Lucky Charm (39 page)

If he only knew how beautiful he looked
, Ariel thought.

The strong lines of his face were cast into relief and his green eyes mirrored the color of the water. The smooth muscular planes of his chest, the taut muscles of his stomach and the long muscles of his legs, his desire was plain.

Matt wouldn’t rush this. Not a moment of it. His hands in her hair, he tilted her face up to his so he could kiss her forehead tenderly, then placed a gentle kiss beside each lovely eye before he took her mouth.

Deeply, he explored the taste and the feel of her. Her mouth moved beneath his, their tongues tangling, feeding his hunger for her. Her hands brushed across his chest, sending eddies of cooler and warmer water swirling around him. His own curled around the weight of her breasts, the water smoothing the way. Light glimmered in her eyes when he drew away a moment to look at her.

So beautiful, an ivory water sprite with the light dancing over her.

He drove his mouth harder on hers and she met him, their mouths hungry.

Hands slid over skin, touching, trying, pleasing.

He loved the feel of her, running his hands up her back as he felt her breasts press against his chest, her nipples hard. His hands slid slowly down the length of her back to the firm roundness of her bottom. He cupped that to press her against the hardness of him. So hard. He wanted her. Not yet. His mouth moved to her throat, pressed at the curve of it where it met her shoulder, savoring her there and she trembled. Then down, to close around the fullness of her, to try to take it all in, then sipping, nibbling at the hardness at the tip of each breast as she half lay in the curve of his arm, nearly floating. Closing his mouth around the full rosy tip, he suckled lightly and drew on it. She moaned.

Her hand was curled around the hardness of him, stroking and caressing.

Matt slipped his hand between her ivory thighs, his fingers sliding through the crisp dark curls.

“I’m the only one who can hear you, Ariel,” he said, softly.

He wanted to hear her pleasure, hear the joy in her voice when she called his name.

Deftly, he touched that small sweet spot between her legs, slid his fingers along the delicate folds, tantalizing, caressing.

She gasped as he stroked and played, teasing her until she begged. His fingers were dancing over her, coaxing more from her, holding her quivering on the brink. Her body quivered like a tuning fork and Matt could feel the heat wash beneath her skin. This time, this time, he wouldn’t let her hold back, knowing she did, that she kept some part of herself safe.

“Tell me,” he said softly, brushing his mouth against the full roundness of her breast.

He wanted the words, needed to hear them.

Drawing on her, his mouth around the rosy darkness of her nipple, he suckled harder.

Her body trembled. The pent up pleasure was nearly pain. Ariel was nearly mindless with it, wanting him, needing him. Loving him.

Something within her let go, releasing her.

“Oh, God, I love you, Matt,” she said, clinging to him.

He kissed her hard for admitting it, for saying it finally.

Stroking, he felt her shudder wildly and sent her soaring. Sending her into rapture as he kissed her cheek.

“I love you, too, Ariel.”

As hard as steel, he wanted, needed to be inside her. Now. He slid up into her hard and deep as she pulsed and tightened around him.

“I love you, Matt,” she said, looking steadily back as he filled her.

She wanted him to know it for certain. Not the rapture but the truth. She loved him, madly.

For the joy of it Matt stroked deep into her and she cried out each time, her legs wrapped around him to pull him as far into her as she could, her body trembling, tightening. Pounding up into her, she was so hot, so tight and she felt so good. More. He wanted, needed to explode into her, fill her with him. His mouth was against her damp skin, tasting the water on the white column of her throat. Stroking, holding, stroking harder, driving up into her as she cried out. Deeper. He felt it coming, hers and his. Ecstasy exploded through them.

Limp and sated, they settled at the end of the pool, her within his arms, floating a little and listening to the sounds of the night. Both were contented, her head on his shoulder.

“I love you, Ariel,” he said, against her lips.

Touching his face, she whispered, “I love you, too.”

For a while they lay there, floating, watching the stars. At last with a sigh, they got up, hand in hand, to go to bed. Curled up around her in his big bed, he kissed her softly.

Breakfast was early the next morning. They made breakfast together, Ariel making the coffee and the toast while he handled the eggs and bacon.

Matt showed her how to saddle her horse and Ariel listened attentively, paying close attention to what his hands were doing. Sometimes he had to touch her, though, to pull her close for a kiss, or to caress her face or hair. Or she had to touch him.

They rode up into the hills, not fast but steadily to let her get accustomed to riding, as he introduced her to his home, to the plants and creatures that lived there and some of his favorite places in it. Sometimes they rode in companionable silence, listening to sound of the wind and the desert.

They drove into town during the heat of the day, to the one place where Matt knew he would find Darrin – at the office, even on a Saturday. Since Matt’s mother had died, that was the one sure place to find him. Her death had been hard on both of them, she’d been ill a long time. Matt still missed her but it was harder on Darrin now in some ways, living in their house with the memories all around him. Matt knew Darrin missed her badly at times.

Like many, the architecture was as much Spanish as anything, the lines clean and so were the grounds. Everything was kept carefully native per Darrin’s instructions. Nothing on the exterior indicated what went on inside, except for a small sign outside that said Morrison Investigations. Some had suggested to Darrin that he relocate the office to Scottsdale, for the benefit of the more exclusive address. The business certainly did well enough to justify it.

Darrin had looked down at himself, in his checkered shirt, old boots and blue jeans.

“Can you see me walking down the street there?” he’d drawled, slowly, with his crooked grin. “Hell, no. Those folks wouldn’t know what to do with me.”

Putting an arm around her waist, Matt led Ariel into the office, his home away from home.

Inside there were desks in the center of the room, facing each other so you could talk to your neighbor if you wanted. The outer walls were lined with offices but unlike Marathon, the effect wasn’t sterile. The artwork on the walls depicted the desert scenery and there were plants everywhere.

“That one’s mine,” Matt said, allowing her a peek inside his office. “I don’t actually spend much time here. I’m usually out in the field.”

It showed, there was an air of vacancy about it. It was very neat but then, so was his home.

“Darrin?” Matt called.

A deep, resonant voice answered from one of the back offices, sounding surprised and pleased.

“Here. That you, Matt?”

“It’s me, all right.”

A tall, lean and rangy man stepped out of the office as Matt led her back. He had a face weathered by time and sun, dark brown hair and piercing pale blue eyes. It didn’t take much to see there was a lot of respect between the two men. Ariel could see it in the way their eyes met, evenly and squarely.

“Darrin, I’d like you to meet Ariel O’Donnell. I think she might have saved my life. She’s also been helping me with Bill’s situation.” Matt looked at Ariel. “Ariel, this is my father, Darrin Morrison.”

In all the ways that mattered, Darrin had been his dad.

“That Ariel?” Darrin asked.

Matt grinned. “Yep.”

Holding out a hand, Ariel said, with a smile, “So, you’re the one responsible?”

“Responsible?” Darrin asked but he smiled back as he took the offered hand for a shake.

She had a good handshake, firm, not limp.

This then was the Ariel who so enchanted Matt.

Darrin studied her.

Those crystal blue eyes were pretty but also steady. A blush of pink across her forehead, nose and cheeks was from too much sun on that delicate alabaster skin. There was strength of character there, though. She was a good-looking woman, healthy, too, in more ways than one. He looked at Matt, who he loved as much as if he’d been his own son and sometimes wished was. Close enough. There was a light in his eyes Darrin had never seen before.

“For helping to make him the man he is,” Ariel said.

Matt tightened his arm around her.

That was true, if it hadn’t been for Darrin things would have been a lot different. He’d been a bit of a wild child with his mother working all the time, trying to make a living for them. Darrin had worked hard and patiently to take him in hand. Matt hadn’t always made it easy for him and he knew it.

“I believe that’s one of the nicest compliments that I’ve ever been given, although I don’t know that I can take all the credit.”

With a glowing smile, Ariel said, “No, some of it he comes by naturally.”

Darrin looked from one to the other. They couldn’t have known each other long but the beginning of something strong was there and he was glad to see it. Matt had always seemed to go from one girl to another. None of them had made him happy. Now he was, contented and well satisfied.

“Saved your life?” he said, with a little pang of worry, “It seems you left a few things out the last time we talked. Come on into my office, have a seat. I think you have a story to tell me.”

Looking around Ariel could clearly see that this was Darrin’s space. The chairs were good and solid They told it. Or started to until Darrin held up his hand.

Darrin held up his hand. “Hold up. How’d you get cold-cocked, Matt? And why didn’t you tell me about this when you were here last?”

It seemed there were a few things Matt had failed to mention, probably so he wouldn’t worry.

Shaking his head, Matt answered, with a rueful grin, “It never came up. I got careless. Stupid. I underestimated them but I also didn’t expect that violent a response from the security at a financial management company. Maybe rent-a-cops, not ex-military.”

He looked at Matt and then looked at Ariel. “And you did what?”

Grinning, Matt said, “She took a two-by-four to them. She has a nice, solid swing.”

“For a man you didn’t know?”

Ariel grinned, a little abashed. “Three against one weren’t good odds, it didn’t seem right. The good guys don’t generally gang up on someone. I couldn’t stand by and let them do that and there wasn’t anyone else.”

She was such a little thing. That had been a gutsy move, gutsy as hell. He shook his head.

“Okay, go on.”

When they finished, Darrin sighed and looked at him. “You sure about this, Matt?”

He nodded. “It’s what it looks like. Another Enron, Madoff or Stanford.”

“Yeah but the Enron boys didn’t go around killing people.”

Ariel said, “Yes, they got the walk of shame, instead. Everyone knows their faces, their names and what they’ve done. Some people would go a long way to avoid that kind of humiliation.”

“Point there, Ariel,” Darrin said. “So, you two are going to try at Marathon again here?”

“One is chance, twice is coincidence, three times…,” Matt replied.

Darrin gave him a look. “Be careful that the stick you’re poking underneath that rock isn’t stirring up a hornet’s nest, Matt. If you do, you’d best be prepared.”

“I think we may already have done that, Darrin. I wanted to give you a heads up.”

“Okay, I got that. How much longer do you think this is going to go on?”

With a shrug, Matt said, “A couple of days, maybe. We’ll have to wait and see what we get from the Marathon office here. Once I’m sure, we’ll go to the Attorney General, call in the SEC and see what happens.”

“I’ll set that up. Good job, son,” Darrin said. “It looks like you’ve done right by Bill.”