Part 21 (1/2)

”I don't care if it was to go outside on the sidewalk to buy a bag of peanuts. I bring you here every morning and you are to stay put until I come back and pick you up,” he said, raising his voice.

That got her dander up. ”I've told you before, Blade. You are not my daddy.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. ”Then maybe I should call Mr. Di Meglio and let him know just how difficult his daughter is being about staying alive.”

She glared at him. She still hadn't told her parents anything. ”You wouldn't dare.”

His smile formed slowly and didn't quite reach his eyes. ”Try me, sweetheart.”

She continued to glare at him. He would would call her parents-she had no doubt of that. Already she knew they were getting suspicious, but she wasn't sure of what. When she had talked to them last week they had mentioned possibly coming to see her. Fortunately, she had managed to talk them out of it, telling them she was working on a very important court case. Since they were both attorneys, they understood and had relented. However, they'd informed her that they would be calling her again this week. She dreaded their calls because it meant she would have to lie to them again. call her parents-she had no doubt of that. Already she knew they were getting suspicious, but she wasn't sure of what. When she had talked to them last week they had mentioned possibly coming to see her. Fortunately, she had managed to talk them out of it, telling them she was working on a very important court case. Since they were both attorneys, they understood and had relented. However, they'd informed her that they would be calling her again this week. She dreaded their calls because it meant she would have to lie to them again.

”I want your word, Sam, that you won't be trying something like that again.”

She lifted her chin. ”You might want my word, but you won't get it. I feel like I'm a prisoner at work and in my home. I want to go out and eat at a restaurant without having to look over my shoulder. I need to get my nails done this week and go to the spa.”

”And I told you that I would take you wherever you needed to go.”

”But I don't want you to feel obligated to take me places and be my bodyguard. You have your own work to do.”

”And I'm doing it. I met with my surveyors today. Everything with the Mosley project is on schedule and we'll hand Luke the keys to the rodeo school on Friday.”

She let out a long, frustrated sigh. She had to get him to understand. ”Blade, I want to take my car and just drive. I want to feel my hair blowing in the wind without fear that someone's trying to kill me.”

”And that time will come, Sam. In fact, I got a call from Alex earlier today, and he's flying into town tomorrow. He has information he wants to share with you.”

Blade could tell by the expression on her face that she needed to hear that.

”Really? Do you think that he-”

”Let's not jump to conclusions. Let's just wait to see what he has to say.” He dropped his hands to his side. ”Are you ready to leave?”

”No.”

”No?”

”That's what I said,” she told him as she moved from behind her desk, walked over to the window and closed the blinds. Then she glanced over her shoulder. ”Lock the door, Blade.”

Blade wasn't sure how long he stood there staring at her before he finally reached behind him to lock the door. It was probably when she began stripping off her clothes. He took a deep breath as he watched her, and in no time at all, she had stripped down to nothing more than a pair of black lace panties.

”Is there a reason you're taking off your clothes in here?” he asked, although he was now following her lead and removing his.

”Yes, there is one fantasy I have that we haven't played out yet.”

He glanced over at her as he unzipped his pants. ”And what fantasy is that?”

”Being taken on my desk. Think you can handle it?”

Blade couldn't help but smile. h.e.l.l, at times he wondered if he could could handle her. When they arrived in Houston, she had declared that it was fantasy week, and each night one of them would act out their wildest s.e.xual fantasies. Some had been real doozies. They had even made out again in a car-the backseat this time-although it was parked in Blade's garage. It hadn't mattered. He had taken her in the car, against the door, as well as on the hood and the fender. The fantasies had been worthwhile. handle her. When they arrived in Houston, she had declared that it was fantasy week, and each night one of them would act out their wildest s.e.xual fantasies. Some had been real doozies. They had even made out again in a car-the backseat this time-although it was parked in Blade's garage. It hadn't mattered. He had taken her in the car, against the door, as well as on the hood and the fender. The fantasies had been worthwhile.

Sam was everything he could possibly want in a woman-s.e.xually daring, provocative. He loved her and he respected her. There were times when he would find her staring at him as if he was a puzzle she needed to solve that was missing one piece. It was during those times that he wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms and tell her just how much he loved her and that everything would be okay.

Sam slowly walked toward him, swaying her hips, and he moved away from the door to meet her halfway. They were two naked bodies about to intimately become one. She wrapped her arms around his waist and began rubbing her body against him, flesh against flesh and skin against skin.

He picked her up in his arms and carried her to her desk and plopped her naked rear end on top. He then leaned forward and captured her mouth, mating their tongues in one ravenous exchange.

He reached down and used his finger to test her, to see if she was ready for him, and wasn't surprised to find that she was. He pulled his mouth back and whispered against her lips, ”You're hot and wet.”

”Then make me hotter and wetter.”

He tilted her back on the desk and spread her legs in the process. And then his erect and protruding shaft homed in on just where it wanted to go. He teased the well-lubricated opening of her legs before slowly easing inside of her.

His breath caught the moment he sensed the pleasure he always felt when he entered her like this. He'd never thought he would find a woman like her, a woman whose s.e.xual fantasies mirrored his, and who met his every need, not just in the bedroom.

She wrapped her legs around him as he moved inside her, while her inner muscles clenched tight around his engorged erection. Her muscles were working him and he was determined to work her just as hard. Each thrust into her body mirrored just how much he loved her, how much she meant to him, and just how determined he was to never let her go.

When he felt her shudder around him he rolled his hips and rocked into her one final time before exploding, releasing the o.r.g.a.s.m he could no longer hold back, and joining her as the two of them climaxed together.

An hour or so later, in a better frame of mind than she had been earlier, Sam got out of the car when Blade parked it in her driveway. He had fulfilled another one of her fantasies and she was happy about it. s.e.x had to be one of the best stress relievers.

And to top things off, after leaving the office he'd taken her to the restaurant on the corner. Instead of getting takeout, as she a.s.sumed they would, he had parked the car, come around and opened her door, took her hand and led her inside the restaurant, requesting a table at the window.

During dinner, it had been quite obvious that he was watchful and alert. Every so often she would see him looking around, checking out anyone who'd entered the restaurant. But sitting across from him, sharing a meal and telling him how her day had gone had been nice.

”Other than the nail salon and spa, do you have any other appointments this week?” he asked as he waited for her to walk around the car.

She didn't look at him as she pulled her key out of her purse. ”Yes, I have a doctor's appointment on Friday.”

”A doctor's appointment?”

”Yes,” she said, still not looking at him. ”My regular checkup.”

It wasn't completely true. There was nothing regular about the appointment she had made with her doctor. She was late, and for someone whose cycle was always regular, that concerned her. But then, she knew all the stress of what she was going through might have had something to do with it.

But something Syneda Madaris had said that night at the party in Houston still stuck in her mind.

...the thing about a Madaris man. If he wants to get you pregnant, a simple thing like a birth-control pill or a condom isn't going to stop him....

She glanced over at Blade when he took the key from her hand. Although the two of them had spent the last three weeks making love practically each and every day, there was no reason for her to a.s.sume he wanted more out of the relations.h.i.+p. And he was definitely not a man who'd want a baby.

He enjoyed her. She was a novelty. She was a first for him in many ways. A woman he had shared sensual confessions with. But she knew that once he got tired of her, he would walk away without looking back. She knew it and she accepted it because she loved him. She appreciated him caring enough to protect her. But he'd explained in the beginning that the reason he was doing it was to keep Mac, Peyton and Luke from worrying.