Between the Lines

by Jayne Ann Krentz

  “I have no idea,” he retorted dryly.

  “If you want to know the truth,” Amber announced recklessly, “I don’t feel like much of a wife, anyway. As far as I can tell the only thing that’s changed in our relationship is my last name. You were the one who requested the two bedrooms, weren’t you? We didn’t just happen to get that suite by accident.”

  Gray sighed. “No, we didn’t just happen to get it by accident. I thought it was for the best.”

  Amber turned to stare out the window at the lights of Phoenix in the distance. For a moment she thought Gray might say something else, but the cab turned into the drive of a large chain hotel and there was no further opportunity for conversation.

  A few minutes later she watched Gray pay the cabdriver. She was still riding the wave of restless, adrenaline-induced energy as they walked into the hotel lobby. She was feeling a little nervy, a little reckless. It was then that Amber had what she chose to think of as her second major inspiration of the evening. As soon as the idea struck, she acted on it„ She didn’t want to give herself a chance to think.

  “I’ll check in for us,” she announced breezily.

  Gray shot her a swift glance. He was already halfway to the front desk. “Why?”

  “Because I’ve still got all my identification and charge cards in my own name,” she explained with a knowing smile. “If Delaney does decide to track us down, he won’t be looking for a couple checked in under the name Langley, will he?”

  “You’re really getting into this, aren’t you?”

  “It could be I was cut out for a life of action and adventure.”

  “Uh-huh.” Gray sounded distinctly skeptical. “Just don’t get too carried away with that notion. Go ahead and check in for us if you want. I don’t think Delaney’s likely to look for us, but if it will make you feel any better, I don’t mind.”

  “Good. You can reimburse me later. This is, after all, a business expense.”

  “I’ll want itemized receipts,” he warned.

  “You’ll get them.”

  He nodded. “While you’re handling that, I’m going to pick up a newspaper from the newsstand. I’ll be right back.” He walked off.

  Amber sucked in her breath and marched to the front desk. “A room with one double bed,” she announced quite clearly to the attendant. “For my husband and myself.”

  She almost lost her nerve as the woman behind the front desk quickly assigned her a room. Amber received the keys with an artificial smile. She wasn’t sure yet what explanation to make to Gray. She could try telling him the hotel was full and this was the only room available, but he could check that out. She could try telling him the truth, but he might balk. She could try jumping on him the moment they entered the room, but Amber wasn’t sure that would work. He was an awfully large man.

  One thing was for certain, she decided as she watched Gray saunter across the lobby with a newspaper in one hand. She wasn’t going to back down tonight. It was unlikely she’d ever have this much nerve or sense of daring again. Surely saving a man from a couple of hoods gave a woman some rights, especially when that man was her husband.

  Gray looked up from the headlines and saw Amber waiting for him near the elevators. She was tossing a key in one hand, and there was a determined expression in her eyes. The look was similar to the one she’d had earlier in the evening when she’d pretended she was carrying a gun in the straw purse. Instinct warned him that she’d nerved herself for a showdown.

  The knowledge sent a flicker of fire through his blood. Maybe she was right to push him. He’d been a fool to play the gentleman this long. Already he could feel his body tightening in anticipation. The sensation was not unlike the tautly alert feeling he’d experienced waiting for Roger and Ozzie to make their move.

  As he got closer, he could see more than just feminine determination in Amber’s beautiful, expressive eyes. There was a measure of anxiety there also. Gray found that rather endearing. She was still feeling reckless and bold from her adventure earlier in the evening, but she wasn’t completely sure of herself.

  The emotional sizzle caused by the near brush with violence was translating itself into something else, something equally elemental and compelling. Even if he’d wanted to resist her tonight, Gray was suddenly not at all sure he could have done so. He, too, was still aware of a residual energy and a restlessness that was left over from the scene in the desert. Above all, he was deeply aware of the fact that this woman was his wife. She belonged to him, and he had yet to claim her. He’d been an idiot to wait this long.

  Amber chewed a little on her lower lip as she watched Gray approach. She couldn’t read his eyes, but that didn’t matter. She wasn’t going to quit now. When he reached her side she held up the key. “We’re all set. I got a room on the seventh floor.”

  “Fine. We won’t need a bellboy. Not for these two pieces of luggage,” Gray said smoothly, holding the elevator door for her.

  Amber’s palm grew damp around the key. She couldn’t think of anything to say as the elevator cruised upward to the seventh floor. Gray didn’t seem inclined to keep the conversation going, either. When they arrived at the right floor, he walked silently out of the elevator behind her. She was suddenly vitally aware of the size and mass of him as he followed her to the door and stood waiting while she unlocked it.

  At the last possible instant Amber frantically began trying to think of ways to explain the fact that the room only contained one bed. As she pushed open the door, the words began tripping out of her mouth. She was horrified by the rambling monologue, but she couldn’t seem to halt it. “The hotel is almost full, Gray. I was lucky to get this room. There’s only one bed, but the woman at the front desk assured me it was a huge king and there should be plenty of room for both of us. I mean, I know you’re accustomed to sleeping by yourself, but this is something of an emergency, or at least it’s a highly unusual situation, and since we know each other so well and everything I figured that there wouldn’t be any harm in sharing such a big bed for the evening. After all, we are married. It’s not as if we’re strangers or even just business partners, is it?” She broke off to look up at him helplessly as he calmly closed the door and locked it.

  “No,” Gray agreed, setting down the luggage. “It’s not as if we’re strangers or business partners.” He reached out, his big hands closing over her shoulders. Slowly, his eyes gleaming with sensual hunger, he pulled her into his arms. “I agree with you, Amber. It’s time we became lovers.”

  6

  An exquisite relief permeated the heady excitement that was simmering in Amber’s veins. She didn’t know why Gray was suddenly willing to put their relationship on a normal footing, and just at that moment she didn’t particularly care. The uneasy waiting was over. Everything was going to be all right now. She could know the comfort and strength of Gray’s arms, and in return she would do her best to give him the physical satisfaction a man was supposed to receive from his wife. The marriage would begin for real tonight.

  “I’m so glad, Gray,” she breathed as she wound her arms around his neck. “I was beginning to worry that we’d made a terrible mistake.” Her eyes shone up at him as she leaned into his warmth.

  “So you decided to take things into your own hands tonight, is that it?” His mouth curved slightly as he lifted his hands to her hair and slid his fingers heavily through the tousled curls. The combs came free, and he caught them and pocketed them. Then his hands returned to her hair. He seemed to be savoring the feel of it.

  “Things haven’t been exactly normal between us this past week, Gray,” she said very seriously. “I know you’re waiting for some sign of latent passion lurking in my soul, but the truth is what you see is what you get. There’s no fiery temptress waiting to emerge. I need to know if you’re really going to be satisfied with what I am. I warned you in the beginning that I might not be the right woman for y
ou, but you seemed so sure of yourself.”

  “I am sure of myself,” he told her simply. His eyes were heating from green to gold as he looked down into her anxious face. “And I think it’s time I made sure of you.”

  She didn’t understand that last statement, but there was no time to argue. Gray lowered his head to cover her mouth with his own. There was a new element in this kiss, Amber vaguely realized. It was a deeply sensual demand that she had never before encountered. It fascinated her, drew her deeper into the seductive web of excitement building between them. Their lips clung as they learned the taste of each other.

  Amber trembled in anticipation as Gray’s big hands slid slowly down her back. He molded her to him, making her intoxicatingly aware of every hard line of his body. Luxuriating in the feel of him, she tangled her fingers in the thickness of his hair and then she traced the line of his neck down to the smooth, muscled contours of his shoulders. It felt so good to be held by him, she thought dazedly. Her nails sank briefly into the fabric of his shirt, and she sighed against his mouth.

  Gray released her lips at last to nuzzle the scented area behind her ear. He twisted one hand in her hair and gently pulled her head back so that he had access to the sweetly vulnerable hollow of her throat.

  “You’re so soft and warm and exciting.” His voice was dark with the coiling tendrils of masculine desire. “I don’t know how I waited this long.”

  “Gray.” She said his name with a thrill of possessive need that would have startled her under ordinary circumstances. As it was, she was only distantly aware of whispering the single, aching word. Gray was sliding his palms up under the hem of the peasant blouse, lifting the fabric away from her breasts.

  “Raise your arms, my love.”

  Obediently she did so, and he removed the blouse entirely. Underneath she had worn no bra or camisole. For a moment Amber experienced a shaft of uncertainty. Gray had never seen her like this, never touched her as he would in the next few minutes. But the look in his eyes was infinitely reassuring. She knew with a woman’s sure instinct that he was very satisfied with the sight of her small, firm breasts. He groaned softly and lightly ran his fingers across one nipple. Instantly the rosy peak hardened beneath his touch.

  “What’s the matter, sweetheart?” he asked gently as she buried her head against his shoulder.

  “Nothing. I was just thinking that by the time most people get married they know each other much more intimately than we do.”

  “You mean that they’ve either gone to bed together or come very close to it. Worried about rude surprises? Are you afraid you won’t like what you see when you take off my shirt?”

  “Don’t laugh at me, Gray. You know very well that’s not what I meant.” She lifted her head and smiled sheepishly. “But maybe I was a little scared you’d be disappointed in me. After all, you haven’t... I mean you didn’t get a chance to, uh, really see me before tonight.”

  “I’ve seen you a hundred times in my dreams,” he told her deliberately. “But the reality is turning out to be far better than the dream. You’re very, very lovely.”

  Amber murmured an odd sounding, very polite little thank-you into his shirt, and he laughed tenderly as he pulled her close. Feeling far more sure of herself now, Amber began unbuttoning the embroidered Acapulco-style shirt he wore. When his broad chest was exposed to her touch, she found herself thoroughly entranced by the crisp, curling dark hair that formed a wide vee, which tapered down to the waistband of his slacks.

  “Will I do?” Gray asked thickly.

  “You’re perfect,” she whispered dreamily. Her fingertips laced through his chest hair until she found the small, flat nipples. There she paused to explore and was rewarded by Gray’s heavily sucked-in breath.

  He quickly found the fastening of her flounced skirt and undid it. The turquoise garment fell to the floor in a frothy heap, leaving Amber in her cream satin panties. Gray wrapped his palms around the soft curves of her buttocks and squeezed gently. She was urged into the heat of his own thighs, and Amber trembled again in reaction. Then Gray slid his fingers under the panties and pushed them slowly down over her hips. When they fell to her ankles, Amber stepped out of them and out of her sandals.

  The heated gold in Gray’s gaze was all she needed to overcome the last, brief moment of uncertainty Amber felt as she stood completely nude before him. Then he was scooping her up in his arms and carrying her to the wide bed.

  He stood her on her feet for a moment while he reached down to yank back the bedclothes. Then Gray set her carefully down on the snowy sheets. There was a deep intensity in him as he looked down at her. Amber could feel invisible bonds reaching out to ensnare her and ignite tiny flames along her nerve endings. Under that green-gold gaze she felt very beautiful, very sensual, truly desired and wonderfully cherished. She’d never experienced such a combination of emotions.

  Gray sat down on a chair near the bed and pulled off his shoes with careless impatience. Then he rose, his fingers going to the buckle of his belt. His eyes never left Amber’s flushed face as he stepped out of the remainder of his clothing.

  Fascinated by the sheer male power in him, Amber’s eyes moved down the length of his solid, smoothly muscled frame. The broad angles of his chest tapered into a lean, taut waist. Below that the lines of his hips and thighs were as solid and hard as the rest of him. The evidence of his arousal was boldly visible. Amber felt a primitive thrill run through her as she came to terms with the fact that this man was hers and that he wanted her every bit as much as she wanted him. She raised her eyes to his and held out her hand in a gesture of ancient, feminine welcome.

  “Amber. My sweet, hot, beautiful Amber.” Gray came down beside her on the bed, stilling her shifting legs with one of his own heavy thighs. He caught her wrists and laced his fingers through hers. Pinning her hands gently to the pillow on either side of her head, he leaned over and kissed her with an achingly deep, demand.

  Amber responded without hesitation, her mouth opening for his in silent acknowledgment of her own desire. She was lost in the wonder of the moment. No thoughts of the past or the future intruded to distract or dismay. She and this man belonged together tonight. The energy and excitement and throbbing need that was driving both of them did not allow for any extraneous memories or concerns.

  Amber moaned softly as Gray’s tongue found hers and began a primitive duel that sent hot flames of desire through her. She gasped when she felt the slight, teasing touch of his teeth on her lower lip. Then he was withdrawing from her mouth to seek the curves of throat, shoulder and breast with hungry kisses.

  Gray freed her hands as he worked his way slowly, lingeringly down her body. He covered one breast with his palm as he tenderly took the opposite nipple between his teeth.

  Amber whispered his name aloud fair back in her throat, and her fingertips dug into the skin of his shoulders. She loved the feel of him, gloried in his strength. The weight of him along the length of her body was a heady, arousing caress in itself. It made her twist and shiver beneath him.

  “You’re so exciting,” Gray muttered fiercely as his hand slid down to curve around her hip. “Just the feel of you is enough to drive me over the edge. You’re so responsive. It’s like holding hot silver in my hands. No, I take that back.” His smile was sensual. “Liquid Amber.”

  “Oh, Gray, I can’t believe this. I’ve never felt anything like it.” She lifted herself against his hand as he delicately stroked the inside of her thigh. The intimate touch made her moan softly again, and Gray was pleased by her reaction.

  “This is new for me, too,” he rasped against the silky skin of her hip. “I’m not sure I believe it, either. I’ve waited so long.” He used his teeth again, this time in a fragile, teasing little nip that sent another burst of excitement through Amber. She reacted at once, trying to curl into him. She got one leg free and curved it enticingly around his thigh. />
  “Please, Gray,” she pleaded in a gentle, seductive voice that carried all her aching need. “Please come to me now. I want you so.”

  He raised his head to look up at her as if he was seeking confirmation of her words in her expression. Whatever he saw must have satisfied him, Amber thought. He touched the dampening warmth between her legs until she was crying out and clinging to him and then Gray came to her.

  He settled himself along the length of her eager body, parting her legs with his own. She inhaled deeply when she felt the waiting hardness of him probing gently at the damp, heated place between her legs. Her fingers clenched in his hair as she realized just how massive and solid he really was. Gray paused, aware of the slight hesitation in her.

  “Amber?” His voice was raw with the effort it took to control his passion.

  “It’s all right,” she said, urging him closer. “I just hadn’t realized. I mean, you’re quite large all over, aren’t you?”

  “Sweetheart.” He groaned, burying his face in her hair. “Honey, I don’t want to hurt you. I’ll be very careful with you.” His body was tight with the need he was holding so severely in check.

  Amber smiled the secret smile that only another woman could ever understand and let her nails sink deeper into his strong shoulders. “Not too careful, I hope.”

  “Amber.” He reacted at once to the teasing bite of her nails and the feminine urging in her voice. With a heavy, powerful thrust, Gray sank himself into Amber’s softness. He held her in bonds of steel and velvet, waiting for her body to adjust to his.

  “Yes,” she gasped into his ear. “Oh, yes, Gray.”

  “So good,” he muttered, the words dark and husky and laden with thick desire. “You feel so damn good.”

  Slowly then, he began to move within her. She lifted herself into each of his thrusts, drawing him deeper, clinging to him with her legs and arms arid the small muscles inside her body. Instinctively she held him as tightly as possible. Gray wrapped her securely in his arms, his heavy frame covered hers completely as she sought to give herself up to the leaping excitement.