One-Click Buy: September Harlequin Presents

by Penny Jordan

  He pounced, pinning her arms down and pushing her into the cushions with the weight of his body. ‘Now for your punishment,’ he murmured, dipping his head. His rough tongue lathed across one swollen nipple.

  She shuddered, moaned as he captured the peak and suckled hard. All her righteous indignation was incinerated in a firestorm of lust. He transferred to the other breast, stroking the underside before tugging the turgid flesh with his teeth. She choked out a sob, need soaking her knickers.

  His weight disappeared suddenly and she opened her eyes. Yanking her upright, he lifted her effortlessly over his shoulder.

  ‘What are you doing?’ she demanded in a daze, her hands braced against the firm muscles of his back as he carried her into the bathroom.

  She could hear him opening the bathroom cabinet. The packets of condoms she’d spotted earlier that day flashed into her mind. ‘Getting supplies,’ he said. ‘It’s going to be a long night.’

  She barely had a chance to register that shocking announcement before he’d marched her through into the bedroom and dropped her onto the four-poster bed. Two boxes bounced next to her. Six condoms!

  He knelt on the bed, making the mattress dip. His fingers clasped her ankle and he dragged her towards him. ‘We’ve got a lot of catching up to do,’ he said. The hooded look he gave her carried both promise and threat now.

  Her time was up.

  Kate debated her options—fight, flight or surrender—for about two seconds. Then accepted the inevitable as strong, insistent fingers stroked up her legs.

  ‘Anything you say, oh, lord and master,’ she said, batting her eyelids.

  She laughed at his surprised expression, then gasped as he hooked a finger in her knickers and ripped them down. He cupped her and her hips lifted instinctively.

  ‘Good to know you finally figured out who the lord and master is around here,’ he said, chuckling.

  Drawing his fingers through the moist folds of her sex, he circled her clitoris. A lightning bolt shimmered through her body. She bit her lip, fighting to hold back her climax. Writhing away from his probing fingers, she got onto her knees, reached blindly for the waistband of his boxers. She might have given up the fight, but she intended to go down swinging.

  But as she leant forward he cradled her breasts in warm palms, his thumbs stroking the engorged nipples. She moaned—and completely lost track of what she was doing.

  He bent his head, nuzzled her neck. ‘Keep going, honey, you’ve only just started.’

  A pithy response to his teasing came to her lips, but she couldn’t catch her breath as his teeth bit into her earlobe and his fingers plucked at her nipples.

  She pushed frantically at the waistband of his boxers, struggled to free his powerful erection as the flames blazed down from her breasts to her core.

  She stared at the magnificent column, then wrapped her fingers round the thick, solid length. She drew her hand up and touched the drop of moisture at the tip. His penis leapt in her hand and he groaned.

  ‘You still owe me those Calvins,’ she whispered.

  He looked at her, his sensual smile tempered by the intensity in his eyes. Getting off the bed, he took them off and handed them to her. ‘About time, too,’ she said, then flicked them over her shoulder and reached for his penis again. He grabbed her wrist, held her hand away, his smile strained. ‘No, you don’t.’

  He pulled her arm above her head, forcing her to lie back on the bed, and then settled beside her. She reached for him with her other arm, but he simply caught that wrist too, held both hands above her head.

  ‘Remember who’s boss,’ he said, his free hand caressing the curve of her hip as if to emphasise his mastery over her.

  She bucked beneath him, but he only chuckled.

  ‘Let me go—this is silly,’ she cried. ‘I want to touch you, too.’

  His teeth nipped her bottom lip. ‘Not yet.’ She could feel him, hard and ready, prodding her thigh.

  ‘Why not yet?’ Desperation edged her voice.

  ‘Because I want to savour you.’

  What about what I want? she almost shouted, but then his fingers delved into her sex, found the pulsing nub of her clitoris, circled it and then stroked. She shattered, the vicious climax exploding inside her. Her cries of fulfilment echoed in her ears as she convulsed against him, letting the long-denied orgasm rip through her with the force and fury of a hurricane.

  Zack released her wrists and took in the beauty of Kate’s face, soft and serene with afterglow. Her lithe, lush body was still shuddering in the aftermath of her climax. The pounding need to have her made him ache, but right alongside it was the fierce surge of possessiveness and pride and the underlying thread of fear. He’d never seen anything more incredible in his entire life.

  He’d intended to prove he could take it slow, wanted to show that he could handle her as he’d handled every other woman before her. As a child he’d been a victim of his emotions. He’d never wanted to feel that way again. He had never considered that returning to The Grange might bring those feelings back. But it had. Kate’s lusty, quickfire response to him only made him feel more exposed, more needy. And so he’d forced himself to step back, to prove he was the one calling the shots in this relationship. But his driving need to control her, control himself, had backfired spectacularly.

  He wanted her now more than ever.

  What if he could never get enough of her?

  Shoving the disturbing thought aside, he gripped her hips, rolled onto his back and pulled her on top of him. Her fragrant curls curtained across his face as she braced her hands on either side of his head and smiled down at him, that overblown mouth of hers making him crazy. She sat up, straddling him. The moist heat cradling his engorged penis threatened to send him shooting over the edge before he’d even got inside her.

  He adjusted her weight, trying to ease the torturous pressure while he grappled with the packet of condoms. But as he ripped at the foil packet, she lifted up and shimmied down his legs.

  ‘No need to rush, Zack,’ she murmured, her breath cool on his heated flesh as she nibbled kisses across his collarbone, ‘because as it happens…’ her tongue found his nipple and his blood throbbed harder in his groin ‘…I really want to savour you now.’

  He cursed as her lips shimmered across his abdomen. Tantalising him, torturing him. His breath came in harsh pants as he fumbled with the condom. He couldn’t think, couldn’t feel anything except the soft sultry licks, the delicious torment. Then her tongue touched the head of his penis. The moist pressure speared through him like lightning and he shot upright.

  ‘Stop it.’ He grasped her head in his hands, his whole body shaking with the battle to control himself. ‘Not like that. Not this time,’ he said, hearing the alarm in his own voice.

  She started to protest, but he took hold of her shoulders, pulled her up and rolled over again. Trapping her under him, he covered her mouth with his, swallowing her words as he sheathed himself with the condom.

  He settled between her thighs and, gripping her buttocks, thrust into her, making her take all of him. She was so tight, so hot, he could feel the rapid beats of her heart as her muscles clenched around him. He gritted his teeth, struggled to hold on to that last thin thread of control. He pumped violently, hearing her gasping sobs as he forced her to orgasm. Then his control shattered, and the surge of his own climax gripped him in a mighty fist and pounded him into bloody pulp.

  Kate felt as if she’d been in a war. Her breath shuddered out in ragged gasps while her heart kicked in her chest. The aftermath of an earth-shattering climax swept through her blood like brush fire.

  Zack flopped back onto the bed and draped his forearm over his eyes.

  She studied him, feeling stunned and wary. What had just happened?

  As her breathing finally evened out she propped herself up on an elbow and stared down at him. Short locks of dark hair damp with sweat clung to his forehead. She brushed them aside, drew her finger down his
cheek and laid her palm on his chest. She could feel the staggered rise and fall of his breathing. He’d lost control, she’d made him lose control and the realisation had excited her beyond belief. But it frightened her too.

  During their first night together the sex had been fun, carefree. This time there had been an urgency, an intimacy that hadn’t been there before. It terrified her.

  ‘That’s what I call a game of strip poker,’ she murmured, trying to keep her voice light.

  Zack drew his arm down and looked at her. His lips curved in a lazy smile, but Kate wasn’t fooled; his heart still raced beneath her palm. ‘You okay?’ he asked as his hand curled round her bottom, gave it a possessive squeeze. ‘I was kind of rough at the end.’

  ‘Don’t be silly, I’m great,’ she said, trying to persuade herself it was true. The tenderness, the longing she felt was just an extreme case of afterglow.

  She pulled the sheet up, determined to ignore the emotion tightening her chest. She shouldn’t feel this content, this complete. All they’d shared was good sex. Okay, stupendous sex. She turned on to her side away from Zack, feeling disorientated.

  He lifted the satin cover over them, then his hands smoothed across her abdomen and he pulled her against him. ‘Come here,’ he whispered against her hair as his big body enveloped hers. His chest pressed against her back, the hair of his legs bristled against her thighs and she could feel the distinct outline of his penis still semi-hard and snug against her bottom.

  Kate tried to shift away but his arms only tightened. Normally, she didn’t cuddle after sex. She didn’t like it. It felt too intimate. She ought to tell him so, but while she was debating what to say the sound of his breathing slowed, deepened and the possessive hand cupping her breast relaxed in sleep.

  She yawned and her own eyelids drifted closed. She snuggled deeper into his embrace, her limbs suddenly unbearably heavy. Maybe she’d have a quick nap. She’d move away from him in a little bit, she reasoned dully.

  Zack woke her twice during the night, driving her to new heights of sexual pleasure. But when Kate awakened in the morning she was still cradled in his arms.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  ‘I SHOULD HAVE a word with your boss, young lady. Boudreaux works you too damn hard.’

  Kate covered another jaw-breaking yawn with the back of her hand as Harold Westchester scowled at her. She’d been shadowing him for the last few days to write a report on The Grange’s current operating practices. They’d hit it off instantly, but this wasn’t the first time Hal had noticed how tired she was.

  ‘Really, I’m fine,’ she said, stifling another yawn.

  ‘You two working late again last night?’ the elderly hotelier asked.

  The blush blossomed in Kate’s cheeks. Well, that was one way of putting it.

  Since their strip-poker night, Zack had proved to be a demanding boss and an even more demanding lover. And Kate had met every demand with lusty enthusiasm. But while Zack seemed to be able to operate on next to no sleep, she was starting to flag. Tonight, she had to tell him she needed a rest. Her work was starting to suffer. She might be sleeping with the boss, but she had no intention of slacking off on her job. But satisfying Zack’s sexual appetite, as well as fulfilling all her duties as his PA, was exhausting her.

  ‘We weren’t up all that late,’ she said.

  Hal’s eyes narrowed. He wasn’t buying it. ‘If you turn up here tomorrow yawning again, I’ll have something to say to Boudreaux about it. You can tell him that from me.’

  Kate nodded, feeling touched that Hal would be so protective of her. But it wasn’t the first time he’d said something snarky about Zack. She put her notebook down on his desk. ‘Why don’t you like Zack?’

  He didn’t seem perturbed by the question. ‘Don’t like him or dislike him. I don’t know him,’ Hal said. ‘And that bothers me. I’m not sure I trust him.’

  Kate had suspected as much since her first meeting with Hal. That Zack was still avoiding the old man and had made no attempt to resolve the situation bothered her. Maybe she could put some of Hal’s fears to rest.

  ‘Why don’t you trust him?’ she asked carefully. ‘He’s a well-respected businessman.’

  ‘That’s as may be, but I judge them how I see them,’ Hal said belligerently. ‘When The Phoenix started looking to buy my place, I did some enquiries of my own. I found out things about your boss that didn’t sit right with me.’

  ‘Such as?’

  ‘He used to be a gambler. I don’t like them.’ Hal gave Kate a penetrating look. ‘I knew a gambler over twenty years ago. A real nasty piece of work, this guy. Selfish, violent and ruthless as hell.’ Hal sat back in his chair, his cheeks mottled red, his eyes sharp. ‘I wasn’t about to sell my place to a guy like that.’

  ‘What made you change your mind?’ she asked, taken aback by Hal’s outburst.

  He picked up his pen, tapped it on the desk. ‘I went to visit Boudreaux’s place in Vegas. Incognito, of course. I was pleased with what I found. I got to thinking maybe Boudreaux wasn’t like the gambler I used to know, but just a man willing to take risks.’ A self-satisfied smile softened Hal’s face. ‘And the final offer I got out of him didn’t hurt.’

  Kate laughed, wondering if Zack realised he’d met his match in Hal Westchester. Then something else he’d said came to mind. ‘How did you know this gambler?’ Could Hal be talking about Zack’s father?

  The smile disappeared. Hal sighed and eased himself out of his chair. ‘It’s a long story, and not a happy-ever-after one, either.’ He walked slowly to the open terrace doors, stared out of them. For the first time since Kate had met him he looked every one of his sixty-five years.

  ‘If you don’t want to talk about it, I understand,’ she said quietly, guilty at having brought back what was clearly a painful memory.

  ‘You know, I haven’t talked about what happened back then since Mary died.’ Hal turned back to her, his eyes shadowed by grief. ‘But you’re a straight shooter and I like you. Maybe I need to talk about it. I don’t know why, but it’s been bugging me recently.’

  She rose, walked to him. ‘I’d be happy to listen.’

  They settled at the wrought iron table on Hal’s terrace and as the sea breeze ruffled Kate’s hair she sipped the tea Hal ordered and listened to what he had to say. Once he’d finished the first sentence, she knew exactly who he was talking about.

  ‘The guy I was telling you about had a little boy. They checked in here one summer and right away Mary noticed something wasn’t right. The kid had these hollow eyes, his clothes were dirty and he was stick thin.’ Hal put his teacup down, a wistful smile tugged at his lips. ‘Mary kept badgering me about the boy. Why hadn’t we seen his father since they arrived? Why did the kid never come out of the room? The cleaning service hadn’t been able to get in for four days because the do-not-disturb sign was always out. Still I didn’t pay it much mind until I caught the little scamp trying to steal from my till. The kid went wild, so I locked him in my office. I was all ready to call the cops, but Mary stopped me. Insisted we go check the room. What we found…’ Hal shook his head, the look of remembered horror making Kate’s heartbeat skitter painfully in her chest. ‘The father’s bed hadn’t even been slept in. He’d skipped out that first night and left the poor kid to fend for himself.’

  ‘What happened?’ Kate felt like a fraud for asking the question. Torn between telling Hal what she knew and not breaking a confidence to Zack.

  ‘We kept him,’ Hal said simply. ‘He had terrible nightmares at first, and when Mary finally got him to have a bath she found bruises all over. The boy was smart as a whip too, but he couldn’t read. It took a while, but eventually Billy began to trust us.’ Hal smiled. ‘Billy, that was his name. And after a while longer, he just became ours. Mary said, it all made sense, why we’d never had kids of our own. That Billy needed a family and we were it. I knew it was a dumb idea. We should have told the authorities. But Mary was so happy, and so was I. Wa
tching him fill out, watching him lose that hollow look, it seemed worth the risk.’ Hal paused, poured them both a fresh cup of tea. ‘After he’d been with us about three months, I was giving him some book learning and he read his first full sentence. I told him how proud I was of him. He just crawled into my lap and held on. It was the first time he’d let me hug him.’

  Kate could see the sheen of tears in the old man’s eyes.

  ‘Well—’he huffed out a breath ‘—I’m not ashamed to say I was a grown man and it got to me. It still does. I felt like a father that day.’

  ‘Probably because you were,’ Kate said, gently.

  ‘It didn’t last. The gambler came back.’ Hal’s voice deepened with anger. ‘He’d called once, early on, couple days after we’d first discovered Billy. I told him what I thought of him and his parenting skills. He laughed. Told us we could keep the little brat for all he cared and hung up on me. I didn’t think we’d ever see him again. But six months later, he turned up on our doorstep. Said he wanted his son back.’ Hal’s soft brown eyes hardened with fury. ‘You want to know why?’

  ‘Why?’ Kate asked, sure she didn’t want to hear the answer.

  ‘The guy’s luck had gone bad while he’d been away. He figured the kid was his good-luck charm.’

  ‘That’s hideous.’ Kate felt disgust and fury churn in her own stomach. The picture Zack had tried to paint of his father was of a happy-go-lucky charmer who couldn’t quite live up to his responsibilities—the man Hal described was nothing short of a monster.

  ‘I had no intention of letting him take Billy,’ Hal continued, the words brittle with anger. ‘I’d never have willingly let him go back to that. But his father was younger and meaner and he knew how to fight dirty. He beat the crap out of me. Hit Mary too, slugged her across the face when she tried to hold on to Billy. The boy was crying, hysterical. I remember seeing the father slap the kid so hard his head snapped back. I tried to rise, but Mary held me down, weeping. She knew there was nothing we could do, and the more we tried, the worse it would be for Billy.’