Secrets and Seduction: 5 Romance Novels (39 page)

“I can’t picture someone coercing her.” Now that he’d seen she wasn’t all sweetness and light.

“I think it more likely that she traded sex for it or she did it out of spite. She seems that kind of woman.”

He’d worked with Brittany for a year and never noticed that about her. Was it because Gabrielle was also a woman that she saw Brittany for the person she really was? Then something else she’d said sunk in.

“And you think it’s Paul because she slept with him?” It couldn’t be Paul.

“I think a woman like her knows how to use her body to get what she wants. Your brother is probably one of many to fall for her ploys. I think your partner slept with her, too.”

“So we tell the police it was Brittany?” he asked.

“Um, it’s not that easy. We have to have proof.”

“But you saw her.”

Gabrielle grimaced. “Not with my eyes.”

Oh. Christian realized he’d believed her about Brittany without reservation. How had he gone from being dismayed about her psychic abilities to accepting it as an investigative tool?

He thought of another difficulty. “What if she didn’t leave fingerprints? We can’t let her get away with what she did.”

“We’ll tell the police we have suspicions it was her and ask them to check her alibi.”

Christian dug out his phone and dialed his office, only to find out from Roger that Brittany was on an errand.

After he hung up, Gabrielle was livid with him. “Roger slept with Brittany. If he tells her about the call, she’ll know we’re on to her. We need to keep the element of surprise on our side. What were you thinking?”

Frustration welled up like bitter acid. “I was thinking I worked with honest people. I don’t want to believe I’m surrounded by people I can’t trust. I’ll go crazy if I do.”

“It’s probably only two people, with at least one of them inside your company. I doubt it’s a large conspiracy.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better.” Was he such a poor judge of character? It was galling and frightening at the same time.

It was no surprise when the police didn’t find any fingerprints on the rental car. Then Christian and Gabrielle had to waste an hour at the police station filling out a report. Christian was still fuming as they navigated Jerry Flanders’s residential neighborhood in Dearborn.

There they learned the former Republic Steel rep had dealt directly with Paul Ziko, and that Paul had given him the length substitution. Jerry was appalled the difference had caused the Densmore’s collapse.

When they were back in the car, Christian waited only until the door closed to exclaim, “Paul isn’t guilty. He went back to Roger and someone there changed the drawing.”

“At Paul’s insistence.”

“No. He wouldn’t do that to me.”

“It’s business, Christian. If you can’t afford one material, you try to substitute another.”

“But those girders weren’t interchangeable. It had to be that length.”

“Exactly.”

Christian gritted his teeth. His brother wouldn’t have done that, couldn’t have. He’d known Paul for thirty-two years. He’d never done anything to hurt Christian.

But now he’d tried to tell Christian’s doctor how to treat him, and Christian’s lawyer how to handle his case. He’d wanted Christian to return to Crittenden to avoid prosecution for the Densmore.

No, that was his big brother trying to do what he’d always done and smooth Christian’s way. There was nothing underhanded in what Paul had done.

“Christian, you’ve got to admit to the possibility.”

“He’s my brother. Until I see more than speculation, I’m going to believe he’s innocent. Show me some proof.”

“I don’t have it yet. But if he were anyone else, we’d dig for a connection with someone at your firm, and we wouldn’t stop until we knew who it was. With your brother, not only is Roger his best friend but we know he and Brittany were having an affair.”

“How did their having sex suddenly become a plan to substitute material on the Densmore? I don’t see her getting anything out of the Densmore’s collapse. Paul either, for that matter.”

“He built the Densmore within the budget and he got to keep the Densmore project,” she said.

“We wouldn’t have taken it away from him.” He noted they were heading south. “Where are we going?”

“We’re fifteen minutes from my house. If you feel up to it, I’d like to stop there and you can take the rental car home.”

He was feeling a lot better, but he didn’t want to go home alone. The thought of spending a long evening with his doubts left him cold.

By the time she pulled into the driveway of a small, older home, he still hadn’t figured out a way to stay. But his perusal of her neat, well-cared-for home was cut short by the half dozen people converging on the car with camcorders, lights and microphones.

“Looks like a welcoming party,” he said.

“It has to be related to the Densmore investigation, but how do they know you’re with me?”

“I don’t know. Do you want to go to my condo?”

She shook her head and sighed. “No. I’m sure reporters are there, too.” She opened her door.

Immediately, a reporter stuck a microphone in front of her. “Ms. Healey, is it true that you can predict the future?”

Christian saw Gabrielle stiffen.

Her voice was crisp when she answered. “I perform a fortune teller act at parties. I play a part.”

“Then you’re not a psychic?” another reporter asked.

A muscle in her jaw bunched. “Excuse me.” She slid out of her seat and stood.

“Are you a psychic, Ms. Healey?” the reporter insisted.

Christian had exited the car as well. He wondered why Gabrielle didn’t tell them the truth, until he remembered she didn’t want anyone to know, especially her employer. She looked like a fox surrounded by baying hounds.

He strode around the car and took hold of her arm. Immediately he was swamped by a vision of plunging his cock into the warmth between Gabrielle’s spread legs. Her snug wet body gloved him perfectly. As he withdrew slightly, her hips rose to receive his thrust.

Oh no, they weren’t going to share this vision in front of the press. He urged her toward her front door. Reporters threw questions at them as they moved.

“Did you predict the Densmore collapse, Ms. Healey?”

“Are you using your psychic abilities to investigate the collapse?” one yelled.

“Are you the only psychic at Michigan Casualty, or are there others?” another asked.

“Ms. Healey hasn’t said she’s a psychic. If you’ll excuse us.” Christian followed Gabrielle through the door and closed it behind him.

Gabrielle looked shell-shocked. “I’m going to lose my job.”

“No you’re not. You didn’t admit anything.”

“I don’t have to admit it. They’re going to air their allegations and convict me in the press. At the very least, I’ll be taken off the Densmore case. At the most, I’ll lose my job. Insurance is a conservative industry. Why did I let you tag along with me? I knew it was a bad idea. You’re in the spotlight. Some of it was bound to spill over onto me.”

He took hold of her elbow. Immediately, he was inundated by the vision.

“Don’t touch me.” She shook him off.

“This is a vision of the future. Tonight. We both want to experience again what we shared last night.”

She shook her head. “You’re uncomfortable with my abilities.”

“I shared them a moment ago, and all the way in from the car.”

“You don’t mind those visions, but if I asked you to allow me to hold your pill bottles or touch your bed in order to learn more about you, you wouldn’t be comfortable.”

No, he wouldn’t be. He didn’t like her plumbing his secrets from touching the material things in his life. Those secrets were his to tell or keep. His choice, not hers.

Christian tried to explain. “I’m still unnerved that you know things I don’t want you to know, but it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours since I found out.”

Gabrielle looked uncertain and more than a little wary. If they could experience the oneness they’d shared last night, he was sure it would ease both their doubts. So he reached for her, knowing they’d be swamped by the vision.

At the touch of her silky skin, the vision washed over them and swept them into a vortex of passion. He found her lips and opened his over hers. Her tongue pushed into his mouth, found his. That small touch fanned the flames. He clasped her to him tightly.

Her body pressed to his echoed the vision where they were already naked and yearning toward completion. For a moment, he wished to be able to make love to Gabrielle without visions urging him faster. He wanted to savor the feel of her lips and her body. He wanted to linger at the joint where her neck met her collarbone, or where her thigh met her body. He needed to spend time adoring her curves, tasting what made her unique and feminine.

But this wasn’t that time. Already Gabrielle cupped his buttocks, pressing the front of him into the vee of her legs. Her breasts were crushed to his chest. He wanted them in his palms instead. As she made yearning thrusts against him, he tried to maneuver them toward something soft.

“Bed?” was all he could get out before she claimed his lips again.

They were moving, but he couldn’t tell if Gabrielle was trying to reach the front of his pants, or if he was maneuvering to be able to touch her breasts. His back bumped the wall, then Gabrielle was all over him. She shoved a hand down the front of his pants to caress his cock. She slid her other hand up his chest under his shirt, rubbing his pecs and nipples.

All he seemed able to do was breathe, and that was difficult. She fondled the length of him, and then dug deeper into his pants to cup his balls. He threw his head back, whacked the wall behind him and saw stars. He groaned, both from the pain of it and from the pleasure she was giving him as she rubbed.

“Sorry,” she said.

He grabbed her forearms and turned her so her back was to the wall. She dragged him to her, eliciting a groan from him.

Two could play at this game. Unbuttoning her shirt, he slid the cotton off her shoulders, where it caught on her upper arms. He unlatched her bra’s front catch and flicked the lacy cups open. He had a moment to marvel over the bronze tips before he covered them with his hands. He molded the firm, silky globes, feeling the hardened tips press into his palms.

“Perfect.”

“Almost,” she said. “It would be better in bed.”

“I don’t know where your bedroom is.” Then he kissed her, open-mouthed and completely carnal.

Her lips tasted like the headiest wine, and he was intoxicated. Holding her plump breasts in his hands, he felt like he held the world, held all possibilities. Only one thing could make this moment with her better.

She pressed forward against him, directing him to his right. He went willingly, although slowly. Any faster speed was difficult while Gabrielle’s hand was down the front of his pants. But his movements forced her hand to exert harder pressure on his penis. He groaned into her mouth, hoping they made it to the bed in time. He wanted to be inside her when he came.

She slid her tongue across his and explored the inside of his mouth. He bit her tongue lightly and then sucked on it.

Gabrielle growled and pushed against him. The back of his legs hit something, and he toppled over, dragging her down on top of him. They landed on the bed with an oomph.

Before he could catch his breath, Gabrielle wrenched on the snap of his jeans. She nearly did him damage dragging down the zip. He inhaled to give her more room. In seconds, she’d bared him.

He helped her push her pants down her hips. Then she kicked them off. He grabbed a condom from the pocket of his jeans. Gabrielle took it, sheathed him, and then she was over him. He helped her sink down on his eager shaft, sheathing himself where he most wanted to be. They both groaned with relief. He was almost there, to the point they’d shared several times last night.

Their vision selves were drenched with sweat, holding off orgasm by sheer willpower. He was so hard in real life, he didn’t know why he didn’t come as soon as Gabrielle mounted him.

But Christian wanted to extend the moment. He didn’t want their loving to be a race against visions in their heads. He thrust, measuring his length inside her body. He reached up to cup her beautiful breasts in his hands. She arched into him while she ground her body down on him.

They were a perfect match. Her body was made solely for his. They made love together, meeting and separating and doing it over again. As though they’d been lovers for years instead of days, their thrusts were perfectly timed. Although his loins burned with the need to come, he wouldn’t until they could do it together.

“Christian.”

“Call me Kit.”

“Kit. This feels so good.”

“Yeah, it does.” Sex had never felt so right. Beyond animal passion, beyond physical pleasure, the sense of belonging overwhelmed him. He should lay claim to this woman, so he had the right to do this with her every day for the rest of their lives.

He reached one of his hands between their thrusting bodies, and caressed her clitoris with a finger.

Gabrielle moaned and then stiffened as her inner contractions began. He let go of his barely there control then, following her over into the place where she and he had no end. Their halves fused and he felt complete again. Warmth spread through him.

She collapsed onto him and he caressed her long back with a possessive hand. If he had his way, there would never be another woman in his life, in his bed. How could there be when he was a part of the woman lying on top of him. He’d never look at his secretary again and admire her curves.

Gabrielle lifted her head, frowning. Her blue eyes, still dilated with passion, were confused. “Why were you thinking about Brittany just now?”

“Jesus Christ.” His whole body stiffened. Then he rolled her off him and bounded out of the bed. The sweat cooled on his body, making him shiver as he stood staring down at her. That she’d picked that little tidbit out of his mind scared him half to death. “You swore you didn’t read minds.”

“I don’t.”

“You just did.” Had what they’d shared made him an open book to her? He didn’t want her reading his mind. Was she doing it even now? He couldn’t reason over his racing heart.