Susan Mallery - In Bed With The Devil

His dark gaze met hers. “You really think I’m going to let you be on top?” he asked.

“Uh-huh.”

He reached for her breasts. “You’re right.”

She laughed, then rocked back and forth, easing herself onto him, then off. At the same time, he cupped her breasts, teasing her nipples and providing a heck of a distraction.

She forced herself to concentrate on that place where they joined, but it got more and more difficult as her body got lost in the pleasure. With each stroke, she drove herself closer to another orgasm.

She felt him tense beneath her. She rode him faster, taking them higher and harder, pushing toward their mutual goal.

He abandoned her breasts and grabbed her hips, holding her tightly enough to control the pace. It was just slow enough to make her whimper.

So close, she thought as she concentrated on the feel of him pushing inside of her again and again. So…

And then she was coming. Her release rushed through her, urging her on. Faster and faster until she felt him hold her still as he shuddered beneath her.

On and on their bodies joined, until they were both still.

Jack rolled her onto her side and withdrew. They stared at each other in the soft light of the room. He touched her face.

“I wasn’t going to let you do that,” he murmured.

“I know. You mad?”

“Not at you.”

At himself? Because he’d betrayed his promise to Hunter? Meri started to tell him it didn’t matter when it suddenly occurred to her that maybe it did. To him, at least. That maybe he regretted letting his friend down and that this had been the last promise he’d been able to keep.

Only he hadn’t.

“Jack…” she began.

He shook his head. “Don’t go there. Wherever you’re going, don’t.”

She opened her mouth, then closed it. She didn’t want to apologize. Not exactly. But she felt as if she should say something.

“I should go,” she murmured

“You don’t have to.”

She stared into his dark eyes and knew she wanted to stay. Even if it was just one night, she wanted to spend the time with him.

“I went to a psychic once,” she told him. “She told me that one day I would be in bed with the devil. I always knew she meant you. It’s not your fault you gave in. It was destiny.”

He smiled faintly. “You believe in psychics?”

“I believe in a lot of things. I’m very interesting.”

“Yes, you are.”

She sighed and snuggled close. “Are we going to make love again tonight?”

“Yes.”

“You can be on top this time if you want.”

He chuckled. “You’re not in charge.”

“Of course I am. I’m also totally irresistible. Right now you’re wondering how you resisted me for so long.”

“It’s like you can read my mind.”

She closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of him. Everything about this moment felt right, she thought. As if this was what she’d been waiting for. As if-

Wait a minute. She wasn’t supposed to like having sex with Jack. She was supposed to be getting her revenge and moving on. They weren’t supposed to connect.

They weren’t, she told herself. She was just emotionally gooey from the afterglow. It was a biological response. Her body’s attempt to bond with a man who was genetically desirable. Come morning, she would be totally over him and this and be ready to walk away. Her plan would go on as scheduled and she would be free to move forward with her life.

“I’m healed,” Meri told Betina the next morning as she poured milk over her cereal. “Seriously, if I had a limp, it would be gone.”

Betina looked her over. “Based on the smirk and the glow, I’m going to guess you and Jack did the wild thing last night.”

Meri sighed with contentment. “We did. It was fabulous. Better than I imagined, which is hard to believe. I feel like a new woman. A new woman with really, really clear skin!”

Betina laughed. “Okay. Good for you.”

“Any progress with Colin?”

“No. I watched a movie and he spent the evening on his computer. Then we went to bed separately.”

Meri felt her fabulous mood fade a little. “That sucks. You need to talk to him.”

“I’m not taking advice from you.”

“Why not? My plan is working perfectly. Jack has had me and now he wants more. But he’s not going to get any more. I’m walking away.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely.”

“And you don’t feel a thing?”

“I’m a little sore,” Meri said with a grin.

Betina slowly shook her head. “Okay. Then I was wrong. I guess you don’t have any feelings for him. If you’re not thinking about being with him again or wanting to hang out with him, then you are healed. Yay you.”

Her friend poured coffee and walked out of the kitchen. Meri stared after her.

She didn’t have feelings for Jack. Okay, sure, he was a friend and, as such, she would always have a soft spot for him. She was also willing to admit that not sleeping with him again might be difficult, but only because it had been so darned good. Not because she felt any kind of emotional connection.

But as she thought the words, she felt a little ping in her heart. One that warned her something might not be right.

“I don’t care about him,” she told herself. “I don’t.”

Which was a good thing, because falling for him would totally ruin her attempts at revenge.

She finished her cereal, rinsed the bowl and put it in the dishwasher. Then she walked into the dining room.

Someone rang the bell at the front door. She frowned. It was too early for the rest of the team, not to mention a delivery. So who on earth…?

She walked to the front of the house and opened the door. Her mind went blank as she stared at the man standing there. The man who swept her into his arms and kissed her.

“Hey, babe,” he said.

She swallowed. “Andrew. This is a surprise.”

When Jack finished getting dressed after his shower, he debated going downstairs for coffee or heading up to the loft to check in with his office.

Coffee won, mostly because he hadn’t gotten much sleep the previous night. Sharing a bed with Meri had been anything but restful.

He walked out of his bedroom, then paused at the landing to look at the picture he’d mostly avoided since arriving at the house. It showed him and his friends during college. When everything had been easy and they’d called themselves the Seven Samurai.

Hunter laughed into the camera, because he’d always enjoyed whatever he was doing. Luke and Matt-twins who couldn’t be more different-held Ryan in a headlock, while he and Devlin poured beer over the group. He knew that just outside the view of the camera sat a teenage girl on a blanket, her head buried in a book. Because Meri had never quite fit in.

Hunter had worried about her, especially after he’d found out he was dying. That’s when he’d asked Jack to take care of her.

“Hell of a job,” Jack muttered to himself as he turned away from the picture. Sure, Meri was all grown up now, a woman who made her own choices. That was her excuse for what had happened the previous night. What was his?

He’d wanted her. Who wouldn’t? She was smart and funny and pretty as hell. She challenged him the way no one else dared. She was sexy and irreverent and so filled with life and ideas. Hunter would have been proud of her. Then he would have turned on Jack like a rabid dog and beaten the crap out of him. Or at least he would have tried. Knowing it was all his fault, Jack knew he just might have let him.

So now what? Meri had claimed she wanted to seduce him, which she probably thought she had. Did they just move on now? Pretend it hadn’t happened? Because it shouldn’t have, no matter how good it had been. If he could turn back time…

Jack shook his head. No point in lying to himself. If he could turn back time, he would do it all over again. Which made him a pretty big bastard and a sorry sort of friend.

He glanced back at the photo. Now what?

He heard footsteps on the stairs. But instead of a petite blonde with an attitude, he saw Betina climbing toward him.

“Morning,” he said.

She reached the landing and looked at him. There was something in her eyes-something that warned him she was not happy about certain events.

“What?” he asked.

“That would be my question to you.” She drew in a breath. “Look, it’s not my business-”

Great. She was going to get protective. “You’re right. It’s not your business.”

She glared at him. “Meredith is my friend. I care about her. I don’t want her to get hurt.”

“What makes you think that’s going to happen?”

“It’s in your nature. You’re the kind of man who is used to getting what he wants and walking away.”

True enough, he thought, not sure what that had to do with anything. “Meri’s not in this for the long term,” he said.

“That’s what she keeps telling me, but I’m not so sure. I think she’s in a position where she could get her heart broken.”

“Not by me.”

Betina rolled her eyes. “Are all men stupid about women or is it just the ones in this house?”

“You expect me to answer that?”

“No. I expect you to respect someone you’re supposed to care about. You’ve known Meri a long time. She’s not like the rest of us. She didn’t grow up with a chance at being normal. She managed to fit in all on her own.”

“I heard you had a part in making that happen.”

Betina shrugged. “I gave her direction. She did the work. But she’s not as tough as she thinks. What she had planned for you was crazy-and I told her that, but she wouldn’t listen.”

“Typical.”

“I know. My point is I don’t want anything bad to happen to her. If you hurt her, I’ll hunt you down like the dog you are and make you pay.”

He gave her a half smile. “Going to hire someone to beat me up?”