“Bella.” He said her name like a prayer.
His hard-on nudged her center and she shifted on him, trying to find a better touch, but it was impossible with the layers of cloth between them. Her dress was hiked up but it wasn’t enough.
He kissed his way down her neck and bit lightly at her nape. She shuddered, clutching at his shoulders, grinding her body harder against him.
He pulled the fabric of her dress up to her waist, slipping his hands under the cloth. Those big hands burned hot on her skin as he cupped her butt and urged her to ride him faster, guiding her motions against him. He bent his head and his tongue stroked her nipple.
Everything in her body clenched. She clutched at Jeremy’s shoulders as her climax washed over her. She collapsed against his chest, and he held her close. Bella hugged him to her and closed her eyes, reminding herself that to Jeremy this was just an agreement. But it didn’t change the fact that she felt like she’d just found the man she’d been secretly dreaming of.
Jeremy had never seen anything more beautiful than the woman in his arms. She was so responsive to his touch and he wanted more. It fed his obsession in a way he hadn’t expected. If he didn’t take her soon he was going to self-combust.
The word mine swirled around in his head.
She pushed his shirt off his shoulders and he tugged it off, tossing it away. She shrugged out of her dress and bra. She was exquisitely built, soft, feminine. Her breasts were full and her skin flushed from her recent orgasm.
He ran his hands slowly over her torso, almost afraid to believe that after all these years, after all his negotiating, she was really here. Finally, in his bed, where he’d been fantasizing about her for so long.
Her nipples were tight little buds beckoning his mouth. He’d barely explored her before and he needed to now. He needed to find out how she reacted to his every touch.
He fingered her nipples carefully and she shifted her shoulders, trying to increase the pressure of his touch. “Tell me what you want.”
“Don’t you know?” she asked, her hands coming to his wrists, trying to control his movements.
He shook his head. “I want the words, Bella.”
“I want…” she blurted.
He realized then that there was something very fragile inside this ultracompetent and professional woman. He pulled her more fully into his arms. Cradled her to his chest. She closed her eyes and buried her face in his neck. Each exhale went through him. God, he wanted her.
He was so hard and hot for her that he could come in his pants. But he was going to wait. He felt the minute touches of her tongue against his neck. Her hand slid down his chest and opened his belt, unfastening the button at his waistband and then lowering his zipper.
Hot damn.
Her hand slid inside his pants and his boxers. Smoothly her touch traveled up and down his length. He tightened his hands on her back. He glanced down his body to watch her working him with such tender care and he had to grit his teeth not to end it all right then. But he wanted to be inside her the next time one of them climaxed.
She smiled up at him. Little minx.
“I want you, Jeremy. All of you, deep inside me.”
“You’re going to have me,” he said, his voice raspy.
She pushed the rest of her clothing away. His breath caught in his throat. She was exactly as he’d dreamed she’d be. Nipped-in waist, long slender legs and full breasts. He nudged her over on her back.
He leaned down, capturing her mouth with his as he shoved his pants farther down his legs. She opened her legs and he settled between her thighs.
The humid warmth of her center scorched his already aroused flesh. He thrust against her without thought. Damn, she felt good.
He wanted to enter her totally naked. At least this first time. But that was a huge risk and one he knew better than to take.
He pushed away from her, fumbled with his pants, taking them all the way off along with his boxers, then found the condom he’d put in the pocket earlier today.
He glanced over at her and saw that she was watching him. The fire in her eyes made his entire body tighten with anticipation. He put the condom on one-handed and turned back to her.
“Hurry.”
“Not a chance. I’m going to savor you.”
“Betcha can’t,” she said.
“You really want—”
“I really want you, Jeremy. Come to me now.”
She opened her arms and her legs, inviting him into her body. He lowered himself over her and rubbed against her. Shifted until he’d caressed every part of her.
She reached between his legs and cupped him in her hands, and he shuddered. “Not now. Or I won’t last.”
She smiled up at him. “Really?”
He wanted to hug her close at the look of wonder on her face. “Hell, yes.”
He needed to be inside her now. He lifted her thighs, wrapping her legs around his waist. Her hands fluttered between them and their eyes met.
He held her hips steady and entered her slowly until he was fully seated. Her eyes widened with each inch he gave her. She clutched at his hips as he started to move.
He leaned down and caught one of her nipples in his teeth, scraping very gently. She started to tighten around him. Her hips moving faster, demanding more, but he kept the pace slow, steady, wanting to feel her climax again before he did.
He suckled her nipple and rotated his hips to catch her pleasure point with each thrust. Her hands clenched in his hair and she threw her head back as her climax ripped through her.
He leaned back on his haunches and tipped her hips up to give him deeper access. Her body was still clenching around his when he felt that tightening at the base of his spine seconds before his body erupted into hers. He pounded into her two, three more times then collapsed against her, careful to keep his weight from crushing her. He rolled to his side, taking her with him.
He kept his head at her breast and smoothed his hands down her back, realizing he’d just made a colossal mistake.
Having sex with Bella hadn’t lessened his obsession with her. It had deepened it.
Jeremy got out of the bed and padded into the bathroom. Bella stared up at the ceiling, her entire body tingling from his lovemaking. She’d never expected it to be like this. This was beyond anything she’d experienced. She was pulsing.
He came back into the room and climbed back in the bed, then propped the pillows up at the head and drew her into his arms, not saying anything.
She had no idea what to do now.
“What are you thinking?” He finally broke the silence.
“That you are incredible.”
“Incredible, eh? I like the sound of that.”
“Great, just what you need. Another reason to be arrogant.”
He tipped her head back and lowered his mouth to hers. His kisses overwhelmed her. They should both be sated and not interested in making love again. Yet as his tongue played in her mouth, she felt the rekindling of her own desire. She wanted him again. She tried to angle her head to reciprocate, but he held her still.
This was his embrace and she felt the fierce need in him to dominate her. To remind her that she was his. She’d found the proof she was searching for that Jeremy was different from every other man she’d ever met.
His biceps flexed as he shifted her in his arms, rolling her under him and then running his hands over her body.
His mouth moved down the column of her neck, nibbling and biting softly. He lingered at the base of her neck, where her pulse beat frantically. Then he sucked on her skin. Everything in her body clenched. Not enough to push her over the edge, just enough to make her frantic for more of him.
She scored his shoulders with her fingernails before skimming them down his chest, caressing his flat male nipples as he held himself above her on his strong arms. She liked the way she was surrounded by him, feeling very feminine as she lay there under him. His skin was hot to the touch and she wrapped her
arms around his body, pulling him closer.
He pulled back, staring down at her. Then he traced one finger over the full globes of her breasts. She shifted her shoulders, inviting his caress. He took one of her nipples between his thumb and forefinger, pinching lightly.
She shook with need. Couldn’t wait for him.
She reached between their bodies, but he shifted his hips out of her reach. His mouth fastened on her left nipple, suckling her strongly. She undulated against him, her hips lifting toward him. He drew his other hand down her body, his fingers tangling in the hair at her center.
He caressed her between her legs until she was frantically holding his head to her breasts, trying to find a release that remained just out of reach. She skimmed her hands down his body.
His breath hissed out as she reached between his legs to cup him and caress his length.
“There’s a condom in the nightstand.”
“Hmm…mmm,” she said, too busy exploring him to really pay attention to what he said.
“Bella, baby, you’re killing me.”
She liked the sound of that. The way his breath caught whenever she gently scored him with her nails. He shifted over her, opening the nightstand drawer and pulling out a condom.
“Put it on me.”
“With pleasure.”
She opened the package before she remembered she hadn’t done this before. But it wasn’t that hard to figure out. He groaned as she covered him, and she thought maybe she’d done it right.
She started to reach lower again but he caught her hand and stretched it over her head. He lifted her leg up around his hip, shifted his body. She felt him hot, hard and ready at her entrance. But he made no move to take her. She looked up at him.
“You’re mine.”
She couldn’t respond to that. “I…”
“Watch me take you, Bella, and know that this means that you belong to me.”
He thrust inside her then. Lifted her up, holding her with his big hands as he repeatedly drove into her. He went deeper than he had earlier. She felt too full, stretched and surrounded by him.
He bit her neck carefully and sucked against her skin and everything tightened inside her until she felt another climax spread through her body. Her skin was pulsing, her body tightening around him. A moment later he came, crying her name and holding her tightly to his chest.
She rested her head against his shoulder and held him. Wrapped completely around his body, she realized the truth of what he’d said. She was his.
Eight
The phone rang just after lunch and Bella hesitated to answer it. Shelley had been in her office twice trying to pump her for more information on her date. And Bella didn’t want to share those details with anyone. She wanted to hold them close.
Plus, despite their synchronicity in bed, there was still tension between her and Jeremy.
She struggled to keep that romantic dinner under the Chihuly glass in her mental scrapbook as one of the best meals of her entire life. There were so few in that category. And most of them had happened a long time ago, when both of her parents were still alive.
The phone stopped ringing and then the intercom buzzed.
“Yes, Shelley.”
“Dare’s on the line. Why didn’t you pick up?”
“I’m working on a proposal,” she said, which was partially true. She’d spoken to Jeremy’s personal chef, Andy Conti, earlier and she was in the process of planning the details of his yacht party as a surprise to him. He’d given her so many gifts and she thought this would be a nice way to give back to him.
Andy said it was a casual event. But from their discussion, she knew it wasn’t her idea of a casual event, where she offered to grill chicken and her friends brought over side dishes and bottles of wine.
She wanted every detail of Jeremy’s party to be perfect. She knew Lucinda would be there. Bella figured this was her chance to show how well she fit in Jeremy’s world.
“Hey, sis.” She heard old-school Beastie Boys playing in the background. “No Sleep Till Brooklyn.” She loved that song and had introduced her brother to the group when he’d come home with a Tupac CD.
“What’s up? And can you turn the radio down?”
The volume immediately was lowered. “I’m coming home this weekend with a few friends and I’m planning to crash at your place. Is that okay?”
“Dare, it’s your place, too.” She liked that he asked, but he didn’t need to. She still missed him around the house. Even though he’d only lived with her off and on since she’d moved to her current place, she was still used to thinking of it as their home.
“Not anymore. I’m subleasing a place in Manhattan.”
“Can you afford it?” she asked, but she knew he could. He had matured so much in the last few years. She didn’t like the thought of him living so far away. She’d always had Dare close by. And New York wasn’t close.
She was alone. Really alone, she thought.
“Yes, sis, I can. I’m going to be making big bucks at my new job.”
“Don’t spend it before you’ve earned it,” she warned him. She’d taken several money management classes after her mom had declared bankruptcy. She hated that feeling of having nothing. Of watching strangers come in and take everything they’d owned and sell it to pay their debts.
“I’m not. We both learned that lesson the hard way, didn’t we?”
She took a deep breath and smiled to herself. She still thought of him as a rebellious boy even though he’d straightened up his act. “Yes, we did.”
“I want you to plan a trip to the city to visit me this fall after I’ve settled in.”
“I will.”
Dare really had turned out okay. There had been a time—well, three and a half years ago—when he was running wild and getting arrested, that she’d thought she was going to end up visiting him in jail.
“I’ve got something on Saturday. Do you still have your key?”
“Yes. What are you doing?”
For some reason she didn’t want to mention Jeremy’s name. “A yacht party.”
“One of your wealthy clients again?”
“Um…not exactly.”
“A date? Bella, who are you dating?” He was teasing her and she wanted to laugh with him but wasn’t sure how he’d react.
“Jeremy.”
“Mr. Harper?”
“Do we know any other Jeremy?” she asked a little sarcastically, because she was nervous.
“No. Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
No, she had absolutely no idea what she was doing. But at this point she wasn’t going to back out. And after last night, she’d confirmed that she wanted a lot longer with Jeremy than a mere six months.
“Sis?”
“What?”
“Be careful.”
“I’ve been taking care of us for a long time.”
“Yes, you have, and now that I’m older it’s time I stepped up and watched out for you.”
“Jeremy’s not a bad guy.”
“I’m not saying that. But he is a smooth operator and you’re not his normal type of woman.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, not exactly sure where her brother was going with this.
“Just that you’ve been busy taking care of me and haven’t done a lot of dating. He’s a pretty experienced man, remember that.”
“I will.”
“I like him. He’s done a lot of good things for us, but that doesn’t mean he’s family.”
“I know that, Dare. I don’t think he understands how to let anyone close.”
“And you don’t know how to keep anyone at arm’s length once you get to know them.”
“What time will you be here on Saturday?” she asked, forcibly changing the subject.
“Sometime after lunch. Don’t forget what I said.”
“I won’t.”
She couldn’t believe Dare was giving her advice. But it warmed her hear
t in ways she’d never be able to articulate. For so long they’d struggled and now…now she felt that they were both going to make it. And she knew they both had one man to thank…Jeremy Harper.
Jeremy wasn’t sure what to expect when he arrived at Bella’s house. She’d sent him a text message earlier saying that she had a weekly dinner she couldn’t cancel. Since they’d spent the last two nights making love, he figured they were due for more socializing.
And it would do him good to be around other people. His focus on her was becoming too narrow. He kept feeling like he was never going to get enough of her, which wasn’t helping his obsession at all. No matter how often he made love to her, he still wanted her. No matter how many hours he held her in his arms, he still felt like six months wasn’t going to be long enough.
She’d told him to bring a bottle of wine and to dress casually. He heard the sound of voices and music coming from the backyard when he arrived. He recognized Kenny Chesney’s song, “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems.”
He walked around back carrying the wine he’d picked up in France when he’d been there on business two weeks ago. As soon as he came around the corner he saw a group of ten or so people sitting around the pool.
He hesitated, remembering Kell and Lucinda’s reactions toward Bella. His friends hadn’t been exactly welcoming. How would her friends react to him? Did he want to know her outside of their agreement? He was a step away from turning around when she stepped out of the house onto the patio and saw him.
She smiled and it lit up her entire face. He wasn’t leaving, no matter how much he might want to. This was definitely crossing the line beyond what he’d outlined in their contract. But when she waved at him, he simply walked toward her.
Everyone stopped talking and he felt like he was on display, but that was nothing new. He ignored it as best he could.
“I’m so glad you made it,” Bella said, wrapping one arm around his waist and leaning up to give him a kiss on his cheek. He turned his head and captured her lips.
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