The Black Sheep and the English Rose

by Donna Kauffman

  Finn reached past her and pressed the elevator button. When he stepped in after her, she felt a bit claustrophobic, as if he was suddenly taking up way too much space, using up way too much of her precious air. And yet, he was standing a respectable distance from her, not so much as looking at her. Which did nothing to stop the little mini fantasy from playing out in her mind. She couldn’t seem to keep herself from imagining what would happen if she suddenly jammed the emergency button, stopping the lift between floors, then catching his reflected gaze in the mirrored walls.

  Mirrored walls that would show them from every angle as he saw the need in her eyes, pushed her up against the silvery tiles, and pulled her legs up around his hips. He’d shove her skirt up her thighs as she wove her fingers into his hair and took the weight of his mouth on hers. Their tongues would be dueling, mirrors steaming, her panties—snapped from her hips—in a crumple on the tiled lift floor.

  She knew exactly, remembered perfectly, the depth and breadth of him, the way he filled her so fully, so completely. She would arch into him, taking him as he drove her back up the wall, spine arched, chin tilted, exposing her neck to his greedy mouth, gasping as he shoved her higher so he could nip and tear at the tiny row of buttons keeping her dress closed, her nipples aching to the point of pain from wanting his warm breath, his damp tongue, caressing them, sucking them. She’d moan, and thrust her hips, and—

  “Have a problem with tight spaces?”

  She blinked her eyes open at the sound of his voice, then flushed furiously as she realized that last little moan hadn’t taken place in the fevered depths of her highly realized fantasy. “Not usually,” she managed, wishing her own tight spaces would stop reminding her of the problem she was currently experiencing. Namely wanting the man next to her to invade them. Often, and with great fortitude.

  Finn let her lead from the elevator, though the cooler, damp air of the underground parking garage did little to calm her steamed thoughts. Or body. He held the door to her town car open as he had before, only this time she wasn’t nearly as composed. It was lack of food, she was certain, causing her to experience such dodgy behavior. They’d ended up skipping John’s offer at Antoine’s, leaving the tea and biscuits she’d shared with him earlier as her only source of energy for the day.

  “I don’t suppose you have a chef on duty at your place?” she inquired, wanting like mad to find her way back to solid ground.

  “Hungry?”

  Ravenous, she thought, only she wasn’t picturing food as she had the thought. She glanced out the window and summoned up her most regal intonation. “I could do with a light meal, a sandwich or salad perhaps. I’m afraid all I’ve had today is tea and champagne, and a few biscuits.”

  “And here I was hoping you were thinking about dessert.”

  She wouldn’t look at him. Couldn’t. The last thing she needed right now was him baiting her in any way that was remotely sexual. She was baiting herself quite well, all on her own. “First things first,” she somehow managed, knowing full well she’d likely need a whole lot more than a full meal to give her the strength she apparently needed to deal with him on a continued one-on-one basis. Especially seeing as she was going to be behind closed doors, in private with him, at least for the next several hours. With a bed handily nearby. She sighed a little, not caring at this point what he thought.

  “I’ll see what I can scrounge up,” he said, a hint of concern in his voice. “We shouldn’t dally too long, though. Reese has to be making plans to set up a buy as we speak. We need to get a handle on his partner and/or buyer, then move on it as fast as we can.”

  She trembled with a bit of relief. No dallying. She was perfectly fine with no dallying. She didn’t even feel bad for making him worry just a little about her. The fact that he did made it just as hard on her anyway. “You have equipment to do a fingerprint trace from the glass?”

  “I have access there to a lot of things.”

  She let that bit of news sink in, wondering now if his reasons for keeping a place in town were more business oriented than sentimental or personal. A convenient way to keep the various tools and technology one needed in a profession such as his handy and available. If her every move wasn’t so keenly followed by either her Foundation board or the folks who employed her for her other services, she’d consider making a similar investment herself.

  The more she thought about it, the more the idea of having her own private little oasis appealed to her. Imagine a place where no one could track her every moment, her every scheduled breath. Not an impersonal hotel room, or one of her family’s ancestral holdings, complete with gossipy staff, but her very own, very private, very personal little place.

  She allowed herself a few indulgent moments to imagine such a thing, telling herself that from a practical standpoint, it would make great sense to have such a base of operations to work from. Of course, there was no way she could hide herself away in London, as she was far too high profile there. The press would ferret out her hidey-hole in minutes. And though she spent considerable time in New York, D.C. and L.A. when she was in the States, if it was Foundation business, she was usually so heavily scheduled, with her time stretched over more than one city, that she’d have little enough time in any one place for a permanent residence to do her much good. The same could be said for Milan, Paris, and Rome.

  And when she visited a city on her other business, she rarely stayed in the same spot for more than a night or two before moving on, and never in the same place twice on consecutive visits. Friends and Foundation members assumed she was on one of her many shopping sprees. And, in a fashion, she was, in fact, usually hunting for a new bauble.

  The town car rolled to a stop in front of a tidily maintained but otherwise nondescript row house. “Yours?” she asked, somewhat surprised. She hadn’t known what to expect, but perhaps something a bit more elegant, something in the more fashionable Greenwich or SoHo neighborhoods.

  Finn nodded. “Home away from home.”

  “What made you choose this area?” They were in Chelsea, if she had her bearings right.

  “Interesting neighborhood. I had some friends who lived here when I worked for the city, and I always enjoyed the energy here.”

  The area was definitely a mixed bag between high brow and low brow, which, when she thought about Finn’s more rumpled elegance, perhaps made more sense than she’d originally thought.

  He slid out and held the door for her. She stared up at the building in front of her, and he stepped in behind her, his hand on the small of her back, making it almost impossible to keep track of what he was saying. Something about the place being one of the few restored nineteenth-century brownstones still privately owned. All she could think about was how warm and large his palm felt against the curve of her spine.

  She might have taken the steps a bit more quickly than recommended for someone with heels on, but the sooner they got into his place and did what had to be done, the sooner they’d be back in the car, back on the hunt for Reese and that Byzantine sapphire. If it wasn’t already too late.

  Thoughts of the phone call she’d be forced to make to London later, explaining the details of her first failed mission, helped keep her head in the game…and out of Finn’s bed.

  Finn stepped in front of her and typed a quick series into the keypad by the front door handle. She didn’t miss the fact that he’d shielded her from seeing exactly what he’d keyed in. So much for trust among thieves. Of course, if she was being honest, it had already crossed her mind that she might not need her own city oasis if she could simply find a way to access the one Finn already, so helpfully, had. Three layers of entry security later, she decided that wasn’t going to be such an easy task.

  But then, she did so love a challenge.

  “My, my,” she said, when they finally entered his inner sanctum. “How…bohemian of you.”

  Finn laughed, not remotely put off by her less than enthusiastic reaction to his personal space. “I spent
enough time in stuffy law libraries and leather-bound offices. I don’t like feeling constricted.”

  She wandered into the expansive foyer and looked up. Where there would have traditionally been a crystal chandelier hanging from the second-story, open ceiling, instead there hung a huge, brightly patterned parachute, somehow lit from behind, so the colors of the billowing silk played along the foyer walls, and those of the broad staircase leading to the second and third floors. She turned back to him. “You have the whole building, then?”

  He nodded. “We all make use of it from time to time, when needed, but it’s mine, yes.”

  “Who is ‘we’?” She wandered into the front parlor off the foyer, half expecting to see hammocks slung rather than the more traditional settee and high-backed chairs, and so was only partially surprised to see a series of low-slung suede chairs and ottomans scattered about, with a huge brass platter balanced on a gnarl of mahogany root as a coffee table of sorts, and a pile of various types of rugs scattered about in front of the fireplace mantel. “Well, I see you’re all prepared for your next orgy.”

  “I like comfortable things,” was all he said, still sounding vastly amused by her reaction. “And the ‘we’ in question are my two partners, Rafe and Mac. We sort of grew up together.”

  “And your business in Virginia brings you here?”

  “What do you think this is?”

  She lifted a shoulder. “A personal jaunt, perhaps? After all, I’m not aware of too many charities that encourage breaking and entering, fingerprinting and stalking, as appropriate methods of philanthropy.”

  “I never said I ran a charity. You did.”

  That gave her pause. She might not have obsessively followed his every move, much as she’d have liked to, but she felt pretty sure of the little research she had done. “What, then, is Trinity, Inc., if not a charitable foundation?”

  “We help people, just not in the traditional sense.”

  She felt him enter the room behind her, but kept her focus on the series of fascinating framed photographs lining the walls.

  He stopped just behind her, so close she could feel his breath stir the ends of her curls. “And what do you know of Trinity? Checking up on me, are you?”

  “I’ve found it’s never a bad thing to know at least a little about my adversaries.”

  He leaned a bit closer, and she stared that much harder at a matted shot of Finn in mid leap out of an airplane. “Is that what I am to you, Felicity Jane? An adversary?”

  She tried not to visibly shudder in pleasure at the feel of his breath on her neck, his body heat warming her even from the slight distance there still was between them. “We certainly have been in the past.”

  He moved an infinitesimal bit closer. “And now?”

  She paused, long enough to draw on whatever reserves she had left, knowing she had to answer him with cool detachment if she didn’t want to end up flat on her back in his bed. Or draped across one of those sumptuous-looking ottomans. “And now we have to figure out who John is working with before our little blue quarry leaves the country for points unknown and likely far more difficult to extract it from. I’d much rather wrap this up on American soil, if you don’t mind.”

  He reached past her and tapped the photograph she’d been staring at. “My first jump. It was about four years ago, right after my father died. Amazing how clearly you can see things from ten thousand feet in the air.”

  “I—I can only imagine,” she managed, wondering how to shift away from him without touching him.

  “And I’m sure you have a rather well developed one.” He ran his finger along the lines of the parachute in the picture, and it was as if he were touching her instead. “Have you ever?” he asked.

  “Ever…what?” Could he read her mind? Did he know how hard her nipples were at this moment? How damp her panties?

  “Jumped.”

  “From—an airplane? A perfectly functional one? No. I rather like to stay in touch with my own sanity, thank you.” Like she would right now, she thought, wishing she felt more tightly tethered to reality than she happened to at that moment.

  “Given your predilection for adrenaline-based activities, I’d think you’d find it incredibly satisfying.”

  “You think I’m an adrenaline junkie?”

  “I think you have to have a certain appreciation for the rush to do what you do.”

  “Running the Trent Foundation is quite rewarding, but I wouldn’t exactly say it gets the adrenaline pumping.”

  “I’m not talking about your charitable works.”

  Which, of course, she knew. So, he was calling her out, was he? Pushing her to put her cards on the table, as it were. She turned now, perhaps very unwisely, but she wanted to hear, directly from his lips, while looking into his eyes, just what it was he thought of her alternate occupation. “And what is it, exactly, that you think I do?”

  She was neatly tucked between the wall of photos behind her and the wall of broad chest in front of her. His hand was still touching the picture beside her head, but he moved it now, fingering the ends of her curls instead, in a way that sent a tingling sensation along every nerve ending she possessed. It was a delicious feeling, and one she’d have loved to indulge in further, encouraged even, if the stakes weren’t so high.

  “I don’t exactly know,” he said. He twined more of her hair around his finger and leaned in a bit closer, his crystal blue eyes gazing intently into her own. “Why don’t you help me understand why a woman of your means feels the need to steal those priceless little baubles, as you call them? My guess is it has to be the rush, the danger. Am I wrong?”

  It shouldn’t have offended her in the least, the conclusion he’d drawn. In reverse circumstances, she’d have drawn the exact same one herself. She wanted to confide in him, which would serve the dual purpose of finally having someone to discuss this secret life with, as well as give her the supreme pleasure of tossing his presumptions back into his beautiful face. That was dangerous enough, but even more, she perversely wished she didn’t have to explain herself at all. She wanted him to think better of her than that, when, of course, she’d given him absolutely no reason to.

  “One might wonder the same of you,” she said. “We’ve crossed paths several times now, in quest of, shall we say, off market property, using less than orthodox methods for retrieval. If the organization you formed with your childhood acquaintances isn’t a charity or a trust, then what, exactly, is it? You’ve been in business with them for two years, but it’s been longer than that since our paths first crossed in Bogota. Do you have other business interests of a more solo nature? And if you are here in the city on business, as you claim, then why would said business include mirroring the very same activities as me, pursuing the very same bauble, in fact, if not for the same reason? Client or no client. After all, you’re an admitted adrenaline junkie, as the many photos on these walls would attest.”

  “Perhaps it takes one to know one,” he said, his gaze not wavering in the least, despite the casual tone.

  So, he was going to let her think him some sort of common thief. Well, perhaps common wasn’t fair, as their quarry required a far higher skill set than that of the average jewel thief. “Perhaps, but from what I know of you, adrenaline junkie or no, international jewel thief doesn’t seem to fit your otherwise helper-of-the-people profile.”

  “The same could be said of you.”

  She smiled now, a slow curve of the lips. “I know.” She used the momentary confusion in his eyes as her opportunity to finally slip free of his immediate proximity. “So, time being a precious commodity, shouldn’t we get on with doing whatever testing can be done to this fine piece of stemware?” She retrieved the wineglass from her tote and held it out to him.

  He crossed the room and reached out for the glass, but she pulled it back, her smile growing wider with his frown. “You are going to let me assist, right?”

  She could see from the look on his face that that hadn’t
exactly been his plan.

  “If you’re worried about giving up all the secrets to your little bat cave here, have no fear. I have my own set of resources. I can assure you I won’t be requiring yours.”

  He held her gaze for a long moment.

  “If we’re to be partners, the trust has to start somewhere,” she said.

  “Partners,” he repeated. His gaze dropped to her lips, long enough to make her squirm a little. Then he abruptly turned around and walked out of the room. “Follow me,” was all he said.

  Chapter 5

  Finn didn’t know what to do with her, but he damn well knew what he wanted to do. He didn’t bother to look up the staircase, knowing full well there was quite the decadent lair waiting for them both upstairs. Knowing equally well just how good a use the two of them could make of such lodgings. If he chose to nudge her in that direction, which he wouldn’t. Not if he had any sense in his head.

  It was risky enough, bringing someone like her here, to his inner sanctum. It wasn’t smart, giving someone with her proclivities even the most limited invitation to what was available within these old, renovated walls. It was true that both Rafe and Mac had availed themselves of the technology housed here, but, unlike the vast compound at Dalton Downs, this wasn’t Trinity property. This place was his, had been long before his father had passed. The one thing he still had left from his former life, the one thing that had never been anyone else’s. And he was already regretting bringing her here. Even in such a short time, he knew she’d find a way to imprint herself on his space, making her even more unforgettable, in the last place he needed her to be.

  He stepped into the foyer and turned toward the hallway leading under the stairs to the rear of the house. Only he paused beneath the staircase itself and pushed on a panel hidden there. There was a soft click; then the entire wall panel swung inward. A cool rush of air from the lower realms of the below stairs brushed his skin as he crouched to step inside, then down the first several of the iron spiral steps leading downward. “Mind your head,” was all he said to her, not even turning to see if she followed. Certain she would. “Use the handrail. Those shoes you’re wearing aren’t the most functional things for an operation like this.”