Читать книгу Fascination - Samantha Hunter - Страница 9

IAN WASN’T QUITE SURE what he was going to do; he decided to just play it by ear and see what developed. He’d let a couple hours pass so that she wouldn’t get suspicious. But he’d been watching. She’d brought the package home, and he’d watched her through the window as she’d read something, seen her bend to retrieve an object she’d dropped on the floor. He wanted to know what it was.

His knock on the door received no response, but he knew she was in there and rapped his knuckles on the wood door again, harder. This time the door opened, his hand held up in midknock. Sage glared at him, seeming agitated but not surprised by his appearance.

“What do you want? It’s late.”

“Well, isn’t that a charming way to answer the door.”

“I don’t need to be charming with you.”

“True, and I don’t need to explain a random visit. Open up.”

Ian watched her move to the side and noted the tension in her stance and her expression. Something was definitely up. It wasn’t completely unprecedented for her to display bad temper when he showed up unexpectedly, but this was different.

She was guarded, protective. He could see it in the way she wrapped her slim arms around her midsection and how her eyes met his with their usual belligerence but none of the sexy challenge he usually encountered.

She was scared. He wanted to know why and of what. Of him? Of being caught? Or of something else?

“Everything go well today?”

“Jesus, Ian, I just reported in yesterday. Is it the usual practice to harass your people when they get close to the end of their sentences?”

“You’re making a pretty big deal over a random visit. And here I thought you were always glad to see me.”

The uncharacteristic flirtation, laconic as it was, triggered confusion in those green eyes, and he watched her lower her head before perusing the room.

“You mind if I look around?”

“You mean I have a choice?”

“No.”

Then something of the old Sage snapped into place, and she dropped her arms, placing one hand on her hip. “Yeah, I figured. Just try not to get too turned on by my bras hanging in the shower.”

Sliding her a look, he moved forward, going through the motions as he picked up a pile of mail and glanced through it, then at her calendar. No appointments slotted in for today, nothing she should have missed work for.

“You didn’t go into work today.” Looking up, he saw her slight surprise. Good.

“I wanted a day off.”

“Doctor’s appointment?”

“What, you want to know the results of my Pap smear?”

“I just wondered why you took the day off. They said you’d given final notice, as well.”

She leaned against the doorway, the white cotton T-shirt she was wearing pulling across her breasts as she stuck one hand in the pocket of her shorts. The little colorful clips that held some of her wild curls in place made her look impossibly young.

“Yeah. I did.” Her chin tipped up in challenge. “I hate it there. I’m leaving after my sentence is over, so you have no say in the matter. I want out of that place and away from you as soon as possible. I’m looking for a new job.”

“So that’s what you were out doing? Job hunting?” Made sense, he thought, remembering her outfit. Though it could also just be a cover for whatever else she was up to.

He’d checked out all the visible surfaces—no envelope. She’d hidden it or destroyed it, which made him even more suspicious. He’d have to do an extensive search to find it, but he couldn’t look around more than normal without raising her suspicions. He wanted to keep her off guard for the time being.

He continued his inspection, not really looking around so much as mentally scrambling to come up with a plan. He frowned. He had one idea, though it wasn’t a good one. He crossed back to where she stood, waiting for an answer to his question.

“Yeah, actually I had an interview, if you must know.”

“With whom?”

“Meyers and Dunn.”

Ian furrowed his brow. He’d met Jim Meyers once or twice at social affairs. He didn’t like him. The guy was a sleaze who didn’t even bother to hide it, married but never showing up to occasions with his wife. And the flavor of the month was usually someone just barely legal.

“For what position?”

“Whatever they have available.”

Ian didn’t even want to think about what positions Jim Meyers might have available for a woman like Sage. He made a mental note to check up on her application and drop a warning Jim’s way. Then he reconsidered—her job hunt was not important and was probably just a cover story anyway.

“Don’t you think it’s putting the cart ahead of the horse to quit before you have a job?”

“Please, Ian, I’m too old and you’re too young to be acting like my father.”

Sage pushed away from the wall, and awareness dawned on him immediately. She’d been guarding that entryway—that’s where she didn’t want him to go. He looked down at her, gauging his next move. She appeared more slight than she usually did, the way the worn cotton just hinted at the even softer shapes underneath distracting him for a moment.

He didn’t particularly like what he was about to do, but it was the only thing he could think of. He modulated his voice a bit, stepping slightly closer. She smelled like heaven. It made his job easier—and much more difficult.

“Believe me, darlin’, I don’t feel any paternal inclinations toward you at all.”

She met his eyes then, and he saw the curiosity fighting with the caution. Then he blinked, and she turned to her old tricks, definitely trying to challenge him. She’d seen her chance and she was going for it. Fine—two could play that game. And he’d been at it longer. He might only be seven years older than she was, but in terms of experience, that was a lifetime.

“Good, because I’m all grown up, Ian.” She stretched her arms over her head, yawning, and he watched as her shirt lifted, exposing her stomach, pulling taut across her breasts. Did the woman ever wear the bras that were supposedly hanging in the bathroom? Not that he cared. The less she was covered up, the better.

Reaching forward, he caught her raised hands in the air, trapping both of her wrists in one of his large hands and holding them there. Startled, she tried to pull away, but he didn’t let her.

His heart slammed against his chest, his breath coming a little short as he felt her hip nudge him intimately, her scent suffusing the air around him. But while his body was responding of its own accord, his mind was in total control. Ian was confident—he never lost control unless he wanted to.

He wanted to find out what was in that package and he couldn’t think of a better way to gain entrance to that room. She’d been using her sexuality to distract him for a long time, to chip away at his control—what would she do if she thought she’d finally succeeded in making him lose it? If she were confident that she had finally gotten to him, would she drop her guard? He decided to find out.

And if he was honest with himself, he wanted to find out more than that. He wanted to know her taste, to know how she felt under his hands, to know if she was as sweet as he imagined. He’d been fantasizing about sinking his hands into those copper waves and he wanted to do it, to know if she was as silky as she looked. It was wrong, but as long as he stayed in control, he could ease some of the curiosity that plagued him, this once. It was a calculated risk, but he’d taken them before.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Her voice was breathless, and while her eyes were still guarded her face became rosy, and her nipples budded against the T-shirt. So it wasn’t all a charade—she was attracted to him. At least physically. That was enough.

Though she was obviously deceiving him about other things, she couldn’t hide her desire for him. Basic male satisfaction with that fact settled deep inside of him, and he hardened, stepping even closer to let her feel his response. Her eyes deepened to a mossy jade, and he fought an unexpected spike of desire. He needed to stay in control of the game.

“Hey, you made the offer, sweetheart. I guess I had some time to think about it. We’re only talking four days. I don’t want to wait that long. But if you want me to leave, I will. I’m not into forcing women.”

The shocked look on her face was erased as she smiled up at him, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

“No, I don’t imagine you would ever have to, would you?”

It was all he needed to hear. Backing her up against the door frame, he crashed his mouth into hers, not bothering with preambles or gentleness. All of the anger he’d felt mixed with the passion that had been building for so long, during all those years she had been beckoning him. Now he was answering that call.

If she’d resisted, he would have backed off, but she only momentarily tensed before opening hungrily to his search of her mouth. Then she began a search of her own. In the back of his mind he kept a part of himself distant, away from the desire that was quickly consuming him. She was sweet and hot, a seductive combination of girlish innocence and sheer wanton lust. He felt his head swim a little but held on.

How far was she willing to go with this? How far was he willing to let her go? He lowered her arms so that they wrapped around his neck, and she clung to him. He growled his satisfaction at her submission against her lips.

The game was on.

SAGE WASN’T SURE WHAT had just happened. It had been a long time since anyone had touched her like this—though as the moments passed she was increasingly sure that no one had ever touched her exactly like this, so expertly, so thoroughly.

Ian was everywhere—his hands, his mouth. He was devouring her and she was letting him. It was heaven. She’d never imagined, not really, exactly what he would taste like, feel like. The reality was stunning.

Coffee. Male. Sex.

She’d been desperate to keep him from looking through her small dining room, where she’d slid the envelope under the carpet just seconds before she’d met him at the door. If he found it, there would be no explaining.

She’d only meant to piss him off a little, get him off the scent and out the door. She certainly hadn’t expected this. Had he followed her all day? Did he know about Locke? The questions had frozen her in terror when he’d appeared at the door.

But as his warm hands kneaded her breasts, she realized his random evening visit might have been a ruse, a reason to come here. To see her. To seduce her and take her up on her offer—an offer she had never really meant to be taken seriously. Her concern about the envelope—and her ability to think at all—dimmed as he continued his sensual onslaught.

Ian was apparently taking it very seriously. She moaned into his mouth and nipped his lip as he pulled sharply at her nipple, sensations from the tug shooting down to her sex, creating an almost painful ache. He chuckled huskily and pushed his thigh between hers, rubbing against her intimately in a way that had her gasping and quickly losing any remaining reason.

Then he pulled back, looking down at her with glittering steel-gray eyes. The look he gave her was hard but hot. She couldn’t see anything, read anything, except desire—he wanted her. And determination—he meant to have her. She shivered in excitement.

“This inspection seems to be a little more thorough than the rest.” She tried to tease, though her voice sounded foreign to her, hoarse with arousal.

He smiled slightly, and she felt herself dissolve. She’d never seen him smile. Not once in five years. Even though it wasn’t a full-on, happy smile, it changed his whole face and transfixed her.

“I’m not quite finished. I’m sure there are some things you’re hiding that I need to find. I’ll have to look around a bit more.”

Paranoia pricked at the back of her brain, though she chided herself. He was only playing, making a sexual entendre, responding to the banter she had begun. She met him eye to eye, daring him. No way would she back down now. She wanted him, which startled her, but she also wanted the challenge. Would he back off? Was he testing her? Could she finally make him break his own rules and go for it? For the sake of the need that was throbbing through her body, she hoped so.

“Maybe you need to keep looking then.”

He pulled her against him, kissing her hungrily as he walked them both back to the sofa, only lifting his head as he pushed her back and stood over her.

“Oh, I intend to, sweetheart. Remember, you have no say in the matter. I can do anything I want. Look anywhere I want.”

Her heart pounded in response to his words. The control he had over her life that she’d hated since the first day she’d met him suddenly felt incredibly erotic. He’d told her before he’d touched her that he wouldn’t force her to do anything she didn’t want, but now she couldn’t think of anything she didn’t want him to do.

He knelt down, sliding a hand up her thigh. “In fact, I wonder what you might be hiding right…here.”

His fingers skimmed just underneath the hem of her shorts, and the muscles of her leg quivered in response. She stayed very still, letting the sensations ride over her, never letting her gaze move from his. His eyes darkened again as his fingers moved farther up underneath the material, scraping lightly against her soft curls, and she inhaled sharply, as did he.

“No panties. I’ll have to make a note about that on the report.”

“Uh-huh.” She couldn’t think as he petted her and she tested herself, staying as still as could be.

“Don’t you want to move against me, sweetheart?”

“Yes.”

“But you won’t?”

“No.”

“I want you to.”

“I know.”

He chuckled again and leaned over her, pushing her shirt up with his other hand and closing his lips around her turgid nipple, sucking lightly as his fingers found their way between the damp folds of her sex, pressing intimately against her. She trembled, panting hard, but didn’t move as her body was overtaken by the building pleasure his ministrations were causing.

Ian moved his mouth all over her, leaving wet kisses all over her breasts and stomach as his thumb massaged her clit. She cried out in need but remained still.

“I may need to take a closer look.”

Her voice was thready, coming in pants as he pulled her shorts off in one hard tug.

“I…figured…as…much….”

As he settled between her legs and swiped his tongue over her delicate skin, pushed his fingers deeply inside of her, she couldn’t hold out. He’d won and she didn’t care.

Arching back, she bucked against him, letting the quick release pour through her like liquid fire, chanting his name.

Still shuddering, she sat up slightly, and he hooked one of her legs over the back of the sofa, spreading her widely as his mouth closed over her again, sucking and lapping at her until she dug her hands into his hair and pressed him more tightly against her. Crying out, she rocked into him as she came again, animal sounds bursting from her unbidden as she forgot everything but the suffusing pleasure that he gave her.

“Oh, God…Ian…” She lapsed back against the back of the sofa again, spent, sweating and exhausted though he didn’t join her but simply continued to kiss and stroke until she felt like melted butter.

Tiny residual orgasms flew from the ends of his fingertips through her body until she couldn’t even think. Eventually he lifted up next to her and covered her mouth in a scorching kiss that tasted like her own sex. Then the kiss gentled and he eased back, looking at her.

Somewhere in the foggy recesses of her mind she realized he hadn’t sought any satisfaction for himself and she smiled in anticipation of correcting that oversight. Once she had her energy back, she would show him two could play this game. Right now she was utterly slack. She wanted to say something, but she didn’t even know what. Words were lost to her.

Ian sat on the floor, his hand absently stroking the damp hair that clung to her forehead, and she swallowed a sudden lump of emotion clogging her throat. She hadn’t experienced a lot of tenderness from men in her life, and this little bit from Ian slayed her. She couldn’t see his expression, but his touch was gentle. She let her eyelids drop but opened them again, for a second fighting the drowsiness that overcame her. Then she just gave in.

IAN SAT IN THE CHAIR across from where Sage still slept soundly, watching her. He’d made a big mistake, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. Of the women he’d known, he’d never tasted passion as he had with Sage. Even though he’d kept himself tightly controlled, her responses had nearly pushed him over the edge.

All he really regretted was that it could never happen again. He would never know what it would be like to lose himself in her body and he half wished he had taken her completely the night before. But it was too late for that now.

He watched her shift on the sofa. She looked so innocent, her face peaceful in sleep, her head a mass of tangled curls that were just as silky as he had imagined. She’d be awake soon—he could tell she was making the slow rise to consciousness.

Guilt pricked at him. His plan had worked. She’d fallen deeply asleep, freeing him to search her place thoroughly, and he’d found what he sought. The envelope lay in his lap. He’d read the letter from the man named Locke, the man he’d seen the day before. Obviously an old lover. Obviously trouble.

She looked too young, too chaste in sleep to be the cause of so much chaos in his life. But he knew she was far from innocent. He studied her, knowing she was still half naked under the sheet he’d tucked around her. The scents and flavors of her skin, of her sex, from the night before swamped him, and he clenched his fist on the edge of the chair. He’d do his job. He’d take her in. And then he’d move on.

Her lithe body bowed in a stretching yawn and then her eyes popped open. She was momentarily confused, and he watched as she remembered. Her eyes closed again, a smile forming. He felt a jab in his gut—was she smiling at the memory of what he’d done to her or at how she thought she’d fooled him?

Her head twisted, and she saw him sitting there. At first there was warmth in her eyes, but the second her gaze landed on the envelope on the table next to him, she snapped from sleepiness to panicked wakefulness.

Bolting straight up on the sofa, her face burned when she realized she was still nude from the waist down, and she clutched the sheet around her. The sight of her bare skin made Ian’s pulse jump, but just for a moment. He schooled his voice to be cool and casual.

“Good morning. Sleep well?”

She lunged for the envelope. He snatched it first and faced her fury calmly.

“You bastard!” He raised an eyebrow as she stormed, several creative curses spewing from her well-kissed lips.

“Oh, tut, tut, sweetheart. Not much of a morning-after person, are you?”

“How dare you?”

He felt his hackles rise at her indignant tone, but remained cool.

“How dare I what?”

As she paced, tears filled her eyes.

“How dare you do…what you did! Just to trick me so you could search my place! You’re slime. You’re worse than slime.”

Ian just chuckled. “Oh, c’mon, sweetheart. Like you weren’t doing the same thing with the same intentions? It was pretty obvious you were willing to do just about anything to keep me from searching that room. I wanted to see exactly how far you’d take it.”

“I’m going to report you.”

He just shook his head. “There’s nothing to report. I didn’t coerce you, I didn’t force you, I didn’t threaten you. What happened happened because you wanted it to.” He saw her face flame with humiliation and softened his tone slightly. “And because I wanted it to, as well.”

She shook her head, obviously distraught, and sank to the couch. He steeled himself against any emotional reaction and tried to remember who he was dealing with. For all the wounded innocence, she was playing him as much as he was playing her. And probably had been for a while.

“I want to know what’s going on. Then you’re getting dressed and we’re heading down to the station.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t want to go to prison.”

“Not up to me. We’ll have to see what the judge says.”

“Ian, you have to believe me. You know I’ve done well. I don’t deserve this. He just left it for me, I didn’t know….” She stood up and closed the distance between them, her expression desperate. He felt a small sliver of doubt and ignored it.

“I saw the whole thing. I saw the drop. I saw you get the package. You’re obviously involved in something. Something you shouldn’t be. I’m just amazed you couldn’t wait a few more days, but I guess the thrill of pulling it off right under my nose must have been too tempting, huh?”

She stared at him in shock. “You were there the whole time?”

He nodded. “It was a coincidence but a lucky one.” He smiled harshly. “Though not for you and your friend, I guess.”

The next thing he felt was her hand slamming into his face and he shook his head in amazement—it didn’t quite knock him back but almost. Damn if she didn’t have a good right hook, and now she was planning to use it again. He stopped her fist midswing this time and threw her arm back at her side.

“Should I add assaulting an officer?” He didn’t even think she heard him, she was that furious.

“You rotten son of a bitch! You had it all planned! You planned to come here, to use me and then to arrest me! You’re disgusting! No matter what I’ve ever done, it’s nothing compared to what you did last night!”

She was crying, nearly hysterical with anger, and he grabbed her, pinning his arms tightly around hers, holding her next to him to avoid being hit as much as anything else. He squeezed her more tightly as she struggled, and finally she calmed but wouldn’t meet his eyes. He spoke, his breath moving next to her ear, which unaccountably he had to steel himself against tasting.

“No. I didn’t plan it. I never planned on touching you, ever, though God knows you’ve tempted me long enough. Last night just…happened. Though I’ll admit I used the opportunity to search your house and I’m glad I did. But I didn’t come here with the intention of seducing you.”

She looked at him then, still indignant, and he felt anger push the words out of him. “Though from the looks of that letter, sweetheart, you’re hardly one to be calling me out on the moral carpet. You’re involved with this guy, but it didn’t stop you from letting me have you last night, did it? Though maybe Locke doesn’t care as long as you’re doing your part for the cause, huh?”

He expected her to explode, but instead she went slack. Her head dropped forward, and he rolled his eyes, shaking her lightly.

“Cut the melodrama, darlin’.”

She looked up, white as a sheet, her eyes almost black, and he experienced genuine concern. He’d gone too far.

“Okay, listen, I’m sorry for that last crack. I shouldn’t have made this personal.”

Nothing. No response.

“Can you stand if I let you go?”

She nodded vaguely, and he had no sooner loosened his arms around her than she pulled back and punched him in the gut. When he doubled over, she lunged for the package again, but he blocked her and grabbed her wrist in the process. She fought tooth and nail.

“Stop it now or I’ll cuff you. I mean it. I’ll take you down physically if you make me.”

She froze at that and turned on him, her eyes blazing.

“No one—no one—treats me like that.”

Ian felt a little stirring of admiration and quelled it. “Fair enough. So you’ll tell me about this?” He tapped the envelope.

“Yes. But I don’t know much.”

He arched his eyebrow doubtfully and stepped back more carefully this time, making sure she wasn’t coming in for another surprise attack.

“I don’t want to cuff you, but you’re under arrest, and we have to go down to the station.”

She nodded.

“You have to get dressed.”

“May I shower?” Her voice was distant, mechanical.

“I don’t think so. Just get your clothes on and let’s go.”

She walked over to where her shorts lay on the rug and stood for a moment, bending to get them.

“Turn around.”

“Sorry. No can do.”

She laughed then and it pierced him. It was a sad sound.

“Guess you won’t see anything you haven’t seen up close and personal, hmm?”

Quietly he watched her dress and kept his eyes raised as much as he could. When she was more or less put together, he grabbed the envelope and followed her to the door.

Some days his job sucked.