Hightower Affairs 2: Bedding the Secret Heiress (10 page)

She swallowed and turned back toward the other woman. “Gage is the one with the exciting job. A top business magazine voted him as the man you most want on your side in an economic downturn.”

All eyes turned toward Gage. His caressing hand stilled, then withdrew. “I’m a business consultant.”

“What does a business consultant do?” Tracy asked.

Two can fight dirty, Lauren decided. She slid her hand to Gage’s thigh and lightly dug in her nails. His muscles went rock hard beneath her fingers.

“Consult. Owners. On. Improvement. Strategies.” His carefully enunciated words made her lips twitch.

“AACI.” She nudged him with her elbow, earning a narrow-eyed stare. Thanking heaven for the long tablecloth hiding her actions, she wiggled her fingers and batted her lashes like an innocent schoolgirl.

He covered her hand with his, flatting her palm against his leg. When she tried to pull free he laced his fingers through hers and anchored her.

“I assess the company’s needs, assimilate the data, communicate my findings and help them implement a plan to reach their desired goals—usually financial goals, but some of my consultants specialize in other areas of industrial and corporate management.”

“I got to see him in action earlier. He’s very good.” Lauren added the last tongue in cheek with a brief glance at his mouth.

Fire kindled in his eyes at her double entendre. He didn’t look away as he continued, “Lauren is also very…skilled. She’s impressed the hell out of me thus far. I can’t wait to see what else she has up her sleeves.
Her passion…toward any project is quite extraordinary.”

He wasn’t talking about flying. Adrenaline rushed through her veins, making her almost light-headed. “Just remember what I told you at our initial meeting. Mastering new…equipment is something of an obsession with me. I’ll tackle anything you throw at me. In an airplane it’s simply a matter of lift and thrust, and knowing how far you can push your machine before you…break it.”

Gage’s nostrils flared. Gold glinted in his irises. Challenge issued and accepted.

She had to be out of her mind to contemplate becoming intimate with him. But she couldn’t seem to think about anything else. That kind of distraction in the cockpit could be disastrous.

The silence caught Lauren’s attention. She broke the simmering connection with Gage and scanned the table to find each occupant plus Esmé and Leon staring at them. From the flushed cheeks and parted lips, she’d bet they’d guessed neither she nor Gage were talking about flying.

Esmé dusted her hands on her frilly apron. “I’ll go finish the flan.”

Rob, the newlywed who’d been silent until now, cleared his throat. “I…Esmé, I think we’ll skip dessert. Right, angel?” He shot his wife a pleading look.

“Yes,” Sue piped up. “Dinner was great. Thank you so much. But I think we need to…rest. We have a big day planned for tomorrow.” They both rose and bolted from the room. Their giggles as they raced up the stairs echoed to the dining room. Nobody at the table could possibly doubt they were headed for something more active than sleep.

“Um, yes. Us, too,” Tracy added with a smoldering look at her husband. “We have an early flight to catch.”

Their departure left Gage and Lauren alone with their hosts. Leon shook his head. “Newlyweds. Always the same no matter where they’re from. I can barely get them to the table, and when I do they don’t stay long enough to finish a meal.”

Lauren wished the floor would open up and swallow her. “I’m sorry. I really know how to kill a party, don’t I? Folks usually don’t run until I start talking about hydraulics or compression ratios.”

Gage’s expression turned wry. “Run men off often, do you?”

She grimaced. “Let’s just say knowing more about a man’s car than he does tends to shorten my list of potential suitors.”

Leon chuckled as he gathered the other guests’ empty plates. “That’s all right, sweetie. If a man can be scared off, then you should let him go. Means he’s not the one for you.”

Esmé nodded. “I’ll leave the coffee on the counter and the flan in the fridge. You help yourselves to it whenever you’re ready.”

“Thank you, Esmé. Dinner was excellent,” Gage replied.

The kitchen door swung shut behind Esmé and Leon. It was clear her hosts expected them to dash off to bed, too. Worse, part of Lauren wanted exactly that, even though she was sure it would be a big mistake. Tension invaded her muscles and her pulse quickened.

“You like playing with fire.” Gage’s deep, quiet voice rumbled over her.

“Apparently so do you.”

He turned in his chair, his knee branding her thigh.
“If we go upstairs now I’m going to strip you down, take you to bed and not let you out for flan or anything else before morning.”

She gulped at the image he painted with his candor. Should she go against wisdom and take a risk? Or play it safe? Either way, she was pretty certain she’d be damned if she did and damned if she didn’t.

L
auren’s heart rose to her throat and pounded as heavily as it had the day she’d stood in the open door of an airplane at ten thousand feet, waiting to make her first solo skydiving jump.

Only the best pilots “flew by feel,” trusting their instincts no matter what the gauges told them. She was one of those few, and her sixth sense had never let her down. That same gut feeling told her not to hold back now. But still, going to bed with a near stranger wasn’t like her. This was risky business. But a risk she had to take.

Gage Faulkner. Her brother’s spy. Her former enemy. And soon to be her lover.

Looking at him, she gathered her courage and took that final step past the point of no return. “I always thought flan was overrated.”

Her words ignited a feral passion in Gage’s eyes.
A shiver of awareness raced over her, then he blinked and the untamed look vanished. Had she imagined his brief reaction?

He pushed back his chair, steadily, deliberately, and stood then grasped the wooden back of hers and helped her scoot away from the table. She rose on trembling legs.

His palm skimmed down her spine as light as air and settled at her waist. His heat seeped through her clothing, a steaming prelude to what she could expect if she didn’t come to her senses in the next few moments.

No. Once she’d committed to a course she followed through. She wanted Gage, wanted to experience the powerful passion only he seemed to be able to summon from her. There was a reason why he’d come into her life now when she was grieving and confused. Her job was to figure out why. And she couldn’t do that by running away from what he made her feel.

He guided her out of the dining room and up the stairs with firm pressure. They stopped outside her door. Her mouth dried and her toes curled inside her shoes. She inhaled deeply, but the light-headed, surreal feeling remained. Anticipation made her hands shake as she fished her key from her pocket and slipped it into the lock. She shoved open the door and stepped forward.

Gage grabbed her elbow, halting her on the threshold. “Be sure.”

Those two simple words confirmed her decision. That he’d give her an opportunity to change her mind impressed her. Most guys who’d made it this far would push for more whether or not she had doubts. She only had one concern. “This is between you and me? No Trent?”

His unflinching, gold-flecked gaze held hers. “No Trent.”

She dampened her dry lips. “Then come in and make love with me, Gage.”

The hunger in his eyes entranced her. Unable to look away, she backed into her room and he followed, pausing only to lock the door behind him.

The high mattress bumped the back of her thighs. Pulse pounding, she waited for him to close the distance between them. When only inches separated them she lifted her arms and pushed his suit coat off his shoulders. She caught it as it fell and tossed it on her desk chair. Next, she tackled his tie, loosening the knot until she could pull the silk free and drop it on top of his jacket.

He let her undress him. But while he didn’t assist her, she knew he was far from passive. Leashed energy radiated from him. His fists bunched and released by his sides, and his dark eyes watched her, promising passionate payback with every button she freed on his shirt.

She resisted the urge to touch him for as long as possible. She lasted only five buttons before she gave in to the craving to trace the open V of tanned skin with her fingertips from collarbone to sternum to collarbone. His skin was warm, supple, addictive. His scent grew stronger, headier.

His respiratory rate quickened, mirroring hers. She yanked his shirttail free and quickly undid the remaining buttons then spread her hands over his chest, absorbing the warmth of his body and the feel of his heart hammering beneath her palm. She pushed the fabric out of the way, and his shirt fluttered to the floor. Splaying her palms on his chest, she caressed those gorgeous pecs, then his muscled shoulders, biceps and forearms.

The tightening pucker of his tiny nipples fascinated her. She had to touch him, but the nubs teasing her
palms didn’t satisfy her. She needed to taste him on her tongue. She leaned forward and licked him. His fingers speared through her hair, holding her close, and a groan rumbled from his chest, vibrating against her lips. The vibration traveled down her spine to her core.

His grip tightened momentarily then shifted to cradle her jaw and lift her head. He covered her mouth and devoured her with a barely restrained clash of teeth, lips and tongue. His arms looped around her back, yanking her flush against him. But it still wasn’t close enough. Lauren ached for more. Skin on skin. Legs entangled. His body filling the expanding void in hers.

She forced her hands between them and tackled his belt buckle. In a frantic clash of kisses, desperate gasps, fumbling rushing fingers and grazing knuckles she hurried to remove the remainder of his clothing. Her arms tangled with his as he worked on her garments. This I’ll-die-if-I-don’t-have-you-now urgency was totally new to her.

Her skirt slipped to the carpet. Blindly, she kicked it and her pumps aside. The hem of her blouse teased her bottom like the stroke of a fingertip. Her skin was so sensitive that every shift of her clothing seemed like a caress. She reached for the button at her collar, but Gage broke the kiss and brushed her hands aside. “Let me.”

He worked the buttons with more dexterity than she’d shown on his. When he finished, she shrugged her shoulders. For a fleeting moment as her shirt fluttered to the floor, she wished she was one of those girls who liked sexy, daring lingerie. But she’d been born with a practical streak. Her bra and bikini panties were relatively new, but still machine-washable, plain white satin without lace.

If Gage found her lingerie lacking, she couldn’t tell by the hungry way his eyes ate her up with first one blistering sweep from her neck to her toes then with a slower, lingering return exploration. Her nipples tightened under his scrutiny. She couldn’t wait to have his hands on her. His mouth. The thought stole her breath.

She silently cursed the panty hose required by her uniform. As if he understood her frustration, Gage hooked his thumbs in the unsexy garment and peeled her nylons down her legs. She stepped out of them.

He removed his socks, shoes and pants, and stood before her with his erection straining the silky fabric of his navy boxers.

Eager to touch him she flexed her fingers, but instead, she took the safer option and reached for the hooks on her bra. Gage stepped forward and his chest slapped against hers. He caught her hands behind her back, stopping her short of her goal. The navel to nipple contact and his mild bondage sent a thrill shooting through her.

She undulated against him, trying to get free. “Gage, I want you.”

His nostrils flared on a swift inhalation. The line of hair bisecting his belly erotically tickled her stomach. “And I you.”

He bent his head. His lips landed beneath her jawbone and worked their way south in butterfly-light touchdowns, brief, shocking, exhilarating kisses down the cord of her neck and over her collarbone. She quit struggling, willing to take whatever route he wanted to pursue. His lips traveled down the slope of one breast and up the other. She arched her back, silently begging him to take her into his mouth, but he ignored her plea.

He transferred her wrists into one of his hands and
snapped her bra open with the other, then dragged one finger forward beneath the elastic, teasing the sensitive underside of her breasts. Her insides tightened as he lifted the cups, freeing her left nipple with a rasp of fabric across her overly responsive skin, then her right. The pad of his thumb grazed each tip, making her gasp. Her eyes closed and her head fell back as pleasure constricted her muscles. A warm gust of breath was her only warning before his hot mouth covered her.

She moaned and tried to free her hands to no avail. She wanted to touch him. His teeth gently gripped a tight tip, warning her to be still and then his tongue flicked her captive flesh sending an even more intense shock of arousal through her.

When he lifted his head she wanted to scream in disappointment, but then he released her and quickly stripped her bra down her arms. Self-consciousness slithered through her as he stared at her, breathing through parted lips. She worked out and her body wasn’t bad, but she wasn’t lush centerfold material.

She reached for him, her fingers digging into his thick shoulders and pulling him closer. He skimmed his palms up from her waist and cupped her in his hands, his thumbs drawing circles over her aching breasts.

He bent to suckle her again, drawing deeply on one side while his fingers plucked and gently tweaked the other. Heat pooled low in her abdomen, and she squeezed her legs together, shifting restlessly as need pulsed within her with each draw of his mouth.

He straightened and shucked his boxers. Lauren’s breath stalled in her chest. She hadn’t been with many men, but none of them shared Gage’s bragging rights.

Momentarily shaken over the magnitude of the step she was about to take, she turned her back on him to
gather her composure while she ripped the covers down the bed. He wound his arms around her waist. His hot body blanketed her back, and his erection scorched the base of her spine seconds before his hands set her breasts ablaze.

His teeth and lips grazed her shoulder, the side of her neck, then tugged gently on her earlobe. He pushed her forward, bending her over the high mattress. The prostrate position startled her. She wasn’t used to letting herself be vulnerable. But before she could protest his short nails lightly scored her back, raking over her bottom and plowing a field of goose bumps in their wake.

He dragged her panties down her legs. After freeing them from her ankles, he made the return trip twice as slowly, pausing to tease the back of her thighs with his lips then trace and caress the curve of her bottom. By the time he reached her shoulders again he covered her like a stallion, but without entering her. He pulled away slowly, leaving another trail of kisses down her spine as his body heat eased off.

Confused by his retreat, she faced him in time to see him straightening from the pants he’d dropped on the floor with a condom in his hand.

Protection. She nearly groaned, but assured herself she would have remembered…eventually. She wasn’t careless. Ever.

She had an unopened box in her flight bag. She’d bought it last year after she’d broken up with Whit, with the intention of going out and proving with a series of other men that Whit hadn’t hurt her. But apparently anonymous sex just wasn’t her thing. She hadn’t been able to get past the fact that she had to like and respect a guy before sleeping with him. Until Gage, she hadn’t been tempted by any other man since Whit dumped her.

She took the condom from him and placed it on the mattress. She’d waited a long time to make love again, and she wasn’t going to rush it. First, she wanted to do a little exploring of her own. She lifted his hand and pulled one of Gage’s fingers into her mouth, swirling her tongue around the tip. His muscles jerked tight, cording and revealing his perfect physique. He swallowed hard. She moved to the next finger and then the next until he grasped her hand and stopped her.

She curled the fingers of her other hand around his thick erection. His sharply indrawn breath rent the air. He covered her hand with his and stroked his length once, twice, showing her how he liked to be touched. Hot, satiny skin covered a rock-hard arousal, and caressing him triggered a burst of hunger in her belly. She swept over the slick droplet on his tip with her thumb.

“You do like to play with fire.” His voice rumbled low and deep like an approaching Boeing 787. He released her, gripped her waist and lifted her onto the bed then positioned himself between her knees. The position put them eye to eye until he captured her hands, lifted them over her head and urged her back on the cool sheets with her legs hanging over the side.

The position left her open and vulnerable, a little uneasy and a lot turned on. He captured a nipple in his mouth and stroked downward from her fingertips to her hypersensitive armpits. His hands mapped her body while his tongue traced the terrain of one breast then the other. Gage’s ultralight touch swept her waist, then her belly and thighs, showering her with goose bumps and shivers.

Urgent need coalesced into a tight ball at her bikini line. She wound her legs around his hips and pulled him closer, but he didn’t fill her as she craved. He only rested his arousal against her, hot and hard and heavy.

His teasing fingertips dipped closer and closer to her center with each pass until she strained toward his hand. And then finally, finally, when she thought she’d die from frustration, his fingers slid into her curls. He found her slick opening and stroked her. The intense shock of pleasure made her body bow. She cried out. “That…feels…good.”

He zeroed in on exactly the right spot, circling again and again, drawing her deeper and deeper into a vortex where nothing else in the world mattered but the way he sucked, nipped and licked her breasts and plied her body. Her legs shook with need as she had never felt before, then she was hurled through a wind tunnel of sensation that pulled her in too many different directions to process. All her neurons seemed to crackle and hiss then explode in a shower of sparks.

When the spasms stopped, she tried to catch her breath. Even before the tingles receded from her toes, Gage’s lips blazed a path down her midline toward the place his talented fingers had just vacated. “Gage, you don’t have to—”

“I have to know how you taste.”

His rough growl rocked her to her core, but that was nothing compared to the first lash of his tongue. Air filled her lungs in a rush. Lauren closed her eyes as every thought and all of her energy zoomed into tight focus on the magic Gage created with his mouth, with his hands. He cupped her buttocks and lifted her to love her with his tongue. The brand of each pad of his fingers burned her skin.

It was too much. Too good. Too fast.

She dug her nails into the sheets and fought to hold off her climax, to stall the shockingly swift ascent. Her senses sharpened, sabotaging her. Gage’s scent mingled
with hers in her nostrils. She could smell her arousal and his musky aroma. Without effort or intention on her part each of her muscles drew taut. But the coup de grâce, the final straw that snapped her control was the rasp of his five o’clock shadow on her tender flesh as he buried his face between her thighs.