Chapter 15
15
Alex knew spies tended to think in terms of disappearing in the underbellies of cities. Therefore, he chose to hide right out in the open among crowds of tourists. His biggest problem was that he and Katie made a strikingly attractive couple. They were memorable.
Oh, well. They would just have to stay in their hotel room and find a way to occupy themselves for a few days. Gee. Darn.
First, he took her to a crowded shopping mall only a few miles from where he lived—another ploy to throw off his pursuers…spies never returned to home base or anywhere near it if they got burned. The two of them needed to pick up yet another emergency wardrobe.
Katie laughed a little as he led her into a posh Georgetown Mall. “Let me guess. More clothes? My credit card is never going to recover from this adventure.”
“No worries. This one’s my treat. Go to town.” His credit cards were pre-loaded burner cards no one could trace to him.
She glanced around the designer boutiques. “I dunno. I think I could bankrupt you in here.”
He laughed. “You’d have to spend a whole lot of money to do that. And if even you did manage to blow through all my cash, you wouldn’t be able to touch the trust fund.”
“You have a trust fund?”
His eyes darkened. “My father had his lawyer transfer all his assets into trust funds for me and my brothers just before he was arrested.”
Katie did an odd thing. She put a hand on his arm and murmured sympathetically, “He must have loved you a lot to have arranged for something like that.”
Doubtful. His father had been a hard man in a hard business and was simply good at covering all the bases. It hadn’t been anything personal. He would bet his father fully intended to take the money back if he managed to beat the espionage and treason charges.
“That’s me,” he said lightly. “Daddy’s little financial safe haven.”
“Don’t put yourself down,” she said indignantly. “You’re lovable no matter what you seem to think.”
“Why would I want to be loveable? Love is for normal people.”
“Love is for everyone,” she retorted. “And furthermore, I’m going to prove it to you, tonight.”
His libido perked up at that. “Really?” he drawled aloud.
“Yes. Really. Now go buy yourself some clothes. I’m going to slip in here and pick up a little something to help me prove my point.”
He smirked as he realized they were standing in front of a high-end lingerie boutique.
Bags in hand three hours later—how in the hell did it take women three hours to pick out a few outfits and some clean underwear? —he grabbed a cab and had it take them to a hotel near the Capitol that was known for its discretion and privacy. Not only would the staff carry no tales, but he suspected the rooms were heavily sound-proofed. It was a favorite rendezvous spot for politicians and their…extra-curricular constituents.
They checked in and ordered room service while he eyed the glossy bag from that lingerie store. What had she picked up? She’d refused to give him a sneak preview.
He was amused when Katie insisted on ordering a surprise supper for two. If plotting something harmless kept her happy and not asking difficult questions, particularly if it culminated in torrid sex, he could put up with it.
It was a strange sensation to have a woman fussing over him like this. He’d certainly had women pamper him over the years. Some did it for money, and some did it in pursuit of their own ulterior motives. But none had ever done it in the name of demonstrating love.
What was her real agenda, anyway? He had yet to solve the puzzle that was Katie McCloud. Hard to believe that a man of his intellect and education could be so stymied by a simple nurse. But then, very little about her was turning out to be simple.
“You pick,” Katie announced, handing him the TV remote.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Pick what you want to watch. You spoiled me last night, so tonight, I’m spoiling you.”
She thought he’d been spoiling her last night? Well, maybe in the literal sense. He’d been attempting to spoil her innocence, not to make her think he was trying to please her and cherish her. Strange girl. She could turn anything at all into a happy shiny thing.
“I usually watch financial channels or news channels.”
“Go for it,” she declared. “This is your night.”
He channel-surfed until Katie piped up, “Do you ever watch sports? Or manly shows that involve heavy construction equipment or repossessing stuff? My brothers like to watch cop shows and crime solving shows or anything involving men and balls.”
He couldn’t help grinning at the double entendre. “I did develop a fondness for basketball in prison. The inmates played a lot of it.”
She plopped down on the end of the bed closest to the armchair he sprawled in. “What were you in jail for? You don’t strike me as a felon.”
Usually, he didn’t care what people thought of him, but it was actually painful to talk about this with her. God knew, he’d had to talk about it with enough court-appointed counselors.
He replied reluctantly, “I drank and drove. And yes, I know how dumb that was. The judge didn’t want to put me in jail, but my lawyer asked him to.”
“Did your lawyer hate you? You should’ve demanded different representation.”
So quick to fly to his defense, she was. “I told my lawyer to do it.”
“Why?”
After the past few days, she might actually get his logic, unlike most people. “To hide from my father and his goons. They couldn’t get to me in jail.”
“Oh my God. That’s awful.”
She thought he was awful? Panic jumped in his gut until she added, “I can’t believe any father would drive his son to prefer jail rather than deal with him. You poor thing!”
How in the hell had she turned going to jail into a positive thing in her mind? “I’m no innocent victim, Katie. I’ve done a lot of bad things. Some of them were flatly illegal.”
“Have you ever intentionally harmed another person or taken something from someone that they personally valued?” she demanded.
“I stole those two cars in Osh.”
“Those don’t count. You did it to save lives, and without malicious intent.”
“I keep telling you. I’m no saint.”
“There’s a world of difference between an angry, lonely kid venting and a hardened criminal hurting people and wrecking lives.”
He shook his head, even though he did mentally concede the point. “What I don’t understand, Katie, is why you’re trying so hard to convince me of how noble and wonderful a person I am? Why do you care what I think of myself? Or are you trying to convince yourself?”
“In the first place, I think it’s healthy for people to have a positive self-image. In the second place, I’d like you to see yourself as lovable so you’ll stop fighting the idea of someone else loving you so damned hard.”
Loving him? Was she trying to tell him she loved him?
He bolted from his seat and paced the spacious room, agitated. Finally he stopped. Enunciated clearly. “Katie. I do not want love.”
She stared right back at him and said just as clearly and slowly, “Yes, you do.”
He threw up his hands. “No. I don’t!”
“There’s not a human being alive who doesn’t want to be loved. Period. It’s how we’re wired.”
“And yet, here I stand,” he snapped, “doing just fine without it.”
Her face fell. Her cheerful countenance slipped away, and her eyes went wide and hurt. “It’s me, isn’t it?” she mumbled. “You just don’t want me to love you.”
He huffed, exasperated. “It’s not you. I have nothing against you. In fact, I find you attractive and pleasant to be around…when you’re not getting ready to cry onto my shirt.”
She whirled away from him dashing at her cheeks. Dammit.
He stepped up behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders. “I’m sorry Katie. I told you I can be a jackass.”
She sniffed. “You’re only a jackass when you’re trying to push me away. And that’s not your fault. No one ever taught you how to love.”
Now he was a shiny happy person? He exhaled hard. “I would have to know what you’re talking about to be able to respond intelligently to that observation.”
Katie laughed reluctantly. Not that he understood why she thought it was funny. But it was better than tears. A knock on the door made them both start, and he gestured her urgently out of the line of fire. Only after she was standing in the doorway to the bathroom did he open the door an inch. Waiter. Table. He threw the door open and let in their dinner.
He tipped the guy and Katie shooed the waiter out when the fellow tarted to lay out their meal. The door closed and Alex turned to face her and the table. “What’s all this?”
She uncovered the plates with a flourish and he stared, surprised. Hot dogs. Piles of French fries. Ketchup. Mustard. Chili, chopped onions, and shredded cheese. “I didn’t know how you like your dogs, so I ordered all the trimmings.”
He shrugged. “Don’t know. I’ve never eaten a hot dog.”
“I knew it!” she exclaimed. “Your father raised you like a European. A stuffy one. You need to embrace your inner American. And in this country, we raise eating sloppy, fattening, unhealthy food to an art form.”
He watched in amazement as she popped the lids off two bottles of beer and poured them into tall, frosty mugs.
She handed him one and intoned solemnly, “Look out teeth, Look out gums, look out belly, here it comes.”
“Am I supposed to say something in return to that, umm, poetic greatness?”
“Yes. You say, ‘bottoms up.’ And then take a swig of beer.”
He couldn’t help smirking. “I gather Americans like their beer and their women the same way?”
Katie laughed and lifted her beer glass to him saucily.
He flipped the TV channel to a basketball game and, after a little experimentation, determined that he was a chili-dog with onions man. They kicked off their shoes and sat on the bed with their plates propped on their knees, drinking beer, and watching the game.
Whether it was the company or the sheer brainlessness of it all, Alex found himself relaxing.
They finished eating and set aside their plates. He asked, “What’s next in this ode to America?”
“Well, for most people, they get a little drunk and make a pass at whoever is closest of the appropriate gender for their tastes.”
“Which helps explain the proliferation of STD’s in this country,” he added dryly.
“Beer. You definitely need more beer,” Katie declared.
At her insistence, he downed another beer, and he had to say he was starting to see the appeal. Hard liquor hit hard and fast, but beer crept up on him slowly. Gave him a little more time to observe his good judgment slipping away.
Katie turned off the lights so only the flickering glow of the TV lit the room. She excused herself to the restroom and returned wearing a white silk nightgown that barely skimmed the top of her thighs. It was simple and elegant, outlining her body’s curves like a seductive whisper. He had to give her credit for great taste. She managed to look sexy and classy all at once.
“Like it?” she asked shyly from the doorway.
“Love it. Although I’ll love getting you out of it even more.”
“Really? It’s not too…” She trailed off.
“No matter how you were going to finish that sentence, I assure you, it’s not too anything. It’s perfect. You’re perfect.”
“Great,” she said brightly. “And as for you, Dr. Peters, shirt off and on your stomach.”
“Only my shirt?”
“It sounded weird to tell you to strip. But naked would be better for what I have in mind.”
She didn’t need to ask him twice. He chucked off his clothes and stretched out on his stomach. A silky leg went across him, and Katie straddled his thighs. Startled, he tensed.
Her hands landed in the middle of his back, soft and warm. “You’re always tense,” she murmured. “We need to fix that.”
“Why? I like tense.”
“That’s because you haven’t tried relaxed,” she retorted.
He generally didn’t like back rubs, but he had to say this one felt pretty damned good. Maybe it was the beer, or maybe it was Katie’s enthusiasm for the project that was contagious. Either way, he found himself sinking into a state of blissful contentment.
She kneaded her way across his shoulders and neck, then down either side of his spine, outward across his ribs and further down his back. She pulled down hard on his hips, stretching his back before she went to work on his gluts and hamstrings. Down his calves to his feet, and then, holy crap, she sucked his big toe. Who the hell knew a toe was such an erogenous zone? His body went on full alert as her hot, wet tongue laved between his toes and then sucked them one by one.
He tried to roll over, to reach for her, but she used her position, seated on his thighs, to pin him down. Back up his legs she went, using her mouth and hands this time.
She licked the backs of his knees until he actually squirmed, a novel sensation for him. He was usually in the business of making women squirm. He made the mistake of groaning, and of course, Katie giggled and redoubled her tickle torture.
She nipped up the back of his right leg, and his breath caught as her mouth slid inward toward the juncture of his thighs. Her hands pushed and he let his legs fall apart for her.
Without warning, she licked the underside of his penis and he about came off the mattress. It didn’t help that her breasts were mashed against the backs of his legs and her hands squeezing his gluts needily. Her mouth closed on his sac and she took it gently into her mouth. Sensations roared through him, ripping through his belly and straight back down to his erection. He was abruptly so hard and heavy it hurt.
Her tongue delicately traced the length of him again and then swirled around the tip until he all but shouted his frustration.
“Let me up,” he demanded.
“Nope. Not done with my massage,” she answered blithely.
She kissed everything within reach of her mouth and tongue. Her hands started up his spine and her entire body followed until she was lying on top of him, a delicious silken blanket of woman and sex.
Her tongue swirled into his ear—crap, another erogenous zone he’d never discovered before now—and she whispered, “I love everything about you. Your body. Your mind. Your sense of humor. Your sense of honor. The way you keep me safe. The way you make me feel?—“
That was it. He couldn’t take any more. He surged up beneath her, flipping over beneath her in a slick wrestling move. Once he was able to get his arm around her, it was an easy matter to use his superior weight and strength to reverse their positions.
He realized she was smiling up at him triumphantly. Her arms wrapped around his neck, her legs around his hips, and she held him so tightly, it felt as if she wasn’t ever going to let go. Something cracked in his heart as the moment burned itself into his memory for all time.
He shifted position slightly, and then pressed into her, groaning as her internal muscles gripped him as tightly as her arms and legs. He stared down at her intensely and she gazed back at him, her smile slowly fading into something raw and personal and unbearably intimate as their bodies fit together and found unison.
He made love to her in slow motion, one deliberate thrust at a time. He felt every inch of her, felt every little clench and release, registered every nuance of expression across her face. It bordered on sensory overload.
How could he have raced through this act so many times before and never stopped to notice a thousand details that made it magical? The way her teeth caught at her lip. The way her chin lifted when he seated himself all the way inside her and rocked a little. The way her feet flexed and relaxed against his lower back.
It was exquisite. He’d never experienced anything like it. Even the scrap of silk that was her slip thing sliding between them was delicious to his heightened his senses.
Eventually, though, her breathing quickened, her feet became more urgent against his back. Her hands slid down to clutch his buttocks and pull him deeper. She surged against him, and he let her suck him into the maelstrom. He plunged into her deeper and faster, harder and more urgently.
But all the while, he stared into her eyes and she into his. He saw her gaze fill with wonder and glaze with pleasure and finally black out in the moment of her release. She came back to him slowly, her gaze refocusing in awe. Then the awe transformed into a smile that lit her entire being from the inside out. It was beautiful. She was beautiful. In that instant, everything was right with the world.
He was loved. And it was good.
Excuse me…what?