In the Still of the Night:Sexy Romantic Suspense (Book 2 The Blonde Barracuda's Sizzling Suspense Series) (25 page)

Peter watched him leave, then turned to Brady. His expression was calm, his words were not.

“Your friend is out of control, Lt. Colonel. He’d be well advised to watch his step. And his back.” He took a deep breath and then glaring at Brady, added, “He may be in greater danger than he imagines for Alexis.”

Brady nodded as if thinking of a response. His tone was as casual as usual, but there was no hint of humor in his tight smile.

“Couple of points, Peter. One, Lexie is in danger and we both know it. And, two. A point of clarification. May I assume you were threatening my partner?”

Peter shrugged dismissively.

“You are welcome to make any assumptions you wish. Good evening.”

Brady watched as no fewer than eight men of various races, appeared seemingly out of nowhere to follow Peter through the lobby.

Brady spoke quietly into his comm.

“Don’t lose them. Any of them. And let the big guy know to watch his six.”

Chapter 24

Lexie pounded down the hallway to her quarters. When she got to her bedroom she slammed and locked the door behind her. Not that Master Wan or Madam Juen would ever enter without knocking, but she needed to slam something tonight. Something hard. The door worked. So did sailing one high-heeled shoe across the room, followed by the other. Her evening bag was next. It hit the wall with a crash, scattering an array of cosmetics on the carpet. She leaned against the bedpost, sucking in deep gulps of air. Angry gulps of air. She was not normally a drinker. Certainly not alone, and not as a response to stress. For a short moment she considered heading to the dojo. The thought of burying her fists in the punching bag was appealing. But not as appealing right then as a shot of Jack Daniels straight up.

She tossed back the whisky, choking slightly then reveling in the burn. Anything to take her mind off the horrible evening she’d endured. She knew it would be bad. Why, she railed, had she put herself through it? God, why didn’t she just call Peter and tell him she was sick, or tired or… anything. But she knew why. She’d wanted to see Jake. She’d wanted him to see the beautiful dress she’d bought to surprise him. Then Goddammit, he insisted she’d bought it for Peter. How could he think such a thing? To be fair… she stopped herself. She didn’t want to be fair. She wanted to scream and pound her head against the wall.

She could almost handle the things Jake had said. He was wildly jealous of Peter. If they were together lying in each other’s arms holding each other tight the way they always did, she knew he wouldn’t have acted like that. He’d be annoyed. And he’d tease her about one more guy wanting in her pants. But he wouldn’t act like a crazy man. He was scared. She’d seen it in his eyes.

But how well did she really know him? According to Dalila, not nearly as well as she thought she did. Remembering the scene in the ladies room, she did pound her head against the wall. A sob broke from her throat. She welcomed the din of anger that jammed her ears. Anything to drown out the memory of Dalila’s words. She’d known when she came out of the bathroom stall that Dalila had been waiting for her. She should have known the cunning woman’s concern was a freaking act. But she fell for it. She was hungry for support. Someone who might understand the riot of emotions swamping her. She let the bitch comfort her. God, she’d almost told Dalila what happened. Fortunately Dalila broke her cover and revealed her shrewd self. She’d put her arm around Lexie and handed her a tissue.

“Poor, baby. You really are an innocent, aren’t you, Alexis?”

Lexie had tried to tell her that no, she was far from innocent. In fact, she bet that she’d seen more in her first sixteen years than Dalila had seen in her thirty-five. But Dalila had an image of Lexie that she wouldn’t let the truth invade.

“I tried to tell you, Alexis, in the kindest way I could.”

“Tell me what?”

“Well… I know you and Jake were planning on getting married, or I think that’s what you had in mind.”

Lexie protested. “Actually getting married was Jake’s idea.”

Dalila’s smile widened as she arched a quizzical brow. “Of course it was.”

At this point, Lexie’s protective instincts had kicked in. She stepped toward the door.

“I really don’t want to discuss this with you, Dalila.”

“Oh baby, who else can you talk to? Who else knows Jake the way I do, and for as long as I have?”

She paused as though deciding whether to continue, but then shrugged and plunged forward.

“Honey, the kindest way I can put it is that no one who knows him would describe Jake Gardner is a ‘one woman man.’ And Alexis, I could give you a two hundred page address book to prove it.”

Lexie didn’t know how she got to her car. She vaguely remembered going to the valet stand and begging the carrot-topped valet to give her the keys to her Camaro. She’d scribbled a note to Peter and gave the kid $20 to deliver it to any of the Asian men in the ballroom. She was sure they all knew Peter.

Somehow she’d made it home without crashing her car… intentionally or unintentionally.

At that moment, she heard him banging on the door, ending her troubled reverie.

~~~

Jake breathed a huge sigh of relief when he saw her car in the driveway. He’d already called Dan Rourke, telling him as far as he was concerned Dan could fire the whole damn bunch of cops guarding the Center. Dan was as shocked as Jake that Lexie had driven herself to the hotel. Jake took some comfort in the fact that heads would roll as soon as they hung up. Surprised that she was not in the dojo, he marched toward her closed bedroom door. While he wasn’t surprised that it was locked, it infuriated him. He rapped sharply on the unforgiving wood.

“Open the door, Lexie.”

He didn’t hide the anger in his voice. He heard movement behind the door, but she didn’t answer.

“Lexie, the door.”

Her voice was tinged with the sound of tears. He expected rage. Instead he heard scorn.

“Fat chance! What happened, Jake? Didn’t she want to do you after all that foreplay? She didn’t invite you to her lair? Or did you just settle for a quickie in a hotel closet?”

“Lexie. Open. The. Fucking. Door.”

“Why should I?”

He steeled himself not to yell. “Because, I told you to.”

“Go away, Jake. I don’t want you here. Go find one of your other women. According to Dalila, all you have to do is open any page in the phone book to find a familiar name.”

Jake took several deep breaths to slow his pounding heart.

“Lexie, now.”

As much as he didn’t want to upset Master Wan, he knew he was seconds away from breaking down the door.

She must have heard the fury in his voice because the lock clicked.

“Fine.”

He heaved open the door and strode in. She’d moved next to the bathroom door, her hand on the knob. Through the red haze covering his eyes, he huffed at the disheveled state of the room. He wasn’t a stranger to Lexie’s temper. Kicking one of her shoes out of the way, he advanced on her. She turned to go into the bathroom but he grabbed her arm and shoved her against the wall. Conscious of his strength, and seeing the tear streaks on her face, he dialed his anger down to a slow burn.

“Don’t you
ever
lock me out of your room again. Do you understand me?”

His breath felt hot, jagged. He forced his voice to quiet.

“Do you hear me, Lexie?”

She surprised him with one of her breakaway moves. Backing across the room, she tossed her head.

“The entire world doesn’t exist just to take orders from you. What will you do, Jake? Break down the door? Smash it in pieces?”

His voice was taut with suppressed anger.

“To begin with.”

Before she could stop him, he’d grabbed her and hauled her up to his chest. Backing her against the wall, he pressed his lips just below her ear.

“And then, Lexie, I’ll do this.”

Snatching the clip from her hair, he wove his fingers into the heavy mass of curls. Dragging her head back, he pressed his lips hard against her mouth. He didn’t hold back. Thrusting his ravenous tongue into her mouth he captured hers. Her moan sent flames of heat to his aroused cock. In seconds they were tearing at each other’s clothes.

Jake ripped open the clasp holding her dress in place. The halter top dropped to her waist baring her breasts. A hard groan rose from his throat at the sight. With one hand he held her head in place, with the other he grasped one firm globe and bent down to drag her taut nipple between his lips. She cried out pushing the sensitive nub into his mouth.

“Yes, God, yes. Suck me, Jake. Suck on me hard.”

With a growl, he shoved her dress over her hips forcing it to the floor. He gasped at the glorious sight. Her body was bare except for her lacy thigh high silk stockings and the scrap of silk covering her mound.

“Fucking Christ, Lexie!” His voice was harsh with need. “God, baby. I can’t wait!”

He shoved his knee between her thighs. Grasping her ass cheeks, with one hand, he lifted her against his hard aroused cock. With his other hand he tore at the placket of his trousers. He didn’t know what was shaking harder, his legs or his voice.

He rasped, “I have to have you, Lexie. Now.”

She moaned, her voice vibrating with excitement. “I need you, Jake. I need to touch you, feel you inside of me. Please, now.”

She tugged frantically at his zipper. Between the two of them they opened his trousers and released his hard, thick cock. She gasped, her eyes widened at the sight. “Oh God, Jake, I… I… want you. You are so beautiful.”

Shoving her thong aside, he lifted her against the wall and wrapped her legs around his waist.

Finding her wet with desire, he groaned a deep guttural sound. Pressing the head of his engorged penis against her entrance, his voice was taut.

“Damn, Lexie. I’m gonna take you, Darlin’. Hard. Do you understand? I can’t wait, baby. I have to have you. I can’t stop. Do you hear me?”

She cried out, “Yes, Jake. God, yes! Now, don’t stop. Please now!”

She grasped his hips, and pulled him tight against her.

With a hard thrust, he drove into her reveling at the sound of her high wail. With every thrust he drove deeper, harder. Her sheathe gripped him milking his hard cock. Their cries were as tangled as their bodies. Over and over, he thrust into her, going deeper than he’d ever been. She answered every thrust by gripping him harder. They both exploded in a rush of passion so intense Jake swore his eyes rolled back in his head. His passionate shout echoed her loud keening wail. For several long moments they shuddered against the wall. She was sobbing, laughing, planting kisses all over his face and neck. He could feel her heart hammering against his chest. He wasn’t sure whose was beating harder—his or hers. Wiping at his cheeks, he marveled that the tears he’d thought were hers were his. Somehow he unhooked their tangled bodies and laid her on the floor. His cock rose at the erotic sight of her, stretched out before him, her silky stockings and tattered thong, her only clothing.

Before they ever reached the bed, he took her over and over. He buried the anger, the frustration and the hurt of the last days deep inside her body. She welcomed him, crying out, begging for more. Lifting her high on her hands and knees he roared into her receptive folds. He took her from behind, then the back of the chair and the table were the stops along the way. By the time he got her to the bed, he’d shrugged off the last vestige of his formal attire and stripped off her stockings, putting them by the bedside for safekeeping. Dipping his fingers inside her, he spread the juices from her succulent folds over her beaded nipples. He licked and sucked and bit them, growling with delight when she once again screamed out her orgasm.

When she woke and found him gone, she startled, then remembered that during the night he told her he needed to leave early in the morning but wanted her to sleep. She snuggled under the covers reveling in the memory of their passionate lovemaking. She touched all the sensitive places on her body that he’d kissed and stroked. She gave a contented moan, feeling the tug of sore muscles in places that delighted her.

By the bedside, she saw that he had folded her stockings and put a note on them that said: ‘Mine.’ She laughed and picked up the note addressed to her. In his bold handwriting she read: ‘Never again, Lexie. We will never let that happen again. I’m not sure my heart or my cock can handle the making up process. I love you Darlin’, with all my heart. Jake.’

Chapter 25

Lexie waited nervously by the entrance to the bistro. She was glad that she’d agreed to meet Peter for coffee. It was the least she could do after abandoning him at the hotel last night. But she wasn’t looking forward to the conversation.

The morning paper on the counter rack grabbed her attention. On the left hand side above the fold, she saw the headline “The Blond Barracuda Strikes Again.” The article was written by one of the reporters who had interviewed her the day before. From the first couple of lines, Lexie knew she would be happy with the story.

“Is there a chance that the most famous person in all of San Francisco will allow me to buy her a cup of coffee?”

Lexie whirled to see Peter smiling at her. His black silk shirt and tailored slacks reminded her of what he wore the night he’d come to her rescue. She was struck by how handsome, how distinguished he was. He tapped his finger against the newspaper.

“You definitely will want to read this article. It is the compelling story of a courageous young woman who takes on powerful adversaries with passion and verve. Best of all it makes Kurt Masters out to be the ass that he is.”

Lexie laughed and then blushed.

“Peter, about last night… I’m so—”

He held up his hand. “No, Alexis. I didn’t come here to castigate you or embarrass you. Shall we find a table?”

He motioned to the waitress, who nodded in return and led them to a table in the far corner of the room.

After thanking the waitress, Peter pulled out Lexie’s chair and sat across from her.

Lexie decided to cut to the chase.

“Peter, please. I need to apologize for my behavior last night.”