Harlequin Kimani Romance June 2017 Box Set

by Arthur, A. C.

  And she would later.

  But for now, he would content himself with the time spent in her company. They were getting to know each other, and he hoped that their speed-dating session earlier at the house had helped alleviate some of her fears. He’d seen a strange look cross her face when he’d said she didn’t know him.

  And he didn’t like it.

  He wanted her happy, carefree and passionate when she was with him.

  So he’d answered all her questions, everything from his favorite color and favorite food to the first time he’d had sex. He hadn’t talked about his past relationships, especially because it was the one question he couldn’t answer. Soon, the happy look he’d come to expect had returned to her face and they were back on track.

  Now he was sitting across from her on the beach. They’d spread a large blanket on the sand so they could dive into the picnic basket they’d procured from a local delicatessen. Inside was a bottle of his favorite white wine, crusty bread, hard meats, cheeses, fruit and various salads. They nibbled, slicing sections from the bread, heaping them with meat and cheese and feeding each other.

  Eventually, Angela had stripped off her shorts and halter top, revealing an itty-bitty bikini that showed way more skin than he would like the rest of the men on this beach to see. But he couldn’t fault her; she had a beautiful body. He watched her bask in the sun and splash around in the water in front of him while he lounged on the blanket admiring her.

  It didn’t get any better than this, spending time with someone you loved.

  Loved?

  No, he didn’t mean love. That was a figure of speech. He meant someone he enjoyed spending his time with. He didn’t love anyone. Or would never again. Losing Mia at such a young age had had a profound effect on him. He’d learned that to get the girl, he would have to be smarter and richer than the next guy. He’d learned that nice guys finish last. He’d learned that if you wanted something in life you had to go for it, because tomorrow wasn’t promised.

  Look at what happened to Mia. Her life had been snuffed out in a flash and he was left with regrets. Should he have told her sooner of his feelings? Would that have made the difference? Perhaps she would never have looked in Ashton’s direction. But he would never know. And when he’d been with Farrah, all he’d encountered was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Another woman looking for someone richer than him.

  So he’d sworn off love. Put it on a shelf, because all it had ever given him was heartache.

  It would be no different with Angela, because as much as he was starting to care for her, he didn’t do long-term relationships. Theirs would have a beginning, a middle and an end.

  * * *

  Later, once the sun set, they made their way on bicycles back to the cottage and began one of the most sensual lovemaking sessions of his life.

  It started first with Angela teasing him in the shower to wash off the sand, dirt and grime of the day. She’d taken the soap sponge and washed his chest and back before lowering herself to her knees. It wasn’t the first time a woman had taken him in her mouth, and he usually kept his eyes shut, but he didn’t this time. He watched her featherlight fingers kiss and stroke his fully aroused member. He watched the movement of her damp honey-blond tresses as her head bobbed up and down on him. Sweet Jesus! It was heaven. And he couldn’t remember it ever feeling quite like…like…

  Then he felt himself coming and to his delight she raised her head to look at him as she sucked him in—and it blew him away.

  Eventually they finished showering and he scooped her in his arms and took her to the bedroom. He wanted full and unencumbered access to her. Her slick body slid onto the bed and he reached for the pack of condoms on the nightstand. After protecting them both, he flipped her over onto her stomach and entered her from behind.

  She was so wet, Daniel thought he’d died and gone to heaven. He leaned over her to stroke and tweak her breasts with one hand, awakening her passion, while the other caressed her firm behind.

  He wanted to possess her, ruin her for any other man. The thought sent shivers through him, and what had once been a slow yearning turned primal and he drove into her. She arched off the bed and met his every thrust. His body was aflame with desire, but he wanted her to come first, so he reached between them to tease her clitoris and Angela screamed as her orgasm struck. “Daniel!”

  As she succumbed to her own orgasm, pleasure of the purest kind hit him with such force that he cried out her name, “Angela!”

  Afterward, their bodies melted together into one and they drifted off to sleep.

  CHAPTER 16

  Returning to the real world from their weekend of bliss wasn’t an easy transition for Angela. She and Daniel had agreed to keep their relationship secret from the rest of the office. It meant Daniel, the darling of the gossip bloggers, had to keep a low profile. He’d welcomed the respite and had told Angela he wanted to be with her more than being in the public eye.

  At work they maintained the same level of professionalism and decorum they had previously. For Angela it was difficult to spend so much time with him all day and keep her hands off him. But at night…

  Oh, the nights were another matter entirely.

  Once they got to his penthouse they came together and made sometimes sweet, sometimes hot passionate love into the wee hours of the morning, making it very difficult for Angela to rise for those early-morning showings.

  A couple of weeks into their affair, Angela was feeling pretty good about her relationship with Daniel and about work. She’d landed her first sales offer for their new downtown development and was feeling so high, she didn’t give a second thought to agreeing to dinner with her parents.

  What harm could there be?

  Later, Angela would regret her cavalier choice.

  When she’d suggested taking her parents to their favorite restaurant, initially they’d balked, claiming it was too expensive, but eventually they’d acquiesced when she told them she’d landed a big contract.

  Angela had just given the waiter their wine selection when her parents started in. She was becoming quite fluent in selecting wines, thanks to Daniel’s impeccable taste.

  “Two hundred dollars for a bottle of wine?” her father huffed. “Really, Angela, must you be so over the top?”

  Angela rolled her eyes and prayed for patience. “I’m not being flashy, Dad. It happens to be an excellent vintage that I like. If you don’t want any, don’t drink it.”

  “Angela!” her mother cautioned.

  “What?” She shrugged. She wasn’t going to apologize for her good fortune any longer.

  “Your father was just thinking of you. There’s really no reason to go through all the trouble.”

  Angela released a long sigh. “It’s no trouble, Mama. I want to do this. As I told you both earlier on the phone, I had clients put in a huge offer and it’s a big coup for me.”

  “But you haven’t actually sold it,” her father stated. “Perhaps we should be celebrating after you’ve closed on the property.”

  “Don’t rain on my parade, Daddy. Before joining Cobb Luxury Real Estate, I would never get clients of this caliber, but my career is on the upward swing now.”

  “Career?” Her mother chuckled. “C’mon, Angela. This is nothing more than another job you’ll stay at for a few years before you move on to the next thing.”

  And then it came.

  “I wish you were more like your sister, Denise,” her mother continued. “Now that girl has her head on straight. She knows that the only way to get ahead is with a good education.”

  Angela reached for her wineglass. “You don’t have to sing me Denise’s praises,” she responded, drinking her wine. “I’ve heard it all before.”

  “Then you would do well to listen,” her father said.

  �
��No, Daddy, you would do well to recognize the fact that I’ve finally found a career that I love, that I’m good at and that I make a good living at. It allows me to take you both out to fine meals such as this.” She sipped her wine again. “Neither you nor Mama’s principal salary ever afforded you this luxury.”

  “Don’t you look down on your mama and me,” her father reprimanded as he pointed his finger at her. “Education is a noble profession. We are helping today’s youth. What are you doing? Helping rich people buy even richer real estate? How is that helping the world?”

  “It actually stimulates the economy,” Angela replied. “I believe I learned that in economics class.”

  Stunned, her father looked away, busying himself by tearing off a piece of bread and buttering it.

  For once in her life, she’d finally silenced them. But why did she have to? She just wished her parents could support her half as much as they did Denise. She’d thought that today she’d finally lived up to the high ideals they’d set forth, but once again she was wrong.

  When would she ever learn?

  * * *

  “Daniel,” Ashton Rollins called out to him on his way into meeting with some prospective clients on Tuesday afternoon at his favorite restaurant in downtown Miami.

  Daniel stopped midstride. He’d been hoping not to run into Ashton until after the coup was a fait accompli, but he hadn’t heard from Joshua in a while and wondered how he was faring digging up dirt on their illustrious leader.

  Daniel turned around and shook Ashton’s hand. “What are you doing here?”

  “Meeting my father and some of the board members of Rollins Aeronautics. We’re discussing some products under development.”

  “Sounds promising.”

  Ashton shrugged. “Could be. Listen, do you have a few minutes? I’m a little early, so perhaps we could chat?”

  Daniel didn’t want to talk, but knew it would not only be rude, but would raise a red flag. “Sure, I have a few minutes before my clients arrive.”

  He joined Ashton at the bar. “Club soda,” Daniel told the bartender.

  “I’ll have the same,” Ashton responded before the bartender could ask.

  “So, what’s on your mind, Ashton?”

  “Prescott George. And Joshua DeLong’s influence.”

  “I don’t follow.”

  “C’mon, Daniel.” Ashton regarded him quizzically. “You and I both know that DeLong has it out for me. Has from the moment we let him into the club. I don’t know why he has a beef with me. The only thing I can figure is it has something to do with my last name being on the wall.”

  The bartender placed both their club sodas on the bar, and Daniel grasped his and took a swallow before replying, “You think a whole lot of yourself.”

  Ashton snorted. “I’m aware that some members of the organization think I live a privileged life, but it hasn’t always been so.” His eyes became guarded and something flashed in them that Daniel couldn’t quite name. Guilt? Regret? Both? “You and I both know that.”

  “If you’re talking about Mia, it’s best not to go down that rabbit hole, Ashton.”

  “Why? We’ve never talked about her. She was important to both of us.”

  “No, she was in love with you,” Daniel responded, tightly clutching his glass. The past was past. There was no rewriting history. Mia was dead, and no one or nothing was going to bring her back.

  “You’ve always resented me for that,” Ashton surmised correctly, “that she loved me and not you.”

  Daniel was surprised by the lack of malice in his tone. There had never been any love lost between the two men. Even when Ashton offered to bring him into Prescott George, they’d always had an uneasy alliance.

  “Does it matter now?” Daniel inquired. “She’s gone. And you’re doing exactly what your father intended for you.”

  Ashton frowned. “That may be so, but I’ve never forgotten her, Daniel. We were going to get married, for Christ’s sake. And I suspect neither have you. As a result, I always thought we had an odd sort of kinship because of that loss.”

  Daniel regarded him. That was a spin on the situation if ever there was one. He sipped his club soda. “What is it that you want from me, Ashton?” He turned to the matter at hand.

  “I’ve heard rumblings,” Ashton said. “Rumors that DeLong is coming after me. Is that true?”

  “And if it were?”

  “Do I have your support?”

  Daniel stared him in the eye. “I won’t lie to your face, Ashton. You have competition. And they’ve made a telling argument as to why I should vote their way.”

  Ashton stared at him warily. “Well, by your response, I guess I have my answer. It’s good to know I can count on friends like you.”

  “We were never friends,” Daniel said.

  “Allies?” Ashton questioned.

  “I suppose.”

  “And maybe we’ll be again one day,” Ashton responded. “For your sake as well as mine.” His eyes darted to the door. “There’s my father. I’ll be talking to you.”

  And then he was gone, leaving Daniel feeling uneasy. He didn’t like the direction their conversation had taken, and not just about Mia. Ashton seemed resigned to a fight between him and Joshua. Perhaps he wouldn’t put up as much resistance as they’d initially thought? Was he, too, tired of the status quo? Or maybe Ashton was finally ready to come out from behind his father’s shadow and walk his own path. And if so, what did that mean for the future of Millionaire Moguls?

  * * *

  Later that night, rather than reaching for Angela, who’d made it a habit of staying over at his penthouse over the last week, he was pensive in bed.

  “Something on your mind?” Angela inquired.

  “Hmm?” Daniel glanced up and found Angela standing by the bed wearing a very sexy negligee. “Babe…come over here.”

  “Oh no you don’t.” She patted his hand away as she slid under the covers and away from him. “I’ve been walking around in this nightie for the better part of a half hour and you’ve paid me no attention. Don’t think you’re going to get lucky now.”

  “Aaaw, c’mon.” Daniel tried pulling her closer, but she resisted.

  “Nope, it’s been a long day for me, too, and if you don’t want to talk about whatever is on your mind, that’s fine. We can go to sleep.” She reached for the lamp on the nightstand and turned it off, placing his bedroom in utter darkness.

  “Angela,” he crooned, wrapping his arms around her middle. “I’m sorry if I was preoccupied. I just have a lot on my mind.”

  “As do I,” she responded, “but I engage with you. Instead, you shut down.”

  Daniel wasn’t used to sharing his emotions with anyone, much less the women he was seeing. Usually they were in his life for one purpose—to fulfill his sexual needs. But Angela was quickly becoming more than just another roll in the hay. She was not just his lover, but she’d become his friend and apparently she wanted to be his confidant, as well.

  “I’m sorry.” He found himself apologizing. A first for him.

  She kept her back to him.

  He didn’t want them to go to bed angry. He wanted her body to be wrapped around him as he slept so that he could awaken her sometime during the course of the night and make love to her. Then fall asleep again. It would be the best sleep elixir.

  * * *

  Still smarting over her parents’ dismissal of her career the night before, Angela had been in a rotten mood all day. She’d hoped that seeing Daniel again after a night apart would soothe her ruffled feathers. Instead, he’d been distracted and distant.

  She knew theirs wasn’t a normal relationship, but was it too much to expect that if he didn’t share his life with her he could at least share his day with her? Tell her about h
is upheavals? Apparently not. He only wanted her when it was convenient for him. She’d had a mind to get up and leave, but she was dog-tired from the day and from the evening class at Orangetheory. The interval fitness craze kept her fit and trim, but also kicked her behind. She’d been ready to unwind in Daniel’s arms, but found he was less than interested in what she had to offer, even if it came wrapped up in the most expensive negligee she’d ever bought. The salesperson had sworn that once he saw her in it, she’d have the best night.

  How wrong she’d been.

  Eventually Angela drifted off to sleep, only to feel hot, chaste kisses on her neck. “Daniel, go back to sleep,” she murmured.

  But he wouldn’t.

  Instead she felt his hands massage her breasts through the negligee she wore.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered. And this time, she felt his tongue inside her ear, swirling, nibbling and tasting.

  She wanted to resist him, show him how upset she was, but her body betrayed her. And when he hauled her around to face him and she felt the weight of his mouth on hers, she gave in. Her lips parted…and then she felt his tongue, slipping slowly in and out, mingling, stroking her until she finally relaxed and accepted him. It was bliss, pure bliss, and she surrendered.

  “I’m sorry,” he said again, as he slowly trailed kisses down her chest, brushing against her breasts as he made his way even lower.

  Angela felt Daniel pushing her negligee up, and if she wasn’t mistaken, she heard his sharp intake of breath at finding she wasn’t wearing any panties. She was fully bare to his searing gaze, for him to do with as he would.

  And he did.

  Whispering “I’m sorry” one last time, he made his way to her most private place while his fingers pressed on her lips. She sucked them into her mouth greedily as he knew she would. Then his tongue was inside her, stroking her walls, teasing her clitoris. Tiny gasps escaped her throat as he worked his magic and lapped her up. The rhythmic feel of his tongue, hot, wet and thick, caused Angela to lose herself too quickly.

  “Oh yes, oh yes…” she heard herself mutter as her climax came fierce and strong. She was still trembling and had yet to recover when she felt him at her entrance, felt the slippery heat of him slide effortlessly inside her, filling her.