by Rebecca York
“You can’t,” he whispered.
“I want to.”
“I know. So do I. But we’ll wait until you’re better,” he managed to say, even though he had pushed himself to the edge. Pushed both of them.
As he studied her flushed skin and accelerated breathing, he decided he didn’t have to leave both of them in need.
Kicking off his shoes, he swung his legs onto the bed. Then, his focus on her pleasure, he dipped one hand under the covers, slipping under the hem of her gown and working his way up toward her most intimate flesh.
When he found her wet and swollen for him, he made a low sound of approval.
“Maybe we could…” she whispered.
“We’re not going to do anything too strenuous. Just let me please you.”
He bent to play with her breasts again, using his lips and tongue and teeth while he slid his hand into her folds in long strokes that dipped inside her, then moved upward to the point of greatest sensation.
He had a lot of experience pleasing women. And even though he hadn’t been with anyone in years, he was gratified to find that he hadn’t forgotten the moves. He listened to her breathing, judging her reactions, doing exactly what worked best for her, pushing her toward the point of no return.
When she came undone for him, he kept up the pressure, drawing out the pleasure of her climax—for both of them.
Her eyes blinked open and she stared at him, looking dizzy.
“That was…wonderful.”
“I’m glad.”
“What about you?”
“There will be plenty of time for me.”
“I should…”
“You will. But not yet.”
His heart was pounding and his body was on fire, but he eased down beside her, linking his fingers with hers.
“I’ve never met anyone like you,” she whispered.
I’m sure you haven’t, he thought, but he only squeezed her hand.
He felt her relax beside him and wished he could do the same, but his body was still humming.
Closing his eyes, he tried to unwind. This was the start of something good—for him and for Olivia. For the first time in years, he would have an intimate companion. Someone he could trust besides Thomas.
Or would it work out that way? For real intimacy, he’d have to let her past the barrier he’d erected between himself and the world.
“What’s wrong?” Olivia murmured.
“Nothing.”
“Don’t start off evading me,” she whispered.
He was searching for an answer when the phone on the bedside table rang.
He fumbled the receiver out of the cradle.
“Mr. Feldman?”
He almost said no, until he remembered that that was the name he’d registered under.
“Yes.”
“This is Harold at the front desk. You asked me to contact you if anything unusual occurred.”
He sat up, instantly alert. “What happened?”
Beside him Olivia pushed herself up, a look of alarm on her face. He kept his free hand on hers and squeezed it reassuringly.
The desk clerk was saying, “Someone was asking if you were registered. Well, not by the name Feldman.”
“What name?”
“Fielding. I said you weren’t here. Then he described you and your…wife.”
“Who was asking?”
“A tough-looking man.”
“The police?”
The desk clerk hesitated. “He might have been, except that he offered me money.”
Noah fought a bolt of alarm. “But you said I wasn’t here.”
“That’s right.”
“Okay. Thanks. I believe we’re going to check out, but I need to make some arrangements. I’d like you to contact a private ambulance service, so my wife will be comfortable on the way to the airport.”
“When do you want the ambulance?”
“As soon as possible.”
He climbed off the bed and ran a hand through his hair.
Olivia’s look of alarm stabbed through him.
“Somebody was asking about us at the front desk.”
“Us?”
“A couple looking like us. So we’re getting out of here.”
“Where are we going?”
“Home.”
JARRED Bainbridge was leaving nothing to chance now. He was keeping in close touch with his men in Las Vegas.
When the phone rang, he picked it up before it finished ringing. “Well?” he demanded.
“We checked the luxury hotels,” Wexler told him.
“And?”
“Nothing. Nobody admits to seeing anyone like Fielding and the Stapler woman.”
He thought about Fielding’s strategy. He could have left, except that Stapler was injured, and she probably couldn’t be moved easily. Which brought up another point. Fielding could have checked them into a dive, but he probably wouldn’t have wanted to subject the woman to any place where she wouldn’t be entirely comfortable.
“Go back to the same hotels and try again. Offer more money.” He paused for a moment, thinking. “If possible, speak to different people than the ones you talked to the first time. Just a minute before you hang up,” he said.
Reaching for the glass of water and the bottle of pills on the table next to his padded chair, he took some pain medication. His damn body was failing and if he didn’t find a cure soon, he was done. Pushing away a feeling of desperation, he looked through his notes. “And talk to that research doctor, Sidney Hemmings, again. He might know more than he’s saying.”
OLIVIA pushed herself up and winced, but Noah stopped her.
“You don’t have to do anything. I’ll take care of getting us out of here.”
“I have to get dressed.”
“We’re taking a private plane. You can wear that.”
“I want to have my clothes on.”
He gave her an exasperated look, then seemed to check himself.
“I’m sorry. I’m upset about the call.” He walked into the sitting room and came back with a couple of bags. Opening them, he dumped out a running suit. “This should be comfortable.”
“Yes, thanks.”
“I’ll help you dress.”
“I think I can do it.”
“You’re sure?”
“You’ve got things to do.”
He nodded and picked up the phone again. As she gingerly pulled the gown over her head, she heard him talking, apparently to a company that flew executives around in private jets.
At first it sounded like he didn’t like what he was hearing. Then he said, “How about for an extra fee?” After a few seconds, he answered, “Okay. Good.”
Hanging up, he looked up, caught her naked and grinned. “Very nice.” His expression turned regretful. “Except for the bandage.”
She kept her eyes on him as she reached for the loose T-shirt that went under the jacket and pulled it over her head. He came over and helped her get her left arm through the sleeve.
“I get the feeling you have a lot of experience making quick getaways,” she whispered.
“Yeah.”
When he’d left the room, she sat for a minute staring at the door, fighting the feeling that she’d jumped from the frying pan into the fire. The worst part was that she was falling in love with Noah—even though she knew that he could hurt her badly.
Closing her eyes, she sat with her hands clenched, fighting the feeling that she was being swept down a raging river by a strong current.
Then she straightened her shoulders.
Noah was doing everything he could to get them out of town. She wouldn’t hold him up. So she finished dressing, then looked in the bag for shoes. He’d bought a pair of running shoes for her that were just about her size, and flip-flops.
“The running shoes are a better choice,” she heard Noah say from the doorway. “Easier for balance.”
She turned to him. “But I can’t get them on.”
“I’ll help you.”
He knelt by the side of the bed and helped her put on socks and shoes.
When she was dressed, he left the room and came back with a travel bag, into which he stuffed the rest of the clothing he’d bought her.
“They’ll call us when the ambulance arrives.”
“Okay.” She cleared her throat. “You think this has something to do with my brother?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who else has a grudge against you?”
Chapter Nine
Noah swallowed. “You mean besides Eddie Carlson’s brother?”
“Yes.”
“I think I…defused Carlson. I mean, he knows that I hated to see those men die and I wanted to provide compensation for their widows and children.”
Olivia nodded.
Noah continued the analysis of his situation, trying to be as honest as he could. “There’s the Las Vegas PD. But I think that has more to do with you and your brother than with me.”
Again she nodded.
“But we have to consider the incident in the hospital with the guy who claimed to be from the FBI. I think that either your brother did something we don’t know about or someone is trying to get to me, and I don’t know which.”
“Pearson could have been involved in something.”
“When I get home, I’m going to put the Light Street Detective Agency on it.”
“You’ve worked with them?”
“No, but they impressed me—with the way they turned up my location. And I like the idea of hooking up with an organization I haven’t used before.”
“You made a snap decision about them—the way you did about me. You do that often?”
“I’m a good judge of character.” He could have added that he wouldn’t get involved with a detective agency without doing a background check, but that would lead to a discussion of whether or not he’d vetted Olivia.
“Could you—” She stopped.
“What?”
“I hate to create another problem.”
“Just tell me.”
She looked down as she spoke. “If we’re leaving, could the Light Street Detective Agency get something from my apartment? My mom’s jewelry. It’s all I have left from her.”
“Where is it?”
“In a dresser drawer. In a blue box.”
“Of course I’ll make sure it gets to you.”
“Thank you.”
His cell phone interrupted the conversation. It was the travel company, telling him the flight was ready, which led to a lot of activity. He had to check on the ambulance, pack the clothing that he’d bought for himself, hide the guns in his suitcase and make sure the oversized seat he’d requested was on board for Olivia.
Forty minutes later, they were at a private terminal at the airport.
“Don’t we have to go through security?” Olivia asked.
“Not with this kind of flight.”
“Okay.”
He got her settled on the plane, then buckled up before takeoff. As soon as he could get up, he went forward to confer with the pilot about the arrangements for landing.
The convenience of air travel never ceased to amaze him. He’d spent so many years of his life traveling by foot, horse, cart, wagon train and canoe. Steamboats had been a tremendous improvement.
People today complained about waiting around airports and delayed flights. Instead, they should thank God they weren’t on a wagon train traveling a few miles an hour across the desert. Or crammed into a small sailing ship crossing the Atlantic.
He’d come to Las Vegas through L.A., but this time, to avoid the large airport, they were landing in Santa Barbara.
He went back to the passenger cabin to see how Olivia was doing and found that she’d fallen asleep.
As he stood looking at her, his heart squeezed. He really had acted in extreme haste getting involved with her. Whisking her away. Marrying her. Had he done the best thing for her, or had he let his own selfish reasons sweep away good judgment?
He didn’t know. And he didn’t know how he was going to handle letting her in on his secret. In the beginning, he’d have to be cautious about how much he told her. Either way, it was going to create trust issues between them.
He sighed. Honesty compelled him to admit that he’d plunged into this marriage too hastily. The urgency had come from his own needs and he had nobody to blame but himself.
Turning away from her, he picked up his laptop. Of course, the restrictions on using his computer were not the same as they would have been on a commercial flight. After informing the pilot of what he was doing, he took a seat several yards away from where Olivia slept and began doing some research on the Light Street Detective Agency. By the time they were on their final approach to Santa Barbara, he was pretty sure that he was going to hire them. But an in-depth phone call to the agency would have to wait until they got back to the ranch.
As he made that decision, another thought flitted through his mind and he cursed under his breath.
He’d been so wound up with events in Las Vegas that he’d forgotten to alert Thomas. Knowing he was going to set a whirlwind in motion, he made a call to the ranch.
“Is there something wrong?” Thomas asked when he recognized Noah’s voice.
“I ran into some trouble in Las Vegas. We’ll talk about it when I get there.”
“Okay.”
Noah cleared his throat. “I’m bringing someone back to the ranch with me.”
“Dr. Hemmings?”
Noah laughed. Hemmings was another detail that had slipped his mind. “No, actually, my wife.”
“Your wife?” Thomas asked, his voice incredulous.
“Yes. Her name is Olivia. It’s a long story and I’ll tell you about it when I get back.”
“Yes, sir.”
He thought about the sleeping arrangements at the ranch. “She was injured. It might be a good idea to put her in a guest room for now.”
Thomas agreed.
“I know this is a bit of a shock to you. It’s a bit of a shock to me, too.”
“Yes, sir. When can we expect you?”
“We’re landing in Santa Barbara in twenty minutes.”
“Twenty minutes! That doesn’t give us much time.”
“Can you send a car down to the airport for us? I guess the SUV would be best.”
“I’ll have Pablo leave right now. You may have to wait for a few minutes.”
“We’ll stay on the plane until he tells me he’s in the parking lot.”
“Very good.”
He ended the call and looked up to see Olivia watching him.
“How are you?”
“Better. When I first woke up, I couldn’t figure out where I was. There have been so many changes in the last few hours that I can’t keep up.”
“Likewise.”
She kept her gaze on him. “Do you really want to put me in a separate bedroom?”
“Away from temptation—my temptation—until you’re better.”
“I am better.”
“We’ll see.” He took the seat next to her and buckled his seat belt for the descent.
Pablo must have left the ranch immediately and not run into much traffic because he was at the airport fifteen minutes after they landed. Ten minutes after that, they were on their way north.
Olivia watched the scenery change from urban sprawl to dry brown hills.
“You do live out in the country.”
“I like my privacy,” he answered, wondering how it was going to work for Olivia. “As soon as you’re better, I’ll take you to some of the clothing stores in town.”
“Okay.”
“And you might want to do some redecorating at the ranch. I’m afraid I haven’t made much attempt to be stylish.”
“You’re sure you trust me with redecorating?”
“Of course,” he answered, wondering what her taste was like. “Unless it’s something really weird, I
won’t much care. But I know that women do.”
Thomas opened the gate by remote control and he watched Olivia taking in his landscaping. She caught her breath when she saw the house.
“You approve?” he asked.
“It’s perfect for the location.”
“Thank you.”
“Did an architect design it?”
“I did.”
She gave him a surprised look. “Another talent I didn’t know about. What else should I know about you?”
“I guess we’ll find out.”
Thomas had lined up some of the staff, and Noah wished his majordomo had skipped the formality when he saw the overwhelmed look on Olivia’s face as she was introduced first to Thomas then to Margarita, Caesar and Benita.
“Do you need to lie down?” Noah asked her when the staff had gone back to their work.
“No,” she answered. “I just got here.”
“Then let’s go to the sunroom.”
He led her through a dark and outdated living room to the glass-and-wood enclosed space that he’d filled with orchids and other plants.
She sat down on the chaise longue and looked around, wide-eyed. “You’re rich,” she whispered. “But I guess I knew that already.”
He shrugged. When he saw Thomas hovering in the doorway, he hesitated for a moment. They’d have to talk about what they were going to say. But until then, he knew his old friend was smart enough not to give anything away, so he motioned him in.
“Why don’t you sit down, Thomas?” he said.
His chief of staff perched on the edge of a wicker chair.
“Sit,” Noah said again, and the other man slung his body into the seat.
“Thomas is a friend of mine as well as the man who keeps the household running,” he said to Olivia. “If you need anything, just ask him.”
Thomas smiled at her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“And you, too. I know you’re going to be an enormous help to me.” Olivia cleared her throat. “I take it there hasn’t been a lady of the house recently.”
“True.”
“I’ll try not to get in your way.”
“This is your home,” Thomas answered. “I hope we can make you entirely comfortable here. Starting with something to eat. What can I get you?”
