A Silken Thread

by Brenda Jackson

  And had Wilson truly insinuated that he hadn’t been sexually active in over twenty years? How was that possible when he was a married man? Surely his wife had been seeing to his needs.

  “I’m coming to Dallas. I want to see you.”

  His words snapped her out of her reverie. “You can’t come here.”

  “Yes, I can. I think we need to talk.”

  “No, we don’t.”

  “Yes, we do. There is no reason for you to feel guilty about anything. Once I tell you everything, then—”

  “But I don’t need to know everything. Your business is between you and your wife and I don’t need to be involved.”

  “But you are involved, sweetheart. Just hear me out and if afterward you still want to feel guilty, fine, I won’t bother you again. The only relationship we’ll have is the one our children will give to us. However, that doesn’t mean I still won’t ask Karen for a divorce after the wedding. I can’t live my life this way any longer.”

  “Wilson, I—”

  “Agree to see me when I come to Dallas on Tuesday. Please.”

  She closed her eyes. She should tell him not to call her again and hang up the phone. Tell him that he and Karen should seek counseling. But she couldn’t do any of those things. Heaven help her, she wanted to see him.

  She slowly opened her eyes and gripped the phone tighter in her hand. “Okay, I agree to see you when you come to Dallas.”

  The sigh she heard on the other end of the phone was long and hard. “Thank you. I’ll call you Monday with my flight info as well as the hotel where I’m—”

  “No! No hotel. We need to meet in a public place.”

  “All right. I’ll make all the arrangements and call you on Monday. Good night, Rita.”

  “Good night.”

  She quickly hung up the phone and closed her eyes. How could she have agreed to see him? Deep down in her heart she knew the reason.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Nice suite.”

  April looked over her shoulder while tossing her purse on the sofa. “Thanks.”

  Now if she could figure out what was going on with the man who was standing in the middle of her suite. She couldn’t believe her luck…or her misery. How many times had she dreamed or fantasized of him doing exactly what he was doing now, standing within ten feet of her and looking at her like he could eat her alive, while simmering sexual tension flowed between them. And that tension was getting more heated the longer they stood there staring at each other and saying nothing.

  She cleared her throat. “I’ll get that wine,” she said, thinking a beeline to her kitchenette was in order.

  “No, not yet.”

  She swallowed as she watched him slowly cross the room and come to a stop directly in front of her. Her breath caught at the seductive smile on his lips and she felt her control, the little she had, faltering.

  “Why? Was there something you wanted?” When a smile curled his lips she became aware how her question might have sounded.

  He reached out and tilted her chin. “Yes, now that you mention it,” he murmured in a deep, husky voice that had the area between her legs throbbing. “I was standing over there thinking of just how much I want to get inside of you.”

  She almost choked on the sensations that suddenly zipped through her. Men had asked to sleep with her before but never quite like that. Griffin hadn’t minced words and the way he was looking at her told her he wouldn’t waste any time getting what he wanted once she gave him the go-ahead.

  And she planned on doing just that. She would be a fool not to. Especially when he was the man she had loved for so long. She shivered at just how long she’d wanted him. How long he had invaded her dreams. How long he had made any man insignificant compared to him.

  She could tell from the deep penetrating look he was giving her that he was waiting for her response. “What’s stopping you?”

  His smile widened. “Nothing. At least not anymore,” he whispered. And then he lowered his mouth to hers and began brushing soft kisses across her lips, before taking the hot tip of his tongue and tracing her mouth from side to side.

  April felt a moan churning deep in her throat that caused her lips to part at the same time her eyelids fluttered closed. And when he slid his tongue between her parted lips, he immediately began tasting her so deeply and exploring her mouth so thoroughly that she felt her knees weaken.

  He opened his mouth fully over hers as if to absorb every single thing about her, and she returned the kiss in the only way she knew how. The way she had done in her dreams so many times, with equal intensity and undiluted pleasure.

  Desire flared through her and the pulse in her neck was beating like crazy as he continued plundering her mouth with a hunger she didn’t know could exist in a man. He tilted her head back to get even more of what he was putting down. And what he was so greedily taking. And then with one last, deep lick across her mouth he pulled his lips from hers.

  “Griffin…”

  His name was a droning ache off her lips and, before she could catch her breath, he bent and swept her off her feet. “I hope you’re ready for me, April North,” he whispered against her mouth.

  If only he knew just how long she’d waited. “I am.”

  The thought of how ready she was began filtering through her mind as he moved toward the bedroom. Everything was happening so fast that she couldn’t think, but then she really didn’t want to think. Tonight, all she wanted to do was feel.

  Never had the need to make love to any woman been so essential, Griffin thought, placing April on the huge bed. Needing to taste her once more, he leaned down and settled his mouth on hers, as his tongue savored every inch of her mouth with a tenderness he hadn’t known he was capable of displaying.

  Her scent deluged him with full awareness and he took his time, coaxing her to tangle her tongue with his and then duel with it. His erection pressed hard against his zipper, throbbing mercilessly, and he knew what he needed to do to provide it some relief.

  He broke off the kiss and gazed down at her. April was draining him of everything and still demanding more. She lay back against the bed cushions, wearing the same outfit that she’d had when she’d walked across the stage. The same outfit that had driven a number of men tonight nearly out of their minds.

  But she was here with him and, before the sun rose in the morning, he planned on doing the one thing he’d wanted to do for years. Make her his in such a way that she could never belong to anyone else.

  Deciding he wouldn’t wait any longer, he reached out and, when she took his hand, he tugged her to the center of the bed and began undressing her, removing piece by sensual piece. When she was down to just her thong, he raked his gaze over her, zeroing in on the perfection of her breasts. The nipples were dark, swollen, delicious-looking and he licked his lips as he continued to stare at them, already tasting them, already feeling the way his tongue would wrap around them, draw them in between his lips, suck them into his mouth.

  His erection felt hard, even more distended, and it was throbbing with a need to get inside of her. He reached out and lifted her legs and using the tip of his fingers he skimmed what there was of the silky material and slid his fingers beneath.

  She let out a pleasurable sigh when he touched her flesh, feeling her moist heat, using the tip of his finger to stir her juices. She moaned when he began easing the thong off her, and when he’d removed it from her body, he slid the scrap of silk beneath his nose to inhale her intimate scent. He tossed the thong aside and then tasted the finger that had been inside of her moments earlier.

  In her expression he saw how what he’d just done affected her. How it had increased her breathing, made the dark nipples on her breasts pucker that much harder. And when his gaze shifted downward and he saw the dewy curls between her legs he felt his erection harden that much more.

  Her hair was in disarray around her shoulders and she stared at him with dark eyes glazed with desire. She looked like
a sexy vixen that needed just what he had in store for her.

  Since he had her full attention, he thought he would make it worth her while. He took a step away from the bed and removed his shoes and socks, his tie and shirt. When his hand went to his zipper, he saw her eyes shift downward and he couldn’t help but smile. She reminded him of a kid on Christmas, eager to unwrap her next present.

  He began lowering his zipper and heard her sharp intake of breath.

  “Need help?” she asked in a voice whose vibrations caressed his skin.

  “Think you can?”

  She shrugged a pair of gorgeous naked shoulders and her nipples seemed to tighten even more. “We’ll never know if I don’t try, will we?”

  No, they wouldn’t. But her attempt just might kill him. He was walking on the edge already and it wouldn’t take much to push him over. But he was game if she was. “Yes, come give me some help.”

  She smiled and scooted across the bed toward him and he had a feeling she was about to give him a lot more than help. She proved him right when she took things over, pushed his hand out of the way and pulled down his zipper to claim what she wanted.

  He felt the warmth of her fingers the moment she touched his flesh and when she pulled his erection from his briefs, he drew in his breath at the sensations overtaking him.

  “Nice.”

  He glanced down and saw she was giving his throbbing member one hell of a look-over. But as he watched her lick her lips he had a feeling looking wasn’t all she planned to do.

  She began massaging him and he threw his head back and closed his eyes. Her hands felt heavenly on him and her fingertips rubbing across the sensitive flesh of his head almost made him come.

  When he suddenly felt her mouth on him he snapped open his eyes and glanced downward. Hell! He moaned loudly when she began working him with her tongue and teeth. It felt better than good. It felt so out of this world he figured he had to be on another planet.

  But he knew he was here, in Chicago, at the Hilton Hotel in room 1234, while April, the woman he’d had the hots for most of his life, had his throbbing member in her mouth and having a damn field day with it. The more he moaned the harder she went at it, exerting more pressure, delivering more pleasure and making him groan her name one syllable at a time.

  And when he felt himself about ready to explode he tried to pull out of her mouth but her lips clamped down on him and with precise, accurate meticulousness she tightened her hold on him and he felt himself being pulled deeper down her throat.

  “April!”

  What took place next was like a dream come true. A very, hot enticing dream that he didn’t want to end. He shuddered to completion while she maintained possession of his shaft, determined to get the last drop.

  When she released him he should have been ready to collapse on the floor but he wasn’t. Instead of draining him, what she’d just done sent his testosterone level blasting and the only thing he could think about was returning the favor.

  Before she could do any more enjoyable damage, he tumbled her backward in the bed and before she could straighten her position, he was there with his head between her legs, invading her womanly folds with his tongue and lavishing nonstop attention to her clit. He had gotten a sample of her taste earlier, but it couldn’t compare to this and he gobbled her up like she was his last meal. She moaned and tried pushing him away, and then within a heartbeat she tried holding him there to her. The more she lifted her hips off the bed, the deeper his greedy tongue went.

  “Griffin!”

  She screamed his name and tilted her pelvis up and he was there, tangling his tongue inside of her, lapping her up with fervor. When he felt her body go limp, he pulled back to remove his pants and briefs completely.

  And then he was back, easing his body between her legs and sliding himself inside of her, groaning in primitive pleasure while doing so. He pressed forward until he reached the hilt and only then did he let his body go still to take pleasure in the feel of her inner muscles convulsing around him while trying to milk him for all he was worth.

  Evidently she held his pleasure in high esteem because he felt her making a bold attempt to extract everything out of him, and almost too late he thought of something and looked down at her. “Please tell me you’re on the Pill.”

  He saw the way her lips curled into a heated smile. “Please tell me you’re safe.”

  He chuckled. “Fine time to want to know such things and, yes, I’m safe.”

  “So am I. And yes, I’m on the Pill.”

  That’s all he needed to know. He began thrusting into her as if he didn’t expect to be alive tomorrow and this was his last opportunity to make love with a woman. So he did, with deep, concentrated strokes. He was like a crazy man who couldn’t get enough of her. Then he lowered his head to take a nipple in his mouth, and had her whimpering his name when he began sucking on it.

  When he felt her explode, heard her cry out his name, felt the way her muscles were pulling everything out of him, he bucked and felt his release as it shot right to her womb.

  “April…”

  He moaned her name in relentless pleasure while cupping her hips, raising them to meet his every thrust. A fierce rush of need ripped through him as he continued driving his hardness into her. She didn’t know it yet but she belonged to him. And as he continued to explode inside of her he knew if she didn’t get that point this time around, she would the next.

  April slowly opened her eyes and blinked in amazement. Had she just done four hours of nonstop lovemaking? No, it couldn’t be true. But when she shifted and felt the soreness of her body she was convinced that it was.

  She turned her head and saw that Griffin’s half of the bed was empty. Had he gotten what he wanted from her and hauled ass like a thief in the night? She wasn’t sure just how she felt about that. A part of her was elated that she had finally shared a bed with the man she loved, but the thought that it had only been a one-night stand stung. But then, what had she expected? Probably the only emotion that had ruled his mind and body last night was lust. Although she knew it, had known it from the start, she couldn’t stop her heart from breaking.

  “I was wondering how long you were going to sleep. I apologize for keeping you up most of the night.”

  She drew in a sharp breath and moved her gaze upward. Griffin was standing beside the bed, looming over her. Where had he come from? She shifted to sit up, felt the tenderness in her thighs, breasts and the juncture of her legs and thought better of it. “I thought you had gone.”

  He lifted a brow. “Gone where?”

  She shrugged her naked shoulders. “Left.”

  He smiled and sat on the bed to face her. “I was sitting over in the chair, watching you sleep. You actually thought I would make love to you like I did last night and then skip out this morning?”

  “Yes.”

  He reached out and gently caressed the side of her face with the back of his hand. “That tells me that you truly don’t know me very well.”

  I know you well enough to know you’ve always had my heart, she thought, but she knew they were words she would never get the chance to say. “I guess not.”

  “Then I’m going to have to remedy that, starting now.”

  He lowered his mouth over hers, absorbing her gasp of surprise and pleasure. He took the opportunity to slide his tongue inside her mouth and then he began mating his tongue with hers in a way he’d done all through the night. She knew from the past four hours he was a skillful lover and she didn’t regret one minute of being in his arms, even if it didn’t mean as much to him as it meant to her.

  She knew once they parted that this would be nothing more than a shared moment in history. A shared moment she would remember for the rest of her life. She could have her dreams and fantasies, but he had proven to her that there was nothing like the real deal.

  He slowed pulled his mouth away and smiled down at her. “Now you see why I didn’t want to stay in bed with you? You d
eserved your rest and as long as you were within reaching distance, I wouldn’t let that happen.”

  He chuckled and then said, “I’m truly not the greedy bastard I came across as last night. It’s just that I’ve wanted you for so long and—”

  “What did you just say?” She hated interrupting him but she needed for him to clarify what he meant, especially when he had insinuated something similar yesterday while standing in front of her hotel room door.

  He stared at her for a long moment and then he took her hand. “Look, I don’t want to come on too heavy and scare you off, but I was only being honest. I’ve had this thing for you for some time.”

  Her heart began beating in her chest. “This thing?” She needed more clarification.

  A crooked smile touched his lips and she was almost robbed of her breath. “Yeah, you know…”

  She nodded. In a way she did know. It was no different from what any man had for a supermodel. Models were some men’s fantasy girls. “Oh, a hot thing,” she said, trying to keep the sound of disappointment out of her voice and feeling her heart rate slow down.

  “Yeah, that, too. But for me it’s a lot more than that.”

  Her heart rate increased again. “In what way?”

  “I’ve always had this thing for you, but I knew since you were Erica’s friend that you would never entertain the notion of us dating, although Erica and I are nothing but friends.”

  Not only was her heart beating faster, it was thumping so loud she thought she could actually hear it beating in her chest. “You wanted to date me?”

  “Yes, when you would come home to visit Ms. Connie while in college.”

  She lifted a brow. “Before I became a model?”

  “Yes, before you became a model. Your becoming a model had nothing to do with anything, although I was proud of you. Then you kept meeting guys more in your league and getting engaged and married, and I figured approaching you was out of the question since I never wanted to leave our home town.”