Night Moves (21 page)

In answer to her need his hand closed over the swelling mound, and the demand of his mouth grew harder, tugging, nipping, sending currents of ecstasy sweeping through her. Her fingers tensely gripped his back. His body moved against hers like a rhythmic liquid fire, and she whimpered a soft cry of complete surrender to his desire, and to her own.

She nipped gently at his shoulder, bathing the tiny hurt with the tip of her tongue, washing it in a rain of passionate kisses. She moaned and arched to him as his lips moved across the valley of her breasts to render the same exquisite care a second time. And now, as his lips hungrily teased and assaulted the hardened crest and aching mound, his hand ran free again, exploring the angle of her hip, the flatness of her belly, the soft copper sheath of feminine hair, the slight swell of her thigh.... Then suddenly he rose above her. He watched her as he wedged his knee between her thighs, his arms holding his weight from her as he slid his length firmly between her legs. His features were tense and strained with passion; his eyes glittered with a pure golden fire. And yet there was still something controlled within them; he held himself above her, waiting....

He groaned, a harsh, guttural sound, eased his weight against her and caught her head between the rough grasp of his hands, his fingers entwining in her hair as his lips caught hers in a demanding, all consuming kiss.

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

His ardor was a delicious tempest. For one brief moment she was frightened, as one was frightened facing the swirling winds

ofa storm, or the soaring fall of a roller coaster. Already he had taken her past reason or thought, swept her into a realm of intensity from which there was no return. One step further and she would be completely his; with such a man it would mean total abandon. The heights of ecstasy would be hers; his passion would be wild and as demanding as it was giving. The risk of pain would be as great as the thunder of joy. His mouth moved against hers; his kisses roamed over her cheek and fell to her throat.

But then she found that he was looking at her again, and that his golden eyes burned into hers with a ruthless and questing brilliancy.

"Do you trust me?" he whispered huskily. "I don't know," she told him, her breath mingling with his, their lips almost touching.

"I want you...so much," he said. A shudder raked the length of his body. She knew that he wanted her; the potency of his male desire was hard against her thigh, taunting her, frightening her, thrilling her. The length of his tightlysinewed body thrilled and excited her. She was touching him, yet she wanted to touch more and more of him, to run her fingers, her lips over the clean-muscledbronzeness of him.

"Can I have you?" he asked softly, almost whimsically. And she knew that he, like she, wanted everything that could be given. In themost gentle terms, he asked for what he could easily take: submission to his will in the most primal roles of man and woman.

Bryn couldn't answer him. She locked her arms about his neck and tried to bury her head against his shoulder. He laughed softly and nuzzled his mouth against her ear in a sensuous whisper that sent the fires flaring through her again. "Have me, Bryn. Touch me, know me, love me...." His words trailed away as he rubbed his body along hers, sliding lower against it. His hands moved over her, their caress firm now, the power of his desire unleashed. His mouth covered her, histongue, his kisses laved her, loving her with a wild, erotic passion she had never known. The winds soared as she had known they would; he was the driving tempest of his drums, and she was lost to the sheer force of primal rhythm.

She cried out when his kisses moved to her thighs, and her nails raked over his shoulders; then her fingers dug hard into his hair. The sensuous pleasure was so great that it was almost pain. Yet it did not stop there. His hands slipped beneath her, firmly molding the lush curve of her buttocks, arching her to his whim. His intimate caress was more than she could bear; she began to writhe and moan in an utter and splendid abandon.

Yet still he did not grant her mercy. She felt his triumph, his pleasure in her, and she cried out his name in a broken plea. He came to her then, holding her, caressing her, entangling his hands in her hair and whispering her name over and over. She moaned as she swept her fingers over his back, trailed the tips over his hard buttocks,pressed him from her so that she could hungrily shower his throat and chest with the damp caress of her tongue.

He shifted, wedging her thighs farther apart, and she touched him, her inhibitions swept away as if by the rush of the wind. She gasped with wonder at the heat and strength of him, shuddered as he moved with a swift, driving thrust and took her completely, sending the force of himself, the tension, the vibrancy, the unleashed power, into her, to become a part of her.

She had never known there would be anything like this. It was the excitement, the demand, the thrill--and the wild beat of his thundering drums. It wasgentle, it was rough, savage and sweet. It swept
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

through aeons of time, and yet it was over too quickly. The pinnacle was the most pure physical rapture she had ever known. She had twisted and turned and abandoned herself completely; she felt windswept and ravaged....

And absolutely delicious.

And when he had withdrawn from her, she still felt a part of him. As if she would be his for all the days of her life.

He moved away, easing his weight from her. She curled against him, the damp copper tendrils of her hair waving over his chest as she burrowed against it. He was silent for a long time, but she knew that he lay awake, his head propped on the crook of his elbow as he stared into the night.

After a time she felt his fingers idly smoothing her hair. "What happened to you?" he asked her softly.

Bryn felt the first twinge of remorse for her abandon. "What do you mean?" she asked tensely.

He chuckled softly. "Don't go getting rigid on me. I can't remember ever enjoying such pleasure with a woman as I have with you."

"And there have been plenty, I take it?" Bryn snapped acidly, her nails inadvertently digging into his flesh.

He chuckled softly and grabbed her hand. "Ouch! There have been a few, but not the scores you're trying to credit me with. And I was asking the questions, remember."

"I don't know what you mean," Bryn muttered uneasily, glad that her face was shielded from him by the tangle of her hair.

"Yes, you do. You were afraid of me.Before I did more than shake your hand."

Bryn shrugged.' 'You must know you make women nervous. You have an aura of leashed energy and...

sexuality."

"Sexuality shouldn't be frightening."

Bryn bit her lip,then shrugged against him. He would probe at her until she answered him. "I was engaged once."

"Ah...and so all men become the enemy."

"No, not all men, and not the enemy.I just decided that I had to be careful for a while and avoid a certain type."

She could sense his frown. "What type is that? Don't tell me you were engaged to another musician?"

Bryn hesitated. What difference did it make if she told him or not? She rolled away from him, her arms encircling her pillow as she leaned her cheek against it.' 'No . I was engaged to a man named Joe Lansky. He was--is--a football player."

"Joe Lansky?" Lee whistled softly."Big stuff with the NFL."

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

A surge of unease settled over her as he said the name. "Yes. He enjoys his share of fame. You know him?"

"We met briefly once.InL.A., at a benefit dinner.He seemed a decent sort."

"Oh, Joe is decent. He just...doesn't care much for children. Otherpeople's, that is."

"Adam threw rice at him too, huh?"

"No, peas."

Lee laughed and swept her back into his arms despite her indignant protest. He kissed her on the nose.

"I'm awfully glad you and Joe broke it off, Bryn," he told her huskily. "But I'm sorry that you compared me with him. Why did you?"

Bryn remained stiff against him. "You're both accustomed to fame and easy adoration."

"He cheated?"

"My fault, according to him.I couldn't be with him, and his groupies could."

"I see," Lee told her, and she felt a tightening of anger in his hold. "You assumed I jump into bed at any invitation?"

"Not exactly," she murmured.

"Then what, exactly'!"

"Oh, I don't know!" Bryn exclaimed, trying to break the hold that kept her crushed against him, face-to-face. "I'm grounded in reality, and superstars live in a fantasy world."

"That's absurd. You're categorizing people. Just because Lansky broke it off with you--''

"Joe didn't break it off, I did," Bryn said wearily, rather than defensively. "He wanted me to drop everything and be at his beck and call. I couldn't do that. I didn't want to do that. And I think a regular man would have difficulty dealing with the package of commitments that come with me--much less a quote unquote 'idol.'"

She couldn't fathom his dark expression. "Quote unquote 'idols' are made of flesh and blood.The usual stuff. They bleed and hurt and fall in love. But if you and Lansky couldn't deal with your commitments, be glad you discovered it before you married him."

"I am," Bryn murmured uneasily. She still couldn't fathom the dark tension in his features.

As if he sensed her curiosity, he started idly trailing his fingers along her spine and abruptly changed the subject. "You have the sexiest build I've ever seen. I have to admit pure lust welled within me the moment I saw you."

There was something so honest in his statement that, despite its content, she started to smile. Lee returned the grin, but then he frowned as he saw her smile fade and her face go pale.

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

"What's wrong?"

"I just...I just started thinking about Adam. Oh, God, Lee! I've been here...like this...with you...when poor Adam--"

"Bryn!"Lee exclaimed, cradling her. "Hush. Don't worry about Adam. We'll get him back tomorrow, I promise!"

"How can you besure! You told me we had to keep the pictures because it could be dangerous if we didn't discover what was in them! If these people could be dangerous later--"

' 'Bryn, why do you think that they took Adam and not Keith or Brian? Adam is a very little boy. He's not going to be able to point out where he's been, or cause any problems. You're a nice, sharp adult.

There's a big difference. Bryn, I know that Adam is all right. He's their bargaining chip."

"But he's so little, and he's alone," Bryn murmured.

"Tomorrow, Bryn.If you just go to sleep, it will be time to start getting him back when you wake up."

"God!I want to sleep so badly. I just haven't been able to."

Lee kissed her forehead. "Didn't wear you out enough, did I?"

Bryn blushed. "You wore me out completely."

"Did I? We'll see in a minute or two. But since you're so wide awake and already worried, I want you to think about the country club. Do you remember anything about the background?"

Bryn thought for only a second. "Yes. I remember the Sweet Dreams motel."

"The what?Oh, that place with the glaring neon lights?"

"That's it."

"Well, that will be well worth looking into. What else?"

"Nothing, really.Oh...except the golfers. A whole horde of them came over a hill when I was shooting one roll."

"We'll have to look into that, too. We'll just keep blowing up the shots until we come up with something."

"I just can't see how there could be anything!" Bryn exclaimed, her tone frustrated and tired. "Believe it or not, I looked the proofs over very carefully before I gave them to Barbara. There just wasn't anything to be seen. Maybe it is just some mad fan determined to have a bunch of private shots of Lee Condor and his group."

"Bryn, you know that's ludicrous."

"But I looked--"

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

"At proofs.Little tiny pictures.Bryn, someone is obviously certain that there is something in those pictures. I would say that means that obviously there is. And we'll have to find out what."

She sighed softly and he smiled. "You need to get some sleep."

"I just can't seem to turn my mind off."

"Well, I believe that I can oblige in that direction..." His voice grew muffled and then trailed away as his lips fell to her shoulders. A tiny bite sent a shudder rippling through her; the rough velvet lick of his tongue turned the shudder into a liquid quiver. Bryn closed her eyes as he rolled her to her back.

He was right. The warm touch of his hands and the practiced strokes of his tongue could all too easily strip her mind of reason and thought....

She became aware of the distant melody before she fully awoke. And as she struggled from a deep web of sleep, she began to realize that she was hearing the soft strains of the downstairs piano.

And Lee.

She frowned for a minute, blinking against the glow of dawn that bathed the room in pink and yellow light. The tune he sang was an old one, "Follow That Dream." And as she lay there, loathe to leave the comfort of bed, she felt a curious smile tugging at her lips, and a tenderness she didn't want to feel rising within her.

She had never heard him sing in person before. On the radio, on TV Most of his music was rock, although he did a number of softer ballads. Still, she had never heard him like this.

His voice was as gentle and full of crystal clarity as the piano. It was a tenor, husky and deep. And just as he was an expert with the instrument he played, so he was with that that was a part of him. Bryn mused that certain people were definitely naturals, and for a moment she begrudged him the talent that had been a birthright; then she smiled again and allowed the timbre of his voice to sweep through her and touch her. She couldn't deny that she admired him, was attracted to him...and was also at least halfway in love with him. That thought brought her wide awake. Don't be a fool, she warned herself. Be with him now, since you cannot deny him. But never forget that this is only a strange interlude in your life.... An interlude that dealt with Adam!