by Leigh, Jo
She sighed and pushed her chest a tiny bit toward him. As he continued to lick her, he carefully brought his fingers underneath the cups of her bra and teased the very edge of her sensitive flesh.
Dani moved beneath him, responsive, sensual. He had to fight the urge to rush. This was their first time, and there would be no hurrying. He wanted to savor every moment, every touch, every sound.
He moved his fingers up a bit more, so that the tips rested just beneath her areolae. The swell of her breasts filled the palms of his hands. She pushed again, urging him on. He took the right edge of her bra clasp in his teeth, then lifted the material slowly, slowly back and away, as if he were unwrapping a most precious present. The gift inside was her straining nipple, pink, erect and perfect. Now he leaned down again and this time he tasted the little bud with the tip of his tongue, then captured it gently between his teeth.
“Oh, Alex,” she said as she writhed beneath him. Her hands went to the back of his head, and she grabbed his hair as if she needed to hang on to something before she fell. He used his hands to slide her pants down, but he didn’t stop his ministrations. He couldn’t have stopped for anything. Not even the end of the world.
He loved the taste of her. Nibbling softly, he swirled his tongue around and around, amazed that he was here, that she was giving him this miracle. She pulled back, and he cried out. Quickly she leaned down and finished taking off her pants, then she helped him remove his. Of course, she’d been right. Being naked was exactly what he wanted. He needed to see her bare flesh, her wonderful curves. He got caught by the swell of her hip, and he had to kiss her right there. Then there was her stomach, so pale and smooth and lovely that he took his time exploring with his hands and his lips and his tongue.
She moved her legs slightly apart, and he was drawn to the soft golden curls at the juncture of her thighs. There would be no choice soon. He’d have to do something to ease the ache in his loins. As much as he wanted to take all the time in the world, the problem was getting serious. He didn’t want to finish before he’d begun.
But first... he needed to taste her once more.
DANI FLOATED ON A SEA of sensation. She’d suspected his gentleness and his sensuality, but the proof was so far above her expectations that she had no words, even when it was impossible to stay silent. She moaned her pleasure, and used her hands to please him back.
She’d never wanted this way. Or felt more wanted. The way he looked at her. The way he tasted her. It made her feel beautiful and sexy and wanton and innocent all at the same time.
She felt his hot breath between her legs, and she shook with anticipation. He gently moved her knees farther apart, and she grabbed the pillow from the top of the bed and grasped it so tightly she could feel her fingernails on her palms.
Then his lips touched her, his tongue tickled and enticed her. When he dipped inside her, she lost all reason. All sense of time. She was here forever, with him taking her to the stars. Nothing in her life had prepared her for this. No one had told her it could be so wonderful. He was...magic.
As she squirmed with pleasure, she reached down and touched the back of his head. Lord, she wanted him inside her. Now. “Alex,” she whispered.
He stopped. “Yes?”
“I want you.”
“You have me, lover.”
“No. Inside me.”
“Yes?”
“Yes.”
He kissed her once more, then lifted himself up. He stared at her as he climbed up the bed, and then she was looking straight into his eyes.
“I want to do everything with you,” he said. “Everything two people can do.”
She smiled. “I know. You’re so beautiful. So sweet. I never guessed it could be so...”
“Yeah. Me, neither. But it’s not over. Not even close.” He moved a little, and she felt him at her core. Reaching down, she grasped him, gasping a little at his thickness, then guided him. Guided him home.
He slid into her slowly, filling her perfectly. No feeling was ever like this. Nothing else made her feel so complete. It was as if she was made for him, and he for her.
Her arms went around his back, and she felt his muscles bunch and relax as he filled her and eased back. His eyes never left hers, and she felt closer to him than any other human being in the world, now or in her past, and certainly in her future. Something special was happening here, some bond that was fusing between them. He leaned down and kissed her, so that they shared the same breath while they shared their bodies.
His rhythm changed, growing faster and more urgent. Her stomach clenched, and her excitement grew. Every movement of his rubbed her in that one spot, bringing her closer and closer to climax.
She wrapped her legs around his waist. No more thinking. Only feeling. Flying. Surging. Then her body tensed and she shattered apart in a climax that shook her to her bones.
He moaned as he felt her explosion and his thrusts became primal and fierce. The kiss was broken and she could see his face in a mask of pleasure so intense it looked like pain. Every one of his muscles tensed, and then he came, too. She was still trembling, not recovered, and this sent her over the edge once more.
When he could breathe again, when he’d captured her gaze once more, he smiled a smile that lit her up inside. “My Lord, how I love you, Dani. I want you to be mine. Forever.”
She sighed deeply. “Forever,” she whispered. “That’s a long time.”
He settled down at her side, turning her slightly with him so he didn’t separate from her. She wrapped her leg over his and this fit was perfect, too.
They both still breathed heavily, and she kept having these little shuddery spasms, which made her grip him tighter still. He moaned, running his hand over her arm and her back.
“Dani?”
“Hmm?”
“I want you to come to New York.”
“I know you do.”
“Will you?”
She ran her fingers through his chest hair, playing with the strands idly, loving the intimacy of the simple act. “I want to,” she said slowly. “I tried like hell not to want to, but I do. The thought of you leaving tears me up inside. How it happened so fast I don’t know, but I can’t lie to you. Well, I can’t lie to myself. Not anymore.”
“Thank God,” he said. Then he kissed her. She fell into the kiss, knowing what she would say next might mean it was her last. When she finally pulled back, he sighed once more.
“Alex,” she said, not wanting to go on. “I want to go. But I can’t.”
“Why not? I’ll give you everything, Dani. You and Chloe will never want for anything again.”
“I can’t take everything you want to give. I can’t. I’m not like that.”
“I’m not trying to buy your love, Dani. I love you, and that’s why I want to make you happy.”
She studied his face intently, searching for what, she wasn’t quite sure. “You love me? Honestly?”
“Yes,” he said, with a certainty that made her heart skip a beat. “I know it’s fast, but doesn’t love happen like that sometimes?”
“I suppose so.”
He touched her chin with his fingertip, making sure she looked him in the eye. “You don’t feel the same, huh?”
“No. I mean, I do feel for you. More than I ever would have imagined. I’m just not so sure, that’s all.”
“Do you want to spend time with me?”
She nodded. “Every minute I can.”
“Do you feel better when we’re together than when we’re apart?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to make love over and over until we’re both ninety and can’t do it anymore?”
She giggled. “I think it’s safe to give that a big yes.”
“So?”
“So, I’m not sure that’s love. At least not the kind of love I want.”
“Tell me. What is it you’re looking for?”
“I’m not exactly sure. But I do know I don’t want to be kept. Not
even by you.”
“Kept?”
His gaze was troubled, and she didn’t like to see that. But she had to tell him the truth.
“That’s a pretty old-fashioned notion,” he said.
“But it’s what you have in mind, isn’t it?”
He didn’t answer her for a long moment. His hands stilled on her back. She didn’t press. He had to think this through, just as she had to.
“Have I ever told you about my father?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“You know he’s a very successful man. He took the company from a nice-size enterprise to an international conglomerate. He was a genius in business, and I worshiped him since I was a boy. He taught me more than any college ever could have. His advice has made me a successful man. He tempered ambition with compassion, and he taught me to do the same. The people who worked for him stayed their whole lives. He appreciated every one of them.”
“He sounds like someone I’d like,” she said.
“You would. He’d like you, too. But...”
“What?”
“When I was of age, my father sat me down and gave me what he called the most important advice I’d ever hear. He said it was truly the key to his success, and that if I did nothing else in my career, only followed these rules, I’d have everything I wanted from this world.”
“Wow. Those must be some rules.”
Alex nodded. “They were about you.”
“Me? How is that possible?”
“I didn’t know at the time they were about you. He talked about women in general. My future wife in particular. My wife, and the woman I would love.”
“And they’re not the same person?”
“No,” he said softly.
Dani tried to digest the information, but it was still too sketchy. “Go on.”
“My father believed, and believed with all his heart, that the right wife was an absolute necessity .”
“The right wife?”
“Yes. Just like my mother. Not the brightest woman in the world, but a world-class hostess. She was in charge of the social aspects of my father’s life. And that covered a lot of ground. They entertained kings. My mother was a wonder that way. She always knew what to do in any social situation that would make her guests feel comfortable and cared for. Dad used to say she lulled them into his clutches, and I think she did just that. She decorated the house, bought his clothes, took care of every detail of his home life. He never had to worry about any of that, She was a great staff sergeant, and he always gave her full credit for her part in his success.”
“But he didn’t love her.”
“No. He liked her. I know that. But he loved other women. Women who didn’t know the proper etiquette for dining with a Saudi prince. Women who challenged him intellectually, but didn’t interfere. He kept his business world and his private life separate.”
“Your mother was part of the business world?”
“That’s right.”
Dani finally understood. He didn’t see her as someone who could host a king. She was too independent to want to be a full-time hostess, caterer, shopper. He wanted her to be the other woman. The woman in his private life.
She rolled to her back, finally easing him out of her body. Suddenly she was cold. She sat up and brought her comforter up and over her. Alex, too. She didn’t want to lie naked atop the bed right now.
“It didn’t mean he didn’t treasure his other women,” Alex said.
“Say it, Alex. His mistresses.”
“All right. For lack of a better term. But he loved them. There weren’t a whole string or anything. Just three. Long-term relationships, each one.”
“Were these women happy?”
“For the most part, yes. I didn’t know them all that well. All except Helen. She’s still with Dad. They live in Switzerland now. She was my father’s great love. Still is.”
“Your mother?”
“She died several years ago.”
“And your father still didn’t marry Helen?”
“No. I don’t think the rules stopped applying just because he retired.”
“I see.”
He brought his elbow beneath him and rested his head on his palm so he could look at her. “Do you?”
“Yes. I do understand.”
“I could make you very happy, Dani. It would be a good life. One filled with love. I mean that. I’d never do anything to hurt you. It would almost be like we were married, except—”
“Except for your wife.”
He opened his mouth, then shut it again. “It doesn’t sound so good when you say it.”
“Do you honestly expect me to say yes? To willingly go to New York knowing I’ll always be the other woman? To watch you find a wife? To sit back while you share her bed night after night?”
“No. No, of course not.”
“Then what are you asking me?”
He paused for a long time. “I don’t know anymore.”
She studied him. His brow was creased and his gaze was centered somewhere in his past.
“Didn’t you ever consider that your father could have been wrong?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. “The day I met you.”
“But?”
He looked at her again. The confusion in his eyes was almost painful to see. “It’s not easy to change a lifetime of rules.”
“I know that. I’ve got some rules of my own that I’m not willing to change. One of them is that I won’t be your mistress.”
“What if I did ask you to be my wife?”
She shook her head. “No. I’d fail you, and that wouldn’t be fair. You know that as well as I do. I can’t be a decoration. Or the kind of hostess you want. If I get married, it’s got to be a fifty-fifty proposition.”
“And love has nothing to do with it?”
“Love has everything to do with it.”
“Don’t you believe me? Don’t you understand that I love you more than I can ever say?”
“I know you care for me. But I also know a lot more. You’re out of your natural habitat, Alex. You’re in a kind of limbo, I think. It’s exciting and different, but you can’t take this place and magically transport it to New York. It doesn’t work that way.”
“I don’t want the place. I don’t give a damn about the place. I want you.”
“I’m part of this place. This is my home. My values come from being here, among these people. My values insist that when I love, it’s one hundred percent. No holding back. For a lifetime. As an equal partner.”
“Will you do something for me?”
“If I can.”
“Will you think about it? Don’t just dismiss it because it’s not what you imagined.”
“Okay. But I don’t see how we’re ever going to agree on this.”
“I can’t let this go.”
“You can. So can I. But not tonight. Tonight, we can have exactly what we want.” She turned to her side, and kissed him gently on the mouth. “Even if we can’t have forever, I’m very grateful for right now.”
He pulled her tight against him once more. “You confuse the hell out of me, you know that? You’re what my father used to call a fly in the ointment.”
“Sometimes,” she said, rubbing her cheek on his chest, “you need a fly to remind you that the ointment needs changing.”
Chapter Fifteen
The night was another restless one for Dani. Having Alex next to her in bed was more of a distraction than she’d have ever guessed. She kept wanting to touch him. To feel his skin and his hair. To press her body to his. Which of course led to things. Things that made her want to throw her values to the wind and go with him as his mistress, as his concubine, anything, as long as she was his woman.
Then they’d rest again and he’d fall asleep in her arms. She’d think about what it would be like to be Alex Bradley’s mistress. The longer she thought about it, the more uncertain she became. Were her old-fashioned morals standing in
the way of her one true chance at happiness?
If she let him go, would she regret it the rest of her life? So what if it wasn’t traditional. She’d never let that stop her before. Hadn’t she raised a child all on her own, with no help from Randy? Hadn’t she gone back to school when everyone told her it was crazy? That she’d never graduate?
At about two in the morning she finally was so tired she couldn’t keep from looking at the real problem. It wasn’t about tradition. Or about what anyone would say. Plain and simple, she wasn’t willing to share. She didn’t give a damn if he’d love his wife or not. Knowing there was another woman, sleeping in his home, eating at his table, sitting on his couch, was utterly unacceptable. In Alex’s world, that might seem naive and pedestrian, but she didn’t care about that, either. Alex would be hers completely, or not at all. Which meant, of course, that it was not at all.
How cruel Fate was. To give her this taste of happiness, only to yank it out of her reach. But then, what had she expected? Her luck had never been good when it came to love. Alex just proved the point. There were no surprises here. Only, why the hell did he have to stop in her town? And why did making love with him feel like the best thing she’d ever done, or would ever do?
Now, with the coming of the light and the start of a new day she felt tired and sad and angry. It wasn’t fair. But then, fair had never played a major role in her life. This thing between them would never work. Period. End of story. Imagining, even for a moment, that it might would only hurt her more. It was time to end the fantasy, and get back to reality.
“Morning.”
She looked at Alex lying next to her. He still had a dreamy look in his eyes that told her he wasn’t really up yet, but still in twilight sleep. His smile was slow and sexy, and her insides just melted. She rose quickly and grabbed her bathrobe from the bottom of the bed. Being naked with Alex was not in her best interests.
“I caught you,” he said, his voice all raspy.
“What do you mean?” she said, tying the belt snugly at her waist.
“Last night. Well, maybe it was this morning. I caught you looking at me.”
“Yeah?”
“Uh-huh.”