"There"s no way I"m going to let you clean all this up by yourself, Blade," she said when she reached his side.
He turned to face her. Stared into her eyes and said, "Yes, you are, because I need the s.p.a.ce right now."
Sam swallowed as she noted the look in his eyes. It was hot, full of l.u.s.t. So much that it nearly took her breath away. She took a step back. "In that case maybe you should leave. I can handle things here."
"No. Let me do this. Just leave me alone for a while. I"m sure there are other things you have to do."
"Yes, I did bring some files home with me."
"Then how about going and read them."
A furious expression crossed her face. "Now look here, Blade. You don"t tell me what to do."
"No, you you look here, Sam," he said, lowering his gaze downward toward his crotch. look here, Sam," he said, lowering his gaze downward toward his crotch.
She followed the direction of his eyes and gave a sharp gasp. He had a ma.s.sive erection, bigger than she"d ever seen before, and it was pressing hard again his zipper.
Her gaze slowly returned to his face, then roamed over it. His eyes were like dark orbs glinting with fire, his nostrils were flaring and his lips were tight.
"It was hard as h.e.l.l getting through breakfast with you sitting there," he said in a low and husky tone. "Watching you eat. Seeing you chew your food and lick the syrup off your biscuits. Remembering."
She drew in a deep breath and knew exactly what he"d remembered...her going down on him. "I think I"ll go up to my office and read those case files after all," she said, slowly backing away. "Thanks for cleaning up, and you can let yourself out when you"re through."
Her heart skipped several beats as she quickly walked out of the kitchen.
Instead of going into her office to read, Sam decided to stretch out on her bed. She had opened the blinds to let in some sunlight and had turned on the radio so that soft music played in the background. Then she tried focusing on the case file she"d grabbed out of her briefcase, and not on the man downstairs in her kitchen.
An hour or so later, she could no longer concentrate on what she was reading, and dropped the papers as her head fell back on the mattress in frustration. Did Blade think he was the only one who"d had a hard time eating this morning? Well, he didn"t know the half of it. If he was watching her, did he not notice her watching him? She"d felt like a fool sitting there staring at his mouth each time he put a cup of coffee or a gla.s.s of juice to his lips.
And talk about licking something. What about the time her gaze had followed him when he"d stuck his tongue out to lick jelly from the corner of his mouth? Didn"t he realize seeing that had been a real turn-on for her?
She flipped on her back and stared up at the ceiling. In all her twenty-eight years she"d never encountered the likes of a man like Blade Madaris. He could be angry with her one minute and then give her a look that said he wanted to make pa.s.sionate love to her the next.
If they continued on like this, allowing s.e.xual tension and l.u.s.t, not to mention anger, to rule their senses, then where would that lead? She knew the answer to that question without thinking about it: right to the nearest bedroom to work it out.
With all the planning she"d done, her elaborate scheme, she still hadn"t gotten rid of him. Blade Madaris was like the Energizer Bunny that keeps going and going and going. She closed her eyes and groaned when she felt a twitch between her legs.
She opened her eyes and decided to think logically about the situation. The first thing she needed to know and understand was why he was there. After what she"d done Monday night she would think he"d be miles away from her, jumping for joy at the thought that someone wanted to b.u.mp her off. Instead, he was staying close and had rearranged his schedule to become her bodyguard.
She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It had been more than an hour since breakfast. Why was it taking him so long to tidy up the kitchen? She eased to the side of the bed, thinking that perhaps he"d left already and just hadn"t told her that he was leaving. After all, she had had told him to let himself out when he finished cleaning the kitchen. told him to let himself out when he finished cleaning the kitchen.
But regardless of what she"d said, the decent thing for him to have done was to let her know he was leaving, if for no other reason than she could reset the security alarm. Slipping into her flats, she made her way down the hall and quietly walked down the stairs.
When she reached the bottom floor she walked through to the kitchen and found it spotless. Even the stainless-steel appliances had been wiped clean and were gleaming. She left her kitchen and headed for her front door to reset her alarm. She stopped and stared as b.u.t.terflies fluttered in her lower belly. Blade was there, stretched out on her sofa, asleep.
The first thought that came to mind was why hadn"t he gone back to his place and slept on his own sofa? And then she knew. As much as they didn"t fully understand it, there was this pull that kept yanking them back together no matter how upset, angry and frustrated they got with each other. She had tried brushing him off, dissing him, setting him up for humiliation and deliberately getting on his nerves, and he was still here.
And it was time that at least one of them found out why.
She figured she should wake him, but decided against it. They would talk when he woke up on his own. Right now, she just wanted to look at him while he slept.
His breathing was deep and even and his chest moved with every breath. He was lying flat on his back with one leg thrown to the side, nearly hanging off the sofa. His zipper was facing her and she could tell he was no longer as aroused as he had been before, but still big. He had taken off his shoes but had kept his socks on.
Her gaze moved back to his face. His lower jaw seemed more prominent today. Probably because of the slight shadow covering it, which indicated he hadn"t taken the time to shave before coming over. And his lips, those lips she enjoyed looking at so much, seemed to move slightly with every breath he took.
She also slept on her back and had once read an article that said people who sleep on their backs were confident and ready to tackle life. It also said they were vain and happy with their physical appearance and were always up for trying something new, both in and out of bed. Hmm, now that was definitely a thought.
Just watching him lying there filled her with a sense of desire she hadn"t known possible. The man was smoldering with sensuality of the fieriest kind. There was nothing about him that didn"t turn her on, whether he was in clothes or out of them.
Taking a deep breath, she was about to turn around when she heard him groan. She looked back at his face and saw his eyes were still closed, but there was an odd expression on his face, as if he"d gotten swept up in some sort of dream. He moaned again, and as she slid her gaze lower, she saw his T-shirt had risen to uncover a little of his tummy. The hair covering the area was curly and appeared soft to the touch. Her eyes moved a little lower and his erection began to swell right before her eyes.
From her studies in college, she recalled that according to Freud"s theories, the reason people dreamed was to release hidden urges and secret desires they weren"t allowed to express in real life.
She swallowed, and wondered just what kind of dream Blade was having when he groaned again, a grunt that almost sounded like a growl this time. She knew she should leave him, let him do whatever it was he was doing in private, and turned away. However, the moment she did so, he groaned out her name in a fevered pitch. "Samari."
She turned around quickly and stared at him. His eyes were still closed, but an intense look of pleasure covered his face. And she knew at that moment that whatever dream he was having, she was part of it.
Chapter 18.
In the deep, dark recesses of his slumber, Blade pulled at Sam"s hair, held tight to her curls when he slowly entered her, hoping and praying that they could finish what they started this time. If she told him to stop he didn"t know what he would do.
Very carefully he began entering her, feeling her body stretch to accommodate his entry, experiencing the s.e.xual pleasure of her muscles clamping him tightly. He paused a moment to give her body time to adjust to his size and glanced up at the stars. They were outside on his balcony, back in Houston. He had taken the spread off of his bed, along with some pillows, to sleep out in the open. And make love.
They"d had a gla.s.s of wine, but that was not what was driving their desire. It was pa.s.sion of the deepest kind, a need to know each other this way, to finally push aside the mistrust and anger. It was time for both of them to realize there was a reason for this bond between them. They could continue to fight it, deny it and not claim it. But the truth of the matter was this was meant to be.
He looked down into her face and felt something he"d never felt before, saw something in her eyes he"d never seen, and he knew this time their union would be complete. There would be no interruptions.
He spread her legs farther apart as he felt his shaft go deeper and deeper inside of her, almost to the hilt. He hadn"t put on a condom, so they were skin to skin, flesh to flesh, and just the thought of it almost made him come.
He kept going, spreading her legs even farther, and then he- "Wake up, Blade."
He drew in a sharp breath and felt his body being shaken. He tried to hold on to the dream but felt it drifting away, out of his reach and out of his touch. He moaned in despair, not wanting to believe that once again he had not finished the task he"d set out to do. Refusing to accept that someone had the d.a.m.n nerve to interrupt his dream, he opened his eyes wide. And there she was, the object of his obsession, the cause of his current state of frustration, looking down at him with a smile curving her lips from corner to corner.
"You were dreaming," she said, as if that explained everything.
With a deep, guttural groan to mask his curse, he turned his head away from her for a second, trying to get his bearings, to hide his disappointment, and wondering just how much of his dream she"d heard. Slade swore that he talked in his sleep, telling things better left unknown.
Blade sighed as he turned his head and looked back up at her, and then moving carefully, he pulled himself up in a sitting position as he rubbed his hands across his face. He then looked up at her again and flinched when he saw that d.a.m.n smile was still on her face.
"How long have I been sleeping?" he asked, working the kinks from his neck.
"I have no idea, since I wasn"t aware you"d gone to sleep until I came downstairs to check on things. I thought you had left."
"Started to," he replied. "But couldn"t make it to the front door. I collapsed on your sofa. Sorry about that."
"No problem."
He tried to move his legs, which felt as if they were still asleep. "Did you finish reading that file?" he asked.
"Not all of it. There"s only so much legal stuff I can take in one sitting."
"Oh." He wished she wouldn"t stand there like that, so close to him. She still had on those cutoffs and a tank top. She looked fresh and smelled good. And just to think that in his dream he had come close to getting what she had refused him in reality. Close but not close enough, deep but not deep enough.
He pulled in a deep breath and figured he"d better get out of there before doing something real stupid. Like reaching out and grabbing her thighs, unzipping her shorts and tasting her all over.
"I guess I better go now," he said, getting up from the sofa, causing her to take a step back.
"Call me if you need to go somewhere. Give me a ring even if you decide on takeout for lunch. I want to be here if anybody shows up," he added, throwing the sentences over his shoulder as he headed for the door.
"I don"t like being bossed around, Blade."
He turned before reaching for the doork.n.o.b. If she was trying to pick a fight with him, now was not the time to do it. Twice he had left her house in a s.e.xually deprived state. The last thing she would want today was to deliberately provoke him.
"Let it go, Sam. I"m not in a good mood. Just do what I ask."
"No, I won"t do what you ask. My father"s name is Antonio DeAngelo Di Meglio and not Blade Madaris."
Blade glanced down at the floor and counted to ten. He even muttered a few choice words. When he felt enough time had elapsed, he glanced back over at her. He studied her and saw the stubbornness etched in her face, and he saw something else, too-deep s.e.xual frustration.
His heart began beating deeply within his chest. He knew the signs and should have picked up on them sooner. Their predicament was basically the same. They needed to get laid, but not with just anybody, only with each other.
Always with just each other.
He sucked in a deep breath, thinking how possessive that sounded. How final and absolute. He"d never thought about final and absolute with a woman in his entire life. All of a sudden a realization struck and it hit hard. If his feet hadn"t been planted firmly on the floor he probably would have been knocked over. He was feeling strong emotions toward a woman.
But this wasn"t just any woman. This was a woman who had proved she was different-difficult and different. Evidently that"s what he needed. And that"s what he"d been waiting for without knowing it.
He could vividly remember the night they"d met and all the times they"d seen each other since then. He had tried his luck with her, but instead of giving up, he had become almost obsessed with having her. He had convinced himself she was just another notch to add to his bedpost, and that his attraction to her was only s.e.xual.
Now, ten months later, he hadn"t added her to his bedpost yet, mainly because she could never be just another notch. She was the one he had singled out without realizing he was doing so. The one woman he hadn"t gotten out of his mind since first seeing her. She was the woman who constantly invaded his dreams. The one who"d triggered an urgency within him that no other woman could match.
Over the years, he had been told, preached and even lectured to about what to expect when a Madaris man knew he had found the woman for him. The one he was meant to share his life with, his soul mate. And the one thing he"d always been told was that she would be different.
The one standing across the room glaring at him was different, all right. As fiery as they came and with an att.i.tude that he would have to work on. And then there was that temper of hers from her Italian side of the family. He would let her keep it, just encourage her to tone it down some.
At that precise moment it was crystal clear why he"d been chasing her from the start, even after she"d dissed him a few times. Why he had looked for any excuse to come back to Oklahoma City to see her. Why he was living next door to her now. Why he had become her watchdog, determined to keep her safe. Why he had asked Alex to find out who was trying to hurt her. And why he had given up three hours of sleep this morning.
The reasons were as clear as the nose on his face. She was meant to be his. She was was his. And he loved her with all the heated pa.s.sion that was flowing through his body, all the torrid sensations that he felt-both s.e.xual and nons.e.xual. his. And he loved her with all the heated pa.s.sion that was flowing through his body, all the torrid sensations that he felt-both s.e.xual and nons.e.xual.
She would never believe the emotions he was feeling. Very few people who knew him would. He would have to show her rather than tell her, and eventually she would understand. He would make d.a.m.n sure of it. But he definitely wouldn"t share his feelings with her yet. If he gave her an inkling of how he felt she would refuse to believe it, and would think it was his way of getting revenge. There was no doubt in his mind that she would put up a wall between them so high it might take him years to climb over it.
"Do you have a problem?"
Her words pulled him out of his daze. "A problem?" he asked.
"Yes, you"re just standing there staring at me like you have a problem."
If she only knew. He leaned back against the door. "My only problem is that you have too much of a smart mouth."
She narrowed her eyes, stiffened her spine and placed her hands on her hips. "You want to try and change it?"
He could tell she was poised, ready for a fight. She had no idea the type of battle they were about to wage. It was probably a good thing she didn"t know, he thought. "Yes, I want to try and change it. I would love teaching that mouth of yours about respect."
He saw the fiery blaze deepen in her eyes and his lips couldn"t help but twitch in response. The heat was certainly on now.
She laughed. "Do you honestly think you can take me on?"
A sensuous smile touched both corners of his lips when he said, "I"m going to d.a.m.n well try."
He began walking toward her and he had to admire her for standing her ground, not moving an inch, keeping her hands on her hips and tilting her chin up, which was fine with him. It gave him a better angle for his mouth to connect to hers.
When he got close she said, "Enough of this, Blade. I want you to leave."
He kept smiling. "No you don"t. If I left that would be like you admitting defeat, and I don"t think you want to do that."
She lifted her chin an inch higher. "I"ll never admit defeat."
"I didn"t think you would."
And then before she could blink, he reached out and gently grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her face closer and slanted his mouth across hers. He was doing something about her smart mouth, just as he"d warned her he would. He was teaching her about respect in the most sensuous way.
Sam knew the best way to get out of his grasp was to use her knee to kick Blade in the groin. She hadn"t taken all those self-defense cla.s.ses growing up for nothing. But at that moment when Blade slid his tongue inside her mouth, any thought of doing physical harm to him flew out the window.
Instead she grabbed hold of his shoulders and pushed her mouth even closer. His taste was invading her senses as it did each and every time their mouths locked. She enjoyed kissing him. She enjoyed him kissing her. And the touch of his tongue on all parts of her mouth was causing her to groan back in her throat. It enticed her to partic.i.p.ate in this sensual mouth play any way she could.
So she did.
Her tongue became embroiled in a heated duel, tangling with his, swirling from one side of his mouth to the other. It was as if they couldn"t taste enough, touch enough or get close enough. Her body was humming in pleasure, telling her this was what it needed, but it was only the tip of the iceberg. It didn"t come close. Deeper intimacy was what her body craved and what she longed for. And to prove the point-as if her body had a mind of its own-her middle pressed against his aroused member and her erect nipples poked hard into his chest. Her body prodded him to press his tongue even deeper inside her mouth, move it around in a frantic pace and lick and suck everything it touched.
He suddenly pulled his mouth from hers and stared down at her face as he drew in a much needed breath and gave her the chance to do the same. "Do you understand about respect now?" he asked in a thick, raspy voice.
She held his gaze. "No. You"re going to have to do a lot better than that," she challenged.
A growl emanated from deep in his throat and the expression on his face became one of intense determination. The look in his eyes-hot, hungry and devouring-sent shudders through her body and had her shivering. "Then I guess I"ll need to take things to another level," he said in a voice raw with s.e.xual need.