Chapter 8
The coffee had gone warm. But it was excellent coffee, and she had not expected anything less. He kept her on his lap, wrapped around him while they ate. She had started to fight him, to try and get off him, but his arm was like a steel band around her waist.
There were fat green grapes, delicious thin biscuits and cheeses, several unusual types and he insisted on feeding her. Everything was a first to her. And because all of it was new, her head was crowded with sensations.
She could no longer remain aloof. She was sheathing him, wasn’t she? He was still buried deep inside her and after last night and this morning, she could not believe he could – that they would be…
“I need to ask you something.” She finished the coffee and wished for more.
“Ask away.” He offered her a biscuit that tasted as if it had been soaked in honey.
“Are you on anything?”
“Pardon?” He gave her a perplexed look as he chewed a grape.
“I mean, you have been at it since last night and we’re still – you are… Are you on the little blue pills?”
To her surprise, he looked offended and embarrassed. “Absolutely not!”
She grinned and felt light and giddy. “You sound pissed.”
“What if I asked you the same question?”
“I am a woman and that means I can go without help. You are a man and one in your fifties…”
“I know my own age.” He sounded miffed and made her delight even greater. “I am in excellent health and certainly don’t need help in that particular area.”
“Just checking.”
“You really are enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Immensely.”
“Why don’t we go back to bed and…”
“As much as I am tempted, you have a company to run and I have work.”
“You are a writer.”
“So?”
“You can work anytime.”
“it so happens, I have a deadline.”
Putting away his cup, he rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “I want to see you later.”
“No.”
“Why the hell not?”
“I do not owe you an explanation. I do not do relationships; I don’t sleep over….” She blew out a breath at his raised brows. “Not usually anyway. I need time to think.”
“About?”
“What we’re doing here.” She started to move off him, but he would not allow it, and she told herself that she was humoring him, ignoring the deep-down feeling inside the pit of her stomach that was saying that she liked this – liked the feel of him against her.
“What do you think we’re doing?”
“Having fun.” Ignoring the dangerous flash of his gray eyes, she continued. “Having great sex. But that is it. You cannot expect anything else.”
“Is that right?” His voice had gone dangerously low. “It’s just sex, is it?”
“There can’t be anything else.” This time she shoved hard enough, and he let her up. Reaching for the discarded shirt, she dragged it over her head. “I have to go.”
She told herself that it wasn’t disappointment she felt when he did not come after her. Not even when she retrieved her stuff from the balcony and went to the gym to get her clothing.
When she came back out, he was not on the steps where she left him, and the tray was gone. Swallowing her acute disappointment that he had taken it so lightly, she turned and went towards the door, stopping when she saw him leaning against it.
“I need to get past.”
“In a minute.” He had his arms crossed over his impressive bare chest and she was doing her best not to stare or she would start yearning. “What you said to me earlier was pure bullshit.”
“I don’t care what you think…”
“You feel something for me and I sure as hell feel a lot for you. You are under my skin. In my bloodstream and if you think I am going to step meekly aside, then you do not know me very well.” He unfolded his arms and started towards her. And she had to force herself not to back away.
A grim smile touched his lips, and she had the sinking feeling that he knew she was quaking inside. “Take the time you need, but I am not going to simply disappear. What we have, what we feel for each other is not going away and I want to see you again. No!” He shook his head. “I’m going to damn well see you again.”
“This is not a relationship…” She figured if she said it enough, it would resonate and make it so. “We’re just having fun…” She let out a startled gasp when he yanked her forward and crushed his arms around her.
Before she could react, he took her mouth – just seized her lips, crushed his against hers and shoved his tongue in. She felt dizzy and then recharged and then numb.
But all of that passed as he ravaged her. She went weak, her knees buckling and thought dazedly that it was a good thing, he was holding onto her, or she would have slid to the floor. She felt as if she was dissolving, her heart racing like a maddened thing. Her hands came up in defense and curled into his chest.
When he let her go, the abruptness had her staggering and trying to keep her balance. Her lips throbbed and she felt as if she was burning up.
“When you’re doing your thinking, remember that.” His eyes smoldered and he looked dangerous and utterly sexy, standing there with his chest heaving and his hair tousled. The man was too sexy for words and for the first time in her life, she found herself wishing things were different.
But it wasn’t. There were murders between them. Lies and subterfuge. She was not who he thought she was, and he was a suspect. That stopped her cold. And had her snapping out of the daze.
“Let me out.” She whispered hoarsely.
With hissed breath, he uncoded the door and yanked it open and she prayed that he would not touch her again. She had to try and find a way to regroup and come again. To try and come back from this.
Without another word, she strode away and went to the elevator that would take her to the ground floor. And he watched her. She was inside the car when she heard the door slammed shut. Leaning back, she closed her eyes and tried to settle.
*****
He went upstairs, taking the steps two at a time. She had dropped the t-shirt she had been wearing on a chair just inside the parlor and he took it up with him. It damn well pissed him off that he was sniffing at it like a fricking schoolboy with his first crush. It smelled like her.
A kind of musky scent, faintly exotic, because he did not believe she was into expensive scents. And it was still warm from her body. Damn her for reducing him to this.
He wanted her. Had almost begged her to spend the night again. The entire day. He had been about to call and ask his assistant to reschedule meetings so that he could spend the day with her, and she had left after telling him she had ‘fun’, and it was just sex.
He stood by the side of the bed and stared at the tangled sheets. The room smelled of sex and the smoke from the fire he had lit – faint whispers of both, but it had his knees going weak and memories flooding him. Lowering himself to the bed, he hauled the sheet up to his nose and inhaled what he thought was her scent.
He could not get enough of her. Touching her had been something he had to do. He sighed raggedly and felt the piercing guilt that he had never felt this way before. Not even with the woman he had proposed to, one who carried his son inside her womb. What he felt for Laura had been a pleasant sort of buzz, a glow inside his chest.
He had loved her of course, but he now realized that it had been a comfortable sort of feeling, like sliding on an old robe. With Margo – it was violent, addictive, and raw. He had wanted to devour her completely. Align her body with his, absorb her until they were sealed, bonded.
For the first time in his life, he felt giddiness coursing through him, giving him wings. Dropping the sheets, he covered his face with his hands and ached. He was aching for her. And if she had the idea of brushing him off, then he would damn well see about that.
The determination settled on him like a well-known cloak and had him squaring his shoulders. He would give her the damn space and time to think, but not for long. Oh no, he wasn’t going to give her time to rid herself of him.
*****
Margo let herself in and dropped her key fob into the ceramic bowl residing on the entrance table. Methodically, she removed her boots and jacket and sat on the stool at the side of the door. She had refused to think about anything on her drive here.
But now, she could not help it. She had seen several missed calls from Brad and heard his messages. His impatient tone that she had not returned his calls. She would go in, she had to.
She had a briefing, reports to write and they were certainly going to inquire about the progress if any. Brad knew she had left the function with Merrick. He did not know she had gone a step further and slept with the suspect, spent the entire night – a night she was never going to forget.
How could she? He had warned her that he would not allow her to deny them. Stretching her legs out, she stared at her unadorned nails. What the hell did he see in her? He was Merrick Pendergast, fabulously wealthy, extremely attractive and she had seen him naked.
She knew his body, had explored it, he had made her feel completely wanted. What did he see in her? She was not sophisticated, far from it. She was not from his level of society. What the hell did he want with her?
But there was something between them and she was damn well not going to explore that troubling aspect. She couldn’t. But she had overestimated her position and was paying for it.
She was second guessing herself. She should have gone in as herself – a cop and questioned him. But others had done that and had been blocked by his retinue of lawyers, hadn’t they? That was the reason for her offering to go undercover.
But what good was it going to do if she blew the investigation? More children would die and all she had to show for it was a roll in the hay and probably the loss of her shield. What the hell was she going to do now?
Where did she go after this? Should she quit while she was ahead or continue this farce? She was never one to give up, but now her damn feelings were involved. She felt something for him. For the first time in her life, she had all these emotions racing through her body. And wasn’t it a kicker?
She had spent time sailing through life, smug in the satisfaction that she was immune to emotional entanglements. The precinct had her pegged as being hard and tough as rocks.
“Sullivan has a heart of stone.’ They would joke. And she had thought herself above certain things. Now the joke was on her.
She could still feel him inside her, his mouth on her nipples, his long lean body, the supple strength of him, his lips on hers. Lifting a hand, she touched her mouth and felt the shimmer running through her body. He had left his mark on her, mentally and physically.
There was a bruise on her left breast he had put there. She had left her marks on him as well. Her blunt nails had scorched his back and shoulders, and her teeth marks were on his chest, when she had spiraled out of control so many times.
Her phone rang again and jolted her out of her reverie. Dragging it out, she read the LED and answered.
“We have two more.” Brad told her grimly.
“I’m on my way.”
*****
Her murder board was updated, and she had gone through the briefing.
Her commander had made himself clear. They need results and they need them now. “The mayor and chief of police are putting the pressure on. The press is giving us hell. We need results and fast.”
Kicking back, she placed her feet on the desk and cradled the cup of coffee as she studied the board. Two more had been added. Teens – two nineteen-year-old boys at a different club. Another fancy place where the music was hopping and too packed for anyone to know who was passing out the illegals.
Or no one was willing to come forward. It was frustrating as hell and it all points to Medtech. That was the familiar link, and it was breaking her heart. She could not eliminate the company. She had tried – turned it, twisted it sideways and it still pointed to them.
She looked up as her partner came in and closed the door behind him.
Moving over to the small table, he poured coffee and came to sit on the edge of her desk, facing the board. “Where were you last night?”
The casual question almost had her spilling her coffee.
“What do you mean?”
He turned to look at her, feeling the familiar awareness of her that seem to be something constant.
She was wearing an emerald, green sweater over jeans and her familiar well-worn boots and her hair was brushed back from her face and secured at the nape of her neck. As usual, she was not wearing a stitch of makeup and was sexy and aloof.
“I mean that when I could not get you, I drove to your place. Your car was not there, and you did not answer your doorbell.”
She struggled to remain casual, even though guilt was churning away inside her gut. “I must have been out.”
“Out where?”
Her tapered brows lifted and had him backing down. “Sorry.” He muttered. “None of my business. Unless you were out with Pendergast.”
“Why would I be out with him?”
“You seemed chummy at the function, and you did leave with him.”
“So?”
“It seems to me that the guy is really interested.”
“We have an ongoing case, one that is frustrating as hell. We certainly do not have time to be digging into my personal life.”
He latched onto that. “You have a personal life?”
“Why don’t we concentrate on the case?”
“You’re being evasive, and it makes me wonder why.”
“I am subtly telling you to mind your own business, but that is not working. Butt out.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” he muttered.
“I know what I am doing. Now back to the evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“Or lack thereof.”
*****
She weighed the consequences and decided that she did not have a choice. She had asked him for a couple of days, and he had not called her. She had of course ignored the tingle inside her as she wondered what he was doing and if he was still interested.
So, she had called and was put through to his very professional sounding assistant. She had preferred going that route, even though he had given her a card with his personal cell numbers on the back.
And she had asked for a meet.
“I think it’s time I saw where you operate from, don’t you?”
“That is, it? Nothing more to say?” His voice was cool and had given her pause for thought…”
“Are you going to be pissed off right now? I am not going to apologize for wanting to take some time to think.”
“And have you thought about it?”
“Yes.” She blew out her breath. “Now, can we move on?”
“Oh, we are going to have a damn conversation all right. Swing by at seven. I am assuming you know where the place is?”
“Everyone does.”
So, now she was in the vast parking lot of the impressive Medtech building. The building was easily sixty floors and considering that she was afraid of heights, she tried not to think about it. He had told her to come right in.
“The guards downstairs will point you to the private elevator.”
Sitting behind the wheel, she took in the towering glass and stone building and the lush green trees, the park benches, the fountains, elegant and lovely sprouting clear, clean water and felt overwhelmed. Brad was right. She was in over her head.
She was dealing with a giant. Medtech had an extraordinarily long reach. Merrick Pendergast, the man she had spent an entire night and morning with, naked in bed, was a powerhouse.
And if he discovered, had even the slightest inkling of what she was up to- Well, she had no idea what would happen. He would hate her of course. And he would probably ask for her badge. He was friends with politicians, judges, and lawyers.
She was just a cop looking for justice for some dead people. Blowing out a breath, she placed a shaky hand to her chest. Never in her career had she felt the slightest hint of fear. Yes, she had gone up against gang members and other unsavory elements, but she had always been unafraid.
This was different, not just because of the man she was dealing with, but because of the emotional upheaval she was going through. She had spent two days away from him to try and get some sort of balance, some sort of semblance of order to her life, but ended up yearning for him.
“Okay, Sullivan,” she muttered as she stepped out of the vehicle and wrapped her jacket around her, “time to tie this up once and for all.”
*****
He was pissed at her and nervous at the same time. And that made him furious. She had kept him waiting for two damn days and during that time, he had been unable to sleep. The bed had smelled of her, even though his housekeeper had changed the sheets.And he had worried that she would not come back.
That he would not hear from her again. That she would decide it was over between them, even before anything got started.
But she had called.
He would set some rules. Leaning back in the chair, he closed his eyes wearily. What the hell was he thinking? Rules? With a woman like her? That would probably send her running in the opposite direction.
And he could not afford that. He snapped to attention when his intercom sounded.
“Ms. Sullivan is on her way up, sir.”
“Thank you.” Releasing the button, he shoved away from the desk and made his way to the cabinet. He was not going to give her the satisfaction of seeing him nettled. He had just poured the Scotch from the decanter when his doors swung open. Turning around, he felt every angry thought and resentment melting away at his first sight of her.
She was wearing the familiar faded denims and scarred jacket with a thin navy-blue sweater underneath. Her hair was piled in a haphazard fashion on top of her head. And she wasn’t wearing makeup. And she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
Her first comment had his pleasure blooming. Coming into the room, she turned in a tight circle, a look of amazement on her face.
“Holy crap! This is all you? No! Don’t answer that, of course it is. And I just met your prune faced assistant who gave me a look of such disdain, I almost told her to kiss my ass.”
She held up a hand. “But I managed to refrain from expressing myself, as hard as that was. Are you going to pour me one of those?” She jerked her head to the drink in his hand.
“It’s Scotch.” His eyes twinkled as he continued to stare at her.
“I happen to know that it is.” She walked in further, her feet sinking into the gold-colored carpet. “What a view.” She moved over to the sofa at the window and knelt there staring out the window at the entire city spread out before her. “How the hell do you get any work done? Thanks.” She took the glass from him and turned back to look at the view.
“With considerable effort.’ He joined her on the sofa and stretched his legs out. “How are you?” Taking her arm, he tugged her down next to him.
“I am fine. Hey!”