Fresh heat burst in her veins, and it wasn’t from the caffeine.
Finish the coffee and get dressed, she told herself. But what would she wear? She’d come here last night in her wedding dress, she had nothing else.
“You know something? You’re right. You have seduced me,” Cassidy said as she hitched herself up onto the bench and let her knees fall apart ever so slightly in invitation, “Which means I’ll just have to seduce you right back.”
Anton licked his lips. Closer. One step, then another. Deftly, his fingers touched the fluffy fabric next to her skin, peeling it back. Every nerve sang at the contact of his fingertips on her breasts, as he cupped the underside, his face full of wonder.
“You are amazing,” his voice came out husky, cracking in places, “You make me forget about the world.”
“Good.”
When his lips made contact with her over-sensitised nipples, Cassidy nearly lost her mind. No matter how many times she repeated ‘stay in control’ in her head, her body wanted to go crazy. Heat poured into her, making her swollen and wet, ready for him. An urgent need built inside, making her ache for him.
“Yes,” she whispered, wrapping her hands around the back of his head, messing his hair, holding him to her.
Cool air blew on her skin as he parted the fabric away from her body, exposing her completely to him in the light of morning.
“You’re beautiful,” he muttered, letting go of her breasts to begin a scorching trail of kisses down her body. Skin on skin as his hands worshipped her. Warm, wet lips praising her.
He pulled her towards the edge of the bench, balancing her in his arms. Bliss. Pure bliss. She leaned back, resting on her elbows on the bench top. Her head fell back as she gave her body to him, to do as he pleased as his hands and kisses moved slowly, so agonisingly slowly south.
Everything he did drew fire on her skin. Something exploded inside her head when his tongue reaching her tender flesh, his fingers playing with the swollen folds. Deliciously teasing and tormenting. That mouth of his, taking her most sacred place and making it his. Claiming her. Again and again, at first licking and teasing, then suckling. Ripples of pleasure built inside her, building and building. Soft cries of delight escaped her lips. Her eyes fell shut, all senses zeroed in to the exquisite pleasure he gave her. Kept giving. Until she could hardly stand it. Wanted to lie there and take it for as long as she could, but her body kept shuddering, pushing her on towards the inexorable release she craved. It felt so good. So damn good she didn’t want it to stop.
“That’s enough.” Anton said.
What? Confusion swirled and crashed as the rest of her senses came back on line and she opened her eyes. For a horrible moment she wondered if someone had walked in on them. Nope, just the two of them, their faces flushed, their bodies primed for lovemaking, ready to join again in that wonderful frenzy of hormones and lust.
He’d driven her to the peak, and left her there.
“You bastard,” Cassidy spat. Emotions warred within. How could she hate someone yet want to push him to the ground and jump his bones at the same time?
Only moments ago, she’d opened herself to him, laid herself bare in the literal and emotional sense. Let him do what he wanted to her. Let her think she was safe and that she could lose control with him.
His green eyes turned to ice, “Yes, I am a bastard, and you’d do well to remember that,” he said, pulling the edges of her robes together.
A bit late for modesty now!
As the remnants of lust subsided inside Cassidy, anger took its place. She flung the robe off and stood toe to toe with him, completely exposed. The bulge in his towel gave her the proof she needed that he wasn’t completely immune to her. Yet somehow, moments ago, he’d managed to stop himself before completely losing it.
That made him an utter, 24-carat-unmentionable.
“You wipe that smirk off your face mister. You’re the one that wanted to get married, and here we are.” With that, she stomped back to the bedroom, still naked. She could practically feel the heat of his stare despite the chill in the air.
But there was no way she could turn around and confirm it. This was a dramatic exit. A girl didn’t stuff that up with pauses or double checks.
A week after what he playfully called their ‘kitchen incident’, Anton met with Cloud Eleven executives. The Agenda was business, but his head filled with distracting thoughts of Cassidy.
That morning, he’d had the brilliant idea of driving her to distraction and pulling away. The way it panned out in his head, she would then beg him to complete her; and he’d do it – knowing she’d bent to his will. He’d have the upper hand.
Except it hadn’t worked out like that in reality, because she’d thrown his challenge back in his face. Turned the tables and made it abundantly clear he was the one missing out. The image of her beautiful, pale and taut bottom, moving provocatively as she walked away, was there behind his eyelids every time he blinked.
He blinked now as Craig Young spoke to the huddle of senior management, and tried to concentrate on what he was talking about. Instead he blinked again and thought about how good it felt to be with Cassidy. And how he’d done the incredibly stupid thing of locking himself into a marriage with a woman who drove him sexually insane, yet he’d been the one to effectively ban sex.
A morning meeting was not the time to vague out, not when he had so much at stake.
All eyes were on him. Craig must have finished talking. For the life of him he couldn’t remember a thing the old man had said.
Get a grip!
Clearing his throat, he looked at each person in turn, sensing the fear that may be evident on his face at getting caught out napping. Cassidy should have been in here, adding her input, but she’d left this morning before he woke, probably to go to the bistro.
“Cloud Eleven Hotels are synonymous with quality and excellence. I want to maintain that. The reason I invested in the company is because of its great reputation, and future opportunities for expansion. Everyone who works here feels proud when they come through the doors. Every guest who stays here feels pampered, even the cheap ones,” Anton said.
That brought a ripple of mirth.
Time to hand out the new ‘bible’. He’d printed it on A4 paper, but bound it in larger, thick card, so that it deliberately didn’t slip neatly into their in-trays or get slotted into a filing cabinet where nobody would see it again. It would have to sit on their desks, where they’d see it all the time. Straight away he recognised the confusion mixed with concern on their faces as they tried to make sense of what he was up to.
Half an hour later, he dismissed the meeting, leaving him alone with Craig Young.
“Not bad,” Craig said, arms folded across his chest. “They might even read it.”
Time to up the ante, “When can I expect your resignation?”
Thunderous laughter was the answer. Craig slapped his hand on Anton’s shoulder and pulled him into a bear hug, “Good on you son, not afraid to have your balls hanging in the breeze. But I’m not leaving for a long while. You’ll have to prize this place from my cold, dead hands.”
“Then you’d better watch those stress levels,” Anton shot back, keen not to miss a beat.”Give up the smokes for a start. And the skirts.”
Craig snapped. “Who blabbed?”
Anton shot back, “Thanks for confirming that rumour.”
Craig slapped Anton on the shoulder, “I still got it, so why not take advantage?”
Anton’s heart sank at the revelation. The blatant disrespect Craig Young showed his wife by carrying on with other women made a mockery of the company’s family-friendly reputation.
Cassidy needed to know this, but if Anton did the telling, she’d despise him.
Maybe that would be for the best? A couple of months ago, this kind of information would have been manna from heaven. An easy way to undermine his enemy so he could swoop in and take over.
Now his only concern
was how to let Cassidy know, because that was the right thing to do. But the truth would devastate her, and that in turn made him things twist in his belly.
8
When Mark drove Anton home, they saw two huge furniture vans parked out the front.
Cassidy was leaving?
But why the trucks? She didn’t have any stuff in his house.
As he stepped out of the car, his heart kicked against his ribs. She wasn’t moving out, she was moving things in.
Moving in huge things covered in blankets and wrapped in cardboard boxes. Brand new furniture to fill the empty house four times over, from the looks of things.
“Oh, hello, I wasn’t expecting you back till later,” Cassidy said, her face flushed, a nervous smile playing at the corner of her kissable, plump lips.
How much he wanted to kiss her! His hands twitched at the need to take her in his arms. They had an audience; it would be perfectly natural, yet right now he wanted her alone. To take her in his arms and kiss away her troubles…
Where on earth had that thought come from? As if Cassidy had any troubles! He was the one with the problems stacking up in his psyche.
“You’re decorating?” He managed. Talk about stating the obvious!
“Come and see what I’ve done to the other rooms.”
At some point along the way, as she showed him from room to room, her hand slipped into his. It felt so natural, so warm and comfortable. The perfect fit.
“These empty rooms felt wrong.” Cassidy said as she showed him to her new ‘favourite’ room. She’d turned one of the downstairs lounge areas into a private movie theatre, with plush, leather recliner couches, side tables and an enormous plasma screen along one wall.
Everything smelt new. New leather couches. New plastic on the appliances. They’d need to open the windows to clear the air.
“The electrician’s coming next week to install the projector. We’ll have a pull down screen as well, when we want to see something seriously huge,” she said, her eyes aglow with mischief. “AlsoI’ve been talking to the landscapers you hired to do the gardens. They said they’re still waiting on you to agree to a design? It’s not like you to be indecisive.”
The words hung between them for a moment, stretching time.
“I’m not much of a gardener,” he shrugged.
“Neither am I, but I’ll give it a shot. Their plans looked really good, and it will soften the stark fence around the lap pool.”
The woman was a dynamo, making every room in this cold pile of his feel warm and inviting. An image of the two of them planting things, getting their hands muddy, watching things grow, suddenly seemed mighty appealing.
And surprisingly long-term.
Something warm lurched down low, he couldn’t put his finger on it straight away. A strange feeling of being… happy?
It was such a change in mood from the way things had been after the morning after their wedding night, he swallowed his bad news about Cassidy’s father and pushed it down to his toes. Now was not the time to ruin a chance of the two of them reaching some kind of comfortable middle ground. And once they established that, perhaps she’d warm to him again, the way she had in his bed.
“Oh goodness, I’m late,” Cassidy said, checking her watch, “I’m needed at the bistro.”
“Let the staff handle it,” he said before thinking. Hang on, what just happened here? Do I want to spend more time with Cassidy? Of course I do!
“It’s the cocktail competition tonight, all hands on deck.”
“Of course,” he should have remembered, but standing here in such a domestic setting made him forget. “I’ll get Mark to drive us.” Je kept stride with her as she headed for the door.
Out the front of the house, the removalists were closing the truck gates with a creak and a clang, getting ready to head off.
A series of flashes and camera lights greeted them by the front gate. Someone must have tipped off the media. Perhaps this was part of Cassidy’s plan all along? Make it known to all and sundry that she was moving in for good. Make their pretend marriage look completely real.
Which utterly trapped him in the process.
They’d be watching his every move for signs of strain in the relationship. Moving her things in would normally be a sign of comfort, of companionship. Only in this case, it must all be for show, because the goods were all new, all brought in straight from the showroom. All for show.
She’d done it again. Changed the rules while he wasn’t looking. Made him feel things he shouldn’t.
Thank goodness he’d noticed just in time, before he’d done something – said something – he couldn’t take back.
Why did the paparazzi have to turn up and spoil a perfectly good evening? Cassidy shook her head in wonder as Mark pulled up outside Bistro Vita. Nice of Anton to get out first and open her door, but it had to be for the cameras clicking away. If they’d been alone, she felt sure he wouldn’t have made the gesture. When they’d left Anton’s house, the cameras were there as well. Someone must have tipped them off. Maybe that had been his doing?
And they’d been getting along so well. Had found a way to talk without antagonising each other. That was a first! He’d liked her furniture, approved of her tastes. Would even let her play a hand in the garden design. Surely that meant he was beginning to trust her? But perhaps it was all part of some larger plan, that he might let her think she had some control, but he was the one with all the power.
Shaking her head, she wondered why Anton had wanted to tag along to the bistro tonight. Theme nights, as a rule, did attract more patrons, but the staff could handle it.
A wave of noise and the strong aroma of hot meals greeted them as the doors opened. You could barely move for people. Every seat taken, waiters taking trays laden with colourful, sample-size drinks to the tables. Music and dance videos blared from the screens over the bar, so people talked even louder to be heard.
The decorations were celebrating autumn. Fallen orange and red leaves, sunny days and cool evenings. A lonely cupid still hung from the ceiling, a reminder of last month’s Valentines promotions. Cupid’s arrow pointed directly to Cassidy’s office.
The evening passed in a blur of hard work and noise. Happy people, fragrant food, colourful drinks, laughter and music filling the air. Overriding all this, always in the corner of her vision, was Anton. He’d worked just as hard as the rest of them. Sleeves rolled up, stacking plates and glasses into the industrial dishwashers. All night his work pace never ceased.
As the night drew to a close and Cassidy counted the takings in her office, Anton stayed close. “You should have strong boxes beneath the registers, so you’re not here late at night counting money. It’s a huge security risk,” he said.
“You’re right. I’m surprised thieves haven’t targeted us already.” Every night she had a pile of money to count before she put it in the safe.
“I’m more concerned about you. Have you been doing this every night? Staying here by yourself with all this money, leaving yourself open to attack?”
“It’s not always this much cash. Tap-and-go makes things so much better.”
He grabbed handfuls of notes and shoved them in the open safe, “You’re not doing this again, it’s too dangerous.” Before she could protest, he slammed the door shut, “We’ll sort this out tomorrow. Right now, I’m taking you home.”
“You’re actually worried about me, aren’t you?”
“Of course, I am.” For a moment, his expression reflected the concern in his words, then he blinked and pretended to shrug it off. “If anything happened to you while you were here, our insurance rates would go through the roof.”
“Sure,” she said, grabbing her coat as a surge of happiness warmed her soul. “Hide it all you want, but a miracle has happened here tonight. You actually do care about me.”
He flicked off the light before she could read anything more into his expression, but she felt sure there would be a scowl on that handsome
face of his. “It’s all right, tough guy, your secret’s safe with me.” She giggled to provoke him even more, yet all the while she couldn’t stop the lovely flurries of hope swirling in her system. He did care for her.
It wasn’t love, but it was a start.
As much as he’d tried to deny them, Anton had to acknowledged the strong feelings he had developed for Cassidy. His wife. Could it be possible he’d found happiness in the last place he’d think of looking – within his own marriage?
When the car pulled up, Anton opened the door for Cassidy and held her hand, not letting it go as they entered the house and turned towards the bedroom. At any moment, he expected her to pull her hand away; every step he took he expected a tug in his palm where she’d leave for another room. Heart racing, he took the final few paces to his bedroom and excitement surged anew. She not only followed him, she stood beside him.
Did she have any idea how much this meant to him, his wife standing by his side?
Standing at the threshold, he drew her hand to his chest, placing it over his heart. It thumped against his ribs, the valves working overtime, pumping his body full of fresh blood and fresh hope.
The answer to his silent question was there in her eyes. Pale blue eyes glistening in anticipation, just as his must be, dilated and dark with desire. It took a few blinks before he could focus properly.
“Take your shoes off,” she said, as she sat on the edge of the bed and patted the space beside her.
He obeyed, slipping off his shoes and socks and letting them fall in a heap on the ground. She took his left foot in her firm grip and began pressing and massaging. Things went off in his brain; pressure he didn’t know he’d been holding fell away. Things inside him turned to jelly and he fell back onto the bed.
Wave after wave of comforting bliss travelled up his leg, wrapping itself around his heart. He had no idea a foot rub could do such things. Those firm hands of hers pressed and kneaded all his tension away.
Be Mine: Valentine Novellas to Warm The Heart Page 77