Anna Marie Sorenson's Secret Affair (21 page)

“Figures a bastard like you would have a real looker tucked away,” another yelled.

Anna Marie gasped, dimly aware that he was petting her so openly in front of so many sailors. “Dallas, please, not in front of all these men.”

Dallas ignored her and palmed both of her breasts and fondled them, and as he did, he ground his pelvis against her, so that Anna Marie could feel his hard-on rubbing against her buttocks. She couldn’t help but shiver with heat that was blooming between her thighs.

This elicited even more catcalls and lewd comments.

“Man, what I wouldn’t do to get my hands on those melons.”

“Hey, Trent, what she cost per night?”

“The way she’s taking it, he’s gonna have a boner all night for her.”

Anna Marie wanted to be humiliated. She should have been humiliated, that Dallas would treat her so cheaply, and that he was making it clear to all the other men that he had her drive down to meet him for one purpose only. But, somehow, she was turned on, because it was obvious that the minute he saw her, Dallas couldn’t keep his hands off her, and the slow, hard Secret Affair 130

touch of his hands was telling her that he did not plan to keep them off her until he had to leave her. Shamefully, she realized she was turned on, that when she should have felt cheap and used, she felt very sexy and desired.

Perhaps there was something wrong with her that she never suspected, that when it came to men, respect and consideration didn’t mean anything to her. At least, they did not seem to mean anything when it came to Dallas. Or, perhaps, she was secretly an exhibitionist, and that it turned her on when a man pawed at her in public. It was something she would have to deal with later. Much later.

On the ship, an older man with silver hair was watching the small salacious show, but unlike the others, he was not smiling or whistling. His expression was somber and thoughtful, his iron gray eyes closely watching his best Special Ops openly fondle the small woman. But unlike all the other male spectators, his iron-gray eyes narrowed and hardened with disapproval. Also, unlike the other males, the Admiral knew that Dallas wasn’t doing it to show off or to display his manhood in front of the hundreds of men. Dallas wasn’t the type to engage in such displays of ego. No, the only reason why a man like Dallas engaged in an open and very sexual display of affection to a woman was because the woman was affecting him in a way that went against his coldly controlled demeanor.

Dallas finally let go of the woman, leaving her breathless and a little dazed. He bent to pick up his gear and hoist it over his shoulder. Then the older man’s gray eyes narrowed again when he saw Dallas put an arm around the woman and pull her tight to his side as he led her back to her car, holding her so close to him that she could barely walk, so that she tottered sexily beside him, nuzzling his face in her hair, still stealing a few kisses from her. Then the admiral saw the way the woman looked up at her Navy SEAL, her eyes shiny with excitement and happiness and a shyness that no prostitute, no matter how expensive she was, could have pulled off. Then his eyes narrowed again when he saw Dallas give her a very intimate smile. That’s when he saw something in the way Dallas looked at the woman, the hot possessiveness behind the hard desire in the green eyes that caused a vague alarm to go off in the back of his mind.

The admiral neared them. “Hello, Trent.”

Dallas immediate released his hands from Anna, dropped his gear, and gave a very sharp salute. “Admiral,” he said, the shutters lowering over his face.

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The admiral peered down at Anna Marie from beneath very bushy white eyebrows. The

look in the admiral’s gray eyes that were almost entirely overwhelmed by the eyebrows was a look that a father would give to a child when he was deciding if the child had committed some minor transgression. And she, who was looking anything but daughterly, had to suppress the urge to scurry behind Dallas.

To Anna Marie, the admiral looked like everyone’s grandfather with his great potbelly beneath his white suit, snowy white hair, florid, fleshy face, and a kindly, deceptively benevolent expression.

The admiral took his time taking stock of Anna Marie, noting the hesitancy of her smile, the short cap of reddish brown hair, and the large, soft gray, pensive eyes, and her petite figure beneath the shy face that was obviously in full bloom. It was also obvious to the admiral that this was no woman in the bloom of youth. But neither did she have the hard, jaded gloss of a working girl or some of the sophisticated society women that Dallas Trenton had been seen with around Washington. This was no Mata Hari, but a kitchen mouse, who could, for some men, prove just as fatal.

The admiral turned his eyes to Dallas.
A piece of ass?
was the silent question in his gray eyes. Dallas, the bastard that he was, was not intimidated and smoothly ignored the silent question.

“Ah, this must be a friend of yours, Trent,” the admiral said. “I can see why you were in a hurry to get back here. She’s quite lovely.”

“Thank you, sir,” Dallas said noncommittally. “This is Anna Marie Sorenson.”

He gave Anna Marie a small, courtly bow. “How do you do, Ms. Sorenson? I’m Admiral

Reardon, Norfolk Reardon, Miss. I’m Dallas’s commanding officer.”

Anna Marie did cringe. It was like meeting Dallas’s father. She could just imagine how she must appear to him. She put her hand out to him. “Hi, sir. You have a very nice ship.” Although the admiral’s face remained sober, a twinkle entered his eyes. He didn’t think he’d ever heard anyone calling a billion dollar fighter ship complete with fighter jets as a “nice ship.”

He gravely shook her hand. “Thank you, my dear. Although, I’m afraid it isn’t my ship.

I’m long past the days when I manned my own ship. I now sit behind a desk in Washington and move men like Dallas around the world. Similar to moving chess pieces on a game board.” Secret Affair 132

“Oh,” she said, not knowing what else to say. “That’s nice.” She winced. “I hope you like your job.”

“I do, my dear,” the admiral said gently. “I especially like ordering a man like Dallas around.

Anna Marie gave small, nervous laugh. “I can’t imagine anybody really being able to

order Dallas around.” She blanched when she realized what she had just said. “I…I mean, of course, since you’re his boss, he would have to take orders from you.”

The admiral smiled. “I know exactly what you mean. And, unfortunately, you’re not very far from wrong. It is more that I tell him he needs to go here, or there, and the rest, I’m afraid, is decided by him.” The admiral rested his eyes on Dallas. “It’s a damned good thing he’s so good at what he does. Well, I’ll let you two young people get on your way. It was nice meeting you, Ms. Sorenson.”

“It was nice meeting you, Admiral.”

The admiral said to Dallas, “Trent, I’ll expect to see you Sunday, six hundred hour sharp.

I’ll assume that there will not be anything that will hold you up, this time.”

Dallas gave a sharp salute. “Yes, sir. No, sir.”

The admiral turned and walked away. When Anna Marie turned her eyes to Dallas, she

sensed some relaxing of his face and body, although she had not realized that he had been tense.

“Does he disapprove of me?” she asked.

“No. Not you. Me.” Then without offering an explanation, he picked up his gear. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“Do you want to drive?”

He took the keys from her. “Sure. I’ll drive.”

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Chapter 11

For nearly two hours, Dallas drove the car through the traffic towards San Francisco. It was a quiet drive, mostly, with neither of them apparently having much to say. But both did not seem to mind it and were uncomfortable with the silence. At one point, Anna Marie realized she had no idea where Dallas was taking her. But she did not mind that, either. For her, it was just enough to be with him. Every once in awhile, Dallas would reach out his hand and pass it through her hair, or down her arm, or to cup her neck. More than once, she wanted to pinch herself, to make sure that she was beside this man who could have any woman at the snap of his finger, and it was she, Plain Jane Librarian, he kept touching as if he felt the same astonishment.

She never had a man who treated her as if he couldn’t get enough of her whenever he was with her, or was so attentive to her. She never dreamed that she could inspire a man to such adoration.

At least, as far as Anna Marie knew, that’s what Dallas’s behavior seem to signify,

complete and utter adoration for her.

He drove the car out of the city, exiting from Highway 101 right after crossing Golden Gate Bridge to the small town of Sausalito. After winding the car around the narrow hilly roads, Secret Affair 134

he pulled up in front of a very tall but very narrow house that was painted in dull yellow with white trimmings. It overlooked the Sausalito Bay and had an excellent view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the skyline of San Francisco.

Anna Marie got out of the car when Dallas did. “Is this your place?” she asked, curiously studying the house.

“No. It belongs to my parents. The family uses it as a weekend house.”

She blinked, suddenly realizing his words. “Are we staying here for the whole weekend?” She hadn’t brought anything with her, no soap or shampoo, no toothbrush. No clothes.

He gave her wolfish grin, but his greens eyes were intensely predatory. “Yes. I would have taken you to hotel in the city for the weekend, but I wanted you all to myself with no interruptions.”

Her eyes widened and she had to swallow hard to pull down the lump that was suddenly lodged in her throat. She was very excited at the prospect of having Dallas’s big hands and body using hers all throughout the weekend. But she was also a little frightened, remembering just how demanding he had been of her body and how exhausting he was.

Dallas, seeing the wariness in her gray eyes, pulled her close to him as he led her to the house. “Don’t worry, baby, I’ll try to be easy on you. This time, we have all weekend.”

“I didn’t bring any of my clothes.”

“You won’t need any,” he said tersely.

The house was quite small with a tiny kitchen, a living room with a fireplace, and a guest half bathroom on the first floor. A very narrow staircase led up to the one bedroom and another bathroom. The décor was plush but casually so with an overstuffed couch in bright red and two equally stuffed armchairs in yellow and white-checkered print. The small size of the house and the casual décor made the cabin quite cozy. In front of the fireplace was a large, white fur rug, which was rather incongruent because it lent rather a tawdry air to the otherwise casual elegance.

But it also increased the inviting coziness of the room. There was a fire that was already blazing in the fireplace. And she noticed that the house did not have the musty smell of a house that had been shut up for several months, nor did it feel like it was chilled all the way through the pipes of the house but was comfortably warm.

The walls were painted a light mint green and the curtains were silk and in the same green shade. Art hung on the walls and, as far as Anna Marie could tell, were quite valuable. She Secret Affair 135

also noticed various expensive vases and objet d’arts around the house. In an alcove that was between the kitchen and the living room, there was a large glass cabinet that held what looked to be Dresden china and Waterford glasses.

The expensive objects in the house was a sudden reminder to Anna Marie that Dallas, for all of his military and governmental career, came from the same family as her brother-in-law did, a family that was quite rich.

Dallas dropped his gear on the floor, thrust his hands in his white trousers, leaned his weight on one foot and watched her examine the surroundings, his stance patient which belied the barely controlled hunger in his eyes.

She turned and saw his eyes, cool and waiting, on her, and it made her stammer. “It…It’s a…a very nice house.”

“Thank you.”

“Has someone been here recently?”

“No. I called ahead to the property management company that oversees the house to get it ready.”

Then he started to advance towards her. She couldn’t help but jump a little and take a step back. That only made his eyes narrow into fierce slits as he continued towards her.

She started to shiver and she wanted to clench her thighs together when heat and tension began to pool in her loins. But she wasn’t sure she was ready for Dallas’s brand of sexual carnage just yet.

“I’m hungry,” she said hastily.

“Too bad.”

“I think I’ll check out the upstairs.”

“You can do that when I take you up there.”

“I need to use the bathroom.”

Because the house was so small, Dallas only had to take a few steps to reach Anna Marie.

When he was only a few feet from her, he reached out his hand, and pulled her to him by her waist. He kissed her hungrily, picking her up so that her feet were several inches above the floor.

As soon as his lips touched hers, her own passion flared and bloomed. She moaned, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him feverishly.

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He set her on the back of the couch, lifted his head and looked down at her breasts, which were heaving out of the skin-tight dress. He molded each one with his hand, gently squeezing their fullness. Anna Marie could feel the tension in his hands and knew that he was trying to restrain himself from tearing at her dress to get at her nakedness. And she knew he’d eventually tear her dress. She could feel her globes tightening and becoming heavy with need and couldn’t help herself when she pushed her breasts into his hands. That made Dallas lose some of his control as he roughly squeezed the globes, making her gasp.

He moved her so that she was forced to kneel on the top of the couch back like a frog, her buttocks facing him. Anna Marie had to grip the back hard to prevent from pitching forward. He pushed up the delicate peach-coral material of her dress over her buttocks and gave a hum of pure male pleasure when he saw that her uncharacteristic daring went as far as wearing a white lacy g-string beneath the sexy dress, forgoing her usual proper underpants, providing him a full view of her ample, naked, pearly-white cheeks.