Strictly Business (16 page)

“
Omelets coming up.” He turned from the stove, nodding for her to start without him. “These I can handle.”

“Can I help?”

“Let’s see…” He took a small cutting board loaded with mushrooms and a knife and placed them next to her. “Think you can handle it?”

She
saluted him playfully and started cutting.

“Be careful, that knife is sharp. I don’t want any fingers in my
omelets.” He placed his palms on her shoulders and peered over her.

“I’d have you know that I handle sharper instruments on a daily basis.”

She looked up into his teasing azure gaze, and the tenderness she saw arrested her. He lean in and scrubbed his lips across her temple.

“Well, remember that these are
mushrooms you’re cutting up. Not gallbladders.”

“Ha, ha,”
she mocked, trying to settle the butterflies in her stomach. She studied him as he turned back to the counter.

“What made you decide to become a malpractice attorney?”
she asked spontaneously then realized she was very curious about his answer.

He
picked up his coffee and took a long sip, eyeing her over the rim of his mug. He was still for so long that Nina wasn’t sure he’d respond.

“My Aunt Bev was misdiagnosed by her family physician. She had stomach cancer and it went undiagnosed for a long time. By the time they found it
, it was too late, and she died a few months later. The end was unbearable. She suffered greatly. Death was a welcomed relief.”

Nina stared ac
ross the table at him, “I’m sorry. That must have been very difficult for you and your family.”

“It was. We were very close.”

“How old were you?”

“Eighteen. After that I decided that no one should suffer the way she did. I wanted to make physicians accountable for their
actions.”

She
studied him. She finally understood some of the passion behind his work, the edge that was always present when he talked about justice and retribution. “You know, not all physicians are quacks,” she said finally.

He
held her gaze intently. “And not all lawyers are shysters.”

They ate in a companionable silence.
When they were done Nina helped him clean the dishes and tidy the kitchen. She couldn’t help but notice Wade’s lingering glances. She’d gone to bed in a tank top and sweat pants. The top, she noticed now, left a belt of exposed skin above the sweats riding her hips. Every inadvertent brush of skin, body bump, or shared smile had her resolve melting. She had to remind herself of his deceit, his pretense of caring for her,
and
his philandering which was really no concern of hers. She had to get a mental grip on her desire for him because her body didn’t seem to care a damn about those indiscretions.

CHAPTER  EIGHT

The next morning Nina awoke early
, showered and got dressed. She’d spent the entire night chasing sleep and having it evade her. The thought of Wade sleeping just across the hall sent her brain into a sensual frenzy. All night long she conjured images of his warm muscular body entwined between the sheets. He didn’t strike her as the flannel pajamas type; she wondered if he slept in boxers, briefs or just plain in the buff. Those thoughts worried her mind all night long and wreaked havoc with her senses. Finally she’d thrown off the covers, discarded her sweatpants, tank top, and damp panties and taken a long cold shower.

She
was sitting on the living room couch reading the paper when he ambled in.

“What are you doing up so early?”
he asked. He dropped his weight into a leather armchair.

She
placed the paper that was shielding her face on the couch and she had to stifle a groan. Wade was wearing a thick terry bathrobe that was tied loosely around his waist. He looked gorgeous with his sleep rumpled dark locks and a shadow of growth on his jaw. His legs were stretched out lazily in front of him, and the bathrobe was parted in a wide V at the top and at the bottom. The top V stopped just above the wide belt exposing a smooth brawny chest while the bottom opened and draped around a hairy muscular thigh.

Nina
chewed her bottom lip. She wondered if there was anything covering him underneath. Besides, the bathrobe looked like its careless knot was about to unravel—like her nerves! A pang of desire twisted deep inside her as he shifted in the seat and yawned lazily, causing the bottom slit to ride up a little higher on his thigh. She immediately snatched up the paper and positioned it so that it blocked her view of him.

“What are you doing up?”
he asked again when she didn’t answer him.

“I had some trouble sleeping,
”  she answered truthfully.

“Me too,
” he said, and she thought she detected some teasing in his voice.

“You know, sleeping i
n a strange bed,” she clarified sharply.

“Yeah, you can get pretty hot in that bed.”

“Pa..pardon?” she asked from behind the paper.

“The room. It can get pretty hot sometimes.
Let me know if it’s not comfortable.”

“Oh
...the temperature was fine.”

“What are you reading?”
he asked, laughter tainting his voice.

She looked up and groaned in frustration as she
followed his gaze to the upside down paper clutched in her hands.
Really?
She folded it and was greeted by his tantalizing ear to ear grin.

“
Funny.”

He
shrugged and issued a deep rolling laugh. His gaze lingered on her puckered nipples. They were poking a hole through her tank top. “What’s the matter? You seem a little…tense.”

“Nothing.” Nina shook her head
, but she couldn’t stop her gaze from traveled to his bathrobe. Wade’s gaze followed hers and he laughed louder.

“
I guess you’re wondering what I’m wearing under here.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Humm…lets see.” He stood and looked genuinely perplexed. He grabbed the lapels of his bathrobe and pulled them away from his body, looking down inside the robe. “It was pretty hot last night. Shit, I think I forgot my jammies…
and
my undies!” he announced in mock horror.

Nina felt butterflies fluttering in her belly and she tried to settle them.
She was sure her cheeks were burnished red. Wade was obviously baiting her, testing her aplomb. He enjoyed getting a rise out of her and it was making her piqued.

“Well,”
he said puckishly, “I guess there’s only one way to be certain.”

His
long fingers moved to the loose knot on the belt of his bathrobe, and she gasped.

“No!”

Wade shot her a devilish grin and tugged on one end of the band, causing the knot to release and the front of the bathrobe to draw open like a curtain. She sucked in a deep breath. His thundering laughter filled the room as she stared open-mouth at the boxers covering his hips.

She was so exasperated and annoyed by his prank and his laughter that she boiled with testy indignation.
She’d show him!
The only thought that seeded in her mind was one of retaliation. Impetuously she rose from the couch, marched over to him, grabbed a fist full of material on either side of his thighs and abruptly yanked the boxers down. She heard his sharp intake of breath and she smiled triumphantly.

“Who’s laughing now?” She
snickered and walked away.

She
retreated about two steps before he grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. She wanted to shut her eyes, but his animal gaze hypnotized and immobilized her. He was no longer laughing. Her gaze slid down his body, rolling over the curvature of his pecs, the boxy definition of his abdomen and lower to the curly spirals of dark hair that matted his groin. Her eyes widened as she absorbed the full view of his engorged member jutting out from the dark thatch of hair. His cock was long and thick and veiny, extending to a smoothed bulbous crown that was pulled taut.

The sight of him was
wreaking havoc inside her and his thick rod was growing larger with the caress of her gaze. Wade took her hand and guided it towards his erection, moaning deeply when she wrapped two fingers around the bulging head and squeezed, expressing a clear droplet of fluid. His shaft jerked hard against his abdomen as she raked her nails lightly against the underside of his heavy testicles. Breaths disappeared in his chest and his hips lurched forward. She enjoyed the feel of her fingers wrapped around his impressive length. Her touch whispered over him, and she loved the soft moans and the deep grunts that shot from his throat.

“Nina…”
He grounded out her name and pulled her hard against him. He captured her lips hungrily and ravished the sweetness of her mouth. His tongue was hot, demanding and relentless. It plowed inside in blatant exploration, and she opened to allow him in.

Wade’s long fingers spread around her buttocks
and pinned her to him as he grounded his shaft eagerly against her. There was no thought of gentleness as his wild need for her was unleashed. He’d spent too many hours wanting her, unfulfilled. He’d also been twisting and turning all night with restless desire. He took like a starved man who’d never tasted sweetness.

She
moaned against his mouth and shifted eagerly, tilting her hips forward so that the hard ridge of his shaft was wedged against the sensitive flesh between her legs. She rode against him wantonly.

She couldn’t stop the waves of pleasure pulsing through her.
Her fingers combed through his hair and down his back as he lifted her and she wrapped her long legs around his hips, clinging desperately to him. She could feel the scorching heat of his cock through her thin shorts as he bent his knees and circled his hips against her again and again.

“
Oh God, Nina!”
he rushed out against her neck. “If we don’t stop—”

His words were drowned in his throat as she
captured his mouth, biting and sucking greedily, moaning and gasping his name as she rocked against him; her release was a blinding storm about to race through her.

“Need you!” s
he gasped.

He
pulled away slightly, his chest heaving with each staccato breath. He searched her face.

“Nina, are you sure? Are you retracting our agreement?”

Even as he asked the words he was already carrying her towards his bed. His boxers fell somewhere along the hall he practically ran down, and he impatiently kicked them aside. She still had her legs wrapped around him in a death grip, and her hips humped wildly against his straining cock. They had just made it through the threshold of his room when she stiffened and arched against him, crying out in ecstasy as her orgasm exploded through her in blinding waves of heat. She was barely aware of her nails digging into his neck.

“Shit! Shit!
Shit…” Wade gasped. He was having great difficulty trying to hold Nina’s writhing frame. He lowered her onto his large bed and pried her arms from his neck. His bathrobe flew across the room.

Swiftly he
dragged her wet shorts down her shapely legs and spread her so he could observe her weeping sex. Her hips were still undulating as spasms washed through her. She was beautiful. He lowered his head and dragged his tongue along her wet cleft. She flexed her back and choked out a long moan.

“
Oh God! Need you…
”

He
climbed up her body and turned her head towards him. His palms cradled her face. He looked into her lust filled emerald eyes, and his heart tightened in his chest. His fingers trembled with his desire and his feelings for her.

“
You’re beautiful…” he whispered as he lowered his mouth to hers, feeling the velvety slide of her tongue and swallowing her delicious moans.

A heady rush consumed him. His balls were drawn tight against his body and his cock ached to be inside her. His leaking fluids made him slippery against her hip. With a rumbling sound of
need he rose above her, almost sighing when her legs parted for him. He dipped a finger into her slit, testing and rubbing her moisture against her straining nub. She whispered something inaudible, and he positioned his tip against her beckoning entrance. With a strained shout he entered her to the hilt with one swift thrust of his hips.

Nina expelled a shocked breath. Wa
de was so large and unyielding that she needed a moment to adjust to his size and fullness. He was a potent throb inside her, hot and insistent. He held himself still above her, his large body braced on his elbows. She could feel the small tremors wrack him as he struggled for control. His woodsy scent surrounded her as his taut muscles slid against her heated flesh. Slowly he began to move inside her, and she gasped at the delicious currents that rippled along her nerve endings. Her channel was stretched tight around him, but their combined fluids allowed a smooth slick sensuous glide.

“God, you feel good,” he whispered huskily, increasing his pace. “Don’t think I
can…last...long.”

Her
hips rose up to meet every deep thrust. She whimpered, feeling the loss when he pulled all the way out, but shivered at the sizzling heat when he powered into her. Soon his rhythm became urgent, his hips rocking and tilting in a mad frenzy. She became lightheaded with the pleasure, feeling it roll through her body all the way to her fingertips. He rucked up her tee shirt and closed his mouth over her rigid nipple, the hot suction sharpening her sizzling senses. She threw her head back, her eyes squeezed tight, and her lips parted as Wade continued to strum her desire; her quick breaths and choppy groans confirmed she was close to shattering.

“
Look at me, Nina!”

She
heard him, but was so lost in sensation that it took a second issue of the throaty command and a modicum of effort for her obedience. She found herself staring into the deepest depths of his eyes and melting inside from the passion she saw there. Their connection was electric, and he held her gaze, forbidding her to look away.

His face was warped with pleasure, his body slick and sheeted with sweat. The loud slapping of their bodies was an erotic melody filling her ears. He reached down with one hand and braced her hips tightly to him, pleasuring her with fast hard thrusts. His hot shaft stretched and filled her, pounding into her clutching softness, giving pleasure that was mind-numbing. She arched beneath him, her eyes unblinking and captive. A keening wail started in her throat.

“
Wade!”

“
Yes! Yes! come for me…my sweet, sweet, Nina!”

She
exploded then, the breathy command of his voice, the penetrating gaze that seem to brand her soul, and the raw tantalizing heat between her legs shattered her body into sharp points of rapture. She had to look away; the intense waves of pleasure gripped her, furling through her again and again. She fisted the sheets, vaguely aware of Wade above her. He roared his release with powerful jerks of his body as his cock thickened and flooded her with spurting pools of warmth. He continued to move languidly inside her, greedily extracting every spasm and fission of pleasure.

He burrowed his nose in her hair and sighed.
“Am I too heavy for you?”

She
shook her head, not sure she could speak. She was crushed beneath his broad body, but loved being so saturated with his aura and warmth. She didn’t want to fracture the magical spell that cocooned them. He rose up on his elbow and shifted to her side; they were still lying askew, near the bottom of the bed where he’d hastily deposited her. He motioned her further up unto the mattress and snuggled close behind her, hooking a muscled thigh over her warm hip. She felt exhaustion creep over her and closed her eyes to allow it to claim her.

Wade
sprinkled slow kisses over her temple and jaw. He was so overwhelmed by the woman in his arms that he mindlessly murmured endearing words against her ear. The confession of love slipped from his lips before he could curb it, and he stilled instantly. It had definitely been loud and coherent enough for her to hear.