Wicked Game (10 page)

“I want to touch you.” Her words were not much more than a sob.

“Leave the blindfold on and I’ll let you touch me.”

“All right,” she said with a sigh as she stretched her hands.

“Do your arms hurt?” He was sorry for that. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.

“They tingle, some.”

“Don’t lie to me, Pepper. Do your arms hurt?”

“Yes, it hurts when you tie me like that.”

“But you like it anyway. Don’t lie. You’re not a very good liar.”

“Yes. I like when you tie me up. I like when you spank me. It makes me…”

“What?” Her jaw turned stubborn and she sighed, but she didn’t answer. “It makes you what?”

“Horny, all right? You make me so Goddamned horny, I hate you.”

“But you’d do anything I ask, wouldn’t you?”

She didn’t answer; she drew her mouth into a thin line. The Cass he knew and barely tolerated was threatening to return. So he rolled her onto her side, and before he even knew what he was about to do, he smacked her ass. “Answer me. You’d do anything I ask, Pepper, wouldn’t you?” He hit her again, the small intake of breath followed by the yelp of pain threatened to undo his hard fought for control.

“Yes, I like when you spank me, Jaime. I’ll do anything you ask. Please, do it again.”

“Would you go down on me in public?” He had no idea why he asked her that. Just to see if she would answer. Hell, he didn’t even know if she’d go down on him in private yet. He followed the request with another slap to her red-mottled bottom.

“Yes.”

“Shit, Pepper. You really shouldn’t give me that kind of ammunition. I just might use it.”

“Then why did you ask me to?”

“To see if you’d answer me. Christ, Pepper, would you really … Goddamn, that makes me…”

“Makes you what? Jaime, damn it. Makes you what?”

He wanted to say happy, but that would just be giving her something to use against him. Instead, he rolled her onto her back again and tugged her legs up, spreading her wide. “It makes me horny, baby. Get ready. I’m going to make you scream again.”

* * * *

He still wore his shirt when he entered her. She fumbled with the studs as she searched for skin. When she finally found it, she almost cried out. His mouth found hers, finally, his lips scorching, demanding that she open for him; his tongue, at first harsh, invaded her mouth, and then he groaned, grinding into her, slowly, his pelvic bone sharp against hers.

She gave him her tongue; he greedily suckled it as he lifted her shoulders, tucking his arms beneath her until she felt engulfed by him.

“That’s it, baby,” he whispered next to her ear when she twined her arms around his back, and stroked him, going lower until she clasped his hard-muscled ass cheeks in her hands. “That feels good. Come for me, Pepper.”

His breath was harsh against her ear, his chest hot against hers, his cock hard and throbbing inside as he slowly rode her. His very words inflamed her. “Come for me, baby.” God, she wanted to hold him like this forever. His hard body fit perfectly to hers; he moved fluidly inside her, engulfed her, inflamed her. She could feel him, the long hard length of him gliding inside her, touching that spot that she didn’t know existed, that spot that made her want to do everything he asked. “Pepper.” His breath turned shallow, his thrusts became slower, deeper.

“Jaime, I’m there, now, I…” There wasn’t anything to say; sensation took over. He growled, almost animal-like, and pain shot through her shoulder—sharp, biting pain that sent her zooming past the atmosphere. Still he held her imprisoned by his mouth and his body pumping into her harder, faster until she ceased to exist.

“Pepper,” she heard him roar, and then she fell back to earth, shattered, broken into a trillion little pieces. And that’s how she stayed for a very long time.

Chapter Eleven

“In two weeks my life is pretty much going to become one long session in hell,” Jamie told her one morning, a week after New York, as she placed a plate of eggs and sausage in front of him. “I might not come home most nights, and if I do it will be late, and I’ll just be back out the door, probably before you get up.”

“Okay.” Cass sat across from him at the table. It was odd to see him dressed in regular clothes and not wet or sweaty for a change. “Football camp, right?”

“Yeah, two weeks of hell, and then the preseason starts. Practice is open to the public if you want to drive up one afternoon. When you’re not at the school, of course.”

“Maybe, if I can find time. I joined a book club, and I signed up for a cooking class.”

“Good. It’s nice that you’re keeping busy. If you want to come and watch, just let me know and I’ll get you a pass.”

“I’ll let you know.” She watched him over her coffee cup. He looked everywhere but directly at her. It had been like this since the morning after at the Plaza. He’d slept with her, made love to her in the wee hours of morning, and then nothing. It was as if it never happened. “What are your plans for today?”

“I have a meeting with Mitch. That fuck Cameron is being difficult. He stole nearly two million dollars from me, or he is covering for one of his lackeys. The court has ordered an audit, and today is the day. My receipts against their books. Thank God, Alicia’s check cleared before he cleaned me out, or that would be one more pile of crap I’d have to wade through.”

“Can I ask if you’re all right financially without sounding too much like a gold digger?”

“Well, you just did, and yeah, you sound sort of gold-diggerish. Really, Pepper, Nike just paid me ten million to look sweaty and pretty in their commercials for the next year. That is only one of my endorsements. Plus, there is my actual salary and investments to consider. Let’s just say I can keep you in sexy panties for a very long time. What Cam mislaid, shall we say, is nothing; don’t worry about it.”

“You know that’s the first time…” She didn’t know how to bring it up. Something had changed between them since that night. He avoided her, and when he was in the same room with her it was like this, all polite conversation, and it was driving her crazy. “Are you going to ever acknowledge what happened between us?”

“Why? Unless you’re interested in going upstairs with me, I don’t see a reason to. It happened. It was bound to happen. Do you want it to happen again?” He looked at her, finally, but his eyes didn’t hold any of the usual fire.

“Not really. But I can’t help but wonder where we go from here.”

“Hell, Cass, I’m not marrying you, if that’s what you’re looking for. Just because I’ve seen you naked and sampled your goodies doesn’t mean I want to set up house.”

“Well, I don’t like playing house with you either. This makes me tense. My stress level is through the roof. Living with you, doing everything for you. While you move my things around and rearrange the kitchen, which I don’t appreciate, by the way. I might not be the best cook, but I like things to stay where I put them.”

“Well, damn, Cass, get a hobby, because this is pretty much it. And for the last time, I’m not messing with your things.”

“I have about fifty hobbies. And you’re an ass.”

“Gee, I think I preferred when you called me jerk.”

“Oh fuck you.”

“Fine, go get the jump rope.”

“Weren’t you late for something? Like your hanging.”

“Now that’s the Pepper I know and love.” He smiled that smile, the one that told her he was back to normal, then he glanced at the clock over the stove. “Oh fuck, I really am late. See you tonight, Pepper. And wear something sexy, I’m taking you out to dinner; maybe we’ll get in a little dancing.”

His laughter echoed from the garage, and then he was gone. Well, at least he’d forgotten about asking her to do things to him in public. She hoped.

* * * *

Over the next two weeks, Jaime watched her from as far away as he could. Pepper really did have too many hobbies. Besides going to the school every afternoon to read stories and volunteer as an English tutor, she went to a book club, a cooking class, and even though she had finished painting all the rooms in his house, she still liked to collect and refinish old furniture. He had to admit that a few of the pieces were beautiful when she found the perfect place for them. Her current obsession was the dining room, or rather the lack thereof. She seemed determined to find pieces from the same era the house was built. After reading up on the history of the place and of that time period in Miami, even he had to admit more than just a passing interest.

She’d stopped talking of moving out, and after that one morning, she didn’t seem interested in pursuing the topic of whatever this thing between them was or wasn’t. Right now, he didn’t have time for a thing with Cassandra Pendleton. He didn’t want a thing with Cassandra Pendleton, but damned if he wanted Cassandra Pendleton to move into an apartment.

He liked the way she hummed when she cooked his eggs. He liked coming home at night to find her puttering in the garage, or the kitchen, or sitting out by the pool reading a book. He liked talking with her. About whatever she was doing, and answering her questions about his life and what exactly he did on the field. She had to be the single most disinterested woman in the history of football groupies. She knew nothing, not even what a quarterback did. Most people at least knew that much, but not Pepper. Of course, she never tuned him out when he wanted to talk about his day, as if his constant workouts and meal schedule was all that interesting. She listened, and that was more than he could remember anyone besides his parents doing.

After that morning, things got back to normal. She sniped at him. He sniped at her. They went about their business and slept in their separate beds, just as it was meant to be. Sometimes, especially when she wore a dress, he wondered what color her panties were. He thought about those back to school essays they used to write on the first day of school. Well, he’d certainly shock some poor teacher if he had to sum up how he spent his summer vacation. Not only did he spend the bulk of his days thinking about the color of Cassandra Pendleton’s cheeky panties; there were the off days when he spent his free time coming up with ingenious ways to get into her panties. Only to turn chickenshit at the last moment, all because Cassandra Pendleton looked at him with those smoky blue eyes and his entire world suddenly became more complicated. And he sure as hell did not need complicated in his life right now.

That’s when the first package arrived. Cass always left the mail on his desk. Apparently, complicated now came in FedEx envelopes. He didn’t recognize the return address but opened it anyway. After viewing the contents, he felt queasy. The accompanying letter left him downright nauseous. He filed the entire thing away in his safe, so that Cass couldn’t find it, and made a mental note to hand the whole thing over to Mitch just as soon as he could figure out a way that wouldn’t completely ruin him or Cass in the process.

Chapter Twelve

A few days before Jaime was to leave for camp, Cass found him walking the perimeter of his property. He was acting strange; okay, stranger than usual. Up until now, she’d never seen him touch the plants that covered the brick wall that surrounded the property, but she really wouldn’t call what he was doing gardening. It was more like he was searching for something. And he spent a great deal of time at the back gate that led to the trail down to the beach. He even had the security code changed on the lock.

Then there were the private, whispered calls to his lawyer to consider. The questions about the people she’d met during her daily trek about town. She had to swear on a stack of bibles that she’d never told anyone who she worked for, and that included deliverymen bringing in furniture and workers bringing in whatever they were doing.

“What’s going on, Jaime?” She finally asked the Saturday before camp started, he was holding a FedEx package as if it might bite him, his face a sickening shade of pale.

“Nothing I can’t handle, Cass,” he said, but she knew the smile he flashed her was forced. Besides, he didn’t call her Pepper, which by itself was enough to worry her. “Uh, how would you like to take one of those vacation weeks this week? I’ll fly you anywhere you want to go, or you can go home and visit your Mom. This week is just going to be me at camp and you all alone here.”

“I’m not really interested in going anywhere right now, and my mom went to Vegas with her Red Hat group. She said thanks, by the way, for sending her the money.”

“I didn’t send her any money.”

“I know. I did; I just said it was from you because she refused to take it when I offered. She wants me to start a retirement fund and open up a savings account and not spend money on frivolous things like trips to play the slots with a bunch of old ladies. But she has no qualms about spending your money.”

“Your mom is hardly old. She’s what, maybe fifty?”

“Forty-eight. She was twenty when I was born. My dad ran out on her a couple of months later, and well, she’s never had much of a life. So if she wants to go gambling with a bunch of gray-hairs, then I say more power to her. Besides, after I paid off my debts, I don’t have anything to spend my earnings on. Some groceries here and there, and Barnes and Noble is getting rich off of me, but after that…” She shrugged; she never liked to talk about how she grew up—not poor but not far from it. There was always food and everything she needed, but there was never anything extra, like trips down to the beach or anywhere the other kids got to go. “I’ve never been to Disney World. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that—just thinking out loud.”

“Then I’ll take you to Disney World before the crazy of the season. Just you and me.” He stopped talking, his eyes looked funny, then he cleared his throat. “Unless you want to go this week, but Disney is not fun when you’re alone. I was just offering to keep you company is all.”

“How about we wait until the season is over, after you win that ring like you keep saying you’re going to. Don’t they always ask what you’re going to do now after you’ve won the Super Bowl? You can truthfully say you’re going to Disney World. And it’ll be cooler and less crowded and … I haven’t forgotten that you’re hiding something from me, Jaime.”