Power Play: A Novel by Danielle Steel Read Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Danielle Steel
years. “I missed you too,” she said, and then kissed him again. There was an overwhelming sensual quality to her that he had found irresistible since the day he met her, and she felt the same way about him.
“Where are the girls?” he asked in a whisper. He lived five days out of every week for these moments with her.
“At the gym with the sitter. They’ll be back soon,” she said, lost in his arms, as he wrapped himself around her like a snake, and she could feel how much he wanted her, as much as she wanted him.
“How soon?” he asked, and she giggled. She had a wonderful girlish quality to her. She was entirely female, and every inch of her excited him.
“Maybe half an hour,” she answered, and with that he picked her up in his arms, and carried her up to her bedroom. She wasreasonably tall, but thin and as light as a feather. And a moment later, he set her down on her bed, tore his clothes off, as she peeled off her ancient paint-splattered undershirt and dropped the cut-off jeans and the thong she was wearing underneath. Less than a minute later, they were both naked and wrapped in each other’s arms, overwhelmed by the passion that had consumed them for eight years. It had been a white-hot union from the moment they met. She had been a temporary receptionist in his L.A. office, and by the time she left a month later, they were having an affair, and he hadn’t been able to tear himself away from her ever since. He could never get enough of her, he was obsessed with her and always had been. And he came with a roaring sound that was always music to her ears. They were both more careful whenever the girls were home, but now they didn’t have to be and could abandon themselves to each other.
He lay in bed with her afterward, and looked at her. He didn’t know how it could get any better, but it always did. Just the few days he spent away from her every week made him fall in love with her all over again.
“I missed you so much this week,” he said, and meant it.
“Me too.” She never asked him how his week had been, how work was, or about his life in San Francisco. She didn’t want to know. They lived in the present moment, with no past and no future. Ashley Briggs had become the woman of his dreams.
She was a talented artist, and he had bought the house in Malibu seven years before. She had lived there ever since. They heard the front door slam then, and voices below, and both Marshall and Ashley leaped out of bed and back into their clothes, and then followed each other downstairs with a guilty look. There were two identicallybeautiful little girls at the foot of the stairs, in gym clothes, with the same lush curls as their mother, and they looked at Marshall with delight and ran halfway up the stairs and threw themselves at him and almost knocked him down, but he was laughing, as he pulled them each toward him with one arm. He was an entirely different man here and had been for all of the years with her.
“Daddy! You’re home!” Kendall squealed in delight while Marshall tickled her, and Kezia just clung to him with a happy smile. Kendall was the older of the identical twins by four minutes, and she never let Kezia live it down. She claimed priority in everything by virtue of age, but Marshall loved them both. They were like two angels who had fallen into his life, and Ashley was the guardian angel who had brought them to him. He had never felt love in his life as he did for her and their girls. What he shared with Liz was entirely different. That was reason. This was love, as he had never experienced it before.
“How was the gym?” he asked them as though he had seen them that morning. The girls were used to his schedule and the fact that he was only with them for two days a week. It had been that way all their lives, and they no longer questioned it. Their mother had told them that Daddy had to work in San Francisco for five days a week, and then he came home to be with them. And the
“Where are the girls?” he asked in a whisper. He lived five days out of every week for these moments with her.
“At the gym with the sitter. They’ll be back soon,” she said, lost in his arms, as he wrapped himself around her like a snake, and she could feel how much he wanted her, as much as she wanted him.
“How soon?” he asked, and she giggled. She had a wonderful girlish quality to her. She was entirely female, and every inch of her excited him.
“Maybe half an hour,” she answered, and with that he picked her up in his arms, and carried her up to her bedroom. She wasreasonably tall, but thin and as light as a feather. And a moment later, he set her down on her bed, tore his clothes off, as she peeled off her ancient paint-splattered undershirt and dropped the cut-off jeans and the thong she was wearing underneath. Less than a minute later, they were both naked and wrapped in each other’s arms, overwhelmed by the passion that had consumed them for eight years. It had been a white-hot union from the moment they met. She had been a temporary receptionist in his L.A. office, and by the time she left a month later, they were having an affair, and he hadn’t been able to tear himself away from her ever since. He could never get enough of her, he was obsessed with her and always had been. And he came with a roaring sound that was always music to her ears. They were both more careful whenever the girls were home, but now they didn’t have to be and could abandon themselves to each other.
He lay in bed with her afterward, and looked at her. He didn’t know how it could get any better, but it always did. Just the few days he spent away from her every week made him fall in love with her all over again.
“I missed you so much this week,” he said, and meant it.
“Me too.” She never asked him how his week had been, how work was, or about his life in San Francisco. She didn’t want to know. They lived in the present moment, with no past and no future. Ashley Briggs had become the woman of his dreams.
She was a talented artist, and he had bought the house in Malibu seven years before. She had lived there ever since. They heard the front door slam then, and voices below, and both Marshall and Ashley leaped out of bed and back into their clothes, and then followed each other downstairs with a guilty look. There were two identicallybeautiful little girls at the foot of the stairs, in gym clothes, with the same lush curls as their mother, and they looked at Marshall with delight and ran halfway up the stairs and threw themselves at him and almost knocked him down, but he was laughing, as he pulled them each toward him with one arm. He was an entirely different man here and had been for all of the years with her.
“Daddy! You’re home!” Kendall squealed in delight while Marshall tickled her, and Kezia just clung to him with a happy smile. Kendall was the older of the identical twins by four minutes, and she never let Kezia live it down. She claimed priority in everything by virtue of age, but Marshall loved them both. They were like two angels who had fallen into his life, and Ashley was the guardian angel who had brought them to him. He had never felt love in his life as he did for her and their girls. What he shared with Liz was entirely different. That was reason. This was love, as he had never experienced it before.
“How was the gym?” he asked them as though he had seen them that morning. The girls were used to his schedule and the fact that he was only with them for two days a week. It had been that way all their lives, and they no longer questioned it. Their mother had told them that Daddy had to work in San Francisco for five days a week, and then he came home to be with them. And the