She didn’t want to be there, either. She started down the stairs, and then remembered something. “Paul, Dashuan was here earlier. He tried to kill me first, and couldn’t, so this guy took over.”
Paul titled his head in consideration. “When I pulled up there was a black Mustang speeding away from the house.”
“That had to be Dashuan. I tried to convince him—” she nodded toward Barney “—that Dashuan was letting him take the fall.”
“I know. I heard. You did great, by the way.”
“Not great enough. He was about to shoot me, anyway.”
Paul closed his eyes in painful remembrance. “I know. Let’s not talk about it.”
With that dismissal, Amber carried Joachim downstairs to the kitchen, saying a silent prayer that Paul would call the police and they would arrive, and this monster would be out of their lives for good. They could decide what to do about the other monster, later.
The police arrived ten minutes later. That must be one of the perks of having cop friends, Amber thought. Sitting on the living room couch, she watched Paul talking to a detective near the front door.
Dazed and rumpled, Barney Roberts had been led out of the house in cuffs several minutes ago, and one of the uniformed officers had already taken her statement.
She could tell by the way they kept their heads together that whatever Paul was telling the detective now was probably off the record. Paul was calling in a favor. But for what?
She stood and wrapped her arms around her body to hold off the cool chill she couldn’t shake. Needing something to do, she walked over to the large bay window that looked out on the street. Her eyes scanned the houses across the street, and she could see more than one curtain moving.
She shook her head. Paul’s nosy neighbors. Our nosy neighbors. She bit her bottom lip, knowing she should deny herself such unrealistic fantasies. But at that moment, she needed that fantasy. After the night she’d had, she deserved a little indulgence.
She heard the front door shut, and a few minutes later Paul came up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist as they watched the police cruisers pull away from the house.
“What were you and that detective talking about?” she asked, letting the curtain fall back in place.
“Just tying up some loose ends.”
“Is one of those loose ends named Dashuan Kennedy?”
He turned her around in his arms, and placed a kiss on her lips. “Maybe.”
“Paul, please don’t—”
“Shh.” He covered her lips with one finger. “Not now. I don’t want to think of Dashuan Kennedy, or Barney Roberts, or anything other than taking you upstairs to my bed right now.”
She smiled. “How can I argue with that?”
He smiled in return, but his smile was much more sensuous. “You can’t.”
Taking her hand, he led her out of the living room and toward the stairs. Just as he placed his foot on the bottom stair, he paused. “Hang on.”
He walked over to the alarm key pad and punched in the numbers to activate it. His thoughtful expression turned to a frown, and Amber recognized the instant he discovered the truth.
His head turned toward her. “Amber, if you had the alarm on, how did they get in the house?”
Damn. Things were going so well, too. Now, their night of lovemaking was about to be overridden by Paul’s anger when she told him that she had forgotten to set the alarm.
Instead of answering, she reached up and unbuttoned her pajama top, letting it slide off her bronze shoulders. She let her eyes convey her thoughts even as she began backing up the stairs. Her smile returned when Paul began to follow.
She knew Paul well enough to know the subject would not be closed forever, but it was closed for the night, and that was enough. Because tonight she needed the feel of his hands on her body, she needed the throbbing inside her quenched, she needed him.
With seductive eyes and unspoken invitation Amber guided him into the bedroom. But before she could initiate anything more, Paul sat down on the bed and pulled her onto his lap.
He fell back, and she was forced to go over with him. His large hands wrapped around her bottom and pulled her up on his waist. “Make love to me, Amber,” he said, burying his face between her breasts.
The words were almost a plea, and Amber knew that what Paul needed from her went beyond the physical. He needed her comfort in the most basic sense of the word.
She wasn’t sure how to give him what he needed, but she would find a way. Somehow, she would make him understand.
She leaned forward and kissed him, a gentle touching of the lips. When he began to respond she applied more pressure, forcing him to part his lips beneath hers. Paul moaned in pleasure, and Amber felt a sort of feminine power swelling inside her.
She kissed him harder, holding his face between her hands so she could devour his wonderful-tasting mouth. Relaxing in her hold, he let her guide and direct their interaction with complete submission.
The feeling of control was drugging, erotic, and soon she was working his shirt off his body, and then his slacks and underwear, as her mouth explored every inch of his hard body.
Her tongue slid across his taut abdomen, up and over his nipple, and when he arched his back, Amber felt the excitement in her own body reaching a pinnacle.
She removed her pajamas and Paul didn’t move. She took a condom from his drawer and ripped it open. With concentration and gentleness, she slid it down his erection. Lying prone, Paul watched her through lowered lashes, with his hands fisted at his side. He bit his bottom lip as she climbed on top of his body, sitting low on his thighs.
The patch of hair at her center rubbed against his muscled leg, and Paul grabbed her hips, trying to bring her down on his throbbing organ. Amber resisted, enjoying her newfound power too much to have it end.
She took him in her hand and stroked him, watching the tortured expressions play across his handsome face.
Amber licked her dry lips, unsure how much longer she herself could hold out. Then his head fell back, and the rod in her fingers tightened even more. She felt the pressure building relentlessly, and knew that if she did not move now it would soon be too late.
She lifted her hips and lowered herself down on him even as he began to climax inside her. Heated and dripping wet with anticipation, Amber felt her own body explode even before he was all the way inside her.
Paul wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her pressed against him as his body bucked beneath her. All Amber could do was try to not be unseated as the man she loved went wild beneath her.
All remnants of gentleness disappeared and he turned, flipping her beneath him and holding her down by the shoulders, pushing into her body in long, steady strokes. Amber felt her legs fall open, needing to take as much of him as possible inside her. The pressure was soon building once again, and then she was falling…falling…falling.
Chapter 25
Amber rolled over and was surprised to find no solid wall of flesh blocking her path. She reached out her hand and felt around, only to feel the cool, empty sheets beneath her fingers. Opening her eyes, she sat up and looked around. She was alone in the bedroom.
She dressed in her pajamas and went in search of Paul, hoping to coerce him into returning to bed. Just as she opened the door, she heard a loud scraping sound followed by voices.
“Vanessa, please lift that chair before you wake Amber.”
Amber recognized Paul’s deep voice, even though he was attempting to whisper. The Vanessa he spoke of had to be his secretary.
Amber could hear movement back and forth across the hardwood floor of the foyer, and she realized there were several people in the house.
“When will you be back?” A woman spoke, and Amber recognized that voice as Rosalie.
What is going on? Amber peeked out the door and saw that the upstairs hall was empty. She crept across the carpet to the railing that overlooked the foyer. Below, she saw Paul standing at th
e small side table writing out a check. Rosalie was standing beside him, watching what he was doing.
“Paul, I told you that is not necessary. Me and Enrique will take care of Joachim, you don’t have to do this.”
Paul ripped the check from the book and handed it to her. “Of course I do. We’ll be gone one, maybe two weeks. You’ll have to buy more formula and baby food.”
Amber watched as a petite, chubby blonde came into view. She was cradling a stack of papers in her arm, and her head was bent forward as she concentrated on the top paper. “Paul, what about the licenses for your systems? Weren’t you suppose to take care of that this week?”
Paul shook his head, as he tucked his checkbook back in the drawer of the table. “The prototypes are faulty, remember?”
“Oh, yeah, okay, I’ll reschedule your appointment with the committee.”
Amber watched the busy scene below in fascination. Joachim’s caregiver, Paul’s secretary—they all seemed to be rushing to get things done. Was Paul going somewhere? He seemed to be preparing for some kind of trip. But wouldn’t he have told her if he were leaving?
“You wanted to see me, boss?” Just then, a young man opened the front door and came into the house, talking in his regular speaking voice. When Paul spun around to face him, the man stopped dead in his tracks.
Vanessa put a finger to her lips and used her other hand to point up. “Matt, you’ll wake his fiancée.”
Matt lifted his eyes and his mouth fell open in surprise. “You mean the fiancée who’s standing at the railing, watching us?”
Everyone turned and looked up.
Paul smiled and headed toward the staircase. “Morning, angel, I thought you were still sleeping.” He took the stairs two at a time until he was standing beside her.
“What’s going on?” Amber asked, even as he took her arm and guided her back to his bedroom.
“Just trying to tie up some loose ends before we leave.” He placed a gentle kiss just behind her ear.
“Hey, boss, what did you need?” Matt called from downstairs.
“Vanessa knows what needs to be done,” Paul called back as he entered his bedroom and closed the door.
“Where are you going?” Amber asked, still confused and trying not to be distracted by Paul’s busy fingers as they worked to unbutton what she had just buttoned.
“Me? You mean we, don’t you?” He pulled her against him and took a breast into his mouth.
Amber felt her knees buckle beneath her, but Paul already had her in his arms and was carrying her to the bed. He laid her down and came over the top of her.
“I promised myself that the next time we did this we would be husband and wife, but who the hell am I kidding?”
Amber had a feeling something important was happening and she should be coherent long enough to find out what. But it was hard to concentrate with the wonderful throbbing organ pressed against her thigh.
“Paul, what’s going on?”
Paul kissed her, before running his tongue along her bottom lip.
Amber moaned under the warm assault and wrapped her arms around his neck, winding her fingers through his thick curls.
Paul shifted her body, allowing himself to fit her much better. “Feel that?”
His hot breath on her neck was like an aphrodisiac.
“Oh, yes.” She sighed, wanting to get rid of the clothes between them.
“That’s Joachim’s little sister anxiously waiting to be made.” Paul slipped his hands into the back of her pajama pants, squeezing the soft mounds of flesh beneath. He began to work the pants down her legs, and Amber wiggled left and right in an attempt to help him.
She wanted nothing more than to feel him deep inside her. To feel him explode with her, to feel—
Joachim’s little sister?
She pushed herself up on her elbows. “What did you say?” She used one hand to push some wayward strands of hair out of her face.
“Shhh.” His wicked tongue darted across her collarbone. “Just relax, angel, and I’ll take you to heaven.” His large hand wrapped around her thighs and pulled her legs apart.
Amber found she was not strong enough to resist him. She lay back and felt the rush of cool air as the pajama pants slid down her legs. A few seconds later, she felt the length of Paul’s naked body bearing her down into the mattress.
She held on to his muscular arms, and her heartbeat accelerated as Paul’s hand came between their bodies, working himself into her. Her eyes opened wide when she realized that it was his natural skin she was feeling.
“Wait!” Amber insisted, pushing herself up on her elbows again. “You’re not wearing a condom!”
Paul lifted his head, and Amber could see the fire burning in his dark eyes was being restrained. “We don’t need a condom. We’re about to be married. So what if you get pregnant?”
“So what?” His casual dismissal of her feelings was enough to cool her off. She pushed back until their bodies were no longer touching. Sitting up against the headboard, she wrapped the sheet around her partially nude body. “Look, Paul, I know what we said last night about getting married, but we were both distraught, and—”
“No way.” Paul sat back on his haunches, glaring at her. “I can’t believe this.” He shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t freaking believe this.” He stood up.
“How can we get married when we know so little about each other?” she pleaded. “I mean, think about it…we’ve never even talked about whether we want more children.”
“Of course, we want more children!”
“No, Paul! You want more children. You just assume I do. You’ve never asked.”
“Do you want to have children?” he asked, for the first time sounding hesitant, and Amber realized he was starting to get it.
“I—I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t know.”
“Damn.” He huffed. “You’re right. I never asked. You’re so good with Joachim, I just assumed you’d want more.”
“And even if I did, not now. I’m still in school. I would want to get my degree first. Get my career established.”
Paul’s eyes slid away, guilty, and Amber could almost read his thoughts.
“Did you think I would just be happy being your wife?”
Paul flopped down on the end of the bed, his back to her. “Yes.”
She pulled her knees up to her chest to keep from scooting across the bed to him, which was what she wanted to do. He looked so dejected and confused. She wanted to comfort him. But she had to be strong, make him understand things would never be the way he wanted.
“This’s what I’m talking about, Paul. I’ve known you less than a month. How can you think we can have a life together?”
“We can have a life together, Amber, a good one. But you’re right. I should’ve asked you how you felt before now.”
She buried her face against her legs. “This is all happening so fast. You just proposed last night, and I wake up this morning and find you making preparations to go to Vegas. I assume that’s what’s going on here?” She gestured toward the door, and he nodded. “Paul, what’s your hurry? We have a lifetime to get married.”
“If I wait, I’ll lose you.”
“What do you mean?”
“It always happens. When I wait too long, things get away from me, things come unraveled. If I wait, I’ll lose you.”
“No, you won’t.” Unable to stop herself, she reached out and stroked his arm.
“When my parents went back to Brazil, I waited too long to follow, and then when I tried it was too late. When I went into the military, I waited too long to come out and ended up in a war I wanted no part of. When Michelle left, I waited too long to look for her…and she died.”
“Oh, Paul.” Amber crawled across the bed, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, pressing her chest to his back. “Michelle’s death wasn’t your fault.”
“If we wait, you’ll go back to Detroit and be lost to me forever.”
; “No, I won’t.”
His arms came up and covered hers. “Then prove it, prove that no matter whether we wait, we’ll be together. Marry me now.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Why not? Because you know I’m right? You say you love me now, but what happens when there are two thousand miles between us? I’m not foolish enough to believe you’ll waste your life pining over me. No, my only chance is to hold on to you now, while I have you.”
She turned so she could see his face. “Do you want a woman you feel you have to bind to you with a ring?”
“As long as that woman is you, absolutely.”
“How secure could you be in a marriage like that, Paul?”
“Very secure. I know once we’re married you’ll take your vows seriously, but without those vows, you’ll think of yourself as a free woman.”
She sat up and pushed him hard. “I am a free woman, and no marriage license is going to change that.”
Paul quirked an eyebrow at her, but said nothing.
She sighed. “This will never work. You’re too domineering.”
Paul stood, and went around the bed to pick up his jeans. “Okay, fine. No Vegas wedding, but how about a Vegas vacation?”
Amber’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. She didn’t trust this easy surrender, not for a moment. “What do you mean?”
“We’ve both been through a lot these last couple of weeks.” He slipped on his jeans and began looking for his T-shirt. “I think we deserve a break. I’ve already booked the hotel and bought tickets online. Even arranged for Rosalie to keep Joachim. Why don’t we take this time to get away?”
She bit her lip considering. She’d always wanted to see Las Vegas. And Paul was right. After last night, some time away sounded like a wonderful idea. “Okay, as long as you promise that once we get there, you won’t go all heman on me, and try to force me down the aisle.”
Paul came around to where she sat on the bed, bent and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Amber, I promise I will never force you to do anything.” With that, he walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
His Holiday Bride Page 20