by Nina Croft
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were ever married.”
He shrugged. “I’m a private person, and I like to keep my personal life out of the media. And as I said—it was a long time ago.” He picked up his drink, swallowed the amber liquid in one gulp, and set the glass back down. “You remind me of her, but I’m sorry, it was insensitive of me. I just sometimes forget.”
“I look like her?”
For a minute, she thought he wouldn’t answer. He glanced away as if undecided as to what to tell her. “Not really. It’s more a matter of mannerisms.”
Phoebe stared at the carpet while she sipped her own drink. She sensed that Cade was hiding something but had no clue what. The lump still lodged in her stomach, and the hand holding her glass had a fine tremor.
The pull of desire still lingered, her skin tingling where he had touched her, and she was uncomfortably aware that between her thighs her sex was swollen and wet with need. Despite what had happened, she still wanted him, and the thought scared her, as though she sensed that he had the power to overwhelm her. If she gave in to him, she would lose some part of herself. She had a flashback to her nightmare, the feeling of loss. If that happened in reality, she doubted she would ever recover.
Raising her gaze, she looked into his face. “I don’t want you to touch me again.”
Shock flared in his eyes. “Eleni is gone.”
Phoebe bit her lip. “It’s nothing to do with that.” She wasn’t certain she was telling the complete truth. The thought of Cade loving another woman left her with a bitter taste in her mouth.
Mine.
The word echoed through her mind, shocking her to the core. Where had that thought come from? She pushed it aside. “I’m a journalist, and I have a story to write. I don’t want any feelings for you compromising my ability to be objective.”
“You still believe there’s a story to tell?”
“I don’t know. But I’m paid to do a job, and I’m going to carry on looking. I want you to promise you won’t touch me again, or I’m walking.”
He stared at her for several long moments. Finally, he nodded. “I promise. I won’t touch you again…unless you ask.”
Phoebe opened her mouth to say it was never going to happen, but he rose to his feet and shoved his hands in his pocket. “Well then, I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night.”
And he turned and walked away from her. Somehow, she hadn’t expected it would be so easy. She’d thought that he would stay, argue with her. Instead, the door closed behind him, leaving her alone.
***
Cade shut the door gently, then slammed his fist into the concrete wall.
He could still feel the softness of her beneath his hands; taste the sweetness of her on his tongue. He was burning up with need, and he cursed his lack of control. He’d scared her with the intensity of his emotion, and then alienated her completely by calling her another woman’s name.
Or what she thought was another woman’s name.
He glanced back at the door, wondering whether to go back to her. But the way he was feeling right now, he didn’t trust himself.
She wanted him, he could sense it, but she had a strong willpower. He needed to get through that. He’d told her he wouldn’t touch her unless she asked. Well, he would just have to make sure she did.
But right now, he needed to get away from her, before he did something stupid. He made his way up to the roof of the building, stripped off his clothes, and a moment later, a huge red-winged creature soared into the night sky.
***
Phoebe had been worried that the nightmare would come again that night. But when she finally managed to sleep, it was to dream of Cade kissing her, touching her.
His hands on her breasts. His mouth between her thighs.
In the dream she had wanted him, had pulled him onto her, into her.
She’d woken shuddering, her hand between her legs, trying to get some relief from the cravings he stirred inside her. Lying alone in the darkness, she let her mind wander back to the feel of his lips on her skin, his hardness pressing against her.
Without conscious thought, her other hand drifted across her breasts, her fingers grazing the nipples, imagining his mouth kissing her, licking the tight little buds, perhaps nipping them between his teeth.
In her mind, his mouth moved lower. Her belly cramped and her sex ached as her fingers glided between the slippery folds. She slid one finger inside, found the swollen nub, touched herself lightly, then harder as she imagined he would.
What would his mouth feel like? Just there. His tongue? She rubbed again, arching up of the sheets, pure ecstasy exploding through her, as she pressed her palm against her sex to prolong the pleasure.
With her orgasm still rippling through her, she drifted into sleep, Cade still beside her. He stayed with her in her dreams murmuring her name against her skin.
“Eleni…”
Chapter Five
Day Three
Why the hell had he said that he wouldn’t touch her? His cock ached. His balls ached. He was in a constant state of arousal. He was surprised she hadn’t noticed—or would have been if she ever lifted her nose out of that laptop. She was driving him crazy. He needed to get out, stretch his wings, try and ease the restlessness that plagued him.
Normally, he would have taken to the skies, gone hunting. There were always a few minor demons who’d escaped the confines of the Abyss and needed rounding up, sending back. Or a drug dealer who needed to be taken down, a petty dictator to be overthrown.
But he couldn’t do any of those things. Not with Phoebe at his side, and he wasn’t leaving her, however insane she was making him. Still, he needed to get rid of some of this energy or he would explode.
They’d been in meetings all day. And as promised, he hadn’t touched her. But he wanted to.
Actually, he wanted to do a hell of a lot more than touch her. He wanted to sink into her, lose himself in her, taste her. His gums ached at the thought, and he pushed it down. That wasn’t helping.
They had an hour to kill before his last meeting of the day.
He glanced across the room. Phoebe sat at his desk, typing away on that damned laptop. What was she writing anyway? He edged closer and peered over her shoulder.
She slammed the lid and swiveled her chair to face him. “What’s wrong with you? You’re wandering around like a caged tiger. Relax.”
Was she insane?
He rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the tension, and her eyes followed the movement. She wasn’t as immune as she made out. His spirits lifted a little. “It’s still business hours, and we have one more meeting in…” He glanced at his watch. “…fifty-five minutes.”
“We do?” She sounded as tired as he felt.
He nodded. “Minister of Defense.”
“Well, you can’t just hover over me for the next hour. Go to the gym or something. I noticed you have one in the basement.”
The gym? He’d never been there before, and he had no intention of going now. “No.”
She scowled. “Well, go outside. Get some fresh air.”
Maybe that would help rid him of some of his pent up energy. “Let’s go.”
“I don’t think so.” She nodded at her laptop. “I have work to do.”
He considered her for a moment, trying to think what bribe would work best. “Come with me, and I’ll tell you how the company started. Give you some background stuff for your story,” he said. When she hesitated, he continued. “All the gory details.”
She pursed her lips. “How gory?”
“Very.”
She stood up and picked up her bag from the chair, slung it over her shoulder. He’d noticed she never went anywhere without that bag.
“Just give me a minute,” he said and disappeared through the door in the rear of the office that led into his private quarters. He grabbed a leather jacket and hurried back. She was standing exactly where he had left her, in that sexy little black suit and t
he high heels. “Here, put this on.” He handed her the jacket.
She glanced down at herself and frowned. “Why?”
“Because it’s cold outside.”
***
Phoebe gave in to the inevitable and followed him out the door. Actually, it would be good to get some fresh air.
Some very cold fresh air.
She’d been trying to kid herself that she didn’t want him.
It was a lie.
Her whole body burned with need. Every move, every tiny shift reminded her of that. She was conscious of her breasts the whole time, the lacy material of her bra rubbing the sensitive nipples with each movement. Every step she took reminded her she was hot and wet. Maybe she should excuse herself, go somewhere private, and get a little temporary relief. But she knew that would only increase the need.
Cade led her into the elevator, but instead of pressing the button to take them to the ground floor, they headed upward. He leaned against the wall, arms folded. Watching her. He was always watching her—no wonder she was on edge.
“Hey, I thought we were going outside.”
“We are.”
She opened her mouth to argue, just as the elevator came to a halt. The doors slid apart, and she stared.
They were outside. A few flakes of snow drifted lethargically down. They must be on the roof, but the whole area had been turned into some sort of garden. It lay under a blanket of pristine white, but she could see the forms of trees and shrubs, like a winter wonderland. She stepped out and closed her eyes, lifting her face to the soft biting caress of the snow. After a minute, she opened her eyes, hugging Cade’s jacket around her.
As Cade came up behind her, the sky lit with a flash of crimson lightning. She wandered off, careful in her high heels, and explored the place. It was fantastic. A wooden pergola was situated at the edge, so you could look out over the city. Sinking down onto the bench, out of the snow, she gazed around her in wonder.
“I’d love to see this place in the spring,” she said.
“You can,” Cade replied. He sat beside her, hands in his pockets. “Just stick around.”
She glanced at him sharply, but his face remained expressionless. Why did she have the impression that beneath that bland demeanor was a seething mass off red-hot emotions? “Or maybe I could come back in May.” She kept her own expression equally blank. “Okay, so these gory details…”
He opened his mouth to answer, but her cell phone rang. She dug it out of her bag and glanced at the caller ID. Her sister. For a moment, her finger hovered over the off button but she looked across at Cade and decided she could do with a little distraction.
“Dad’s asking for you,” Susie said.
Shit.
She still hadn’t gotten back to her father. “I’ll get over there in a couple of days.”
“He’d really like to see you now, Phoebe. He’s worried about you, after that thing in Afghanistan. And you haven’t visited in ages.”
Phoebe bit her lip. Susie had the ability to make her feel incredibly guilty. She forced the guilt down. Anyway, she doubted her father really wanted to see her; they’d never gotten along like he did with her sisters. She glanced again at Cade; he was watching her closely.
“Look, Susie,” she said. “I’m in the middle of something. But I’ll be free in two days, and I’ll visit Dad then—I promise.”
Her sister remained silent, and Phoebe bit her lip again. “I’ve got to go.” She ended the call, switched the phone to voicemail, and slipped it back in her bag. She could sense Cade still watching her and almost squirmed under the intense scrutiny. “What?” she snapped.
“Tell me,” he said.
“Tell you what?”
“About your family. Why don’t you want to visit your father?”
How did he always seem to understand exactly what was going on in her head? She looked away, out into the night. The snow was falling faster now, cocooning them in a small private world.
She took a deep breath. “My sisters are both married now with kids. We don’t have a lot in common.” She paused. Was she crazy to open up like this? Then she shrugged. “I was always the misfit of the family.”
“Go on,” Cade urged.
“Dad was a security guard. Before that he’d been in the army, a sergeant in the SAS, but he’d given that up when my mom walked out on us.” She’d always blamed herself for that as well; she’d been the youngest and a difficult child—too many problems and hang-ups for her feeble mother to cope with. “He gave up everything, and he hated that job, but it was all he could get. Then he was shot during an armed robbery. Somehow, the company wriggled out of paying any compensation. He was in hospital for months, and we were put in foster care. Eventually he came home, but he never recovered. Not really. And he never worked again. My sisters left school as soon as they could, got jobs to help out…they were wonderful.” She lifted a shoulder in a helpless gesture. “I’ve always felt that I disappointed him.”
But she knew that wasn’t the real problem. The truth was, she’d never allowed herself to really love her family. Her fear had kept the emotion sealed away inside her. The dream had come to her when she was very young, and it had taught her a hard lesson. Not to risk loving anyone or they’d be taken from her. And she would never recover a second time. She’d told herself that it was just a dream, but still her emotions had remained locked away.
Later, she’d been the same with her few pathetic attempts at relationships. They’d never lasted, but at least they had been easier to walk away from. Her family wouldn’t allow her to walk away. They let her go so far and then pulled her back with that invisible chord she somehow couldn’t sever completely.
She’d come to see that her investigative work—taking on the big organizations like the one that had ruined her father’s life—was her way of apologizing to him. While she couldn’t tell him she loved him, she could show him she cared. By exposing the rot, by striking a blow for the ordinary men and women like her father who were cast aside when they were of no more use. Now, she was failing in even that.
“I’ll take you.” Cade broke into her thoughts.
“Sorry?”
“I’ll take you to visit your father.” He got to his feet, clearly impatient. “Come on, we’ll go right now.”
She sat there, staring up at him. “You have a meeting, remember? An important meeting.”
“Screw them. You’re more important.”
“It’s the Minister of Defense.”
“Definitely more important.”
“Why?” Her brows furrowed. “I don’t understand why you should want to take me anywhere.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand anything.”
“I just think you should see your family. Maybe it’s something important and later you’ll be sorry.”
“You can’t know that.” She considered going over there, facing them. But her emotions were too raw. She felt naked, unable to hide. “I can’t, not now. I need to build myself up to it.” Make sure her defenses were securely in place.
He scrutinized her as though he could see inside her mind. “Okay, but promise you’ll go see him soon.”
She nodded slowly, still confused as to why he should care, but unable to ignore the warm glow inside her that he did.
She stood up. “Let’s go to that meeting.”
Chapter Six
Day Four
Phoebe hunched over her laptop and tried to ignore Cade as he wandered, seemingly without purpose, around the room. Today he was wearing black pants and a dark blue shirt that matched his eyes. The shirt clung to his broad shoulders and the lean lines of his chest and belly. She couldn’t stop herself from lingering over the sight, and as she watched, he slowly pulled his tie loose and tossed it on his desk, before unfastening the top button of his shirt to reveal the pale hollow of his throat. His hand hovered for a moment on the next button, and Phoebe had the appalling notion that he was actually doing a striptease for her, followed by t
he even worse idea that he was entirely aware of the effect it was having on her unruly equilibrium.
Grrr.
She forced her hungry gaze away and stabbed her fingers onto the keys, not caring that the words that came out were gibberish. She had no story anyway. Three days of this torture and she had nothing to show for it. Either Stormlord Securities was clean, or Caden Wolfe was way too clever for her and had covered his tracks. She suspected a bit of both, but over the past few days, she’d watched him closely and had come to respect the way he worked. And she hoped, deep inside, that she wouldn’t find her story.
She wanted him to be good and that scared her—her job had always come first.
Maybe she should give up, pack up, and head home. There was nothing for her here.
Except Cade.
He was driving her crazy. Oh, he had kept his word. He hadn’t touched her. But he was teasing her, tormenting her. He was always taking off bits of clothing—well his jacket and tie anyway—and unbuttoning buttons. He would come and to sit beside her, or prop himself on the edge of her desk, his long, lean thigh within touching distance, or lurk behind her while she was typing.
Oh yes, he knew exactly what he was doing. It was clear in his eyes, taunting her with the knowledge that all she had to do was ask.
So many times the words had hovered on the edge of her tongue, and she was getting tired of fighting it.
She was so lost in her thoughts that she was unaware of him standing directly behind her until his warm masculine scent teased her nostrils. He leaned over her shoulder; his hands on the desk, his arms braced on either side of her, not quite touching, but close enough so if she tilted her head, she would touch him.
“Phoebe.” His voice, low and husky, caressed her ears, his breath feathering against the sensitive skin at the back of her neck, sending tiny quivers rippling down her spine.
Okay. Enough.
She slammed down the lid of her laptop.
She knew when she was beaten. As she silently acknowledged her defeat, the tight knot inside her unraveled and a fire burst into life, sizzling along her nerves, settling low down in her belly.
