A Family Circle 1 - A Very Convenient Marriage (19 page)

"Maybe you'd like to tell us why you broke into our home and tried to steal that vase," Sam said to his brother-in-law.

"I don't have to tell you anything," Alan snapped.

"Okay." Sam dropped his arm from Nikki's waist and took a step forward. He pretended not to notice when Alan flinched away from him. "Keep an eye on him, honey, while I call 911."

"You wouldn't," Alan said. He took one look at Sam's expression and all the bluster drained out of him.

"I needed some money," he muttered. "I was going to sell the vase."

"You were going to sell Grandfather's favorite vase?"

"He's not around to care anymore," Alan said. "I didn't know you'd cooked up this marriage thing, and I figured it was going to be mine in a few months, anyway."

Sam considered arguing with his choice of phrasing, but he didn't think Nikki had any desire to drag out this scene.

"Well, now you know it isn't going to be yours, so unless Nikki wants you to hang around to reminisce about old times, why don't you leave?"

"I can't."

"Why not? You know your way to the door, don't you? Or do you normally enter houses through the window?"

Alan shot Sam a resentful look. "I came by cab," he said sullenly.

Sam's brows rose. "You" had a cab bring you here to commit burglary? That's one I haven't heard before."

"Burglary!" Alan looked alarmed. "What are you talking about?"

"When someone jimmies a latch, climbs in a window and tries to make off with valuable items, that's what it's usually called."

"I had to come in the window because I lost my key," Alan told him furiously. "But this is my home and I have a right to take anything I want. This should all be mine, anyway. If she hadn't married you, it would be mine." The look he shot Nikki was venomous. "She owes me."

It took Sam a moment to control his temper. With every fiber of his being, he wanted to plant his fist in Alan's face. He might even be doing the jerk a favor. A broken nose might add some character to Alan's pretty-boy looks. On the other hand, Alan obviously had no character, so it would be false advertising, and from the sick look in Nikki's eyes, he suspected that the best thing he could do for her was to end this scene as quickly as possible.

"Nikki doesn't owe you a damn thing," he said, keeping his tone level with an effort. "I want you out of here and I don't ever want to see your pasty, overfed face in this house again."

"You can't throw me out. I have just as much right to be here as she does." Alan jerked his head in Nikki's direction.

"Does he have any legal rights to the house?" Sam asked, without taking his eyes from Alan's.

There was a moment's pause, and then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nikki shake her head slowly. "Grandfather left the house to me. Alan has no legal claim on it."

"Then that makes this a definite case of breaking and entering." Sam's smile held all the friendliness of a wolf contemplating a particularly juicy rabbit. "Isn't it handy that I'm a cop."

"You're a cop?" Alan paled to the color of skim milk. He glared at Nikki. "You married a cop?" He made it sound as if she'd committed a heinous social solecism.

"It happens in the best of families," Sam said cheerfully.

"How could you marry a cop?" Alan seemed to be taking it as a personal affront.

"I wouldn't worry too much. I don't expect we'll be seeing much of each other." Sam dropped the good-humored facade. "Out. And don't come back."

"Are you going to let him do this, Nikki?" Alan turned an appealing look in his sister's direction. "We're family. Are you going to let this gorilla you married force me out of your life?"

Nikki looked at her older brother and felt nothing but a cold emptiness inside. They'd never been close, but she'd always felt a certain tie to him. It was obvious that she was the only one who'd felt that bond. Alan's sole concern was for himself, just as it always had been and just as it always would be. "Goodbye, Alan."

Shock flashed across his face. "You're choosing him over your own family?"

"We've never been a family," Nikki told him. She thought of the Walkers, of how close they were, of how they'd opened their arms to her. She'd never known what a family was until she became part of theirs.

He must have seen the finality in her eyes because he didn't attempt to argue any further.

"Can I at least have the vase?"

"I don't believe you!" Sam's hand closed over the smaller man's shoulder, and from Alan's sudden pallor, Nikki assumed his grip was no gentler than it looked. She considered—briefly—protesting on Alan's behalf.

"Out!" Sam ensured Alan's obedience by marching him from the room. A moment later, Nikki heard the door slam shut, cutting off Alan's protest that he needed to call a cab.

"We could have let him call a cab," she said as Sam reentered the room.

"The walk will do him good," Sam said without the least sign of remorse. "Are you okay?"

"If you mean, am I devastated by the loss of my only brother's warm affection, no. I told you before that we weren't really close."

"I guess that's an understatement."

"I suppose it is." It was only recently that she'd realized just how much of an understatement it was. "I hope he wasn't too obnoxious before I got here."

"He wasn't exactly charming, but I doubt I'd have won any awards in that respect myself." Sam shrugged. "When I caught him trying to make off with the vase, I guess I wasn't as civil as I might have been."

Despite the nasty scene just past, Nikki found a smile tugging at her mouth. She walked over to the sofa and picked up the vase to return it to its place. ^'Don't they teach you to be civil to burglars at the academy?"

"I think I was sick that day."

Sam watched her walk around the room, straightening things that didn't need straightening. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, the scene with her brother had obviously upset her. He wished he knew what to say to make her feel better, but he couldn't think of anything.

She finally turned to look at him. "I think I'm going to go for a run. I need to blow the cobwebs out of my brain."

"It's almost dark."

Nikki followed his glance out the window and hesitated, but she was desperate to get out and feel the fresh air in her face.

"It'll be okay. This is a pretty safe area."

"No area is safe, especially not for a woman alone. I'll go with you."

"No, really, Sam. I'll be all right." Since he was part of what she was running from, it wouldn't do much good to have him with her. But she couldn't tell him that, so she sought another excuse. "I've been running for almost five years and I set a brisk pace."

She realized her mistake immediately, but it was too late. There was a slight but visible stiffening of Sam's spine. Male pride radiated from every inch of him.

"Do you think I couldn't keep up with you?"

"Do you run?"

"I've done my share," he hedged, not wanting to admit that it had been almost ten years since he'd run on a regular basis. "Besides, I'm in damn good condition. I bench-press two-twenty before breakfast. In fact, Alan's arrival interrupted my workout, so a run sounds like a good idea."

Nikki hesitated a moment and then nodded. "Let me get changed."

Sam watched her climb the stairs, hoping he hadn't just bitten off more than he could chew.

"
I
feel much better," Nikki said brightly. "A good run always clears my mind and leaves me with so much energy. Isn't this great?"

Sam glared at her. He didn't have the breath to spare to answer her and, even if he had, his mother had taught him not to use those kinds of words in front of women. He was about to die right here on the street, and she was still bounding along like a damned gazelle.

He'd never been so grateful to see anything in his life as he was to see the familiar driveway up ahead. He knew he just might make it that far without humiliating himself by collapsing in a heap.

"I feel good enough to make another round," Nikki chirped.

Sam's heart dropped. His knees threatened to follow suit. He'd never make it. One more hill—up or down—and he was going to die. There was no question in his mind.

"I guess it's a little late for that, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yes." He put as much force behind the word as possible with his lungs on fire. When had he gotten so out of shape? Or was this a symptom of encroaching age?

To his enormous relief, Nikki turned in the driveway. The thought of reaching the end of this torture renewed Sam's energy to the point where he was able to keep from staggering his way up the drive.

"I always do a little bit of cool-down out by the pool," Nikki said, bounding past the house.

Sam gave the front door a longing look, thinking of the hot showers, cold beers and soft beds that lay beyond it, but he forced himself to follow Nikki.

"You look a little tired," she said as she began a series of stretches that made him ache just to look at.

"It's...the damned...hills," Sam got out between gasps for air. He braced his hands on his knees, his back rising and falling in a rapid rhythm as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Am I hearing correctly?" Nikki asked incredulously. "Is the iron man saying that a little run was more than he could handle?"

"That wasn't a 'little run.' We must have covered at least six miles."

"Three and a half," she corrected. She jogged in place a little. "I've measured it."

The look Sam shot her suggested that he didn't appreciate her precision. "And it wasn't more than I could handle. I'm just a little winded, that's all. Would you stop bouncing up and down!"

With a barely concealed grin, Nikki stopped. She stretched out one leg and leaned her weight toward it, stretching the muscles. There was a brief silence filled only by the sound of Sam's ragged breathing.

"Shall I get you an oxygen mask?" she asked politely.

For a moment, Sam remained in the same position. Nikki waited, her teeth tugging at her lower lip as she fought the urge to grin like a clown. After his comments about what great condition he was in, she couldn't help but enjoy the picture he made.

"You have just made the mistake of your life," Sam said as he straightened. The look he gave her held the promise of retribution.

"Now, Sam, there's no reason to get hostile." She took a cautious step backward.

"No reason? You just tried to kill me by running me up and down every hill in Los Angeles and now you're making fun of me?"

"I ran up and down those hills, too," she protested.

"Yeah, but don't think I haven't figured out your secret." He moved toward her. Nikki backed away.

"Secret?"

"You're wearing rocket-powered running shoes."

"Rocket-powered shoes?" She bit her lip to hold back a giggle.

"That's the only possible explanation. And after taking unfair advantage of me, you had the nerve to laugh."

"But, Sam, I wasn't laughing at you. I was laughing with you."

"Do you see me laughing?" he demanded sternly.

"If you hadn't made such a point of what great shape you were in and how you could bench mark a thousand pounds, I wouldn't have cracked so much as a smile."

"That's bench-press two-twenty," he corrected her. She thought she saw a smile tug at his mouth, but he suppressed it.

"Can't we talk about this?" She held out one hand in a pleading gesture.

Sam seemed to hesitate, as if considering the possibility.

"No, we can't." He moved with a speed that left Nikki blinking, his hand closing over hers and dragging her forward. She squeaked in surprise as she felt her feet leave the ground and she found herself cradled against his chest, his blue eyes only inches away.

"I know a really quick way to cool down," he said, smiling wickedly. Nikki glanced over her shoulder and saw where he was heading. The tiled pool was only a few feet away.

"Don't you dare!" She threw her arms around his neck, determined to take him with her. It was a wasted effort.

Instead of dropping her in the pool, Sam simply stepped off the edge and into the water. Nikki held her breath as the water closed over her head. Sam released her when they hit the water and Nikki surfaced first, drawing in a deep breath. She jerked her head to the side to flip the hair out of her eyes and saw Sam surface next to her. Acting on pure instinct, she put her hand on top of his head and promptly dunked him.

She brought her legs together in a scissor kick, heading for the side of the pool, but her fingertips had barely brushed the tiled edge when she felt his hand close over her ankle. Her shriek was abruptly silenced when he dragged her under.

For the next few minutes, they played like a pair of children, chasing each other through the water, laughing and shouting. They called an unofficial truce just long enough to toe off their running shoes, letting them sink to the bottom of the pool for later retrieval. And then the game was on again. Sam's greater strength and longer reach were balanced out by the fact that Nikki was a better swimmer. Her speed and agility made the contest more even than it would have been on land.

"You'll never catch me, copper," she cried defiantly as she swept her hand across the water, sending a miniature tidal wave in Sam's direction.

When he ducked underwater to avoid it, she took the opportunity to make a wild escape dash toward the shallow end. Her feet had just touched bottom when a long arm caught her around the waist, jerking her backward against a hard, male body.

"You'll never take me alive!''

She struggled to escape, but Sam used his superior height to unfair advantage. With his feet planted solidly on the bottom, he controlled her effortlessly. He turned her to face him and wrapped his arms around her, stilling her wild struggles.

"You're cheating," she protested breathlessly. She thrust out her lower Up and glared up at him. "The water's too deep."

"Funny, it seems about right to me." He grinned down at her, his teeth gleaming in the shadowy illumination of the pool lights. "I should have warned you that I always get my man."

Nikki shoved experimentally against his chest. It was like pushing a solidly built wall. Next, she tried to touch the bottom of the pool. With her foot pointed, her toes just brushed the tile, which wasn't nearly enough to give her the leverage she needed.

Her movements, small as they were, were enough to make Sam aware of the soft curves he was holding. His hold shifted, gentling subtly. One hand flattened against the small of her back as he widened his stance. The pressure of the water brought Nikki's hips against his.

Her head came up, her wide green eyes meeting his blue eyes. In the space between one heartbeat and the next, the playful mood was gone. In its place was a sharp awareness, a vivid realization of how close they were, of how fragile a barrier their clothing was.

And hunger—hard and powerful and overwhelming.

"I don't want to play any more games," Sam said huskily.

Nikki knew he wasn't talking about their childish romp in the pool. She swallowed hard, trying to gather her thoughts together. Hadn't she spent the past few days considering just this possibility? She should have had a response ready, known just what she wanted to say.

But the choice wasn't one she could make based on careful thought. It was made for her by the aching need deep inside her, by the desire to feel his touch again, to finally assuage the hunger that had haunted her for so long. She was tired of playing games, too. She wanted him, had wanted him from the very beginning. There was no more lying to herself, no more lying to him.

She didn't need to say anything. Sam saw the answer in her eyes, felt it in the way her body softened and molded itself to his. With a muffled groan, his mouth covered hers.

There was a rapacious hunger in the kiss. They couldn't get enough of each other. The need they'd been denying, once acknowledged, exploded into a white heat at the first touch.

Nikki didn't realize Sam had moved them into shallower water until she felt the bottom of the pool come up under her feet. His hands were impatient with her clothing, stripping her T-shirt and bra over her head, without bothering to unhook the latter.

Nikki whimpered with pleasure when his hands closed over her bare breasts, his thumbs flicking across nipples already puckered by the coolness of the water. A moment later, her shorts and panties floated languidly toward the deep end.

"Aren't you overdressed?" she whispered.

He was most definitely overdressed, Sam thought, staring at her naked body beneath the water. He could strip off his shorts and take her right here and now. He'd never made love in a pool before, but he was sure he could handle the logistics.

On the other hand, he'd spent the past few days fantasizing about having her in his bed and he wasn't quite ready to give up that fantasy. Besides, the pool might be heated, but it wasn't exactly balmy.

"Not like this," he groaned.

"I don't mind." Nikki reached for the waistband on his running shorts. She was impatient with the last barrier between them, impatient to feel him against her.

"I mind." Sam's hand closed over her fingers, stilling them. He waited until her eyes lifted to his face. "I want our first time together to be in a bed, where I can hold you and touch you and not have to worry about one of us drowning. I want to make love to you all night without risking hypothermia."

"I don't think you can get hypothermia in a heated pool," she whispered, dazed by the intensity of his look.

"You can if all your body heat is being used elsewhere." He scooped her up against his chest and started up the steps. "And for what I have in mind, we're both going to need plenty of body heat."

The darkly sensual promise in his voice warmed Nikki so that she hardly noticed the chill of the night air against her bare, wet body. She planted nibbling little kisses along the line of his shoulder. His skin was cool and damp beneath her mouth. She licked the droplets of water from his collarbone, smiling with satisfaction when she felt him shudder.

Later, Sam wondered how he'd made it as far as his room. The feel of her, wet and naked and trembling in his arms, made it difficult to remember basic skills like putting one foot in front of the other. It seemed like forever before he pushed open the door of his room and carried her inside.

"Hurry," she whispered.

Sam didn't need her urging. He was nearly shaking with the need to be inside her. He couldn't remember ever wanting a woman this much, so that it was a gnawing hunger, an all-consuming need that drove out all rational thought.

He had to have her.

Now.

He tumbled Nikki onto the bed. Hot as the flame burned, he didn't immediately move to join her, but stood over the bed, looking down at her, savoring the knowledge that she was there, that she was about to be his in the most elemental way possible.

Nikki flushed beneath the heat in Sam's eyes. Feeling suddenly shy, she reached out to turn off the light. He stopped her with a word.

"Don't."

She hesitated, flicking him an uncertain look.

"I want to look at you," he said. "I want to see your breasts swell under my mouth and the way your skin flushes when I touch you. I want to watch your face when you take me inside your body."

Nikki's hand dropped to the bed, all the strength gone from her fingers. The erotic images he'd painted in her mind were as powerful as a touch. Her skin felt hot and sensitive and a throbbing ache settled deep in the most feminine heart of her.

"Aren't you overdressed?" she whispered again, her voice trembling.

He hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his shorts and slid them down over his hips. His erection sprang free of confinement, thick and hard, visible proof, if she'd needed it, of just how much he wanted her.

"Oh my," Nikki breathed, feeling the words catch in her throat.

"I'll assume that's not a complaint," Sam said, with a grin that suggested he already knew the answer. Nikki couldn't imagine he'd ever had any complaints. There was pure male arrogance in his smile, in the way he stood there, hands on his hips, without a stitch of clothing—or modesty.

At another time, Nikki might have felt compelled to take a jab at that arrogance, to deflate it just a little. But at the moment, she had much more important things on her mind.

"Now," she said fiercely, opening her arms and legs to him.

Sam groaned. "Give me a second."

Nikki waited with barely controlled impatience while he opened the nightstand drawer and took out a condom. Later, she'd appreciate his responsible behavior. At the moment, the small delay seemed almost unbearable. But it was only a matter of moments before he came to her.