Knight's Possession

by Carole Mortimer

  ‘Maybe Fred will be enough company for me after all,’ she avoided looking directly at Reece. ‘He looks the sort of bear that would fight my dragons for me,’ she murmured softly, gently holding the ragged bear.

  ‘He is,’ Reece agreed softly. ‘But he isn’t too good at cuddling.’

  She laughed brittlely. ‘That’s okay, neither am I.’ Her lids flew back as her confused gaze clashed with him. ‘I meant—’

  ‘That’s okay, Laurel,’ Reece smiled gently. ‘But if I stay I’m not going to force myself on you,’ he promised huskily. ‘In any way.’

  It wasn’t him she was worried about, and they both knew it. She was the vulnerable one tonight, daren’t take the risk of those feelings leading her into a relationship that she wouldn’t want in the sane light of day.

  ‘Fred will be fine with me,’ she deliberately avoided the question in his eyes. ‘I promise not to try and play on his loyalty to you,’ she teased.

  Reece nodded abruptly. ‘If you need me you know where I am.’

  Laurel stared at the closed door once he had left. My God, she had actually hurt him by refusing his offer of comfort, had seen the pain in his eyes. He gave the impression of being impregnable, as a banker had power over a lot of other people’s lives, and yet she had hurt him by refusing his offer of help. He was more than a man of contradictions, he was complex!

  Regret for having wounded him after his kindness to her made her want to run after him and tell him how much she needed him. But the last time she had told someone she needed him and begged him to stay, he had gone anyway. Dan. And her father before him. She could manage without anyone’s help, least of all Reece Harrington’s!

  But she didn’t sleep… couldn’t… still felt threatened. She got up to wander about the bedroom, tried to interest herself in a book from the bookcase and failed, finally taking the ring out of her purse that seemed to be the cause of this recent shock. It wasn’t even a pretty ring by today’s fashions, the ruby and surrounding diamonds heavy for the thin gold band.

  ‘I thought I told you to call me if you needed me,’ Reece stood in the doorway, his hair slightly tousled where he had obviously been lying in bed, the dark brown robe he wore belted at his waist, his legs strong and tanned, covered in a fine dark hair.

  Laurel gave a guilty start, her fingers closing about the ring she still held. ‘I don’t need you,’ she dismissed lightly. ‘I can’t sleep, that’s all.’

  His eyes narrowed. ‘What were you doing when I came into the room?’

  ‘Doing?’ she delayed, brows arched enquiringly.

  ‘Yes.’ He walked across the room, his hands coming out of the pockets of his robe to clasp hers, gently opening her fingers to reveal the ring. ‘Gilbraith’s,’ he rasped.

  She watched as he picked the ring up to examine it. ‘Yes,’ she confirmed huskily.

  ‘I thought you gave it back to him?’ He looked at her with narrowed eyes.

  ‘I—he forgot all about it when you arrived,’ her voice quivered at the lie.

  His eyes gleamed golden as he looked at her fiercely. ‘He isn’t worth it, Laurel,’ he snapped.

  Her eyes widened. ‘I don’t—’

  ‘I know you don’t think it’s any of my business,’ he dropped the ring in his pocket, his arms going about her. ‘But I don’t want you breaking your heart over him when you think no one is around to see it. He wasn’t half good enough for you.’

  She bristled angrily. ‘What do you—’

  ‘Know about it?’ Reece finished tautly. ‘I know a lot more than you think. For instance, I know you never slept with Gilbraith—’

  She gave an angry gasp. ‘Whether I did or not has nothing to do with you!’

  ‘Of course it does,’ he reasoned calmly. ‘If you haven’t slept with Gilbraith, and you’ve been seeing him for six months, then it tells me I have to be very gentle with you when we make love or I might rush you when you need a long, slow loving.’

  ‘As we aren’t going to make love…’ she began coldly.

  ‘Oh but we are, Laurel,’ he told her confidently. ‘We most certainly are,’ he murmured.

  ‘No!’

  ‘You can’t sleep and neither can I—’

  ‘That’s no reason to casually jump into bed together!’ she flared.

  Reece smiled. ‘We wouldn’t be “jumping”.’ Just to demonstrate his point he swung her up in his arms and laid her down gently on the bed before coming down next to her. ‘And there won’t be anything “casual” about it either.’ He began to undo the buttons on the shirt she wore. ‘I intend to make love to you regularly from now on, at least once or twice a night, and again in the mornings.’

  ‘Reece!’ she gasped as the warmth of his hand moved aside the partly unbuttoned shirt to cup the rise of her exposed breast. ‘Reece, you can’t—’

  ‘Of course I can,’ he soothed. ‘Of course, you might need to rest every now and again, being out of condition, but I can assure you I have enough desire in me for you to last a lifetime.’

  ‘That wasn’t what I meant.’ She frantically shook her head. ‘We can’t.’

  ‘Of course we can,’ he soothed again, pushing the shirt down off one shoulder as his mouth made a slow determined path to her breast.

  ‘Re—eece!’ she gasped as the hot moistness of his mouth claimed her nipple, his tongue moving rhythmically against the rapidly hardening nub. ‘You said you wouldn’t force yourself on me,’ she reminded heatedly.

  He looked down at her with brooding eyes. ‘I’m not. I’d never force myself on any woman just because I’m stronger than she is.’

  ‘Then…’

  ‘You’re ready for this, darling,’ he insisted firmly, unbuttoning the shirt all the way down now, his eyes deeply gold as he looked his fill of her. ‘You are beautiful, Laurel,’ he told her almost reverently.

  As she looked into his eyes she felt beautiful, every nerve, every inch of her body, coming alive at the touch of his gaze. She knew what he would see when he looked at her: small pert breasts, a slender waist, narrow hips, legs tapered and long. Her breasts ached and the female core of her instantly became moist and heated.

  ‘Reece!’ she cried her confusion with the new emotions sweeping through her.

  ‘I won’t hurt you, Laurel,’ he urged gruffly. ‘I’d never hurt you. I just want to love you; you can stop me if I do anything you don’t like.’

  She knew he was thinking of what she had gone through with Frank Shepherd, and she told herself she would stop him after a few minutes, that she just wanted to lose herself in his warmth for a while, to feel his desire. But as his mouth once again claimed her breast, her thighs arching up invitingly, the ‘few minutes’ faded away and became unimportant.

  Her shirt was gone now. Sitting up she helped him off with his robe, the tug of his mouth on her breasts making the task take twice as long as it should have done, falling weakly down on to his chest once he was as naked as she, their mouths fusing moistly.

  His nipples reacted as strongly as hers as she caressed the hard brown nubs with her lips and tongue, kissing her way down his chest to his waist, lingering there to delve the warm cavern of his navel with her tongue, loving the way his body jerked in reaction to the caress. She could feel the hardness of his desire against her breasts, feel him pulsating, ached to capture him into her throbbing warmth, aching for him.

  ‘Reece, I need—’

  ‘I know.’ He smoothed her hair back from her face to look deeply into her eyes. ‘I wanted to take this nice and slow, Laurel, want to make it so good for you that next time you want it as much as I do, but you need this now.’ He pulled her above him, probing her moistly. ‘And God knows I’ve needed you long enough!’

  ‘Reece?’ She barely had time to question before he positioned her astride him, surging into her completely, tearing through the thin barrier on his way. She couldn’t bear the pained look in his eyes as he realised what had happened. ‘It feels good, Reece.’ She cov
ered his face with kisses. ‘Make it feel even better,’ she invited huskily, knowing he could, knowing at this moment that he could do anything he wanted to do.

  He didn’t question or probe why she had still been a virgin at twenty-six, he just gently pulled her down to him, his kiss filled with such sweet intensity that it made her feel like crying. Then he began to move inside her, gently at first so as not to give her any more pain, and then stronger and harder as she encouraged him to do so, holding the softness of her bottom to help her maintain the rhythm they had set, looking directly into her eyes as she felt something warm and exciting about to burst from within her, her head thrown back now as the force of the explosion, within and around her, made her back and neck arch out of control. At the same time she heard Reece’s groan as he spilled himself hotly inside her, his body shuddering again and again as the pleasure seemed never-ending.

  Laurel fell weakly against his shoulder, her body aching in a strange and wonderful way, the lethargy that came over her one of exhaustion rather than just tiredness. She fell asleep still lying on top of him.

  * * *

  Fred was tucked next to her cheek when she woke up, and for several minutes she forgot where she was, smiling at how relaxed her body felt. Then she remembered what had taken place last night.

  She sat up with a jerk, Fred tumbling to the floor. There was no sign of Reece in the room, not even the robe that she had thrown to the floor so heatedly the night before, no sound coming from the adjoining bathroom either.

  But she knew she hadn’t imagined or dreamt—no dream could be that vivid!—his presence with her last night. And she had fallen asleep in his arms.

  God, she remembered it all now, remembered being woken by him again just as dawn was breaking, their lovemaking slow and languid, arousing her to heights she hadn’t thought existed. She had reached that peak of sensual pleasure twice more, once at the touch of his mouth and the next with the powerful thrusts of his body. And now she wanted him again.

  It was beyond her comprehension that she should react so volatilely to such a man. No doubt he found her inexperienced lack of control heightened his own pleasure; she had heard men found it very exciting to be a woman’s first lover, and consequently her teacher in the art of sensual delight.

  Then why had he left her like this? If he had found her that exciting surely he would have still been at her side this morning?

  Uncertainty marred her brow. Perhaps he had found her so inexperienced he had wanted to be gone before she woke up? The thought that that might be the reason irritated her into anger. It was one thing for her to know it had been a mistake for them to make love, quite something else for Reece to come to the same conclusion. He had a damned nerve seducing her and then leaving before he had to tell her what a disappointment she had been to him. This only enhanced her view that sex was a very minor part of a relationship, that once sexual curiosity had been satisfied there was nothing else left. She could at least thank Reece for showing her that, even if she deplored his way of showing her.

  She turned to the door as it was quietly opened, the curious face of one of the maids looking in at her.

  ‘I hope I didn’t wake you?’ The young girl looked worried that she might have done so.

  A blush darkened her cheeks; she felt like a woman Reece had casually brought home for the night! ‘No, I was already awake,’ she answered sharply, wishing she could get out of bed, but too aware of her nakedness to do so.

  The maid smiled her relief. ‘Mr Reece told me to keep checking up on you so that I could bring your breakfast as soon as you woke up, but he said I wasn’t to disturb you.’

  ‘And you didn’t,’ Laurel assured her briskly. ‘Er—Where is Reece?’ She deliberately kept her gaze steady.

  ‘He had to go out,’ the young girl told her lightly. ‘Now what can I get you for breakfast? Eggs and bacon? Mushrooms? Sausages?’ She looked at Laurel enquiringly.

  It was all she could do not to shudder at the thought of a cooked breakfast! ‘Toast and coffee will be fine,’ she accepted faintly.

  ‘Are you sure?’ The maid looked worried again.

  No doubt Reece had eaten a hearty breakfast before going out, and had instructed this young girl to make sure she did likewise! Freed her before he got rid of her! ‘Very sure,’ she nodded. ‘Did Reece say when he would be back?’ she asked lightly.

  ‘No. But he did say you were to wait for him. I’ll be back shortly with your breakfast,’ she smiled.

  ‘Thank you.’ Laurel dropped back down on to the pillows as the door closed softly. Reece was coming back then. Maybe she hadn’t been such a disappointment to him after all!

  She hadn’t been disappointed, she would be lying if she said she had. After Frank’s perversion she had avoided all physical involvement with men, had found no difficulty in doing so, until last night. Reece didn’t evoke the same coldness within her that she felt with other men at the thought of a physical relationship. Other men had tried to fight that uninterest, and they had all failed, her responses to Giles made mechanically, not even touching her. Then why should Reece be so different? Maybe it was because he had refused to take no for an answer. But that greedy sort of approach had always left her cold in the past, so that couldn’t be it. So what was different about Reece Harrington? She had no doubt what a psychiatrist’s answer would be, but she denied that with everything in her. She was not in love with Reece Harrington.

  It wasn’t until she stood under the shower’s spray, the water cascading like diamonds, that she remembered Reece had pocketed Giles’s ring last night. Wrapping a towel about her wet hair, buttoning on the shirt Reece had lent her, she made a hurried search of her bedroom. The ring wasn’t there. Just down the hall, Reece had said his bedroom was. She found it on opening the second door.

  It was a warm attractive room, browns, oranges, and pale cream in décor, the furniture not too austere and masculine, and the wide double bed looked more than capable of taking Reece’s size and height; they had been a little cramped last night in the normal-size double bed in her bedroom.

  The room was spotlessly clean but not tidy, several articles of clothing dropped over a chair, an open book on the bedside table, several pairs of shoes kicked under the dressing table. Obviously the staff had been told to clean the room but not to tidy it, the bed already made after Reece’s brief rest in it the night before. Laurel’s fingers itched to tidy the place up, meticulously tidy herself.

  But she hadn’t come here to take care of Reece’s untidiness. The robe he had worn the night before was one of the articles of clothing thrown across the chair. Searching through someone else’s pockets wasn’t something she would normally have done, but she needed that ring if she were to have any sort of leverage with Giles at all. The pockets in the robe were empty.

  Maybe Reece had forgotten the ring this morning too and it had fallen out when he took off the robe? She threw the robe back down on the chair, falling to her knees to begin searching the peach-carpeted floor. The maid had obviously already cleaned in here but there was always the chance it had fallen under the bed. It had to be somewhere!

  ‘I know I asked you to wait for me,’ an amused voice murmured from somewhere behind her, ‘but I didn’t, even in my wildest fantasy, think you would be waiting in my bedroom for me.’

  Laurel straightened guiltily, still on her knees, the towel removed from her hair a long time ago as it kept falling down over her eyes, her short blonde hair drying in the deep waves she meticulously straightened each time she styled it. She looked very young, almost childish, and her voice was all the sharper because she knew exactly how she looked. ‘Where have you been?’ she snapped, standing up to face him.

  Reece shrugged, coming fully into the room to close the door behind him. ‘To buy a copy of the Kama Sutra,’ he teased. ‘After last night I think you’re ready for it!’

  She blushed as she too recalled her enthusiasm for each new pleasurable act Reece had introduced her to. �
�Run out of ideas already?’ she challenged harshly.

  He smiled, his eyes tender with emotion. ‘The way I feel when I look at you I could invent a few the Kama Sutra never heard of!’

  She avoided his heated gaze. ‘Where have you been, Reece?’ The huskiness of her voice gave lie to her outward calm.

  ‘To your flat,’ he revealed softly.

  Her panicked gaze flew to his face. ‘Whatever for?’ she demanded sharply.

  ‘Laurel—’

  ‘Did you go into my bag to get the key?’ she realised indignantly. ‘How dare you go through my personal things?’

  He raised mocking brows, looking at their surroundings pointedly, reminding her that she had been the one caught snooping about his bedroom. ‘Don’t worry,’ he drawled at the blush to her cheeks. ‘I don’t have anything to hide.’

  ‘Neither do I!’ she claimed indignantly.

  ‘No?’ he queried softly.

  Laurel looked at him searchingly, knowing that he had found something. But what? She hadn’t left any incriminating records lying about, and the letter from Campbells was in her handbag, so—

  ‘I found the books, Laurel,’ Reece told her huskily.

  She shook her head. ‘I don’t keep my cash books at the flat,’ she denied confidently.

  ‘Not cash books,’ he laughed dismissively. ‘Don’t you ever think of anything else but work?’

  As she had spent the majority of the morning thinking about him she ignored that question! ‘Why have you been snooping about my home?’ she demanded harshly.

  Reece shook his head. ‘I wasn’t “snooping”, I was cleaning the place up—’

  ‘Cleaning it up?’ she frowned.

  ‘As in putting things back in their proper place,’ he explained more fully. ‘As you seem to be a person that likes to lie in bed in the morning and I like to get up I decided that one of us might as well be putting your flat back to some normality.’