When he did not offer anything further, she decided to move on to another subject.
“Elizabeth and I are going to talk to Dr. Mowbray tomorrow,” she said. “He was the one who treated her during her so-called depression episode.”
“Did you make an appointment?”
“No. I thought we might have better luck if we surprise him. I don’t want to give him time to prepare. If he saw Elizabeth’s name on his schedule, he might be worried that she’s contemplating some legal action for the lousy diagnosis he gave her and call his lawyer.”
Jake leaned back in the lounger. “I like the way you think.”
“Thanks.” She was oddly pleased by the compliment.
He drank some wine and munched a cracker saddled with a slice of cheddar. “Got to say that you really do have a flair for this kind of work.”
“I told you, I’ve had some experience with scam artists. And when you come right down to it, that’s what Brad McAllister was.”
“Looks that way. But the thing that’s bothering me is why he was willing to go to so much trouble to get control of Glazebrook, Inc. It was a huge gamble at best, not a sure thing. And it involved a hell of a lot of risk, what with trying to make Elizabeth think she was crazy and then planning a couple of what would have been very high-profile murders.”
“Brad wasn’t a typical scam artist, that’s for sure,” she said slowly. “They usually hang around just long enough to collect the money and then they vanish.” She put down the notepad and pen. “Maybe he just liked the idea of being a major player in the business world. If he had gained control of Glazebrook, Inc., he would have commanded a lot of power and respect here in Arizona.”
“Or maybe he had another agenda,” Jake said quietly. “One we haven’t figured out.”
She waited for him in a swath of moonlight. He turned off the bathroom light and walked toward her, a towel around his hips.
When he reached the bed he stopped, indulging himself in the sheer elemental satisfaction the sight of her gave him. Her hair was a dark wave on the white pillow. In the shadows her eyes were even deeper and more mysterious than they appeared in daylight.
She smiled, welcoming him.
He did not try to examine too closely the unfamiliar hunger and urgency that drove him. He accepted the sensations, the same way that he accepted the predictability of the sunrise.
He got rid of the towel, pulled back the covers and looked down at her. The nightgown reached just to the top of her thighs. He could see dark, inviting shadows between her legs.
He lowered himself slowly on top of her, opening up his senses to fully savor the moment. The world around him took on another dimension. He became aware of colors that had no names and sounds that were otherwise muffled. Sensation intensified. The heat of Clare’s body compelled him. Her scent was a powerful, arousing drug. But it was the knowledge that she wanted him as much as he wanted her that had the most exhilarating effect.
Energy pulsed in the atmosphere around them.
“You’re running hot, aren’t you?” he asked, sinking down along the length of her body.
“Yes.”
“Then you’ll know I’m telling you the truth when I say I want you so badly I think I would go crazy if I couldn’t have you tonight.”
“Jake.”
Her arms went around him. He felt her nails sinking into his back. He liked the fact that she was leaving her marks on him. He intended to leave his own on her tonight. The need to bind her to him, to imprint himself on her in such a way that she never forgot him was vital. He wanted her and she wanted him. That was all that mattered.
He slid one hand down her side and up under the hem of the nightgown. He kissed her, long and deep, and cupped her firmly. It only took a few strokes of his fingers to bring forth the telltale dampness that let him know she was aroused.
His body ached with the need to sheath himself inside her tight, wet heat but he forced himself to wait until she was twisting beneath him, until her soft pleas became sharp commands.
“Now.” She clutched him. “Do. It. Now.”
Glorying in the small triumph, he rolled onto his back, dragging her with him. When she was astride his body he used both hands to tug off the nightgown. He dropped the garment on the rug beside the bed and gripped her waist.
The feel of her inner thighs pressing warmly against the sides of his body was enough to push him to his limits. It took everything he had to stay in control.
He was about to guide her onto his erection when she surprised him by changing position. Leaning forward, she kissed him lightly on the mouth. Then she moved her lips to his chest.
He was enthralled by the sight of her dark hair spilling across his bare skin. Her mouth was wet and hot. He shuddered.
“I think I know where you’re going with this,” he managed. “But now isn’t a good time.”
She raised her head and looked at him through a veil of silken hair.
“Why not?” she asked.
It was, he realized, the same question he had asked her when she tried to resist. He wanted to laugh but the sound came out as a husky groan.
“Because I’m already on the edge,” he admitted. “I’ll be lucky to last long enough to get inside you.”
“Doesn’t sound like a good reason to me. Got any other excuses?”
“I thought that was a pretty good one,” he said.
“Nope. Speaking as one control freak to another, may I suggest that you just lie back and enjoy it?”
“You’re going to make me pay for that crack, aren’t you?”
“Oh, yeah.” She lowered her head and went back to what she had been doing.
A moment later her mouth closed over him. He sucked in a lungful of air and discovered that the oxygen level in the room had declined markedly in the past few minutes. It was all he could do to breathe, let alone drag her away from his erection.
He reached down and gripped her head with both hands, intending to pull her free and reposition her where he wanted her.
But her tongue was coiling around him and she was stroking the tight, sensitive skin at the base of his erection with her fingertip.
He hovered on the precipice, knowing he could not last much longer. He was torn between the fierce need to take her and the unfamiliar, equally urgent desire to let himself be taken.
The hot urge to brand her as his own won out. He tightened his grip on her head, hauling her up the length of his body. She struggled but he could tell that the erotic combat was only making both of them more excited.