by A. C. Arthur
The brief background check had shown that not only was she a licensed masseuse but she owned her own spa, right off the Strip as she’d said last night at dinner. He wondered why she’d neglected to mention that fact. Moreover, he wondered why, if she owned her own business, she’d gambled away five thousand dollars and couldn’t afford to pay it back.
He’d be lying if he said that Trent’s words hadn’t planted a certain amount of doubt in his mind but he wasn’t yet ready to believe that Jade’s goal was as unscrupulous as Trent thought. While he didn’t know the facts of her life Linc was sure of a few things where Jade was concerned. For example, he was certain that the look on Jade’s face when he’d taken her riding, the sound of her voice as she’d called his name when they’d gotten caught up in the bathroom, the touch of her hands as she’d massaged him, were not fake. No actress could be that good.
She wasn’t manipulating him for money. If anything he was probably the one doing the manipulating. With other debts he’d taken collateral and in some rare instances promissory notes. But from Jade he’d wanted more. And he’d gotten it so far. But it still wasn’t enough.
That fact was the root of his disgruntled mood this evening. He wanted Jade and he wanted to tell her this as soon as possible. He wanted to tell her that his reasons for asking her here went far beyond the debt. But he hadn’t had a moment alone with her today to do that.
With deliberate steps he made his way through the crowd stopping to shake hands with men he hadn’t seen in a while and kiss the cheeks of women he wished he hadn’t seen in a while. Despite his mother’s warning there weren’t as many eligible women here as he’d first expected. A couple of daughters from the socialite circle but not nearly as many as he’d anticipated. Then again, the presence of Leslie Kindle was enough. Momentarily he thought back to this afternoon when Jade had interrupted them. He’d been touched by her jealousy and proud of the way she’d handled Leslie. He certainly planned to avoid the woman for the duration of the week’s celebrations.
In the distance the band began to play. The crowd seemed to dissipate with most of the guests heading toward their tables and a few going straight to the dance floor. He hated to dance and decided to hang back a bit and scan the tables until he found Jade. Slipping his hands in his pockets he took position near a lighted ficus, hopefully out of easy view of the socialite mistresses. His attention was piqued at the sound of sultry laughter and he turned to the direction from whence it had come. His body came alive with desire as his gaze found her.
There she was, wearing a dress—a dress that showed way too much of her gorgeous skin—head thrown back, laughing at something Max had said as he glided over the dance floor with her. It was an upbeat song yet he didn’t miss Max’s hands around her waist. He clenched his teeth and was about to step onto the dance floor and forego his distaste of dancing when he felt a hand on his elbow.
“She’s a gem, Lincoln. I’m so glad you two reunited.”
Linc frowned. He thought for sure his mother would wait to approach him until later. Apparently he’d been wrong. He really wasn’t in the mood to discuss his tardiness right now. “Great party, Mother,” he said stiffly.
Beverly looked around the room. “It’s a good kick off. Just wait until the rest of the week unfolds,” she said contentedly.
“Where’s your happy husband?”
She chuckled. “He’s just like his son, taking care of some last-minute business over there with a couple of stable owners from across town. But I’m more concerned with why you aren’t with Jade?”
“I was going to claim her when you stopped me.”
“Oh, well, then that was a good move on my part. Son, you look a little disturbed. I can only assume it’s a touch of the green-eyed monster and I wanted to let you know that there’s no need for it.”
Green-eyed monster? What was she talking about now? “Mother, I assure you, you have no idea what’s going through my mind right now.”
“Humph. I’m not as old as you think I am and I’m certainly no fool. I know when a man is jealous. And while I think it’s cute, Jade might not feel that way.”
His teeth clenched as Ben walked onto the dance floor and interrupted the rendezvous between Max and Jade. Then his mother’s words registered and he glanced at her. “I’m not normally the jealous type,” he stated slowly.
Beverly made a big production of wiping non-existent lint from his shoulders and straightening his tie. “And she’s no normal woman.” With a hand to his cheek she smiled up at him. “There’s only one way to combat jealousy.” She paused and when he didn’t respond continued, “Pay attention to your woman or another man will.”
That’s the same thing Jade had told him. “She’s—” He opened his mouth to speak but was quieted by her hand hovering inches from his lips.
“She’s a beautiful woman with a lot of spirit and a zest for life that you seem to have forgotten. However, she’s with you for a reason. Stop being too stubborn to see it.”
With a smooth movement he grasped his mother’s wrist, brought the back of her hand to his lips and kissed it. “I know full well the reason she’s with me.”
Beverly blushed at the devilish twinkle in her son’s eye and pulled her hand away. “Then act like it.”
With that tidbit of advice she left him alone. Jade was still on the dance floor, still having a good time without him and he frowned. He was just about to go out and retrieve her when again he was detained.
“Enjoying the party, Lincoln?” his cousin, Max, asked.
“I would be if people would stop interrupting me.”
“My bad.” Max chuckled. “That’s quite a woman you’ve got there.” He nodded toward the dance floor, toward Jade.
“I would say I’m glad you’ve noticed but I’m not.”
Max’s smile broadened. “Possessive, huh? Trent said he thought you were slipping.”
“What? Because I don’t want to share my date, I’m slipping.” Linc didn’t know why he was even entertaining this conversation. One thing the Donovan men did well was goad each other. They were a competitive bunch. But in the end their loyalty to each other would prevail. They had each other’s back, that was for sure.
Laughing Max clapped a hand on Linc’s shoulder. “I’m not saying you don’t have a right to be possessive. She’s quite a woman, like I said. I’m about to place my bet on how long it’ll be before you fall.”
Linc didn’t like Max’s implication, no matter how close to the truth it was. What he had in mind for Jade was between them. His family had nothing to do with it and he wasn’t in the mood for their unsolicited advice.
“That’s a fool’s bet,” Linc said as he watched Adam and Jade walk through the terrace doors. His body tensed but he didn’t say a word.
Max had watched their departure as well and his smile broadened. “I doubt that,” he was saying but Linc didn’t hear him because he was already making long strides across the room.
Earlier Jade had made a point of reprimanding him about keeping up the pretense of the relationship. Now it seemed he was going to have to remind her of the same thing. For a woman with a grudge against men she certainly kept their company well. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. All he wanted was the chance to be alone with her, to tell her all these things he’d been feeling and how she was affecting him, changing the way he thought about his future.
Jade was smiling on the outside yet anything but happy on the inside. She hadn’t seen Linc at all this evening and had long since admitted that she missed him. Their time in the garden had put him in a new light in her eyes. The way he’d looked at her like she was the most important person in the world. His touch had been gentle and, she thought, sincere. She desperately wanted him to touch her like that again. She knew that these feelings were dangerous but was helpless against their flourishing.
Adam thought she needed some air so he’d offered a walk outside near the pool. Air wasn’t what she needed but she w
as too polite to turn him down. So now she was walking beneath the stars with one man while thoughts of his brother ran rampant through her mind. Then, as if conjured from her thoughts, he appeared. She heard his voice from behind but had already felt his presence.
“Jade?”
His voice seemed calm but when she turned to look at him the first thing she noticed was his stormy eyes. “Lincoln,” she whispered.
“Well, it’s about time you arrived,” Adam said. “With a date as fine as Jade you’d think you would be on time.”
Although Adam laughed Linc apparently didn’t find anything funny. He kept his eyes trained on Jade.
“I…wasn’t sure what time you’d finally get here,” she said, butterflies dancing merrily in the pit of her stomach.
“I’m here now.”
She’d already released Adam’s hand and now twiddled with the beads on her handbag. “Yes. You are.”
Linc took a step toward her. “Come here.”
She took a step closer to him and saw that his entire body was tense. He looked angry but she wasn’t quite sure. Then she realized that Adam was still standing there. “Adam was just keeping me company.”
Linc spared Adam a glance. “He doesn’t have to do that anymore.”
Adam grinned. “Yeah, I can see I’ve been dumped,” he said with a look to Jade.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“No. Don’t apologize. You’re right where you belong,” Adam said and looked at Linc.
Linc didn’t want to think about the grief he was going to get from his brother when he was alone. In fact, he didn’t care. All he cared about right now was being with her. She looked spectacular and the urge to touch her was becoming unbearable. He reached out to take her arm.
“We should be getting back inside,” she said.
Linc watched as Adam retreated, moving his hand up and down her arm. They were finally alone and he didn’t want to chance that changing. “We’re not going back to the party.”
“We’re not?”
He shook his head negatively and pulled her against him. This was where he liked her most, in his arms, looking up at him as if he were the only man in her life. Linc readily acknowledged that he liked the sound of that.
“I want to be alone with you.” His hands stroked her back, loving the feel of her warm curves against him.
“Oh?” she said then looked away.
He pulled back and stared down at her. “Does that surprise you?”
She shrugged then faced him again. “A little.”
“Why?”
“Because our agreement was to put on a show for your family. When we’re alone there’s no reason for the show. I mean, I know I’m not the type of woman you’re usually with so it surprises me that you’d willingly want to be alone with me. Again.”
Linc wasn’t sure but he didn’t think he was going to like the implications of what she was saying. “You’re going to have to explain that to me, Jade. We’ve been alone together before and in my opinion have both enjoyed ourselves immensely. You do remember the massage last night, the bath yesterday?”
Jade stared at him. “Of course I remember. It’s just…” She didn’t know how to say it. Didn’t know why she’d even brought it up. She thought she’d resigned herself to the facts and decided to proceed from there. Apparently her brain had a different agenda.
“It’s just what?” he prodded. “Don’t be afraid to talk to me, Jade. I want to hear what you have to say.”
There it was again, that soft caress of his voice over her skin, that shiver of excitement she got when she had his undivided attention. She didn’t know how to react. What she did know was that it was time to lay her cards on the table. She was attracted to Linc, there was no doubt about that. And he was physically attracted to her, that was also clear. Beyond that…
“We’re from different worlds, Linc. I’m sure that fact hasn’t skipped your mind.”
“Actually, I thought we were two people living in Las Vegas. But if you want to tell me you’re from another planet or something, go right ahead and enlighten me.” He gave her a wry smile.
She wasn’t amused. “Don’t play. You know what I mean. I’m not a part of your social class. You know it and you knew it before.” She pulled out of his grasp then and turned away because looking at him while he acknowledged there was no future for them was too painful to bear. “That’s why you left,” she said quietly.
Linc thrust his hands into his pockets but did not move to follow her. “Is that what you thought? That I left you because you didn’t have the same advantages that I did?”
“It was obvious.”
“Really? Then obviously Harvard has lowered its standard on accepting the smartest students with the most potential.”
She turned and glared at him.
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, Jade. If you really thought that low of me then why did you sleep with me? Why did you even give me the time of day?”
“I…” She opened her mouth to speak but the words were lost. She shook her head instead and took a deep breath. “I liked you.”
“And I liked you.” He closed the distance between them. “I knew who and what you were and I still liked you. I liked you enough to ask you to my room. I liked you enough to make slow, sweet love to you because I knew that’s what you needed.”
“But you didn’t like me enough to stay.”
Her words sliced through him and he reached out to touch her then. He cupped her face, leaned forward and kissed her forehead and was profoundly grateful that she didn’t pull away. He didn’t know if he could handle her pulling away from him right now. He was about to be more honest than he ever had with any woman in his life and he needed her to at least be receptive to hearing him out. When she reached up and clasped his wrists, staring at him with all the hurt and confusion from their past, his heart weakened more.
“I liked you so much it frightened me. And that had nothing to do with social status. I knew you were a long-term type of girl. But I also knew I couldn’t do long-term. I was afraid to do long-term. So I left. I convinced myself that I was doing the right thing. That we both had futures to pursue and we shouldn’t be held to any type of commitment. I was wrong,” he whispered. “I was so wrong and I’m sorry.” He kissed the tip of her nose, then lightly brushed her lips. “Please, forgive me.”
What could she say? What could she do when his words had taken all the air from her lungs? She looked up at him through tear-filled eyes and felt her heart hammering wildly in her chest.
“Linc.” His name was a whisper on her lips as she searched for words.
His answer was to scoop her up into his arms.
Jade opened her mouth to protest but was quickly silenced by the crush of his lips on hers. His tongue demanded entrance as he set in motion a brutally erotic kiss that warmed every nuance of her body, her soul.
She knew what would happen next. Just as she’d known that it was inevitable. Linc was not taking her back to the party. They were headed toward his room, toward the moment Jade had secretly longed for.
Linc kicked the door closed then moved to the bed where he laid her down gently, as if she would break if he did otherwise. For endless moments they simply stared at each other, eight years of apologies and misunderstandings between them. Then his lips captured hers again.
His hands moved all over her body in soft, languid strokes that increased the heat rising at her center.
“I can’t stop touching you,” he whispered.
She acknowledged that fact and touched him in response. Moving her hands up and down his muscled back, tilting her head to better receive his kiss. This was what she’d dreamed of for so long.
“Can’t stop wanting you,” he breathed into her ear then licked her lobe.
“I wanted you, too. All these years I’ve wanted you.” And loved you. She wisely kept that thought to herself. This moment was special, fragile. And while she wasn’t a
girl anymore, she didn’t entertain any fantasies about what they were doing, she wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip by. She deserved this one night. She deserved this one moment of happiness. And if it was all that she would ever get from Lincoln Donovan, then she was damn sure going to enjoy every minute of it.
Her tongue slid along his then moved to his lips, suckling each one into her mouth. Her fingers gripped the back of his head, holding him still while she had her way with his mouth. He groaned and she smiled.
“You’re killing me.”
She spread her legs and he dutifully sank between them. She thrust her center up against his rigid erection. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
“I told you what all that squirming does to me.” He dipped his head, kissed the spot on her neck just beneath her ear then moved lower until his teeth sank into the skin of her shoulder. He wanted her beyond reason and that desire edged him to take her quickly, to devour her and satiate his own need.
But he remembered her words, remembered the pain he’d seen in her eyes, the pain he’d caused by the foolish actions of an immature boy. He tapped down his desire, focused on her and how much he wanted her forgiveness, her respect.
Jade moaned and gripped his shoulders. “Lincoln.”
He pressed into her center again and felt her shiver beneath him, her hands gripping his shirt and twisting. He liked feeling like he was driving her as crazy as she drove him. That’s another reason he planned to draw this sweet torture out for as long as possible.
That sinfully delectable dress slipped easily from her shoulders and he kissed the creamy skin of her neck down to her collarbone, finally stopping at one puckered nipple.
Grasping both breasts in his hands Linc gorged himself, suckling and nipping until his erection pressed painfully against his zipper.
Her hands stroked his head while soft whispers of delight escaped her mouth. The sound soared through him at a rapid pace and he shook with desire. “Why are you here?” he asked in a muffled voice before licking the puckered left nipple again.
She heaved and arched against him, giving him full, unadulterated access. “I came here to be with you,” she said breathily.
