glittering diamond heart choker around her neck and the matching earrings winking in the room's lamplight.
'You're so, so beautiful,' he whispered reverently.
He glided his lips along her jaw, and her hands landed on his chest, her nails lightly grazing his taut flesh. He swirled his tongue down the side of her neck and filled his palms with her generous breasts, and she released a long, blissful sigh. Dipping his head, he laved her nipples with his tongue, drew them into his mouth, sucking first one, then the other stiffened crest.
She cried out hoarsely and moved restlessly against him in a silent plea for more. Her fingers threaded through his hair, holding him in place, encouraging a deeper pressure of his mouth on her breast. He gave her everything she wanted, but at his own leisurely pace, which increased her excitement, her need for him, just as he intended.
Slipping his hands into the waistline of her dress, he pushed the outfit over her hips and let the silky fabric fall to the floor at her feet. His large palms passed over her bottom, smooth and naked since he'd ripped off her panties earlier, and traced one of the straps of her garter belt down to the stocking hugging her thigh.
He pushed her back toward the mattress, made her lie down in the center of the bed and watch as he took off his shoes and socks, and stripped out of his slacks and briefs. Her gaze took in his erect, jutting cock, and she licked her lips and touched her fingers to her belly, teasing him, testing his restraint. Her green eyes were hungry, eager, and her body moved restlessly against the covers, as if her skin was too prickly to bear.
With a seductive smile, he crawled up onto the mattress from the foot of the bed and took off one of her strappy red shoes, then the other, and tossed both to the floor. He rubbed her feet and arches until she moaned with gratitude; then he unclasped her garter belt and slowly, leisurely rolled her stockings down her legs and off. Wanting to pamper her, he stroked her supple skin and caressed and massaged her thighs, her calves, and felt the tension drain from her limbs. Finally, her body grew pliant, her breathing deep and even.
He looked up the length of her, taking in her sweet, feminine curves, the sparkling entwined hearts she still wore around her neck and which claimed her as his, and the way she trusted him so implicitly with her body and her pleasure. If only she'd grant him that much trust with her heart and emotions.
He'd managed to mellow her for the moment, to decrease that rush of sexual adrenaline she'd been riding on, and when she opened her legs in invitation and whispered his name like a prayer, he felt something fierce and tender clench inside his chest and knew without question what that emotion was.
He moved over her, fitting his hips between her spread thighs, crushing her breasts against his chest, and braced his arms on either side of her head so that they were face-to-face. Refusing to let her look away, he stared into her eyes, watched her expression as he slowly pushed inside her. Without the barrier of a condom, she enveloped him in a tight, slick heat that made him suck in a quick breath at the exquisite sensation of being one with her, without anything to separate flesh from flesh.
She gasped, startled, and with her palms braced against his shoulders, she struggled beneath him. 'Steve… wait… stop.' Panic laced her voice. 'You didn't wear a condom.'
He caught her pushing hands, stretched her arms above her head, and entwined their fingers so she was pinned beneath him. 'You're on the Pill,' he reminded her huskily, but knew that wasn't her main concern. She knew the significance of this joining, understood the sacrifice he'd made to forgo any protection on his part. 'You feel so good with nothing between us. So hot, so silky soft and tight.'
She closed her eyes and moaned as he thrust into her- long, slow strokes that increased the building pressure, the incredible, delicious friction. He kissed her lips, chased her tongue with his, and arched his hips high and hard, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist as he rocked against her sex. Then he stopped, lifted his head, and captured her gaze with his.
'Can you feel that?' he murmured, keeping his chest pressed to hers.
He watched the pulse at the base of her throat flutter, and knew she'd try to evade the answer. 'Feel…
'The beat of our hearts. Yours and mine. Together.' He waited, letting her absorb their mingling heartbeats before laying his emotions for her out in the open. 'And the love. Can you feel that, Liz?'
He expected her to deny her feelings for him, but the tears gathering in her eyes stunned him as much as her reply did. 'Yes,' she said in an aching, wistful voice, as vulnerable as he'd ever seen her before. 'I can feel it.'
It was time he offered her the ultimate commitment, and the declaration came much easier than he'd ever expected, and felt incredibly, perfectly right. 'I love you.'
He didn't wait for a response, because none was needed. He knew how she felt about him even if she didn't verbalize those emotions, and he'd left no doubts in her mind how much he cared about her.
He continued making slow, sweet love to her, letting his body worship hers, and gave her every reason to stay with him. For the night. Forever.
But by morning, Liz was gone, leaving behind the diamond heart earrings and necklace on his nightstand-one of many gifts she refused to accept from him.
Steve rubbed a hand over his unshaven jaw, more disappointed than surprised that she'd left sometime in the middle of the night without waking him or saying good-bye. It was a clean break, with no messy emotional issues or any argument for her to deal with-just as she'd spent years avoiding that same kind of confrontation with her cousin. And now she was living a solitary, one-dimensional life as a result.
The case was over. By one o'clock that afternoon, after speaking briefly with Liz on the phone and giving her his final report on her cousin, Steve closed the file he'd started on Valerie Clark and Rob Easton, satisfied with the knowledge that Liz's cousin hadn't been kidnapped or taken against her will. She was off enjoying a week-and-a- half-long holiday in Paris with a client she'd met through The Ultimate Fantasy.
With the personal information that Trixie had shared with him the previous night at the party, tracing Rob had been ridiculously easy. The tidbits the other woman had offered had been invaluable. Steve now knew that Easton was the CEO of a software company based here in Chicago, and that he lived in a very exclusive area of Lake Shore Drive. According to Trixie, Rob had a penchant for pretty women, indulging in phone sex and attending the fantasy parties to satisfy his numerous fetishes. Rob also enjoyed vacationing in exotic locales with the ladies he met through The Ultimate Fantasy. Valerie wasn't the first woman he'd taken abroad, and she most likely wouldn't be the last.
According to the itinerary he'd been able to outline from the bits and pieces of information he'd discovered this morning, he'd learned that today was Rob and Valerie's last night at a high-dollar Paris hotel, and they were due to check out and fly back to the states tomorrow. Their international flight was due to arrive at O'Hare in the early evening.
There was nothing to indicate foul play, or that Valerie was in any kind of danger, and that had relieved Liz the most when Steve had spoken to her. Yet he couldn't help but wish that Liz would embrace a bit of anger when it came to Valerie and the way she continually manipulated her emotions and, on some level, her life. But that was the heart of the problem with Liz-she was too caught up in doing the responsible thing, too intent on pleasing her aunt and uncle causing her to sacrifice her own happiness in the process and give up any chance at a future: with him. That had been abundantly clear when she'd sneaked out of his bed last night.
Her withdrawal had also been evident in her tone when he'd talked to her on the phone a while ago. She'd been all business, as if they'd never been intimate. She never strayed beyond their conversation about Valerie, never acknowledged the fact that he was in love with her and had told her as much the night before. He supposed it was easier for Liz to ignore that fact, to pretend it didn't exist, than to deal with all the emotional repercussions that came with such a deep, heartfelt revelation.
Releasing a long exhale, he pulled another case file to follow up on, determined to move on to the best of his ability. He spent the next couple of hours making calls on another missing-persons case, tracing leads, and searching Internet files for information he needed in another state.
The speaker on his phone buzzed, followed by his secretary's efficient voice. 'Steve, Liz Adams is here to see you.'
An odd sense of deja vu washed over him. It had been a week ago that she'd come to his office seeking his
