Liar Liar (13 page)

His hand crept between her thighs and stroked her through the pink silk. Her hips lifted and she moaned as his finger flicked against the sensitive nub. She could smell the scent of her perfume rising on the wind. His tongue rasped the top of her pubic bone, and she shuddered with need.

Matt gave a low chuckle. “You taste so sweet. Like honeysuckle.” His hand stroked the swollen flesh hidden beneath her panties. She wanted more. She pressed against him. His palm rode with her, as her hips bucked beneath his touch. When he leaned close, tonguing spirals around her hipbones that sent flames to her core, she no longer cared if anyone was watching.

“Wait,” she said. It was too hard to balance this way. She just couldn’t get close enough to him. Abandoning caution, Jess slipped out of her shoes and shorts, until she stood before him wearing nothing but her bra and panties.

“
Cara mio,”
Matt breathed, running his hands up and down her quivering thighs. His fingertips wrapped around her and flicked the sensitive juncture of her lower buttocks.
“Que bonita.”
Oh, that accent! She wasn’t sure what he said, but the predatory smile on his face told her everything. “Let me do this, Jessica. Let me please you.”

She felt wild and sexy, like one of those women in the television movies. Well, why couldn’t she be? As Matt said, she was a woman who knew what she wanted. And right now, she very much wanted this.

“Okay. Take me, Matt.” She gasped. “Now.”

***

“Take me,” she begged him.

Their passion scorched him, hot and fast, but her simple whispered plea nearly broke his willpower.

This moment had to be for her alone. He’d worry about his own needs and the consequences of seducing her later. Now was for Jess. Her eyes were glazed with desire. With her head thrown back, her red hair clinging to her river-damp face, she looked like a goddess. And she was his for the taking, if only for now.

Matteo worked his way slowly around each bared breast, licking and sucking until her nipples were the bubble gum pink of her lips. He moved carefully, allowing her time to grow accustomed to his touch. When he moved his tongue lower, Jess arched her back and hissed air through her teeth.

Grinning, he kissed and nipped his way down her trim abdomen, until she squirmed beneath his lips.

He hooked a finger between her soft skin and the panties that hid her from him. Jess whimpered low in her throat and thrashed against the grassy bank. Her legs quivered like a newly broken colt. How much he wanted to ride her, to plunge himself into her aching core! But, after her morning’s admonition to take things slowly, he hadn’t thought to bring protection.

There was no going slow. Not with her. She was aching to be unleashed and he wanted to be just the man to set her free.

He slid the thin strap off her hip and down her thigh. He wanted to please her in ways that she would never forget. The river was quiet around them save for the lapping water near the bank and the far off sounds of the rapids. He could only imagine how it must feel for Jess, trapped between his burning desire and her fears.

As she shimmied out of her undergarments, Matteo was rewarded with the most perfectly groomed mound he’d ever seen. Her thatch of natural red hair was sculpted into a perfect tuft just over her clit hood. Her sex lay exposed like a perfect pink bud. Matteo cupped her tight ass cheeks. Jess groaned and butted her pelvis into his face. He kneaded her buttocks as he blew a little puff of hot air against her pubic region. His fingers stroked between her legs, gently teasing flicks that approached her moist woman’s core.

From his seated position, he could smell the sweet musk of her commingled with the river water and the clean scent of her soap. He wanted to eat her, but he made himself hold on, to restrain the urge to devour her.

His fingertips delved into her slick folds. Jess cried out, her hips flexing against his hands. He circled his thumbs at the edge of her opening, fingering her outer lips with agonizing slowness. Jess shivered and bucked her hips again.

“You like that, do you? Where do you want me? Here?” He pressed his index finger on the tightening muscular ring of her vagina. “Is that where you want it,
querida
?”

“Yes.” Her voice was hoarse as if she’d been running.

He stroked her clit with his thumb, while his left hand cupped under her. Dew trickled from her, wetting his fingers. She moaned again and thrust her hips toward him. He rubbed his slick thumbs rhythmically over her tight pink bud until she went wild. Her head thrashed back and forth and she panted like a caged beast. A tigress he desperately wanted untamed.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Oh, you feel so good. Yes. Yes,” she chanted.

She was ready.

With the ghost of a smile on his lips, Matteo spread her legs wider and buried his face in her. His tongue probed right where his thumbs left off. Jess cried out and plunged her fingers into his hair. She cradled his skull, holding his head in place while she writhed against him. Quickly, he surrounded her tight bud with his mouth and gave it a swipe with his tongue.

She tasted so good, his cock flexed instinctively. She used some kind of scented lotion, or maybe it was soap, he couldn’t tell. Her skin smelled like honeysuckle, grapefruits and the musky perfume of her sex. It drove him wild. His cock was so hard, it was painfully rubbing against the seam of his shorts. He wanted to lap up her cream like a cat.

His hand stole around her backside and cupped her ass, while he made love to her clit with his mouth. He sucked and nibbled while his fingers reached from behind to find her vaginal opening. Jess mumbled incoherently. He teased her with his hand as his mouth savaged her sensitive bud, slipping first one, then two fingers just past the throbbing inner ridge inside her.

She was so wet and so hot. His fingers were coated with her molten honey. Matteo flicked his tongue, drawing the moisture out of her with his fingers and laving it off her thighs with his tongue.

Jess trembled, locking her thighs around his neck and sitting back on his shoulders until she was almost floating, supported by him and the river bank pitching beneath them. Her knees hooked over his shoulders, she drew a quivering breath.

“Now, Matt. Faster.” She reached up and fondled her erect nipple.

She was a woman who knew what she wanted. He thrust his fingers in deeply, just as he sucked harder on her clit. His fingers pumped into her, her hips bucking and rocking in time to his movements. Jess whimpered and clenched his shirt collar in her fists.

“Yes. Yes. Oh, yes!” Jess moaned.

He repositioned his mouth over her mound and hummed. She went wild. He stroked her with his tongue, slipping in and out of her. Just as she stiffened beneath him, he swiped his fingertip over her backside, probing at the sensitive entry in time to the thrusts of his tongue.

Jess gasped and her warm flood of pleasure bathed his face. She shuddered and froze, her hips arched for several long seconds before she collapsed back against him.

She was completely undone. He smiled and caught her.

Matteo eased her to the grass, cradling her against his chest. Her pulse beat wildly at her throat. Jess shivered again, then smiled.

Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes glowed like amber. She lifted her head from Matteo’s arm. “That was…unbelievable. I’ve never done anything like that.”

Matteo couldn’t suppress the wave of ownership that shot through him. He liked giving her firsts, liked being the one to bring her out of her shell, to give her pleasure. If only she was a genuine LoveLines client, this fantasy might never end.

A fantasy. He shook his head. He couldn’t let himself hope for that with her. She wasn’t his to have, no matter how much he wanted her.

“What is it?” she asked. Her eyes were still slightly unfocused, dilated with pleasure.

“Nothing,” he replied.

And it was nothing, he told himself. It had to be.

An interlude in a semi-public place had been one of Jessica’s private fantasies for years, but she’d never trusted a man enough to perform with her. And while she was all ready to pleasure him in return, suddenly Matt seemed reserved.

“Hey, beautiful. We should probably be getting back.” He gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek and helped her to her feet. “That rain might roll in at any moment. I promised you we wouldn’t get caught in the downpour.”

“Okay,” she brushed the dead grass and dirt from her clothes and dressed quickly while he packed up their lunch things and stowed them in the car. After today, she didn’t think she’d mind getting caught with him anywhere.

The fact that she’d allowed a complete stranger to strip away her inhibitions along with her clothing was mind-boggling. A weird combination of erotic danger overloaded her emotions. She was in serious danger of falling for Matt, who seemed completely absorbed in his own thoughts, but worse than that she couldn’t help wondering what this meant for her investigation. If she fell in love with a “guaranteed” match from LoveLines, that meant the system worked, didn’t it? And if it worked for her, how could she corroborate the allegations of fraud?

They were quiet on the ride back to the lodge. As they pulled in front of the lodge’s double doors, Jess realized she probably needed to focus on her assignment. As much as she wanted to spend more time with Matt, she desperately needed time to go over her paperwork.

“I’m kinda tired,” she said. “Why don’t we meet for dinner later? Say, six?”

He stared at her for a minute. “Okay.” He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “See you in a bit, beautiful.” The softness in his voice as he said it made her want to believe he really meant it.

Jess stumbled to her room, craving a shower and a long nap. Her body was completely sated, while her mind fretted over the conundrum that was Matt. He certainly seemed to give more than he took. But more and more, Jess found herself speculating on how to reciprocate.

Just as she flipped on the shower in her bathroom, a distant electronic beep signaled her cell phone. Uh oh. She grabbed it, checking the number on the display before answering.

It was Maxwell at the InvestiCorp main office.

“Hey, Max. What’s up?” She hoped everything was up to par back at the office.

“You tell me. How’s it going?” His tone was neutral.

“The LoveLines investigation?” Her voice quavered. She cleared her throat. “Fine. I mean, everything’s going fine.” After her fantastic afternoon, and the promising possibilities with Matt, things were better than fine, but she didn’t want to tell him that she had her doubts about the plaintiff’s statements. Maybe the LoveLines system really was legit?

“Jess, we need better than mediocre.” Maxwell paused. “This one’s getting some national attention. I’m a little concerned at the timeline left on this assignment.”

She’d been working lower level litigation support for so long, and always under someone else’s supervision. Though she wasn’t exactly sure fraud investigation was her calling, she didn’t want to blow her only viable source of income. Why did a promotion have to come now, just when she was distracted by such pleasant company?

“I’m on this one, Max. But you know as well as I things don’t always go the way the client wants.”

There was a long, uncomfortable pause. “What are you saying, Jess?”

“I’m saying, so far, everything seems above-board. I haven’t heard any complaints.” She hadn’t exactly been trying. “I just need a few more days. Is it okay if I have some notes typed and ready by the end of the week?”

Maxwell paused. “I need to be up to speed by Thursday. After that you need to travel to their main office to interview the staff and look over their corporate policies and procedures before the mediation hearing on Monday. Check the legal wording of their money-back guarantee and identify any red flags. With the allegations pending, we’ll get you full access to the company’s records and staff.” He paused. “No one can put a written guarantee on love, Jess. This one appears to be an easy catch. Lucrative, but easy. Don’t blow it.”

She sighed. Even if things went well with Matt, she’d barely have the weekend to recover before duty called. Still, money was money, but easy money was better. No matter how wonderful things were going with Matt, she had to be realistic. This was her career, a chance to prove herself. And with her limited income, she couldn’t afford to lose her job, even if she wasn’t thrilled about the idea of a long term career dealing with dishonest people.

“I won’t let you down, Max. Fax me the remaining legal paperwork and I’ll take a look at it tonight.” She gave him the number listed on the stationery beside the bedside phone.

“Good girl! We’ll send it through now.”

“Fine.” She hung up, feeling wearier than ever.

She pulled open the files from her briefcase and began to sort through the legal contracts and verbiage of the guarantee. It all seemed above-board. As long as clients elected to participate honestly in the program, they were guaranteed a match or a refund of their annual subscription. Jess nodded, remembering the tiny box she’d check marked on her own questionnaire that certified all questions were answered as truthfully as possible. It seemed legit. And thus far, there’d been no complaints or allegations against LoveLines—until Alicia Lange, that is.

Shadows crept along the wall and she realized she was running out of time. A quick shower and she’d check with the concierge for Maxwell’s fax before meeting Matt for dinner.

She needn’t have bothered.

After a delicious hot shower, Jess stepped out to find a manila folder on the floor just inside her room. She’d thought she heard knocking, but the shower’s hard stream of water and her off-key karaoke had drowned it out. The concierge must have slipped it under her door.

She wrapped the towel around her dripping hair, tied the belt on the plush complimentary terrycloth robe, and perched on the edge of the bed to look over the contents.

More long boring documents.

Still, Jess felt her inner bullshit meter calibrating, ready for duty. She was used to ferreting out truth from lies. And she was usually pretty on target.