Fortunately Zachary knew the drill. He snagged the bottle with both hands and relaxed into Cole’s lap.
“I’m going to melt the chocolate, dip the strawberries and sprinkled them with gold.”
“You clearly did not understand my point.”
She blinked at him with a wide-eyed, ingenuous expression. “I thought you wanted gold-covered chocolate.”
“Sure you did. I wanted luxury to come to us with no effort. That’s how billionaires live.”
She separated the halves of a double boiler, filling the bottom with water at the sink. “So far, for me anyway, the billionaire lifestyle is pretty much like any regular lifestyle. Except that it’s a ridiculously long walk from the kitchen to the master bedroom. My tea is cold by the time I get there.”
“You take tea to bed?”
“I sip jasmine while I read. It’s very relaxing.”
“I sip single malt while I watch the sports news. Very relaxing.”
She lit a gas burner under the double boiler.
“You are actually making chocolate strawberries.”
“It is Christmas Eve.” Then a look of concern crossed her face. “Have you had dinner?”
“We grabbed a burger on the way over. You?”
“Late lunch.”
“I really can order something in. You want a steak or some pasta? Or you seem to have a thing for pizza.”
She pouted. “Okay, now you’re making me hungry.”
“Pizza it is.” He paused, gazing down at Zachary. “I think this guy’s out for the count.”
Her expression softened, and she moved toward them. “I can take him if you’ll watch the chocolate.”
Cole extracted the bottle from Zachary’s pursed mouth. He sucked a couple more times before sighing in his sleep.
“I’ve got him,” he told her quietly. “I mean, if you’re okay with me putting him to bed.”
“Of course I’m okay with that.” She brushed a hand across Zachary’s forehead, then she followed it with a tender kiss.
Emotion tightened in Cole’s chest. For the first time in his life, he actually got it. He’d seen men with their families, watched them care for their children. But he’d never had an inkling of the strength of those instincts, the flat-out intensity of the desire to protect.
“You sure?” he found himself asking.
He was little more than a stranger to Amber, and it suddenly seemed unfair to ask her to trust him with Zachary.
She smiled. “Go for it. Then order that pizza. We’re going to need something that goes with five-hundred-dollar champagne.”
“Is that seriously the price?” It struck Cole as ridiculous.
“That’s what it says.”
“How can any taste be worth twenty dollars a swallow?”
“You tell me. You’re the billionaire.”
Cole rose. “I guess we’re about to find out.”
He gently parked Zachary over his shoulder. Zachary’s little body was warm and soft, molded trustingly in his arms.
Minutes later, he finished tucking Zachary into his crib, leaving Otis posted across the open doorway, and returned to the kitchen to find Amber with a dozen chocolate-dipped strawberries lined up on waxed paper. She was sprinkling “gold” on the sticky chocolate.
“I’m impressed,” he told her, coming up behind her.
“They turned out pretty good.” She sounded happy, and that made him smile.
The scent of chocolate and strawberries floated around them. Her hair brushed his arm. He knew he was standing too close, but he hadn’t the slightest desire to move.
He wanted to touch her, to wrap his arms around her, kiss the back of her neck, then turn her around and kiss her mouth. Forget the strawberries, he wanted to strip her naked and make love to her all night long.
“I was thinking a pesto pizza,” she said. “Maybe with mushrooms and dried tomatoes, nothing too overpowering.”
“Whatever you want,” said Cole, realizing he meant it in every sense of the word.
“And feta cheese?”
He could see the corner of her widening grin. “Why is that funny?”
“Makes it more expensive.”
“Now you’re catching on. We’ll definitely get some feta.”
It was time to step back. It was time for him to step back from Amber and call a pizza place. He drew a deep breath to brace himself, telling his feet to get a move on. But he inhaled her scent above the strawberries.
And then she turned. She turned, and she was right there, in front of him, her lips only inches away.
“Do you want to change out of your wet clothes?” she asked. “There might be something around here of Samuel’s that—”
“No.” The question was like a bucket of cold water. “I’m not wearing Samuel’s clothes.”
Amber looked slightly hurt. “Okay.”
“I’m sorry. He wasn’t good to my mother, but it’s a long story.” Cole extracted his phone. “I’ll order the pizza.”
“You don’t want to talk about it.”
He didn’t. Then again, it wasn’t some big, painful secret that he couldn’t discuss.
Samuel was a jerk who never deserved Lauren’s love. But Cole wasn’t going to waste any emotional energy hating the man, either. He didn’t care. And he hadn’t cared for a very long time. There was no reason not to tell Amber the story.
“I’m fine to talk about it. But let’s pour the champagne first.”
Eleven
They were on their second glass of champagne, munching their way through the pizza before Amber asked him again.
“You don’t mind telling me about Samuel?”
She was at one end of the sofa, Cole at the other. She’d turned sideways to face him, crossing her legs beneath her. His body was canted sideways, one leg up on the leather cushion.
“There’s nothing much to tell. You know I never met him. All I know is what my mother told me.”
“Did she hate him?” From what little Cole had said, Amber guessed his mother, Lauren, had gotten a very raw deal.
“She hated his weakness, that he caved to his family.” Cole stretched an arm along the back of the sofa. “They fell quickly and deeply in love. But she didn’t come from the right family, hadn’t been to the right schools, didn’t have the refined tastes and manners he knew his parents would look for in a daughter-in-law. So he married her without telling them, thinking once it was a done deal, his parents would be forced to accept her.”
“They didn’t,” Amber guessed.
“They went ballistic. They ordered him to divorce her right away, and to never admit to anyone that she’d existed. If he didn’t, they said they’d disinherit him. No surprise that he loved the family money more than he loved my mother.”
“He didn’t deserve her,” Amber said softly.
“I must have said that to her ten thousand times.”
Cole fell silent, looking sad, and Amber found her heart going out to him. “You don’t have to talk about it.”
“He was nothing to me. I mean, nothing. I was angry off and on, especially as a teenager. But then I realized he didn’t even deserve my anger. As far as I was concerned, he might as well have not existed. When he died...”
Cole lifted the crystal flute and took a drink of his champagne. “This sounds terrible, but when he died, I didn’t care. I knew I should. But I didn’t. I wasn’t sad. I wasn’t glad. I didn’t expect his death or anything about the Henderson family to be even a blip on my life. Things were going to carry on as normal.”
“It didn’t occur to you there might be an inheritance?”
“Not even for a second.”
She set down her half-eaten slice of pizza, exchanging it for the glass of champagne. “So why did you come to Atlanta?”
“Luca kept after me. Then one day, I gave in. I looked at a picture of Zachary. I don’t know. There was something about him, something in his eyes. I knew I had to at least make sure he was
safe and secure.”
Amber’s chest tingled and went tight. “You came here to take care of your brother.”
“And then I met you.” The look in his eyes was tender. “And I knew Zachary was safe. It was just a matter of getting through the hearing without anyone figuring out who I was.”
“But then I lost.”
He nodded. “I didn’t know what to do. I’d learned enough about Roth by then that I couldn’t let him win.”
“Thank you.”
“There’s no need to thank me. And I haven’t defeated him yet.”
“But you’re trying. You really don’t want Coast Eagle, do you?”
“I want what’s best for Zachary. It’s ironic, really. When I first heard about him, I resented him. All I could think was that he was going to have the easy life while Mom and I had struggled so hard to get by.”
Amber set down her glass, impulsively shifting closer. “But now you care.”
He gazed into her eyes. “It’s pretty easy to care.”
She reached for his hands and squeezed. “It’s pretty easy to care about you, too, Cole.”
She’d meant to be reassuring, friendly and comforting. But her tone had become breathy, and the atmosphere thickened between them.
Cole stroked his thumbs across the backs of her hands. Then he stroked the inside of her wrists, watching as he moved his way up her bare arm.
Arousal became a deep, base pulse in the center of her body.
He raised his head, and there was a tremor in his tone. “I know I have no right to ask.”
She wanted him to ask. She desperately wanted him to ask.
“Just for tonight,” he said. “Just for a little while.”
She nodded.
“Can we stop fighting it?”
She nodded harder.
“Oh, Amber.” He leaned forward, placing his lips against hers, tenderly at first, but then with unmistakable purpose. She came up on her knees, wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling forward to kiss him more deeply.
He turned her into his lap, his hand splaying across her stomach as his tongue teased hers.
Instinct took over, and her body arched reflexively toward him while their kiss continued.
“You are so beautiful,” he breathed.
“You are so wet.” She drew back to stare at his shirtfront. “You’re still soaking wet.”
He gave a soft chuckle. “I could take it off.”
“Yes.” She nodded, pretending it was merely a practical suggestion. “You should take it off.”
He flipped the buttons open, making his way down the pale gray shirt. She glimpsed his chest, then his abs. Then he peeled the shirt away, revealing his muscular shoulders and arms. He was an incredibly magnificent man.
“You’re the one who’s beautiful,” she told him.
She gifted a lingering kiss on his smooth chest, flicking out her tongue to leave a wetter spot on his skin.
“Do that again.” His voice was tight.
She kissed him again, tasting the salt of his skin, feeling his heat through the tenderness of her lips.
“I got your shirt wet,” he rasped.
“That’s too bad.” She kissed a slow path across his chest.
One of his hands bracketed her hip; the other undid the buttons on her shirt.
“Are you fixing it?” she asked, lips brushing his skin as she spoke.
“I’m fixing it.”
“That’s good.” She shrugged out of the shirt, revealing her white lace bra.
“All good.” He released the catch on her bra, peeling it off. “All very, very good.”
She knew she should be self-conscious, even embarrassed by her nakedness in the well-lit living room.
“If Destiny and Luca come back, we’re...” She moved up to kiss his neck, bracing her hands on his shoulders, absorbing the feel of their taut texture.
“Oh, darling,” he drawled. “They’re not coming back.”
“They’re not?” Not that she was truly worried. She wasn’t about to stop undressing Cole.
“Did you see their expressions?” There was a chuckle in his voice. “They’re not coming back.”
She unsnapped the top of his fly. “Just as well.”
His warm hand closed over her breast. “I like the way you’re thinking.”
She bit back a moan. “What am I thinking?”
“That you want me.” He narrowed his attention to her nipple.
A zing of sensation flashed to the apex of her thighs, and this time she did moan. “I do want you.”
“I want you, too, very, very badly.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing her mouth to his. “Oh, Cole.”
“Amber.” He tunneled his spread fingers into her hair, kissing her deeper and deeper.
She fumbled with her pants, while he got rid of his.
Then she was lying back on the sofa, pulling him to her, impatient and anxious to become one. But he made her wait, feathering his fingertips along her thighs, circling and teasing as he went.
“Now,” she begged.
“Yeah?” he asked, his voice husky, breathing deep.
“Right now.” The anticipation was too much.
“In a hurry?”
She knew how to stop this game. She raked her fingertips down his stomach, going lower until she grasped him, wrapping her hand smoothly around his length.
His body convulsed. “Okay.”
“In a hurry?” she managed.
“Yes.” He disentangled her hand, drawing her arms up above her head. “I’m definitely in a hurry.”
Moments later, he was inside her, swift and sure, and she gasped at the strength of the sensations. His movements were steady and deep. Her reaction more and more intense.
He kissed her mouth, his hand going to her breast. She was bombarded with pleasure over every inch of her body. Time seemed to stop while she drank in his taste, scent and touch. She never wanted it to end.
“You’re amazing.” His lips brushed hers as he spoke. “I’ve never...ever...ever...”
“Cole,” she gasped. “Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”
“I’m never stopping. Not...ever.”
But she could feel it. She could feel her climax shimmering. Her body climbed higher and higher, her nerves extending, muscles tightening, until it all crashed into an apex of pleasure.
She cried out.
He groaned her name.
And their bodies peaked as one.
She was weightless at first, then exhausted, her limbs too heavy to move.
“That was your fault,” he muttered in her ear.
It took her a moment to muster up the energy to speak. “What was my fault?”
“You ended it.”
“I did. You’re just too good.”
“Oh, darling. That was exactly what I wanted to hear.”
She cautiously blinked her eyes open, the twinkling Christmas tree coming into focus, then the fireplace and the champagne bottle.
Cole’s weight pressed her into the sofa. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she felt safe, content and at home.
* * *
Cole eased himself into the giant tub in the master bathroom, settling at the end opposite to Amber. He’d lit candles all around and set the champagne glasses and the rest of the bottle on the wide tiled edge. The water was steaming in billows toward the box window that overlooked the city, mingling with the scent of citrus that filled the air.
“This is practically a pool,” he couldn’t help but note, stretching his arms to each side, his legs brushing lightly against Amber’s beneath the water.
Amber lifted her champagne flute. “Are we behaving like billionaires now?”
Her hair was swept up in a messy knot. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips dark red and her lashes thick against the crystal blue of her eyes. Her breasts bobbed ever so slightly beneath the surface of the water. She had the most beautiful breasts he’d
ever seen.
“Close enough,” he answered. “I’ve got everything in the world I want right here.”
She smiled. “Plus gold chocolates in the kitchen.”
“I forgot about those.”
She gave a mock frown.
“I mean,” he said, attempting to properly appreciate her efforts, “I can’t wait to try one.”
She raised her glass in a mock toast. “Now you’re catching on.”
He drank with her. “So tell me what you have planned for tomorrow.”
She looked puzzled. “Tomorrow?”
“Christmas Day.”
Her expression said that she’d completely forgotten the date. He was going to take that as a positive sign.
“Presents for Zachary,” she said. “And Destiny’s coming over. Luca, too, maybe? And...” This time a flash of worry creased her face.
“What?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“Something upset you. What was it?”
“Uh, you guys didn’t...”
He wasn’t following, and he gave his head a little shake.
She gestured to her naked body. “Please tell me you two didn’t plan...this.”
The question shocked him so much, it took several seconds to form an answer. “No.”
Admittedly, it wasn’t the most comprehensive answer in the world. He tried again. “We didn’t plan a thing. Okay, yes, I know that Luca likes Destiny. And I guess he knows I like you. But we never talked about sex, and we sure as hell didn’t plan out some Christmas Eve seduction scenario.” Frankly, he was a little insulted by her suggestion.
“You don’t talk to Luca about sex?”
Her question was so genuine that Cole’s annoyance disappeared. “I don’t talk to him about sex with you.”
“Oh.” She shifted under the water, looking decidedly guilty.
Wait a minute. “You talked about me with Destiny.”
Amber blushed. “She asked me.”
“And you told her?” He pretended to be affronted, but it was a struggle not to laugh.
“Sorry,” she offered faintly.
He polished off his glass of champagne. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I’m just messing with you. Tell anybody you want.”
“I only told Destiny.”
He gave a shrug as he reached for the champagne bottle. “I honestly don’t care. But I won’t tell Luca anything that makes you uncomfortable.”
The Missing Heir Page 15