His breath dusted her skin, his mumbled words floated in the air, and the rosy glow in the room blurred weirdly. She’d never felt anything like this before.
“I’ve wanted you since the first moment I saw you,” he whispered just loud enough for her to hear.
“Me, too,” she said softly, reaching down to stroke one hand through his thick hair, comb it through her fingers. “Oh, me, too, Parker.”
He lifted his head and moved to kiss her, taking her mouth even as his hands took her body. She met that kiss with a hunger that seemed to be pulling her into an abyss that shimmered with color and light and sound. Her mind blanked out as their tongues twisted and danced together.
Holly arched into his touch, lifting her hips, pushing against his hand, which cupped her damp heat, and strained for the release she knew she could find only with him.
Her hips rocked with his every touch. She felt the cool kiss of the night air on her skin and inhaled the scent of lemon clinging to her sheets. Every sense felt as if it were on overload.
She’d never experienced anything like this.
His thumb brushed her core and she shuddered, tearing her mouth from his….
“Parker!” Her voice broke on his name, tears blurred her vision as the first bone-jarring climax jolted through her.
Her hips rocked, her back bowed and she looked up into his eyes, his incredible eyes, and rode the wave of sensation.
“Amazing,” he murmured, kissing her briefly, sweetly, as her body trembled.
“Just what I was thinking,” she managed to say. She cupped his cheek in her palm and pulled his head down to hers. One kiss. Two. Three. Then she smiled. “I want more.”
“Glad to hear it.” He reached out behind him, snagged one of the condoms she’d left on the bookcase, tore it open and sheathed himself.
In the next instant he was braced over her, hands at either side of her head.
He entered her slowly, languidly, teasing them both, torturing them both, dragging out the anticipated pleasure until it shimmered in the air around them.
“Take me,” she whispered, lifting her legs to hook them around his waist. “Take me, Parker, and let me take you.”
He groaned tightly and surrendered to the fury within. She surrounded him with heat, and even more, a feeling of completeness. Such an overwhelming sense of rightness.
And that was enough.
For tonight.
He rocked in and out of her, setting a rhythm she matched stroke for stroke. Lowering his head, he claimed a kiss then watched as passion clouded her soft, gray eyes. Watched as she took a breath, held it, then said his name on a long sigh of wonder.
Her body quivered, trembled, and as she clung to him, he let himself go, riding out the last of the tremors with her.
AN HOUR LATER they were sitting naked in bed, sharing a bottle of good red wine.
“Quite a night,” she said.
“Been pretty damn good from my point of view.”
Holly grinned. “I think that’s a compliment.”
“Count on it.”
“Well, right back atcha.”
He grabbed the wine bottle, topped off her glass then did the same for himself. Setting the empty bottle aside, he clinked his glass to hers, and when they’d both taken a drink, he said, “I want you to know that what we have here is separate from me wanting you to sing at my club.”
She gave him a long, thoughtful look, then smiled. “Don’t worry, Parker. I believe you.”
“Good. Because I admire your talent.”
She quirked a grin.
“Your singing talent,” he qualified with an answering smile. “And I still want you working for me at the café.”
Holly studied his face for a long minute, then set her glass down on the bookcase and leaned in toward him. Her subconscious had been wrestling with his offer even while she was otherwise occupied. And now she had her answer. She really wanted to take the job he offered. Every extra dollar she managed to tuck away went into the account that would pay for her dreams. And this steady work from Parker would make reaching that dream a lot easier.
“I appreciate it. And…I accept.”
“Just like that?”
“What’s the matter?” She smiled at him. “Too easy for you?”
“Not at all, I just thought you’d want some time to think about it—”
“Your offer was a good one. I like your place, Parker. I like you.” She paused, then leaned back. “Oh, don’t get that deer-in-the-headlights look.”
“I don’t have—”
“Hell, Parker. I can see it clear as anything. You’re worried about me giving you a nice little speech about falling in love with you.”
“No.” He took a drink. “That’s not it. It’s…”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said, and kept her voice light to cover any hint of hurt she might be feeling. She’d known going in that Parker James was out of her league. Of course he’d be worried if a nameless singer started getting all dewy-eyed around him. So she’d keep things on an even keel.
“Holly,” he said, reaching out and taking one of her hands in his. “I’m coming out of a marriage that was a nightmare.”
Guilt poked at her, and one more time she wondered if she should tell Parker what she knew about Frannie. There was no way to know if that knowledge would help him or hurt him, though.
So she kept silent about the past and tried to protect her future. Her heart was set on making that home she’d wanted so much as a child. She would hire a full-time housekeeper/nanny to be at the house when she was working, and she would lavish all the love she’d ever wanted on the children in her care.
Parker wasn’t a part of that future—it was best she remembered that.
“I’m not looking for anything from you, Parker, so you can just put that worry out of your head.” She turned her hand under his and linked their fingers. “Whatever else we may find together…work is separate. You need a singer and, like I told you before, I can use the extra money.”
He smiled. “Got plans?”
“You could say so.”
“Care to tell me about them?”
She thought about it for a minute. But she hadn’t even told Tommy and Shana what she wanted to do. She’d trusted only one person with that knowledge and he’d betrayed her. Not that she doubted Tommy and Shana for a minute, but until she had her foster home up and running, she was not going to risk sharing her plan with anyone else. A part of her was afraid of jinxing the whole thing. Silly, she knew, to let superstition rule, but why take chances?
And she could see it all so clearly. An old house with a lot of room. A yard. Trees. A garden. And children. As many foster children as she could take in.
Holly had lived in the system. She knew what it was like to not have a place to call your own. And though there were some very good foster parents, there were all too many who didn’t care about the children.
She would be the kind of foster parent she’d wanted when she was still a lonely child, hungering for affection. And between her job at the Hotel Marchand and the extra money she could make working for Parker, her dream would come true a lot faster.
“Not talking, huh?” he said softly, tracing the line of her jaw with his fingers.
She blinked. “Sorry. I was just…”
“Thinking about those plans you’re not telling me about?”
“Sort of.” She smiled at him to take the sting out of her next words. “An incredible bout of sex doesn’t mean we’re going to start sharing our lives, Parker. Didn’t we just decide that?”
He nodded thoughtfully. “You’re an intriguing woman, Holly Carlyle.”
“I’m glad you think so, Parker James.” She took his wineglass, set it beside hers, then moved to straddle him.
“Another plan?” he asked, hands moving to her hips, thumbs stroking her skin.
“This one’s a little more immediate,” she said, and flicked her thumbnail across his
flat nipple. “And one I have no problem telling you about. Or maybe,” she said slyly, “I should just show you.”
He tightened his grip on her and reached blindly for another condom. “So far,” he said tightly, “I like this one a lot.”
“Yeah?” She bent her head and nibbled at his bottom lip with gentle tugs that sent sharp jabs of need shooting through her. “Kind of fond of it myself.”
She took the condom from him, tore the foil packet open and leaned back, taking his length into her hands.
“Holly…”
“Let me,” she said, and tenderly, carefully, seductively, she sheathed him, smoothing the latex down and over the tip of him. She stroked him, watching his eyes close and his jaw tighten.
Her own body quivered with renewed passion. She could hardly believe how quickly she wanted him again.
Lifting up onto her knees, she settled herself over him, taking him inside her until they were joined as closely as possible. His hands gripped her hips as she moved on him. But this time she set the pace. This time, she was the one steering them both toward completion.
She swept her hands up, lifting her hair, letting it fall to her shoulders again in a soft cloud. She twisted her hips on his, increasing the friction between them, stoking the fires licking at them.
PARKER COULDN’T have taken his gaze off her if it had meant his life. She was every woman. She was beautiful and wild and…breathtaking.
As sensations poured through him, he felt something indefinable notch into place inside him. Something he hadn’t expected. Something he didn’t want.
Something he wasn’t entirely sure what to do with.
Then his body took over, shut his brain down, and he surrendered to the moment. To the incredible feelings coursing through him. He was at the edge of madness, and as he stepped over, he took Holly with him.
“CAN YOU BREATHE?” Parker asked after rolling her onto her back. “I’ll move once I can.”
Holly laughed, stroking his back as he lay collapsed on top of her. “I must be breathing,” she finally said, “so don’t move on my account.”
“Okay then. Good night.”
She smacked his back and laughed again. “Oh, no, you don’t.”
“Hmm?” He lifted his head and grinned down at her.
“Getting comfy?”
“Can’t remember ever being comfier.” His fingers twined through the hair at her temple and she sighed at the soft, sweet contact.
She shifted beneath him, twisting her hips against his until they were both breathing hard. This was one connection they could share completely.
“Okay, that’s even more comfy,” he admitted through gritted teeth.
“I hear that.”
Holly’s mind was happily blank, her body deliciously limp. It had been a while since she’d shared her bed with anyone. Actually, it had been since Jeff. He’d so messed with her head and heart, she hadn’t been interested in testing the waters again.
But Parker was different.
Different enough that she was willing to take a chance by getting this close to him. Sure, physically close was a far cry from emotionally close, but she felt herself teetering blindly on the edge of taking that next step.
And she so didn’t want to.
She wanted to be a modern woman. A woman who could separate sex and affection. And she knew she’d be in far better shape if she simply treated sex as men did. Casual. Enjoyable. Move on.
But she wasn’t wired that way.
For Parker’s sake, she’d try to keep her heart out of the mix. She just didn’t know if she’d be able to pull it off.
“Okay, moving now,” he said, dropping a quick kiss on the column of her throat.
“You sure you want to?”
“Nope.” He lifted his head, looked down into her eyes and smiled. As he did, he shifted position and gently pulled his body from hers.
Holly groaned softly, then stretched, arms over her head. She smiled, rolled over to face him and admitted, “I’m cold without my human blanket.”
One corner of his mouth quirked as he reached for the edge of the quilt and pulled it over her. “This’ll have to do till I get back.”
“You leaving?”
“Just going into the bathroom. Then the kitchen. Suddenly, I’m starving. Do you have any food?”
Holly laughed, enjoying herself, enjoying him. “Actually, I do. Stuff for sandwiches, anyway.”
“Sounds perfect.” He leaned in, kissed her, then rolled off the bed and stood. “Damn it.”
“What?” Holly pushed herself up onto her elbows, the quilt sliding down her body.
Voice tight, he asked, “Just how old were those condoms?”
Panic flared, but she managed to keep her voice calm as she asked, “Why?”
He looked over his shoulder at her, and even in the dim light, it was easy to read the disbelief in his dark blue eyes. “Because this one broke.”
CHAPTER NINE
INSIDES JUMPING, Parker looked at the naked woman stretched out atop the antique quilt and tried to find the pleasure he’d known only moments ago.
But it was gone.
As if it had never been.
God, he was an idiot. Had she set him up somehow?
“What do you mean, broke?” she asked.
“Just what I said.” He stalked over to the bathroom, flicked on a light that speared into the room behind him. He tossed the remains of the condom away, then turned and stood in the open doorway. Slapping one hand on the doorjamb, he curled his fingers into the wood and held on tight as a few simple truths rocked him.
Despite what he’d hoped, he had to ask himself if, at the most basic level, Holly was no different from Frannie. Both were out for whatever they could get, and apparently neither cared how they went about getting it.
He looked at Holly and his mouth went dry. Fury? Desire? He couldn’t be sure.
She sat naked on the edge of the mattress, tugging at the quilt, trying to jerk it up and over her. “It broke? Oh, God…”
“That about covers it.”
Her tangled hair fell into her eyes and, clearly annoyed, she pushed it back. “How could the blasted thing break? I mean, the shelf life of a condom has got to be a long one.”
“So they are old.”
“Sort of.”
“How old?”
“They’ve been in my drawer for almost three years.”
“Three years.”
“Don’t say it like it’s a millennium. Besides,” she argued, “it’s not like I’ve had a lot of reason to go out and stock up on some new ones.” Defensive and obviously feeling the same sort of jittery nerves he was, she jumped off the bed, snatched up the quilt and wrapped it around her. Pushing her hair back from her face again with one trembling hand, she muttered, “My last boyfriend left them here. I just never threw them out and—” She stopped talking and glared at him. “Why am I apologizing to you?”
“Funny,” he snapped. “Haven’t really heard an apology.”
She jabbed one finger in his direction. “And you’re not going to.”
“Well, that’s perfect.”
“I didn’t hear you complaining a few minutes ago,” she reminded him.
True. He hadn’t been complaining. Or thinking. He sure as hell was now, though. And the thoughts racing through his mind weren’t making him any happier than she looked at the moment.
“That was then,” he said tightly. “This is now.”
She blew out a breath. “This just cannot be happening.”
“Man.” Parker shook his head as he stalked across the room and grabbed up his slacks. He couldn’t believe this. He should have known better than to get close to somebody again. Damn it. He’d been an idiot and now he was going to have to pay the price. Because of her.
No.
He corrected himself immediately. This was his own damn fault. He’d made the mistake of letting his hormones drag him around. And why wasn’t she as upset ab
out this as he was?
“You’re really something,” he said.
“I’m guessing you don’t mean that in a complimentary way.”
“Bingo.”
“I don’t see why you’re so mad,” she snapped, kicking one of his shoes at him. “I’m the one who should be freaked out here.”
“Actually, I was just thinking that. But you’re not, are you?” He zipped his slacks, grabbed his socks and tugged them on, talking while he dressed. “You’re right. You should be ‘freaked out.’ But I’m not seeing that.” He stared at her for a long minute. “In fact, you don’t even look surprised. Now why would that be, I wonder.”
She lifted her chin defiantly. “Oh, I’m surprised by a lot of things right now—not the least of which is just how fast you can morph from tender lover to super jerk.”
She took a step, stumbled on the quilt, then bent and grabbed a handful of it away from her feet. “If you’re trying to make me mad, you’re doing a good job.”
A damn good actress, he thought. He’d hoped she was different. Believed she was someone he could trust. Someone who could share his passion for music and understand the dreams he was trying to build.
But he should have remembered the lessons Frannie had taught him.
“See, that’s the thing, Holly. I shouldn’t have to try to make you mad. You should be as furious, as concerned, as I am right now. But you’re not.” He stepped into his shoes, grabbed his shirt and yanked it on. Leaving it hanging open, he closed the distance between them. He grabbed her shoulders and held on tight. Those smoky-gray eyes of hers locked on his face.
“So I have to think you’re not upset because you knew that condom was going to break. You wanted it to break. Hell, for all I know, you arranged it.”
Her eyes widened. “Are you nuts?”
He gave a short bark of laughter. “Nuts, no. Pissed off? Oh, yeah.”
She yanked herself free of his grip, and now those gray eyes of hers were like storm clouds, filled with thunder and lightning, just looking for a place to cut loose.
“You wanted me angry? Well you got it, buster.” She staggered back just a bit as she fought for balance. Her hair hung down into her eyes and she tossed her head to clear her vision long enough to glare knives at him. “Why would I want to sabotage a condom? Why would I want to risk my own health?”
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