by Cara Summers
Hunter glanced down at the top of her head as she walked by his side. Who was he kidding? He wasn’t really offering her the interview because of the advantages to either one of them. He was going to offer her the interview with “Mark Hunter” because he wanted to make love to her again. Dammit. He wanted her right now.
Desire had always been something he could handle, something he understood. But he had a hunch that desire was only a part of what he was feeling for this curious woman. He wanted to get to know her. He wanted to figure out how that agile mind of hers worked.
He hadn’t allowed himself to really get to know a woman in years. He’d never intended to. It wasn’t fair to them or to him. But he wanted to be as fair as possible to Rory. So he would clarify the parameters of their relationship. He would let her know exactly what to expect and what not to—
She stopped suddenly and pointed up into a tree. “Look. A tree house.”
He glanced up and spotted the wooden floor wedged in a circle around the tree trunk and the small roofed structure that sat on two sturdy limbs.
“I always wanted one as a kid.” Rory grabbed the rope ladder and began to climb, talking as she went. “My dad was going to build me one, too. He would have if he hadn’t left. Of course, it probably would have freaked my mother out. She was always so afraid we would get hurt, break an arm or a leg. I take after her in height and coloring, but I’m glad I didn’t inherit all of her fraidy-cat genes.”
When she scrambled onto the ledge, the branch swayed, and the tree house tilted.
“Grab the railing,” Hunter said as he climbed up the rope ladder to join her. Together, they gingerly settled themselves on the wooden platform outside the little house itself. Below them the lawns rolled away on all sides. To the left there were tennis courts, and beyond the pool, he could see the white fences that surrounded the stables.
“Do you ride?” he asked.
She wrapped her arms around her knees the way she had on the steps of the pool. “Yes, but I haven’t had the opportunity in years.” She angled her head to face him. “Do you ride?”
“I used to play polo,” he said. Then he could have kicked himself. Where in the world had that come from? His polo days had ended when he’d stopped being Hunter Marks.
“Very cool. The closest I’ve come to a polo match is watching clips in a movie or on TV. I just love it, though. It’s the same feeling I get when I watch the Kentucky Derby on TV. For the five or six minutes while the horses are being led to the starting gate and the race is run, I always feel like I’m one of the rich and the famous. Then it’s over, and I’m back to being plain Rory Gibbs again.”
“Why do you think of yourself as plain?” he asked.
“Because I am. No.” She raised a hand to stop him. “You’re a nice man. But I’m twenty-six, I’m short, and I’m sandwiched between two sisters who are truly beautiful. You should see them. Sierra’s a blonde—not the dumb kind. She’s the smartest one in the family, with two Ph.D.s. You know what they say about blondes having more fun? In Sierra’s case, her work is what she considers ‘fun.’ Natalie’s a redhead, and she’s a cop. They say redheads get into more trouble, and she does. But she loves it. I’m a brunette. You never hear anything about brunettes. We’re just ordinary.”
He tamped down his anger as he studied her. Going with an impulse that he didn’t quite understand, he put his arm around her. When she snuggled her head into his shoulder just as she’d done in the pool, he had an odd feeling, as if his heart had turned a little somersault. “Someone did a job on you.”
“Ancient history. I have a talent for attracting men who are eventually going to dump me, starting with my father who walked out when I was ten.”
“Your father must have been a fool.”
She sighed. “You are a nice man. But there were extenuating circumstances—he was an international jewel thief and my mother wanted to raise us in a stable home.”
“Your father was a jewel thief?” he asked incredulously.
Rory nodded. “A very good one. He couldn’t seem to give up his profession and my mother didn’t want us following in his footsteps. So they made this deal that he had to leave. Now that I’m older I can see it from their perspective. They did it because they loved us.”
He ran a hand over her hair. It couldn’t have been easy to understand it at ten. He’d had to separate himself from his family when he was nineteen—and he hadn’t fully understood it even at that age.
“So?” She lifted her head and met his eyes. “We could spend the whole day sitting in a tree house. Or you could tell me about the compromise.”
Hunter turned to study her. She looked strangely at home in a tree house with dappled sunlight highlighting her features.
With some effort, he pulled his mind back to business. “First off, you should know that I’m not a nice man.”
To his surprise, she grinned at him. “Of course, you’re probably not nice when it comes to Slade Enterprises. The first time I looked at you, all I could think of was the Terminator.”
Baffled, he stared at her. “The Terminator?”
She waved a hand. “Only in the first movie—you know, Arnold Schwarzenegger, when he was the bad guy, before he transformed himself into a superhero and eventually ran for governor.”
“Oh.” Mentally, Hunter dragged up an image of the mechanical robot fixated on destroying the woman and her future son in the first Terminator movie.
Rory laid a hand on his cheek. “I know that you can be a ruthless negotiator. Jared Slade would never have hired you otherwise, and you did talk me out of those pictures. But you can’t expect me to forget how sweet you are.”
“Sweet?”
“You sent me that lingerie. And now you’re letting me ramble on and on about my family.”
Hunter’s mind was swimming. How in the world was he supposed to deal with a woman like this? “Do you always say what you’re thinking?”
“Yeah. Mostly. I know it’s not a good thing. My most recent ex-boyfriend found it quite annoying.”
He gripped her chin in his hand. “It’s fine. You’re fine, and you should stop beating up on yourself.”
“Okay.” She smiled at him. “Didn’t I tell you that you were sweet?”
Hunter gave up. There wasn’t anyone who’d ever dealt with him who would have called him that. Ruthless, yes. And usually fair. But never sweet. Maybe it was time that he proved that to her. He dropped his hand from her face. “This is the compromise, Rory. You get to interview me instead of Jared Slade. I’ll be here for a day or two until I finish my business, and I’ll give you what time I can—under certain conditions.”
RORY’S HEART BEGAN TO SKIP and race. She was almost used to the feelings that he could stir in her when he looked at her in that intent way—as if he could see right into her soul. First there was a pulse of fear, then a sliver of anticipation, followed by a hot clutching sensation in her stomach—the lust. She licked her lips. “What conditions?”
“First, you have to stay here a day or two. I’ll sandwich the interview in between the work I have to do.”
“And?”
His eyes narrowed. “You can’t imagine that we can stay in close proximity and not have a repeat of what happened in the dressing room and the pool.”
Somewhere in the vicinity of her heart, she felt a stutter of relief. But her throat had become so dry that she had to swallow. “No. I mean…you mean…?”
“I can’t be around you and not want to have you again.”
“Oh.”
He studied her for a moment and said, “One doesn’t have anything to do with the other. Mr. Slade was agreeable to having you interview me. My wanting to make love to you again is an entirely separate matter.”
“Okay. I couldn’t agree more. I wouldn’t sleep with you to get an interview. The two matters are completely separate.” She was rambling, mostly because of the melting sensation that seemed to be turning her insides into liquid.
Rory studied him. It was the first time that she’d ever had a man set up the dumping ahead of time. And he didn’t look anything like the Terminator right now. No, the man facing her now was cool and collected, his mind focused on business.
Perhaps that’s why the idea popped into her mind. Or maybe it was her father’s advice. She drew in a deep breath. “Okay. But I might have some conditions of my own.”
She saw the surprise glimmer for a moment in his eyes, but it was masked as quickly as it appeared.
“State your terms,” he said.
“It’s…” Secretly, she wished for her bubble gum. Anything that would settle her nerves and give her courage. But the idea had sprung full-blown into her mind. Well, maybe not full-blown. Perhaps the seed had been planted that very first time she’d seen him in the lobby of Les Printemps, and it had certainly been nurtured by their encounter in the dressing room at Silken Fantasies. The whole thing about taking risks and trusting in your luck was that you weren’t sure exactly how you came to decisions—they just happened.
“Yes?” he prompted.
“I’ll accept your terms for the interview. Thanks. I mean, interviewing you will be the next best thing to interviewing Jared Slade. I guess.”
“But…”
She shook her head. “No buts. My terms have to do with the sex part. And the whole thing is a little delicate. I’m not sure…exactly how to put this.”
“When in doubt, just say it.”
Rory let out a sigh of relief. “Okay. Here’s the deal. You say you want to continue our…relationship.”
He met her eyes steadily. “I do.”
She tried to ignore the heat that shot through her again. “It’s not that I didn’t like what happened in the pool—or in the dressing room.”
His eyes narrowed. “But…?”
She drew in a deep breath. “It was all a little fast.”
“Fast.”
She reached over to put her hand on his. “It was incredible. Really. The best sex I’ve ever had. Only…”
“Yes?”
She met his eyes then. “It’s hard to say this.”
“Shoot from the hip, Rory.”
She drew in a breath and let it out. “I haven’t had much experience…sexually, I mean. I’ve had three lovers—four if you count the frat boy in my freshman year in college. He was the first boy to really pay any attention to me, but we only had one date and we did it in the back of his car. I’ve tried very hard to have amnesia when it comes to him and the whole experience.”
“Good plan,” he murmured as he turned her hand over and linked his fingers with hers.
“You’re a good listener. But I won’t bore you with all the details of lovers two, three and four. Not that they’re worth describing. In summary, most of the men that I’ve had sex with have the wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am technique down pat.”
“And you’d like more variety this time,” he said.
“Partly.” She squeezed his hand. “And I want you to know that the wham-bam in the pool was the best that I’ve ever had.”
He cleared his throat. “Thank you.”
She sighed. “I’m not doing this right. I tend to speak first and think things through later.”
He squeezed her fingers. “You’re doing fine.”
“It’s not just variety that I want. I’m sure that you could be very good at…making love to a woman in a number of ways. But what I’d like is for you to let me experiment a bit and take control. I’d like to try some things I’ve only fantasized about. I’ve never been able to do that before. Would that be all right?”
HUNTER STARED AT HER. She was every man’s fantasy come to life and she didn’t have a clue. “I can handle that.”
She beamed a smile at him that had his heart stuttering again. “You really are sweet.”
He met her gaze squarely. “I’m not sweet. I want you to remember that.”
“Okay. When do you want to get started?”
Right now, he thought. But if he touched her, he was sure that what would happen would be of the wham-bam variety. So he said, “You’ll need to tell your sisters where you are, but I’d appreciate it if you’d swear them to secrecy. Tracker will talk to them, assure them that you’re safe.”
“Sure. And I’ll need some clothes.”
“I’ll arrange for that.” The sweats she was wearing were too big. She’d had to roll up the legs and sleeves, and the end result was that she looked a little like one of the seven dwarfs. Not that the outfit had dampened his desire or his intentions. In his personal opinion, she would have looked sexy in anything, but she didn’t believe that. Not yet. He was going to change that.
“And I’ll need a place to work—a computer. I left my notebook and pen in the car.”
“I’ll have McGee handle that.”
“Then we have a deal.” She held out her hand.
He looked at her hand, then at her. “One question.”
“What?”
“You don’t have to always be in control, right?”
“No. Just sometimes.”
“Good.” He took her hand. “Because I want to make love to you right now.”
Her eyes widened. “But I haven’t even thought about what I want to do.”
“I like spontaneous, don’t you?”
“Sure, I—” She broke off when he lifted her onto his lap.
“You don’t mean right here. In a tree house?”
“Afraid so.” He moved a finger along her collarbone and watched the little pulse at her throat scramble.
“We could fall.”
He dipped his head and brushed his lips over hers. “Funny. I didn’t peg you for someone who was afraid of taking risks.”
“Really?”
“Really.” He nipped her lower lip and then soothed the small hurt with his tongue. “And I’m a man who can never resist a challenge.”
And she had challenged him, whether she knew it or not. This time he’d go slowly, make sure they took their time. His mouth made a lazy journey to her ear and then back again to her mouth. But he didn’t kiss her, not yet.
“I wasn’t gentle with you before?”
“I liked it.”
He smiled against her lips. “So did I. But let’s try this.” He kissed her then and kissed her again. And again.
Rory felt as if she were falling under a spell. He’d never kissed her this way before, as if he had all the time in the world and intended to take it. His mouth was so soft, so warm. And so skilled. She’d never been kissed like this before by anyone. Each time he withdrew, it was only to change the way his mouth fit against hers, and then he would take her deeper. Even his flavor was different, richer, sweeter.
She wanted more, but she couldn’t seem to move. Her arms felt so heavy, and her head was spinning. When he moved his hand beneath her sweatshirt and skimmed those clever fingers up her ribs to her breast, she trembled.
She…should…do something. Pull back to clear her head—or draw him closer. Something. She’d had a plan. She wanted to seduce him. But her mind began to float and then her body. Oh, she knew that she was still sitting on his lap. She could feel the hardness of his erection pressing against her thigh, but it felt like floating.
When he moved his mouth to her throat, those teeth nipping, that tongue soothing, her skin began to burn. He was running the pad of his thumb over her nipple, and suddenly the need inside of her grew edgy. “Hunter, I—”
“Mmm?” His voice was just a vibration on her skin, but it sent twin sensations of fire and ice dancing along her nerve endings. “If you don’t like what I’m doing, I could stop.”
“No.” She raised her hand then to grip his shoulder and arched against him. “I want—”
The branch of the tree dipped slightly, and they both suddenly slid toward the edge of the
platform they were on.
“Whoa…” Hunter gripped her tight as he grabbed onto the railing and shifted back toward the door of the tree house.
“Maybe we should postpone this,” she said. But she didn’t pull away.
“Is that what you’d like to do?”
She shook her head.
He smiled at her. “Then I think we can rise to the challenge.” He moved some more until they were inside the tree house.
“There’s not a lot of room in here,” he commented but he didn’t hesitate to draw her shirt off and toss it aside. When he reached for the waistband to her sweats, she batted his hands away and grabbed the bottom of his T-shirt instead.
“I haven’t seen you naked yet.”
Together, they got him out of the shirt and his sweatpants and then she wiggled out of her own, a bit awkwardly considering the place was not more than five by six feet.
“This is going to be some challenge to rise to,” she said. “I think I already have a sliver in my knee.”
“I don’t even want to think where I might get one,” Hunter said.
She gestured with a hand. “There’s a fifty-room mansion right over there and we’re naked in a tree house.”
When her laugh bubbled up and filled the tree house, Hunter found himself joining her. He felt like a teenager. Surely he’d been an adolescent the last time he’d done something this foolish. But somehow he wanted her even more—and he didn’t want to wait.
Just as he reached for her, she said, “I have an idea.”
“Me, too.” He eased her down onto some of their discarded clothes, then positioned her so that he was kneeling between her legs.
“Whatever happened to ladies first?”
“I’ll let you go first down the rope ladder,” he said as he lowered his mouth until it hovered over her breast. “I’m a man who likes to finish what I start, and I started this. First, I’m going to taste you all over. And I’m going to take my time.”
And he did—starting with her breasts. It was as if she were a meal that he’d been starving for. Using teeth and tongue, he circled the top and underside of her breast before he closed his teeth on the nipple and then took it into his mouth to suck. Arrows of heat shot through her, and she was sure that she felt the pull of his mouth right down to her toes. When he turned his attention to the other breast, she threaded her fingers through his hair and simply held on as the air around her seemed to grow hotter, thicker.