Carly Phillips - Body Heat

“Did you love her?” Brianne bit down on her lower lip, wishing she could call back the too-personal, too-revealing words.

“I thought she loved me but it turns out she never fully accepted who I am. What I’ll always be. She gave up on me when she realized she couldn’t change me.”

And that had scarred him badly, Brianne realized, enough to make him wary of other women and of the future. He had good reason. Brianne’s reasons for being wary of the future were different but she hadn’t fully accepted him and who he was, either. She’d admitted as much to his face. From the beginning, she wished she could change him from someone who loved danger to someone who preferred security and stability.

Is that what she still wanted? Because if she desired to change him, there was no chance for them or for the future. And a part of Brianne refused to accept that. Confusion twisted inside her.

He reached up and grasped her wrists. She hadn’t realized she was still holding on to his face, so natural was the flow of conversation and intimacy between them. And wasn’t that intimacy more indicative of what they shared than her dislike of his career? She felt the mental shift occurring slowly and knew she needed time to absorb the implications.

“To answer your question, I suppose I loved the person I married, not the person she became,” he said, speaking of his ex-wife. Jake’s gaze held Brianne’s, full of unspoken meaning. “I realize now that I never loved my ex-wife enough to change and grow with her.”

Brianne swallowed hard. “You couldn’t have made her happy then, Jake. And vice versa. Money didn’t have anything to do with it.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“I know I am. Look at my life. Money might have given me more free time but I’d still have been a too-young, single woman raising a teenager. All the money in the world wouldn’t change that. And it might not have made me happy. I was burdened, yes, but I was also happy.” She shrugged, feeling silly revealing herself this way, but not silly enough to stop.

Because this was Jake and he was listening intently, interested in what she had to say and how it related to his past and to them. She drew a deep breath and continued. “Any man in my life would build on the foundation that’s already there.” The way Jake had. Just the sight of him had lessened her burdens. Being with him lightened her load and made her more complete. She wasn’t ready to take those thoughts to their natural completion so she focused on his past instead. “Sounds like your wife didn’t have that foundation.”

Admiration filled his eyes along with deeper, more consuming emotion-part desire, but something more. Brianne knew because she felt it, too. “Anyone tell you you’re amazing?” he asked.

She shook her head and grinned. “Nope. Care to be the first?”

“Hell, yes.” Her first, last, always, Jake thought, and lowered his mouth to hers. The kiss was deep and sweet, but for Jake, just the beginning. “I’m not letting you out of our deal. You owe me a leisurely soak in that whirlpool.” He pointed to the bubbling water that was probably as hot as the blood pumping through his veins.

“Then, by all means, let’s do it.” She inhaled for what he guessed was courage, then took a step back and dropped her towel, letting the fluffy white cotton pool at her feet.

He took one look, and his mouth went dry. She extended her hand, and he followed her to the waiting whirlpool, letting her get in first.

She lowered herself to a sitting position, the bubbling water floating just above her tempting cleavage. When the truth was out, Jake knew what his penance would be-to remember this, remember her and all they could have shared if he hadn’t gotten her involved in something guaranteed to bring danger and anxiety into her life, the two things she couldn’t and shouldn’t ever have to handle again.

Brianne was everything his first wife hadn’t been. She was honest, open and real, about herself, her feelings and about her take on life. And in being herself, she’d helped him see his own past more clearly. That was why he intended to savor this night and leave the revelations for morning.

She extended her legs and stretched out, leaning her head back and staring at the night sky. “Good Lord, this is decadent,” she murmured.

He settled himself in beside her and let one of the pulsating jets work against his shoulder. “You haven’t begun to see decadent. But you will. I promise you that.”

“Promises, promises.”

“Do you doubt me?” he asked.

“If I say yes, will it get you to move faster?”

His body heated from inside out in a way that had nothing to do with the hot water and everything to do with Brianne. The urgency of their limited time together fueled with his burning desire combined to create a need so strong that it threatened to consume him. “Did I tell you what the beauty of this whirlpool is?”

She shook her head.

“It’s got a bench that reclines.” He followed his words with his body, moving over to her and easing her down until she rested in the molded seat, her neck and shoulders above the moving bubbles.

She let out a high-pitched laugh. “Water’s hitting me from every angle.”

He grinned. “Like it?”

She laughed once more, causing him to shake his head in dismay.

“What’s wrong?”

“I want you moaning, not giggling. You do realize I’m going to have to do something about that?”

She leaned back against the rounded headrest, her auburn hair floating on the water’s surface. Green eyes, as deep as the water’s hue, stared back at him, hungry with desire. “I was counting on it.”

He leaned over her and his lips came down on hers, the kiss prolonged and sweet. Heaven couldn’t feel as good, Jake thought, and slid his tongue inside for a more thorough taste. She let out a soft groan and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him on top of her and aligning their bodies in an intimate embrace.

His groin pulsed hard and ready against her bare skin, and her legs slipped open wide, letting him know she was just as ready as he. “One of these days we’re going to do this the right way.”

“And what would that be?”

“Me on top,” he muttered. The lack of strength in his shoulder hadn’t slowed him in many things, but making love to Brianne in that particular position had been a luxury denied him so far.

“Work out with me and I’m sure you’ll be ready in no time.” He couldn’t miss the challenging gleam in her eyes. “You know, the whirlpool will heat your shoulder well. We can fit in a session when we finish here.”

If she could think about working out, Jake figured he wasn’t doing his best to keep her distracted. He extended his hand, and she grasped it and rose to a sitting position. When they finished here, if she was in the mood for anything other than a warm bed and a good night’s sleep-tangled in his arms, of course-he’d eat his badge. Besides, she’d need a decent night’s rest to deal with tomorrow, he thought, then immediately pushed the troubling future aside.

With a gentle tug, he pulled her between his legs and seated her astride him on the submerged bench.

“Jake?” His name came out a gasp of surprise.

“Relax, honey.” He eased one arm around her waist to help her do just that. As she found a comfortable position, her behind pressed gently but insistently against his swelled erection. All his self-restraint went into staying in his seat and not entering her pliant, willing body.

She tensed against him. “You expect me to relax with you inches away from…”

“Yes. Relax and enjoy.” He spread his legs, and she went from sitting on top of him to sitting in the V of his thighs, his groin hot and hard against the small of her back.

“As if,” she muttered.

He chuckled and reached out to play with a few switches on the outside of the tub. Within seconds, the heated seat jets began to bubble away, forcing air upright from the seats into whatever lay directly above them.

From Brianne’s shocked gasp, Jake knew exactly where the spurts of air and water had found a home. She wriggled and tried to rise, but he held on tight to her small waist. “Just give it a chance, okay?”

“Okay,” Brianne said, but she had no idea how she’d survive it. The pulsating water was hitting her most sensitive, private flesh. And if that weren’t enough to drive her mad, she had Jake’s erection nudging her back, teasing her with what she couldn’t have, no matter how much her body thrummed with delicious, yearning need.

He moved slowly. His arms, no longer locked around her waist to keep her in place, now cradled her, while one palm splayed across her stomach, his fingertips inching downward until he covered her feminine mound with his hand.

She sucked in a startled breath when he dipped one fingertip into her aroused flesh and found the most incredible pressure point in her body. He began a steady stroking motion, each long, slick slide of his finger bringing her higher and higher, until her hips were jerking upward of their own accord, seeking release. Combined with the water jets pulsating against and inside her, her body took over her mind, the need and want so incredible and intense she thought she’d die if the waves stopped-and if they didn’t.

Without warning, he raised her higher, and she guessed his intent. Between the two of them, he managed to nudge his penis against her open, needy body. And as he slid her down on top of him, as she took him inside, she felt every hot inch filling her, every ridge of his velvet heat stretching her to accommodate the new but oh-so-incredible angle. Though she’d rather be facing him, looking into his eyes when they made love, ironically this position was intimate, too, more so because of the degree of trust it entailed.

She couldn’t see his face or watch his features, and had to believe, to trust, he felt as much as she did.

When his arms wrapped more solidly around her and his hands came up to cup her breasts fully and completely, in what felt more like an expression of possession than lust or sex, Brianne knew that he was engulfed by emotion as well.

And then he began to thrust upward, and it didn’t take long for him to lunge to his climax. One last thrust, and she let out a shuddering moan, feeling as if she were flying upward into the night sky.

Heaven only knows how many minutes passed until Brianne’s breathing returned to normal, and eventually she found the strength to climb off him and onto the whirlpool seat so she could cuddle in his waiting arms. She felt so safe there, it was hard to believe she’d spent the afternoon reminding herself of all the reasons he could jeopardize her future. Surely this man couldn’t-wouldn’t-harm her or her secure life in any way. In truth, she feared she was falling in love with him. Something that wasn’t planned and couldn’t last.

Her arms snaked tighter around his waist, harsh reality rising to surround her like the bubbles in the whirlpool. They’d been careless-not just with their time together, but by not using protection. Brianne understood why she’d allowed such an intimate act, because of how deeply she both trusted and cared for Jake. And it had been intimate and wondrous, feeling him inside her, no barriers between her body and his.

But it was foolish, anyway. They’d been acting as if they had their entire lives ahead of them instead of one short, blissful summer.

LOUIS SHOVED HIS HANDS into his jeans pockets. Staring up at the tall building, he wondered if the detective and his girlfriend were rocking the walls tonight. For Lowell’s sake, Louis hoped so, because it would be the last time. Once any woman had a taste of Louis, she’d never settle for a pig again.

He let out a harsh laugh and lit a cigarette, then shoved the lighter back into his pocket. Yeah, he’d have the redhead and the money that was coming in from his new dealer. The owners of The Eatery had been happy to go into business with him, operating out of both their uptown and downtown restaurants. Things had been going smoothly, too, until that damn girl and her boyfriend overdosed. Those drugs weren’t meant to kill, just to take them a little higher. Now he had Lowell on his back and a witness in the hospital. But if the cops hadn’t arrested him by now, they didn’t have a damn thing on him.

He shrugged. In the meantime, he was having a blast playing with the detective. Even if Lowell wasn’t already uptight and worried about his girlfriend, he would be soon. By tomorrow Lowell would think the only place the beautiful Brianne was safe was his high-rise security building. An illusion Louis couldn’t wait to shatter.

FROM YEARS of training, Brianne had developed an internal alarm that worked like a charm and an uncanny ability to hear her beeper, even in her sleep. Only, she wasn’t asleep when the pager went off, she was in the kitchen at seven a.m. pouring a glass of orange juice because she couldn’t sleep. Her bag with her beeper was in the living room where she’d dropped it earlier. Before she’d made love with Jake.