Caress (25 page)

She looked into his eyes and he was nearly undone by the look of raw desire in those beautiful, cat-like eyes. But this wasn’t just some woman he had a passing attraction to. This was Nya. He didn’t want her to regret anything when she woke in the morning. And so he steadied the hands that itched to explore her further. He managed a strained smile and spoke to her softly, “I don’t know what to do.” On her mouth, he saw a hint of a smile flash. He smiled himself, thinking of what he’d said and then he shook his head as if clearing it. “What I mean is that I don’t know if you want… what I want.”

Nya rose to press her full, luscious lips to his. It was his undoing.

He grasped her to him tightly as if to stop her from changing her mind, then kissed her with all the passion that she had stirred in him over the past few months. His strong lips plundered hers as their hot tongues sparred with each other. When they had kissed in the garden so many days ago, it had been tentative, exploratory, and gentle. This kiss was strong, demanding, and urgent. It ignited a burning desire that raged through them both.

A desire that seemed impossible to quench. His kiss was deep as they struggled to move closer to each other. It was not enough. The hot mimicking of their tongues couldn’t satisfy the heat growing between them. Frantically, Michael’s hands moved to locate the hem of the offensive garment that was impeding his ability to touch this seductive angel before him. Unable to budge the slippery thing, he pulled down the lacy top of it to capture in his mouth the soft, brown globe that he had only fantasized about. Nya’s eyes, which had been closed, flew open with the intense shock of pleasure that moved through her. With her eyes open, she saw him at her breast and could feel the tension reaching incomprehensible levels as the sight was more erotic than anything she’d ever seen. Roughly, his lips moved away from the soft mound and went searching for the other. It was difficult to free them both with the slip holding true. Michael uttered a soft curse. “Please, take this damn thing off,” he said as he trailed soft, heat-filled kisses from her temple to her neck where he nibbled teasingly. The silky command sent shivers up her spine and Nya couldn’t think of anything but complying. She reached down and started to pull the thing over her head when suddenly, inexplicably, she had a jolt of shyness. She turned her face from his as he continued his torturing ministrations at her neck. After a moment, he stopped nuzzling her jugular and looked up.

“What’s wrong?” he asked and Nya looked at his eyes seeing that they seemed even darker than black as they drenched in passion.

“Nothing,” she replied bashfully.

Michael looked down at her and her full lips made even fuller by his kisses. “Am I going too fast for you?” Concern and bridled desire strained his voice.

Still having trouble speaking, Nya nodded her head and offered, “I-I don’t do this very often.”

Michael smiled and shifted so that Nya could lay her head on his chest. “You may not believe this, considering my dashing good looks, but I don’t do this as often as you’re probably thinking.” Nya laughed lightly, half from his joke and half from being startled at his ability to read her thoughts. He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and squeezed her. “I don’t want to pressure you into anything, Nya. We can stay this way, holding each other, as long as you want.” Slowly, tentatively, Nya slipped her arms around his back and let him hold her there silently for a moment. She didn’t know how to explain the feeling of belonging that washed over her. She truly felt she was home in those arms. Her chest constricted with that thought and she held Michael even tighter, pressing her hot face into his solid warmth. And though he had said that they could stay that way, holding each other, Nya could feel the testimony of his desire beneath her. And shy as she felt, she knew by the hot, welling moisture within her that she wanted him just as much. She raised her head and looked up into his eyes and captured his lips for another heart-stopping kiss. Beneath her she felt him leap at this slightest action and she pressed herself even closer to him, drugged by her own ability to cause that strong a reaction within him.

Tearing his lips from her, Michael groaned roughly, “Nya, I’m going to tell you this. I’ve tried to be chivalrous, but when you kiss a man like that, there is no way that he can—” With that he cut his words short and stole her breath with his fiery passion. He had waited for this woman for so long. As he kissed her, every conscious thought fled away. Michael slid his hand up the satiny softness of the inside of her thigh. Then his deft fingers moved even higher to seek out the moist center of her desire. The tingling, burning sensation that shot to the very core of her made her writhe. The pleasure he gave her with every stroke was unbelievable.

Michael sucked in his own breath and admitted, “I don’t know how long I can hold back. You are beautiful and so soft and so hot and so wet.” Michael rolled her onto her back so that he was above her, his thighs parting hers. Again, he pulled the slip down to reveal a luscious mound and seized it with his lips and gentle teeth. His fingers and mouth still giving her more pleasure than she had ever known, Nya writhed beneath him, reaching for that elusive relief.

“Good morning,” Michael greeted her without turning around. He was standing at the stove in her kitchen. “How are you feeling?”

“Better.”

“Good. A detective called earlier this morning. They haven’t found the guy yet but they say they think they’ve ID’d the car. He and another officer will be here around one to talk to you. How do you like your eggs?”

“Scrambled,” she said as she considered what he had said.

“Hard or soft?”

She looked up at him for a moment without answering, her breath held. Images of the night before and actions fitting both descriptions invaded her calm. He turned with spatula in hand. “Soft,” she replied and he turned to the stove again with only a hint of a smirk.

“Well,” he began. “Before they get here, I’d like to ask you a couple of questions.” She didn’t respond. “If that’s okay?”

“Sure,” she said slowly. “That’s fine.”

“But my questions can wait. You go shower and change. Breakfast, or should I say brunch, won’t be ready for a little while anyway.” He looked over his shoulder at her and smiled. It was the smile she felt to the pit of her stomach every time she saw it. Those straight white teeth in his dark handsome face. She found herself returning it shyly.

In a daze Nya agreed and headed up the stairs. In the shower, she couldn’t think of anything but the sight of Michael Harrison, in her kitchen, cooking for her which sent a tingle through her entire body. And she remembered that one instant, that one moment when their eyes locked as she lay weak and seeking comfort. He hadn’t taken advantage of her, had in fact given her a chance to say no. Nya sighed. The man was in her blood now. She couldn’t deny it anymore. Last night had been the most beautiful and sensual experience of her life, but even that was eclipsed by the way Michael Harrison took care of her, was there for her, supported her.

Sadly, the unpleasant events from the night before began to crash in on her musings. Michael confronting her father on her behalf, discovering that Michael had been telling the truth about Elphonse all along, and then the car that had missed her only by inches. She couldn’t figure it out. What was going on? Hatsheput, and especially Nya herself, were apparently the center of something major, but what? She finished showering, still trying to put everything into context.

She entered the kitchen to see her plate already fixed and Michael loading her dishwasher. She sat waiting for him to join her at the table and began, tentatively, to eat. She didn’t realize how hungry she was until she tasted the first delicious morsel and felt her stomach rumble in appreciation.

“This is delicious,” she said to him as he joined her at the table. “Who taught you how to cook?

Michael toyed with the eggs on his plate, pondering her question. “My mother was the best cook you ever laid eyes on, and when I was very small and my father was still living, I would watch her Sunday mornings when she always cooked us a big breakfast then put dinner on. It was like a ritual for her. Everything was always done with so much care, even down to when she would spread out the flour to roll out the biscuit dough. She never really said much, especially when she cooked, just hummed something like “Go Tell It On the Mountain” or “Joshua Fought the Battle” and went about her business. Even after my father passed, she kept Sundays for us. I guess it was how she showed she cared. As I said, she never really said much.” Nya watched the way he studied his plate almost shyly as he spoke. “Anyway, when I was older and Claude was off at school, I took care of that for us: me, Darryn, and my sister Kimberly. I don’t know, I guess I cook for people out of habit.” And out of love. It wasn’t necessary that the latter be said, they both sensed it in their hearts.

“Me, too,” Nya responded. Then she felt that she should make her own confession. “Michael,” she ventured, staring down at her own plate, “I believe you.” She sucked in her breath.

She felt rather than saw him look up at her, “What do you mean?”

“I mean that I believe you about Elphonse. I didn’t want to see it before—he’s been through so much you don’t know about—but I know he deliberately mislead you for the article. And I believe there is more to this than I have been willing to admit.” Michael sat silently, still appearing a little taken aback. She plunged ahead. “I wish I could say that I simply came to believe you of my own volition, but that isn’t the way it happened. He and I are so close, you know. I heard you and him talking last night at the event. That’s when I left. I just didn’t think I could handle anything else. But I guess the night was still young.” She smiled ruefully.

“Nya, you know I have been waiting anxiously for the moment when you would believe me. I feel like he’s the only thing that’s come between us, you know. But this was not the way I wanted it to happen. Last night, Elphonse did tell me that he never meant to hurt you and that he cared about you. I have to admit, I believed him.”

Nya felt a shiver go through her, not knowing how to feel. “If he cared, would he have done it?”

“I can’t answer that question. Look, do you remember Detective Laymon from last night?”

“Yeah, your friend.”

“Yeah, he’s a retired FBI agent. The guy knows his stuff and he still has connections. I asked him to look into Deklerk a few weeks ago. Early this morning, he called with some information. Information I’m sure you already have. I know why you can’t believe he would work with Mandolesi.”

Nya stopped eating and rubbed a hand over her face.

“You have to tell me everything you know, everything you’ve been holding back about him.”

She turned her glistening eyes to Michael, who waited patiently. Her shoulders hung in defeat. “I thought I knew him, but I don’t. Not anymore.”

“Nya, just tell me what happened. How do you know Rinaldo Mandolesi?”

“We all know Rinaldo.” She puffed out a strained breath. Just saying the name made her shudder with fear and anger. “And he knows us. His decision to use Art Sentries as a front was completely personal.”

“Personal?” Michael asked.

Nya closed her eyes and nodded. “It’s important that I tell you, Michael. It’s just hard,” she confessed in a low, hoarse voice.

“Take your time, sweetheart. I’m here.” He reached out and took her shaking hands in his.

Nya swallowed before she made eye contact once more. “First, I should say that you can’t really judge him by the way he is now.”

“Mandolesi or Deklerk?”

“Elphonse. He’s nothing like he used to be. He’s undergone a lot of changes in the past few years. When we were kids, he was wild and fun, I mean crazy. You should have seen him. There was nothing he couldn’t do, nothing he wouldn’t do. When we were younger, it was all very exciting, you know. You wouldn’t believe the things he got me into,” she said with a rueful smile. “He was so cool and so free with his long dreads and wild clothes.”

Michael raised a skeptical brow to that.

“No, really. And we all loved him for it. But as we got older, he started getting into a lot more stuff and a whole lot more trouble. He was unpredictable and… and…”

“Angry?”

“No.” She smiled. “No, he was never angry. He was invincible, and he always believed he was the exception to any rule.”

“He was spoiled?”

“Maybe. I think my father may have had a hand in that, you know.” Nya felt a reassuring squeeze of her hand. “Anyway, we were all worried that he’d either be in jail or dead if he kept on. His mother tried to tell him. I tried to tell him. My father tried to tell him. But no matter what we did, he wasn’t hearing it. He decided not to go to college right after high school. He didn’t get a job right away, either, but he had a swank condo, fast cars, and I noticed that when he took us ladies out, he did it up. You know, grandstanding. In every club he was a VIP. In every exotic boutique, he was the guy who shut it down for us to shop.”

“I can’t imagine you being into that sort of thing.”

“I was a kid.” Nya shrugged. “Anyway, Lysette and I went off to school. Jenine was working in the Atlanta office, and El met Dina. I swear they must have fallen in love at first sight because one minute he was telling me about meeting her, the next he was saying he wanted to marry her. Unfortunately for him, she had already been branded, by Rinaldo Mandolesi.”