by Desiree Holt
“You’re right,” Taylor agreed. “Whatever we’re looking for is in there somewhere. We just have to find it.”
Noah narrowed his eyes. “But you’re not even sure what you’re looking for.”
“That’s true. But I know someone who can help us. Do you know what a forensic accountant is?”
For a moment familiar resentment raced through him, memories of unintended—or intended—slights and he forcibly tamped it down. “I actually have a college degree, in case you’re interested.”
A flush of embarrassment stained Taylor’s skin. “I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean…”
“Don’t worry. I’m used to people assuming I’m an uneducated hired gun.”
“Look, Noah…”
“Forget it. Let’s get back to what you were saying.”
He saw her hands shake slightly as she stacked the papers into piles. The day had been one assault after another and he wasn’t helping. She was still unsettled and he wanted nothing more than to pick her up and cradle her on his lap.
Well, that would be stupid. Having sex with her every five minutes is bad enough but emotions get you in trouble. Remember?
What he really wanted to do was slip his hand beneath her shirt and cup those warm breasts with their plump nipples. Unfasten her jeans and slide his hand under her lace panties to the welcoming wetness he knew he’d find there. Touch the skin that was so much like satin beneath his fingertips, open her like a flower and inhale the delicate scent of her arousal.
In less than five minutes he could have her begging him to fuck her. His cock hardened at the wayward thoughts and fire streaked through his groin. He shifted position to conceal his growing erection.
Jesus Christ. Would he ever get past this raging desire for her? And what would little Miss Taylor Scott, so recently the product of a starched upbringing, say to the things he’d really like to do to her? With her? He’d given her enough hints and she hadn’t backed away. Yet. He’d watched her change from the angry, unsettled woman he’d met in the hotel to someone taking charge of her own life. Making her own decisions. Pushing the boundaries she’d lived within all those years. But was she ready to make the leap to sexual experiences beyond anything he was sure she could even imagine?
She turned to him and he saw fire in her eyes. Maybe he could take her on a sexual adventure after all. Or maybe not.
What would she expect when the Arroyo business was settled and she was faced with the rest of her life? Would she want to continue holding the reins Josiah had handed to her? Choose another path? And what would she want of him? Something he was damned sure he wouldn’t be able or willing to give.
Maybe he could just shoot himself and not have to worry about anything.
* * * * *
Taylor bent forward over the table, shifting papers around. Anything to distract herself from Noah’s nearness. The scene in his private room at Arroyo was still vivid in her mind. Not even almost being killed seemed to dull the need for him that throbbed constantly in her sex and kept her nipples tight and hard. Even now, just being in the same room with him her panties were soaked and she felt a quivering deep in her cunt.
This whole thing was insane. She was trying to find her footing on the slippery slope of a world into which she’d been thrust. Noah was her designated guide, the alpha male who automatically assumed command. Under any other circumstances she would feel complete security. But these circumstances were far from ordinary, where beneath the steel veneer of business thrumming in her body was the almost addictive need to feel his cock inside her, his hands and mouth on her.
Succumbing to the passion that roared constantly between them was a dangerous move. It could compromise her situation and send the wrong message to anyone who learned their secret. And it was very clear they had no future beyond Arroyo. She hadn’t been looking for one and he’d said as much. Over and over. So what did she do about her constant readiness for the intense sex that bound them together?
He’d hinted more than once of sexual activities that might chase her away. Her sexually untutored mind couldn’t begin to imagine what he meant but her newly awakened body craved the dark eroticism he was tempting her with. The lure of the forbidden unknown lay coiled deep inside her ready to unwind and spring.
Two days and I’m in so deep I can’t find a way out.
“There are lots of question here that we have no answers for. We could do the digging ourselves but that might trip someone’s sensor. And we agree we might do something to trigger a warning to whoever’s behind all this.”
Noah fiddled with his empty cup, watching her. “I agree. So what do you have in mind?”
Taylor cleared her throat. “John Martino is probably the best forensic accountant in the country. Maybe anywhere. He’ll be able to tell us what’s going on and not give out any clues while he’s doing the digging.”
Noah frowned. “Josiah tried to hire him once but he indicated he didn’t have any free time. If Josiah Gaines couldn’t get him here, what makes you think you can?”
“He was a client at Clemens Jacobs. I made a lot of money for him and we became good friends.”
Noah’s face tightened and his body stiffened. “Exactly how good?”
Taylor threw up her hands. “For God’s sake, Noah. He’s twenty years older than I am and we had a client relationship. Maybe you have sex with everyone you know but I certainly don’t.”
He was beside her before she could blink, hands tight on her arms, his face inches from hers. “Just with strangers, right?”
She tried to pull away from him, her head jerking as if he’d slapped her. “You can be sure that won’t happen again.”
“Oh, it’ll happen all right. But only with me.” His voice was hard and seductive at the same time. “Not with anyone else.”
She twisted in his grasp. “What is it with you, anyway? You’ve made no bones about telling me you wish this…whatever it is hadn’t happened. That we certainly don’t have a relationship beyond business. Which, just so you know, is fine with me. But you don’t own me, Noah Cantrell. So don’t make those kinds of decisions for me.”
They were so close she could count his eyelashes. His spicy scent wrapped itself around her like an exotic cloud. Her pulse skittered as he bent his head toward her.
“Don’t push me, little girl.” His mouth came down on hers, hard, as his hand sought her breasts. He kneaded the soft flesh, his thumb rasping the swelling nipple that pushed at him through the thin fabric of her blouse and bra.
She couldn’t help the moan that escaped her lips or stop her back from arching into his touch. His tongue was like a flame in her mouth, his hand scorching her breast, his breath like a hot wind fanning across her already heated cheeks. Automatically she reached her arms around his neck to pull him close, pressing her body against his.
Noah broke away first, a subtle move that reminded her as always in this situation he was in control. Taylor pressed her hands against the hard wall of his chest and pushed herself away from him. She stood up, smoothing her hands down the fabric of her jeans.
“It’s adrenaline,” she told him, still a little breathless. “That’s all. Just a reaction to what happened out there. And all the tension today.”
He was silent for a long moment, his face betraying nothing. “If that’s what you want to believe.” He turned away from her, forcing his own breathing to slow down. “Why don’t you call John Martino and see if he’s willing to do this? And plan to put him up here at the ranch where he’s away from everyone’s prying eyes.”
Noah stood just inches away, his eyes like lasers as they watched her. She had to focus to complete the call with some semblance of intelligence.
“He’ll do it,” she told him. “He can come tomorrow. I said we’d send the plane for him, so you’ll have to tell me how to do that. And we’ll have to pick him up at the airport here, of course.”
Noah took the phone she was still holding and punched in some numbers. “Ther
e’s a sheet in the first folder I gave you that has the numbers for the pilot and also the private terminal. I’ll get him on the phone for you this first time and you can give him instruction.”
“All set,” she told Noah as she completed the phone call.
“We’ll be ferrying you to work in the helicopter tomorrow,” Noah told her.
“Because of what happened today,” she guessed.
“Yes. I don’t think they’ll try to shoot us out of the air but L.Q. will still ride shotgun, just in case. But that way we can also leave Arroyo, pick John up at the airport and come straight back here to the ranch.”
The adrenaline rush was wearing off now and Taylor felt the tendrils of fear creeping through her again. When she’d said she wanted to change her life, this wasn’t quite what she had in mind—inheriting a vast empire, running a billion-dollar conglomerate, being shot at by unknown killers.
Being ravished—the only word for it—by a stoic warrior who made her blood boil.
Be careful what you wish for.
Taylor finished making notes and stood up. “Tomorrow you’ll have to help me access the reports I need for John. He’ll want to compare this division with the others to see if there are any red flags in the record-keeping. Can we put everything on flash drives for him?”
“Better yet, we’ll set him up in his room with a secure computer and give him a password to access whatever he needs himself. I’ll make the arrangements myself.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem.”
“Well, then. What time should I be ready to leave?”
“Nine thirty. I’ll let Greg and Tomas know.”
“Fine.” She opened the door to the hallway. “I’ll see you then.” Was that firm enough? Get out and give me some peace. I don’t need you getting in my head tonight.
He stared at her for a long moment, nodded and walked out of the room.
Taylor leaned against the door, gathering her wits, scattered so easily by Noah’s presence. Arroyo Corporation presented far less a challenge to her than Noah Cantrell, with his simmering anger, his blatant sexuality and his dark secrets. Taming the panther might take far more than she was capable of giving.
Deliberately pushing it out of her mind for the moment, she set up her meeting with the Harts for eight-thirty, then headed for the bathroom and turned on the shower. Turning the water on full force, she dropped her clothes on the floor and stepped under the spray, welcoming its needle-sharp feeling on her skin.
She had soaped her body and was letting the multiple shower heads do their thing when she saw a shadow through the frosted glass, the door slid open and a very naked Noah Cantrell stepped under the water with her.
Chapter Seven
Taylor froze, the bar of soap still in her hand. Her heart tripped over itself and her breath was caught in her throat.
His powerful warrior’s body towered over her and surrounded her. He was magnificent, his well-defined musculature gleaming in the shower light as the water pelted him. His cock rose proudly from its cushion of dark curls. Droplets clung to the curls of hair on his chest. Fire flamed in his eyes, his intent very clear.
Instinctively Taylor backed up until the shower wall left her no place to go. “I-I thought I locked my door,” she stammered.
“You did.” His voice was low and thick with desire. “I’ve never let a little thing like that stop me.”
“But what… Did anyone… People will see…”
“Give me a little credit for common sense.” He crowded her, his hands resting on her shoulders, his thumbs caressing the indentation at her collarbone. “There’s a short back corridor that connects our hallways. Josiah had it built that way.”
“So he could visit his lady friends?” She couldn’t help the bitterness in her voice.”
“So he could conduct business conversations out of view of others in the house. No more talking.”
His kiss stole what little breath she had left, his tongue dancing across the sensitive tissues of her mouth, his lips soft and pliant yet pressing into hers until she could feel every nuance of them. Taylor clutched at the hard muscles of his biceps for support as sensations rippled through her body like waves lapping at the shore. Her poor befuddled brain tried to tell her she should push him away and run as fast as she could to whatever sanctuary she could find. But her body kept her riveted to the spot, begging for more. No, demanding more.
When he lifted his head at last and looked at her, she was shocked to see a sadness in his eyes that made her heart trip. Where was this coming from? What did Noah Cantrell keep hidden behind that solid granite mask that shielded him from the world?
But then his hands were touching her everywhere and thought fled like a thief in the night.
“Let me bathe you.” His voice was soft, not hard and demanding as it usually was.
“A-All right.” She closed her eyes and leaned against the shower wall.
He began with her neck, his fingers sensuous weapons calling to every one of her nerve endings. With unexpected tenderness he massaged the muscles that had grown tight and corded with the day’s anxieties, loosening the hard knots of tension. His fingers worked at the tightness, forcing each muscle to relax. Her head rolled back as her neck muscles relaxed and she gave herself over to the sensuous massage.
He moved outward to her shoulders, back to her collarbone and the hollows that defined it. Every touch of his fingers aroused her as much as it eased her, her body aroused by the familiar touch, the water like a gentle sluice running down her body and mingling with her own fluids she could feel releasing from her cunt and sliding down her thighs. The pulse at her throat was hammering so hard she thought it would burst forth from her skin. Noah pressed a gentle fingertip against it, the knowledge of its cause blatant in his gaze.
He lifted each of her arms, his fingers working the muscles in a steady rhythm. She never knew the crook of her arm, the inside of her wrist, her elbow could be such erogenous zones but each stroke and caress turned her body to liquid and heated the fire burning inside her. Deep in her womb she felt the now familiar flutters growing and spreading.
When he touched her breasts the flutters increased their tempo, like tiny hummingbirds beating furiously to escape an enclosed room. With a slow, circular motion he rubbed lather into the skin of breasts that already felt swollen, the skin stretched and tight. His soapy thumbs teased at nipples already hard and engorged. When he pinched each one lightly the heat arrowed straight to her pussy already quivering, tiny spasms rocketing through her inner muscles. Around and around his fingers went, cupping her breasts, weighing them in the palms of his hands, fingertips sweeping under them along the crease between breast and rib.
She looked down at his dark hands moving in a hypnotic pattern against her paler skin and the sight itself was so erotic she nearly came just from the sight of them. Her breasts felt heated, her nipples near to bursting and still he worked them with a tender rhythm that was at once pleasurable and torturous. Squeeze them, she wanted to shout. Bite them. But all her words were trapped in her throat behind her breath.
Just when she would have used her own hands to press his more firmly against her, he slid his fingers down her rib cage and began the same rubbing motion on her abdomen. One fingertip traced the indentation of her navel, over and over, the touch so light she wasn’t even sure it was there, before moving lower across the sweep of her belly.
She widened her stance and tried to push herself against his hard, muscular thigh, to straddle it, wanting the abrasive feel of the rough hair against her now demanding cunt but he back off an infinitesimal amount and shifted his thighs to an inaccessible position.
“Patience,” he whispered in her ear. “You’ve had a very long, very hard, very frightening day. You handled everything with an incredible amount of strength. But now you need to let me help you relax, because tomorrow will be here before we know it. So don’t rush me.”
“You’re always saying t
hat.” She was surprised she could make her lips move.
“You are a treat to be savored, little girl. I haven’t had many in my life and I want to enjoy this one while I can.”
While I can.
His words almost—but not quite—catapulted her out of the trance she was sinking into. But then his fingers rested on her hips and his thumbs began to slide up and down the creases between her thighs and her mound and reality fell away again.
Touch me, she wanted to scream, as his hands moved down again but he crouched down and began the same mesmerizing massage on her feet, her ankles, her calves. Rubbing the lather into her skin. Rubbing. Pressing. Again she tried to shift her legs apart but he turned her away from him. Taking a wrist in each hand he lifted her arms and placed each of her hands flat against the shower wall. Then he began his slow massage at her shoulders, working his way down her back.
Her body was humming like a finely tuned instrument, a need building inside her and growing with each sweep of his hands, each magic touch of his fingers. She wanted him inside her, stretching her, his fingers or his cock. It didn’t matter. Her body remembered him by now, even in such a short time and it screamed for him to fill her. She rocked back at him, trying to urge him, to indicate her need.
His soft chuckle resonated in her ear. “And to think not long ago you were so green at all this. Afraid of it. But wanting it, right?” When she didn’t answer he tightened his grip on her waist. “Right, little girl?”
“Yes.” The word hissed from her mouth. Oh, he was so right. She’d been such a novice. A neophyte. And the more pleasures he showed her the more she wanted. She had no idea what pleasure plane he’d take her to next and what terrified her was that she wanted it. Craved it.
But this, tonight, was torment. Where before everything had been wild and devouring, tonight his attentions were soft and teasing, coaxing her body to relax even as he teased it to intense arousal. Her clit, still sensitized from the wild session at lunch, begged for his touch and the walls of her slick channel were quaking with tiny tremors. Her body was like an ocean, tormented by a serendipitous wind, now whipping it into whitecaps, now soothing it to tiny ripples. When his hands stroked lather up the insides of her thighs she wanted to squeeze her legs together and force his fingers inside her.
