Love's Masquerade Page 21

  Auden raised her head, inadvertently bringing their lips a whisper apart.

  She’s going to kiss me.

  I want to kiss her.

  God, I want her to...

  God, I have to...

  Desire shimmered in the air. Breath hung suspended. Hearts beat wildly.

  Auden stepped back.

  “I...I’m sorry. I’m still a little stunned...” Auden knew she wasn’t making any sense. Her head was filled with a roaring sound that made it impossible for her to concentrate. Her legs were shaking, and she was so aroused, she knew it must show in her face. She had no idea what Hays was feeling at the moment, but she’d asked once to be kissed, and she couldn’t ask again. “Hays, I...” want you and I don’t know how to tell you.

  Hays gently placed her fingers against Auden’s mouth. She felt her tremble, saw the desire in her hazy eyes. We can’t do this here, not in the office, not in a place where our relationship is defined by the professional. Because if we kiss, I won’t stop, and I don’t want to make love with you here, not this way—even if you want to.

  “Shh, you don’t need to say anything. I’m the one who should apologize for springing this on you. I just don’t want it to...” come between us “be a problem for us working together.”

  “No. It won’t.” Auden wondered if only she felt the desire. The expression in Hays’s eyes—so intense, so serious—was so hard to read. “I should...get back to work.”

  “Yes. So should I.” Hays hesitated for a moment. “I’m very glad you’re here, Auden.”

  “So am I.” Finally in control again, Auden smiled wistfully. “A few days from now, when I’ve turned the whole place upside down trying to get this book out, you might think differently.”

  “I can’t imagine that anything would ever make me change my mind.”

  Auden sat for a long time in her office, reading things she knew she wouldn’t remember the next day. She wondered what Hays was doing, what she was thinking . She wondered if Hays was writing. Finally, she picked up the manuscript of Dark Passions and started reading again from the beginning. She looked for Hays in Rune’s words and thought she saw the loneliness and sadness that so often seemed to shimmer beneath the surface of Hays’s dark eyes. She reread love scenes, imagining Hays writing them, wondering if Hays was writing her desires or only her dreams. When she finished, she had even more questions about the enigmatic author than before. She also felt closer to Hays in a way that she couldn’t define, but she knew that she had glimpsed a very special part of her, and she cherished that.

  When Auden finally left her office that evening, the light shone from beneath Hays’s office door, but the door itself was closed. She did not pause as she walked quietly by.

  *

  Gayle opened her apartment door and smiled up at the woman standing in the hallway. “Hi.”

  Thane put her overnight bag on the floor, lifted her wrist, and studied her watch. “It’s been nine hours, five minutes, and...twenty-two seconds since I’ve kissed you. Does that count as taking it slow?”

  Gayle reached out, gripped Thane’s jacketin her fist, and pulled her through the doorway, barely giving the taller woman a chance to grab her overnight bag and drag it in with her before Gayle slammed the door.

  “I’d say you’ve shown remarkable restraint,” Gayle muttered as she pressed Thane to the door and then pressed her mouth to Thane’s. She kept Thane pinned with the weight of her body as she kissed her hard, pulled her shirt from her pants, and slid her hands over bare skin all in one movement.

  Never taking her lips from Gayle’s mouth, Thane shrugged out of her jacket and then tugged at the snap on Gayle’s jeans. She stopped herself just as she was about to slide her hand down the front and pulled her head away, banging it against the door, never even feeling the pain. Gasping, she said, “Say no now, if you want—”

  “I want. I want,”Gayle growled, pushing her hips hard into Thane. She found a nipple beneath the silk shirt, captured it between thumb and forefinger, andtugged on it as she squeezed.

  Thane’s knees buckled. Gayle laughed.

  “Oh God...” Thane’s neck was arched, her lids almost closed.

  “Do you want to say no?” Gayle teased, her mouth on Thane’s throat,biting gently.

  “No...oh, yeah...no. Jesus, I haven’t thought of anything else...all day.”

  Chest heaving, Gayle stepped back, grasping Thane’s hand.“Come into the bedroom.”

  They moved quickly, shedding clothes along the way. By the time they reached the side of the bed, they were both shirtless and without shoes. Gayle sat down and reached for the buckle on Thane’s belt.

  Thane stepped away and opened her pants herself, not trusting what would happen if Gayle touched her just then. “You, too,” she urged.

  Gayle smiled as she watched Thane bare herself. “You’re gorgeous.” She lay back on the bed, lifted her hips, and pushed off her jeans.

  One leg still in her trousers, Thane met Gayle’s eyes and grinned. “You’re crazy, Dr. Dunbar. But I’m glad you think so.”

  One small lamp glowed on the far side of the bed, and they looked at one another almost shyly in the muted light. Gayle held out her hand and Thane took it slowly.

  “Come lie down on top of me,” Gayle whispered.

  Gently, Thane settled herself between Gayle’s thighs, her arms on either side of Gayle’s shoulders with her fingers resting against Gayle’s jaw. Gayle’s leg was hard and smooth as it slid against her own heated flesh. “Ah, God, you feel so good. Everywhere...so good.”

  “Mmm.” Gayle wrapped her arms around Thane’s shoulders and pushed her thigh upward, drawing a gasp from the woman above her. “Oh, baby, you’re still ready, aren’t you?”

  “All day.” Thane’s voice was husky, her eyes unfocused. When Gayle brushed a hand down her back, gripped her hips, and started to rock into her, Thane groaned again. “I won’t be responsible for what happens if you keep that up.”

  “I’ve wanted to make you come all day.”

  “You’re going to get your wish.” Thane trembled and pressed her face against Gayle’s shoulder. “Soon, if you’re not careful.”

  “Do you want to?” Gayle pressed her lips to Thane’s ear, finding a spot just inside the rim that made Thane twitch when she licked it.

  “Oh Christ, yes.” She pushed her clitoris, wet and hard and close to bursting, along the length of Gayle’s thigh.

  “How do you want it, baby?” Gayle bit the soft earlobe, tugging it between her teeth. Her voice was low, barely more than a growl. “Do you want to come in my hand, or in my mouth...or with me inside you?”

  Thane jerked and arched her back, giving a small cry as she edged close to climaxing. She couldn’t keep her eyes open, could barely manage sounds. “I want you...to have...what you want.”

  It was Gayle’s turn to utter a cry, and she quickly put both hands on Thane’s shoulders, pushed her over onto her back, and rose above her in one smooth motion. “Look at me. Baby, look at me now.”

  Thane, breath coming in sobs, fixed on Gayle’s face as Gayle reached between her legs and slid into her. When Gayle’s palm brushed over her clitoris, Thane came instantly. As Gayle’s mouth covered hers, swallowing her cries, Thane clenched around Gayle’s fingers, heaving with each wracking spasm.

  When Thane finally opened her eyes, she was lying in Gayle’s arms, her cheek cradled on Gayle’s chest, one leg over Gayle’s thigh. She felt as if she’d been hit by a truck. Her muscles were rubbery and her head was fuzzy. There was a faint buzzing sound in her ears. She couldn’t remember ever having felt so good in her life. “Christ, I’m wrecked.”

  “Good.” Gayle kissed the top of Thane’s head and stroked her shoulders and back. She felt a faint aftershock ripple through Thane’s body, heard her gasp, and she smiled. She loved the way Thane’s body felt, pinning her to the bed with the weight of spent desire.

  She reached with one hand to pull up the sheet, not wanting
Thane to get chilled. Thane’s hand lay on her stomach, making small aimless movements. It was driving her crazy. She hadn’t come, but she’d grown harder, wetter, with each pulse of Thane’s orgasm around her fingers. She hadn’t felt her own need then, only Thane’s pleasure, but now the urgency came roaring back. She ached for relief.

  When Thane, drifting near sleep, found Gayle’s breast and lightly rubbed her nipple, Gayle closed her eyes and bit her lip. Her clitoris, still rampant, twitched steadily, and she couldn’t stop a moan. She slid her hand toward the pounding need between her thighs.

  “How you doin’?” Thane murmured drowsily.

  “I want to come,” Gayle whisper hoarsely. “You okay if I...touch myself?”

  “Mmm, yeah. Not yet, though.”

  Gayle trembled as Thane’s hand wandered slowly down the center of her abdomen, and she began to fervently pray for just one brief touch. Just one touch and she’d come. “Oh God, I am so hot.”

  “Uh-huh.” Thane laughed softly. “I noticed.”

  Breathless, heart pounding, every muscle tense, Gayle moaned. “Touch me, please, baby. I want to come so bad.”

  When Thane didn’t move, didn’t answer, Gayle wondered if she’d fallen asleep. Desperate, she moved her hand lower again.

  “No.”

  Ever so slowly, Thane brushed her fingertips through the hair at the base of Gayle’s belly, then pressed lower, a torturous fraction of an inch at a time, until she had parted the swollen folds below. Gayle whimpered, her legs like steel bands. Thane fondled her lightly, stroking near her clitoris but not touching it. Not yet.

  Gayle’s whimpers became a litany of pleas. “Please, make me come. Please. I have to come. Please.”

  “Mmm.” Thane pressed the shaft, firmly, once. And stopped. When Gayle’s hips rose from the bed and she made a choking sound, Thane started again—slow circles, coating the engorged length with Gayle’s arousal.

  “You’re going to make me come,” Gayle moaned, her whole body twitching now. She was gasping, her fingers digging into Thane’s shoulders. “Oh God, oh God—”

  “Now touch yourself.” Thane pushed into her, pulled out, and thrust again.

  Gayle shouted, coming hard, her fingers stroking her clitoris in time to the rhythm of Thane’s long, deep thrusts. When she was too weak to continue, Thane took over, milking the last tremor from her exhausted flesh.

  As Gayle moaned softly, the last of the orgasm trailing through her depths, Thane sighed, infinitely satisfied, and closed her eyes. Gayle followed her into sleep, Thane’s hand still held within.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Thane pulled on her trousers and shirt, then sat on the side of the bed and watched Gayle get ready for work. It was still dark outside. The bedside clock read 5:45. Earlier, she’d lain awake listening to Gayle shower, thinking about the night before. It hadn’t been what she had expected. She’d barely recognized herself. She was used to being in control, used to being the aggressor. It was an image she was comfortable with, and most of her lovers had been, too. With Gayle, though, everything had shifted—perceptions had blurred—and parts of herself that she hadn’t even realized existed suddenly emerged.

  “I’m sorry about getting you up so early.” Gayle wore faded green scrub pants and nothing else as she searched in her dresser drawers for a clean scrub shirt. “I’ve got rounds at 6:30.”

  Thane crossed the room and slid her arms around Gayle’s waist from the back, resting her chin on Gayle’s shoulder. “I’m sorry about last night.”

  “Oh?” Gayle stiffened almost imperceptibly. “Why is that?”

  “I’m usually not so much of a dud in bed.” Thane sighed, one hand smoothing the taut skin over Gayle’s abdomen. She met Gayle’s eyes in the mirror above the dresser. Hers were unusually soft; Gayle’s were wary. I don’t think anyone has ever been able to knock me out the way you did. I hope you’re not going to judge my performance—”

  “You’re joking, right?” Gayle turned in the circle of Thane’s arms, an incredulous look on her face as she placed her hands flat against Thane’s chest.

  Cradling Gayle’s hips, Thane shook her head. “I feel like a novice. Christ, I practically left you high and dry.”

  “Okay, I’m going to say this once. Listen very carefully.” Gayle rested a palm against Thane’s cheek to soften her words. “I know you weren’t firing on all cylinders there at the end, but surely you remember the fact that I begged you to let me come. Begged.” Just thinking about it, she shivered. “No one does that to me. No one controls me that way. No one.”

  Thane grinned with a combination of pleasure and humility, and seeing it, Gayle wrapped both arms around Thane’s neck. Pressing close, with her lips against Thane’s ear, she murmured, “It was wonderful. You were wonderful. And, if you ever tell anyone that I let you top me on our first night together, I will make you suffer for all eternity.”

  “That sounds almost tempting.” Thane dipped her head for a kiss, lingering a moment too long on Gayle’s soft lips. Heat flared in her depths and she almost gasped. “I just want to be sure you know...” For one of the few times in her life, when it mattered so much, she couldn’t find words. “Jesus, I—”

  “I know.” Gayle’s voice was tender. “I felt it. I felt you; I felt me. I know how special it was.”

  Thane could only nod and hold her more tightly. “When can I see you again?”

  “I’m working tonight and next Saturday night. Friday night?” She was unusually hesitant, uncertain, wondering if she was expecting too much. She’d said that she’d wanted more than a night, but Thane had never answered. I never gave her time to say what she wanted; I looked at her standing outside in the hall, all sexy charm and deep brown eyes, and the only thing I wanted was to get my hands on her. Well, I had that. Now what? “Teddy?”

  “God, Friday seems like forever.”

  Gayle smiled against Thane’s neck, enormously relieved. “Then you’ll be nice and ready for me.”

  “Are you kidding? I’m ready now.”

  Gayle found Thane’s unguarded emotional honesty stunning. It was one of the most wonderful things about her, as if her good looks and charisma and quick intelligence weren’t enough. Gayle’s head was spinning, and most other places had already left orbit. She groaned faintly. “God, I want you again, too. And I have to go to work.”

  “Listen,” Thane murmured, her cheek resting against the top of Gayle’s head, hands softly stroking her back. “I know it’s kind of soon to ask, but I’ll be going to New York for a book convention the weekend after next. Would you...come with me?”

  “I’d love to.”

  Thane sighed contentedly and kissed her again. “Good. Now I’m going to go back and sit down on the bed while you finish getting ready for work. Because if I keep touching you, you are going to be late.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Reluctantly, Gayle let Thane go, but as she continued her preparations, she was smiling.

  Hays knocked on Auden’s half-open door, saying at the same time, “Auden?” Looking in, she realized that Auden was not alone. Liz stood beside Auden’s desk, leaning over, smiling down at her. “Oh, sorry.”

  “Hays,” Auden said brightly, “come in.”

  Hays dipped her hands into her pockets, looking uncertainly from Liz to Auden, wondering if she had interrupted something personal. “No, that’s okay, I can come back.”

  “I was just leaving,” Liz offered as she walked toward Hays. She held out her hand. “Good to see you again. I came on board last week while you were away.”

  “I’m glad you’re here. It sounds like the two of you have gotten things off to a running start.” Hays shook Liz’s hand warmly.

  “Not me—Auden.” Liz looked over her shoulder, smiling back at Auden. “I’m just following her lead. She’s amazing.”

  “Yes, so everyone says,” Hays murmured, her gaze on Auden, who blushed from the compliments.

  When Liz left, Hays asked, “Are you bus
y?”

  “Enormously.” Auden stood up. “But never too busy for you. Liz and I were just talking about the timing for the media releases for Pale Imitations.” She ran a hand through her hair and shrugged ruefully. “It’s rather hard to make that sort of decision when I don’t know yet how things are going to go. We just sent the manuscript off to the compositor for copy fitting.”

  “Who have you got doing that for you?”

  “Abel suggested Martin Jones. What do you think?”

  Hays nodded. “Martin is good. He’s very fast and very thorough.”

  “I hope to get a castoff on the page numbers today or tomorrow so graphics can size the cover.” She looked at a list of notes she’d made on a yellow legal pad. “I’m not sure where we’ll be in the print queue, which is the one thing that may sink us in terms of the convention.”

  “I should think if you get a galley approved by the end of the week, we’d be able to get a first run done in time for New York. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve had to send a van to pick up books because of a close deadline.” Hays leaned against the door. “You’re doing great, Auden.”

  Auden met her eyes. “Thanks.” She hesitated. “Was there something you needed me for?”

  “No, I just wanted to say hello.” Hays stepped into the room and closed the door. “And I wanted to see if everything was okay, after yesterday.”

  Auden came around her desk. “You mean about Rune?”

  “Yes.”

  “At first I was a little, well, disoriented, I guess. I needed to find a way to connect the two of you.” She lifted a shoulder, frustrated. “Does that make sense?”

  “Completely,” Hays replied. “Were you able to?”

  “A little.” Auden smiled. “I’m getting used to the idea.”

  “How did you manage that so quickly?” Hays smiled, too.

  “I read some of Dark Passions again last night.”

  “Really?” Hays was having trouble following the conversation because she was watching the way Auden’s lips moved as she spoke, the way the color of her eyes shimmered from blue to green, the way she tilted her head when she concentrated on a thought. “Why that one?”