Envy Mass Market

For several moments she was too stunned to speak, then she threw herself against him. “Noah! That’s wonderful. When? What made you… You always get so defensive whenever I mention it. Oh, I’m thrilled. Thrilled!”

She rained kisses over his face. He laughed and indulged her enthusiasm. Finally he set her away, keeping her at arm’s length. “Don’t get carried away. I’ll probably fail miserably.”

“You won’t,” she said adamantly. “I don’t believe for a moment that you’re the one-book wonder you fear you are. The author of The Vanquished—”

“Which I wrote years ago, Maris, when I was full of passion, a young man with stars in his eyes.”

“And talent,” she stressed. “Talent like yours isn’t depleted by one book, Noah. It doesn’t simply disappear. On the contrary, I think it

ripens with age and experience.”

“We’ll see.” He glanced at the computer dubiously. “In any case, I’m willing to test your theory. I’m going to give it a shot.”

“You’re not just doing it for me, are you?”

“I couldn’t do it just for you. Writing is damn hard work. It’s borderline masochistic. If your heart’s not in it, you’re doomed before you start.” He rubbed his knuckles against her jaw. “This is something I want to do. Very much. And if it pleases you, that’s a bonus.”

“It pleases me very much. I couldn’t be more pleased.” She hugged him tightly, then kissed him with more heat than she could remember feeling for a long time.

As their lips clung, Noah slipped off his jacket. Her heart quickened. The surroundings were unfamiliar and untried. It would feel a shade illicit if they made love in this new apartment, on the sofa, on the rug. Hell, on the desk. Why not? They were grown-ups.

She slid her hands up his chest and began working on the knot of his necktie. But he moved her aside, sat down at the keyboard, and booted up the computer.

“I’m so anxious to get started.”

“Now?”

He swiveled his chair around and looked up at her, grinning sheepishly. “Do you mind? It’s taken me weeks to set up my new playground, but I haven’t had time to play in it. I barely got the finishing touches put on this afternoon before the chef and waiters arrived. I’d like to install my software and maybe jot down a few notes. I’ve been toying with an idea. I’m afraid if I don’t commit it to paper, it’ll vanish. Do you mind if I work awhile?”

She forced herself to smile. “No. Of course not. Not at all.”

There wasn’t to be a romantic conclusion to the evening, and that was disappointing. But, fairly, she couldn’t complain. This was what she had wanted. This was what she had been encouraging him to do for years.

“I’ll say good-bye and leave you to your work.”

“You don’t have to go, Maris. You can hang around if you like.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to be a distraction. Besides, I need to go home and pack for my trip.”

He took her hand and kissed the palm. “Will you be all right hailing a cab?”

“Don’t be silly. Of course.” She leaned on the arms of his desk chair, bringing her face down to the level of his. “It was a lovely surprise party, Noah. Thank you for everything, but especially for this. I can’t wait to read your next novel. Look what happened after I read the first one.”

As they kissed, his hand followed the curve of her hip down to the back of her thigh. When she withdrew, he continued to stroke her leg. “On second thought, maybe I’ll postpone starting until tomorrow.”

She aimed her finger at the computer keyboard. “Plot!”

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Noah let himself into another apartment. It was half a block away—seventy-seven steps, to be exact—from the one where he had set up an office he planned never to use. He dropped his key onto the console table in the short entry hall and moved into the living area, where he drew up short.

“I started without you,” Nadia said.

“So I see.”

She was lying on the sofa, one foot on the floor, naked except for a royal blue silk robe that lay open. Her eyes were half closed. Her hand was rhythmically moving between her thighs. “I’m close. You’d better hurry if you want to get in on this one.”

He sauntered over to the sofa, reached down, and fingered her stiff nipple. It was enough to make her come. Smiling as he watched, Noah continued tweaking her until her arching body had squeezed every bit of pleasure it could from the orgasm, then relaxed and resettled into the sofa cushions.