“Mercedes and Jillian are on their way,” Jared replied, keeping a possessive eye on his daughter.
His obvious attachment to the baby gave Aubrey a case of the warm fuzzies. She couldn’t recall her father ever looking at her that way, as if his world revolved around her. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “The winery grounds are a perfect setting for a party.”
“You should see it on the weekends. The Ashton Estate Winery is a very popular wedding sight.” Darby’s gaze bounced from Aubrey to Liam and back again, as if she were gauging their interest in a wedding on the grounds. Aubrey’s cheeks burned and she looked away.
Darby unexpectedly placed the baby in Aubrey’s arms. Startled, Aubrey adjusted her grip. She’d held her friend’s children years ago, but there were some things you never forgot, like the warmth of an infant squirming closer, the fresh baby scent or the way a gummy smile and trusting blue eyes could melt your heart. “She’s beautiful. How old?”
“Six months,” Jared said in a proud voice. His tanned finger trailed across Chloe’s downy soft cheek. “And she looks just like her mother.”
“If you’ll notice, there are a lot of pregnant women and new babies around,” Darby said in a teasing tone. “So don’t drink the water if a baby’s not in your plans.”
A tight knot formed in Aubrey’s throat. She’d never have Liam’s baby. The yearning to hold a child created by their feelings for each other swelled inside her with surprising swiftness.
“I guess I’ll stick with the wine, then,” she said to fill the awkward silence and then returned the baby to her father.
Liam shifted on his feet beside her. “We should go and let you get on with your party. Mason, Darby, thank you for your time, and thank Jillian for setting up the shipments for me.”
Mason shook Liam’s hand. “You’re welcome, but frankly, Liam, I enjoyed your visit. Your questions challenged me. You definitely know your stuff. If you ever decide to relocate and set up shop, give me a call. And, Aubrey, if you ever decide to pursue your dream of opening up a B&B, then Jared’s the one to guide you. Enjoy the rest of your vacation.”
Surprised, Aubrey glanced at Liam. He must have said something to Mason during the tour. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks. Nice meeting you all.”
Aubrey almost had to jog to keep up with Liam on the way back to the rental car. They drove in silence for several miles, and her nerves stretched tighter with each passing moment until finally she couldn’t stand it any longer. “Liam, is something wrong?”
He kept his gaze fixed on the road in front of them. “It’s a lot to take in.”
She couldn’t believe the winery information had overloaded him. Aubrey sifted back through the memories of the morning, trying to recall something she or anyone else could have said or done to upset him, and came up empty. The chasm between them had opened before Darby had made her teasing comments about babies and weddings, so that wasn’t it.
“Mind if we head back to the house instead of visiting the geyser in Calistoga this afternoon?” he asked.
“Whatever you want. It’s your vacation. Old Faithful will still be erupting next time you come to Napa Valley.”
The drive to the house took only minutes, but it seemed like hours. The noon sun hung in a blue sky directly overhead, but it couldn’t warm Aubrey’s chilled skin.
Liam parked, and as they climbed the wide brick front steps, Aubrey stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No. I did.” Liam raked a hand through his hair and then looked at her. What she saw in his eyes stopped her world. “I’ve fallen in love with you, Aubrey.”
So there they were—the words she’d always wanted to hear. Emotions jumbled wildly inside her. Practicality quickly stomped out elation. Judging by Liam’s serious expression, he truly believed what he’d said. But this wasn’t love. It was lust. He didn’t understand the mechanics of tumbling head over heels into love and then falling right back out just as quickly.
And then the doubts crowded in. What if this wasn’t one of the short-lived love affairs her mother practiced with regularity and Aubrey let Liam go? No, she had to go with what she knew. This idyllic period would end and she would survive it. Her lips quivered. Her eyes stung.
Before she could speak, Liam’s jaw muscles knotted. “But what good is falling in love when a future together is impossible? Part of me wants to walk out and start over here in Napa the way Darby suggested. But I can’t, Aubrey. I’m the peacemaker. It’s my job to keep Patrick from tearing EPH and the Elliott family apart.”
Liam lifted a hand and trailed his knuckles across her cheek. His touch reverberated all the way to her womb. “And I doubt I can convince you to quit your job since you still have things to prove to your father.”
He didn’t need to add that his grandfather would never accept her into the family fold if she wouldn’t quit.
“No, I can’t leave Holt Enterprises. Not yet. Maybe never.” Her heart swelled, but a cloud of doom overshadowed her joy. She’d known the end was coming, so why did it hurt so much? She captured his hand and held it against her face.
“I love you, too, Liam. But we fell too fast. These feelings won’t last. Love like this never does. It’s based on physical attraction and not on anything more substantial. Flash-fires burn out as soon as they’ve consumed the limited fuel supply.”
His eyebrows lowered. “Do you honestly believe that?”
“I’ve seen it happen too many times not to. My mother has fallen instantly and madly in love four times since she left my father. Each time she swore with stars and hope in her eyes that this time it was the real thing, and then a few months or a year later she’d call me. We’d meet for lunch and she’d cry all over me because it hadn’t been everlasting love but only another case of lust and infatuation that hadn’t last.”
His jaw shifted. “And you think that’s what this is?”
“I’m afraid so.”
What if it’s not?
Even if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t matter. Their duties to their families would keep them apart.
Change her mind or you’ll lose her.
Liam stared into the absolute certainty in Aubrey’s beautiful violet eyes and knew arguing would be a waste of time. He had to convince her that what she felt for him was more than infatuation.
Lust? There was plenty of that, but his feelings for Aubrey went deeper, and he was damned certain hers for him did too. Hindsight revealed the subtle differences between his college affairs and this. He’d been in lust not love before.
Love meant wanting to give pleasure—in bed and out—and not just take it. Love meant talking, wanting to know his partner’s thoughts not just her body. He’d found unbelievable physical pleasure with Aubrey, but he’d also found peace. She thrilled him, but she also soothed him.
Love meant wanting his partner’s happiness more than he wanted his own.
Love meant forever, not for however long it lasted.
Lesson one in loving started now. Give her the time and space she needs to accept what’s between them.
“Then we’d better take advantage of the time we have,” he finally replied.
Liam cupped Aubrey’s face, brushing her silky hair out of the way and caressing her cheekbones with his thumbs. The pulse at the base of her throat quickened, and his heart kept pace. Her eyes darkened and her lips parted. He wanted to devour her on the front steps of Hill Crest House. Only the knowledge that the staff could see them from the windows reined him in. But a kiss wouldn’t hurt. One kiss. One long, slow, seductive kiss.
He sank into the petal softness of her lips, drew in the sweetness of her breath and lost his mind in her taste and in the hot press of her slender curves as she snuggled against him. He mapped her shape with his palms, and then splayed his fingers over her belly. Seeing her face soften as she’d cradled that baby had slammed him with a need to see her holding his child, their child.
But how? How could the
y make this work?
Her hands mirrored his, stroking, touching. Desire hit him hard and fast, knocking his train of thought off track. Aubrey skimmed her nails beneath the waistband of his slacks and he lifted his head to suck in a sobering breath. The sooner they took this inside the better. Slow wasn’t on the agenda this afternoon. He laced his fingers through hers and led her up the brick stairs to the front door.
The flush of arousal pinked her cheeks and her hands trembled as she inserted her key. The door glided noiselessly open on well-oiled hinges. As Liam bent to plant a kiss on Aubrey’s nape he spotted a woman—probably a maid he hadn’t met yet—disappearing down the upstairs hall toward their bedroom. Maids cleaning upstairs shifted his plans. No bed.
He ducked into the library, towing Aubrey with him, and quietly shut the door. He turned the lock and then leaned against the wood and smiled in anticipation. “What are you wearing under that sexy sundress?”
Her eyes sparkled and her low chuckle teased him like a thousand feathers sweeping over his skin. “You have a lingerie fetish, Liam.”
“One you induced. That lace-up top has been making me crazy all morning. Show me what you got, sweetheart.” She reached for the ribbon laces, but he brushed her hands aside. “Better yet, let me do a little exploring on my own.”
Winding the ends of the laces around his index fingers, he tugged the bow free, and then grommet by grommet he loosened her bodice, revealing one inch of her breast bone at a time. At the halfway point he trailed a finger through the gap.
Aubrey gasped. “There’s a zipper in the back. The laces are just for show.”
He considered it, but, as much as he wanted to take her hard and fast, slow had its advantages. He wanted to show her with each touch, each kiss how much she meant to him. “Too easy.”
And then he lowered his head and pressed a kiss above her neckline over her pounding heart. With his tongue he traced the path his fingers had cleared and with unsteady hands he rapidly loosened the ribbons to her waist to expand his territory.
She wasn’t wearing a bra. He eased the halves of her top apart until nothing blocked his view or prevented him from taking a taut raspberry nipple into his mouth. Her fingers dug into his hair, holding him close while he worshipped one breast and then the other. He raked his hands from her waist to her knees, beneath her skirt and back up her thighs until he encountered her smooth bottom. Bare. He explored further, finding a thin strip between her buttocks. Another thong. Damn. His groin throbbed. Aubrey’s sexy underwear would give him a heart attack one of these days. But it’d be worth it.
Hunger screamed through his veins like Fourth of July fireworks as he eased the satin scrap down her legs. She braced her hands on his shoulders and stepped out of the minuscule piece.
Slow down.
He leaned back to look at her, lifting the lingerie to his cheek. “Soft, but not as soft as your skin.”
Her nipples were hard and damp, her face flushed and her breathing was as ragged as his. “Before Cade interrupted us at my place, I fantasized about taking you on my desk.”
Her gaze darted to the desk in front of the bay window and then back to his face. Her lips parted. “Do it.”
“Not worried the gardener might look in?”
“No.”
Liam rose slowly. He burrowed his hands beneath her gaping bodice to cup her breasts and thumb the rigid tips. Her eyes fluttered closed and a quiet moan slipped from her lips. He covered her mouth, sipping from her softness until he had to have a taste of her. She tasted like nothing and no one he’d ever had, a flavor uniquely Aubrey’s. Addictive. Her tongue met his every stroke, every dip, swirling, tangling, lingering.
Her fingers released the buttons on his cotton shirt and then she ripped the shirttails from his pants and splayed her hands over his pectorals. Her nails combed through his wiry hair with electrifying results. He was so damned hard he hurt. He clasped her waist and pulled her close, brushing his chest over hers, pressing his arousal against her mound and rubbing until he thought the top of his head wouldn’t be the only thing to erupt.
Aubrey reached between them to unbuckle and unzip his pants and then she backed toward the desk, shoved a bronze statue and the phone out of the way and hopped onto the glossy surface. She crooked a finger and he gulped. He took one step toward her and then another on unsteady legs.
He loved her. Loved this sassy, confident woman who wasn’t afraid to take what she wanted. And she wanted him. The knowledge swelled his heart. He’d make this work. He’d find some way for him and Aubrey to be together.
And then her fingers snagged on the waistband of his boxers, pulling him closer until his thighs bumped the desk top. She shoved the fabric out of the way and her opposite hand curled around his rigid length.
Thinking fell off the priority list. Sensation took over. The smooth stroke of her hand. The inferno of her mouth over his and then on his neck, his collarbone, his nipple. He fumbled for the condoms he now carried in his wallet. His hands shook, but he managed to don protection before pushing her back on the desk, shoving her dress up to her waist and kneeling.
Her heat, scent and moisture filled his mouth, and her cries sounded like music to his ears. He tasted, stroked and laved her until she bowed off the desk and begged him to take her as release after release rolled over her. Even then he stalled, his goal to make her want more than just here and now, to make her want more than fast and furious and out of control. Any man could give her an orgasm. He wanted her to want him. Him.
“Liam, please,” she whispered. “I need you.”
By the time he rose, his knees quaked and Aubrey was a puddle of satisfaction on the desk top.
“Me or just this?” He positioned himself between her legs and bent over her to catch her whimpers with his mouth as he plowed into her slick, tight body. Remaining still in the hot clench of her body made him gasp.
“You. Oh, my…You, Liam. Just you.” Aubrey shifted impatiently beneath him.
Her words and wiggles set him on fire. He tried to slow the piston action of his hips, to draw out her pleasure, tried to make himself last beyond her next orgasm, but her hands on his butt, her mouth sipping, nipping and biting, her body squeezing his sent him over the edge far too soon. His hoarse growl of release echoed through the room.
Their labored breaths blended, and their bare chests rose and fell in unison. When the fog cleared from his brain and his lungs no longer burned like fire, he lifted himself an inch or two. He wasn’t capable of more.
He met her sexy, satisfied gaze. “I love you, Aubrey. Take as much time as you need to believe this is real. I’ll be here.”
Worry clouded her eyes and even though she didn’t physically pull away and he remained buried to the hilt inside her, he felt the mental distance widen between them. “What if this is love and not just lust—what about our families, our jobs? How can we get around that, Liam?”
“I don’t have all the answers yet, but solving problems is what I do best. We’ll make this work. You have my word.” He caught her chin in his hand. “And, Aubrey, I always keep my promises.”
Ten
Ringing jarred Liam from a deep sleep. He blinked open gritty eyes and tried to isolate the sound.
A cell phone. His. He sank back into his pillow. Let voice mail pick up.
Aubrey lay on her stomach beside him with her arm flung over his chest. Naked. Hot. He stroked a hand down her spine and caressed her smooth bottom. Smiling, she purred and snuggled closer. His pulse kicked unevenly as images flashed in his mind of yesterday on the desk and last night on the blanket beneath an apple tree on the backside of the property. Making love with someone you wanted to spend the rest of your life with was a whole different experience.
The ringing stopped. Seconds later it intruded again. Whoever was calling wasn’t going to talk to a recording. “Damn.”
“You have to answer?” Aubrey mumbled as she rolled to her side, revealing a soft, flushed breast with sheet
wrinkles stamped into her pale skin. Once he dealt with the caller he’d trace each crease with his tongue.
“Yes. Where the hell is it?” The last time he’d seen his phone it had been clipped to his belt. They’d undressed at the foot of the bed after returning from the garden and climbed into bed. He threw back the sheet and hunted for his pants under the comforter and spare pillows they’d knocked to the floor. He found his phone buried under her dress and his shirt and snapped it open. “Elliott.”
“What in the hell have you done?” Patrick’s furious voice bellowed at him.
“Good morning to you, too, Patrick.” Liam scraped a hand over his bristly chin and glanced at the clock. Five. Eight, New York time. “What are you talking about?”
“You released confidential financial information to the press.”
What? Someone had leaked EPH info? “Wasn’t me. I’m on vacation. A vacation you insisted I take, remember?”
“These are your files in today’s Times, Liam, your numbers. Only you and I know which magazine’s profit margin has dropped.”
Liam’s stomach plunged as if he’d gone over the hill of a steep roller-coaster. His gaze shot to his laptop on the dresser. Something about it niggled at him.
His neck prickled a warning. “What do you mean my numbers?”
“To have Pulse publicly humiliated this way is beyond acceptable.” Outrage flattened Patrick’s voice into monotone. Liam could picture his grandfather talking through clenched teeth. “Do you realize the damage you’ve done by sharing those numbers prematurely? This is potentially disastrous for EPH as well as highly embarrassing. We needed to release the data on our terms and with the proper spin or we could lose advertising dollars and credibility.”
“I didn’t leak the information, Patrick.”
“Then you’d better ask your lover who did.”
Liam looked at Aubrey sitting up in bed and clutching the sheet to her breasts. Concern and curiosity darkened her eyes. He hit the mute button on the phone. “Did you use my laptop yesterday?”
Dynasties:The Elliots, Books 7-12 Page 58