Infamous (23 page)

She stood directly in front of him, toe to toe, arms flying as she made her point. He was in imminent danger of receiving another black eye. Nothing made any sense. For the first time he didn’t care.

He hauled her into his arms and kissed her. There was a second of resistance. His heart stuttered — then she melted into him, arms twined around him like she would never let him go.

He hugged her closer, inhaled her, tasted her; let her essence seep into his starved senses.

“Jessie, Jessie, don’t ever leave me again. I love you. I can’t think without you. You make me so crazy.” Was that his voice, gasping those insane words between kisses?

The words brought him back from the edge. Barely. He didn’t let go,
couldn’t
let go, but lifted his head fractionally.

“Why?” He demanded.

“Why, what?”

Her mouth was at his throat, sucking softly, erotically against the pulse. He pulled her tighter, his hips thrusting forward. He rested his forehead against hers, fighting for control, for sanity.

“Why me? Why do you love me?”

She stilled.

“Because I do. Because you’re you. It’s not logical, it just
is
.”

“But why? You don’t need me, you have plenty of money of your own. I’m not famous, I don’t like to go to parties and clubs, I don’t know one designer from another. I’m not even … .” He forced the final words out, “I’m not even as young or handsome as most of the men you know. Why do you want
me
?”

He held his breath. He waited for her to say it was Kinsey she really wanted. Or some other reason, not him at all.

Her hands were at the front of his shirt, worrying the buttons open. She kept her eyes focused on the task; he couldn’t see what she was thinking.

“I don’t know … .” Her hands slid inside his shirt, stroking along his chest. “You don’t lie to me, you don’t spend your day worrying about what other people think, you’re a great father, you’ve made a whole career out of helping other people, you’re just so…” she paused, as if searching for the right words. “You’re so
real
.”

Real?

But she was still talking. “My whole life, it seems like nothing is real. No one is who they pretend to be from one day to the next. Sometimes, I feel like I’m drifting, just floating off into space.” She finally looked up at him. “Except when I’m with you; I always know where I am with you. Also,” she pushed his shirt aside, placed her lips against his chest, so that he had to strain to hear the words. “You’re the only man I’ve never been able to say ‘no’ to.” Her sharp teeth bit down suddenly on his nipple.

He felt the sensation pierce straight down into his groin. Somewhere he heard a man groan, but he didn’t care. The words, the sensation, stripped every last bit of logic, every last bit of control, away from him.

Jessica gasped as his mouth came back down to claim hers. She wrapped her arms around him and held on, as eager as he. The world tilted as he swept her off her feet, and headed into the bedroom. Then his hands, his mouth, were everywhere. He muttered incoherently as he pushed aside her clothes. She was just as wild, just as needy. She didn’t bother undressing him, just opened his pants and wrapped her legs around him, letting him know exactly where she needed him to be.

Then he was there, and nothing else mattered.

She pressed herself against him, fused her mouth to his, strained to be even closer.

She felt his arms around her, his hands under her hips urging her even closer. There was nothing left in her world but Morgan — on her, around her, in her. She felt him tense, felt poised on the brink of eternity, then drank in his muffled shout as she toppled over the edge, floating away with only Morgan to bind her to safety.

• • •

Later, they made love again. This time they came together softly with gentle touches and languorous kisses. And no clothes. Later still, Jessica lifted her head from Morgan’s chest and trailed a hand across his stomach.

“What about me?”

“Mmmm … .” He didn’t open his eyes. “What about you?”

“Why do you love me?”

She waited … finally poked him lightly in the ribs. “Morgan?”

“The unpredictability.”

She sat up. “Get real. You
hate
unpredictability. You’re a total control freak. You want schedules and budgets and logic for everything, even falling in love.”

“Pretty boring, huh?” His eyes were still closed, but a smile tugged at his lips.

“Not boring, exactly,” she hedged, “but … .”

He moved fast, tumbling her back into the pillows and rolling on top of her. “Exactly boring.” He said. “I never realized how boring until I met you. I never knew what you were going to say or do or what chaos was going to erupt around you. When I’m with you, I’m always holding my breath, waiting to see what will happen next. It’s magic, endless possibilities. The sun shines brighter, the air smells sweeter … .” He kissed the tip of her nose and whispered, “My own fairy princess.”

Morgan? Her down-to-earth, goal-oriented Morgan thought that about her?

She wrapped herself around him and showed him some magic.

Jessica fidgeted in bed. Morgan had come into the room and then disappeared into the closet. Not too unusual, but so far he hadn’t come out. There had been several muffled noises. Was he looking for something? She was about to go investigate, when he emerged.

He had changed and was naked except for a very brief pair of … swim trunks? He was carrying the pool skimmer (the noises) and … she sniffed, was that coconut oil?

“Something in the pool?”

Realization dawned as a hint of red touched his cheekbones. He looked adorably shy and awkward, but determined as he advanced toward the bed.

“No ma’am, I’m finished with the pool, but I heard your husband is out of town again and wondered if there was anything else you needed … .” There was a loaded pause while his hot gaze raked down her body “… help with.”

Pool boy fantasy!

She let a slow, seductive smile spread over her face. “Now that you mention it … .”