Snowbound Weekend & Gambler's Love

by Amii Lorin

  "I just don't know, Lisa."

  "We'll have to wait until morning and see what condition the roads are in," Ted put in quietly.

  "Okay," Lisa sighed. She started to turn away, then glanced at Jen. "Will—" Lisa hesitated before going on rapidly—"will you be going up to the room soon, Jen?"

  Jen felt as if a spotlight had been turned on her, and she didn't like the feeling. That Lisa was hoping Jen would say no was as clear as if she had shouted it. Dammit, Jen thought irritably, she's asking me to stay out of the room while they make use of it—and each other. Disgusted anger warred with disbelief inside her mind. Cute, bubbly little Lisa, ready to jump into bed with a man she'd just met? And what about Terry? Had she gone to his room?

  Jen had the uncomfortable feeling that by agreeing to stay where she was for a few more hours she'd be condoning the act. And she didn't condone it. On the other hand, she'd already been accused of making moral judgments once that night. What could she say? Adam made the decision for her.

  "Jennifer will be here, with me, for some time yet." Adam's face and tone were devoid of expression. "Did you want her for something?"

  "No—no," Lisa said hurriedly. "I just wondered."

  "Don't wander too far, little lady." Adam laughed. "You may get lost."

  Lisa flashed him an interested, impish look before walking away.

  Jen was furious, both with Adam for interfering and, strangely, with Lisa for the parting glance she'd thrown him.

  "You see what we mean, Jen?" Liz smiled wryly.

  "Yes, I see," Jen mumbled around the anger choking her. "I still don't understand, but I certainly do see."

  "Don't worry about it," Ted advised softly.

  "And take that guilty look off your face," Adam chided.

  "What do you mean, guilty look?" Jen bristled. "Why should I look guilty? I haven't done anything wrong."

  "That's right, you haven't," Adam retorted. "But for a second there you were actually considering going up to your room just to thwart Lisa's plans. That's why I took the initiative." The mild emphasis he'd placed on his last sentence made it clear to Jen that he was very much aware of her anger, and at least one of her reasons for it.

  "But my not going up is almost like saying I approve," Jen argued. "And I don't. She doesn't even know him and—"

  "It's none of your business," Adam cut in harshly. "That girl is over the age of consent. Who she gives that consent to is entirely up to her." He paused, then sighed. "For God's sake, Jennifer, this place is full of consenting adults, not little kids. And if I read the signs right, they're all very eager to consent to almost anything. If it offends you, don't look. Sit back, drink your wine, and ignore it. It can't possibly hurt you unless you become a part of it."

  "A part of it!" she cried. "I think it's disgusting."

  The moment the words were out, Jen wished she'd kept her mouth shut. How could she have forgotten Ted's teasing but nonetheless serious words about seducing Liz? Avoiding Adam's eyes, shifting uncomfortably, Jen watched the color drain out of Liz's face.

  "Jennifer—" Adam began warningly.

  "She's young, Adam," Ted interrupted imperturbably. "And she's entitled to her own opinion." Smothering a yawn behind his hand, he got to his feet. "I'm tired and I'm going to bed and"—he stretched his hand out to Liz—"regardless of anyone's opinion, I'm taking Liz with me."

  Her eyes on Ted's, Liz rose, placed her hand in his, and after murmuring a soft "Good night," left the lounge area with him.

  "That wasn't exactly tactful," Adam admonished quietly.

  The fact that Adam voiced her own uneasy thoughts put Jen on the defensive.

  "I'm sorry if my 'young' opinions annoy you," she flashed scathingly. "Please don't feel you have to wait with me until Lisa and her friend vacate the room." With a wave of her hand she sneered, "Go join the mature, consenting crowd."

  Feeling like a complete fool yet stubbornly refusing to back down, Jen watched as the muscles in his legs tensed before, straight-backed, he rose smoothly to his feet. As he turned away from her she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out a plea for him to stay. Closing her eyes, she let her head drop back wearily against the chair. What had come over her? With a few ill-chosen words she had shattered the camaraderie the four of them had shared. At the sound of ice tinkling against glass she lifted her eyelids a fraction.

  Adam hadn't gone at all! Peering at him through her lashes, she watched as he poured wine over the ice cubes he'd dropped into his glass. After lowering himself onto the sofa he stretched his legs out, crossed his ankles, then looked directly at her. His gaze was pensive and held a hint of sadness.

  "Are you still mad at me?"

  His quiet tone seemed shaded by the same sadness Jen was sure she'd seen in his eyes. With a pang Jen wondered if he too regretted the loss of warmth that had surrounded them.

  "No." Jen's voice was husky with remorse.

  "Then why don't you come sit over here"—he patted the cushion beside him—"and talk to me?"

  Jen needed no further urging. Pausing to drop an ice cube in her now warm wine, she sat down beside him and drew her legs up under her body.

  "I"—she hesitated, moistened her lips—"I'm sorry for flaring up like that, Adam. I wouldn't blame you if you did walk away from me."

  Adam was almost reclining, his head resting on the low back of the sofa.. As he turned his head to look at her he brought his hand up to her face and, with a feather-light touch, drew his long forefinger across her cheek and down her jawline.

  "I'm never going to walk, away from you, Jennifer."

  Jen was unable to control the shiver his touch sent scurrying through her body, or the heat that followed at the low intensity of his voice. What did he mean by never? She asked the question of herself because she didn't have the courage to ask him. Gathering her scattered wits, she drew a long breath to calm her suddenly racing heartbeat. Then her breathing and heart seemed to stop altogether as Adam's hand curved around her nape and drew her head to his.

  Sharp disappointment washed over her when, her lips a bare half inch from his, he turned his head slightly and bestowed a chaste kiss on her cheek.

  "I want to kiss you, Jennifer." Adam's throaty murmur replaced the disappointment with an exciting chill. "But later, when our audience has thinned out a little." The movement of his lips as he spoke teased her skin. "For now, talk to me, tell me about yourself."

  Releasing her, he slid slowly into a sitting position and fixed her with that warm velvet gaze. Straightening, Jen gripped her glass with trembling fingers and brought it to her lips for a quick sip. The dryness in her throat somewhat relieved, Jen drew her eyes away from his compelling stare.

  "What do you want to know?" The question was directed at the crackling fire.

  "Everything. Anything. Whatever you want to tell me," his quiet voice prompted her. "Most importantly—is there a man in your life?"

  "There are several." Jen's eyes swung back to his. "None of them serious."

  "Good." There was a wealth of satisfaction in that one word. His eyes caressed her face a moment before he added dryly, "I'd have hated the idea of cutting another man out." Ignoring her soft gasp, he allowed a rough edge to tinge his tone. "I'd have hated it, but I'd have done it nonetheless."

  "Do you think you could have?" Jen exclaimed, fighting the will-destroying pull of his eyes.

  "I don't think so, I know so," he stated flatly. "You know it too."

  Unable to deny his assertion, yet unable—or unwilling —to admit it, Jen again tore her eyes away from him. His soft, mocking laughter sent warm color flying into her cheeks.

  "Am I going to have to drag every detail out of you?" Adam chided laughingly after she'd remained quiet for several moments. "Or did you want to play twenty questions?" Without waiting for her to answer, he sighed exaggeratedly. "Okay, question one: Where were you born?"

  "Right outside Norristown," Jen said to the fire.

  "Now, that wasn't har
d, was it?" he teased. "When?"

  "What?" Jen turned her puzzled face to him. "Do you want the month, day, and year?"

  "Jennifer"—he heaved another long sigh—"I'm trying to find out how old you are. Give me a number."

  "Twenty-three."

  "Ah, now we're getting somewhere." Adam smiled. "Parents?"

  "Two." Jen smiled back.

  "Cute." His smile stretched into a grin. "Siblings?"

  "One." She returned his grin, her eyes beginning to dance with devilry.

  "Male, female? Single, married? Younger, older?"

  "A sister," Jen laughed. "Older by three years. Married —with a twenty-year mortgage and a two-year-old son."

  "Careful, there," he intoned. "You answered two questions I didn't ask."

  "Sorry."

  "You're forgiven." He waved his hand airily, and Jen's eyes fastened on his slender yet strong-looking wrist. As it had early that morning, the sight of that wrist, and the hand connected to it, sent a thrill through her midriff. Shifting her eyes, she found him watching her closely.

  "See something you like?" His voice had dropped to a low murmur.

  His tone caused her breathing to grow shallow. "Is—is that one of your twenty questions?"

  "One of the most important ones." Adam's eyes followed the tip of her tongue as she wet suddenly parched lips. "Would you consider wetting my lips like that?"

  Oh, Lord! Jen's lashes fluttered from the force of the anticipatory quiver that ran pell-mell over her skin. Suddenly too weak to break the hold his hot velvet eyes were imposing on her, she had the uncanny sensation that the electrical charge that had flashed between them from their first meeting had tautened and was drawing her slowly but inexorably toward him.

  "Adam—"

  Every tiny particle of moisture in her mouth and throat had been used up in her effort to articulate that softly moaned plea. Bemused, completely unaware of her action, her tongue again snaked out in an attempt to quench the fiery heat consuming her lips. Adam unwittingly broke the invisible cord pulling at her when his eyes dropped to her mouth.

  The moment that had seemed to last an eternity was gone. Jen heard, and understood, Adam's harshly released sigh.

  "God, I want to kiss you," he muttered raggedly. "I wish these would-be-lovers would get on with it and coax their victims off to bed."

  Jen felt a finger of ice pierce through her. Is that what he was? A would-be lover who just happened to need a little more privacy? And what about her? Was she an intended victim? No more, no less? A potentially willing female to be used as a bed warmer on a snow-filled night?

  The thoughts chilled her, stiffening her spine until her head snapped up rigidly.

  "Are you anxious for them to finish their plays so you can make one of your own?" Jen's voice sounded cold and distant even to her own ears.

  "Dammit, Jennifer." Adam actually seemed to growl with exasperation. "Don't go all uptight and frigid on me again."

  Although Jen tried to avoid his eyes, they caught and held hers. Hard anger had replaced the dark brown liquid warmth.

  "If I had wanted to make that kind of play, I'd have made it long ago." His tone smacked at her as effectively as a palm against her cheek. "If all I wanted was a quick roll in the hay I could have had you in the sack hours ago."

  His overwhelming confidence angered her while at the same time it had her wondering if she would have been able to withstand him had he made such a play. Her own self-doubt inspired the impetus to challenge him.

  "You're that good, are you?" she sneered at him—and at her own uncertainty.

  "I'm that good." His flat agreement, delivered without a hint of bravado, drew a shocked gasp from Jen. Before she could form the jumbled words of defensive ridicule that crowded into her mind, he added forcefully, "But my expertise—for want of a better word—has nothing to do with it. You have been mine for the taking from the moment we met. I know it, and although your mind's been dodging around in a frantic attempt to deny it, you know it too."

  Damn him! Double damn him for making her face the fact that she had—as he so aptly phrased it—been dodging frantically. She didn't understand what was happening to her, and like everyone else, what she didn't understand frightened her. And, like some, being frightened called forth the urge to fight. Tossing back the fiery mane that exactly matched the color of the flames leaping in the fireplace, Jen forced a note of disdain into her voice.

  "I won't even honor that claim with an argument. Now, if you'll excuse me?" Moving slowly, as if afraid she'd break if she moved too quickly, Jen carefully set her still half-full glass of wine on the table at the end of the sofa. "I'm going to bed—alone." Her final word was issued with hard bitterness.

  "Stay where you are." Adam's hand, clamped firmly onto her shoulder, prevented her from rising. "That's better," he murmured with approval when she settled back without protest. "By the way," he began innocently, "what bed were you going to go to? Or"—Adam's tone remained innocent, but his eyes began to glitter devilishly —"were you thinking of joining little Lisa and her playmate? A sort of—ah—ménage a trois?"

  "Adam, really!" Jen choked, outraged at the suggestion even though she knew he was teasing.

  "Jennifer, really," he mocked sadly. "The laces binding you are very straight and exceedingly narrow."

  "You consider me narrow-minded because I can't approve of indiscriminate sex?" she breathed in astonishment.

  "It's not a question of approval or disapproval," Adam informed with a shake of his head. "It's a question of tolerance and understanding." He frowned at the look of distaste that crossed her face. "Will you tell me something, innocent one?" At her hesitant nod, he gibed, "Why the hell should you care who goes to bed with who?"

  "Why?" Jen cried in disbelief. "Why, because it's positively indecent, that's why!"

  "No kidding!" Adam marveled sardonically. "You consider Ted and Liz indecent, then?"

  "Well—" Jen felt trapped by her own hasty words. A vision of the quietly competent Ted and the patient, likable Liz rose in her mind. In no possible way could she truthfully label them indecent. "No—but—" Her moment's hesitation was all he needed.

  "That's right, there are no buts. Ted and Liz are both very nice people." Adam paused, his hand sliding over her shoulder and down her arm to grasp hers tightly. "Why should the fact that they decided to advance their relationship from the social to the physical upset you? Good grief, don't you know the sex drive is the strongest of all?"

  "Yes, of course," Jen snapped defensively. "But there is such a thing as pride and self-restraint."

  "Bull," he snorted crudely. "At least in Ted and Liz's case. I recognized what was happening between them at once. Maybe because the exact same thing was happening to me." Lifting her hand he stole her breath completely by bringing her fingers to his lips, caressing them gently. "I want you." His warm breath feathered over her skin, setting off a delicious shiver that skipped up her arm. "I have wanted you since our eyes met, around Ted, at the bar. But I want more than one night. I want every night."

  "Adam—I—" Jen swallowed painfully against the tightness in her throat, then blurted, "I can't go to b-bed with you tonight."

  While she'd been stuttering her way through her refusal, Adam's tongue tasted the soft skin between her thumb and forefinger. As she finished speaking, his teeth nipped at the mound at the base of her thumb.

  "Who asked you?"

  "But—" Shocked at the sharp sense of rejection she felt, Jen had difficulty pushing words past her trembling lips. "I thought—you said—"

  "I know what I said," Adam chided gently. "I also said I would not be satisfied with one night." He paused to lift his head and pin her with his eyes. "Jennifer, there is one thing I want you to remember always. And that is, unless I'm obviously teasing, I always mean what I say. And what I said was—I want every night."

  Jen felt as if the flames in the fireplace had leaped from their food of logs to dance over her skin. He could
n't mean—! But what was he thinking of? Could he possibly have a long-standing affair in mind? And if not, that could only mean—marriage?

  Her mind reeling with her confused conjecturing, Jen glanced around the room, unaware of the dark brown eyes filled with compassionate understanding watching her; her eyes darted back and forth like an animal that had caught the scent of danger. It required several circuits of the room before the realization hit her: except for a few hangers-on at the bar, the place was now empty.

  Finally, not knowing where else to look, her eyes reluctantly came back to Adam.

  "I don't understand," she whispered tremulously. "What, exactly, are you saying?"

  Releasing her hand he drew his legs up as he shifted his body to the edge of the sofa. Muscled forearms resting on his knees, he stared for long minutes into the slowly dying fire.

  Tension coiling more tightly inside her with every dragging second, Jen found herself unable to tear her eyes from his sweater-clad broad back. When he did finally turn, it was so sudden that Jen jerked back against the sofa.

  "I think you know exactly what I'm saying, Jennifer." His softly caressing voice reached out to encircle her with warmth. "But I also think it's too soon to put into exact words." His eyes left her to skim quickly over the room. When they came back they settled on her mouth. "Besides, my speech is never very exact when my lips are otherwise occupied."

  The anticipation rising in Jen suffered a minor setback when instead of moving closer to her he turned away.

  "Adam?"

  Leaning forward, he set his empty glass on the floor.

  "I'm only getting rid of the glass, darling."

  On first meeting she had wanted to hear that endearment on his lips, and the effect of it on her senses was more devastating than she could ever have imagined.

  "I—I like the sound of that," Jen offered timidly.

  "That's good." Shifting his body on the edge of the sofa, Adam turned back to her from the opposite direction. "I intend calling you darling a lot." His hands came up to caress her shoulders before encircling her neck. "I liked the way you just said 'Adam'." As he moved closer to her, his thumbs followed the line of her jaw. "It had a breathy, pleading sound. Very exciting." His head drew close to hers, and Jen's lids closed as her mouth opened. "Say it again, darling."