The Heart Has Reasons (23 page)

Inside
the office, the motel clerk had to be pushing eighty.  His hard little
potbelly strained against a dingy, stained wife-beater tee shirt as he idled
against the counter, thumbing through a hard-core porno magazine.  Every
tooth in his upper jaw was missing except for the two at center front, giving
him the unfortunate appearance of a rabbit.

Relief
swept through him that Larissa couldn’t see the man.  Bad enough she saw
the insides of the rooms he rented.  He longed to take her to a high-class
hotel for the night, or even to a decent chain motel.  However, despite
the fact that he always paid in cash, such places would still demand a credit
card as security.

“Do
you have any rooms with kitchenettes?”

“
What’s
that?
” the old man shouted.

“
Do
you have any rooms with kitchenettes?
” he shouted back.

The
old man shrugged his narrow shoulders.  “Naw.”

After
much shouting back and forth, he finally got them checked in.  “Is that
your cat in the parking lot?”

“Naw. 
Somebody done dumped it here.”

“Who
feeds it?”

The
old man paused to expectorate into a trashcan.  “I reckon it feeds
itself.”

Keeping
his opinion of the vile old reprobate to himself, Chase left the office. 
The cat followed him to his vehicle, winding around his feet and meowing
loudly.  He moved the vehicle down to the room at the end.  When he
emerged, the cat was already there waiting for him and the moment he opened the
door to the room, it shot inside.

* * * * *

Larissa normally heaved a sigh of relief
upon departing the cramped confines of the van’s cargo compartment, but now she
would have preferred to spend the entire night inside the vehicle.

That
afternoon, a whipping hadn’t seemed so egregious when weighed against spending
an entire day wearing the ball gag.  Now, however, with her punishment
looming near at hand, she desperately regretted the decision she’d made. 
What made it worse was she’d given her solemn word not to attempt to dissuade
him from it.

She
jerked as the cargo door slid open.  “Larissa, you’re not allergic to
cats, are you?”  Puzzled by the question, she shook her head.

Once
they were in the room and she heard the frantic meowing, she understood. 
After he’d removed the gag and blindfold, she perched on the edge of the bed,
anxiously bouncing her knees.  While the pitiful little cat twined
frantically around his ankles, he opened a packet of tuna, dumped the contents
onto a plate, and set it on the floor.  As the bedraggled creature tore
ravenously into it, her kidnapper squatted beside it to run gentle hands along
its skeletal sides.

He
looked up at her.  “The poor thing’s half-starved.  If you don’t mind
having peanut butter yet again, the cat can have the other packet of tuna for
breakfast.”

Larissa
stared at him.  He’d sacrificed his own dinner for a stray cat but, not
only would he not let her go, he was planning to whip her as well.  Angry
tears welled up to blur her vision.  “Peanut butter will be fine.”

He
regarded her for a moment, the eyes behind the mask unreadable.  “What’s
wrong?”

She
turned away and wiped her eyes.  “Maybe I am a little allergic to cats.”

“I’ll
put it outside.”

“No. 
Let it stay.”

He
pulled her to her feet and, clasping her face between his palms, thumbed the
tears from her cheeks.  “Don’t cry.”

“I’m
not crying!  My eyes are watering.”

“Well,
make them stop.  I’m not going to whip you.”

“You’re
not?”

“Despite
what I said, I wouldn’t really take a belt to you.  But I won’t hesitate
to spank your bare bottom with my hand, so watch your step.”

She
sniffed, and blinked away the last of her tears.  “You’re a pervert.”

He
was still clasping her face, gazing down at her with a look so intense that she
sucked in her breath.

He
was delivering her tomorrow, which meant that, whatever she was going to do,
she had to do it soon.  Rising up on her toes, she grasped the back of his
head and pulled his mouth down to hers.  He stiffened for a moment, then
slide his fingers into her hair and devoured her mouth with his own.  As
every nerve ending in her body started firing in anticipation, a surge of
delicious tension settled as a searing ache between her thighs.  Sliding
her hands up under his shirt, she ran her hands across his chest, feeling the
springy hair and the hard muscles beneath.  His nipples sprang to
attention when she circled them with her thumbs.

Groaning,
he abruptly broke off the kiss and released her.  “Jesus, Larissa, what
the hell are you doing?”

Dizzy
with desire, she swayed on her feet.  He grasped her upper arms to steady
her.  Her heartbeat thundered wildly as blood surged through her veins,
and she struggled to bring him into focus.  “Expressing my appreciation
for you not whipping me,” she managed finally.

“A
simple
thank you
would have sufficed.”  With obvious reluctance, he
released her and took a step back.  “Are you hungry?”

“Actually,
I’d like a shower.”

He
inclined his head toward the bathroom.  “Go ahead.”

“If
I go first there’ll be no hot water when I’m finished.”  She gave him a
mischievous smile.  “Of course, we could be ecologically minded and shower
together.”

The
hot stare he fixed her with was thoroughly unsettling, and she could see he was
imagining that very scenario.  Then he blew out a long, slow breath. 
“Not a good idea.”

She
watched as he shifted the swollen flesh in his jeans to a more comfortable
position.  “Somehow, I don’t think you really mean that.”  Although
she’d never been sexually bold, now was not the time for reticence.  She
stroked a hand up the rock-hard outline of his penis, and grinned when he
jerked away from her touch. 

“Stop
it.”  He quickly secured her to the bed, took a shower, and released her
again.  Intensely aware of the sexual undercurrents in the small room, she
moved over to the dresser to get clean clothes and toiletries from the garbage
bags containing her belongings.  In the process, she casually removed her
athletic shoes and sat them on the corner of the dresser where she’d be able to
locate them easily in the dark.

She
took her time in the shower.  For some reason, she believed him when he
said that her description of Sparrow didn’t fit that of the man who’d hired
him.  However, that only meant Sparrow had used a go-between. 
Whatever information he’d been given, though, had obviously convinced him she
was in no imminent peril.  It was painfully clear that no matter what she
said, no matter how hard she pleaded, he wasn’t going to free her.

Since
he was delivering her tomorrow, she had to get away tonight.  Oddly, a
strange excitement throbbed in her veins, the same feeling she imagined
soldiers must experience right before a battle.  Steely resolve and
jittery anticipation merged with adrenalizing fear in an electrifying mixture
that honed her senses to a razor sharpness.

Acutely
aware of the bathroom’s open door, she exited the shower to dry off, then stood
naked before the small vanity and blow-dried her hair.  When he appeared
before the doorway, she pretended not to notice him.  He stood there
briefly before moving out of sight, and she hoped he’d enjoyed the view.

Forgoing
the sport bra, she pulled a tee shirt over her head and stepped into her last
fresh pair of yoga pants.  She then took a deep, steadying breath,
allowing the promise of freedom to fortify her will.

Although
he’d insisted that under no circumstances would he have sex with her, they were
about to see just how much self-discipline he had.  Gathering her resolve,
she took another deep, calming breath.  She could do this.  She
had
to do this.  Her very life depended upon it.

Just
think sexy thoughts
, she
told her reflection.

Tweaking
her nipples to make them stand at attention, she sauntered out of the
bathroom.  He slouched, shirtless and barefoot, in a chair in front of the
door, the little cat curled in his lap as he watched the room’s battered
television.

“Anything
good on?”

His
eyes flicked up and down her body, coming to rest on her chest.  “Just the
usual drivel.”

She
returned her toiletries to the bag on the dresser, relieved to see her athletic
shoes still sitting where she’d left them.  Fishing a bottle of lotion
from the bag, she crossed the room to stand in front of him.  “My
shoulders are killing me.  Could I trouble you for another massage?” 
Before he could refuse, she handed him the bottle and boldly pulled her tee
shirt off, revealing a luscious pair of breasts.  When he finally managed
to raise his gaze back to her face, she turned and settled to the floor between
his knees.

CHAPTER
14

Chase gazed down at Larissa’s bare
shoulders and back.  First,
she’d
kissed
him
.  Then
she’d stood naked in the bathroom, knowing that he’d glance in to check on
her.  It had been
extremely
difficult to look away.  And now
this.

While
his cock rapidly tented his pajama bottoms, he began to question his ability to
honor his oath not to bed her.  His desire for her was becoming a fever, a
gnawing, unrelenting need that threatened to overwhelm him.  His Special
Forces training had made him into a man of exceptional fortitude.  Still,
he was but a man.

And
at the moment, a man under extreme duress.

Releasing
a sigh of exasperation, he removed the cat from his lap and set it on the
floor.  The bedraggled little calico regarded him with wide-eyed
indignation, then claimed a spot on the foot of the bed and became engrossed in
cleaning a paw.

Chase
scooted forward a little, framing her bare torso with his thighs, and pushed
her hair forward, out of the way.  He popped the cap, squirted some lotion
into his hands and, trying to ignore the fact that she was naked from the waist
up, pressed his thumbs into the knots in her shoulders and began working them
out.

She
groaned in relief, her voice low and throaty as she drawled, “Oh, that feels
wonderful.”

The
smooth curve of the back of her slender neck drew his eyes.   He
couldn’t help but remember her reaction when he’d bitten her there the night
before, and imagined leaning down to her and doing so again.

Shit.

Blinking
away the taboo vision, he shifted his gaze over her head to the
television.  For the next twenty minutes he valiantly tried to focus his
attention on a brainless sitcom as his hands pressed and kneaded the lean,
toned muscles under the satin of her flawless skin.

When
the muscles of her neck and shoulders were once again loose and supple, he gave
her a little dismissive push.  “There you go.”

She
gracefully rose to her feet and turned to face him.  This time he actually
managed to keep his eyes above her neck as she tugged the tee shirt back over
her head.

She
took the lotion from him and moved behind him.  When her lubricated hands
came down on his bare shoulders, he jerked and twisted around.  “What are
you doing?”

“Returning
the favor.”

“Not
necessary.”

“Sit
back and relax.  I don’t bite.”  When he simply regarded her with
raised brows, she admitted, “Okay, that’s not true.  I
do
bite.”

“Larissa,
I know what you’re doing.  Just last night we discussed the prospect of
your attempting to seduce me and, as I recall, we both agreed that it wouldn’t
work.

“We
agreed I wouldn’t succeed in persuading you to let me go, but this is merely a
massage, not a seduction.  What’s it going to hurt?”

What
indeed?  Finally, he settled back.  Her hands were strong and her
fingers dug skillfully into his muscles.  Until now, he’d not realized how
tense he truly was.  As she worked on his shoulders, he closed his eyes
and tried simply to enjoy the massage, but it was impossible to ignore the sexual
tension that hung heavy in the air.

When
her hands started down his chest, heading straight for his nipples, he shoved
them aside and abruptly got to his feet.

Green
eyes sparkled with mischief.  “I declare, you’re as nervous as a virgin on
her wedding night.”

When
she moved toward him, he extended one hand to hold her at arm’s length. 
“Go sit on the bed before you embarrass yourself.”

Her
eyes dropped to his crotch, and a knowing smile tugged at the corners of her
mouth.  “It’s obvious you want to.”

“We’ve
already discussed this.  What I’d like to do, and what I
will
do,
are two completely different matters.”

“We’ll
see about that.”

He
grabbed his leather belt from the top of the dresser.  Doubling it, he
grasped the two ends in one hand, wrapped it once around his fist, and slapped
the leather against his opposite palm.