Solace in Scandal (14 page)

He felt himself getting hard, and it annoyed him.

He stared at her, trying to use his head – the one atop his neck – before he lost the capacity. Had paranoia gotten the best of him? Or was she really that good?

The chill of the morning made him inhale sharply when he pulled the door open. The wind last night had ushered in a cold front. The frostiness hit his lungs like needles. He stepped out onto the balcony, and the iciness was a welcome balm against his feet.

Naked, he walked towards her. ‘What are you doing out here?’

She glanced at him and her gaze slid down not so discreetly to his groin. Whatever the cold had shrivelled perked right back up. Her cheeks reddened and she turned her attention back to the horizon. ‘Waiting for the sunrise.’

His eyes narrowed. On a frigid day like this? She could have watched it from his bed.

His feet started going numb against the limestone. ‘Let me in.’

Again that appealing shyness showed itself. She dipped her chin but opened the blanket. He stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He put her in control of the coverlet again and bundled her close. She was short enough to tuck right up against him and their bodies touched from head to toe.

‘Mmm,’ she hummed in surprise.

She cuddled closer and his resistance to her wavered.

‘Everything OK?’ he asked. There might be something to that old saying – keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

He rubbed his chin against the crown of her head. He’d meant to wine and dine her last night and, honestly, screw her until he got her out of his system. That had been the plan, but he hadn’t made it past the great room before he’d jumped her.

Already, he knew it hadn’t been enough. System-wise, her magic had worked itself deep.

She nodded briefly.

He tightened his hold and dropped his head so he could look at her. ‘You tell me if it’s not.’

No matter what her objectives were, he’d never resort to hurting her physically.

She nodded again, her chin barely lifting. ‘I’m not used to being … active,’ she whispered.

Something proprietary rose inside him. ‘Get used to it.’

It had been a while for him, too, but he hadn’t chosen abstinence. The wolf inside him settled a bit, though, to hear that she had.

The sun appeared in that moment, peeking over the hills in the distance. Only a sliver was visible, yet the bright rays swept over the tips of the trees. The upper floors of the house lit up, but the lake was still dark. It would be a while – a long while – before any sunshine hit those dark depths.

‘Beautiful,’ she murmured.

He couldn’t help but agree, only he wasn’t looking at Mother Nature. Her skin glowed under the morning sunshine, and her tousled hair shone. He nuzzled against the soft strands, wondering what it would take to get her back in bed.

Even with the head games, he still wanted her.

She looked over the grounds with curiosity from the lake house to the balconies to the turrets up top. Her wiggling was starting to have serious implications. Icy temperatures or not, Alex was feeling the need to –

‘How did you manage to keep the place?’

He pulled back slightly, her fresh scent distracting his thought processes. ‘What do you mean?’

She looked him dead on, her doe eyes unblinking. ‘Why wasn’t it seized by the court?’

His jaw went tight.

And there it was.

He’d thought he’d gotten control of the snake inside him, but it was coiling again, ready to strike. ‘The house is in the name of the family trust and has been for over a hundred years. It’s not owned by any Wolfe, although my grandfather made it his residence.’

‘What about your apartment then, the one in the city? Or your cars? Wolfe Pack?’

She was either brave or stupid – and he’d already verified through background checks that she wasn’t feeble-minded. He settled his hands on her hips and turned her so he had her full attention. If his hold bit a little, it couldn’t be helped.

‘They got me on insider trading. Nothing else,’ he reminded her tersely. ‘And that was a stretch. I made my own money, and I started my own company. Wolfe Pack has no ties to Wolfe Financial. It’s a separate entity entirely. The Feds and the courts can’t touch it.’

‘But your grandfather …’

‘Has never been tried.’

‘Because they can’t find him.’ Her lips flattened and a storm brewed in her eyes. ‘Where is he?’

The question hit Alex like a slap.

Especially here on Wolfe property, with Wolfe Lake filling the view behind her. He pulled his emotions in, forcing the snake to wrap around and choke them. He’d dealt with these questions for years, and he’d answered all he was going to. He didn’t owe anyone, even her, any more. ‘You will never know.’

Tension boiled as the cold settled around them. A breeze lifted her hair as if in fury, but neither of them backed down.

Or pulled away from each other’s bodies.

After a long moment, she took a deep breath. She caught the edges of the blanket up in one hand and caught his hand on her hip with the other. ‘Why don’t you give him up? If you’re not involved, why take the fall for him? Why not make him pay?’

The questions came a little too close to home. ‘You know, your father was no prince in this whole affair.’

Her face went white, even under the morning sun’s soft glow. ‘I’m aware of that.’

Turning away, she focused on the scenery. Her body grew stiff, but it worried Alex more when she pulled her hand away from his.

OK, so she and her father hadn’t been close.

He circled that hand around her, spreading it wide over her flat belly. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, kissing her shoulder. ‘That was below the belt.’

‘It’s the truth.’

The sun was a ball of fire now, punching its way into the sky. It glared down on their conversation, exposing harsh truths.

‘They came after my mother and me,’ she said. ‘The authorities, I mean.’

‘You? Why?’ It took a lot to surprise him any more, but that did the trick.

‘They were looking for funds they could seize, but my parents had been divorced for so long all they could get was my mother’s alimony, and that wasn’t much. They wanted information even more, but we didn’t know anything.’

Alex’s teeth ground. He knew what it was like to be in the authorities’ crosshairs, but he had resources. Lawyers, assistants, spin doctors and even Leonard. Yet that son-of-a-bitch Randolph Bardot hadn’t even protected his own. He’d left his loved ones to face the law, the press and the public’s outrage without him. No wonder she’d gone into hiding.

And no wonder she’d be susceptible to pleas from the government or angry investors for help.

‘Is your mother doing OK?’ he asked. That was another option.

‘She’s tough. She manages a cupcake bakery now. She loves it, but the owner doesn’t know how to run a small business. It has its ups and downs.’

‘Is she in New York?’

‘San Diego.’

All the way across the country. He did a quick mental calculation. ‘Wait. You were here alone when everything went down?’

She shrugged.

Alone and a student at that. She hadn’t had to face the real world yet. She hadn’t built up the barriers she needed to protect herself before it had all come charging at her.

Ah, hell. If she was here for payback, he understood why.

He wrapped himself around her again, protecting her with his body. Too late, maybe, but the act was instinctual.

‘How did you learn about his death?’ he asked quietly.

‘His suicide.’

The words were clipped and harsh. There was no question at all whom she put the blame on there. Her father had taken the easy way out.

A random breeze ruffled her hair and he tucked the strands behind her ear.

‘A cop came to my dorm room.’ Her gaze had taken on a faraway look. It wasn’t on the sunrise any more, but on the forest the light hadn’t yet touched. There were thickets out there that remained dark and dense. ‘That was when the other students made the connection and the snowball started rolling.’

‘You sound like you hate him.’

She swallowed hard. ‘I’m very angry with him.’

Her hollow tone indicated it had taken her a long time to come to that conclusion. Ax knew how that could be. He was very angry with members of his own family, only he wouldn’t shy away from labelling that emotion as hate.

‘And you’re angry with me,’ he extrapolated.

‘Yes,’ she confessed.

Angry enough to want to strike back? To use her feminine wiles to get close enough that she could bring him down?

Maybe.

‘Still?’ His fingers curled inward on her stomach. ‘Even after …’

He might be playing with fire, but he was intrigued by her. Mentally and physically. Maybe even emotionally …

She’d let him out of that room.

Her long hair caught between their bodies, and it stroked sexily against his chest. The ends of the strands tickled someplace even lower, and he couldn’t stop his erection from nestling in that soft curve of her lower back. Instinctively, he rubbed against her.

She caught her lower lip between her teeth.

At least this connection between them wasn’t a lie.

He slid one hand upwards to her bare breast. Her nipple poked into his palm when he squeezed, and she let out a soft whimper.

‘You confuse me,’ she confessed.

‘Why?’

‘I thought I knew everything about you. I’d read articles and listened to news reports. I watched the streaming feed of the trial.’

‘But?’

Her body relaxed against his, melting as if she couldn’t fight any more. ‘But the way you make me feel …’

Her body was soft. Trusting. The gesture was unexpected, but powerful. The cold morning air scraped at the bottom of Alex’s lungs. She had every reason in the world to despise him and want revenge, yet this connection between them was screwing with her head, too.

Determination settled fiercely inside his chest, along with something infinitely more sensual.

If she could have doubts …

He toyed with her nipple, rolling it between his forefinger and thumb. ‘Bend over, pretty siren.’

She moaned. ‘I shouldn’t want you.’

‘But you do.’ He pressed her forward. ‘Let me make you feel good again.’

Her breath shuddered out in cold puffs, but she reached for the railing. She kept her grip on the blanket, but opening it up allowed the breeze to sweep under its protective layer and over their heated bodies.

Widening her stance, she bent at the hips. The submissive position lifted her bottom and made her breasts dangle. He caught the lush globes in his hands. They were full and pert, and he loved the way they responded to his touch.

She had a beautiful body, curved and sleek, perfectly proportioned for her small size. It wasn’t a secret that her petiteness was an aphrodisiac for him. His superior height and strength made him felt masculine around her, but her trust in him … This physical trust even when there was so much suspicion between them? … It made him feel like a man.

Leaning over her, he nuzzled the side of her neck through her hair. It was draped like a dark, silky curtain over her body.

‘Why do you call me that?’ she murmured, her breaths growing shorter as he played with her body.

‘Siren?’

‘Mm.’

‘Because you looked like one that first night as you did yoga on the dock. You were so sexy and alluring, I knew you were dangerous.’

‘Me? Dangerous?’

He let go of her breasts to rake his fingers through her gorgeous hair. ‘Baby, you could be my undoing.’

He caught her hips to hold her still as he thrust into her, slow and deep. Her moan wafted off the balcony and over the grounds. If any of the security staff were nearby, there’d be no doubt what that sound was. Hearing it made him stiffen even harder.

He kept pushing, intent on reaching her soul, and the moan increased in pitch. Her hips rolled as she spread her legs even further. She wasn’t letting him bind her up today.

He wasn’t complaining. She was like a fist as it was.

He stopped, buried deep. ‘All right?’

‘Oh,’ she gasped. ‘Don’t stop.’

He had no plans to.

Working leisurely, he pulled out and thrust back into her. She had no idea what she did to him when she was like this, open and supplicant. Free in her pleasure.

He loved the way she shook and strained when he took her, as if she was fighting for completion. She had none of the airs that some of his previous lovers had; she knew none of the games. The sexual ones, at least. She was just a sensual, breathtaking woman.

He groaned as he pumped into her with excruciating slowness. She was so tight and wet. He knew he was big for her, but her body readied itself in the most natural of ways. And she let it. She didn’t fight her arousal, even though her brain had questions and her morals had reservations.

She did the same to him – made his common sense dim and his internal senses light up.

He knew he was playing with fire, but he liked it.

‘Arch up, baby.’ He squatted a bit lower and felt the burn in his thighs, but when he penetrated her again, the angle brought him right to her core.

The sensation was incredible and it brought a squeal out of her.

One side of the blanket slipped from her grip. It fell to the balcony floor, baring their bodies as they worked and danced together.

‘I can’t get enough of you,’ he panted as he pistoned in and out of her. He wanted to go fast. He wanted to ram deep, but the sensual pace was exquisite. Heart-grabbing. Watching her rock back to take him and seeing his erection disappear into her was making his teeth ache.

His sexy little spy. Had she intended to let it go this far?

She wasn’t used to taking a man this way, he could tell. Her movements were inquisitive and tentative, but she liked being taken from behind. Her body was becoming looser with each deep thrust. Her hips were opening, and her breaths were panting.

He cupped her breast and pinched her nipple tight. She let out a sharp, pleasure-ridden cry.

Off in the distance, a screech owl replied.

The other corner of the blanket hit the deck, and they were one with nature.