“Don’t move,” he ordered.
Maria had no idea what he was going to do, so when his hands slid down her breasts, tweaking her nipples once more before moving along her stomach, she was completely unprepared when his fingers slid inside her wet heat.
She closed her eyes, gasping and shifting, her body moving against his fingers.
“You’re so wet,” he growled, his fingers moving in and out of her, flicking against her clitoris and causing her to gasp.
Maria reached down to grab his wrist, trying to stop him because the sensations were too much. But his other hand only took hers away. “All mine,” he told her, his voice causing shivers just as effectively as his fingers that were still moving in and out of her body, making her crazy.
“I can’t…too much!” she said, trying to wiggle away but as soon as she did that, she wanted more and pressed her body back against his hand, needing his fingers. Her hand once again grabbed his wrist, but this time, she was pressing his hand into her, guiding him.
His talented fingers moved and flicked, teased and turned. In moments, Maria’s fingers tightened around his wrist as her body, not used to the feeling, splintered apart, her back arching with the exploding sensations.
Sloan watched her but couldn’t hold back. He knew he should give her time to recover, but seeing her like that, feeling her body’s slick, hot heat around his fingers, was too much.
Shifting her knees so that her legs were once again wrapped around his hips, he moved into position, grabbing her hands and pulling them over her head.
As he pressed into her, he watched her eyes widen, felt her hips shift, her body relaxing to take all of him into her heat. “It’s okay, Maria,” he soothed, sliding back out when she started to shake her head. “Just relax.”
He felt her muscles soften and pressed in deeper, grinding his teeth to keep from hurting her. Trying to slow down wasn’t going to work. So he shifted his body, helping her even as he lifted her hips. With that, he was able to slide all the way into her heat. Holding very still, he looked down at her, wanting to savor this moment, enjoying the sensation of being fully embedded inside this woman’s heat. But then she moved! Damn, but the small movement was enough to almost send him over the edge! He held back, but barely!
“Please, you have to…” she pleaded with him breathlessly, her fingers moving down from his shoulders to his arms, wrapping around his wrists as if to hold on.
“I’ve got you,” he vowed and started moving even as his arms cradled her. His body soothed and enticed at the same time, which was a potent combination. Within moments, Maria could feel her body tightening once more. Arching against him, her body taking over as her mind completely blanked out, her next climax hit her hard and fast, causing her to scream even as her body pulled in closer to his.
Sloan watched once again, shaking his head to clear the fog and remain in control. But it was too hard. Feeling her body tightening around his shaft, he couldn’t hold back any longer. His own orgasm followed quickly after hers and it was all he could do not to slam into her repeatedly. When the explosion slowed, he pulled her closer, shifting so that he was underneath her, protecting her from his weight.
For a long moment, they both stayed just like that. It was almost as if time stood still, their bodies throbbing with the pleasure, but neither of them willing to move, not wanting to end the amazing sensations.
Eventually, their ragged breathing eased, their bodies relaxed. His hand was in her hair, stroking her long, soft tresses with one hand while his other moved up and down her back, absorbing the aftershocks from that experience. He heard her sigh, felt her muscles relax into his own.
A long time later, he stood up with her in his arms, carrying her into her bedroom. With a gentle tug, he pulled the blankets back and tucked her in. He thought about leaving. Watching her sleep, he knew that he should go. He hated sleeping with women after sex. But this time, with Maria, he couldn’t leave. He couldn’t walk out. He wanted more, even if it was just to hold her while she slept.
So instead of walking out of the bedroom, silently pulling his clothes back on and carefully slipping out of her house, he walked to the other side of the bed and slipped under the covers next to her, pulling her into his arms until she was pressed up against his side. Feeling her like this, her soft breasts pressed against his chest, her slender leg draped over his own, he stared up at the ceiling and sighed with contentment. He could get used to this, he thought. Maria was soft, sexy, and incredible. Perhaps a bit too emotionally tender, but he could deal with that. He even liked it, he realized. She was everything he wasn’t. She was soft and sweet, kind and compassionate. She let her feelings show on her beautiful features so that even a stranger could read what was going on in her beautiful mind.
A movement at the end of the bed startled him and he lifted his head, seeing Ollie staring right back at him. There was a challenge in the adorable dog’s eyes, almost as if the mutt were daring him to be sleeping in the space he considered to be his own. But in the end, Ollie simply climbed up onto the bed, turned around several times, then found a spot behind Maria’s legs and curled up into a ball. With a sigh, the dog accepted the new status quo and fell asleep.
Chapter 4
Sloan woke up and knew that something was different. Not different-bad, just…not normal.
As he lifted his head, he looked around and remembered that he wasn’t in his bed. And worse, the woman he’d held in his arms all night, woken up several times throughout the dark hours to make love to, was gone. Maria had left?
As he lifted his head, he noticed Ollie at the end of the bed, a tennis ball in his mouth. When he dropped the ball onto the covers, Sloan’s eyes narrowed. Was the dog’s expression…smug?
Impossible! There was no way that Ollie could have anticipated last night’s events. Sloan still didn’t believe that the canine had walked the five miles from this house to his own to drop the tennis balls down onto his front porch. No way. The dog had help.
Nor could the mutt have anticipated the interaction last night between himself and Maria by dropping the tennis balls on his doorstep. Dogs just didn’t do that.
Did they?
Ollie impatiently dropped down onto his tummy, rolling over to offer his belly for a thorough rubbing. Not having a choice, Sloan sighed heavily, but he rubbed the dog’s soft belly and ruffled his fur, all the while listening for other sounds in the cottage.
There were no sounds other than the dog’s heavy breathing.
“Where’d she go?” Sloan asked the blissfully happy dog.
Ollie’s only response was to nudge Sloan’s hand with his wet nose, ordering Sloan to continue his petting.
Getting out of the bed, Sloan grabbed his jeans and pulled them on, not sure what to expect. Usually, he was the one disappearing before morning arrived, not wanting to deal with a clingy female after a night of good sex. But the sex with Maria had been…incredible! Saying the sex with her had been good was like saying the ocean was akin to a pond of water. The words just didn’t do the experience justice.
So where was the woman?
He saw the note on the fridge and ripped it off. “Had morning shift at the coffee shop.”
That was all she’d said? Not inviting him to grab a cup of coffee when he woke up?
A nudge at his feet pulled his angry attention away from the note. Looking down, Ollie dropped the previously abandoned tennis ball at Sloan’s feet, then sat there wagging his tail, causing his furry butt to slide back and forth over the hardwood floor.
“Fine!” he grumbled, causing the animal to jump up and down with excitement.
Sloan grabbed the ball and tossed it, carefully, across the room as he grabbed his clothes and headed for the bathroom. After a fast shower and a phone call to his office, he patted his thigh, calling Ollie out the back door. The mutt jumped up, almost spinning around in his excitement for the beach outing.
For the next thirty minutes, Sloan tossed the tennis ba
ll to the dog along the beach while he talked on his cell phone to his directors, getting updates on the various aspects of projects underway. When he noticed Ollie starting to wear out, he brought him inside, found the dog food and filled up Ollie’s bowl.
Sloan grabbed his keys and opened the front door, only to find Ollie dashing out through the opening.
“No!” he called to the dog. Ollie ignored him and stood by the Land Rover, tail wagging and tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. “You’re not coming with me,” he told the dog once more.
Ollie’s response was simply to bark again, jumping up and down with more enthusiasm than should be warranted for a simple car ride.
With a sigh, Sloan glared at the dog. Another bark, and Sloan gritted his teeth, accepting that he couldn’t lock the dog out of the house. “Fine!” he mumbled, feeling like a fool at being manipulated by a dog. But then he realized that taking the dog with him meant he had a perfect excuse to stop by the coffee shop later today.
Hell, when had he ever needed an excuse to visit a woman?
Never. Until today. Until Maria.
She was different. He wasn’t sure how or why, but Sloan knew that she was. He accepted that fact, his mind starting to understand the implications of his new reality.
He wasn’t done with Maria. Not by a long shot. And if her dog could manipulate him into coming to her, he’d definitely use Ollie to sneak into her world.
Chapter 5
Maria leaned back in her chair and sighed with happiness, staring at the transactions for the previous week. The trend was up again! Over the past two months, she’d seen a week over week increase of five to twenty percent. Her efforts were working! Things were looking up.
Swiveling around, she looked outside, smiling at the sunshine. It was such a gorgeous day. It had been cloudy for so long and today, the sun was out and everything looked fresh and alive.
Standing up, she turned and pulled the bottle out of her fridge. She’d been saving this bottle of champagne for something special, but…
Today seemed like a special day. Why not?
Popping the top, she poured herself a small glass, then turned up the music on her stereo. Sipping the champagne and dancing around her furniture, she started humming to the music, feeling fresh and alive. The horrible sense of doom that had hovered over the small cove of shops ever since her grandmother’s death seemed far away at this moment.
She sashayed and swayed, sipped and cha cha’d to the music, humming along to lyrics she didn’t know but sometimes made up just because they sounded “right”.
Amid all of this, Ollie appeared at her feet, eager to participate in the celebration. “Ollie! Where…” she looked around, shocked to find him here when she’d left him…at home.
Spinning around, Maria almost spilled the champagne from her coffee cup. “Sloan!” she gasped, stepping back and quickly reaching out to turn the music down. “What are you doing here?”
Ollie barked, trying to re-ignite the celebration.
Sloan walked in, those hard lips tilting upwards ever so slightly. She now knew that those lips…well, they weren’t so hard. They were…bad! Oh, so incredibly, wonderfully…bad!
“You weren’t in bed when I woke up this morning,” he said, softly but with a great deal of menace as he walked into her office, carefully closing the door behind him.
“Uh…” she leaned back against the desk, not sure how to handle him in this kind of a mood. “Well, I had to work early today and,” she shrugged, thinking the best way out of an awkward situation was to pretend it wasn’t awkward. Her smile brightened even while she lifted the bottle of champagne up higher. “Want something to drink?”
His eyes moved from hers to the bottle, then back again. “What’s the occasion?” he asked gently even as his hands settled onto her hips.
She shrugged, feeling decadent now. “The sun came out,” she announced, her smile widening as she continued to sway to the music. Maria’s eyes took in his shoulders, his chest, remembering what this man looked like without the dress shirt covering all of those delicious muscles. “And I met a very sexy man recently,” she purred and took another sip of champagne. “Do I need other reasons to celebrate?”
Sloan moved closer, leaning in, forcing her to shift backwards. “I think you’re crazy,” he told her softly. “But…” he lifted an eyebrow when she only chuckled at his comment, “you’re also delightful.”
Maria laughed, feeling carefree and happy. “I don’t think anyone has ever told me that I’m delightful before.” Another sip, the bubbly liquid making her feel more and more relaxed. “I think I could enjoy being ‘delightful’. Especially by a man like you.”
“Like me?” he teased.
Her grin widened even though he still looked menacing. She suspected that Sloan Anderson didn’t have to try to look dangerous. He just…was!
“Okay, I like that you think of me as delightful.” Her eyes were twinkling with mischief. “Is that better? Did I phrase that adequately to suit your tender ego?” She softened her teasing tone by slipping her finger through the opening of his dress shirt. “Men are so…” she didn’t have a chance to finish her sentence.
“Careful,” he growled, bending his head to nip the delicate skin along her neckline. “I’m feeling very vulnerable right now, Maria.”
She couldn’t stop the giggle that burst out of her. Because if there was any adjective that could never be applied to Sloan, it would be ‘vulnerable.’ “I doubt it,” she finally replied when she had her mirth under control.
“You think you have me figured out?”
She leaned back, taking another sip of champagne. In all seriousness, she lifted her hand to caress his cheek and jawline. “I think you’re a complete enigma, Mr. Anderson.”
With her saucy attitude, she shifted slightly and his eyes caught on a drawing laid out on her desk. “What’s this?” he asked, keeping her close as she twisted slightly in order to see what he was looking at.
“Oh! This is my secret project!” she gushed and turned around. “The land out there,” she said, referring to the rough terrain on the other side of the road from their small cove of shops, “is just sitting there, unused, but it’s very valuable land. It only looks like a mess, but there are wetlands that help the birds and several species of wildlife survive.” She smoothed her hand over the drawing, proud of how she’d worked her shops around the wetlands, preserving them. “I’m hoping to eventually build a shopping mall. I worked with an environmental architect on the idea. The buildings are up on stilts and back to the wetlands, preserving as much of the local flora and fauna as possible while still creating jobs.”
He saw the excitement and sincerity in her eyes and knew that this would be the perfect moment to tell her who he really was. He even opened his mouth to explain. But then she lifted herself up and kissed him, stopping whatever it was he might have countered with.
Her caress wasn’t enough, not after last night. So he took over, his arms holding her against him as he deepened the kiss, showing her exactly what he was thinking as his tongue teased and tantalized and his teeth nipped and tortured her own. He didn’t let up until she was moaning with pleasure and desire, a deep need for more.
When she felt his fingers along her outer thigh, lifting the stretchy cotton of her skirt, she grabbed his hand, pulling away slightly. “I locked the door,” he assured her in a soft, deep voice. The voice, as well as the promise, sent a thrill through her entire system.
Her look was confused for only a moment, then understanding dawned and her lips twitched. “You were thinking ahead,” she replied, her smile widening. But that smile disappeared when his fingers changed direction, taking a path closer to her inner thighs.
She glanced left, where the locked door stood.
He knew where her mind was going and nipped at her earlobe. “Relax. It was busy out there. No one’s going to bother us,” he promised as his fingers pulled the material higher, bunching it up aro
und her hips.
Maria shivered, thinking that this man was naughtier than she would have thought. “I’m not sure I can relax,” she told him, but then his fingers moved under the lace of her panties and she stiffened, only to melt when those naughty fingers circled around, teasing and taunting her body with what he could do to her. After last night, she had complete faith that those fingers could deliver on their silent promise.
“Relax, Maria,” he soothed.
“Easy for you to say,” she murmured, and gasped when one of his fingers moved closer. She was staring up into those silver eyes, heated by desire now and telling her to trust him. She did. At least, she hoped she trusted him. She wanted to trust him but…
He wouldn’t release her gaze and she stared up at him, her body barely moving in the hope that he would…and he did! When his fingers slid into her heat, she gasped as her head fell backwards. In and out, his finger teased. Then circled. Then…
“Sloan!” she gasped, grabbing his arms. “You can’t…”
Those lips that never smiled…curled upwards with triumph. “Oh yes, I can.” And he proved that he was right. She couldn’t fight him on this or try to stop him. What those fingers were doing was just too incredible!
“Sloan!” she murmured his name with a sigh this time, as her hips shifted against his fingers, wanting to move, wanting to reach that pinnacle of pleasure that he’d shown her last night.
“Not good enough,” he growled. A moment later, he lifted her up and carried her around her desk. Sitting down in her chair, he pulled her skirt higher before putting her on the edge right in front of him, stripped off her panties and stuffed them in his pocket. He watched intently as his hands pressed wider, giving him the view he wanted. With a triumphant expression, he pressed her knees outward until she had to lean backwards to balance herself.
Billionaires On the Beach: The Anderson Brothers Page 5