wouldn’t be denied. His arms grasped her waist and pulled her closer. Mallory responded, arching her back, deliberately rasping her painfully erect nipples against his chest, seeking relief, seeking him.
She’d set this scenario into motion but she’d only pictured Jack’s response to the feminine side he didn’t believe existed. Not once had she taken her own reactions into account. Even if she had, she’d never have been able to imagine such pleasure from a mere kiss. Such an all-consuming, building need inside her.
All from taking charge of the feminine desires she’d denied for too long. From letting loose the fantasy she’d always had surrounding this man.
Without warning, his tongue became more demanding, more insistent. He took control with the same sweeping, thrusting movements she’d tried on him. He was persistent, hot and erotic, on her palate, beneath her tongue, taking and draining every bit of moisture she possessed. Was it her imagination or was the sweetness of the wine magnified when shared? She tipped her head back and he swept the deep recesses of her mouth like a lover thrusting into carnal oblivion.
A small voice in her head whispered something about teaching him a lesson and warned her to take back control before it was too late. His lips felt so hard and so right, his touch so demanding she wanted to succumb to every sensation, taste and nuance. By the time he slowed and nibbled on her lower lip, every nerve ending she possessed was on fire. Her every thought and desire was attuned to Jack’s.
She reached her hands out to cup his wrists, taking hold of something, anything to keep her grounded. She couldn’t say who broke the kiss first, but when they separated, she needed the heated touch his skin provided, needed the connection with him to remain. Not a good sign, Mallory thought, amazed she could think at all.
“Delicious.” His low, throaty voice sounded more like a growl.
“So you liked the juice from the grapes.” A smile curved her now sensitive lips.
He nodded. She lifted the circular ring of grapes from the tray and draped it provocatively around her neck.
His eyes opened wide but he didn’t miss a beat. “I liked them but I think I need another taste to be sure.” He dipped his head and nibbled on the necklace she’d created and Mallory thought certain she’d died and gone to heaven before she realized she’d never been that good or deserving in her life. She certainly wasn’t being a good girl now.
His dark head bent over her chest and his silky dark hair brushed her throat. He smelled uniquely male and the scent rushed through her body as potent and heady as liquid desire. And his lips-those lips that had accepted her teaching and then kissed her with great skill now grazed not just the fruit, but her flesh. Warm laps of his tongue were followed by shorter, nibbling bites that just happened to miss the grape and end up on her skin.
She shuddered and moaned. She tipped her head back to give him better access. To the succulent fruit or to the waiting cleavage between her breasts. She sighed when his breath teased and groaned but he didn’t touch.
When he finally lifted his head, a wicked grin curved his lips.
“Now how were they?” She managed to summon a strong voice, determined to maintain control of the situation despite the fact that she’d never felt less in control of herself or her body.
His darkened gaze remained steady on hers. “Sweet and giving.”
Moisture pooled again in her mouth.
“Damp, not dry.”
Heat pounded low in her stomach.
“Surprisingly hot to the touch.”
Dampness trickled from between her legs yet somehow she managed to form a coherent thought and speak. “Hot?” The word escaped her burning throat.
“Sizzling.”
Like the heat that flared in his eyes, Mallory thought. “As in the opposite of frigid?” she asked.
A grin caught hold of his lips. “Most definitely.”
With more regret than she’d let him see, she leaned forward and brushed her lips over his for one last kiss. One last lingering taste before she forced herself to her feet, and rose on unsteady legs.
He leaned back and eyed her warily, though thanks to his analytical mind, Mallory sensed he knew exactly what she was thinking. His next words proved her right.
“You made your point.”
“I suppose I did.” In more ways than one, she thought, knowing she’d learned a valuable lesson tonight as well.
She inclined her head to one side. Thanks to his indulgent ministrations, the brush of her hair against her shoulders felt like an erotic caress against her sensitized skin.
No way did she want the evening to end, but she’d accomplished her goal and a good strategist got out at the optimum moment-before they lost what they’d gained. “So I guess we can call it a night.”
Something flickered in his darkened gaze. She’d like to think it was dismay.
“I suppose so.” He rose from his seat. As he began a lazy, sexy stride toward the door, he turned back and approached her once more. “You’re one hell of an opponent, Mallory Sinclair.”
His lips touched hers too briefly and then he was gone, leaving Mallory alone, sexually charged and for some strange reason she didn’t understand, emotionally unfulfilled.
She lifted the ring of grapes and she wondered who had been the teacher and who the student. And who had learned the greatest lesson of all. Because though she’d taught Jack his well-deserved lesson, she now knew she could never repeat the instruction without succumbing herself.
CHAPTER FIVE
JACK ROLLED to his side and came face-to-face with the glare of the morning sun streaming through the windows. The shades he’d forgotten to draw when he’d come in late last night mocked him and reminded him how distracted he’d been upon his return.
The source of that distraction haunted him still.
Mallory. They’d never eaten dinner, the episode with the grapes providing enough sustenance for them both. Though he hadn’t quenched the full extent of the hunger she’d inspired, he hadn’t forced the issue. Instead he’d let her call an end to the evening and had made his escape while he was still able to think clearly. Before he’d taken things with his colleague too far.
His colleague. He wondered if he’d ever be able to think of Mallory as just his co-worker ever again. A vision of coral-lips, toes and fingers-hovered behind his closed eyes. He could still feel those nails digging into the skin on his wrist as she kissed him into sensual, sexual oblivion. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. A slight pounding in his head leveled off to a dull roar, a combination of vodka, which he didn’t drink often, and shock. He’d known Mallory was his intellectual match and he’d respected her abilities. He hadn’t known she was a woman capable of enticing him sexually as well.
But that had been her point-to teach him a lesson about jumping to conclusions and punishing him for his casually tossed insult. Jack had always been a good student and last night he’d learned fast. And now that he’d seen her other side? Now that he’d been exposed to the duality that existed within her, could they go back to a peaceful working relationship?
He shook his head. The barriers she’d always kept in place were gone for good along with the cool pretense. No way did he believe she could or would keep him at arm’s length by dressing the part of the repressed attorney any more than he could ignore truth. She was a beautiful woman with a sensuality he longed to explore.
And he wanted to be the man to plumb her hidden depths. Their working relationship be damned.
He glanced at the phone and noticed the blinking red light for the first time. He wondered if he’d slept through a phone call or if he’d managed to miss the message indicator late last night. He dialed the voice mail, an amenity of Lederman’s luxury hotel, and listened to the message. His host had canceled all meetings today as he’d unexpectedly been called out of town.
Jack didn’t like the man’s disappearance any more than the sudden and strange, personal phone calls Lederman had received. More accurately he didn’t trust them. Jack never took on a case he didn’t feel confident he could win. Not that he won them all, but he had to have faith in the dispute he was fighting. Before he committed to this case
