She desperately didn’t want Zane thinking she was trying to trap him in any manner, shape or form.
But she did want him to know she was grateful to him. And therefore, no strings were attached to—or resulting from—what was happening here.
This was just a matter of two consenting adults—consenting.
And right now, Mirabella thought as desire shivered all through her, what she was consenting to was pure ecstasy.
Her breathing grew more erratic with each passing moment and her body felt as if it was going to ignite right on the spot.
She couldn’t wait.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, on some level, Zane knew he should stop right now.
But he couldn’t.
Mirabella wasn’t his prisoner, which was what he was afraid she’d think. If anyone was anyone’s prisoner here, he was hers. He couldn’t just stop and walk away from her now if his very life depended on it. The only thing that could possibly get him to do that was if he felt she wanted him to stop.
But each time he tried to draw his head back in order to catch his breath and give her the option of calling a halt to this, Mirabella would frame his face between her hands and urgently press her lips to his.
Keeping the connection from breaking.
Feeding the anticipation.
His head was spinning and all he could think about was making love with her.
Having her.
Losing himself in her.
His lips never leaving hers, Zane began peeling off her clothing—she was back in that sensible suit she’d had on when he first came to pick her up this morning.
With each article he teased off her body, Zane could feel himself getting more and more excited. Could feel his body literally aching for her.
She intoxicated him as anticipation drummed through his veins. Zane reverently slid his hands along her body, absorbing every nuance, every curve. Awed by the way she gave herself to him at the same time that she imprisoned him.
Awed as well by the fact that he had worked alongside this woman for four years without ever really suspecting how deep her still waters really ran.
* * *
Mirabella was amazed at the feelings racing through her, amazed at the way she responded to Zane. She might have been pregnant, but she was far from experienced. The realization hit her hard because here, with this man, she was feeling things she’d never felt before, doing things she’d never done.
Wanting to do things she’d never done before.
It was almost as if her body had taken over and she was just going along for the ride, hanging on for dear life and loving every second of it.
The moment Zane had begun undressing her, she had started to do the same with him.
It was jacket for jacket, his slacks for her skirt, his shirt for hers. The same one-for-one policy applied to underwear.
Her heart was racing and pounding more and more as each piece was separated from its owner and fell to the floor.
And then it was just them. No clothing, no barriers, nothing but raw emotions demanding to be heeded, to be appeased and thrilled.
It felt as if every fiber of her body had come not just awake but supremely alive.
She’d never felt like this before, capable of doing everything and anything. And all the while, she felt something building up within her, something moving ever upward toward the distant pinnacle that loomed far above her.
Her body was perspiring, pulsating with anticipation of she had no idea what. She’d never been down this path before, never felt her body quickening to this degree before.
With his lips once again sealed to hers, Zane created the union they were both more than ready for.
The second he entered her, he felt her arch against him, saw the look on her face as wonder began to trace its imprint over it.
He moved, watching her, growing more excited himself just by seeing her expression intensify.
The tempo increased until there was no turning back. One final thrust and the stars exploded over both of them. Her cry of sheer ecstasy echoed in his ears and in his head.
Chapter 16
It was the noise that woke her.
It wasn’t that it was a loud noise. On the contrary, it was the kind of muffled, subdued noise someone made when they were trying very had not to make any noise at all.
Specifically, Mirabella realized as she opened her eyes and saw him, it was the kind of soft sounds that accompanied someone attempting to get dressed and leave without creating the slightest disturbance.
Isolated in silence, the slightest movement, the slightest deviation was amplified and thus disturbed that silence.
She had no idea what time it was, only that Zane was leaving.
“Is it time to go?” she asked. The pillow beneath her head had just the slightest hint of his scent. She gathered it to her, inhaling. Comforted by it.
Damn, he thought he was being so quiet, collecting his things together in almost slow motion in order to not accidentally hit anything, drop anything, make any sound that might cause her to wake up.
How had she managed to hear him?
Caught in the act, dressed except for his shoes and shirt, Zane sat down on the edge of her bed and slipped his shoes on. “For me, yes.”
“But not for me?” she questioned, confused. They worked together, separated by only a few feet. Why didn’t he want her coming into the office? Had what happened between them last night changed everything?
Zane addressed his words to the wall. Looking in her direction might have him changing his mind. “I thought you might want the day off to pack whatever you want to take with you.”
He could only resist for so long. Turning his head, he caught her looking at him quizzically. Sleep was still evident in her eyes and her hair was tousled. He felt the pull of desire begin.
“To my house, remember?” he prompted.
“Oh, right.” Sitting up now, Mirabella drew the sheet up with her, modestly tucking it around her. “That won’t take me too long. I can be ready in fifteen, twenty minutes if you want to go in together.”
“Can’t,” he told her, although heaven knew he was tempted. So tempted to linger with her.
But that would only make a complicated situation that much more complicated. His reasons for marrying her had been straightforward and simple. Bringing emotions into it would only muddy the waters.
But it was getting harder to hold them at bay, he realized. “I’ve got an early meeting with Meyer.”
“About the person who set us up?” she guessed hopefully.
“Among other things,” he said vaguely. “I’ve got to go.” There was urgency infused into his tone.
He was holding her at arm’s length, Mirabella thought. She had no right to ask for an accounting. “All right,” she replied quietly.
She didn’t believe him, Zane realized. Not that he blamed her. In her place, he wouldn’t have believed him, either.
Last night vividly replayed itself in his mind. He should have left her alone, should have been able to resist and just gone on home.
“I’m sorry about last night,” he told her.
“That bad, huh?” she quipped, trying her best not to let him see how devastated she felt by his apology and how much it hurt.
He stared at her, not comprehending her meaning for a moment.
“What?” And then the words became clear. “No, no it wasn’t.”
That didn’t make any sense. “Then why are you sorry?” She wanted to know.
He didn’t want to spell it out, but if that’s what it took to make amends, he would. “Because I took advantage. Of the situation, of you.”
She was looking at him as if he had lapsed into a foreign language she was desperately trying to understand. “Did you?”
“Well, yes.” But he didn’t want her to think he’d done it on purpose. Things had just gotten out of hand. “I mean no.”
Zane sighed. The words coming out of his mouth w
ere not right. This apology was definitely not going according to plan. Nothing, he thought wearily, had gone according to plan since the day his stepfather had been kidnapped.
“I didn’t mean to take advantage,” he finally said in exasperation. “I’ll see you later.”
“Later,” Mirabella murmured, but he had already left her bedroom.
A moment later, she heard her front door closing. The joy that had wrapped itself around her last night as she finally drifted off to sleep slipped away, leaving her feeling cold.
* * *
Zane really hadn’t expected to see her at her desk today, certainly not so soon after he’d left her.
Glancing at his watch, he saw Mirabella had arrived less than an hour behind him. He thought of his sister. It took Marceline more than an hour to just shower and put on her makeup, never mind pack a few essentials and actually show up somewhere. That took his sister the better part of a morning, if not longer.
Maybe Mirabella hadn’t packed, he amended. Looking around the front of her desk as he passed it, he didn’t see any evidence of a suitcase.
“Where’s your suitcase?” he asked her.
Maybe it was her imagination, but the very sound of his voice made her tingle.
“In my car,” she answered. “I thought bringing it into the office with me would cause too much speculation.”
There was only a small touch of humor in his laugh. “I think the ship has sailed on that one,” he told her. “Four people have already come up and congratulated me on my ‘elopement.’” He still had no idea how they knew. “Did you tell anyone?” he asked her.
Mirabella replied, “No one,” with such solemnity, he saw no reason not to believe her.
“I didn’t, either. Then how would anyone know?” he questioned.
Mirabella thought the answer to that was self-evident. “A corporate jet isn’t exactly something you can slip into your pocket without people noticing. The pilot had to sign out the plane, register a flight plan. There’re lots of ways for people to get wind of this,” she pointed out as she turned on her computer, then her monitor.
How had that escaped him? “I guess you’re right,” he agreed. “I forgot about the jet.”
With that, Zane turned away. He had some notes he wanted to pick up from his office before going to his next meeting.
“And then there’s this,” he heard Mirabella say as he started to walk into his office.
“Did you say something?” he asked, pausing just inside his threshold to look back in her direction.
Mirabella stared at her computer monitor. The words all but leaped out at her. Anger mingled with a feeling of hopelessness as it bathed over her.
It just didn’t end, did it?
“I think I know how the rest of the staff might have found out about the wedding in Vegas,” she told Zane.
Her voice sounded oddly hollow. “Something wrong?” he asked, doubling back.
Mirabella turned the monitor so he could see the screen more readily. The “Anonymous” email sender was back. Glancing at the time stamp, the email had been sent out early this morning. It was the first thing she saw when she opened her computer.
What new bridegroom is getting away with murder? the first line read. Better be careful and watch your back, Mirabella, or you might be next on his list.
Anger spiked within him. Zane bit back a number of choice words. Cursing at the sender, or at her computer, would accomplish exactly nothing. He needed to take some kind of effective action, not merely rail impotently at shadows.
Zane put his hand on her shoulder in a protective gesture.
“Don’t be afraid, Belle. I’m going to track this infantile scum down. I won’t let him get to you.”
He meant physically, but she took it to mean mentally. “He’s already gotten to me, but I’m not afraid.” She fired back. “I’m angry. This jerk has no right to try to say what he’s saying, to try to poison people’s minds against us.” Her eyes flashed as she turned them toward Zane. “What the hell is his game?”
Her normally porcelain cheeks were flushed with suppressed fury. He’d never seen her look so angry—nor so desirable. Instead of becoming incensed, which he knew was what this “Anonymous” vermin was after, Zane felt himself becoming aroused. By Mirabella.
Now wasn’t the time, he upbraided himself.
It was never going to be the time, he reminded himself in the next moment. He’d married her to save her reputation, to squelch the hurtful, damaging rumors. Stringing up the person saying all those caustic things about them, about her, did not lead to the “and they all lived happily ever after” ending he was after—even if it might prove to be immensely satisfying on a very primal level.
Nothing wrong with a little primal once in a while, Zane caught himself thinking as his thoughts returned to last night.
The next moment, because he couldn’t afford to be sidetracked, he shut down both avenues of thought. The only game he needed his head in right now was the one he needed to play in order to shut this Neanderthal cretin down.
“Well, there’s one way to handle this like an adult,” Mirabella said to him as she poised her fingers over the keyboard, ready to delete the whole ugly mess with a couple of strokes. “And that’s to not pay any attention to it.”
Realizing what Mirabella was about to do, he quickly put his hand beneath hers, blocking her access to the keyboard.
“No, don’t,” he ordered.
Confused, Mirabella looked at him quizzically. “You want me to save this garbage?” Had he lost his mind—or was there something she was missing?
“Meyer’s going to need the emails “Anonymous” has sent so he can trace them back to the sender. It’s got to be someone within the company who’s sending these emails. I think it’s the same person who engineered those fake authorizations to transfer Eldridge’s funds into that dummy account with your name on it. We’ve got a lot of sharp IT experts working for Colton Incorporated.”
He paused to look at Mirabella, weighing just how to ask the next question. He’d always been a direct man. The question came out bluntly. “Do you have any enemies, Belle?”
She answered without hesitation. “I do now that I married you.”
He hadn’t even thought about that turn of events and didn’t comment on her speculation. Besides, what she’d just said had no bearing on the timeline.
“The first email and the dummy account were set in motion before yesterday. In the case of the account, long before we got married,” he pointed out, then tried again. “So, do you know of any enemies you might have had prior to yesterday?”
She didn’t even have to think about it. Mirabella shook her head. “Nobody. I only interacted with people in the office on your behalf. In case you hadn’t noticed, you’ve kept me very busy. Too busy to ‘hang out’ at the watercooler and make anyone resent me.” She looked at him and asked in all innocence, “How about you? Do you have any enemies?” She saw the look that passed over his face and realized she might have accidentally stumbled onto the answer. “Who?”
Off the top of his head, he couldn’t think of any one name standing out above the rest. It was more of a group deal in his case. “I’m sure I’m not on the list of favorite people when it comes to a number of former employees.”
“Former employees,” she repeated. It had an ominous sound to it. “As in—?”
Indulging her, Zane elaborated whom he was referring to. “People I’ve had to fire, either for incompetence, or for security violations. I tried to go easy on them,” he admitted. “But a couple of them eventually wound up being prosecuted.” Those might definitely carry a grudge, he thought. “I’d better put a list together and give it to Meyer,” he said, thinking out loud.
“That would be a good start,” Mirabella agreed.
Maybe once Zane got started, more names would occur to him. She just hoped they could find whoever was behind this and stop the person before they had a chance to escalate.
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Mirabella stifled a shiver.
She made a good sounding board, Zane thought. But then, he already knew that. This wasn’t the first time he’d bounced thoughts off her in order to decide on a course of action. He was just more aware of it because of last night, he realized.
He was just more aware of everything because of last night. And that was both good, and bad, at the same time.
Damn it, he had to get himself together and focus on what was important—not to mention quite possibly urgent. Matters affecting his personal life he could resolve later. But this thing in front of him could pose an immediate threat—and not just to him.
Who knew, maybe this “Anonymous” character was somehow tied up in his father’s kidnapping, as well. He certainly hoped so. It would be nice to be able to wrap this up quickly.
Zane could feel his knuckles itching.
Right now, he needed to bring all this to the attention of his head IT expert. But even so, he paused for a moment longer. There were parts of his personal life he just couldn’t avoid. He felt as if he needed to prepare Mirabella for what lay ahead.
“You’ve never met my family, have you?”
He knew it was a stilted question. There was no reason for her to have actually met them. She was part of another world, a world that dealt with reality and regular people whereupon his family—all of them—were a little larger than life and for the most part, definitely out of touch with the normal world.
Believing Zane was asking her a serious question, Mirabella paused to think. “Well, I’ve seen a number of them in passing. After all, your father and your brothers Fowler and Thomas, not to mention your sister Piper, all have offices in the penthouse,” she said, referring to the top floor of the twenty-five-story glass office tower. “And I have seen your mother on occasion,” she added.
That covered most of them, except for Alanna, Marceline and Reid, the former being his stepsister, just as Fowler was his stepbrother. Thomas and Reid were his half brothers. As for Piper, she was part of the family by virtue of adoption.
“Seeing my mother is definitely not the same thing as occupying the same space as my mother for more than a few seconds at a time.” His mouth curved almost cynically. “It is an experience that leaves a deep impression on you—like being in the center of the stage during a live presentation of You Can’t Take It with You.”
The Pregnant Colton Bride Page 15