BEVERLY BARTON – Nine Months (страница 3)

He eased his other hand down her waist and across her hips, pulling her close to him. She wrapped herself around him. Clinging to him. Wanting him. Lost to everything except the all-consuming longing coursing through her.

What was happening to her? Why couldn’t she stop…or ask him to stop? In the swirling confusion of her mind, one coherent thought made its way through—she didn’t want the incredible experience to end and she’d never felt like this. But how could she feel like this with a stranger—a stranger she didn’t even like?

Jared was fast losing control, and if he didn’t stop now, he was going to take Paige with all the wild desire raging inside him. He ran his fingers down her throat and deepened the kiss. Then he slipped his hand inside her suit jacket and covered her breast, his fingers seeking and finding her nipple. Opening her jacket fully to reveal her beige satin bra, he lowered his head and took her nipple into his mouth, suckling her through the soft material. Paige grabbed at his shirt, quickly undoing the remaining buttons, then spread his shirt apart.

Lifting her up against the wall, he pressed her moist, warm body between him and the mirror behind her. While she clutched his shoulders and succumbed to the desire to place her mouth on his chest, he shoved her skirt upward, bunching it around her hips. She lifted her leg, fitting her calf around his thigh.

“I want you, honey,” Jared said, his voice deep and soft and dripping with desire. “Right here. Right now.”

“I—I—” She couldn’t seem to form her thoughts into words.

“If you don’t want this, too, Paige, stop me now.”

“No,” she whimpered. “No, don’t stop.”

Her words seemed to end any doubts on his part, sending him into a sexual frenzy. Within minutes, he’d divested her of her shoes and bikini panties, then unzipped his jeans and lifted her to straddle his hips. She clung to him as he braced her against the mirrored wall. While she returned his wild, wet kisses, he thrust into her.

Paige threw back her head and cried out from the sheer joy of having him inside her. The tension spiraled upward and outward, a hotter, wilder passion than any she’d ever known.

Jared whispered dark, erotic, almost incoherent words to her as he claimed her. He was lost in the moment, not thinking, only feeling. Paige cried out as fulfillment spread through her and her release triggered his. They clung to each other, straining to hold on to the ecstasy, shuddering as the last quivers shot through their bodies.

When Jared lifted her face to kiss her, he saw tears in her eyes. “Did I hurt you, honey?”

“No. It’s…it’s just that I’ve never…I mean it was never like that before.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” He kissed her, softly, sweetly. “I haven’t been that wild for a woman since I was eighteen.”

Her cheeks flushed. Bending her head, she looked down at where their bodies were still pressed together. She eased her legs down his and tried to stand. When she wobbled, he grabbed her by the waist, then he drew in a deep breath and stepped away from her. She looked like a woman who had been thoroughly loved, and the very sight of her aroused him anew.

Seeing her reflection in the mirror, Paige sucked in a deep breath. Suddenly embarrassed, she tugged down her skirt and buttoned her jacket.

“Are you on the Pill?” Jared asked as he reached down and picked up her panties.

“What?” She grabbed the lace bikinis out of his hand and stuffed them into her beige leather purse, which she picked up off the floor.

“I didn’t use anything,” he said. “I got so carried away, I didn’t even think about protection. I’m sorry, Paige, I don’t usually do something that stupid.”

“Oh. I…”

“If you’re protected against pregnancy, then everything else should be all right, shouldn’t it?” Hell, how could he have forgotten to use a condom? He never forgot. “What I mean is that I’m always careful.” Until tonight. “You are, too, aren’t you?”

“Yes. There’s nothing to worry about at all.” Oh, dear God, Paige thought, she had just had sex with a man—a stranger—and hadn’t given a thought to protecting herself. She was twenty-five years old and she should have known better.

She tried to smile, but the effort failed. “You certainly found a very effective way to get my mind off my claustrophobia.”

He reached out to touch her and she moved out of his reach. “Unfortunately, I’ve never made love with a stranger before and I find the situation rather awkward.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, this is a first for me, too.” He grinned, then explained. “I’ve never made love to a stranger in an elevator, either.”

Nodding her understanding, Paige smiled weakly. “I—I don’t suppose many people have.”

Jared tucked in his shirt and zipped up his jeans. Now what? he wondered. Despite how awkward things were between them, they were stuck with each other for the time being.

He picked up his Stetson and set it on his head. “I suppose you live here in Grand Springs, don’t you? I’m from Texas. Just got into town today and—”

“Stop it, will you?” Crossing her arms over her chest, Paige leaned against the back of the elevator. “I don’t want to talk to you. Do you understand? I want to pretend that what happened didn’t happen. We’re strangers who will never see each other again once we leave this elevator, so let’s keep it that way.”

“You’re right,” he said. “We’re both better off not knowing anything about each other. Just a couple of ships that passed in the night.”

Jared slumped down on the floor, leaned back his head and drew his Stetson down over his eyes. Paige rummaged in her purse, pulled out a paperback book and began to read.

They ignored each other for quite a while. After checking her watch for the dozenth time, Paige wondered if they were going to be trapped in the elevator all night. The power had gone off around seven o’clock, more than four hours ago.

A rather loud banging caught their attention. The elevator vibrated ever so slightly.

“Hey down there!” a masculine voice called out. “How many of you are there?”

Jared glanced up and saw a man at the mezzanine level of the shaft. “Only two of us. Are you maintenance?”

“No, sir. I’m Troy Dodd with the fire department. We’d have been here sooner, but we didn’t know anyone was still in the building when the power went out.”

“Can you tell us what happened?” Jared asked as he stood.

“Well, the whole town’s in the dark. Seems the heavy rainstorms caused a mud slide that buried Grand Springs’s only source of electricity.”

“Will you stop talking and get us out of here!” Paige said impatiently.

“Is your name Paige?” Troy Dodd asked.

“Yes. Why?”

“Your parents called and told us that you were probably trapped in the Wellman Building.”

She glanced at Jared, who smiled at her. That devastating killer smile.

“I was supposed to have dinner with them tonight,” she explained.

“Hey, folks,” Troy Dodd said, “we’re going to send down a lift chair and bring you two up, one at a time.”

“Jared, about what happened,” Paige whispered as they waited for the chair, “I want you to know—”

“You don’t have to say it, honey. What happened was a mistake. We lost our heads and went a little crazy.”

“Yes, we did.”

“The best thing we can do is forget about it. Right? Pretend it never happened.”

“Yes, of course. You’re right. It never happened.”

Fifteen minutes later, Paige and Jared stood on the mezzanine level of the Wellman Building and shook hands with the firemen. After thanking them for coming to the rescue, Paige said goodbye to Jared. They stared at each other for one, long, sweet moment, then Paige walked downstairs and into her mother’s open arms.

* * *

After thirty-six hours without electricity, thanks to the massive rainstorm and mudslides that destroyed everything in its path, Grand Springs was a flurry of activity on Monday morning. Jared arrived at his new office in the Wellman Building before any of the office staff. He had planned to be in town for a week before he turned the entire Grand Springs operation over to his manager, Greg Addison. As this Colorado branch of Montgomery Real Estate and Land Development expanded, it would be necessary for Jared to make trips more frequently and stay longer, so he’d told Greg to hire a secretary for him, someone capable of doubling as his assistant.

But the thirty-six-hour blackout upon his arrival had set the tone for the entire weekend, and Jared had decided to cut his visit short. It had been one wild, unexpected event after another. He’d said his goodbyes to Paige, telling himself he’d forget all about her, and left the Wellman Building with the firemen who had rescued them. Discovering how desperately volunteers were needed during the local emergency, he had offered his services. He hadn’t gotten a bath or a hot meal until Sunday morning when electricity had been restored and he’d checked into a local motel.

And he had dreamed about Paige. About touching her. Making love to her. For the past two days, he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind.

Since Grand Springs wasn’t a big town, the longer he stayed, the greater the odds were that he and Paige would run into each other. He didn’t want that, and he suspected neither did she. What had happened between them had been a chance happening, a one-night stand to end all one-night stands.