sure it is not Ryan? Having your old boyfriend staying with you, alone, this is not a good thing. You have done nothing to regret?”
Courtney felt uncomfortable discussing her intimate relationship with Ryan. “Let’s talk about you. Are you okay?”
“I am fine. But I have had to move. I can tell you now. Before I was hiding out in Fred’s basement I remember you telling me he never went down there.
And he keeps so much food in his freezer he never noticed that some of it was missing.”
“Fred’s basement!” She couldn’t believe it. Her uncle had been only a few blocks away.
“I had to move because the police were there when I returned from taking a walk. No one recognized me in my disguise as an old woman, but such a close call made me nervous. They took Fred away.”
“He’s been charged with embezzling money from the bank,” Courtney said, keeping her voice low.
“Ah, I thought perhaps they were after me. Well, as you know, I was no fan of Fred’s”
“No, I didn’t know that.” This came as news to her. “You never told me.”
“Do not get me wrong. I appreciate the use of his basement, even if it was without his knowledge.”
“What are your plans now?” she asked, nervously twining her hair through her fingers. “You’re not going back to Fred’s are you?”
“No, that would be too risky. But I do plan on staying hidden until the Zopo brothers are caught and are behind bars.”
A sudden noise made Courtney start nervously, but it was only Ryan dropping his bar of soap in the shower. She knew from personal experience that he loved long hot showers, the longer the better. But just to be on the safe side…
“Hold on just a sec, I’m going to switch to the phone in the living room.” Throwing on her cotton robe, she raced to the living room. “Are you still there?”
“Yes. And I am still wondering how you are?”
“I’m fine,” she assured him. “Ryan is taking good care of me.”
“This is what I am afraid of.” Anton’s voice reflected his parental-like concern. “The two of you locked up in your small apartment.”
“I’m not in my apartment now.”
“How can that be?” He sounded confused. “I called you there.”
She briefly filled him in on the break-in at her building, and at the attempted robbery at the bank. “Ryan tells me they should have the Zopos in custody any time now.”