The Heart Has Reasons (62 page)

“
You’re
sore!  You’ve a lot of nerve to complain.  How do you think
I
feel?”

He
grinned down at her.  “Let me see if I can make you feel better.”  He
lowered himself to his knees and, when his tongue found the little nub of
flesh, a jolt of pleasure shot through her, threatening to buckle her
knees.  She threaded her fingers through his wet hair as the water flowed
over them both, the sexiness of it intoxicating.  Every nerve ending in
her body buzzed and tingled, from the top of her head to the soles of her feet.

When
her legs started to wobble, he wrapped his arms around her thighs to steady
her.  An inarticulate moan of arousal vibrated through her throat as the
pleasure built and built.  Every molecule of her being sang in ecstasy
when her release came.

The
blood was still pounding in her ears, echoing the fading pulse between her
legs, when Chase stood and gave her a heartbreakingly slow and tender
kiss.  He was hard as steel against her thigh.  Breaking off the
kiss, he gently turned her around so she was facing away from him.  She
leaned forward, bending from the waist and bracing her hands on the tile. 
He guided himself to the slippery cleft between her legs and slowly impaled
exquisitely sensitive tissues inch by agonizing inch.  She uttered an
inarticulate moan at the feel of his thick length filling her.

Gripping
her hips, he slowly pulled back until only the head remained within.  Then
he moved forward just as slowly, until the saddle of his hips pressed tightly
against her bottom.  He thrust slowly and deeply, trying to make the
pleasure last, and each thrust sent fiery jolts through her, lighting her fuse
once again.

As
the warm water flowed over them, he gripped her hips tighter and began pounding
himself into her.  She let out a keening wail as he triggered a second
explosion to rival her first.

When
he finally withdrew, she turned to him on wobbly legs and gripped him tightly,
her face pressed to his big chest, overwhelmed by the multitude of feelings
that flowed over her.  “You know,” she said when she could finally speak
again, “I’ve never before been able to have more than one orgasm per day.”

He
leaned back slightly to gaze down at her.  “Not that I’ve been counting or
anything, but you’ve had
way
more than one.”

Her
smile was dreamy.  “Don’t let this go to your head, but I’m starting to
wonder if you have some kind of super-human powers.”

He
struck a comical pose, bringing his arms up and flexing his huge rock-hard
biceps.  “Just call me ‘Orgasm Man’.”

She
laughed and playfully punched him in the chest.  “Come on, Orgasm
Man.  If we don’t hurry, we’re going to be late.”

*
* * * *

Larissa and Chase arrived at Brendon’s
chosen restaurant fifteen minutes early.  Popular with both tourists and
locals alike, it was already crowded.  The hostess added their names to
the waiting list, and they took seats at the bar.  They ordered club
sodas, and joked and flirted with each other while keeping an eye on the front
door to watch for Brendon’s arrival.

Surprisingly,
as soon as the hostess called Chase’s name, Brendon materialized from the back
of the bar to warily clasp Chase’s hand.  The clamor of overlapping
conversations that filled the restaurant momentarily crescendoed as patrons
recognized Larissa.  Ignoring the stares and comments, she trailed the
hostess to their allotted table.

“Where
were you?” Larissa asked Brendon once they were seated.  “We didn’t see
you come in.”

“I
got here early,” he admitted.  “I was sitting in the back of the bar.”

“Didn’t
you see us?”

“He
saw us,” Chase answered.  “He was covertly observing us to see how I treat
you when he’s not around.”

A
faint flush suffused Brendon’s cheeks.  “Sorry.”

Chase
made a dismissive motion.  “I appreciate the fact that you’re looking out
for Larissa.”

Brendon
regarded Chase speculatively.  “You know, I have to say that it’s been a
long time since I’ve seen Larissa this happy.  In fact, I don’t know that
I’ve
ever
seen her this happy.”

Chase
reached over to clasp her hand.  “She does have a certain glow about her.”

The
waiter appeared to take their drink orders.  Larissa pretended to study
her menu, giving Chase and Brendon a chance to get to know one another. 
Despite Chase’s denial of homophobia, she still had slight misgivings, simply
because he was such an extremely macho man.  Plus, having been a member of
Special Forces for so long, he’d probably not had much contact with openly gay
men.

Apparently
secure enough in his own sexuality not to feel threatened, he seemed totally at
ease with Brendon as they chatted, and she was thrilled to see her two favorite
men getting along so well.

“While
you two were in the bar,” Brendon was saying to Chase, “you all were so wrapped
up in each other you probably didn’t realize you were the center of
attention.  Every woman in the place was checking you out, and every man
had his eyes glued to Larissa.  Except for the big black man.  He was
watching you
both
.”

Feeling
as though someone had poured a glass of ice water down the back of her neck,
Larissa lowered the menu.  “What big black man?”

From
directly behind her, a familiar voice said, “I believe he means me.”

Fear
pinched off her breath and her cheeks went cold as the blood drained from her
face.  The voice’s owner extended his hand across the table to
Brendon.  “I don’t believe we’ve met.  I’m Special Agent Jarvis.”

CHAPTER
43

Panic surged through Larissa like a douse
of ice water.  She had told Brendon all about Jarvis, and the FBI agent’s
sudden appearance had him clearly nonplused.  His handsome face ran
through a gamut of expressions as he got to his feet to shake hands.

Chase
had also risen to his feet, his jaw clenched so tight that cords stood out on
his neck.  The anger and fear wrenching his handsome face frightened her
nearly as much as did Jarvis’s presence.  He glared at Jarvis with a
chilling intensity, as if he desperately wanted to kill the man and might at
any second attempt to do just that.

She
understood the feeling.  Everything within her seemed to contract into a
single cold ball of terror and, with her world about to come crashing down
about her, she had the burning desire to kill Jarvis herself.  The
savagery of the emotion appalled her.

“Hello,
Mr. O’Malley.”  Chase’s eyes were as cold and hard as sapphires as he
glared at the FBI agent.  Unperturbed by the open animosity, Jarvis turned
to her.  “Ms. Santos, it’s always a pleasure to see you.”  He lowered
himself, uninvited, into the vacant chair.

Brendon’s
eyes were darting from her, to Chase, to Jarvis, and back to her again. 
Larissa knew that she herself probably wore that deer-caught-in-the-headlights
expression.  As her world teetered on the very precipice, the only clear
thought in the morass of fear that whirled in her mind was that, now that she’d
finally found love and happiness, they were about to be ripped from her.

The
waiter returned with their drinks.  “Are you folks ready to order?”

Jarvis
flipped his ID wallet open, flashing his badge.  “FBI,” he announced
pleasantly in his deep, bass voice.  “I’ll let you know when we’re ready
to order.  In the meantime, please see that we’re not disturbed.”

The
waiter’s eyes were large and startled as he gazed about the table, taking in
their individual expressions.  “Yes, s-s-sir.”  He beat a hasty
retreat.

When
Jarvis focused his attention upon her, she forced herself not to squirm under
his scrutiny.  “Ms. Santos, I must say that you look stunning.  In
fact, you’re absolutely glowing.  I can’t help but wonder what has wrought
such a change in you.”

Chase
finally seated himself.  “Why are you here, Jarvis?”

“I
could ask you the same thing, Mr. O’Malley.  In answer to your question
though, the airlines were on alert to notify me if you booked a flight. 
Since both you and Ms. Santos have continually denied an acquaintance, imagine
my surprise at finding you together.”

Chase
was still groping for a plausible excuse when she stepped smoothly into the
breach.  “I can explain why he’s here.”

Jarvis
cocked a brow in a succinct
I-can’t-wait-to-hear-this
expression.

Her
eyes sought Chase’s, and his stony countenance blurred as tears welled
up.  She would absolutely die if she lost him now.  Blinking back the
tears, she swallowed the bitter taste of panic and turned to face Jarvis. 
“As you know, I was extremely upset that Chase had been wrongfully accused and
jailed.  After you released him, I contacted him to assure him I’d had
nothing to do with his arrest.”  She was nervously tapping her fingers on
the table and, when she caught Jarvis staring at the motion, stopped.

Chase
reached over to take her hand in his own.  “Larissa and I had already met
briefly, that time we were
accidentally
held in the same interrogation
room.  Despite the bruises, her beauty made quite an impression on me.”

Jarvis
leaned back in his chair.  “Apparently, you made a considerable impression
on her as well.  You never made it back to your motel last night.”

Chase
barked, “
That’s none of your goddamned business
,” and all around them
conversations halted as heads turned in their direction.  Larissa gave his
hand a warning squeeze.

“Perhaps
not.  However, I find it out of character for Ms. Santos to let a man
she’d just met spend the night.  And all day today, I couldn’t help but
notice how close you two seemed to be, as though you’d been acquainted with
each other for” — he paused to make a great show of looking at his watch —
“well, for more than a mere twenty-four hours.”

Her
veneer starting to crack, Larissa raked a trembling hand through her
hair.  “Over the past week we’ve spent hours on the phone getting to know
one another.  We hit it off so well I invited him to Charleston.”

“In
that case, why were you so unnerved when he arrived upon your doorstep?”

Jarvis
had been there watching them?
 
Unable to formulate a plausible response, she launched a counterattack. 
“Agent Jarvis, you
lied
to me.”

“At
no time did I ever do so.”

“You
told me Chase was getting married.”

“I
said no such thing.  You asked my opinion as to why a man who dated
supermodels would kidnap a woman, and I
surmised
that when Mr. O’Malley
couldn’t afford the sort of engagement ring Cheyenne would expect, he decided
to take drastic measures.”

Crap. 
That was exactly what he’d done, and she’d taken his supposition as fact. 
“You deliberately misled me.  And you lied to Chase about me.”

“Yes,
I did.  But Mr. O’Malley was the suspect, not the victim.”  Jarvis
turned to Chase.  “Five days ago, one of the men you assaulted was
murdered.”

Larissa’s
heart jumped into her throat as Chase exclaimed, “I had
nothing
to do
with that.”

Jarvis
raised one huge hand.  “I’m aware of that, Mr. O’Malley.  One of his
own homeboys pulled the trigger.  We have the man in custody, and he’s made
a full confession.”

She
slumped back in her chair, weak with relief that Chase was not a suspect in yet
another crime.  “Which one got killed?” she asked, then added hopefully,
“Was it the fat one with all that gold in his mouth?”  Chase squeezed her
hand so hard she winced.  Realizing what she’d said, her heart thumped so
hard her vision jumped.

“His
name was Malik Waddell, and I can assure you the world did not mourn his
passing.”  Jarvis gave her a wry grin.  “It’s odd though that, having
never seen him, you described him so accurately.”

“Chase
told me all about the incident with the thugs in the alley.  He described
them to me.”

Since
Jarvis’s arrival, the constant clatter plates and utensils, conversation and
laughter had gradually hushed as the other patrons became aware of the quiet
drama occurring in their midst.  At an adjacent table, thick porterhouse
steaks grew cold as four men in expensive business suits stared, transfixed by
the scene.  A truculent glare from Chase had
them prudently returning
their attention to their individual meals.

Chase
turned back to Jarvis, his mouth set in a grim line.  “Are you here to
arrest me?”  This time Larissa’s heart banged against her sternum with
such force that she actually gasped and pressed her free hand to her chest.

“That
remains to be seen.  Ms. Santos, please explain to me why you would become
involved with the man who abducted you.”

She
struggled to keep her temper in check.  “How many times must I tell you
the first time I laid eyes on Chase was when he stood in the line-up?”

“Very
well, then, we’ll play it your way.  Do you still want your abductor
prosecuted?”