The Legacy Collection Box Set

by Ruth Cardello

He stood above her, sending her hormones into overdrive. Her body wasn’t concerned with why they were there, it tensed and tingled. His eyes dilated and his breathing changed to match her own. Without touching, they synchronized on a level that was foreign to both of them. In that moment, there was no yesterday, no tomorrow—just two people fighting off an attraction that defied what either of them thought they wanted.

  He groaned and slid a hand beneath her hair, cupping her head, and pulling her to him. He kissed her with an unexpected flood of passion; a passion her body leapt to match.

  It was not the timid kiss of one who was testing a new flavor, but rather the bold claiming by a man who had tasted and returned with a hunger. Lil closed her eyes and lost herself in a wave of pleasure. His other hand slid across her backside, lifting her against him. Her skirt bunched beneath the strong hand that held her, kneading her ass through the cotton material.

  He pulled back slightly. “We can’t do this,” he said, his hot breath warming her lips.

  She looked up at him, desire impairing her ability to provide a witty comeback. Her body was sending wild sensations from every area their bodies touched. She wanted, needed, to feel more of him.

  “I meant what I said about anything between us being a bad idea,” he said huskily.

  His words doused the heat within her. She tore herself out of his embrace and adjusted her skirt. “Then you seriously have to stop kissing me,” she said angrily.

  He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, mussing it the way she would have gladly done had he not been such a jackass.

  He said, “Obviously, there is a certain amount of attraction between the two of us.”

  “But you think Dominic won’t approve?” she goaded. She wanted to hurt him as he was hurting her.

  “I don’t care what Dominic thinks, but one of us has to stay focused on—” He stopped himself.

  “On?” She put a hand on her hip and waited.

  “Business. Just business. Listen—” he started.

  She cut him off. “No, you listen. Why are you messing around with my head today? This whole forced move has done enough of that, thank you. I’ve got an exam tomorrow morning that I’m probably going to fail because I should have been studying today, but I already blew that. If I can figure out how to get my hands on my books, I might be able to use this time while Colby is napping—not that I’ll be able to concentrate after this.” When he looked like he was about to say something Lil held up a hand and said, “Please don’t explain again why we can’t be together. I’ve heard just about enough of that. Just leave.”

  Jake paced restlessly before her and ran his hand through his hair again. “You’re hurt.”

  Lil snorted. “You’re delusional. Sure, you’re sexy and rich and women probably fall at your feet all the time, but to hurt me, I would have to care about you, which I don’t. Whatever attraction you feel—ignore it. That’s what I’m doing.”

  He looked a bit bemused.

  She stopped and shook her head. “You stopped listening at sexy, didn’t you?”

  A slight flush spread across his cheeks. “I’ve tried to ignore it,” he said softly.

  She folded her arms protectively across her chest.

  He moved closer and ran his hands from her tense shoulders, down her arms and pulled her gently toward him. “You’re not my type,” he said almost to himself.

  She stubbornly kept her arms folded, even as his hands slid lower and encircled her waist.

  “You’re definitely not mine, either,” she replied. “You’re way too uptight.”

  He eased her against him again and said, “You’re far too unpredictable.”

  Her body tightened and quivered. She met his eyes boldly. “You never listen.”

  A half smile curled the corner of his mouth. “You never shut up.”

  Time stood still and the air around them sizzled. She bit her bottom lip as the tension mounted and she gave in to the temptation to feel him against her. Sliding her arms up and around his neck, she fit perfectly against him and his mounting excitement. “So, we agree.”

  With one strong move, he lifted her at her waist, rubbing her deliciously against him. “Yes.” He swung her higher, forcing her to wrap her legs around him to steady herself. With one step, she was partially seated on the table behind the couch. He tossed a decorative bowl onto the cushions below and rested her more fully there, exploring her mouth with his while his hands slid beneath her skirt and followed her long legs down to remove her shoes with a flip.

  Strong hands ran up and down the length of her legs as if he could not get enough of her, as if he were memorizing every curve and corner of her. His kisses moved from her mouth to her neck. Exploring. Tasting. His hot breath licking at her. She steadied herself with her hands on his shoulders.

  He spread her legs further apart and slid a finger beneath the silk of her panties and between her eager folds. With painstaking thoroughness, he explored and caressed. When he found the spot that made her shudder against him, he lavished it with attention. Each stroke increased the building heat within her. She wanted to feel him inside her, claiming her.

  She squirmed against his hand, leaning back as her excitement replaced coherent thought. He filled her center first with one finger and then as she welcomed that with a moan, he inserted another and moved back and forth within her. Lil cried out as the pleasure became more than she could contain.

  She nearly wept in protest when his kisses and his hands stopped simultaneously.

  He eased her further back and slid her panties out from beneath her. With another deft move, her skirt was bunched around her waist, her bare ass exposed to the cold of the table and her warm center once again opened to his attentive fingers.

  In her growing desperation to feel him, she pulled his shirt out from his pants and slid her hands up his rock-hard abdomen, enjoying the feel of his muscles clenching beneath her touch. One of his hands held her head firmly in place while his lips plundered, his tongue circling and teasing hers, while his other hand tickled her outer folds until she was spreading her legs wider for him, begging him to once again use his thumb and magical fingers on her. He did and she was soon jutting against his hand, writhing in pleasure.

  She slumped a bit when he removed both hands for a moment and almost came when he tore the front of her shirt open with one powerful move. He pushed one cup of her bra aside and licked her puckered nipple, lapping and nipping at it softly until Lil was moaning and yanking off what was left of her shirt, tossing her bra onto the floor silently begging him to give her other breast equal attention.

  Which he did.

  She leaned back onto her hands while he continued to worship her with his lips, his tongue, and those wildly knowledgeable fingers. He pushed her gently back until she was fully reclined against the back cushion of the couch and stood above her for a moment.

  Then he bent to taste her and she closed her eyes and rode the explosion of heat that rushed through her body. He licked the exposed area of her stomach, the sensitive flesh of her inner thighs and then his tongue followed the path his fingers had. She dug her hands into the fabric on either side of her head, unsure if she could stop herself from begging him to enter her.

  She heard the crisp sound of his zipper opening quickly followed by the tear of a condom package and her excitement heightened tenfold.

  Take me, she thought feverishly. Take me now.

  He wrapped an arm beneath her waist and hauled her up until she was eye to eye with him, the material of his unremoved pants rubbing against the inside of her thighs. Her hands gripped his shoulders through his jacket and she closed her eyes in anticipation.

  “Look at me,” he growled.

  And she did. She looked into those hot, golden eyes as she felt his tip tease her wetness. A gasp escaped her when he filled her with one powerful move. Her body naturally clenched around him and they began to move in union. He gripped her hips and positioned her so he could go deeper.
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br />   Never breaking rhythm, he explored her from within, adjusting and seeking until each stroke sent a shudder of pleasure through her. She gripped at the smooth material of his shirt, pulling him back down to take her breasts into his mouth once again.

  His mouth returned to hers and their climaxes were shared, all consuming, and left them both shuddering against each other.

  He stepped back and offered her his hand in a gentlemanly move that seemed ridiculously out of place in the scene. She took it only because she suddenly felt overexposed lying there, quickly breaking contact to reach down for her shirt. When she looked up from securing it the best she could around her and adjusting her skirt, he was already perfectly put together again. If she could ignore the residual throbbing of pleasure between her legs or the places her body was still warm from his touch, it would have been easy to believe she had imagined the entire interlude. Unfortunately, the panties and bra that taunted her from behind him were indeed hers.

  “Lil, I—”

  She brushed past him and hastily bent to snatch the offending articles of clothing off the floor and stuff them behind the cushion of the couch. What could he say? Nothing she wanted to hear. “Don’t say anything.” She held the front of her shirt closed with one hand and pointed to the door with her other. “Just go.”

  Looking much more miserable than any man should after sharing what Lil considered the best sex in her limited experience, he said, “This was . . .”

  “A mistake,” Lil ended his sentence for him. “You don’t have to say it. You don’t have to try to sugarcoat this with sweet words. I’m not naive. I know it doesn’t mean anything.”

  “Don’t . . .”

  “Don’t what? Don’t say the truth? Don’t acknowledge what we’re both thinking? Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t want to run out that door and forget this ever happened.”

  He couldn’t.

  “Go, Jake. Go back to New York. I’ll be fine. This was a mistake that we’d be better off pretending didn’t happen.”

  He walked to the door and shook his head. “I don’t make mistakes like this.”

  “Well, welcome to the human race,” Lil said and slammed the door.

  Chapter Six

  Jake rode down in the elevator, chastising himself as he went. He was not an impulsive man. Life was a game best played like chess—each move only undertaken after all the possible outcomes had been considered.

  Something inexplicable happened to that belief when he came within a certain proximity to one outspoken, fiery brunette. Half the time he wasn’t sure if he was insulted, irritated, turned-on or some bizarre combination of all three.

  Now he was in the unique position of being thoroughly confused.

  It wasn’t until he stepped onto the curb that he remembered he had driven Lil’s car. Instinctively, he dialed the number of someone who was technically Dominic’s personal assistant, but had become so much more than that to both of them over the years. He had yet to find a crisis Mrs. Duhamel didn’t take in stride.

  “Marie, I’m at Lil Dartley’s place. I need a . . .”

  The older woman interrupted his request. “She moved in?”

  “Yes, she and Colby are settling in, but since we drove her car here this morning . . .”

  “How did she take it? Was she upset?”

  “She was . . .” Fantastic! That’s the problem.

  Oh, hell, what was he supposed to say to the woman who was closer to being a mother figure to him than his own mother ever had been? “She was angry at first. Then . . .” He didn’t mean for it to happen, but his frustration spilled forth. “It’s ridiculous for me to even be here. This isn’t my problem; it’s Dominic’s. His family, his issue. Have my helicopter readied and at my Cambridge office building. I’ll be flying back in about an hour. I’ll also need a car to pick me up. I left mine at Lil’s house.”

  “You didn’t line up transportation back? That’s not like you,” Marie asked with surprise.

  Jake turned his back so his comment wouldn’t be heard by the valet who was hovering and snapped, “I can’t make a mistake? Will the world end if I slip up even once?”

  “What’s really bothering you, Jake?”

  With a sigh, Jake said tiredly, “Nothing. Just send a car.”

  “Is it Lil? Did you two have a fight? Maybe you should stay and try to work it out instead of coming back to New York.”

  Calling Marie had been a mistake. He wasn’t ready to discuss the jumble of emotions coursing through him. “I didn’t call you for a lecture.”

  Her tone softened and had she been there she probably would have offered him something to eat. When either he or Dominic got particularly abrupt with her, she often tried to soothe their mood with food. Sometimes it worked. Lacking that option, she was employing the supportive, maternal voice—her other secret weapon. “You didn’t call me for a car, either. You have the Boston car service on speed dial. You and Dominic are so much alike . . .”

  Jake made a sound in his throat. “I cannot imagine two people more different than Dom and me.”

  Marie laughed softly and said, “Really? Do you know that he called me the night he met Abby?”

  “This is an entirely different situation.”

  “Jake, it’s me, Marie. I know you well enough to know when you have something you want to tell me.”

  Jake loosened his tie and took off his jacket. The midday sun was baking him in his dark suit and was the reason for his foul mood—the only reason he was willing to acknowledge. “Coming here was a bad idea, Marie. Just a bad idea.”

  “Oh, my God. You slept with her.”

  He didn’t say a word.

  “Jake! Well, there is no way you are coming home tonight. What were you thinking?” she asked. He imagined the disappointment in her eyes and scowled.

  I wasn’t.

  Jake didn’t have to answer. Marie continued on. “You turn yourself around, Jake, and you go back in there and make sure that girl is okay.”

  He felt about five years old when she used that tone with him. “I can’t do that.”

  “You can and you will.” Steel entered the older woman’s voice. “I don’t care what happened between the two of you today; she’s a single mother. You were supposed to make sure she was settled in. Did you check to see if the groceries had arrived? Do you know if she needs anything?”

  “No,” he admitted and felt more like a heel with each word Marie threw at him. He sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Why did I call you again?”

  Her tone softened. “Because you knew you were wrong, but you needed someone to say it.”

  He half laughed in self-depreciation. “She’s going to think I’m crazy when I knock on the door now.”

  “Do you remember that time Dominic sent you into the Republic of Dabron to talk them into honoring their contract even as their government was under attack by rebel leaders? I asked you if you were afraid—”

  This was not the time to reminisce. “I don’t see what that has to do with this situation.”

  Marie corrected him gently. “You said, ‘Fear is the first guest you should uninvite to any party.’”

  “I’m not—” He stopped mid-denial.

  Damn.

  He could handle rebel leaders. He could talk his way around irate dictators. For the right incentive, he could even negotiate a lucrative truce between two governments that were out to destroy each other. There was something invigorating about bringing order and calm to where there had been none.

  Lil was different.

  She scared him because around her, he was the chaos.

  “Dominic sent me to make sure she was safe, Marie.”

  Fine job I did of that.

  With a wry tone of humor, Marie responded, “Painful as the revelation is, Jake, you’re not perfect. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t fix this situation, though. Lil just had a new life dumped on her. Imagine how lost she must feel.”

  “I already feel badly
about how I behaved.”

  “So, what are you going to do about it?”

  What can I do?

  Before the question was even completed in his mind, an idea came to him.

  He hung up, turned around and headed back into the building.

  He knew exactly how to make this right.

  Chapter Seven

  Lil heard the knock on the door and wondered if such a place had room service. Maybe some of her things had arrived? She secured her jacket over her now button-free shirt. A quick look in the hallway mirror confirmed her fear that her hair was tumbling down out of its bun and her face was still flushed from sex.

  Well, not too much I can do about either.

  She opened the door and almost slammed it shut. It was Jake, jacket flung over one shoulder, looking a bit more disheveled than she remembered from just a short while ago.

  “May I come in?” he asked politely as if they hadn’t recently engaged in wild, animalistic table sex.

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she said, holding the door firmly in one hand to block his entry.

  “We need to talk,” he said bluntly.

  Au contraire.

  “I think we said everything that needed to be said.” She went to close the door, but he moved one foot forward and blocked it from fully closing.

  “I didn’t.”

  “Don’t make this ugly, Jake.”

  He gave her that bland look that she was learning meant that regardless of what she said he was going to wait out the situation and then do as he pleased.

  With a sigh of resignation, she swung the door open. How much worse could today get? “Oh, come on in.”

  Barefoot, she led the way to the living room and sat on one of the oversized chairs; he sat on the couch across from her. The silence was heavy and prolonged.

  He cleared his throat. “So you have everything you need for Colby?”

  “Yes,” Lil said slowly.

  “And the pantry is properly stocked?”

  Lil shook her head in confusion. What was he doing? She defaulted to sarcasm. “I have no idea. I haven’t gotten much farther than the couch.”