Murphy's Law (16 page)

Cradled in Jack’s arms, she let the tension drain away. She felt safe, as if his body could shield her from the outside world. The paralyzing fear that she’d lived with the last two months might return tomorrow. But tomorrow was a million years away, and she wanted more, now.

* * * *

Jack felt the change instantly. She moved her hand from his shoulder to his chest, and her fingers slipped between the buttons on his shirt.
Take it slow
.

“I’m not very experienced in this sort of thing, but I know what I’m doing,” she muttered as if reading his mind.

He shook his head. “Don’t you want to hold out for dinner and dancing first?”

 
“I don’t need hearts and flowers. I need you….” She seemed to want to qualify her admission but she cut off the ending.

He didn’t want Lilly to have any doubts. At least she should be sure of what she was doing, because he sure as hell wasn’t. He told himself not to get involved before the case ended. “Finish the sentence.”

She slipped off his lap and turned to face him. Their eyes met, and she swallowed hard. “I don’t expect promises that you can’t keep, but I’m not looking for just sex. Don’t go to bed with me if you don’t plan to wake up there too.”

She expected very little from him, but she wanted more than he’d ever been willing to give. With Lilly, the rules of the game had changed. He wanted to be there when she woke up, every day of her life. “I’ll be there.”

She offered him a hand up and held tightly as she led him down the hallway. At the bathroom door, she stopped short. He gazed down at her, searching for any sign of uncertainty.

“I need to take a bath first. I’ve been in these clothes for two days.”

“All right.” He unlaced his fingers from hers and took a step back.

“Jack? I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but….” She bit her fingernail as a patch of red flooded her cheek. “What?”

She lowered her gaze. He detected another one of her lengthy, babbling monologues coming, so he leaned back against the door.

“You could use a bath yourself. And well, it takes twice as much water to fill a bathtub as it does to take a shower, so there might not be any hot water left for you. And, you are supposed the return me in healthy condition. What if I slipped and cracked my head on the floor of the bathroom? Think of the paperwork.”

Lilly had an adorable inability to voice her desires. He bowed his head thoughtfully, unable to resist the opportunity to tease her. “We must think of paperwork at this time.”

She twisted her fingers together shyly. “You’re making fun of me.”

“Yes I am. Why couldn’t you just say, ‘would you like to join me’?”

Her eyes sparkled mischievously but with a hint of doubt. “I thought you’d never ask.”

“And I thought you’d never stop talking,” he returned, giving her a little push inside the room.

Lilly took a quick second to check out the view from the bathroom window while Jack turned on the tap. He came up behind her and slid his hands under her tee shirt, pulling it up over her head. That black lingerie she loved made his blood race through his veins. She folded her arms across her chest, apparently still fighting that hang-up she had about her sensuous body.

“Move your hands, Lilly. You’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about.” He eased her arms down and unhooked the front catch of her bra. He grazed his thumbs across the rosy peaks and felt them grow hard. “Nothing at all.”

Lilly exhaled as if she’d just passed some major test. Her confidence seemed to build in an instant. She reached for the button on his shirt, but her impatience hindered her ability to work. Tilting her head to the side, she smiled wryly and said, “The hell with that.” In each hand she grasped a side of the shirt and yanked it over his head.

Any fears he had that Lilly might be confused about what she wanted vanished. The eagerness she made no attempt to hide got to him. “In a hurry, baby?”

“You got a problem with that?” she asked.

 
“Slow is so much better than fast.”

He removed his own pants to spare them the same treatment as his shirt. Her jeans and panties followed, ending up in a careless heap on the floor. She stepped into the tub, half-filled with warm water. Her deep sigh played over him like a soft ballad. He joined her, letting the water ease away the tension of the last few days. Her silk hair brushed his cheek. Feeling Lilly’s flesh against his brought on a different and infinitely more pleasurable tension. Slow might be better, but he wasn’t sure how long he could last.

* * * *

“Tell me what you want, Lilly.”

“I don’t know.” Her mother had told her that a nice girl didn’t discuss her sexual desires with a man. That would probably explain why her relationships to date had been less than fulfilling.

“Then we’ll have to try everything, won’t we?”

Placing her complete trust in him, Lilly relaxed in the circle of Jack’s arms. “Sounds good to me.”

He took the soap in his hands and brought it to a frothy lather. Anticipation rose. He slid his hands across her waist and up and down the front of her body. A ribbon of heat swirled through her. He cupped her breasts and squeezed gently until she let out a deep groan.

Her body shuddered as her nipples puckered under his expert touch. She pressed against him, the hard lines of his body searing into her back. Nothing had ever felt this good, this intense. He moved his hand along her stomach, lower and lower, until he reached the mound at the bottom. She draped one leg over the edge of the tub to give him better access. Her lack of shyness she refused to contemplate. The time for thinking was over. With slow, torturous rhythm he massaged the folds of her skin, taking her right to the edge.

“Do you like that?” he muttered.

“Yes,” she barely managed to get out. More than anything she’d experienced before.

He slid his fingers inside, finding that erotic bud that previous lovers rarely took the time to look for. “And that?”

Her mouth opened, but all that came out was a low groan. Her muscles clenched, looking for release from the exquisite pressure. She closed her eyes against the sensations that threatened to send her over too soon. What he did to her with only a touch. She wanted to wait. She tried to turn, but Jack stopped her, continuing with his exquisite exploration.

Unable to fight the excitement rising to its climax, she grasped the sides of the bathtub and gave in to the glorious shock waves that rocked her body. She struggled for a breath. Her heart raced wildly. Finally, a warm glow enveloped her body. Wow! Those horny Iowa farm boys should take a lesson. She slipped below the water surface, then came back up and turned in his arms. She wished she’d given Jack the same pleasure.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

“Why?”

“That couldn’t have been much fun for you.”

 
“Who said we’re finished?”

* * * *

Jack came to his feet and lifted Lilly out of the now cooling bath. After resting her in the marble sink, he reached for the condom in his jeans pocket. The combination of wet skin and his own excitement made him embarrassingly uncoordinated. Lilly’s soft giggles only added to his predicament.

With it finally in place, Jack proceeded to take her there again. He turned his attention to the rising swell of her full breasts, burying his head between them. Lilly molded her hand over the taut muscles of his shoulders, sliding them down along his spinal cord and resting firmly on his buttocks. His skin burned from her touch. She pulled him firmly between open legs, gasping at the feel of his full arousal. He wanted her so badly he could taste it. She locked her fingers behind his head for support and straddled his hips, opening wider to receive him.

His self-control hung by a thread as he thrust deep inside. She tensed, and he paused to give her a moment to adjust to him. Her muscles began to relax; she nodded her head and urged him to continue.

Despite a conscious effort to remain in control, their rhythm quickly escalated to a frenzied pace. Her body reached that searing height again, and her inner muscles tightened around him repeatedly, shattering the last of his tentative restraint. He tightened his hold around her shoulders and drew her to him as he gave in to the inevitable conclusion.

Intense. That was the only word to describe Jack’s feelings. He’d always viewed sex as a physical need that could be filled by any warm body. Once again, she’d proven him wrong. He looked at the beautiful woman before him in true wonderment. Her eyes shone like sapphires, round and wide with surprise at the depth of her own reaction. He lifted her off the sink’s edge and set her gently on the floor.

“God, that was good.” Breathless, her words came out in a husky whisper.

Jack grinned. “One would think you’d never had an orgasm before.”

* * * *

Lilly shook her head. “Not too often, and never twice in a row.” She’d often been told she had a body made for love, which seemed to make some men think no effort was required. In the end, the misplaced compliments only served to make her overly conscious of her body. “Usually I took care of my own needs but, hey, it’s a lot more fun this way.”

“Did you ever say anything?”

“No. But then, no one ever asked either.” She stroked her hand along his jaw line. “Do you think we can try for three out of three?”

“Oh, I can guarantee it.” He wrapped a towel around his waist and took another one for Lilly. After gently patting the water from her body, he draped the towel around her shoulders and pulled her in.

She glanced around the room with a curious grin. “What are you thinking?” he asked

“I’ll never take the bathroom for granted again.” Lilly stepped out of his arms and turned to leave the room. On her way out the door, she reached back and pulled the towel off Jack. She held it up like a victory flag as she darted to the bedroom and sat on the edge of the four-poster bed.

He didn’t need to retaliate. When he walked into the room wearing only what he had been born in, he got his revenge. She lowered her head, but only after he laughed at her bug-eyed stares. “Why don’t we get some sleep?”

She fluffed the pillow. “My hair is wet. I’ll get water all over it.”

“It’ll dry.” He pushed back the covers and waited for her to slide in.

She looked down at the towel she wore. In one swift movement, he yanked it from her body and tossed it on the floor.

The last half hour, Jack had removed any lingering hang ups she had about her own body. She wrapped her arms across her chest, more from cold than a feeling of shyness. “I’ve never slept without clothes. I have to put something on first.”

“I’ll just have to take it off again in an hour.”

“An hour?” she said, with exaggerated disappointment. She crawled under the covers.

He lowered himself next to her and pulled her in his arms. Flecks of gold danced in his smiling eyes. “I wouldn’t want to exhaust you.”

“That sounds like dare to me.” With newfound boldness, she accepted his challenge. She traced a torturously slow line down the center of his body, pausing just below his navel. His stomach muscles tightened, and he emitted a low groan. She giggled and continued lower. Like a child who had found a new toy, she wanted to see what happened when she pushed all the buttons.

Chapter Twelve

“You have to sit across from me.”

Lilly raised her head as a doubtful grin tugged at the corner of her mouth. Did Jack expect her to willingly give up the comfort of his strong arms to sit in a cold chair and get annihilated in some silly game? “Why?”

“Chess is a game of war. Adversaries should face each other on the field of battle.”

“Maybe I prefer the Mata Hari strategy of war.” She turned away from the chair he held out and settled herself comfortably on a floor pillow in front of the sofa. “If you want to play with me, you’ll have to move the board over here.”

His dark eyes danced to the music of his rich laughter. “Baby, if I wanted to play with you, I wouldn’t have taken down the chessboard. But until I make a quick run to the drug store, we can’t play again. It’s not my fault you wanted to play so many times yesterday.”

“Well, hell, if I’d known you were going to be that much fun, I would have bought the economy pack of condoms.”

“And if I had known I’d gotten involved with the Energizer Bunny I would have gotten some spare batteries for myself. You kept on going and going….”

Lilly lowered her head onto her bent knees. Damn! Would there ever come a time when his seductive word play would fail to make her entire body blush? “Your mind is warped.”

“So, I’ve been told.” He put the chessboard on the coffee table and sat next to her. “Before we begin let me explain the object.”