“I have no idea what size he uses.” He made an impatient noise deep in his throat. “And I’d love to drop the subject, if it’s all the same to you.”
“Sure.” She tossed the first box of condoms on the bed. “First problem solved. But we still only have the clothes on our backs. I say we prowl around some more and see what other goodies he might have left, like robes and such.”
He gazed at her. “We lost the moment by searching for condoms, didn’t we?”
“Not permanently.” He was too cute for words, and she couldn’t help teasing him a little. “But now that you’ve pointed out our circumstances, I’m curious as to what our options are for clothing. No telling how long we’ll be here, and I’m mightily sick of the outfit I have on. It reminds me of things I’d rather forget.”
“That’s a really good point. My jacket smells of smoke. The Pages said they’d prepared this chamber for us, so let’s see how thoroughly they prepared it.” He strode over to the armoire and opened both doors. “Damn. Fagan Harcourt really does think of everything.”
Darcie joined him in front of the large armoire and stared at the outfits hanging there. Most of them were sweat suits, but not all. She pulled out a dress fit for a Renaissance fair. “Not very practical, but pretty.”
“And here’s a tunic for me, assuming I’d be willing to wear tights, which I’m not.”
Darcie hung the dress back in the armoire. “I’ll bet he put the costumes there just in case, but the sweat suits would be a lot better for right now.” She looked through the selection hanging there. Half were obviously intended for men judging from the manly browns and grays. The others were in brighter shades including red, purple, and dark green.
Nolan checked the sizes on the men’s clothes and Darcie looked through the women’s.
“Large,” Nolan reported. “Luckily, that works great for me.”
“These are medium, which will fit me.” She leaned down and opened the top drawer beneath the hanging garments and found two folded white terry robes, unisex sized, and several pairs of spa slippers. The bottom drawer was filled with underwear, all in black. Briefs in various sizes were on Nolan’s side. Bras and panties were on her side.
“So we have a couple of robes, several sweat suits, something for our feet, and underwear,” Nolan said. “Is that it?”
“Yep.”
“So we have clothing backup and condoms.” As he looked at her, his gaze grew warm, and warmer yet. “That birth chart can wait,” he muttered, and tugged her toward the bed.
Chapter Twenty-two
What had started out as a response prompted by lust quickly turned into something else. As soon as Nolan began undressing Darcie, he knew this was what he needed more than his next breath. Since the explosion he’d worked hard to retain control over the emotions raging inside of him. Some of them had leaked out in the past two hours, but he’d kept his most powerful reactions to himself.
Or so he imagined. Darcie had probably seen much more than he’d meant for her to notice. She could read him better than anyone he’d known.
He couldn’t hold it together anymore, and Darcie offered him a way to exorcise the demons from his battered soul. She would willingly take him into her arms, into her warm body, and allow him to lose himself in the heat of passion. He needed that, needed her, with every fiber of his being.
She was an eager partner in this quest to get naked and seek solace in each other, and he thought maybe she craved sweet oblivion as much as he did. Every piece of clothing they tossed to the floor rid them of one more item binding them to a terrifying reality when they’d almost died. Darcie had saved their physical bodies then. She would rescue his spirit now.
Flinging pillows out of his way, he yanked back the silver and blue streaked comforter to expose the soft blue sheets. The bed was high as well as vast. Turning back to her, he scooped her up in his arms as he’d done when she’d emerged from the Jacuzzi.
He laid her on the bed, and she moved over to make room for him. As he climbed in beside her, she held out her arms. The sight of Darcie welcoming him with open arms made his throat tighten, and for one scary moment, he felt tears prick his eyelids.
Then he went into those waiting arms and settled against her warmth. Burying his face against her shoulder, he fought for control of his rampaging emotions and his taut body. He was already breathing hard. “I can’t take this slow.”
“Then don’t.” She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight.
“I have to get –”
“I know. Just let me hold you for a minute. Oh, Nolan.” The catch in her voice told him she was emotionally fragile, too. She loosened her grip. “Get the condom. I need you.”
He pushed himself up on his forearms, snagged the box, and pulled out a foil-covered packet. Damn, now he was shaking. Then he thought of Darcie needing him to love her. His hand steadied.
As he braced himself above her and gazed into her eyes, the memory of flames and burning debris haunted him. If he’d delayed a few seconds more . . . . He shook the thought away and delved deep into her hot, waiting channel. They were alive. Alive!
The joy of that reality shot through his body and he began to thrust hard and fast. She clung to him, her hips lifting, her cries urging him on. He wanted her to come first, but he couldn’t slow down, couldn’t wait.
Over and over he plunged into her until they were both slick with sweat and moaning with each frantic motion of their thrashing bodies. The bed creaked and the room filled with the sound of their labored breathing. He pumped even faster, seeking . . . seeking . . . and then, it was upon him. The wave of his climax crashed over him, wrenching a wild cry from deep in his chest.
She arched upward, her body quivering, straining toward orgasm. Summoning all his will, he drew back, his cock pulsing, and shot home again. She came then, moaning and quaking in his arms.
They sank back to the mattress, both of them shuddering and gasping for air. His muscles began to relax. While energy still coursed through his veins, he slid his arms beneath her back and rolled on his side, taking her with him.
They lay there, staring into each other’s eyes as their breathing slowed and their bodies stopped shaking. Nolan combed a strand of hair back from her cheek. “I think you just restored my sanity.”
She captured his hand and held it against her warm skin. “I needed it as much as you did. This is crazy-making stuff, Nolan.”
“No kidding. Bet you didn’t think getting involved with me would turn out to be a life-threatening situation.”
“No, but something pushed me to come and find you. It seemed really, really important.”
“Turns out it was.” Although passion had drained tension from his body, his mind wouldn’t be still. No matter how he tried to blot out the events of this afternoon and the incredible revelation about Jan, both things continued to make noise in his head.
“You’re thinking about everything, aren’t you?”
Sighing, he squeezed his eyes shut. “I wish I could stop. I wish I could let the whole thing go while Fagan’s people track down Jan.” He opened his eyes again. “But I can’t. I want to do something.”
She smiled. “You just did. It was great.”
“Thanks, but I meant –”
“I know what you meant. I was teasing you. We need to shower, put on those sweat suits, and head for the dungeon. Analyzing Jan’s birth chart might not be as actively involved as you want to be, but at least it’s something.”
“It’s a lot better than waiting around for Fagan’s team to report back.” He leaned forward and kissed her softly. “Let me have first shower while you stay here. If we shower together, we might get distracted.”
She laughed. “Might?”
“Will get distracted. You can stay here and relax. I promise I’ll be fast.”
“Or I could explore the room while you’re showering. For one thing, we don’t know how to summon the Pages when we’re ready to go down to the dungeon.”
> “Good point.” Easing out of bed, he headed for the bathroom.
And what a bathroom it was. All the fixtures were gold and for all he knew, it was the real deal. He disposed of the condom and glanced into the immense shower, which was equipped with multiple jets. The tub, in contrast with the Jacuzzi in the hotel suite, was an old-fashioned claw-foot. If he had to guess, he’d say it was a custom model twice the size of an original antique.
“I found an intercom for summoning the Pages,” Darcie called from the bedroom.
“Great.” Standing in this bathroom was one time he was glad to be nearsighted. Mirrors were everywhere, but his naked image was out of focus in most of them. Naturally a crystal chandelier hung from the high ceiling. Oversized white towels were stacked on glass shelves, and an assortment of soaps lay in a basket on the counter between a pair of sinks.
Nolan glanced at the sinks and noticed they were hand-painted. Then he leaned down for a closer inspection. “Hey, you have to come in and see this. Oh, and please bring my glasses.”
She walked in wearing one of the unisex robes. Even though she wasn’t a small woman, the robe brushed the floor and she’d had to roll back the sleeves. Cute as hell.
She handed him his glasses. “Couldn’t find the shower knobs?”
“Smartass.” He gestured toward the sinks. “For your viewing pleasure.”
She padded over to the counter, her bare feet whispering over the heated tiles. “Oh, my.” She cleared her throat. “The Kama Sutra?”
He peered over her shoulder. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen those illustrations, but I’m thinking yes.”
She studied the erotic figures decorating the white porcelain. “The artwork is really well done.” As she leaned down for a better look, her robe gapped open and he had a perfect view of her creamy breast.
He cleared his throat and stepped away from the counter. “Okay, you’ve seen it. Time to continue whatever you were doing.”
Glancing back at him, her attention lowered to his erect cock. “You sure about that, Dr. Bradbury? It would be no trouble for me to get another one of those little raincoats.”
And that’s how he ended up having bathroom counter sex with his glasses on, because he didn’t want to miss a thing. After she brought him a condom, he sat her between the pair of hand-painted sinks, where if he allowed his gaze to stray he could see depictions of various erotic positions. But he hardly needed more inspiration when their coupling was reflected in every mirrored surface surrounding them. The mirrors turned the two-person activity into an orgy.
At first their laughter bounced off the hard surfaces because the experience was so over-the-top. But laughter gave way to pants and groans, then to the rhythmic and liquid sounds of sex, and finally to orgasmic cries of release.
When Nolan could speak again, he looked at Darcie perched on the sink, her bathrobe open and her skin flushed. “At this rate we’ll never get down to the dungeon.”
“We will.” She took a deep breath and her expression changed from dreamy to determined. “I’ll go back to the bedroom and stay there until you’re out of the shower and . . . until you’re covered up.”
“Then please toss one of those sweat suits and a pair of underwear in here when you get a chance.”
“What color sweat suit?”
“Don’t care. Doesn’t matter. We’re going to the dungeon.”
“Right.” She hopped down and left the bathroom without looking back.
As he stepped into the extravagant shower, he wondered if he was a fool to encourage her to spend time in a dungeon working on a murder suspect’s birth chart. He’d thought the hotel was a fantasy getaway, but Harcourt Castle had that place beat by a country mile. Then he sighed and admitted that no matter how this room tempted him with thoughts of loving Darcie, he wanted to work on the case.
He’d really love to be part of Fagan’s security team as they tracked Jan to her final destination, but that wasn’t possible. In the meantime, he had a professional astrologer with permission to study Jan’s birth chart and investigate her motivation. If Darcie could find that motivation, he was willing to forego sex and sit in a dungeon while she worked.
Three hours later he was rethinking that as he stood and stretched. The office chair he’d been sitting in for too long wasn’t half as comfortable as the one that had been destroyed in the explosion. Fagan hadn’t been kidding about the dungeon atmosphere, either. The walls were made of rough stone and the lighting resembled torches stuck into holders on the wall.
The monitors connected to the outside security cameras weren’t dungeon-worthy décor, but the manacles dangling from the wall at various intervals looked authentic. The two computer guys working in the dungeon had hung a plastic Halloween skeleton on the far side of the room, along with some rubber spiders. Even though the place wasn’t a real dungeon, it still gave Nolan the shivers. Darcie had on a red sweat suit and he was happy about that since it provided a spot of cheerful color.
One of the guys kept tabs on the monitors while the other one seemed to have his hands full dealing with emails from all over the world. Dinner had been delivered some time ago. Nolan had eaten his, but Darcie had hardly touched hers. Her attention was completely absorbed by Jan’s birth chart. She’d asked for paper and pen, and she made notes as she studied the chart she’d printed and consulted the digital books she’d requested.
Nolan had spent some time prowling Fagan’s wine cellar and had picked out a nice bottle of red to share with her. She hadn’t touched that, either. He’d had a little, but he didn’t want to sit there swilling wine while she was working so hard.
She’d tried to convince him to go back up to the room, but he couldn’t imagine leaving Darcie in the dungeon. Without their cell phones they wouldn’t have a way of staying in touch, and that felt wrong. He found a wind-up mouse sitting next to one of the computers and he began to play with it.
Finally Darcie grabbed it away from him. “I’m almost finished.”
“Sorry. I’m just . . .”
“I know.” She made a few more notes. “Done!”
Nolan blew out a breath. “And what do you think?”
“She could have done it all on her own, but that doesn’t fit her profile. I think it’s more likely she was influenced by someone else.” She gathered up her notes, the chart, and the remains of her soufflé.
Someone else. That triggered a memory of his conversation with Blackstone at the conference. You’d be surprised. She’s dynamite in the sack.
Darcie turned to the guys working in the dungeon. “I’m finished. Thanks for the use of the computer.”
The one who’d been keeping track of the security camera feeds nodded. “No problem.” The other guy didn’t even glance up from the screen.
Darcie looked at Nolan. “Let’s take all this upstairs.”
“You’ve got it.” He grabbed the bottle of wine and both glasses. “I’m right behind you.”
“That took longer than I expected.” She stepped into the etched glass elevator ahead of him. “I apologize. I know you were bored.”
“I didn’t want to leave you there.” He punched the button for the third floor and the elevator started up.
Her gaze softened. “Thank you. I really didn’t want you to leave, even though I suggested it. Everyone’s perfectly nice, but you’re the only one I actually know. I like having you nearby. You’re my security blanket.”
“I feel better when I’m with you, too.” He recognized a subtle change in his thinking on that score. He’d always liked being alone, and he was still fine with that, but given a choice, he’d rather be with her. “So you think someone besides Jan was involved in the explosion?”
Darcie consulted the chart. “She’s a Scorpio, and her profile indicates a person with strong passions who can act impulsively, but usually the impetus comes from some outside influence. I picture someone talking her into it. I can’t completely justify that hunch with her chart, but I feel it
, intuitively.”
Nolan’s pulse rate spiked. “Blackstone.”
“Yes.”
“But even if Jan and Blackstone worked together, we have zero proof of that.” His initial burst of excitement died as he considered the flimsiness of his evidence. “Blackstone would deny he said anything to me about dating her. Bill wasn’t paying attention at the time so I doubt he heard Blackstone. Besides, what’s his motive? Why use Jan to sabotage the lab and take me out of the picture when his team is ahead?”
The elevator slid to a stop at the third floor, and they stepped into the hallway with its deep-pile carpet.
“What if his team’s not ahead? What if he’s skewed his results?”
Nolan groaned. “If you only knew how it pains me to think he’s done that.”
“But you know him better now.”
“Yeah, I do and I agree he’s capable of it, but his professional reputation is everything to him. Even if he considered fudging his data, the possibility that he’d be discovered and discredited . . . he’d be taking a huge chance. I think that would keep him from doing it.” Nolan unlocked the door to their suite, ushered her inside, and locked it behind them.
A housekeeper had been there, because the bed was straightened but the covers had been folded back. The bed looked inviting, but he could tell Darcie wouldn’t be interested until they’d talked this through.
She walked over to the French doors, which looked out on what was now a fairyland sparkling with lights. He waited for her to exclaim at the beauty of it, but she stared unseeingly at the view.
“Okay,” she said. “What if he stood to lose his reputation anyway because the rival team was too good? What if he evaluated the odds and decided to weight them in his favor with some creative management of his test results?”
“But what would that gain him in the end?” Nolan walked over to the fireplace. The housekeeper must have also refreshed the fire, because it was burning merrily. Maybe the computer guys had notified someone that the guests were on their way back.
“Time. He was counting on how seeing those fake results would rattle you. Then if he could somehow bully you into thinking the whole thing wasn’t worth it and get you to quit, then his competition would be gone. But you showed him this weekend that you weren’t giving up, so he decided to take you out and used Jan to help him do it.”
Nerds Are From Mars Page 21
