Сандра Браун - Adam's Fall

"She's gone."

"Good riddance."

She shook her head in puzzlement. "You're not upset?"

"Vastly relieved."

"Care to explain?"

"Nope."

"Had a dilly of a fight, did ya?"

"My lips are sealed."

"Damn! I was hoping to hear all the juicy details."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Adam said, smiling hugely, "but I'll save the explanation for another time. I've had all the Lucretia I can stand for one day."

Brimming with pleasure over his words, Lilah said, "She had the house in an uproar while she was packing and making travel arrangements. I decided to postpone your session until after she left."

"I sensed that was the reason for the delay. But now that you're here, can we do the bars again?"

She thumped the side of her head with the heel of her hand. "Am I hearing right? Aren't you the patient who put up such a stink about the bars this morning?"

"I've had a change of heart."

"So I see. Well — "

"Oh, wait. Where's my poster? The one Lucretia called 'an abominable eyesore' that was desecrating my walls."

"That bitch!" Lilah exclaimed, propping her hands on her hips. "She said that about my poster? What could she find wrong with a picture of a lady and a fruit basket?"

"I don't think she objected to the subject matter. It was the juxtaposition of the lady and the banana that she found fault with."

"Some people have no taste."

"Where is it?" he asked, laughing at her exasperation.

"In my room. She told Pete to throw it away, but he passed it to me."

"Bring it back."

Looking perturbed, but actually extremely pleased, Lilah went into her room and came back with the poster. She replaced it on the nail she'd hammered into the wall herself.

When she had the frame hanging straight, Adam said, "There. Much better. Now we can get started."

They went to the bars again. His arms supported him better than during the morning session, but he relied more on his legs too. She had to coax him to quit. "Adam, you're wearing yourself out."

"Five more minutes."

"What good will you be tomorrow if you exhaust yourself tonight?"

"I'm not exhausted, I'm exhilarated."

Eventually she urged him back into his wheelchair. "Let's skip the mat table. Get back into bed. I'll give you your rubdown there. I think you could use a sponge bath too."

It was after his sponge bath and after his rubdown and when she was saying good night that he looked up at her beguilingly and asked, "What about the other?"

"The other?"

"The recreational and procreational marital bed skills I'm going to get so good at with your help." His voice dropped to a husky pitch. "When do we start working on those?"

Lilah said nothing.

For several moments he waited her out, then said, "Well?"

"Well what?"

"When do we start that therapy?" Reaching up, he curled his hand behind her neck. "I say now."

She forced a tight little laugh. "You didn't think I was serious, did you?"

His eyes narrowed and smiling, he nodded his head. "Yeah, I think you were."

"That just goes to show how wrong a person can be. I was talking off the top of my head, spouting off, letting my mouth overload my rear, as my dad used to say. It was a ploy to get rid of Snow White. I would have said anything to get rid of her. She was undoing all that we had done. She was undermining — Why are you shaking your head?"

"All those excuses are valid up to a point. Lilah, but you were emotionally involved. You were upset. Without intending to, you said exactly what was on your mind. It just popped out in the heat of the moment."

Reflexively and somewhat nervously, Lilah wet her lips. Adam ran his thumb along her lower lip behind her tongue. She angled her head back and away, but he didn't remove his hand from around her neck.

"Look, Cavanaugh, I was bluffing her, okay? Can't you take a joke?"

"I can when someone's joking. You weren't."

"How do you know?"

He sat up and leaned forward, until she could feel his breath on her face. "Because you're hot for me."

"I am not!"

"You've been running this show for weeks. I've had no choice but to let you take charge." He whisked an airy-light kiss across her lips. "This is my show. I'm taking over."

"I won't let — "

"Shut up, Lilah."

His hand made a yanking motion against her neck that brought her face down to his. His lips rubbed several hard, rough kisses on hers before they gentled. Sipping at her lips, he whispered, "Open your mouth."

"Adam — "

"Thanks." His tongue spiraled down into the sweet, wet heat of her mouth.

Lilah whimpered, first in protest, then in longing, finally in gratification. Her rigid posture relaxed and she collapsed against him. The resisting muscles in her neck became pliant, so he released his hold on them and slid all ten fingers into her hair and folded them around her scalp.

Tilting his head to one side, he ate at her mouth with gentle ardor. Lilah laid her hands on his bare chest. The hair was crisp but soft. It curled around her fingers. She loved having them ensnared by it.

When they drew apart, she breathlessly spoke his name. His lips went in search of the tastiest parts of her neck. "You're a lightning rod," he said.

"Am I?" She angled her head to one side, allowing him to caress one ear with his lips and tongue.

"You attract men everywhere you go."

"Not intentionally."

"Baby, you couldn't advertise your allure any plainer if you had 'Born to Bed' tattooed on your chest."

"I don't share my favors easily."

"That's what makes you so damn sexy. You advertise it, but you don't give it away. It's enough to drive a man crazy until he gets to see you. Touch. Taste."

He groaned the last word against her lips a heartbeat before his tongue reclaimed her mouth as his possession. He reached beneath her tank top and worked the ribbed knit up and over her breasts, then pushed her far enough away from him to look at her. Her breasts were flushed and beautiful with desire. His hands cupped them. He sighed a curse.

As he tenderly massaged her, he whispered, "God, I've missed touching a woman."

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her nipple. Lilah felt his tongue, warm and sinuous, stroking it, making it hard and ready for his damply tugging mouth.

Involuntarily her hands gripped his hair; her head fell back; she let out a soft cry. She wanted to hold his head against her forever. When he pulled away, she moaned, feeling deprived. She looked at him, glassy-eyed and bewildered. "Don't stop," she said hoarsely.

He kissed her quickly and hard. "I want to see you. Will you undress for me?"

Lilah's head cleared instantly. "Huh?"

"I'd love to undress you myself," he said ruefully, "but I want to be standing on my own two feet when I do." He kissed her again and leaving his lips against hers, whispered urgently, "Undress for me, Lilah. Make it last. Make it sexy."

She slid along the edge of the bed until her feet touched the floor and she stood up. Now was her chance. She had escaped his caressing hands and persuasive lips. This was her last chance to reestablish her professional detachment. Now was the moment to renounce the personal feelings she had for this patient. In short, it was time to turn and run.

But she stood there beside his bed as though rooted. The passionate fire in Adam's eyes, as well as her own need to love and be loved, compelled her to stay. The professional in her took a giant backward step, leaving the woman in her, which was much more vulnerable, to face this dilemma alone. There was no doubt which she would choose to do.

It had been no contest. Not really. Before she had even left his arms, she knew she would return to them. Naked and wanting.