Sarah's Child (10 page)

At the same moment that his mouth touched hers, Sarah heard the door open. She knew that Max heard it too, but he didnt pull away. With the devilishness of his personality, he instead drew her closer even when she stiffened reflexively against him, wrapping his arms around her and locking her tightly to the hard warmth of his body. He kissed her deeply, his tongue dancing across hers, taking his time about it and savoring the taste and feel of her. Every nerve in her body jingled, telling Sarah that it was Rome whod entered, but she found herself totally helpless in Maxs embrace; beneath that slender, elegant frame were steel muscles. At last he lifted his mouth, and she gasped for breath, hanging in his arms, and he looked straight across the room into Romes narrowed dark eyes, a brilliant smile lighting his face. Do you have any objections? he asked mildly.

Rome crossed the office to them and gently took Sarah out of Maxs embrace. Pulling her into the strong safety of his arms, he cradled her against him. Not this once, he said smoothly. Not as good-bye. But that was your one free ride, and Im giving you that only because youve lost. If theres a next time, youll have to pay.

Fair enough. Max grinned and held out his hand to Rome. Congratulations.

They shook hands, grinning like idiots, and Sarah rolled her eyes. Shed been expecting bloodshed, at the least, but instead they were the best of buddies. Men! Who understood them?

Im stealing her for a long lunch hour today, Rome said. We have a lot to do: blood tests, license, apartment-hunting. Ill be free at twelve-thirty. Can you make it by then? he asked Sarah, glancing down at her.

Sarah had already made plans of her own, and she shook her head. I cant. I have an appointment at one.

Max rocked back on his heels, looking extraordinarily pleased at hearing Sarah already balking at Romes directions. Rome ran his office with ball-bearing precision, and his cold, cutting sarcasm was known throughout the far-flung divisions of the Spencer-Nyle corporation. Only Anson Edwards was above Romes infamous bullying, but then Anson Edwards was legendary for his own scathing temper when faced with incompetence and stupidity. Max waited with pleasure for Romes reaction to the way Sarah had refused his request.

But if hed expected the hobnail boot to come down, he was disappointed. Rome lifted an eyebrow in silent inquiry, then said, Well make it tomorrow, then.

Rome had to use his iron will to keep from demanding of her just where she was going, but he remembered the arguments hed used to convince her to marry him. They would have to respect each others need for time alone. Sarah was still very much the aloof, rather solitary woman hed always known her to be. Shed agreed to marry him, but only after hed carefully pointed out the plusses for both of them. Hed have to be careful to give her the personal space she needed, the mental and physical privacy she was accustomed to. He could live with that, as long as she came willingly into his arms and gave him the hot, sweet comfort of her body, though it seemed he wasnt even going to get that the way hed thought. Shed made it pretty plain to him that she expected her own bedroom, and hed had to grind his teeth to keep from telling her plainly that shed be sleeping in his bed. He hadnt wanted to sleep with any woman since Diane, until hed held Sarah in his arms. She was so elusive. He wanted he needed the dark hours spent with her, when even the simple act of lying beside each other in slumber created bonds that would hold her to him. But not yet; he had to move so carefully with her, not panic her into backing out of the marriage.

Pushing his characteristic possessiveness aside, he walked her back to her office, and his critical eye noted that Maxs kiss hadnt brought the delicate apricot tint to her face that she wore whenever he made love to her. Leaning over her desk, he gave her a quick hard kiss, as much to watch that entrancing rise of color as to taste the sweetness of her mouth. Tonight? We can go through the newspapers and mark those apartments that look suitable.

Pleased, Sarah smiled at him. Would seven be all right? That will give me time to have some sort of meal almost finished.

Forget about cooking. Ill bring something over.

Watching him walk out of the office, Sarah had to pinch herself to be certain she wasnt dreaming. They were really going to be married.

Hed made love to her the night before, and the thought of it made her heart leap into her throat. If the first time had been unbridled passion, the second had been a lesson in the rewards of self-control. It had all begun so casually, while they were watching the evening news on television. During a commercial, hed tilted her face up to kiss her, and the kiss had lingered, become many kisses. Soon she was lying naked on the sofa, and he had patiently, carefully guided her to full satisfaction, lingering at each plateau and savoring her response, making her as hungry for him as he was for her. Hed also taken care of the protective measures, which had prompted Sarahs call first thing that morning to her doctor, which was why she had an appointment at one oclock.

It was two thirty when she finally got back to the office, a packet of pills in her purse and her head ringing with Dr. East-erwoods warnings and advice. At the age of thirty-three, she was becoming almost too old for taking birth control pills to be safe. Dr. Easterwood had prescribed the lowest dosage available, with the stern warning that she wanted to see Sarah every six months, and that two years was the maximum length shed give Sarah before an alternative method would have to be decided on.

Max came out of his office when he heard her enter, a slight frown marring his classic brow. Are you all right? You were gone longer than I expected.

Im fine. I had a doctors appointment, and you know how it is: you never get in at the time of your appointment.

Rome has already called twice, he informed her impishly.

She worked with a smile on her face and an inner happiness that was based on the attitude Rome was exhibiting. Love or not, the way he was acting told her that he cared, and she would take whatever she could get. He wasnt showing the often impatient possessiveness with which hed demanded Dianes time, but Sarah didnt expect that hed feel that way with her even if he did eventually come to love her. Diane had been beautiful, vibrant, a live wire who caught everyones attention the moment she walked through the door. Sarah felt that too often she herself resembled a white mouse more than she did anything else. Vivid makeup made her look like a clown, while sparing makeup just tended to be more of the same. Shed found a compromise, over the years, that kept her from blending completely into the background, but her coloring was so fair that shed never be able to use the kind of dramatic makeup that would draw all eyes to her immediately. Shed like to make Rome sit up and take notice whenever she walked into a room, but somehow she felt that that role was beyond her.

That night, after theyd eaten the sweet-and-sour chicken hed brought, they spread the newspapers on the table and went over the ads for apartments for rent, with Rome circling the ones he thought might be suitable. Sarah carefully kept herself from thumbing through the columns of houses for sale, knowing that hed never agree to buying a house. The suburban routine would remind him too strongly of the family hed lost, and the playing children would drive him insane.

He tapped his pen on one ad that he thought particularly likely, and Sarah leaned over to read it. Her hair, loosened from its knot, swung forward over his tanned forearm, and he went very still. Not noticing, she read the ad, pursing her lips as she considered it.

It sounds good. Roomy enough, but itll probably cost the Earth As she spoke she turned her head to look up at him. He moved swiftly, and her words were broken off with a gasp as he turned her and pulled her onto his lap, his mouth coming down to stifle the rest of what shed been saying, cradling her on his left arm while his right hand moved boldly over her body, searching out all of the erotic places that he knew would reward him for his diligence.

Sarah made a soft sound in her throat, sinking against him. His powerful body made her feel surrounded, utterly secure, and she had the thought that she didnt need a homey, comfortable apartment to make her feel safe as long as he held her in his arms. The strength that he kept under control when he was handling her was evident in the steely sinews of his thighs, the rock hardness of his chest. She sought the warm solid contours of his flesh beneath his shirt, sliding her hands beneath the fabric to clench her fingers on him. He nibbled at her mouth, finally releasing it; then he tilted her head back and kissed his way down her throat. So what if it costs the Earth? he muttered. Well look at it tomorrow.

Hmmm, she agreed dreamily, no longer interested in apartments.

He unbuttoned her shirt and pressed a kiss to the top swell of her breast, above the lacy edge of her bra. That damned Max! He knew I was watching.

Yes. She opened her eyes and smiled at him, her eyes misty with pleasure. Hes a devil.

Hes lucky you werent kissing him back. He returned her smile, but his tone was feral, his dark eyes narrowed. Then I wouldnt have been so civilized.

As it had been, he hadnt liked ithe hadnt liked the idea of Maxs kisses lingering on her mouth. He wanted only his taste on her lips, so hed kissed away Maxs touch. He kissed her again, for good measure, then reluctantly buttoned her blouse and hoisted her back to her own chair. Wed better not push our luck, he grunted. I came over straight from the office, and I dont have anything with me.

Sarah cleared her throat. About thatmy appointment today was with a doctor. I got a prescription for birth control pills.

He leaned back, draping his arm over the back of his chair while he looked at her searchingly, alerted by the hesitancy in her manner that shed tried very hard not to reveal. His craggy black brows lowered. Is it all right for you to take them?

Shes letting me try them, but only if I go back for regular checkups, she admitted on a sigh. She gave me two years, maximum, before I have to switch to something else.

If its dangerous, dont take them. He reached out and took her hand, tracing his thumb over the soft skin on the back of her hand. Ive been thinking about having surgery. Its safe, and permanent.

Sarah shied away from that solution. Its permanency was the one big drawback, for her. Sometime in the future Rome could change his mind about not wanting anymore children, even if this marriage with her didnt work out. She was so acutely aware that he didnt love her that she had to allow for the possibility of him falling in love with another woman, and perhaps that woman would want his children. Perhaps he would want her to have his children. Feeling herself shatter inside at the thought, she pulled away from him before she revealed too much about how she felt. Instead, averting her face, she said in a stifled voice, We can talk about that later, if the pills dont work out.

Puzzled, he stared at her, running the words theyd just said through his mind again and trying to decide what hed said that had made her withdraw from him and put on that frosty face he so detested. Shed been so relaxed and natural with him lately, forgetting to guard her actions, and hed become used to her smiles, her gentle teasing. Now she was Miss Ice-Queen again. Shed begun getting edgy when shed first mentioned the pills. She wasnt telling him something, and he knew it. Hed thought, when hed first made love to her, that hed discovered the reason for her reserve, but now he was seeing it spring up again, and he knew that Sarah had other secrets hidden behind the green shadows of her eyes. He would have liked to delve inside her mind and find out how her mind worked, why she hid so much of herself. He wanted to know her; he wanted all of her secrets laid out where he could see them. The way she withdrew from him triggered in him a primal, violent response to pursue and subdue, an instinct bequeathed from the age when men lived in caves and wore animal skins, and chose their woman by force.

One of these days, he said in a soft voice, deadly in its intent, Im going to find out what makes you tick.

Sarah looked up at him with panic running just below the controlled surface image she presented to him. If he did, if he found out that she loved him, what would he do? Would he accept it, or would he promptly bow out of a marriage that was more than he wanted?

Chapter 5

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They were married three weeks later on a Friday evening, after work, by a judge whod agreed to perform the ceremony in his chambers. To her complete surprise, Max was one of the witnesses, and he winked at her as she and Rome took their places before the judge. About fifteen friends from work stood behind them in the small chamber, their feet shuffling about and their discreet whispering providing a rustling background to the ceremony. Sarah had worked out her two weeks notice and had spent the last week driving herself into the ground trying to get their apartment ready and everything that they werent going to use either sold or put into storage.

The apartment that theyd finally taken had seemed much too expensive to Sarah, but Rome had overridden her objections to it. It was a big roomy condo, as big as a medium-size house. It had seven rooms, and a large terrace-balcony where they could barbecue and lie in the sun, and where she could put her multitude of plants. It also had a gas fireplace in the livingroom, which she suspected was what had sold Rome on the apartment. Hed looked at the fireplace with an expression of almost fiendish satisfaction, and shed had to admit to a few shivers of anticipation herself when she thought of the coming winter and the nights they would spend in front of the flames.