Undercover in the CEO's Bed (10 page)

The dappled moonlight on his skin turned him into a leopard, a muscular, lithe leopard, beautiful and dangerous.
Leopards live alone
. Her heart ached as she turned her head away and drew the sheet up to her chin.

Tonight was a one-time thing. She couldn’t let it happen again. And she had to keep in mind that this wasn’t the same Lex of old. She knew him better now that she’d seen him with his family and glimpsed at the hurts he’d suffered and kept hidden. And this wasn’t just sex anymore. She was dangerously close to falling in love with him, and that would be disastrous because Lex was definitely not the kind of man to lose his head over a woman. Especially one he’d already rejected once before.

…

Lex propped himself up on his elbow and studied Jacinta. She lay on her back, with the sheet tucked under her arms, a pensive expression showing through her mussed-up hair.

“What’s up? You’re having regrets?” he asked and right away cursed himself. Why ask that question when she might answer yes?

“No.” She shook her head. “I guess it was inevitable, ending up in bed with you again.”

“You don’t have to make it sound like death and taxes.”

“It wasn’t like that. It was...” She smiled and gave another quick shake. “You know what it was like.”

Incredible. Awesome. Earth-shattering. There just weren’t the right words to describe how it felt making love to Jacinta. He reached over and fingered a stray curl of her hair. “Yeah, I agree,” he said softly.

But
... The unspoken word soured his mouth. But however mind-blowing the sex was, he couldn’t let it affect his thinking. Nothing had changed between them. He had to remember that and not get carried away like before. He couldn’t go through all that torture again, that wild exhilaration followed by crashing gloom when everything between them had been ripped apart. This time he had to keep his perspective.
Don’t spoil the mood by anticipating trouble. Just enjoy the afterglow for now.

He leaned back against the pillows, conscious of her light perfume permeating the linen, mixing with the salty tang left behind by their coupling. What a sexy smell that was. He wished he could bottle it.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me about your mom?” Jacinta asked without warning.

My mom? Way to go killing the mood
. He kept his gaze on the plastered ceiling above him. “What about my mom?”

“I didn’t know she was still alive. I always thought she’d passed away.”

He lifted his eyebrows. “What gave you that impression?”

“You never talked about her.”

“You never talked about your mom either. I only found out about her today.”

He didn’t say anything else. After a few moments she said, “Well? Aren’t you going to tell me about Estelle? That’s her name, isn’t it?”

Hell, she even knew his mom’s name. He twisted his neck to scowl at her. “Who’s been gossiping behind my back?”

“It just came up in conversation. So where does she live?”

He didn’t speak, didn’t want to think about his mom, let alone talk about her.

Jacinta let out a small sigh. “It’s okay. God knows, I don’t enjoy talking about my mom.”

Paradoxically, that made him less reluctant. “Are you that interested in mine?”

“Yes, I am.” She propped herself up against the pillows and crossed her arms. “I want to hear it from you instead of secondhand gossip.”

“My mom...” He exhaled a long breath. “It’s not a long, tragic story, if that’s what you’re expecting. My mom and I never had a close relationship. She was more interested in her social activities than raising a child.” His mother had been beautiful but remote, like a marble statue on a pedestal. She had produced a son and heir for her husband, and as far as she was concerned she’d fulfilled her obligations.

Lex continued, “When she and my dad divorced, I was already used to not having her around, so it didn’t make much difference. She moved to New York. We exchange Christmas cards, but that’s about it.”

“Why did your parents divorce?”

He rubbed a finger across his upper lip. “My dad was having an affair.”

Jacinta’s face fell. “Oh, no. That must have been a shock for your mom, finding out he’d been unfaithful.”

“Not really,” he grunted. “She’d known for years he was unfaithful.”

She stared at him, round-eyed. “How do you know that?”

“Because one day my mom and I came home early and saw my dad kissing a strange woman. I was dumbstruck, but she just brushed it off, told me to ignore it like she’d been doing for years. So I did.” His hand clenched involuntarily on the sheet. His mother’s reaction had stunned him, but he’d said nothing. If she wanted to turn a blind eye to his father’s affairs, then who was he to object? “But when his affairs became public, that was too much for her. So she demanded a divorce.”

She hadn’t cared about the affairs, as long as he was discreet. She’d only cared about the wealth and social status that came from being married to a Rochester. But when it became common knowledge that Philip maintained several mistresses, she couldn’t stand the public humiliation, the whisperings from her society friends. A fat settlement and a swift departure to the East Coast had soothed some of her injured pride.

“I’m sorry,” Jacinta said.

“For what?”

“I’m sorry you had to go through all that. It must have been miserable for you.”

He shrugged, all tough indifference. “Nope. I was sixteen, seventeen. Old enough to take care of myself.”

But it had hurt, he had to admit, seeing his preconceptions of his parents crumble. He used to look up to his dad, had admired him despite his lack of tenderness. He was hard on Lex because he had standards. But then Lex had realized his dad lied and cheated. He saw that his mom was only interested in money and status. That marriage was just a sham, nothing more than a business arrangement. From then on he didn’t care about his dad’s opinion so much. He didn’t hero-worship him, although he still continued to respect him as the fearless CEO of the company. Until eighteen months ago, when he’d taken over as CEO and started to uncover the various misjudgments of his father.

He noticed Jacinta gazing at him, her face all soft with sympathy. He shot her a frown. “Don’t go all mushy now. You don’t have to feel sorry for me.” In fact, he’d hate it.

She pressed her lips together. “If only you were closer to your cousins and uncle, like I am with Kevin. It makes a big difference.”

“I told you—no mush.” He attempted a stern expression.

She clicked her tongue. “One day you’ll admit I’m right.”

To block out her words, he concentrated on her face, focusing on her lush mouth, her wild hair. Heat pumped through his veins as he noted the faint mark at the base of her neck, left there by his sucking. He touched the love bite.

“I’m admitting nothing except that I’m hungry for you again.”

Beneath his finger, he felt her pulse kick up even as she narrowed her eyes at him. “You men. Why is it you have only one thing in mind?”

“Is it because you’re lying naked in my bed?”

He traced the line of her collarbone down to where the sheet hid the rest of her. She shifted her limbs restlessly, giving herself away. “We—we shouldn’t.”

“We just did. And we both thought it was amazing.”

“I know, but...” She pursed her luscious lips, making lust flare in his groin.

“We’re not hurting anyone.” Hooking the sheet with his forefinger, he began to inch it off her chest. “There are still so many things I want to do to you.”

“Do
to
me?” Her pink tongue swept over her full bottom lip.

He lowered the sheet past her tempting breasts. “Yeah. I haven’t forgotten that little thing you like.”

She gulped, eyes glistening darkly. “That thing...?” Her cheeks turned pink, matching the color of her nipples. Oh yeah, he knew exactly what she wanted him to do to her.

Grinning, he flicked the sheet right off her naked body. “You know what I’m talking about.”

Bending over her, he ran his tongue between her breasts and around them, leaving a damp trail behind as he rolled his tongue over each nipple in turn until she gasped in delight and thrust her fingers through his hair. He left her nipples pert and wet as he skimmed down her stomach, nudging her legs apart as he kneeled over her. He nuzzled the damp curls between her thighs, inhaling her musky scent, before flicking his tongue into her folds. Her sharp intake of air and the sudden clenching of her thighs told him how excited she was. So was he. Maybe it was the way she was so open and vulnerable to him that got his motor running so fast.

He licked her slowly, and then he licked her fast, savoring her, enjoying her response. She was completely at his mercy, and when he suddenly clamped his lips around her clit and sucked hard, her whole body arched, and her fingers grabbed at his hair, giving him a tingling, pleasurable pain. He didn’t let up, sucking and rolling her most sensitive part between his lips, his fingers dipping rhythmically in and out of her, and all the while she scratched at his head and let out sobbing little breaths of utter abandonment that were music to his ears.

Yeah, he knew exactly the little thing she liked best of all, the thing that made her blush to ask for it. And he loved doing it to her, loved everything it did to her, because when she was like this, there was nothing in her world except his lips, his tongue, his teeth, his fingers, his hair, all driving her feverishly crazy. She was his completely, and nothing could interfere and spoil it. He tried to stretch it out as long as possible, loving her swollen wetness, her little squeaks of bliss, her fingers tugging on his hair, but eventually he knew she couldn’t hold out.

“Lex!” she begged, her voice hoarse and dark. “Please...”

He allowed his teeth to skim over her clit one last time, giving her a brief zip of pain before he lapped her deep and long, his tongue lascivious and greedy. He buried his head between her legs, holding her as he felt her orgasm rip through her. He stayed there until the last ripple was spent.

Finally the storm passed, and he lifted himself away from her, her taste lingering on his tongue and in his memories. She was such a turn-on, so sexually in tune with him, but he had to keep reminding himself that was as far as their compatibility went. He couldn’t put his faith in her. She’d disappoint him, just like she had before, just like his parents had in the past. She drove him wild in bed, but out of bed he had to keep a cool head around her.

…

The next morning, Jacinta woke up to the sound of a faint tapping. Rolling over, she discovered the pillow next to hers was empty, and when she lifted her head she saw Lex sitting at the far desk. He was fully clothed and working on his computer.

At the rustle of the sheets, he glanced up. “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you. You can sleep in if you want.”

The elegant little clock on the nightstand told her it was almost nine, way past when she usually woke up. She leaned back in bed, yawning and stretching. No wonder she’d slept late after everything she’d enjoyed with Lex last night. She shot him a quick peek, conscious of the pleasurable ache in her pelvis. Did he have the same enjoyable, dull throb? She didn’t regret what they’d done last night, even though she knew it had been a stupid thing to do. A person couldn’t go through life always choosing the sensible path. That was too boring, too safe.

She slid out from under the sheets. Last night’s red evening gown lay crushed in a puddle of silk on the carpet. Her panties were ruined. Her dressing gown was nowhere to be seen. And the en suite bathroom was way on the other side of the bedroom. Lex was still at his desk, his profile turned to her. Oh well. Shaking back her hair, she walked across the carpet buck naked.

As she reached the bathroom door, Lex’s voice rose from behind her, lazy and amused. “I love the way you shimmy that ass of yours, but take pity on me. I’m trying to work here.”

She bolted into the bathroom. When she emerged fifteen minutes later, showered, scrubbed, and wrapped in a thick white bathrobe, Lex was still at his desk, except now he had a deep line scoring his forehead.

“Is anything wrong?” she couldn’t help asking.

He lifted his head. “It’s nothing.”

But the creases across his brow said otherwise. “If it’s nothing why do you look ready to strangle someone?”

“I do want to strangle someone.”

She sat down in the chair near his desk and frisked her damp hair with a towel. “Not another leak, is it?”

“No.” He snapped the laptop shut before thrusting his fingers through his hair. “It’s just... Can I tell you something in the strictest confidence?”

“Of course.” Trepidation wriggled in her stomach. “What is it?”

“It’s about the company.” He bent and rested his elbows on his knees. “The thing is, some of our bank loans are due for renegotiation soon, and, we’re not doing as well as the market thinks we are.”

“But that can’t be right. You’re a mammoth company. You earn millions each year.”

“We’ve also been borrowing too much, buying assets that don’t match our business and for too much, and now we’re running short of capital. I only started uncovering the extent of our problems when I took over as CEO.”

She leaned forward. “You mean your dad was hiding these shortfalls?”

He pulled a face, avoiding her eye. “Yes. He overinflated the value of some of our assets.”

“And you haven’t told anyone what your dad was up to?”

Frowning, he squeezed his knuckles. “Whatever he did, he’s still my dad. I don’t want him condemned when he’s not here to defend himself.”

Jacinta couldn’t help sighing at the irony of the situation. His father hadn’t trusted Lex with the truth, and yet here was Lex still trying to protect the memory of his dead father.

“You should tell your family,” she said quickly. “Kirk, Holly, Ralph, and your grandmother. They should all know.”

“The hell I will.” He shoved back his chair and jumped to his feet.

“But they’ll find out eventually, won’t they? If the loans are due soon?”

Lex moved restlessly about. “If one of them is the mole, and I tell them the problems, he or she will have a field day with that information. I can’t afford to take that risk. I need to find out who’s sabotaging me first, and I need to know fast, because I’m meeting with the bank in two weeks’ time.”