A Bridge to Love (4 page)

“Frank
let me pick the furniture for this room,” Randall said, as he poured two
glasses of wine from a decanter. “So you don't have to worry about scratching
the tables.”

Kate
laughed. “I have a great respect for varnished wood. I've done a lot of
wood-stripping in my own house.”

The
wineglasses were engulfed by Randall's hands as he carried them to where Kate
stood. He held hers a minute before handing it to her. “It's better slightly
warmed,” he commented.

Touching
his glass lightly to hers, he held her gaze over the rim of the glass as he
drank. Kate sipped the full red wine
. He
really is very good at building tension
, she decided. Based on their first
meeting, she realized she had been expecting a more direct approach.

“Come
and enjoy some fresh air,” he said, swinging open a door onto the stone patio
behind the house.

“I'll
have to get my shoes,” Kate said, starting toward the hallway with a wobble and
realizing that she needed to get some food in her stomach soon or she would
never be able to walk in those heels.

“No
need. Frank Peltier was a disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright.”

“He
put radiant heat under the outdoor patio?” she asked in amazement.

“He
wanted to make sure that it got the maximum use.”

Kate
tentatively stepped out onto the patio and then sighed with pleasure. The
stones were slightly rough under her stocking feet but they were the
temperature of bathwater. “Why don't you take
your
shoes off?” she suggested.

Randall
looked down at his wing tips and then back up at Kate with a smile that was
gone almost before she caught it. “Why not?” he said, untying his shoes and
dropping them by the door. She watched in fascination as he stood stock still,
his gaze focused on his sock-clad feet.

“It
feels good,” he announced, taking another drink of wine.

“You've
never walked out here in bare feet?” Kate asked incredulously.

“Despite
Frank's best intentions, I don't spend much time out here.”

“I
see.”

Kate
padded over to the waist-height wall along the edge of the patio, enjoying
every warm step of the way. The view of Manhattan was beautiful. She and David
had often admired it from both an architect’s and an engineer’s perspective.

She
shook her head at the memory. The small movement made her sway, and she looked
down at her wineglass to discover that it was almost empty. She decided to
leave it that way; she would need to keep her wits about her if she was going
to deal effectively with Randall Johnson. That reminded her of her mission, and
she tried to think of a seductive comment to move things along. She put the
wineglass down, tilted her head back and squinted at the distant lights,
racking her brain for a suggestive line.

Then
Randall's arm slid around her waist from behind. Evidently, he didn't need any
verbal suggestions to get things rolling.

He
moved closer to her back, and Kate felt him along the length of her body as the
wool of his jacket rubbed against her bare shoulder blades, and the cuffs of
his slacks brushed her ankles. She went very still. Instantly, Randall did the
same. Somehow Kate knew that he would stop now if she moved away. Her muscles tensed.

Then
the words of the horrible letter echoed through her brain:
We would be back in my now-empty bed… my body aches for you...

She
relaxed, leaned back against Randall's warm, strong body, and reveled in the
feel of him. He kissed her on the side of her neck, and when she felt his hand
splay across her stomach, bringing her even more tightly against him, she lost
all coherent thought.

She
reached up and back to weave her fingers into his hair as he moved his mouth
down to her shoulder. His other arm came around her and he ran his palm gently
up and over her breast. When she arched into his exploring hand, his fingers
found her nipple through the thin fabric of her dress. She gasped as his touch
sent a streak of sensation between her legs.

Feeling
him harden against her made her brave. She turned in his grasp and brought his
head down to hers with a confidence that astonished her. Winding her arms
around his neck, she traced the outline of those stern, masculine lips with her
tongue.

Randall
groaned but let her continue her exploration, moving his hands downward to pull
her even closer. Kate felt his thigh push against the vee of her legs, and she
moaned herself. Then his lips were hard and open on hers and his tongue was
inside her mouth. His hands cupped her buttocks and she felt herself being
lifted onto the stone wall behind her. The cold stone made her gasp in
exquisite surprise as it gritted against her bare thighs. She realized that her
skirt had slid up as he lifted her, and she spread her thighs as he brushed his
fingers between them.

“God,
Kate,” she heard him say and opened her eyes to see him gazing down at her
legs. He ran his finger slowly down one garter and then traced the top of her
stocking around to her inner thigh. As his finger moved upward, Kate's eyes
closed again and her head fell back against his supporting arm. When he pushed
under the teddy's lace crotch and gently touched her most sensitive spot, Kate
clutched his shoulders and pressed into his hand. He moved the thin strip of lace
aside and she could feel how wet she was as he slipped his finger inside her.
She arched into him more strongly, reveling in the motion and heat of his hand
against her. But she wanted more than his hand inside her. She reached for his
belt buckle and was surprised when Randall released her for a moment to turn
away.

She
heard the rip of foil and he was back between her legs, entering her at first
slowly and then as Kate moved with him, stroking fast and hard into her. He
skimmed one hand down between her legs and Kate exploded into orgasm, embracing
him with her spasms. She felt him withdraw and slide once more deep into her,
then felt the pumping of his own climax against her, as he groaned in wordless
pleasure.

Kate
allowed her head to fall forward onto his shoulder as she savored the
aftershocks of their joining. Her legs were locked around his waist and her
muscles were trembling in fatigue but she didn't want to let go. She felt a
tremor run through his arm and realized that he was holding her firmly away
from the far edge of the wall. When she glanced sideways she saw that both
wineglasses had smashed onto the rocks and tree roots below. She felt foolish
tears pricking at her eyelids at his protectiveness.

Randall
shifted slightly and brought one hand up to smooth her hair. Kate started to
lift her head to look at him and then realized that she had no idea what to
say. Now she understood why you were supposed to have dinner before you had sex
with a man: you would have something to talk about after orgasm. She shivered
as Randall kissed her softly behind her ear and then gently set her down on her
feet. He turned away to strip off the condom and then came back to put his arms
around her again. “You are an incredibly sexy woman.”

“Th-thank
you,” Kate stammered and, unbelievably, blushed. “I think you may have gotten
the wrong idea about me.”

She
felt Randall's arms tense but he looked down at her with a slight smile and
drawled, “You're not going to tell me that you didn't want to do that as much
as I did.”

“Probably
more,” Kate said.

Randall
threw his head back and gave a shout of laughter. “I love an honest woman.”

Kate
braced her hands against his chest and stared at his tie. “What I mean is that
I don't generally, um...” Kate couldn't decide what to call what they had just
done. “Have sex” seemed too vulgar, whereas she could hardly claim to have
“made love” to a man whom she had known for all of forty minutes. “I don't
generally do that,” she tried again, “with someone I've just met.”

Randall's
smile disappeared, along with his velvet drawl. “And you think I do?”

“Well,
yes,” Kate was surprised into saying.

Randall
withdrew the protection of his arms. “Thank you for that very flattering
evaluation of my character,” he said, stepping back. “I was about to apologize
for my unseemly haste, but I see you had low expectations.”

“No,
no, I don't mean it that way. I just assumed that being who you are, you
probably have lots of opportunities and that you might take advantage of
them....”

She
was met by cool silence.

“...occasionally...”
Kate knew that she was going from bad to worse.

She
was starting to feel chilly and wrapped her arms around herself. Randall handed
her his jacket with a sardonic glance. She slipped it over her shoulders and
felt guilty for enjoying the body heat that lingered inside.

Now
she wasn't sure what to say to him at all. Her inner muscles were still
rippling with a satisfaction that she found shocking but comforting.
I can still have great sex
, she thought
with some smugness.

“Thank
you,” she said again, more firmly, as she pulled her scattered thoughts
together. “That was... great.”

Randall's
lips twitched.

Briskly,
in her best social voice, she said, “I think that dinner would be an
anticlimax.” Then blushed as she caught her unintentional double entendre. “So
perhaps you would be so kind as to take me home now,” she finished sheepishly.

Randall's
mouth no longer held an amused curve. He leaned his hip against a stone-topped
table, crossed his ankles and folded his arms across his chest.

“What's
the catch?”

“The
catch?” Kate repeated.

“Why
are you here? What do you want now?”

“Actually,
I just want to go home.”

Randall
looked down at the ground and then back at Kate with a raised eyebrow. “So I
don't even have to buy you dinner?”

She
shook her head and shivered again. An absurd idea flitted across her mind.
Rich, powerful Randall Johnson was feeling used by average, ordinary Kate
Chilton.

As
she began to walk toward the door, Randall moved with the sudden spring of a
tiger and blocked her path. He took her by the shoulders and dropped his head
to kiss her so swiftly that Kate couldn't dodge him. With a slow and inexorable
pressure, he forced her head back so their bodies were locked together from
thigh to chest. In some distant corner of her mind, a small voice was urging
her to stop but when Randall slid his knee between hers, the voice became a
whimper as Kate melted against her tempter.

Randall
lifted his head and smiled gloatingly at his conquest. “I'll consider this
dessert,” he said, bending down to slide his arm behind her knees.

When
he picked her up, Kate expected him to take her to the stone table and deposit
her there, but instead he kicked open the door and carried her to the bedroom,
dropping her across the bed and following her down. He pinned her hands over
her head with one arm and slid his other hand down between her legs.

She
moaned when his finger flicked against her as he un-snapped the crotch of the
teddy, and she cried out with satisfaction as he slid his finger against the
damp folds of her skin and then inside her over and over again. She struggled
to free her arms so that she could reciprocate but he wouldn't loosen his grip.
Kate understood the message. He was controlling this encounter. She didn't
care.

He
released her arms to unbutton his shirt and throw it off. Then he unzipped the
bodice of her dress part way and pulled it down around her elbows. Kate ached
to run her hands over the dark hair of Randall's chest, but once again he had
trapped her arms. He practically drove her mad as he played with her already
aroused nipples. She completely lost control when he lowered his chest onto her
bare breasts and lightly brushed back and forth across them. Kate arched up to
meet him and he teased her by lifting himself up just beyond her reach. The
muscles in those marvelous arms were bunched in effort but still he wouldn't
relent. Finally, Kate opened her eyes to see him looking down at her, sweat
shining on his forehead and the anger in his eyes replaced by pure desire. “Are
you ready, Kate?”

“Oh,
yes!”

He
pulled away to fit on a condom and then lowered himself between her legs and
thrust into her in one fluid motion. Kate again arched up against him and he
stopped. She tried to move her hips but his weight was pinning her to the bed.
He was still punishing her so she fought back. She tightened her inner muscles
around him as hard as she could.

He
made a sound between a groan and a laugh and began moving again. Kate came in a
convulsion of sensation and sound. Then Randall drove into her and shouted his
own completion. He collapsed facedown beside her with his arm flung across her
breasts. He turned his head just enough to look at her. “Where did you learn
that trick?”

Kate
smiled as she considered telling him that it was a pregnancy exercise, then
decided against it. “In a brothel in Paris,” she said.

Randall
gave a bark of laughter. “I'm going to have to find that brothel.”