by Linda Cajio
Now she became aware of an odd, tense silence in the car, and a thread of uneasiness curled through her veins.
“Your brother is very nice,” she said, and opened her eyes to look at Adam.
He spared her a glance before returning his attention to his driving. “I’m glad you liked him.”
“Oh, I did. I was sorry his morning appointment cut the evening short. I really enjoyed his company.”
“The evening may have ended for Dan, but it hasn’t for you and me.”
“It hasn’t?” she echoed, sitting up straighter in her seat.
“No. I thought we’d have a drink at my place.”
She stared at him, her uneasiness growing into dread. “Your place?”
He nodded. “It’s much better than a noisy bar, and it also has a terrific view of the bay. We can talk without being disturbed.”
She swallowed. “Talk?”
He smiled. “Talk.”
Being alone with him was dangerous—especially after a meal. She couldn’t …
Diana set her jaw. The old Diana would have been nervous and klutzy at the thought of being alone with Adam in his home, but the new Diana had completely controlled the evening. And two men. It was only logical to conclude that the new Diana could also control having a drink in a man’s home. And having concluded that, she decided it was also logical that she ought to be able to control the man.
“A drink sounds wonderful,” she said, and relaxed back in her seat.
Nine
“You have a beautiful place, Adam,” Diana said, gazing around his living room. The furnishings were sparse and neat, and the bright colors of several paintings relieved the near-Spartan effect.
Adam leaned over the back of the sofa, where she was seated, and handed her a glass of Triple Sec. “Thanks. I haven’t told you yet how beautiful you look tonight, Diana. I think you were the most beautiful woman in the restaurant, but that dress is … rather chilly, isn’t it?”
Smoothing a hand over the skirt, she grinned. “No. I’m just fine.”
“This is quite a change for you,” he said. He walked around the sofa to sit in one of the curved-back armchairs across from her. “May I ask what prompted it?”
She hesitated, her brain scrambling for a careful answer. “I just thought it was time for a change.”
“Well, it’s a stunning one.”
Thanking him for the compliment, she decided she’d been quite right in thinking she could control this part of the evening too. Adam was certainly being a gracious and chivalrous host. It was obvious that he had no idea he was taking his cues from her confident and sophisticated behavior. She really was a very quick learner, she thought. Once she was on the right path. This was turning out to be quite an adventure game.
Still, there was one thing about which she’d been shortsighted, and that was her attraction to Adam. He’d removed his suit jacket after they’d arrived at his apartment, and ever since, she hadn’t been able to keep from admiring the lean lines of his body. There was something about a man stripping to informality in front of a woman.…
“What other changes do you have in store for me?” he asked.
She smiled down at her tiny liqueur glass. “A few.”
“I’ve always liked surprises. But then, you’ve always surprised me, Diana. And pleased me.”
She felt a tiny quake of warning inside, then dismissed it. “Do you have other relatives besides Dan in Seattle?”
“A few. But let’s not talk about them. Let’s talk about us.”
That tiny quake turned into tremors, and she knew she had to dispel them. “I thought we were. Why did you become an architect?”
He gazed at her with an undecipherable expression, then shrugged. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from his mouth as he slowly raised his glass and sipped his drink. Finally he said, “I like the demands of uniting raw materials into a strong structural design. If done properly, the result is visually, physically, and emotionally stimulating.”
She swallowed hard. She had a feeling he was talking about something entirely different from architecture. The “ground” was beginning to shake violently.
Suddenly restless, she rose from the couch and strolled as casually as possible across the long room to the big picture window. Taking a quick, reviving sip of the fiery liqueur, she stared out at the night. Without her glasses she could just discern the twinkling lights reflected on the bay’s inky surface. “You have a lovely view.”
“I think so.”
She sensed a surge of male power in his last remark, and, tilting her head slightly, checked to see if he was still in his chair. He was. Thank heavens, she thought. She felt as if she were teetering right on the edge of that damn precipice, and one foolish move on her part would send her plunging downward. Maybe there was still a chance to veer the conversation and atmosphere back into her control. She leaned forward and concentrated on the lighted skyline across the water, hoping to think of some innocuous comment to make.
Suddenly she heard the shocking whisper of footsteps directly behind her. Move, she told herself. Keep a distance between them. Say something, anything, that might possibly halt his progress. Be sophisticated and confident.
Instead, every fiber of her being froze as Adam neared her and stopped directly behind her.
“Princesses should know better than to test knights’ honor,” he murmured, lifting the hair from the nape of her neck. “Tonight has made it all too clear that you are in dire need of a rescuing, Diana.”
She felt the floor shift wildly under her feet when his mouth touched the sensitive flesh he’d exposed. For long minutes his lips and tongue charted a sensual journey over every inch of exposed skin on her neck and shoulders. Delicate chills coursed down her spine, until she was shaking with the effort to keep from sagging back against him.
Blindly she reached out with her free hand and grasped the windowsill in a desperate attempt to hold herself upright. As she gasped for breath, she dimly wondered what had happened to all the air in the room. A moan escaped her as Adam’s hands glided across the bared skin at her waist. Her liqueur glass was taken from her and set on the sill, and then he pressed himself into her back.
Without thought, she melted against him. His strong fingers tightened across her belly, lifting her against his growing arousal.
“I want you,” he whispered, and traced the fragile shell of her ear with kisses. “I need to know you’re mine. Only mine.”
Diana felt as if she were caught in a raging fire and swirling tornado all at once. Her body burned. Her flesh quivered. She was totally out of control at the evidence of his raw need. But this shouldn’t have been happening. She should stop him. He’d given her the power to stop him with just one word.
Still, in spite of knowing the price she would pay later, she was incapable of halting him. In spite of knowing it was all wrong, she realized nothing had ever felt so right.
She turned her head, instinctively seeking and finding his mouth with her own. Her tongue intertwined with his with an urgency that belied all gentleness. His arms tightened around her in a hard embrace, and she reached up and threaded her fingers through his hair to pull his mouth impossibly closer.
His mind reeling at her boldness, Adam slipped his hands up her silken flesh, beneath her dress, until he found the thrusting mounds of her breasts. He lightly rubbed his palms across the hard nipples. His fingers danced over them, loving the way they grew even harder at his touch. With his lips he caressed the throbbing pulse on the side of her slender neck.
All his repressed rights as protector had finally demanded satisfaction when he’d heard her coyly flirt with his brother outside the hotel. His own brother! He’d instantly realized he’d been too chivalrous with her. It had been his own fault that he hadn’t made certain the princess understood what it meant when she granted a knight claim over her. Tonight he would clarify that little oversight to the satisfaction of them both.
He lifted his hea
d and turned her in his arms, his fingers finding the hidden zipper of her dress.
“You’re mine, princess,” he repeated harshly. “Only mine.”
Her arms tightened around him in answer. He tried to control the trembling in his hands as he slowly lowered the zipper, then he pushed the dress off her shoulders and down her arms. It dropped to a shimmering pool at her ankles. His breath whistled out of his lungs at the feel of her skin under his hands. He traced the incredible satin of her spine and sank his fingers into the soft roundness of her derriere. Only her half-slip and panties prevented him from exploring further.
He covered her mouth in a deep kiss. He wanted to kiss her forever. After tonight he would kiss her forever.
Her hands tugged at his shoulders in supplication, making him forget all thoughts of a bed. Barely breaking the kiss, he pulled her to the floor with him. She lay in his arms with a trust and acquiescence that made all the blood in his body pound deafeningly. Her coral-tipped breasts teased him in invitation. As he lowered his head to kiss them, he knew he would never break that trust.
“I love you,” he whispered, and nuzzled at a velvety nipple.
At his words, Diana felt a dark, tender mist close over her. This was why it was so right, she thought. This was love.
Shamelessly she guided his tormenting lips over her aching breasts. With swirling tongue and soft bites he drove her to the edge of sanity. Her body twisted uncontrollably under the sensual onslaught, and she was barely aware of his stripping away the last of her clothes. He trailed kisses down her stomach, around her navel, and downward still, over the tender flesh of her thighs.
Slowly he began retracing his path upward, and of their own accord her fingers reached for the buttons on his shirt. She tried to undo them, but her hands fumbled, and he gently brushed them aside. His mouth still working its magic on her flesh, he scrambled out of his own clothes.
With a sureness born of passion, Diana smoothed her hands across the hard planes of his muscled back. She delighted in the dense swath of curling hair on his chest and the well-defined torso underneath. Everywhere she touched was virile male, made for her.
His knowing hand aroused her until she was mindlessly writhing against it. Then his body covered hers. His hips fit into the cradle of her soft thighs. She felt no fear, only need and want, as he carefully probed the silken moistness of her femininity. With one long, sure stroke, he thrust inside, and she cried out at the wonder of it.
“I hurt you,” he whispered, burying his lips in the base of her throat. “I’m sorry.”
“There’s no pain,” she reassured him as her body quickly adjusted to his invasion. She began to throb in anticipation. “I … Adam, please … I love you … don’t stop.”
He kissed her dampened skin and murmured, “I can’t stop. I love you. Wrap your legs around my waist.”
She did as he instructed, and he raised himself on his elbows. With slow movements he withdrew, then filled her, again and again.
Instinctively she moved her hips once to meet his, then twice, until she was following the ancient rhythm with him. She felt an incredible tension building inside her and clutched at his shoulders as protection against the sensual rampage. As if sensing the tumult within her, he quickened the pace, thrusting faster and harder.
Her very being seemed to shatter suddenly into bright shards of light that mingled with Adam’s throbbing release. Then a satin darkness enfolded them.
Diana gradually became aware of her surroundings when she heard Adam say, “I’m sorry.”
“Why?” she asked lazily. His body was pressing hers into the plush carpeting, yet she wasn’t the least uncomfortable.
“It was your first time. You deserved a bed with silk sheets and—”
“Do you have silk sheets?” she asked, languidly stroking his shoulders.
“Well, no.”
“Then my first time wouldn’t have been in a bed with silk sheets.” She turned her head to look at him. “How do silk sheets make it better?”
He blinked, confusion replacing the slight regret in his brown eyes. “It would have made it more special.…”
She smiled. “Nothing could have made it more special, Adam. Nothing.”
His arms tightened around her, and he kissed the pulse point just under her ear. “I love you, Diana.”
She knew the words came from his heart, and she closed her eyes in pain. She’d been foolish, but now she realized her foolishness had been in suspecting Adam of having any part in getting her to sell her game to his brother. No man who exhibited any kind of honor would do such a thing. And Adam was a very honorable man. An innocent man. Tonight had made her see the final and total truth. Dan had used Adam, and, to her shame, so had she.
She resisted the overwhelming urge to beg his forgiveness, knowing that it might cause a rift with his brother. And any confession would probably kill his feelings for her. She’d be crazy to jeopardize that. It would be best if she said nothing, and instead gave him her trust and love in every way possible. Then, she hoped, she could remove the guilt of her own duplicity.
“I suppose,” she began in a trembling voice as her emotions played havoc inside her, “that we could get some silk sheets and see if they’re all you think they’re cracked up to be.…”
He smiled down at her.
“Personally,” she continued, “I don’t think anything would make it better, but if the teacher wants silk sheets—”
“Forget I ever mentioned silk sheets,” he ordered affectionately.
“I saw an advertisement once for satin sheets,” she said. “Now they sound a little kinky. Maybe you’d like them bet—”
Her words were abruptly cut off by his hard, fierce kiss. Running her hands down his sides and over his buttocks, she shuddered at his renewed arousal. And her own.
“I love you, Adam,” she murmured when he lifted his head. “Love me again.”
And he did.
“Plain old cotton sheets,” Diana said sadly as she snuggled against Adam’s side in his bed later. “I hope you’re not too disappointed.”
She yelped when he pinched her bare bottom.
“Keep it up,” he said, “and you’ll be wishing you never heard of the damn things.”
She wiggled around until she was half-lying across his chest. Propping her chin on her folded arms, she said chidingly, “You’re no fun. Okay, silk and satin sheets are out. Now, I’ve heard some things about mirrors—”
“Diana! Go to sleep.”
She sighed and spread her hand across his dark chest hair. For long moments she just twirled the short, silky strands around her fingers, occasionally placing a kiss on his warm skin.
“You’re not sleeping,” Adam finally said, his arm tightening around her waist.
“Mmmm.” Laying her head on his chest, she smiled as she trailed her hand down his biceps. “I was just thinking that I met you only ten days ago.”
“I think how we feel is more important than how much time it takes for us to feel that way,” he said, stroking her hair.
“I just didn’t want to rush you, or anything.” She sighed dramatically. “Still, it might be too soon for the mirrors.…”
He gently tugged her hair in reprimand. “You’ll be sorry in the morning if you keep talking like that.”
“And how is that?”
“Making love is like exercise. If you don’t take it easy in the beginning, you’ll feel it the next day.”
“No pain, no gain,” she quipped, rubbing her breasts against his chest.
“I’m trying to be a gentleman.…”
“I suppose I should stop teasing you. After all, you are older and—”
In one swift movement, Adam reversed their positions.
“I’m such a wicked woman,” she murmured just before his mouth covered hers.
“Diana. Wake up, honey.”
As Adam’s voice penetrated her layers of sleep, Diana smiled. She snuggled back against the delicious war
mth of his body and sighed. The morning had brought no regrets, no second thoughts. This was where she belonged.
Adam kissed her shoulder, her hair.…
“Five more minutes, Mom,” she mumbled.
“Diana!”
She pulled the pillow across her face to smother her laughter. He yanked it out of her hands and glared down at her.
“I’m sorry,” she gasped out between giggles. “But I just couldn’t resist.”
“If you ever do it again, I swear I’ll tell you that you snore.”
“I do not!”
He smiled evilly.
“Do I?” she asked in a tiny voice, mortified at the thought of having done such a thing in his presence.
“You’ll never know.” He kissed her nose, then brushed something off her cheek. “That’s strange. There are tiny flecks of soot on your cheeks.”
“Soot?” she repeated. Then her eyes widened. Her mascara must have smeared during the night. Embarrassed, she covered her face with her hands and muttered, “Where’s the bathroom?”
“The bathroom door is next to the bureau. What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. I just want to … ah … use the facilities.” She slid a bare leg off the bed, then realized the rest of her was just as bare. Her blood heated her face. “Could you get me a robe or something, Adam?”
“In a minute.” His fingers pried at hers, but she resisted his pulling them away. “Your face is red, Diana, so I know you’re upset about something. Please don’t shut me out. Not now.”
She dropped her hands and wailed, “The damn mascara ran, and I probably look like a raccoon! That’s why I’m upset.”
“You do not look like a raccoon,” he said, taking her in his arms. “You look like a woman well loved, and I’m proud to be the man who’s made you look that way.”
“You’re lying through your teeth, Adam Roberts,” she said, deciding repairs at this point were useless anyway. The damage was already done, and she might as well accept it. “But I love you for it. Now will you let me up so I can use the bathroom? My mouth tastes like a cow pasture.”
