Suspects(31)

“Oh, Theo,” he whispered to her, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.” He had tried so hard to resist her and failed.

“Yes you should have.” She held him tightly and she kissed him this time, and the floodgates opened all over again. They could both feel the dam breaking with all the pent-up emotions of years in his case, and longer than she had admitted to herself in hers. Matthieu’s last escapade in Moscow had broken something in her that she suspected might never have repaired even if he had lived. All she knew now was that she had never been so overwhelmed by passion in her life. There were tear gas cannons exploding outside, and an explosion in their minds and bodies inside. He wanted her then and there, and knew he had to stop. He forced himself to pull away from her, and could barely do it. She had bewitched him body and soul.

“I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret later,” he said in a low voice, rough with passion and new love for her.

“I won’t regret it,” she said with utter conviction, as she looked into his eyes. “He’s been gone a year. This is fair, more than you know.” But Mike did know about the girl in Moscow, which he couldn’t say.

“You don’t know me,” he said softly.

“I know enough. I’ve never felt this way for anyone.” But he also knew that she was lonely and had been severely traumatized. And he didn’t want to take advantage of her when she was vulnerable.

“Neither have I felt this way,” he admitted, and kissed her gently this time with an insatiable thirst for her that only she could quench. He had never wanted a woman as badly in his life, and he knew so much more about her than she did about him. That didn’t seem right to him. But they were kissing again and couldn’t stop. When they finally did, one of the bodyguards appeared in the doorway to check on her.

“Are you all right, ma’am,” he asked respectfully.

“Yes, fine, Daniel, thank you.”

“We’ve set fire extinguishers around the house in case we need them.”

“Thank you,” she said again, and he left. Mike was satisfied to see that they were doing their job. He looked at her sheepishly, and pulled her into one of the big leather chairs with him. There was room for both of them, with her half on his lap.

“You must think I’m a savage,” he said unhappily. “I didn’t want to do this. I don’t want to complicate your life.”

“You’re not,” she reassured him. “I don’t have a life. My life ended more than a year ago, with Axel, not Matthieu. Don’t I have a right to be happy now, just for a moment, an hour, a day?” There were tears in her eyes and he pulled her into his arms again.

“Oh my darling…oh God, I’m so sorry. You deserve so much more than this…than me…”

“Shut up,” she said. “Stop talking.” She got out of the chair and pulled him to his feet, and then led him into the bedroom next to her office. She closed the door and locked it. The other door leading to it was already locked, and with a single gesture, she pulled her sweater over her head, unzipped her jeans, slipped out of her ballet flats, and stood in her black lace underwear in front of him. She was nearly naked in the wisps of black lace that made it impossible for him to resist her. He pulled off his shirt and his own jeans quickly. The black lace vanished somewhere with his underwear. He had dropped the gun discreetly with his jeans, and she noticed it on the floor, partially covered by his clothes, and she looked startled for an instant.

“You carry a gun?”

“We’ll discuss it later,” he said, and crushed his mouth onto hers, but not enough to hurt her. His own passion was evident, as she turned her attention to that and he moaned. They fell onto her bed in a tangle of bodies and sheets and desire, as passion overcame them, the riots outside ceased to exist, and they couldn’t stop until it was over and they lay breathless in each other’s arms.

“Oh my God,” he said breathlessly, as he looked at her. He wasn’t sure if he was in heaven or hell, but wherever it was, he never wanted to leave or to leave her again. “Theo, we’re crazy. This shouldn’t have happened.” She lay in bed next to him, smiling like the mystery she was to him. And she looked incredibly beautiful with her dark hair falling around her.

“Yes, it should,” she said, catching her breath. “It’s the only thing right that has happened in my life in years.” She ran a finger from his Adam’s apple down the center of his body until it reached where she intended it to, and then bent down and kissed him and he groaned. She looked so gentle and demure but she was a wild woman in bed, which he hadn’t expected.

“Okay, I give up, you own me,” he said, moaning as she guided him into her again, and they forgot everything but each other for another round of ecstasy and passion. She lay totally sated in his arms afterwards, as he looked at her in amazement.

“You’re better than a thousand banana splits,” he whispered to her, and she laughed. “Make it a million.”

“Tell me about the gun. Why do you wear it?” She turned to look into his eyes.

“I borrowed it this morning,” he said truthfully. “In case I needed to protect you.”

“Do you always wear a gun?” she asked, curious as she studied him carefully. She loved everything she saw and knew about him.