Crimson and Clover (11 page)

Katie recognized the tightly restrained tension in his voice; she’d heard it up close and personal earlier that afternoon and now it echoed in her own voice as she answered.

“I’ll be ready.”

“Good,” Jay replied. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay. ’Bye.” A wave of anticipation so intense it was almost painful coursed through her and she wondered if it was possible for the top of her head to literally explode.

The thought of her head brought her hands up to her tangled hair. Had he really said a half-hour?
Thirty minutes?
Dear God! Brought out of her trance, she tossed the food container in the bin and her glass in the sink, her mind whirling with all she had to do before Jay’s arrival. She’d showered, shaved and washed her hair that morning, so that part was covered. Just to be sure, she ran her hand up her legs checking for stray stubble. Nope, still smooth. Breathing a sigh of relief, she dashed into the bathroom where she twisted the hot water tap all the way on.

A flock of not butterflies, but pterodactyls, had set up residence in her stomach, but she managed to brush her teeth and give herself a sponge bath in record time. She checked her face in the mirror and was relieved to see her makeup was still intact for the most part. A few minor repairs and a brush dragged through her hair completed her ablutions and she hurried into her closet to dress.

She skidded to a halt in front of the rack of dresses and began pulling garments off the hangers, then tossing them aside as unworthy. How in the hell could she own so many clothes and still not have anything to wear? The rack was almost denuded when she caught sight of the black lace dress she and Maureen had designed together. It was what she had been wearing when she met Jay and she could still remember the appreciative look in his eyes as his gaze ran up and down her body. A little part of her mind spoke up, informing her that the long zipper in the back also made the dress easy to remove. The thought made her teeter on her feet for a moment, but she didn’t have time to waste on excessive excitement. The pounding of her heart was like the ticking of a clock, reminding her that Jay was getting closer with each passing minute.

She turned to the bureau for underwear and cursed under her breath at the realization that she’d again forgotten to buy black lace panties to wear with the dress. Handfuls of undergarments flew through the air as Katie scrounged through the drawer in search of panties that weren’t pink, flowered, or cotton. Her grasping hand finally closed over a pair made from a white material so sheer she could probably read the fine print of a loan agreement through them from fifty paces. She yanked them up over her hips before squirming into the dress.

As she twisted and contorted to pull the zipper up her back, she considered the shelf of footwear. Her hand automatically reached for her black boots, but stopped in midair. There was no good way to remove knee-high boots without looking as if she was in a fight to the death with an eel attached to her leg and that was not the picture she wished to present. She settled for a pair of black high-heeled fuck-me sandals, despite how cold it was. She was going to freeze to death in that dress anyway; why shouldn’t her toes join in on the fun?

By the time she’d thrown her toothbrush and a few makeup items into her purse twenty-five minutes had passed. She ran into the living room, turning off lights as she went. A quick look out the window showed no cars and no Jay, so she slowed a bit in order to double check that all the heaters in the flat were off. The stereo had gone silent long before, having played all the records she’d stacked on the turntable, and she switched off the power to the receiver. Too nervous to remain in the silent flat another second, she yanked on her coat, grabbed her purse and rushed out to the sidewalk.

After about twenty seconds outside, Katie began to fear frostbite. She glanced down at her toes to see if they were still attached since she couldn’t feel them anymore. The sound of an approaching motor made her look up in anticipation to see a shiny, sage-green Bentley making its way toward her.

“Wow,” she breathed, the word turning to vapor in the cold air. She should have known not to expect anything less of Jay. The big car came to a halt in front of her building and Jay climbed out.

“Hi, there,” she said, walking toward him.

He smiled and leaned against the car. “Hello, love.”

“Nice wheels.” She admired the Bentley up close and couldn’t resist running her hand over the roof.

A puzzled frown creased Jay’s forehead and he gave his car a startled look. “Really? They came with the car.”

Katie laughed and circled around to the front to get a better look. “It’s a T-series, right?”

“Ahhh … ” Jay trailed after her, looking lost. “I suppose so.”

“Custom paint? I’ve never seen this color before.” Katie bent down to examine the grille. “This is a really sharp ride.”

Jay laughed and walked around the car to the passenger side. “Katie, I promise; tomorrow you can look at it all you want. I’ll even let you drive it. But it’s bloody cold out here, so can we please get inside?”

“Sorry.” Katie grimaced in chagrin. “I just really love cars.”

“I can tell.” Jay smiled and reached for the door handle. Katie took her first good look at him and forgot all about his car.

The dark blue velvet suit looked smashing on him, paired with a satin shirt of blinding white. His black hair curled across his forehead and against his cheeks, and tumbled down over his shoulders. Combined with his clothes, it gave him the air of an Edwardian gentleman. A sudden vision of her tearing off his elegant clothes and throwing them aside flashed into her head and her breathing grew labored.

“You look quite nice yourself,” she murmured, cursing the color she felt flame in her cheeks.

Stopped in the act of opening the door, Jay turned to look at her. His gaze lingered for an instant on her flushed cheeks and a slow, beautiful smile curved his lips. “Why, thank you.”

The sight of that smile ignited a spark of desire that traveled like wildfire through her body, coming to rest between her legs where it raged uncontrolled. She yearned to throw herself into the car and spread her thighs for him in abandon and, at the same time, to clamp her legs together to contain the sensation.

Jay offered his hand to help her into the car and the warmth of his fingers closing over her icy ones gave Katie a jolt. Her breath caught as he pressed her hand to his mouth and the brief flick of his tongue against her skin made every muscle in her body go weak. She knew she had to get inside the car before she ripped her dress off, urging him to take her right there in the gutter, and she dived into the front seat.

The warm air coming from the heating vents on the floor hit her frozen feet like a benediction and Katie sighed in bliss, wiggling her toes. Jay slid into the driver’s seat and turned the heat up another notch. Katie ran her hand over the butter-soft cream leather seats and eyed the armrests between them with disfavor.

“Bucket seats? You mean I have to sit way over here by myself?” She caught her breath as the full intensity of those hazel eyes turned her way.

“Unfortunately,” he murmured, “they also came with the car.”

“I think I’ll have to buy you something with a bench seat,” she whispered.

One side of Jay’s mouth quirked in a half-smile. “Do you think you could find one immediately?”

“It would probably take longer to find another car than it would for you to put this thing in gear and drive us to your house.”

“You make a very good point,” Jay conceded. But instead of reaching for the gearshift, he slid a hand behind Katie’s head and pulled her forward into a kiss so passionate, so steamy and so full of promise that she thawed out from the top of her head to her now-toasty feet.

Quivering with anticipation, Katie stared through the windscreen as Jay drove them toward St. John’s Wood. He drove like a maniac, darting in and out of traffic and going much faster than the posted speed limit. As a result, the lights of London looked like a carnival as they flashed by, blazes of color that appeared and disappeared with dizzying speed. It was all Katie could do to keep her foot from slamming on an imaginary brake pedal every five seconds, so she abandoned the view of London for one of Jay, which was much more satisfactory.

The curve of his jaw seemed so heartbreakingly beautiful to her, the point where it met his ear just begging to be kissed. She sent strings of mental curses toward the armrests for blocking her access and shifted in her seat in discomfort.

The warm air from the heater crept up her legs and caressed her thighs. Still blazing from his kiss, Katie needed no help in the heat department and unbuttoned her coat, flapping the lapels to create a breeze.

“Bit warm in here, isn’t it?” Jay’s voice cut into her thoughts as he turned down the heat. “Worth it, though, if it gets you to open that coat.”

Katie’s eyebrows arched in question and Jay grinned.

“I do love the way that dress looks on you,” he explained.

With a decisive swipe, she shoved the armrests back and slid into the well between the seats, ignoring the painful way it pinched her thigh.

Jay glanced down at her before returning his attention to the road. “Isn’t that uncomfortable?”

“Yes,” Katie replied before pressing her lips to that tempting place just below his ear. A tremor ran through him at her touch and his left arm slid around her shoulders, pressing her closer. “You smell so good,” she murmured.

She felt his lips brush through her hair. “So do you,” he whispered. “Like jasmine.”

“Mm.” Katie nibbled on his earlobe and felt him shift in his seat. “You smell like … heaven.” Her fingers stroked the skin of his neck revealed by the open collar of his shirt, and then began to trail down his chest. “Are we almost there?”

“Almost,” he said, his voice strained.

“Good.” Katie let her hand fall with a deliberate motion onto his velvet-covered crotch, her fingers tracing the outline of his growing erection.

Jay drew in a deep breath through his nose and the pressure of his arm around her shoulders turned crushing. “And to think,” he choked out, “you wouldn’t touch me earlier today.”

“I told you why.” Katie kissed his temple and felt the rapid beat of his pulse under her lips. “But now I don’t have to stop at just touching.”

The car came to a sudden halt and Katie looked up to see the looming exterior of Jay’s house. It was a quick view as Jay turned to her and captured her mouth with his. What would have been a scorching kiss was interrupted by his elbow pressing against the steering wheel. The loud blast of the horn made them draw apart in surprise. The wry look on Jay’s face made her laugh.

“Damned car,” he muttered, his hand skimming over the door. Locating the handle, he jerked it open and scrambled out.

Katie took his proffered hand to follow him, but paused to turn off the car and remove the keys from the ignition. She handed them to him as she gained her feet. “You might need these.”

“Probably.” He stuffed the keys into his jacket pocket before wrapping his arms around her and continuing the kiss he’d started in the car.

They executed an awkward stumble toward the front door, lips still joined, and Katie’s fingers busy opening the buttons of his shirt. Jay groped in his pocket for the keys he’d just placed there and succeeding only in dropping them to the concrete of the porch.

“Fuck,” he muttered against Katie’s lips.

“Okay.” She tightened her arms around his neck and kissed him again.

With a soft laugh, Jay bent down to retrieve the keys. Instead of standing up, he pressed his face to Katie’s lace-clad stomach and groaned. His free hand slid up the back of her thigh, coming to rest on the cheek of her ass.

Katie buried her hands in his hair and threw her head back in ecstasy as he eased his hand under her panties, his chilled fingers stroking the skin of her buttock. “Damn, Jay. Open the door.”

Leaving his hand where it was, Jay stood and rammed the key into the lock, opening it with a quick twist of his wrist. They stumbled into the house and once again Katie had to rescue the keys Jay left behind. She yanked them from the lock and let them fall to the floor as Jay pushed her coat from her shoulders. Shrugging out of it, she performed the same action on his jacket as he slammed the door shut and pulled her toward the stairs.

By the time they’d reached the top a litter of coats and shoes decorated the staircase and Katie was working on the buckle of Jay’s belt. They staggered into his bedroom and he kicked the door closed with his heel, pulling her toward the bed.

Katie felt the long zipper at her back slide down and she pushed Jay onto the bed, panting. “Me first,” she told him and straddled his prone body to finish the job of unbuttoning his shirt.

Jay pulled her head down to his, running his hands through her hair with a touch as gentle as his kiss was intense. Katie groaned against his lips and felt the last button of his shirt open. She spread the fabric wide and ran her hands up his chest, surprised at the feel of his hair; she’d expected it to be crisp, but was delighted to discover it was almost as soft as the hair on his head. Her thumbs slid over his nipples in a slow caress and Jay arched his back, rolling his head. The movement brought into sharp relief the angle of his jaw and the tempting lines of his neck. Katie trailed her lips over it, her thumbs still teasing his sensitive flesh. His skin was warm against her mouth as she licked and nibbled and she felt his hands in her hair, spreading the long mass of it over his face and arms.

Moving her lips down to his chest, she nuzzled her face in it, breathing in the scent of his body, filling her lungs with him until she was dizzy, drunk from the intoxicating smell of him. She closed her lips over his erect nipple and felt the resultant tremor of Jay’s body.

A convulsive jerk of his hands pulled her hair and she made a small sound of discomfort. The grip of his fingers relaxed. “I’m sorry,” he breathed.

She didn’t move her lips, but let her voice vibrate against that sensitive bit of his flesh as she replied. “’s okay.”