by JM Stewart
“Something happened.” Her heart seemed to stutter, her mind already racing forward to try to figure out what he wasn’t telling her.
He dropped his arm to his side. “My father had a massive heart attack Sunday night. We hoped he’d recover, but he didn’t. He passed away early this morning. So, whatever you need, add it to the list and go home. I’m not in the mood to fight with you. My only goal for today is to sleep.”
Her chest clenched in pain for him. Suddenly his bad mood made all the sense in the world. He could be surly when he wasn’t feeling well. If he was fighting grief on top of exhaustion…
With worry seizing her chest in a vise, she strode in his direction, depositing her purse on the kitchen counter. “My God, Baz. Why didn’t you call one of us? Are you all right?”
Alarm scattered across his features right before his brow furrowed and his jaw tightened. He jabbed a finger in her direction and backed away from her as if she held a hand grenade and had just pulled out the pin. “Don’t. Don’t go all Mother Hubbard on me. I’ve got a lot of shit to deal with right now, and the last thing I need is you smothering me.”
Sebastian hated when she “mothered” him, as he called it. She couldn’t help that she enjoyed caring for the people she loved. She’d gotten the compulsive habit from her mother. Mom was a worrier, always trying to foresee the needs of her family. Sometimes to the point where she drove them all nuts. It had rubbed off over the years, if only because the constant harping had always given Christina a sense of being cared for. She and Caden had always known that despite their parents’ sometimes overwhelming demands for perfection, they were, above all, loved more than life.
Christina shook her head and moved in his direction anyway. His tone meant he’d begun avoidance mode. If a subject had anything to do with emotion, he avoided it like the plague, usually by hiding behind a playful exterior. That he wasn’t cracking some lewd joke told her he’d come up against a wall. His father’s death was hitting him hard. Sebastian and his father had never gotten along, and though he had always brushed off the tension with rebellious dismissal, she’d seen the hurt in his eyes whenever the two men exchanged words. Sebastian coveted, but had never gotten, his father’s approval.
She stopped beside the breakfast bar in the kitchen. “You don’t have to deal with this on your own, Baz. I know you. You’re going to isolate, and it’s not healthy.”
“Damn it, Christina.” He pivoted and stalked across the space between them, backed her against the counter behind her and set his hands on either side of her. His eyes narrowed, his gaze hot and confrontational. “Go. Home.”
More than a little surprised by his sudden closeness, she swallowed hard, desperately trying to make her brain work. All she could focus on, however, was his mouth. He was so close his every breath whispered over her lips, warm, with a slight minty hint that made her yearn to discover the flavor of his tongue. She ignored the intense desire to lean forward and close the remaining inches between them, and held her ground. This wasn’t about her desire. He needed her, whether he wanted to admit it or not.
She angled her chin higher. “Or what? I’m not afraid of you. You can’t boss me around.”
What she expected from him, she couldn’t be certain. They’d been butting heads since they were kids. She yelled, he yelled right back. She poked him in the chest, he poked her back. Sebastian always played the part of the bossy, control freak, expecting her to bow to his demands. It made him good at his job.
If he wanted a fight, though, she’d give him one, because she knew him well enough to know he was attempting to intimidate her. No doubt in order to get her to leave him alone in his misery. She’d never let the tactic work before, and she wouldn’t now.
This time, though, he didn’t do what she expected him to. Rather, his right hand slid into the hair at the back of her head, and, before she could blink, he pulled her mouth to his. He didn’t give her a chance to back away, to approve or deny his assault. His kiss wasn’t fleeting, either, or soft and seductive, the way she’d always envisioned. His lips plied hers, tugging and demanding. His tongue stroked the seam of her mouth, a hot slide that had her gasping and opening for him. He took full advantage and swept in, his tongue restless in her mouth.
She whimpered, and, despite the voice of reason shouting to push him away, her arms wound themselves around his neck. God, she wasn’t prepared for that. How many times over the years had she imagined this moment? How many times had she stroked herself to orgasm fantasizing about his hands and his mouth on her body? Yet the reality far exceeded the fantasy, and, God help her, she didn’t have the strength to deny him. Sebastian could seduce even the hardest of hearts, and her body melted to his whim.
Unfortunately, the fantasy didn’t last long. He released her as abruptly as he’d grabbed her. His breaths became harsh and shallow, his chest heaving in time with the fierce pounding of her heart.
“That’s what. It’s been a shitty day, Tina, and I’m feeling very ornery and very needy.” As if to prove his point, he leaned into her, rocking his hips against hers.
The full press of his lean body against her had every thought of protest flitting away, like wisps of wind. Sebastian was aroused, and his erection pressed into the softness of her stomach. Her ability to speak let alone think deserted her. He didn’t feel like a small boy, either, and her fingers itched to reach down and stroke the length of his cock, currently digging lusciously yet painfully into her left hip. She longed to put an end to the wondering and finally discover exactly how big he was, yearned to know the soft, intimate heat of his skin.
The intensity of his stare held her trapped. Oh, she’d seen him in action enough times, sweeping a woman clean off her heels with the power of his sexy, blue-eyed stare. He had eyes the color of deep, brilliant sapphires. They were usually intense and focused. Right then they were in full seduction mode. Never in a million years would she have thought to find herself on the receiving end of his captivating stare. Now she understood why women usually giggled and melted, because that’s exactly what she wanted to do. Giggle like a giddy schoolgirl, melt into him, and beg him to fuck her senseless.
She desperately needed to regain her equilibrium. She was the CEO of a company she’d started, with products she’d created. She’d always been the brain, at the top of her class, and McKenzie Inc. was a success, her software rivaling the giant Microsoft. She wasn’t one of those party girls who melted to his whim just because he had more money than God and looked like sex on legs. Damned if she’d let him turn her into one of those weak-kneed floozies.
She drew a shuddering breath, somehow managed to find her brain, and glared right back at him. “I hate it when you call me Tina.”
It was such a stupid thing to say, but they were the only coherent words she could form. The nickname always rolled off his tongue like a sexy little pet name and drove her to distraction. She yearned for him to whisper the name in the dark…while he held her hands above her head and plunged deep inside her.
A soft bark of laughter rumbled out of him.
“And I hate when you call me Baz. I haven’t been ten years old in a long time.” His eyes narrowed, flicking down her body and back up. “In case you haven’t noticed I’ve grown up. There’s nothing small about me, sweetheart.”
His words were a taunt, clearly meant to gain a reaction, but all Christina could do was close her eyes. Need shuddered through her, settling warm and wet between her thighs. Oh, she’d noticed all right. Every inch of her was currently aware of how little he wasn’t. Sebastian had lit a fire in her belly no man could ever quench. Except him. This moment was a hot little fantasy come to life.
Apparently not done tormenting her, he leaned his head beside her ear. His hot tongue traced a line up the side of her neck and ended with a flick to the underside of her earlobe. “You’re not so immune. I can feel your every reaction. Every hitch in your breath and every shiver that runs through you. Admit it. You want me as much I want
you.”
“You’re right, Baz. I won’t deny it. I do want you. What woman in her right mind wouldn’t?” She craved Sebastian like she craved chocolate or coffee, but his words were the final straw. She managed to pull her wits about her and opened her eyes, glaring at him. She knew this man. As tempting as he was, she’d known him all her life. She’d watched him flit from woman to woman, the hearts breaking behind him as he walked away from every one of them.
She tried hard not to judge him. After all, she had lived a similar life. Having discovered that the guys in college all attempted to use her, she’d turned the play back on them. She’d used them right back. She couldn’t blame Baz for living the same way. Doing so was easier than admitting no man had yet to see her. Her father owned one of the largest and oldest corporate law firms on the West Coast, and he came from old money. He was worth billions. All the men she’d dated only ever saw her money and her name.
Were Sebastian any other man, she wouldn’t have turned him down. She was young, successful, and in control of her own love life. When she wanted to spend the night with a man, she did, but she chose her lovers carefully. Though she had to admit, these days the notion had lost its appeal. She craved more than just something fleeting. In her heart of hearts, she yearned for something lasting.
She wouldn’t, however, be one of his groupies. “I will not be another notch on your bedpost. You and I have known each other for far too long for me to be just another body to warm your bed.”
That was a lie. She knew damn well if he asked, if he but touched her in the right spot, she’d melt to his whim and beg him to fuck her until she couldn’t walk anymore. She’d enjoy the hell out of the exchange, too, and to hell with the pain it would leave behind. She had to say the words, though, because if she ever gave in to the gut-wrenching desire, she’d lose her heart to him. She was already halfway there.
She expected a retort, for him to laugh, perhaps, but Sebastian’s expression sobered and the harsh, seductive light left his eyes. In the span of a breath, his hard expression softened.
He studied her for a moment, too much working behind his eyes she knew he’d never share. Finally, he lifted a hand, caressing the edge of her jawline with the tips of his fingers. “I can’t believe we’ve known each other all this time, and you haven’t seen it. God, sometimes it consumes me. Some days, it’s all I can do to keep busy enough not to think about it. It always manages to surprise me that you don’t seem to notice, because I often feel like I’m made of glass, like you can see right through me.”
The intensity of his words caught her. This was a side to Sebastian he didn’t show often. The serious side of the man. She’d always known still waters ran deep with him, but he buried it all beneath a class-clown exterior.
She shook her head. “What are you talking about?”
He leaned in again, brushed his mouth over hers, light and tender this time, as if he couldn’t help himself.
“It’s you, Tina. It’s always been you. You’re the reason I run, the reason I bury, and every single one of the women I date is a desperate attempt to forget you.” His lips left a trail of fire as he skimmed them down her neck and over the curve of her shoulder.
Her breath caught in her throat. Every syllable shuddered through her, his sweet words like candy offered to a kid. She forced a laugh in another desperate attempt to put some much needed distance between them. If she didn’t, she’d be doing everything that would eventually get her heart broken. “That’s a nice line. Use it a lot, do you?”
His head shot up, eyes full of surprise as they searched hers. Then he laughed again, this one light and amused, and brushed his mouth over hers in a series of lazy, languid kisses.
“Yeah. I don’t expect you to believe me. I don’t have it in me to be strong this morning. I’m entirely too aware my life isn’t what I wanted it to be…and I need you.” He pulled back. His fingers slid into her hair, sifting in abstract fashion through the strands at her shoulder. His gaze flitted over her face, full of an odd mixture of desire, regret, and vulnerability. “You have uncanny timing. I was lying in bed thinking about you, wishing you were there, and here you are, like a goddamn gift from heaven. I have to bury my father in two days, and decide if I want to cave to his demands one more time, and it’s eating me alive.”
She shook her head, trying to follow his rambling words, desperate to keep the upper hand. This soft side of him always got to her. Those still waters called to the deepest part of her, lured her in like nothing else. Because she wanted it. She wanted in, wanted to know the part of him he kept hidden, with everything she had and everything she was. “What demands?”
He let out a bitter, sardonic laugh. “According to his lawyer, my father left his company to me, but with conditions. In order to save the company I built from the ground up when he abandoned it after my mother left, I have to get married. Married! Can you believe that? The bastard.”
She furrowed her brow. He wasn’t making sense, and he wasn’t acting like himself at all. “Have you been drinking, Sebastian?”
His brow furrowed, irritation and offense flaring in his gaze.
“Do you smell liquor on me? No. I tried to tell you. It’s been a long couple of days.” As if completely oblivious of her at all, he bent his head, trailing his lips across her shoulder and up the side of her neck, then followed the curve of her jaw. When he reached her ear, he flicked his tongue against the lobe and groaned, low in the back of his throat. “I need you. I need your softness and your strength. I need to lose myself in the sweet scent of your skin and the feel of your body wrapped around mine.”
Lord help her. Christina’s breathing hitched and heat shivered across the surface of her skin. Christ, he was so damn intense. How the hell could she say no when she craved the exact same thing? She couldn’t remember a time when his smile hadn’t made her cream her panties. Her only saving grace was to remember that this behavior was out of the ordinary even for him. Sebastian had never looked at her as anything more than his best friend’s annoying sister, let alone touched her like a woman. What had gotten into him? Was it the grief? His father’s will?
He sucked her earlobe into his mouth and bit softly. “Say my name.”
She bit her bottom lip to stifle a groan. Her resolve slipped another notch, and the word left her mouth on a bare whisper. “Baz.”
“Wrong one.” He rocked his hips into hers, his erection sliding against the softness of her stomach. “Say my name, Tina.”
The sound of her pet name on his lips sent a hot little shudder down the length of her spine. She gasped. Her traitorous hands sought out the warmth of his body, sliding up his delicious chest and over the pecs she’d admired only a few minutes ago. His skin was better than she’d expected. Hotter, sleeker. He had the right amount of chest hair, a light dusting, and the hairs were coarse yet downy beneath her fingers. The last of her resolve to push him away went up in a puff of smoke.
His name rolled off her tongue on a defeated sigh. “Sebastian.”
His lips trailed the side of her neck, licking, sucking, and nibbling. His hands wandered down her sides to her ass, and he gave her cheeks an appreciative squeeze. “God, you have the finest ass I’ve ever seen. Say my name again, sweetheart.”
“Sebastian.” This time she couldn’t help herself. His name flew off the tip of her tongue on a quiet whimper. He was gaining ground, and she couldn’t do a damn thing to stop him. His mouth on her skin was a fantasy come to life, his hands like heaven. He had complete control over her, and he knew it. Damn him.
He groaned in her ear, a sound of torment and need. “I love the sound of my name on your lips. I ache to hear you moan it while I slide into you.” His warm palm curved around her left breast, his thumb stroking the elongated, painfully tight nipple. “God, you don’t know how much I ache to make love to you, Tina.”
Oh, for sure he tormented her on purpose, teased her until she caved. Sebastian liked to toy, to play games, but her body melt
ed regardless. She slumped back against the counter behind her, two desperate little seconds away from wrapping her arms around his neck and begging him to do everything he’d said and then some. “Sebastian, please.”
This time, his mouth paused on her neck. Seconds ticked out, and her body was poised, waiting for him to make the next move. She couldn’t be certain anymore if she wanted him to stop or to continue, but her panties were drenched and her clit was throbbing.
Finally, he pinched her left nipple, a delicious combination of pleasure and pain, and pulled back. His eyes blazed at her, the wild look in the depths of them one part challenge, one part hunger, and one part something she couldn’t quite reach. The hunger stole the breath from her lungs. Sebastian had never looked at her that way before.
As she tried to form a more coherent thought, he kissed her again, hard, then released her and shoved her away from him.
“Now go. Because if you don’t leave right now, I’m going to pick you up and carry you back to my bed, and I’m going to fuck you until you scream my name.” He spat the words at her like a threat, pivoted and stalked away from her.
Christina stumbled back a step. For a moment, she could only blink and watch his progress. Confusion waged a war in her head. But in that moment, she knew two things. He could have had her if he’d wanted her. She’d have gladly given in to his whim, for the pleasure she’d have at his hands, and damn the consequences. More important, though, he didn’t seem like himself. He’d done a lot of things over the years, none of which meant recognizing her as anything more than his best friend’s sister. What the hell had gotten into him?
He stopped at the front windows and stood, unmoving, staring out over the city. His shoulders remained stiff, his back straight as a steel rod. Tension radiated off him. As her breathing calmed, a memory floated through her mind. He’d done this before, deliberately pushed her buttons. When Sebastian didn’t want to face something, he could evade like nobody else.