by Bella Andre
That was when Suzanne suddenly seemed to remember that she wasn't just with her family, shooting Cordelia a look.
But Cordelia had already made a decision. She put down her wine glass and announced, "I'll go see him." She picked up her bag. "I'll talk to him about your father's party. About how important it is. To everyone." Including him.
"You don't have to do this," Harry said. "He's our brother and this is our mess."
"Alec bent over backward to help me last week. He was there for me before I even knew I needed him. Now it's my turn to be there for him." She gave Harry a small smile. "Even if he doesn't know he needs me, I do."
Harry held her gaze for a long moment, one where she was pretty sure he was taking her measure, weighing whether she was up to the task of turning the tide with his brother. "Okay then, the rest of us will work out the details for everything we can figure out without your or his input." Harry walked her to the door and stood on the front step watching her as she went to her car. She was just getting in when he said, "Cordelia?" She turned to look up at him. "Thank you."
"You don't have anything to thank me for yet."
"You care about Alec." Harry's expression was full of emotion. "That's already enough to be thankful for."
*
Alec poured himself a second double shot of whiskey and downed it in one fiery gulp. Soon, he hoped, he'd be drunk. Drunk enough to sleep. Drunk enough to stop the mental playback of his parents when he was a kid, happy times that he'd forgotten ever existed until he was back on the beach at Fire Island last week. Drunk enough to forget about his father's party. Drunk enough to stop thinking about Cordelia.
But no amount of work, no amount of exercise, no amount of alcohol was doing a damn thing to erase her from his system. She was there in every second of every day, in his office talking about his shark smile, on the tarmac marveling at the planes, in the shower with the hot spray dripping down her luscious curves. Most of all, she was there in his head, making him feel like the world's biggest jackass for bailing on his siblings tonight, for not wanting to be a part of his father's big birthday celebration.
Why was he even bothering with the shot glass? He'd need to pour the entire damned bottle down his throat to find even the slightest relief. Which was exactly what he was about to do when his doorbell rang.
He knew. Knew. It wasn't his sister. Wasn't one of his brothers. Cordelia was standing out there. Coming to call his bluff. Coming to say to his face what no one else had the nerve to say.
That he was a selfish SOB. That he needed to suck it up for one night and cook a meal for his father and family. That he shouldn't have gone dark on her all week. That he was a coward for hiding in his penthouse apartment with a bottle of whiskey.
Dropping the bottle on the counter, he stalked over to the door and yanked it open. Her eyes went wide for a split second as she took in his state of disarray. He'd ripped off his suit when he got home and couldn't be bothered to put on more than a pair of faded jeans. His feet were bare, his hair was standing on end from running his hands through it, and he was all but breathing fire.
"What part of I'm busy didn't you get?"
"The part where I missed you too much to care." She walked past him, put her bag down on his entry table, then turned to him. "It's nice to see you, Alec."
God, she sure knew how to turn him inside out. Especially when seeing her was the best thing that had happened to him in seven days straight.
He followed her into the kitchen. "Want a drink?"
"Thanks, but I have to drive home, so I'd better not."
No. He didn't want her going anywhere. Didn't want her leaving him. Not tonight.
"In that case, I'll drink yours." He poured another shot and threw it back.
"Come sit with me, Alec." She reached out toward him. "Tell me about your week."
He wanted nothing more than to sit with her. But that was a lie. What he really wanted, more than anything in the world, was to drag her onto his lap, tear off her clothes, and bury himself in her.
The only way to stop himself from doing that was to convince her to leave. And the only way to convince her to leave was to be an ass. An even bigger one than he'd already been this week.
He shoved his hands into his pockets. "You're not here to find out about my week. You want to know why I bailed on the meeting tonight."
"Actually, I want to know both things. But if you want to start with tonight, I'm all ears."
She was one cool customer. Tough too. So much tougher than he'd thought on that first day he'd seen her standing on the sidewalk outside his office building.
"I'm still going to cook for the party," he told her. "Harry, Suz, and Drake are perfectly capable of working out the rest of the details without me."
"Of course they are." She looked at him as if he was missing a screw. Which, honestly, was how it felt, with all the whiskey swimming around in his system and her ridiculously delicious floral scent mucking up the brain cells that were still functioning. Her formfitting white jeans and silky top weren't helping any by showcasing every beautiful curve. "That's not why they wanted you at the meeting tonight. They were hoping that this party would help you get closer to your dad."
"They know better than to hope for something that's never going to happen." Alec deliberately turned away from her and walked toward the floor-to-ceiling glass that looked out on the lights of the city.
"Then you should have gone to Harry's house and told them that." He heard her footsteps, knew she was coming closer. Every muscle in his body tensed in an internal struggle to keep from reaching for her. "They might not have liked hearing it, but they would have understood." She was standing beside him at the window now. So close that her shoulder, her hip, were nearly touching his. "Just like you should have told me you needed space, instead of just disappearing this week." He could feel her eyes on his face and was powerless not to meet her gaze. "I would have understood." She licked her lips. "I do understand."
Everything crashed down around him in that moment. His pride. His frustration.
His self-control.
"I'm sorry." If only he could draw her against him, feel her heart beating against his one more time. "You deserve better than that." His throat felt raw, but not because of the whiskey. Because of the shame of having hurt her. "Better than me."
The last thing he expected was to see her roll her eyes. "Seriously, you're going to have to work a lot harder than that to get rid of me. I'm your friend. You're my friend. Sometimes friends freak out, screw up, go dark for a while. This time it was you. Next time it might be me. But that's okay, because one blip, one mistake--doesn't mean our friendship is over."
"What does it mean?"
"That's up to both of us." She looked at him with those bright green eyes that never held anything back. "What do you want, Alec?"
He knew he shouldn't allow himself to say it. Knew he should keep his answer locked inside. But he also knew that he might never sleep again or ever manage to sober up if he didn't get out the truth.
"Tonight, all I want is you."
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Cordelia knew he would wait for her response, that he wouldn't take anything from her until he was absolutely sure that she wanted to give it. Just as she knew that he'd always been honest with her, even now when lust was tearing through them both.
Tonight. That was what he wanted her for. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Certainly not next year.
Making love again wouldn't mean anything beyond tonight--and she couldn't deny that a part of her ached more than ever at the sure knowledge that he would never be her Prince Charming and that the odds of the two of them ending up at the altar one day, staring into each other's eyes while making vows of forever, were zilch.
Other women might have tried to change him, but Cordelia would never do that. Because the Alec Sullivan standing in front of her right now, the man who had just told her one truth she had desperately wanted to hear--that he wanted her--alongs
ide another she didn't--that it would only be for tonight--was the man she had fallen for. First as a friend. And then as so much more.
Tonight was all he promised her. Knowing that, she could either walk away--or she could grab at the night with both hands. Revel in it with everything she had. And she could be happy knowing she was finding such wonderful bliss with a friend. One who meant more to her than any other friend had before.
"I want it too," she said softly. "Tonight. You."
"Tell me you're sure." But his hands were already in her hair, his body already pressing against hers. "Tell me you understand."
"I'm sure." She whispered the words against his lips. "And I understand. Tonight only. With no promises of anything more."
"I don't deserve you," he said. And then his mouth came crashing down on hers before she could tell him that he did.
Alec deserved so much more than he was willing to take. Or to ask for. But she would give it all to him anyway. Every last piece of her heart, because she wanted to give it to him. Needed to give it to him.
"Let me love you, Alec." She was running her hands over his bare chest, following the path of her fingertips with her lips. "Let me make you feel as good as you've always made me feel."
His hands tightened in her hair, the muscles in his chest jumping beneath her hands and mouth, as he let her taste him, revel in him, tease him, tempt him. She dropped to her knees, put her hands on the button of his jeans, popped it open, and began to work the zipper--and all the while, she could feel his dark, intense gaze on her. She licked her lips, held her breath in glorious anticipation, then finally dropped his jeans to the floor.
She'd guessed he would be naked beneath the well-worn denim. She'd known he'd be magnificent. But she hadn't realized just how much she'd want to kiss his naked flesh, to run her lips, her tongue over his hard length. Until it wasn't enough, and she had to take him inside her mouth, one hard, beautiful inch at a time.
Her name was a groan of pleasure from his lips as she took him deep, humming with joy at his delicious taste. He was so hot, so powerful, so alive. She'd never wanted anything more than she wanted to take him over the edge. To feel him lose control with her, inside of her.
But before she could make the fantasy real, he was pulling himself from her mouth and lifting her into his arms.
"You're a goddess," he said as he strode with her out of his living room and up the stairs. "But I need more tonight, Cordelia. I need to feel you coming beneath me, need to hear you calling my name, need to know I'm the only man who can make you feel this good."
"You are." She had never learned to be coy, and wouldn't have bothered playing that game with Alec even if she had. "You do."
"I want to believe it." They were in his bedroom now, and he was lowering her to her feet. "I need to believe it."
"Touch me," she said. "Kiss me," she begged. "Love me," she urged. "And you will."
She expected him to throw her onto the bed. To tear off her clothes. To ravish her. Instead, he carefully put his hands on either side of her face and kissed her.
Gently.
Sweetly.
Reverently.
Her heart swelled. Bigger and bigger until she was sure it would burst through her chest.
No one had ever kissed her like this. No one had ever touched her as though she was the most precious thing in the world to him.
And he was just as precious to her.
She wanted to be skin to skin. Wanted there to be nothing between them. She drew back from his mouth to tell him, "I started taking the Pill. Last week."
The heat in his eyes leaped another hundred degrees. "I'm clean."
"Good." She couldn't contain her smile. Or the desire that raced through her, hotter, faster than ever. "I want to feel you, Alec. All of you."
"You will." His words were more than a promise. Stronger than a vow. "But first..." His touch was light as he reached for her top and drew it over her head. "I'm going to kiss you." He lowered his lips to her breastbone and pressed his mouth to it. "Everywhere."
The word was muffled against her skin, but she heard it in his kiss. In the way he slowly ran his lips over every inch of the skin he'd just bared. Her shoulders, her arms, her wrists, the swell of her breasts, and then lower down over her stomach, before turning her so that he could rain kisses over the nape of her neck, and then her back, her waist.
He didn't spin her around before reaching for the snap of her jeans. And when he remained on his knees behind her as he peeled away the white denim, the feel of his warm breath over her bare skin was impossibly erotic. Especially when he bent just a little lower to kiss the curve of her hip where it peeked out from her panties.
She'd done something crazy earlier this week. She'd gone to a store in town that she'd never visited before, one that sold frilly things. In the back, she'd found some lingerie in delicate pink silk. It was something she'd never considered wearing before now, but she'd wanted to feel like one of her bright, pretty flowers tonight. Wanted Alec to peel away her clothes just the way he was now and see that she had bloomed. Only for him.
"Look at you." His voice was low. Sensuous as it caressed her skin the same way his hands and his mouth did. "My beautiful Cordelia."
He held her hips in his hands as he ran his tongue up the back of her leg from her ankle to the curve of her hip. She shivered with delight as he did the same to her other leg, knowing she would have fallen if he hadn't been holding her so firmly.
Everything inside of her ached for him. "Please," she begged, just the way he'd said he wanted her to. "Please, Alec."
He finally turned her then, so that his mouth was level with her sex. She ached, throbbed, burned for him. For his touch. And he knew. Because--thank God--he pressed his mouth to her. Over silk. And she moaned.
"Tell me," he said.
"It feels so good." She all but panted the words. "You feel so good."
"Mmmm. So good."
The sound vibrated between her thighs. And then he was sliding silk off her hips, down her thighs, until it landed as a small pink scrap of fabric on the plush rug.
"Here." He blew lightly against her slick flesh. "I dream about kissing you here, Cordelia."
At first his lips touched her bare skin with soft, nearly chaste kisses. Until, suddenly, he swirled his tongue in such a sinful way that she saw stars behind her eyelids. And when his tongue dipped hot and fast against her, then slid deep, she came completely apart, one beautiful shock of pleasure after another.
She hadn't yet begun to recover from the breathless orgasm when he picked her up again and laid her on the bed. Her bra was still on, but he didn't seem in any rush to take it off. Not when he seemed to be having such fun running his tongue along the edges where silk met skin.
After her explosive climax, she should have been sated. At least a little bit, for a little while. But she already knew that one taste of ecstasy with Alec was never enough. Especially when he was teasing her like this with little kisses on sensitive flesh, slow swipes of his tongue, sinful nips of his teeth.
She would have begged again, but she couldn't find any more words. Could only arch into his mouth, into his hands, in a silent plea for him to do more than tease.
Alec Sullivan wasn't a man who could be easily swayed, however, and when he covered the taut tip of one breast with his mouth and she felt wet silk slide between his tongue and her shockingly aroused skin, she realized he was right to show her all the different shades of pleasure. All the different ways he could make her feel good.
And oh, was he ever making her feel good as he moved his mouth to her other breast, utterly focused on her pleasure. She couldn't stay still on the bed, even with his thigh between hers, her hands in his on either side of her head. She writhed against him, desperate to find the next peak, knowing it was close, knowing it would be amazing.
"Look at me, Cordelia."
She opened her eyes just in time to watch as he flipped open the clasp on her bra. Her breasts spr
ang free, and he slid the pad of one thumb over the sensitive flesh.
"No matter what I do," he said, "no matter what you feel, promise me you won't look away."
Her breath caught in her throat at his deeply sensual request. "I promise."
His lips turned up at the corners, even as his gaze went almost black. "All day, all night, I fantasize about you." As he spoke, he ran his hand over her naked curves. From breast to hip, finally stopping with his fingers splayed over her pelvis. "Touching you." He moved his hand lower, so that he was nearly touching her sex. "Kissing you." He lowered his mouth to hers for the briefest moment. "Telling you how good you feel. How good you make me feel."
"Tell me now," she urged.
"So damned good, Cordelia." He slid his hand to cup her between her thighs. "And getting better every single second."
She knew what was going to happen, yet the plunge of his fingers still took her breath away. Pleasure sparked along every inch of her skin, especially where he was moving inside of her. She rocked her hips against him to try to get closer, and when she did, he didn't just give her what she needed, he gave her something she hadn't even realized existed before him. A connection so strong, so deep, that she felt it in more than just her body, more than just her heart, but her soul too.
She was on the verge of climax when he suddenly shifted, drew his hand from between her thighs, grasped her hand in his again, then plunged deep.
They moved together in a beautiful dance that was at once instinctive and passionate. She nearly closed her eyes at the exquisite joy of their lovemaking, but she'd made him a promise. And she would never, ever break her promises to him. Not one made on a night of lovemaking that she'd remember forever. And not her promise to let him be free after the night was over either.
He didn't say a word as he took them both higher and higher until they couldn't hold back the tidal wave of pleasure another moment. But his gaze told her he'd never experienced anything so sweet. So real. So perfect.
And it was.
Absolutely perfect.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Alec woke with Cordelia in his arms. With her soft warmth pressed along the length of his body, as he listened to her deep, even breathing and took in the smile on her lips even as she slept, he realized he'd never felt so happy, so content, so at peace.