Twisted Hunger (25 page)

“The kiss,” he said and lowered his gaze to her mouth.

As though he’d commanded it, her lips parted, and she lost the ability to breathe normally. “That’s… ridiculous.”

He moved closer and slid his hands up her arms to her shoulders. “The way I see it, neither one of us is going to be able to pay attention to the movie. You, because you’re afraid of the kiss—”

“I am
not
afraid—”

“You’re afraid, but you’d never renege on a deal. My problem, on the other hand, is that I’m looking forward to it too much. Trepidation, anticipation, the end result is the same. Believe me, it will be much better if we get it over with beforehand.”

“Get it over with,” she repeated, as though that would help her understand why her trepidation had suddenly turned into anticipation. She searched for the avoidance plan she had come up with, but it was nowhere in sight. “I… I suppose you might have a valid point.”

She watched his mouth coming closer to hers, ever so slowly, as though time itself had slowed down. Then she closed her eyes and time stopped completely.

In a heartbeat, she understood what it meant to feel like the rest of the world had faded away as she waited for something she suspected might change her whole life.

But her wait was in vain. The anticipated kiss never came. She opened her eyes and saw Luke frowning at her. Taking a step back, she instantly returned to her world of trepidation. “What?”

“You seem to have forgotten that the third term was that
you
were to kiss
me
.”

She blinked at him and replayed his words in her head until they got through the fog. “I see. And once I give you this kiss, our truce is sealed. No more goading me or challenging me or… flustering me on purpose. Correct?” She expected him to give her one of his lopsided grins, but he continued to frown at her.

“Yep. That was the agreement.”

She didn’t know what he was up to now, but she knew what he deserved. She moved close enough for their bodies to touch from shoulders to knees, wrapped her arms around his neck and looked deeply into his eyes. “Ready?” She felt somewhat repaid when he wasn’t able to give her an audible answer. Her fingers threaded into the hair at the back of his neck. “Close your eyes.”

As soon as he obeyed, she gave him a sisterly peck on the cheek and stepped away. “Can we go inside now? I really hate missing the beginning of a movie.”

She expected him to have some witty comeback, but all he did was add a furrowed brow to his frown, shove his fists into his pants pockets and start walking toward the theater.
How disappointing
, she thought. Men were so dull when they pouted.

* * *

Luke had no idea what happened during the first half hour of the movie. He was too busy trying to figure out what had happened in the half hour before it started.

He knew for certain that he had been holding the reins up until the moment when he suggested they get the kiss out of the way. He had expected her to try to get out of it, and he’d have another excuse to tease her a bit more, get her good and nervous, then he would decide whether they would kiss or let the anticipation build for another two hours. That had been his plan.

But instead of trying to get out of it, she turned the tables on him. He might have found some humor in that—he certainly deserved it—but her turnabout wasn’t what had left him speechless.

There was a moment there, actually it had probably been no more than a millisecond, just before she closed her eyes and sighed. She had looked at him and he felt something turn on inside him, a light he didn’t even know he had.

And he knew in that instant she was the one, the soul mate that Terrell talked about, the woman he had been positive didn’t exist.

Why now? Why her? One thing he believed for certain was that if you love someone, you should be honest with them, but that was impossible under his present circumstances. How could he tell her that the real reason he had come to Sacramento was to use her to get evidence on her boss? He couldn’t. Yet he also couldn’t forget the importance of that real reason. She was still the best chance he had of getting that evidence.

To make matters worse, he didn’t think she felt an equal attraction to him. At the moment, he was just an annoying itch that she couldn’t seem to help scratching even if it made the itch worse.

The question was, now that he had her attention, could he change the game to one where they could both win? He would find out what he needed to know about Jones, she wouldn’t get angry when she found out that he’d used her and they’d live happily ever after.

The odds against his getting all three were astronomical, but he had always been a sucker for a good, high-risk adventure.

* * *

Ellery had no idea what happened during the first half hour of the movie. She was too busy alternating between congratulating and kicking herself.

He thought he was so smart, with his terms of surrender and tricky wording, but she had gotten him back for that. She had flustered
him
for a change. That was what she needed to remember, not the other thing.

She didn’t even know what to call that other thing. It was just a
thing
that happened, and now that it had, she would recognize the warning signs in the future and prevent it from affecting her again.

She could still feel it now, even though no part of her body was touching any part of his. In fact, she was being so careful not to make contact that she was getting stiff. It was like static electricity jumping between them. Every so often she felt the need to smooth the hairs on her neck, but when she checked, every hair was securely pinned in place.

When he had first come into her office, she had quickly recognized that he had the uncanny ability of getting under her skin, but she had thought it was because he sensed what buttons to push. It hadn’t occurred to her that there might be something less psychological, and more chemical, going on between them.

She understood chemistry between the sexes. She simply had not experienced it in a long time. Thus, she was unprepared for its effects. Now that she was aware that Luke’s chemistry had the ability to burn through her shields, she would just have to do a little extra reinforcing.

Perhaps her only problem was extended celibacy. It could be a good idea to go see Brandon this weekend and put an end to her self-imposed drought. At least with Brandon, she had no fear of losing her identity. He had kissed her the other night without much effect whatsoever. The way Luke made her feel at the mere thought of a kiss proved that it would be far too risky to have a fling with him. In fact, she should probably avoid being within a hundred feet of him. Her mission was far too important to risk being distracted by chemistry.

But what if he was sent to spy on you? What if he knows something that you could use?

She had momentarily forgotten why she’d accepted his dinner invitation to begin with. She could not afford to avoid him completely, at least not until Brevowski checked him out. She had assured him that she could handle Lucas Madigan, and handle him she would. Somehow.

The movie finally came to an end and Luke seemed to be as anxious as she was to get out of there.

“Can I interest you in a drink, or dessert and coffee?” he asked as they headed toward their cars.

“Not a chance,” she said lightly. “I have to work tomorrow.”

“You could always call in sick.”

“No. I couldn’t.” She already had her keys in her hand, ready to take off before that chemistry stuff had a chance to make her woozy again.

“How about tomorrow night,” Luke suggested. “A real date, where I pick you up and try to impress you instead of fluster you?”

She made a face at him. “I don’t believe you could get through an entire evening without goading me.”

One corner of his mouth curved upward. “That sounds like a challenge if I ever heard one. But I’ll let you in on something I figured out during the movie. Most new couples are so caught up in their physical attraction that they don’t really get to know each other. In other words, they need to talk more and make love less. You and I, on the other hand, have been talking way too much.”

She forced herself to get past his casual reference to their being a new couple and focus on contradicting his conclusion, but he didn’t give her the time needed. His hands framed her face and his mouth pressed against hers. It was gentle enough to allow her to escape if she wished, yet seductive enough to make her want to stay. She felt his caress flow with ease through her shields and reach all the way deep inside her.

There could be no resistance to a kiss like that, or even room to think about it. There was only an imperative to return it. He patiently awaited her response and, the moment she moved toward him, he kissed her in earnest.

His mouth teased and tasted and feasted on hers, awakening her dormant sensuality like a blossoming lotus flower. Wherever his hands touched, she felt his heat burning through her clothes.

She had a flicker of concern that she was in trouble, but he slid his hands down to her hips and shifted her to feel the power she had over him. Leaning back against the car, she pulled him closer then moaned appreciatively when he gave her exactly what she wanted.

All too soon, even that exquisite, rhythmic pressure was not enough.

She slipped her hand between their bodies, groping for his belt buckle as she aggressively drew his tongue into her mouth. She had never in her entire life wanted anything as badly as she craved satisfaction from this man at this moment.

She felt his mouth ease away from hers, and she tried to follow it, but he held her still.

“You win,” he whispered hoarsely. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we have to stop.”

Her fingers remained clamped on his belt as she pulled her mental faculties back from wherever they had gone. Her only consolation was that his breath was as ragged as hers. Other than that, she was mortified.

He gently raised her hands from his belt and kissed each of her palms. “I really hadn’t meant to—”

“Don’t say another word. Please.” She reclaimed her hands and picked up her keys and purse from the ground. She did not even remember dropping them. As fast as her quaking body allowed, she opened her car door and got in.

Luke grabbed the door before she could close it. “Ellery, please, let me say something.”

She started the car, put it in reverse and stepped on the gas. As he jumped out of the way, she pulled the door shut and drove off.

* * *

Teddy punched his fist against the steering wheel of his car.
How dare that slut betray me like that! And in public, where anyone could have seen her.

He slowly got control over his rage by reminding himself that she did not yet know just how deeply he felt about her or what his long-term intentions were. She was not aware of his plan to take her to the White House as part of the family rather than a staff member.

On the positive side, he now knew she was a passionate woman. He really couldn’t blame her for seeking a little indulgence. At least she didn’t go home with that man. She had left him to deal with his hard-on by himself… just as she had left the TV star. Somewhere in her mind she had to know that she was saving herself for only one special man. He savored the idea of having a woman whose body was his and his alone. Unlike his wimp of a brother, he would never allow another man to use what belonged to him.

That thought brought Vivian’s aging, but still needy, body to mind and, despite his moment of jealousy, the scene he had just witnessed had given him one hell of an erection. Knowing how much she would enjoy hearing how horny the leggy redhead was beneath her business suit, he called Viv to let her know he was on his way home and had something interesting to tell her.

Recalling the promise he had made to her earlier regarding the delectable Miss Winters, he wasted no time getting back home. Much to his surprise, Vivian was already in his room and obviously had been thinking along the same lines.

He stopped in the doorway and took in the superficial changes she had quickly made to make it look like an office. She was sitting behind a table dressed in a prim suit. A hand-printed sign on the table read “MISS WINTERS”.

“Oh, Mrs. Jones,” she said distinctly, to be sure Teddy knew what role he was to play. “I can go over those party details with you now.”

He walked in and sat down in one of the two armchairs sitting in front of the table.

As she came around to sit next to him, she said, “But first I want to say something about our visit earlier today.”

Teddy knew Viv had been in the office but he had no idea what had gone on between her and Ellery. Perhaps she’d been insulting and needed to be punished.

“I was… intrigued.” She began slowly, purposely making him wonder which game they would be playing. “But nothing like that must ever happen again.”

“I’m sorry, my dear, but you’ll have to be a little more specific. Nothing like what?”

She sighed. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you? All right. The way you were looking at my mouth and my legs, and lingering over my breasts as though my nipples were showing… well, it wasn’t… appropriate. It made me feel… very
sensitive
. And when you put your hand…” She took Teddy’s hand and placed it high on her thigh. Catching on now, he immediately squeezed and pressed his fingers closer to forbidden territory. “Yes, when you did that, well, again, it wasn’t proper.”