Shannon enjoyed their easy back and forth and was glad to see that Nick had good people around him. Mr. Allen had been friendly and obviously fond of his boss while his wife, Mrs. A, seemed as open and welcoming as a warm toddy.
She was only about five and a half feet tall and dressed in a sensible black skirt with a white blouse and a charcoal grey sweater that screamed conservative. The impish smile on her face though and the familiar way she kidded with Nick told of a life-long relationship that went way beyond employer and employee. Shannon suspected that Mrs. A and his Mom were more friends than employer ÷ employee.
With his very best cowboy pirate artfully disguised as billionaire tycoon manners on full display, Nick all but puffed up like a proud peacock strutting his stuff saying formally, “Annabelle Allen, allow me to introduce Shannon Reynolds. Ms. Reynolds will be,” he hesitated just a fraction before adding, “staying with me.”
Turning toward Shannon he continued, “Shannon, this is Mrs. Allen. Please don’t be fooled by all that mother hen stuff she’ll try out on you. She’s actually a drill sergeant in disguise!” he finished with obvious affection toward the older woman.
Shannon immediately stepped up and offered her hand in welcome, managing to get out a quick, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Allen.” a full half-second before the tiny woman took her hand and pulled her into a tremendous bear hug.
“Ms. Reynolds! Welcome, welcome!” she cried enthusiastically before giving a quick side eyed nod of approval to Nick. “I’m delighted to meet you my dear. That old rascal husband of mine called ahead and told me Nicholas had a guest but I never expected ….. oh good heavens! Listen to me rattling on like a nosey busybody!” she chuckled.
Releasing Shannon and stepping back, Nick’s housekeeper did a head to toe assessment followed by an inscrutable back and forth between her and Nick before plastering a wide smile on her face.
As she had with Ned and Jules after the truth of her relationship with Nick came out, Shannon was suffused with quiet joy at the straightforward way his family immediately embraced her presence in his life. It was obvious from the woman’s reaction to her unexpected appearance that Nick bringing a woman to his home was a big deal. A very big deal indeed. She felt special and the way his eyes followed her every move reflected the pride and joy he felt toward her and made Shannon melt inside. In more ways than one.
The sexy, come hither look she threw at him while he stood by in satisfied silence watching Mrs. Allen and Shannon get to know each other went off like a hand grenade in Nick’s personal space.
As satisfying as it was standing there watching Shannon interact with her demure, respectful attitude toward his housekeeper, Nick was suddenly eager to unleash the seductive wanton who had writhed in sexual abandon under his relentless pounding in a most unladylike way just a few short hours ago.
Shannon, to her credit, sensed the shift in Nick’s attention practically the second it occurred. He was remembering and the awareness of how he had caused her to lose control in an unrestrained response to his overpowering male carnality was shredding her composure. She continued listening to Mrs. A babble on and even managed to get out a few short answers to questions being asked but all Shannon was truly aware of was the intensifying heat wave that seemed to be building in the hallway where they stood.
Her heart picked up a beat while she focused on saying good-night to Nick’s housekeeper, watching the woman walk away hauling the overflowing laundry basket on her matronly hip. Nick hadn’t moved although he had politely bid Mrs. A, good night.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Once the housekeeper had left them alone in the hallway, a seductive silence fell. He was watching her, the cowboy pirate. Waiting for her guard to drop. Stalking his quarry. Shannon stood her ground for less than a second before the ferocity of his hungry gaze sent her stumbling backwards into the shadows of the long dark hallway. She watched in fascinated expectation, rather like balancing on a knife’s edge, as his huge body followed hers into the shadows until nothing but an inch stayed between them as he backed her against the wall.
His heat immediately surrounded her, making Shannon shiver in awareness as his large frame completely covered her own. His scent assailed her senses with his nearness as she gulped in shaky breaths of much needed oxygen. When he pressed his hands on either side of her head placing her squarely in the cage of his arms, she all but slithered to the floor in a boneless heap.
It was only the urgent thrust of his rock hard body against her smaller, trembling one that kept Shannon on her feet. He lowered his head and growled in her ear reminding her of the primal response they’d unleashed earlier in their wild coupling. He didn’t have to say anything; didn’t have to do anything. Just standing there, covering her, pressing himself against her softening curves was enough to send Shannon on an express lane, one-way journey to a sensual meltdown that had her whimpering quietly in growing need.
She placed her hands on his sides and felt the soft, luxurious cloth of his crisp white shirt. The contrast against the heat radiating off the skin underneath infused her touch with deepening awareness. She pressed against him and felt the outline of his impressive musculature. He was a magnificent specimen of male perfection.
Slipping her hands around his back along his waist Shannon wasted no time in sweeping her ultra-sensitive hands up his back and then across his wide shoulders until her hands were wrapped around his neck as she held on for dear life. As her touch moved across his broad back she had closed the distance between them and effectively plastered her body along his. The light cotton dress she wore was no barrier to his heat or the insistent contours of his hardening body. She could feel the ridge of his arousal pressing into her belly making her stretch up onto her toes for a better, more intimate fit.
What had started as a growl grew into a sharp grunt followed by a strong nip on her ear when Shannon shimmied against him on her tippy toes till she found just the right spot to bring them both a surge of excitement that may have been the tipping point for what happened next.
Nick’s arms crushed her to him, both hands gripping her bottom as he pressed her back into the wall and ground his hips against her trembling body. After biting her ear he had opened his mouth, licking at her neck leaving wet nips along the length until settling at her most vulnerable spot; where her neck and shoulder met. There he simply gnawed on and suckled at her skin in a way that made Shannon go limp in his arms.
He was marking her yet again and the thought thrilled her in a strangely primal way. She was totally his as she speared her fingers into his hair to hold his head where he was. The sensation of his open mouth kisses and the sounds of their low moans when he sucked on her neck sent Shannon hurtling into a sensual fog that did not take in to account where they were.
She demanded his mouth and Nick let her have what she wanted in a kiss as incendiary and out-of-control as to threaten to engulf them both in flames of blazing desire. He devoured her. She gloried in his mastery. At some point Shannon had pulled Nick’s shirt from his pants and had gotten most of the buttons undone in her never ending desire to touch some portion of his bare skin.
Her hands were deep inside his shirt, splayed against his back pressing him closer. When the kiss went supernova and Shannon started to come apart, she ran desperate fingers down his shoulders marking him in return.
Dimly she became aware that Nick was trying to calm them both down with long slow caresses meant more to soothe than arouse. He was struggling to breathe, as was she. Awareness returned with each shuddering gulp of air she took, making Shannon remember that they were standing in the hallway. This was most definitely not the place for the type of searing passion they had been showing.
“This is the part where you take me to bed, Nick.” Shannon whispered in the silence of the hallway. “Don’t make me wait.”
Yeah, he needed to get control fast, Nick thought. He had to watch himself, he realized because it apparently didn’t take much to throw a
match on the ready-to-combust energy they were creating. Hell, he’d almost just taken her here in the damn hallway he castigated himself in silent derision. The series of pithy swear words cluttering his mind summed up what Nick thought of his crass behavior at this moment.
She deserved better than to be man-handled out in the open where anyone could have come upon them. Okay, well…. maybe man-handled was going a bit too far. She was right there with him and loving every second of his aggressive approach and he was pretty damn sure he had the scratches on his back to prove it.
Take her to bed? Yeah, he intended to take her to bed where he would then proceed to kiss her stupid before devouring every inch of her heavenly body with his hands and mouth. When he was finished with her she would be without a doubt, well and truly loved. Losing himself inside the heated inner core weeping with her arousal was all he could think of, all he could focus on.
Resorting to the caveman tactics which had served him so well this past week, Nick swept Shannon off her feet and stalked off in search of his bed where he intended to have his way with her. The feel of her bottom against his arm where he clutched her against him shot into his senses like a thunderbolt. When she started kissing his neck and rubbing her ample breasts against his chest he suspected he was in danger of losing his normal cool in a spectacularly primitive way. She most definitely brought out the beast in him.
Breathing Shannon’s scent in deep lungful’s he detected the presence of her unmistakable arousal, something which to his amazement was making his knees a bit shaky. The relief he felt when they arrived at his enormous bedroom was welcome indeed. He wanted her behind closed doors as soon as possible where he could have her naked and writhing underneath his thrusting body. He was desperate to make love to her. Wanted to savor each sensation until came all around him in wave after wave of creamy spasm as she cried out his name until he joined her in that special, rapturous place.
As soon as they were on the other side of the bedroom door, Nick gently lowered Shannon to her feet leaning her against the large wing chair just inside the entrance to his spacious room. While one part of him wanted to throw her on the floor where they stood and ravage her clearly aroused body, he had the good sense to take himself in hand and damp down the desire which drenched the air surrounding them.
At the suggestion of taking himself in hand, Nick grimaced at the mere thought of anything touching his pulsing cock at just this moment. It wouldn’t take much more than a good gust of wind blowing to send him shooting over the edge.
Needing a quick distraction so he could regain some semblance of control, Nick took Shannon’s dainty hand, pulling her further into the welcome privacy of the master suite. Decorated in deep hues of brown and gold with subtle splashes of turquoise lending a hint of softness to the otherwise deeply masculine feel to the space, Nick’s bedroom sanctuary was big and bold just like the man who inhabited it. Floor to ceiling built-ins with tall, wide windows and massive wood furniture gave the room an elegant, turn-of-the-century feel.
As was the case in most of the main rooms, another curved alcove sat with this one showing comfortable seating and a small table hung with drapes that could be drawn to make the space completely closed off from the rest of the room. The effect was charmingly decadent. Thoughts he’d never entertained before brought to mind a whole series of erotic scenes crowding into his brain.
It was the bed however which dominated the large space. Nick loved the massive wood, four poster bed with the enormous carved headboard and side rails. He’d found it at an upstate antique barn and had moved heaven and earth to get it restored and moved into his bedroom.
The beautiful four posters gleamed with a hand rubbed glow that added to the rich wood appeal. A sumptuous cover was drawn back revealing several huge overstuffed pillows dressed in dark cranberry linens. The overall effect was big and elegant and very, very inviting.
Shannon was speechless as Nick drew her further into the enormous bedroom. The house had been such a surprise already; she had in no way expected his home to be a showcase of traditional, old world splendor. Shannon wanted to run her hands across all the glorious wood. Her fingers itched to explore each scrolled flourish and sweeping flow of the lines she saw. The man was one surprise after another.
When Shannon got a full view of the massive bed her first reaction was to whisper an awed “Wow.” It was high off the floor, higher than a modern bed and she shivered with delight at the image of Nick picking her up and placing her in the middle of what was essentially a lover’s playground where they could lose themselves in the decadent bedding.
“There’s an en suite behind you.” Nick fed quietly into the silence. “I’m sure Mrs. Allen put your overnight bag in the dressing room if you want to freshen up.”
He was moving toward a tall door on the corner of a huge built-in which, pressing to open, revealed a small refrigerated compartment filled with water and juice. Shannon marveled at the life a truly rich man lived and smiled when she realized that she wished she’d thought of the convenient appliance for her own bedroom. Would stop the endless padding barefoot back and forth to the kitchen on the other side of the house from her sleeping quarters when in search of a cool beverage.
The sight of the large carafe of iced water he pulled from the compartment somehow spurred her into immediate action and sent her moving off in search of her bag. What had happened between them on the plane had been totally spontaneous and unplanned. In all the scenarios that Shannon’s rich imagination had supplied, she’d premeditated something a bit more deliberate and provocative, the reminder of which made up her mind about her next step. She’d certainly come prepared to knock the tycoon’s socks off and that’s exactly what she intended to follow through on.
Finding her small overnight case in the dressing room attached to the luxurious bathroom, Shannon marveled at the space which was probably larger than her whole bedroom in California. Two side-by-side walk-in closets with built-in shelves, drawers and shoe racks anchored the room. A quick peek in one revealed all of Shannon’s clothes neatly hung and folded. In the top drawer she found lingerie with her beauty case stowed nearby.
Catching a glimpse of herself in the tall mirrors Shannon saw lips plumped by ravenous kisses and hair looking a bit on the disheveled side. Her wide eyes sparkled with intensity and Shannon noted a similarity between their even more than usual vibrant color and the splashes of turquoise blue she’d noticed in the bedroom’s color scheme. She didn’t need to wonder if this was a coincidence because she knew in her bones that his using that exact shade and color had not been just by accident.
She thought back to her mortification when Nick had first taken in the painstakingly recreated wet room she’d designed and knew a life-altering moment of understanding followed by a deep contentment as she acknowledged that he too had never fully removed her memory from his life.
Whether it was at the hands of Jules and her dear, sweet meddling ways or the Al-Alain party later this year, Shannon knew she and Nick had been destined to find their way to one another again. Now that they had, she wasn’t going to be shy about what she wanted.
With that she dashed off into the tiled bath to shake off hours of jet lag and set about making one of those naughty sexy scenarios she’d been breathing life in to become a reality. Glancing back at the heavy double doors leading to the bedroom, Shannon giggled nervously and hoped Nick was ready for what she had planned.
Back in the cavernous bedroom Nick waited on the edge of anxiousness for Shannon to return from the en suite. He slugged back quite a quantity of cool water in an attempt to quench his dry mouth and calm his pounding heart.
Needing something to do besides standing there light a statue, he purposefully swept the bedcovers to the end of the mattress and lowered the lights around the huge bed. Toeing off his shoes and socks, Nick tossed both aside, ignoring his customary fastidiousness and not really caring if their damn underwear ended up dangling from the light fixtures. Maybe he’d
institute a bare skin clause for their bedroom. No clothes allowed and then laughed at his foolish notion that he could call the shots on anything concerning Shannon. Although the image of her delicious nakedness moving around the room doing everyday things like speaking on the phone or reading the morning newspaper made his hard-on twitch with interest.
By the time Shannon reappeared from the dressing area Nick was dressed in a pair of grey cotton shorts strained to the max from the rampant erection just waiting to break free. His brain went into meltdown mode at the glorious picture she made standing there across the room dressed in nothing but one of those feminine lingerie sets she favored which, while covering all her girly bits, did little to hide those same mouth-watering attributes from his hungry gaze.
Her hair was unbound; falling freely over her shoulders hiding one perfect handful of breast while framing the other in all its glory. A delicate black lace bra with a tiny red bow right in the center did little to shield her nakedness and actually made her puckering nipples look ready to lick and suck.
The tiny, indecent pair of black lace panties she wore had delicate red bows on each hip which begged to be untied, one side at a time, until he revealed the cluster of dusky blonde curls covering her feminine core.
As if all that wasn’t enough to shut down what was left of his functioning brain, an unbelievably sexy pair of high heeled, open toed, shoes all but screamed ‘Fuck Me’ sending Nick’s control out the window. He knew a profound sense of gratitude once more that this heavenly creature had allowed him back into her life. He started toward her when she stopped him with the motion of her hand and a wicked gleam in her eyes.
“Uh uh.” she cooed in a smoky voice that sounded like sex and made him recall his desire to hear her crying out his name as she came again and again and again.
“You have too many clothes on.” she said as she pointedly fixed her gaze on his impressive bulge while adding a lip-licking grin just to mess with him, he was sure.
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