The Candidate's Wife (18 page)

He bent down and scooped her into his arms. Julia let out a shriek of surprise as he cradled her against his chest. She wrapped her arms around his neck, delighted at the pure romance of being literally swept off her feet.

As she nestled against him, surprised at how incredibly safe and secure she felt in his arms, he bore her down the hall toward his bedroom. Playfully, Julia bit his earlobe, then traced the tanned contours of his ear with the tip of her tongue. Adam let out a groan, and she felt his breathing quicken. He pushed the door open with his foot and carried her inside, then set her down on the edge of his bed.

Some of Julia's newfound self-confidence slipped away as Adam pushed her thighs apart and knelt between them. What was she doing? The entire evening felt like part of a dream, and she was afraid of what would happen when she woke up. But somehow she couldn't seem to open her mouth to protest.

She forced herself to relax as his breath warmed the space between her breasts. She let him unhook her garters one by one and slide them off. He struggled with the front clasp on her bra until it sprang free, and then he pushed the lacy concoction from her shoulders. Julia made a small sound of protest, but somehow it emerged sounding more like passion. If she was going to call a halt to this, she would have to do it now, before it was too late, before Adam. . . .

His lips found one of her nipples and he drew it into his mouth, grazing it lightly with his teeth. As fast as that, Julia forgot her doubts. Adam's touch drove every rational thought from her head. Her blood felt heavy and languid in her veins as Adam's fingers grazed the black lace of her panties and probed the dampness he found there.

She lifted her hips as Adam slid the panties off. The pads of his thumbs slid back up to her inner thighs, slightly rough against the delicate, sensitive skin. A pleasant shiver skittered up Julia's spine. All her senses were preternaturally sharp, so that every individual sensation stood out clearly in her mind. She knew she would remember this night for the rest of her life.

Adam paused for an excruciating moment and lifted his head, so that his eyes met hers. Adam's eyes smoldered with molten desire, but there was more to his expression, much more. Julia had never seen such tenderness and vulnerability in his gaze. She saw nothing of the actor, the lawyer, the politician. Instead she saw a man, the man she loved -- a man who trusted and desired her above all else. Suddenly she knew she'd made the right decision, that she truly belonged in Adam's bed, with his body pressed tight against hers and his mouth skimming her throat.

As his fingers slipped into the center of her femininity, his eyes never strayed from her face. Unable to prevent herself, Julia cried out again and was amazed to see her pleasure reflected on Adam's face. "Adam, now," she begged, when she could wait no longer.

He stood and stripped off his designer briefs. Julia could only stare as he turned his back on her for a moment. God, he was gorgeous. She was also amused and delighted to notice that the dimple she loved in his right cheek replicated itself on another part of his anatomy. His sculpted, muscular body narrowed from broad shoulders to compact hips and the tightest, most appealing butt she'd ever seen -- dimple and all.

When he rejoined her on the bed, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. He responded by pushing her back onto the bed. He used his muscular thighs to part her legs. Julia was touched to see that he was actually trembling with the strain of waiting. She didn't want him to wait. She wanted him now. She ran her fingers lightly down to his stomach and then wrapped her fingers around the smooth, hard shaft of his arousal. Adam groaned again. He gave her a brief, hard kiss and then fumbled in the drawer next to his bed.

"Are you ready, sweetheart?" he asked, as he tore open the foil packet he'd retrieved.

Desire robbed her of her voice. Julia could only nod. "Good," Adam said, after a moment. "So am I."

He sank down, bracing his elbows against the mattress to keep his weight from crushing her. Julia closed her eyes as Adam entered her slowly, teasingly, until in agony she arched up against him and he hilted himself in her.

He began to move against her. She wrapped her long legs around him and opened her eyes again. Adam's expression nearly took her breath away. She'd never seen so much naked emotion on a man's face. She saw more than lust there, more than desire. As the rhythm of Adam's thrusts increased, tear dimmed Julia's vision, tears summoned by a depth of emotion so intense Julia felt too small to contain it.

Adam thrust into her faster and faster, and she found herself matching his tempo. She was caught up in a dizzying spiral of their mutual desire, transported to a world where nothing existed but the salt taste of Adam's skin, the roughness of his cheek against hers, and the delicious friction of their joining.

At last Julia felt Adam shudder, suck in a deep breath, and hold it. The fine muscles of his back tensed under her fingers. His groan of ecstasy pushed her over the edge. As her body found its release, so did her emotions. Over and over, she called Adam's name. She'd never felt as connected to another human being as she felt to Adam at that moment. Tears brimmed in her eyes, but did not yet spill.

"Julia, sweetheart," Adam gasped. His face was transformed by a pleasure so acute it almost looked like pain. Waves of shattering sensation at last rocked Julia's body. Tears of overwhelming happiness slid down her cheeks. She buried her face against Adam's neck and held him as if she would never let him go.

Adam dozed, then woke as the gray light of dawn filtered in through his bedroom window. He yawned, stretched, then pulled Julia tight against his chest and tenderly tugged the comforter up to cover her bare shoulders

He felt better, more alive, than he had in years. Even the coming debate and his poor showing in the latest polls couldn't put a damper on Adam's good mood. He glanced down at the woman sleeping in his arms. Spots of high, rosy color still stood out on her cheekbones, and tendrils of her dark hair curled damply around her temples. In the days following their marriage, he'd imagined that one night together would be enough to quench his desire for Julia, but now he could admit his mistake. He doubted he would ever get his fill of her silken skin and her sweet scent, or the uncomplicated joy with which she responded to his touch.

Gently, careful not to wake her, he brushed the hair from her face. Then he stifled a groan of regret as he gently untangled himself from Julia's embrace and swung his legs off the bed. The clock on his dresser said 6 a.m. Time to start his day.

As needles of hot water massaged his shoulders and back, he realized that the strength of his emotions both pleased and unsettled him. He'd never felt this way before. His desire for Julia seemed to come out of nowhere, like a truck without headlights, blindsiding him when he'd least expected it. He needed time, time to think this thing out. Unfortunately, for the next two days, time was the one luxury he didn't have.

He stepped from the shower and dressed quickly, but his mind still refused to focus on the upcoming debate. Adam did know he'd treated Julia badly in the first weeks of their marriage. He'd married her with cold calculation, because he thought she would be an asset rather than a distraction.

She'd proved to be both, and he couldn't afford distractions right now. Two days, and then he would turn his thoughts and his attention to the woman and child who had so fortuitously fallen into his life. God knows, he'd done nothing to deserve them. Two days, and he'd let Julia knew how he felt about her. Until then. . . .

He had just poured his first cup of coffee when the doorbell rang. He frowned, took a sip of scalding liquid, and set the cup down on the counter. The press? But Tony, the doorman, knew better than to let anyone up. Adam checked his watch. Who dropped by at 6:30 in the morning without calling first?

When he opened the door, he was taken aback to discover a slight, birdlike woman in a bathrobe at his door, her face still rumpled from sleep, her hands fluttering nervously as she stared up at him. Her sharp beak of a nose and her brown hair, swept back into two smooth wings, only intensified the effect. Adam lifted his brows as he recognized his downstairs neighbor. "Mrs. Wheeler? Is something wrong?"

She lifted one hand to her forehead as if she might swoon at any moment. "Mr. Carmichael," she twittered, "I don't know how to say this -- Danny spent the night with our son Mike, and -- and -- "

Icy fear rushed through Adam's veins. "And what?" he barked.

Mrs. Wheeler's expression crumpled. "Danny's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean, gone?" Adam's throat was suddenly bone dry, his heart pounding with a terror he'd never experienced before, a terror he'd never even known existed. He felt raw and vulnerable and utterly powerless. But Adam forced himself to remain calm. He held open the door and led the frantic woman toward the living room. "All right," he said. "Tell me from the beginning, as quickly and succinctly as you can."

Mrs. Wheeler nodded and struggled to compose herself, though she still looked pale and strained, and her hands fluttered and twisted in her lap. "Last night, Danny and Mike asked to visit the video arcade down the street, but I said no. Julia told me Danny wasn't to leave the building without security, and we'd sent the nice officer home already."

She shook her head and dashed tears from her eyes. "I never imagined that the boys would sneak out. Mike says they did it after I sent them to bed around nine o'clock. They climbed out Mike's bedroom window and down the fire escape." She bit her lip. "I'm so sorry. I'm truly, truly sorry. If I --"

Adam broke in sharply, interrupting her apologies. He was pacing the floor, unable to sit still. "Mrs. Wheeler, please. Just tell me what happened."

"On the way home from the arcade, Mike says, a car pulled up next to the boys. The man in the car called Danny by name. He said he was Danny's father." She gave Adam a hopeful look. "Is that true?"

Adam bit back a curse. So Frank had made good on his threats after all. That son of a bitch had taken Danny. He gritted his teeth as molten anger chased overwhelmed his fear. He clenched his fists so hard that his nails bit into his palms. It took every ounce of his self control to keep that anger from erupting. "Go on, please. Danny got in the car with this man?"

Mrs. Wheeler nodded. "Mike says the man had a picture of Danny, a wallet photo. The man said Julia was hurt and that Danny had to come with him. He also made Mike promise not to tell anyone, because it was a government secret." Mrs. Wheeler hung her head. "Mike knows you're a senator, so he believed this man. He snuck back into his room, alone. I didn't know that Danny was gone until I went to wake him this morning, and then I made Mike tell me the whole story."

Adam kept pacing, but he gave the woman a tight smile and adopted his sternest, most official tone of voice. "All right, Mrs. Wheeler. Thank you. I'm going to ask you to sit tight now. Will you be at home today?" She nodded, her eyes wide. "Good. Please don't tell anyone what you've told me. I'm going to take care of this. Do you understand?"

She nodded. As he showed her out, he gave her elbow a reassuring squeeze. "Thank you, Mrs. Wheeler. You did the right thing this morning. Not a word now, promise?"

He shut the door behind her, took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. His mind raced forward to the next step, and the next. Mrs. Wheeler's words had pushed the election from his mind, and the puzzle of his new relationship with Julia. Only one thing really mattered now: Danny's safety. He cursed softly as he silently vowed that Frank would pay for what he'd done.

Before Adam could take action, though, he would have to wake Julia. He would have to wake her and tell her that her son was gone.

"So Frank has Danny." Julia glanced up at Adam, who sat on the edge of the bed and held her hand in both of his. Her heart hammered against her ribs, but otherwise she felt
surprisingly
calm. "He said he'd find a way to get to me, and now he has."

Adam squeezed her hand and studied her face. "We'll get him back. You know that, don't you?"

Julia nodded, but her head suddenly felt too heavy for her neck. Her throat constricted every time she thought of Danny, who by now must be far away and frightened. Yet somehow she answered Adam's question in a low, even voice.

"Of course we'll get him back."

A crease formed between his blond brows. He had obviously expected her to lie down on the floor and scream, to completely lose control. Actually, she felt like doing exactly that. But she couldn't.

"I'm scared, Adam," she admitted. "I'm so scared I can hardly stand it. But I can't fall apart now. That wouldn't help Danny." She frowned. "I don't think Frank would hurt his own son, not unless he's changed more than I can imagine. He'll want money. We can give him money, can't we?" She glanced up at Adam, suddenly frightened. What if Adam refused meet Frank's demands?

Adam took her in his arms. Julia leaned gratefully against his shoulder as Adam stroked her back. This time, there was nothing sexual about the gesture. He held her to comfort her, and nothing more. "Sweetheart, I'll do anything in my power to get your son back home. If paying ransom's the only way to accomplish that, we'll pay it, but I think we should contact the authorities right now. They'll know exactly how to handle this."