In Safe Keeping (18 page)

Inside the drawer, was the biggest box of condoms she’d ever seen.

With a sinking feeling that was entirely irrational, she flipped open the lid and took one out. ‘I didn’t know you could buy these in bulk. Nothing like being prepared.’

His hand stilled.

When she turned around, he took the condom from between her fingers, eyes wary as he tore open the foil packet. ‘What’s the matter, Laila?’

She couldn’t hide her emotions from him.

Not here, like this.

Only in court, clad in her corporate armour.

‘Nothing.’

‘Liar,’ he said softly, his eyes on her as she pushed back the sheet.

‘Can you put it on?’ She didn’t want to think of the condom box or the models in the photographs. Not now.

‘Sure.’ Wrapping his fingers around the base of his impressive erection, he calmly proceeded to roll on the condom.

Laila stared, mesmerised by his firm grip and the confident way he handled his body.

‘We don’t have to do this, Laila. You’re shaken up by what happened tonight. This is entirely your call.’

She shook her head, heart plummeting at the thought of stopping now. ‘No, I don’t want to stop.’

He dragged the sheet up to his waist, cutting off her view. ‘No woman has been in this apartment since the night we met, if that’s what’s on your mind.’

It was.

She smiled a little. ‘It’s just this enormous bed, and the “buy in bulk” condoms. It looks like you’re ready for an orgy.’

‘
Christ!
’ He sat bolt upright, eyes widening in amazement. ‘Do you want to do that?’

‘
No
!’ Laila shook her head and squirmed in the bed, face so hot it felt like her cheeks were on fire.

‘But you’ve thought about it?’

She shrugged. ‘I wondered, about you, that’s all.’

He reared over the top of her then, pushing her back into the pillows, eyes troubled, powerful chest rising and falling. ‘I never date more than one woman at a time, and I’m not into gang bangs.’

‘Me either.’ She cupped his face in her hands, knowing she couldn’t share him. If there was ever anyone else, she’d have to go.

His grey eyes burned into hers. ‘I want
you
…’ He didn’t finish, swallowed, Adam’s apple shifting in his throat. ‘You got that?’

She nodded, and he collapsed onto his back and sucked in a harsh breath. Flinging an arm above his head, he stared at the ceiling. ‘You really know how to spring it on a guy.’

Laila didn’t apologise.

She wasn’t sorry.

She was glad she knew.

He turned on his side, narrowed his eyes, then shifted his head onto her pillow.

‘I’ll get even with you now.’ His voice turned low and sexy, and Laila’s heart began to pound. ‘Tell me, what else do you think about, Laila?’

Laila backed away a little so she could look more clearly into his face. There was a playfulness she recognised lurking in the depths of his grey eyes, like the day he’d followed her into the park and asked if she was as turned on as he was.

‘Like what?’

‘Oh.’ He pursued his lips. ‘Like that vibrator in your bedside table.’

Laila’s jaw went slack, her entire body flaming. When had he found that?

‘I…’ She hadn’t thought about it since she’d met him.

The corners of his mouth curved in a teasing grin. ‘Have you used it?’

Laila closed her mouth, heart banging hard as she moistened her dry lips. A lawyer friend had invited her to one of those lingerie and sex toy parties. It had been fun, and yes she’d bought it, and yes she’d used it.

‘I have, in the past.’

Evan groaned, and the sheet jerked below his waist. ‘The visual I just got was amazing.’

Laila’s head spun, the muscles in her lower body throbbing uncontrollably.

To Evan, talking about sex was a natural accompaniment to the physical act, and he’d encouraged her to do the same. ‘It saves a lot of trial and error’, he’d said. ‘Right away, I know what you like.’

Laila took an unsteady breath and decided to adopt his approach. The man had no hang-ups, no leftover religious constraints, no ongoing schoolboy awkwardness with the subject.

‘I didn’t know you found it.’

‘One night when I was looking for tissues.’

‘I haven’t used it since I met you.’

He laughed, looking like a male model on a toothpaste commercial. ‘
Now
you’re stroking my ego.’

He leaned close and put his lips to her ear, setting off a top-to-toe tremble. ‘Do you still use it?’

‘No. I fantasize about you.’

His eyes widened, and Laila couldn’t stop the satisfied smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.

He nuzzled her neck, right at the base where it joined her shoulder. ‘Am I good?

Sensation speared through Laila’s body, her breath coming in fast little puffs. She wanted to rub herself against his steely hardness until her skin chafed and her body exploded in welcome relief.

‘Always.’ Her voice shook. This was part of his sexual game. Drawing things out until she grew so hot she was in danger of self-combusting. ‘You are always good.’

His eyes glittered as he turned her on her back and positioned himself on top of her. ‘Nothing beats the real thing though, does it?’

Laila arched her back, brought her hips up to meet him. ‘No, nothing beats the real thing.’

And then, because she feared she wasn’t going to last, and because she needed him, more than she’d ever needed him. ‘The ache I have. It’s worse than the night we met.’

She ran her hands up the corded muscles of his arms and across the wide contours of his shoulders. ‘Don’t make me wait.’

He kissed her hard on her open mouth, and Laila’s mind shut down. She was only aware of his hand trailing over her hip, her breasts crushed against his chest, his tongue finally touching hers.

He deepened the kiss, groaning low in his throat as his tongue pushed further into her mouth. Laila raised her lower body, high enough so he could slide his hands beneath her bottom and bring her pelvis snug up against his.

Then with one strong push, he was inside.

Oh god, she
loved
this! There was no better feeling than his long, hard length driving inside her, pressing her into the mattress, stimulating her in all the right places.

She took a deep breath, heard his groan of approval as she gripped him tighter, took him deeper.

He stilled, his mouth turning gentle, sensual, reverent — as though trying to kiss away the horrors of the night. Laila let her eyes drift closed as she worked her fingers into his hair, cupping his head, pulling him closer as his body throbbed inside her.

He deepened the kiss again, sweeping his tongue into her mouth. Laila moaned, tasting him, breathing him in. Unable to stop herself, she raised her hips, searching for a greater friction, hands stroking his broad back, tapered waist, firm butt.

Evan took over, holding her steady as he went about setting a more even pace. She wanted this,
needed
it, he could feel it in the shift of her body, in the silent invitation to fill her, stretch her, bury himself all the way in.

He did just that, gave her what she wanted, heart booming when she moaned his name. He lifted his head and kissed a trail down her throat, freeing his hands so he could fill his palms with her soft perky breasts.

She whimpered when he stroked his tongue across a nipple, cried out when he brushed the tender undersides with the pads of his fingers.

Resisting the temptation to fuck her hard, he pulled halfway out, then plunged back inside.

‘Yes,’ she breathed. ‘Again.’

He pulled out, further this time, then slammed in again.

It was enough, for both of them. Laila tensed, then came with a rippling shudder he could feel rolling through her body. She cried his name, face buried in his neck, slender frame bucking beneath him.

‘
Fuck
.’ Gritting his teeth, Evan rode her hard, pumping into her until he couldn’t hold on. Blood thundering in his ears, he let go, a wild groan bursting from his chest as he flooded her body with everything that was him.

For long moments, Evan basked in the afterglow, loving the sensation of their bodies pulsing in unison, loving the way Laila held him in her arms.

When he could manage, he lifted his head and looked into her eyes. ‘That was totally out of control. Are you alright?’

‘I am.’ She cupped his face with her hands and he drank her in, loving the way her eyes turned golden when she was aroused. ‘I needed you, so much.’

He rolled over on his back, blew out a breath then turned and looked at her again. ‘I needed you too. It’s been so long, Laila — so bloody long.’

‘I feel that way too,’ she whispered. ‘When I was in the park, I heard him lowering a zipper. It was when he went for the gun, but I thought…’

Her voice broke, and he pulled her to him, swallowing the lump that was building in his throat. ‘Shhh — don’t think about it. I’m here now.’

‘It was his jacket.’ She went on. ‘But in that moment of absolute clarity, I knew if I survived, I’d ask you to be with me again.’

Evan kissed her. Not as he had in the hallway of her house, all demanding anger and frustration, and not with the deep-tongued arousal of a few minutes ago. He let his lips go soft, let them cling to her pink ones in the sweetest kiss he’d ever known.

She murmured, but he kept it long and leisurely, kept it in sync with their sated bodies, kept it sugary sweet until his head spun and he had to come up for breath.

‘Stay there,’ he said, dropping a kiss on her forehead and climbing out of bed.

In the bathroom, he cleaned up, then grabbed a large fluffy towel and a bottle of massage oil from the cupboard.

Back in the bedroom, he put on some relaxation music, then spread out the bath sheet. ‘On your stomach.’

She sat up and smiled, all ladylike, legs curled underneath her. ‘Really?’

‘Yes, really. Arms above your head.’

While she arranged herself on the towel, Evan grabbed his boxers and pulled them on. Even though the edge was off, this was going to be one hell of an exercise in restraint. Still, he was determined to make her relaxed so she could sleep off her ordeal. He wouldn’t be waking her. What she’d given him tonight was enough.

Placing his knees on either side of her thighs, he shifted her hair to one side so he could see her profile. Then he warmed the massage oil between his palms, noticing how her golden skin was covered in goose bumps. Was she cold, or were her nerve endings tingling with anticipation, waiting for him to begin?

He hoped it was the latter.

Leaning forward, he put his hands on her shoulders and began to rub, watching her face as she took a long breath then sighed in appreciation.

‘Usually I would do your neck first, but I can see the bruises.’

He concentrated on the joints in her upper spine, easing up when her muscles flexed beneath his fingers. ‘Too hard?’

‘No,’ she breathed the word. ‘It’s perfect. It’s genius.’

He smiled, enjoying the way her lips parted and her expression turned blissful as he massaged a little harder. ‘Not genius. I’ve been worked on myself so many times, I know a bit about anatomy.’

‘You certainly do.’

He smiled again, liking this new camaraderie between them. Was that the right word? Perhaps it was
closeness
he was feeling, the type of closeness he’d never experienced with a woman before.

He leaned over her, ran his hands all the way down her arms until his hands covered hers. He threaded his fingers through her slender ones and clasped them tight. For long moments he stayed like that, chest pressed against her warm back, almost reluctant to move.

He sat back on his heels again, massaging the large muscles attached to her spine and ribcage. Compared to his own skin, which had seen a lot of sun in the first nine years, hers had a natural golden tone, unmarked, slick now from the oil.

Suddenly, something unlocked inside him, and he needed to know more. ‘Did you go to the beach much when you were a kid?’

Laila’s eyes flew open and her body tensed beneath his hands.

‘No.’

‘Too far away?’

A pause. ‘I wasn’t allowed.’

‘Oh.’ Had she been sick as a child? She looked in perfect health now.

Not wanting to press her, he stayed quiet.

She closed her eyes and spoke in a low voice. ‘I have —
difficult
parents.’

Surprised, Evan moved lower down her back, using his thumbs to massage her lumbar region. ‘Do you get home much?’

‘Not if I can help it.’

He stilled, momentarily shocked by her answer, though he knew he shouldn’t be. Broken homes and blended families were common issues people struggled with. He just hadn’t picked Laila as one of them.

Aware of his reaction, she went on. ‘I’m an only child. They’re very controlling people. I was so
conditioned
, I really didn’t understand until I was a teenager and began noticing how my friends interacted with their parents.’

‘What kind of things?’ He knew what it was like to be neglected and abandoned, but not this.

‘It’s verbal. The school counsellor called it emotional blackmail. They manipulate, make you feel obligated, control your behaviour with threats, mostly by withdrawing their love. They say things like “I always thought you were a good girl” or “look at all we’ve done for you”. They put you down, tell you you’re hopeless, that kind of thing. They laughed when I said I wanted to be a lawyer. They tear you down instead of building you up, using fear and guilt to govern, basically.’

For a few moments Evan couldn’t move, so stunned that Laila could have emerged from such a family.

He’d always thought her strong and very together, but tonight she’d shown another side of herself. She suffered guilt over her friend’s burden, enough to refuse compensation herself. And there were times where she woke up feeling relieved, then felt like a horrible person.

Those were her words.

Evan reached out and caressed her cheek.

She was so beautiful, so caring, such a wonderful advocate for the army wives.
Stupid bastards
— not cherishing the wonderful daughter they had.