Sugar and Sin Bundle

by Stacey Joy Netzel

  His eyes clung to hers and she read the honest truth, the utter sincerity in those eyes and it shook her to the core.

  ‘You would leave here? Leave Bronte, Nico and those children to go with me to Cyprus and New York? Are you crazy? Give up your birthright, your home, your family, just like that? No! I can’t let you do it.’

  Rosie blinked frantically.

  This was not going well.

  How stupid was she that she hadn’t bargained on how her legs would collapse as soon as she saw him. Stupid.

  He’d be disgusted at being called beautiful. But, dear God, he was so terribly beautiful.

  ‘I want to talk about compromise,’ he said now in a tone that suggested anything but. ‘You want to travel? We’ll travel. It’s healthy to re-evaluate our career path every now and again.’

  ‘I won’t marry you,’ she said determinedly. Just in case the whole thing goes so terribly wrong.

  ‘You will,’ he said silkily and the look in his eye told her he saw right through her. ‘We can base ourselves at The Hall, at our barn,’ he said now and she felt a flicker of interest. ‘We’re in talks with the Ortiz hotel group. The Del Gardas. With the recession it makes sense for us to buy their stock and vice versa. Spread best practice amongst our businesses. Jacob Del Garda will run Ludlow Hall for three months and I’ll base myself, us, at their flagship hotel in the Bahamas. It’s where they train their top people. Should be interesting.’

  He’d thought it all through Rosie realised.

  ‘You’re going to need to give me time to think about it.’

  He stared at her for a long, breathless moment.

  Then he smiled and it wasn’t nice.

  ‘Of course,’ he said finally. ‘You have ten minutes.’

  Her chin rose.

  ‘Then the answer is no.’

  He wasn’t the only one who could be stubborn.

  The chill in those green eyes was exactly what she didn’t want from him. He hated to be thwarted. Too bad.

  ‘Okay. No wedding. So we’ll live together instead. Think of it as a trial marriage. After six months, you marry me.’

  He’d never last six weeks never mind months.

  Alexander did his level best to behave as if the world beneath his feet hadn’t disappeared.

  It was killing him to keep his hands to himself.

  Who’d have thought that a tiny woman he’d known forever contained an iron will that matched his own.

  She looked so nervous of him it broke his heart.

  ‘I don’t believe this will work,’ she said.

  He sent her a long, steady look.

  ‘That’s okay because I know it will work.’

  Now those dark eyes flashed into his.

  ‘Haven’t you checked the national statistics on marriage? They make sobering reading.’

  ‘Yes, dear,’ he said and smiled at the way her eyes narrowed. ‘One of my late father’s favourite phrases. It’s a good one.’

  She’d relaxed, thank God.

  The tremors were no more but her eyes remained too guarded and he began to feel horribly desperate.

  He didn’t do desperate.

  When he asked a woman to marry him, a man had a right to expect a little joy in her eyes.

  Now disappointment kept desperate company.

  God he was a wreck and so was she.

  How did other couples do this?

  Chapter Forty Four

  Rosie shook her head, saw those amazing eyes go dark with hurt and something else, an absolute determination.

  The man never, ever gave up and the way he was willing to fight for her, for them, made her realise just how stupid she’d been.

  But she hadn’t been honest with him, had she?

  The words were sobs dragged out of her lungs,

  ‘I’m not who you think I am.’

  He blinked once, twice.

  Then he scratched his head, scrubbed the palms of his hands over his cheeks, shook his head as his eyes met hers.

  ‘I’ve never, ever, met anyone like you. Do you think, just once, you could behave like a normal person?’

  She hugged herself, rocked back and forth on the chair as her eyes pleaded with his.

  ‘I mean it. I’m not a good person.’

  Alexander slumped back on the couch, just stared at her and was that humour in his eyes?

  ‘Okay. This should be good.’

  He wasn’t taking her seriously?

  The idea made her frown.

  She stood.

  ‘I’ll prove it. Sit there and don’t move.’

  Grabbing her car keys, Rosie opened the door and went out to her car.

  He was so screwed.

  Alexander felt as if his heart had been put through a fucking meat grinder.

  She wasn’t a good person?

  What was all that about?

  He shook his head and wondered what was coming.

  When he thought of the hours, the days, without her his gut ached with the pain of it.

  And when he’d had the pow wow with Bronte, Josh and Janine, he realised Rosie had been the one who’d borne the brunt of vicious slurs and gossip from the usual suspects in town.

  Why hadn’t he realised she’d be a sitting fucking target?

  Well, Jonathan Winthrop would think twice before giving anyone close to him a hard time.

  Not that he’d hit him, as much as his fist itched to rearrange that pretty face. All it had taken was a visit from him and Nico and the bastard had folded like the pathetic coward he was.

  And another thing had struck him too.

  Every fucker seemed to think he’d moved Janine and her baby into his house and that was a load of bull. He’d persuaded a very reluctant Janine to stay in his apartment at Ludlow Hall. Now Janine blamed herself if Rosie had listened to gossip, heard the rumours and got the wrong end of the stick. But that was ridiculous, no way would Rosie believe he’d have Janine move into his home, especially after he’d just asked Rosie to move in with him.

  But by the guilty look on her beautiful face, the love of his life had believed it.

  Didn’t she know him at all?

  But then he hadn’t been honest with her had he?

  He could kick himself for being so bloody stupid.

  Why hadn’t he told her he loved her?

  Why hadn’t he asked Rosie to marry him, to make a home with him and saved them both from suffering the worst week of their lives?

  But then she appeared in the doorway holding a large box of carved wood.

  She looked fucking gorgeous just standing there and staring at him.

  His eyes stung because with the cropped hair she appeared so incredibly vulnerable and young, her neck looked too delicate. The stubborn jaw was clenched. Those tiny ears hugged her head. Her eyes seemed too large now for a face that had lost so much weight it only highlighted razor sharp cheekbones.

  His love for her rose through pain, worry, destroying the urge to put her over his knee because she could even think he’d move Janine and her baby into his home.

  As if he could ever, ever, lift a hand to her.

  Christ, he adored her.

  ‘I took this with me,’ she told him.

  She placed the box on the glass coffee table and he caught a glimpse of her breasts.

  The amount of weight she’d lost twisted his gut.

  ‘What is it?’

  She moved to her bag, rummaged around, brought out a chunky key and handed it to him.

  Sinking to the edge of the chair opposite, she took a deep breath and her eyes met his.

  What he saw there, guilt, fear and something like mortification totally confused him.

  ‘Open it,’ she said.

  Her hands were shaking in a way that made him frown and wonder what on earth was in the box.

  He unlocked it, lifted the lid.

  The way his smile lit up his face made Rosie bite down hard on her bottom lip.

  Delighted he hel
d his lucky cricket ball and gave her big eyes.

  ‘Wow, where did you find this?’

  He placed in on the table and took out the box with his silver cuff links, opened it and gave a thrilled hoot that made her sick with guilt.

  ‘I’ve wondered where these went.’

  Then he frowned as he found his silk tie.

  He didn’t look at her as he read all the newspaper clippings about his successes over the years.

  The way he blinked frantically as he read a couple of magazine articles, interviews with his parents, about Ludlow Hall and its legacy, made her own eyes fill.

  Then his hand shook as he read every one of the sixteen Valentine cards she’d written.

  Rosie felt the room swim.

  She held her head in her hands.

  ‘I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have taken the things that mattered most to you, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. I’m a thief and a stalker. And I’ve been terribly jealous of how you held Janine and Boo. You looked so good together.’

  Then she was in his arms.

  And the way he held her, too tightly, as if he’d never let her go eased her bruised heart.

  The scent of his soap, the heat of his skin and the thunder of his heart and the way he shook told her more than words how much this man loved her.

  ‘What on earth are you talking about? Thief? Stalker? I don’t have feelings for Janine other than as an old friend.’

  Strong hands held her face and forced her to look into those incredible eyes.

  And what she saw there, for her, stopped her heart.

  ‘You took that box away with you?’

  ‘Yes’

  He smiled as his thumb wiped away a single tear that had escaped down her cheek.

  ‘Then you took me with you too. I’m tucked nice and tight right inside your heart, angel face. That’s where I belong and that’s where I’m going to stay.’

  She blinked unable to believe he wasn’t even annoyed with her.

  ‘Why aren’t you furious with me?’ she whispered.

  ‘You kept everything that’s mattered most to me safe. Do you have any idea how much it hurt when my parents left Bronte a letter and me nothing?’

  He kissed her, a feather light touch of lips to lips, then cupped her face in his hands and tipped it up so he could look right into her eyes.

  ‘I’d no idea they’d been interviewed about me. Do you know what you’ve done?’

  Bewildered, she simply shook her head.

  ‘You’ve given my family back to me. And those valentine cards are so beautifully written from the heart.’ Those eyes lasered into hers. ‘Has it been very bad, loving me?’

  She closed her eyes, remembering the heartache, the waiting, the wishing and the ‘what ifs.’

  ‘It’s been hell,’ she admitted.

  He kissed her and in a move that never failed to delight, he lifted her in his arm.

  ‘Then I need to make it up to you.’

  Chapter Forty Five

  Alexander laid the love of his life on her bed.

  With careful hands he stripped her until she lay there naked.

  And as he stripped himself he saw her eyes narrow on his torso.

  ‘I want to put my hands on you,’ she whispered and he didn’t miss the ache of arousal in her sultry voice.

  Blood started to pound in his head, his cock.

  ‘I’m not going to put up much of a fight,’ he warned her.

  Her gaze dropped.

  ‘It looks as if your Love Muscle is willing.’

  He climbed into bed, rolled onto his side and pulled her into his body to face her.

  ‘My Love Muscle is hurting, baby. Gonna kiss it better?’

  Rosie ran her tongue over his jaw and then her teeth.

  ‘Hmm,’ she said when she heard him take a tiny, quick intake of breath. ‘I’ll think about it.’

  Alexander started to form a reply when her fingers skimmed his thigh. As a businessman, he knew the importance of patience in any negotiation. If she wanted to take the lead, make the first move, that was fine with him.

  He found himself the recipient of warm drugging kisses as her tongue tasted, teased and tantalised his.

  The feeling of floating under those seeking hands, those searching fingers made the need inside him build as did the pleasure of endlessly extending the moment.

  She seemed so absorbed with the shape and the feel of his body, of the texture of the hair on his chest, his skin. The air of the bedroom became thick with Rosie’s hushed sighs and murmured endearments.

  Her movements were so slow, lingering over his nipples in a way that made him moan out loud, nibbling a path across his ribcage.

  Her searching fingers burned the ache in his balls as she held him, weighed him in her hand and then his pulse beat fast, too fast, until he knew he needed to take control.

  In a sudden move, he rolled her beneath him.

  Her face was hot, flushed with arousal and her breathing was unsteady with an shaky edge of lust.

  Alexander simply watched her, needing this memory after the dark days and nights he’d endured in the week from hell.

  Her eyes were almost black now with desire and waiting and wanting.

  His heart spoke the words.

  ‘I love you.’

  He watched her eyes fill.

  ‘I love you, my darling.’

  All he could do was absorb the sensations her words caused as the sound of them filtered through his mind to arrow straight into his heart.

  His mouth lowered to stop a whisper from hers.

  ‘Tell me again.’

  He needed to hear it to make sure he hadn’t dreamt this moment.

  She watched him through those dark, thick lashes while her breath came too fast.

  ‘I love you.’

  He buried his face in her neck as his emotions threatened to break through.

  Rosie closed her eyes on a groan that was as much challenge as enjoyment.

  Her lips burned for his, but the experience of that clever, wondrous mouth tasting every inch of her flesh brought shocking thrills. His hands stroked her skin and left behind a rush, a high that aroused her so much she shuddered.

  Languorous, long, shattering circles were drawn around the soft flesh of her breasts with his tongue, with his teeth and with his lips. The way he suckled her nipple and then licked and flicked the tortured flesh made her arch into his mouth.

  But he didn’t stop.

  His fingers skimmed low over her taut belly teasing, testing, until she lifted her hips for more, for that unrestrained flash of heat between her legs.

  However, he was in no rush and drew out her desire, layer by slow layer with a tortuous persistence that left her weak and helpless.

  His mouth now followed the path of his fingers, inch by slow inch until he was between her legs.

  The way his tongue fanned the flames over her clitoris, slid around the screaming nub made her cry his name too loud and too long.

  Neither were aware that the world around them ceased to exist.

  All they could feel was flesh against flesh, a cry for a cry and a moan for a moan.

  But now his mouth came back to hers and she could taste the evidence of her arousal on his tongue and it speared need straight to her womb.

  She was crying, tears flooding her pillow as Alexander slid inside her, took her hands in his and pressed them down on the bed, one on each side of her head.

  ‘Look at me, baby.’

  And her eyes met his as she stayed with him every step of the way.

  Thrust of every slow thrust, he listened to the endless, shuddering breaths blending with his own as their lips bonded and he drank in the sweet, hot tastes of her mouth.

  The Universe seemed to stop, then it all came whirling back faster and faster as his hips pumped into her again and again.

  His cries of completion matched her own as his seed emptied into her again and again.

  He buri
ed his face in her throat.

  Rosie wondered if she’d died and gone to heaven.

  Alexander lay on top her and she had to take small shallow breaths just to stay alive. And she didn’t care. She was where she wanted, needed to be.

  But then moisture on her neck made her blink.

  He was shuddering and muttering something.

  Her fingers tunnelled through his hair.

  ‘What’s the matter?’

  He rolled over onto his back, pulling her into his side.

  Snuggling closer she looked up into his face to find him biting down hard on his knuckles and tears trickling into his hairline, the pillow.

  Stunned, she sat and pulled his head onto her lap.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘I’m okay. I’m sorry. It just burst through,’ he said.

  The tone of utter mortification squeezed her heart.

  ‘It’s okay to show emotion, Alexander. It doesn’t make you any less of a man.’

  He scrubbed his cheeks, pressed his fingertips into his eyelids.

  ‘Christ, Jesus. You have no idea what you do to me.’

  She was beginning to get an idea and it thrilled her.

  ‘I love you.’

  Those eyes met hers and the next thing she knew she was on her back.

  ‘Don’t you ever do that to me again.’

  No point in pretending she didn’t know what he was talking about. She’d hurt him and in the process she’d hurt herself too.

  Her hand reached up to stroke that fabulous face, his cheek, his jaw.

  ‘I won’t ever leave you.’

  His forehead rested on hers.

  ‘We’ll work it out. I promise.’

  Rosie heaved a heartfelt sigh.

  Compromise, as a wise woman once said, was key in any relationship.

  ‘The Bahamas sounds good to me.’

  His face lit up with a smile that made her heart soar.

  ‘Okay. On one condition.’

  She blinked as she pulled his hair, hard.

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘The naked rule.’

  Rosie’s eyes went wide in a way that made him grin.

  ‘The naked rule?’

  ‘Yeah. We’ll have a private beach, private quarters. No clothes on the beach or at home.’