Kitabı oku: «Fortune's Heirs: Reunion», sayfa 9

But not this time.

She was stone-cold sober, drunk only on this sensation that was vibrating through her like the strings of a harp that had been plucked. She was drunk, but only on the idea of making love.

When his hands caressed her, Gloria moaned audibly, wanting him to touch her everywhere. To both soothe and stoke the fire that his nearness had created.

Gloria sucked in her breath. She felt his wide, capable hands delving beneath the blouse she’d pulled free earlier.

“You’re trembling,” he whispered, his breath warm on her neck.

He was going to pull away. She could feel it. She couldn’t let that happen. Without admitting it, she knew where this was going. Needed this to go there. Needed him to make love with her.

“This isn’t the time to withdraw,” she breathed, pressing harder against him.

Jack felt completely, hopelessly, lost. The willpower he thought was second nature had somehow turned into so much sawdust. If she’d backed away, cried, asked him to stop, then maybe the willpower he’d treasured could have been resurrected. But every indication she gave him was that she wanted this as badly as he did.

He hadn’t the strength to back away, to leave her of his own accord.

Still, he watched her eyes in the dim light for signs of fear, or mounting panic that had to do not with the enclosed space, but with what was happening.

Instead of fear, he saw desire.

Desire that mirrored exactly what was going on inside of him. He knew this was wrong. Clear-thinking adults didn’t make love suspended above the twentieth floor of a skyscraper that had been pitched into darkness. He didn’t make love like this. Mindlessly, and with complete abandonment.

Hell, he hadn’t made love since Ann died. He’d had sex. And each time had left him completely unsatisfied. Not wanting more, just wanting something. Something that wasn’t there.

Something that whispered to him now. Making every fiber within his body yearn.

With swift, sure movements, Jack pulled her blouse away from her shoulders, pressed his lips to every inch of her soft flesh as it was exposed. His own breathing became as labored as hers.

His fingers worked the clasp that held her bra in place.

When she shivered against him as the lacy material fell away, he felt a volley of passion being fired through him that all but turned his body rigid with desire. He slid the button holding her skirt together out of its hole, then pulled it from her.

The dimness caressed her like a familiar lover. His gaze passed over her. Gloria was wearing nothing but heels and underwear. His stomach pressed itself against his spine.

Gloria could feel anticipation vibrating throughout her whole body, priming her for the final moment that she both craved and wanted to hold at bay so that she could savor the approach of the final moment. It felt as if her whole body was humming.

She forced her breathing to grow steadier, as if that would somehow keep her hands from shaking as she swiftly yanked his custom-made jacket and pants off of him.

It didn’t.

Anticipation vibrated through her.

Like a person caught in a dream, Gloria could hardly remember unbuttoning his shirt. All she knew was that she wanted to press her fingertips along the hard ridges of his chest, wanted to leave imprints of his firm flesh on hers.

Wanted to be with him in the most intimate of covenants between a man and a woman.

Her mouth sealed to his, her fingers questing, smoothing, she felt him reacting to her. Heard his breathing grow more shallow. A thrill shivered through her as the extent of her power registered. He was hers. For a single shining moment in time, he was hers.

His hands were hot on her body. They sank to the floor of the elevator, cushioned by the clothes they had discarded.

One movement inviting, flowering into another.

She could feel every pulse point in her body responding to him. His mouth roamed over her chin, her throat, along the planes above her breasts. The hollow of her belly.

Everywhere he touched, he conquered.

She’d never wanted to make love with anyone the way she wanted to make love with Jack. All the nights she had spent with her husband combined hadn’t equaled this single instance with Jack.

Maybe this was what had been missing from her marriage all along, mind-bending lovemaking. She’d married Gary because he’d been the first half-decent man she’d come across. She’d thought marriage to him would keep her safe. It hadn’t.

This wasn’t safe, either, but the risk was enticing, thrilling.

She felt a wild explosion rapidly moving forward through her system as, time and again, Jack brought her so very close to the edge, then withdrew so that she slid back.

Hot, moist kisses burned along her torso. Gloria twisted into them, wanting more. Wanting that final moment.

“Hurry,” she whispered urgently against his ear, biting down on her tongue before she could add, “please.” She wasn’t going to beg, wasn’t going to be pathetic, but oh, how he made her want.

Needs slamming through him, Jack stretched his body over hers, needing the contact. He refrained from entering, wanting to prolong this even though somewhere in the back of his mind, where reality still dwelled beneath a dark curtain, he knew they ran the risk of being discovered.

Was that adding to the thrill?

He didn’t know. Didn’t know anything at all anymore. Except that he had utterly lost himself.

When she raised her hips urgently against his, that was the last straw, the last enticement. Unable to hold back any longer, Jack entered her.

The rhythm was instantaneous, as if guided by something that was completely outside of him, something he had no control over.

The dance began sweetly, moving, growing in ever-increasing tempo. They tumbled around on the floor, moving from side to side, first with him on top, then her, then him again. With each movement, the urgency increased, growing more erratic, more demanding.

He was vaguely aware that he heard something breaking. Glass? But that wasn’t possible.

The very air from his lungs began departing. He felt his mind swirling somewhere just out of reach as he pulled her closer to him, his arms tightening around her as if she was the most precious thing he had ever encountered.

Perhaps she was.

The climax was so powerful, it stole the last drop of his breath away.

He could feel his heart pounding so hard, it threatened to break out of his chest. Or was that her heart, pounding so hard against his?

He had no idea where he stopped and she began. They were like one. If he could, he would have remained like this, feeling himself inside of her. Feeling himself whole for the first time since his world had abruptly ended with the screech of tires and metal groaning against metal.

Listening, he could have sworn he heard that sound now. Metal, creaking, groaning. Somehow, in his brain, the past had merged with the present.

Then, abruptly, he felt Gloria’s soft body turn rigid beneath him. A moment later her hands were pulling at him urgently. With effort, he pivoted himself up on his elbows to look down into her face.

Was she afraid again?

“The elevator,” she cried.

“It’s all right,” he told her. “We’re not going to fall.” Except, maybe he was. The thought bounced at him out of nowhere.

But she was pushing him from her. “No,” she cried, desperate to make him understand what she was trying to say. “We’re not falling, we’re going up!”

Just then, the lights went on.

Chapter Twelve

The realization penetrated. In a few seconds they were not going to be alone anymore.

The next moment they were quickly scrambling into their clothes, desperate to get dressed before the elevator was brought up to the next working level, which was only five floors up.

Gloria didn’t even take time to breathe. Her heart was racing almost as madly as it had been when they’d been making love. But this time her fingers felt not only clumsy but fat, as if they didn’t even belong to her. It made closing her buttons annoyingly difficult. She didn’t even bother to tuck in her blouse. There wasn’t time.

Wasn’t time to even notice how magnificent his body was as he slid his trousers back on. But somehow, she managed.

Gloria felt her body start to tingle all over again.

It wasn’t until she had on her skirt and blouse that she realized she’d forgotten to put on her underwear. The lacy panties were next to Jack’s foot. But as she reached for them, the doors began to open. Her heart slammed hard against her chest.

There wasn’t going to be time to put her underwear on. Worse, whoever had come to rescue them would see them right there out in plain view.

Seeing her dilemma, Jack quickly scooped up the errant underwear and shoved them into his pants’ pocket. He ran his hand through his hair just as a technician peered in. He was half a floor above them. The elevator wasn’t level with the landing.

“Sorry,” the man apologized, raising his wide shoulders in a depreciating shrug. “’Fraid this is the best we can do right now.”

Gloria didn’t care that the top of her head was level with the barrel-chested man’s kneecap. The psychological rush of new air was wonderful and she savored it as she dragged it into her lungs.

At the same time she felt the oddest sting of disappointment. The interlude between them was over.

A swirl of emotions danced through her, each jockeying for lead position. Sorrow, need, happiness, relief and a dozen more. She shut them all away. She just wasn’t up to sorting through her half-formed feelings right now.

Maybe you never will, a small voice whispered. She’d found that avoiding things was better than letting them eat away at her.

She focused on their rescuer; a short, squat man wearing navy-blue coveralls. It was safer that way.

“Don’t be sorry,” she told him breathlessly. “At least you got the elevators running again.”

He beamed at her even as he shook his partially bald head. “Wasn’t me. The power company gets all the credit. They got the juice flowing again. Rumor says it was some squirrel biting through a line that did it.”

Jack moved her jacket and purse aside and stood behind her. He saw her shoulders suddenly grow rigid. What was she afraid of? They were getting out. “I’ll give you a boost,” he volunteered, then glanced up at the other man. “I’ll hand her off to you.”

Gloria watched the technician brace himself as he got down on one knee. His arms were stretched out, readying to take hold of hers and pull her out. A feeling of déjà vu washed over her and she shivered. This was just like when she’d been stuck in the well. With one very notable exception.

Suddenly she felt Jack’s hands taking hold of her waist. The next second he was raising her toward the technician as if she were nothing more than a life-size doll.

The pressure and warmth of his palms surged all through her. Stirring her. She was almost sorry that the power had come back on again.

Almost.

Before she could dwell on the sensation, the technician took hold of her hands and began pulling her up. She sucked in her breath as she felt Jack’s hands move lower, slipping down to her hips, then to her thighs, as he continued to boost her up, wreaking havoc on her emotions despite her every effort to block everything out except for the rescue. She could feel her face burning as she realized that Jack had a very clear view beneath her skirt. Not a good time to find herself unintentionally going commando.

With a mighty tug, Gloria found herself beside the technician on the floor, whose name was inscribed in white right over his breast pocket. Raul. Offering him a smile of gratitude, she tried to get her bearings as best she could. Regaining her composure was a lost cause.

Jack threw both his jacket and hers over the top, followed by her purse. And in the next moment he was there on the floor beside her, looking a hell of a lot better than she did, she thought ruefully.

“You two all right?” Furrows of concern went all the way up to Raul’s pronounced receding hairline as he looked uncertainly from one to the other. “Want me to call the paramedics?”

Jack shook his head. “I’m fine.” Sitting up, he looked at Gloria. “How about you?”

Her eyes held his for a long moment. Was he just asking about her condition, or did the question actually go deeper? On the surface, she could answer him with a terse, “Fine.” No bones were broken, no health-threatening conditions had to be addressed. Beyond that, she wasn’t sure.

All she knew was that everything had been upended and she had no idea if there was a penalty attached to that. A penalty for flying without ever leaving the floor.

Still, if there was, that was her problem, not his.

Taking in another deep, sweet breath of nonrestricted air, she finally nodded. “I’m okay.”

The technician was on his feet again, surprisingly agile for a man who appeared at least fifty pounds overweight and beyond his prime by most standards.

“Okay, then.” Raul touched each of them on the arm as though discharging them from his care. “I’ve got other elevators to see to.”

As Raul turned to walk away, Jack called after him, “Is all the power back?”

Raul had a one-hundred-watt smile. “Like nothing ever happened, except that the elevators seem to be a little out of sync. But I’ll fix that soon enough.” He hurried to a stairwell, calling, “Have a nice day” just before he disappeared.

Jack refrained from saying something about the inane statement. Once on his feet, he extended his hand to Gloria and waited. After a beat she locked her fingers around his and rose to stand beside him.

He frowned, concerned about her well-being. “You sure you’re all right?”

Aware of how she’d behaved, Gloria tried to laugh the incident off. “Well, I’m dumping all my stock in this elevator company, but other than being a little bit shaky, yes, I’m all right.”

She bit her lip as she looked at him again. Just where did they go from here? Did they talk about what happened in the elevator? Ignore it? Treat it as the first step in a truce or just an aberration they were better off not acknowledging?

She didn’t know and she longed for something that she could understand, something familiar she could grasp and hang on to.

Belatedly, she realized that she was still holding his hand. Releasing it, she glanced at his wrist. Where the watch crystal had been were now just a couple of jagged pieces of glass.

“Your watch.”

He glanced at it reflexively. “What about it?”

“It’s broken.” Well, that would explain the sound of breaking glass she’d heard. She’d thought she was just imagining it, along with the swirls of color, heat and music that had gone through her mind just before the elevator had come back to life.

Holding up his wrist, Jack examined it. He shook his head. “So it is.”

“I can fix it for you,” she volunteered, reaching for it.

Jack pulled back his hand. Right now, the less contact they had, the faster his mind would clear. “No, I—”

A puzzled expression creased her brow before fading away. “It’s the least I can do, seeing as how you took my mind off being trapped in the elevator.” A sultry smile filtered along her lips.

The comment was enough to temporarily break the tension he was feeling. Jack laughed and took the watch off his wrist, handing it to her. Gloria slipped it into her purse.

“When can I have it back?”

“I’ll have it ready for you on your next visit.” She raised her eyes to his. “If you’ll just tell me when that’ll be.” Did that sound too much as if she was asking for a date? God, she hoped not.

He hesitated, thinking of his schedule. Thinking, too, that he wanted some time to himself. Because all he could think about right now was making love with her again, which made him feel as uneasy as being faced with a sudden takeover.

“I’ve got to fly out of town tomorrow.” He was due in New York for a quick meeting. Until just now, he’d planned on making a conference call. Now, taking a plane and going back to his home turf sounded like just what the doctor ordered. “How does next Tuesday at ten sound?”

He’d be back before then, but he needed time to get things in perspective.

Gloria pressed her lips together and nodded. Inside, she was banking down a volley of disappointment. She’d hoped that he’d say he would be by tomorrow.

What a difference half an hour made, she thought. This morning she would have been relieved that he wasn’t going to be breathing down her neck. From that vantage point, next Tuesday would have seemed too soon. Now it felt like an eternity.

Get hold of yourself before you fall off the deep end. This isn’t the first guy you’ve ever made love with.

No, but it was the first one who’d caused fireworks to go off in her body and in her head.

Gloria cleared her throat and tried to sound nonchalant. “What are you going to do for a watch until then?”

Back home, he had several different watches, including a Rolex he rarely wore. Most of the time, he favored the one that was now in her possession, but he’d thought to pack another one. He believed in making plans for every contingency.

He just needed to form one for what he was feeling now. “It’s not my only watch,” he told her.

“Of course not. What was I thinking?”

He couldn’t fathom the look on her face. Amused? Rueful? And why did understanding it make such a difference to him?

Damn, but he needed to clear his head.

“It is, however, my favorite. My father gave it to me when I graduated college. It belonged to my grandfather.” He couldn’t help the grin that curved his mouth. “I bet Grandpa never gave it a workout like that one.” Jack nodded toward the elevator.

He liked the way her smile took command of her features, shyly slipping out as if to test the waters, then swiftly blooming over her face. It was like watching the sun rise and take possession of the land.

It certainly took possession of him.

The realization had him backpedaling so quickly, he found himself in danger of getting his foot caught in the spokes. This was happening too fast, throwing him off balance.

It was time to retreat.

Now.

He cleared his throat, looking toward the stairwell the technician had taken. “Well, I was on my way to see my father before all this started,” he muttered.

“So you said.” She didn’t relish taking the stairs with their stale air and their dim lighting. She relished the idea of getting on the elevator far less, no matter what the technician said about the restoration of power. She chose the lesser of two evils and headed toward the stairs.

He was right behind her. She felt safe and threatened at the same time.

She should have remained in the store, she told herself. But she couldn’t help the smile that was firmly entrenched on her lips.

Just as he opened the stairwell door and motioned for her to go first, she stopped abruptly. “I, um, think you have something of mine.”

He looked at her, a confused expression on his face. She wondered if he knew how adorable he looked. Probably not the word he would have liked applied to himself, she reasoned, and let the moment go.

“What?” He wanted to know. Was she going to say something lofty, about her heart or something along those lines?

He felt a defensiveness setting in, the kind that was meant to protect men from ever making any kind of commitment beyond which wine they favored with dinner.

Instead of saying anything, she merely looked toward his pocket. It took him a second, then he remembered. Slipping his hand inside, his fingers came into contact with soft lace. As much as he tried to remove himself from the man he’d turned into just a few minutes ago, it wasn’t possible. Not when her lacy underwear was rubbing against his skin. Not when he remembered what she’d looked like, her body silhouetted in the auxiliary light, wearing the scrap of material.

“Oh, right.” He took them out and looked them over for a second. There was next to nothing to them. Jack grinned. “Wouldn’t want you to catch cold, now,” he murmured.

She took them from him and stuffed them into her purse. She planned to put them on the moment she could find a ladies’ room.

They parted company on the twenty-ninth floor. She went to see Christina, he continued to the next floor to talk to his father.

He could still feel the soft imprint of lace against his palm as he made his way to the thirtieth floor.

The second she appeared in Christina’s office, Gloria found herself enveloped in her sister’s embrace.

“Oh, thank God, thank God,” Christina cried. “You’re okay.”

“I’m okay.” Gloria’s answer was muffled by her sister’s shoulder. “Or at least I will be if you let me up for air.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Christina immediately released her. “It’s just that I—” She stopped abruptly, taking another look at her sister.

Gloria was holding her coat over her arm. She’d stopped at the ladies’ room to reapply her makeup and slip her suit jacket back on, as well as her underwear. She’d felt pretty confident that she’d gotten herself back in order so that there was no evidence of how she and Jack had passed the time while waiting to be rescued.

But beneath Christina’s scrutiny, she wasn’t nearly as confident as she had been walking out of the ladies’ room. She cleared her throat and tried to sound as innocent as possible as she asked, “What?”

“You’re glowing,” Christina declared. She narrowed her eyes as if to make sure they weren’t playing tricks on her. “My God, you’re glowing.” She shut the door to her office so that no one else could overhear. There was more than a little disbelief as well as curiosity on her face.

“I was half out of my mind when I realized that the power failure hit just as you were probably on your way up. That you were most likely stuck in the elevator. I tried to reach you on your cell and when mine said the signal wasn’t getting through, I just knew you were in one of the elevators. I felt so guilty and so bad for you.”

“Guilty?”

“Because you were coming to see me. But you’re glowing,” she repeated in awe.

“Well, it was pretty awful,” Gloria said. At least in the beginning.

Christina circled her slowly, taking in every angle. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest. “Then why aren’t you ghostly pale?” she challenged, sounding every bit like an interrogator.

Gloria could feel her cheeks burning. But there was no way she was going to tell Christina what had happened. Not after the way she’d carried on about how they all had to swear off men for their lives to get back on track.

She raised her chin slightly. “I just walked up five fights of stairs. That usually gets people flushed.”

Christina read the body language. Despite the years they’d spent apart, she was still familiar with Gloria’s moves.

“Flushed, yes,” she emphasized pointedly, “but not glowing.” She fixed her younger sister with a penetrating look that had edged out the relieved expression she’d been wearing only seconds ago. “Okay, give. What’s going on?”

Gloria shifted slightly. Along with gaining sobriety, leaving the shadowy world of alcohol had caused her to lose her ability to lie successfully. She gave it a shot anyway. “Maybe I’m outgrowing my claustrophobia.”

Christina eyed her closely. “And maybe there’s another explanation.”

“Like what?” she asked innocently.

“Like a man. Were you alone in the elevator?”

She was about to say no, but what if Jack told his father that he’d ridden up with her? She knew he wouldn’t give Patrick Fortune any explicit details, but still, that would place her in the middle of a lie. She decided to go with the truth, at least partially.

“No, I wasn’t.”

Like Sherlock Holmes discovering the all-important clue, Christina’s face lit up. “Aha.”

“No ‘aha,’ Tina. I was in the elevator with Jack Fortune. You know what I think of him.”

Christina was silent for a moment. “Do you remember reading Macbeth in college?”

Gloria shook her head. She didn’t like the tone of Christina’s voice. Or where this conversation was heading. “Nope, sorry, except for my major, college was pretty much a blur.”

“There’s a line in it about Lady Macbeth. Something about the lady protesting too much.”

Gloria pretended that the line—and the insinuation—meant nothing to her. “I guess I’ll have to read it sometime.”

“Yes,” Christina agreed. “You will.”

“Let’s go to lunch,” Gloria urged, wanting to get her sister onto a different topic. “I’m starved.”

Christina retrieved her purse out of a drawer. “Okay, let’s go catch an elevator.”

Just that word brought back all the intimate details of her ride with Jack, and she felt herself blush.

Gloria stared at her watch. It felt as if the minute hand was glued in place, only moving when she looked away. But it was moving. Moving beyond the time that Jack had told her he would be by.

For their meeting. For his watch.

It was Tuesday. Where was he? He was far too controlled to be late, and yet, here he was, late.

Or not coming at all.

She walked around the showroom, annoyance and confusion marking her every step. If he wasn’t coming, why hadn’t he called?

Turning, she reached for the phone behind the counter, then dropped her hand. It wasn’t her place to call him. He’d been the one to arrange the time and the day. He was the one who wasn’t here. That meant it was up to him to call, not her.

Frustration nibbled away at her as she continued to roam restlessly.

Gone were the drop cloths, the telltale signs of a shop in transition. The glass displays were all in place, sparkling and ready, their virgin shelves waiting to make first contact with the unique pieces of jewelry she was going to display.

The store was only a few days away from opening. Trying desperately not to dwell on the feelings that had been awakened in that dim elevator car, she’d pushed herself hard to get the shop ready. It had involved calling in favors from previous connections she’d made, pleading with carpet layers, glass cutters, a whole host of people she’d needed to get the place in order. All of her design equipment had been delivered late last night. The safe she’d had put in the day after her elevator encounter now housed the precious gems she had at her disposal.

The security system had cost extra because she’d asked for it to be installed immediately. But the gems were safe. Everything here was state-of-the-art.

She was exhausted, hardly getting five hours of sleep a night, but it was all worth it, every hour, every inconvenience. She was ready.

Gloria looked at her watch again, muttering under her breath. Where was he?

She’d wanted to show Jack everything, to prove to him that she was every bit as savvy a business person as he was. She wanted to impress him, she thought ruefully. Like some young teenage girl showing off for the guy who’d caught her attention. Who’d made her heart race.

Gloria clenched her hands, digging her nails into her palms as she paced, her eyes never far from the glass doors. Waiting for a knock.

Damn it, she was a grown woman, thoughts about impressing men didn’t belong in her head.

They weren’t in her head, she thought, fighting off mounting despair, they were in her heart and that was the problem.

She’d allowed him to get to her.

What the hell was wrong with her? Didn’t she realize where things like that led? Nowhere. Not for her, at least. What did she expect, anyway? Violins? Undying love because they’d made love in an elevator? Even if they had connected, he was only here temporarily. Everything about him told her he was itching to get back home, back to New York.

Home for her was here. She knew that now. They were from two different worlds. Just because she still believed in happy endings didn’t mean they were destined to come true. It just meant that she was still harboring illusions.

No, delusions.

She curbed the urge to throw Jack’s watch across the showroom, smashing it against the opposite wall. That would be childish and it wouldn’t change anything. Even though it probably would make her feel better for a couple of minutes.

Squaring her shoulders, she returned the repaired watch to the box she’d kept it in.

At that very moment Jack was sitting in an office clear across town, frowning at his reflection in the window.

He knew he was supposed to be at the mall, with Gloria, but somehow he couldn’t make himself get up out of the chair. Hadn’t been able to get up for over an hour now.

Okay, so he was a coward, Jack thought. But even Navy SEALs didn’t risk their lives until they knew the lay of the land and what they were getting into. And he had no idea what he was getting into, except that what he had felt in that elevator last week had really scared the hell out of him.

What he’d felt for Gloria Mendoza was too much like the emotion he’d buried along with Ann all those years ago. He didn’t want to have those feelings again, didn’t want to get involved again.

Besides, the woman was clearly a handful. He liked being in control and he hadn’t been, not that day. Not of the situation, not even of himself. It had felt as if all systems were go and he had no idea where it was that they were going. Only that he was hanging on for dear life.

He stared at the phone on the desk. He should at least call, he told himself.

His hand remained still.

He didn’t like this side of him. He’d never fled from a fight in his life, but hell, fights he could handle with aplomb, it was the non-fighting part of this that had him stymied.