by Jayne Castle
told her he had an apartment in Houston where his energy-oriented company was based, but from his brief description of it earlier in the day it sounded more like a motel room he used when he happened to be in that part of the country. It was almost an hour before Reva crept softly back to her own bed leaving Josh sleeping peacefully behind her.
The next morning Reva made no mention to Josh of his restlessness during the night and he appeared to have no recollection of it, for which she was grateful. She couldn't fully explain to herself her feelings as she'd sat by his bed, and had no desire to try and explain her actions to him!
"Eggs Benedict!" he exclaimed happily when she'd set a breakfast tray on the teak coffee table and taken a seat opposite him. "Still using me as an excuse to eat properly?"
"It doesn't take much of an excuse for me," she retorted tartly, pouring orange juice. "Having a guest in the house is as good a reason as any other!"
"Does Tanner know about your secret dieting?" Josh asked comfortably, taking up his fork with relish.
"We've never discussed it. I can't see that it matters particularly!"
"It seems to me that he deserves to know. If you marry him one of two things is going to happen. Either you put him on your own regime or else you use him as an excuse to splurge. Either way he's going to be in for a shock. One way he'll find himself starving all week and the other he'll watch you putting on weight. My advice is to come clean with him, Reva," Josh concluded knowledgeably. "Who knows? Maybe he'll like you with a little more weight on your bones!"
"Thank you for your concern," Reva snapped crisply,
plunging into her high-calorie egg dish. "I'll worry about it when the time comes. Speaking of Bruce, what are you going to do while I'm out with him this evening? Will you be all right by yourself or do you want me to arrange to have Sandy and Tom look in on you?"
"I can take care of myself," he retorted briefly. "I've done it before."
"Yes, I know, but. . ."
"I'll entertain myself with your collection of Mozart and mysteries," he smiled suddenly.
She frowned and then relaxed. "Oh, you've been checking out the contents of my bookcase, have you?"
"And your record cabinet. I peeked while you were making breakfast."
"You must be feeling better?"
"Umm," he agreed noncommittally. "By tomorrow I should be completely back on my feet, or at least clearly on the mend. And tonight I'll be quite content with your books and your records."
"You like Mozart?" she asked in slow surprise.
"And Haydn and Bach. All of which you seemed to have in abundance," he nodded, pleased.
"The concert tonight is going to be composed mostly of Mozart concertos," Reva said on a little burst of enthusiasm.
"I'm sorry I'll miss it. But I'll put some on here and think of you while I read that new mystery I see you've got checked out from the library. Being out of touch for four months, I didn't know that author had done another one recently."
Reva nodded and started to comment on it when she thought of something. "Josh, you won't wait up for me, will you? You need your sleep."
"Don't worry, I'll be sound asleep long before you get in. Although," he added mildly, slanting a curious lion glance at her, "I don't imagine you'll be all that late, will you? You have to go to work in the morning."
"No, I won't be late."
Things were a bit awkward when Bruce arrived at seven o'clock that evening. Josh was firmly established amid a pile of quilts on the couch, Xavier on his lap. A Mozart record was already on the stereo and he was well into chapter one of the mystery novel. He looked up with a smile which Reva privately considered a little too gracious when she emerged from the bedroom to open the door. The sophisticated, long-sleeved dress of blue-green jersey matched her eyes and it swirled gracefully around her ankles as she greeted her escort for the evening. Her hair was folded into a soft, flattering curve anchored at the top of her head, and long, sparkling earrings accented the line of her throat.
Josh was all charm and geniality, ignoring the stiffness of Bruce's greeting and advising the younger man to have a pleasant evening with Reva. There was a certain annoying attitude of familiarity about Josh's manner as he bade the other two good-night, but Reva couldn't quite put her finger on any one thing to criticize and decided it was probably her imagination.
As soon as they were out the door, she had to spend a considerable amount of time soothing Bruce's suspicious questions, which got the evening off to a rather bad beginning. Things improved a bit at the concert as Reva did her best to set her escort's unhappiness over Josh's presence at ease. Over and over again she explained the illness and for the first time gave Bruce a very sketchy description of why she was indebted to Corbett.
"I understand your thinking," Bruce said finally, shortly before he said good night to her in front of her door. "But I still think the man is imposing on you. Gratitude only requires so much from you, Reva," he added with a lecturing frown.
"I know, Bruce, but he'll be gone soon. He's much better today and I fully expect him to be on his way in a day or two," she assured him. "I'd invite you in for a nightcap," she went on hesitantly, "but he'll be asleep. . . . Next time?"
Bruce sighed. "I'll look forward to it," he said politely and then, much to Reva's surprise, he took her somewhat aggressively into his arms. Bruce was usually not the aggressive sort. His mild lovemaking on their past few dates had been limited to some agreeable but definitely not aggressive kisses. Nevertheless, she endured it politely, searching herself for some sign of genuine response. This was the man she was seriously considering marrying. Why was there none of the beguiling temptation she had experienced in Josh's arms? But sex, she reminded herself grimly, wasn't everything.
Several minutes later she watched as a slightly more satisfied Bruce stepped into the elevator and waved a last good-bye. Then she opened her door and crept silently past a sleeping Josh. There was no movement from him as she made her way to her room and only Xavier greeted her in a sleepy, catlike way.
But she found her bed turned back and a flower from the arrangement on the dining-room table was lying on her pillow. Reva found herself smiling a small, secret little smile as she slipped into bed.
But the feminine pleasure with which she'd climbed
into bed wasn't sufficient defense against the recurring nightmare. Once more it brought Reva out of a sound sleep with a pounding heart and a vague, undefined feeling of fear. This time her first instinctive reaction was that safety was at hand. It was as close as the next room where Josh lay sound asleep.
CHAPTER FIVE
Trembling with reaction to the generalized fear in the dream, Reva got slowly out of bed. She had herself under control, she thought grimly. After all, she had dealt with this thing in the past. It was just that she knew the sight of Josh would bring her back to normal faster than the warm glass of milk or turning on the television, remedies she had used at various times since she'd returned from South America.
She would go quietly into the living room, take a few deep breaths, and assure her subconscious mind that Josh, large and protective, was nearby. Apparently she hadn't cried out this time because there was no sign of movement from the couch bed as she went shakily into the living room. Either she hadn't called his name this time or else Josh was too sound asleep to have heard her.
Clutching her robe tightly around her waist, Reva stood at the foot of the unfolded couch and stared at the strange man from her past as he lay sleeping in the pale darkness. Tonight he seemed less restless, one part of her mind noted. He hadn't kicked off the covers as he had the previous night.
She stood silently, taking the deep breaths she'd promised herself and finding the sight of his dark head against the pillow as calming as she had known instinctively it
would be. Gradually the incipient terror receded from her limbs, leaving her feeling weak and curiously vulnerable. She knew she was longing now for more than the sight of Josh. Sh
e wanted to know the heat of his body and the sense of protection she had experienced before in his arms. How could she deny it?
He was all wrong for her, she knew that. He was hard and capable of violence. She was certain that the civilizing veneer was as thin on him as it was on Xavier. But during the past couple of days she had seen a side of him she wouldn't have suspected existed. It wasn't a weak or soft side, in spite of his illness. It was more that, like her cat, Josh was capable of taking pleasure in the gentler side of life when it was available. The comparison made Reva smile and almost unconsciously she stepped a little closer, rounding the foot of the bed to stand beside him.
She couldn't seem to take her eyes off him tonight now that she was so close. She should never have left the bedroom to seek his presence, regardless of the calming effect it was having on her nerves. But even as she told herself that, Reva found herself sitting carefully down beside him as she had done last night, putting out a hand to touch his forehead. She told herself she was only testing for signs of fever, but she didn't remove her hand when she found none.
Only a few more minutes, Reva promised herself, that's all she would allow. Then she would go back to her own room. If he stirred or woke how would she ever explain herself? But he did neither. He made no threatening or alarming moves at all and Reva found herself wanting to edge closer. The fear caused by her nightmare was almost completely dissipated. There was nothing holding her close to Josh except her desire to be there. With a small, accepting sigh, Reva admitted as much to herself.
Soon this man would be gone once more from her life, she thought with a strange pang. And it would be all for the best. He was completely wrong for her. His career lay thousands of miles away in Texas and even if that weren't a factor, she needed someone like Bruce who was sophisticated and sympathetic to her goals and ambitions. Reva had no doubt at all that if Josh had truly wanted to marry her he would have expected her to give up everything for him. He was that sort of man. Possessive and ultimately always in command. It was ingrained in his nature. Then she thought of how he liked Mozart and mysteries and once again she smiled a little. A strange mixture in a male. But there were a lot of enigmatic factors in Josh Corbett. Not least of which was this pull he had on her senses.
A pull that tonight, at least, she no longer wanted to deny. With a sharply indrawn breath at her own daring and a last nod to common sense, Reva gently tugged back the quilt and slipped into bed beside Josh.
There was still no movement from Josh's lean, silent body as Reva's toe came into contact with his leg. He was lying sprawled on his stomach, his head turned away from her and his arms flung outward. Hesitantly, not wanting to admit but unable to deny the pleasure it gave her, Reva put her hand on his back and stroked lightly down to his waist. Her fingers trailed over the contours of his muscles and down to the lean hardness of the edge of his hip. Memories of how she had lost herself in his embrace that last night in the jungle and how she had almost begged for his love on his first night in her apartment returned with a sensual rush, blotting out the last remnants of rational thinking. Every instinct in her body wanted to suspend the reasoning side of her nature tonight and allow the senses to assume full control.
Once again she stroked her fingertips across his shoul-
ders, hardly touching the bare, tanned skin. It wasn't too late, a small voice advised in her head, Josh hadn't awakened. She could slip back out of his bed and return to her own, leaving him none the wiser and herself with nothing to explain in the morning. It was undoubtedly what she should do, she thought, trying to give some attention to the voice of common sense. And there was still time.
Halfheartedly but nevertheless with deliberate intent, Reva removed her hand from Josh's back and pulled her toe away from where it touched his leg. She would only live to regret it if she stayed here tonight, she told herself.
But even as she gently slid her foot back toward the edge of the bed the decision was taken out of her hands. With a compellingly purposeful movement, Josh's leg snaked out and found her retreating ankle.
Reva gave a small, surprised gasp as she felt him anchor her foot firmly to the bed. Had it been an accidental move in his sleep? She continued to try edging away but his broad shoulders rose, blocking out her view of distant city lights, and then he was leaning over her, his arms somehow trapping her as he put his hands on either side of her body. She couldn't read his expression.
"Josh?" she whispered, staring wide eyed up into his face. The golden lion gaze blazed down at her but there was no answer. Instead, he bent his head to take her lips in a devastating kiss that seemed composed of equal parts of savagery and tenderness. A kiss that contained the essence of the man, Reva thought distantly even as she succumbed to its impact.
Any last thoughts of trying to make it safely back to her own bed disappeared completely as the basic, feminine core of Reva accepted the fact that this time there was no escape. Josh's large, powerful body settled heavily across
hers, holding her in a sensual, erotic cage that permitted no possibility of retreat.
"My God! You weigh a ton!" Reva whispered breathlessly. "I'd forgotten. How could I have forgotten?" Her arms wound around his neck, seeking to know the full heaviness of him. For some reason his sheer weight and strength were a powerful summons to her responses. It was as if her body craved the overwhelming virility of him above all the other pleasures of the world.
With small, husky moans, Reva returned the passionate embrace, parting her lips when his tongue demanded entrance, arching her soft breasts against his chest, trembling with each new touch of his possessive, probing fingers.
Still he said nothing and Reva heard herself uttering the few coherent words that were spoken, telling him of her need, of her joy in him, and of her desires. When he shifted his body momentarily, she thought he was abandoning the embrace and cried out in protest but a few seconds later she felt his hard, tantalizing fingers find the opening of her robe, pushing it off her shoulders. Her nightgown soon followed and she lay fully nude beneath him. With hands that shook with desire Reva managed to strip the one garment he wore from his body.
With no barrier between them Josh once again closed the embrace until Reva was aware of him on every square inch of her body. She felt the hardness of his manhood and shivered in response. His mouth moved heatedly, moistly on hers and then sought out the delicate, vulnerable areas of her throat.
"Oh, yes, Josh," she gasped as the hair of his chest scraped roughly across her nipples, creating tiny tremors that soon hardened the tips of her breasts into two crests of desire. His strong fingers moved to reinforce the sensa-
tion, playing first gently and then with increasing urgency over her breasts until they settled at the sensitive nipples and concentrated on generating a fiery, clamoring need.
"Touch me, hold me, love me," Reva moaned over and over again, curving herself into the warmth of his thighs. Her hands kneaded the muscles of his shoulders and then her nails trailed down his back, seeking the base of his spine and the masculine hips beyond. Although he still said nothing, there was a vibrant, hoarsely male groan of response as she deepened her intimate exploration of his body. She heard his breathing thicken and increase in pace as did her own.
His hand caught her twisting, churning lower body, his fingers digging almost fiercely into the soft skin of her hip and then he was sliding slowly, erotically down the length of her, dropping deep, passionate kisses at every point along the way. The small bones at the hollow of her shoulder, the tip of her breast, her navel, and the small mound below her stomach. Reva thought she would go crazy with the growing force of her own desire. She prodded the base of his neck, delighting in the smooth band of musculature she encountered, and then, as he teased the region of her stomach with his kisses and his tongue, she slid her fingers up to clench furiously in the thickness of his hair.
"Ah!" The cry was torn from her as Josh first kissed and then gently bit the soft, inner part of her thigh. In a silen
t fury of rising passion he rained more of the gentle, stinging kisses over her body, his hands alternately squeezing and caressing her legs down their length until he encountered her ankle, and then his fingers worked back up her body. The rest of him followed, rolling slowly over the surface of her like a giant tidal wave that caught everything in its path and whirled it up into the mounting crest.
As his ravaging, aggressive mouth once again ap-
proached her lips, pausing to drop further urgent kisses at waist and shoulder, Reva felt her passion intensify until she thought she couldn't take any more of the explosive, erotic buildup. Already she was gasping for air and pleading for the ultimate embrace. Her body curved beseechingly up into his rocklike weight. And then, at long last, he spoke.
"Reva!" Her name in a husky, demanding, possessive growl uttered at the same moment that he completed the union in a surge of power. Power that sent shock waves radiating out to the tips of Reva's fingers and the soles of her arching feet. She couldn't even cry out.
Her name came hoarsely from between his lips again and again as the pace of his lovemaking accelerated into a tension-bound pattern that led Reva toward a peak of experience she had had never known before Josh and had not known since that night in the jungle four months ago. It was beyond anything she could possibly have described. There were no words for the endless moment in time. So Reva clung with all her might to the strength and power and elemental maleness of the man who held her in bonds of primitive passion. And when, together, they rode the wave Josh had set in motion to its culmination, they were both washed up on the sand to be left in a tangle of damp, spent bodies.
For a long time Reva refused to think of anything at all, lying quietly under the weight of Josh's outflung arm and leg and listening to his labored breathing return to normal. But the moment out of time couldn't last forever and a part of her knew it. Sooner or later Reva realized she was going to have to face the reality of what she had just done. It was Josh who broke the spell. Levering himself up slowly on one elbow, he looked at her in the shadowy
