Sleight Of Hand (16 page)

"I just want to look at you for a minute. And
touch you." She peeked up at him, her eyes glowing with excitement
and heat. "Is that okay?"

"Oh yeah."

"You're so beautiful, Chance." Her hands
skimmed over his shoulders, down his arms. "So big. So hard."

If only she knew. He needed to unsnap the
button on his jeans because they're were getting damned
uncomfortable, but he didn't want to draw her attention to his
erection. If she touched him there, it would all be over in a
minute.

"Do you like this?" Her soft fingers circled
his nipples. One thumb brushed back and forth over him.

"Yeah." She'd reduced him to
monosyllables.

"And this?" She bent forward and flicked his
nipple with her moist tongue.

A shaft of heat struck him dumb. She moved
over to his other nibble and sucked on it, then kissed her way up
to his throat.

"Sarah?" he croaked.

"Yes, Chance. You smell so good, like the
outdoors." She brought her mouth up to his, flicked her tongue
against his lips.

"I need...." He stopped and tried to
breath.

"Am I not doing this right?"

"Too right. I need you naked and underneath
me. Now."

Her look of startled delight spun his insides
into tighter knots. He couldn't play this game any more. He drove
his fingers into her hair and cupped her head as he crushed his
mouth down on hers. Her sweet, spicy taste filled his mouth. The
relentless heat that he'd thought had reached its limit, shot up
another notch.

He pulled her up against him, needing to feel
her softness. Not enough. Not nearly enough. He found her breast
through the fabric of her shirt and gathered her full softness into
his hand. Small, soft moans vibrated out of her mouth into his.

Impatient to feel her naked against him, he
grabbed both edges of her shirt and pulled it open, buttons popping
off as he pushed the shirt down off her shoulders.

"Oh." Sarah pulled back and blinked at him.
Then she brushed her breasts against his chest and another
oh
, this one long and low, flowed out of her.

"Bed." He walked them backward to the bed,
not able to let go of her, but not certain he could make it that
far.

"But you…" She sank down on the bed and
reached for his waistband.

"Not yet." He grabbed her hands and squeezed
his eyes shut. He'd fantasied this very thing, but the reality was
a thousand times more potent than his imagination.

He crawled on to the bed, a long shudder
rippling through him as she wound her arms, then her legs around
him. He sought her mouth, sank instantly into her hot, liquid
taste.

She arched up into him. He groaned and
lowered his head to her breast. "Your turn now." He flicked her
taut, exquisitely hard nipple with his tongue. "Do you like
that?"

"Yes."

The tight edge in her voice sent a flush of
triumph through him. "And this?" He took her into his mouth and
suckled deeply.

She didn't answer, but gripped his shoulders,
raised her hips and rubbed against him, her whimper breaking into
fractured moans.

He sought her other breast and filled his
mouth with her softness. A harsh, low sound growled out of his
throat as he ground his hips into hers. God, he was losing it.
Losing himself in her. Her exquisite softness, her
taste--Sarah--was setting him on fire. A fire that was out of
control.

He pulled back. The sound of their harsh
breath mingled as he hung above her fighting for control.

"Chance, please." His muscles clenched as she
ran her hand over his stomach. When she slipped her hand inside his
waistband, he stopped breathing altogether.

For a second, he thought it might be all over
as her fingers grazed the tip of his erection. He grabbed her hand
before she could explore further.

"Just give me a sec. I need...." Fire swept
through him, consuming everything but the need to be inside
her.

He rolled off the bed, shucked his jeans and
with shaking hands, fumbled through his wallet for a condom.

"Do you need help?" Sarah curled up on her
side and propped her head in one hand. Her hair fell forward over
her shoulder, concealing her breast, except for a nipple that
peeped through the silvery cloud.

He dropped the condom. He wasn't going to
make it. Blood pumped through him at a dizzying rate, and he heard
his harsh breathing fill the room.

Come on, man. Think freezing rain. Icy
roads.
He grabbed the condom off the floor, tore the package
open and rolled it on to his throbbing member before the cooling
images melted away.

In a flash, he was back on the bed. He felt
her tremble as he knelt above her and ran his hands down her inner
thighs and opened her legs wide. God, she was so soft, so
beautiful.

He cupped her mound and pressed against her
heat as she raised up against him. "I don't think I can do slow,
Sarah."

"Good, because I...ohhhhh."

He slipped his finger into her moist heat,
out, in again. When he felt her first wave of convulsions, he
levered himself down to his elbows and slowly entered her.

"You're so tight." He kissed her forehead,
nibbled at her lips. "Am I hurting you?"

"No, it feels divine. Like...." Whatever she
had been about to say was lost in a frantic, searing kiss.

It felt like pure, unadulterated energy. A
flash of white hot heat streaked through him as she dug her fingers
into his rear and pulled him deeper into her. When she moved her
hips rhythmically against him, the last trace of his control
evaporated.

He plunged into her, a blinding energy
consuming everything he was, everything he had ever been. Leaving
nothing but this moment. This woman.

His need exploded, and he pumped his seed
into her with a savage longing. He heard her utter his name on a
broken groan. She held herself rigid for one full, exquisite
second, then she tightened inside and met his thrusts with the same
desperate speed.

Yes. Yesyesyesyesyessss.

He collapsed on top of her. Her heart sounded
as though it was about to jump right out of her chest, and her
scent--that enticing, alluring smell that even now made him wonder
how long before he was ready for her again--rose up around him. He
buried his face in her neck and inhaled deeply.

"Are you okay?"

"Okay? No, I don't think I am." She sounded
breathless, almost stunned.

Alarmed, he jerked his head up and peered at
her. Ah, hell. Her eyes were filled with wonder and something else.
Something suspiciously close to love.

He pulled away from her and rolled off the
bed, cursing himself for the thoughtless fool he was. He should
have seen this coming. Sarah wasn't the kind of woman who went to
bed with just any old body. She'd have to care about him, or think
she cared about him before she'd make a commitment like that.

"Chance?"

The wobble in her voice shook him. It took
all of his control for him to keep on walking. "I'll be right
back," he tossed over his shoulder and escaped down the hall to the
bathroom.

What the hell was he supposed to do now? He
cleaned himself up and wrapped a towel around his waist. If he went
back to Sarah, he didn't think he could stop himself from making
love to her again. That would take them one step deeper into a
relationship that should never have gone this far. Sarah didn't
deserve this crap.

But, if he didn't go back to her, she would
be hurt. He'd recognized the adoring look in her eye, because he
felt the exact same way about her. No way could he let this
involvement go any further. The closer they grew, the harder it
would be to walk away from her when this was all over. Leaving
wasn't a choice. It was mandatory.

When he heard a soft knock, he whipped around
to face the door, his face burning with embarrassment.

"Is anything wrong?" Sarah's hesitant voice
came through the door.

"No." He was hiding in the bathroom from the
woman with whom he'd just had the best sex in his life. Was
anything right?

He opened the door, relieved to see she'd
pulled her nightshirt on. Telling himself he couldn't make love to
her again was one thing, but his moral stamina wouldn't have lasted
a minute if she'd been naked. It was stretched thin now as it was.
Half the buttons were missing from the front of the shirt and the
material pulled tight over her beautiful breasts where she held it
together with one hand. He tore his gaze away from her shirt as his
desire built again.

"I, ah...need to use the loo." She gestured
to the bathroom behind him.

"Oh. Sorry." Hell, she looked so sad. So
knowing. As if she'd already anticipated his rejection. A beautiful
woman like Sarah should never know the feeling of not being
wanted.

"It's okay." She tried to smile, but didn't
quite meet his eyes. "Believe me, I know the routine. I don't
cling."

"It's not okay." He caught her shoulders and
gave her one quick shake. "What just happened between us was
incredible. Mind blowing. And what do I do? Run. As fast as I
can."

"You're scared." She sounded surprised, as if
a piece of the puzzle had just fallen into place.

"Yeah, I am." He let go of her and rubbed the
back of his neck. "Look, I don't usually get involved with women
like you and--"

"Excuse me? What does that mean, women like
me?"

The dangerous flash in her eyes made him back
up a step. "You're a keeper, and I'm a...." The word was there,
right on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't get it out,
couldn't bring himself to tell her the bald truth about
himself.

"A thrill seeker? Someone who never stays in
one place for long? What did you think? That I expected you to
declare your undying love?"

He felt a smile spread across his face as she
snorted, snorted, her disgust. It would be so easy to fall in love
with this woman if only for the fact that she continually surprised
him.

"What are you smiling about?" Her lips
twitched upwards even as she tried to frown at him.

"Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?"
He traced a finger down her cheek. "I wish I was better prepared. I
want to make love to you again." So much for moral integrity. Had
he really believed he could resist her?

"Prepared?" The confusion quickly cleared
from her face, and she smiled shyly at him. "You mean...you don't
have any more...."

"Exactly. I don't want to hurt you, Sarah.
Ever."

She gazed at him, sadness darkening her eyes.
"We could...you could just hold me."

"I'd like that." Somewhere, somehow, he'd
find the fortitude to suppress his own needs.

"Good. I'll meet you in the bedroom after I,
um...use the bathroom."

He pushed back against the sink to let her
pass. The brief whisper of her bed warm body against him stirred
his desire. It was going to be a long night.

Sarah walked slowly down the hallway to the
bedroom. She was breaking every rule she'd ever made. Never let
anyone get too close. It was a little too late for that one. Chance
had not only made love to her, he'd taken something of hers, taken
a part of her heart. She wanted something back. Something of
him.

Not his heart. She wasn't foolish enough to
think he'd leave himself that open. No, she wanted to know more
about him. By knowing, maybe she could understand why she loved
him.

That would be the second rule to break. Never
put herself in a situation she couldn't control. Heaven knows, her
father had provided enough instability for a lifetime. Yet, here
she was, falling helplessly in love with a man who had drifted
around the world for the last eight years. She needed to know
why.

Great job of rationalizing, girl. She
hesitated outside the bedroom door. Above and far beyond all that,
she wanted to watch him wake up tomorrow, to look her fill before
his closely guarded secrets closed back in on him. She wanted to
see the real man.

She stepped into the bedroom, caught her
breath and shuffled back a half step. Chance laid on his side with
the sheet pulled up to his waist, his head propped up in one
hand.

Oh my. The sheet draped over his lean hips
concealing...what? Was he naked? Without thinking, she reached for
her camera. She grasped nothing but the empty air in front of her.
Great, her brain had stopped working.

"Coming to bed?" He pulled the sheet back on
her side of the bed and smoothed his hand over the empty space.

"I, uh...yes." She swallowed hard and tore
her gaze away from the breathlessly sexy picture he made. She'd
thought they'd talk. Was she insane?

His eyebrow arced up. "Having second
thoughts?"

"About a million, and then some."

"Me, too, but you know, I kind of like the
idea of just sleeping with you." He smiled lopsidedly. "If I can do
this, I figure I can walk on fire."

"I know what you mean." She slipped into the
bed and turned on her side to face him. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything. For being you."

"You wouldn't be here if I hadn't stopped in
New York." His eyes darkened. "It was a stupid idea to get you to
follow me. I'm sorry I dragged you into all this."

"I'm not." She felt a current of electricity
vibrate between them.

"Turn around."

"Why?"

"Because if you keep looking at me like that,
I'm going to kiss you, and we both know what that will lead
to."

"Imagine that," she said as she rolled over
on her other side, feeling pleased with herself. "A man named
Chance who doesn't take chances."

His arm brushed against her hip as he laid
his hand on her stomach and pulled her back against him.
"Calculated risks are my thing. Go to sleep, Sarah. It's been a
long day."

Loving the feel of his hand splayed across
her stomach, she snuggled down and closed her eyes. If it hadn't
been for her father, she would never have-- Her father. How could
she have forgotten?