Falling back against the pillows, Kendall tried to capture her wildly careening thoughts, the world still spinning as she fought to regain her balance. Harry collapsed against her chest, his breath coming in short rasps. Her body still pulsing with release, she clutched his head to her breast, desperate to feel the certainty of his weight pressing against her.
"That was amazing." Harry propped himself up on his good arm, the heat in his eyes burning her with intensity. "You were amazing," he corrected. Still thick and heavy, his erection taut against her stomach, he seemed content to stare at her as she slowly returned to earth.
Running her fingers through the beautiful, dark hair, she gentled her touch as she traced his stitches. "You look like a pirate with these." Pulling him down for a drugging kiss, she whispered against his lips. "Today must be a day for firsts."
He grinned. "The multiple orgasms or the pirate fantasy?"
"Both," she confessed. "I'm having crazy, hot sex with a gorgeous, heroic pirate." Shifting to her side, she moved against him, brushing against his erection. Her curls still damp from his mouth, she slid her leg between his. Her wetness brushing against him made him shudder.
"That's dangerous." He groaned as she slid against him.
Out of control and uncaring of the risk, she pushed him back against the pillows. Straddling him, Ken reached down to stroke him, marveling as the beautiful, emerald eyes heated. Holding her gaze, his breath huffed out on a groan when she cupped him.
"Kendall-"
A smile playing around her lips, she trailed her mouth down his stomach, leaving a path of wet kisses. His breathing grew more erratic, his voice hoarse as he pleaded with her. When she touched her tongue to the hot, hard length of him, Harry came off the bed.
"Baby . . . I won't be able to stop."
Undeterred, she planted a wet kiss to the throbbing tip, smiling as Harry shuddered in his battle for control. "Just another taste-"
His hands were shaking as they reached for her. "Kendall– please."
She sat back to stare at him. "Please . . . this?" Lowering her head, she slowly took him into her mouth. His big hands tearing at the sheets, he released a tortured breath.
"Yes! God . . . yes."
Using her tongue to work him into a frenzy, she felt his control erode. A moment later, Harry blindly reached for another condom. The moment she sheathed him, he surged into her. "We're going to do this slow." His voice strained, he held himself in check.
"I want-" Their bodies joined, Kendall sank down on him, stretching as he filled her. "So big-" Through a haze of sensation, she moaned her disjointed thoughts. Harry stilled inside her. Gazes locked as she pushed against him, she witnessed a flurry of emotions cross his face.
Wonder. Over the impossibly good sensation of her body clenching his. Lust. His gaze nearly melted her, his expression incredibly serious as he absorbed another wave of pleasure. And perhaps . . . . worry? But by then, she couldn't make herself care why. Though Harry was letting her lead, he was hot and throbbing inside of her. Her body flushed with heat on the first contraction.
"Look at me." His hoarse command broke through the sensual haze, his vivid green eyes glazed with passion. Helpless against the knowledge in his expression– that he could see over the walls she'd erected around her heart, she shuddered with a mind-blowing release that was more about the man she was with than the cataclysmic sex.
His groan suggested an end to his control. As her body clutched him, Harry thrust into her, filling her spirit with light and happiness. With hope. And with an arcing flash of love so intense Kendall wondered how it was possible he couldn't feel it, too. Lost to a storm of emotion, she left her worries behind.
Tomorrow would come soon enough.
Chapter 8
She couldn't seem to stop smiling. A fool, taken leave of her senses. After an afternoon making love with Harrison, they'd finally risen and showered together. Then made love again. Sharing a simple dinner on the deck, they'd sipped wine and stargazed. Holding hands and telling stories. Unwilling to break the spell, neither mentioned the fire they'd survived earlier in the day. Ignoring the ringing phone, they'd postponed reality for another day. Her business. The missing money. The dig. All of it had been suspended for a single night. Every fantasy she'd ever imagined had come true in a single night. Sharing them with the man of her dreams.
The next morning, Kendall stared at the stranger in the mirror and wondered who the luminous woman staring back could be. Her damn skin was glowing. Her hair flowing loose over her shoulders, the unrestrained curls brushed sensitized skin. Harrison's hands had been there less than an hour ago. And damned if she didn't want them there again. She tried to feel appalled by her behavior. And failed.
The entire map of her life had changed course in the space of a week. As she stared at the stranger in the mirror, Ken acknowledged she would never be the same. Tomorrow– when the fantasy ended and the ugly reality of her life returned– she would handle it differently. Not because her business was falling apart. And not as a result of the fire. She was different now– because of a man. Who'd fallen straight into the hole in her heart.
And filled it.
Traynor's crime was one of epic proportions. He'd made her realize what she'd been missing. Soon, he would leave. He would return to his organized, methodical life. And she would never be the same again. Instinctively, Ken had known what would happen if he touched her. Bottled up for so many years, in twenty-four hours she'd become a seething volcano of hormones. With a groan, Ken covered her eyes. What would she do with all this passion? What would she do without Harrison?
Hearing footsteps behind her, she met his gaze in the mirror. Harry's expression was one of lazy satisfaction as he hobbled up behind her to drop a kiss on her shoulder. After her stupid body finished reacting– shuddering helplessly at the brush of his lips on her skin, she scowled at his reflection.
"What?" An eyebrow raised skeptically over her annoyance. "You can't expect me to stop now– when I've already kissed every inch of this soft, beautiful skin." Resting his hands on her shoulders, he stroked them as he continued to scrutinize her in the mirror. "I can't seem to get enough of you."
The rough plaster cast grazed her skin, leaving it sensitized. The hypnotic expression in his eyes made her dizzy. Kendall gulped in a much needed hit of oxygen and closed her eyes to the message in his. "We can't– You. . . I'm taking you home. You need to get back-"
The sound of glass breaking in the foyer downstairs startled them. Harrison tightened convulsively, instinctively jerking her back against him. "Stay here," he ordered.
Ken nodded, her hand at her throat when he left, running through her bedroom as though demons nipped ferociously at his heels.
"Your cast-" Ignoring her plea, he thumped down the stairs where Lurch barked in the foyer. Her mind clicked swiftly into gear, panic becoming secondary as she jerked a shirt over her head. Hoisting on the only skirt she owned, she hopped halfway across the bedroom before she could get it zipped.
At the sound of crunching glass, she leaned over the banister. "Harrison– what's broken? Are you okay?"
"It's your window. Put on shoes," he called. "Only two panes, but the glass went everywhere."
Several minutes later, she surveyed the parlor with a frown. "Dammit. I'm sick of replacing windows."
Harry's head jerked. "This has happened before?"
Still angry, Ken sighed in exasperation. "It's not what you think. The neighborhood kids cut through my yard. It's a shortcut to the woods. Sometimes they kick up rocks. Once it was a baseball."
"This is a brick, Ken."
"Okay, so this time is different." Annoyance creeping into her voice, she released a shaky breath. Not his fault.
"You deserve a brick today." Harrison read the scrap of paper again before tucking it into his pocket. "Someone has a twisted sense of humor. When was the last time your windows were broken?"
She thought for a moment. The baseball had been at le
ast a month earlier. The rock was ages ago. "I don't know who I've ticked off lately," she muttered. "I'll go find the broom."
"How about your delightful stepbrother?"
"I can't picture him skulking around winging rocks through my window."
Harrison's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "The only time I met him, he had your arm twisted behind your back, ready to break it. Fifteen minutes later, your whole damn building went up in flames. So please forgive me if I disagree with your perception of Barker as a harmless moron."
Flicking a glance at her watch, she frowned. "We need to get moving if you have any hope of making your party this afternoon."
"When are you going to start taking these threats seriously?"
"They're not threats, Harry. Let's clean this up and get moving." Kendall started across the room, intent on retrieving the broom from the kitchen.
"Fine. We'll swing by my cousin's place for an hour and then you can stay at my house tonight."
"Fine– wait. What?" Heart pounding, Ken jerked back around to face him. "Stay with you?"
"I think you should pack a few things and stay with me a couple days– until you get the report back on the cause of the fire."
Overwhelmed by the events of the previous twenty-four hours– by her own swirling confusion, Ken was careful not to lash out at him. "I think I'm better equipped to know what's best for me."
"Clearly you aren't," Harry argued. "Since you're hell-bent on ignoring the obvious."
"I have to be at the site by seven tomorrow morning," she reminded. "Unless you'd like to bankrupt me sooner than originally planned, I have a responsibility to salvage what little remains of my company." Hands on hips, she advanced on him, her nerves shattering like the glass under her feet. "I can't move to Stafford and become your groupie, Harrison-"
"Where the hell did you get-"
"Wait. That didn't come out right." Ken stopped him, her palms warming against his chest when he advanced. "What we shared was amazing. Hell, it was incredible, okay?" She risked a glance at him. "But that wasn't real. It was one beautiful, perfect night. We both know that."
"Kenny-"
She couldn't hear his fancy words right now . . . not when her defenses were weakened. "Just because you've written off A&R as a total loss doesn't mean I'm willing to throw in the towel yet."
Ken should have been warned– by the way Harry's beautiful lips compressed into a tight line– by the flames of anger igniting in gorgeous eyes. And if she'd missed those signs, then the tick in his left cheek was hard to miss.
"First of all, I haven't written off A&R. I haven't even had the chance to review the records I downloaded yesterday." Harrison took a step closer. "So, I'd appreciate you not jumping to conclusions about my intentions. Second– and I'm only saying this once, Kendall. . . so listen closely. I care about you. Whether you ever agree to see me again doesn't change the fact that I'm worried for your safety."
Speechless as his words registered, Ken groped for an appropriate response. Meanwhile, Harry continued to advance on her, his expression determined.
"I asked you to stay– no– I'm insisting you stay with me because this is more serious than you're willing to admit. And until the fire department rules out arson, you'd be safer staying with me than being out here all alone."
"Insisting?" Heart pounding a wild beat, Kendall seized on the anger flickering to life. "Let's get one thing straight, Traynor. You don't get to insist anything . . . except as it relates to that contract."
"Someone heaved a brick through your window and you're too stubborn to admit it's a threat. You could get hurt."
"I'm not leaving my h-home. My business is . . . gone. This place is all I have l-left." To her horror, Ken felt tears pricking in her eyes. "I won't leave Lurch. I won't leave Wink. They're all I've got." Though Harrison hid it quickly, she caught the flicker of stunned surprise over her confession.
"Great. Now you think I'm pathetic. And you know what? Maybe I am." Angry for revealing more than she intended, she swiped her eyes. "I won't be forced from my h-home. I'd rather stay and fight."
"Babe. . . you're not pathetic."
"I don't care-"
"Let me finish, would you?" Harry was gentle now, any trace of anger gone from his posture and voice. Somehow, the change made her feel even worse.
"I want you safe. If you think it'll be okay, then . . . come back here tonight. I won't try to stop you."
"You w-won't?" Dammit, what was wrong with her? First she was angry that Harrison cared enough to worry over her. And now, she was upset that he'd decided not to stop her.
"No." Closing the distance between them, he pulled her into his arms. The chaste kiss he dropped on her forehead left Kendall more confused than if he'd kissed the breath out of her. Why had he changed his mind? Was she that easy to write off? Or had he finally come to his senses and remembered Deborah? Perfect, willowy Deborah– waiting for him back home.
That thought was enough to firm her resolve. Pulling back abruptly, Ken turned on her heel for the kitchen. Better to get this over with, before she dissolved in a puddle of tears at his feet. "Let's clean this mess."
***
Harry didn't want to hazard a guess what she was thinking now. Shooting a questioning glance in her direction, Ken kept her eyes focused on the road. She'd acquiesced when he insisted she turn on several lights. It would be dark before she arrived back home. Until he could arrange for someone to watch her house, he wanted it lit up like a roman candle.
His senses strummed with warning. Something was seriously wrong with Ken's business and whatever the problem was, it likely centered around Lance– the not-too-smart, but dangerously capable of violence stepbrother. Barker was probably bleeding the company dry. The question was how much? And were his actions actually illegal or just greedy? What worried Harry more was that Lance didn't have the intelligence to handle it by himself. If he was doing something illegal, it was unlikely he acted alone. If Lance had fallen in with real criminals– what would happen if Kenny got in the way?
Harry glanced at his watch. The party was well under way. He hoped his cousin Andrea and her husband Charlie would still be there when they arrived. A state trooper, Charlie could advise him on what to do about Barker.
With a little luck and with Jake and Jeff's approval, he would spend tomorrow getting caught up in the office before heading out to the site. If the only way he could help Kendall was to stick to her side, he intended to do just that. His cousins shouldn't have a problem with him monitoring their most critical project.
"I promise we'll keep it brief. I'll introduce you to everyone and then you can take me home, okay?"
"Whatever you want, Harrison."
"No argument? I could learn to like that," he teased. Before Ken could scowl, he snatched up her free hand and drew it to his mouth, smacking her fingers with a noisy kiss.
Instead of a frown, he discovered a reluctant smile when she glanced at him. Reading the stunned surprise in her eyes, he decided that acting completely out of character was beginning to grow on him. Her fingers still clutched in his hand, he reluctantly released them.
"Don't get used to me being agreeable. I'm no pushover."
Except in bed. There, he could do no wrong. There, he couldn't say the wrong thing. And Kendall loved everything he did. "I like that you don't back down when you think you're right." He smiled when she averted her eyes, a fiery blush climbing into her cheeks. "I'm starting to enjoy arguing with you. Those sexy eyes snap at me and your face gets that luscious shade of pink."
"Most men find me annoying."
She blushed when she was excited, too. Harry's stomach tightened as he remembered. Each time he'd whispered what he wanted to do with her, Kenny's response had been immediate and rewarding. Her beautiful, golden eyes had widened, dusky pupils dilating with his words. Her silky, tanned skin blushed a dewy apricot. And her breath would hitch in her throat with a soft, sexy gasp that made him hard just remembering the sound.
Jeez, what had happened to him? Harry wanted to pull over to the side of the road and take her in the bed of her truck. Something about Ken had him acting like a caveman. She was unlike any woman he'd ever known. And he was completely captivated.
Kendall was not gorgeous. In fact, the first word that came to mind was adorable. Yet, her skin, her eyes, her beautiful smile . . . added up to steal his breath away. When he added intelligence, a razor sharp tongue and a curvy body he would never forget– he was sunk.
He'd been delusional to think he could rekindle a relationship with Deborah. No matter what happened with Ken, whether she agreed to keep seeing him or not, Harry knew with absolute certainty there could never be anything with Deborah. And he wondered if there ever had been. Their relationship had been convenient. Until recently, that might have been enough for him.
Kenny wasn't convenient. Their business dealings made that notion ridiculous. Involvement would be messy. It would require effort to keep it going when A & R finally bit the dust. She would be resentful, hurt, angry. Mostly with him. Yet, that thought didn't scare him as it might have a week ago. Harry wanted to be there. He wanted to help her.
She wasn't part of his blueprint. She was a sweet, sexy diversion from his master plan. Great sex didn't equate to a great relationship. A strong foundation required common goals– similar values and beliefs. And when it came time to settle down, Harry would be more in control than he felt now. Kendall was too strong-willed and stubborn for her own good. His life thrived on order. There was a reason why he dealt in facts. Numbers didn't lie.
The fact was– on paper, Deborah still scored higher. On paper, Kendall Adams wasn't a close second. Yet as he stole another glance her way, he found her humming, a lopsided smile perched on her face, hair blowing in the summer breeze rushing past the open truck window, and his stupid heart began to pound.
For the first time in his life, Harry didn't care. About the numbers. About facts. About logic. Or his damn plan. He wasn't living his life on paper. As different as they were, they shared common ground. Ken was fiercely loyal. She was generous to a fault– giving of herself in a way he'd never known. She'd taken care of him when he'd needed help the most. Although different in circumstance, their childhoods had been similar in nature. Lonely. Alone.
Falling For Ken (Blueprint to Love Book 2) Page 13