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  Nicholas followed her inside. No sooner had the door closed behind them than he reached out and pulled her into his arms, promptly kissing her. The fierce need to make love to her shocked him. He drew back abruptly, breaking the kiss. His mind was trying to resist, telling him it was too soon for them to make love although it was what they both wanted. But his body was urging him to become lost in her sensuality. He felt helpless under Shayla Kirkland’s spell.

  Gently pulling her back into his arms, he kissed her with a frenzy that washed away any lingering doubts. His lips seared hers, hot, hungry. He needed her so much, and his need was profound when he felt her melt in his arms. The heat of her burned through to him. An overpowering rush of desire rumbled from deep in his throat. He tried to fight for calm, and discovered that with Shayla there was no such thing.

  Shayla felt her senses reel, and she moaned faintly when Nicholas continued to kiss her in such a way that made pure sensual abandonment run through her. He was making her body want something it never had before—intimate contact with a man. She felt lushly wanton, her skin hot and flushed. Something had her in a grip beyond anything she’d ever known, in a tight hold beyond her control. All the torrid dreams she’d had of him came crashing in on her, and she became caught up in a quivering need that was just as strong as his.

  Out of control, almost out of his mind, Nicholas pulled Shayla down with him onto the plush carpet. There was no way they could make it to a bedroom. He wanted her, and he wanted her now.

  Swept up in a rush to be one with her, he groaned as he continued to kiss her, tangling his hands in her hair, consuming her mouth with an intensity that overwhelmed him.

  He suddenly came to his feet, and began removing his clothes at a frantic pace. All the while his eyes were hot on hers, watching her, absorbing everything about her—the way she was looking up at him through passion-glazed eyes, and the soft “oh,” that escaped her lips moments later when she looked at him, every inch of him, standing completely nude before her. He saw her body tremble with desire as she watched him quickly put on a condom.

  Then he got on his knees and began removing her clothes, kissing her, making love to her mouth while doing so. When he had removed her dress and she lay before him in a filmy black lace chemise and matching bikini panties, he felt any control he had slip away. And when she rose on her knees, cupped his face in her hands, and covered his lips with her warm moist ones, imitating what he’d done to her mouth moments earlier by sucking on his tongue, he was almost done in.

  With a deep guttural groan he eased her back and began removing the last of the clothes from her body. He didn’t think he was going to make it when he eased the lace bikini panties down her hips, exposing the very essence of her to his eyes. He struggled desperately for breath, wanting so much what he saw, wanting to become lost in the very essence of that part of her body.

  “Shayla…”

  Nicholas slid between her thighs, letting his body cover hers. He drew in a deep breath when she bent her knees and wrapped her silky legs around his waist, hooking their bodies together. She captured his mouth again, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her hold was as tight as her legs were around his waistline. She kissed him as she whimpered her need and her desire. She was driving him and his body mad. She had no idea what she was doing to him.

  It was time she knew.

  Bracing himself with an arm on each side of her, he looked down at her. Her eyes glowed with total desire for him. No woman had ever made him feel this way, this hot and this ready…this out of control. He couldn’t even think straight. He stared at her, stunned, overwhelmed that any woman had the power to bring him to this state. Greedy. Needy.

  She whispered something to him, a request—an urgent plea, and he sucked in a deep breath when he comprehended her words. When he didn’t act quickly enough to suit her, she repeated them. “I need you inside me, Nicholas. Now!”

  Her words made the primitive urge to mate, man to woman, male to female, overpower him. He lifted the lower part of her body and in one swift hard stroke he began to enter her.

  He froze when he became confronted with a barrier…which meant…

  The shock of his discovery jolted through him. Perspiration sprang onto his forehead, and with a groan he leaned down and buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling a sharp breath of air, trying to get control and failing miserably.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” he murmured, still struggling for breath when he lifted his face and looked down at her.

  She didn’t answer. Instead, she reached up and looped her arms around his neck and pulled his mouth down to hers, kissing him in a way that was totally different than before. This kiss was gentle, pleading, probing, and gripping. She was kissing him mindless. And when she arched her body and brought him deeper inside of her, he knew he couldn’t pull out then even if he wanted to.

  Gritting his teeth, he drove deeper, his mouth absorbing her shock of pain. Seconds later, after her body had adjusted to the invasion of his, she thrust her hips upward, urging him to continue what he had started.

  And so he did.

  With an instinct as old as mankind, Nicholas made love to the woman in his arms. His body gave to her in a way it had never given to another woman, freely, uncontrollably. Each thrust he made into her was hard and went deep. Each downstroke made his body shudder with pleasure and shiver with emotions he didn’t understand. His throat ached with the effort of trying to be gentle, but he wanted her too much. His need for her was too great, and she was drawing everything out of him with a hunger that was just as fierce as his.

  “Nicholas…”

  Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, there came a warning—from his heart—but he ignored it. He couldn’t think of anything but meeting the upward movements of Shayla’s hips, stroke for stroke. And when he felt her inner muscles that surrounded him tighten, when her body arched in a bow that would have been an archer’s dream, he threw his head back and a deep loud growl sprang forth from his throat. At the same time, she screamed out his name. He tightened his hold on her to keep her in place as his body exploded inside her, driving him to a shattering release. She continued to cry out his name over and over as her fingernails dug in the center of his back. He felt her shuddering uncontrollably under him, and instinctively covered her mouth as their joined bodies quivered in the aftershocks of a climax that had rocked both their worlds.

  Nicholas collapsed on the floor beside Shayla and pulled her into his arms. He turned his head to look at her, not knowing what to say. Never had making love to a woman been that wild and that intense. He had taken her on the floor, for heaven’s sake! There was no way he could have made it to the bedroom. His need had been urgent and desperate. She had taken him to a place he had never been before, and had been an absolute sensuous tigress in his arms. Now she lay beside him looking sweet, serene, innocent.

  Innocent.

  That one word made him remember. “Shayla, why didn’t you tell—”

  The words he was about to say were cut off when his phone sounded. Forcing enough energy into his body, he reached for his pants, got the mobile phone out of the pocket, and checked it. “It’s Paul.”

  Shayla watched as Nicholas stood nude and answered his phone. Her gaze was mostly on his body, but a quick glance up at his face while he talked to Paul indicated something was wrong. Not sharing his lack of modesty, she put her panties and chemise back on before easing to her feet and crossing the room to him when he hung up the phone. “Nicholas, what is it? What’s wrong?”

  “Paul just got word that there’s been a fire at our Jacksonville laboratory. Our security people seem to think it was set deliberately. I need to leave right away.”

  Shayla nodded, understanding completely as she watched him begin putting on his clothes. “I’m sorry to hear that. I hope everything’s all right.”

  “Luckily no one was there.”

  “Was there much damage?”

  “I don’t know
, and Paul didn’t know, either. I hope not. That was the lab we were using for our most recent project.” The muscles in Nicholas’s jaw hardened. “If I thought for one minute that Thomas Jordache had anything to do with this, I’d—”

  “But how could he? He’s here in Hong Kong.”

  “Trust me. The man can pay people to do anything he wants to have done.”

  Shayla swallowed. “Do you actually think he was involved?”

  Nicholas inhaled sharply and patted the top of his head. “I don’t know. Paul seems to think so. But Paul had to be careful what he said because Trent was with him just now. Although Trent knows how ruthless his father used to be, he wants to believe his old man has changed.”

  “But Paul doesn’t?”

  Nicholas nodded. “No. But he doesn’t want to damage his relationship with Trent by making accusations that may not be true against Jordache.”

  Nicholas paused for a brief moment. Then he reached out and lifted Shayla’s chin to meet his gaze. “I need to go to my room, change clothes, and pack. Paul’s making arrangements for the two of us to fly out of here in an hour.” He leaned over and brushed a kiss across her lips. When he saw that would not be enough for him, he sighed heavily before his mouth ascended over hers, feasting hungrily. He could feel his body getting hard, wanting her again. Reluctantly, he ended the kiss. “I have to go,” he said softly.

  Shayla nodded. “Have a nice flight back home.”

  “Will you be all right?” he asked when it suddenly occurred to him that he and Paul would be leaving her alone, in Hong Kong. “Your flight doesn’t leave until tomorrow afternoon, and—”

  “Nicholas, I’ll be fine. You have enough on your mind. Don’t think about me.”

  He then leaned over and kissed her soundly on the mouth. “But I am thinking about you, anyway, and I’ll continue to think about you, Shayla Kirkland, for quite a while.” He looked at her and drew in a deep breath. “About tonight, what we shared and it being your first time. I—”

  She reached up a placed a finger on his lips, sealing off any further words. “Don’t, Nicholas. No regrets. Everything I did tonight I did because I wanted to,” she said. Because I now know in my heart that I love you, she thought silently. That’s why I gave my body to you. My heart had already become yours.

  He searched her face, and she felt the deep intensity of his gaze. He bent his head and brushed his lips across hers before her mouth parted under his. He then kissed her with a devastating sweetness that stole the very breath from her body.

  Moments later, he raised his head and walked over to the door. Before opening it he turned back around to her. His gaze was on her face, then moved over her near-naked body as if remembering what they had shared moments ago. He returned his gaze to her face. The hot look he gave her heightened her senses and made her body quiver from the sharp rush of emotions it evoked. “I promise to call you,” he said huskily.

  He opened the door, then closed it behind him.

  The phone was picked up on the first ring. “Yes?”

  “It’s been taken care of.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive. Nicholas Chenault isn’t going to be too happy when he returns.”

  “Be careful. He’s bound to figure out it was an inside job.”

  “Maybe, and maybe not. But if I were you, I’d make sure I covered my tracks. Paul Dunlap isn’t a dummy.”

  A frown touched the man’s face. “Believe me, I know that.”

  Chapter 12

  “Need help with those?”

  Shayla glanced over her shoulder and blinked twice when she saw Trent Jordache standing beside her in the terminal. She was so surprised at seeing him that she nearly tripped over the luggage sitting in front of her. Transfixed, she stared at him a second before finally asking, “What are you doing here?”

  Trent smiled, then glanced around. “This is an airport. I’m here like everyone else—to catch a flight.”

  Shayla shook her head, realizing how stupid her question must have sounded. “What I meant is that I’m surprised to see you. I didn’t know you’d be leaving Hong Kong today.”

  “I had planned to stay a little longer, then changed my mind. My father’s business meetings concluded early. He wanted to stay a while longer, and I didn’t.”

  Shayla nodded. She then remembered something Paul had mentioned to her last night. “I thought that you weren’t involved with TJ Electronics.”

  He glanced down at his wristwatch, then said, “Actually I’m not, but my father makes it a point to include me in certain aspects of the business. Especially if it involves something major.”

  “And the meeting was about something major?” she asked calmly.

  “Ah, I can’t tell you that, Shayla,” Trent said with a slow grin. “After all, you do work for Chenault Electronics, and everyone knows that TJ and Chenault are big competitors.”

  Shayla nodded. “Yet you and Nicholas are friends.”

  He chuckled. “Yes, the very best. We make it a point to not discuss any business when we’re together.”

  “But still, I’d think it would place a strain on your friendship.”

  He shrugged. “We work very hard at not letting it. There’s more to life than money. There’s something like true friendship, which has an even greater value. Speaking of Nick, have you heard from him?”

  Shayla shook her head. “No, but he should be back in the States by now. I hope he finds everything all right.”

  “So do I.” He glanced at his watch again. “It seems we’re on the same flight going back into Chicago. After we get our luggage checked in, how about if we go somewhere and grab a cup of coffee? We have a good hour to kill before our flight takes off.”

  Shayla smiled. “I’d like that.”

  Nicholas looked around the laboratory, too stunned to move as he assessed the damage.

  “It’s not as bad as it could have been, Nick,” said Elliott Russell, Jacksonville’s fire chief, when he came to stand next to Nicholas. Elliott and Nicholas had been star football players, helping to make the Vikings of William M. Raines High School state champions for two years straight. Elliott had been captain of the team their senior year.

  Nicholas nodded, then knelt in front of a burned-out piece of lab equipment. Shaking his head, he stood up. “Do you think it was an accident?”

  Elliott shook his head. “Can’t say. I want to do a thorough investigation, not jump to any kind of conclusion.”

  Nicholas nodded. He glanced over at Paul, who was talking to Fred Bostwick, the security man who’d been on duty. From the young man’s grim expression he could tell that Paul was giving him hell for what could be perceived as a breach in security at the lab. From what Elliott had told Nicholas earlier, due to the state-of-the-art smoke alarm system Nicholas had installed, the blaze had been discovered early enough to cause minimal damage, and fortunately no one had gotten hurt. Although the lab had been closed, security guards on duty usually made their rounds in the building periodically.

  “How long will the investigation take?”

  “A few days, but you can get your insurance people in here as early as tomorrow.”

  Nicholas nodded. He was glad to hear that. But still, he was under a tight schedule, and in order to stay on it he would have to move this part of the project to the Chicago lab. He hadn’t really wanted that. For security purposes it would have been much better to operate things in Jacksonville, but now that wouldn’t be possible.

  Elliott tipped his head back and looked at Nicholas. He smiled. “I hate to tell you this, but you look like hell. Jet lag combined with a burned lab just don’t agree with you, buddy.”

  Nicholas couldn’t keep from chuckling. Leave it to Elliott to find humor even in a bad situation. He’d done that in school whenever they’d lost an important game, especially when they’d worked their butts off to win. Elliott’s easy wit and sense of humor had kept the team’s spirits high.

  “I would i
magine they wouldn’t agree with me, El. By the way, how’s Nina?” Elliott had married a childhood friend of theirs who had attended a rival neighborhood high school.

  “Nina’s fine. She wants a baby, and is rather insistent about it. My body’s being used as a means to an end.”

  Nicholas shook his head, smiling. “And you really look all torn up about it.”

  Elliott lifted a brow, returning Nicholas’s smile. “I do? Really?”

  “No, you don’t. You look like a man who likes being used that way.”

  Elliott laughed. “I admit that it has its advantages.”

  Nicholas joined him in laughter, realizing just how much he needed it. “You’d have a hard time convincing me that it doesn’t.”

  Shayla placed the magazine she’d been reading in her lap and glanced at the man sitting beside her. Trent’s head was tilted back against the headrest, and his fingers were resting across his chest. She could tell from the gentle rise and fall of his chest that he was sleeping. She couldn’t keep from smiling at the way he had finagled the seat from an older lady who had been sitting next to her on the plane.

  Shayla glanced at her watch. They had six more hours of airtime to endure. She had just finished reading her fourth magazine in its entirety. She adjusted her seat back and closed her eyes, remembering the conversation she and Trent had over coffee. She liked him. If things had been different, he could have been the big brother she had wanted while growing up.

  But things had not been different. Even now, after meeting him, she was still glad things had worked out the way they had for her parents. They were meant to be together, and now, knowing the truth about her father’s sterility, she was so glad she had been his daughter. Knowing that he had unselfishly accepted and loved another man’s child as his own just made that much more love flow in her heart for Glenn Kirkland.

  But then, a terrible ache grew in her heart as she realized that she would probably never be able to tell Trent that they were brother and sister. She had made a decision to give up her plan of revenge against Chenault Electronics, since she’d allowed personal feelings to get involved. She could never tell Trent of their true relationship, for fear of Thomas Jordache finding out. Under no circumstances did she ever want the man to know. As far as she was concerned, she was better off if he believed her mother had gotten the abortion that he had suggested.