by Marie Force
“What’s that?”
“She’s been insinuating lately that I’m gay because I’ve never gotten married.”
Liana pressed against his erection as she laughed. “You’re definitely not gay.”
“She won’t be able to say that now that she knows I’m seeing you.”
“I’m glad I was able to help.”
“You did help, Liana.”
“Good.” She reached up to toy with his hair. “So why haven’t you gotten married?”
“After growing up with my parents . . .” He shuddered. “Plus I’ve never met anyone I could imagine spending that much time with.”
“I know what you mean. On the few dates I’ve been on in the last couple of years, my first thought is usually how long will it be until I can go home and get into my pajamas.”
He laughed softly as he smoothed his hands over her back and bottom.
She trembled from his touch.
“Are you thinking that now?”
“What I’m thinking about right now,” she said, skimming her lips along his jaw, “has nothing to do with pajamas.”
With his eyes fixed firmly on hers, he took her hands and walked backwards to his bedroom.
“Where are we going?” she asked with a coy smile.
“Somewhere less public.”
“I thought you liked public.”
“Not for this.”
“What about the salmon?” she asked, sounding nervous.
“It’ll keep.” He moved behind her, nudged her hair out of the way, and left soft, wet kisses on her neck as he reached around to cup her breasts.
She leaned back against him.
He unbuttoned her blouse and eased it over her shoulders. When she tried to turn around he stopped her.
“Travis . . .”
“What, sweetheart?”
“You’re making my legs weak.”
He smiled against her neck. “And I’m just getting started.” Unclipping the front clasp of her bra, he brought it down over her arms. “Hmm, very sexy.” With his other hand he drew her panties out of his pocket and held them up next to the bra. “A matching set. I like that.”
Liana lunged for the panties.
He held them out of her reach. “Uh, uh, uh.” He put them back in his pocket. “I’ve got custody of them.”
“Let me turn around. I want to touch you.”
“Soon.” He dragged his finger from the top of her skirt, up over her belly, and between her breasts. Her sharp inhale encouraged him to do it again.
She turned around and whipped the shirt over his head.
He gasped at the feel of her breasts against his chest.
Her mouth devoured his as she pulled at his shorts.
“Hey,” he protested. “You’re taking over my seduction.”
She unzipped his shorts and pushed them down. “You were taking too long.”
“You like it fast, huh?” He backed her up to the bed and came down on top of her.
“Fast would be good.”
“The last time we were right here, you freaked out on me. That’s not going to happen again, is it? Because I’m almost to the point of no return here.”
She sifted her fingers through his hair. “No freaking out.”
“Maybe a little?” he asked with a smile as he reached under her skirt.
Biting back a moan, she clutched his shoulders while he kissed his way to her breasts.
He loved the way her back arched into him as he licked and tugged and sucked until she wiggled under him. He unzipped her skirt and pulled it down over her hips. Hooking her legs over his shoulders, he felt a tremble go through her as he dragged his lips over her inner thigh.
Liana covered herself with her hands. “Don’t,” she said in a voice thick with desire and maybe fear.
“Why?”
“I don’t like that.”
Her thigh muffled his laughter. “Then you haven’t had it done right.”
“Travis, really, I don’t want that.”
His lips kept up their northbound journey as he pinned her hands on either side of her hips. “I thought you were going to trust me.”
“I do.”
“Then relax.” He trailed his tongue over the outline of her outer lips.
She inhaled sharply. “How am I supposed to relax when you’re doing that?” she squeaked.
“Try,” he whispered, releasing one of her hands. He laced the fingers of his other hand through hers and squeezed reassuringly.
Falling back on the bed, she said, “Oh, God. Oh my God . . .”
His index finger slid through her dampness as he sucked hard on her clitoris.
Almost as if she couldn’t help herself, she raised her hips.
He looked up to find her eyes closed and her lips parted in an expression of total abandon that filled him with desire. His already painfully hard cock throbbed. When he pushed two fingers deep into her and flicked his tongue over her throbbing center, an orgasm rocketed through her.
Travis stayed with her until the last spasm passed and then skimmed his lips over her belly. “Things are starting to get sweaty,” he whispered as he recaptured her nipple.
Panting, Liana tugged him up to her. “I need to catch my breath.”
He wrapped his arms around her and held her against him, dropping soft kisses on her face.
She caressed his chest and drew a deep breath from him when she ran a finger down to his belly the way he had done to her. “It’s no fun if only one of us is sweaty,” she said, pushing him onto his back.
“Liana . . .”
“Trust me?”
“You can’t use my own words against me . . .” His breath got stuck in his throat as she divested him of his boxers.
“These are mine now,” she said with a grin, spinning them around on her finger.
Travis burned for her but forced himself to remain still while she took a visual inventory and seemed to like what she saw. The feel of her lips on his chest and her hair sliding over him brought a fine sheen of sweat to his skin. She caressed his straining erection, and he reached for her hand. “This is going to be over before it starts if you keep that up, sweetheart,” he said in a choked voice.
“We’ve got plenty of time,” she whispered, replacing her hand with her mouth.
Through a red haze of desire, Travis fought back the need to explode. “Liana, honey,” he gasped. “Stop.” But rather than stop, she became even more eager. She took him deep, stroking him with her hand as she worked him over with her lips and tongue. As he watched her and conjured up images of his fat Aunt Sarah to keep from coming too soon, he was quite certain Liana hadn’t done this very often in the past. But what she lacked in experience, she more than made up for in enthusiasm.
She ran her teeth lightly over him and finished him right off. The powerful climax left him depleted in every possible way. His heart hammered in his chest as she stretched out on top of him. He buried one hand in her hair and held her tight with his other arm. “You’re full of surprises,” he whispered when he could speak again.
She looked up at him with a smug smile. “Why should you have all the fun?”
Filled with emotions he couldn’t seem to identify, Travis swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. “Will you stay with me tonight, Liana?”
“I want to, but my mother . . .”
“She gave you permission, sweetheart. Stay with me.” He captured her earlobe between his teeth. “I want to make love to you all night long.”
She trembled. “I’d have to call her, or she’ll worry.”
“I’ll let you out of bed long enough for that.” She snuggled into him, and he was astounded to realize he was already aroused again. “Stay right there.” He kissed her, eased himself from under her, and reached for his bedside table. In the drawer he found a condom and rolled it on. When he turned back to her, he found her looking pensive. “What’s wrong?”
“You’ve got a ready supply, huh?”
He put his arms around her. “I bought them last night after I took you home.”
Her cheeks colored with embarrassment. “Oh.”
He captured her lips in a deep kiss that he hoped would reassure her. “I haven’t been with anyone in a long time. I’ve been too busy building my business.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, caressing his face. “I sound like a jealous, insecure girlfriend.”
“I like it,” he said with a grin before he became serious again. “But you don’t need to be jealous of anyone, Liana. You have my full, undivided attention.” He nudged her legs far apart and kissed her gently as he entered her.
She gasped against his lips and struggled to accommodate him.
He moved slowly until he filled her.
She looked up at him with wide, violet eyes.
In those amazing eyes he could see that she trusted him, and the realization infused him with tenderness as he began to move faster.
Clutching his back, she met his thrusts with the rise of her hips.
He felt her tense the moment before she climaxed, and her cries shattered the fragile hold he had on his control.
Chapter Nine
Beck waited in The Tower’s lobby office, checking his watch every few minutes until he thought he’d go crazy if they didn’t arrive soon. Earlier, when Travis asked him to help out a friend of Liana’s, Beck never imagined the friend would be the object of his fantasies. Liana was a beautiful, sexy woman, and Beck was thrilled to see Travis having so much fun with her. But the supermodel who made Beck drool, the one whose photo graced his calendar year round and had him waiting for each new edition of the Victoria Secret catalog was Jessica Stone.
Thank goodness they had been on the phone when Travis asked him to help her, otherwise his good friend would have zeroed right in on Beck’s fascination. Of all the women who could be heading his way in the middle of the night. . . Beck couldn’t wait to meet her.
He wondered if she would be as amazing in person as she was in the many photos he had seen of her over the last few years since she bounded on to the modeling scene. The whole celebrity crush thing was new to him. He had grown up with sisters who’d had posters of pretty boys taped to their bedroom walls. Beck, on the other hand, had preferred pictures of sports heroes, motorcycles, and muscle cars.
He also was anxious to know the deal with her so-called stalker. His cell phone rang, and he pounced on it.
“Peter Beck.”
“This is Roland, Ms. Stone’s driver. We’re entering the gates to North Point.”
Showtime! Beck gave him directions to The Tower and went out to meet the three-car caravan.
A couple of beefy-necked bodyguards emerged from the first of the two black SUVs that book-ended the limo. They took a measuring look around as Beck approached them.
“Peter Beck, chief of security,” he said as he received two bone-crushing handshakes. He spent the next fifteen minutes answering their formidable list of questions about building and property security while anxiously waiting to meet the main attraction.
“Impressive,” one of the beefy dudes finally declared. “Mr. Dale, Ms. Stone’s agent, asked us to make sure everything was kosher before we left her here.”
“You have my guarantee that she’ll be safe here. I’ll see to it personally.”
The other beefcake sized him up and down once more before signaling to the driver.
A man who Beck assumed to be Roland emerged from the limo and opened the back door. Beck held his breath as he waited for his first glimpse of Jessica Stone in the flesh. Well, not in the flesh, but close enough. The picture in his mind of a glamorous supermodel hardly jibed with the pony-tailed waif in the pale blue sweat suit who emerged from the car.
She took a long look around even though she probably couldn’t see much beyond the glow of headlights from three cars. Finally, she set her eyes on him, and the impact was like a punch to his stomach. Her face lifted into a small smile as she moved toward him.
Beck was frozen. He couldn’t have moved if his pants were on fire.
Extending her hand, Jessica looked up at him with big eyes that he knew from her photos were blue. “I’m Jessica Stone,” she said in a lilting Southern accent, “but my friends call me Jessie.”
Beck knew he was expected to respond. He was supposed to shake her hand. But all he could do was stare. Finally, he snapped out of it and reached out to take her hand. A jolt went straight up his arm. “Peter Beck,” he managed to say. “My friends call me Beck.”
“Nice to meet you, Beck.”
For some reason he was ridiculously pleased to have been granted friend status. “We’re happy to have you as our guest, Ms. Stone. If there’s anything we can do for you, all you have to do is ask.”
Her smile faded just a little, but he noticed. “It’s Jessie, and that’s mighty nice of y’all. I’ve only met Liana a few times, but Artie said a friend of hers owns this place.”
“That’s right, Travis North—my friend and Liana’s.” Beck didn’t add that Liana was spending the night in Travis’s penthouse. “He asked me to make you comfortable.”
“I so appreciate that. My. . . situation. . . in New York had gotten, well. . .” Her eyes filled.
As a man who had learned from experience to avoid commitment and women who screamed forever the way this one did, it was all Beck could do not to haul her into his arms and tell her everything would be just fine. He would make sure of it. But because the beefcake brothers were watching his every move, he said, “Let’s get you settled upstairs so you can get some rest.”
He showed Jessie and her entourage to the apartment on the fifth floor that Travis had outfitted for guests and VIPs.
“Oh,” Jessie gasped after Beck flipped on a light. “This is beautiful!”
“Wait ’til you see the view in the morning. It looks right out on the bay.”
Roland deposited her bags in the bedroom. “Is there anything else we can do for you, Ms. Stone?”
“No, thank you.” To the others she added, “Y’all have been terrific. And I appreciate your discretion in not mentioning to anyone that you brought me here.”
“Of course,” Roland replied for all of them.
“We’ll take good care of her,” Beck assured the five men before he showed them to the door.
When they were alone, Jessie moved slowly around the big room, taking in the elegant, contemporary furnishings. Once again, tears flooded her big blue eyes. “It’s perfect. Please thank your friend Travis for me.”
“You can thank him yourself in the morning. I’m sure he and Liana will want to check on you.”
“I don’t really know her all that well.” Jessie twisted her hands in a nervous gesture. “I was kind of appalled when Artie told me he’d asked her for help with my. . . situation. She’s like the Princess Diana of models compared to little old me.”
“You’ve gotten your share of the spotlight.”
“You’ve heard of me?” she said with that wide-eyed expression that made him want to drool.
“Ah, yeah,” he said, laughing. If only you knew. . . “I’ve heard of you.”
“I’m still getting used to that. And now there’s this guy. . . He keeps sending me creepy letters and showing up outside my house. But he’s always long gone by the time the police get there.”
“We’ll talk about that tomorrow,” Beck said. “What you need tonight is some sleep.”
“That’d be nice. I haven’t been sleeping too well worrying about him showing up at my door.”
“That won’t happen here. I promise you’ll be safe.” He couldn’t get over how tiny she was in real life. Her photos made her look much taller. The photos had, however, done justice to her curvy, hourglass figure and flawless complexion, marred now from crying. While Liana’s staggering beauty could only be called regal, Jessie was pure soft sweetness. In all his thirty-six years, Beck had never felt such an overwhelming need to protect another human bei
ng. A thought that should have been terrifying was instead electrifying.
He gave her a quick tour of the apartment. “Are you hungry? We stocked the kitchen with just about everything we could think of.”
“I’m fine. We stopped to eat on the way, but thank you.”
“Okay then.” Beck felt uncharacteristically awkward and tongue-tied. “I’ll check on you in the morning.”
“Do you have to go?” she asked and then seemed to instantly regret it. “I’m sorry. Of course you want to go. You must be anxious to get home.”
“I don’t mind hanging out for a bit.”
“Really?” she asked with an audible sigh of relief. “They were careful to make sure we weren’t followed, but I just worry he’s going to find me.”
“He won’t. I swear to you, Jessie, no one gets in those gates who doesn’t belong here.” But as he said the words, he remembered the recent spate of vandalism on the North Point property and decided to double his security detail. No one was going to bother this woman—or Liana.
“I’ll be okay,” she said, attempting a confident smile that fell flat. “You can go.”
He moved to the bar that Travis kept stocked for guests. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a drink.”
The look on her face when she realized he wasn’t leaving tugged at his heart. “Is there any white wine?”
“Coming right up.”
Liana awoke to the sound of the shower. Sunshine poured in through the full-length windows in Travis’s bedroom. She stretched, and the soreness coming from various intimate places caused her cheeks to burn with shame as she remembered the wide variety of positions she had been in during the night. She’d lost track of the number of orgasms and could almost still feel him bent around her as he took her from behind.
Opening her eyes, she was startled to find Dash staring at her.
“You were watching, weren’t you?” Liana asked the dog.
Dash studied her without blinking.
Burying her face in the pillow, Liana groaned. How will I ever look at him again? I can’t even look at his dog! But as embarrassing as it was to remember it all, another part of her was thrilled because what she’d experienced with Travis was real passion—really sweaty passion. At least now I won’t have to live the rest of my life without ever knowing what that’s like. I’ll have these two weeks with him to remember. The thought of having to rely only on memories filled her with sadness. Oh, Liana, get real. You can’t be in love with him after one night. One long, amazing night . . .