Double Dealing (2013) (10 page)

Harvey was gently lifted from his hand, and the blindfold finally removed. Michael ran over and hugged him.

“Well done, Mr. Waters,” Burrows said. “I do believe that is the first time we have had a nominee guess every item correctly.”

“Thanks,” Jed muttered, still not recovered from the last item. He decided he liked Harvey best at a distance. He smothered a sigh of relief when he saw Randall put the tarantula into a small hamster cage and close the wire door.

Mark stared at the spider. “It mighta been neat if Harvey’d bit Jed.”

Burrows rapped the staff on the floor several times. “Call to order! The nominee has passed the test, and now the Council will vote.”

Michael ran behind the table and sat in an empty chair that Jed hadn’t noticed before. Each of the boys voted approval, but when the Grand Master’s vote was called for there was a momentary silence as she stared at the nominee.

“No.”

The boys loudly protested their aunt’s vote. Jed refused to admit he was hurt by Rae’s rejection. It was only a child’s game, after all. But, dammit! Why couldn’t she have kept their differences out of it? Poor little Michael was nearly crying.

Burrows banged the staff again for silence. “I vote yes. A majority approval has been reached.” The boys cheered. “The Grand Master will now give the Oath of Blood.”

Reluctantly, Rae rose to her feet. She hadn’t meant to vote against Jed joining, knowing the boys, especially Michael, would be disappointed in her if she did. The Barkeley Club was for them, after all. But something inside her had protested loudly against admitting him to the inner family circle.

She walked slowly around the table until she was in front of him. Jed stood up. She kept her eyes focused on his robe. She could see his broad chest rise and fall with each breath.

Burrows took her hand and pricked her forefinger with a needle. Blood welled up from the tiny cut. He did the same to Jed, then bound their fingers together with a piece of string. Surpressing a shiver, she felt as if the binding went far deeper than ceremony. She forced herself to continue with the initiation.

“Raise your right hand, Jedidiah.” When he did, she said with a straight face, “A Barkeley will always believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. A Barkeley will like school and always eat his peas. A Barkeley will have fun at all times, but never at the expense of another. A Barkeley will be kind to his fellow human beings and deal fairly with them. A Barkeley will keep his body and mind fairly clean. Above all a Barkeley will uphold the honor of all the Barkeleys.” Finally she looked up into Jed’s face. Expecting to see amusement in his hazel eyes, she found their expression dead serious instead. Swallowing, she added, “To accept this oath is to accept the responsibilities that go with it.”

He gave her a tiny half smile. “I accept.”

“Then by my authority as Grand Master of the Barkeley Club, I now pronounce you a full member.” The boys cheered as soon as she finished.

“Congratulations, sir,” Burrows said, stepping forward to untie their fingers. “You are now a true Barkeley.”

Rae shuddered at the thought.

After the basement lights had been turned on, Burrows shepherded the boys back to bed. Rae blew out the candles and began to gather them up. She tried to ignore Jed as he watched her.

“You lied to Michael, you know,” he finally said, breaking the silence.

She had appeased her nephew’s feelings by telling him she’d only wanted to add a little spice to the voting with her objection.

“I know.”

“It’s only a children’s club, Rae.”

She turned around to face him. “I used to think so, Jed. Just a little bit of scary secret fun in Uncle Merry’s basement. It wasn’t until I had to give you the oath that I realized I’ve never drifted far from the words. It bothered me somehow to let someone into our group who was never going to take the oath to heart. They’re not bad words to live by.”

He gazed at her for a moment, then held out his hand. “Come upstairs. I have something to show you.”

The sincerity in his eyes made her come forward and take his hand. They walked through the basement and up the stairs in silence. The house
was quiet, with only the foyer light on to guide their way.

Jed led her into the drawing room and switched on a lamp by the sofa.

“I’ve already seen the sofa,” she said in a lame attempt at a joke.

“Sit down, Rae.”

All too aware that she was alone with him, she sat on the edge at one end and toyed nervously with her robe.

He sat down next to her and picked up a pile of papers from the table. “These are the company reports of the various properties we looked at before we decided on the estate. I asked for them to see if we missed anything anywhere that would make one of them more attractive to the company as a site for the Condos. Instead I found something else. Do you know what Merriman’s selling price was?”

She nodded.

“A little low, don’t you think?”

“It seemed so to me,” she said cautiously. “But real estate is cheaper here in Jersey.”

“That’s true.” He flipped through several pages, then pointed to a line. “This is an old Port Authority warehouse down in Gloucester. We didn’t go for it because of the refineries across the river. Not exactly a great view for luxury condos. Look at the price.”

She bent over and carefully read the computer line detailing the size, location and price of the property. It wasn’t very much less than the price of the estate, but it seemed to her quite a lot for an old warehouse. “It’s overpriced, isn’t it?”

“It’s reasonable for a
commercial
property. Rezoning would have been another problem.” He flipped the pages again. “This one is an abandoned restaurant with available acreage right on the Delaware Bay in the Villas.”

She read the line and looked up at him. “It’s nearly the same as Uncle Merry’s, but that’s commercial, too, right?”

“Residential properties can go for more down there. It’s a summer resort town. Rezoning it wouldn’t have been a problem, like the warehouse.” He grinned at her. “Unfortunately, horseshoe crabs commit suicide by the hundreds on the bay’s beaches, and the tide isn’t strong enough to take them out to sea. Not all the towns along the bay bother with the expense of removing them, and the smell can be … unpleasant on a hot day.”

“Ah.”

He showed her several more properties, residential and commercial, and she began to see a pattern. Though the properties were priced lower, each had some undesirable element to them. “I understand now. Even though the estate is higher in price, it’s still the best suited for your marina complex.”

“No, that’s not it. Not quite. The point is that these are all developed properties, though not kept up, and their market price is not much less than what Merriman agreed to sell for. Haven’t you noticed all the housing construction that’s been going on in south Jersey? It’s true property in Jersey is still cheaper than in the surrounding areas, but when you’re talking about a marina complex on the Delaware River, you’re talking
about a limited amount of viable property still left to build on. This place is akin to a czar’s summer palace, and yet Merriman was ready to sell it for a fraction more than the others.”

“He really must have wanted to get out,” she said in a low voice.

“Did he? Remember, he’d never put it on the market. I came looking to buy, which was to his advantage.”

“Now I don’t understand.”

He made a face. “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that, Rae, because I don’t understand it either.”

She remembered what had originally caused him to show her the reports. “What does all this have to do with the club?”

He chuckled. “I’ve always liked to think that my parents took over for Santa and the Easter Bunny, rather than admit they didn’t exist, and I always eat my peas. I’ve done things in my life that I haven’t been proud of, but the deal for the estate isn’t one of them, Rae. Merriman was very willing to sell, and it didn’t take much to reach a price.”

She leaned back against the cushions and closed her eyes. She believed him. It wasn’t that she hadn’t before, but she’d been able to place him in a villainous role. Now, though, she could see just how big a part her uncle had played by making the deal too good to pass up. He must have known what he was doing too. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear he’d actually been trying to dump the estate on Atlantic Developers.

She felt Jed settle back on the couch next to her. Turning her head slightly toward him, she opened her eyes. It always surprised her in some
way that he wasn’t the young boy she remembered so well. Maybe it was the mustache, she thought.

He gently traced her cheek with his forefinger. “I’m not a knight in shining armor, but I’m trying to keep you safe, Rae.”

“I think,” she said slowly, “that I believe you, Jedidiah Waters.”

Jed smiled. “It’s a start.”

The words swirled enticingly through Rae’s mind. Maybe it was a start for both of them … an understanding. A heady warmth flooded her veins at the thought, and she smiled at him.

Jed muttered a soft curse, and lowered his head. His lips touched hers softly, almost hesitantly. They lifted, then dropped back again for another teasing caress, and another, and another, before his mouth settled upon hers and moved slowly. Her spine tingled. She knew she shouldn’t allow him to kiss her. Jed’s kisses were dangerous. And tempting. She savored the way their lips merged as if made for each other. His fingers curved around her jaw in a gentle grip, even as their tongues entwined in a languorous mating. She told herself she shouldn’t be doing this. She really shouldn’t. Things were complicated enough between them.

But it was just one little kiss. Just one, she silently promised herself. Just one.

She slid her palms up his chest to encircle his shoulders, her fingers finding the iron-hard muscles underneath his robe. His arm tightened around her, bringing with it a long-sought feeling of warmth and protection. Suddenly, he pulled her hard against him, and the kiss exploded in a white flame of desire. She groaned in the back of her throat, as the last of her resistance crumbled against the onslaught of his tender demands. Dimly, she realized that something inside her had been waiting—waiting for Jed, and now that something had surfaced, dragging her helplessly into the kiss. To push him away would be to push away an integral part of herself.

Her mouth twisted and turned in perfect response to his, and all the while she hungrily wanted more. Her fingers delighted in the feel of his hair, the strong column of his neck, the tensile strength of his back. His hands gently cradled her breasts, his fingers teasing her nipples into aching points through the robe. There was a roaring in her ears, and she clung to him, the torment inside her beyond anything she’d ever known before.

Jed felt as if he were back in his dream. No other woman had held the honeyed fire she possessed. It was what he had been searching for in the cold mists of the park. It was what he held in his arms now. The overwhelming want and need pounding through his body demanded the satisfaction of reality. Desperately, he buried his mouth in the hollow of her neck, tasting the satin flesh
he’d always longed for. The unique scent that was Rachael Barkeley filled his senses. He’d waited a lifetime to claim her, he thought. He knew that now, and she would know it too.

He eased her back on the sofa, his body pressing hers deep into the cushions. He slid lower, his lips exploring every inch of her through the soft wool. Her nipples were diamond hard, and he suckled them. Her belly quivered under his mouth, and her thighs shifted restlessly, tantalizing him with her need. He resisted her hands as they clutched at him, trying to draw him back to her. Kneeling at her feet, he stroked her slender ankles, marveling at the fragile bones. He glanced up at her face. Passion flushed her cheeks, and her lips parted slightly as a low moan escaped her.

“Jed, please,” she murmured in a husky voice.

“I want to know all of you,” he whispered, his voice raspy.

Slowly, he slid the white robe up her body, exposing the slim calves, the lush thighs. He sucked in his breath at the sight of her white silk bikini panties, which barely veiled her shadowed femininity. The smooth curving line of her hips blended into a small waist, and his hands devoured the silken skin of her ribcage as he pushed the robe higher. Finally, he exposed her full, upthrust breasts and the coral-tipped nipples that were beckoning to him. The glory of her pulsed within his already rock-hard body, and his last remnant of control broke. Heat scalding his cheekbones, he fumbled as he tried to get the robe off her. Gentle hands helped him finish the task. He skinned off
the panties, then yanked his own robe over his head. His briefs swiftly followed.

He lowered himself between her parted legs, the shock of his hot flesh meeting hers shuddering through him. He nuzzled first one breast, then the other, swirling his tongue around the velvet pebbles. She twisted feverishly under him, and he gently draped her leg over the top of the sofa to make a place for himself in the cradle of her thighs. He groaned as he sank into her moist depths, as he felt a pleasure so intense he was engulfed by it.

Rae cried out at the twin sensations of fire and ice rampaging through her. She knew only Jed could create this, and only he could quench it. Unconsciously, she clawed at his back, and he began to move inside her. She met each thrust with a fervent one of her own. She was aware of nothing but his hungry mouth on hers, his chest hard against her breasts, their hips stroking deeper and deeper in an ageless rhythm. Her body burned, and her flesh shivered, as raging red and icy blue sensations spiraled outward, mindlessly tossing her in their maelstrom. Jed’s strong fingers gripped her thighs, and he chanted her name as he thrust into her one last time. Under her hands, his body shuddered almost violently. The fire and ice suddenly rushed together, breaking over her in wave after wave of ecstasy. It flooded her mind, coursed through her heart, and found the eddies of her soul. Then it pulled her under, tenderly enfolding her in its loving currents.