Crazy in Chicago (16 page)

He gulped. Roberta didn't realize how difficult she was making this. Or how his hunger for her, previously doused by his belief she cared nothing for him, had begun to revive and grow.

“Give me your hand,” he growled, unceremoniously dropping her knee. In other, more confident times he might have acted, sliding her into the bathtub for a spontaneous seduction. But now?

He gritted his teeth as he worked on her hand. This close he could see the glistening moistness of her full, lush lips. Her warm, sweet breath tickled his forehead. The outline of her round, full breasts under the silk camisole beckoned to him, teasing him with their forbidden wares.

He swore and jumped to his feet, then yanked open a drawer and pulled out a tube of antiseptic cream. He tossed it at her. “Here, put this on.” He rifled through the drawers for a moment before coming up with some bandages. “Here. Take this too.”

It didn't take long for her to apply the antiseptic and bandages. She stood up, then winced.

“Sore?”

She nodded. “I guess you're right. That was a dumb thing to do.”

Yeah. But not as dumb as coming to my apartment in the middle of the night dressed like that.

Limping, she exited the bathroom. Taking a deep breath, Cody followed her. “I'll see you to your door,” he said. “Unless you're planning to leave the same way you arrived?”

She shot him a pained look and started for the door. Halfway there, she stopped and turned. “I was so busy apologizing, I forgot to ask. How are you? You rushed out of the office so fast this afternoon, I didn't have time to ask. Are you okay?”

“Just great, thanks,” he said shortly. When she looked at him like that, her eyes big and round and full of yearning, she aroused him even more.
 

Confusion at his clipped response clouded her eyes. “No, I mean really. You looked as if you were going to be sick. Were you?”

The thought of the nausea he suffered on the drive back to the office halted his growing arousal. He swallowed. “I don't want to talk about it.”

“I'm sorry. I'm really sorry I pushed you into that hypnosis. I just wish that it had told you something new, something you could use.”

“Well, at least we know I wasn't abducted by aliens.” Despite himself, some of the old bitterness slipped into his voice.

“Yes.” Roberta paused. “What are you going to do now?”

Cody looked at her. He knew what he wanted to do. It had something to do with holding her close, with kissing her until he'd aroused her to a fever pitch, with making her want him as much as he wanted her. And more.

He shrugged. “Go to bed, I guess.”

“No. I mean about your disappearance. Are you going to investigate it more?”

He frowned and walked over to the sliding doors. “I haven't decided.”

He didn't hear her cross the room, but he sensed her presence behind him before she spoke. “I'll help you.”

He turned. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I want to. Because I don't like to see you hurting. Because . . . because . . .”

His eyes held hers. Deep in the smoky, blue depths, he saw uncertainty, but also that same yearning he'd seen before, that yearning that filled him with wonder and sent sparks shooting along his nerve endings.

“Because?” he prodded. Over the thunder of his heart, he couldn't hear himself speak.

“Because I, uh . . .”

“Because.” He stepped closer and cradled her waist. Through the thin material of her tank top, he felt her startle.

Not taking his eyes from hers, he slipped his hands under the camisole. The hot flesh of his hands splayed around the cool, smooth skin of her ribcage. She caught her breath.

Slowly, with gentle pressure, he slid his hands upward, until they cupped her round, firm breasts. She bit her bottom lip. He smiled.

He pressed his palms lightly over her breasts. “Because,” he said as he lowered his head towards hers. “Because you want me. As much as I want you.”

His mouth closed over hers. The shock of lips touching lips, the taste of her answering desire, electrified his senses. He pulled her closer, hungry to feel her skin against his, naked as the night.

His kiss ignited Roberta, sizzling nerves already on fire with fear and anticipation. Fear of never seeing Cody again. Anticipation of a touch that might set off a conflagration she couldn't control. The two melded together as he claimed her mouth, melting her bones and taking her breath away until she no longer wanted to think about anything but him, and her, together.

The texture and pressure of his lips on hers, the touch of his hands on her body, his musky scent in her head, his very closeness fired her senses. A rhythmic refrain pounded through her veins, faster and more insistently by the second. He wants me. He wants me. He . . .
 

Her heart racing, she kissed him ever more wildly. Her hands tangled in his hair, played across his broad back, cupped him through his nylon shorts. No longer restrained by guilt or conflict, she offered herself to him.

“You're wonderful,” he murmured as his lips dragged along her chin to her throat. “Just wonderful,” he murmured, his breath tickling her ear. He pressed her hard against the growing evidence of his desire.

“We don't know each other that well,” she whispered.

He pressed his nose against hers. In the sudden stillness of his embrace, his dark eyes regarded her steadily. “Maybe not,” he whispered. “But I think we know everything that matters. I know that you're just as beautiful inside as out. And that you care about me, more than anyone else for a long time. That's more than enough for me.”

Her heart swelled in response. Silently he lowered his head to her breasts, arching her backwards across his arm. Through the thin material of her top, he took one breast into his mouth. He sucked hard and rhythmically, then worried the nipple with his teeth. The ache in her nipples grew, echoing the growing ache of need reverberating through her.

The fever and pitch of the sensations overwhelming her shot skywards when he slid his hand down her belly, across her shorts to the apex of her legs. She strained towards him, her body silently begging for his touch. She moaned when, finally, he slipped is hand under the thin barrier and found the liquid heat between her legs. He caressed her until she didn't know how much longer she could withstand.

Finally he lifted her and they sank together into the soft leather of the couch. His midnight eyes smoldered; she reached for him. With a smile he evaded her, and removed a safe from the pocket of his shorts. He started to rip the corner off with his teeth, then stopped when he saw her watching him. He handed it to her. “Here. You open it.”

Roberta smiled. With trembling fingers she ripped the foil packet open and slid out the condom.

“Put it on.”

She looked up to find him grinning. With a toss of her head, she quickly tugged off his shorts. Before she could do anything more, he pulled her top up over her head and tossed it aside. The shorts followed and his mouth captured hers once more, while his hands played her body to ever-increasing sweet torment. He guided her hands to his erection and helped her sheath him, then pulled her into his lap.

With a thrust, he entered her. His tongue plunged into her mouth at the same time, cutting off her gasp. Slowly, and then with steadily increasing speed, she rode him, driving them both towards the relief they sought. The taste of him filled her head. His ragged breath increased her frenzy. The touch of his hands on her breasts drove her crazy. At the exact second when she knew she couldn't take any more, the torrid torment exploded into a kaleidoscope of color, sensation, and relief. A moment later she felt Cody stiffen and join her.

He wrapped his arms around her and they sat, still joined, slick body clasped against slick body. Roberta shut her eyes and snuggled closer. It felt so good in his arms.

A faint murmur escaped him and she clasped him more tightly. She drifted in and out of sleep, enjoying the feel of his arms around her, the press of his maleness against her.

It was still dark when she woke some time later, her legs stiff and aching from her position wrapped kneeling around Cody. She wriggled experimentally and realized she was locked in his grasp. No way she could move without waking him.

She kissed his chin. “I should go now.”

“No.” For someone asleep, he'd woken up awfully quickly. His arms tightened around her. “Stay.”

She squirmed. “No, I—”

He pressed his lips against hers. Her heart fluttered and desire started to rise in her again.

“No,” he repeated. “Stay. Stay here. Where you belong.”

Roberta didn't want to leave. But her legs were starting to hurt. “I—I can't stay in this position. It's hurting my legs.”

“Mmm. Why didn't you say so?”

Without warning, Cody tumbled her back onto the couch and lay beside her. He kissed her forehead, then his lips whispered along her cheekbone. “There's more than one position for everything. Even sleeping.”

His lips claimed hers once more.

 

Chapter 8

 

Drifting out of sleep, Roberta tried to move. With a start she realized a heavy weight held her down.

Her eyes flashed open. Cody, his hair disheveled and jaw shadowed, smiled rakishly, his face only inches from her own.

Memories of the night flooded back. The disastrous climb over the hedge, her apprehension by Cody, their long talk, the surge of feeling, their love-making. Their love-making!

Roberta grew still. She hadn't had a lot of experience waking up in a man's arms. Especially a man as devastatingly charming and lovable as Cody, a man whose eyes probed her as knowingly as his did now.

She shut her eyes to escape that look, and an intimacy she didn't quite know what to do with. Making love hadn't been on her agenda when she'd climbed over the hedge last night. This was too much, too fast, too . . . everything, and with a man who'd likely had far too many women.

“Hey, don't go back to sleep on me.”

She opened one eye. Cody was still there. Smiling down at her, his musky scent and warm hard body enveloping her, his eyes smoldering with a hunger that thrilled and scared her in equal measure. A hunger for her.

She swallowed and opened the other eye. Immediately she squinted against the bright sunshine streaming into the living room.

“What time is it?”

“After eight. We slept in.” Cody didn't sound or look the least perturbed.

“Oh, no.” A checklist of the day's responsibilities surged into her head, setting off sparks of panic. She tried to sit up.

“I have to go.” She pushed at Cody's chest. “Garnet will have a fit. He's got appointments lined up all morning for . . .”

“Why are you so worried about Garnet?” Cody growled. He grasped her wrists and nuzzled her neck. “You're late already.” He nipped her mouth. Nose to nose, an interesting gleam in his eye, he demanded, “So why don't we . . . ?”

The gleam caught her breath and set off tiny explosions within her. She hesitated. “I . . .” Her characteristic responsibility rushed back in. “Garnet's counting on me.”

This time she shoved harder. With a sigh, Cody rolled over, releasing her. She sat up.

She looked around the room, blinking. “My clothes . . .”

“Here. You might need these.” Cody pulled her shorts out from under him. He glanced around. “As for your top . . .”

Both of them scanned the room. The camisole was nowhere in sight.

Cody stood up. “I'll get you a T-shirt.”

Roberta scrambled into her shorts as he headed for the bedroom. A moment later a gray shirt landed in her lap.

She looked up. Cody stood a few feet away, magnificently and unselfconsciously naked. The sunlight gleamed off his bronzed lean body, illuminating every muscle, angle and curve. Dark hair curled on his chest and arrowed down to his narrow hips. And to his unmistakable erection.

A pang of desire, as hot and shocking as an unexpected burn, took her breath away. For a charged second, her head swam. She screwed her eyes shut, swallowed, and yanked the T-shirt over her head.

“Thanks.” Without another look at Cody, she hurried to the door, unlocked and opened it, and scooted into the hallway. It wasn't until she reached her own door that she remembered.

Her apartment door was locked, of course. And she didn't have the key.

She grimaced and turned away. Just as she reached for Cody's door knob, the door swung open.

“I thought you might be back.” He grinned at her. She glanced furtively downwards and was relieved to see he wore jogging shorts.

“Yes. My door's locked,” she admitted sheepishly. “I'll have to go over the hedge.”

She slipped past him into his apartment.

“Want some help?”