"Yes." She slipped her hand between them and cupped his s.c.r.o.t.u.m, ma.s.saging while she nibbled at his neck. "Please?"

He closed his eyes and groaned.

"I want to try another new place that I've never tried before." She moved her hand higher, stroking the hardness with her fingers. "Humor me."

"You're killing me here." He kissed her once, hungrily, then pulled her against him and lifted, her legs still encircling his waist. He stopped on a thick pile rug between brown leather chairs. "How's this?"

"Perfect." She slid from his arms and pulled him to the floor on top of her. "Now where were we?"

"I know where I was just about to be." He found his place and without hesitation slipped inside her.

Warmth flooded outward from her center and she arched up against him, asking for more. He lowered himself until his dusting of chest hair rubbed against her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, hardening her nipples to tiny buds. Nuzzling her neck, he moved inside her slowly, teasing and brushing until the pleasant tingle in her lower body became an inflamed need. Within a minute she was panting and arching her back to pull him deeper with every thrust of his hips.

Just a little more... She pushed against him, closing her eyes and reaching for what was just beyond her grasp. If he would just go a little faster ...

His movements slowed. She opened her eyes to find his face hovering just above her own, watching, smiling with every deliberate thrust that increased her need without fulfilling it.

"Close?"

She nodded, breathing hard.

He moved hard against her, prolonging the contact. "More?"

"Yes!"

"Sure you don't want to change places again?"

She tried for a threatening glare, but he moved again and it felt so good she laughed, the sound rumbling from deep in her chest. "Please," she managed between panting breaths.

He chuckled softly, sounding a bit strained. Taking her mouth in a deep kiss, he pumped his hips faster. Seconds later she gasped against his mouth and wrapped her legs around his hips, hanging on tightly as pleasure rocked through her in hard waves.

As the final paroxysms eased, she stroked the cool dampness on his back, too drained to move more than her hands. "Oh my G.o.d, Drew," she said on a groan.

He eased his weight up, propping himself on one elbow as he stroked a lock of hair off her face with is other hand. He made a small, deliberate movement inside her. h.e.l.lo there. h.e.l.lo there. She automatically squeezed back. She automatically squeezed back.

"You're amazing," he said softly.

"And a little weird."

"Adventurous," he corrected with a kiss. "My kind of woman."

His heavy-lidded eyes look so aroused that Lauren decided it might be a good thing to be a little weird.

She'd never felt this way with Jeff, not even close. Apparently having the right kind of s.e.x required the wrong man. And career-less, aimless, philandering Drew Creighton was definitely definitely the wrong man. the wrong man.

CHAPTER Ten.

Drew retrieved Lauren's bra from the Jefferson paint-ing, even though he preferred her standing there without it. He could get used to indulging her penchant for inappropriate s.e.xual behavior. Several more possibilities had already come to mind, and Drew was determined to use them. One time with Lauren was not nearly enough.

"What do we do now?" Lauren asked as she bent to retrieve a tennis shoe from under a chair.

Drew eyed her elevated bottom speculatively, but refrained from saying the first thing that came to mind. "Now we find Senator Charlene McNabb before she goes home during the Senate recess."

"Where's home?"

He shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Fort Myers, Florida. She left last night."

Senator McNabb's office manager seemed unimpressed with their claim to have urgent business with the senator once she learned they were not from her state. "I can give her a message."

"We have to talk to her in person," Drew insisted. "It's personal."

The woman shrugged. "Can't help you then. She'll be back a week from tomorrow, if you want to make an appointment."

"It can't wait."

"It never can."

Drew clenched his jaw muscles and kept his temper in check. The woman was just doing her job. "Can you at least give us her phone number?"

She sent him a withering look. "The senator's home phone? Yeah, right."

"How about you dial the number, then let us talk to her in private?"

"How about you make an appointment like everyone else?"

She didn't notice his narrowed eyes because her attention was back on her computer screen, ignoring him. Drew ran a hand through his hair and looked away until he could get his irritation under control.

"Senator McNabb doesn't actually live in Fort Myers, does she? Isn't she on Sanibel?"

Drew shot an incredulous glance at Lauren. Where did she get that idea? And why was she making small talk while the Queen of Proper Procedures threw roadblocks in their path?

She sat on one of the empty desks in the deserted office, swinging her legs and watching the office manager with interest.

"Lauren," he began, when the woman looked up from her screen in surprise.

"Yeah, Sanibel Island. How'd you know that?"

"My parents have a condo there. They pointed out the senator's house once. It's on the Gulf side, right?"

The woman nodded, looking pleased. "Right."

"North end of the island, isn't it?"

She hesitated. "Well, I'd say more middle than north."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. You'd know, since you've probably been down there quite a few times yourself."

"Not that often."

Drew stood still, afraid to distract the woman and fascinated with Lauren's questions.

"Oh, you should be there now. This is the perfect time of year. Isn't that little beach near the senator's house? I don't know the name but you know which one I mean, don't you?"

The woman smiled. "Yeah. I don't know the name either."

Lauren braced her hands on the desk and leaned forward, an eager light in her eyes. "This is the perfect time of year to leave D.C. You really should find some urgent reason to see the senator. Just drive right up to those big white gates and-"

"Black gates."

"Black? I was sure they were white. Maybe they painted them since I was there. Anyway, you should find some excuse to get down there. It sure beats Washington in March."

The office manager sighed wistfully. "Yeah, I wish."

Lauren hopped off the desk abruptly. "Well, you work on it. You could always find some urgent business you need to discuss in person, right? We'll see you when the senator gets back next week, and I expect you to have a tan by then."

They laughed and waved good-bye. Drew let Lauren take his hand and pull him out of the office. She didn't speak until they were several doors down.

"Think you can find it? Gulf side of the island, north of middle, black gates out front."

"How in the world did you know she lived on Sanibel Island?"

"Just a guess. The family has money, and that's the best oceanfront real estate around those parts."

"Your parents have a condo there?"

"Ha. My parents couldn't afford a mobile home on Sanibel, if they allowed them there, which they probably don't."

"But you've been there before?"

"We drove around it once when I was a kid. Sightseeing."

He grabbed her by the upper arms and kissed her. He put an arm around her shoulders as they walked toward the elevators. "You're pretty terrific, Lauren Sutherland, you know that?"

"Even with my clothes on?"

"Terrific with them on, amazing with them off."

Her eyes sparkled and she leaned into his side as they walked, and he thought that maybe terrific and amazing were understatements.

They could get two tickets to Fort Myers if they were willing to leave at six the next morning and pay an exorbitant amount for first cla.s.s fare. Lauren groaned; Drew offered a credit card number without blinking.

"I'll pay you back," she said, wondering if she even had that much in her savings account.

"It's taken care of. I just won't be able to put that addition on the cave this year." He winked.

She wasn't stupid. She'd begun to suspect he didn't live in a cave after all.

"Won't the Secret Service be able to trace us by watching for activity on your credit card?"

"Not unless they look for charges on Steven's card." He grinned and held it up for her inspection. "Found it in the glove box. Gerald must have left it for us. That man thinks of everything. I'll pay Steven back before he even gets the bill."

They chose a hotel near Reagan National Airport, and at Drew's insistence they sat in the Volvo for twenty minutes, watching cars come and go until they were sure they hadn't been followed.

Lauren was relieved. "I'll sleep better knowing that guy who tried to run us over doesn't know where we are."

"You were planning to sleep?"

Lauren's impulse to break her engagement to staid, dependable Jeff in favor of a few exciting flings was looking like the right move. And having that first fling with Drew was the best idea ever.

She couldn't wait to find Meg, if only to tell her sister that she'd been right all along, that tying herself to one uninspiring but dependable man forever had been a horrible mistake. And it was not one she intended to make again.

The hotel room was dominated by a solitary kingsized bed, making it difficult to think of anything but possibilities. Lauren tried to block it out by concentrating on her other appet.i.te; unfortunately, ordering food only killed five minutes.

She set the receiver back in its cradle. "Room service said it'll be twenty minutes. I don't know if I can wait that long. I'm starving."

Drew pulled her into his arms. "Maybe I can take your mind off it." He kissed her with a slow, deep pa.s.sion that left her heart pounding and her body begging for more.

"That'll do it," she managed to get out.

He smiled, looking as dazed as she felt. "Sorry, but it's not nearly enough." His hands went under her shirt and directly to the clasp behind her back, flicking it open and out of his way in two seconds. A hand covered each breast, stroking her nipples into hard pearls, while his mouth trailed kisses along her neck. She could get used to this.

Lauren shivered with pleasure, but he broke off suddenly with a groan, resting his forehead against hers. "I don't believe how badly I want you again, but I refuse to watch the clock while we make love," he said.

Make love sounded so much nicer than sounded so much nicer than have s.e.x have s.e.x she hoped he'd used those words deliberately. And while making love boded well for the after-dinner entertainment, right now he was driving her crazy. she hoped he'd used those words deliberately. And while making love boded well for the after-dinner entertainment, right now he was driving her crazy.

"Then stop teasing." She shoved his chest, causing him to plop back onto the bed. "Distract me with conversation. Tell me about your cave in Colorado." She turned a chair to face him and sat down. Watching him wasn't as good as touching him, but it wasn't half bad.

"Okay," he agreed, settling back. "My cave is actually a little cottage behind the ski lodge. I run a year-round operation as-" He faltered as she slipped her arms out of her shirt long enough to pull her unfastened bra off, then tugged the shirt back down. Drew smiled. "That's nice."

She glanced down at her white T-shirt; it did little to hide the dark circles of her nipples. "Stick to the story," she ordered, trying to sound stern even though his obvious interest only made her more aroused.

He licked his lips. "Um, yeah. As I was saying, the lodge is open year-round."

"You manage the place?"

"I own it. I bought it five years ago in pretty rundown condition, and it's been in operation the last three years."

"As a resort where snow bunnies can cavort on the slopes." And in your bed, she was tempted to add, but didn't. She couldn't criticize while she was doing her own cavorting with him.

"Well, no. That was your embellishment. There are no snow bunnies."