Shrouded in Darkness Read online

  Jake felt truly humbled. “I don’t deserve you.”

  “But you’ve got me. That is, of course, if you want me. Goodness knows I’m not the best catch. There’s my drinking. I’ve got it under control right now. Then I tend to be a tad stubborn.”

  He heard the uncertainty in her voice, and quickly assured, “What fool wouldn’t want you? You’re beautiful.”

  She laughed. “Well, right now, that’s pretty darn hard to tell, since you can’t see me.”

  “Then you’d better take another look at yourself,” he said in growing excitement. “The antidote is starting to work. It’s only a matter of time now.”

  Jake pulled back the sleeve of her housecoat to reveal the ghostly image of her arm.

  “Oh, my.”

  She wiggled her fingers in front of her face—a face slowly but undeniably materializing before Jake’s eyes. In delight, he watched the clean line of her jaw, the thick sweep of her brow and how the amazement etched in her eyes sharpened and solidified. “You’re an absolute genius.” Wonder interlaced with sadness touched her voice. “You could have won the Nobel Prize over this. Miracell would have given you fame.”

  Jake shrugged, surprised at how little it mattered now. “Maybe. But I would have lost my soul in the process. Too many lives were sacrificed and, no doubt, many more would have been lost if I persisted with the project. There’s no way Miracell could contribute to society as a whole, not when people continue to be motivated by greed or fear. I see that now, but at the time, I’d been blindsided by the idea of fame and my own self-centeredness. ”

  He saw the tenderness in her expression and felt himself melt. Strange, but that was the only way he could describe the heat flowing into his chest. Jake marveled at how one woman could touch his heart, his mind and his senses. Capturing her hand, he brushed his lips across the pulse point by her wrist. Her skin was smooth and warm against his mouth, while the scent of flowers whispered to him, entrancing him.

  “Jake.”

  Something in her voice made him look up, and he stilled. Jake saw her clearly now, every beautiful feature—the pink flush to the gentle curve of her cheeks, the classic turn of her nose, and the full pout of her lips that screamed to be kissed. And her eyes. Desire burned in their depths, turning them almost black with it and ripping the breath from his lungs.

  Hunger, hot, fierce and wild scored through his veins. With one look, she had the power to throw all logic from his mind. No woman had been able to leave him raw and open, so damn vulnerable like Margot. He’d never given the opposite sex that power.

  He reached out, circled her neck with both of his hands, splaying his fingers across the vulnerable slope of her throat and gliding both thumbs across the line of her jaw. As he urged her toward him, he lifted his mouth to her own. She tasted better than anything that had crossed his lips. The soft, subtle pressure of her mouth hardened as she grew bolder and deepened the kiss, using her tongue to touch him again and again.

  He groaned deep in his throat and urged her nearer. But wanted more. In frustration, he broke away and rose to his feet.

  “Here.”

  Sweeping her up into his arms, Jake strode from her office and into the hall. To hell with the stairs and her room. His bed was closer, but not nearly close enough to his liking. The floor would be good enough for him, but he wouldn’t do that to Margot.

  “Wait,” she murmured against his throat as he stepped into his room. “I’m tired of the dark.”

  He paused as she snapped on the light switch by the door. The lamp adjacent to the bed chased the darkness from the room and illuminated the bed in a warm and intimate glow.

  “I want to see every inch of you,” she whispered, her breath fanning lightly across his neck as she nipped at his ear lobe. “And watch your face when you climax beneath me.”

  His heart crashed against his ribs. “Keep talking like that and I might be coming before I get my clothes off.”

  Beside the bed, Jake eased her down to her feet, sliding her body, inch by glorious inch, across the length of his. Her housecoat gaped open, exposing the smooth line of her collarbone and the shadowy curve of her breasts. With one arm wrapped around her waist and the other cupping her head, he arched her backward, skimming his mouth over her long, sleek neck, then lowering to brush back the fabric with his teeth and baring one breast.

  Jake heard the rapid pant of her breath, felt her hands press against his scalp, urging him on as he suckled her breast and lapped at her nipple, grazing his teeth across the hardened tip. He grew impatient, lowering his hand from the small of her back, bunching the housecoat in his hands until he felt silken skin. He cupped her bare bottom and inched lower, dipping between her legs.

  She was wet, ready for him, dripping with need against his fingers. He groaned against her breast, thrusting his arousal against her belly. He wanted to tumble her onto the bed right this second and plunge into her, again and again, wrap those long legs of hers around his waist and get so deep inside her that she screamed with the pleasure of it.

  Margot clutched at him, digging her fingers into his back pockets, grinding her hips against his own. “I want you, every hard inch of you. I want you bucking beneath me as I ride you.”

  “Jesus!” He edged back before he lost it right then and there, and dragged in a lungful of air. Patience. He needed it like he’d never needed it before in his life. “You’ve got me so tied up in knots.”

  “Are you saying you want to be tied up?” She gave him a devilish smile. “I’ll be more than happy to oblige.”

  He wasn’t fooled by the grin. The flush to her face, the heat in her eyes, the quick rise and fall of her chest beneath the housecoat, now pulled apart to the waist, told him she was just as strung up with need as he was.

  “Later.” He raised a brow. “Right now. I’ve got other things in mind.”

  “Sounds promising.”

  She helped him tug his sweater over his head. After it landed on the floor somewhere by their feet, she glided her fingers across his chest and stomach. Then she flicked his belt open. He helped her shrug out of his jeans and underwear with hands that were as unsteady as her own.

  “I love the way you look, the feel of you on my hands. How your muscles tremble when I touch you like this.” She slid an index finger slowly down his throat and over his chest. “Until now, I’ve never had the chance to see you. I missed so much.”

  When her finger glided past his belly to pause at his navel, Jake waited, breath drawn, but she stepped back, pulled the tie of her housecoat loose, shrugged and let the material drop to her feet.

  “You’re a damn tease. You know that, don’t you?”

  “Oh, but you love it.”

  “Yeah...” He slid a palm over the side of her breast, down over her waist and stilled at the gentle slope of her hip, all the while inching closer toward her. She was absolutely beautiful. “And I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  Those words along with the look in her eyes soothed his soul like nothing ever had. It felt so right being here in this room, in this house with her.

  ###

  Margot swallowed, sliding her gaze over every inch of him. He looked dangerous, male and hungry. With long, strong legs splayed out beneath him, he stood naked, unashamed, all silk and rock before her. It was a sin for a man to look like that. He’d inherited a thick, hairless chest, wide, powerful shoulders with arms hard and lean with muscle, a flat stomach and narrow hips. His arousal jutted out into the air. The idea of what he could do to her with that made her quiver all over.

  God, she wanted him. Now. This second. She wanted to feel him atop her, beneath her, inside her. She wanted all of him—body, mind and soul.

  He pressed up against her until the silken heat of him burned against her naked flesh and his chest flattened the tips of her breasts. His hair roughened legs brushed against hers as he urged her back against the bed and bowed his head to claim her lips. Easing back against the shee
ts, she opened her arms and wrapped them around his neck as he sank into her curves.

  This time, though, she wanted to lead, to control, to push him to the edge. Pressing an elbow against the mattress, she moved, skimming across his body until she lay across the length of him, her legs cradling his hips, his penis, rigid and hot against her stomach. She inched up and across his body until she felt the tip of his shaft between her legs.

  Jake gasped and jerked his hips beneath her, almost managing to thrust into her right then, but she slipped sideways. Her breasts skated across his chest as she leaned over him and bound his wrists with her hands and pulled them over his head. She nipped at his lower lip, urging his mouth open. Then she kissed him deeply, savoring the taste of him against her tongue.

  He arched his head off the pillow and dipped his tongue between her parted lips, stroking, teasing, demanding a response she couldn’t help but match with equal fever.

  Desire burned through her flesh. So very hot.

  “Oh, baby,” she whispered against the corner of his mouth, “I need you. Now.”

  Digging her knees against the bed, Margot rose slowly, then lowered, taking his shaft inside her inch by magnificent inch, until she was completely impaled. He filled her, stretched her. The heat, the fullness of him so very deep inside her, was absolutely heaven.

  Jake jerked beneath her. She groaned, closed her eyes and felt the burn as she rose up and down over his shaft.

  ###

  Jake watched her ride him. Her skin glowed, slick and flushed with desire. Her breasts swayed while wisps of raven hair clung to cheeks and shoulders, damp with her sweat. She was gorgeous, unashamed of her body, of her lust, of her beauty. He lifted the weight of her breasts beneath his palms and scraped his thumbs across her nipples. They tightened with his touch, and a whimper slipped from her throat.

  When she arched above him and stiffened, he caught her hip in one hand and thrust into her, harder, faster, deeper, while he used his other hand to stroke the swollen nub between her legs, again and again, matching the rhythm with each jerk of his hips. Then she strained above him, squeezed him, and cried out his name as she came, hard and long above him.

  Only then did he push off the mattress and catch her up against his chest, wrapping her beautiful long legs around his waist as he captured her mouth. He kissed her deep and hard, while sliding one hand into her hair at the base of her skull and using the other to hold her hips steady as he plunged into her. He’d thought he’d been deep before, but now—now she had all of him as she tightened her legs around his waist and crashed against him, over and over until he felt his climax build, higher, tighter, harder. Then he was spilling his seed into her, jerking uncontrollably and shivering in her arms. He was falling...drowning.

  Slowly, he became aware of Margot wrapped around him, of the evening behind the drawn curtains, of the cool air against his skin. The flannel sheets had been flung off the bed.

  “Jesus.” Jake eased back and looked at her. He saw the wonder in her eyes and knew the same expression reflected from his own. With a knuckle, he caressed her cheek and found her skin, still damp and flushed from their lovemaking, incredibly soft. “That was beyond words. Beyond anything. You’re beautiful. Do you know that?”

  “No.” She shook her head and kissed him lightly, tenderly. “You’re beautiful. Inside and out. I fell for you even before I knew what you looked like. I fell for the man you are and the man you can be.”

  “You know, I don’t think—no, I know—I’ve never been this happy in my life. There was always something I wanted, something I always felt I was missing. I didn’t realize until this moment that it was love.”

  He reclined against the pillows, and Margot nestled up against his side and rested a cheek against his chest. He reached over for the bedside lamp, but she caught his wrist.

  “No. If I wake up during the night, I want to make sure you’re there. Flesh and blood and not some phantom shadow.”

  He left the light and pulled her closer. The touch of her lips against his chest was so faint that for a moment he thought he’d imagined it. He glanced down at the crown of her head, and then smiled up at the ceiling.

  Happy. That didn’t even begin to describe the feeling inside of Jake. Tightening his arm around Margot’s waist, he rubbed his chin against the glossy waves of her hair and drank in the scent of her. He’d never get tired of her distinct fragrance—not in this lifetime or the next.

  Jake thought of one thing that would make it perfect. He opened his mouth to ask her to marry him, but stopped.

  No. Not yet. The timing was way off.

  Earlier today, he’d gotten ahead of himself and placed an order on the net while she’d been in the shower. He should get the package tomorrow. But it didn’t matter. Not now, at least.

  Because there was Malcolm. For a while, he’d forgotten about Margot’s ex-husband. Somewhere out there, Malcolm, a constant threat, waited and planned his next move...until Jake stopped him. Tomorrow, after Jake destroyed Miracell and insured Margot’s safety, he’d finish this thing with Malcolm, one way or another.

  ###

  Reaching over, Malcolm pulled the 38 out of the glove compartment. He checked the safety before placing it on the car seat beside him and kept his hand wrapped around the cold metal. He glanced back up at the road and saw the sharp curve. Too late. He hit the brakes hard and sped around the turn. Too fast. The tires lost traction and started skidding.

  “Son of a bitch!”

  He pumped the brakes. The tires gripped the road again and some miracle stopped the car from nose-diving over the shoulder and into one of the pines that lined the side of the road. When he pulled back in his lane again, he exhaled loudly.

  Shit. That was a close one. He might have ended up like John. Dead. He laughed harshly.

  Margot would have loved that.

  At the thought of her, Malcolm wrung the steering wheel with fisted hands. What the hell had happened to them? There was a time, which seemed more like decades ago right now, when he’d loved her and he knew she’d felt the same about him. But then she’d become this woman he didn’t know. Someone that wouldn’t listen to him, wouldn’t take his suggestions, wouldn’t agree with him. She’d become someone separate with her own thoughts and ideals.

  And those damn questions of hers about Miltronics and his work. She hadn’t been able to leave it alone. She’d started harping, digging into dangerous territory. Why hadn’t she been able to understand that work and his personal life where separate and completely different from each other?

  Then the fights started. She wanted to know every stupid detail of his life. Intimidation, threats, nothing had worked to shut her up. The last time they’d had a row, she’d ended up in the hospital. It hadn’t been his fault. She was the one who fell down the stairs. It wasn’t like he’d pushed her.

  He blinked back watery eyes and wiped at his nose with the back of hand. She’d walked out on him and filed for divorce. Just remembering being served brought rage to the forefront. Yes. He needed to focus on that emotion. He didn’t love her anymore. He wouldn’t. She’d betrayed him. Just as Jake and John had betrayed him.

  He’d left Pinetop almost an hour ago, and was about twenty-minute from Greyson. He hated the mountain town. He hated everything about the two bit little clap board, stinking town.

  Malcolm exhaled, his breath fanning clouds into the car’s interior. He cranked up the heat. He hadn’t been able to get warm since he’d left the airport in Flagstaff. But he was almost there. Another fifteen minutes and he’d hit the road that led to Margot’s place.

  His jaw clenched. Soon. Real soon. The gun wouldn’t be cold metal in his hand. It would be hot, so damn hot from putting a couple of bullets in Jake’s head.

  To hell with the formula. If Jake hadn’t figured it out by now, he never would. He’d used Margot to push Jake harder, knowing how much of a sucker Jake was for a lost cause. But now, Malcolm wanted revenge. He craved it.

&n
bsp; As for Margot. If the formula hadn’t killed her, he’d have to do something. He didn’t see her keeping quiet. Her principles wouldn’t allow it. Surprisingly, she had that in common with Jake. There’d been a time that he’d thought Jake hadn’t had any. That was a gross miscalculation on Malcolm’s part. Well, he’d eliminate that problem real quick.

  Chapter 20

  “Hey, sleepy head.”

  The next morning, Margot placed a breakfast tray with orange juice, waffles, scrambled eggs and a banana across Jake’s lap and sank down on the edge of the bed beside him. He lay flat on his back with only a flannel sheet draped across his hips. When he didn’t stir, she sat in silence and watched him with a silly grin on her face. God, he looked good.

  This was the first time she’d had the chance to really sit back and take in Jake’s appearance. He had such a masculine face—a strong jaw, thick brows and high, prominent cheekbones. Lines bracketed his mouth. A mouth with a full, sensual bottom lip that knew exactly what to do with her body. She shivered in remembrance. Reddish gold hair, thick and cut close to the scalp, capped, and accented his strong, square face. There was nothing feminine about him, except maybe his dark lashes and sun kissed complexion. Not one scar marred his body. It was shameful to have such beautiful skin.

  He also had the most incredible baby-blue eyes. Eyes now open and smiling at her.

  She smiled back. “How are you feeling this morning?”

  “Tired and thoroughly used.”

  She gave him a cocky grin. “Oh, really? And I wonder how that happened?”

  “This incredibly gorgeous woman decided to jump my bones last night. The way she moved that body of hers had me doing the most amazing contortions.”

  “Oooh, reeeally?” Unable to resist, she took the banana from his tray, started to peel it and looked for a reaction.

  ###

  Jake watched her slip her mouth over the fruit’s tip and take a slow but deliberate bite. Wow. Then she licked her lips in the most suggestive manner. He swallowed audibly. “You better watch it. If you keep that up, I’ll be wanting you to do something equally suggestive on me.”