None of that seemed to matter to his libido, though. He stared at the moonlight streaming in through the window and resigned himself to another sleepless night. All for the good of the plan.
It was impossible for Julia to avoid Cameron in the morning, not when he was sitting at the dining room table, eating toast as he fed Jake his breakfast of rice cereal and mashed bananas. She wondered how he’d picked up the baby’s routine so well in less than three days. Was the babysitter giving him private lessons?
She also wondered if she would ever get a decent night’s sleep again. It was bad enough that Cameron had dropped a bomb when he asked her to marry him. But then after that, when she’d gotten all hot and bothered and tempted by the way he watched her so intently, what did he do? He kissed her chastely and dumped her off at her bedroom door.
She hadn’t slept a wink and it was all his fault.
“Jeez, kiddo,” Cameron muttered, grabbing Jake’s hand before he could smear bananas in his hair. “They go in your mouth, not in your hair.”
Despite her somewhat surly mood, Julia bit back a smile. “Nice save.”
He looked up and grinned and Julia’s heart took a sharp dip. “Thanks. You off to the conference?”
“Yes,” she said. “The babysitter should be here in five minutes.”
“Okay, good,” he said, as he took a cloth and wiped cereal off Jake’s neck. Jake giggled and Cameron gave his nose a light tweak. Jake pounded his tray in delight and Cameron stroked his head affectionately. “Yeah, you’re pretty tough, aren’t you, pal?”
Julia’s first baking demonstration was to begin in less than twenty minutes, but how could she leave when Cameron and Jake were having so much fun bonding, eating, playing? It was all so domestic. So normal and comfortable. So…desirable. She’d wanted this so badly, for so long, and now it was happening. How could she leave? Not just today, but ever? How could she give this up?
The man and the baby laughed in unison and Julia stared, mesmerized. Dear God, was there anything more sexy than the sight of this strong man taking care of her baby?
The tears came from nowhere and Julia tried to sniffle them away. She had to go. Leave. Quickly, before her brain exploded from confusion, from distraction, from yearning. From love. Not to mention lust.
She took another deep breath and let it out, then leaned over and kissed Jake’s cheek. “Bye-bye, sweetie. I love you.”
Without thinking, she kissed Cameron as well, right on the mouth. Realization hit her and she tried to break off the kiss, but he grabbed her arm and kept her close, lengthening the contact until she gasped for air.
Breathless, she managed, “Um, bye.”
“Bye-bye, sweetie,” Cameron said, grinning brashly as she backed out of the room and rushed out of the suite.
The meeting with the new investors had gone smoothly, Cameron thought, as he slipped their business cards inside the pocket of his suit jacket. Now he had an hour to kill before he met with his managers for their weekly lunch. Strolling down the wide hall to the conference center, he found the demonstration room he’d been looking for and walked inside.
“Can you taste the difference?” Julia was saying as she wandered up the aisle, holding a large bowl and handing out samples to the attendees on small plastic spoons.
“It’s so bright, it practically glows,” she said cheerfully. “I love that. And see how sticky it is? That’s from the egg whites. This type of frosting takes longer to make, but look at the stiff peaks. It’s gorgeous, isn’t it? Worth the extra effort, don’t you agree?” Julia popped a sample into her mouth. “Mmm, and so sweet, it melts on your tongue.”
Cameron was hard in an instant. It didn’t seem to matter that the room was filled with people, or that she was dressed conservatively in sensible heels, slim navy pants and a pale blue shirt with a cook’s apron tied securely around her waist. He wanted her now. He could imagine her in just the apron and heels and his hardness intensified.
Gritting his teeth, he wondered how an innocuous, twenty-second description of cake frosting could make him want to pick her up and toss her onto the nearest flat surface where he could plunge into her hot, moist core?
Maybe it was her vocabulary. Sticky, stiff peaks? Melts on your tongue? Damn, just what was she teaching these people?
At that moment, Julia saw him and stopped in her tracks. His gaze narrowed in on her and he wondered if she could see what she was doing to him.
Her eyes flashed with awareness and she had to cough to clear her throat. “We’ll take a ten-minute break now, and when you come back, I’ll reveal the secret ingredient for making the ultimate buttercream frosting.”
Cameron ignored the stream of attendees drifting past him and stared directly at Julia until the room had cleared and she approached.
“What a nice surprise,” she said with a smile. She still held the bowl of frosting and scooped out a small spoonful. “Want a taste?”
“Yeah,” he growled. He grabbed the bowl and spoon and put them on the nearest desk. Then he clutched her upper arms, pulled her close and kissed her. He could taste the sweetness on her lips, her tongue, and wanted more. Wanted all of her. Here and now.
She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and he knew she could feel his length pressing against her.
“Where can we go?” he demanded. “Right now. Where can we be alone?” He didn’t know why he was asking her. Hell, he owned the place, he ought to be able to come up with something. But with her clinging to him, his mind was a sieve. He couldn’t think, couldn’t focus, couldn’t do anything but take as much of her sweet heat as she could offer.
“Cameron,” she whispered, panting for air. “My students will be back in a minute.”
“I want you now,” he said, as if she couldn’t tell from the rock-hard pressure against her. His mouth covered hers in a move of possession so demanding that she could only comply, opening to allow him entry so deep that he wondered vaguely where he left off and she began.
“Cameron, I…I want you, too,” she said on a gasp of air. “But we’ll have to wait.”
“I can’t wait much longer,” he muttered, then took her mouth again, sweeping inside to savor more of her moist warmth.
“Tonight,” she promised when they broke off the kiss.
“Tonight,” he echoed, just as the doors swung open and her students filtered back into the room.
“And we’ll talk,” she added.
“Yeah, we'll talk.”
Seven
Julia stepped inside the suite and glanced around the quiet, empty living room. Were Cameron and Jake taking a nap again?
A sudden, distant whoop of laughter made her smile, and she followed the shrieks and giggles all the way back to the bathroom attached to the second bedroom. Taking one cautious look inside the room, she burst into laughter herself.
Jake sat, surrounded by floating toys and securely tucked into his sturdy bath ring seat. The seat was suctioned to the bathtub’s surface so he couldn’t go anywhere, but he could splash up a storm. And that always made him happy.
Cameron, on the other hand, was drenched. “Partner,” he said, as he soaped up a washcloth and swiped it across Jake’s shoulders and back. “We’re going to have a long talk about water conservation one of these days.”
Julia smiled. She’d spent the morning going over all the pros and cons of a marriage to Cameron Duke, but when he’d walked in on her frosting workshop earlier, she forgot everything she’d been thinking. The look in his eyes as he’d stared at her told her everything she needed to know. Maybe he didn’t love her yet, maybe he would never use the L-word with her, but in that moment, in his eyes, she had seen something so intense, so real, so elemental. Part of her wanted to take that leap of faith, to be part of his life, to be a family with him and wanted to experience his passion every day for as long as it lasted. But another part of her was holding back, worrying and wondering if a loveless marriage to Cameron was perhaps the worst thing she
could commit to, for both of them.
Cameron looked up at her then, his face dripping water. “Do you want to take over here?”
“No, you’re doing great,” she said, and made her escape.
An hour and a half later, the dinner dishes were in the dishwasher and a sleepy Jake was tucked into bed.
Cameron tugged Julia’s hand and they tiptoed out of the baby’s room. He led her into the living room where he’d left their half-full wineglasses and a small plate of her homemade cookies. “Let’s sit here and talk.”
“Okay,” she said, visibly nervous. He wasn’t sure why. She held all the cards in this transaction, didn’t she know that?
When the idea had first occurred to him to have Julia and Jake move in, the thought of asking her to marry him was the furthest thing from his mind. After all, from the time he was eight years old, he had vowed never to get married, ever. Of course, he’d also vowed never to have children. So much for the vows of an eight-year-old boy. Now, not only did he have a kid, but he fully intended to move that kid into his home and marry his mother-if that’s what it took to get them there.
He hoped he’d made the case last night, that their marriage would be built on respect and a mutual desire to raise Jake in a two-parent home. And lots of hot sex, of course. That was a key point of the negotiations.
And that was a hell of a lot more than most people started with.
“Cameron, I’ve-”
“Sweetheart, just-”
She laughed self-consciously, and Cameron said, “Go ahead. Tell me what you were going to say.”
“Okay,” she said with a nod as she brushed her hair away from her face.
“Here, let me do that,” Cameron murmured, and ran his fingers through her thick, luxurious strands, lifting and pushing them back. He used the movement to come closer and breathe in her feminine scent.
“That feels good,” she whispered.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he said, clutching her hair lightly in his hands as he stared into her vivid blue eyes. A few errant wisps of hair got loose and he smoothed them back behind her ears. “Your hair is every color of the rainbow.”
“I know,” she said shyly. “It’s so odd.”
“It’s lovely.” He bent to kiss her neck. “And it always smells great.”
“Thank you,” she said. Her eyelids fluttered closed and she moaned as he kissed her once more. “You’re distracting me, you know.”
“I know,” he said, as he nuzzled her neck. “Give me a minute.”
She touched his cheek. “Cameron, I’ll never say what I need to say if I don’t do it right now.”
“All right,” he said in resignation, and sat back against the cushions. “Go ahead.”
She took a deep breath, looked him directly in the eyes and said, “Okay. It’s just that I…I’ve decided that, yes, I’ll marry you.”
He’d always known-hoped-he’d be able to talk her into it, but he hadn’t realized until that moment how immensely important it was that she agree. He felt himself loosen up as his muscles relaxed and his chest lightened, making him realize he’d been tense enough to crack in half.
“Did you just say you’ll marry me?” he said, checking to make sure he’d heard her correctly.
“Yes,” she said, smiling tentatively. “Yes, Cameron. I’ll marry you.”
“Good. That’s settled.” He swooped her off the couch and onto his lap, then cut off her next sentence by kissing her deeply. His hands traced the length of her spine as his mouth claimed her as his own. His body absorbed the waves of shivers radiating off her as she met his fervor wholeheartedly, opening for him in a charged meeting of lips and tongues and anticipation.
He savored the taste of her and wanted to feel her skin against his. Now.
Julia must’ve had the same thought because she wriggled off his lap and turned to straddle him. “Touch me,” she demanded.
“Great minds think alike,” he murmured, as he slid his hands under her sweater. Lifting it up and off her in one movement, he inhaled sharply at the sight before him. She was braless. Her breasts were exposed and they were perfect. Fuller than he remembered, ripe and round, her dusky pink nipples erect as if waiting for his touch.
With both hands, he cupped her breasts, using his thumbs to tease her nipples until she moaned and pressed her hands over his. He gave in to temptation and moved to take first one breast, then the other into his mouth, licking, sucking and nibbling as she whispered words of urgent need.
Delicious, was all he could think. His senses were spinning out of control. Her skin was silken. She smelled like a field of delicate flowers and tasted like the sweetest sin.
Julia’s hands moved to his head and clutched him to her breasts, urging him to indulge more.
Any thoughts of taking things slowly disappeared as he drank her in, moving back to her succulent mouth where she met him hungrily, opening for him to sweep in and take.
Scorching a path down her neck, he kissed his way across her shoulders and back to her breasts, which demanded more attention from him. She moaned as her hips moved back and forth, pressing against him insistently. His erection strained for release. He was dangerously close to losing it and she and her sexy body weren’t helping matters.
“You’re killing me,” he growled. “Wrap your arms around my neck.” Gripping her bottom with both hands, he levered himself off the couch and stormed down the hall to the master bedroom where he laid her on the bed.
She leaned up on her elbows and watched as he rapidly stripped off his clothing. Her eyebrows rose as his erection was unfurled. He could see the hunger in her eyes and it empowered him. He prowled closer, naked and rigid, until he stood between her legs. Bending over her, he unzipped her pants and pulled them off, leaving her in nothing but an incredibly hot, black lace thong.
“Is it my birthday?” he wondered aloud.
“Did you make a wish?” she asked, her eyes twinkling with promise.
“Yeah. It just came true.”
She licked her lips in an unconscious move that almost undid him. Then she blinked in surprise as he knelt at the end of the bed and shifted her legs onto his shoulders.
“I have to taste you,” he muttered, and kissed her most delectable spot. When he thrust his tongue into her, she arched off the bed with a feral cry.
“You’re mine now,” he murmured, and proceeded to brand her, licking and plunging over and over until she was writhing on the bed. He used one finger to enter her moist core and she groaned with pleasure.
“Now, Cameron,” she cried. “I need you inside me now.”
He lowered her legs carefully, then stood and walked across the room, leaving her moaning in protest until she noticed him putting on a condom. Then he was back. He knelt on the bed and stroked her again with his fingers to assure himself she was truly hot, moist and ready for him.
“Please, now,” she whispered, pulling him closer.
“Yes, now,” he said and entered her swiftly and completely. She gasped and he planted his mouth on hers and kissed her fully, swallowing her cries, sweeping within, his tongue matching his own surging thrusts as he buried himself within her.
She drove him to the edge, but his innate self-control pushed back from the brink. Pumping harder, faster, he moved deeply into her, so deep that he might’ve lost himself in her. It didn’t matter. Pulling his head back, he watched the storm gather in her eyes as he stroked again, craving more, demanding all. When at last he saw her head whipping back and forth in surrender and heard her cry out his name, he buried his face in her neck and kissed her skin. Gathering the last of his strength, he thrust again, then again, and finally gave himself up to the abyss and tumbled, free-falling, into her arms.
They were married three days later on the cliffs of the Monarch Dunes resort, overlooking the ocean. The day was sunny and bright, the ocean was a calm, deep blue, and the grass was sparkling green after an overnight light spring rain.
All in all,
it was impossibly romantic, or it would’ve been, if not for the fact that the groom didn’t love the bride. And the lawyers on both sides who’d insisted on drawing up a prenuptial agreement. Cameron and she had signed the final documents that morning.
But Julia refused to dwell on the gnawing details as she listened to her new husband declare, “I do.” A minute later, he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her senseless in front of the small crowd of well wishers, and all seemed right with the world.
She’d found a beautiful white dress to be married in. It wasn’t exactly the bridal gown of her dreams and maybe the white was a bit of a stretch but it was a lovely off-the-shoulder summer frock that she could wear again. Cameron looked handsome and strong and sexy in his tuxedo. Sally and Trish had found an adorable matching tuxedo for little Jake to wear.
“I’d like to make a toast,” Adam said, and everyone raised their glasses as he proceeded to give a stirring speech.
“Cheers,” the guests cried, and Cameron and Julia took sips of the expensive champagne. The diamond on her finger twinkled and she smiled. The day after she’d told Cameron she would marry him, he had presented her with the most beautiful ring she’d ever seen. Then he’d made love with her so tenderly, so sweetly, she’d been brought to tears. Yes, she knew Cameron didn’t love her, but she couldn’t fault him for putting on a really good act.
Julia had been consumed by both the catering conference and the sudden wedding plans, so Sally had taken on the task of inviting friends to the wedding. Many of Julia’s friends were there today, and for that alone, she fell in love with her new mother-in-law all over again.
Cameron’s two brothers were sharing the best man honors. Sally had held Jake quietly through the ceremony and the toast, but now the boy cried for Cameron to hold him.
“Come here, cowboy,” Cameron said, and hoisted Jake into his arms, putting an immediate stop to the whimpering. Holding Jake securely in one arm, Cameron put his other arm around Julia, then leaned in to kiss her. “Thank you. We’ll be happy, you’ll see.”
Sweet Surrender, Baby Surprise Page 8