Marriage by Mistake (22 page)

It was a completely different experience from
their afternoon at the Parker House. Yes, Dean had been inventive
there, but not...a Houdini.

"Let me    " she murmured, trying
to reach for him, wanting to give him something back.

"Not this time," Dean replied. "I'm in
charge."

"Oh, yeah." It was just as well. Kelly's arms
felt like jello. She lay there, supine, as Dean did
everything
. At one point she found herself clutching his
hair. "This is too    "

"No," Dean insisted. "It's not enough." And
he continued, moving up and down her body, with his mouth, with his
hands.

Kelly moaned, she writhed. It
was
too
much, but somehow she was taking it; taking it and becoming more
and more his willing slave.

"Open your legs," he commanded, and of course
she did.

"Dean, I want    "

"Not yet," he said. And so it went. To every
sensual peak he brought her, it was 'not enough' or 'not yet.'
Kelly hadn't known she could sustain such an intense state of
arousal, rising and falling, only to rise again.

She abandoned her pleas for him to come with
her. He wasn't about to do that and anyway, she was getting too
lost in her own sensations to care. The world focused down to the
fire raging through her. She strained against him.

"All right," he finally said. "Now."

She came apart, just shattered into a million
pieces. Exactly on cue. Not that she was complaining. The pleasure
was intense, the whole experience like nothing she'd ever known.
"Dean!" she cried, and reached for him.

He tensed in her arms, she thought, though
she wasn't terribly sure of anything right then. "Dean, Dean,"
Kelly sobbed.

It took her a minute, holding him close, to
realize he was still fully clothed. A chuckle bubbled up amid the
aftermath of her climax. "You're still in your suit," she
exclaimed. "And tie!"

"Hm." He pulled away enough for her to see
his smug smile. "Guess I was too busy to take them off."

"I'll say." Kelly smiled back as she smoothed
a hand down his tie. She'd never been with a man who could
concentrate so completely on a person other than himself. "Looks
like you've got a minute now."

His lashes lowered. "Oh, I don't know. I'm
not sure I've plumbed your potential."

"Ah." Kelly put a hand on his chest. "You've
plumbed it."

His smile managed to widen. "If you're
sure."

"I am."

"Well, then." Looking awfully pleased with
himself, Dean sat back on his haunches and began loosening his
tie.

Watching his obvious satisfaction, Kelly felt
it shimmer through her again, stronger than ever, the love. This
time, though, she wasn't taking anything for granted. She didn't
expect him to love her back, but was he at least happy they'd had
sex? Her head tilted. "How about you?" she asked, "Are you
okay?"

His hands stopped on his tie.

Her eyes hooded. "Are you sorry?"

He stared at her. "That's important to you,
isn't it? That I...not be hurt."

"Well...yeah." More important than he could
know.

He continued to stare, his expression turning
almost desperate. "I'm not hurt," he told her. "Far from it.
Besides, don't you remember this was my idea? My choice?"

Oh, yes, she remembered. He'd wanted to show
her, to prove a seduction could be as much his idea, but still...
She wouldn't put it past Dean to have done all this as an elaborate
apology. He was a man who'd want to leave everything square. He
could easily have brought her to the most exquisite orgasm only
because he wanted to balance the ledger sheet.

"Remember?" Dean insisted.

Kelly gave a tiny nod. "I remember."

Dean gazed at her a moment longer, then
smiled. "Liar."

"What?"

"Fine." Still smiling, he gently pushed her
until she was lying flat on the bed. "I'll prove it to you, all
over again." His teeth flashed. "I'll just keep on proving it until
you start to believe me."

"I believe you," Kelly said quickly.

Dean laughed and kissed her lips. "Problem
is,
I
don't believe
you
now."

"Oh, Dean, we can't    "

But Dean kissed her again, and put his hands
and shifted his body in a way that told Kelly, indeed, they could.
Oh yes, even after all Dean had just brought her through, she could
feel herself softening, dampening, wanting again.

"You are magic," she murmured.

"No," Dean whispered back. He released a
strange, uneven sigh. "You are."

###

Dean might have drifted off to sleep if they
hadn't left the bedside lamp on. Despite his exhaustion, the light
caused his lashes to flutter, his eyes to open. He stopped himself,
though, from simply reaching up to switch it off. He had to think a
minute here.

He was in bed with Kelly. If he turned off
the light, he would undoubtedly remain in this spot until
morning.

Would that be a good idea?

He lifted his head carefully. Kelly was
facing him on the bed, her eyes closed and her breathing long and
deep.

Dean had to admit it was a profound pleasure
to look at her. Her hair was curled wildly about her face, her
mouth reddened from his beard. Something lurched possessively,
triumphantly, within him. She looked like a woman who had been
loved long and loved well.

Dean's lips twisted. Long and well, indeed.
He hadn't intended to make love to her at all. All he'd intended
was an apology, something sincere and deserved. Instead, here he
was in bed with her. Again.

Dean shook his head. Clearly, he went crazy
whenever he was around this woman. He didn't behave rationally or
intelligently. He didn't behave like...himself.

On the other hand    Dean's rueful
twist of the lips turned into a genuine smile. On the other hand,
he wasn't alone in the insanity. He had a strong feeling Kelly
didn't have much control over her behavior when she was around him,
either. Why, she'd been downright leery about hopping into bed with
Dean again. It had been a wicked pleasure to see her resistance
flow into surrender    because of him.

Yes, because of him. Dean's smile slowly
faded. Thoughtfully, his gaze searched Kelly's sleeping face. She
hadn't wanted to seduce him, she hadn't sought to get him in her
power. Afterward, she'd asked if he was okay. He could no longer
deny she was sincerely concerned for his welfare.

She was...nice. A nice, perhaps even sweet,
woman.

Dean felt a flare    of something.
Like faraway lightning. There, and then gone. Inexplicable.
Unsettling. He frowned.

Passion, he told himself. He'd never felt
passion this powerfully. Every time he reached a climax with her
   every time she reached one with him    it
hit him like a thunderclap. That first time tonight, with his name
on her lips... Fortunately, Kelly appeared to be as much a slave to
the phenomenon as he was. Why, if he reached out for her right now,
she'd probably turn into his arms.

Leave her bed? That would be useless.
Avoiding the issue of their passion was not going to make it go
away.

Dean chewed the inside of his cheek, then
reached over to turn off the lamp.

Perhaps it was time to try a different
tack.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

In the gray light of dawn Kelly rolled over,
waking with a sigh and a frown. Her eyes opened wide as they met
Dean's.

"Oh," she breathed. "You're still here."
So...it hadn't been a dream.

Meanwhile he stared at her with an expression
so blank it made Kelly's stomach twist. Oh God, what was his
attitude
now
? As if in answer, very slowly, he smiled. "Yes,
I'm still here. Better yet, it's still early."

"Early?" Kelly's stomach remained tight, but
now for a very different reason.

He put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her
onto her back. "Nobody will be up for, oh, at least fifteen minutes
or so."

"Fifteen    ? Oh." Kelly's head
tipped back as she accepted Dean's thorough, drugging kiss. She
could feel her stomach relax and her body start to melt as it had
last night. Last night... Dean had made love to her over and over
again. He'd gone to the limit    and beyond   
to prove he wanted to. Even if Kelly had questions about his deeper
feelings, of his desire she was now certain.

And for right then, intoxicated by his kiss,
enveloped by his strong male body, Kelly decided desire was more
than enough. She murmured encouragement and threw her arms around
him.

A few minutes later, panting, Dean leaned
down to kiss Kelly's lips. "Noon," he said. "My office."

"What    ?"

"For more." Dean swept off the bed. Before
Kelly could do or say anything more, he'd grabbed his clothes and
was gone.

###

Dean paid no more than perfunctory attention
to the faxes that came across his desk on Tuesday morning. He gave
scarcely more attention to the people who filed through his office,
giving him their reports. All he could think about was what had
happened the night before, and then that morning.

He'd made love to her    yet
again.

Of course that had been the plan, but now, in
the cold light of day, he wasn't sure if his plan was bonkers, or
incredibly shrewd. Was passion all that there was between them? Not
that it mattered, Dean hastily assured himself. If there was one
thing he understood about human nature, it was that emotion, of any
sort, was fleeting. Passion, whatever. It would pass and be gone in
less time than it would take for Dean to worry about it.

So Dean didn't
need
to worry about the
lightning bolts that had returned and kept flashing, brighter and
more distinctly than the night before.

Meanwhile, he kept an ear out for his
intercom and the announcement Mrs. Barnes would make regarding
Kelly's arrival. When it came, Dean felt a leap in his heart, a
surge of adrenaline.

"That's all, Roger. Thanks." He smiled at his
CFO and stood to indicate the briefing was over.

"You're going to want the numbers
   "

"I'm sure you will take care of all the
details to my complete satisfaction." Dean came around from behind
his desk.

Roger looked at him in stupefaction. "You
don't want to check my work?"

"No." Dean put a hand on Roger's shoulder. He
nudged him in the direction of the door.

"Well, if that isn't    " Roger
began, sounding pleased. He never got the chance to finish his
sentence. Or maybe he did and Dean simply didn't notice, for by
that time he'd opened the door. His eyes had found Kelly, sitting
out in the anteroom. Kelly with her silky legs crossed at the knee.
Kelly with her smile of a thousand watts. Immediately Dean's brain
went into its familiar scrambling routine; his brain and all the
organs running in a straight line down from it.

Kelly didn't even try. Dean understood that
now. She didn't want to make him crazy. He also understood that it
was useless to resist this thing. All he could do at this point was
run through it.

Eventually they would reach the end.
Sensations would attenuate, desire would cool. Eventually.

Right now, however, desire was anything but
attenuated.

"Kelly." Dean cleared his throat. "Right on
time."

She gave him a smile. That was all. It made
his heart go ballistic, made his blood heat. But that was okay.
Despite the flashes of scary lightning, Dean had decided it was
okay, even good, to experience this rush, this excitement.

The more excitement now, the sooner it would
pass.

"Wouldn't want to miss a minute," Kelly
said.

Yes, she said that, right in front of Mrs.
Barnes, Roger, and whoever else happened to be cluttering the outer
office. Dean felt his air supply choke.

With an effort, he swallowed. "All right,
then. Let's go."

###

He took her to the Parker House. Kelly had a
moment of doubt about that. But once he'd closed the door behind
them, once he'd started kissing her, slowly, leisurely, and without
a trace of desperation, she relaxed.

It would be nice to make a good memory
here.

"I only have ninety minutes," he murmured,
when he finally lifted his mouth from hers.

Kelly felt a bubble of relief. He was keeping
track of time, showing her he could. "That's all right," she
whispered back.

He drew off her suit jacket. "I'll make it up
to you tonight."

"You don't have to    " But Kelly
didn't finish the thought because Dean took her mouth again. He
kissed her deeply, thoroughly, while his hands cupped her buttocks
and drew her close against his hips. Slowly, he rotated.

Kelly clutched his shoulders. "Keep that up,"
she muttered, "and you won't have anything left to 'make up' to me
tonight."

"Mm," was all Dean said, and he pulled her
blouse from her waistband.

Precisely ninety minutes later, he put Kelly
into a cab at the porte cochere of the hotel.

"Tonight," he said, and kissed her. A second
later she was looking at his back as he strode efficiently up the
street.

It had all been...very good. As sweet and
tender as she could have wanted. But there were a host of questions
in Kelly's eyes as, through the window of the cab, she watched Dean
walk away.

###

At noon on Tuesday, Felicia sat in a taxicab
as it wended its way through Boston traffic. She had to resist the
urge to bite her fingernails. She hadn't done so since she was
twelve and she wasn't about to start again now, no, not even if she
was on her way to her little lunch date with Troy. He'd made it
clear she could not delay the thing one more time.

Today, they'd get it over with.

In silence, the cab driver maneuvered his way
to the side of the road.