Paul (Members From Money Book 7)

by Katie Dowe

  His mother and Lucas had gone out for dinner and she had told him with a smile not to expect her back until very late. He had to admit that he was very happy for her.

  Was she letting him touch her? His hands curled into fists as he stared across the rippling water of the pool. Would she let him do that? Would she go that far?

  With an oath he pulled off his T-shirt and jumped into the water, slicing the water cleanly and going all the way to the bottom, closing his eyes and holding his breath for a few seconds and then he surfaced, threading water until he reached the side, his expression brooding. He had to see her and this time she was going to listen to him.

  *****

  Leonie hung her clothes carefully into the slot in the closet and stripped off her delicate black underwear and stepped inside the shower turning on the water and adjusting the temperature. She stood under the water and let the spray beat down on her body, her eyes closed.

  Simoniel was right, she thought. She had taken it too far. She knew the date would not turn out good and she had gone just the same and for what? To try and prove to herself and John Masaki that she was not interested in him? That she was a hard ass who did not believe in love and all that it came with? He had stirred something inside her and had shaken the very foundation of what she had believed in for so many years and she was scared. For the first time in her life she had met a situation that she did not know how to handle and it was spinning her around. He had touched her and she had not shrank away from him, in fact she had wanted more and that made her question everything she had come to believe in.

  *****

  “How was your date?” It was him! She had just gotten out of the bathroom and was in the kitchen getting some tea when her phone rang.

  “Who is this?” she asked coolly.

  “You know who it is Leonie,” his voice had a thread of amusement that grated on her already raw nerves. “So how was it?”

  “None of your business,” she told him turning off the stove and pouring water into the cup that already had the herbal teabag she had put there.

  “Actually it is,” his voice had changed to one of authority. “Did he touch you?”

  “And if he did? What are you going to do about it?” she taunted him.

  “I will just have to make sure he does nothing of the sort again,” A shiver went up and down her spine at his tone.

  “I am hanging up now.” She warned him.

  “I would like to come over,” he told her.

  “What?” she stopped stirring the honey into her tea and went still.

  “I want to come over. Invite me over Leonie.” He said softly.

  “I am not going to do that,” her body felt weak and she wanted so much to say yes but there was no way she was going to do that.

  “Please,” he whispered. “Or you could come over here. I can be there in twenty minutes and we could have a dip in the pool to cool our bodies down before we heat up again. I could use my tongue to lick off the moisture off your skin. How about it?”

  “His name is Robert and we had a wonderful time!” she said desperately not even feeling guilty about the blatant lie. “He took me home and he kissed me softly on the mouth and I enjoyed it.”

  The silence stretched out for so long that if she had not heard him breathing she would have sworn he had hung up. Her heart was thundering so much inside her chest that she was afraid she was going to pass out.

  “Goodnight Leonie,” his tone was acerbic and he hung up before she could answer.

  Good! She thought, but it sounded hollow even to her and she leaned against the marble counter top weakly. Maybe now he would leave her alone.

  *****

  “My dear, I was in the area and just wanted to pop in and say hello.” Asami came in behind Simoniel who had seen her outside in the lobby.

  “Mrs. Masaki how nice to see you,” she looked behind her to see if her son was coming behind her.

  “And please call me Asami,” she said with a wave of her elegant hand as she took a seat in front of Leonie’s desk.

  “Would you like something cool to drink Asami?” Simoniel asked her.

  “How about some water dear?” the woman said with a smile. “I am trying to get out of the habit of having people wait on me hand and foot because dear Lucas does not like it one bit and I am trying to adjust my way of thinking.” She added with a smile as soon as Simoniel left.

  “So it is going well then,” Leonie took a seat and smiled. You could not help but like her. She was beautiful as well as vivacious and did not pretend as if she was better than anyone.

  “It’s going splendidly!” Asami said enthusiastically. She accepted the bottle of water from Simoniel with thanks.

  “I will be meeting with the new client in the other room Lee,” Simoniel told her heading for the door.

  “I will be there when I am finished.”

  “Am I keeping you from something?” Asami asked in concern.

  “Nothing that Simoniel cannot handle.” She said with a smile. “I want to hear all about you and Lucas. I called him and he has been very evasive.”

  “You know men,” Asami said with a shake of her elegant head. This time her long curtain of dark hair was caught up on top of her head with a black and white jeweled comb and she was wearing a red pants suit with black shoes. In spite of the heat, she looked as if she had just stepped from a fashion magazine. “Can’t get anything out of them if you are drawing your last breath! We are having fun, going places together and talking up a storm; we are getting to know each other and that’s what is important.

  “I got married pretty young and my husband was chosen for me and I had no say in the matter. It was a Japanese tradition and being an obedient daughter of traditional Japanese parents I adhered to the tradition. I was not in love with him but we cared about each other and we loved our son; he was a bond that joined us together in an otherwise lukewarm marriage. I find myself behaving like a giddy teenager around Lucas and I cannot believe that at my age I am experiencing love between a man and a woman for the first time.”

  Leonie listened fascinated and she felt the feeling of triumph course through her that she had been a part of all that. “I am happy for you.” She said softly.

  “Thank you dear.” She beamed. “Now it’s your turn.” She told the girl suddenly.

  “Pardon me?”

  “It’s your turn to find love.” Asami explained. “You are an exceptionally beautiful woman and every time I see you I admire you even more. Is there someone special in your life?”

  Leonie thought about blurting out to her that her son had been calling her and driving her crazy with his words and the one time he had touched her, kissed her in this very office it had been embedded inside her brain and on her body that she had not been able to forget.

  “No,” she said shaking her head. “Not yet.”

  “Make it sooner than later.” Asami instructed her. “Now I am going to leave and let you get on with the business of finding that special someone for people like me.” She said with a bright smile as she stood up to leave. “I will be seeing you soon my dear.” With a wave she was gone, leaving her particular expensive and subtle scent lingering inside the office.

  Leonie sat there staring at the closed door long after she was gone. He had not called her back and it had been two nights ago. She kept expecting to see him pop up at the office and every time her cell phone rang she expected it to be him but he had not called and she found herself longing to hear his voice. What the hell was wrong with her?

  She was the one who wanted him to leave her alone. So why was she so hung up on hearing from him? She sighed and reached for the files she had been working on and was just about to open one when her phone rang. For one crazy moment she thought it was him and had to stifle her disappointment when she noticed that it was her mother calling from Italy. She glanced at the clock on her desk and realized that it was almost four o’clock here so it was almost ten o’clock in Italy.
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  “Mom, everything okay?” she asked quickly.

  “Of course honey, why would you think that something is wrong?” Leonora asked her gaily.

  “Because you are calling me so late.”

  “We just came in from the theater and I am just about to turn in when I thought of you. How are you doing?”

  “I am doing okay honey, just feeling a little bit homesick and missing my only child that’s all.” Leonora told her soberly.

  “I miss you too mom,” Leonie admitted. “May I ask you a question?”

  “Of course honey! Anything.” She said promptly.

  “Did he ever contact you?”

  They both knew who she was referring to without calling any names.

  “Once. A few years ago just after I met Lorenzo, saying that he was sorry and that I should let you know that it was never you but he had gone for so long now that he did not know how to face either of us.”

  “What did you tell him?” Leonie asked wishing her mother had told her about it.

  “I told him that I had moved on and I did not want him calling me again and I also gave him your number to call you but he said he was too ashamed.” Her mother told her. “Why are you asking honey? Did he contact you?”

  “No,” she responded slowly. “Why didn’t you tell me mom?”

  “Because I did not want to upset you even more than you already are.” Her mother paused. “We have been getting along so well since that argument we had some time ago and I did not want to blow it.”

  “I am no longer upset mom,” she said honestly. “I just want to stop being so angry at him and move on with my life.”

  Chapter 6

  It was the Fourth of July and Leonie had been invited to come and spend the day with the family but she had told her that she would probably be over there later she needed to spend some time at home sorting out some things first. But that had been an excuse. It had been two weeks since she had heard anything from John and she had to admit that she missed hearing from him.

  After her conversation with her mother a week ago about her father she had been doing a lot of thinking. Why hadn’t he called her? And if he had would she have taken the call and if she had what would she have said to him?

  Leonie scooped her hair up which had escaped from the bun she had carelessly made and put an elastic band around her hair. She had been cleaning the bathroom and several wisps of hair had escaped around her face made damp by the moisture coming from her. It was humid to say the least and even though the air conditioner was on; the cool air coming from it was battling with the intense heat. It had been predicted that there would be rain sometime today but so far it was a quarter past two and still no rain.

  She had just sluiced her face with some water from the tap and was toweling it dry when she heard the doorbell. She frowned a little bit and then remembered that she had ordered some Chinese take-out earlier. She looked down at the thin sleeveless white blouse she had on that exposed her midriff and the tiny blue shorts and bare feet and then with a shrug she went to answer the door.

  Her breath caught up inside her throat. It was not the delivery guy from the Chinese place. John Masaki was standing in her doorway looking breathtakingly handsome and virile in faded denims and a white T-Shirt and he had her meal in his hands. “I tipped the guy, I hope you don’t mind.” His eyes took in her attire and as his eyes lingered on her breasts she remembered that she was not wearing a bra.

  “Aren’t you going to invite me in?” he asked, his brows rose.

  “What are you doing here?” she crossed her arms over her chest, trying to hide the fact that her nipples had responded to his gaze touching her.

  “I needed to see you and I gave you enough time to miss me and to come to terms with the fact that I am not going anywhere.” He came closer and she stepped back automatically. He came in and closed and locked the door behind him.

  “I am going out,” she said defensively, her skin jumping at his nearness.

  “With Robert?” he asked her mildly going further inside and putting the bag with the food on the nearest table.

  “That’s none of your business!” she told him hotly.

  “Oh but it is,” he murmured softly coming to stand right in front of her. “You were trying to make me jealous, I get it but I am not playing games anymore Leonie, it ends now.” He reached up to push back a few tendrils of hair from her cheek.

  “Who do you think you are?” she whispered furiously.

  “The man who is going to make love to you until you are weak and trembling with intense heat. Don’t worry I will be feeling that way too.” His voice had dropped to a whisper as he brought his face closer to hers. She felt his breath on her face, stirring her blood and she went weak. “Did you miss me?”

  She shook her head, not able to find her voice.

  “Liar,” he said laughing shakily. “I missed you so damn much that I could not function.” He lifted her chin to look into her pool of dark brown eyes. “I need you now.”

  He took her lips and she let him, she could not have stopped him even if she had wanted to and she did not want him to stop. She opened her mouth and let him inside to explore and taste and enjoy and while he was doing that she clung to him because if she didn’t she was in fear of falling to the floor. The heat coming from her body had nothing to do with the heat outside but everything to do with the man who was devouring her with his mouth.

  He broke off the kiss suddenly and she whimpered at the lack of his mouth much to her humiliation but he was only lifting her up and taking her to the bedroom. Her bed was unmade but neither of them noticed or cared much as he placed her on the sheets and climbed in beside her. He pulled the thin shirt over her head and gazed at her generous unfettered breasts, their dusky nipples hardening even further underneath his gaze.

  “So beautiful,” he murmured, running a hand over one breast and causing her to tremble with need. He bent his head and took a nipple inside his mouth, his teeth grazing the flesh, his tongue barely touching her.

  Leonie felt the dart of desire shot through her body like a thunderbolt and she cried out, her hands clenched on the sheets. He lifted his head to look at her, his eyes dark and hooded as he took in her parted lips, the bottom one trembling slightly. “Tell me you want me,” he demanded huskily.

  She shook her head, her body shivering. He took her other nipple and this time he pulled on it hard sucking urgently. A sob escaped her and she arched her body closer to him. He lifted his head again to look at her. “Tell me you want me,” he said hoarsely. By this time she was going mad with desire, something she had never experienced before in her life.

  “Please,” she said huskily.

  “Tell me Leonie,” he said, his hands reaching for the elastic waistband of her shorts and pulling them down revealing that she was wearing black lace panties. He rested his hand against her mound pressing down on her and her eyes widened and searched his. “Say it,” he said urgently.

  “I want you,” she felt as if the words had been dragged from her throat and to her surprise she saw the effect that her words had on him.

  With a growl he quickly undressed and pulled off her underwear. She saw him, the erection that was pulsating between them and she felt fear as well as desire invaded her body.

  He saw the look on her face and the uncertainty there and he knew. “This is your first time,” he said wonderingly.

  She continued to stare at him without responding and he came over her, his erection resting between her legs. He framed her beautiful face with his hands and looked at her. “I won’t hurt you.” He promised before bending to take her lips with his. She responded and her arms went around his neck; her fingers buried inside his thick dark hair.

  His mouth was driving her crazy and she moved her tongue inside his mouth as she clung to him. Her heart was hammering inside her chest and she felt as if she was going to burst with need. He left her mouth to wander down to her breasts again, spending sometime there,
his hands cupping the weight of her as he licked and sucked at her as if he could not get enough and then he wandered down to her flat stomach until he reached her pubic area.

  Her body was trembling so much that she thought she was going to explode. When his tongue touched her core she was sobbing out his name and then his tongue reached inside her. The feeling was so exquisitely beautiful that Leonie found her body bucking so much he had to hold her still. He did not stay long there as he knew she was not going to last long. He rose above her and with gentle finesse he guided his full erection inside her wet warmth pushing gently against the tightness there. His eyes held hers as he pushed even more against the barrier there, his expression tight.

  “I won’t hurt you,” he whispered hoarsely capturing her sharp cry of pain inside his mouth. He stopped for a little bit until she had gotten used to his length and then he moved inside her, increasing the tempo as she moved with him. She was so tight. He thought as she closed around him like a vice.

  His thrust became more fervent as he felt the pressure building up inside his testicles and he knew he was not going to last very long. He dragged his mouth from hers and rested his forehead against hers, his breathing harsh. “I want to make love to you all night but I can’t hold back much longer, Are you ready?” She looked at him questioningly; all she knew was that she felt as if she was imploding and he had stopped moving inside her.

  “Don’t stop,” she heard herself say. And with a tortured groan he gathered up her hips and renewed his thrust. She came with him, her body writhing beneath his, her fingers digging into the muscles of his shoulders as she cried out at the immense feeling rushing through her body. His body shuddered against hers as he spilled his seed inside her as if he would never stop.

  *****

  He was kissing her, she realized through the fog that had invaded her entire body. Her body was still shaking from the aftermath of their incredible lovemaking and she was still clinging to him. “I am not leaving tonight,” he told her decisively. Leonie was too weak to disagree and he held her closely to him.