Sensual Confessions (18 page)

By the time he figured that she’d gotten his meaning, he had begun moving, lifting her hips to receive his thrusts, easing in and out of her as if it was natural…and one day it would be.

Over and over he made love to her, stroking inside of her, slow and deep, imbedding himself to the hilt and then almost completely pulling out before going deep back inside again. Then he leaned forward and captured her mouth, making love to it with the same rhythm and pace of his thrusts.

When he felt her body buck underneath him, felt her detonate as her feminine juices began drenching him, he threw his head back and clamped down on her thighs and thrust as deep as he could go and then he exploded.

His semen shot straight to her womb. Hot, thick and potent. And he knew it had to be coating her insides,
filling
her. Once his sperm realized they were free, and
no longer confined to a condom, he bet they would instinctively swim around like crazy to find an egg.

Not this time, fellas, he thought. He knew that had it happened this time, it would not have bothered him in the least. This was his woman. One day he wanted her to have his babies. He loved her and he wouldn’t be satisfied until she loved him back.

Before he could pull in a deep breath, more shudders racked his body, and another release shot straight to her womb when yet another orgasm claimed him. And he knew at that moment that he would never, ever get enough of her.

“Why haven’t you done this in four years, Sam?”

Sam refused to open her eyes, doubting she had strength to do even that. She pulled in a deep breath. That had been her sixth orgasm. Back to back. Once they’d christened the floor, he had taken her to the sauna, saying he’d never made love in a sauna before and wanted to try it. They had added to the steam and by the time he had stretched her out on the bench and entered her, thrusting in and out of her like he needed to mate with her as much as he needed to breathe, she could still feel the tremors that had rammed through her body.

Afterward, they had drunk plenty of water and then together had prepared lunch. After lunch he had taken her on the kitchen table, claiming he was getting his dessert again, and then they’d made love in the shower. The remaining times had been in her bed.

She glanced over at the clock on the nightstand. It was six o’clock and time for dinner, but she didn’t think she would ever be able to move again.

“Sam?”

She forced her eyes open to look at him. “What?” she said in a near whisper.

“Why haven’t you made love in four years?”

She closed her eyes. Moments later she reopened them, figuring he wouldn’t let her be until she told him. “I’ve been too busy setting up players. Building them up and letting them down.”

He lifted a brow. “At the risk of your own pleasure?”

She rolled her eyes. “What pleasure? At the risk of your ego getting inflated more than it probably already is,” she said. “This is a sensual confession that you can take to the grave. What I’ve shared with you today is the first time I’ve done this and gotten any real pleasure out of it. I’ve only done it three other times and the men were selfish.”

“But I wasn’t?”

She chuckled and rolled her eyes. “You can ask me that after six times? Pleeeze.”

He grinned as he shifted his body to lean over her. “Did I hear you say
please
? That’s the magic word. I think you should get ready for number seven.”

And before she could tell him he was crazy if he thought that, he lowered his mouth and proved that he wasn’t.

“I
f I wasn’t seeing it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. Blade actually brought a woman to the party,” several voices whispered.

A number of heads turned to stare at the couple who had just walked in.

“Who is she?”

“Don’t know.”

“Her face looks familiar.”

“Hey, wait a minute. Isn’t that one of the girls who was in Luke and Mac’s wedding, one of Mac’s attorney friends?”

Blade knew that he and Sam were being discussed the moment they entered the huge room at Whispering Pines, his uncle Jake’s ranch, where most of the Madaris parties were held. He and Sam had arrived in Houston late yesterday evening, but had only notified Slade when they had gotten to town. Blade knew for his family to see him and Sam together would be a shocker.

He’d gone through the receiving line and had met Rasheed’s wife, Johari. The rumors he’d heard were true. She was a beauty, but he thought that no woman was as beautiful as the one standing beside him.

Getting Sam to come with him to Houston hadn’t been easy. She had grumbled all the way, claiming he was just trying to boss her around. He’d finally convinced her that due to Alex’s hectic schedule it would be better if she came and talked to him here. The sooner Alex got a handle on things the better.

Blade still didn’t like the fact that Sam’s life could be in danger. That day when they had finally made love had turned into a lazy day filled with sex, sex and more sex. She would blush every time he teased her about the number of times she’d come. By the time they had closed their eyes that night it had been a whopping ten. And he had awakened the next morning ready to make love to her again. He had set a record not only for her but for himself, as well. He’d never wanted any woman that much and for that long. He had driven her into work at ten on Thursday, a time he considered a reasonable hour.

Her security team at the office had been apprised of the threat by Mac, and everyone was being cautious and alert. No packages were to be accepted that looked suspicious, and the only persons allowed in to meet with Sam were those appointments previously scheduled with current clients.

Blade had taken the initiative to speak with the security force himself and everyone was ready to do whatever had to be done to protect her. Even Rita had pulled her head out of her romance novel long enough to listen, and by the look in her eyes Blade had a feeling this was probably the most excitement she’d ever experienced as a security guard.

“Do you get the feeling that we’re being watched, Blade?”

Sam’s question reined in his thoughts and he could only smile. Being watched was just the tip of the iceberg. Wait until his great-grandmother saw them. That’s when the interrogation would begin.

He glanced around, not surprised to see a number of curious eyes on them, mostly those of his relatives. They were trying to digest it all, making sure they weren’t seeing things, or drawing the wrong conclusion. In this case the conclusions they reached would probably be right. The woman standing by his side would one day become Mrs. Blade Madaris.

He smiled at her and said, “We
are
being watched. I usually don’t bring anyone to family functions.”

“Why not?”

“I’m a player, remember. It’s not good for my image,” he teased, and couldn’t help but laugh when he saw the frown on her face.

“Come on,” he said, taking her hand. “I see my parents over there, as well as my grandparents. And I’m sure my great-grandmother is around here somewhere. I want to introduce you. The last thing I want is for them to get ideas about us. We’re nothing more than friends and the sooner they know it the better.”

Sam nodded. “I agree.”

Blade figured she would. What he didn’t tell her was that although he would tell his family she was nothing more than a friend, there was not a single one of them here tonight who would believe it.

An hour or so later Blade had made the rounds with Sam by his side, introducing her to everyone. After claiming he needed to go discuss a business matter with
Slade, he had left her in his great-grandmother’s and Syneda’s care, something that hadn’t gone unnoticed. Mama Laverne and Syneda were two of the most opinionated and nosy women in the Madaris family.

Felicia Laverne Madaris, who was sitting on one of the sofas, glanced up at Sam and smiled before asking, “So, how long have you and my great-grandson been seeing each other?”

Syneda noticed the surprised look on Sam’s face before she responded. “Blade and I aren’t seeing each other. We’re just friends. He’s sort of helping me out of a jam.”

Syneda and Mama Laverne exchanged knowing looks. First of all, Blade didn’t have female friends, he had bed partners. And Blade wouldn’t help any woman out of a jam unless there was something in it for him. But what was so crystal clear to both women, although the waters were evidently still rather murky to Samari Di Meglio, was that somehow, someway, Blade had singled her out. It was also rather obvious Ms. Di Meglio had no earthly idea just what that meant.

“I understand you’re expecting,” Sam said to Syneda, breaking into her thoughts. “Congratulations.”

Syneda beamed. “Thanks. I’m happy about it, although it did come as a shock, since I was on birth control. But that’s the thing about a Madaris man. If he wants to get you pregnant, a simple thing like a birth-control pill or a condom isn’t going to stop him.”

“Oh,” Sam said, and quickly looked away. She had nothing to worry about, since the last thing Blade would want to do was to get her pregnant. She was sure of it.

After meeting them, Sam was convinced that she liked Blade’s family. Some of them she’d met before, at Mac
and Luke’s wedding. They were friendly then and they were friendly now. Christy Madaris Maxwell had pulled out a bunch of photos of her little girl and Sam thought she looked like a doll, absolutely adorable. For a moment Sam could envisioned her own little girl, who would look like her father. And for some reason a little girl with Blade’s features flashed across her mind.

She almost choked on the wine she’d been drinking. Lorren Madaris, who was married to Blade’s cousin Justin, and Caitlin Madaris, who was married to his cousin Dex, glanced over at her with concern. “Are you okay?” Lorren asked.

She nodded after clearing her throat. “Yes, I’m fine.” Deep down she knew she wasn’t fine. For some reason she’d just thought about being the mother of Blade’s baby.

Deciding that was the last thing she wanted to think about, she glanced around the room and smiled when she saw how attentive Sheikh Rasheed Valdemon was to his wife. She thought they made such a beautiful couple, and Johari Valdemon was practically glowing. Sam knew why. They had announced to everyone a few moments earlier that they would become parents this fall.

Sam knew that her own parents would jump for joy if either she or Angelo presented them with a grandchild. The thought of having a baby had never crossed her mind before, but now with so many pregnant women here tonight, she found herself thinking about it. And whenever she did, those thoughts would include Blade. She wasn’t ready to think about why that was the case; for now she would just accept that it was.

She turned, knowing the object of her thoughts had returned to her side. He smiled at her. “Missed me?”

She chuckled. “Of course.”

He glanced over at his family. “Excuse us for a min
ute.” He took Sam’s hand in his and led her over to a secluded spot near where the band had been playing earlier.

“I’ve made arrangements,” he whispered. “Alex wants to talk to you before the party ends tonight. We’ll use Jake’s office. Will that be okay?”

“Yes, that will be fine. The sooner he finds out something the better. It’s been crazy at the office with everyone looking over their shoulders.”

He nodded in understanding.

“Sam! I didn’t know you would be here.”

Blade and Sam turned when Luke and Mac walked up. Sam gave her best friend a hug. “When I saw you in the office before you left town on Thursday, I didn’t know, either,” she said to Mac. “Blade had asked me the day before but I turned him down. And then he kept pestering me about coming, so I changed my mind Friday morning.” She chuckled and added, “He finally asked me nicely instead of making it an order.”

Mac nodded as she and Luke glanced over at Blade, who only shrugged his shoulders. “I thought it was best to bring her with me instead of leaving her in Oklahoma with that crazy person still on the loose.”

Luke stared at Blade a moment. “I can see you thinking that way.”

Luke knew it was a lie even as he said it. He couldn’t see Blade thinking that way at all. For Blade to bring Sam to the party could only mean one thing. A woman had finally captured his cousin’s heart.

S
am glanced around at all the people gathered in Jake Madaris’s office. She had assumed that only she, Blade and Alex would be there, and was surprised when she walked in and found others waiting.

When Alex Maxwell saw the obviously confused expression on her face, he explained, “I’m going to do everything I can to find out who sent you those flowers, Sam. But these other folks are sort of my backup just in case things get crazy, like they did with Mac last year. Besides, I’d like them to hear everything in case they latch onto something that I might miss.”

Sam smiled. She’d heard all about Alex Maxwell and his ability to solve cases, so she doubted he would miss anything. And then, glancing around the room, she realized she knew about four of the others, as well. They were former members of the U. S. Marines recon forces. And two of them were former CIA agents.

“I’m sure you know everyone, but I’d like to reintroduce everybody anyway,” Alex said.

“All right.”

“First is Ashton Sinclair.”

She smiled and then walked straight over into Ashton’s outstretched arms. She knew Ashton very well, since he was Mac’s cousin.

Ashton glanced down at her with a grin on his face. “Have you been behaving yourself?”

She smiled. “Trying to.”

A serious expression then appeared on Ashton’s face. “Alex will find the person responsible. In the meantime take every precaution.”

She nodded. “I will.” She smiled widely. “I understand congratulations are in order for you and Nettie.”

He laughed. “Yes, we’re having a girl. Nettie and I are ecstatic and the boys are excited,” he said of his sons, six-year-old triplets—Hunter, Wolf and Brody.

She was introduced to Drake Warren and his wife, Tori. They were former CIA agents. She gave them hugs, as well. “And how is the newest member of the Warren family?” she couldn’t help asking.

The couple beamed proudly. “Dior is doing marvelous and is giving her big brothers a lot of grief already,” Tori said of their two other children, sons Deke and Devin, ages five and three respectively. “She’ll be celebrating her first birthday soon.”

Sam then met Trevor Grant, another former marine and close friend of the Madaris family. She knew from talking to Blade that Reese would be replacing Trevor as foreman of Madaris Explorations, a company owned by Blade’s cousin Dex. Trevor wanted to pursue his dream of opening a tactical operations facility, and Drake and Ashton would be partners in the business venture.

“And how is your family, Trevor?” she asked. She remembered meeting Trevor’s wife, Corinthians, and their two children, a seven-year-old son named Rio and a five-year-old daughter named Phoenix.

“Everyone is doing fine,” Trevor said, smiling. “Thanks for asking.”

Sam thought that all of them—Alex, Ashton, Drake and Trevor—were definitely handsome men, and Tori was certainly a beauty. And it was obvious that she was adored and loved by Drake.

“Now that we all know each other,” Alex said, grinning, “we can get down to business. I want you to sit next to Blade, Sam, while I ask you some questions.”

“Sure,” she said, easing down beside Blade on the love seat. She smiled when he took her hand in his, tucking it into his lap.

“Now then,” Alex started. “I understand you were questioned by Detective Adams, who I worked with to solve the Coroni case, so I got to know him pretty well. He’s an intelligent man who’s good at what he does, so I’m sure he’s probably asked some of the same questions I’m about to ask. However, I might want you to elaborate some more in your answers. That will help me in my investigation.”

“All right.”

He paused for a second. “Now, I need the names of all the men you’ve been associated with. Since your secret admirer claims to be an old friend, you need to go back as far as you can, even during your college days. So let’s start there.”

Sam shifted to a more comfortable position in the love seat, but Blade held tight to her hand. “I didn’t date a lot in college, especially after what happened my first year at Yale.”

“What happened?” Tori asked.

Sam glanced across the room and met Tori’s gaze. “My roommate, Vivian Randall, committed suicide in our dorm room. I was away in class at the time.”

“And why did she kill herself?” Ashton asked.

She noticed that, like Detective Adams, Alex was jotting down information on a notepad. “She had met this guy at school, Tyrell Graham, and he convinced her that he was madly in love with her. She found out differently when a video of them making love showed up on the Internet. She questioned him about it and he brushed her off, admitted to putting it out there and laughed in her face about it. She came back to our dorm room and overdosed on some of my pills.”

“Your pills?” Trevor asked, lifting a brow.

“Yes. The doctor had prescribed them for my migraine headaches and she took them.” Sam lowered her head as if the memory was almost too much for her.

Blade tightened his grip on her hand. He’d known about her roommate committing suicide, but hadn’t known the woman had used Sam’s prescription to do so. No wonder she still felt guilty after all these years.

The room was silent for a moment. “Evidently you were upset about the entire incident. Did you ever confront Tyrell Graham about his part in your roommate’s death?” Sir Drake said.

Sam’s eyes blazed with fire. “Yes, of course. He didn’t have any remorse.”

“And what did you do?” Ashton asked, figuring she would have retaliated.

“Nothing at the time. I was too upset about it. Before the semester was over I had changed universities and returned home to New York and attended NYU. But I did run into Tyrell a few years later.”

“How long ago was that?” Tori asked.

“Three years ago. I was invited to be one of the judges in a bodybuilding contest he was entered in. There were five judges, but of course he thought it was my fault that he didn’t win.”

“And
was
it your fault that he didn’t win, Sam?” Blade asked, looking at her as if he knew she’d had something to do with the outcome.

She smiled at him. “Well, I did mention what he’d done to my godfather, who happened to be one of the major sponsors of the event.”

Alex chuckled, reading between the lines. “Did Graham threaten you?”

“No, but I could tell he was mad. Not only did he lose the competition, but he was banned from every contest my godfather sponsored.”

“You do know that if he was a career bodybuilder, one who spent hours and hours working out to compete, what you did could have ruined him for life,” Trevor pointed out.

She pressed her lips together a second before saying, “Then I guess that was unfortunate for him. I had no pity for him, like he had no pity for Vivian.”

Alex cleared his throat. “Okay, moving on. You said you didn’t date seriously during college. What about later, in law school?”

She shook her head. “No, I didn’t date seriously then, either. I met the man I thought I would marry a few years ago, not long after I finished law school and went to work at my family law firm. Guy Carrington was an associate attorney there. We became engaged and planned to marry.”

“What happened?” Drake asked.

Sam didn’t say anything for a moment. “On the day of
the wedding, in the middle of the ceremony, two women showed up claiming Guy was the father of their children and that he was still seeing them both. One of the women was pregnant again.”

“Have you heard from Carrington?” Alex asked.

“Not since he contacted my family’s firm for a reference and I found out about it.”

“And what did you do?” Ashton asked.

She smiled. “My parents were out of the office and the paperwork came across one of my uncle’s desks. He passed it on to me. Of course I gave Guy a glowing recommendation.”

The look in her eyes said it all. They could just imagine just how glowing the recommendation was. Hell knows no fury like a woman scorned.

“So there’s a chance you’re not one of Carrington’s favorite people,” Trevor said, trying to hide his smile.

“No, but then he’s not one of mine.”

“When was the last time you saw him?” Tori asked.

“The day of the wedding.”

The room got quiet again. “How about telling what happened after your broken engagement, about the men you dated and why you dated them,” said Blade.

Sam shifted her gaze from him to the other five pairs of eyes focused on her. “After Guy, I was on a mission to make men pay. So I decided to get even and became a bona fide player hater.”

Alex lifted a brow. “A player hater?”

“Yes.”

Five pairs of eyes shifted from Sam to Blade. He returned their stares with a shrug.

Alex cleared his throat and returned his gaze to Sam. “So as a player hater, what exactly did you do?”

“The usual.”

Sir Drake, who had been leaning against the edge of Jake’s desk, asked, “What’s the usual?”

Sam smiled. “I would lead them on, convince them I was interested in them and that I was easy. I would build up their sexual expectations and when the time came for me to deliver, I didn’t.”

“You deliberately set them up? Strung them along? Teased them?” Trevor asked incredulously.

“Yes,” she responded proudly. “I played them.”

Trevor shook his head. “I’m sure a number of them must have been angry, even have threatened your life,” he said.

“Yes, they did.”

“Didn’t you take any of them seriously?” Alex asked.

“No. I figured they would eventually get over it. I just wanted to show them that two could play their games.”

“What about that guy a few years ago, Sam?” Ashton asked. “Mac mentioned that some guy was arrested and served time for trying to exact revenge on you.”

“Someone tried to get even?” Blade asked.

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, Belton LaSalle. I met him the first year I moved to Oklahoma. He believed that he was God’s gift to women.”

Five pairs of eyes sought Blade out again. This time he smiled.

“Anyway,” Sam said, “I thought he needed to be taught a lesson. I must have seriously pissed him off. About a week or two later, he called and invited me out, claiming he just wanted to apologize and show me that there were no hard feelings.”

She shifted in her seat and noticed the she had everyone’s attention. “Mac and Peyton didn’t trust him and suggested that I meet him in a public place. I picked a well-known restaurant downtown, but I didn’t know that Mac still had misgivings about him. She and Peyton had made
reservations at the same restaurant and got a table not far from ours.”

She drew in a deep breath. “To make a long story short, when my back was turned, Belton slipped a date-rape drug into my drink.”

“The bastard!” said Alex, to everyone’s surprise.

Blade and the others understood Alex’s outburst had to do with a situation involving Christy a few years ago.

“Lucky for me, Mac and Peyton saw the whole thing before I drank anything. They called the police, and Belton was arrested and sent to prison. He was given four years, but only served two.”

“So you know for a fact that he’s out of prison now?” Ashton said.

“He’s supposed to be. I got a letter from the parole board a few years ago saying he was being released two years early for good behavior.”

“Have you seen him or has he tried contacting you in any way?” Drake asked.

“No, the last time I saw him was in court—the day he was sentenced.”

“Okay, what about male friends?” said Alex.

“There’s only Frederick.”

“Frederick?” Ashton asked.

“Yes, Frederick Damon Rowe. We call him FDR. We started working at my family’s law firm on the same day and became best friends.”

“When was the last time you saw him?” Alex asked.

“I saw him when I was home visiting my family about three weeks ago. He calls periodically to check up on me, and even comes to visit me. However, he’s been busy lately and hasn’t had a chance to get away,” Sam said.

“Are there any other names that come to mind—male or female—that you feel I should check out?” Alex asked.

Sam shook her head. “No, I can’t think of anyone.”

“What about cases you’ve handled? Anyone that you’ve really pissed off?”

She shrugged. “There’s always one or two, but none that I think would want to retaliate.”

Alex smiled. “Share the names with me and let me be the judge of that. And I would like a list of the names of all your employees.” He closed his notepad. “How soon can I get it?”

“I can fax that information to you when I return to the office Monday,” Sam said.

“Good. I have some free time between assignments. I should have some information for you in a couple of weeks.”

“That soon?” she asked.

Alex smiled. “Yes. I have contacts, and usually they’re not only efficient, they’re fast.”

“When will you be returning to Oklahoma, Sam?” Ashton asked.

“Tomorrow.”

“What about protection for her until I find out something?” Alex asked, turning to Blade.

Blade smiled. “She’s with me, and I don’t plan on letting anything happen to her. Trust me.”

Blade opened the door to his condo and stood back and let Sam enter first. She glanced at him when he followed her inside and shut the door behind them. “I’m glad that’s over,” she said, tossing her purse on a table.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if he contacts us sooner,” Blade said, removing his tie. “Alex is good at what he does. And like he said, he has good contacts.”

Sam sat down on the sofa, kicked off her shoes and crossed her legs. Blade watched her every move as he
went behind the bar. “Would you like something to drink?”

“Yes, please. A glass of wine would be nice.”

“A glass of wine coming up. It’s a beautiful night. Would you like to sit outside on the balcony?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you go ahead and I’ll follow shortly with the wine.”

“Thanks.”

He tracked her with his eyes as she walked barefoot toward the French doors. The dress she was wearing, a yellow, tiered silk number, looked good on her. It wasn’t too short, but showed off her beautiful legs. He had noticed a number of men at the party admiring them. He had told her before leaving for the party and again on the drive back home just how good she looked in that dress.