She rolled over. "What are you hyped up about now?"
He made a waving motion down at her exposed breasts. "Pete could come out here."
"I gave Pete the day off."
"You gave my employee the day off?"
"The house is spotless, the laundry's done, I can cook. Well, enough so that we won't starve," she amended. "He wanted to go to his cousin's birthday luau. So I said yes." Before Adam could launch into a litany of protests, she slapped a tube of suntan gel into his hand. "Rub some of this on my back, will ya?"
"I can't reach you from here."
"So get down here where you can." She lay back down and returned her cheek to her stacked hands. Just as she had bargained on, he began lowering himself out of his chair and onto the deck. Weeks ago he had had to use steps in graduated heights to get from the seat of his wheelchair to the floor mats they used for some of his exercises. Now he could do it with the strength of his arms, chest, and back muscles alone. She was careful to hide her proud smile.
"Where do you want it?" he asked grouchily.
"Everywhere." Seconds later she said, "Whoa! Not so hard. And not so fast. Hmm, that's better."
Shortly, his second hand joined the first. They moved over her back with slow, smooth strokes, rubbing in the gel. Occasionally his fingertips grazed the sides of her breasts, and he would pause before resuming the massage. When she sensed that he was about to withdraw, she said, "The backs of my legs, too, please." She mumbled the request sleepily, but she'd never been so wide awake in her entire life. Her nerve endings were singing like a well-rehearsed choir.
He didn't respond to her wish right away, but hesitated for a long time. Lilah's heart nervously knocked against the deck beneath her. She clamped her eyes shut and hoped with all her might that he would do as she wanted him to, as much for his good as hers.
His better judgment gave way to his natural urges. She felt his hands on the backs of her calves. Then on her thighs. Pressing and massaging, working their way up. She had to clamp her teeth over her lower lip to keep from moaning with pleasure as his fingers gently squeezed her flesh.
Far too soon for both of them he pulled away. Lilah rolled over just far enough to allow him a peek of one breast. "Finished?" Eyes riveted to the pert, pink tip of her breast, Adam nodded. "Maybe you should have become a physical therapist," she told him huskily. "You've certainly got the touch."
Using the methods she had taught him, he maneuvered himself back to his wheelchair and hoisted himself into it. When he was situated, he looked down at her and said, "But not the callousness."
Stung, Lilah snatched up her T-shirt and held it against her chest. "I'm not callous."
"Then cruel."
"I'm not cruel either."
"Oh, no?" He wheeled his chair around, summarily turning his back on her.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"To my room."
"I'll bring you your lunch."
"Don't bother."
"No bother. It's my duty."
"Duty be damned," he called over his shoulder. "I'd rather go hungry than be hustled by you."
His wheelchair disappeared into the shadows of the house. Lilah remained staring after him for a long time, feeling a desperate need to cry again. She was a good one for laying down plans. Too bad they always backfired in her face.
At first she couldn't identify the sound that had awakened her. Before opening her eyes, she lay motionless in her bed and swept the cobwebs of sleep from her brain. When she did open her eyes, she was surprised to see that the guest bedroom was bathed in the violet light of dusk. She had slept longer than she'd planned to.
When she had come in from the pool hours earlier, she'd been drained of energy and spirit. After a quick shower and shampoo she had barely had the strength to crawl beneath the sheet and position the pillow under her head. She'd fallen asleep instantly, being physically and emotionally exhausted after her sleepless night.
But she had intended to wake up long before now. It was way past time for Adam's session. Feeling guilty, she rolled to her back and kicked the sheet aside.
That's when she noticed the sound again. And this time recognition went through her brain like a painful splinter. "What the devil?"
Her feet hit the floor at a run. She grabbed a kimono from the end of her bed and shoved her arms through the sleeves as she dashed toward the door of her bedroom. By the time she reached Adam's room and flung open the door, she had carelessly tied the belt of the robe.
But it was still a disheveled Lilah, with hair in a tangle and eyes puffy from sleep, that he addressed from his standing position between the parallel bars. "It's about time you got here."
"Adam!" she cried, rushing forward. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Watch."
She gasped softly as he bent from the waist and supporting himself with one hand, touched the floor with the other. It was a struggle, but he pulled himself erect. "How'd you learn to do that?"
"You left your book in here." He hitched his head to indicate the therapy manual lying on his nightstand. "It's to stretch the hamstrings and calf muscles."
"I know what the exercise is for," she retorted. "I also know you're not ready for it."
"Who says?"
"I do. How'd you get yourself to stand? Where are your knee cages?"
Ignoring her interrogation, he said, "Watch what else I can do. Without you I might add." He concentrated so hard that sweat popped out over his brow. The muscles of his arms and chest bulged. His thighs contracted. His efforts allowed him to take a few shuffling steps.
Lilah ducked under one of the bars and stood between them only a few inches away from him. "That's wonderful, Adam, but don't do anymore for now. You'll hurt — Adam! Did you hear what I said?"
"Yes."
"Then stop. Right there. I mean it. Don't, I said!"
He took another step. It brought him chest to chest with her. She threw her arms around his waist to lend him support. But she discovered him to be the stronger. He knotted the fingers of one hand in her hair, formed a fist, and jerked her hard against his front.
"What's your game?" he growled.
"I don't play games."
"The hell you don't. You've been playing one with me. I want to know why. Do you have a warped sense of humor? Is that how you get your jollies? Or is this give-the-gimp-a-thrill week?" He pulled her hair tight enough to bring tears to her eyes. "Why have you done everything in your female power to keep me hard?"
Chapter 10
Smiling seductively, Lilah bumped her middle against his. She watched his eyes grow smoky. She came up on tiptoe and kissed his mouth. Against his lips she whispered, "I want you hard."
With a hungry sound his mouth came down on hers. He ground a savage kiss on her lips. "You knew what you were doing to me, didn't you?"
"Yes," she said defiantly.
"You tortured me intentionally."
"Not tortured, enticed."
"Why?"
"Because I want you, Adam."
He kissed her again with a release of pent-up violence, anger, and passion. His free hand raked open her kimono. He touched her breast, fanned his fingertips over her nipple, then slid his hand down the tapering shape of her body and encircled her waist with his arm. His hand splayed wide over her derriere and pulled her higher against him. When she responded with a tilt of her hips, he quickly released her.
But he was far from finished. Using his arms, he walked himself backward and dropped into his wheelchair. In a matter of moments he was in bed, lying on his back, and drawing her down on top of him.
"Give me your best, baby," he growled.
She did. They kissed endlessly, with honest, soul-bearing lust. When they finally pulled apart, he shoved the kimono off her shoulders. She shrugged out of it and stood on her knees before him, proud and unashamed. She reached for the waistband of his shorts.