“I’m fine.” She couldn’t have slept long, the water was still hot. “I’ll be out in a sec.”
“No problem. Take your time.”
A few minutes later, she emerged, a billow of lemon-scented steam following her out of the bathroom. The fluffy white hotel robe covered her to the tips of her toes, and an equally fluffy towel was twisted around her head.
She had resisted looking in the mirror. As if the depravity she’d witnessed, the horror and hours spent locked in the subterranean levels of a building would be stamped across her features. Rationally, she knew it wasn’t possible, but her emotional side wasn’t so sure. Plus, part of her was vain enough to be worried about permanent damage.
Greg was seated at the table in front of the balcony, sipping from a coffee cup. Wonderful aromas wafted from the large white bag sitting on the round table.
Bypassing all of the lovely temptations of Greg and food, she stood in front of the glass-paned French doors and stared out over the city. The brilliant colors streaking the sky as the sun set soothed her soul. Sunshine and the freedom to look out the window with the world at her feet.
Ally opened the French doors and walked to the edge of the balcony, closing her eyes and tilting her face. A light breeze kissed her skin.
Greg came up behind her and grasped the railing on either side of her body, surrounding her. Leaning back against him, she watched the sun sink beneath the horizon. The feel of him, the warmth, the solid strength, his spicy scent wrapping around her, was so right she bit back a moan of appreciation. He wrapped his arms tight around her and she tipped her head back to rest on his shoulder. Heaven.
Two seconds later, she needed more. She turned in his arms, needing …him.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, wallowing in the fathomless green of his eyes, she toyed with the curls at the back of his neck and drank him in. He must have read her feelings, her intentions, in her expression.
“Ally, are you sure? After all you’ve been through…”
“I’m sure. Please,” she whispered. “I need this. I need you.”
His eyes shuttered and her heart clutched.
She couldn’t stand it if he denied her now.
“I don’t know if this is such a good idea.”
“Please, Greg. Wipe away the ugly memories. Give me new ones. Good ones.” She should have been embarrassed to plead with a man to make love to her.
He cupped her cheeks in his big hands. “A woman like you doesn’t need to beg. You were made for loving.”
With his words echoing sweetly in the air, his mouth took hers. No hesitation, no room for second thoughts. His tongue swept inside her mouth, and she matched him stroke for stroke. He pulled back and snagged her hand. As soon as they cleared the threshold, he pressed her up against the wall and untied her robe.
His callused fingers smoothing over the tender underside of her bare breasts sent shivers across her skin. She allowed her head to fall back and Greg took advantage by dropping soft kisses along the column of her throat. He licked and sucked at the crook of her neck. Desire coiled, tightening her belly.
She throbbed and ached, moaning. He shattered her inhibitions. Desperate for the feel of his skin on hers, she tugged at his clothes. He grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled it over his head.
Ally rubbed against him, brushing her hard nipples back and forth across the rough hair on his chest. They both groaned. Sweeping her up in his arms, he laid her on the bed.
His mouth and hands drove her to the brink and soothed her down, time and again, until she thought she’d go mad. Squirming and writhing in his arms, arching against him, Ally tried to pull him up so she could reach more of him. He evaded her attempts deftly, frustrating her.
“Greg. Please.”
“Please what, sweetheart?”
“Let me touch you.” She barely recognized her husky voice.
“Not this time, baby.”
His mouth slid down her soft belly. A distant, old part of her urged her to squirm away in self-conscious agony, but she ignored it. Greg demolished every prior, lackluster memory of sex, until all she knew was him. His scent, his mouth and the glide of his hands and clever fingers. His low whispers of praise should have tinted her cheeks pink with embarrassment.
Greg twirled his tongue around her, pushed two fingers inside and she burst through the invisible barrier. Wave after wave of pleasure washed over her.
Sated, limbs weighted down, Ally opened her eyes to stare at him. He leaned over her, his big body blocking out everything but him, his deep gaze trapping her. Greg slid his arms under and around her, holding her tight as he pushed into her body. He took her soaring with him, every stroke and every touch of his body taking her higher.
Gaze locked on his, she wrapped herself around him. Her legs around his hips opened her more fully and he thrust deep inside her. Another orgasm crashed through her and she cried out, her inner muscles milking him until he stiffened, groaning his pleasure into her neck.
The words tumbled from her lips before she could snatch them back. “I love you.”
Greg kissed a sensitive spot on her neck. Dread coiled in Ally’s belly, replacing the lingering warmth. Slowly, his head came up. Still buried inside her, he wore his cop face, unreadable to the world. Even so, turmoil roiled in his eyes.
Without a word, he kissed her, deep and long. He moved, thrust and she gasped. He was still hard. Part of her savored his desire for her, while another, deeper, part wept. Greg didn’t love her and likely never would.
Helpless to resist her body’s response, Ally arched into him. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, trying not to hold too tight, as he took her to paradise again.
Chapter Fifteen
Opening her eyes to the sun streaming through the windows, a smile grew. The memory of every perversion of intimacy she’d witnessed had been banished to distant lands, thanks to Greg’s mind-blowing lovemaking. While the city outside their windows slept, Greg had learned every inch of her, until her body responded to his touch like a well-honed instrument.
Rolling onto her belly, Ally searched the room. She wanted to thank him properly. Thoroughly. In a way she’d never thanked a man before.
The stillness of the room finally penetrated the lingering fog of sleep and passion-induced languor. She sat up, the sheet sliding to her waist. Ignoring it, she scrambled off the bed and stood naked in the middle of the room. While she wasn’t surprised Greg had taken off, she couldn’t quite suppress the stinging pain of reality.
Running a hand through her tangled hair, she sighed, wincing. Greg’s last impression of her must have been lovely. Mouth wide open, drool pooling beneath her cheek, bird’s nest of hair.
In the bathroom mirror, an alternative vision greeted her. Instead of something the cat dragged in, she gaped at a well and truly pleasured woman, unmarred by the yellowed bruises and healing cuts. Snapshots of last night rolled through her mind. Sensory memories pebbled her nipples and reawakened desire pooled low in her belly.
A-cat-got-the-canary smile spread.
Her gaze traveled over all the naked flesh reflected back at her. Days ago she would have flinched away. A newfound sense of self, of her value, unfurled and stretched. Assorted marks, reminders of Greg’s incredible lovemaking, were scattered across her creamy skin, much more memorable than the ones from Victor.
A hot bath was in order, with fizzing bath salt from the jar the hotel provided. As she sank into the steaming water, she realized what a difference a few hours could make. Just yesterday she had laid her head in the same spot, pushing aside her horrifying experiences at Victor’s hands.
Today, she relished the little aches reminding her of Greg’s hands. And mouth. And…other body parts.
Reluctant to wash Greg’s scent off, she nonetheless set to work scrubbing her skin pink and shampooing her hair. Laying back in the water, eyes closed and ears submerged beneath the water, she drifted.
“You’re so beautiful.” Gr
eg’s mouth had brushed back and forth across hers, teasing her. In the moonlight, his eyes were dark and mysterious, gleaming down at her. She wrapped her arms around him.
“No, I’m not.”
“And argumentative. You remind me of a Greek goddess; gorgeous curves draped in fabric, lounging on a couch while some poor besotted fool dangles grapes against those gorgeous lips.”
The image he painted in husky whispers enraptured her. Then he kissed each and every one of the curves he adored, until she was a mindless puddle of female satisfaction. Every square inch of skin thoroughly worshipped and praised.
Ally blinked the memory away and wiped a few bittersweet tears from her cheeks. Skin tingling, she dried off slowly, rubbing lemon-scented oil all over her body. Savoring her memories of the previous night.
As she put the finishing touches to her hair, she arrived at several important decisions.
The best way to deal with a snake was to cut its head off. So she needed to find out who was after her, one way or another. This had gone on long enough. Too many people had been hurt.
More importantly, she would no longer hide in her job and her home, avoiding life and love. Even if it hurt, even if it broke her heart, the time to embrace life was now. Last night she’d gained more than a night of incredible lovemaking.
Ally had found herself.
In the bedroom, she made the big bed, smoothing a hand fondly over the sheets. She picked up a few scattered pillows and tossed them onto the comforter. Straightening the room made her feel better. A stranger coming in, mercilessly stripping the bed bare and carting the sheets away without a thought seemed…wrong.
She was reaching for the door when it burst open.
Greg stopped shy of dumping two steaming cardboard cups down her front. Which would have been a real shame, since she wore the gorgeous sundress she’d found draped over a chair.
“Hi,” they said in unison, grinning at one another like a couple of teenagers.
Greg cleared his throat and stepped around her. “I brought breakfast.” He headed for the little table beside the balcony. “I figured you’d be starving.”
“I am.” She was unable to wipe away her smile.
“Yeah, me too.” He grinned, so handsome and endearing, she stumbled.
He grabbed her arm, bringing her flush against him. “Whoa.”
Faces inches apart, his eyes focused on her mouth, and her body leapt to life. Ally wet her lips. Greg dropped her arm and stepped back, shoving a hand through his hair.
“This okay?” He gestured to the table behind him, “Or would you prefer to sit outside?”
“Whichever.” She wanted to stomp her foot. How could she feel awkward with him after last night?
“So…” they said at the same time.
“You first.” Ally took a sip of her nonfat chai tea latte and ducked her head, smiling. He remembered what she liked from Starbucks.
“I spoke with my captain this morning. I snuck you away from the scene yesterday, no one the wiser, for a reason.” He pushed a slice of pumpkin bread across the table. She broke off a piece and savored the moist explosion of flavor on her tongue.
“My captain agreed with me. We’ve already discovered several leaks in the department, and I’ve come up with a way to use them. The world at large is going to go on thinking you’re dead—for a few more days, at least. Other people will soon hear otherwise.” He held up his hand when she opened her mouth to object. “Let’s discuss it with the captain before you say yes or no, okay?”
She tightened her lips, frustration humming and tingling in her fingertips.
Greg’s eyes narrowed. “Ally…”
“You know best. I just hate all this.” She reached for the comfort of his hand.
Greg sat back, out of reach, his expression closing down as thoroughly as a bank vault at five on Friday. “This is the best plan we can come up with for flushing this guy out. I know it won’t be pleasant for you. If there were any other solution, I’d be all for it. So, unless you have any ideas…” He stared at her with a raised brow.
Misery and rejection tightened her stomach. She pushed away the half-eaten pumpkin bread. Her appetite had fled as surely as a flock of geese before a group of noisy hunters. Which was about how she felt. Hunted. “No, I don’t have any ideas.”
Silence descended. Ally sipped her latte.
Greg seemed lost in a world of his own.
“This sucks.”
“Yeah.” He rose and held out a hand to help her from her chair. For a second, she debated refusing and remaining where she was, which served no purpose except to annoy him, and no matter how satisfying that sounded, it was also childish.
So she accepted with more grace than she felt and stood without touching him. “What now?”
“Now we bait the trap.”
Dread and resignation reigning supreme, she followed him to the door and paused, turning to glance around the suite one last time.
Her gaze swung back to Greg, but his eyes were inscrutable. Just her luck to fall for a man petrified of his emotions. Or maybe he was afraid of hers. Regardless, the result was the same. She was a child with her nose pressed against the glass of her favorite candy store and no money in her pocket. So close and yet so far.
She pulled the door closed. “What trap? Do I even want to know what the bait is?”
“I won’t sugarcoat it. Our plan involves the most risk for you. If I could change places with you, I would in a heartbeat.”
Little tension lines popped up around his eyes. Eyes that wouldn’t meet hers. The new expression wasn’t any better than his blank mask. “Why should you take on more danger than you already have?”
“Because it’s my job!” he shouted.
His words echoed in the stark silence. Another peek at him revealed a reddish tint to his cheeks. Shocking. And amazing. All the different personality traits one conversation could reveal.
“Okay. Still, your friend and your sister have already been hurt by this.” She sucked in a breath and straightened her shoulders. “Which is one of the reasons I’m willing to do whatever it takes to finish this. Plus…” She forced a smile, trying to lighten the mood. “You can’t be on twenty-four/seven guard duty forever. What will happen when you have to, oh, I don’t know, work?”
“I’ve been working. What do you think all this has been about?” He gestured down the hall toward the room. The beefy guard from last night stood five feet away, studying the tips of his shoes. She barely registered his presence around the roaring in her ears.
Blood rushed to her cheeks then away again, leaving her chilled and shaken. Believing he refused to get emotionally involved because of his history was one thing. Knowing he viewed her merely as another case was entirely another. Just a citizen to serve and protect. Or service. All her old insecurities rushed in to choke off her new growth.
“Ally, I didn’t mean…”
She held up a hand. Took a deep breath. Another. She pushed aside a lifetime’s worth of self-doubt and poor self-esteem. Tossed out her mother’s incessant nagging and her classmates’ cruel digs about her weight.
Greg swore and reached out a hand, which she neatly sidestepped.
She knew, with steely-eyed certainty, if he touched her now, she’d lose it. So she fought back her emotions and waited until she was certain she could speak without pain strangling her voice.
“Please don’t. It’s fine. Really.” She even managed a smile. “Let’s just get this over with, okay?”
“I didn’t mean being with you was work, Ally. I had a great time last night.”
A great time. Well, good to know. The way her stomach was cramping, she wouldn’t be able to eat for a week. Since he seemed to be awaiting a response, she forced a smile. “That’s … great.”
“You’re a great girl.”
Ally flinched and Greg muttered another curse, running his hand through his hair.
“I’m doing this all wrong, aren’t I?”She h
ad no response and glanced down the hall at the guard, her cheeks burning. He was giving the tried-and-true break-up speech in a hotel hallway with a stranger to witness her humiliation. This week just kept getting better and better.
“I just…I don’t do the whole relationship thing, Ally.” Greg held his hands out, looking confused and frustrated and breaking her heart with every word.
“I know. You told me before.” Her dry eyes were hot with emotion. She blinked a few times and forced another smile. “It’s fine, Greg. Let’s just go.”
She waited out of sight while he checked out of the hotel, feeling mildly slutty as he paid for the room and she remembered how they passed the night. Guess she’d learned more from Victor than she thought. Silent as a tomb, she followed him out the rear entrance and graciously let him hustle her into his rental without complaint.
He settled into his seat and sat with his broad hands, hands intimately familiar with every inch of her body, clenching the steering wheel.
Staring straight ahead at the uninspiring alleyway scenery, she broke the thick silence. “Tell me what you need from me.”
It was a loaded question, but she fully expected him to dodge any personal interpretation. He didn’t disappoint, even if he appeared to be gritting his teeth, judging from the muscles working in his jaw. In another lifetime, after she’d swept up the shattered pieces of her heart and painstakingly glued them back together, she might even manage to feel sorry for him.
Right now, such a generous emotion was simply beyond her. Sitting near him and listening to the rumble of his deep voice took every ounce of strength, every bit of nerve she’d so recently learned she possessed. To smell him and breathe through the certainty she would never be able to call him hers, her boyfriend, her lover, her husband, her anything.
He outlined his plan in meticulous detail. What he was asking of her made her heart throb heavy and hard. Nerves she hadn’t known she had a week ago jangled in alarm.
At the police station, he bundled her in a back door. Since there was no back entrance into the captain’s office, he threw a long trench coat over her dress and tugged a ball cap low over her face. He swept her down hallways and past curious stares without a word.
Sweet Deception Page 16
