Harlequin Presents January 2015 - Box Set 2 of 2: The Secret His Mistress CarriedTo Sin with the TycoonInherited by Her EnemyThe Last Heir of Monterrato

by Lynne Graham

  But she couldn’t resist. She breathed in his woody, clean aftershave, felt his firm, cool lips plundering her mouth and her body curved into his. She looped her arms around his neck and tiptoed to meet his searching mouth.

  ‘I’m only thinking...’ he broke apart to say in an unsteady voice that didn’t sound at all like his ‘...about your reputation when I say that we need to take this somewhere else.’

  ‘I don’t want you to stop.’

  ‘And I don’t want to...’ With his arm slung heavily over her shoulder, they half-ran to his car and picked up where they had left off the second the car door was slammed shut.

  It was teenage, ‘back row of the movies’ stuff. That was what it felt like to Gabriel and he loved every second of it. He had never done that back-row kissing business; he was making up for lost time. If her teenage years had been spent caretaking her mother and being strong on her behalf, his had been spent digging himself out of the hole into which he had been born, forging a life for himself that would be strong enough to ensure that he would never have to look back or go near that hole again.

  The fact that they had so much in common was a fleeting thought that was almost immediately buried under the urgency of his response.

  He felt under the red jumper and found the obstruction of her bra, but made short work of that by plunging his hand under it, pulling free one breast that popped out, nipple already standing to attention, tightening to a rigid peak as he teased and pinched it into arousal.

  The car was parked at a distance from the other random cars and the tinted windows meant that they were cocooned, protected from any curious eyes, not that there seemed to be many people around. Protected enough for him to feel comfortable raising her jumper so that he could cover that pulsing nipple with his mouth and suckle on it until she was whimpering and panting, spreading her legs in delicious invitation.

  They were never going to make love in his car, he thought, wondering if his body would be able to tolerate the short drive back to her house without relief. But he could enjoy her for a bit longer, suck for a little longer on that circular disc.

  With a groan of frustration at not being able to go the whole way, he flung himself back against the seat and groaned.

  ‘I need a bigger car!’

  Alice could still feel the warmth of his mouth on her breast. She pulled down the jumper, as regretful as he was and as desperate to get back to the house so that they could finish what they had started.

  Making love with her mother a couple of doors down? True, her mother slept like a log, often with the aid of a sleeping tablet, but still... Never in a million years would Alice have seen herself as the kind of girl who would be driven to have sex with a guy in her bedroom because she just couldn’t hold off. Since when had she ever been the kind of girl who lost complete control? Since she had gone to Paris, was the answer that came immediately to her. Since she had made love to him. Since she had discovered a carnal side to her that was insatiable...

  Before he could fire up the engine, she reached across and fumbled with his zip.

  More teenage stuff! Gabriel didn’t bother to try to resist. He’d lost the ability to play it cool. Right now, what he needed more than anything else was release.

  He unzipped the trousers and manoeuvred himself so that he could pull them down, along with his boxers. The cool night air was soothing, but not nearly as soothing as her mouth...

  CHAPTER NINE

  THE HOUSE WAS in darkness by the time they arrived back. Pamela Morgan was already in bed. It was nearly eleven and she was accustomed to retiring early.

  Gabriel had no idea how he had managed to get back without going into one of the hedgerows by the side of the road. He couldn’t concentrate. The woman next to him had taken his self-control and shredded it into a million pieces.

  Yes, she had relieved some of that ache...

  He caught his breath sharply, remembering the glorious feel of her mouth on him as she drove him to his climax. The release had been...indescribable.

  Now he wanted more, much more.

  He would have brought her to her own orgasm, would have put his hand and his fingers where his mouth would not have been able to go because of the confines of being in a car, but she had stopped him, breathlessly telling him that she wanted him in her bed.

  Now, as she unlocked the front door with shaky fingers, he placed his hand over hers.

  ‘We could wait,’ he said gruffly. ‘I don’t want to. Hell, I would take you by the side of the house if you let me... But I don’t want this to be seen as an abuse of your mother’s hospitality.’

  ‘I’m beginning to think that I haven’t given Mum enough credit for being a grown-up,’ Alice said ruefully. ‘She’s probably been waiting for me to bring a guy home but not confident enough to come right out and say anything.’ She pushed open the door and held her finger to her lips in a signal to keep quiet, then giggled softly, because she felt light-headed, young and very happy.

  And he hadn’t been able to get her out of his head! She gave herself full permission really to drown in that admission, really to luxuriate in it.

  Paris had been an adventure but she had managed to convince herself that it had somehow been acceptable because she had been abroad...just a passing fever. But this was really an adventure because she was here, in her stamping ground, making a conscious decision to do something because it felt inevitable and somehow right, even if it was wrong.

  She couldn’t explain it, even to herself. She just knew that she had to sleep with him, had to follow this through to the bitter end, however and whenever that might arise, even if it meant saying goodbye to her job in the process.

  They went up the stairs silently. Sure enough, when Alice looked to her right there was no light on in her mother’s room. She turned left, thankful that her bedroom was at the end of the narrow corridor, and she pushed open the door, heart beating so fast she had to make herself take deep breaths just to steady her spiralling excitement.

  She could still taste him in her mouth...it was a turn-on.

  ‘Your bedroom?’ Gabriel asked, looking around him. Moonlight streamed through the window, picking up bits and pieces of her belongings: a rocking chair in the corner, on which sat an oversized, battle-weary stuffed teddy bear; furniture that looked as though it had never been made to last; a dressing table with some framed pictures on it.

  ‘Don’t talk.’ She pressed her body against his and her eyelids fluttered closed as he slipped his hands under her jumper. This time he undid the bra and she released him for a few seconds so that she could pull the bra and jumper over her head so that she was standing in front of him, half-naked.

  ‘You’re so damned beautiful...’ Gabriel cupped her breasts with his hands and massaged them, rubbing the pad of his thumbs over her nipples as he did, and felt the breath catch in her throat. He leaned down and kissed her neck, then licked it, then nibbled his way up to her mouth so that she could lose herself again in another of those devastating kisses.

  Alice pushed her hands under his jumper, seeking the warmth of his flesh. He had small, flat brown nipples and she teased them just as he was teasing hers and felt him respond.

  Slowly they made their way to her bed, unable to break apart from one another, kissing and holding each other and stumbling a little in the dark until her knees made contact with the side of the bed and she fell, taking him with her and stifling another giggle.

  This was nothing like the luxurious bedroom they had shared in Paris, with its fabulous, ridiculously lavish en suite bathroom. This was basic, but in fairness at no point had she detected anything condescending in his reaction to her mother’s house.

  He pushed himself up and removed his shirt and jumper, tossing them carelessly to the ground, then he stood so that he could rid himself of the rest of his clothing—
trousers, boxers, socks. His shoes, he had already kicked off.

  Then he was back on the bed and very, very slowly he unzipped and pulled down the black trousers, taking her lacy briefs with them at the same time.

  He tossed them aside with one hand while using the other hand to part her legs.

  Not that there was any need for him to do that. Her body knew just what to do when it came to making love with him. She settled back with her arm resting lightly over her eyes, her limbs wonderfully loose.

  She knew what he would do. He knew how much she loved it, loved having him down there between her legs. And still, the moment his tongue flicked against her, she couldn’t prevent the soft moan that escaped her lips.

  She arched up, pressing herself against his questing mouth and exploding inside as he licked and teased the throbbing bud. She was so wet for him, so turned on, so ready to have him thrusting inside her—but he continued to torment her by remaining where he was, lavishing all his attention on her aching core and the soft, tender skin of her inner thighs.

  Then he moved up to her breasts, leaving her on the very brink of coming. He drew one nipple into his mouth and played with the other, smiling against her body as he felt her desperate efforts to make as little noise as possible.

  ‘Wrap your legs around me,’ he commanded.

  But first he had to get hold of protection, which was damned difficult, because it involved finding his wallet and then going through it in the darkness, while they both craved release.

  He never took chances. Ever. It was one of the most significant things that indicated just how he felt about any woman being able to tie him down. Even at the very height of passion, he would rather walk away from making love than take a chance on an unwanted pregnancy.

  Why was that? Didn’t everyone, to a greater or lesser extent, have within them the urge to procreate, to see their bloodline continue? She had never asked him, had known that that was a boundary line she would cross only at her own peril.

  Yet he knew everything there was to know about her now. He knew about her miserable childhood, the effect it had had on her, on her mother... He knew about the circumstances that had driven her mother to take refuge within the safety of her house, trapped by her own fears. He could make sense of her and the way she was from the background she had had.

  But it was a one-way street because there were still so many questions that remained unanswered about him.

  Alice knew that this was just one of the many reasons why it was so dangerous to get back into bed with him. She knew that somewhere in the very core of her, but she couldn’t help herself, because fighting against that knowledge was the realisation that she would rather end up hurt than end up regretful for not having taken the chance.

  With Gabriel, the probability of pain was always right there, huddled close to the promise of pleasure.

  All her thoughts led somewhere, but she couldn’t follow them, because the way he was touching and caressing her made her mind shut down.

  She did as she had been told and wrapped her legs around him and felt him push inside her, big and hard.

  Then he built up a rhythm and she stifled her moans against his neck. She was so highly charged that it took considerable effort to try and hold off so that they could dovetail their orgasms, but she did it, and they came together.

  He reared up, stiffened, the muscles in his shoulders bunched as he gave himself over to wave after wave of pleasure, the same pleasure that was taking her into another dimension. But the questions that had been nibbling away slid out of the shadows and began nibbling again.

  Was this all he was capable of—sex? Did he really have no interest in ever having a family, something and someone more permanent in his life? And, if sex was all he wanted, then why was that? She had seen so many facets of him and yet the way he was pieced together still eluded her and she would dearly love to find out more.

  The pitfalls of being in love: it made you want to know everything about the person you loved. In Gabriel’s case, that would be a suicide mission. That was something she felt in her bones, with gut instinct.

  ‘That was...amazing,’ he murmured, sliding off her, but immediately lying on his side and turning her to face him.

  Alice murmured agreement. Making love had been a conscious decision on her part, but she could still feel tension seeping in, tension at knowing that, whilst she was fully committed to their relationship, he wasn’t.

  It was amazing for him because he had got what he wanted. What he felt was the satisfaction of the victor and it was a satisfaction that was not going to last for ever.

  But she wanted for ever.

  Her own innate honesty compelled her to recognise that she would take what she could for as long as it was on offer because any bit of him was better than nothing. Yet the prospect of the end would hang over her like the hangman’s noose so that every time they made love, every time she laughed with him, felt his arms around her, it would be tarnished with a sense of sadness. She could feel the weight of the end on her shoulders even before what they had actually ended.

  She wondered what difference it would make if she only knew what made him tick. Or at least some of what made him tick.

  ‘Tomorrow’s Sunday,’ she said, languid and content after their love-making. ‘What will you do? Head back up to London? My offer still stands to pop in to Harrisons in Exeter before I come back to work on Tuesday.’

  So cool, Gabriel thought, so composed. No hint of any nagging or trying to wheedle him into staying on...

  The perfect woman—but he couldn’t help feeling a little piqued at her offhand attitude. A tiny amount of possessiveness might have been nice, he found himself thinking. After all, hadn’t he made this trip down here just to see her? That in itself had been a break in tradition.

  ‘What are your plans?’ He turned the question back at her and Alice rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.

  Her plans were what they always were—except tomorrow, she conceded, would include an informative chat about the new man in her mother’s life. Aside from that, as long a walk as Pamela Morgan could handle, maybe even making it into the village for tea, some light television and then she would make something for their supper.

  What she would have really liked was to have Gabriel all to herself, but that was an admission she would never make...

  ‘I shall relax.’

  ‘In that case, I might relax here with you,’ Gabriel drawled, propping himself up on one elbow and tracing the outline of her rosy pink nipple with his finger until the prominent bud stiffened in automatic response.

  However cool she might be, her body was as hot as his.

  ‘Really?’ Alice injected a note of surprise into her voice. ‘Surely you must have plans for the rest of the weekend?’

  ‘As of this moment I consider them cancelled.’

  ‘Because you’d rather spend time down here?’

  ‘It’s a beautiful part of the world.’

  ‘Yes. Yes, it is.’ She noticed that he couldn’t actually admit to wanting to put whatever previous plans he had made for his weekend on hold because he preferred to spend the time with her. ‘Although you might find it a bit boring,’ she said truthfully. ‘I don’t suppose you have much experience of living out in the countryside...’

  ‘I prefer the push and shove of the city. Suits my personality.’

  ‘Aggressive?’

  ‘You said it.’ He idly inclined his head to suck her pouting nipple before settling back into his former position, looking at her, his face only inches away from hers. She had the clearest brown eyes fringed by sooty, thick, dark eyelashes; eyes that were open and wary at the same time. ‘So, sell me this part of the world,’ he invited lazily. ‘Do your best pitch. Wax lyrical about walks in the open fields, tea and scones at somebody’s
little shop—maybe a barn dance later at the village hall.’

  ‘Would you be interested in doing any of those things?’

  ‘I think we can eliminate the barn dance.’

  ‘Now, that just makes me wonder if there’s one on at the village hall,’ Alice teased. ‘I can’t see you enjoying walking in the open fields or having scones at the local tea shop, either,’ she mused. ‘Are you one of those city people through and through? Born and raised, would never leave it for longer than five minutes?’

  ‘Not exactly.’ He stiffened fractionally. This was where the caring, sharing had to stop.

  ‘In the country, then? Don’t tell me your parents used to drag you out for Sunday walks? My mum always made sure we went out on a Sunday afternoon for a really long walk, whatever the weather. She liked being out of the house, away from Dad. Although she always had to make sure to get back in time to prepare his tea if he happened to be at home. The closer we got back home, the more anxious and nervous she would become. Course, those walks stopped when I turned eleven, when I preferred to hide out in my bedroom studying or reading.’

  ‘I didn’t have country walks—or any walks, for that matter,’ Gabriel heard himself say roughly. Restlessness surged through him, making him feel uncomfortable in his own skin, and he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Then he strolled towards the window, across which the curtains hadn’t been drawn.

  Stark naked, with his back to her, he gazed broodingly out to the dark shapes of fields, hedges, a copse of trees to the right in the distance.

  That, Alice thought, was the sound of a door being firmly shut in her face. She sat up and pulled the duvet up to her chin.

  Eventually he turned round but he didn’t walk back to the bed.

  ‘So...’ A slashing smile lightened the passing shadow that had crossed his face. ‘What exciting things shall we do tomorrow?’

  ‘Aside from the barn dance? We can have a walk, perhaps with Mum, and then look around the village—go to that little shop for tea and scones...’ Enjoy pretending that this is a normal relationship...