Climbing High (18 page)

Siree whirled into the joy of dancing. Jake made a wonderful partner, moving from the arrogance of a tango, to the playfulness of a samba then teasing her through several rhumbas. By the time she’d been in the vicinity of his swiveling pelvis, had her vision filled with his tight butt and narrow hips, a light film of perspiration coated her body and it wasn’t the exertion causing it. Her bottom pressed into his stomach. Jake leaned over her, gyrating their hips in a circle then spun her free. Her dress lifted high, showing plenty of bare thighs. He pulled her into him again. Like a flame finding oxygen, she pressed her breasts against the rapid rise and fall of his chest, felt the damp heat of his shirt.

She wanted to fasten her mouth on his and feed until sated, but didn’t think that she’d ever get enough. She wanted to cry
Jake, take me home
. For the last hour they’d been locked in a competition to see who would fold first. She was determined it be him. She danced away from him, whipping her hips in a sensual fury while she lifted her hair off her neck. Pleasure shot through her when Jake’s nostrils flared. He glided toward her with the intent of a panther scenting his prey. She swiveled, presenting her back. Her hips still gyrating, she looked over her shoulder giving him what she hoped was a come hither look.

“You win. I’m going to embarrass us both if I stay on the floor in this condition.” He tucked her against his front and steered her toward their table. But he didn’t seat her. Instead, he fastened his teeth on her earlobe and gritted out, “Are you going to come back to the hotel with me?”

She registered the shiver that ran all the way down her back, and tilted her head to the side to give him better access. She half noted flashes going off, but couldn’t raise the least interest in it. Jake’s lips traced a line down the side of her neck. His teeth closed over the bundle of nerves at the juncture of her shoulder.

“Yes.” Her voice disinclined to work, she nodded, and found herself hustled out the door of the club in seconds. The limo pulled up. She ran through another gauntlet of flashes. The door slammed, closing them into the cocoon of safety, the gasp of their breathing and the rustle of clothing as they turned to each other the only sound.

“God, I want you.” He scooped his arms under her legs and settled her across his thighs. “Do you have any idea how much I want you?” he growled against the straining flesh that rose above the tiny bodice. “I thought you were as beautiful as a Botticelli angel the first time I saw you, but tonight, dressed in flame, sparkling and full of life, you burn me up. I want to feel all that energy surround me. I want to sink into the heart of you and feel you beating around me.”

His words impassioned her. She pulled his mouth to hers and opened to him like an angel offering her soul. Jake tasted like scotch and seduction. Their tongues tangoed, their lips romanced. They lost themselves in moist heat and satin sighs. She melted against him, reveling in the rock hard muscles. Sexual tension stretched between them, tighter, tighter until it threatened to snap. The limo sped through the city streets. With a groan, he disengaged long enough to press the intercom. “Go directly into underground parking, to the penthouse elevator,” he rasped, his attention on her kiss-stung mouth. He closed his teeth over her bottom lip, tugging gently on the plush satin, demanding she open to him.

The lost are found
, he thought, sinking into the wet silkiness of Siree’s mouth. Oh, God had he been lost without her.

They teetered into the elevator together. He turned to press the button and Siree pressed her hand against his buttocks.

“Cheeky,” he purred. He covered her hand with his and turned. Her hand trailed across his taut butt, narrow hip and flat stomach. It settled over the bulge beneath his fly. “That’s what I do with cheeky women. I turn the other cheek.”

“This doesn’t feel like a cheek to me.” She cupped her hand around the length of him and measured it up then down, flashing a siren smile when she heard the quick intake of his breath.

In retaliation, he cupped his hands around her firm bottom and lifted her into his pelvis, rubbing back and forth against the heated delta between her thighs. The elevator pinged.

She stepped into the plush bedroom of the suite, lifted her hands to the zipper at her back and lowered it, never taking her eyes from him. He thought he might go into cardiac arrest. He tugged his tie off, plundered the buttons on his shirt. Jacket and shirt hit the floor at the same time. Every second his heated skin didn’t touch her satiny flesh counted. He toed off his shoes and ripped off his socks, visually tracking the slither of red. It slid down her body to the floor, leaving her standing in a red lace thong and five inch red sandals. Every inch of her skin gleamed.

She bent from the waist, seductively straightened, flipping her hair back. “No veil tonight.”

The words, coming slow and sensual from her kiss-softened lips, broke the last of his restraint. In two strides, he reached her, picked her up and tossed her on the bed. He came down after her like a prowling beast.

If Siree had any intention of toying without paying the piper, she would have been alarmed. Clearly, Jake’s control had snapped. She reveled in his need, driving his passion higher with her hands, and mouth and whispered wants. She gave herself unstintingly, exposing her desire for him and her vulnerability.

She wrapped herself around him, moaning her approval when he rolled on a condom and buried himself deep. She clung to him with inner muscles, arms, and legs. Her lips raced over his chest and neck. Her nails scraped across his back. She gave herself up to his sensual attack, trusting him to give her the
petit mort
they met together.

Bliss
. She drifted from some world of the spirit back into her satiated body. His head rested in the crook of her neck. He had not left her, only turned them on their sides to take his weight from her lungs. Their chests rose and fell in sync. Their hearts hammered in time. Molded into one entity by ecstasy, they fought to retain that singularity. Remorseless time pulled them back into their separate identities. Left with the mutual desire to return to that place of oneness, they started the climb again.

Chapter Nine

From the window of the Boeing 747, Siree saw Vancouver spread beneath her like a summer bride. She stroked apricot gloss onto her lips and took in the full effect of her light make-up in the mirror. Excitement stained her cheeks peach and turned her eyes gold. In minutes Jake would be here to pick her up. They’d been apart for ten days and it felt like her heart had leaked love and loneliness all that time.

After finishing the spa weekend with her mother, she had gone back to work, taking two back-to-back assignments, one in Ottawa, the other in Miami. Jake had circled the globe twice over the past ten days. They’d texted each other through the day, brief messages sharing the whimsical and worrisome. At night they relished the screen time they stole from their hours of work. She would drink in his image like a dehydrated wanderer coming across a clear stream. Lounging on the bed in her hotel room, she shared her day with him and listened avidly while he told her about his.

Always he started the conversation by asking her how she was coping with the media. She assured him the press left her alone for the most part. When a journalist confronted her, she handled it with a light and friendly touch, which kept the sharks from circling. She just had to put up with it until Jake’s long-term strategy began to work.

“I’ve chosen the new face of JDI,” he’d informed her only the night before. “He’s in my PR department already. I like his style and he thinks fast on his feet. He’s put out quite a few fires with the right angle already. He’s ambitious and handles the journalists like a pro for all he’s a few years younger than me. He’ll start taking all the press conferences, plus the charity and public relations events I attended before. Soon the press won’t remember what I look like or care. Then they won’t be chasing after information and photos when we’re together. We’ll become two has-beens.”

She searched the beloved face on her monitor for each nuance of expression. “Will you miss it? Are you just giving it up to please me?”

“Not a bit.” His mouth stretched in a long, slow smile. “I have a much better use for my time. Are you wearing anything under that terry robe?” His voice dropped half an octave and took on a husky tone.

She felt like a tsunami had just washed her out to sea on a wave of desire. Her nipples tightened, her body softened and readied itself.

“I want you to be sure about this.” She tried to stay on track.

“I’m sure I want to know. Push the lapel a little wider so I can see for myself.”

She felt the flush climb her neck and fought not to do as he asked. “Jake, be serious. You’ve done so much for me already. If you love that kind of life, I don’t want you to have regrets when you’re not living it.”

He exhaled a long breath, combed his fingers through his hair then met her eyes. Even through the screen his energy ramped up when he focused on her concern. “That lifestyle worked when I didn’t have any personal connections to worry about. My networks are self-sustaining now. I’m not interested in dating the type of women who thrived on the attention. It served its purpose, but now that purpose is no longer there. Frankly, I’ve felt like I’ve just dropped a big weight off my back. This will give me a lot more time for things I want to do, things that are growing in importance. It allows me to put my new priorities first.” He hesitated as he searched for words to persuade her.

She believed him. While considering her needs first, he recognized other plusses floating to the surface of his decision. Jettisoning the subject with a smile of relief, she brought her index finger up to the V of her bathrobe and inched it wider, delighting in his quick inhalation and the lust burning in his eyes.

“Just four more days.” His image shifted on the monitor and he winced. “You’ll get yours,” he threatened. His eyes fixed on her every action.

She raised the finger to her lips, sucked on it and circled her areola until it beaded.

“You little vixen,” he hissed. “You know I’m not going to get a minute of sleep tonight. As soon as you get off that plane, I’m going to have my way with you.”

She laughed, her gaze tracing his taunt features. “I don’t think all the people at the airport will appreciate that.” She reveled in the sound of his laughter. Jake took his responsibilities so seriously, it gave her immense pleasure when she lifted him above them. She blew him a kiss. “I still have a few hours of number crunching, so I have to go.”

He groaned. “God, I wish I could kiss you, all over, all night. Dream of me.”

“That’s a given.” The screen went blank, and she pulled her robe back into place, already fantasizing about him.

****

Touch down. Siree forced her quivering body to stay still while her plane taxied to the gate and came to a halt. She almost skipped down the ramp and through customs, grabbed her luggage with a shake of her head at the man who tried to carry it for her, and hurried to the entrance. She saw the familiar face of one of Jake’s drivers and headed for him. “Hi, Thomas. Jake said he’d send you ”

“Yes, Ms. McConnell. He told me to get you to him fast and safe.”

“Fast and safe works for me.” She poked his arm. “Especially if he wants it.”

“You got that right, Ms. McConnell. Jake’s the best.”

Thinking it felt good to be using her father’s name again, she settled in the limo. She let the expensive leather seat take her weight and drew the scent of citrus and scotch into her lungs. With her eyes shut, she raced through the dusk to her lover.

They didn’t have to discuss where she would stay. Jake wanted her with him, and she wanted that, too. Vancouver seemed a good middle ground. There was a smaller pool of journalists to pursue them. His penthouse allowed them the privacy they needed to continue important research: learning everything they could about each other.

The elevator pinged, the door slid open, and she stepped onto a swirl of color as the setting sun poured its shades onto the gold streaked marble.

“Hold it right there.” Jake’s full attention swung to her, his eyes fixing her in place. He stood, a phone to his ear, and soaked her in. “No, not you, Finchley. Siree’s here, I have to cut this short. I’ll get back to you on that later.” He disengaged, dropped the phone in his slacks pocket and prowled toward her.

His lean fingers framed her face. “You, lady, are a work of art.” He groaned as his lips molded hers. “It almost killed me to wait here while Thomas picked you up, but I figured you didn’t need to be swamped by press at the end of a very”—his lips sipped at the left corner of her mouth—“very long day.” His lean fingers burrowed into the wealth of her hair and their mouths clung together.

“I’m happy to have avoided the media zoo that follows you around, though I have noticed it seems to be getting smaller.” She followed the flow of his breath with her mouth, her fingers sliding under his suit jacket to find the heat of him radiating through the crisp navy shirt. “Are you losing some of your longtime admirers?”

He was too involved with her to hear the question. “God, you feel so good.” His hands traced her nape, slid along her shoulders and followed the curve of her spine to her bottom. He pressed her closer, if that was possible. They’d already found the perfect point of melding hard and soft, curves and angles.

“Please tell me you’ve already talked to your mother, because I’ve cleared my schedule for the next two days and hope to have you all to myself.” His husky voice relayed his need.

“On the way from the airport.” She slid her hands higher under his jacket so she could push it off his shoulders. “I hoped to have you all to myself, too.” She started on the knot of his tie as his jacket hit the floor, rubbing her pelvis across his blatant arousal.

He lost all pretense of civility, growling low in his throat, his eyes burning with desire. He backed her against the elevator door and, yanking up her tight skirt, pushed his bent knee between her legs. His hands pressed into her waist, arching her toward him. She grappled with his fly, seized his swollen penis through the cotton of his briefs stroked it in a frenzy of need.