A Family Circle 1 - A Very Convenient Marriage

by Dallas Schulze

  "You have just made the mistake of your life," Sam said as he straightened. The look he gave her held the promise of retribution.

  "Now, Sam, there's no reason to get hostile." She took a cautious step backward.

  "No reason? You just tried to kill me by running me up and down every hill in Los Angeles and now you're making fun of me?"

  "I ran up and down those hills, too," she protested.

  "Yeah, but don't think I haven't figured out your secret." He moved toward her. Nikki backed away.

  "Secret?"

  "You're wearing rocket-powered running shoes."

  "Rocket-powered shoes?" She bit her lip to hold back a giggle.

  "That's the only possible explanation. And after taking unfair advantage of me, you had the nerve to laugh."

  "But, Sam, I wasn't laughing at you. I was laughing with you."

  "Do you see me laughing?" he demanded sternly.

  "If you hadn't made such a point of what great shape you were in and how you could bench mark a thousand pounds, I wouldn't have cracked so much as a smile."

  "That's bench-press two-twenty," he corrected her. She thought she saw a smile tug at his mouth, but he suppressed it.

  "Can't we talk about this?" She held out one hand in a pleading gesture.

  Sam seemed to hesitate, as if considering the possibility.

  "No, we can't." He moved with a speed that left Nikki blinking, his hand closing over hers and dragging her forward. She squeaked in surprise as she felt her feet leave the ground and she found herself cradled against his chest, his blue eyes only inches away.

  "I know a really quick way to cool down," he said, smiling wickedly. Nikki glanced over her shoulder and saw where he was heading. The tiled pool was only a few feet away.

  "Don't you dare!" She threw her arms around his neck, determined to take him with her. It was a wasted effort.

  Instead of dropping her in the pool, Sam simply stepped off the edge and into the water. Nikki held her breath as the water closed over her head. Sam released her when they hit the water and Nikki surfaced first, drawing in a deep breath. She jerked her head to the side to flip the hair out of her eyes and saw Sam surface next to her. Acting on pure instinct, she put her hand on top of his head and promptly dunked him.

  She brought her legs together in a scissor kick, heading for the side of the pool, but her fingertips had barely brushed the tiled edge when she felt his hand close over her ankle. Her shriek was abruptly silenced when he dragged her under.

  For the next few minutes, they played like a pair of children, chasing each other through the water, laughing and shouting. They called an unofficial truce just long enough to toe off their running shoes, letting them sink to the bottom of the pool for later retrieval. And then the game was on again. Sam's greater strength and longer reach were balanced out by the fact that Nikki was a better swimmer. Her speed and agility made the contest more even than it would have been on land.

  "You'll never catch me, copper," she cried defiantly as she swept her hand across the water, sending a miniature tidal wave in Sam's direction.

  When he ducked underwater to avoid it, she took the opportunity to make a wild escape dash toward the shallow end. Her feet had just touched bottom when a long arm caught her around the waist, jerking her backward against a hard, male body.

  "You'll never take me alive!''

  She struggled to escape, but Sam used his superior height to unfair advantage. With his feet planted solidly on the bottom, he controlled her effortlessly. He turned her to face him and wrapped his arms around her, stilling her wild struggles.

  "You're cheating," she protested breathlessly. She thrust out her lower Up and glared up at him. "The water's too deep."

  "Funny, it seems about right to me." He grinned down at her, his teeth gleaming in the shadowy illumination of the pool lights. "I should have warned you that I always get my man."

  Nikki shoved experimentally against his chest. It was like pushing a solidly built wall. Next, she tried to touch the bottom of the pool. With her foot pointed, her toes just brushed the tile, which wasn't nearly enough to give her the leverage she needed.

  Her movements, small as they were, were enough to make Sam aware of the soft curves he was holding. His hold shifted, gentling subtly. One hand flattened against the small of her back as he widened his stance. The pressure of the water brought Nikki's hips against his.

  Her head came up, her wide green eyes meeting his blue eyes. In the space between one heartbeat and the next, the playful mood was gone. In its place was a sharp awareness, a vivid realization of how close they were, of how fragile a barrier their clothing was.

  And hunger—hard and powerful and overwhelming.

  "I don't want to play any more games," Sam said huskily.

  Nikki knew he wasn't talking about their childish romp in the pool. She swallowed hard, trying to gather her thoughts together. Hadn't she spent the past few days considering just this possibility? She should have had a response ready, known just what she wanted to say.

  But the choice wasn't one she could make based on careful thought. It was made for her by the aching need deep inside her, by the desire to feel his touch again, to finally assuage the hunger that had haunted her for so long. She was tired of playing games, too. She wanted him, had wanted him from the very beginning. There was no more lying to herself, no more lying to him.

  She didn't need to say anything. Sam saw the answer in her eyes, felt it in the way her body softened and molded itself to his. With a muffled groan, his mouth covered hers.

  There was a rapacious hunger in the kiss. They couldn't get enough of each other. The need they'd been denying, once acknowledged, exploded into a white heat at the first touch.

  Nikki didn't realize Sam had moved them into shallower water until she felt the bottom of the pool come up under her feet. His hands were impatient with her clothing, stripping her T-shirt and bra over her head, without bothering to unhook the latter.

  Nikki whimpered with pleasure when his hands closed over her bare breasts, his thumbs flicking across nipples already puckered by the coolness of the water. A moment later, her shorts and panties floated languidly toward the deep end.

  "Aren't you overdressed?" she whispered.

  He was most definitely overdressed, Sam thought, staring at her naked body beneath the water. He could strip off his shorts and take her right here and now. He'd never made love in a pool before, but he was sure he could handle the logistics.

  On the other hand, he'd spent the past few days fantasizing about having her in his bed and he wasn't quite ready to give up that fantasy. Besides, the pool might be heated, but it wasn't exactly balmy.

  "Not like this," he groaned.

  "I don't mind." Nikki reached for the waistband on his running shorts. She was impatient with the last barrier between them, impatient to feel him against her.

  "I mind." Sam's hand closed over her fingers, stilling them. He waited until her eyes lifted to his face. "I want our first time together to be in a bed, where I can hold you and touch you and not have to worry about one of us drowning. I want to make love to you all night without risking hypothermia."

  "I don't think you can get hypothermia in a heated pool," she whispered, dazed by the intensity of his look.

  "You can if all your body heat is being used elsewhere." He scooped her up against his chest and started up the steps. "And for what I have in mind, we're both going to need plenty of body heat."

  The darkly sensual promise in his voice warmed Nikki so that she hardly noticed the chill of the night air against her bare, wet body. She planted nibbling little kisses along the line of his shoulder. His skin was cool and damp beneath her mouth. She licked the droplets of water from his collarbone, smiling with satisfaction when she felt him shudder.

  Later, Sam wondered how he'd made it as far as his room. The feel of her, wet and naked and trembling in his arms, made it difficult to remember basic skills like putting on
e foot in front of the other. It seemed like forever before he pushed open the door of his room and carried her inside.

  "Hurry," she whispered.

  Sam didn't need her urging. He was nearly shaking with the need to be inside her. He couldn't remember ever wanting a woman this much, so that it was a gnawing hunger, an all-consuming need that drove out all rational thought.

  He had to have her.

  Now.

  He tumbled Nikki onto the bed. Hot as the flame burned, he didn't immediately move to join her, but stood over the bed, looking down at her, savoring the knowledge that she was there, that she was about to be his in the most elemental way possible.

  Nikki flushed beneath the heat in Sam's eyes. Feeling suddenly shy, she reached out to turn off the light. He stopped her with a word.

  "Don't."

  She hesitated, flicking him an uncertain look.

  "I want to look at you," he said. "I want to see your breasts swell under my mouth and the way your skin flushes when I touch you. I want to watch your face when you take me inside your body."

  Nikki's hand dropped to the bed, all the strength gone from her fingers. The erotic images he'd painted in her mind were as powerful as a touch. Her skin felt hot and sensitive and a throbbing ache settled deep in the most feminine heart of her.

  "Aren't you overdressed?" she whispered again, her voice trembling.

  He hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his shorts and slid them down over his hips. His erection sprang free of confinement, thick and hard, visible proof, if she'd needed it, of just how much he wanted her.

  "Oh my," Nikki breathed, feeling the words catch in her throat.

  "I'll assume that's not a complaint," Sam said, with a grin that suggested he already knew the answer. Nikki couldn't imagine he'd ever had any complaints. There was pure male arrogance in his smile, in the way he stood there, hands on his hips, without a stitch of clothing—or modesty.

  At another time, Nikki might have felt compelled to take a jab at that arrogance, to deflate it just a little. But at the moment, she had much more important things on her mind.

  "Now," she said fiercely, opening her arms and legs to him.

  Sam groaned. "Give me a second."

  Nikki waited with barely controlled impatience while he opened the nightstand drawer and took out a condom. Later, she'd appreciate his responsible behavior. At the moment, the small delay seemed almost unbearable. But it was only a matter of moments before he came to her.

  There was no need for further foreplay. It was as if all the weeks since their marriage had been a kind of extended foreplay, leaving them both aching and ready now that the moment was finally here.

  Sam tested himself against her. Nikki groaned and arched her hips in a wordless demand. A demand he answered immediately, sheathing himself in the moist heat of her body with one thrust. He shuddered with pleasure as he felt her close around him.

  Nikki felt herself filled, completed in a way she'd never known, never imagined possible. The pleasure was more than physical. It was as if a piece of her soul had been missing and was now found. Her fingers clung to Sam's back as he began to move over her and the world rocked around her.

  The fire was too hot to burn long. They strained together in a headlong rush toward fulfillment. And when they found it, it was shattering in its power, tossing them both toward the stars, leaving them breathless, able only to cling to each other in the aftermath.

  This was what he'd ached to know; this was what he'd had to have. She was made for him and him alone.

  This was what she'd ached to know, had to have. He was hers and hers alone.

  Chapter 14

  "I've got a great idea. Let's spend the rest of the day in bed," Sam suggested.

  The morning sunlight filtered through the curtains, creating intriguing patterns of shadow and light across Nikki's bare body. With his fingertip, Sam traced an imaginary line from Nikki's belly button up between her breasts to the hollow at the base of her throat. He let his finger rest there, feeling the delicate flutter of her pulse.

  "Sounds great, but I can't," she said on a sigh.

  "Why not? It's Saturday. They can do without you at the day-care center. I have the day off, and unless the criminal element rises en masse and lays siege to city hall, I don't have to think about work. Play hooky. I'll make it worth your while."

  He provided a vivid demonstration of just how worth her while it might be by leaning over to replace his finger with his mouth. He retraced the path he'd blazed moments before, with a few side trips along the way. Nikki shivered as he swirled his tongue over the side of her breast, teasing bul not quite touching its peak.

  "You're... very persuasive." For some reason, it was suddenly difficult to form a coherent sentence.

  "I took a course in negotiation at the academy." The tip of his tongue teased her nipple.

  "You're... you're very good at it." She arched her back in a silent plea.

  "Not everyone has the necessary skills." His breath brushed across her damp nipple, like a feather going over her skin. "You have to know when to be gentle." He stroked the taut bud with the tip of his tongue. "And when to be more firm."

  Nikki moaned as his mouth opened over her breast, drawing the nipple inside and suckling strongly. Her fingers slid into the dark gold thickness of his hair, pressing him closer.

  Sam's original intention had been more teasing than passionate. After all, they'd made love not more than an hour ago. And last night-Just thinking about last night made his head spin. Tbry 'd slept in each other's arms, woke to make love again .jad slept again, only to wake in the dark hours after midnight, ravenously hungry. They'd raided the refrigerator, feasting on cold chicken, marinated artichoke hearts and a package of Twinkies Nikki found in the pantry.

  Watching her lick traces of sticky filling from her fingers, Sam had felt desire rise as fast and hard as if it had been months rather than hours since he'd touched her. She'd seen the look in his eyes, and her own had grown heavy and slumberous, her mouth parting a little as if she were having trouble breathing.

  Nikki hadn't offered any objection to the hardness of the table against her back.

  They'd staggered upstairs, giggling like a pair of guilty children, and fallen into bed and gone instantly to sleep, wrapped in each other's arms. When they'd awakened less than an hour ago, they'd made love again..

  Yet he had only to touch her, to feel her arch beneath him, feel her skin heat beneath his fingers, and he wanted her again. It was as if he could never get enough of her, as if he were trying to slake a lifetime of hunger. With a groan, he dragged his mouth from her breast.

  "Do you give in or am I going to have to get tough?" he asked unsteadily.

  "I think you're going to have to get tough." She tugged his face up to hers.

  A considerable time later, Sam collapsed on the bed next to Nikki. A fine sheen of sweat coated both their bodies. Sam slid his arm under her and pulled her close so that her head was cradled on his shoulder.

  "Maybe next time you won't force me to take such drastic measures."

  "I think I may be one of those habitual criminals," she confessed. "The kind that can't be rehabilitated."

  Sam groaned. "I can see this is going to be a tough assignment."

  "I'm counting on you not to give up." Nikki threaded her fingers through the crisp hair on his chest.

  "I'd better start taking more vitamins," he muttered.

  "Extra strength."

  They fell into a comfortable silence. Sam eased his fingers through the tangled gold of Nikki's hair. He tried to remember when he'd last felt so utterly content. It had been years. Since before Sara died.

  The thought of his first wife brought a sharp pinch of guilt. Not at the idea of betraying Sara. She'd neither expected nor wanted him to spend his life tied to her memory. No, the guilt wasn't for Sara, it was for Nikki, who didn't even know that he'd been married before.

  His previous marriage had held no releva
nce when they'd made their original deal. Now everything was changed, but that change had come about so quickly there hadn't been a moment when it seemed appropriate to bring up the fact that he'd been married before.

  This certainly wasn't the time or the place. But soon. Very soon. He didn't know where the two of them were headed, but he didn't want any big surprises coming out at an inopportune moment.

  Nikki shifted slightly, settling into a more comfortable position against Sam's large body. She'd gone to sleep wrapped in his arms and awakened the same way. But it seemed the more he held her, the more she wanted him to hold her. It was as if she'd been starved for this, for having his arms around her, his body pressed against hers.

  She slid her fingers through the hair on his chest, watching the lazy movement through drowsy eyes. Her body was satiated, replete with satisfaction. There was a pleasantly tender ache that spoke of thorough loving and a certain awareness just beneath her skin. She felt exhausted, fulfilled, full of energy and thoroughly indolent, all at once.

  Underlying it all was a stunned awareness of the drastic change that had just taken place in her life. She hadn't just gained a lover. She'd gained a husband in fact as well as in name. In one night, all her plans for a marriage of convenience and a tidy divorce had crumbled to dust.

  Wherever they went from here, they couldn't go back to the way they'd been. There'd be no returning to separate bedrooms and polite nods as they passed in the hallway. Last night had changed everything, and only time would reveal all the ramifications of that change.

  Nikki searched her mind for some sense of regret and found none. Other than the fact that Lena was going to be unbearably smug when she found out how well h;: matchmaking had turned out, there was nothing to regret. How could she possibly regret something that had felt so right? She felt an uneasy twinge. There was more to that feeling of rightness than the purely physical satisfaction she'd experienced. She felt a sense of completion that went much deeper than that. Half-afraid of what she might find, she decided not to examine her feelings too closely. At least, not right now.