by Cat Schield
While her sensible side screamed at her to drop it, reckless urges had been building in her since he’d come home from Texas. The conversation she’d overheard combined with the two glasses of wine she’d consumed were making it hard to ignore her longing to press against the hard muscular body that was so close to hers.
“Don’t be. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have been eavesdropping. And it doesn’t bother me that you’ve thought about sleeping with me.” She got the words out only by studying the decorative marble backsplash behind the six-burner stove. This let her detach from the intensity of the exchange. “With our proximity...” She shrugged. “It only makes sense that you’d consider it.”
He was silent for what felt like minutes, but based on the rapid thump of her heart, it was more like seconds.
“I think you’re discounting how important you are to me. You and Honey.” His fingertips grazed her knuckles. The fleeting touch awakened a kaleidoscope of butterflies in her stomach. “Have I thought about you in that way, sure. But you know I’d never take advantage of our situation in that way.”
“What if you weren’t taking advantage?” She couldn’t believe such bold words spilled from her lips. What was she saying? He was her boss. “And it’s not as if the gossip hasn’t already condemned us.”
“Claire.” He sounded half amused and half despairing.
“Do you want to?” She shuffled forward until the heat of his body made her light hoodie unnecessary. Suddenly far too warm, she slid the zipper down and let it fall off her shoulders.
“Claire.” This time when he said her name, there was a warning in it. He gripped her bare shoulders, sending shock waves of longing searing through her. “You have no idea what you do to me.”
Linc’s palms skimmed down her arms and gathered the cotton of her hoodie, pulling it up over her shoulders once more. She stood frozen as he covered her bare skin. Embarrassment spilled through her as she wondered what the hell had gotten into her.
“I’m sorry.” Humiliated, she took a step back, surprised how hard it was to move away from him.
“No, I’m the one who should apologize. Knox and I should never have been talking about you.”
“He’s worried about you.”
Despite Linc’s rejection, her body continued to rumble with hungry impulses. While her brain screamed, What were you thinking? her body shouted, Why did you stop?
“I think he’s more worried about you,” Linc countered, his deep voice reverberating with regret.
“Why? You’re his friend. If anyone stands to be hurt, it’s you.”
Linc cocked his head. “How do you figure?”
“Your reputation.”
“To hell with my reputation. That’s important to my mother, not to me.”
“But your mother is important to you. Imagine how something like you being discovered sleeping with your housekeeper would hinder her mission to find you a suitable Charlestonian woman to marry.”
Linc expelled his breath on a derisive snort. “My mother has weathered bigger scandals just fine. Besides, what she wants for me is not necessarily what I want for myself.”
“You mean you don’t want to marry a girl from a good family and start having children?”
“I want to marry a woman I love. I don’t care what sort of a family she comes from.”
While his determination was sexy and thrilling, Claire knew that his engagement to London had strained his relationship with Bettina.
“That’s all well and good,” she said, “but your mother does care, and in the end, you know that matters to you.”
And there was no way Bettina Thurston was going to approve of her son getting into any sort of relationship with his housekeeper.
Six
Claire’s words infuriated him because he knew she was right. But he didn’t want it to matter that his choice of a fiancée had upset his mother when he and London were engaged.
“I like to think she’d eventually come around if she knew it would make me happy.”
“Your mother is a strong matriarch who believes she knows what’s best for you.”
Linc couldn’t argue with that. She’d certainly recognized that London wasn’t the girl for him. He eyed Claire. No doubt his mother would have an even stronger aversion to his starting up with his housekeeper. He raked his fingers through his hair, utterly at war with himself over what he wanted and what he knew to be the best thing to do.
Before Linc could fall victim to his conscience, he reached out and curved his fingers around the back of Claire’s neck. Her hand came up between them, the side of her fist resting lightly against his chest. He expected her to push him away and was surprised when her fingers wrapped around his lapel and tugged him toward her.
Dipping his head, he grazed his lips over hers, noting her soft murmur of pleasure. For a second, she leaned into him, her slight weight a sensual blow that knocked his thoughts askew. His heart pumped like he’d run a mile full-out.
“Claire.” He went back for a second taste, lingering over her soft lips.
But before he could kiss her yet again, she set her fingertips against her mouth and ducked her head.
“I’ve been dying to do that since last night,” he admitted, setting her free and taking a step back. His hands shook, so he shoved them into his pockets. What was this strange power she had over him that a single chaste kiss turned him inside out?
“I thought it was just me.”
Thoughts flitted through his head, none lingering for more than a second.
Mistake. Again. She wants this. I want this. No. Yes.
But what it came down to, what kept him from reaching for her a second time, was the consequences for both of them. She had Honey to think about. He didn’t want to jeopardize her future if he pushed forward with this attraction between them.
He needed to know if he was just reacting to something forbidden, or if she was as desirable as he imagined. In truth, he wasn’t sure if he could answer any of these questions. In his younger days, he’d never had to pursue women. They had just fallen into his lap like overripe fruit. Nor had London given him a run for his money. Things between them had been easy and familiar right off the bat. In fact, he couldn’t think of a single woman he’d ever chased. He was too busy putting all his energy into baseball.
“I’d better get the china and crystal put away,” Claire said as she rinsed out her wine glass and set it in the sink.
“My offer to help still stands.”
“Thanks, but it won’t take me very long.”
In a strange way, he felt dismissed. Clearly, she was trying to reestablish the nature of their relationship. Employer and housekeeper.
Instead of arguing, Linc headed upstairs to the large master bedroom on the second floor. As he trudged up the wide staircase, he stripped out of his blazer and unbuttoned his shirtsleeves. He’d scarcely entered his bedroom when his ears picked up the soft squeak of a pine board in the hallway behind him. Tossing his coat onto a nearby chair, he turned and spied Claire standing just outside his room.
“I’m sorry about what happened earlier,” she said, uttering the last thing he wanted to hear. “I’ve put you in a bad position.”
“You haven’t.” He watched as she covered one bare foot with the other and seemed to withdraw into herself as if trying to disappear.
She cleared her throat. “Can we chock it up to...”
“Moonlight?”
Her lips twitched in a familiar wry smile. “I was going to say curiosity.”
“But that’s not all it was.” He stepped into the hallway, body coming alive as he drew within arm’s length of her.
“I didn’t realize until recently just how much I ignored my own needs.”
“You’ve had Honey to think about.”
He wasn’t going to bring u
p her devotion to her deceased husband again. Obviously, she was ready to move on. Or she thought she was.
“She’s been my priority, but I also think I’ve used her to isolate myself. The only way I’ve ever successfully conquered loneliness is to keep busy and stay focused.”
“I’m familiar with the technique. How do you think I got so good at baseball? During the years that my father was in prison, I spent hours and hours at the batting cages or running catch-and-throw drills.”
“I get that.”
Linc reached out and set his fingers beneath her chin, tipping her head back so he could drown in her big brown eyes. “I’m here for you. Whenever you need me.”
“Some uncomplicated sex?” Her tone was light and teasing, but her somber expression betrayed her nervousness.
“Whatever you need.” He shaped his grin so she could either take his offer seriously or dismiss it as a joke. He hoped she chose the former.
She sighed. “You have no idea how much I want to take you up on that.”
“Hopefully as much as I want you to.”
“Oh, hell.”
And then she was taking him by the hand and drawing him back into his bedroom. It was the sign he’d been waiting for. With a relieved sigh, Linc strode forward, scooped Claire into his arms and carried her purposefully toward his bed.
He set her down on the coverlet and stripped off his shirt. Eyes never leaving her, he made quick work of his shoes and watch. While he was thus occupied, she peeled her hoodie off and tossed all the decorative pillows aside.
“I make your bed every morning and never found all these things to be as annoying as I do right now.” Her unsteady breath and wicked grin had a predictable effect on his arousal.
“Will it shock you to know how many times I’ve wanted to surprise you in the act of making the bed and tumble you into the sheets?”
“Would it shock you to know how many times I’ve pressed my face into your pillow and imagined what it would be like to be naked in this bed with you?”
He groaned. “You win.”
“Tonight, I think we both win.”
He unfastened his belt buckle and popped open the button on his pants, but when he noticed she was lifting her top over her head, he stopped to watch. Inch by gorgeous inch, her naked torso came into view. He stopped breathing as the pale blue fabric rode up over the lower curve of her breasts. And then suddenly her dusky nipples appeared and his mouth went dry.
As soon as she’d stripped the shirt off, he encircled her tiny waist with his hands and drew her toward him. She hummed joyously as his mouth came down over hers. Her fingers skimmed over his shoulders and sank into his hair, tugging fiercely as her lips parted beneath his to allow the thrust of his tongue.
Her hardened nipples raked his chest, her passion driving his desire even higher. He stroked his palms up her back, feeling her muscles shift beneath her silky skin. Leaving one hand to delve into the satin curtain of her hair, he sent his other down her spine to the small of her back. She shivered and moaned as he delicately caressed the indents on either side of her spine, before sliding his hand beneath the waistband of her pajama bottoms and cupping her bare butt.
“Linc.” His name broke from her lips as he kissed his way down her neck to the sensitive hollow of her throat. “That feels incredible.”
“I haven’t begun to make you feel incredible yet,” he replied, determined to rein in his lust so he could make this a night she’d never forget.
“Pretty much everything you do is wonderful.”
“It feels like you set the bar too low.”
“I don’t want to put any pressure on you.”
Her lopsided smile set him on fire, but it was the sudden flash of shyness he glimpsed that enabled him to calm down.
“How long has it been for you?” he asked, wanting to take things slow and make it perfect for her. She deserved to be cherished and that was what he intended to do.
She bit her lip and thought about it. “Since the night Honey was conceived?”
Wondering if that was guilt flickering in her eyes, Linc did the math. Almost three years. Damn. The knowledge that he would be the first man to have her since her husband cooled his ardor somewhat. Instinctively, he knew he wasn’t competing with the man, but how could she help but compare them?
Her palms framed his face, bringing him back to the moment. “Tonight, there’s only you and me.”
It didn’t surprise Linc that she had a knack for reading his mind. From the beginning, she’d anticipated his needs. Sometimes it was disturbing, but mostly he enjoyed the hell out of it. Once, he’d seen a three-foot-tall tiger displayed in a toy store window and pictured her buying it for Honey, just to see if he and Claire were communicating telepathically. And two weeks later, she’d bought her daughter a stuffed cat. Granted, it wasn’t the three-foot-tall tiger, but she definitely picked up on the vibe he’d been sending.
“I’m glad to hear that. I’ve never had a threesome.”
She paused in the act of sliding her fingers along his abdomen and hit him with a dry look. “Never?”
Despite her doubting tone, Linc spied hope in her expression and promised never to do anything that would erase her faith in him.
“You say that as if you think I’m some sort of player.”
“Not a player,” she corrected. “But you are a sports star. Women must throw themselves at you all the time. I imagine you’ve had plenty of opportunities.”
“Oh, I’ve been approached, but I like my women one at a time. It gives me an opportunity to focus all my attention on what gives them the most pleasure.” He gave her butt a little squeeze and heard her light gasp. “You’ll find I like to be very thorough.”
She ran her finger down his fly. “No more of that until I get your pants off.”
“Let me take care of that for you.” He brushed her fingers aside and slid his zipper down.
As much as he’d enjoyed the glancing contact of her hands on his erection through two layers of clothing, more than anything he wanted to feel her skin sliding along his hardened length. But it was much too early for that. He slipped off his pants but kept on his boxer briefs.
“Three years is a long time,” he murmured, sliding his fingertips beneath the waistband of her pajama bottoms and carefully easing them down her hips. “I’m going to take things slowly. We have no need to rush.”
As the cool air touched more of her skin, Claire gasped and her trembling increased. Linc coaxed her onto her back and skimmed her cotton pants off her legs. He drank his fill of her naked body, gaze skimming over her small breasts and flat stomach. The indent of her waist and her long, slender legs. How had he not realized how beautifully put together she was?
“Is everything okay?” she asked, her voice sounding rusty from disuse.
“Just about perfect,” he replied, settling onto the bed and moving between her thighs. “I want to kiss every inch of you, but right now I need to start here.”
“Are...are you sure?” she stammered as he leaned forward and gave her one long lick. “Oh, yes,” she moaned, answering her own question.
He went back for a second taste, liking the way her flavor filled his mouth and her sexy groans caressed his ears. She wasn’t quiet, and her unsteady exclamations of pleasure drove him on. It didn’t take him long to figure out exactly what she liked. He debated urging her into a fast orgasm or letting one build until she was out of her mind.
In the end, what decided him was the three years she’d gone without making love. As much as he wanted this moment embedded in her psyche forever, he knew how he’d feel if he’d been celibate that long. As it was, Claire was the first woman he’d slept with since ending his relationship with London. While all his friends had encouraged him to jump straight into the dating pond again, the reason why he’d broken off his engagement was t
he woman currently occupying his bed. He couldn’t deny it any longer. Why settle for hamburger when what he craved was a Japanese Wagyu striploin.
Claire came for him with a startled cry as if she hadn’t expected to climax. The sound stripped his soul bare, so he kept going, digging his fingertips into her hips to keep her tight against his mouth as he drove her harder.
“No. No. It’s too much.” Her body shuddered and quaked as she continued to orgasm. “Linc, I can’t...”
But she could. And she did. Beautifully.
As she lay gasping for breath, he kissed his way back up her body and gathered her into his arms, ignoring the sharp bite of lust so he could soothe her with gentle kisses and soft murmurs. His emotions tangled as she murmured his name.
“Don’t thank me yet,” he replied. “We’ve only just gotten started.”
She threaded her fingers through his hair and seized his lower lip between her teeth, growling playfully at him. “You’re such an amazing man—”
He didn’t want her praise, didn’t want to think about her comparing him to the husband she’d lost. Instead, he kissed her deeply, until there was nothing but her heat and the softness of her skin beneath his hands and his lips.
“I have to have you,” he murmured, his tongue swirling around her nipple.
“I’m all yours.”
The steamy rasp of her voice only added to his excitement and Linc knew if he didn’t get a condom rolled on in the next few minutes, there was going to be trouble. She watched him from beneath her lashes through the entire procedure, but when he shifted between her spread thighs and positioned himself at her entrance, he saw that her eyes had drifted closed.
“Open your eyes,” he commanded. “I need to know you’re with me.”
She smiled languidly, lifting her hips so that he slipped a little ways inside her. “I’m here.”
And when she did as he requested and met his gaze with her own, he plunged inside her in one smooth stroke. She whimpered and arched her back, accepting every inch of him. Gliding into her wetness proved to be mind-altering. Her long celibacy made her so tight that by the time he was seated deep in her heat, he was reeling.