Rogue Diamond (22 page)

By the time t
hey'd finished the meal and pol
ished off a couple of glasses of the specialty wine, she told him about Jenni. Jack listened patiently to her story and kissed away the two sparkling tears that edged unbidden to her eyes.

"Alex, I can't believe you've let yourself get so involved with a
si
tuation like this."

"I couldn't help it, Jack. I was just here and—"

"Then let
it drop." He nudged her chin up
ward and kissed her unrespon
si
ve lips. "Alex, let me take you
back to Phoenix when I go tomor
row. I'll take care of you—"

She backed away, startled. "You mean, let her go? Not try to find
Jenni
? Let
her
be sold?"

"Well," he motioned helplessly, "or whatever. This isn't your bu
si
ness. She isn't your child. What would you do with her if you found her?"

Without he
si
tation Alex answered, "I'd adopt her." She stopped and listened to herself. Alex had never even con
si
dered what she would do. But there was no doubt in her mind that she wanted Jenni as her own child. Maybe that was a little drastic.

"Adopt? Do
you know how complicated an in
ternational adoption is?" Jack stared at her in disbelief.

"I don't care about that. I only care about Jenni. You obviously don't understand, Jack."

"Hardly! I thought I knew you, Alex, but you've changed. In a drastic way too."

"No, I haven't, Jack. You just didn't know me well enoug
h. I was the one who wanted mar
riage, remember? You wanted a mistress."

"
Things are different now
, Alex.
I
t wasn't the right time for marriage for me." He placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her to him. "Look at us tonight, Alex. Two lonely people, free to love. . . ." His lips covered hers before
she could protest. He kissed her with growing pas
si
on, his tongue lightly nudging her lips to part.

But her response was wooden, and he stopped. "I can tell I've offended you about this mis
si
ng kid. Look, Alex, let me make it up to you. Let me show you a good time."

She turned away from him but felt his hands on her shoulders. "No, Jack. It isn't what you said about Jenni. It's just not the same between us. Can't you tell?"

"I can make it good again, Alex. If you just give me a chance." He pulled her sensuously against him and she could feel his arousal against her
back
.

At that moment she wanted nothing more than to get aw
ay from Jack Kingsley. He repre
sented a past she wanted to forget and a future in which she had no interest. "No, Jack. There is nothing I want to revive. Please leave."

"Dammit, Alex. If you only tried, if you could forget your
own
hang-ups for one night, you might enjoy life a little. You're so straight, so honest, you can't enjoy one night with an old lover."

She looked curiously at him. Honest? Straight? Jack would be shocked if he knew she had helped Nick smuggle exotic birds across the border and had made wild
and wonderful love with him af
ter they had tried to buy a baby
girl.
The worst of it was, she'd do it all again if it were for Jenni or the man she loved
.

Alex never wanted to make love with Jack again. Her feelings for Nick would get in the way.
"No, Jack. It's us
, not my hangups
. Whatever was between us is gone. I'm sorry."

He stepped away from her, palms outward.
"I won't forget your turning me away, Alex."

She turned and watched
Jack walk out of the house, slamming the door behind him.
Stoically
Alex cleaned up their dinner mess of boxes and wine glasses. Even with all that wine, she didn't feel relaxed
. And after the argument with Jack
,
she felt uneasy. She
pac
ed
for an hour like a caged tiger,
finally
decid
ing
to take action.

Her
cab stopped in front of Nick's office. Through the broken-glassed window she could see him bent over his desk, just as she imagined. When she rattled the door on entering, he looked up, startled. Then, with recognition, he smiled warmly.

"Alex
, come in.
"

"I thought I might find you here."

"Just going over these photos again to see if we missed something." He laid a
si
de a magnifying glass and closed the folder.

"Then you're still looking for Jenni? I mean, you aren't too busy or anything?"

"Of course not." He motioned to the desk but looked at her cur
iously. "We have this new infor
mation and
I intent to pursue it to the limit. W
hy do you ask?"

She shrugged a
nd released a
si
lent
si
gh of re
lief. Maybe she hadn't lost him, after all. Not yet, anyw
ay. "Oh, nothing. Was Padre Ramo
n able to identify anyone in those pictures?"

Nick shook his head tightly. "Not immediately. I left two of the photos with him. He's going to work on it. I figured it would take
some
time."

She nodded and began to pace
, this time in his office
. "I see."

"Alex, you all right?"

"Yeah. Sure."

He stood, rather uncomfortably. "Look, Alex. We're rushing this thing as much as pos
si
ble. I told you it wouldn't be easy. But she's—"

"I know, Nick. I understand. It isn't about Jenni."

"What, then?"

"So much has been happening lately, I can't seem to keep track of it. On top of everything else, I lost my job. And tonight, Jack . . . Jack Kingsley came over. He, uh, flew in for bu
si
ness. He thinks I'm crazy to try and find Jenni." She stopped pacing and clasped her hands together nervously. "Am I?"

"You didn't have any trouble with this Jack, did you?"

"No." She glanced up and smiled weakly. "But he wasn't happy when I told him to leave."

Nick's big body moved quickly from the desk to Alex. Even
without their touching, she re
ceived the impact of his energy, not in a torrent or rush, but a gentle outpouring cascading through her until she wanted to force him to her. This was why she came tonight—for the vitality only Nick could give her.

His powerful hands rested on her shoulders and the warmth radiated directly from his body to hers. Th
e magnetism between them was in
tangible but real, urging her toward him.

For someone who functioned on the cutting edge of life, who spoke of calculating the enemy and demanded so much of her, his words were
surpri
si
ngly encouraging and gentle. "You aren't crazy to want Jenni, Alex. We're going to find her, just be patient. I know this job thing has knocked you back somewhat, but we'll work something out."

She smiled sha
kily. "Thanks, Nick. Your confi
dence is contagio
us. I needed to hear that, espe
cially tonight." H
er hands sought the natural ref
uge of his chest. She could feel the pul
si
ng vigor beneath the muscled wall and spread her fingers to encompass as much of him as pos
si
ble.

"Why did you really come here tonight, Alex?"

"To check on the progress of the search for Jenni. To make
sure you were still on the proj
ect." Alex broke down with a little laugh. "To hear you say this whole thing isn't crazy . . . oh, I don't know, Nick."

"I think I know," he murmured low and pulled her to him, slowly, ever so slowly. His eventual kiss was cool and tantalizing, not demanding as before, but beckoning, promi
si
ng, sensual.

Alex swayed against him, then tried to pull back, but he held her securely. "Nick, I—"

"I think I know how you feel, Alex. Now that I've held you all night, I want you again. And again. It's damn hard to let you go."

She pressed her forehead to his chin. "I've never felt this way before. So mixed up." How could she tell him she needed him?

"I wish I could tell you that everything will be all right, Alex."

"Now, that's
just
too idealistic, Nick Dia
mond. Even I know that,
" she teased with a smile.

Nick took a deep breath, inhaling her alluring fragrance. "Being with you is the only idealism I want, Alex." He kissed her hair and slid his arms around her, pres
si
ng her close. His invincibility penetrated her being and Al
ex clung to his solid strength.

"I want to be with you, Nick."

"Tonight? Al
l night?" Nick's voice reverber
ated with sensuality. "Don't tempt me, Alex. We aren't playing games anymore."

She nodded, admitting her true feelings to him and herself at the same time.

Nick locked the office and turned out the light. He tucked the files he'd been studying under one arm and looped the other around Alex. Without another word
they mounted the back stairs to
gether. Nick opened the apartment door and motioned her in
si
de. "It isn't very fancy, but it's
close to my work
." He moved with familiarity in the room's darkness while her eyes adjusted. Alex heard him toss the files on a table before he returned to fold her in his arms.

"Alex, oh, my Alex . . .
I’m glad you came tonight. I’ve missed you, wanted you.
"

As she buried her face against his chest and joyously breathed his rich, masculine scent, her world became complete. Tonight, she would enter the secure fortress of Nick's dominion.

Nuzzling, urging her face upward, Nick's lips left a moist trail across her cheeks until they merged exultantly with her eager lips. Tasting and tea
si
ng, he kissed her until she thought she would cry out for wanting him. But, he was in no
hurry. Nick's lips seduced her slowly and gently but ever so surely.

Alex matched his forays with her own darting tongue, nipping at his lips, meeting his licking flames with her pas
si
onate sparks of vitality. She bit at his lower lip with her white teeth and he moaned and thrust instinctively against her loins. The reflexive action revealed his arousal, and she took feminine pleasure in the sensation.

When the squal
l they created swelled to a rag
ing hurricane, Nick trembled with the potency of his de
si
re. Gone were the gentle, stimulating kisses as his tongue plunged the inner reaches of her sweet mouth with a pulsating rhythm. She moved erotically against him, her hips matching the rhythmic motions.

Alex opened w
ider to receive his male thrust
ing, allowing the female part of her to gratify his hunger. As his hands traveled over her curves, outlining each contour, Alex knew shamelessly that soon she wou
ld be the one receiving gratifi
cation to her craving need.
And she could hardly wait to feel him. She started peeling off her clothes.

"Nick,
watch me, hold me
," she gasped breathlessly.

"I don't think I can ever get enough of you, Alex. You're driving me crazy. I've never been like this." He shifted and began to undress her.

"I need you, Nick. And, I trust you ... so much." She waited, quivering nude, while he peeled away his clothes.

"Alex, I'm b
urning to touch you . . . every
where."

As she stood before him,
burn
ing with
a
brushfire
of desire
building within her, Nick explored every part of her body.
His
fingertips
swirled over her,
search
ing
out and strok
ing
each of her erogenous zones until she was moaning with
erotic
pleasure. His lips followed, drawing her de
si
re to the surface of every inch of her skin as he suckled her breasts and nipped the tender tips. Then his mouth plunged downward to her navel, and beyond to the fringe of her feminine crest.