by Jade Allen
****
“Took you long enough." Lily, one of his younger twin sisters, grumbled the moment Tyler stepped into the dining room.
His confused gaze flew to hers, “I’m sorry?”
“You were in there with that reporter woman forever,” Leila, her twin chipped in, rolling her beautiful grey eyes.
Tyler coolly surveyed the occupants of the table as he slid into his seat at the head of the table. His brother, Max, watched him with cool contemplative eyes, as did Anne, their mother.
“Anyone else have any observations they want to share with the rest of the class?” he asked.
Silence fell around the table as he glared around.
Anne Harding was the only person staring him down as she whispered, “Why did you agree to this interview? That woman looks nosy. I heard she already interviewed half the staff on your Texas ranch before you brought her here. What if she discovered our secret?”
Her pained grey eyes stared steadily into his.
“Mother, I don’t want to get into this. Not right now,” he said mildly as he buttered a slice of toast.
Anger surged through him but he deliberately tamped down on it. He was starting to feel things for that reporter; things he couldn’t explain; things he had no business feeling.
“Well when are we going to discuss this?” his mother pressed, oblivious to his inner turmoil.
She always seemed oblivious to everything about him, he mused. She never understood him.
“Well?” she continued. “When she comes down and starts prying our secrets right out of our mouths?”
“Leave it alone, Mother,” he said shortly, his tone deliberately mocking as he raised his coffee mug to his mouth.
A tense silence reigned around the table. Anne’s eyes glittered coldly as she glared at Tyler.
“Brooke is just here to get material for a documentary for charity. She is my guest and I expect her to be treated with civility. Leave our secrets to me. I’ll make sure she’s too distracted to delve that far.”
“How? You gonna seduce her?” Max asked.
“No.”
“Then what?” Max pressed.
“I’ll do whatever needs to be done to keep our family safe. Now everyone, just leave Brooke to me.”
On the staircase, out of sight of the dining room, Brooke slowly retreated, creeping back to her bedroom. What were they talking about? And what on earth had Tyler meant when he said he was going to do whatever it took?
Perhaps there was some secret they didn’t want her to discover? She had stepped within hearing range just in time to hear Tyler say he would do whatever needed to be done. What did he mean by that and what had she gotten herself into?
Several minutes later, Brooke stepped out to the dining room again. The Hardings were all wrapping up and while she noticed they were civil enough, they all left the room almost before her buttocks touched her seat.
She forced a grin as she looked at Tyler, “Is it my imagination, or did I just clear the room?”
“Nah, they’re just done with breakfast. We’ll be inspecting some wells today,” he added.
He looked so handsome sitting there with a slight frown on his face, his dark head of hair in artful disarray.
“We?”
“I thought you were tagging along for the rest of this week?”
“Yeah,” she agreed as she ate a slice of bacon. She closed her eyes, savoring the incredibly delicious taste. Who knew bacon could taste so wonderful?
“Wheels up in ten,” he said smoothly as he got to his feet and strolled out of the dining room.
Brooke made a silent vow as she sipped the last of her coffee; she would not let him touch her again with so much as a ten-foot pole.
“I think I’ve gotten enough answers to questions about your work,” Brooke said, leaning back against her chair in Tyler’s office, five days later. “Now there’s another angle that we must work: family.”
She pretended not to notice that he had tensed up at the word ‘family’.
“We want to explore your relationship with members of your immediate family. Having family gives our rich, powerful, dynamic bachelors a human face and makes them more likable to our readers. That’s all we’re after.”
Tyler studied her out of veiled eyes. “What do you want to know exactly?”
Brooke studied her notes, then looked back up at him, her eyes shining with excitement as she said, “You took over Harding Corporation at a very young age. Your management style obviously differs from your father’s. Can you tell us what he thought of your style?”
Tyler cleared his throat and looked down at his hands, “He was glad I took his legacy so seriously. He was proud. What more do you want to know?”
Brooke stared; he wouldn’t meet her eyes and he was more than a little uncomfortable. Clearly, he was lying.
A past news-clip went through her mind and acting on a hunch, she said, “Tyler, there was an incident at the annual Hamilton Business Conference last year. A reporter caught a clip of Mr. Harding grabbing your lapels and getting in your face about something. He didn’t seem very proud that night,” she added, her pen poised over her notepad.
Tyler’s dark eyes glinted at her as he studied her. “I don’t hear a question in there.”
“What was your relationship with your father really like?”
He grinned suddenly, “Do you have any idea how cute you look?”
The non-sequitur made her blink, but she carefully hid her surprise as an irrational flush of pleasure shot through her. Was he trying to distract her?
“Uh...thanks, I think.”
He chuckled, rising from his position on the seat across from her to lean over her, placing a hand on either side of her chair. Brooke shrank back into her seat. What could he possibly be thinking of?
“I haven’t been able to keep my mind off you all day,” he murmured, letting her know exactly what he had been thinking of. “And I think if you’re honest, you’ve thought of me a great deal, too.”
“Yeah, add modesty to your list of traits while you’re at it,” Brooke uttered dripping sarcasm.
He laughed, unperturbed. Then his laughter faded slowly away to be replaced by a look so hot, probing and intense that Brooke could have sworn it melted the very skin off her bones.
Tyler raised one hand and slowly, gently caressed her cheek. Hot tendrils of sensation spread from the slight brush of his finger and a moan of pleasure escaped her unbidden.
Tyler leaned down and brushed his lips against hers in a heart-wrenchingly tender kiss that made her hands curl into fists.
“I want to make love to you, Brooke,” he whispered against her lips.
“Huh?” she muttered dazedly, hungrily raising her lips for more of his kisses.
“I need to make love to you, Brooke. I want to feel my hard dick entering your soft, wet pussy. I want to fuck you until you beg me not to stop. I want to brand you from the inside out as my own,” he finished.
His words were so erotic, a pool of moisture rushed between her legs. Brooke grabbed his head and pulled his lips down to hers for a hot, deep French kiss.
Tyler swung her up off the chair and into his arms, not breaking the hot deep kiss for a second. He was half in love with her, he mused as his hand moved to cup one full thrusting breast through the smooth material of her silk blouse. Brooke moaned and arched in his arms. He gently deposited her ass onto the table with her legs hanging over the edge of the desk as he raised her skirt to bunch around her waist. Her lace pantyhose were a bit rough against his palms and he groaned with impatience. He wanted to feel her—now. He caressed her briefly though her pantyhose and panties, swallowing her moan with his lips. “Fuck this,” he said, forcefully tearing the crotch of her pantyhose using both hands.
“I can’t wait,” he told her, looking into her eyes as he reached for the zipper of his pants and pulled free his hard, thrusting arousal.
Urgency burned right back at him from her b
right green eyes and he grunted in satisfaction as she spread her legs wide.
He positioned himself between her legs, using his finger to shove her panties to the side. Tyler rubbed the head of his dick against her wet, soft, moist opening and she groaned in pleasure, rubbing up against him as he entered her slowly. Her chest was plastered against his chest with his arms holding her up on the edge of the table.
“Yes, yes, yes,” Brooke chanted mindlessly as he entered her again and again. He plunged deeper into her, thrusting so fast it seemed his hips were a jack-hammer.
Brooke clung to him as he increased the tempo, raising her hips to meet his thrusts and matching her rhythm to his own. Brooke was helpless to stop the onslaught of feelings he had unleashed. Her back arched in ecstasy as she moaned even louder, panting now with excitement. Pleasure pooled between her thighs, and within seconds, her pussy was pulsing and clenching with the force of her orgasm as a hot, wet rush poured from her pussy. The waves lasted, drawing out longer and longer and when it was finally over, she sagged against his broad chest, sated and spent.
Tyler slowly began to thrust into her again, his dark, slumberous gaze scanning her face as he began to thrust into her again, his face contorted as he concentrated on his thrusts. He changed the angle of his thrusts and began to rub her clitoris between his forefinger and thumb, his thrusts rubbing against her G-spot. He moaned as he entered her, sending waves of pleasure shooting through her and making her spread her legs wider.
He paused in his thrusts to lean her back down onto the table. His large hands shoved her blouse up, exposing her breasts to his view. They were round, plump and beautiful and as smooth as silk. He leaned down to lick one nipple, his tongue laving against the sensitive tip and making her moan in his arms. He entered her as he sucked, shoving against her g-spot while rubbing her clit. Brooke jerked wildly, going berserk as she was assaulted with pleasure from every angle.
Suddenly, another rush of heat pooled in her pelvis and before she could react, the world was tilting on its axis and she was clenching and unclenching around him.
Within seconds, he felt the familiar pleasure rush to pool in his groin and he increased his pace. His threw back his head, groaning as he came, spilling his seed straight into her wet, tight pussy.
As the haze cleared, he realized one scary fact: he had never felt this way about another woman before.
His hands tightened around her as he drifted back to earth. What had he done? Max had only to hear about this to give him a knowing grin and congratulate him for having the good sense to make love to Brooke like he had suggested.
****
Brooke slathered some sunscreen onto her back and laid down to stretch beside the pool. Tyler had been trapped in a series of business meetings since morning and he had wanted to know what she was doing. He sent someone to find her and then sent the person three more times to check on her. It was very flattering and she couldn’t stop the blush that stole up her cheeks as she sunned herself by the pool.
She had made love with Tyler every night for a week now and she was due to leave in just two days. So far, he seemed to have let down his guard with her; he was freer, always joking and laughing. He loved teasing her, and in the week since they had first made love, he had displayed a voracious appetite and a boyish good humor that had endeared her to him. She had fallen in love with him, she admitted to herself. She loved him as she had never loved anyone and sometimes, when he stared at her, she could almost imagine that he loved her, too.
A small sound beside her made her turn her head to look up; someone was standing over her, but the glare of the sun entered her eyes, making it hard for her to see the person’s face.
“Ty?” she said, grinning as she sat up.
“Guess again,” Max said coldly.
“Oh. What do you want?” she asked, sitting up. She had never cared much for Max. She had caught him several times staring at her ass, but she couldn’t even complain about it to Tyler because they hadn’t defined who they were; they hadn’t defined their relationship.
“I was just wondering how long you planned to be here.”
“What?”
“You came to interview Tyler. I assume you're not doing that while he’s fucking you, and frankly, you've been disturbing my family’s sleep with your incessant moaning. When do you plan to get on the first flight back home?”
Hot color flooded her cheeks as embarrassment surged through her. He knew they were sleeping together? Did everyone know? They had been so careful.
She looked at him, her eyes astonished.
“Yes, Brooke, I know he’s fucking you. I mean it was my idea and all, but even I'm surprised it’s taken him so long to divert you.”
Color drained from Brooke’s face. Sleeping with her was Max’s idea? How? Why? And to divert her from what?
Max chuckled cruelly, “I can practically see the wheels turning in your brain. I assure you, watching you prance around has been fun to watch, but it’s getting old.”
“You’re lying,” Brooke said shakily, tears welling in her eyes. “Tyler would never discuss something like that with you.”
“Something like what?”
“He would never seduce me because you told him to.”
Max looked chagrined, “I never meant to say that, Brooke; it just slipped out. Forget you heard it,” he added as he rose to his feet and slowly strolled away, leaving her feeling as though her heart was splintering into a million pieces in her chest.
Brooke rushed into the house, shrugging into her bathrobe to cover her bikini as she raced towards Tyler’s library, her flip-flops slapping against the tiles noisily.
She walked into the room without knocking, her eyes wild and frightened as she spotted him sitting behind the desk. Two men in suits sat before him; their faces turned towards her in curiosity.
“Brooke?” Tyler said, coming smoothly to his feet.
“I need to speak with you,” she announced baldly.
"I’m in a meet—" he began.
“Now!” she cut in. “I need to speak with you now!”
He stared around at the men sitting before his desk, then his measuring gaze returned to her tear-streaked, pale face. With a nod at the men, he dismissed them.
The moment the door shut behind the men, Brooke exploded, “Is it true?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Did you decide with your family that you were going to seduce me?”
“Where did you hear a crazy story like that?” he asked.
Brooke couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t deny it.
“I'm not sure what you’re talking about,” he added.
“You decided to seduce me so I wouldn’t ask questions you didn’t want to answer, right?”
“What the hell?”
“Don’t lie to me. Did you decide to seduce me to get me to stop asking questions?”
“Do you honestly think that poorly of me?” he asked quietly, his gaze trained on her face.
“What I think is that there can be only two answers to the question: yes or no. You’re being very cagey, Tyler, which means you did seduce me for kicks. What, so you and Max could laugh?”
“Max? Is he the one who told you that?” he asked, his gaze sharpening.
“Like it matters,” she spat bitterly, before turning on her heels to exit the room.
“Don’t. I love you,” he said grabbing her arm.
Brooke glared balefully at him, wrenched her arm from his grasp and slapped him as hard as she could.
“That’s too damn bad because I hate you!”
She ran out of his library and into her bedroom, slamming the door shut after her. She could hear him calling her name even through the shut door but she ignored him. She flung herself onto the bed and cried for all she was worth.
Minutes later, she dragged herself out of bed and started throwing her belongings into her suitcase; she was done here, she thought. She felt empty and drained; Tyler had taken ev
erything she had and flung it right back in her face.
It was time to go. She had never liked Montana anyway; too many skeletons.
****
Brooke whistled to herself as she brushed her hair into a glossy sheen. She had all the time in the world on her hands these days. She had quit her job soon after returning to New York and was currently searching for a new job. Handing her resignation letter to Collins just as he had been about to whip out one of his famous pink slips had been sheer bliss.
She grinned anew just remembering his flummoxed expression.
As she grabbed her handbag and headed towards the front door, she adjusted the strap of her leather wristwatch. She opened the door without looking up and promptly slammed into a brick wall.
All the air whooshed out of her lungs as a pair of strong, masculine hands shot out to grab her and hold her steady.
Brooke looked up disbelievingly into a pair of hooded grey eyes and watched in disbelief as his lips canted one of those slow sexy smiles he did so well.
“What are you doing here?”
“We need to talk. Then you can toss me out on my ass. Please.”
Longing warred with reluctance inside of her; longing won and she angrily stepped back to allow him into the lobby.
“Yes?” she said aggressively the moment he sank onto a sofa.
“First off, I’m sorry for the way things went down. I never meant to hurt you and I swear on my life I did not seduce you for any reason other than the fact that I could not help myself.”
Silence.
“Brooke, you have no reason to believe anything I say, but if you will believe nothing else, believe this: I went after you on my own accord.”
“I don’t understand.”
“My family has an awful secret yes, but I was never bothered about it. That was always my mother’s headache.”
“I see. And what’s this horrible secret?”
“My dad had an affair right after their marriage and had me. She has always taken it as a personal kick in her teeth and seems convinced that knowing he left the reins of the company to an ‘illegitimate’ son may affect the company’s stocks, especially since the family is associated with strong family values and all.”
