Shockingly Sensual Read online

  “What did his voice sound like?” Luke asked, still sizing up the terminal’s occupants. “Did he have an accent? Did he sound old or young, or somewhere in between? Could you detect an ethnicity?”

  “He was talking low, as if he was trying to disguise his voice. He’s not Southern and he’s probably Caucasian.” Callie wrinkled her nose and Luke was heartened to see she’d stopped trembling. “But he did sound vaguely familiar. Then again I hear hundreds of voices on the radio night after night.”

  “You think he could be one of your regular callers?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s not someone you know personally?”

  “I couldn’t say. I had difficulty hearing everything he said, he was speaking so quietly.”

  “Dave from Albany?”

  She wrinkled her forehead. “I don’t know, but I don’t think so. He told me not to talk to Brooke Burnett. That if I kept my mouth shut and stopped the tour he would let me live.”

  Luke swore and fisted both hands. This cinched it. He couldn’t walk away from Callie now, no matter how difficult it was for him to remain. She needed his protection and he’d never turned his back on someone in need.

  “We can’t let this guy win,” he said.

  “We?” She met his eyes. “I thought you were going back to New York.”

  “And let that jerk get away with terrorizing you? Not on your life.” Was it his imagination or did she look relieved that he was staying?

  “So what are we going to do?”

  “Follow my lead.”

  “I’m not a follower.”

  “A man just threatened your life. Don’t you think it’s time you listened to someone else for a change?”

  She thought about it for a moment. “What are you intending?”

  “On becoming your fiancé.”

  Without another word, Luke put a hand to her back and swiveled her toward the camera crew. Once he was sure they had Brooke Burnett’s undivided attention, he tilted Callie’s chin up, lowered his head and kissed her.

  5

  ALL THE AIR FLED Callie’s lungs and Luke inhaled it.

  Inhaled her.

  She was so stunned she couldn’t think. Her mind was spinning in a thousand different directions. Why was this staid, straitlaced bodyguard suddenly kissing her?

  She liked it, though. She liked it a lot.

  His demanding lips took possession of hers. Callie’s natural impulse was to push Luke away, to deny the powerful pull. His lips scared her that much.

  But the wild, wicked side she spent so many years cultivating could not resist the temptation. The Midnight Ryder who whispered suggestive sex tips every night on the radio wasn’t about to wrench her mouth from his. Not when he was kissing her like this.

  On the contrary, the Midnight Ryder wanted nothing more than to grab him by the collar, lead him off to some darkened recess and jump his handsome bones. Captured in his embrace, Callie felt her entire body grow warm. She felt as if she was sliding, melting. Her senses yearned for what his lips promised.

  Sex and lots of it.

  Her pulse fluttered. Her surroundings, including the curious onlookers, were forgotten as she was swept into the taste of him.

  She felt the sharp poke of his erection pressing hard against her thigh and a thrust of dizziness nearly took her knees out from under her. He was long, thick and hard, no secrets on that score. Those extra large condoms would most certainly be a nice fit. She thought of them both naked. Imagined him inside her, filling her up.

  Her fingers curled around his bicep and she clung to him, afraid if she let go she would stumble and fall.

  He was at once volatile and steady. His inner core unshakable. She could feel it in the calm way his hands held her. But his mouth was an inferno, explosive, hazardous, unstoppable.

  His paradox appealed to Callie. For a lot of years, she’d acted one way on the outside, feeling another on the inside. She understood what it was like to have two masters driving you in opposite directions at once.

  Hold back.

  Plunge ahead.

  Caution. Slow down.

  Go, go, go.

  He bit her gently and she almost yelped. Not because he’d hurt her, but because his boldness took her by surprise. Had she ever in her life been this turned on?

  If she had, she couldn’t remember when. And that was saying something considering the suggestive nature of her job, Callie got turned on quite often.

  His mouth was alive, kissing, nibbling, suckling her in a way only a devoted lover could. He wanted her. That much was clear. Yet at the center of his desire, she sensed hesitation. His body ached for hers, but his stubborn mind still resisted.

  She opened her eyes and saw he was peering down at her. She boldly met his gaze, challenging him, daring him to back away. Come on, you started this. Finish what you began, soldier.

  That did it.

  His pride and his lust won out. He was a man after all and he’d been too long without this. She could taste the urgency on his tongue, feel it transfer through his very skin from him to her and she caught the fever.

  More, more.

  She drank him in. His essence like the richest, rarest liquid on earth. She would have some kind of fodder for her radio show when this tour was over. New topic of discussion—let’s see, the sensuous power of public displays of affection maybe?

  Nah. Too wordy. She’d need something snappier, shorter, more…

  But she never got to finish the thought because his tongue was stroking the inside of her mouth so provocatively her brain went numb. She was unaware of anything except the glorious sensation. If he could do this to her with nothing but a kiss, what would happen if she coaxed him into bed?

  What a sizzling seduction that would be.

  A seduction. Yes, exactly. That was what she needed to while away the time on the book tour. Bring Sir Galahad to his knees. And if his rock-hard erection was any indication, the man could do with a good orgasm or two himself.

  She moaned softly into his mouth, frustrated they could not take this further. Luke took her hands and curled her into him without breaking their connection. She nestled her body against his, relishing the fact that she could make him so hard. She moved her hips in a carnal motion, promising him so much more.

  He slipped his tongue deeper inside her mouth and she felt the world fall away. Callie supposed they might have gone on kissing forever if Molly Anne, Brooke Burnett, her camera crew and a handful of the sorority sisters hadn’t finally converged upon them, demanding to know all the details of their torrid affair.

  WHOA!

  Callie grinned as the limo they’d taken from LAX pulled up in the circular driveway of the resort hotel perched on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The grounds were awash with colorful flowers in full bloom. The verdant lawn was immaculately manicured. Expensive cars sat in the parking lot and a valet waited at the ready for them to alight from their limo.

  Very romantic.

  At the bottom of the road that had led up to the cliff, sat the bookstore where Callie’s first signing was scheduled for the following evening. Not far away from the bookstore lay Madigan’s, a trendy meet-n-greet bar. Molly Anne had reserved the private dining room for a big, blowout reception after the signing to celebrate the start of Callie’s tour.

  Callie had seen the guest list. It included many movers and shakers in the West Coast publishing world, but until that moment it hadn’t really hit her that she would be rubbing elbows with Hollywood glitterati. She swallowed, unable to absorb it all.

  Her most fervent dreams were coming true. So why did she feel more overwhelmed than elated? Why did she have an intense desire to scuttle back to New York as fast as her legs would carry her?

  Slip into Midnight Ryder mode. Think outrageous. That ought to get you in the swing of things.

  Luke was sitting beside her, sunglasses on, face impassive, mood undecipherable. She poked him in the ribs with her elbow.

&nb
sp; “Check it out.” She nodded at the thick shrubbery circling the front of the resort. “A girl could slip off with her favorite guy for a quickie behind the hedgerow and no one would ever be the wiser.”

  “Except for the gardener,” he shot back.

  “Well,” she teased, “the chance of getting caught is half the fun of doing it in a public place.”

  “You ever made love in a public place?”

  “Dozens of times.” She waved two fingers with a flourish. “You?”

  “No.” He turned his face away from her. To hide a smile? More likely he was cloaking a blush.

  Callie’s grin widened. Luke was so easy to fluster when it came to sex. The man was ripe for seduction whether he would admit it or not. The poor guy had been too long without. She could see it in the lean and hungry expression that tightened his mouth and clung over his shoulders whenever he looked at her in that way.

  Sir Galahad, the chaste, was in desperate need of corrupting.

  And this easy, breezy resort was exactly the place to get started. Because if she was busy seducing her bodyguard, she could forget how nervous she was about this whole trip and what it meant for her future.

  A future she wanted and yet, did not. Little wonder she was a Gemini. Mercurial, impulsive, occasionally moody, adept at covering up her insecurities with a well-executed act.

  Molly Anne entered the resort ahead of them.

  Luke had his arm around Callie’s waist, solicitous as any good pretend fiancé should be. His possessiveness bugged her but at the same time she also loved it. What was the matter with her? Where were all these conflicting feelings coming from?

  He brushed against her side and she felt the hardness of his handgun underneath his coat. The weapon startled her. She knew he had a gun. He had to check it with airport security for the flight. But until now she hadn’t realized how serious this stalker business really was. His gun caused her to consider that she might actually be in danger.

  Callie thought again of the voice on the phone, threatening her to keep her mouth shut. The man had sounded vaguely familiar but she could not place his voice. He must have been one of the callers on her show. It was the only thing she could come up with.

  Even now, after this latest threat, she was reluctant to consider the man really meant her harm. He was just a crackpot who didn’t like her feminist views on sex. That was all.

  So why had he gone to the trouble of tracking her down at LAX? Her heart skipped a beat, but she denied her fear, pushing it down deep inside. She would not give in to it.

  “Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?” she flirted, more as a means to distract herself than anything else. She already employed this defense mechanism with him. Using his kiss in the airport to drown out her fears. Since the technique had worked to keep her mind off the stalker then, why not keep using it?

  “Hush,” Luke growled.

  “Getting all businesslike on me?” she asked, trying to lighten the mood, except by-the-book Luke wasn’t exactly a lighthearted guy.

  “I’m observing the bystanders,” he said. “Doing my job. Watching people for signs of trouble.”

  Callie shivered. Not from fear of the menace, but from the dangerous look in Luke’s eyes as he removed his sunglasses and studied her intently.

  Wowza, okay, let’s move on.

  Molly Anne went to the front desk to check them in. The bellboy followed with their luggage.

  “Let’s stop off at the gift shop,” Luke said.

  “Why,” she teased. “Stocking up on more condoms?” Oh, she was bad and she knew it, but where was the fun in being good?

  “Ha, ha.”

  “Hey, we could easily go through a box of condoms. You are supposed to be my fiancé.”

  “Not my idea.”

  “Not mine, either, but you’re here and I’m just having fun yanking your chain.”

  “Being your fiancé is just my cover. It’s nothing more than doing my job.”

  “Coulda fooled me. That kiss at the airport didn’t feel particularly dutiful.”

  He ignored the comment and guided her into the gift shop, his eyes narrowing as he took in the lanky teen behind the counter. “Got any hair dye?”

  “For you or for her?” the young man asked, giving Callie an appreciative once-over.

  Hair dye? What was he getting at?

  “Her.” Luke jerked a thumb in her direction.

  “Yep. In the cosmetic section. Not a huge selection, though.”

  “I am not changing my hair color,” Callie protested.

  “You stick out like a lit match with that purply-pink hair,” Luke said. “You’re switching to a normal color for your own safety.”

  He was making her mad again. Priggishness was one thing. If he wanted to act as though he had a bug up his backside that was his business. But demanding that she alter her hair color was another thing entirely.

  She lowered her voice but had to stand on tiptoes to reach his ear. The guy should come equipped with a stepladder. “You were hired to protect me, not critique my choice of hair color,” she hissed.

  “I am protecting you. That’s the point. To keep you from drawing so much attention to yourself. It’ll make my job a lot easier if you blend in with the general populace.”

  “I like attention.” She tossed her head.

  “Would never have guessed.”

  “You’re her, aren’t you?” the clerk asked. “That lady deejay. I’ve caught your show a couple of times. We just started getting it here. I recognized you from your picture on the poster in the bookstore down the street.”

  “Yep. That’s me.”

  “I agree with you.” The clerk nodded. “I like your hair the way it is. Sweet. Very L.A.”

  “Thank you.” She smiled smugly at Luke.

  “He didn’t mean ‘sweet’ like naive and innocent, did he?” Luke whispered.

  “No, it means cool. As in hip, with it, happening.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  “Um…” The clerk hesitated. “Do you think maybe I could get an autograph? Would you mind?”

  “I’d be happy to give you an autograph.” Callie stepped away from Luke’s overprotective grasp.

  “Here, sign this.” The clerk pulled a piece of paper from a spiral notebook under the counter and thrust it toward her along with a pen. “Could you say something outrageous. You know, like To Justin, thanks for the best sex of my life.”

  “No she cannot.” Luke snatched the paper from Callie and crumpled it tight in his fist. “She’s my fiancée and she is not going to sign smut for some snot-nosed punk.”

  Woo. Hold the phone. What was that all about? Callie stared at Luke, surprised by his outburst.

  “Dude, no offense.” The young guy held up his palms. “But when you’ve got a lady as hot as the Midnight Ryder, you gotta expect some competition.”

  “Hair dye.” Luke gritted out the words and loomed menacingly over the counter. “What aisle?”

  The clerk pointed.

  Luke marched over, grabbed a bottle of Miss Clairol off the shelf and brought it back to the counter. “Ring this up.”

  “What color is it?” Callie asked, trying to get a glimpse at the box. “I don’t like subtle shades.”

  He peeled open his wallet and handed the clerk enough money to cover the purchase. Then he picked up the sack, snatched Callie by the hand and dragged her out of the gift shop.

  Molly Anne met them in the lobby waving plastic key cards and grinning as if she was up to something.

  “What is it?” Callie asked, recognizing the look on her friend’s face. Usually that overly enthusiastic expression meant Molly Anne had cooked up an idea she feared Callie wasn’t going to approve.

  “I changed your reservations and booked you guys into the honeymoon suite,” Molly Anne said.

  “Are you out of your mind?”

  It was bad enough that Luke was already living in her back pocket. The
last thing they needed was to share a romantic boudoir. She would end up chasing him around the bedroom like Pepé Le Pew and Luke would be resisting like the poor little black cartoon kitty with the white paint down her back. Except unlike starry-eyed Pepé, it wasn’t love Callie wanted, but sex.

  “Hear me out.” Molly Anne raised both palms while at the same time lowering her voice in a conspiratorial tone. “I’m leaking a rumor that you guys have secretly eloped. Brilliant huh?”

  “More like brain dead,” Callie protested. “What were you thinking? This trip is supposed to be about the book tour, not about titillating paparazzi with my imaginary love life.”

  “You don’t get it, do you?” Molly Anne shook her head over Callie’s apparent denseness. “This trip is about selling books. And the best way I know how to do that is to stir up interest in your personal life. There’s nothing your fans would want to hear more than that you’ve found love.”

  “But isn’t love the antithesis of my image?”

  Molly Anne waved a hand. “Yes, but people still eat that stuff up.”

  “But I haven’t found love. Luke’s not my fiancé. We’re not eloping. This has nothing to do with my job as a deejay.” Callie knew she was whining but she did not want to do this thing.

  “Oh, that’s where you’re wrong. It has everything to do with it. Do you want to reach for the stars or not?” Molly Anne frowned, cocked one hand on her hip and pointed a finger at her.

  “Honestly?” Callie said. “If I have to keep making up stories and pretending to be someone I’m not, then maybe I don’t want stardom.”

  “You’re never satisfied with anything I do for you. You’re always thinking there’s something better around the next bend. That’s why you’ve never been in love. That’s why you don’t have a real fiancé.”

  “I don’t have a fiancé because I don’t want one. Besides, you don’t have a man, either,” Callie challenged.

  “That’s because I’m too busy looking after your career. And while you might not want stardom—” Molly Anne started to shout but realized they were in a public place, caught herself and lowered her voice to whisper fiercely. “I do.”