The Stud (11 page)

He took a deep breath, then seemed to settle into sleep again.

She gave him a tiny shake. "Spencer?"

"Mmm. "

She waited to see if he would rouse. Since he clearly wasn't unconscious, if he wanted to sleep longer, she couldn't deny him. Dinner would wait.

She was about to stand, when he took another deep breath, squeezed his eye shut, then opened it a crack. His gaze hit her shoulder and stayed there for as long as it took him to realize what he was looking at. Then it lifted slowly to her face.

He looked dazed. She couldn't help but smile. "I was beginning to think you'd contracted sleeping sickness in the jungle. "

"Um-hum, " he said, without moving his mouth.

"Were you working all day?"

"Umm. "

"And last night?"

"Umm. "

"Did you finish the revisions?"

"Almost. " He yawned and shifted his head so that he could see her with both eyes. Pulling his free hand from the flagstone, he tucked it under his body. "What time is it?"

"Nearly nine. "

He grunted. "You should have woken me sooner. "

"You were tired. "

"We were supposed to go to dinner. "

"That's okay. We can eat here. I've been cooking—"

"After working all day?"

"I'm practicing. I'll have to cook for a baby whether I'm tired or not. Besides, I don't mind cooking. It's a change from my work. Of course, I can't guarantee the results. "

"That omelet was great. You're a terrific cook. "

"I'm still a novice. I haven't had much practice. "

"You didn't do it when you were growing up?"

"We always had a cook. "

"Why don't you now?"

"Because it'd be pretentious. And a waste of money. And unnecessary. I don't eat a whole lot. "

"Clearly, " he murmured. In the dark, his gaze dropped to her shoulders, then her breasts.

"I'm not too thin, " she said in self-defense. "If I didn't watch what I eat, I'd get fat. "

He frowned. "When you were younger, weren't you a little... "

"Fat?"

"Not fat. "

"Chubby, " she put in.

"Not chubby. Solid. "

"That's, uh, one way to put it. Our cook was
too
good. "

"Made brownies all the time, eh?" he asked.

She remembered the plate she'd brought to him the night before. When she'd left for work, there had been a few brownies left, but they were gone when she returned. Not that Spencer had to worry about his weight. He was lean but solid, which, on a man, was a wonderful thing.

"Yes, she made brownies, " Jenna admitted with a sigh, "and lots of other incredibly fattening things. It wasn't until I got into college that I lost weight. By the time I got to graduate school, I was into healthy eating. I had my own apartment then, so it was easy. My tastes were simple. What cooking I did was elementary. It's not much fun cooking for one. " Thinking about the pleasure she'd had earlier that night in the kitchen, she said, "It's more fun cooking for two. " Then she realized that what she'd said could be taken the wrong way, so she added, "God help this baby if it doesn't like haute cuisine. "

Spencer continued to lie quietly, looking at her.

With the night muting the electric charge of his eyes, she felt surprisingly comfortable.

"The baby will like anything you make, " he said.

"I hope so. "

"You'll be a good mother. "

She smiled. "I hope so. "

The smile was still on her face when his hand came from under him and went to the back of her head. It faded when he tugged out a hairpin. "I like your hair down, " he said in a deep voice as he pulled out a second pin.

Her pulse picked up. She wanted to tell him to stop, but the words wouldn't come. She wanted to get up and go back to the kitchen, but her legs wouldn't work. One by one, he discarded hairpins until her hair spilled onto her shoulders. He sifted through the waves, working out small tangles, massaging the place on her scalp where the pins had dug in.

Jenna felt suddenly warmer. "Maybe I should, uh, check on the shrimp. "

"Don't. I want you, not the shrimp. "

"Me?" Her heart beat more loudly. "Now?"

He curved a hand around her neck. "Come here. " A slight pressure knocked her off balance. Taking immediate advantage of that, he pulled her forward, and though she put out a hand to steady herself, before she could do more, she was half under him on the cushion.

"Spencer... "

He touched her lips. "Shh. " He slid his palm down her throat to the neckline of her dress. "You look sexy. "

"I didn't intend that, " she said, then sucked in a breath when he cupped her breast. "Spencer—"

"It's okay, honey, it's okay. " He kneaded her right through her sun dress in a way that sent hot flashes through her. She made a small sound when he brushed her beaded nipple with a thumb. "That feels good, does it?"

It felt
incredibly
good. "We can't"

"Can't what?"

She struggled to think. He had shifted to her other breast. After delineating its shape, he opened his hand wide and put his little finger and thumb to both nipples at once. She was robbed of all but the smallest fragment of breath and could only manage a faint "Can't do this here. "

"Sure, we can. No one'll see. You own everything for acres around. "

"But on the patio?" she cried on a pleading note, because his hand was moving down her body now, leaving fire in its wake. "It's not a bed. "

He reached under her dress. "I never make love in the same place twice. Didn't I tell you that?"

"No. " She nearly choked on a breath when he touched her where she was hot and wet. "Spencer!"

He grinned. All she could see of it was the gleam of his teeth, it was that dark, but she heard it clear as day in his whisper, and she knew its cause. "Oh, yes, you want me. "

"I want a baby. "

"Right now you want me. " His hand left her to deal with his shorts. "The chemistry is right. You can't deny it. "

"I didn't plan this. "

"Some of the best things are unplanned. " Having freed himself, he tugged at her panties. "Lift up. "

She lifted. "I'm not comfortable doing this here. "

"You will be when you look back on it. " He tossed the panties aside and came down between her legs. Slipping his hands under her bottom, he pulled her to him. "When you have your baby, you'll think back to this and laugh. "

"I'll think back and blush—Spencer!"

"There we go. Deep inside. " He made a guttural sound that was halfway between a grunt and a hum. "Oh, Lord, oh, Lord, does that feel good. "

"I don't believe this. "

"Wrap your legs around me, honey. There, ohh, there, isn't that better?"

"On the
patio. "

"I'm not sure how slow I can go. Tell me if I hurt you, okay, sweetheart?"

Jenna didn't hear him at first. Her insides were aflame with a most intense pleasure. She held him tightly with her thighs, then with her arms when she felt she'd go up in smoke.

"You with me?" he asked in a thick rumble that was made ragged by the rhythmic movement of his hips.

Her voice was a wisp. "I shouldn't be. "

"But you are. Jeez, what was that?"

"What?"

"You did something inside. "

She clenched her muscles again. "This?"

He gave a tortured groan and thrust higher, and it was her turn to groan. The feeling inside her was new and intense. No man had ever excited her this way. She could barely think beyond his hardness, heat and size, and the scent she was coming to recognize as his, maybe theirs. Needing more, she strained against him. Her hands moved through the hair on his chest. She clutched his shoulders and began meeting his thrusts.

Burying his mouth against her throat, he bowed his back and quickened his pace. Wanting to feel him deeper, then deeper still, she raised her legs to his waist. Reality was beginning to slip away from her when, with a hoarse cry, Spencer climaxed.

Loving the triumphant sound of his cry and the feel of his pulsing inside her, Jenna held him tightly. Only with the ebbing of his orgasm did she become aware of an inner expectancy unfulfilled. Then, as though he'd read her mind and understood it, she felt his hand slide between their bodies to the place where they were still joined.

She whispered his name in protest

"You won't lose anything, " he whispered back. His finger found what it was seeking and began to pluck that swollen flesh. "I'll stay inside you to stopper things up. "

"No, " she whispered, but reality started slipping again. She grabbed at his wrist, wanting to pull him away. Instead, the movement of his finger made her weak with wanting, so that she had to hold on tight or fall. The heat grew in her belly and spread through her body like a fog, dimming all thought of protest. Her breasts rose and fell. She arched mindlessly closer to Spencer, oblivious to the soft sounds of need that came from her throat until, with a choked cry, she exploded with a pleasure so total that the world went a brilliant, blinding white.

Jenna had no idea how much later it was when Spencer finally lifted off her. She knew it had been a while. Her breathing was even; the dampness on her skin had dried. She wasn't sure whether she had actually dozed or whether she had simply floated in a stupor of satisfaction that was reinforced by the warmth of his body over hers. But she felt a loss the minute he moved.

"Stay put, " he whispered, and groped around for her panties. After he had helped her put them on, he fixed his own pants. Then, before she had any inkling of what he planned, he scooped her into his arms.

She didn't say a word. She felt so lethargic that she wasn't sure she could have moved on her own, and besides, being held close and carried felt good. Too soon she was being set gently down on one of the kitchen chairs.

Spencer proceeded to reheat the dinner she had made and serve it. He claimed it was delicious and she supposed it was, though she was distracted. She was straggling to put the pleasure she had just felt into a context that had to do with the baby.

She hadn't bargained for pleasure. She hadn't expected it, didn't
want
it She didn't want to enjoy something enough to miss it when it was gone. After all, Spencer had done his job and was leaving the next day.

She knew he was aware of that, too, because what little conversation they had revolved around his manuscript, which would be ready with several more hours of work that night, and his plane, which was repaired and airworthy again. He was planning to fly to New York and drop the manuscript off, then continue south to Florida.

Because it seemed the only polite thing to do, she told him she would drive him to the airport. "It's only an hour, " she pointed out when he frowned.

"I can take a cab. "

"You could have taken a cab when you arrived, but you asked me to pick you up. So I can take you back. " It was the least she could do, given how generous he'd been with his time.

Gruffly he said, "I thought we should talk then. There's no need for it now. "

She knew that he was anxious to regain his freedom, and felt a twinge of hurt at the thought. But the hurt was good. It put a necessary wedge between them. Spencer had helped her with something she wanted, but that was where their involvement ended. The only thing left was to wind up their time together as cleanly as possible.

"I'm driving you, " she said firmly.

"You have to work. "

"I won't feel comfortable working until I know you're in the air. "

"That eager to be rid of me, are you?"

She shot him a look of annoyance, and felt that annoyance all the way to her toes. She didn't know the answer to his question. Even aside from the sex, being with him hadn't been bad at all. It hadn't been as intimidating or anywhere near as awkward as she had thought it would be. But life had to go on, and that would mean reclaiming her office at home, stripping his bed of the sheets he had used and watching the calendar and her body for signs that what had happened in the dark of night between Spencer and her had worked.

They were in the Jaguar on their way to the airport Tuesday morning, with Jenna driving and Spencer brooding, when he asked her about that. "How soon will you know?"

She didn't equivocate. The baby was the only interest they had in each other now. "Thirteen days. "

"I thought there were tests to tell you sooner. "

"I don't trust them. If one said I was pregnant and it turned out I wasn't, I'd be devastated. I'd rather wait. If I'm a day late, I'll know. Then I can do the test to confirm it. "

He was silent, staring out the side window. When they were within five minutes of the airport, he said, "I'll give you a call in two weeks to find out. "

"I won't be here. I'll be in Hong Kong. "

His head came around fast. "Hong Kong?" The silver in his blue eyes was alive, though whether from envy, curiosity or irritation she didn't know. "Why are you going to Hong Kong?"

"I'm touring the factories that make some of our things. "

"Alone?"

She shook her head. "With a few of my people. We like to see things firsthand once or twice a year. "

"You shouldn't be going now. "

She pictured the front page of the newspaper as it had been that morning, and couldn't remember seeing Hong Kong listed among the world's current trouble spots. "Why not?"

His eyes flashed—quite definitely in irritation, she realized.

"Because you may be pregnant. "

"If I am, what's happening inside me is so microscopic that going to Hong Kong won't affect it one way or another. Believe me, " she said with a knowing chuckle and a protective hand on her stomach, "I would do
nothing
to endanger this child. "

"I've done that trip many times. It's long and tiring. You don't call that a danger?"

"No. Neither does my doctor. Once I knew you'd help me, I asked him about it. He said that if an egg is going to be fertilized, it'll happen before I leave, and if it happens and is good, nothing about a trip like this can harm it. "

"What if it isn't good? What if you have a miscarriage when you're halfway around the world?"