A Murderous Game (33 page)

"You're afraid?" she
asked tentatively, gazing up at him.

"Of course I'm afraid, afraid
I won't be able to hold out long enough to bring you to a climax because every
time we make love, my need to fill you, to find completion in you, is so great
I feel like I'll go mad if I can't have release."

"You're afraid of
disappointing
me
?" She looked like she was trying to hold back a
smile.
"Really?"

"Really," he said with a
chuckle. "And there's something else I'd like to clear up right now."
He reached for the clasp at the front of her bra and flicked it open with a
twist of his thumb and forefinger. "All those stories you've obviously
heard about other women and me are grossly exaggerated. I won't pretend to
being a saint, but I'm hardly the bed-hopping, morally void playboy I've been
made out to be." 

"You have to admit you do have
more experience than I, though."

Gage drew her hand down his ribcage
until he reached the proof of his need for her. "Feel that," he said
harshly.

She moved her hand over him, and he
drew in a sharp breath.

"You never fail to excite
me," he said through gritted teeth, determined to overcome her concern.
"And it doesn't matter how many women there may be in my past, not one of
them drove me as crazy with need or ever gave me the passionate, explosive
climaxes you do."

"Does this excite you?"
she asked, stroking him again.

Gage growled. "You know it
does, and if you keep it up, I'll lose what little control I've managed to hold
on to and toss you on that bed so I can put an end to my torment."

"I don't mean to torment
you."

"The hell you don't," he
said, having heard the amusement in her voice. He gave her a gentle push, and
she landed on the bed. "Two can play at that game though,
sweetheart."

"Gage," she said, backing
up on her elbows.

"Give it up, Abby. You just
held the evidence of what you do to me in your sweet, taunting little hands."
He put one knee on the bed and came down beside her, hooking a leg around hers
to hold her in place.

"Now," he continued, his
voice thick with need, "we've made love probably six or seven times,
enough that you should know you please me in every way. Obviously, I haven't
done a very good job of expressing my pleasure."

"It's not your fault."

"Nevertheless, one of the most
gratifying parts of lovemaking is observing and feeling the other person's
excitement, knowing you're pushing them closer and closer to the edge, which in
turn heightens your own pleasure. So do you know what I'm going to do?"

"What?" she asked,
licking her
lips.
Her eyes were wide. He could see the
effect his words were having on her. He couldn't take much more.

"I'm going to love you now.
I'm going to let you see and hear what you do to me. You can ask me anything
you want about what we're doing, and I'll answer you as honestly as I can, no
matter how embarrassing it may be to my manhood."

Her eyes began to tear up. "I
love you," she whispered, and his resolve shattered. In one movement he
mounted and drove into her amazing warmth, shuddering at the exquisite delight.

His groan of pleasure filled the
room. He buried his face against her neck, twisting higher inside her, holding
himself still and then easing out again. He set up a rhythm that began to drive
them both mad, but he was determined not to give in to his agonizing need for
release. He was positive it would prove one of the most difficult tasks he'd
ever set himself to.

~~~

Securing the towel over her
breasts, Abby stood in front of the bathroom mirror and combed out her wet
hair. A soft smile played on her lips, the smile of a contented woman.

Gage's lovemaking last night had
been nothing short of magic. Afterward, he'd pulled her into his arms and
questioned her about the article in
The Dish
. His concern had been
obvious, but she didn't see any point in crying on his shoulder now. If they
were lucky, nothing else would come of it, and that's exactly what she'd told
him. She didn't tell him about Norwell's reaction or the argument she'd had
with her father. He had enough to deal with as it was, and she didn't feel
right burdening him with any more of her problems.

This morning, he'd convinced her to
take a shower with him. Her smile broadened. She'd never before thought of
making love standing up, let alone with eight jet streams shooting warm water
all around, or that it could be so amazingly perfect. She was afraid she'd
never be able to think of her morning shower in quite the same way as she used
to.

Gage walked into the bathroom
carrying two cups of coffee. She watched him approach in the mirror,
appreciating every inch of his tall, taut body. Wearing nothing but a towel
around his waist, his still damp, uncombed hair falling boyishly around his
forehead, and a crooked grin reflecting back at her, the man was a walking
poster for unadulterated male sex appeal.

He stopped directly behind her then
reached forward and set the cups on the vanity. Circling his arms around her waist,
he pulled her against his warm chest.

Their eyes met in the mirror.
"I love you," he said huskily.

Abby leaned her head back and
smiled up at him, letting the warmth of his words fill her. No matter what the
day might bring, in that moment she felt confident she could deal with
anything, as long as she had him in her life to offset the negatives.

"Me too," she said
softly.

His arms tightened and he lowered
his mouth, brushing his lips back and forth over hers with a gentleness that
stole her breath away. His hands roamed up her ribs to cup her breasts
possessively, his thumbs stroked over her sensitive nipples, and she moaned
into his mouth.

"As much as I'd prefer to
steer you back into the bedroom and play hooky, I've got an important
conference call in about an hour," Gage said.

"Then you'd better get that
gorgeous butt of yours moving, mister."

His eyes seemed to sparkle with
delight, and he grinned. "You like my butt?"

Abby stuck her tongue in the side
of her cheek and nodded.
"Among other things."

He squeezed her tighter.
"Oh yeah, what other things?"

"If you want to make that
conference call, I suggest you stop fishing for compliments and get
dressed."

"Tell me," he said,
tickling her. "I want to know what other parts you like."

"Stop it." She giggled
helplessly.

He laughed against her ear.
"Tell me and I'll let you go."

She batted his hands away and
ducked out of his reach before he could grab hold of her again. He spun around
to watch her as she backed out of the room. "I don't remember," she lied,
"and if you don't stop it, we'll both be late for work."

He snapped the towel off his waist
and began to stalk toward her, a devilish twist to his sinful mouth and a
seductive gleam in the darkening pools of gray following her every move.

Lord, she was becoming aroused
again. He'd turned her into a slathering sack of hormones.

"Behave yourself." She
managed to suppress a giggle and took another step backward. She bumped into
the door frame. It was impossible to concentrate when presented with such a glorious
specimen of nude male. "And stop flaunting yourself."

He came to an abrupt halt.
"Flaunting?" he mocked, as if she'd insulted him. "I'm not
flaunting, sweetheart. You said you didn't remember what other parts of my body
you liked, so I thought having a good look might help remind you."

She could tell he was really
enjoying teasing her.
The cad.
She was probably going
to have this image of him stuck in her head all day. She had to admit it was a
pretty incredible image, but that wasn't the point.

She gave him a quelling look. No
one would believe her if she told them Gage Faraday, the ruthless CEO of GFI, a
man who could make his business associates shake in their shoes with a glance,
had stood proud as you please in her bathroom, wearing nothing but a boyish
grin, prompting her to itemize his physical attributes.

On a laugh, he turned back to the
mirror and picked up the hair dryer. "You forgot your coffee," he
said over the whir of the dryer. His eyes danced as he regarded her in the
glass. "I promise it's safe to come get it. I'm not going to try to make
love to you in the sink."

Abby lifted her chin and edged back
into the room. Cautiously sidling next to him, she reached for her coffee.

"Although I must admit,"
he said, as she wrapped her fingers around the handle of the cup, his voice
laced with amusement, "the idea holds definite appeal."

She straightened. She looked at the
vanity, then up at him, then back to the sink. She tilted her head and frowned.

"Only if I can be on
top," she said, shocking herself with her boldness. His shout of laughter
filled her ears as she turned and marched into the bedroom.
Lordy
,
Lord
, she thought,
wasn't she just the sassy one?

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

G
age leaned back in his
chair and rubbed his eyes. "I don't give a damn how much they were
offered. We had a deal." He looked up when Grace walked into his office
and put a note on his desk. He glanced down at it then gave her a curt nod.
"Then tell Anderson
if he takes that tack, he'll be in breach of contract, and GFI will be forced
to do whatever's necessary to protect our interests."

He stood up and put on his suit
jacket. "I'll leave that up to you. Just run it by Brett before anything
goes out. I can't talk anymore right now. Something's come up that needs my
attention."

Two minutes later Gage strode out
of his office, his expression grim as he approached the immaculately dressed
man waiting for him in the lobby.

"Quentin." Gage extended
his hand.
"Why the unexpected visit?"

The lawyer cast a glance toward
Grace and the other two secretaries. "Have you talked to Abby this
morning?"

Gage nodded. "Let's go into my
office." He trusted Grace implicitly, but he'd rather not discuss anything
associated with his personal life in front of the other admin staff.

Closing the door, he extended his
hand toward the chairs in front of his desk. "I talked to her earlier this
morning." He went around the desk and sat in his own chair.

"So you're aware of this mess
in the papers?"

"I'm aware, yes." Gage
frowned. "Abby's handling it all right. I'm sure it bothers her more than
she admits, but she's a strong woman."

"Well, it doesn't help our
case. This damn reporter, if he can be called that, is making the two of you
look like conspirators to murder."

"I wouldn't go that far."
Gage crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn't happy about what had happened.
He'd been more worried about Abby than himself, but after talking to her last
night, he'd felt an enormous sense of relief she seemed to be handling things
fairly well.

"I saw the pictures," he
explained, "and although the one suggests we may have become involved in
more than a business relationship, there was nothing in the article to prove
it. It was pure speculation."

"What article are you talking
about?"

"The one in
the tabloid on Friday."
An alarm began to sound off in his head.
"What did you think I was talking about?"

Quentin opened his briefcase and
pulled out a folded up newspaper. "This one," he said, dropping it on
the top of Gage's desk.

Gage read the headline of the lead
story in the popular tabloid.

SENATOR'S
DAUGHTER-IN-LAW HAD ILLICIT AFFAIR WITH FINANCIER DEVELOPING PHILADELPHIA RIVERFRONT

"Son of a
bitch!"
He scanned the article. It claimed a source close to Dick
Carpenter's murder investigation revealed the police were in possession of
Abigail Carpenter's diary, in which she had recorded a lurid affair she'd had
at the tender age of fifteen with Gage Faraday, the wealthy financier
responsible for the current development on the riverfront. It went on to
mention Carpenter had also bid on the project and that there had been bad blood
between the two men.

He continued reading. "Damn
it," he swore viciously when he reached the part about the Attorney
General's probe. Not only did it reveal Carpenter had been involved in the
investigation, it detailed his affair with the woman in the AG's office and
ended with references to Gage's reputation for ruthlessness if crossed.

"How the hell did this bastard
find out about any of this?" he demanded of Quentin. "None of it was
public knowledge."

"I'd like to know the answer
to that myself. I think now you can understand my concern." He picked up
the paper and held it in the air. "This kind of thing can be very
damaging. Yes, it's sensationalized and much of it is insinuation, but the
basic facts are accurate, and this business about the AG's probe points to
motive for both of you."

Gage picked up his phone and hit
Grace's page button, his rage potent as it ran through his blood. "Get
Abby on the phone for me immediately then get Detective Simms with the homicide
division." He disconnected and stood up. "Can you get a gag order on
this guy?"

"It's unlikely. We'd have to
petition the court, and if we try to get a gag, the paper will counter by
claiming it's a violation of their First Amendment rights, which allows
newspapers to publish lawfully obtained information regarding matters of public
concern."

"It's a fucking tabloid!"
Gage exploded.

"That may be the case, but it
still operates as a legal entity, and if we try to shut them up, they'll no
doubt drag in the ACLU, and then we'll have a real circus on our hands."