“You give new meaning to protection from the sun.”
He was glad she’d taken things lightly. After the intimate moments in this bedroom, he feared she’d get too serious.
Then he laughed wryly. Perhaps he was at risk of losing himself to this woman who’d begun to trust him with her most personal demons and secrets, but he couldn’t say she felt the same. At least she hadn’t been in control of herself seconds earlier, he thought smugly.
“Wipe that self-satisfied grin off your face before I’m forced to take drastic action.” She pulled her skirt down and pushed herself to a sitting position, hugging her knees against her exposed breasts. All without meeting his gaze.
So she wasn’t the woman of the world she wanted him to think she was. The thought gave Jack immense pleasure. Not that he had any delusions that he was her first anything, but he could tell from the shy way she cast her eyes from him and the becoming flush on her cheeks that Mallory wasn’t overly experienced in dealing with things afterward. She was most definitely the enigma he’d painted her as, with more intriguing facets revealing themselves to him as time passed.
He reached for her bathing suit top and draped it over her head. Gratitude filled her gaze, warming him, caressing him in her essence. He swiveled her to the side and retied the open strings of the bikini at her back.
All without sound or roaming hands. No matter how much he desired to leave her bared to his gaze, she’d obviously be more comfortable covered. And her comfort mattered more to him than a lingering glance at her bare breasts or an extra stroke with his hands. Being with Mallory was hot and electric, but it was more than a casual sexual encounter he’d leave behind in the morning and forget by the next day.
Jack wasn’t stupid and knew there was an important subliminal message in his feelings regarding this affair, but he chose not to heed it. Affair being the operative term, a brief interlude where they could both indulge their sensual natures.
He shifted positions so he moved back in front of her again.
“Thank you.” Emotion flickered in her gaze.
He flashed her a charming, light grin. “You’re welcome.” He cupped her chin in his hand and brushed his thumb over her silken skin. “The whole point was to give you pleasure.”
She laughed. “You know I meant thank you for the bathing suit, not thank you for the…” A red-hot blush stained her cheeks and she shook her head. “Never mind that. But the whole point was to entice you.”
“And you did it very well. In a very unique way.”
She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Every woman in the office wants to entice you. I’m not a Terminator groupie. But you challenged me and I just wanted…” Her voice trailed off, and he got the distinct impression she figured, why bother explaining.
But he desired an explanation. Badly. He knew women were drawn to him, but he never took the attention seriously. He figured they liked a challenge and a partner-challenge made him even more of a catch in their eyes. He tended to ignore both the gossip and the interest. But Mallory was different and he never wanted her to feel grouped with a bunch of women whose notice he neither encouraged nor wanted.
He bent closer. So close he could brush his lips over hers, and without thought, he did. She leaned into him, softening her mouth against his and he accepted her encouragement, drawing her into a moist kiss, more meaningful and less urgent than before. Then he pulled back. “You wanted to what?” he asked softly.
Her lashes fluttered upward. “To show you what it’s like to be an optimist, like we discussed the other day on the beach. To give you something to dream about when our time together is over.” Wide eyes stared up at him, drawing him in with her honesty and sweetness.
“You wanted me to dream about you.”
She inclined her head in a slight nod. “The same way I’ve dreamed about you,” she admitted.
He was flattered, but realized he didn’t like the end of their relationship being discussed aloud. Especially coming from her luscious, well-kissed lips. Even if she was right and an end was inevitable.
He leaned back, his chin resting on his knees as he studied her flushed face. “I’ll dream about you, Mallory. In ways I’ve never dreamed about anyone else.”
She met and held his gaze. Warmth and bonding bounced between them before she shook her head and broke the spell. She smiled. “Why don’t you hand over the oil and let me give you more for the memory books?” Her lips turned upward into a wicked grin. “You’re not the only one who can satisfy.”
10
JACK’S BODY HARDENED at the thought of Mallory’s soft hands on his straining erection. “And I know you were satisfied.”
“Typical man.” She laughed. “Come on. Let me have the oil. We can’t have you taking that body in the sun without adequate coverage.”
Coverage. He liked that thought. Jack passed the bottle toward her. “Careful it’s slippery.”
“Oh, I think I can handle it.” Her fingers deliberately touched his before wrapping around the top of the bottle neck, in a provocative grip meant to show him she knew exactly how to handle a slippery appendage.
Then she crooked a finger his way.
He swallowed a groan. “You sure you want to continue this on the bed?”
She shrugged. “I’m not sleeping here, just fulfilling fantasies. Quit stalling, Jack.” She leaned back against the pillows and spread her legs wide, patting the space in between.
Though her skirt covered everything, his imagination and those memories she mentioned were vivid. As he slid into the welcoming vee of her legs, he recalled her warm moist heat around his hand and her soft sighs of satisfaction.
“Relax.” Her slick hands gripped his shoulders. “I’m just going to protect you from those harsh rays you talked about.”
But who would protect him from her potent allure?
He shut his eyes and let her work. Her coating of his back and shoulders went fine. He enjoyed her gentle ministrations and had just begun to relax as she requested…when her fingers slipped around his abdomen and lingered, palms splayed against his ribs and her fingers inches from his nipples.
His breath caught in his throat.
“What happened to relaxing?” Her soft voice blew in his ear, strengthening his arousal.
“You’re joking right? You want me to relax when a beautiful woman’s got me wrapped in her arms?”
Her hands stilled and her arms tightened around his chest. “You think I’m beautiful?”
The hesitancy in her voice touched him in a place precariously close to his heart. “How could you not know?”
She laughed and he sensed if he turned, he’d see more emotion than he could handle. He already knew he was drawn to her, but if he saw the vulnerability in her eyes and the sensitivity in her gaze, he’d be in deeper waters than he could comfortably tread.
“For one thing, you admitted it in the restaurant when you said you wouldn’t have expected to fall for me at first glance.”
He cringed. “I didn’t mean it that way.”
“I didn’t take it as an insult. You reacted to me exactly how I want people to react. I’m Mallory, the office ice queen. I get up in the morning and pull my hair into a bun. I splash cold water on my face, put on some moisturizer and I head out the door. In conservative suits and sensible shoes.”
“And I now know why. What I don’t know is why continue? You’re a smart, intelligent woman. Why play the part when you don’t need to prove yourself to anyone? And don’t tell me because that’s the real you, or start playing games about which Mallory is real, okay? Considering what we just did, you can answer that one question.”
He felt rather than saw her shift uneasily. “I have my reasons.”
“Not good enough.”
She started to push away, to withdraw.
“Don’t go.”
She paused, then relaxed behind him. He leaned back, letting skin touch skin. He wanted to feel her and he knew
maintaining a physical connection was his only chance of getting an honest answer.
When she remained silent, he dove in with his best guess. “Because after years of dressing the part, you don’t know the real you either?”
He felt her slight nod. “Maybe.”
Her hair fell forward, brushing his shoulders. The sensation, soft and feathery light, caused him to shake with renewed desire. But he sensed her need for reassurance and maybe something more.
“There’s a part of me that loves what I do. Don’t think my life has been such a sacrifice. I’m not ready to throw a pity party so don’t you go getting maudlin on me either.”
He laughed. “There’s many things I feel for you, sweetheart. Pity isn’t one of them.”
She scooted forward until her breasts pushed insistently against his back.
“Play fair,” he warned her. “Your parents set you on this course so what’s your mother’s role in all this?” He reached back and squeezed her wrists, the only silent reassurance he could give.
“She loves my father. His disappointment was her disappointment. Do we have to talk about this when there’s so many other things we could do instead?” Her fingernails raked along his back in an overtly provocative move.
“You’re talking to someone who’s made not dealing with his parents an art form.” After her revelation, he felt he owed her that much truth.
And besides, he understood only too well what it felt like to have a painful childhood affect the present. Of course in Jack’s case at least he had one parent proud of his accomplishments. Hers underestimated a child they ought to be proud of, and created a woman who didn’t know her own worth.
“You’re beautiful.” He could give her an honest infusion of truth in return for the fantasies she’d created for him.
She let out a sigh of disbelief. “I’ve looked in a mirror, Jack.”
Those contradictions again. And the old question—which was the real Mallory.
“Don’t move.” He swung his legs off the bed and headed to the corner of the room where a large floor-length mirror with gilded wrought iron leaves stood. He pushed the mirror into the room and parked it at the foot of the bed.
She eyed the object warily. “What’s that for?”
“Before we get on with the beach theme, I wanted to get some things between us perfectly clear.”
After positioning the mirror, Jack moved behind her and gripping her shoulders, he turned her so she had no choice but to stare into the reflective glass.
“Take a look and memorize what you see. Because next time you doubt, I want you to glance into a mirror and see yourself through my eyes.”
Mallory glanced into the large glass and winced. As if she had a choice whether or not to look with the darn thing in her face.
“Because I see a well-satisfied woman.”
Mallory agreed. In her flushed face, she saw the aftereffects of her orgasm hadn’t diminished. Her cheeks were shaded a light pink, her eyes still bright and alive with sensual awareness.
He walked back to the mirror and turned so he stood with one hand slung over the top of the wrought iron. “But I also see a beautiful woman, inside as well as out.”
A grateful yet embarrassed grin lifted her lips. “You do have a way with words, counselor.”
He shook his head. “Truth is truth. No one’s ever gone so out of their way for me. You’ve done it. Twice.”
“Now that you’ve brought up the other women, there must be someone in your life who’d go out of their way to please you.” Not that she wanted to hear about them in detail, but if she wanted to get to know Jack better, his private life was important, too.
“None that count.”
From his solemn tone she realized their time together meant more to him than a one-night stand and the notion pleased her. “If I can make you smile, that’s enough for me.”
“Which is exactly what I mean. You’re beautiful inside and out. You just gave me proof of the first. And those incredible eyes of yours and well-kissed lips are proof of the second.”
She dipped her head, unable to process the thrill that infused her, enjoyment and gratitude that wasn’t merely sexual or egotistical in nature. “Thank you,” she said simply.
“The pleasure was mine. But not only mine, I hope.” He tilted his head in a cocky move she knew was meant to tease her.
She lifted a shaking hand to her mouth and his darkened gaze followed the movement. The man did know how to kiss. He also knew how to distract her from her plan and somehow this seduction had gotten away from her.
Despite all her preparation, she was the one being pleasured, and falling hard for Jack Latham, a caring man with whom she had no future. She rubbed a hand over her face as she accepted the long-term effects of this night.
She’d never see a beach again without thinking of Jack. Never inhale the warm fragrant scent of coconut oil without remembering how his hands gave her immense pleasure. And she’d never again glance in a mirror without remembering Jack and how he’d attempted to make up for every neglectful thing her parents had done by forcing her to view herself through his eyes.
He’d gone out of his way for her and she wanted to repay him. Besides, she needed to regain control. Of the situation, herself and her rampaging feelings.
“Did you really think I’d let you get away with only half your oil finished?” She reached for the bottle and waved it in the air. “It’s almost time to hit the water.” She gestured toward the sliding glass doors where the outside beckoned.
The sun had dipped well below the horizon and darkness had fallen. She knew from her prior night at the cabin that soon the beach would be completely deserted. They could share a moonlit walk uninterrupted. Or a nude swim, a wicked voice in her head taunted her.
Jack raised an eyebrow. “Far be it for me to deny you the pleasure.”
She rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated groan. He was incorrigible.
Irresistible.
She crooked a finger his way. “Come here and learn all about that mirror you seem so fond of.”
He met her on the bed with a half jump, half dive, rolled onto his back, arms spread wide. “I’m all yours, sweetheart.”
She wished, she thought, and immediately stifled the sentiment. “On your stomach, head over here.” She patted the end of the bed and he stretched out in front of her. He was tanned and muscular and he beckoned to the feminine part of her she’d spent years hiding away. She swung her leg around and settled herself astride his lower back. She bracketed his waist and his warm body heat shot from her thigh straight to her core.
He let out a low groan. “Is this what they mean by exquisite torture?”
“I suppose it is.” With a laugh, she squeezed her legs tighter.
She’d meant to tease him but ended up tormenting herself instead as a wave of longing swept through her. Each time she and Jack were together was deeper and more intimate than the last. She wondered if the control she so longed for would return, or if it was gone forever, along with her easy acceptance of being the office ice queen.
And of being alone.
She pushed reality aside for the moment. Summoning her courage, she braced her hands on his shoulders and shifted her hips in a circular motion.
Jack clenched his fingers around the comforter beneath him. Feeling Mallory’s legs around his waist in a viselike grip was arousing him beyond belief. Her feminine heat, pressed hot and eager against his bare back, fed the desire. His erection pulsed into the mattress and his heart pounded hard in his chest.
He wanted to flip her over, lift her skirt, and bury himself in her hot, wet body. Problem was, he knew his emotions were too close to the surface and he’d be releasing far more than pent up sexual energy.
From the moment he’d retied her bathing suit and glimpsed the sweet gratitude and desire in her face, something inside him softened and he didn’t know how to repackage himself and his emotions so he was the Terminator once more. A m
an who felt nothing and needed nothing from the women in his life.
Seeking a distraction from the intense sensations Mallory aroused, Jack glanced into the mirror. Far from finding the diversion he sought, he found paradise. Thanks to the glass in front of him, not only could he feel the tightening of her thighs and the slight shift forward of her hips, but he could watch it as well.
Her body glistened from the coconut oil. He moved his gaze upward. Dark hair spilled over her shoulders, one long strand stuck against her cheek and her neck arched—but her eyes shone bright as she watched their movements in the mirror. Actually viewing the play of sexual pleasure cross her face as she rode astride him was carnal, arousing all his baser instincts. And when her gaze met his in the reflective glass, he was lost.
She reached for the bottle of oil and Jack knew he couldn’t handle another massage without embarrassing himself in the process.
“What do you say we go for that swim?” His voice sounded ragged to his ears.
“Sounds great.” She swung her legs to the side, seemingly all too eager to scramble off him and escape.
JACK AWOKE with a groan. He stretched, yawned and hit the floor for sit-ups before heading downstairs. But not even the morning sun shining into the restaurant helped to awaken him. Once again, he’d walked Mallory to her door across the hall from his, having separated by mutual agreement after their walk on the beach. His control had hung by a thread and he’d wanted to be with her more than he’d ever wanted another woman.
He should have just ceded control and satisfied the craving only she inspired. After all, what red-blooded man didn’t attempt to go further with a woman he desired and one who responded in kind? A man who wanted the challenge to continue, that’s who. That was one theory Jack could buy in to. It was the alternative that bugged him more.
Because the only other reason he would push her away was fear. Fear of getting in too deep—something he’d never worried about before—but he did now, with Mallory.
But not enough to stay away from her.
Erotic Invitation Page 12
