Sensual Confessions Part 21

"I don't care if it was to go outside on the sidewalk to buy a bag of peanuts. I bring you here every morning and you are to stay put until I come back and pick you up," he said, raising his voice.

That got her dander up. "I've told you before, Blade. You are not my daddy."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "Then maybe I should call Mr. Di Meglio and let him know just how difficult his daughter is being about staying alive."

She glared at him. She still hadn't told her parents anything. "You wouldn't dare."

His smile formed slowly and didn't quite reach his eyes. "Try me, sweetheart."

She continued to glare at him. He would would call her parents-she had no doubt of that. Already she knew they were getting suspicious, but she wasn't sure of what. When she had talked to them last week they had mentioned possibly coming to see her. Fortunately, she had managed to talk them out of it, telling them she was working on a very important court case. Since they were both attorneys, they understood and had relented. However, they'd informed her that they would be calling her again this week. She dreaded their calls because it meant she would have to lie to them again. call her parents-she had no doubt of that. Already she knew they were getting suspicious, but she wasn't sure of what. When she had talked to them last week they had mentioned possibly coming to see her. Fortunately, she had managed to talk them out of it, telling them she was working on a very important court case. Since they were both attorneys, they understood and had relented. However, they'd informed her that they would be calling her again this week. She dreaded their calls because it meant she would have to lie to them again.

"I want your word, Sam, that you won't be trying something like that again."

She lifted her chin. "You might want my word, but you won't get it. I feel like I'm a prisoner at work and in my home. I want to go out and eat at a restaurant without having to look over my shoulder. I need to get my nails done this week and go to the spa."

"And I told you that I would take you wherever you needed to go."

"But I don't want you to feel obligated to take me places and be my bodyguard. You have your own work to do."

"And I'm doing it. I met with my surveyors today. Everything with the Mosley project is on schedule and we'll hand Luke the keys to the rodeo school on Friday."

She let out a long, frustrated sigh. She had to get him to understand. "Blade, I want to take my car and just drive. I want to feel my hair blowing in the wind without fear that someone's trying to kill me."

"And that time will come, Sam. In fact, I got a call from Alex earlier today, and he's flying into town tomorrow. He has information he wants to share with you."

Blade could tell by the expression on her face that she needed to hear that.

"Really? Do you think that he-"

"Let's not jump to conclusions. Let's just wait to see what he has to say." He dropped his hands to his side. "Are you ready to leave?"

"No."

"No?"

"That's what I said," she told him as she moved from behind her desk, walked over to the window and closed the blinds. Then she glanced over her shoulder. "Lock the door, Blade."

Blade wasn't sure how long he stood there staring at her before he finally reached behind him to lock the door. It was probably when she began stripping off her clothes. He took a deep breath as he watched her, and in no time at all, she had stripped down to nothing more than a pair of black lace panties.

"Is there a reason you're taking off your clothes in here?" he asked, although he was now following her lead and removing his.

"Yes, there is one fantasy I have that we haven't played out yet."

He glanced over at her as he unzipped his pants. "And what fantasy is that?"

"Being taken on my desk. Think you can handle it?"

Blade couldn't help but smile. h.e.l.l, at times he wondered if he could could handle her. When they arrived in Houston, she had declared that it was fantasy week, and each night one of them would act out their wildest s.e.xual fantasies. Some had been real doozies. They had even made out again in a car-the backseat this time-although it was parked in Blade's garage. It hadn't mattered. He had taken her in the car, against the door, as well as on the hood and the fender. The fantasies had been worthwhile. handle her. When they arrived in Houston, she had declared that it was fantasy week, and each night one of them would act out their wildest s.e.xual fantasies. Some had been real doozies. They had even made out again in a car-the backseat this time-although it was parked in Blade's garage. It hadn't mattered. He had taken her in the car, against the door, as well as on the hood and the fender. The fantasies had been worthwhile.

Sam was everything he could possibly want in a woman-s.e.xually daring, provocative. He loved her and he respected her. There were times when he would find her staring at him as if he was a puzzle she needed to solve that was missing one piece. It was during those times that he wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms and tell her just how much he loved her and that everything would be okay.

Sam slowly walked toward him, swaying her hips, and he moved away from the door to meet her halfway. They were two naked bodies about to intimately become one. She wrapped her arms around his waist and began rubbing her body against him, flesh against flesh and skin against skin.

He picked her up in his arms and carried her to her desk and plopped her naked rear end on top. He then leaned forward and captured her mouth, mating their tongues in one ravenous exchange.

He reached down and used his finger to test her, to see if she was ready for him, and wasn't surprised to find that she was. He pulled his mouth back and whispered against her lips, "You're hot and wet."

"Then make me hotter and wetter."

He tilted her back on the desk and spread her legs in the process. And then his erect and protruding shaft homed in on just where it wanted to go. He teased the well-lubricated opening of her legs before slowly easing inside of her.

His breath caught the moment he sensed the pleasure he always felt when he entered her like this. He'd never thought he would find a woman like her, a woman whose s.e.xual fantasies mirrored his, and who met his every need, not just in the bedroom.

She wrapped her legs around him as he moved inside her, while her inner muscles clenched tight around his engorged erection. Her muscles were working him and he was determined to work her just as hard. Each thrust into her body mirrored just how much he loved her, how much she meant to him, and just how determined he was to never let her go.

When he felt her shudder around him he rolled his hips and rocked into her one final time before exploding, releasing the o.r.g.a.s.m he could no longer hold back, and joining her as the two of them climaxed together.

An hour or so later, in a better frame of mind than she had been earlier, Sam got out of the car when Blade parked it in her driveway. He had fulfilled another one of her fantasies and she was happy about it. s.e.x had to be one of the best stress relievers.

And to top things off, after leaving the office he'd taken her to the restaurant on the corner. Instead of getting takeout, as she a.s.sumed they would, he had parked the car, come around and opened her door, took her hand and led her inside the restaurant, requesting a table at the window.

During dinner, it had been quite obvious that he was watchful and alert. Every so often she would see him looking around, checking out anyone who'd entered the restaurant. But sitting across from him, sharing a meal and telling him how her day had gone had been nice.

"Other than the nail salon and spa, do you have any other appointments this week?" he asked as he waited for her to walk around the car.

She didn't look at him as she pulled her key out of her purse. "Yes, I have a doctor's appointment on Friday."

"A doctor's appointment?"

"Yes," she said, still not looking at him. "My regular checkup."

It wasn't completely true. There was nothing regular about the appointment she had made with her doctor. She was late, and for someone whose cycle was always regular, that concerned her. But then, she knew all the stress of what she was going through might have had something to do with it.

But something Syneda Madaris had said that night at the party in Houston still stuck in her mind.

...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....

She glanced over at Blade when he took the key from her hand. Although the two of them had spent the last three weeks making love practically each and every day, there was no reason for her to a.s.sume he wanted more out of the relationship. And he was definitely not a man who'd want a baby.

He enjoyed her. She was a novelty. She was a first for him in many ways. A woman he had shared sensual confessions with. But she knew that once he got tired of her, he would walk away without looking back. She knew it and she accepted it because she loved him. She appreciated him caring enough to protect her. But he'd explained in the beginning that the reason he was doing it was to keep Mac, Peyton and Luke from worrying.

"You're expecting a delivery?"

She glanced up at Blade and then at the box that was sitting on her doorstep. "No." She glanced at the label. "It looks like a box from Mom. She's always sending me stuff if she sees something she thinks I'd like. Unfortunately, I inherited her shoe fetish. I'm sure you've noticed I have quite a few."

Blade nodded. He had noticed. But still...

"When you get inside I want you to call your mother to verify she sent you this package."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Is that really necessary?" she asked, opening the door.

"Yes," Blade said. "It's necessary."

"Fine, I'll do it," she said, tossing her purse on the table. "Will you at least bring the box inside the house?"

Blade looked over at her. "I'm not touching that box and neither are you. Just get your mother on the phone, Sam."

Sam glared. "I hope you know if I call her she's going to wonder why I'm even asking, when I know she's sent me stuff before."

"Doesn't matter, Sam. Call her."

When she narrowed her eyes, he said, "Please."

She smiled sweetly as she went back to the sofa and grabbed her cell phone out of her purse. "Sure, Blade, now that you've begged begged."

He ignored her comment as he thought about the box sitting on her doorstep. He wasn't a paranoid person, but for some reason he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He heard the conversation between Sam and her mother and knew what she was going to say before she'd hung up the phone.

Blade was already pulling out his cell phone and dialing 91-1.

Chapter 23.

The man meant to kill her.

That was a fair enough a.s.sessment to make, Detective Adams thought, as he glanced over at Sam and Blade. Blade was holding her in his arms while her face was pressed against his chest.

The bomb squad was leaving after detonating what had been a bomb. Had she opened the box, it would have blown her and anyone standing within twenty feet of her to smithereens. He could tell that Sam was upset and afraid, and rightly so. To finally realize someone meant to kill you was enough to cause anyone distress. And it hadn't been one of those amateur, homemade bombs. Whoever had put it together knew exactly what he or she was doing. It was someone who knew enough about chemistry and physics to make a fairly sophisticated explosive device.

"I suggest the two of you find somewhere else to go tonight," Detective Adams said. "And the fewer people who know where you are the better until we can find out who's behind this. The only thing the guard at the security gate knows is that the package was delivered by the regular FedEx delivery man for this route."

Detective Adams took in a deep breath. "Chances are the deliveryman didn't have a clue what he was delivering. In fact, if someone had broadsided his truck, he and everything within twenty feet would have been blown up."

Blade's lips tightened. Although he had called the police he had hoped it was a false alarm. The bomb squad had closed off the area while they investigated the package, and once they discovered it contained live explosives set to go off when the package was opened, they went to work.

"Mr. Madaris?"

"I heard you," Blade said, trying not to show his anger, especially toward anyone a.s.sociated with the police. They had been more than helpful, considerate and very efficient. He just didn't want to think about what could have happened to Sam if she'd opened that box. His arms tightened around her just thinking about how he could have lost her.

"I understand you've called Alex Maxwell into this," Detective Adams said.

Blade nodded.

"Then I'm confident we'll have the person responsible sooner rather than later. We don't have the manpower or resources that he seems to have. With Maxwell's help, we'll have this lunatic behind bars before he can try anything else."

Blade hoped so, too. He wouldn't rest until the person who had tried to hurt his woman was captured.

He leaned back and looked down at Sam, and could tell she was still in a state of shock. "We're leaving here tonight, Sam. I want you to go upstairs and grab some things. We'll be gone for a few days, at least three to four."

The police and bomb squad had already done a thorough sweep of her house to make sure that nothing had been tampered with and there had been no forced entry. But until the authorities talked to the FedEx driver, no one was taking any chances.

She glanced up at him, and the look Blade saw in her eyes nearly ripped his heart out. The fire was gone from her eyes. But he knew that eventually it would return and when it did it she would be mad as h.e.l.l at the person responsible. Her temper would be out of control, and it would be the one time he wouldn't mind seeing it.

"Do you need me to help you pack, sweetheart?" he asked softly.

She shook her head as she stepped out of his arms. "No, I can do it. I'll be back in a few."

He watched as she walked up the stairs.

Ignoring how badly her hands were shaking, Sam hurriedly went through several drawers in her bedroom, pulling out items and throwing them in the suitcase on her bed. Enough for three or four days, as Blade had said.

She paused for a moment to take a deep breath when reality hit hard once again. Someone had tried to blow her up. Someone truly wanted her dead. She actually felt weak in the knees knowing there was a person who hated her enough to want to end her life.

"Samari?"

She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, then turned around. Blade rarely called her Samari except when they were making love. "Yes?"

"Come here, baby."

She quickly crossed the room and walked right into his open arms. "I promise you that we will get this guy," he whispered.

She heard the conviction and the determination in his voice. "I know. But all this time I thought...I was really hoping that it was a bad joke. I never really thought that someone actually wanted to hurt me."

She drew in a deep breath. Now she knew and she would never be caught off guard again.

"Luke, this is Blade."

It took Blade a good fifteen minutes to tell his cousin what had happened. It would have taken less time if Mac, who'd been standing next to Luke, hadn't kept interrupting by asking questions.

"a.s.sure Mac that Sam's okay, just shaken up a bit. We're at one of those resort hotels in the mountains that have a cl.u.s.ter of chateau-style villas, and we're staying put for a while. Alex is supposed to arrive in the morning and he'll head straight to your place. I want you to bring him here, Luke. And you might want to check your rearview mirror periodically to make sure you aren't being followed."

Blade gave Luke the name of the resort and their villa number. "I don't know what information Alex has for us, and other than contacting you, I haven't made any other calls. The fewer people who know where we are the better. And have Mac clear Sam's calendar, because she won't be back in the office this week."