Garden of Dreams (36 page)

The taxi rolled down a drive carved from a jungle. Nina gaped at the lantern-lit trees, hanging baskets, and flowering vines. Surely they'd found Eden.

Instead of the glare and blare of a casino when they entered the hotel, they walked through a tropical garden of calling birds and trickling water. Utterly fascinated by the lush greenery, Nina scarcely heard JD as he arranged for a room and picked up the card key. Soft music played from a nearby lounge. People wandered jungle paths in every direction. It was too surreal to comprehend in her current condition.

They took another path out of the main stream of traffic, into a quieter world. The music and the jungle fell behind them. JD pushed open a glass door, and they entered a new scene, this one of moonlight and fresh air, emerald lawns and garden beds.

“Better?” JD murmured, swinging her hand while she took in the view.

“Much better,” she sighed. “Thank you. It's perfect.”

“A real oasis,” he agreed. “Are you sorry all those coins didn't turn to riches?”

Nina didn't think it was her winnings he questioned. He'd converted them into a neat stack of twenties for her. It didn't cover the price of her vacation, but it came close. But what was bothering JD went beyond money.

She smiled and wrapped both hands around his arm. “I'm not sorry about anything.”

“Good.” He pressed a kiss to her hair and stepped into the moonlight.

They said nothing more as they followed the path to patio doors overlooking the garden. Nina bit her trembling lip as JD unlocked the door with his card. This was it then. She couldn't turn back now.

She didn't want to turn back now.

He made it so incredibly easy. He closed and locked the door, slipped the key in his pocket, and pulled her into his arms. It was that simple.

Nina closed her eyes and drank in the bliss of JD's mouth pressed to hers. Her lips parted, and she tasted the champagne and chocolate they'd eaten last. Her arms found a natural perch around his shoulders. Her fingers pulled at his long hair. Her hips cradled in the heat of his without once flinching at the pressure there.

Her useless gown slid to the floor, and she merely stepped out of it along with her shoes. She hadn't worn stockings. Thanks to JD, she didn't wear her bra or panties for long either.

The bed had already been turned down. Chilly linen caressed Nina's back as JD lowered her across the mattress. He hadn't pulled the light-concealing draperies, and moonlight shimmering through the sheers illuminated his bronzed shoulders as his shirt joined her dress on the floor. Again, she thought him the most handsome man in the world. He wasn't pretty. He wasn't even good-looking. But she loved the character of his sharp nose and jutting chin, loved the way his dark eyes gleamed when he looked at her, loved the way his muscles rippled beneath the dusky whorls of hair as he discarded the rest of his clothing.

She thought she'd be frightened when he came to her naked, but she wasn't. Excited, definitely. Nervous, a little. But not frightened. JD kissed her lips and cuddled her breast, and it all seemed as natural as rain on a spring day.

They didn't say much. They would only have argued if they had tried, as they had argued off and on all evening. Nina knew JD still expected her to leave. She didn't know what kind of women he'd known in the past who would leave him without a fight, but she wasn't one of them. He wouldn't accept that. Couldn't, maybe.

She figured he thought of this as a one-night stand, a casual encounter they both needed to slake their lusts. She didn't believe in casual sex. She didn't much believe in lust, either. She felt something powerful, admittedly, something that intensified and grew to the point of explosion as JD's fingers explored and discovered the sensitive secrets of her body. But it wasn't just his fingers or the heat of his kisses causing the ache inside her. Those were purely physical sensations. What she felt was connected to the man in the swing, the man at the computer, the man on the tractor, all the men she'd seen in him these past weeks.

So as she melted in his hands, stretched to accommodate him, and accepted the thickness invading her body, she accepted the whole man, not just his physical parts. No other man but John David Marshall could have fit beneath her heart so neatly.

The flashing lights and pounding drums exploded inside of her then, and she forgot to think at all.

***

Through the grogginess of utter exhaustion, JD recognized the slender curves pressed against his side as he lay on his back. If he'd had any doubt, the throbbing in that part of him over which he had no control verified his suspicions. He'd awakened like this every night for weeks, and only one female of his acquaintance could cause it. And apparently, one release wasn't enough, even one as explosive and mind-blowing as they'd shared last night.

He still couldn't believe it. He'd rather count program line numbers than think of what Nina had given him last night. Their lovemaking had been terrifying—and spectacular. In the past, he'd used sex the same way he used his gym equipment, as a physical release of tension. What Nina had given him last night no way in hell resembled the sex he'd known. The knowledge scared him. And made him hot all over. He wanted it again, wanted to see if it had been the alcohol or the music or anything but this slender woman blowing the gaskets of his mind. And he was afraid to find out.

Cursing silently as a small hand moved cautiously against his skin, JD sought reasons why he shouldn't do this again. He'd known Nina's relative innocence since the beginning, but he'd ignored the warnings. She'd told him how she'd grown up with the men in town and saw them only as boys. She'd told him she'd rushed home to her ailing aunt after classes at the university. He'd known she hadn't had much opportunity and would never accept casual sex. And he'd done it anyway.

He couldn't believe the mind-boggling pleasure she'd given him last night. Nina had given herself to him and to no one else. Triumph and male pride and a primal possessiveness figured into the equation, all emotions with which he had little acquaintance. He should try it again while entirely sober.

JD groaned and captured Nina's hand as it curled in the hairs on his chest. “I'll hurt you, Nina.” He didn't even know if his warning meant physically or otherwise. Probably both. He wanted so damned much.

Her stroking hesitated. Then she freed her hand and began a teasing trek downward. “Shouldn't I be the judge of that?”

Hell, yes, he agreed silently, as certain parts of him jerked to complete attention. She was a grown woman. Why should he think he had to protect her against herself?

As JD turned on his side and found Nina's mouth with his, he wished she were a machine he could set aside in the morning. Machines, he could handle.

***

Nina had always wondered how she would feel the morning after. As a young girl, of course, she'd thought it would be after her wedding night. As she grew older and occasionally indulged in a romantic movie or two, she'd wondered and daydreamed a bit. Now she knew. She felt wonderful. And she ached like hell.

The steady desert sun already poured through the thin window sheers. They never had pulled the draperies closed. Between the sun and the heat of the man beside her, she didn't even notice the air-conditioning. She felt warm inside and out. JD had warned her, and she took his warning seriously. She'd wanted to know what it would be like, and now she knew. She wouldn't expect more from a man who obviously had his own priorities.

Nina smiled as JD pushed himself up on one elbow and glared down at her. His beard stubble had grown thicker overnight, and his hair looked as tangled as hers probably did. Worse. Hers was shorter.

“Are you ready to start our argument where we left off last night?” she asked cheerfully.

His scowl made her smile broader. Somehow, she'd quit being frightened of anything JD did or said. Perhaps love did that. Maybe familiarity bred complacence. Or maybe it just bred knowledge. JD would never hurt her. He would argue until the moon turned blue, but he would listen to what she said. In return, she didn't scare him either. She couldn't put him off with her snide remarks or baffle him with her weird ways. They fought on even ground.

“When does your flight leave?”

“My, we're surly this morning. Too much champagne?” Daringly, Nina rubbed a finger down his prickly jaw.

She could feel his response against her hip. She was sore, but not that sore. She wriggled a little closer and heard his intake of breath. So, he had a few interests outside of computers. She could deal with that.

“Nina, just answer the question. I have things to do, and I want you safe while I do them.”

She batted her eyelashes outrageously. “Ohhh, the big strong hero will protect little ol' me. Well, you just go on and do what you have to do, and I'll do the same. Fair enough?”

“Nina, I swear...”

Deciding this argument constituted a waste of time, Nina wrapped her arms around JD's neck and put a halt to it. If she only had these few minutes left, she could find better use for them than arguing.

When Nina lagged behind him at the pool, JD glanced over his shoulder and saw her wince over a fallen bougainvillea bract. Just that tiny grimace ground him into jelly. With any other woman, he would never have noticed. He had to remind himself that he only understood machines, not airheaded Tinkerbelles who could woo plants into jungles.

He slowed his pace as she caught up with him. Perhaps part of his jangling joy had something to do with a perfectly legitimate male need to conquer. He took an inexplicable pride in knowing he was the first man to teach Nina the things they had done last night. He supposed it wasn't precisely akin to the first step on the moon, but it felt close enough for him.

They took the elevator up to her room, and protectively, JD held his arm across the doorway as he unlocked it. He had wanted to shove her on the first airplane out, but she'd insisted on returning for her clothes and luggage. Knowing Nina's limited finances, he'd reluctantly agreed. But this was DiFrancesco's town. He wouldn't trust her inside until he'd checked it out first.

One glimpse of Nina's new clothes strewn across the carpet, her dresser ransacked, and her bed linen flung across the room warned of the evil within. JD closed the door without letting her inside. “I'll call security. Come on.”

Nina's startled-doe look didn't help his temper any. He didn't want her seeing the world's evils. He'd just discovered he preferred her refreshing innocence.

“You're safe, that's all that matters. They couldn't have found anything of importance,” he said curtly.

“That file,” she reminded him, accepting his authority without pushing past to see for herself. “They'll know I've been looking into Astrocomputer.” She caught his arm. “How did they know?”

“I don't think they followed me, or they would have been after us last night. Probably the ad. I told you they'd know your name by now.” JD found a house phone by the elevator and called the operator. Fury flowed through his veins, but he knew how to control and direct fury. DiFrancesco had breathed his last free breath.

Security arrived immediately. As they scanned the room and took notes, Nina hastily gathered her scattered clothing. The file folder had disappeared. Security didn't seem much impressed with the information. JD hadn't figured they would be.

Once they were out in the sunshine again, Nina's small travel case tucked safely in his grip, Nina stopped and glanced around at the brilliant flowers. “So, that's what it's like in the real world. I've never had a burglar before.”

She'd been robbed of her innocence twice last night. JD ignored a pang of guilt. She'd made the choice to follow him. He'd done what he could to prevent it. He would prevent any further harm now by putting his wide-eyed schoolteacher on the first plane out of here. She belonged in never-never land, not here.

JD caught Nina's elbow with his free hand and steered her toward the parking lot. At least she'd changed into shorts; she could sit the motorcycle on the way to the airport.

“We'd better check on Jimmy and Nancy,” she warned, following him without protest.

“Why?” JD knew he sounded surly, but somehow, he couldn't stop himself.

“The message light was blinking on the phone in my room. I checked with the operator, and they had a message giving Jimmy's hotel. He didn't leave his name, but I bet your friend will have checked it out.”

Damn! JD held her suitcase while Nina climbed on the bike behind him. He'd had a one-track mind this morning. He should have thought of that.

When Nina sat securely behind him, he handed her the travel case, waited for her to find a good grip, then started the bike. “Which hotel?” he asked with resignation as the bike roared to life.

The strip had little traffic this early in the day. JD hit the gas and steered for the address Nina gave him. Either Jimmy was cheaper than Nina at choosing hotels, or the town was full last night. Since he hadn't had any difficulty finding a decent room, JD assumed the former. He'd surrounded himself with pinchpennies. He just hoped these particular pinchpennies had survived the night safely. Jimmy was his better half right now.