His Secret Temptation

by Cat Schield

  * * *

  Although Caroline had expected some pain, the shock of Simon’s possession had caught her off guard. She was his. No turning back now.

  Her discomfort faded quickly as Simon surged into her in measured, achingly controlled thrusts. Pleasure built, a rising wave that swept her along. As wonderful as all his kisses and caresses, nothing could compare to the feel of his big body pressing her to the floor, the slide of him in and out of her. Each time their hips came together, the thrusts reverberated deep in her womb. She arched to take more of him in. He drove into her, shifting speed and angle, coaxing her to find his rhythm and match it. Before she knew what she was doing, she had wrapped her thighs around his hips and was rising to meet each thrust.

  “Ah Caroline. Just like that.”

  He gripped her hips to alter their angle and suddenly she was awash in pleasure, a shell tossed about by the surf. She spun in dizzying circles, rising higher as the waves buffeted her, carrying her along before finally depositing her on the shore. She lay gasping for breath, shocked by the intensity of what had just happened between them as Simon thrust into her three more times and then groaned in release, his body stiffening, muscles locking as he climaxed. He collapsed onto her and hugged her fiercely, his breath rasping in and out of his lungs.

  She held him and waited for his eyes to refocus until at last he gave a happy sigh and rolled them onto their sides, still intimately joined. He smiled at her, brushing hair from her mouth and replacing it with a sweet kiss.

  “What happened when I entered you? Did I hurt you? If I did, I’m sorry. You were so tight. It was amazing. I’ve never felt anything so incredible.”

  His words were so sexy she felt the aftershocks of her orgasm spasm where their bodies were joined. Caroline bit her lip. Naked and in as intimate a position as she’d ever been in, she had run out of courage. Let Simon think what he wanted about what had happened. She was not going to tell him the truth.

  “It was just a bit of a surprise, that’s all. You are a rather large man.”

  “And a brute as well to take you on the floor like this.” He eased away from her. “You deserve Egyptian cotton sheets and the softest mattress.”

  He stood and reached out to draw her to her feet. His gaze locked on her thighs. Caroline looked down and noticed the dark smear on her leg. Eyes blazing, he unceremoniously hauled her to her feet.

  “Tell me you’ve had sex before.”

  Caroline pressed her lips together. Embarrassment chilled the warm, sexy glow of lovemaking from her skin. Unable to meet his punishing gaze, she shook her head.

  He cursed. “Why didn’t you say you were a virgin?”

  Why? Was he kidding?

  If she had confessed her inexperience in these matters, he wouldn’t have made love to her. He’d spent the last three days proving that chivalry trumped lust in his mind. If he had known, he never would have touched her. And she had needed to be touched. More than touched, she had needed to be claimed by him. He had done the job with amazing skill.

  When she refused to answer his question, Simon framed her face with his hands and tipped her head back to burrow into her eyes in search of answers.

  “You should have told me.” Regret overpowered the concern in his voice. “If I had known…”

  “What?” She tore away, angry with him for no good reason except she wanted to see the possessive light in his eyes, not remorse. “You’d have done what?”

  She knew what he’d have done—acted honorably and not given her the most incredible memory to savor after they went their separate ways. She walked to where she had kicked aside her gown, cheeks burning as she recalled her boldness. Still naked, and not bothering to hide from Simon’s turbulent gaze, she hung up the dress and fetched her underclothes.

  “I’d have done better.”

  “Better than what?” Some of the heat went out of her anger. “I may not be experienced, but I’m sure most women would consider two orgasms pretty damned great.”

  “I’d have gone slower.”

  Caroline wanted to throw a shoe at him. “Any slower and we would both have exploded. Please don’t make a huge deal about this.”

  “But it is a huge deal.” He caught her arm as she headed past him toward the bathroom. “How could you have waited this long and let me—”

  She squeezed her eyes shut. “The year leading up to my mother’s death I was dating this guy. We’d known each other all our lives. He said he loved me. My mom wanted me to go to college, but I was crazy about Ben and wanted to marry him. Sometimes it got pretty intense between us, but with how sick my mom was, all I could think about was how much she wanted me to get a degree and how afraid she was that I’d follow in her footsteps and get pregnant before I graduated from high school. I couldn’t disappoint my mother, and when Ben pushed me for sex, I said I wasn’t ready. So he got what he wanted with my best friend. I didn’t know until she ended up pregnant. He married her. They have three kids.” Caroline pressed her lips together, annoyed with herself that it still stung after all this time. Those could have been her children, her family. But then, she never would have gone to law school or met Simon. “Since then, trusting anyone enough to be intimate with them has been an issue for me.”

  “And now?”

  “I wanted to be with you. I knew you’d be a great lover. I don’t have any expectations beyond this moment. It’s just that simple.”

  “I wish I could agree with you.” His blond hair fell across his forehead, almost obscuring his scowl.

  Caroline watched satisfaction war with regret in him. Simon had rediscovered his old-fashioned Southern manners since walking into his mother’s house, but he was male enough to appreciate going where no man had gone before. His eyes smoldered, but his lips were relaxed and the tiniest curve lifted one corner. She wasn’t sure if she should hit him or kiss him. He made her decision for her by dragging her tight against his hard muscles and rocking his mouth against hers in the sexiest kiss yet. Heat exploded between them immediately.

  His hands slid along her back, caressing lower, along the curve of her bottom, lifting her against his erection. She rose onto her tiptoes and wrapped one leg around his hips. While his tongue plunged into her mouth, Caroline held on and let him take whatever he wanted. She’d had no idea that making love to Simon would bind her to him like this. When they parted, he would take a piece of her heart with him.

  “Sweet woman, do you have any idea what you do to me?” He pressed openmouthed kisses down her neck and nipped at the place where her neck and shoulder met.

  The clock on the mantel chimed into the silence and Simon cursed.

  “I have to get back to the country club and pick up Hannah and Sarah.”

  “Then you’d better go.”

  “Not quite yet.”

  He drew her into the bathroom and started the shower. Caroline resisted, not wanting to wash the smell of him off her yet. After the bedroom’s romantic glow, the bathroom lighting seemed brash and overbright. She stared at the naked images of her and Simon in the large dressing mirror until he pulled her into the shower. He slid his hands slid over her water-slick skin and Caroline gave herself up to the magic of his touch.

  Using her shower gel, he soaped her body, paying special attention to her breasts and belly until she was gasping for air and clinging to his shoulders to stay upright. As he slipped his hands lower, Caroline’s knees began to betray her. Simon seemed to understand for he turned her around and, keeping one arm around her waist to brace her, he lowered the other to soap between her thighs, his touch tender and reverent. Fire lanced upward through her as he cleaned the blood from her legs.

  Afraid he might leave her aroused and unfulfilled, she caught his hand and urged him toward the place where she wanted him most. With her head thrown back against his shoulder, breath ragged, she barely heard his murmured words of encouragement as his fingers parted the tender lips that hid her sex and found her heat.

  She shudder
ed as another orgasm claimed her, and she gasped Simon’s name. Riding the exquisite sensations, she spiraled out of control in the secure circle of his arms. When she was able to think again, she opened her eyes. Warm water poured over her, cooling her skin. She leaned against Simon, rock hard and supportive behind her. As her legs grew stronger, her resolve firmed as well. She slowly turned in his arms and lifted onto her toes to kiss him. Her mouth opened against his, her tongue plunging deep. He locked his arms around her as their tongues danced. She felt his erection against her belly and reached for him.

  He inhaled harshly as her fingers closed around his shaft. “We can’t. I only had one—”

  “Perhaps we can’t. But you can.”

  She backed him against the shower wall and made a circle of her thumb and forefinger. She watched his eyes close as she slowly drew that circle up his erection and back down, pausing to circle the sensitive head every other stroke. As she had been minutes before, he was now helplessly locked in the grip of the pleasure she provided. As dominating and powerful as Simon could be, Caroline savored this chance to watch him drop his guards and let her lead. Tension vibrated from his muscles as she increased her pace. He was completely hers for the moment. A silky purr erupted from his throat as he threw his head back and jerked his hips forward, spilling his seed into her hands.

  Panting in aftermath, Simon fixed her with a rueful smile. “You’re full of surprises.”

  It gave her a rare taste of power to catch him off balance. “And you’re going to be late to pick up your sister and Sarah if we don’t get out of this shower.”

  He banded her against his body, leaving no room for her lungs to expand. “And heartless as well.”

  She relaxed against his heartbeat, finding peace and fulfillment in his arms. As the warm water poured over their heated bodies, the soothing sweep of his fingertips along her back could have kept her immobile all night. But that was impossible.

  “Go,” she said, pushing at his chest.

  Leaving her to turn off the shower, Simon exited and caught a towel on his way out of the bathroom. Caroline had three heart-pounding seconds to appreciate his perfect backside before the towel obscured it from her view. She took her time drying off and applied a fabulous new lotion to her skin. She heard Simon leave and she entered the bedroom to put on a nightgown. This one was black silk. As she slid its cool softness over her head, she wondered if she had bought these garments with the hope that Simon might see her in them. Why else did a woman purchase gorgeous lingerie except with the wish that she might be admired wearing it?

  Caroline climbed into bed and lay watching the play of firelight on the ceiling. Her body tightened in anticipation of waking in Simon’s arms, for surely he would no longer avoid her bed now that they’d made love. Exhausted and hypnotized by the shadows dancing above her, Caroline at last considered that night’s rash, impulsive behavior.

  Anxiety twisted in her, but she firmly pushed it to the back of her mind. Making love with Simon had not been a mistake. It had been amazing and magical and everything would work out just fine when they returned to Atlanta. She would go back to cleaning his house and finishing law school.

  What about when he dated other women? When he finally found the one he’d bring home for real? She sighed, but couldn’t convince her muscles to relax. She would just have to accept that she and Simon were not meant to be. First thing tomorrow, she would do just that.

  Chapter Ten

  Simon shrugged into his tuxedo jacket and buttoned his shirt as he descended the stairs. He cursed the obligation that dragged him back out into the night when he’d much rather gather a warm, much-sated woman into his arms and drift off to sleep.

  A virgin.

  His breath hitched as triumph stormed his emotions. He wanted to beat his chest and do a Tarzan yell. His, claimed in the most primitive way possible. Despite two incredibly satisfying orgasms in the last hour, his shaft twitched with renewed interest. He was quickly proving insatiable. Simon rubbed his hand across his mouth and discovered he was grinning.

  How was it possible that she hadn’t lost her innocence before now? Who the hell had she been saving herself for? And now that she had proved to be the sort of girl who didn’t give herself casually, what did that mean for him? Had she chosen him deliberately or on impulse?

  She’d bestowed on him an incredible gift and burdened him with an equally compelling responsibility. This wasn’t the sort of girl he could expect to dismiss with a thank-you for a nice evening and a noncommittal, “I’ll call you.” Caroline was built for love and marriage. She was a rare treasure that deserved a place of honor in a man’s heart and home.

  Her words came back to him then. She had no expectations beyond the moment. She’d made light of her decision to give herself to him. Was that because she assumed he would treat it lightly? What had she learned about him that would make her think anything else?

  The car rolled past the country club’s grounds, forcing him to pause the questions racing around in his head. The party hadn’t slowed a bit in his absence. He’d re-dressed in his tuxedo, but had left his tie behind, and had never felt less like being anywhere. Simon spied his father dancing with Sarah when he reentered the ballroom, but even the sight of the judge shaking his hips couldn’t generate a smile.

  “There you are, Simon.” His mother disengaged from the conversation she was having with a tall, blade-thin woman in a white dress. “How is Caroline feeling?”

  “Better,” he said shortly. “I’m sure she’s already sleeping.”

  “You’ve been gone almost two hours. I was starting to worry.”

  “She drank a couple of glasses of punch before I got to her,” Simon explained, hoping Caroline would forgive him for yet another misdirection that had her at its center.

  “Simon, shame on you for not warning her. One glass, maybe, but two?” Elizabeth shook her head. “Oh well, there’s nothing to do now, except be there with aspirin when she wakes up in the morning.”

  He nodded absently to his mother, looking past her for any sign of Hannah. He had an urgent need to collect his passengers and return to the house before Caroline fell asleep. He wanted answers from her.

  “Have you seen Hannah?”

  “I thought I saw her talking to that high school friend of hers, Jennifer Shafer. I’m sure she’ll be glad to see you. I think she’s ready to go home.” His mother reached up and touched his hair. “Your hair is wet. Did you shower?”

  Simon spotted Hannah at the same moment his mother asked her question. “What?”

  She put her hand on his arm to keep him from charging off through the crowd. “How sick is Caroline anyway?”

  He motioned to Hannah before redirecting his attention to his mother. Her arched eyebrows and the knowing smile twitching the corners of her mouth told him the gig was up. To play dumb or to not play dumb, that was the question.

  “Not as sick as I thought at first.”

  His mother’s eyes went wide with amusement. “I see. No wonder you were gone so long. If you two needed some time alone, you should have said something. I could have found a reason to get everyone out of the house.”

  Simon stared at his mother in dismay. Were they really discussing his sex life?

  “It’s not as if I don’t understand,” she continued, smoothing her skirt. “Your father and I were young once. In fact, just last week—”

  No. No. And definitely no. Simon refused to stick around to hear another word on the subject.

  He bent down and kissed her cheek. “As fascinating as all this is, I’m going to collect Hannah and Sarah and take them home. Don’t stay out too late.”

  Sarah and his father were leaving the dance floor about the same time he neared Hannah.

  “Are you two ready to go?”

  “Absolutely,” Hannah said, putting her hands in the small of her back. “My back is killing me. Simon, are you all right?”

  “What happened to our mother?” He glanced ove
r his shoulder in time to see his father dip her into a romantic kiss. “She used to be so proper, so formal.”

  Hannah chuckled. “What are you talking about? Mom’s never been all that reserved. She just likes to appear that way in public. And these days she’s more likely to let her hair down around her stuffy friends. I think the cancer made her realize that every day brings both challenges and joys. She told me that the day she stopped fighting what she couldn’t control was the moment a whole range of possibilities and new experiences opened up for her.”

  Simon considered his sister’s words on the way home. Once there, he abandoned his passengers just inside the front door and raced up the stairs two at a time. If the girls were startled at his hasty departure, they gave no sign. Simon eased open the bedroom door, his heart pounding. The last of the fire sent a faint flickering light to bathe Caroline’s sleeping face.

  Disappointment blended with awe as he stripped out of his clothes a second time that night. He watched her sleep, comparing tonight to the first time he’d seen her. One hand reached across the empty side of the bed as if searching for him. She liked to hog the bed. For some reason that intrigued him.

  As calm as she appeared during the day, restlessness haunted her at night. Would her nocturnal rambling knock him out of bed? He couldn’t wait to find out.

  Simon slipped on his pajama bottoms and slid beneath the covers. As if aware of his presence, Caroline cuddled against his side, her fingers splayed over his heart, her cheek resting on his shoulder. Simon covered her hand with his, pressing her palm against the steady beat of his heart, and closed his eyes. He inhaled her scent, letting his breath find the rhythm of hers. At once, his mind stopped racing and peace settled over him.

  * * *

  Simon opened his eyes and discovered Caroline staring at him. Her gray-green gaze toured his features, lingering on his mouth.

  “Good morning,” she said, her tone neutral. “You snore.”