Killing Lies Read online

  The bedside lamp was on low, casting a golden glow on his toned body but shadowing his face. The glow in his eyes had nothing to do with artificial light, however.

  “I want you.” His voice was rough with desire. “I’ve wanted you from the first time I set eyes on you. You don’t know how many times you came into my office and I couldn’t get up from my desk because my cock was so hard.”

  “I want you, too,” she whispered. “You don’t know how many times I dreamed about you, just like this.”

  “I had my own dreams. But now we have the reality.”

  He tossed the towel aside, revealing an impressive erection and the sac with his balls resting heavy against his thighs. The muscles of her pussy quivered and moisture slid out onto her inner thighs. The ache inside her grew until she felt it in every throb of her pulse.

  Reno pulled back the sheet covering her, lifted her to a sitting position, and deftly slid the thin nightgown over her head. His gaze raked over her, the heat in his eyes flaring brighter.

  “Gorgeous,” he breathed. “Absolutely gorgeous, just as I knew you’d be.”

  He lay down beside her, propping his head with one hand as he ran the other lightly over her body. His fingers traced a pattern along her cheek, down her neck and between the valley of her breasts. They glided across her puckered nipples, pausing to pinch each one lightly. Shards of heat streaked directly to her cunt and spread throughout her body.

  As he explored her, his mouth found hers, taking her in a predatory kiss that roused her senses. He tasted every inch of her mouth, her own tongue dueling with his for possession. When he gently bit the tip of her tongue, she reached up to clutch at his head, trying to pull him even closer. When he broke the kiss, she was gasping for breath.

  His palm rested a moment on her tummy, then his fingers trailed into the nests of curls covering her mound, finally probing the wetness of her slit. Her legs parted, giving him greater access to her, and the tip of one finger circled the entrance to her cunt. He inserted it barely past the first knuckle, and her inner muscles clenched in response. He shifted slightly beside her, and the full length of his cock pressed against her thigh.

  She tried to urge him farther inside her with her hips, but he was intent on teasing. As his finger moved slowly in and out, never pushing all the way in, he bent his head and captured one tight nipple into his mouth and sucked. Hard.

  Sarah moaned harder, the coil of need inside her winding tighter and tighter.

  “Please,” she murmured. “Oh, please.”

  “Please what?” he asked, lifting his mouth from her breast. “Please kiss you? Lick you? Fuck you?”

  “Yes. Everything. All of it.” She pressed one hand against the taut muscles of his back, feeling the play of sinews beneath the skin.

  He pushed his finger all the way inside her, then added a second.

  “You are so damn tight,” he rasped, scissoring his fingers. “I can’t wait to feel my dick inside you.”

  He moved his thumb to find the hot bud of her clitoris, rubbing it back and forth. Moisture flooded his fingers, and she clenched around them.

  “That’s it,” he encouraged. “I want that wetness so I can slide into you.”

  She moved her hand from his back and tried to slide it between them, but he pulled it away.

  “I want to touch you,” she insisted.

  “Not yet. If you do, I’m afraid we’ll be finished before we barely get started. I’ve wanted to fuck you for so long I can barely control myself.”

  Those words, as much as what he was doing to her body, ratcheted up her pleasure even more. When he shifted again to move between her legs, she shivered in anticipation. But instead of positioning himself to enter her, he slid down, opened the lips of her pussy as if they were petals on a flower and licked the length of her with one long swipe of his tongue.

  Sarah raised her knees, threaded her fingers through the black silk of his hair, and pulled his head tight against her.

  “Yes,” she moaned. “Oh, yes.”

  His tongue was like a flame heating her flesh. His hands slid beneath her buttocks, lifting her higher to his mouth as he licked and thrust and plundered. As an orgasm gathered deep inside her, muscles tightened, pulses throbbed. When it broke over her, she clutched at his head, lifting her hips to him and digging her heels into the bed. She shook with the spasms, her inner muscles trying to draw his tongue in deeper.

  As she was still clenching, he withdrew his tongue, rose to his knees pressed the head of his cock against her opening.

  “Now you can touch me,” he whispered roughly. “Guide me home, Sarah.”

  Still in the throes of orgasm, she somehow managed to reach down for his shaft, widened her thighs and guided him into her body. He rolled his hip, and with one powerful thrust, he was inside her, stretching her, filling her until she couldn’t breathe. One movement and she was plunged into another climax, this one even more powerful.

  He held himself steady as she convulsed around him, bathing him with her liquid, wrapping her legs around him, and digging her heels into the base of his spine. When she was gasping, nails digging into his shoulders, he began to move, powerful strokes in and out in a steady rhythm.

  “I can’t,” she told him in a breathless voice.

  “Yes, you can. Ride with me.”

  He drove into her faster. Beneath the grip of her legs, his muscles tightened as his own climax gathered. His tempo increased as he pounded into her harder and harder. Finally he stopped, his entire body stiffening, and as he began to spurt inside her, another orgasm gripped her, this one the most intense yet.

  Her pussy convulsed around his cock, her legs tightened around him, her entire body shuddered in the rhythm of the shared climax. She was spinning into space, rockets exploding in the black velvet that surrounded her. The spasms seemed to go on forever until she wondered how she would survive it.

  And finally, finally, the intensity subsided, leaving her breathless and gasping for air. Her heart beat against her ribs so hard she was afraid it would shatter. With great effort, she unwound her legs from him and lowered them to the bed.

  Reno collapsed forward, catching himself on his forearms, his breath washing over her as he brushed her lips. His cock was still inside her, still filling her. He touched his forehead to hers and—

  Sarah roused from her dream with a start. She was covered in perspiration, her covers tossed aside, nightgown rucked up, her hand between her legs, stroking her still-pulsing cunt.

  Ohmigod!

  She squeezed her thighs together and withdrew her hand guiltily. Another erotic dream about Reno. Her body was weak, nearly boneless, as if she’d actually had multiple orgasms. She was truly losing her mind.

  On shaky legs, she stumbled into the bathroom where she dampened a washcloth with cold water and ran it over her face, her neck, and her arms. But it was going to take more than that to cool her feverish body. She drank two glasses of water, hoping that would help, but it barely took the edge off the arousal coursing through her. Filling the glass again, she wandered back into the bedroom.

  She was standing by the bedroom window, rubbing the glass against her forehead, when the telephone rang, jerking her out of her thoughts.

  She looked at the bedside clock. One-thirty a.m. Who could be calling at that hour? Nothing good came of calls after midnight. Again, her first thought was of her father. Her stomach knotted in fear as she picked up the receiver.

  “Sarah?”

  “Yes?” Her disoriented mind didn’t recognize the raspy voice at first.

  “It’s Reno.” There was a slight pause. “I apologize for the late hour. I hope I didn’t wake you.”

  Reno? Oh, God, now what? And why did his voice sound so strange? Maybe he’d decided he wanted his answer right away. That he couldn’t wait until morning. Her stomach churned at the thought.

  “No, I was awake.” After an unbelievable dream about you, so hot I’m still shaking. “Is something
wrong?”

  “No. Yes. That is…”

  “That is?” she prompted. She couldn’t imagine this man ever fumbling for words.

  “I was just thinking maybe I came across too strong tonight.” His voice was slightly hoarse, and she caught the edge of anxiety. This had to be damn important to him. “I wanted to make sure I hadn’t scared you away.”

  Too strong? She swallowed a hysterical laugh. A bulldozer would have been softer.

  “I’m fine,” she assured him. “Just turning a lot of things over in my mind.”

  “I’m sure you are.” He cleared his throat. “Actually, I’m feeling kind of guilty. I don’t think I realized I’d be asking you to turn your life upside down quite so much.”

  “Please don’t worry. But I think we’d better hang up now. I’m still trying to sort through everything, and the night isn’t getting any longer.”

  And I need to go to sleep and not dream about you.

  “Of course. I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I shouldn’t have called this late in the first place.”

  “No, it’s all right. Really.”

  Another pause. “To tell the truth, I think I was afraid you might decide I was totally crazy, pack up and leave.”

  “Not a chance.” Though, after the dream, the idea had occurred to her. How could she agree to a sexless marriage with a man she wanted inside her every time she saw him? “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Thank you for that. And Sarah? Whatever you decide, I want you to know it won’t cost you your job.”

  Now she really did want to laugh. If she turned him down, how on earth could she go back to their everyday work arrangement—and keep dreaming at night—as if nothing had changed?

  “We can discuss it if that turns out to be the case.”

  “Well, then.” He seemed reluctant to break the connection. Again, silence stretched across the line. “See you in the morning.”

  “Good night.”

  More restless now than ever, Sarah went to the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea, sipping at it and staring out the window as if the answer waited for her out there somewhere.

  She could only hope.

  ****

  At six in the morning, Reno finally gave up trying to sleep, showered, and dressed. The child was still asleep, as was the dreadful housekeeper the last agency he’d called had sent him. If he didn’t get her out of the house soon, he might have to shoot her.

  At seven, he answered the door to let one of his agents in. He needed someone until Sarah moved in.

  If she moved in.

  He went over the layout with Gary Stern, the agent. The housekeeper had been none too happy to have a strange man assigned to the house, especially since he hadn’t given her any reason. Too bad. Hopefully, by afternoon he could boot her out.

  The streets were just filling with morning traffic as he drove to work, and the parking garage was only partially filled. Most people wouldn’t arrive until at least another hour. He was surprised when he walked into his office to find Nick already waiting for him.

  He grinned at Reno. “Figure to dodge me by being an early bird? Not a chance.”

  “What about the security system?”

  Nick looked at his watch. “They’re on their way. As a matter of fact, they should be arriving any minute. I called Gary to let them in.”

  “Excellent.”

  “So. How did it go last night?”

  “Please.” Reno shook his head. “I’ve already had the speech from Tony. I woke him up in the middle of the night to tell him you’re both right. I’m a fool.”

  And what a conversation that had been, prompting that incredibly stupid phone call to Sarah.

  Nick frowned. “Does this mean she turned you down?”

  “It means she said she’d give me an answer today.” He sat down beside his desk and pretended to busy himself with a stack of change orders.

  “You look as if you haven’t slept in a year.”

  “That’s how I feel.”

  Especially after the fantasies that popped into my head when I tried to sleep and now won’t get out of my mind. Sarah naked in my bed. Sarah with her legs spread wide and her swollen, pink cunt—

  “Reno?” Nick’s voice cut into his mental wanderings. “Did you hear me? I asked how she reacted to the ‘No Sex’ clause?”

  Reno frowned, remembering the mixture of relief and disappointment that crossed Sarah’s face when he mentioned a sex-free marriage. “Actually, I think she was relieved.”

  “Well.” Nick ambled toward the door. “I’d wish you good luck, but if Sarah says yes, she’s the one who’ll need it.”

  Reno said nothing. He was too edgy to argue and so uptight he was afraid he’d crack if he bent over. Although he tried, it was impossible to concentrate on the work orders in front of him. He brewed himself at least six cups of coffee from his handy one-cup coffeemaker. Within half an hour, his stomach had a sour feel and his head was buzzing from a caffeine high. His looked through the open doorway to Sarah’s desk at least every two minutes, although she always got there on the dot of eight.

  When she finally arrived, his entire body cramped. What if she said no? What were his choices? What if she said yes? Could he marry a woman his body suddenly craved with desperation and commit to a no-sex future?

  She was dressed in her usual slacks and tailored blouse, clothes he had found decidedly unsexy where she was concerned. But today his mind imagined the satiny skin beneath it, and he wondered what her breasts would be like free of their restraining bra. If her nipples were large or small and how they would taste. How it would feel to be inside her. Was she tight? Would she be so wet for him it didn’t matter?

  Jesus! What the hell is wrong with me?

  He watched her stow her purse in a bottom desk drawer, boot up her computer, and call the answering service for messages. Finally, she just sat there with her hands folded, not moving.

  His head ached, and his stomach churned with anxiety. Was she trying to find a way to let him down easily? Had his stupid phone call in the middle of the night killed any possibility of the bargain he’d presented?

  Frustrated, he tore off the sheet of paper he’d been writing on, crumpled it into a ball and threw it hard against the office wall.

  “Is it safe to come in?”

  He looked up. Sarah stood at the office door, a tentative smile on her face.

  “Of course.” He blew out a breath.

  “You look as if you’re chewing steel,” she told him.

  “I probably could right now.” He motioned her forward. “Please. Come in.”

  She closed the door, probably to give them privacy in case anyone wandered in, then leaned back against it. Had she slept at all after he’d called? Or had she spent the night as he had, confounded by the whole situation? He gritted his teeth with the tension.

  At last, she took a deep breath and let it out. “Before I give you my answer, it would help to go out to your house and see Molly. If I’m going to be her…mother, I don’t think that’s an unreasonable request.”

  Reno’s body tightened. Of course she’d want to see what she was getting into. Maybe that would be the last nail in his coffin, but he nodded. “No problem. When do you want to go?”

  “I think the sooner the better. Mornings are usually the quietest around here. I can forward calls to Nick’s office and, of course, let him know we’ll be leaving.”

  Reno could well imagine what those two would think. “All right. Let me know as soon as you’re ready. FYI, the men are already on site installing the new security system. And I’ve got Gary Stern out there as a precaution until we, uh, see what’s happening.”

  Well, didn’t that just sound stupid?

  “Good. I’m glad Molly will be protected.”

  Before nine o’clock, they were heading out I-10 in a tension-filled silence. Whatever sexual overtones might have popped up unexpectedly were certainly absent now.

  Reno’s hous
e was located in Alamo Heights, a suburb of old money and executive wealth. He’d fallen in love with the architecture of the Georgian colonial and enjoyed living there until his life fell apart. Now, despite the oleanders and bougainvillea blooming in colorful profusion and two large crepe myrtles covered in soft lilac blossoms, everything looked cold and lifeless to him.

  “It’s beautiful,” she commented, turning toward him.

  If you only knew.

  A black Guardian Security van was parked in the driveway. There was a man on the roof and two others crawling around on the ground. One of them stood up and waved at Reno.

  “We’ll be done by the end of the day, Mr. Sullivan.”

  “Great. Thanks.”

  Reno felt as if Armageddon was just beyond the doors. He had deliberately not called to give the housekeeper any warning, wanting Sarah to understand completely what she was walking into.

  “Don’t think the outside is an indication of the inside. I have an excellent lawn service.” His voice was taut as a rubber band. “You may be in for more of a surprise than you thought. The housekeepers haven’t done as good a job as the yardmen. This one can’t seem to walk and chew gum at the same time.”

  “Where do you get them?” She raised one eyebrow in curiosity. “The housekeepers, I mean.”

  “An agency. And this isn’t the first one I’ve tried. I’ve gone through six in as many weeks.” Did that make him sound like an impossible perfectionist to work for? But surely she knew from the office how he was. And if anyone could make order out of chaos, it was Sarah.

  He took a deep breath, feeling as if he were about to plunge off a cliff. “All right. Let’s go on in.”

  Gary had seen them coming and opened the door from the garage to the house for them.

  “Everything okay?” Reno asked.

  The agent shrugged. “Yeah. Sort of.”

  Reno lifted an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

  “Not my place to say this boss, but it would be a hell of a lot better if you got rid of that harpy in there.”

  Embarrassment flushed through him. If he’d had any other choice, he’d never have let one of his men see what was going on.