Ready for King's Seduction

by Maureen Child

  “We really shouldn’t,” she said and met him halfway as his mouth came down over hers.

  Instant heat and hunger leaped up to snare both of them into a trap of their own design. He pulled her in tight, loving the feel of her body molding to his. She sighed into his mouth, and he took her breath and held it inside him, wanting to devour all of her.

  His mind, his heart, his soul, begged to be heard, but the only voice he listened to was that of his body. She was here. In his arms. Where he needed her.

  Groaning, he shifted his hands to the waistband of her jeans, undid the snap and zipper and in seconds, was sliding one hand across her bare abdomen. She kissed him harder, deeper, her tongue twining with his in a desperate dance of desire.

  He lowered his hand, beneath the elastic band of her panties and down to the heart of her that waited for him. She broke the kiss on a gasp and rocked her hips into him as he touched and stroked and explored her damp heat. Again and again, his fingers moved on her, taking her higher as he watched her eyes burn and then glaze over with what she was feeling. What she was giving him in this one stolen moment.

  And when her body couldn’t last another moment, when she was so taut with tension there was no higher for her to reach, Lucas felt the first shattering climax jolt through her.

  “Lucas!” She clutched at his shoulders, fingers digging in as she moved on his hand, riding the waves of sensation that poured through her in a tidal wave of release.

  Finally, only the slightest ripples remained, and she shivered as he held her close. Her face was flushed; her eyes unfocused; her breathing short and sharp. Finally, she licked her lips and let her head fall to his chest as if she were unable to hold it up on her own.

  He kissed the top of her head and tried to calm his own racing heartbeat. It was a futile attempt. What he wanted was to bury himself inside her. To feel her heat holding him as closely and deeply as before. Pulling his hand free, he sighed and said, “Come with me, Rose. Upstairs.”

  A choked-off chuckle scraped from her throat, and she shook her head against his chest. “No.”

  “What?” He pulled back so he could look at her and waited until she lifted her gaze to his. “Why not?”

  Biting her bottom lip, she moved away from him, zipped up her jeans and straightened her sweater. Then she pushed her hair back from her face. Looking up at him, she took a deep breath and blew it out again before trusting herself to speak.

  “Because it wouldn’t change anything.” Another short laugh escaped her. “I shouldn’t have let what just happened happen, either.”

  He grabbed her, then eased his hold when she winced as his hand came down on the bruises inflicted by Warren. Remembering that, knowing that she had been in danger and he hadn’t been there until almost the last moment, terrified him and infused his words with a kind of desperation.

  “But it did happen, Rose. You want me. I want you. Simple.”

  “No, it’s not,” she said sadly and it startled Lucas to see a sheen of tears fill her eyes. But she blinked them back so quickly, they were gone before he could even really ask himself why they had appeared in the first place. “It’s not simple at all.”

  Frustration bubbled inside him. He was aching for want of her and was apparently going to keep on aching, he thought. So he blurted, “Then why the hell did you come here?”

  She pulled away from him and a second later, steely determination was etched into her features. “Not for this,” she told him.

  Lucas drew a long, deep breath, fighting the hunger inside and the sense of annoyance he felt at her easy dismissal of what was clearly simmering between them. “Fine. Why?”

  Lifting her chin, she walked past him to the table where she’d laid her purse. She opened it, pulled out an envelope and thrust it at him. “Because of this. I wanted to come over here and personally hand that back to you.”

  “What?” He glanced at it and recognized the envelope and check he’d sent her only the day before. He had deliberately sent her much more than he owed her, not because he was feeling guilty, either, but because he had simply wanted her to have it. Apparently, she hadn’t appreciated it.

  “Take it,” she said, waving the damn envelope like a battle flag.

  “I don’t want it.”

  “Neither do I,” she countered, and pushed it into one of his hands before folding her arms beneath her breasts.

  His fingers tightened around the damn envelope, crushing it. “You earned the money.”

  “Hah! That’s more than triple what you owe me for cooking lessons, and you know it. So the only other way I could possibly have earned that much was if—”

  She left the rest of it unsaid but he didn’t need to hear it. Insult slapped at him. “Are you serious? You think I’m paying you for sex?”

  One shoulder lifted in a half-hearted shrug. But her eyes burned with an inner fire that singed Lucas with its strength.

  “What else am I supposed to think?” she asked.

  Offended down to his bones, Lucas felt his own anger rise to nearly choke him. Deliberately, he tore the check in two and threw both halves into the air, letting them fall to the gleaming wood floor at their feet. “There. Happy now?”

  “Yes,” she snapped, not even glancing at the torn check. “I’m happy. You can’t buy me, Lucas. You can’t pay me off. You can’t assuage your conscience by writing a damn check as if I’m an overdue bill.”

  He just stared at her. What the hell was he supposed to say to something so outrageously wrong?

  “That’s not what I was doing, damn it!” His shout filled the room and seemed to bounce off the beamed ceiling.

  She stepped up close, her gaze boring into his. “Then what? Why would you do it?”

  Lucas shoved a hand through his hair. “I was trying to help.”

  She snorted.

  “You’re a damn good cook, Rose,” he said, voice harsh as if every word was being scraped out of his throat. “You need money to build your business. I was…investing.”

  “Investing,” she repeated, shaking her head at him in disbelief. “You wanted to invest in a woman you said you never wanted to see again? Where’s the logic you’re so fond of, Lucas? That doesn’t make sense at all. But I’m supposed to just accept it?”

  “Believe what you want,” he muttered. Try to do a nice thing and have it thrown back in your face, he told himself. He never should have started any of this. It was all turning out to be far more trouble than it was worth. Now he was left trying to explain his motives to Rose when he didn’t completely understand them himself.

  Accepting the inevitable, he growled, “I’ll mail you a check for what I owe you for the cooking lessons and leave it at that. All right?”

  “Fine.”

  His gaze met hers.

  Ice to fire.

  “Then we’re done here,” he told her, grabbing hold of what was left of his pride and clinging to it.

  “We’re done, Lucas,” she agreed, snatching up her jacket and slipping into it. She lifted her purse, slung it over her shoulder and walked out of the room, her heels clacking loudly on the wood floor.

  From a distance, he heard the front door open, then close.

  He was alone again.

  Twelve

  Two weeks later, Rose ran into the local coffee bar, her gaze scanning past the late-afternoon crowd, waiting in line, seated at tables. A wail of jazz piped down through overhead speakers and the scent of fresh coffee and doughnuts washed over her in welcome.

  But today, nothing could soothe her. Not even doughnuts.

  Quickly, she looked at the employees behind the counters, searching for the one person in the world she could really talk to. Just then, Delilah came out from the back room, laughing at one of her coworkers. She looked up, spotted Rose and called out, “Hi, sweetie! Having a latte emergency?”

  A couple of people glanced at her, then turned away again and another barista, Eric, grinned a hello.

  Rose hardly no
ticed. She hurried to the end of the counter and waved Dee over. As she got closer, her friend’s bright green eyes narrowed in concern.

  Voice low, she asked, “Are you all right, Rose?”

  “I’m so far away from all right,” she muttered, glancing around to make sure no one else was close enough to listen in. “Can you take a break?”

  “Sure,” Dee told her, concern shifting to worry now as she half turned and said loudly, “Eric, I’m taking a break. Back in fifteen.”

  He nodded and Dee slipped around the counter, took Rose’s arm and steered her out of the shop.

  Outside, the sun was beginning to set and its rays seemed aimed at Rose’s eyes. She squinted in response and took a long breath as she tried to ease the jumping nerves in the pit of her stomach. It didn’t help.

  “What is it, sweetie?”

  “The end,” Rose said dramatically.

  “What?” Dee tugged her over to one of the tables gathered in front of Coffee Heaven.

  After the storms they’d been having, the locals were out in force, enjoying the winter sun and the dry sidewalks. Kids rolled past on skateboards and women pushed babies in strollers. A golden retriever sat placidly beside its owner, who read the paper and pretended he had the whole world to himself.

  Rose was only vaguely aware of all of it. There was too much running through her mind. Too many variables to consider, and one undeniable truth she had to face.

  She swallowed hard and blurted out, “I’m pregnant.”

  “Oh, Rose…” Dee leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Are you sure?”

  “Three test kits later,” Rose said with a sigh, “I’m way sure.”

  A couple of minutes of silence passed before Dee sat back in her chair, keeping her gaze fixed on Rose. “So now what?”

  “That’s the problem. I know ‘now what,’ I just don’t want to do it.”

  “Talk to Lucas, you mean.”

  “Yes.”

  “Honey, you’ve been making yourself sick missing him for the past two weeks,” Dee said softly. “Is this really such bad news?”

  “God, yes—I mean, no…I mean…” God, Rose thought, she wasn’t even making sense to herself. But hardly surprising. Her brain had been in a spin since the last of the three tests had come back positive.

  Seriously, what were the odds of getting pregnant on the one time a condom breaks? There were people all over the country—heck, the world—trying desperately to have children. She should feel blessed, she knew. And that feeling would eventually come. But right now, all she felt was worried.

  Rose chewed at her fingernail, noticed what she was doing and stopped. “The baby isn’t bad news, Dee. I mean, it’s a surprise, but not a bad one, you know?”

  Dee nodded, but kept quiet so Rose could talk and get her thoughts straight in her own mind. A truly great best friend, Rose thought.

  “The bad news is, once I tell Lucas, he’s going to want to marry me—”

  “And that’s bad because—”

  “Because he doesn’t love me,” Rose muttered and glared at the newspaper-reading man when he flicked her a curious glance. Immediately, he hid behind the paper again. Rose lowered her voice. “He’ll offer to marry me out of duty. Because me and the baby are his ‘responsibility.’ I don’t want to be that to the man I love, you know? I want him to want me because he can’t live without me. Not because a layer of latex failed at precisely the wrong moment.” She paused, then started again before Dee could say a word. “If we get married for all the wrong reasons, it would turn out just like my marriage to Henry did.”

  “Henry was a horse’s ass,” Dee pointed out.

  “True. But the bottom line is, I didn’t love him. He didn’t love me. And we created a gigantic ball of misery together. I don’t want that with Lucas.”

  “But you do love him,” Dee argued.

  “Yes, I do. And how long before that feeling just withers and dies because I know he’s thinking he was trapped into marrying me?” She shook her head as that thought settled in and turned her stomach. “This isn’t the fifties. We have choices now, you know? And my choice is to not marry a man who doesn’t love me just because he’s the father of my child.”

  “Okay, I’m right there with you,” Dee told her firmly. “Anything you decide is okay by me. So the next question is, what do you want to do?”

  “Sadly,” Rose said, slumping against the chair back, “want really doesn’t come into it. If it did, then what I would want is Lucas and I together, celebrating a baby.”

  But that wasn’t going to happen and Rose was just going to have to come to grips with the fact. Lucas had made his choice, and it hadn’t been her. In the two weeks since she’d last seen him, she had heard nothing from him. Beyond a check she received for the exact amount owed her.

  It was as if he’d shut her out so easily that he hadn’t even missed her. Which was both sad and infuriating. Here she was, moping around, thinking about him, dreaming about him, carrying his child, and he was probably not even giving her a passing thought.

  Instinctively, Rose squared her shoulders as if metaphorically accepting the weight that had just dropped onto her shoulders. No, Lucas wouldn’t be back and if he did offer marriage, it wouldn’t be the kind she wanted. He’d already made that very clear. So it would be best all the way around to put aside dreams and start getting ready for reality.

  As that thought settled in, she knew one other person she had to tell before facing Lucas with the news.

  “I have to go see Dave.”

  “Really?” Dee just stared at her, surprised. “You sure your brother is the one to help with this?”

  Rose shrugged. “He’s been better lately. Since we had that talk and finally came clean with each other, we’ve sort of found a new and richer relationship. He comes over a lot now, and he does know about me and Lucas, so this won’t be a shock.” She stopped and smiled sadly. “I have to tell him. He’s my family.”

  “Okay,” Dee said and stood up when Rose did. “But if he lets you down by being an idiot about this, just call me.”

  Far from being the Mayor of Idiotville, Dave was the perfect older brother. Once Rose told him what was going on, he said and did all the right things. He was supportive and understanding and Rose was so grateful she could have cried. Now that there were no more secrets between them, she knew she could depend on him. And Rose was going to need him in the next few months and then beyond even that.

  “Don’t worry,” he told her, giving her a hug that reassured and comforted all at the same time. “Everything’s gonna be fine.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “I’m always right,” Dave teased, pulling back to look down into her eyes.

  She laughed as he meant her to. “Oh, yeah. Now I remember.”

  “Atta girl,” he said, a quick smile flashing across his features. “We’re Clancys, you and me. We can handle anything. And your baby will be just fine, I swear it.”

  “Thanks, Dave,” she said, leaning into him just to feel the solid strength of him. She was so tired, she could hardly stand up. It was as if all of her energy was going directly to worrying about the new life she carried inside. It was exhausting. “I’m so thankful I can count on you.”

  “Always,” he promised, then asked, “Have you told Lucas?”

  “No.” She pulled away, wrapped her arms around herself and dropped into the corner of her couch. Drawing her legs up beneath her, she shook her head for emphasis. “Not yet. I know I have to, but I’m not ready to talk to him right now.”

  “Okay…”

  Something in his tone alerted her, and she snapped him a look. “I don’t want you talking to him, either. I’m going to be the one to tell him, Dave. And I’ll do it my way, all right?”

  “Sure. Absolutely.”

  Her gaze narrowed on him, looking for some sign that he didn’t mean what he was saying, but he just looked…supportive. For which she was grateful. Even knowing that
she would be sharing custody with Lucas, raising a baby on her own was a daunting prospect. She was going to need moral support for the journey, and she was so grateful to know that her brother was on her side.

  “Thanks for understanding.”

  “You bet, Rose,” he said softly. “I’m here for you. Whatever you need.”

  “Right now,” she said, with a rueful smile, “I think I need a nap. It’s been a full day.”

  “Yeah,” he said, walking over to her. He bent down to kiss the top of her head. “You do that. I’ll lock your door when I leave.”

  “Okay.” She scooted down on the couch and rested her head on one of the throw pillows. “And Dave…thanks again.”

  “Don’t worry about a thing.”

  She was practically asleep by the time he walked out the front door.

  So there was no way she could have seen his expression shift from that of concerned older brother to one of icy determination. She wasn’t ready to talk to Lucas? She didn’t have to be. Dave was more than ready.

  He had a lot to say to his old friend, and there was no time like the present.

  “These are great,” Sean said, reaching for another steak-and-cheese quesadilla. He burned his fingers and hissed in a breath as he dropped the food onto his plate. Grinning at Rafe and Lucas, he said, “You gotta give it up for Rose. If she can teach you to cook, she deserves some kind of medal.”

  “He’s right,” Rafe said, leaning back in his chair and reaching out to grab his beer. “Even though it wasn’t your ‘plan,’ you managed to learn how to cook. Impressive.”

  “Yeah. Real impressive.” He could cook, but he had no one to cook for. Which was why when it was his turn to host the weekly King meeting, he had volunteered to make his brothers dinner. Now, he couldn’t remember why he had offered. Being in this room, even using that new cast-iron skillet he had bought on Rose’s orders, left him feeling…incomplete, somehow. As if there was something important missing from his house. His life.

  Lucas looked at his brothers, then let his gaze track around the kitchen he rarely set foot in these days.