by Lori Wilde
Idly, she wondered how he’d managed to drive his car off the cliff, but the time had never been right to ask. She undressed and stepped into the shower.
The hot water was pure heaven and while she yearned to luxuriate under the pulsing spray, she didn’t dare leave him alone for too long. Her legs were hairy but her razor was in her bag and only God knew where that was. She’d just have to live with prickly legs.
Maddie got out of the shower, wrapped her hair in a towel, put on one of the two white terrycloth robes hanging on the bathroom door and stuffed her underwear in the sink to soak. After David fell asleep, she would wash her things out by hand and hang them over the towel rack to dry.
She returned to the bedroom to find David munching on bread and sipping champagne.
“What are you doing?” She marched across the room to snatch the glass from his hand.
“Drinking champagne and feeling no pain.”
“Are you nuts? Mixing alcohol and barbiturates? You’re not some sixties rock star.”
“Ah, what’s it gonna hurt?”
“For starters, it could put you into a coma.” Maddie eyed the bottle. “How did you even get that opened?”
“Room service did it for me.”
“How efficient of them.”
“Wanna cracker?” David extended his plate of crackers and cheese toward her. “I’ll share.”
“Stop eating on the covers. You’re getting crumbs all over,” she said, but what she was thinking was, Honey, you can eat crackers in my bed anytime.
“You sound like my father.”
“Your father? I’d have thought I sounded like your mother.”
“Nope. Dad was the perfectionist. Military man. Toe the line or suffer the consequences. Do you have any idea how many push-ups I can do?”
She shot a glance at his broken wrist. “Right now?”
“Well, maybe not right this minute. But normally, I can do five hundred and seventeen.”
“Why not five hundred and eighteen?”
“Dad’s record was five hundred and sixteen.”
“Ah. Right. Competition. I guess your Dad was impressed when you broke his record.”
“He was dead by the time I broke his record.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
David shrugged and wobbled a little. “Aw, he was an s.o.b.”
Something about the way he said those words tore at her heart. “Made your life difficult, did he?”
“He made me the man I am today.” There was pride in his voice.
“What happened to him? If you don’t mind me asking?” Henri had said David didn’t like talking about himself but the pain medication had loosened his lips and Maddie was going to take full advantage.
David shrugged. “He and my mom were killed when I was twelve. They were gunned down in the streets of a Third World country. My father was a four star general in town for a peace treaty.” He laughed harshly at the irony.
“That’s awful.” Maddie put a hand to her chest. A lump of sympathy crowded her throat and her heart ripped for the poor little boy he’d once been.
“The embassy was in chaos and I was in shock. I just walked out the back entrance and ended up wandering the streets for three days, living as best as I could before the authorities found me and sent me to New York to live with my mother’s older sister.”
“Your Aunt Caroline.”
“Yeah.” He looked surprised. “How did you know?”
“Henri blabbed.”
David rolled his eyes. “That crazy Frenchman. He thinks if he tells you something personal about me you’ll fall in love with me.”
“Really?”
He waved a dismissive hand. “You know how the French are about romance. From the minute we stepped off the plane together he’s been convinced you’re my lover.”
Maddie felt breathless. “Whatever gave him that idea?”
“He says it’s the way I look at you.”
Flustered, Maddie changed the subject. “Did they ever catch the people who murdered your parents?”
“Nope.”
Well, that explained a lot about him. She understood now why he was so dogged, so determined. Why he had such a strong need to see justice done, to win at all costs.
She didn’t know what to say. Any words she could dredge up sounded silly or misguided or patronizing. Instead, she ended up telling him how her mother had gone a bit crazy after their dad left. How she drank too much, forgot to pay the bills or buy groceries. How she hopped from one inappropriate guy to another, dragging her and Cassie along with her.
“I mean here I was fifteen and waiting up until three o’clock in the morning for my mom to come home from the nightclubs when it should have been the other way around. I never really got to be a kid, you know.”
“Wow,” David said. “That’s pretty heavy duty.”
“Not nearly as heavy duty as your story. And mine does have a happy ending. My mother met her current husband, Stanley, and he snapped her out of the funk she was in. Stanley’s a rock solid guy. She’s tried pretty hard to make up for those years she fumbled. I don’t hold anything against her. She did the best she could.”
“I appreciate you sharing that with me.” He traced a finger over her cheek. “It took a lot of courage for you to open up.”
She cleared her throat, eager to retreat from the intimacy of their shared confidences. “Do you need some help with the soup?”
“Normally I would say no. I’m an independent bastard.” David raised his casted wrist. “But, considering that I have no depth perception with one eye swollen shut, I’m right handed and so hungry I could eat a mastodon raw, I’ll take you up on the offer.”
She sat beside him on the edge of the bed and her heart beat crazily.
He leaned over to sniff her neck. “You smell soapy clean.”
“Thank you,” she said primly, desperate to ignore the thrill of pleasure his warm breath generated as it raised the hairs on her nape.
“And you look really cute with your hair all twisted up in a towel. How do women do that?”
“Ancient feminine secret. If I told you I’d have to kill you.” She dished up a bite of chicken soup and held her palm under the spoon so she wouldn’t spill any on him. “Open up.”
“I feel like a fool.”
“Don’t let that stop you. Come on.”
Reluctantly, he opened his mouth and she touched the spoon to his lips.
Her gaze met his one good eye.
Feeding an invalid should not have been provocative or seductive or erotic.
But heaven help her, it was.
When he flicked out his tongue to accept the soup something hot and melty ran through her.
“Hmm,” he moaned. “I didn’t know soup could taste so good.”
Hell, she never knew that the noise of a man appreciating his soup could sound so sexy. Even the slightest touch, the briefest glance, the smallest sound took on heightened significance.
A drop of wet liquid glistened on his lip and she had the most irresistible urge to kiss it off.
Help me! Help me! Help me! she prayed. She was rapidly losing control.
Maddie gulped and with a trembling hand, went back for the next spoonful. What was happening to her?
“Too bad I’m so busted up,” he said.
“What?” she sounded panicky even to her own ears. Why did she have this overwhelming desire to get naked and rub herself all over him?
“If I weren’t banged up, you wouldn’t have to feed me. I notice you’re having a little trouble.”
“If you weren’t banged up, I wouldn’t be snuggled up next to you in bed.”
“I was simply making an observation. Our little dinner tête-à-tête seemed to be turning you on.”
“I am not turned on.”
“Your nipples are poking through your robe.”
Dammit! They were.
“Stop looking at my nipples.”
“I di
dn’t mean to make you mad.”
“You didn’t.”
“You seem mad.”
“I’m not.” Mad with desire for you is what I am and it had nothing to do with your sexual healing and everything to do with mine. “Here’s another bite.” Hastily, she shoved the spoon toward his mouth.
“Whoa, slow down. Let’s take this nice and easy.”
The way he said nice and easy was clearly a come-on. He lowered his voice on those two words. Maddie refused to look at him. Refused to acknowledge the power of her own needs just aching to be sated.
This was too weird. Rattled, Maddie forgot to hold her palm under the spoon and ended up dumping soup on him.
“Oh damn.” She snatched up the napkin from the tray and dabbed at his shirt. “I’m so clumsy.”
“You’re not clumsy. It’s hard feeding someone else.”
Especially when that someone else was rife with sexual innuendo.
“Here,” she reached for the spoon once more. “Let’s try again.”
“I think we better just stick with the crackers and cheese and apple slices,” he said huskily.
“Good idea.”
They ate in silence, nibbling their snack, neither of them looking at the other. When they were finished, Maddie put the tray in the hallway. She turned back to find David standing beside the bed.
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to help me get undressed,” he said.
“Sure. No problem.”
Liar.
She reached up and began unbuttoning his shirt. Might as well start with the least threatening item.
“Hey,” he said. “I just now noticed. There’s only one bed in here.”
“I know. I asked for two beds, but this is what we got.”
“Is this going to be a problem? Sleeping in the same bed with me?”
“I slept with you last night.”
“Yeah, but I was drunk.”
“And tonight you’re drugged.”
“So we’re cool?”
“It’s not a problem for me if it’s not a problem for you. Just as long as you don’t try any funny business.”
He inclined his hand toward his busted wrist. “I’m not exactly a threat.”
“That’s why it’s not a problem.” Maddie finished unbuttoning his shirt, revealing the broad expanse of his thick, muscular chest.
Talk about a six-pack! A dorm full of sorority girls could get falling down drunk off this guy’s belly.
Swallowing hard against her rising desire to rake her fingers along the dense, compact ridges, Maddie reached instead for his belt buckle.
And she accidentally brushed her knuckles against his fly.
Immediately, he hardened.
Wow. Compliment accepted.
“I’m sorry, Maddie,” David apologized and darned if, beneath all his black and blue marks, he wasn’t blushing.
“It’s all right,” she lied. This was the last straw. She’d been barely holding it together from the moment she’d almost run over him on the highway.
“I don’t mean any disrespect. Forgive me for the boner. It’s just that you’re so darned sexy and I’ve been dreaming of making love to you for days and you smell so good and I feel so damned rotten and . . .”
“Shhh.” She laid a finger over his lips.
“No seriously, I’m really sorry. I’m embarrassed and ashamed over my lack of control. I have no excuse for my behavior. Absolutely none.”
“Will you just shut up?” Maddie said and kissed him.
Chapter
SEVENTEEN
AS AN ATHLETE, Maddie listened to her body and right now, it was telling her to go with the flow. Her skin sizzled with heightened warmth, her muscles quivered fluidly, her breathing, though controlled, lifted her to a whole new level of experience.
David tasted like champagne and chicken noodle soup and Camembert cheese and sesame seed crackers. He ran his wicked tongue along her lips and down her chin. She tossed her head, exposing her neck and waiting for his heated kisses to find her pounding pulse point.
With unerring accuracy, he homed in on that erogenous region and nibbled like a Pharaoh at his wedding feast. He cupped the back of her head in his left palm, holding her still while he devoured her scorching flesh.
“Are you giving me a hickey?” she asked.
“Do you want one?”
“No. Yes. Oh, just keep doing what you’re doing. It’s making my toes curl.”
“Good answer.” He wrapped his good arm around her waist and drew her closer.
She knew he was still flying high on the drugs they’d given him at the hospital. Knew she was skimming along on adrenaline and no sleep and the very real fear that David could have lost his life tonight. It seemed a sacrilege not to celebrate his survival. And while Maddie knew better than to trust this sweet freefall into the abyss of pleasure, she followed it anyway.
Where in the hell is your infamous common sense? Where’s your caution?
Out the door, out the window, out of this world. Who knew? Who cared? Not she. Not at this moment. She had plenty of time for remorse and recrimination tomorrow. For once, she was going to do something impulsive, totally out of character and completely irresponsible.
He loosed the belt on her robe and it fell open. When the cool air hit her heated skin, she sucked in her breath. Glorious!
But not half as glorious as what David was doing to the hollow of her throat.
Flick, flick, flick, went his tongue.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle went her groin.
Had she ever felt so desperate, so achy, so out of control?
While her intense feelings scared her, they also liberated her. Here she was, in Monaco with a man she barely knew, taking a walk on the wild side.
Cassie would be proud.
Her mother would be proud.
Okay, she was even proud of herself. Never in a million years would she have guessed herself capable of such complete abandon. She nestled against David, absorbing his body heat, enjoying the pure physical sensation. They were alive. That’s all that mattered.
He lowered his head and lightly kissed a trail down her cleavage. Maddie drew in a long, shuddery breath. Oh yes.
Dipping his head lower still, he took one beaded nipple in his mouth and she almost screamed, it felt that exquisite.
Her practical side was getting scared. She could almost hear her knees knocking.
Before she had time to reconsider her rash rush to intimacy, David was kissing her again with an urgency that French-fried her wary voice and short-circuited the last wire of her resistance.
They fell onto the bed together, careful of his broken wrist, but not much else. David pawed at her robe, roughly thrusting the lapel out of the way. Maddie grappled with his belt, tugging the smooth flat leather free from the loops and tossing it across the room.
He pushed her into the mattress, kissing her all over. Her lips, her eyes, her cheeks, her chin. He swept her away on wave after wave of erotic emotions.
Joy and fear. Lust and tenderness. Excitement and trepidation.
They were breathing hard, breathing in tandem, inhaling the same air, inhaling each other.
She fumbled with the hook and eye on his trousers. He ran his fingers across the fine blond hairs on her chest.
He groaned.
She moaned.
She slipped her hand past the waistband of his pants and into his underwear. She sucked in her breath, daunted by the heat of him, hovering on the verge of generous discovery.
At the same time she was investigating him, he was investigating her.
“You’ve got the flattest, tautest tummy I’ve ever seen,” he marveled, strumming his hand over her abdomen.
“Two hundred sit-ups a day on an incline board,” she bragged shamelessly, thrilled that he loved her body. Some men thought she was too muscular, but apparently not David.
He slid his fingers slowly between her thighs and Maddie thought, I can�
�t believe I’m here, doing this. Letting myself go without overanalyzing things.
While his fingers explored below, he let his tongue do the walking above her waist, licking her like a lollipop.
Her nipples bloomed under his attention and her breasts grew heavy with need. If he was this good when he was chock full of painkillers, she shuddered to imagine what he was like when he was up to full speed.
He’s vulnerable. You’re taking advantage of him.
That thought brought her up short and she stopped rummaging in his underpants.
“What is it?” he gasped, raising his head to gaze into her face. At the sight of his swollen eye guilt kicked her in the gut. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re wounded and I’m acting like a sex fiend. I should be taking care of you, babying you.”
“Hush.” He laid an index finger over her lips. “I need sexual healing.”
“But—”
“Not a word.”
“You don’t really want sex,” she mouthed around his finger.
“Be quiet.”
“What you really want is some good old fashioned TLC and I started . . .”
He clamped his hand over her mouth. “What part of stop talking don’t you understand?”
“Daydid,” was how his name sounded from behind his salty palm.
“What I really want is to make love to you, Maddie, so don’t ruin it by over-thinking things, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Now, where were we?” He lowered his head again.
Maddie tapped him on the shoulder. “We can’t do this.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t have a condom. Do you have a condom?”
“In my bag.”
“And where’s that?”
“Probably on the supersonic train shuttling back and forth from Paris to Madrid.”
“My point exactly.”
“I’ll go get a condom. Just hold that pose.”
“You can barely walk and it’s after midnight.”
He sighed and rolled over onto his back. “So that’s it?”
“This was a bad idea from the beginning.”
“It was a fine idea.”
“No it wasn’t. I should never have kissed you. Why did I kiss you?”
David groaned and this time not with pleasure. “Do you have to analyze everything to death? We were both horny. Things got hot and heavy. Common sense prevailed. End of story. Now let’s go to sleep.”
