FOR HER EYES ONLY Page 12

  "We'll find her, Michelle. This, I promise you."

  She gazed at him, wanting to believe him. But she couldn't. Not only couldn't they find Lili—even if they did, Gerald knew perfectly well that there was nothing they could do to gain immediate custody of her.

  A big, hot tear rolled down her cheek, and she violently wiped it away. After speaking to the man who had fathered her child, she knew it was even more important to get Lili away from him. She'd never known him to be so cold, so manipulative.

  She didn't realize the car had stopped until she felt Jake's warm breath on her cheek. He'd turned off the four-lane road they'd been on onto a narrow, residential street shadowed by trees, and he'd flipped on the hazard lights.

  "Hey?" he murmured, pressing his lips against her cheek, then rubbing his thumb against the dampness there. "Everything's going to be all right. Do you hear me?"

  She nodded and bit on her bottom lip.

  "No, I don't think you do hear me, Michelle." He hooked his finger under her chin and forced her to face him. She looked everywhere but into his eyes.

  Then his mouth brushed hers, once, twice, inviting her to respond. She tightly closed her eyes, a sob gathering in her throat. Jake thrust his fingers through her hair. "Look at me, baby."

  She didn't dare.

  "Please," he whispered, running his tongue over her bottom lip then nipping at it. "Please look at me, Michelle."

  Her eyelids fluttered opened. She felt as if she were looking at him from the bottom of a shallow stream, his features blurry, but there was no mistaking the fiery intensity in his eyes.

  Slowly, her vision began to focus. On Jake. On his concern for her. On his closeness. Oh, how she was coming to need this man.

  She slid her arms around his neck, looking at him, drinking him in. She pressed her mouth softly against his. She pulled back and looked into his face. How dear he was becoming to her, how vital. At that moment, it was difficult to believe she had survived nearly six whole weeks here without him. Impossible to imagine that she had existed without him for the past twenty-eight years. Worse yet, she couldn't see tomorrow without seeing visions of him coloring the days.

  She lifted her hand to his hair, rubbing strands between her fingers, then kissed him again. His quiet groan fed the growing fire within her.

  This time when she kissed him, she did so with more urgency. He responded in kind. Then she launched an all-out assault on his mouth, channeling all her churning emotion into the action, pulling at his lips, biting his tongue, unleashing all that swirled within her. He pulled her into his lap, and she shamelessly ground against his erection. She moved her head from left to right, plunging, sucking, gasping for air. And he returned her passion, kiss for kiss, restless caress for caress.

  She ripped and pulled at the sweatshirt he wore, and gasped when he slid his fingers under the hem of hers, finding her breasts and plucking at her nipples through the fabric of her bra. Then her bra was loose, and his hot palms covered her. She fumbled for the tie to his drawstring pants and thrust both hands inside his briefs, seeking for and finding his silken erection, sliding her fingers up and down the rock-hard shaft, swallowing his groan. Jake tore at her panties under her short black skirt and shifted so she could straddle him, his mouth never abandoning hers.

  Michelle was completely ignorant of the traffic that screamed by on the busy road a mere block away. Didn't want to remember that they were on a residential street, and despite the late hour, passersby could see them. All she knew was an intense desire to have this man inside her now.

  Jake hauled his mouth from hers, his harsh breathing filling her ear as he rested his forehead against hers. "I … I don't have anything on me."

  She kissed the tip of his handsome nose. "We don't need anything," she whispered.

  Freeing him from his pants, she thrust her hips forward until her swollen flesh pressed lengthwise along the side of his erection. She shuddered, longing for him to fill her completely but knowing they could give each other pleasure this way. Tilting her hips, she drew her wet heat down the length of him, then back again. Jake groaned against her mouth as she did it again, then again.

  The friction of their bodies moving against each other without penetration sent fire racing through Michelle's muscles, chasing the last of the emotional chill away and making her arch her back. Jake immediately took advantage and thrust her shirt over her breasts, then fastened his mouth over one of her jutting nipples. She gripped his shoulders tightly, concentrating on the exquisitely thought-robbing sensation of his velvety shaft resting against her most feminine parts. She slowly, torturously shifted forward, then back.

  Jake clutched her hips. "I need to be inside you. Now," he whispered through clenched teeth.

  Michelle covered his hands with hers, gasping when he brought the tip of his erection to rest against her opening, his gaze holding hers captive.

  She was helpless to stop him. If he was determined to reach penetration… She moaned, overwhelmed with the need to feel him inside her.

  But he didn't enter her. Instead, Jake thrust upward, through her swollen folds, holding her still, holding her hostage as his hips bucked again and again.

  Michelle cried out as her body shuddered, the world exploding on the back of her eyelids, even as Jake tensed under her. The feel of the hot evidence of his passion covering her belly sent another round of shock waves rumbling through her. Restlessly, she reached down and raised his hands to her stomach, guiding him to rub the dampness over her skin, her breasts. Reveling in the feel of his passion covering her, the rough skin of his palms rasping against her aching nipples.

  She collapsed bonelessly against him, the sound of their ragged breathing filling the car.

  Michelle had never felt so dependent on a man before. She knew what it was to love a man completely, with her entire heart, body and soul. Never had someone been so attuned to her needs, her wants. Respecting her even as he demanded from her. So willingly making her pain his. His pleasure hers. His strength hers. And it was from that strength that she would find what she needed to continue her search for Lili.

  She slanted her mouth against his, kissing him deeply, passionately. And in his response she sensed he loved her, too.

  * * *

  Chapter 11

  « ^ »

  Jake emerged from the bathroom fresh from a shower, fully dressed, his mind swirling with ideas. He opened the curtains, letting in the morning sun. Michelle mumbled something in French then rolled over, pulling a pillow over her tousled head. He grinned, repressing the urge to tug the sheet down over her naked skin, coax her to use her native tongue to drive him wild, then make up for the time they had lost last night after they'd returned to the hotel.

  He'd intended his kiss in the car to help clear Michelle's emotion-clouded mind. He couldn't have known it would prove a prelude to much, much more. And the erotic few minutes had also helped clear his mind. Gone was the intense desire to see Gerald Evans take the place of his car hood ornament. In its place was crystal-clear determination, his mind a frighteningly efficient machine as he clicked through every snippet of his and Michelle's conversations over the past few days, and the precious little he'd gained from her file when it had been open on Brad's desk. He ignored the niggling in the back of his brain that reminded him there was still much he didn't know in that file. That didn't apply to the here and now. What did was finding Lili before Edgar found them.

  He managed to squeeze in an hour of sleep at some point, but between holding Michelle as she cried in her sleep and murmured words in French he didn't understand, and his need to do something, he'd been awake most of the night.

  Suddenly, Michelle bolted upright in bed, the sheet falling from her delectable breasts, her hair sexily tousled around her head. Jake was instantly struck with the desire to kiss her, to finish what they'd begun in the car the night before. He hadn't been able to after returning to the hotel because he'd come out of the shower last night to find her sleepi
ng fitfully.

  A knock sounded at the door. Michelle looked at him, the concern on her face evident as she clutched the sheet to her chest. Jake peered through the peephole, then opened the door.

  "Thanks for coming so quickly."

  The hotel employee glanced from Jake to Michelle, then set up an elaborate, state-of-the-art laptop computer on the table near the phone. Within moments, it was booted up, connected to the phone line and ready to go.

  Jake walked him to the door and tipped him generously before closing and bolting the door.

  "What's … what's this?" Michelle asked, endearingly confused.

  "A laptop computer."

  "You can get one of these from the hotel?"

  He grinned. "Yes, they allow you to borrow them."

  Another knock. This time Michelle bolted into the bathroom. Jake stared after her firm little bottom as she zoomed by, then adjusted himself in his sweatpants. For God's sake, what the woman did to him without even trying. He opened the door again, and this time a cart crammed full of breakfast dishes was rolled in. By the time Michelle came out of the bathroom, freshly showered and wrapped in that silly, sexy robe, Jake was sitting at the computer munching on a piece of toast. She stopped in front of the cart. "This is breakfast?"

  "Uh-huh. I didn't know what you liked, so I ordered everything."

  She fingered the top of an open champagne bottle in an ice bucket.

  He looked away. "Compliments of the hotel."

  "Ah."

  "I asked them for that latte thing you like."

  A sound of deep satisfaction emerged from her throat. She sat cross-legged on the bed behind his chair and picked up the soup-bowl-size cup, doing the human equivalent of purring as she took her first sip.

  "What are you going to do?" she asked, lapping cream from her upper lip.

  Jake tore his gaze from the painfully erotic flick of her tongue and turned to the computer. He accessed his ISP account with a D.C. carrier then gained access to a special reverse directory only certain government investigators could employ to seek out addresses. Whatever Edgar was up to, it thankfully hadn't affected his ability to access the data. "What's your number in Paris?"

  "My number?"

  God, but he wanted to touch her. Massage the worried lines from between her expressive brown eyes. Whisper things into her ear that would make her forget the gravity of their search. But while making love to her would work for a little while, afterward they would crash down to earth to find themselves right where they were when they started. Actually, in a worse situation, because an invisible clock was ticking. By now Edgar had likely gotten the documentation needed to pull both him and Michelle in. It was only a matter of time before he found them and pulled the rug from under their feet

  He opened his mouth, prepared to ask Michelle exactly what was hidden in the shadows of her past that made her rate a spot so high on the INS hit list. Then fear forced his question down. It didn't matter, anyway. The information wouldn't change their situation. It would only cloud his judgment, take his mind from the matter at hand.

  "You said that Lili knew her home phone number, right? That it was just recently she was taught of the dangers of abduction. It's more than likely she'd been trying to call you, but—"

  "But because she doesn't know the correct area code, or understand overseas calling procedures—"

  "She probably got a local number instead," Jake confirmed.

  Michelle sat straighter, her eyes alight with new hope. God, how he wanted to kiss her.

  She clearly repeated her phone number for him. He entered it into the search engine. A moment later, a message popped up informing him there was no such number in that area code. Jake sat back and rubbed his fingers against his eyelids.

  "Wait!" Michelle said before he exited the system, her mouth filled with a strawberry. "She always transposed the last two numbers! Try it."

  He did. Within moments, a name and number popped up. Jake wrote them down. Michelle wiped her sticky hands on a napkin then picked up the phone and began dialing. Jake reached over and depressed the disconnect button.

  "What? We need to call the number, yes? See if Lili has been trying to contact me?"

  He tapped the face of his watch. "I don't think you're going to find Ms. Hagan very cooperative right now. It's only eight on a Wednesday morning."

  "Oh." Lethargically, Michelle replaced the receiver.

  "Anyway, I think it better if we visit in person a little later this morning. It's too easy for someone to give you the brush-off over the phone. Face-to-face, they tend to make a little more effort to help you."

  He turned to the computer and checked the listing of area codes in the tri-state area. Noting Lansing's, where Gerald's wife was supposedly staying with her parents, and the surrounding ones, he jotted them down and did a search using the phone number with each of the area codes. Only one came through as a legitimate number. It belonged to an antique shop in Napolean, Ohio. Michelle reached for the phone again.

  "It's a business, no? Which means they may be open?"

  Jake grinned. "Yes."

  She started to dial, hesitated, then handed the phone to him. "I don't think I can handle it."

  He accepted the receiver, then folded his fingers over hers. He met her eyes meaningfully, then tugged her until she was sitting on his lap.

  He'd done it to allow her to listen in on the conversation. But the instant welcome a certain body part gave to the close proximity of Michelle's hot bottom was something he hadn't anticipated.

  Her smile was downright naughty as she dialed the last number. "There."

  Jake quickly put the receiver to his ear.

  An elderly male answered the phone. Jake spent five minutes on the phone with him, going over all the possibilities. Had a little girl called asking for her maman in French? No. Were there other employees who answered the phone? No. Sometimes it helped to keep the person on the line, so Jake asked how the antiques business was going and got an earful on the topic. But when he returned to the subject of Lili, he was told the only strange call the old man had gotten recently was from some fast-talking salesman trying to sell him foreign lottery tickets. Jake advised him to pass on the deal, then hung up the receiver.

  Michelle crossed the name off the short list, then got up and went to sit on the bed. Idly she picked at the food on the cart. "No Lili."

  Jake plucked a strawberry from a bowl and held it out to her. She glanced at him from under her thick lashes, her heart so clearly in her eyes it caused his own to constrict. He was about to pull the fruit back when she moved her lips around it, then bit into it with her straight little teeth. He swallowed before she did, watching as juice ran down the side of her mouth and over her chin. She chewed slowly, watching him. He realized he was making the same chewing motion and groaned. God, it was inhuman, the need he felt for this woman.

  Glancing at the clock and seeing that they didn't have anything more to do for a couple hours, he grabbed the bowl of strawberries and the bottle of champagne and practically dove on top of her on the bed.

  * * *

  Nothing. Not a single one of the numbers panned out. Either Lili hadn't been given access to a phone, or she hadn't tried to call.

  Michelle sat cradling her coffee cup in concentration. The ticking of a clock in her ears grew louder with each passing minute and with each dead end she and Jake reached. She'd experienced so many highs and lows over the past three days, she didn't quite know where she was. She only knew where she would be soon. In Paris. Without her daughter.

  She glanced at Jake, who sat opposite her, his gaze intense on her. She shivered. His want of her physically was lurking in his warm gray eyes, but so was something else. More than curiosity, almost suspicion.

  She looked around the small diner near the Ohio Michigan border. Most of the lunch customers had left, leaving her and Jake nearly alone in the corner booth.

  "So what do we do now?" she whispered, afraid of his answer.r />
  He didn't answer. It appeared he hadn't heard her.

  She put her cup down and pushed her hardly eaten lasagna away.

  "There's one other area we have yet to check," he said quietly.

  She searched his face, hardly daring to hope that there was another option.

  "Gerald's parents' place."

  Despite her best efforts, hope ran away with her. "Of course!" Her mind raced. "We have to go through there to get back to…" She allowed her words to trail off, not able to say "back to D.C." "It's only a couple of hours away, yes? That means we can be there before five. A good time to check into strange callers, yes?"

  The smile he gave her was decidedly less bright than ones he'd honored her with before. "Yes."

  "Then let's go!"

  She pulled him up, barely giving him time to put money down for the bill before she tugged him to the car.

  The scenery went by more quickly this time. Michelle made herself look at it the deep greens, the kiss of autumn on some trees. Ignoring the hum of the air conditioner, she pushed the automatic window opener then took a deep breath of the late summer air. Jake shut off the air and rolled down his window, his short hair tousling in the wind. She smiled at him with her entire being.

  The landscape was so unlike where she'd grown up in southern France. The land was flat and seemed to stretch out to forever. She noticed a cow farm, and her smile widened. How little Lili would have loved to see the cows. She could envision her daughter making their mooing sound and pointing at the animals several times to make sure Michelle had seen them.

  Before too long, they rolled into the small town of Canton, where their search had begun only the day before, but it seemed so very long ago. Jake got out of the car and used a pay phone to call information, then minutes later pulled into a copy center that offered Internet access. Before she knew it, he had the addresses he needed. One number was unlisted. But the number with the last two digits transposed wasn't that far from where they were.