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… what?"
"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 déjà vu washed over him. It had been a week ago that she'd come to his office seeking his services, which had been the beginning of an affair that had turned into so much more for him. While her visit this afternoon was unexpected, from all the signals she'd sent out thus far, he doubted she was here to continue their relationship or profess her love in return. But he was curious to know what had brought her by his office when they'd pretty much wrapped everything up with Valerie and the case over the phone.
"Go ahead and send her back to my office." Standing, he rounded his desk just as Liz entered the room.
He smiled at her, and she smiled in return, though the gesture didn't completely erase that damnable wariness that was back in her eyes, shining like a beacon and warning him to keep his distance. So he did, no matter how much he ached to reach out and touch her, to pull her into his arms and hold her.
They were beyond polite pleasantries, and there was no sense skirting around the reason why she was there, so he jumped straight to the heart of the matter. "What brings you by?"
She absently adjusted her purse strap over her shoulder and straightened, her demeanor much too formal considering how informal they'd been with each other the past week. "I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done for me, and for finding Valerie. It's a huge relief to know that she's okay."
And what about the fact that your self centered cousin doesn't give a damn that you’ve been overwhelmed with worry and concern for her welfare? He bit back the sarcastic remark, knowing he'd only get a defensive explanation from Liz in return. One that would undoubtedly involve that never-ending promise she'd made to her aunt and uncle, feeling guilt over her past actions, and trying to make up for her disappointing marriage to Travis.
"If I remember correctly, finding Valerie was a joint effort," he pointed out instead, doing his best to keep a tight rein on his frustration. "I couldn't have gotten the information on Rob as quickly as I did without you getting invited to one of The Ultimate Fantasy parties."