Sensual Confessions

Sam took a sip of water and looked over the rim of her glass at him. “So when you marry, it will be for love, Blade?”

She knew by the look in his eyes that he didn’t appreciate her question, and from the silence at the table it was evident that, like her, Mac and Luke were waiting for him to answer. Sam wasn’t exactly sure what had possessed her to ask such a question when she already had a pretty good idea what his response would be. But she had asked, and there was no doubt in her mind that he would make it crystal clear for her, so that there would never, ever be any misunderstanding. He enjoyed being a womanizer, and he proudly played the part.

He took another sip of water before flashing a smile that revealed a pair of dimples she hadn’t noticed until now. His eyes locked on her face. “I don’t ever plan to marry, Sam—for love or any other reason. I enjoy my life just the way it is. I could never be a one-woman man. What’s the point?”

“Yes, I agree with you one hundred percent. What’s the point? I don’t plan to marry, either. Like you, I like my life just the way it is, and I could never belong to one man exclusively.”

She wasn’t quite sure what he had expected her to say, but from the look on his face she could tell that hadn’t been it. He evidently thought men were the only ones who could play the field.

Sam was spared from saying anything else when the waitress returned to take their orders. But that didn’t stop her from glancing across the table at Mac and seeing the sly smile on her friend’s lips. Luke seemed inordinately preoccupied with his silverware.

It was obvious she had stunned Blade, so everyone was giving him a chance to recover. From the way he was staring across the table at her, he had to be wondering why—since they had the same outlook on life when it came to commitment—she had refused to give him the time of day.

Sam looked away as she ran a finger around the rim of her glass, then seductively touched the tip with her tongue, knowing Blade’s eyes followed her every movement. She tried to ignore the shudder that passed through her each time their eyes connected. When the waitress delivered their food, and she began eating, she tried to overlook the intense sexual chemistry between them even as they shared the table with others. She wasn’t sure whether Mac and Luke were aware of what was taking place between them or not, but both she and Blade knew it. Dinner was as enjoyable as it could have been under the circumstances, and at the end of the meal she thanked everyone for inviting her, and stood up to leave.

“Where are you rushing off to?” Blade asked, quickly rising to his feet.

The tone of his voice, to her way of thinking, sounded a lot throatier than it should have. It sent shivers up and down her body.

She met his gaze. “I’m going home. I drove Mac over. But since Luke’s SUV is here, I’m sure all three of you will be riding back together and—”

“No,” Blade said smoothly. “I’m staying at a hotel in town.”

That surprised her. “You are?”

His smile widened. “Yes. I didn’t want to impose on the newly weds. Would it be a bother to drop me off at the hotel?”

“Drop you off?” she asked, as if she hadn’t heard him right. She inhaled deeply, silently telling herself to get a grip. Handle her business. So what if she had to drop him off at some hotel? She could do that. Put him off at the curb and keep going.

“Yes, at the hotel.”

Before she could answer, Luke spoke up, giving her an out. “No need to bother Sam. Mac and I can drop you off at the hotel, Blade. Besides, your luggage is in my truck.”

She cast Luke an appreciative smile. “Then it’s all settled. Luke and Mac will make sure you get to the hotel,” she said, looking back at Blade. “It was good seeing you again, and thanks for dinner.”

She was about to turn for a quick getaway when he said, “I’ll walk you to your car.”

Sam forced herself not to tell him she preferred if he didn’t. She knew he hadn’t intended to let her go that easily, not until he found out what he wanted to know. “Fine.” She glanced at Luke and Mac. “It’s always good seeing you, Luke, and I’ll see you in the morning, Mac.”

“Yes, bright and early,” she responded. “We have to go over our notes for the Penton’s case.”

Sam nodded and gave her a thumbs-up before turning to leave, with Blade by her side.

He didn’t say anything until they had walked out of the restaurant and were waiting as the valet attendant went to get her car. Then Blade faced her and said, “I think you owe me an explanation.”

“About what?” she asked, deciding to play innocent as she tilted her head back. He held her gaze with an intense look in his eyes.

“If you don’t have any problems with casual dating, then why have you been giving me the cold shoulder every time I approach you?”

Before she could answer, the valet brought her car around. “The reason is rather simple,” she said, opening the door and tossing her purse on the passenger seat.

“Is it?” Blade asked, watching as she slid into the driver’s side of her sporty red Mercedes two-seater.

“Yes,” she replied, buckling her seat belt and rolling her window down.

He gazed at her. “And what reason is that?”

She turned the radio to a station that played soft music before looking back up at him, staring straight into his eyes and stating what she knew was the biggest lie of her life. “You, Blade Madaris, don’t interest me. Good night.”

And before he could utter another word, she revved the engine and drove away.

Chapter 2

Blade tossed the hotel key on a table after settling into his suite. He couldn’t help the smile that touched his lips as he recalled Sam’s parting words. He didn’t for one minute believe she had been serious.

Of course, what she’d said had sounded pretty damn convincing, like saying it would be the end of it. If those words had been spoken by any other woman, it would have been. He didn’t have time to waste on anyone who refused his advances. But Blade knew for a fact that he did interest Sam, just as she interested him. It had been obvious tonight, although she probably wanted to deny the truth. But he wouldn’t deny it. He didn’t intend to give up on her so easily, and evidently, she was counting on that fact.

He was a man who knew women inside and out. He was thirty-four and knew the female gender a lot better than men with twice his experience. And for him to make that claim said a whole hell of a lot.

From the time they were teenagers, it was clear that he and his twin brother, Slade, had a different take on women. Slade had been easygoing and had put his career first. Blade, on the other hand, had been able to juggle both. His sexual exploits rivaled those of his cousin Clayton, who ten years earlier had had the same reputation.

At one time, the thought that Blade was following in Clayton’s footsteps had been cause for major concern in his family. They figured once Clayton had settled down and was married, that would be the end of the playboys in the Madaris family. He chuckled as he removed his jacket, thinking about how he had proven them wrong. He probably had more notches on his bedpost than his cousin Clayton ever thought of.

Times were different now. Things had changed. He probably didn’t have to work as hard to get a woman in bed as Clayton had. Nowadays, women were liberated, freethinkers. The ones he dated didn’t mind the fact that they weren’t the only one. They enjoyed a challenge and preferred getting physical in the bedroom more than anything else. The sky was the limit behind closed doors and he’d had no complaints. He dated women whose only concern was not having to “fake it,” and who didn’t give a damn that come morning, when he walked out the door, chances were he wouldn’t be back. They weren’t into long-term relationships any more than he was. He dated women who not only knew the score, but played the game as much as he did.

He had accepted early on in life that marriage wasn’t for everyone, and he didn’t lose sleep over the fact that he wasn’t settling down to the kind of marriage his parents had. More than anything, the two words that scared him to death were settling down. There was still too much fun out there to be had, too many women out there to sleep with. Marriage demanded faithfulness and he was convinced there was not a single woman capable of holding his interest forever.

He had tried to explain his position to his family time and time again. But that hadn’t stopped them, even Clayton, from worrying about the number of women coming and going in and out of his life—namely, his bedroom. His great-grandmother thought he had issues. But as far as he was concerned, he just had a healthy Madaris sexual appetite.

He would never forget the day Clayton had given him a huge case of condoms and told him that at the rate he was going, he would definitely need them. Clayton had been right. Blade had gone through that case and was working on several more.

Some women he met definitely had marriage on their minds. He quickly let them know, up front, he wasn’t going there. He never intended to marry. It was okay for some, like his brother Slade and cousin Luke, but not for him. He enjoyed life too much. He enjoyed having fun in the bedroom. And as they say, variety is the spice of life—at least when it came to his sex life. What was a sexual taboo for some was a welcome change for him.

He had no intentions of ever getting stuck with a wife who would eventually turn their bedroom into nothing more than a place to sleep. He worked hard and enjoyed playing harder. The thought of being stuck in a marriage that was limited to predictable sex—“PS,” as he referred to it—was enough to make him break out in hives.

And he didn’t want to have to answer to any woman. He wanted to come and go as he pleased. He was always getting calls from different women, but he answered them when he got good and ready, and not before. He didn’t mind dropping one if he had to, because she could quickly be replaced. He would never trade in his long list of numbers in his little black book for a long, drawn-out, till-death-do-us-part marriage. What was the point?

It didn’t bother him that he had acquired quite a reputation, one that rivaled that of Clayton, who had been his idol growing up. As best he could remember, he’d never seen Clayton with the same woman twice. But now, even Clayton was happily married and a proud father.

Blade shook his head. Imagine that. He’d be the first to admit that Clayton had hit gold with his wife, Syneda. In fact that’s how he always thought of her—as Clayton’s golden woman—with her green eyes and mass of golden-bronze hair. She was fun to be with, witty and beautiful, and it seemed as if she was handling her man. It was easy to see why Clayton only had eyes for his wife. He adored her. But Blade knew for a womanizer like Clayton to find a woman like Syneda was indeed a rarity.

Blade was a man who loved women, but he loved his bachelor lifestyle even more, which was why practicing safe sex was critical in his book. He was selective with the women he slept with. In certain situations, he even asked his bed partner to produce medical verification attesting to her sexual health, and he did likewise. Nothing personal, just covering all the bases.

His thoughts shifted to Samari Di Meglio. There was something about her that stimulated him sexually just thinking about her. Sure, she could claim all she wanted that she wasn’t interested in him, but he knew for a fact that she was. He recognized the look whenever their eyes met, and he felt the heat when he’d touched the palm of her hand. He had also picked up on the sexual vibes that were just as obvious as if she’d opened her mouth and said it aloud, letting him know she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

Maybe she was the kind of woman who liked to be pursued by men, and with her beauty he could easily imagine that happening. He could see a man wanting her so bad that he’d do just about anything to have her, knowing that one night in bed with her would be well worth it.

Whether she knew it or not, she had done the unthinkable to a Madaris—at least this particular Madaris. She had issued a challenge that struck a nerve with him, and he intended to make her eat her words. And he would take great pleasure in doing so.

He headed toward the bathroom to take a shower.

Sam’s town house was in a secure gated community called Windsor Park, situated on a beautiful lake with mountains in the background. It was considered one of the safest areas in the city.

A few months after she’d come to Oklahoma, Sam’s parents had insisted that she move to Windsor Park. At the time, a man her father had prosecuted more than twenty years ago had escaped from prison and was determined to get back at him.

Since threats had been made against the entire Di Meglio family, her parents decided not to take any chances, especially after there had been several attempts to run her brother off the road. The man was eventually caught. But before he could be apprehended, he was killed in a shoot-out with the police.

Sam’s home was much too large for one person. In her opinion, it was definitely more space than she needed. There were two bedrooms on the ground floor, a bathroom, a living room, dining room and spacious kitchen. On the upper floor were two more bedrooms—one that she used as an office—an entertainment room and a huge bathroom that included a sauna and a Jacuzzi. There was a screened-in balcony with a hot tub off the master bedroom.

At first, she had intended to move out of the town house into a smaller place once the threat had passed. But by then she had fallen in love with her home. She loved the close proximity to the office and enjoyed all the amenities the exclusive gated community provided, especially the scenic walking trail and recreational park. On the weekends she would spend hours relaxing or sitting on a blanket by the lake and reading.

Sam pulled into her private garage and within minutes was entering her house. The moment the door closed behind her, she kicked off her shoes. It was only then, in the comfort of her home, that she allowed her mind to drift back to Blade Madaris.

She wondered if he would take her words at face value. Any man with an ounce of pride would. For a woman to come right out and say that she wasn’t interested in him was bold, not to mention ego-crushing.

She had been looking in his eyes when she’d said it, but his reaction was unreadable. But then, she hadn’t hung around long enough after that to really find out. She had driven off like the devil himself was on her tail.

She put her purse and briefcase on the table as she made her way into the kitchen, thinking she’d have a cup of tea before getting ready for bed.

She, Mac and Peyton had decided to take on Clarissa Penton’s sexual-harassment case, but the three of them had agreed that it sounded a lot like Clarissa was trying to get even with her boss for refusing to return her advances.

After turning on the stove to heat the water for her tea, Sam glanced out the window at the lake. She had intended to pull her notes together and go over what they knew about the case so far. As Mac had reminded her, they would be meeting to discuss the case in the morning. But any plans to review those notes had been made before tonight’s dinner. And being in the presence of Blade Madaris for an extended period of time had been unnerving. Although she had tried downplaying the chemistry and mutual attraction between them, it had been there, and blatantly so. But that didn’t mean she would act on it, even though her body was daring her to do so.

It wasn’t because she thought he was too much to handle. To her way of thinking, no man was once he met the right woman. She’d heard a lot of stories about Blade and figured someone needed to knock him off his high horse. But it wouldn’t be her. Not this time. She had enough to deal with. There was her share of the caseload that had been divvied up among the three of them, and her parents were still trying to run her life even from New York.

Antonio and Kayla Di Meglio still hadn’t learned their lesson with Guy, she thought, settling down at the kitchen table with her cup of tea. Guy had joined her parents’ law firm and, according to her father, had a bright future. He was highly intelligent, articulate, a smooth dresser, a sharp lawyer, and he had an interest in politics, which had once been her father’s dream. Guy had even told her parents he had Italian ancestors somewhere in his family. That made him a shoo-in.

Yielding to her parent’s wishes—and against her better judgment—Sam had begun dating Guy. To her surprise she’d really liked him, although she wouldn’t go so far as to admit that she fell in love with him. They dated for almost a year before he popped the question. Because she thought she’d gotten to know him, and believed he was the one man she could live the rest of her life with, she had said yes.

Her parents had turned her wedding into the social event of the year, inviting more than five hundred guests. She’d had bridal showers galore and her wedding dress had been designed by Vera Wang. Her parents had assumed, as she had, that she and Guy would share a long and prosperous marriage, and the storybook wedding would be one they would all remember.

Sam shook her head as she finished her tea and walked over to the sink to rinse out her cup before placing it in the dishwasher. Yes, her wedding day had been one she and Guy would remember, all right, along with her parents and all five hundred invited guests, but for all the wrong reasons.

She had walked down the aisle to take her place by Guy’s side when a commotion in the back of the church got everyone’s attention. Two women with screaming babies came forward to announce that Guy was their babies’ daddy. One even claimed she was pregnant with another child of his. Talk about drama. It took the reverend and the ushers a full hour to get things under control. Later, in Reverend Caldwell’s study, Guy had confessed that the two women’s claims were true. However, he felt the situation had nothing to do with Sam, and they should go on with the wedding anyway. He’d certainly been a fool to think that. She’d told him so, and none too nicely.

Sam walked out of the kitchen and went upstairs to her bedroom, remembering how she’d gone on her honeymoon without Guy. When she’d returned two weeks later, she had gotten a call from Mac, asking if she wanted to become a partner with Peyton and her, realizing their law-school dream of forming their own legal practice.

Mac had been living in Louisiana, and her boyfriend had proved to be no better than Guy when he up and married someone else. Peyton, who’d grown up on Chicago’s South Side, had been working as a community activist and lawyer, wasn’t involved with anyone and was ready for a change. Mac, who was a black Cherokee, was ready to move back home to Oklahoma. Considering everything, the timing was perfect.

Over her parents’ objections, Sam left New York and headed for Oklahoma. But distance had not stopped her parents from trying to interfere in her personal life or wanting to play matchmaker on occasion. In a way, she understood her parents’ desire to have grandchildren. Their friends—the social elite of Manhattan and the Hamptons—were all bursting with pride about their grandkids. At thirty-two, DeAngelo, who was still very much a player, had no intention of settling down and getting married, so her parents had focused their attention on her.

As she stripped off her clothes to take her shower, she couldn’t help but think again of Blade Madaris. Maybe now the flower deliveries would stop coming to the office, since she had a strong suspicion he was behind them. During dinner he had mentioned to Luke that one of their aunts had opened up a florist shop on the ground floor of the Madaris Building. Had he just been bringing Luke up-to-date on what was going on in their family, or was it meant to let Sam know he was her secret admirer? Thanks to Angelo, which is what friends and family called her brother, she knew firsthand how players operated. Send a woman flowers to break down her defenses, her brother would say. Who could resist a beautiful, sweet-smelling, romantic bouquet?

Samari Di Meglio, for one.

She knew from the conversation at dinner that Blade would be in town for only a day or so, not long enough for them to run into each other again. Since he was Luke’s cousin, and a close friend at that, and she was one of Mac’s best friends, chances were their paths would cross again, but hopefully none too soon. Blade was a player who had little regard for the women whose hearts he broke. He was the type of man she wanted no part of, the kind she detested. And after what she’d said to him tonight, she was certain he would stay as far away from her as he could.

Blade chided himself, silently scolding himself for being a fool for getting up at the crack of dawn and hurriedly eating breakfast just to chase behind a woman. It was certainly not the way he usually operated.

He appreciated the car rental company for delivering the vehicle to him and having it ready for him when he walked out of the hotel that morning. A man with a plan, he slid behind the wheel, and now he stood watching from the office window the object of his curiosity as she parked her car. She had no idea he was there awaiting her, and he couldn’t wait to see her face when she did. He liked having the element of surprise on his side.

“I’m not sure it was a good idea to let you in, Blade.”

He glanced over his shoulder and met Mac’s gaze and couldn’t help but smile. Dressed in a blue pantsuit, she looked sleepy but in a beautiful sort of way. It was obvious she wasn’t used to getting to the office this early, but had let it slip that they would be here early since she had to be in court by ten.

“Why do you feel that way?” he asked.

She rolled her eyes. “I think it’s obvious. Sam doesn’t like you.”

He knew that was probably putting it mildly. “I intend to change her mind about that,” he said.

“Personally, I don’t think you can. You didn’t make such a good impression on her at my wedding or my birthday party. That said, I’m going into my office. I’ve seen Sam’s hot-blooded Italian temper in action and I don’t want to be around when she walks through that door and finds you here.”

He watched as Mac hurried into her office and closed the door, and then he glanced out the window in time to see Sam get out of her car. He felt his heart flutter in his chest as she swung her legs around to get out. She was wearing a business suit, with one of those short skirts again, the kind that showed off just what a nice pair of legs she had.

She crossed the parking lot carrying a deli bag in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. But his eyes weren’t really focused on what she was carrying. They were focused on her and just how good she looked this morning.

Why am I so drawn to her? He couldn’t help but ask himself that. He couldn’t blame his fixation on her beauty, since he’d been attracted to beautiful women before. The fact that she presented a challenge was part of it, he was sure. For some reason, he wanted to best her at her own game. He had to represent the players out there.

As he continued to watch her, he saw her smile at the security guard standing by the entrance. Blade frowned, remembering how the guy, who looked about twenty-four or twenty-five, had given him the third degree until he showed him proof that he was related to Mac. He knew the guard was just doing his job, but Blade thought he’d been more of a stickler than he needed to be.

He watched as the same man who’d given him grief just an hour or so earlier gush like a besotted fool when Sam greeted him with a smile. Sure, Blade would be the first to admit she had that effect on men. But still he didn’t like the way the man was looking at her, mainly because he recognized the look even if Sam didn’t.

He tried to ignore the mounting irritation he felt, and refused to consider, even for a moment, that he was jealous. Being jealous of a woman didn’t fit who he was. Admittedly, he was more than slightly annoyed that she never smiled at him that way, but he intended to change that, as well. He was a smart enough man to know that getting a smile out of her would take time.