And she hadn’t realised how long the nights were until she no longer had him to share them with! She knew she had spoken the words out loud as Joel gave a satisfied groan before claiming her lips in a kiss that shook her to the roots of her being.
It was no chaste, exploratory kiss, their relationship having progressed past that long ago; Lindsay’s mouth parted beneath his, the warmth of Joel’s tongue thrusting deeply into the dark warm cavern beneath. It was as if she had been physically claimed in that moment, with Joel’s hands on her spine as he moulded her to him, the thrust of her breasts warm against him, the nipples already taut.
‘Ah, Lindsay,’ he moaned raggedly as he buried his face in her throat, his body shaking against hers.
It had been much too long for both of them, and emotions were quickly spiralling out of control, Lindsay gasping as Joel’s hand moved deftly beneath her loose shirt to capture her breast, his thumb flicking over her turgid nipple, the trembling of her body accompanied by a pleasurable ache that began at the centre of the warm moistness of her womanhood and spread quickly through the rest of her body.
‘Let me look at you.’ His eyes were dark with emotion as he gazed down at her, his hands slightly unsteady as he undid the buttons to her shirt, smoothing the material back to her shoulders, her breasts small but pert, the nipples deeply engorged and raised to his heated gaze. ‘You’re so beautiful, Lindsay.’ He buried his face against her breasts, kissing each satiny inch, prolonging the moment when he would take the nipple fully into the moistness of his mouth.
But before he could reach that intimacy the telephone began to ring, startling Lindsay out of the sensual haze she had fallen into, although Joel was slower to return to an awareness of their surroundings, his arms tightening about her momentarily before he reluctantly released her, his face flushed with desire.
‘The telephone must be the most sadistic appliance ever invented,’ he muttered as he watched her move to answer the call. ‘It must ruin more romantic moments than anything else!’
Lindsay’s hands shook as she rebuttoned her shirt, not answering him as she picked up the telephone receiver. There had been nothing in the least romantic about what had just happened between them, they had just wanted each other with near desperation.
‘Lindsay?’ Malcolm queried as she recited her telephone number completely wrong.
‘I—oh—sorry,’ she said in a flustered voice, aware of Joel’s narrow-eyed gaze on her. ‘How are you?’
‘Great. Just great,’ he told her in a pleased voice. ‘I’m just on my way to pick up Judi for our first date, and I thought I would tell you the good news.’
‘I’m pleased for you!’ She had difficulty concentrating even on such good news with Joel staring at her in that brooding way! ‘Er—I mustn’t keep you,’ she added breathlessly as Joel stood up and began to unbutton his shirt.
‘Lindsay, are you all right?’ Malcolm sounded worried. ‘You seem a little—agitated.’
Agitated wasn’t the word for how she felt as Joel took off his shirt completely, his hands going to the belt on his denims. ‘I’m fine. Really,’ she added in a choked voice as Joel went through the torturously slow process of unfastening the belt. ‘You got me out of the bath,’ she added desperately.
‘I’m sorry about that,’ Malcolm chuckled. ‘Judi will probably call you and let you know how we got on.’
‘Probably.’ She spoke between clenched teeth as Joel came up behind her to cup her breasts, his face in her hair, his arousal pressed into the back of her thighs.
‘And then I’ll call you and find out what she said,’ added Malcolm with satisfaction.
‘All right. I—Oh!’ she groaned as the moist warmth of Joel’s probing tongue hungrily outlined her ear. ‘I have to go,’ she told Malcolm hastily. ‘I—I’m getting cold.’
‘Cold?’ Joel laughed softly after she had hung up. ‘I thought it was the opposite!’
‘It is,’ she shivered pleasurably as she turned into his arms. ‘And what you just did wasn’t fair.’
‘I enjoyed it,’ he said with devilment, knowing she had too. ‘Who was that on the phone?’
‘Just a friend,’ she dismissed, loath to break the spell of the moment, knowing she needed him very badly. ‘I thought I was going to collapse when you started your strip-tease act,’ she grimaced her discomfort.
‘I just didn’t want our romantic interlude interrupted by a telephone call. But I didn’t want to take all my clothes off myself.’ He paused. ‘I much prefer it when you undress me.’
Lindsay preferred it too, loved to caress every hard plane and contour of his body, just as she was doing now to his broad back and chest. ‘You’re a devil, Joel,’ she groaned.
‘I know,’ he was unperturbed by the accusation. ‘But you are going to let me stay here tonight, aren’t you.’
It wasn’t a question but a statement, and she knew she couldn’t let him leave her now, that she wanted him too much. Her face was raised invitingly to his to give him her answer.
CHAPTER SIX
JOEL eagerly accepted that invitation, his mouth closing possessively over hers, one of his hands between them as he deftly undid the buttons on her shirt for a second time, their bare torsos meeting with searing heat.
It felt good, so good, like food after years of famine, and Lindsay feasted on his mouth even as he did the same to hers, her tongue teasing his lips in a way that she knew he found exciting.
His hands were on her hips now, pulling her into him, devastating her with the hardness of his thighs as he moved sensuously against her, even as his mouth moved warm and deep on hers. ‘I need this, Lindsay,’ he told her raggedly between kisses. ‘Tell me you need it too.’
‘I need you.’ Her words were unconsciously more personal than his.
His gaze was warm on her parted lips. ‘Then I’m waiting.’
She blinked to try and clear the sexual haze and understand what he meant. ‘For what?’
‘To be invited to your bed,’ he teased her gently. ‘I’ve always invited you to mine in the past.’
It was true, Joel had never shared her bed, only she his. ‘It’s through there,’ she nodded towards her bedroom.
‘I want the words, Lindsay.’
She swallowed hard. ‘You want me to beg?’
‘No,’ he groaned, ‘not that. I just want you to need me enough to ask.’
It wasn’t that much to ask when it must be perfectly obvious that she was going out of her mind with wanting him! ‘Come to bed with me, Joel,’ she invited softly. ‘Make love with me.’
He shuddered his reaction, his eyes dark with desire. ‘This will be my welcome home from America,’ he told her raggedly. ‘The one I envisaged for us.’
There was no condemnation in his voice, just disappointment that he had come back to find her gone. Lindsay was glad he couldn’t know what it had cost her to be gone.
They left the room in darkness as they closed the door behind them, light shining in from the street outside. Lindsay didn’t hesitate, moving across the room to finish what Joel had started when she was on the telephone with Malcolm, easing the tightness of his denims down over his aroused manhood, revealing the expected pair of dark briefs. Joel had a drawerfull of such briefs, all them in navy, black, or dark brown. They were black tonight, and Lindsay removed them with the minimum of effort, her hands gently caressing the hardness of him as she knelt in front of him.
‘My turn,’ Joel’s voice was hoarse as he pulled her to her feet. ‘I’ve had such fantasies about you, Lindsay!’
She had had plenty of dreams about him herself, most of them leaving her bathed in perspiration as she longed for the reality of those dreams.
She stood perfectly still as his lean hands slowly pushed her shirt down her arms to fall on the carpeted floor, those same hands moving to cup her pert breasts, loving the firm weight of them as he bent his head to suckle first one nipple and then the other, while needles of pleasure coursed thr
ough her body.
He fell to his knees in front of her, unzipping the denims to kiss the heated flesh he bared as he discarded them on top of her shirt, her only clothing now a pair of black lace briefs. Her whimpers were ones of desperate need as she felt his hands move beneath the fabric to cup her bottom and pull her closer into him.
Joel knew exactly what he was doing, he had introduced her to the erotic pleasure of wearing such underwear when he bought her a red camisole and matching lace bikini briefs, giving them both pleasure unimaginable as he slowly removed them.
He didn’t have quite the same control tonight, ripping the black lace slightly as he pulled the briefs from her body, his hands on her hips bent her into him.
‘Joel …!’ she gasped weakly at the pleasure she felt, clasping on to his shoulders for support.
‘I want you like this, Lindsay,’ he rasped raggedly. ‘I want to feel you as you explode.’
She wasn’t far from doing that now, her body finely attuned to every caress of his lips and tongue, collapsing against him as his hands moved to capture her breasts, rolling the nipples between his thumb and finger until he felt the spasms that rocked her body and her moistness explode around him, falling to the floor in front of him as he buried his face in her throat.
‘You taste so good, Lindsay,’ he told her shakily. ‘I can’t get enough of you.’
But it was her turn to take control now, pushing him back on the deep-pile carpet, holding him captive with her hands while her lips slowly travelled across his chest, savouring first one male nipple and then the other as he groaned the pleasure that she gave him. Her tongue moved lower, dipping moistly into his navel.
‘Stop now, Lindsay,’ he pleaded raggedly. ‘I can’t take much more!’
She didn’t intend him to, continuing her caresses until he lay replete beneath her, his eyes like molten gold as he looked at her in wonder, his breathing slowly steadying to normal.
‘Lindsay—’
She snuggled against his shoulder. ‘We still haven’t shared my bed,’ she teased, not willing to discuss the intimacy of the lovemaking they had just shared. Always in the past Joel had caressed her to such a fever-pitch of desire and longing that she hadn’t cared what he did with her, but never before had he let her take that initiative with him, always stopping her before he lost control. Tonight she had been determined he wouldn’t be able to do that, had known as the first spasm of ecstasy shot through his body that she had succeeded. For that moment Joel had been hers completely, and she intended for him to remain that way at least until morning.
‘I don’t know if I have the strength to get up,’ he told her self-derisively.
‘Then we can just stay here.’ She kissed the firmness of his jaw, giving it loving little nibbles.
‘Oh no, you don’t, young lady!’ He held her back from him, getting to his feet to pull her up beside him. ‘If this is the effect absence has on you I’ll have to go away more often!’
As they lay down on the bed together Lindsay knew he was still playing the game, imagining he had just returned from New York, that the bitterness of the last two weeks hadn’t happened. She preferred it that way too; she didn’t want to think of the emotional consequences of what they were doing. When morning came would be time enough to regret her actions, morning always seemed to bring with it regret.
‘If you had taken me with you we could have had this every night,’ she teased, half serious, wishing he had never given her the time to decide to leave him.
‘I wanted to ask you to join me out there, Lindsay,’ Joel told her seriously.
‘Then why didn’t you?’ she frowned.
His arms tightened about her. ‘I wish to God I had, maybe then you—’
Her fingertips over his lips silenced him. ‘This is your first night back, Joel, let’s not waste any of it.’
For a brief moment he seemed lost to her, his thoughts tortuous, and then he shook off the darkness of those thoughts, his eyes turning to gold once more. ‘No, let’s not waste any of it,’ he said fiercely, kissing her savagely, quickly arousing her once again.
There was no gentleness in either of them as his body thrust into her waiting one, pausing for a moment to savour the pleasure of their joining, then moving quickly inside her, Lindsay meeting each thrust with one of her own, the two of them crying out their satisfaction in unison.
‘I think you should rest now.’ Joel held her firmly against him as they lay exhausted in each other’s arms. ‘You’re going to need your strength later.’
Joel hadn’t exaggerated, waking her time and time again during the night as he made love to her with a fierceness that bordered on desperation. Lindsay finally woke alone to the smell of fresh coffee percolating. She stretched languorously, relieved that Joel was still there, her body a pleasurable ache, every part of her fulfilled, turning to smile at Joel as he brought her in a cup of the coffee.
‘Drink it while it’s hot.’ He put the coffee down on the side table next to her, his words spoken lightly enough, although there was a wary look in his eyes as he sat on the bed beside her.
Lindsay could understand that wariness; she was a little unsure herself where they went from here, or if indeed they went anywhere. ‘You’re up early.’ She sipped the coffee, unselfconscious about her nakedness as she sat up in the bed.
‘It’s eight-thirty,’ he mocked. ‘And I still have to go home and change my clothes,’ he derided the casual clothes he wore.
‘I’m sure your secretary will cover for you.’ She kept up the lightness, not knowing how else to cope with this situation.
‘Lindsay—’
‘This coffee is good, Joel.’
‘Lindsay, we have to talk—’
‘No, we don’t,’ she dismissed brittly, pushing back the bedclothes to get out of bed, her body a warm honey colour, her hair silky despite being dishevelled.
‘Last night—God, I’ve bruised you!’ His eyes were dark as he stood up to touch the darkened skin on her hip.
She shrugged. ‘I’m seem to remember I scratched your back, so we’re even.’
‘Lindsay, for God’s sake take this seriously,’ he rasped. ‘How do you feel about last night?’
‘Satisfied,’ she drawled, reluctant to hear what their future would be now that it had come to the crunch.
His expression darkened. ‘That’s all?’
‘Isn’t it enough?’ she mocked.
A pulse moved erratically in his jaw as she faced him with proud nakedness, her breasts thrusting firmly, her stomach taut and flat, her thighs warm and inviting. ‘It’s enough for now,’ groaned Joel raggedly, taking her in his arms once more. ‘It’s more than enough for now!’
The night they had just spent together hadn’t dulled his desire for her at all, and by the time he left her bed half an hour later she was the one who lay weak with exhaustion.
Joel dressed hurriedly. ‘I have to go,’ he told her regretfully. ‘I have an important appointment this morning. Come in later if you feel like it,’ he said indulgently. ‘We’ll talk then.’
Lindsay was hardly aware of him leaving as she began to doze, never having known Joel to be as demanding a lover as this even during the six months they had lived together.
Joel had seemed different last night, more willing to share even his sexual pleasure, not denying her any intimacy. And he was the one who wanted to talk. It gave her hope, a faint hope she clung to as she showered, dressed and went to the studio.
Everything there seemed to be the same as it had when she left yesterday, but somehow she had changed, in a very tangible way. Surely Joel couldn’t have made love to her the way he had if he still felt nothing for her? She couldn’t believe even he was capable of that!
He was in the middle of a photographic session when she arrived and settled down to work, but she knew they would have the opportunity to talk later.
She wasn’t prepared for the shock that awaited her, and was standing at the filing cabinet
when the outside door opened, the potent perfume reaching her before she turned and saw the woman herself. The woman’s figure would have been thought boyish in the black silk trouser suit if it weren’t for the fact that her bust bordered on the voluptuous, the low vee-neckline of the loose top showing that she wore nothing beneath. The hair was as black and long as ever, the green eyes surrounded by thick sooty lashes, the creamy complexion highlighted by blusher on the high cheekbones, a deep plum-coloured lipgloss outlining the pouting lips. Lindsay would recognise the other woman anywhere—Marilyn Mills!
All sorts of thoughts became jumbled in her mind. Did Joel know this woman was coming here today? Could it be that Marilyn Mills was his ‘important appointment’? She certainly didn’t think any of the other people he was to see this morning fitted the bill. Last, and worst of all, had the other woman coming here today influenced Joel into staying one more night with her? It was this last possibility that disturbed her, and her defences crumbled as she took in the haunting loveliness of the other woman. No wonder Joel had never been able to forget her!
Well, he seemed to have kept to his word and ‘taken care’ of the problem of the other woman quite effectively. Lindsay seemed to be the one with a problem now; where did she stand in all this? She didn’t have time to answer her own question. Marilyn Mills walked gracefully across the room to look at her expectantly.
‘I have an appointment to see Joel,’ she said impatiently when Lindsay still seemed to be struck dumb seconds later, her accent surprisingly English when Lindsay had been expecting her to be an American.
She moistened dry lips, hoping her voice would come out normally when she did speak. ‘For what time?’ Her tone was as haughty as the other woman’s, already knowing that she didn’t have an appointment written down in the book for Marilyn Mills.
Green eyes met similar eyes the colour of emeralds as the model looked down at her contemptuously. ‘For any time I cared to get here,’ she drawled. ‘Just tell Joel I’ve arrived, he’ll see me,’ she dismissed with arrogance.
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