Imminent Affair

by Sheri WhiteFeather

  He kissed her again, and while their tongues wrestled and their teeth clashed, she stripped him bare.

  Once again, she stroked him, appreciating his masculine beauty. As an artist, she was fascinated with his hard-earned muscle and sinewy lines. As a woman, she couldn’t get enough of him.

  She could have a thousand orgasms and still want more. Because she loved him, she thought.

  “I need you, Allie.”

  “I need you, too.” So much more than she could tell him.

  He turned his back, reached across the bed and opened the nightstand drawer, rummaging through its contents, looking for condoms.

  She traced a finger down his spine. Even in this position, she had to touch him. His body was fast becoming her addiction.

  When she slid lower, teasing his buttocks and cupping his testes from underneath, he shuddered.

  But he didn’t abandon his quest. He found a handful of packets in the drawer and spun around to show her.

  She breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn’t sure what they would have done otherwise. Allie wasn’t on the Pill anymore, and she didn’t have any protection. She hadn’t planned on this happening.

  Eager, he slipped on a condom and scooped her onto his lap.

  Her heart banged against her rib cage, and he kissed her luxuriously on the mouth.

  And then…

  He lifted her up, and impaled her, hard and deep. He looked into her eyes, and she let the sensation of being filled by him sweep her away.

  Up and down they went, riding each other like a sexual seesaw. He removed the rest of the pins from her hair, and she looped her arms around his neck.

  “Does it feel as good as you remember?” she asked.

  He made a hot-blooded sound. “It’s better.” He skimmed the sides of her body. “What’s your favorite position?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” As long as he was inside her. “What’s yours?”

  “I have no idea.” He nuzzled the column of her neck, nipping and kissing, being roughly affectionate. “But I want to experiment with you.”

  “I’m all yours.” For the rest of her life, she thought. “Whenever you want me.”

  “I think I’m going want you all the time. Day and night. In every way imaginable.” He rolled over so he could be on top.

  Allie moaned her pleasure. He’d done it without breaking their connection. “You’re good.”

  “We’re good together.” He placed her hands above her head, wrapping her fingers around the posts on the headboard, encouraging her to grip the wood.

  It made her feel like his prisoner, his possession.

  Right on cue, he swooped, taking her in a powerful kiss. Heat to heat. Shiver to shiver.

  They’d left the lights burning bright. There were no shadows, no dark corners, nothing masking their joining.

  Except her lie of omission.

  But how could she be honest? How could she admit that she loved him?

  He ended the kiss and looked into her eyes again. With a reflective expression, he touched her cheek. The calloused pads of his fingers were gently abrasive.

  “You’re my best friend,” he said.

  She struggled not to cry, not to let her emotions run away with her. He was still rocking back and forth, making incredible love to her.

  Allie released the headboard and put her hands on his chest, absorbing the warmth of his skin. She was memorizing him, too: his strong, hard pecs, his flat brown nipples.

  Suddenly she wanted to paint him, the way she’d painted Raven.

  No, she thought. Not like Raven.

  It wouldn’t be the same. She’d painted Raven from her subconscious. She would create an image of Daniel that came from her heart, immortalizing him as the warrior she loved.

  She traced his scar, the part of him that spoke volumes about his character. “You’re my best friend, too.”

  Daniel moved her hand lower, making her touch the part of him that was inside her. “Friends with benefits. What could be better than this?”

  She kept quiet. She wasn’t about to answer him. But it didn’t matter because he wasn’t expecting a response.

  He maneuvered her into yet another position. He put Allie on her hands and knees and covered her like a stallion.

  He was an aggressive lover. He took what he wanted, what he needed. But she had no intention of stopping him.

  She needed it, too.

  His penetration consumed her. She fisted the bedding and glanced toward the closet-door mirror.

  She could see their reflections. Her wild-strewn hair hung down her back and her body was primitively arched. Daniel looked even more savage, with his sculpted physique and muscles glistening with sweat.

  He put his mouth against her ear and whispered her name.

  The tenderness in his voice contradicted the roughness of what he was doing to her. She craned her head, trying to get close enough to kiss him.

  Her struggle caused a quick, shattered loss of breath. Once their mouths came together, they went mad, nearly swallowing each other whole.

  He brought his hand forward, slid it between her legs and rubbed her most sensitive spot, heightening the pressure, the ache, the need.

  Sensation after sensation slammed into her. She was losing her sanity, right along with the ragged remnants of her lying-to-him heart.

  “Come for me,” he said.

  “I am. Oh, God, I am.” The tremors had already begun, rushing through her blood and shocking her skin.

  She gazed at the mirror again. She really was a voyeur. She couldn’t get enough of seeing them together.

  Hot. Naked. Desperate.

  By now, Daniel was plowing his fingers through her hair and biting the back of her neck.

  Relentless, he kept his hand between her legs. Rubbing. Stroking. He was moving inside her, too, pushing toward his own raging climax.

  When it happened, they exploded together, and Allie knew that she was in trouble. Making love with Daniel had changed her. Her attachment to him had grown instantly stronger, imminently more dangerous.

  He released her, and they turned to face each other. She wanted to weep for her foolishness, then climb all over him and do it again.

  He was so perfect, she thought. So primal. So male. His hair fell across his forehead in sex-tousled disarray, and he was still half hard, even after he got out of bed to dispose of the condom. It wouldn’t take much to bring him back to full speed.

  But she didn’t do it. When he returned, she kept her hands to herself.

  Still, was it any wonder that she wanted him again? Or that she was afraid of how she felt?

  She loved him even more now.

  He settled onto a pillow, making sure she was beside him.

  She snuggled into his embrace, preparing to sleep in his arms, to keep her emotions hidden.

  If she showed signs of regret, of fear, of uncertainty, she knew that he would blame himself for damaging her fragile psyche and never touch her again.

  And that would be far worse than never having been with him at all.

  Chapter 10

  In the morning, Daniel watched Allie sleep. He was tempted to wake her with a kiss, but a kiss would never be enough. If he put his mouth against hers, he would want more.

  He was still naked and so was she.

  She looked tousled, that was for sure. But what did he expect after last night? He’d all but devoured her.

  Had his sexual appetite always been that strong?

  Gingerly, he moved a strand of Allie’s hair away from her face, smoothing her rumpled appearance. She’d made him feel like a starving kid in a candy store. Even now, he was fighting a sweet tooth.

  Damn, but he wanted to do her again.

  Before she woke up and caught him staring at her, he got out of bed and grabbed the robe from the back of his bathroom door. Then he went into the living room to call Rex.

  The other man answered instantly. Rex was always on his toes, always prepared to
work. But somehow he managed to play hard, too.

  “What’s up?” the P.I. asked.

  Besides getting laid for the first time in Lord only knew how long? Plenty, Daniel thought. “We went to Glynis’s shindig last night.”

  “How’d it go?”

  “Strange,” he admitted, glancing at the coffee table, where Allie had discarded the party favor mistletoe. “Glynis gave us some information I want you to check out.”

  “Shoot,” Rex said.

  Daniel proceeded to repeat the story, and the P.I. promised to get on it right away.

  Within minutes, they ended the call, leaving Daniel thinking about Allie again. He returned to the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. She was still asleep.

  Would she enjoy the Snow White treatment of being awakened by a kiss? Not that he wanted to model her after a fairy-tale character, especially with the whole poison-apple thing. Being threatened by a stalker was enough. She didn’t need a witch threatening her, too. Been there, done that, he thought.

  Before he got the opportunity to kiss her, her eyelids fluttered and she woke up on her own. She squinted for a moment, and once she got acclimated to the morning light, they gazed at each other.

  “Hi,” he said.

  “Hi,” she responded, just as simply.

  After that, neither of them said anything else. Was this typical morning-after behavior? Since he didn’t have any memories to go on, he couldn’t compare it to past experiences.

  Daniel wanted to climb back into bed with her, but he stayed where he was, seated on the edge of the mattress.

  As for Allie, she held the sheet tightly against her breasts, as if she’d suddenly become aware of being naked underneath.

  Was she self-conscious because he was wearing his robe? He would’ve gladly ditched it for her, but the awkwardness hadn’t gone away.

  To combat the silence, he said, “I called Rex.”

  She still held the sheet a little too tight. “What did he say?”

  “That he would follow through on it.”

  “So all we have to do is wait?”

  “And keep busy.”

  “Doing what?”

  As soon as the question was out of her mouth, the awkwardness got even more palpable. He could’ve reached right out and grabbed the thickness in the air.

  Determined to end the discomfort he said, “Truthfully? We could quit acting like last night didn’t happen and go jump in the shower together.”

  She broke out in a smile, and so did he, grateful that she appreciated his candor.

  “You were almost a virgin,” she teased.

  “Because I don’t remember being with anyone but you? Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades,” he reminded her. “Come on, Allie.” His sweet, sweet friend. “Get naked with me.”

  She teased him again. “Are you sure you don’t want to make gingerbread houses instead?”

  “Sorry, Christmas con. It’s naked or nothing.”

  “I’m already bare.” She loosened her hold on the sheet, letting it slip. Not all the way, but enough to expose a luscious burst of cleavage and a hint of areola.

  Captivated, he leaned over and kissed her, slipping his tongue past her lips. Slowly at first, savoring the feeling, then faster, feeding his fantasy, until his pulse points, every last one of them, screamed for salvation.

  She tossed her arms around his neck, and he scooped her up and carried her to the tub, grabbing a condom on the way.

  He set her in the shower, turned on the water and watched it sluice down her body.

  Beads of wetness clung to her nipples and ran in rivulets from her navel to her bikini wax. She didn’t have tan lines. She was naturally dark all over.

  When she ducked her head under the rain-like spray, soaking her long, shadowy tresses, he disrobed and joined her.

  “Fearless.” She used his Warrior Society nickname, while the shower gathered mist.

  He pressed his nakedness against hers, and she fondled his big gun salute.

  She dropped to her knees, and his heart threatened to jackhammer its way out of his bullet-scarred chest.

  “You don’t have to do that,” he said, as water pummeled his back.

  She looked up at him. All wet and mermaid-like. “Do you remember what it feels like?”

  “Not specifically.” His sexual memories were lumped together in urges, in instincts.

  “Then why don’t you want me to do it?”

  His heart hammered again. Or maybe it had never stopped. “I didn’t say I didn’t want you to. I said you didn’t have to.”

  “If it’s my choice, then I’m doing it.”

  She kissed him softly, there at the tip, before she took him in her mouth, making him reiterate that she was his best friend. His very best friend.

  In the entire world.

  He tangled his hands in her sopped hair and looked down at her beautiful face. “I’ll try not to…”

  She stopped pleasuring him, but only long enough to respond, “It’s okay if you do.”

  “I’ll still try not to.” He was his doing damnedest to be a gentleman, even while she was on her knees for him.

  “I could make you,” she challenged.

  His breath chopped. The steam was getting thicker, and he was painfully hard. “Yeah, you could.” He wasn’t going to deny that she had that kind of power over him.

  He delved deeper into her hair and watched the way her cheeks hollowed as she sucked.

  The more she worked him, the more he fought a climax. She kept stealing glances, and the eye contact intensified the intimacy.

  He didn’t care if he never remembered anyone but her. She was all that mattered. Allie was the only woman he would die for, the only woman who was killing him right now.

  When she took him all way to the back of her throat, he gave himself a moment to breathe, then yanked her up and pushed her against the shower wall.

  He wanted to look into her eyes when he came, so he kept her right where she was.

  Pinned against the tile.

  Daniel grabbed the condom. The water was still running, splashing off his body and onto hers.

  Once he sheathed himself, he lowered his head to lick her nipples, to arouse her with cherry-sweet foreplay. He used his fingers inside her, too. Making sure she was ready for him.

  She was. Ready and willing.

  Since she was tall enough to accept his penetration where they stood, he went for it. With one aggressive thrust, he was inside her.

  He moved, hilt deep, and she dug her nails into his shoulders. Kissing and biting, they made cat-scratch love.

  While he pumped his hips, he lifted her up, locking her legs around him. It was an acrobatic maneuver for both of them, but it made the rocking motion that much wilder.

  His blood roared in his veins. His vision blurred, too, but he kept his gaze fixed on hers. She was all he wanted to see, all he wanted to feel.

  He didn’t know who came first. His only awareness was that they convulsed, over and over, until their breathing shattered and they were dizzily spent.

  He put her back on her feet, and she went slack in his arms. The shower was like a sauna.

  Too hot. Too steamy. Too damp.

  He turned off the spigot and discarded the rubber.

  In the quiet, he kissed her, then rested his forehead against hers. One of these times, he was going to be romantic with her, instead of ravishing her like an animal.

  But for now, he handed her a couple of towels. She wrapped one around her hair, turban style, and used the other on her body. Daniel dried off, too.

  Luckily the silence wasn’t awkward. It was actually quite companionable, especially when they smiled softly at each other.

  Soon Allie retreated to the guest bathroom to finish getting ready. He stayed where he was to complete his morning routine.

  When he reentered his bedroom, he noticed that their clothes from last night were scattered all over the floor.

&nbs
p; He picked up her red dress and felt the silk run through his fingers. He draped it over his bureau and looked for her shoes, only finding one of them. The other was nowhere to be seen.

  But he remembered how she looked in them. Sultry images crowded his mind.

  He got dressed and discovered her other high heel under the bed. He placed the leopard-print pump with its mate.

  Since it was breakfast time, Daniel headed for the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. By the time Allie arrived, a roasted aroma scented the air.

  “Do you feel like cooking?” he asked.

  “No. Do you?”

  “Not today.” He hadn’t mastered his culinary skills yet. “We could have cereal.”

  “That’s sounds good.”

  He went to the cabinet, and she went to the fridge. She looked fresh and pretty. Her damp hair was fastened in a ponytail, and she wore a light coat of mascara and clear lip gloss.

  But was she wearing a bra or panties? He took a closer look. Yes, on the bra. The panties, he couldn’t be sure.

  Allie retrieved the milk, and Daniel held up two cereal boxes. “Which one do you want?”

  She pointed to the brand that snapped, crackled and popped, and he joined her at the table.

  Halfway through the meal, the phone rang. He answered it, and she mouthed, “Is it Rex?”

  He shook his head and informed her that it was Detective Bell. The cop wanted to talk to her.

  Daniel handed her the phone and listened to her side of the conversation.

  “A wig?” she said. “No. I don’t have one.” She paused, then answered the detective’s next question. “No, my sister doesn’t, either.”

  The discussion was short, and Daniel got the gist of it. Some of the hair samples that had been collected at her loft had come from a wig the same length and color as Allie’s hair.

  After she hung up, she turned toward him. “You heard?”

  He nodded. “Does Bell have a theory about the wig?”

  “He said the stalker was probably wearing it to draw less attention to herself. If someone saw her going up the stairs to my loft, they might’ve thought she was me. But he also said that she might have wanted to know how it felt to look like me.”

  “No one would ever think Susan’s sister was you. Her figure is too full.”