Beneath the Silk (16 page)

She said nothing, just stared at him.

“Come on, Sis. Help me out here.” He jammed his hands in his pockets in case he lost his head and tried to touch her again.

Her nose hiked a notch and her pretty gray eyes narrowed. “News flash, Jack. If you would have had the balls to put me back on that table you would have found out that I’m a no-mess, no-strings, no-promises kind of girl. And you would have had the ride of your life. A free ride.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning I wouldn’t have expected anything in the morning.”

Her confession surprised him. He hadn’t expected it, or considered that maybe all she had wanted tonight was some good old-fashioned hot sex.

I’m a no-mess, no-strings, no-promises kind of girl.

Her words should have made him feel relieved. Most men liked no strings, and got tongued-tied making promises.

The ride of your life. A free ride.

No man in his right mind would turn down a free ride, especially a free ride from Sunni Blais. But he was going to turn it down, because for the first time in his life he wanted more from a woman than just hot sex—more from Sunni Blais.

“I’m going to take a cold shower and clear my head. And since your back is on the mend, I’ll make a bed on the sofa. Good night.”

* * *

The lavender tile beneath her bare feet felt cool, the humid air warm on her shoulders. Sunni closed the bathroom door behind her and stepped farther into the room, her gaze settling on the shower where the tangled lovers etched on glass clung to each other. But she was no longer interested in phantom lovers and fairy-tale dreams. She wanted a real lover—no, not any lover, she wanted the man standing naked beneath the pulsing shower spray.

She wanted Jack.

His eyes were closed, the shower spray bouncing off his chest and naked thighs—off his hips and marvelous butt. Sliding down his long, rock-hard hairy legs.

She watched him raise his arms and send his dark stubborn hair away from his forehead. The muscles in his shoulders bunched and the veins stood out. She licked her lips as several rivulets raced down his flat stomach and into the nest of dark hair surrounding his perfect “package.”

He hadn’t cooled off much from his aroused state in the greenhouse. No, not much…

Sunni was in the process of shrugging her dress off one shoulder when he opened his eyes. Her hand froze on the silk clinging to her breasts as his green eyes nailed her where she stood. She hesitated only a second, then shoved the dress to her waist, past her slender hips. The silk pooled at her feet, and she stood in her white thong and nothing else.

A long minute ticked by, then the shower door opened, Jackson’s long, hairy arm splayed along its width. It was clearly an invitation, and Sunni didn’t realize she’d been holding her breath until that fact had been confirmed.

Without a word, three steps brought her to the door. His gaze shifted to her naked breasts, and to break the tension, she said as she stepped inside the shower, “The answer is yes, Jack, it’s all me. No implants or hormones.” Her gaze traveled to that area of him that set him apart from the general male population in a
big
way. “How about you? Taking hormone shots?”

Boldly he followed her interest to gaze at himself. “What you see is the real deal, Sis. That, and a little more, if you can handle it.”

“Handling it would be my pleasure, Jack.”

His gaze found hers, and without breaking it, Sunni pulled the door closed behind her. When he just stood there staring, she stepped forward, backed him up and pressed herself against the full length of him. “What is it, Jack? Am I too much, too fast? Or are you all show and no action?”

Baiting him was dangerous, but Sunni wanted his hands on her, the way they had been on her in the greenhouse—all over every inch of her.

“Do you know what you’re asking for?”

“Do I look confused?” Sunni opened her hand to allow him to see what she held before placing the small square package in the tiled cove built into the shower wall.

He still hadn’t touched her, hadn’t raised his arms. Sunni rubbed her breasts over his hard stomach, and when she heard him moan, she stepped back and licked water beads off his nipples, fueling the fire.

“Turn me down, Jack,” she taunted. “Send the boss’s daughter away.”

She moved her hands to his hips, then bent her knees to trail kisses down the center of his chest as she had imagined doing in her dreams for the past two nights.

Around his navel.

Lower.

He made a guttural moan a moment later, his hands moving forward and his fingers tangling in her wet hair to hold her head.

“Look up, Jack,” Sunni instructed, then opened her mouth to taste him.

“Hell, Sis,” he moaned as she began to torture him. “What am I going to do with you?”

“What do you want to do with me, Jack?” Her hands touched him. Stroked him. Her mouth adored him.

“Everything. Every damn thing,” he groaned.

Sunni remembered how he had looked at her standing in the doorway of the greenhouse. Needing to see that same hunger in his eyes now, she backed off and looked at the ceiling mirror. Finding his gaze, she said, “Then what are you waiting for? I’m on my knees already, Jack, but if you’d like to hear me beg—”

“What I’d like—” his arms suddenly captured her waist and dragged her up his body “—is to taste every inch of you.”

Sunni shivered as he walked her backward into the water spray. There, he kissed her with enough hungry heat to knock the air out of her lungs. Dizzy, she clung to him as his hands moved possessively over her slick body. When his lips followed his hands and he tasted her breasts, Sunni arched for him, eager to feel his mouth on her flesh.

Suddenly he was turning her around and rubbing himself against her bottom. His arms curled around her, his hands cupping her breasts as he nipped at her neck and gyrated his hips. Then he was on his knees, kissing her bottom, peeling her panties off her hips and sliding them down her legs.

“Face me, Sis.”

When she turned, he was standing again. He kissed her once more, then reached for her wrists and raised her arms over her head to secure her hands around the gold fixture. As he bent his knees and squatted, Sunni knew what was coming next, and she gripped the fixture to keep her balance.

The sound of the water spray faded as her mind and every nerve ending in her body became attuned to Jack’s lips and tongue on her flesh. The heat from his mouth and the roughness of his hands drove her crazy. Her knees grew weak and her body shook. She knew she was going to come apart soon.

“Jack…”

He must have heard the need that was choking her. The torture eased up, and she opened her eyes to find him standing in front of her. His hand snatched the little square package off the shelf, and she watched as he slipped the condom on. His gaze found hers a moment later. “You look like you need rescuing, Sis. Lucky for you there’s a cop close by.”

He flashed her a wolf’s grin as he reached up and took her hands off the shower fixture and placed them around his neck. Lifting her, he urged her to wrap her legs around him. His eyes were bright and watchful as he slid halfway inside her. Sunni sucked in her breath, but she didn’t close her eyes. She wanted to see his face, watch and remember.

“You all right?”

He didn’t move deeper, and she knew why. Without warning, she snatched his lower lip and bit down hard enough to get his attention, but not hard enough to cause him pain. When she let go, she said, “No holding back, Jack. I know I’m tight. And I know you know what that means.”

He didn’t say anything for several seconds. Then he smiled. “Hungry, Sis?”

“That’s right, Jack. I’ll take everything that’s on the menu … please.”

Chapter 10

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^
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”
I
‘m not taking Mac to work with me. So stop harping on the subject.”

Jackson tossed another dish in the dishwasher. “I have some things to check out today. I don’t have a choice.”

“So check them out.”

She was being stubborn, but she had no idea that he had given definition to the word. “Either take Mac with you or stay home.” He dried his hands on the dishcloth dangling from the waistband of his jeans and turned around. “After the cab incident—”

“What are you staring at?”

“Are you all right? You look—”

“You’re suppose to say I look beautiful the morning after, Jack. Be careful.”

“You always look beautiful, Sis. You also look tired. You don’t have to go to work today. You could—”

“I’m fine, Jack. Perfect, as a matter of
fact.”

He’d sent her into four climaxes before midnight. Another two after that. She’d had two glasses of orange juice this morning, and was sipping her third as she came toward him from the bedroom. But like she’d done all morning, she was avoiding his eyes.

“Should we talk?” he asked. “Discuss last night?”

“Of course not. What are we going to discuss? Who moaned the loudest?”

“You did.” His baiting to get her to look at him fell through.

Once she’d fallen asleep in his arms he’d lain awake and watched her. She was so damn beautiful, and he was in so much trouble.

Think of her as a member of your family, Ward. The old cliché, guard her with your life, works for me. If it don’t for you, imagine there’s a crazy police chief holding a gun to the back of your head ready to blow it off the minute you screw up.

Well he’d screwed up all right. Up, down, backward, sideways. Standing up, lying down.

“Did you hear me, Jack?”

“What?”

“Why does Mac keep staring? And he’s been following me everywhere since I got up this morning.”

“He’s got the hots for you. I think that’s why he went crazy at Silks the other day. I think he could smell you, but he couldn’t find you and it drove him nuts.”

“And that’s why he’s not coming with me today. I don’t need him going nuts again.”

She tracked past him back to the bedroom, Mac on her heels. Jackson pulled the dishcloth from his jeans and walked into the hall. “You’re going to be in the office, right?”

“Yes,” she shouted.

“Then I don’t see a problem. If he stays with you, he’ll be happy.”

She came back into the hall with a scowl on her
face.
Finally she met his gaze. “But I won’t be happy, Jack. No. He’s not coming with me.”

His gaze swept over her. “God, you’re perfect.”

“No one’s perfect, Jack. Perfection is an illusion. Everyone has flaws. Even you.”

“Name one.”

“You smoke too much.”

“Not lately.”

“No, not lately. So what does that mean?”

He wasn’t ready to advertise that he’d quit smoking just yet. Maybe because he didn’t quite believe it himself. But, yes, he’d virtually quit smoking cold-turkey after twelve years of living on three packs a day. He knew that was unheard of, and yet it had happened.

“Jack?”

“I don’t know. You’ve been keeping my hands too busy, I guess.” He reached out and wiggled his fingers in the direction of the twins. “Want to be late for work?”

“I’m already late.” She headed past him. “Thanks for breakfast.”

He trailed her. “All I get for eggs Benedict is a quick thanks?”

She turned, sighed, then leaned forward and touched his lips with a chaste kiss minus the trim-wings. “There. Thank you.”

“Why do I get the feeling you’re thanking me for more than just breakfast? And that by noon you and I will be back to dancing around each other? What’s wrong, Sis?”

“Jack, please. I—”

He reached out and hauled her up against him. “Look at me, dammit.”

She did, and what he saw in her eyes confused him. She looked afraid. “Jack…”

He kissed her gently. She was shaking. “What’s wrong, baby?”

“Nothing.”

“Prove it. Kiss me like I know you can kiss,” he challenged.

“Jack…”

“I’m not going to let you go until I know tonight we won’t be dancing. Unless it’s cheek to cheek,” he teased.

“I guess you just wore me out last night,” she confessed. “But it was wonderful. Every … inch.” Then to prove her words, she kissed him—kissed him with all the trimmings.

The kiss promised that she hadn’t gotten her fill of him yet. Good, Jackson thought, because it would take him forever, and long after that, to get his fill of Sunni Blais.

When she was about to pull away, he tightened his hold on her and offered back what she’d given him. The kiss dragged on, and still he was reluctant to let her go. Finally, he set her away from him. “Mac’s going with you. And you don’t have to take a cab. Joe’s limo is waiting for you out front. I’ll be at Silks to pick you up at five-thirty. Don’t leave the building.”

“No Mac. But I’ll agree to the limo. See you at five-thirty.”

Jackson let go of her. She didn’t look back as she left. Through the peephole he watched her standing at the elevator in her silk suit. She looked good in red. She looked better naked, moaning and saying his name as if he were her savior.