Rescuing Diana (14 page)

“It was your first time. You deserved a bed with silk sheets and—”

“Do you have silk sheets?” she asked, languidly stroking his shoulders.

“Well, no.”

“Then my first time wouldn’t have been in a bed with silk sheets.” She turned her head to look at him. “How do silk sheets make it better?”

He blinked, confusion replacing the slight regret in his brown eyes. “It would have made it more special.…”

She smiled. “Nothing could have made it more special, Adam. Nothing.”

His arms tightened around her, and he kissed the pulse point just under her ear. “I love you, Diana.”

She knew the words came from his heart, and she closed her eyes in pain. She’d been foolish, but now she realized her foolishness had been in suspecting Adam of having any part in getting her to sell her game to his brother. No man who exhibited any kind of honor would do such a thing. And Adam was a very honorable man. An innocent man. Tonight had made her see the final and total truth. Dan had used Adam, and, to her shame, so had she.

She resisted the overwhelming urge to beg his forgiveness, knowing that it might cause a rift with his brother. And any confession would probably kill his feelings for her. She’d be crazy to jeopardize that. It would be best if she said nothing, and instead gave him her trust and love in every way possible. Then, she hoped, she could remove the guilt of her own duplicity.

“I suppose,” she began in a trembling voice as her emotions played havoc inside her, “that we could get some silk sheets and see if they’re all you think they’re cracked up to be.…”

He smiled down at her.

“Personally,” she continued, “I don’t think anything would make it better, but if the teacher wants silk sheets—”

“Forget I ever mentioned silk sheets,” he ordered affectionately.

“I saw an advertisement once for satin sheets,” she said. “Now they sound a little kinky. Maybe you’d like them bet—”

Her words were abruptly cut off by his hard, fierce kiss. Running her hands down his sides and over his buttocks, she shuddered at his renewed arousal. And her own.

“I love you, Adam,” she murmured when he lifted his head. “Love me again.”

And he did.

“Plain old cotton sheets,” Diana said sadly as she snuggled against Adam’s side in his bed later. “I hope you’re not too disappointed.”

She yelped when he pinched her bare bottom.

“Keep it up,” he said, “and you’ll be wishing you never heard of the damn things.”

She wiggled around until she was half-lying across his chest. Propping her chin on her folded arms, she said chidingly, “You’re no fun. Okay, silk and satin sheets are out. Now, I’ve heard some things about mirrors—”

“Diana! Go to sleep.”

She sighed and spread her hand across his dark chest hair. For long moments she just twirled the short, silky strands around her fingers, occasionally placing a kiss on his warm skin.

“You’re not sleeping,” Adam finally said, his arm tightening around her waist.

“Mmmm.” Laying her head on his chest, she smiled as she trailed her hand down his biceps. “I was just thinking that I met you only ten days ago.”

“I think how we feel is more important than how much time it takes for us to feel that way,” he said, stroking her hair.

“I just didn’t want to rush you, or anything.” She sighed dramatically. “Still, it
might
be too soon for the mirrors.…”

He gently tugged her hair in reprimand. “You’ll be sorry in the morning if you keep talking like that.”

“And how is that?”

“Making love is like exercise. If you don’t take it easy in the beginning, you’ll feel it the next day.”

“No pain, no gain,” she quipped, rubbing her breasts against his chest.

“I’m trying to be a gentleman.…”

“I suppose I should stop teasing you. After all, you are older and—”

In one swift movement, Adam reversed their positions.

“I’m such a wicked woman,” she murmured just before his mouth covered hers.

“Diana. Wake up, honey.”

As Adam’s voice penetrated her layers of sleep, Diana smiled. She snuggled back against the delicious warmth of his body and sighed. The morning had brought no regrets, no second thoughts. This was where she belonged.

Adam kissed her shoulder, her hair.…

“Five more minutes, Mom,” she mumbled.

“Diana!”

She pulled the pillow across her face to smother her laughter. He yanked it out of her hands and glared down at her.

“I’m sorry,” she gasped out between giggles. “But I just couldn’t resist.”

“If you ever do it again, I swear I’ll tell you that you snore.”

“I do not!”

He smiled evilly.

“Do I?” she asked in a tiny voice, mortified at the thought of having done such a thing in his presence.

“You’ll never know.” He kissed her nose, then brushed something off her cheek. “That’s strange. There are tiny flecks of soot on your cheeks.”

“Soot?” she repeated. Then her eyes widened. Her mascara must have smeared during the night. Embarrassed, she covered her face with her hands and muttered, “Where’s the bathroom?”

“The bathroom door is next to the bureau. What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. I just want to … ah … use the facilities.” She slid a bare leg off the bed, then realized the rest of her was just as bare. Her blood heated her face. “Could you get me a robe or something, Adam?”

“In a minute.” His fingers pried at hers, but she resisted his pulling them away. “Your face is red, Diana, so I know you’re upset about something. Please don’t shut me out. Not now.”

She dropped her hands and wailed, “The damn mascara ran, and I probably look like a raccoon! That’s why I’m upset.”

“You do
not
look like a raccoon,” he said, taking her in his arms. “You look like a woman well loved, and I’m proud to be the man who’s made you look that way.”

“You’re lying through your teeth, Adam Roberts,” she said, deciding repairs at this point were useless anyway. The damage was already done, and she might as well accept it. “But I love you for it. Now will you let me up so I can use the bathroom? My mouth tastes like a cow pasture.”

He groaned and rolled onto his back. “I’m going to have to give you a lesson on how
not
to kill the mood.”

Adam was smiling as he retrieved Diana’s clothing from his living room. It had been an incredible night, and he hated the thought of its ending.

As he walked back into the bedroom, he admitted that he hadn’t allowed Diana to decide consciously if she wanted to make love. Instead he’d seduced her into it, quite ruthlessly. But he’d been desperate. Witnessing her metamorphosis had driven him nearly insane. She was his. He knew it, and she had seemed to know it too. He’d understood that she’d only been testing her feminine appeal to other men, but he’d been afraid that she would like the experiment and decide to “expand her horizons.” He had no regrets about forcing their relationship onto a more intimate level, and he was damn grateful that Diana didn’t either. Although he firmly believed that time would make no difference to their feelings, he realized he couldn’t rush her into anything else. She had
to be very sure of both herself and him before that.

He knocked on the bathroom door. “Diana?”

The door opened a few inches and a long-nailed hand reached out for the clothes. He grinned as he handed them over. The door closed.

“I still haven’t figured out how you grew those nails in two days,” he said through the door.

“I haven’t figured out how I’m going to type on a keyboard without the darn things hooking in between the keys,” she called back. “You’ll probably have to rescue me again.”

He chuckled.

“I think torture chambers are masquerading as beauty salons nowadays,” she continued. “I’ve been sculpted, creamed, masked, waxed, plucked, cut, washed, and dried by a real nasty named Raoul and his two very nice assistants.” She sighed loudly. “It was wonderful.”

At her obvious ecstasy, Adam burst into laughter. Diana was very much a woman, to endure such horrors and actually think of it as pampering. Still, he had to admit the results were devastating to a man. Lord, but she had looked gorgeous. And it was very evident she had done it for him.

There was no sense telling her he’d always found her sexy as hell, he thought. After all she’d gone through, he doubted she’d appreciate the compliment.

“If I didn’t have this damned hotel annex to work on, I wouldn’t be taking you home,” he said, hoping she understood why he couldn’t spend the day with her. Hell, he thought. Of all times.

“Don’t worry about it, Adam. I’ll see you tonight.” There was a pause. “
Will
I see you tonight?”

“Diana. I’ll torture myself today because of my obligations. But I will not torture myself beyond that. We’ll have the whole weekend together. And more.”

“Good.”

He relaxed against the door. They’d probably spend the weekend at her house, and he couldn’t think of a more perfect place to be. Hidden away in the Berkeley Hills, her computer on guard against intruders, it would be a refuge where they could make love and talk.

Realizing he’d end up spending the weekend trapped at the office if he didn’t get dressed and take Diana home, he straightened and banged on the door.

“Get a move on, Diana. A knight is only chivalrous for so long when it comes to the bathroom!”

“I feel like a … wanton, coming home in my gown at nine in the morning,” Diana said as Adam’s Trans Am turned onto the long, shaded drive of her property.

“By rights you should be back in my bed being a naked wanton,” Adam said. “Tonight, though, you can start being a wanton for the weekend.”

She grinned. “With mirrors?”

“You’d better be careful,” he warned her. “You might just get what you ask for.”

It was amazing how natural she felt with Adam now, Diana thought. While her mind had been sidetracked by doubts and suspicions, her heart had been heading in the right direction all along. Still, she wouldn’t have realized how she felt about him—or how he felt about her—if she hadn’t
acted on those doubts and suspicions. She idly wondered how long she still would have foundered if she hadn’t instigated the showdown with Adam and his brother. At this point she wasn’t sure whether she should thank Dan or murder him for the trouble he’d caused. She would have to talk to him soon, though, making it very clear that her relationship with Adam would in no way affect to whom her games were finally sold.

That thought brought on a more frightening one. What if Adam got upset if she didn’t sell her games to his brother? Unfortunately. Dan’s low offer already made that a real possibility.

“I’ll be back around five-thirty,” Adam said, breaking into her thoughts.

Realizing the car was nearing her front door, she nodded, and said, “I’ll cook dinner.”

“I’ll bring dinner,” he corrected her as he parked next to the deck. “I don’t want you wasting energy cooking anything but me.”

She shook her head. “I always knew you weren’t a knight in shining armor.”

“Found out at last.”

As he took her in his arms, she sternly told herself not to worry about imagined problems until they actually did happen. Surely they could be worked out. Surely.

Adam suddenly turned away before he’d kissed her, and she realized that something at the house had caught his attention. She followed his gaze, and to her surprise she saw her cousin Angelica striding out the front door. A flush rose instantly to her cheeks.

“Who’s that?” Adam asked, releasing her and straightening.

“My cousin.” She opened the passenger door. “I wonder what she’s doing here.”

Angelica leaned over the deck railing and demanded, “Where the hell have you been, Diana?”

Diana stepped out of the car and shut the door behind her. She wanted to curse heartily at her cousin’s interruption. And honestly, she thought as she heard Adam getting out of the car, Angelica wasn’t an idiot. Adam’s presence ought to be self-explanatory.

Still she stammered. “Well … ah …”

“You’d better get in here,” Angelica broke in. “I can’t figure out what’s missing, and—”

“Missing!” Diana yelped.

“You had a break-in last night.”

Diana raced up the steps. “That’s impossible! Charlie was on duty.…”

Not wasting any more words, she ran into the house and headed straight for the workroom. Nothing could circumvent her computer, she thought wildly. Charlie couldn’t be enticed with a piece of drugged meat, as a dog might. Charlie couldn’t be bribed. He was even battery-backed in case of a power failure. She checked him every day to make sure he was working properly.…

“Nooooo!” she screamed, skidding to a halt on the threshold of the workroom.

It was a shambles. Chairs were overturned, papers, books, and disks were strewn everywhere, and the bookcases were lying on the floor like rusted ships left to rot in the shallows.

Curiously enough, the computers themselves seemed untouched. Then she spotted Charlie, and cried out a second time.

She ran over and knelt on the floor next to the
smashed console and broken circuit boards that had once been her favorite computer. Tears coursed down her cheeks as she touched the wreckage in disbelief.