It was luck and increasing winds that kept the first golf club from hitting
Antonio directly in the head. Most people would agree that a savagely
angry woman screaming obscenities in French would have horrible aim in
strong wind gusts, but she seemed to be compensating for it quite well.
And for an American, she had an amazing grasp on the vocabulary of a French
sailor.
"Son of a bitch!" she screamed at him, heaving the second club in his direction. It thumped into his chest, knocking him backwards as a rain of golf balls began flying at him. "You bastard! Send your goons after me." Her words were punctuated with a flying nine iron that Antonio had to drop to the rain soaked ground to avoid being hit with. She was still screaming and crying and had a whole bag of ammunition left to go.
Well, she wasn't hurt obviously. However, the chances of him getting hurt were increasing rapidly. So much for trying to save the damsel in distress. For a moment he wondered what had happened at Jaqui's and if Marco was still alive. He dodged the box of tees that threatened to spear him in multiple places and took a few steps towards her while she yanked out a few more clubs.
"Jaqui," he called to her, hoping she would show some rational behavior, "that is not what happened." Her reply was unintelligible, but the two putters that screamed past him explained that she really didn't care about what his version of the story was and that she would prefer that he left. He was going to have to do this the hard way. He ignored her shriek about removing his manhood and shoving it down his throat and ran at her, praying that her bag was coming up on empty. If he missed and she was at close range with ammo left, he was a dead man.
Janna had one club left in her bag and she was going to have to make it count. She whipped it out of the bag as Antonio ran towards her, hefting it like a baseball bat and taking a strong swing at him. Had she ever played baseball before, she might have landed the blow and knocked him clean out. She had a second to wish that she hadn't had a male gym teacher when she was supposed to be learning the game in high school. She had explained in graphic detail why female problems prevented her from playing, and he had turned various shades of red and purple before excusing her just to shut her up. She had been trying to figure out what she was going to say to Ms. Miller to get out of it the next year, but Heather's little escapade and Cole took care of that problem.
Antonio saw it coming and skidded to a stop, feeling the end of the club slide an inch in front of his nose. He jumped forward before she could bring it back, grabbing her arms. His mouth opened to say something, anything, but then he looked at her. The wind was whipping her hair across her face. The way she was standing. The stick. A glimpse of dark hair across a face.
Recognition set in.
Janna knew. His eyes suddenly went wide and he froze, and she knew that he knew. The screams and profanities she had set to throw at him died in her throat. She wanted to run, but where was there to go? And he wasn't exactly letting go of her either. For a long moment, she could only stand there in the rain, their eyes locked as all of the details came together in Antonio's mind. Who she was. Who she lived with.
"Your clients," he muttered, barely audible over the rain. "There are no clients. Just you and your cousins. And you hit me." He seemed amused at that. He had thought when they first met that he knew her from somewhere. He just wasn't expecting her to be the girl that had knocked him out cold and then apologized for it.
"I don't know what you are talking about," she said quickly. "But I applaud anyone that hit you, you."
"I saw you Jaqui," he interrupted. "I thought I knew you when I met you at the hotel. That is where it was from. I heard you scream at the squirrel and went to see who or what it was. And then you hit me."
"It.it was a special case so I had to be there," she stuttered out, trying to make up something that sounded plausible. It wasn't working to her ears, and that edge of a smile forming on his mouth said that he wasn't buying it either.
He shook his head. "No. They went in to get the necklace and you were there getting into the security. That was why there was a moment where the system almost regained control. You got out of the car." One hand let go of her arm, unconsciously touching the bruise on his forehead.
Janna took advantage of the distraction and jerked back, her rain-soaked wrist sliding out from his grasp. She took off running like a shot, heading down the incline towards the rough. It was a pretty good-sized areas with dense trees that she might be able to duck around in and lose him for long enough for her to jump a fence and get to her car. Car. Airport. First flight to anywhere. Call her partners in crime. Freak out for a bit, and then get her butt to America where she was an untouchable rich princess.
She might have made it had she not been wearing some stupid trendy shoes that were just too cute and they were on sale too when she bought them. They could be casual, dressy, and were always comfortable. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime perfect pair. The salesgirl said they would have men running after her. She didn't say anything about the fact they would be her downfall if she were also running.in the opposite direction.
One of the shoes slipped a bit, making her stumble, and Antonio's hand clamped around her upper arm. He tried to slow down and spin her around at the same time, but the slick grass was being as cooperative as Janna's shoes were. He skidded, sliding to the ground and pulling Janna down with him, their momentum sliding them both across the grass.
Antonio trying to hit her or yell or something was expected. Sliding across the grass in between the golf cart and the rough and ending up with Antonio flat on top of her was what Janna was not expecting. Maybe it was by design, or maybe it was accident, but they came to a stop and he had her wrists pinned over her head and the weight of his body holding her down. It didn't keep her from trying to get out from under him, kicking and squirming wildly.
"Get off of me!" she screamed. Her voice lowered to a hiss. "Your goon couldn't scare me, you think this will? You think I'll turn my family over to you? Like hell I."
His mouth pressed over hers almost violently. Janna wanted to bite his lip or pull away, but it seemed like her body had decided that it was sick of taking orders from her mind and not having any fun. The rain was pouring all around them and there she was, responding to his kiss as if there was nothing wrong with that moment at all.
Antonio broke off the kiss, barely able to breathe. He wanted her. Plain and simple. Not as a control tactic to find out things, but she was.she was.incomprehensibly so. "I told him to stay away from you," he managed to get out. "I swear I did not send him. I went to your home to find you and stop him."
"No," she spit back at him. "All you want is that damned necklace. I don't know where it is! I told you that. Sending hired muscle to rip out my nails isn't going to get more information out of me. Pretending to care about me now isn't going to help either. There's nothing more to tell! Now get off of me and out of my life forever. You've done nothing but play a game with me since the start." She had to stop talking to bite back a sob. It had been nothing but a game to him. And she had landed right in the middle and stayed there.
"You wanted me to stay last night," he fired back intently. "If I was playing a game, then I would have. I didn't because." he wasn't sure how to finish that line.
"You expect me to believe that you were worried about me?" she asked bitterly. "That you.you."
"Were running all over the town, desperate to find you and praying you weren't hurt?" he snapped at her. "I was not thinking about the necklace. When I saw he was not there, it was the first time since it was stolen that the necklace wasn't the top priority in my mind. You were." The anger in her eyes died at the intense sincerity of his words. "So yes, I cared," he added, angry with himself in a way for saying it to her. She wouldn't care. She had already made up her mind on what he had done and judged him accordingly.
"Let me go," she whispered.
Antonio's fingers opened, releasing her wrists. It was time to just get up and walk away. She didn't say anything. Her hands clamped on the lapels of his coat and yanked him back down to her, kissing him with complete abandon. Unexpected, but he wasn't about to complain as their arms and legs twisted around each other's. The rain and the cold were forgotten in the moment and the heat that they were generating between them.
Janna believed him. How this happened, she had no idea. A few months ago, she didn't know his name. A few weeks ago, and she only knew that he was the owner of something that she wanted. Now all of a sudden he was real and flesh and blood and if he even thought about stopping, she was going to break him into little pieces and only keep the good ones. Her heavy sweater slid over her head almost by magic, his body instantly covering hers again to keep her warm. Oh God. Warm was not the word for the way he was keeping her.
Her blouse was actually kept together in the front by a ribbon rather than buttons. It was cute and provincial, and the "in" look for last spring. It was now out of fashion, but it still looked good with the shoes. Of course if the people that decided what was fashionable had a man like Antonio catch the edge of the ribbon with his teeth because his hands were otherwise deliciously occupied and pull on it, causing it to loosen, then they might rethink what was stylish.
Beautiful, Antonio thought. Every part of her was simply exquisite. From the long legs being revealed as her skirt got hiked up in the fall to the absolutely lovely breasts being exposed to his gaze, he wondered if he had seen a woman so perfectly put together before. This was crazy and he knew they should stop, but there was no way he could keep himself from touching her more, his mouth dragging away from her lips and down her neck, tasting the skin. She was a thief. Thieves were connivers and liars by nature, but that thought seemed totally unimportant at the moment. Conscience was slammed away for later use. He had more important things on his mind and tongue at the moment.
A soft cry escaped Janna as his head dipped down, and she felt his mouth on her breasts, tasting and teasing her. The contrast of the cold rain and the heat from his lips were doing some rather amazing things to her. Her breathing was already becoming ragged, and she knew that the time to turn back had whipped past them without any notice at all. She wanted him. In the rain for the entire world to see, she didn't care. So what if she barely knew him. She knew enough. Why should it bother her that he didn't even know her name? It shouldn't.it didn't matter. Names weren't important. Feeling his excitement against her, what he was doing.that was important. Nothing else should matter.but it did to her. She wanted him to make love to her, not Jaqui.
"Janna," she murmured. Antonio froze for a moment, looking into her eyes in shock. Janna's eyes were wide as she realized what she had said and how she said it. No fake accent. Just her. He wasn't saying anything. Not good. "My name is Janna," she muttered, looking away as she was feeling horribly embarrassed. "Thought you would want to know."
Antonio caught her chin and brought her face back to him. The smile that touched the edges of his mouth, brightening his eyes, made her want to melt into a puddle. "Janna," he said softly, the name sounding like a prayer. "It suits you better." He kissed her again, letting her know in the contact how much he appreciated the trust she had just shown to him by giving him her name of her own volition. It would have been easy to find out now, but the fact she volunteered it said so much more.
This wasn't just to get information out of her, Janna thought triumphantly as Antonio's hand slid up her leg and under her skirt to her rear. She was still wearing leather gloves, but despite them managed to start getting his shirt unbuttoned in admirably short amount of time. Oh God, he was just as gorgeous without clothes as he was with them on. She yanked her gloves off and then ran them through the dark hair on his chest around to the corded muscles of his back. How was it possible that a man could be so hard and soft at the same time? She didn't care. She just wanted to keep touching him forever.
Antonio didn't resist when Janna pushed him lightly, rolling with him so that she was straddling him. Her skirt was bunched to her waist, but she was long past caring as she leaned over him, the hair on his chest further stimulating her where it brushed her bare skin. Her lips ranged over his neck and shoulder. Antonio was already shivering in the rain but the chances of him trying to stop her were roughly that of him running a two- minute mile. It was just one of those things he didn't even want to attempt.
He had to help her for a second when she fumbled with his belt and the button on his pants. Some tiny rational part of her mind was pointing out the situation and how crazy it was, but she didn't care anymore. The situation was crazy, but for them it was perfect as well. Her fingers grabbed the edge of his pockets to pull down and his hands came over hers immediately, keeping her from moving. She looked up at him in alarm. Oh, he was so not going to stop now.
"You're not trying to look for loose change are you?" he asked with a teasing grin.
Her little gasp of outrage only increased his amusement. Her eyes narrowed. "I was hoping to find something else to amuse me, but it seems the coins are, ahem, larger denominations."
Antonio laughed, and then pulled her back to him in a kiss, moving so that they were side by side so that he could touch her easier. He finally yanked off his overcoat and let it fall over them both. It was actually waterproofed, and it made a somewhat nice bit of protection from the rain. Humor was forgotten as the passion built again, both of them exploring each other's bodies. Janna felt him catch the edge of her panties and peel them down her legs. She was shaking, but it wasn't from the cold now. A single finger began teasing at the very core of her, rubbing gently but insistently. She moaned against his mouth, her hips unconsciously pressing upwards towards the sweet pleasures he was providing.
Janna wasn't sure exactly when or how Antonio got out of his pants, or even if he did get them all the way off at all, but then she could feel his hardness pressing against her thigh. Their eyes met, the question lingering there without words. Janna bit her lip slightly. All this and he was still showing such consideration for her and what she wanted. Not a big dilemma. She wanted him more than anything she had ever imagined before.
"Oh, yes," she whispered, immediately feeling him moving between her legs, pressing forward. Their eyes locked as he entered her, passion mirroring passion as her legs wrapped around his hips, keeping him locked as closely to her as he could be. Slow and sweet could wait for another time. All of the desire that had been there between them since they first met exploded in a fury of sensations. Janna's fingers dug into his back as the absolute pleasure built unchecked, kissing any part of his skin her mouth could come into contact with. Low animal moans could be heard but neither of them was sure who exactly was making what noise.
"Oh God Janna," Antonio moaned into her throat, his words trailing off into an erotic stream of Italian that she couldn't understand, but knew the sentiment instinctively. She would have said something back in the like, but she was biting her lip to keep from screaming her pleasure as their lovemaking seemed to go on and on forever.
The tempo began to speed up faster, both of them encouraging the other for more until holding back was impossible. Janna couldn't contain the cry that was wrenched from her as her climax hit, her entire body contracting violently. Antonio had always prided himself on being in control of his body, but the feeling of her coming was more than he could handle. For a moment he saw stars as the pleasure peaked for him as well, and then he nearly collapsed on her, completely unable to move a muscle more. Gasping for air was the limit at that moment.
Janna couldn't let go of him even if she wanted to. Their limbs were suddenly so intertwined that only the dark hair on him could distinguish what belonged to whom. Now they could finally start feeling the cold and the rain that was still falling all around them. Their eyes met, still glazed with the intensity of just moments before.
"Janna," he whispered. Her finger immediately touched his lips.
"Talk later, okay?" she said. Talk was bad right now. Touch was good. Talk was bad.
Antonio smiled. "Talk later," he agreed.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Janna wasn't sure if she every muscle in her body was aching or if she just felt flat out wonderful as they sat in the golf cart. Sure, she had just made some major complications in her life and probably was going to get the crap kicked out of her by her cousins, but who was she to complain. The rain was slacking off and they made sure their clothes were straightened out enough to be considered decent. She sighed contentedly as she snuggled in his lap, listening to his heart beating. She supposed they would need to go first before he got sick.
Antonio wasn't sure if there was anything that he could say to Janna right then. She wasn't the ringleader of the thieves; she was one of them. Brilliantly done. As far as he knew, he was the only one that had seen past the ruse. She had volunteered her name to him. He had seen the fear then at what she was saying, but she had done it anyways. There was still a great deal that they were going to have to work out. But that could wait until tomorrow. What he wanted to do then was to take her somewhere, have a hot shower and then make love to her again somewhere a bit more comfortable than a golf course.
Of course it was warmer now. The golf carts used by the club were the newest and the best available. It was designed so that the dedicated could sit in there in comfort during bad weather and wait for it to clear up enough to get back to their game. Of course most people would rather go back to the clubhouse and have a few drinks, but it was the point that the newest and the best was there for their enjoyment. Plastic coverings would come down over the sides of the cart at the touch of a button to keep out rain and there was a heater and an air conditioner in there. Being too hot or cold was simply intolerable to the rich, and the club owners knew that better than anyone. Whatever the reason, Antonio was glad to have it now as the air in the cart warmed up around them.
Janna looked up at him, and touched his face lightly to get his attention. "I honestly don't know where it is," she said, grateful that she didn't have to keep up with the French accent. "When I go home, I'm going to talk with my cousins and I know they'll help me get it once we find what Southwood did with it." She bit her lip slightly. "I'm not going to do this anymore. I don't know if that's a consolation to you or not that your loss stopped the meanest group of contract thieves around."
His dark eyes met hers. "While you are gone I can use my own resources to find out who this Southwood really is and where the necklace is. And I cannot say that I wish it never happened. I wouldn't have met you if it had not." He punctuated his words with a long soft kiss. "But I do believe that I should go home with you and be there when you release Marco."
Janna smiled, still feeling weak-kneed from his kiss. "Sounds good to me. I don't think I'll have the element of surprise twice and I don't think he's going to be happy with me."
Antonio looked at her for a long moment. "Your cousin.it was a woman that managed to get him, wasn't it? How? And how did she jump from the window?"
Janna knew there was one truth that she simply couldn't tell him. Not ever. Well, maybe if they were together for a long time, but this wasn't the exact forum to explain genetic engineering projects. "My aunt and uncle are ex-military," she said softly, not really lying. "Covert operations. My aunt could probably break Marco into little pieces and not mess up her hair. Anyways, they taught their kids self-defense, and I learned from my cousins. As far as the window, there were ropes and slide wires. If you didn't see them, it's just a testament to how good we are."
"I would still like to see how she did it."
Janna smiled. "A girl's got to keep some secrets. If she doesn't, then she'll be boring."
Antonio laughed. "I have a feeling you are anything but boring."
Janna sat up. "You'll have to decide that for yourself. So, how about you follow me home and send Marco off and then we figure out what to do until my flight tonight."
Antonio released her after another kiss. It took a minute to gather up her clubs from where they had been flung about, and then he drove her back to the clubhouse. The club manager noticed that Miss Cale was practically glowing despite being soaking wet, but thought better than to comment on it. She had always been a die-hard romantic at heart and seeing this helped to confirm her suspicions that the world didn't always suck.
They left in their separate cars. Janna thought about just letting him drive her home, but she needed to have everything locked up before she left. She laughed when Antonio fell behind after a minute, not expecting her to drive like she was doing some street racing. And that was just regular driving. When she was mad or excited, then she really pushed the limits. That was why her mother took away the motorcycle she had received for her sixteenth birthday. She and her mom liked to race. Max always won. The first time Janna won a race with her mother on the bike by cutting through a school, not the yard, but whipping through the main hallway, and then going up the wrong way of a freeway exit ramp had been the last time she had ridden the motorcycle. At least Aunt Cindy had thought it was funny. Janna just said that her mom was pissed that she lost the race.
Antonio thought he was going to catch up when the arms for a railroad crossing started coming down, but the little minx whipped around them like there wasn't a high-speed train about to come through there and smash her flat. He grinned. She was certainly not the usual woman that he had been with before. Lovely ladies of his own class and breeding were the type that normally adorned his arm. They ornamented him and knew the proper and polite things to say and when to say them. They would make excellent hostesses and breed up a few children to ensure that his line would go on. Janna Cale was not an ornament. He thought of the bruise on his forehead. That would be a reminder of what would happen if he tried to treat her as such.
Janna was glad to get a little ahead of Antonio. She wanted to have a minute to get in the house and maybe grab a bottle of wine or something. Dad had taught her about wines and made sure that she knew a good vintage when she saw it. Antonio would send Marco away with a swift kick to the rear, and then.well.she had to face facts, and the facts were they would probably be in the nearest bed in a matter of minutes.
She was still half in a daze when she walked into the dark living room, thinking about what had just happened and how her life had changed forever because of it. She would worry about if he were going to keep his promises to her when she got back. Right now she wanted to be thinking about the way he kissed her and touched and held her and how he.
A strong arm came around Janna's throat from behind, pressing something against her face. Janna gasped in shock, only having a second to regret that instinctive reaction as bitter smelling and tasting fumes filled her nose and mouth, and then everything went black.
"Son of a bitch!" she screamed at him, heaving the second club in his direction. It thumped into his chest, knocking him backwards as a rain of golf balls began flying at him. "You bastard! Send your goons after me." Her words were punctuated with a flying nine iron that Antonio had to drop to the rain soaked ground to avoid being hit with. She was still screaming and crying and had a whole bag of ammunition left to go.
Well, she wasn't hurt obviously. However, the chances of him getting hurt were increasing rapidly. So much for trying to save the damsel in distress. For a moment he wondered what had happened at Jaqui's and if Marco was still alive. He dodged the box of tees that threatened to spear him in multiple places and took a few steps towards her while she yanked out a few more clubs.
"Jaqui," he called to her, hoping she would show some rational behavior, "that is not what happened." Her reply was unintelligible, but the two putters that screamed past him explained that she really didn't care about what his version of the story was and that she would prefer that he left. He was going to have to do this the hard way. He ignored her shriek about removing his manhood and shoving it down his throat and ran at her, praying that her bag was coming up on empty. If he missed and she was at close range with ammo left, he was a dead man.
Janna had one club left in her bag and she was going to have to make it count. She whipped it out of the bag as Antonio ran towards her, hefting it like a baseball bat and taking a strong swing at him. Had she ever played baseball before, she might have landed the blow and knocked him clean out. She had a second to wish that she hadn't had a male gym teacher when she was supposed to be learning the game in high school. She had explained in graphic detail why female problems prevented her from playing, and he had turned various shades of red and purple before excusing her just to shut her up. She had been trying to figure out what she was going to say to Ms. Miller to get out of it the next year, but Heather's little escapade and Cole took care of that problem.
Antonio saw it coming and skidded to a stop, feeling the end of the club slide an inch in front of his nose. He jumped forward before she could bring it back, grabbing her arms. His mouth opened to say something, anything, but then he looked at her. The wind was whipping her hair across her face. The way she was standing. The stick. A glimpse of dark hair across a face.
Recognition set in.
Janna knew. His eyes suddenly went wide and he froze, and she knew that he knew. The screams and profanities she had set to throw at him died in her throat. She wanted to run, but where was there to go? And he wasn't exactly letting go of her either. For a long moment, she could only stand there in the rain, their eyes locked as all of the details came together in Antonio's mind. Who she was. Who she lived with.
"Your clients," he muttered, barely audible over the rain. "There are no clients. Just you and your cousins. And you hit me." He seemed amused at that. He had thought when they first met that he knew her from somewhere. He just wasn't expecting her to be the girl that had knocked him out cold and then apologized for it.
"I don't know what you are talking about," she said quickly. "But I applaud anyone that hit you, you."
"I saw you Jaqui," he interrupted. "I thought I knew you when I met you at the hotel. That is where it was from. I heard you scream at the squirrel and went to see who or what it was. And then you hit me."
"It.it was a special case so I had to be there," she stuttered out, trying to make up something that sounded plausible. It wasn't working to her ears, and that edge of a smile forming on his mouth said that he wasn't buying it either.
He shook his head. "No. They went in to get the necklace and you were there getting into the security. That was why there was a moment where the system almost regained control. You got out of the car." One hand let go of her arm, unconsciously touching the bruise on his forehead.
Janna took advantage of the distraction and jerked back, her rain-soaked wrist sliding out from his grasp. She took off running like a shot, heading down the incline towards the rough. It was a pretty good-sized areas with dense trees that she might be able to duck around in and lose him for long enough for her to jump a fence and get to her car. Car. Airport. First flight to anywhere. Call her partners in crime. Freak out for a bit, and then get her butt to America where she was an untouchable rich princess.
She might have made it had she not been wearing some stupid trendy shoes that were just too cute and they were on sale too when she bought them. They could be casual, dressy, and were always comfortable. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime perfect pair. The salesgirl said they would have men running after her. She didn't say anything about the fact they would be her downfall if she were also running.in the opposite direction.
One of the shoes slipped a bit, making her stumble, and Antonio's hand clamped around her upper arm. He tried to slow down and spin her around at the same time, but the slick grass was being as cooperative as Janna's shoes were. He skidded, sliding to the ground and pulling Janna down with him, their momentum sliding them both across the grass.
Antonio trying to hit her or yell or something was expected. Sliding across the grass in between the golf cart and the rough and ending up with Antonio flat on top of her was what Janna was not expecting. Maybe it was by design, or maybe it was accident, but they came to a stop and he had her wrists pinned over her head and the weight of his body holding her down. It didn't keep her from trying to get out from under him, kicking and squirming wildly.
"Get off of me!" she screamed. Her voice lowered to a hiss. "Your goon couldn't scare me, you think this will? You think I'll turn my family over to you? Like hell I."
His mouth pressed over hers almost violently. Janna wanted to bite his lip or pull away, but it seemed like her body had decided that it was sick of taking orders from her mind and not having any fun. The rain was pouring all around them and there she was, responding to his kiss as if there was nothing wrong with that moment at all.
Antonio broke off the kiss, barely able to breathe. He wanted her. Plain and simple. Not as a control tactic to find out things, but she was.she was.incomprehensibly so. "I told him to stay away from you," he managed to get out. "I swear I did not send him. I went to your home to find you and stop him."
"No," she spit back at him. "All you want is that damned necklace. I don't know where it is! I told you that. Sending hired muscle to rip out my nails isn't going to get more information out of me. Pretending to care about me now isn't going to help either. There's nothing more to tell! Now get off of me and out of my life forever. You've done nothing but play a game with me since the start." She had to stop talking to bite back a sob. It had been nothing but a game to him. And she had landed right in the middle and stayed there.
"You wanted me to stay last night," he fired back intently. "If I was playing a game, then I would have. I didn't because." he wasn't sure how to finish that line.
"You expect me to believe that you were worried about me?" she asked bitterly. "That you.you."
"Were running all over the town, desperate to find you and praying you weren't hurt?" he snapped at her. "I was not thinking about the necklace. When I saw he was not there, it was the first time since it was stolen that the necklace wasn't the top priority in my mind. You were." The anger in her eyes died at the intense sincerity of his words. "So yes, I cared," he added, angry with himself in a way for saying it to her. She wouldn't care. She had already made up her mind on what he had done and judged him accordingly.
"Let me go," she whispered.
Antonio's fingers opened, releasing her wrists. It was time to just get up and walk away. She didn't say anything. Her hands clamped on the lapels of his coat and yanked him back down to her, kissing him with complete abandon. Unexpected, but he wasn't about to complain as their arms and legs twisted around each other's. The rain and the cold were forgotten in the moment and the heat that they were generating between them.
Janna believed him. How this happened, she had no idea. A few months ago, she didn't know his name. A few weeks ago, and she only knew that he was the owner of something that she wanted. Now all of a sudden he was real and flesh and blood and if he even thought about stopping, she was going to break him into little pieces and only keep the good ones. Her heavy sweater slid over her head almost by magic, his body instantly covering hers again to keep her warm. Oh God. Warm was not the word for the way he was keeping her.
Her blouse was actually kept together in the front by a ribbon rather than buttons. It was cute and provincial, and the "in" look for last spring. It was now out of fashion, but it still looked good with the shoes. Of course if the people that decided what was fashionable had a man like Antonio catch the edge of the ribbon with his teeth because his hands were otherwise deliciously occupied and pull on it, causing it to loosen, then they might rethink what was stylish.
Beautiful, Antonio thought. Every part of her was simply exquisite. From the long legs being revealed as her skirt got hiked up in the fall to the absolutely lovely breasts being exposed to his gaze, he wondered if he had seen a woman so perfectly put together before. This was crazy and he knew they should stop, but there was no way he could keep himself from touching her more, his mouth dragging away from her lips and down her neck, tasting the skin. She was a thief. Thieves were connivers and liars by nature, but that thought seemed totally unimportant at the moment. Conscience was slammed away for later use. He had more important things on his mind and tongue at the moment.
A soft cry escaped Janna as his head dipped down, and she felt his mouth on her breasts, tasting and teasing her. The contrast of the cold rain and the heat from his lips were doing some rather amazing things to her. Her breathing was already becoming ragged, and she knew that the time to turn back had whipped past them without any notice at all. She wanted him. In the rain for the entire world to see, she didn't care. So what if she barely knew him. She knew enough. Why should it bother her that he didn't even know her name? It shouldn't.it didn't matter. Names weren't important. Feeling his excitement against her, what he was doing.that was important. Nothing else should matter.but it did to her. She wanted him to make love to her, not Jaqui.
"Janna," she murmured. Antonio froze for a moment, looking into her eyes in shock. Janna's eyes were wide as she realized what she had said and how she said it. No fake accent. Just her. He wasn't saying anything. Not good. "My name is Janna," she muttered, looking away as she was feeling horribly embarrassed. "Thought you would want to know."
Antonio caught her chin and brought her face back to him. The smile that touched the edges of his mouth, brightening his eyes, made her want to melt into a puddle. "Janna," he said softly, the name sounding like a prayer. "It suits you better." He kissed her again, letting her know in the contact how much he appreciated the trust she had just shown to him by giving him her name of her own volition. It would have been easy to find out now, but the fact she volunteered it said so much more.
This wasn't just to get information out of her, Janna thought triumphantly as Antonio's hand slid up her leg and under her skirt to her rear. She was still wearing leather gloves, but despite them managed to start getting his shirt unbuttoned in admirably short amount of time. Oh God, he was just as gorgeous without clothes as he was with them on. She yanked her gloves off and then ran them through the dark hair on his chest around to the corded muscles of his back. How was it possible that a man could be so hard and soft at the same time? She didn't care. She just wanted to keep touching him forever.
Antonio didn't resist when Janna pushed him lightly, rolling with him so that she was straddling him. Her skirt was bunched to her waist, but she was long past caring as she leaned over him, the hair on his chest further stimulating her where it brushed her bare skin. Her lips ranged over his neck and shoulder. Antonio was already shivering in the rain but the chances of him trying to stop her were roughly that of him running a two- minute mile. It was just one of those things he didn't even want to attempt.
He had to help her for a second when she fumbled with his belt and the button on his pants. Some tiny rational part of her mind was pointing out the situation and how crazy it was, but she didn't care anymore. The situation was crazy, but for them it was perfect as well. Her fingers grabbed the edge of his pockets to pull down and his hands came over hers immediately, keeping her from moving. She looked up at him in alarm. Oh, he was so not going to stop now.
"You're not trying to look for loose change are you?" he asked with a teasing grin.
Her little gasp of outrage only increased his amusement. Her eyes narrowed. "I was hoping to find something else to amuse me, but it seems the coins are, ahem, larger denominations."
Antonio laughed, and then pulled her back to him in a kiss, moving so that they were side by side so that he could touch her easier. He finally yanked off his overcoat and let it fall over them both. It was actually waterproofed, and it made a somewhat nice bit of protection from the rain. Humor was forgotten as the passion built again, both of them exploring each other's bodies. Janna felt him catch the edge of her panties and peel them down her legs. She was shaking, but it wasn't from the cold now. A single finger began teasing at the very core of her, rubbing gently but insistently. She moaned against his mouth, her hips unconsciously pressing upwards towards the sweet pleasures he was providing.
Janna wasn't sure exactly when or how Antonio got out of his pants, or even if he did get them all the way off at all, but then she could feel his hardness pressing against her thigh. Their eyes met, the question lingering there without words. Janna bit her lip slightly. All this and he was still showing such consideration for her and what she wanted. Not a big dilemma. She wanted him more than anything she had ever imagined before.
"Oh, yes," she whispered, immediately feeling him moving between her legs, pressing forward. Their eyes locked as he entered her, passion mirroring passion as her legs wrapped around his hips, keeping him locked as closely to her as he could be. Slow and sweet could wait for another time. All of the desire that had been there between them since they first met exploded in a fury of sensations. Janna's fingers dug into his back as the absolute pleasure built unchecked, kissing any part of his skin her mouth could come into contact with. Low animal moans could be heard but neither of them was sure who exactly was making what noise.
"Oh God Janna," Antonio moaned into her throat, his words trailing off into an erotic stream of Italian that she couldn't understand, but knew the sentiment instinctively. She would have said something back in the like, but she was biting her lip to keep from screaming her pleasure as their lovemaking seemed to go on and on forever.
The tempo began to speed up faster, both of them encouraging the other for more until holding back was impossible. Janna couldn't contain the cry that was wrenched from her as her climax hit, her entire body contracting violently. Antonio had always prided himself on being in control of his body, but the feeling of her coming was more than he could handle. For a moment he saw stars as the pleasure peaked for him as well, and then he nearly collapsed on her, completely unable to move a muscle more. Gasping for air was the limit at that moment.
Janna couldn't let go of him even if she wanted to. Their limbs were suddenly so intertwined that only the dark hair on him could distinguish what belonged to whom. Now they could finally start feeling the cold and the rain that was still falling all around them. Their eyes met, still glazed with the intensity of just moments before.
"Janna," he whispered. Her finger immediately touched his lips.
"Talk later, okay?" she said. Talk was bad right now. Touch was good. Talk was bad.
Antonio smiled. "Talk later," he agreed.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Janna wasn't sure if she every muscle in her body was aching or if she just felt flat out wonderful as they sat in the golf cart. Sure, she had just made some major complications in her life and probably was going to get the crap kicked out of her by her cousins, but who was she to complain. The rain was slacking off and they made sure their clothes were straightened out enough to be considered decent. She sighed contentedly as she snuggled in his lap, listening to his heart beating. She supposed they would need to go first before he got sick.
Antonio wasn't sure if there was anything that he could say to Janna right then. She wasn't the ringleader of the thieves; she was one of them. Brilliantly done. As far as he knew, he was the only one that had seen past the ruse. She had volunteered her name to him. He had seen the fear then at what she was saying, but she had done it anyways. There was still a great deal that they were going to have to work out. But that could wait until tomorrow. What he wanted to do then was to take her somewhere, have a hot shower and then make love to her again somewhere a bit more comfortable than a golf course.
Of course it was warmer now. The golf carts used by the club were the newest and the best available. It was designed so that the dedicated could sit in there in comfort during bad weather and wait for it to clear up enough to get back to their game. Of course most people would rather go back to the clubhouse and have a few drinks, but it was the point that the newest and the best was there for their enjoyment. Plastic coverings would come down over the sides of the cart at the touch of a button to keep out rain and there was a heater and an air conditioner in there. Being too hot or cold was simply intolerable to the rich, and the club owners knew that better than anyone. Whatever the reason, Antonio was glad to have it now as the air in the cart warmed up around them.
Janna looked up at him, and touched his face lightly to get his attention. "I honestly don't know where it is," she said, grateful that she didn't have to keep up with the French accent. "When I go home, I'm going to talk with my cousins and I know they'll help me get it once we find what Southwood did with it." She bit her lip slightly. "I'm not going to do this anymore. I don't know if that's a consolation to you or not that your loss stopped the meanest group of contract thieves around."
His dark eyes met hers. "While you are gone I can use my own resources to find out who this Southwood really is and where the necklace is. And I cannot say that I wish it never happened. I wouldn't have met you if it had not." He punctuated his words with a long soft kiss. "But I do believe that I should go home with you and be there when you release Marco."
Janna smiled, still feeling weak-kneed from his kiss. "Sounds good to me. I don't think I'll have the element of surprise twice and I don't think he's going to be happy with me."
Antonio looked at her for a long moment. "Your cousin.it was a woman that managed to get him, wasn't it? How? And how did she jump from the window?"
Janna knew there was one truth that she simply couldn't tell him. Not ever. Well, maybe if they were together for a long time, but this wasn't the exact forum to explain genetic engineering projects. "My aunt and uncle are ex-military," she said softly, not really lying. "Covert operations. My aunt could probably break Marco into little pieces and not mess up her hair. Anyways, they taught their kids self-defense, and I learned from my cousins. As far as the window, there were ropes and slide wires. If you didn't see them, it's just a testament to how good we are."
"I would still like to see how she did it."
Janna smiled. "A girl's got to keep some secrets. If she doesn't, then she'll be boring."
Antonio laughed. "I have a feeling you are anything but boring."
Janna sat up. "You'll have to decide that for yourself. So, how about you follow me home and send Marco off and then we figure out what to do until my flight tonight."
Antonio released her after another kiss. It took a minute to gather up her clubs from where they had been flung about, and then he drove her back to the clubhouse. The club manager noticed that Miss Cale was practically glowing despite being soaking wet, but thought better than to comment on it. She had always been a die-hard romantic at heart and seeing this helped to confirm her suspicions that the world didn't always suck.
They left in their separate cars. Janna thought about just letting him drive her home, but she needed to have everything locked up before she left. She laughed when Antonio fell behind after a minute, not expecting her to drive like she was doing some street racing. And that was just regular driving. When she was mad or excited, then she really pushed the limits. That was why her mother took away the motorcycle she had received for her sixteenth birthday. She and her mom liked to race. Max always won. The first time Janna won a race with her mother on the bike by cutting through a school, not the yard, but whipping through the main hallway, and then going up the wrong way of a freeway exit ramp had been the last time she had ridden the motorcycle. At least Aunt Cindy had thought it was funny. Janna just said that her mom was pissed that she lost the race.
Antonio thought he was going to catch up when the arms for a railroad crossing started coming down, but the little minx whipped around them like there wasn't a high-speed train about to come through there and smash her flat. He grinned. She was certainly not the usual woman that he had been with before. Lovely ladies of his own class and breeding were the type that normally adorned his arm. They ornamented him and knew the proper and polite things to say and when to say them. They would make excellent hostesses and breed up a few children to ensure that his line would go on. Janna Cale was not an ornament. He thought of the bruise on his forehead. That would be a reminder of what would happen if he tried to treat her as such.
Janna was glad to get a little ahead of Antonio. She wanted to have a minute to get in the house and maybe grab a bottle of wine or something. Dad had taught her about wines and made sure that she knew a good vintage when she saw it. Antonio would send Marco away with a swift kick to the rear, and then.well.she had to face facts, and the facts were they would probably be in the nearest bed in a matter of minutes.
She was still half in a daze when she walked into the dark living room, thinking about what had just happened and how her life had changed forever because of it. She would worry about if he were going to keep his promises to her when she got back. Right now she wanted to be thinking about the way he kissed her and touched and held her and how he.
A strong arm came around Janna's throat from behind, pressing something against her face. Janna gasped in shock, only having a second to regret that instinctive reaction as bitter smelling and tasting fumes filled her nose and mouth, and then everything went black.
