Mackenzie's Pleasure (25 page)

thoughts and decisions. Love was neither cool nor concise; it was turbulent, unpredictable, and it

left one vulnerable. He would approach love as cautiously as if it was a bomb.

"Don't cry," he said softly. "I swear I'll be a good husband."

"I know," she replied, and then they had both gone to their separate bathrooms to

prepare for their wedding.

They took a taxi to a chapel, one of the smaller ones that didn't get as much business

and didn't have a drive-through service. Getting married in Las Vegas didn't take a great

deal of effort, though Zane took steps to make it special. He bought her a small bouquet of

flowers and gave her a bracelet of dainty gold links, which he fastened around her right

wrist. Her heart beat heavily as they stood before the justice of the peace, and the bracelet

seemed to burn around her wrist. Zane held her left hand securely in his right, his grip

warm and gentle, but unbreakable.

Outwardly it was all very civilized, but from the first moment they'd met, Barrie had

been acutely attuned to him, and she sensed the primal possessiveness of his actions. He had

already claimed her physically, and now he was doing it legally. She already carried his child

inside her. His air of masculine satisfaction was almost visible, it was so strong. She felt it,

too, as she calmly spoke her vows, this linkage of their lives. During a long, hot day in

Benghazi they had forged a bond that still held, despite the events that had forced them apart.

He had one more surprise for her. She hadn't expected a ring, not on such short notice,

but at the proper moment he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and produced two

plain gold bands, one for her and one for him. Hers was a little loose when he slipped it over

her knuckle, but their eyes met in a moment of perfect understanding. She would be gaining

weight, and soon the ring would fit. She took the bigger, wider band and slid it onto the ring

finger of his left hand, and she felt her own thrill of primal satisfaction. He was hers, by

God!

Their marriage duly registered, the certificate signed and witnessed, they took another

taxi to the hotel. "Supper," he said, steering her toward one of the hotel's dining rooms.

"You didn't eat anything on the plane, and it's after midnight eastern time."

"We could order room service," she suggested.

His eyes took on that heavy-lidded look. "No, we couldn't." His tone was definite, a

little strained. His hand was warm and heavy on the small of her back. "You need to eat, and I

don't trust my self-control to last that long unless we're in a public place."

Perhaps feeding her was his only concern, or perhaps he knew more about seduction

than most men, she thought as they watched each other over a progression of courses.

Knowing that he was going to make love to her as soon as they reached the suite,

anticipating the heaviness of his weight on her, the hard thrust of his turgid length into her...

the frustration readied her for him as surely as if he was stroking her flesh. Her breasts lifted

hard and swollen against the bodice of her dress. Her in-sides tightened with desire, so that

she had to press her legs together to ease the throbbing. His gaze kept dropping to her breasts,

and as before, she couldn't temper her response. She could feel her own moisture, feel the

heaviness in her womb.

She was scarcely aware of what she ate—something bland, to reduce the chances of

early-pregnancy nausea. She drank only water. But turnabout was fair play, so she lingered

over each bite while she stared at his mouth, or in the direction of his lap. She delicately

licked her lips, shivering with delight as his face darkened and his jaw set. She stroked the rim of

her water glass with one fingertip, drawing his gaze, making his breath come harder and

faster. Beneath the table, she rubbed her foot against the muscled calf of his leg.

He turned to snare their waiter with a laser glare. "Check!" he barked, and the waiter

hurried to obey that voice of command. Zane scribbled their room number and his fictitious

name on the check, and Barrie stared at him in amazement. It was hard to believe he could remember something like that when she could barely manage to walk.

For revenge, when he pulled her chair back so she could stand, she allowed the knuckles

of one hand to brush, oh, so very lightly, against his crotch. He went absolutely rigid for a

moment, and his breath hissed out between his teeth. All innocence, Barrie turned to give him a

sweetly inquiring What's-wrong? look.

His darkly tanned face was even darker with the flush running under the browned skin.

His expression was set, giving away little, but his eyes were glittering like shards of diamond.

His big hand closed firmly around her elbow. "Let's go," he said in the soundless whisper

she'd first heard in a dark room in Benghazi. "And don't do that again, or I swear I'll have

you in the elevator."

"Really." She smiled at him over her shoulder. "How... uplifting."

A faint but visible shudder racked him, and the look he gave her promised retribution.

"Here I've been thinking you were so sweet."

"I am sweet," she declared as they marched toward the elevator. "But I'm not a

pushover."

"We'll see about that. I'm going to push you over." They reached the bank of elevators,

and he jabbed the call button with more force than necessary.

"You won't have to push hard. As a matter of fact, you can just blow me over." She

gave him another sweet smile and pursed her lips, blowing a tiny puff of air against his chest to

demonstrate.

The bell chimed, the doors opened, and they stood back to allow the car's passengers to

exit. They stepped inside alone, and even though people were hurrying toward them to catch

that car, Zane ruthlessly punched their floor number and then the door close button. When

the car began to rise, he turned on her like a tiger on fresh meat.

She stepped gracefully out of his reach, staring at the numbers flashing on the digital

display. "We're almost there."

"You're damn right about that," he growled, coming after her. In the small confines of

the elevator she didn't have a chance of evading him, not that she wanted to. What she

wanted was to drive him as crazy as he was driving her. His hard hands closed around her

waist and lifted her; his muscled body pinned her to the wall. His hips pushed insistently at

hers, and she gasped at how hard he was. Automatically her legs opened, allowing him access to

the tender recesses of her body. He thrust against her, his hips moving rhythmically, and his mouth

came down on hers, smothering, fiercely hungry.

The bell chimed softly, and the elevator gave a slight lurch as it stopped. Zane didn't

release her. He simply turned with her still in his grasp and left the elevator, striding rapidly

down the hall to their suite. Barrie twined her arms around his neck and her legs around his

hips, biting back little moans as each stride he took rubbed his swollen sex against the

aching softness of her loins. Pleasure arced through her like lightning with every step, and

helplessly she felt her hips undulate against him in a mindless search for a deeper pleasure. A low

curse hissed out from between his clenched teeth.

She didn't know if they passed anyone in the hall. She buried her face against his neck

and gave in to the soaring hunger. She had needed him for so long, missed him, worried

herself sick about him. Now he was here, vitally alive, about to take her with the same

uncomplicated fierceness as before, and she didn't care about anything else.

He pushed her against a wall, and for one terrified, delirious moment she thought she

had tempted him too much. Instead he unhooked her legs from around his waist and let her

slide to the floor. He was breathing hard, his eyes dilated with a sexual hunger that wouldn't be denied much longer, but on one level he was still very much in control. Lifting one finger to his

lips to indicate silence, he slipped his right hand inside his jacket. When his hand emerged, it

was filled with the butt of that big automatic. He thumbed off the safety, dealt with the electronic lock on the door to their suite, depressed the door handle and slipped noiselessly

inside. The door closed as silently as it had opened.

Barrie stood frozen in the hallway, sudden terror chasing away her desire as she

waited with her eyes closed and her hands clenched into fists, all her concentration focused

on trying to hear anything from inside the suite. She heard nothing. Absolutely nothing. Zane

moved like a cat, but so did other men, men like him, men who worked best under cover of night

and who could kill as silently as he had dispatched that guard in Benghazi. Her kidnappers

hadn't possessed the same expertise, but whoever was behind her abduction wouldn't use Middle

Eastern men here in the middle of the glitter and flash of Las Vegas. Perhaps this time he would

hire someone more deadly, someone more interested in getting the job done than in terrifying a

bound and helpless woman. Any thump, any whisper, might signal the end of Zane's life, and

she thought she would shatter under the strain.

She didn't hear the door open again. All she heard was Zane saying, "All clear," in a

calm, normal tone, and then she was in his arms again. She didn't think she moved; she thought

he simply gathered her in, pulling her into the security of his embrace.

"I'm sorry," he murmured against her hair as he carried her inside. He paused to lock

and chain the door. "But I won't take chances with your safety."

Fury roared through her like a brushfire. She lifted her head from the sanctuary of bis

shoulder and glared at him. "What about yours?" she demanded violently. "Do you have any

idea what it does to me when you do things like that? Do you think I don't notice when you put

yourself between me and other people, so if anyone shoots at me, you'll be the one with the bullet

hole?" She hit him on the chest with a clenched fist, amazing even herself; she had never struck

anyone before. She hit him again. "Damn it, I want you healthy and whole! I want our baby to

have its daddy! I want to have more of your babies, so that means you have to stay alive, do

you hear me?"

"I
hear," he rumbled, his tone soothing as he caught her pounding fists and pressed them

against his chest, stilling them. "I'd like the same things myself. That means I have to do

whatever's necessary to keep you and Junior safe."

She relaxed against him, her lips trembling as she fought back tears. She wasn't a weepy

person; it was just the hormonal roller coaster of pregnancy that was making her so, but still, she

didn't want to cry all over him. He had enough to handle without having to deal with a sobbing

wife every time he turned around.

When she could manage a steady tone, she said in a small voice, "Junior, is it?"

She saw the flash of his grin as he lifted her in his arms. "I'm afraid so," he said as he

carried her to the bed. "My sister Mans is the only female the Mackenzies have managed to

produce, and that was twenty-nine years and ten boys ago."

He bent and gently placed her on the bed and sat down beside her. His dark face was

intent as he reached beneath her for the zipper of her dress. "Now let's see if I can get you

back to where you were before you got scared, and we'll introduce Junior to his daddy," he

whispered.

Barrie was seized by a mixture of shyness and uneasiness as he stripped the dress

down her hips and legs, then tossed it aside. Since her kidnappers had stripped her in a

deliberate attempt to terrorize her, to break her spirit, she hadn't been comfortable with

being naked. Except for those hours hidden in the ruins in Benghazi, when Zane had finally

coaxed her out of his shirt and she had lost herself in his lovemaking, she had hurried through

any times of necessary nudity, such as when she showered, pulling on clothes or a robe as

soon as possible. Once upon a time she had lingered after her bath, enjoying the wash of

air over her damp skin as she pampered herself with perfumed oils and lotions, but for the

past two months that luxury had fallen beneath her urgent need to be covered.

Zane wanted her naked.

Her dress was already gone, and the silk and lace of her matching bra and underpants

weren't much protection. Deftly he thumbed open the front fastening of her bra, and the

cups loosened, sliding apart to reveal the inner curves of her breasts. Barrie couldn't help

herself; she protectively crossed her arms over her breasts, holding the bra in place.

Zane paused, his face still as his pale gaze lifted to her face, examining the helpless,

embarrassed expression she wore. She didn't have to explain. He'd been there; he knew. "Still

having problems with that shirt?" he asked gently, referring to the way she'd clung so

desperately to his garment.

He'd switched on a single lamp. She lay exposed in the small circle of light, while his face

was shadowed. She moistened her lips and nodded once, a slight acknowledgment that was

all he needed.

"We can't undo things," he said, his face and tone serious. Using one finger, he lightly