Web of Lies (5 page)

CHAPTER FIVE

Four weeks earlier--Faith

Jack drove the whole night, and Faith was glad he didn’t try to talk to her.  It had been difficult sitting across from him, watching him eat, listening to his voice, wishing she could stop the way she felt around him.  She hated to admit that she admired his air of calm assurance, his self-possession.  Not that it surprised her.  He had to be at least ten years older than she was, maybe more. 

It was clear that he had lived a life she could only imagine.  He had been with her father for a very long time, and she could tell he had loved him, though she was sure he would never use that word to describe his feelings.  She was grateful, too, for his restraint. She
had
been a fool, driving off without him, especially after the threat in the parking garage two days earlier. 

She had grown so used to fending for herself and not trusting anyone that she found it difficult to let go enough to see whether or not Jack was on the up and up.  She thought,
After all, my dad wouldn’t have asked him to look out for me if he were a bad guy, would he?
 

Even though she had not been around Grant Lee for six years, she knew in her gut that he would not knowingly endanger her.  So really, she would need to be cautious, but she could relax a bit more and let Jack show himself to her.  At least he could rest assured she wouldn’t run off again.  She may be independent, but she wasn’t really a fool.

She let her mind wander over the time she had spent with him but skirted around the kiss by the roadside after the accident.  She hadn’t been expecting it, but he had blown her away.  She had been kissed before, but never like that.  That had been the kiss of an experienced man, not a mewling boy out to satisfy his own needs.  Jack’s kiss had promised the type of pleasure that she had never done more than fantasize about in her bed alone at night with her Jack Rabbit between her legs.

A chuckle escaped her at the thought of the vibrator’s name, and Jack turned his head questioningly.  She was glad for the darkness inside the cab because her face immediately burned with embarrassment.  Pretending she hadn’t noticed his silent query, she turned her eyes to the darkness outside her window and tried not to squirm at the thoughts she had unleashed. 

Suddenly, the idea of spending the night with him loomed large in her mind. 
What the hell am I going to do if we are in the same room?  Please God, let him get separate rooms.  I’ll promise him I won’t run off. I’ll do anything not to have to sleep in the same room with him.

When he finally stopped, they were at a typical highway chain hotel.  He asked if they had adjoining rooms, and she breathed a sigh of relief when they said they did.  He paid and took the keys and their luggage up to the third floor.  He set her case down in one and walked through the adjoining door to the other. 

She noticed he didn’t close it, but she decided against arguing about that.  She would sleep in her own bed, which was out of his line of vision, and that would have to be enough for her.  After her display earlier, she knew he had no reason to trust her, either.

“We’re leaving at eight.  Do you need me to wake you?”  His tone was impersonal, but Faith could feel the thrum of something more lurking just below the surface.

“No, I’ll manage, thank you.”  She turned away and went to get things for the night from her suitcase.  When she turned around, the adjoining door was no longer wide open.  It was ajar, so he could hear if she tried anything, she supposed, but he could not see her, nor she him. 

The gesture only made her respect him more. Finally, as she showered and prepared for bed, she admitted that she was more than a little interested in him.  It was fine, as long as he never found out.  She was smart enough to know she had no experience with men like him and wouldn’t know how to fend him off if he tried to seduce her.

She switched on the television, knowing she’d be asleep before whatever was on really got started.  She would never admit it to anyone, but she was afraid of being alone and that was why she slept with the TV on every night.  She didn’t know when she fell asleep, but the silence was what woke her up.  She sat up in bed, startled by the quiet and the darkness.  Panic gave her feet wings.  She tripped over the sheets, trapped her feet, and fell to the floor, banging her leg against the metal frame of the bed.

“Faith?”  Jack’s voice above her head raised her blood pressure.  She had forgotten about the open door between them.  He switched on a light and reached down to pull her up, setting her gently on the bed.  “Are you okay?”

She was too busy massaging the sharp pain out of her calf to answer. Anyway, he could see she wasn’t.  The silence grew between them until she looked up and saw where he was looking.  She had changed into a night shirt that was so large it fell off one shoulder perpetually, and he had a sweet view of her left breast.  Her skin flushed from his gaze, so she reached up to adjust the shirt and turned to pull the sheets around her.  However, it was too late.  The tension in the air was solid and sharply electric.

She turned her eyes away from his, but her gaze drifted of its own accord down his body, which was thankfully partially clad in shorts.  He was muscular, tough, tanned, and ripped beyond belief.  She couldn’t tell from the hair on his head whether or not he had been asleep. The hair on his chest made a happy trail down to...  She dragged her eyes away from what was clearly an impressive erection. 
Men often wake up with a woody
, she told herself, even though the clock on the radio told her it was still a few hours to morning. 
If only I could stop my heart from tripping over itself, I could regain my dignity and get back to sleep
.

“You fell asleep with the television on,” he said, “so I shut it off just now.”

He didn’t seem at all bothered by the state he was in.  It was her turn to contribute something to the cool-down conversation, and all she could muster was a strangled, “Oh”. 

“You woke up before I even got back into bed.”  He cocked his head, looking at her inquiringly.  “Do you need it to sleep?”

She was mortified.  “I’m sorry it disturbed you,” she said, ignoring his question.  “I promise not to go anywhere, so you can close the connecting door.”

He stepped closer, and she clutched the sheet to her chest, as though that would stop him from doing anything he felt like doing to her if he tried.   “Why should I trust you any more than you trust me?” he asked. 

It was a reasonable question, but her brain was scrambled by the shot of lust that arched through her. He was so close, and she was so tempted to touch him in that most private place. 

She scrambled back on the bed instead, away from temptation, though she could see when she glanced up that he thought she was afraid of him. 
Fine with me.  Better he think that than know I am dying to stroke his cock and maybe steal a lick or two.
  She licked her lips inadvertently, her eyes still locked on his, and saw him flinch as though she had struck him.

He turned sharply without waiting for an answer and walked away, closing the door behind him. Finally, Faith let out the breath she had been holding.  A curious disappointment caused her to curl her hands into fists, and she went to relieve herself and drink some water, hoping it would cool the fever. 

I wanted him to leave, didn’t I?  So why the hell am I mad that he did?  Jeez!  I can be such a girl sometimes,
she thought, frustrated with herself.  Her body was tense with unspent lust, so she entertained the thought of breaking out her little Jack but ditched it almost immediately.  She couldn’t handle the idea of getting herself off with the real deal next door, aroused, ready, and damned unavailable.

Settling herself back against the pillows, she switched on the television again and scrolled through the channels until she found something she was likely to watch for a bit longer, at least until he went to sleep.  She didn’t know how she would find out if he was asleep, but she wasn’t going to run the risk of dropping off with it on and have him come in for a repeat performance.  She didn’t know how she would withstand another assault on her senses― from a fully-aroused male in close proximity to a suddenly horny-assed female.

When she heard a shower going, she woke with a start.  The connecting door was open again, and the faint light of dawn crept through it, and through the window above her bed.  Jack must be showering.  She glanced over at the clock and saw it was almost seven.  She rushed out of bed.  He had said he was leaving at eight, and she didn’t want to be the reason he left a minute later.  After that moment last night, she didn’t want to be on his radar at all today, any more than she needed to be.

A quick shower, and she put on a pair of faded blue jeans and a t-shirt.  She slipped flip-flops on her feet, her sunglasses on a makeup-free face, and she was ready ten minutes before the scheduled departure time.  She sat demurely on the edge of her unmade bed and waited.  Jack knocked and walked in.

“Let’s go,” he said and took her suitcase.  He was wearing blue jeans, as well, and a muscle shirt that did not help her forget the image of his naked chest the night before.  When she didn’t move, he turned back to her and said, “Unless you’re prepared to spend the whole damned day in bed getting fucked every which way to Sunday, you’d better get a move on.”

His voice was harsh, his words crude, and Faith knew he had been deliberately harsh because he was not unmoved by the currents between them.  Although she thought it quite perverse of her, the idea that he wanted to spend all day in bed with her thrilled her. 

She made the mistake of smiling at him, as she walked by him. Before she knew it, she was up against the wall. His hard body trapped her between it and him.

“You’re playing with fire, little girl!”  She was shocked at the anger vibrating in his voice and bouncing off him in waves.  “I’m not some boy you can tease, get that?” 

Faith blanched on hearing his words, wondering why he was turning on her when it was perfectly clear that he wanted her, too.  She hadn’t been the one walking around in the middle of the night with an erection big enough to distract anyone.  Shame made her hot all over.  She struggled against his hold, but he didn’t let go.

“How dare you!” she exclaimed on a wave of indignation.  “I wasn’t the one who was teasing last night!  And I’m not teasing now!”  She shoved against him, and when he didn’t move, she snarled at him, “Let go of me, you bully!”

Both of them were breathing hard, and in a small corner of her mind, she wondered why. Neither of them were doing anything more strenuous than turning the other on and getting all hot and bothered about it.  She turned her face up to his and watched his head descend. 
I shouldn’t let this happen.  Not again.  Aside from the whole tease accusation, I’m not sure I can withstand another assault of his hungry mouth on...

Oh God!  It is so good.
  His kisses were burning her up, and when he moved, it wasn’t so much to let her move as to get closer to her, so he could show her how very much he was prepared to make good on his earlier threat.  She rubbed herself against him and groaned when he pushed back. 
Oh God, I’m going to lose my mind.
 

Never had she been so thoroughly seduced by kisses, as she was now. Plus, never had she wanted a man, as she wanted this man.  She kissed him back, tasting the mint of his toothpaste and smelling the manly scent of his cologne.  She felt herself growing hotter and barely resisted the urge to raise her legs and circle his waist, thereby giving him absolute freedom to fuck her blind.

He pulled away first, again, proving that he was definitely a man with strong control.  A part of her wanted to break that control; but, she was never one to sleep around. She wouldn’t give in to lust without getting to know him better, no matter how much she wanted it.  So, she let him pull his lips from hers, smiling when he came back to brush them again and again, as though he couldn’t get enough of the butterfly kisses.

“You’re doing it again,” he said huskily, all anger gone from his voice.

“What?” she asked, equally undone.

“Teasing me,” he whispered and kissed her again.  “Stop it!”  He kissed her once more, longer this time, giving her his tongue.

“I’m not the one kissing me,” she said on a breathy chuckle, giving hers back.