Her Sexiest Mistake (The Sexiest Series Book 1), page 12
Mariah’s head spun, and she clutched his shirt, holding on as the dizzying sensation threatened to consume her, right along with Grey’s delicious kisses. His fingers fumbled with the buttons on her blouse, and she felt a whisper of cool air on her chest as the material parted. He lifted his head, breaking their kiss, and stared at the breasts nestled in satin-and-lace cups, his hands clenching at his sides. The mounds swelled and her nipples tightened beneath his gaze. For weeks she’d resisted him. After what they’d shared today, she couldn’t bring herself to resist him any longer.
Slowly, she reached up and unsnapped the front hook of her bra.
A blunt curse reached her ears. With an impatient sweep of his arm, Grey pushed the game board and pieces out of the way, then gently eased her down onto the rug in front of the fireplace. He yanked off his shirt, tossed it aside, and followed her down, stretching his body over hers.
“God, what you do to me, Mariah,” he groaned helplessly, then fitted his mouth to hers once more while his hands tugged her blouse and the straps of her bra over her shoulders. The material bunched around her upper arms, and he left it there, restricting her reach. She moaned as he rubbed his bare chest against hers, the friction of hard muscle, a sprinkling of hair, and heat melting the last of her resistance.
He gentled the kiss, giving her slow, drugging strokes of his tongue that tapered into playful bites along her damp lower lip. She tried to touch him, but her hands only reached his sides. A frustrated sound escaped her.
“Shh, baby,” he murmured, trailing soft kisses along her jaw and down her neck until, finally, his tongue swept over a taut, aching nipple. Then he drew the pearled tip into his mouth and suckled her deeply.
She cried out, straining against the bonds around her arms until her fingers sank into his thick hair. She held him there while he paid equal attention to each breast. Shifting restlessly, she twined her legs over the backs of his thighs and urged him forward. He obliged, burying his face in her neck and rocking his hips against hers. She welcomed him, complaining of the clothes separating them. He arched rhythmically and groaned, low and deep. She clamped her legs around his waist, tossed her head back, and gave a great big shudder of need.
Grey clenched his jaw, suppressing the instinctive urge to free the erection straining the fly of his shorts, strip off Mariah’s clothes, and take her fast and hard. He’d never meant for things to get so out of control. He’d meant to seduce her, yes, but he’d never expected her to be so willing, so eager, not after she’d demanded they not have sex this weekend.
But that’s exactly what she wanted. He could feel it in the softening of her body, hear it in the panting of her breath. He lifted his head and peered at her flushed face. He could see it in her eyes, smoky with passion.
He swore. This wasn’t the romantic reunion he’d envisioned for him and Mariah. True, they’d formed a special bond today, and as much as he wanted her, he didn’t want to take advantage of the situation and jeopardize their fragile truce. Or have her regret making love later, when desire cleared and reality intruded.
“Grey?” she questioned huskily.
Her dreamy and aroused expression threatened his restraint. “We made a deal, remember?” He choked on the words. Damn, she should be reminding him of that!
She either couldn’t recall their pact or she didn’t care. Her fingers found the loops in the waistband of his shorts and tugged impatiently. Thank God she couldn’t reach the snap and zipper, or he’d be a goner for sure.
Lifting her head, she nuzzled his throat, sank her teeth gently into his neck, then soothed the love bite with her tongue. He sucked in a quick breath at her brazen display, his heart rate accelerating off the scale. He attempted to move off her, but the fingers caught in his belt loops and the legs tangled around his held him secure.
A hoarse, helpless laugh erupted from him. “I’m trying real hard to be good here, Mariah, but I need your help.”
She whimpered. The softness of want and need in her gaze nearly killed him. He had her right where he’d been trying to get her for over a month. He was a fool to let her go, but he’d be a bigger fool to risk losing her trust. And that meant keeping a promise he’d made. No making love.
He brushed her hair away from her face, feeling the quiver of her body beneath his. A quiver from being strung too tight and needing release. He might not be able to slake his own lust, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t take the edge off hers.
He skimmed a hand over her hip and along the length of her silken thigh. “Let me take care of you,” he murmured. He knew all it would take was the intimate glide of his fingers between damp folds of flesh, the heat and touch of his mouth, the soft stroking of his tongue, to give her body the pleasure it sought.
She shook her head and drew a deep breath as if to gather her composure. “No. When we make love, I want you with me all the way.”
His pulse stilled. When, not if. Dare he hope?
She touched his jaw lightly, a tremulous smile lifting her lips. “But for tonight, will you just hold me in your arms?”
Turning his head, he placed a kiss in her palm. “Yeah, I’d like that.” He certainly didn’t want to spend another night alone.
Moving off her, he grimaced as he stood, his aroused body screaming with frustration. He helped her up, adjusted her blouse so he wasn’t tempted by her lush curves, and let her have the privacy of the bathroom first.
Ten minutes later, after they’d both changed and their earlier passion had time to cool, Mariah climbed into bed beside Grey and snuggled into his embrace. With a deep sigh that feathered across his chest and her arm draped over his waist, she drifted off to sleep.
Grey remained awake. Stroking Mariah’s hair, he reveled in the contentment ribboning through him, a feeling unlike anything he’d ever experienced. One he’d only shared with Mariah.
One thing was for certain. He never wanted the warm, comforting feeling to end.
Chapter Seven
“What time are we leaving today?” Mariah asked Grey as he helped her make the bed the following morning. Sunshine streamed through the lace curtains framing the bedroom window, warming her as much as being wrapped in Grey’s arms during the night had. She’d missed the intimacy of sleeping with Grey, the way he curled his body around hers from behind, and the possessive way his palm always seemed to find the curve of her breast.
Smoothing her hand over a wrinkle in the quilt, she smiled at the memory of his sweet, nuzzling, good-morning kiss against her neck and his admirable restraint. She’d woken up to the feel of his arousal pressing against her bottom. It would have been so easy for him to shimmy up the nightgown he’d bought her, ease her panties down, and slide deep inside, right where she’d wanted him last night. Where she’d ached for him that morning still.
Sighing, she glanced up at him, wondering if he’d heard her question. He stood at the opposite side of the bed, wearing khaki shorts, a red polo shirt, and a determined look. “Grey?”
He picked up one of the throw pillows on the floor beside him and turned it over in his hands. “I was thinking about staying up here a few more days.”
“A few more days?” she echoed, frowning. It was Sunday, and they both had businesses to run. Starting tomorrow morning.
His shoulders lifted in a casual shrug. “Just until the end of the week.”
“The end of the week!” She came around the bed, unable to believe he’d suggest something so spontaneous and rash. To her way of thinking, a week constituted more than just “a few days.” They’d shared a wonderful weekend together, but they couldn’t stay up in Arrowhead forever. “Grey, I don’t think that would be such a good idea.”
“I think it’s a great idea. My best one yet.” He tossed the pillow against the headboard, and when his gaze met hers again, the depths were filled with a recklessness that made her distinctly uneasy. “Mark said I could use the place as long as I need it, so why not make the most of things?”
She shook her head. It was unlike Grey to be so…reckless. “Because I have appointments to keep, clients to see, contracts to go over and sign. A business to operate!
“So do I, but it can all wait a week.” He braced his fists on his hips, his stance firm and unyielding. “I’m willing to clear my entire schedule for you. For us.”
“I can’t believe what you’re saying!” She paced to the end of the bed, trying to reason with a man who’d once been so reasonable. “You can’t hold me hostage for a week—”
“Wanna bet?” A wicked grin curved his mouth as he slowly moved toward her. “I kinda like the sound of you being my captive, at my mercy…”
She abruptly stopped, steeling herself against his words, his advance, that bone-melting, she’d-do-anything-for-me smile, and held up her hand to ward him off. “Then you stay and I’ll go. Give me the keys to the Escalade,” she ordered.
“Search me for them,” he dared her, holding his arms wide to give her access to every inch of him. “If you find them, we’ll go.”
The only thing she would find was a body to die for and a man who’d enjoy every minute of the frisking. She sighed in frustration and dragged her hand through her hair. “Why are you doing this?”
Quicker than she could anticipate, he reached out, slid his hand around her neck, and brought her mouth to his. He summed up his answer in a deep, emotion-filled kiss that left her breathless, as soft as dew, and clinging to him. A kiss so full of need and longing and a thousand other feelings that touched her heart and swept through her soul.
When he finally lifted his head, she stared up at him in a dazed fog, a willing prisoner—if it meant she might gain his love. Oh, Lord, was she wishing for the impossible?
“That’s why I’m doing this,” he said fiercely, his eyes blazing with heat, arousal, and something more. He framed her face in his hands, holding her immobile. “Maybe sharing is all that it’s cracked up to be,” he said, a lopsided grin canting his mouth. “Something within me shifted this weekend, Mariah. Something that feels wonderful and scares me half to death because I don’t understand completely what it is.”
He pulled in a deep breath, his gaze searching hers. “But whatever it is, I want to explore it with you, without the craziness of work and everyday life interfering. I want more time alone. No interruptions, no outside influences.”
She pressed her hands to his chest “Grey, we can’t hide away for another five days, ignore our work, our responsibilities.” This time her protest was weak. Anything that had to be done, Jade was more than capable of handling. It was a matter of her sister cooperating enough to handle her absence.
“My mind is made up, Mariah.” He slid his hands down her back and clasped them at the base of her spine, holding her body, as well as her heart, close. “I’m not giving you a choice.”
His caveman routine should have irritated her, but the truth was, she wanted this time alone as much as he did. He was willing to give up so much for her to make their relationship work. How could she refuse?
“We’ll go into the village for more food. I’ll call Jeanie at home and have her clear my schedule for the week, and you can do the same with Jade.”
“Do I have to?” Mariah groaned into his shoulder and squeezed her eyes shut. “Jade is going to disown me.”
Grey chuckled, then grew serious. “Jade will survive. What’s between us is far more important.”
He was right. She, too, had felt something more over the past two days with Grey…hope for the future. Unable to deny him his wish, she slipped from his arms and said, “Let’s go make some phone calls.”
He swatted her bottom as she passed and grinned when she glared at him from over her shoulder. Then he had the audacity to wink.
“I knew you’d see things my way,” he said.
“Like you gave me a choice,” she muttered.
* * *
“Are you totally and completely out of your mind?” Jade’s disapproving tone drifted through the phone lines to Mariah. “Standing me up on Friday night and skipping town with Grey for the weekend is one thing, but an entire week?”
Mariah was in too good a mood to let her sister’s interrogation put a damper on her newfound happiness. “I’m staying, Jade.”
“The man has you brainwashed!”
Smiling, Mariah glanced toward the grocery store Grey had slipped into while she made the dreaded phone call to her sister. The man Jade was referring to had her hopelessly in love. “Stand in for me on whatever appointments you can manage and reschedule the others for the following week,” she told Jade. “There’s nothing pressing on my desk or in the works, so everything else you can handle or it can wait until I get back. And honestly…the time alone with Grey has been a nice little romantic retreat.”
“How cozy,” Jade said, her tone bordering on peevish.
“Actually, it has been, and Grey has also been very attentive,” Mariah said, deliberately goading her sister.
Jade made an exasperated sound. “I’m having you committed.”
“Whatever for?” Mariah asked oh-so-innocently.
“Your sanity has obviously fled. What else would possess you to run off with Grey for an entire week?”
The answer came easily, Mariah thought. Love had possessed her. And hope. Grey had given her a part of his past he’d never shared with her before. A vulnerable side that touched her and made her optimistic for their future together. He’d shared hopes, broken dreams, and fears, and she wanted to reassure and soothe him. In time, and with an abundance of love and patience, she was certain she could replace those terrors with the knowledge that he’d be a good, loving husband and a better father than his own had been.
Her dad had taught her to fight for what she believed in. She believed in Grey and his ability to let his caring flourish into an emotion far richer and more rewarding. It was all a matter of showing him how wonderful love could be. Making him see that love was a good thing, and nothing at all like the disappointing memories of his childhood.
Another five days alone with him could make all the difference to their future.
“Have all my efforts been for nothing?” Jade asked. “Haven’t you learned anything I’ve taught you the past couple of weeks?”
“Like what?”
“Like not to trust a man’s motives, for one.”
That was Jade’s motto, not hers. Besides, Grey had never given her any reason to distrust or doubt him. “I believe Grey’s intentions are honorable.”
Jade gave a snort of disbelief. “You’ve slept with him, haven’t you?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“I’ll bet he’s making you all kinds of promises, isn’t he?”
“Not one.”
“Well, considering the dreamy quality of your voice, you’d think he offered you a ring and marriage.”
Not quite, but close. If you want the ring, it’s yours. Grey’s words echoed through Mariah’s mind. Now she just needed a declaration and a proposal to go with them. She was confident she’d have both. Soon.
“I give up, Mariah,” Jade said, a sigh of defeat escaping her. “You’re a hopeless cause. The next time Grey breaks your heart, just remember that I told you so.”
* * *
Sitting on a large, smooth boulder at the back of Mark’s cabin, Grey stared out at the rippling surface of Lake Arrowhead, feeling more content and relaxed than he could ever remember.
It was a beautiful summer afternoon, hot—but a slight breeze and the tall pines surrounding the lake kept the day bearable. Families on vacation played on the lake in their ski boats, and kids floated by Mark’s dock on rafts and inner tubes, laughing and frolicking in the cool water.
Casting a quick glance over his shoulder toward the cabin, Grey wondered what was keeping Mariah. She’d promised him she’d be down in a few minutes, and he already missed her. He wanted to share every minute with her, make every moment special, and have it last forever. Up in the mountains, away from everyone and everything, anything seemed possible. Even forever.
Picking up a small, flat stone from the ground beside him, he tossed the rock into the lake and watched it skip four times before sinking. He hadn’t known what to expect when he’d kidnapped Mariah—it had been a last-ditch desperate effort to persuade her to his way of thinking—but never would he have imagined that her caring and gentleness would change him.
And he was changing. While she’d coaxed him to open up and confide in her about his painful past, a cold, hardened part of him had subsided. Resentments he’d harbored for so long had eased, making room for the more tender emotions Mariah inspired in him. As impossible as it seemed, his feelings for her had altered over the past couple of days, growing stronger, richer, and infinitely more fulfilling. He felt like the luckiest man on earth and knew Mariah had everything to do with his newfound elation.
Yet he was hesitant to put a label on the unique emotion settling so warmly in his chest. Love wasn’t possible, not for him, yet caring didn’t seem like a powerful enough word to describe how he felt for her, either.
Well, hell.
“Hey, you,” Mariah said, sliding onto the rock behind him. She scooted close, bracketing his thighs with her long, bare legs. “What are you doing?”
He turned his head and glanced at her. “Waiting for you.”
“Well, I’m here.” She smiled and placed an affectionate kiss on his cheek. “What do you want to do today?”
Looking at those sweet lips so close to his and feeling her thighs tighten at his hips when she shifted to find a more comfortable position, there was only one answer that sprang to mind. He wanted to spend the entire day making love to her, in bed, on the sofa, out on the deck in nature’s glory, in front of a nice, warm fire… A hundred erotic scenarios flashed before him, but he’d made her a promise he wasn’t about to break, no matter how badly he ached to be physically close to her.
