Crash and Burn (17 page)

Grace let out a moan as he probed her mouth with his tongue, devouring her with his need. He grew harder against her belly. Not removing his mouth from hers, he scooped her into his arms and carried her to his room. He kicked the door closed behind them, then strode across the room and set her on the bed. He broke off the kiss long enough give her a smoldering look before crawling up her body, kissing her stomach, between her breasts, then he nibbled the side of her neck until he found her mouth again.

Her hands frantically worked at his suit, trying to get the zipper down, but it kept getting stuck. He knelt and pulled the tab to release the zipper as far as it would go. He yanked his arms out of the sleeves and shucked the top off. He whipped his t-shirt off and watched her eyes sparkle with passion.

“I’ve wanted to touch you all day,” she said, her voice husky.

“I’m here for you.”

She reached for him, running her hands over his chest, which he’d worked hard for in the gym, and then she grasped his biceps and pulled on him until he fell back on top of her, seeking her lips.

He ran his hand under her white shirt. He saw her curvaceous outline and it made him hard. She twined her legs into his and, hooking her foot under his, she tried to roll him over on his back. He smiled and kissed her harder, helping her climb on him.

He liked a woman who knew what she wanted and how to get it. It was his turn to touch her, to explore her womanly curves and her luscious breasts. He splayed his hands over her hips and slid them up over her flat stomach until they were under her breasts. With his index finger, he briefly skimmed over her hard nipple, causing her to jerk over his erection. He repeated the action, hoping for the same reaction. This time she must have expected it because she sucked in a breath and ground her hips into him.

The intense heat of her core burned him and although he wore a fire retardant suit, he felt like he might burst into flames. He stilled her hips with his hands. “You can’t do that, love.”

“Why not?” she asked with an innocent smile.

There was a knock on the bedroom door, stilling both of them. They looked at the door and then back at one another.

“You have three minutes, Adams, or I’m coming in, no matter what state you may be in.”

Grace looked horrified. “He knows what we’re doing?”

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist,” he whispered back. “I almost took you out there in the winner’s circle. It’s not a problem, though–we’re married.”

She threw up her hands and crawled off him. “No, you’re married to my sister,” she hissed.

“You have a sister? You’re the only woman I see and the only one for me. Don’t think you’re getting away from me. I want to explore you more.” He liked her blush and the smile she bestowed on him.

“Fine, after the press conference and the three-hour drive home, if you still want to finish this, I’ll think about it.”

He grabbed her around the waist and pushed her back on the bed, toppling onto her. “I’ll give you something to think about,” he promised, kissing her again.

“Adams, I’m warning you. One minute,” Walt said.

“Fine, you slave driver,” he hollered back. He whipped the rest of his suit off and stuffed his feet one leg at a time into his jeans. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Grace staring at his erection and his almost-naked body. She didn’t have to think about whether she wanted him or not. She wanted him all right. He’d bet money on it.

“You can stay here if you want or come to the press conference. I’ll make it quick.”

He opened the door as Walt raised his hand to pound again. “I’m here. Let’s get this over with.”

* * * *

It was dark when they headed home. Stone offered to drive, but Grace could tell he was tired of being behind the wheel and she told him she’d drive. She didn’t know the roads, but it didn’t matter in Stone’s car, equipped with the latest GPS system.

Grace sensed Stone’s gaze on her as she drove. She glanced over at him a few times, but the more she looked at him, the more she realized he never took his eyes off her. Self-conscious, she tried to concentrate on each detail of the drive.

He slid his hand over the back of her bucket seat, letting his fingers trail along her bare neck.

She jumped. “What are you doing?”

“I thought you looked tense. I’m trying to relax your neck muscles.”

“Don’t,” she said curtly. She wasn’t irritated by his touches, it was more about her increasing libido and her need to concentrate on the road. Heat pooled between her thighs.
Dammit!

“I like touching you,” he said, kneading her shoulder.

She tried to shrug him off.

“You’re beautiful and you respond to me like you’ve never been touched before.”

His words were like throwing grease on a fire. Her whole body felt feverish and she started trembling. His hand traced down her arm and came to rest on her thigh. High up on her thigh. She sucked in a breath.

“I need to concentrate on my driving. It’s your car, and I’m sure you don’t want to have it towed out of a ditch.”

She caught his grin. “And why would you drive off the road, love?”

“I think you know why.”

“Tell me.” He moved his hand up a fraction of an inch.

“Stone,” she pleaded, depressing the brake.

“There’s a hotel up ahead. You could pull in. Then there wouldn’t be a chance of wrecking the car.”

Images flashed through her mind. She and Stone naked on the tangled white sheets of the hotel, Stone wet in the shower, water sliding down his tan body and her right there washing his back, and Stone taking her against the desk with the mirror behind them. She shut her eyes for a fraction of a second, attempting to get her body under control.

“You’re blushing. I can tell even with only the dashboard lights. What are you thinking about? Come on, Grace, we’re the only ones here. You can tell me.”

She shifted in the seat, trying to ease the ache between her legs. “I was thinking about you, actually.”

“About me? Was I doing anything interesting?”

She didn’t answer right away. Did she want to play this dangerous game with him? She knew where they were headed and what would happen if she played along. And she wanted him more than anything or anyone she could remember. Her body ached for his on a completely primal level.

“I was thinking about the hotel,” she said, her voice soft and sensual. “What would happen there.”

“And what was that?”

“Macrame?”

“I think you were thinking about what happened in my trailer earlier.”

She cocked her head to the side.

“You were wondering what would have happened if Walt hadn’t interrupted us.”

She hadn’t been, but now she was. They would have made mad, passionate love if fans, teammates and reporters hadn’t been waiting for Stone to return to them. Everyone would have known and she wouldn’t have cared. The satisfaction would have been worth it.

Maybe getting this tension between her and Stone out of her system would help her gain perspective on their relationship. She might not want him as much as she did right this second.

“You want me, Grace. Admit it.”

“You’re right, Stone Adams. I want you. I need you and at the next exit I’m pulling off and getting us a room at the nearest decent hotel.” She had her standards. No matter how much she wanted to jump Stone, there would be no renting a room by the hour in her future.

It was his turn to remain silent. She smiled. He still said nothing when she pulled off the exit. She was getting concerned and tried to catch a look at him when they passed under a streetlight. He was sitting bolt upright with his eyes open and on her. The car fell into darkness.

At the next streetlight, his hand clutched the door handle so tight his knuckles were white. Then it was dark again.

She wasn’t the only one consumed by desire. That knowledge gave her the courage to pull into the driveway of the two-story hotel with inside corridors.

“I hope it’s okay, but I forgot my nightgown,” she said with feigned innocence.

He looked over at her once she parked. His eyes were wide and he looked like a shock victim. He shook his head. “I think we can handle the no pajamas, but seriously, who are you? I don’t remember Grace being such a sex kitten.”

“You have a short memory,” she purred. “Remember the photo shoot? I’m getting a room, if you want to join me.”

He was out of the car in an instant. She wasn’t even sure he’d used the door. He magically slid out the window like he did in his racecar.

“Hello,” the man at the front desk said. “Do you have a reservation?”

“No,” Grace said.

Stone came up behind her and hugged her around the waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. She wanted to grind back into his erection, but didn’t need to cause a scene in the lobby.

“I’m afraid I don’t have any regular rooms.”

“What do you have?” Stone asked impatient.

“A suite with a Jacuzzi tub and a king-sized bed. It’s a non-smoking room.”

“That’s fine. We’ll take it,” Stone said, throwing his credit card at the surprised man, whose mouth stuck in a perfect
O
. The man ran the card though and handed the slip to Stone to sign. Stone grabbed the pen, wrote a big
X
, speeding the check-in process, and swiped the key off the counter.

Chapter 14

“Room 217,” the man called to them as Stone pulled her toward the elevator. Stone gave a thumbs up and hit the button to close the doors.

“I thought he’d never shut up,” Stone said, crushing her into the mirrored wall with a consuming kiss. When he kissed her like this, it was as if he was kissing her with his whole body. They touched from knees to groin, to where her breasts were flattened against the hard wall of his chest. His mouth sought entrance to hers and she opened under him.

The elevator dinged their arrival on the second floor. He stepped back a fraction of an inch and, with hooded, darkened eyes, he bored into her soul.

Even after the door opened, he didn’t move. When an elderly couple holding hands stepped into the elevator, he moved, pulling her out with him.

“Remember when we were like that,” the woman told her husband.

“We still are,” he laughed.

The doors slid closed and they were alone again. Room 217 turned out to be at the end of the hallway and Grace wasn’t sure she was going to make it all the way to the room without jumping her sexy husband. They ran down the hallway and Stone fumbled with the card lock.

“Come on,” he gritted between his teeth.

On the third try, the light turned green and Grace heard the door unlock. It was her turn to kiss him. She lunged at him, pushing him against the interior hallway wall. She dug at his clothes trying to get his jacket, and shirt off at the same time. Running her hands under his clothes, she dragged the shirt and jacket up over his head in one motion, making unzipping unnecessary. She placed an open-mouth kiss on his chest, then another on his flat nipple.

He sucked in a breath. She continued to claw at his back, then his tight butt. Sliding her hands around his hips, she hooked her fingers in his belt loops and yanked him to her.

Losing his balance, he fell into her, pushing her into the opposite wall, his hands on either side of her head broke his fall. He ravaged her mouth and, using his tongue and lips, forged a path down the right side of her neck, nipping and sucking, never missing a beat.

Her hair felt as if it stood on end and her body tingled all over. “Oh, Stone,” she moaned.

Scooping her up under her shoulders and knees, he carried her to the bed like she weighed nothing more than a wrench from his toolbox. He gently laid her down and followed, balancing most of himself on one elbow. With his free hand he traced the collar and the vee of her shirt until he reached the first button. He deftly opened it with a flick of his fingers and he parted the shirt farther.

He followed the same path, undoing each button with agonizing slowness. Grace squirmed on the bed, her legs and feet sliding back and forth. He needed to touch her more than only on her clothes or she’d explode. At the last button he sat up next to her.

“Point of no return,” he said, toying with the white button.

With sudden clarity, she answered him. “We crossed that point a while ago. This is what I want. You are what I need, Stone.”

She pulled him down on top of her. Kissing him and sliding her hands across his pecs and down over his firm stomach. His warm skin felt like silk under her fingertips. She gripped his biceps and held on. He sat up, forcing her up too. With one hand he supported her back and with the other he smoothed his hand over her shoulder and slipped her arm out of the shirt. He unhooked her bra and freed her breasts.

She held her breath as he gazed down at her. What would he think? A moment of anxiety washed over her, since she’d only been with two men. According to the newspapers and tabloids, Stone was well known for his bedroom prowess. Her nervousness ratcheted higher.

“You are breathtaking,” he said, melting every one of her worries.