Intimate Knowledge (5 page)

“I’m not like that, my world isn’t like that, babe,” he warned her.

She smiled, the reflection of light from the lampposts dancing in her eyes. “I don’t know. You’re always so hard on yourself.”

Saul wanted to set her straight, to tell her—to show her—the truth behind the messy, grey, ambiguous reality of his world. His heart shattered into a million pieces, however. Jenn drew his face down to hers and kissed him passionately. He lost all reason, all thought. Everything blew up around him as he tasted her, the sweet intoxication of her lips and her taste as she slid her tongue into his mouth.

He’d fantasised for years about kissing this woman, knowing her in the most intimate manner possible. The reality was far, far better than even his most heated dreams. He groaned, caught up and utterly lost in bliss. Jenn had instigated the sensual caress, but Saul continued it.

He raised both his hands, then cupped her face, turned her slightly so he could press her against the thick trunk of the tree. He moved her back, then inserted his thigh between her legs. Jenn moaned—a soft, decadent sound filled with the dark promise of delicious sex. His desire enflamed further. Saul kissed her deeper.

They clashed their mouths together hungrily, each of them tasting and drinking from one another. He parried his tongue with hers, both vying for dominance in this intimate dance. Shifting his body, Saul made sure his larger frame would protect Jenn, shielding her from any prying eyes should they be unfortunate enough to be discovered by some tourists.

Saul lowered his hands and opened the top few buttons of Jenn’s coat. Dodging the strap of her satchel and lifting her jumper, he finally found the soft flatness of her belly. The skin under the tips of his fingers was warm and soft, baby smooth and like a slice of paradise set before him.

Saul lifted his hand up under her shirt so he could cup her lacy, bra-clad breast. Heat seared his skin, branding him with her potent scent. She smelt of gardenias, a fragrance she’d always worn.

Jenn moaned again and moved her body against his. She shuddered as her thigh brushed over the thick erection pressing through the tent in his trousers.

When her hand touched him, even over the material of his trousers, he shook with the need to plunge inside her. He tilted his hips, moving his cock into her hand through his clothes. She stroked him, her fingers warm but agile.

“I need you,” she panted, desire lacing her tone. “Saul, I’m burning up here. I need to feel you in me, please. Right now.”

The faint sound of tittering laughter acted more powerfully on him than a bucket of ice water.

What the fuck was he doing?

Every instinct screamed at him. Years of training, all up in smoke from one potently intoxicating kiss from his best friend and the woman of his dreams. Not only had her small indiscretion negated his instinct, but it could also have signed both their death warrants.

Saul was not overly concerned with his own safety—he’d long since come to terms with the understanding that some day, sooner or later, his luck would run out—but far, far more importantly he’d put Jenn’s life at risk. He loved her, needed her more than oxygen right now. But he’d rather slit his throat that endanger her.

He rolled them both so his large body covered hers. Pushing up onto his elbows, Saul breathed harshly, catching his breath and exerting an incredible amount of iron will to get his rampaging body back under control. He couldn’t will his hard cock away, but he could bloody well get his mind back in the game and put his physical needs on hold until he had her safely locked away out of sight somewhere.

“Saul?” Jenn said, worry again in her tone.

“We can’t do this here,” he insisted huskily, lust thick in his voice. “You’re not safe, and you’re like a drug, or potent whisky going straight to my head. Much as I crave to be inside you right at this moment, fucking your brains out like I’ve wanted to for years, I won’t risk your safety, not even for that.”

“Like you’ve wanted to for years?” she repeated, sounding caught somewhere between amusement, amazement and a very female irritation.

Saul glanced at her, not quite sure why she was annoyed.

As if she could read his look, Jenn huffed and smoothed her shirt back down, buttoning her coat up again as she sat up.

“I’ve wanted you since we dirty danced at the party after we finished our finals at the end of Upper Sixth Form,” she replied, clearly annoyed now. “But you treated me afterwards like your kid sister. If you dare tell me you’ve wanted me all this time and made me waste years—hell, more than a decade…”

Saul chuckled, stroked his fingers down her cheek. He pressed a hot but brief kiss on her lips.

“We can argue about that another time, babe. For now, we need to get you to safety.”

“You know, I realise now you’ve never answered my question—when I asked what it is you do for a living,” she chided him.

Saul set his clothes to rights and stood, holding a hand out for her.

“No, I haven’t,” he agreed with brutal honesty. “Maybe later tonight, much later, if you ask I’ll answer as best I can. Then again, you haven’t answered my question either, whether there’s been something odd happen to you lately.”

Jenn grinned, a warm, feminine, secretive grin that told of hidden truths, sexual satisfaction and every fantasy he’d ever harboured about or with her. It was a wicked, decadent grin that had his dick swelling even more in the too tight confines of his trousers.

“No, I haven’t,” she mimicked his words from a moment ago. “But maybe tonight, later tonight I’ll answer your question, too.”

He knew full well she wasn’t talking about whatever was going on with her. The gleam in those beautiful eyes, the sexy tilt of her mouth and the sensual promise of her body as she pressed into him, against his side spoke volumes for what she really meant.

Whatever else happened tonight, the promise of what they’d started would be completed. He’d find satisfaction and Saul had every intention of fulfilling every single craving of hers as well. Saul touched his fingertips to her lips, stroking over the glossy smoothness of her lush mouth.

“Your protection and safety comes first,” he said, more to remind himself than to reassure her. “I won’t risk you, not for anyone or anything. Come on, babe, let’s go before I lose control and just take you out here in front of God and every member of the public who cares to watch.”

Jenn smirked but followed him without a word as he led them both out of the park.

Chapter Three

They were only a few streets away from Saul’s townhouse when Jennifer finally recognised where he was taking her. For most of the drive she’d been wrapped in a blissful haze of fantasy mingled with reliving over and over the searing intensity of their potent kiss.

Their first real kiss.

Now she’d had a taste of him, Jennifer knew she’d never want to stop. She wanted more. Everything. Tiny thrills shot up her legs as Saul grazed her thigh with his large hand as he changed gears. After he’d touched her a few times she realised he wanted or needed the contact.

When he laid his palm on the gear stick she lightly rested her own hand over his. Warmth from his skin seeped into her. Her cheeks flushed, desire curling lazily in her stomach. Saul threaded his fingers through hers while they waited for the light to change. Neither needed to say a word, they both knew full well where this would lead.

Jennifer turned to watch this strong, dark man in the glowing lights reflected from the street. She’d known him forever, but at the same time she understood that tonight she was really seeing who he was. Although a part of her was scared of the situation, she couldn’t help but feel grateful for the opportunity to really get to know every facet of him.

Saul turned. Their gazes met in silent understanding.

“Last chance to stop this,” he said in a low tone.

Jennifer just grinned. Nothing, nothing in the whole world could convince her to stop right now. She wanted no more secrets. No more dodging or blurring of words, omissions or holding back.

Lifting her hand, she reached over to stroke his jaw. This small touch made her crave him. She shifted herself in the seat and leaned close to him, pressed her chest against the strength of his arm and tilted her head so she could kiss him fully on the lips. They fused their mouths together, heat exploding between them. Jennifer moved her lips, eagerly seeking more. She listed her hands higher, to stroke over the soft skin of his scalp, to massage her fingers down the length of his neck.

He moaned, as did she, need warring with common sense. Cramped and confined in the car, they would need some pretty impressive gymnastic skills. Tempted to move his seat back so she could climb into his lap, Jennifer weighed the loss of contact bending down to find the seat lever would require. But the payoff, to writhe in his lap, feel his hot cock resting against the curve of her arse would be worth it.

Before she could finish her thought and assemble her neurons into a plan of action, a sharp horn rent through the air. Saul snapped his head up, flickering his eyes up to the rear-view mirror, around the windows then finally back to her. He grinned, appearing almost sheepish.

“You’re potent, babe. We’re nearly at my place, give me just a few more minutes before you make me lose my head again, will you?”

Tyres squealed as Saul pulled away from the intersection. Although he kept their hands tightly clenched together, he no longer focused fully on her. Jennifer could see the small differences in her friend. His posture was more rigid, controlled. His gaze shifted constantly, searching the streets around them, checking his rear-view mirror and muttering “licence plates,” presumably checking for vehicles that cropped up multiple times as they wove through the streets, turning left and right almost at random.

A dizzying number of turns later, they waited in an alley. Jennifer didn’t need to be a genius to realise Saul was being absolutely, positively certain beyond all doubt that their tails were clean. Sometimes she’d teased him for being paranoid, over cautious, but now with this new understanding of what his job probably entailed, she couldn’t fault him for his actions.

The mental picture of the dangers and hazards he fought against, the risks of his own life he put on the line constantly had her seeing Saul with new, clear eyes.

Saul finally pulled out of the alley and three turns later they were slowly cruising up his street. When he manoeuvred the car into an empty parking space on the side of the road, she turned to him with a firm stare.

“Those business trips you take, every two, maybe three months. They’re not training courses and bigwig meetings like you led me to believe, are they?” she asked. Even she could hear the suspicion in her tone, though she wasn’t angry in the least.

He grinned cheekily at her but didn’t actually answer.

Saul opened his car door and came around to open hers. She climbed out and, shoulder to shoulder, they walked up to his front door.

“Later,” he said.

There was so much meaning, a hot, sensual promise beneath the simple word it stole Jennifer’s breath away.

She paused on the doorstep, surprised when Saul didn’t immediately remove his keys and unlock the door. He bent low, his head almost level with her knees, and peered at the doorframe. Grunting, he then stood back up and rose onto his tiptoes, to peer in the top left-hand corner of the frame, near where the hinge would be.

A curt nod and he seemed satisfied by something.

Curious, Jennifer also moved low as Saul inserted his key into the lock. Before he opened the door, Saul pointed to a short, thin, single hair that had been taped across the doorway.

“Simple but effective,” he said. “If anyone had opened the door, this would be broken, or moved. Doesn’t mean the house is safe, but means a dumb-arse burglar or novice agent hasn’t been in here during the day.”

Not sure where to even begin responding to that comment, Jennifer pulled her satchel up over her head and shifted her weight, about to enter her friend’s home. Oddly, he reached out a large palm and held her back.

“I need to check it first,” he insisted. “I’ll only be a minute. There are other safeguards in here. Jenn, if I shout out at you, even telling you it’s all right and to come on in, run.”

Jennifer frowned.

Saul leaned closer, took her chin with two fingers and tilted her head up so she stared him right in the eyes.

“If the bad guys are in here, they might try to force my hand, make me bring you inside. It’s probably just that paranoia you so love to point out in me. But if I don’t physically come out here, if I just call out, I want you to turn around and run.”

“But where would I go?” she asked, fear creeping back into her veins.

Saul bent his head and kissed her, a light press of their lips, tantalising and teasing each other.

“I’ll find you,” he whispered the promise, darkly enticing. “No matter where you go, I’ll always find you.”

With that he dropped his hands and entered his home.

Jennifer remained behind on the front step. She shivered and for a moment thought she might be cold. But then she realised it was fear. She’d never understood how fear could blindside a person. It was like a living creature under her skin, prickling her senses, making her hair stand on end at her nape and acting like ice in her blood.

She hated the feeling.

The seconds crawled by. Time was the strangest thing. Since Saul had turned up at the gardens, the minutes had flown by. She’d felt secure, cherished, and horny as hell craving this big, wickedly delightful man. Now, even though he was only a few metres away from her, not being in his presence left her mind to roam into dangerous territory. She couldn’t help herself, she worried maybe Saul’s paranoia was all too real.

Straining to listen, she tried to detect if anyone else was inside the house. Her long-standing friendship with Saul was no secret. Had she truly brought danger to his door?

He’s more than capable of taking care of himself,
she reminded herself. Stomping her feet and wriggling her toes in her boots, she tried to inject some warmth from movement.