by Pamela Yaye
Tielle sipped her coffee and delighted at the taste before her contentment faded. “That’s not saying much for my judgment, is it?”
Grae toasted her with his mug. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. You’ve got the best judgment of anyone I know.”
Tielle studied the contents of her cup. “What about you? You always thought Faro was a snake, but you were willing to think better of him. I could see it when I asked you to give him a chance. Any regrets?”
“I tried so hard because you wanted me to.” Grae chuckled, bracing his elbows to his knees.
“Oh.” Again she studied the depths of the mug cradled in her lap. Faintly, the origins of laughter tickled the back of her throat. The sensation took shape on her tongue, tumbling past her lips in an enthusiastic and relieved display.
Grae took great pleasure in watching the woman he loved laughing with such rapture. In seconds, he was joining her.
* * *
Nightfall found the couple on one of the enclosed terraces enjoying drinks after a satisfying dinner courtesy of the Japanese steakhouse not far from the estate. The place wasn’t exactly a takeout establishment, but the owners had no problem delivering a meal to the address that supplied some of their highest-tipping patrons.
Grae set his glass emptied of bourbon on the round wrought-iron table between the cushioned chaises he and Tielle occupied. “What you said about regrets, whether I had any?”
“Yeah?” She sipped from her half-full goblet of white wine.
“The way I let you go,” he said after a lengthy silence. “The way I demanded you go unless you did what I wanted.”
“At least you gave me a chance.”
“I’m serious, Tel.”
Her goblet joined his empty glass on the table, and she turned to face him.
“That ultimatum was bad enough, but the way we—Faro and me—tugged at you back and forth like you were a toy and we wanted you to decide who you wanted to play with... You were my wife. I should’ve treated you better than that.”
“You know, instead of working so hard to reconcile you and Faro, I should’ve been trying to find out why you were so resistant to the idea despite those glimmers of hope I thought I saw in your eyes.” She shrugged. “I just assumed it was some petty childhood issue between brothers. Nothing like this.”
“Yeah...I thought it was some petty childhood issue, too.”
“What are you gonna do now?” she asked.
“It’s already done.” Grae crossed his ankles. “When Leo found me the other night, I gave him my resignation.”
Tielle gasped. “You can’t.”
“I did.”
“But you—” She could barely catch the words that raced through her mind. “Who’s gonna run Clegg?” She shook her head at Grae’s knowing look.
“Leo can handle it over there until things settle down, but my time is done.”
Tielle scooted closer to him. “Because of you, your dad’s company has the kind of success he worked so hard to bring it into. Your family knows no one can top what you’ve done there. Not Leo and definitely not Faro.”
“They lied to me, Tel. Every day, they smiled in my face, patted my back for a job well done... They played me for a fool.”
“You don’t believe that.”
“I do.”
“What about before you ever went to work for Clegg?”
Grae’s upper lip curled into a snarl. “That was for my dad’s sake. Couldn’t upset the guy with all the money, could they?”
“You’re angry.” She rested her elbow on the cushioned arm of the lounge. “You have every right to be, but when you’re done with that emotion, you’ll put your energy on the one that’s always been there—the love they have for you and yours for them.” Encouragingly, she eased her hand across one of the broad forearms bared by the sleeves of the worn T-shirt carrying the emblem of his favorite pro basketball team.
Grae caught her wrist before Tielle could react. “I’d rather put my energy on you—the love that satisfies me.”
Her smile was sad. “I haven’t been so satisfying over the last year.”
“You’ve been making up for it.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“Oh, you’ve still got a lot of making up to do.” His hand firmed at her wrist.
“Grae—”
“Hmm.” Seamlessly, he tugged her from the lounge until she was straddling his lap.
“I thought you wanted to talk?” Her question carried on an unsteady breath.
Grae’s focus was on loosening the stringed bodice of the teal lounge dress Tielle had worn that night.
“I’m sure there will be talking involved.” He began a slow, circular caress of a firming nipple while steadily unraveling the stark-white tassels securing the front of her dress. The strings offered teasing glimpses of plump cleavage.
Tielle bit her lip at the warm, heady sensation she felt from someplace deep.
“Don’t bottle it up, Tel. I’m the only person who can hear you.”
She responded with a steady laugh. “I knew I should’ve been more careful about who I let in my house.”
“You should. A man like me could just come in and take what he wants....”
The words silenced when his lips closed over a nipple peeking through her unraveled bodice strings.
She groaned. “What kind of man are you?”
“One who can’t stay away from you. One who’d do anything to keep you—preferably like this.” His words were soft and shared intermittently as he gave the nipple a lengthy bathing with his tongue. His beautifully shaped lips took over next to suckle the bud dry.
Tielle arched into the act. Her fingers charted a trail over his bare forearms and the stunning breadth of his shoulders. They curved about his nape, scraping the fine, dark hair tapered there. She tried pushing more breast into his mouth, but he only seemed to want her nipple. Deliciously frustrated, she ground on his lap and smiled when he responded with a tortured groan.
Grae cupped her hip, gave a warning squeeze for her to stop. Tielle wanted him too much to cooperate. She’d been constantly reminded of the delightful interlude they’d enjoyed at his condo before family drama intervened. She was in no shape to take things slow.
Determinedly, she reached to undo his belt and slapped his hands then his chest when he tried to stop her.
“I won’t last long, Tel,” he warned as she resumed her task with his belt.
“Okay, then.” She plied his earlobe with a wet suckle, her hand locating the prize she sought inside his jeans. She smiled at that half tortured, half satisfied groan he uttered when she gave him a naughty squeeze.
“Grae, no,” she sobbed, when he clutched her waist as though he meant to pull her off his lap.
“To hell with it.” He left the lounge, taking her with him. The growled words signified his defeat, his inability to resist what she so clearly wanted from him and him from her.
Grae could feel her lips curving into a smile when she kissed his cheek and teased with a hint of her tongue. “You’re not cooperating.”
“I’ll make it up,” she taunted, outlining his mouth with the tip of her tongue. Devilishly, she evaded when he would have initiated a thorough kiss. She retraced the outline and then let her lips caress the corded column of his neck and collarbone.
Grae carried Tielle through the house like a man well familiar with his surroundings. Of course, he knew the place like the back of his hand. He’d fallen in love with his wife there.
Tielle felt no need to hang on to him. He had her secure, her bottom cradled snugly in his palms. Her palms ached to get beneath his T-shirt. She achieved her goal, shivering when her nails contacted the ridge of carved muscle packing his abdomen. She could feel him shiver, and she kissed
his ear.
“Still ticklish?” she asked.
“I’ve never been ticklish.”
Lightly, she trailed the honey-toned muscular expanse of his chest and felt his hands flex almost painfully on her derriere. “You’re right. Not ticklish at all.”
“I see there’s only one way to shut you up.” Impressively, he cradled her in one hand while the other cuffed her neck, his thumb tipping her chin to position her to take his tongue.
Tielle caressed his back. Her hands were still hidden beneath his shirt. She treated herself to the dual luxury of his kiss and the flex and ripple of muscle beneath her fingertips.
Graedon savored his ex-wife’s incomparable talent for stroking his ego without saying a word. Her constant, breathy moans and gasping cries heightened his arrogance. He deepened the kiss as though he was intent on seeking out the source of those sensational sounds.
He took a back stairway two steps at a time. The path took him right to the floor of Tielle’s room, and they were crossing the threshold within minutes.
In a show of finesse, Grae took the liberty of drawing up the folds of Tielle’s dress until the material bunched at her hips—all while he held her.
“Take this off,” he told her.
She pulled the garment over her head and let it drift to the floor. Wearing only the panties he’d seen fit to keep her in, Tielle suddenly found herself tossed to the center of the bed. She supported her weight on her elbows and watched him. Lips parted, she had the look of a woman panting for the tasty morsel in her sights.
Grae reached behind his neck, gripping the neckline of the T-shirt and dragging it over his head to reveal the awesome plane of torso beneath.
Her smile reflected appreciation when he sent his sweats to the floor, revealing the fact that he wore nothing more.
“Impressive.” She sighed.
A lazy shrug accompanied his lopsided grin. “I try.” He took time to apply protection and then crawled his way up her body until he joined her on the bed.
Still bracing her weight on her elbows, Tielle watched him come close. Her lashes batted, promising to close when she felt his skin bare next to hers. She whimpered out her delight over the sensation of their bodies caressing.
Grae mastered her mouth with another probing kiss, simultaneously using his sex to invade hers.
“Look at me,” he told her.
She obliged with no small amount of difficulty. All she wanted was to close her eyes, to intensify her focus on the way he stretched her so magnificently.
“Why’d you make me wait for this?” she purred. Again, her eyes narrowed, and he “punished” her disobedience with a thrust that sent him impossibly deeper.
“Terrace would’ve been fine.”
“I’ve already had you there.”
Her walls clenched about his driving erection, and she settled to her back. “Lots of rooms in this house. You haven’t had me in all of them.”
“That’s about to change.” He kissed her as if to seal the promise.
Tielle would’ve wrapped her legs about his back then, but Grae kept her thighs spread so she could welcome every inch of his penetration.
Ragged curses slipped past his lips ever so often when that penetration promised his climax sooner than he wanted it. He could’ve taken her all night, listening to her heightened cries, watching her lovely face expressing pleasure when he made her orgasm... She felt amazing, had always felt amazing the way she sheathed him. How he had survived their separation, he would never know. He only knew that he wanted an end to it.
Tielle rested her arms above her head, bringing her already pert breasts to a higher level. Grae couldn’t help himself. The double treat of being buried inside her while keeping her taut nipple captive inside his mouth brought him to abundant release some minutes later. The persistent throb of his need filling the condom coaxed Tielle into her second orgasm.
She chanted Grae’s name as though she was thanking him. He collapsed atop her, unmindful of whether he crushed her.
Tielle didn’t mind at all.
Chapter 16
As she had for the past several mornings, Tielle woke content and decadently toasty thanks to the unyielding slab of muscle at her back. Smiling, she burrowed deeper, wanting more of the heat she was being treated to.
The move caused her bottom to nudge the stiff ridge of flesh below Grae’s waist. “Oops.” Her murmur mixed with laughter, and she heard Grae’s voice rumble seconds later.
“I hope I get more than an ‘oops.’”
“Well, what more do you want?” She faked innocence and got her answer when his finger enacted a sensuous dalliance with her clit. Moving lower, he massaged the dark petals of flesh guarding her sex. Tielle turned her face into the pillows, softly moaning Grae’s name while opening herself to his touch.
Curious fingers explored her moistened core, and Tielle added a subtle yet indulgent arch to her back. She flexed her inner muscles to engulf more of the finger he stirred inside her.
The bedside phone rang.
“Thought we said no phones?” he grunted while feathering kisses across her shoulder blades and nudging coarse tresses to bare more space for his lips to explore.
Tielle could barely form words due to a persistent need to gasp. She was savoring the satisfaction of two fingers then. “It’s not my cell,” she moaned and glared over at the ringing phone.
“Where’s the phone cord?”
“Why?”
“Because I’m gonna rip it out of the damn wall.”
“No need for violence.” Knowing the threat was serious, Tielle moved to answer. She almost wished she hadn’t after greeting Leonard Cartright on the line.
Grae eyed the phone as if it were plague-ridden when Tielle said Leo wanted him. “This is your fault,” he grunted.
“I know,” she said, keeping the receiver pressed to her cleavage, “but he doesn’t sound so good.”
Grae stroked his beard, muttered a curse and took the phone. “I don’t have time for this,” he told the man on the other end of the line.
Tielle watched Grae handle the call. His responses began harshly and became more so as the call went on. She scooted toward the bed’s edge, intending to give him a little privacy. Grae cradled the phone against his shoulder and dropped his free hand on the covers to block her escape. Moments later, he was reaching over Tielle to slam the phone back to its receiver.
“What was that about?” she managed despite having her breathing substantially stifled by Grae’s weight.
He felt around beneath the bed. Locating the phone cord, he yanked it from the wall socket. “Listen to me next time,” he said.
“What happened?”
“Never mind.” The words were faint. He nuzzled his very nice face between her breasts, ready to continue what they’d started before the call.
Tielle set her hands to his shoulders, pressing with all her strength even though Grae didn’t budge an inch. Finally, she resorted to thumping at the iron wall of his chest.
“Hell.” He rolled his eyes at last, acknowledging the persistent blows. He rolled to his side of the bed, used a forearm to cover his eyes. “Same ol’ crap,” he muttered. “‘Come back, Grae, just for a while. Forget about that nasty business in Canada and get back to making us all that money.’”
“Leo wouldn’t say that.” Tielle propped herself on her elbow and watched him. “What’d he want?” She nodded once a minute of silence had passed without an answer. “Bedtime’s over,” she decided.
Grae stopped her with an arm across her middle. “They want me back. Leo says it won’t be long. Just for the interim until they find somebody.”
“Somebody besides your brother. Leo sounded pretty desperate.”
“Yeah....” Grae dug the
heels of his hands into his eyes.
“You know you have to go back.”
“I only know I want to be where you are.”
“I’ll go with you.” She clutched the arm he’d just dropped over her hip.
Grae was already shaking his head. “I don’t want you involved anymore.” He gave her a disbelieving look. “Why would you want to be? Most of ’em didn’t show an ounce of regret when we divorced.”
“I just think you should go back.” She raised a shoulder. “We should be there for the ones who did show regret.” She brushed her thumb at the bend of his elbow. “Right or wrong, you’ve never hidden from a confrontation, never allowed anything to stop you from doing what you thought was best.”
“Like forcing you to walk away from our marriage.”
She smiled. “I said ‘right or wrong.’”
Grae forced a smile through his scowl.
Tielle scooted closer. “No matter how angry you are, you can’t just leave them to fend off Faro and his plans for payback.” Suddenly angered by the thought of it, Tielle flopped to her back and pounded the covers beneath her fists. “He’d probably sell off the company just to spite your father for loving you.”
“What?” Grae’s scowl cleared.
“Well, he’s always been an angry man,” she said matter-of-factly. “That always came through loud and clear. I thought it was just all the stress between you guys, but he’s vengeful, Grae. Are you okay leaving a company you helped to build at the mercy of someone so reckless?”
* * *
Two afternoons later, Leo Cartright looked like a man saved from the grips of a terrible fate when he found Grae in the main conference room.
“I thought they were joking when they said you were here to see me.”
Grae stood and shook the hand Leo offered. “I’m not here for work.”
Leo’s exuberance faded. “But I thought—”
“How soon can we get the board and executive officers assembled?” Grae interrupted.