“I do some... writing. Business-type stuff. It’s too complicated to explain, but it’s the way I earn my living.” Well, it was, wasn’t it? And he did write about business, sometimes. Sort of. The hero in Land of 1000 Vices was an everyday businessman, wasn’t he? “I don’t actually live off my trust fund, Jamie.”
Tell her, a chorus of voices inside his head screamed. Putting it off any longer was inexcusable; keeping it a secret was insane. But...
He thought back to Jamie’s reaction to the Brick Lawson books on the first day they’d met in the library. She’d made no secret of her scorn and disapproval. His mouth twisted into a grim smile. It was ironic that the one woman he’d become seriously involved with should share his family’s antipathy toward his work. While he’d become inured to his family’s disdain and rejection, the thought of having to endure Jamie’s made his blood run cold.
Worst of all was his lie by omission, by not revealing the truth from the beginning. A lie that had been compounded each day he’d concealed the truth from her. And if she were ever to find out about that damn paper he’d written two weeks ago for Saran... His temples began to throb with tension.
“You’re in business?” Jamie looked puzzled. “But why didn’t you tell me, Rand? All this time I’ve been trying to—”
“Convince me that I should be engaged in some kind of interesting or productive line of work,” Rand finished for her. Tread lightly, he warned himself. “I enjoyed listening to you. You tried so hard to be subtle and discreet and you were neither.”
“But—”
“I’ll fill you in on all the details later,” he said, “but right now I want to hear about that library summer program you were hoping to get started after school lets out next month. Have you given it any more thought?”
A few weeks ago, she’d mentioned the plans she’d drawn up for a library camp, a program for school-age children who would otherwise be alone during the summer while their parents worked. As he questioned her about it now, Rand leaned forward, his eyes intent with interest. Jamie basked in the concentrated warmth of his attention, letting him guide the conversation, responding to him, unaware that she was carefully being steered from a potentially explosive topic.
For the rest of the afternoon, he was successful in deflecting her questions about his newly announced, albeit vague, profession. But after the outdoor picnic dinner, as the rest of the Saracenis socialized merrily in the backyard, Jamie and Rand retreated to a quiet alcove in the hall and she returned to another subject he’d managed to avoid all day.
“Rand, I’ve been thinking about that invitation from your parents to your brother’s anniversary party.”
He frowned. “I’m not going to go, Jamie.”
“Don’t you think that maybe they’re extending the proverbial olive branch, Rand? I think you should accept. Families shouldn’t be enemies.”
“We’re not enemies, we’re totally indifferent to each other.”
“Would you go if I went with you?” Jamie dared to say. She knew it was a risk, but she had to take it. She loved Rand too much to stand by and not help to breach the distance between him and his family.
“You don’t want to meet them, Jamie. My mother is so cold she could freeze fire, and my father and brother will completely ignore you. They have nothing to say to anybody who isn’t—”
“I’m not afraid to meet them.” She smiled reassuringly. “I’m a Saraceni, I can take whatever they might dish out and give it back if need be.” Her smile faded. “Unless you don’t think I’m good enough to meet the exalted Marshalls?”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” The notion inflamed him. “Dammit, Jamie, I’d be proud to introduce you to them.” She looked at the floor and said nothing.
“Do you want me to prove it? I will if I have to. I’ll tell them I’m coming to the party and bringing you. Of course, my mother will undoubtedly demand your name and address to send you your own invitation. She’s extremely— correct.”
“And I’ll write her a polite reply, accepting her kind invitation.” Jamie’s eyes gleamed. “I can be correct, too, when the occasion demands.”
Rand shook his head wryly. “Mother will be stunned. She assumes that I associate strictly with barbarians who are unfamiliar with the social graces.”
Jamie put her arms around his waist and gazed at him, her eyes blazing with love and pride. “Your family doesn’t know the Rand Marshall that I know. I think it’s about time they met him.”
“Jamie, it’s not going to be that easy. We won’t arrive in Virginia and find a warm, welcoming family, eager to make a brand-new start. That only happens in made-for-TV movies.” Already, his body was responding to her nearness. He closed his arms around her and drew her close.
“We’ll go and deal with whatever happens, good or bad,” she said huskily, standing on tiptoe to lightly brush her lips along his. “I think you need someone to champion you in front of that family of yours. And I want to be your champion. I’ll let them know that it’s no longer tolerable for them to mistreat you.”
“Ah, Jamie, you’re so sweet.” He stroked her back with his fingers, his hands firm and caressing. “So loyal.” His hands swept over her hips, pressing her more intimately against him. He loved the idea of her being staunchly on his side.
Loyalty was something he seldom experienced, but he’d observed that it was a Saraceni trait, binding them to each other and remaining unshaken through even the fiercest arguments. At first Rand had found it amusing, then fascinating, and at last he’d given in and admitted to himself that he admired that fierce family loyalty. Which Jamie felt for him, too.
The knowledge touched him viscerally, releasing a surging tide of emotion that sparked his passion to even greater heights.
Jamie felt the hardness of his muscled body and quivered as the familiar heat warmed her. He covered her mouth with his, and excitement and need exploded through her. Their tongues met and stroked intimately. Moaning softly, she pressed closer to him, her hips undulating sinuously, her body straining for his. But she wasn’t close enough. Every time they touched, every time they kissed, this restless, aching yearning within her grew more and more intense.
He lifted his mouth from hers, but held her tightly, his body pulsating with tension. “If I don’t stop now, I’ll carry you upstairs to your bedroom and take you right there in your own bed,” he said in a rasping voice, harsh with need. “I want you so badly that not even a yard full of your relatives would restrain me.”
Jamie clung to him, weak with unslaked passion. “It’s almost unbearable,” she whispered, “this waiting and wanting.”
“Drop the almost. It is unbearable.” He smoothed his hand over her thigh, feeling the warmth of her skin under the soft, worn denim of her jeans. “Come home with me, Jamie. Spend the rest of the weekend with me at my place.”
He’d asked her before, too many times to count. And she’d always refused. He braced himself, waiting for yet another no. How much longer could he wait? he wondered grimly, knowing the answer even as he pondered the question. He would wait as long as he had to; he was too crazy about her to even think of seeking physical satisfaction with anybody else.
Her body was throbbing. He’d unbuttoned his shirt while working in the hot sun earlier, and her fingers tangled in the thick mat of dark hair on his chest. A fierce wave of love and longing surged through her. It was the strength of her love for him, combined with the desire and passion raging within her, that made it impossible to refuse him anything. There were no more doubts or fears; she loved him, trusted him, too. It was time.
“I want to come with you,” she murmured softly. “But I—” She gazed up at him, blushing. “What’ll we tell everybody? I can’t just waltz out the door with my suitcase.”
“Why not? I’ll be right with you. Just call, ‘See you on Monday’ as we leave. My guess is that no one will say a word.”
Ten
You were wrong,” Jamie said to Rand as he loaded h
er small suitcase into his car. “You said no one would say a word but Mom yelled, ‘Have a good time.’ ”
“And your grandmother said, ‘Drive carefully’ and quoted the number of traffic fatalities predicted over the holiday weekend.”
They chatted desultorily during the drive to Rand’s house, their easy conversation belying the intensity vibrating between them.
Once they reached his home, Jamie felt as if she were in a dream, yet all her senses were heightened to excruciating levels of sensitivity when Rand picked her up and carried her and her small suitcase directly into his bedroom. She was achingly aware of the hard muscular feel of his arms under her thighs, of the rippling movement of his shoulders, of the enticing male scent of him.
When he kicked the bedroom door closed with his foot, she stared at him questioningly. “The cat,” he explained dryly. “If I don’t keep the door closed, he insists on sleeping on the bed. And living with Reebok has taught me something I’d never known before—that I hate sleeping with a cat.”
“Me, too.” Her voice was dreamy. It was impossible to think of cats when she was trembling with love and anticipation for Rand. Who would soon be her lover. Her first and only lover.
The cool, silver moonlight illuminated the bedroom, which was decorated in the same black and white functional minimalism as the living room. Jamie thought of the cozy country-style bedroom of her fantasies and smiled. This room was large and it even had a fireplace, albeit a black granite one with ridiculous fake logs made of black and white ceramic in its hearth. It wouldn’t be difficult to turn this trendy eyesore into the warm, homey nest of her dreams.
The water bed came as a bit of a surprise. When Rand laid her on it, coming down beside her, the rolling waves startled her into sitting up, wide-eyed.
She bounced a little; she simply couldn’t help herself. The aquatic mattress seemed to pitch and roll. Jamie giggled irrepressibly. “I’ve never been on one of these things before.” She slapped her hand down hard and watched the undulating movement.
“Jamie!” Rand made a grab for her. An unsuccessful one.
She went jouncing across the bed, rocking back and forth to stimulate the water’s movement, fascinated by the ebb and flow.
“You’re not supposed to play with the bed,” he said with mock exasperation. “You’re supposed to play on it.” This time he reached her and pressed her down on her back, into the thick down-quilted cover. “With me.”
She smiled at him, her eyes teasing, as she stroked his cheek with her fingertips. “Sorry. I guess I got distracted by the novelty.”
“Ouch! What a blow to my formerly oversize ego.” Rand lowered himself on top of her. “When we’re in bed together, I want to be the only thing that distracts you.”
She felt her body adjust to his heavy male frame, the water mattress absorbing and distributing much of his weight. “Oh, Rand,” she said on a husky sigh. “I can’t believe we’re really here together.”
“You can’t believe it?” He gave a laugh as he hugged her to him. “Honey, do you know how long I’ve waited for us to reach this stage of the courtship?”
“Chapter five,” Jamie inserted.
“Yeah. I was beginning to worry that we’d be mired in chapters one through four for the rest of our natural lives.” “You never thought I’d ever do this?” Boldly, with a sexual confidence she’d never dreamed reserved, cautious Jamie Saraceni could possess, she slid her hand to the front of his jeans and pressed the straining fullness there.
He clenched his teeth and drew in a sharp breath, squeezing his eyes shut as reckless pleasure stabbed him. “Proper little Jamie,” he breathed. “Who’d’ve ever dreamed it?”
Pleased with her success, she bravely caressed him through the heavy denim. “I never thought I’d do this, either,” she said wondrously. “Oh, Rand, I love you. I love touching you. I’m not afraid at all!”
Rand exhaled a shuddering breath and forced himself to remove her hand. “Baby, you’re making me crazy. I want us to go slow, to savor every minute. And if you keep that up...” He gave her a rueful smile. “It’s been a long time, Jamie. I don’t want things to be over before we even begin.”
She nodded, sliding her arms around his neck. “Kiss me, Rand,” she whispered.
“Oh, yes.” His voice was rough and deep.
His mouth came down forcefully on hers, but she was ready and waiting for it. He thrust his tongue into her mouth and she welcomed it, closing her lips around it and sucking it deeper inside.
He had taught her to kiss like this, she thought, reveling in the wonderful carnality of it. Just as he had taught her everything else about arousal and excitement and the wondrous joys of physical pleasure. And tonight he would teach her the final mysteries of sex, and she would learn what it is to be a woman filled and satisfied by the man she loves.
She murmured his name between the hard, deep kisses and struggled with his shirt to slide her hands under it and feel the heated bare skin of his back. He wedged his thigh between hers, fitting her to him, sending shock waves of pleasure jolting through her. When he began to rhythmically press against her, she moaned softly and flexed her fingers, scoring his skin with her nails.
And then, slowly, he lifted himself away from her to prop himself on his elbow and gaze at her. Her eyes flew to his face. “Rand...” she began and tried to pull him down to her.
“We have too many clothes on,” he said with a husky laugh. “It’s time to get rid of them.”
She was suddenly, heart-stoppingly shy. The thought of boldly shedding her clothes sent a shiver of apprehension through her. And then she thought about Rand and his clothes. Was she supposed to undress him? Before or after undressing herself? Jamie frowned, lamenting her inexperience.
“I want to undress you.” Rand’s deep, low voice instantly dissolved her dilemma. Jamie closed her eyes, weak with relief. She felt his fingers on the buttons of her blouse, undoing each one in order with maddening precision. When she dared to open her eyes, she found that he was smiling.
“You’re teasing me!” she accused shakily.
“Your eyes were as round as saucers when I mentioned taking off our clothes. You looked like a scared little virgin.” He laughed softly. “Not that I have any experience with virgins, scared or otherwise.”
Jamie swallowed. “You prefer women with experience.”
“It’s fairer that way. I’ve never wanted to assume the responsibility of taking a woman’s virginity. Or the obligations it might imply.” Her blouse now unbuttoned, he stared hungrily at her breasts, which were straining beneath her lacy ivory camisole.
“I see.” It was going to be harder to tell him than she’d thought, she decided nervously. One thing was certain; she was not going to play the tired cliche of scared virgin! Her cheeks flushed. She had too much pride to cast herself in that hapless role.
Gearing up her courage, she sat up and began to unbutton his shirt. Her fears flew from her mind when she slipped his shirt from his shoulders and gazed upon the strong expanse of his chest, of the enticing mat of wiry, dark hair. Shrugging out of her blouse, she moved into Rand’s arms and they kissed and kissed. Deep, hot kisses. Sexy, wet, mind-shattering kisses.
They sank down onto the mattress and the undulation of the water took on a wholly new meaning for Jamie. It was a primitive, elemental rhythm, as old as time and powerful as nature.
She lifted up a little as he deftly swept the camisole over her head, exposing her beautifully shaped breasts, the rounded white softness, the dusky rose tips that were already aching and taut.
“You’re beautiful,” he breathed. He feathered her nipples with his fingertips, and unable to resist, he took one rosy bud into his mouth.
Jamie gave a sharp cry and arched upward. She felt him lave her nipple with his tongue, circling the crest and the tip before finally drawing it deeply into his mouth to suck.
Waves of pleasure washed through her, making her feel deliciously languid, hot and w
eak. It was as if an invisible cord was connected to a place deep in her womb, for she felt the effects there, too, wild and throbbing, making her writhe and twist as the forceful pleasure snaked through her.
“You’re so responsive, so sweet,” Rand breathed, lifting his mouth to the other nipple. He smoothed one big hand over her belly and beneath the waistband of her jeans.
Jamie sucked in her stomach and whimpered as his hand traced the lacy waistband of her panties. “Let’s take these off,” he whispered seductively, and while she watched him dizzily, he stroked her jeans from her body, taking her underpants with them.
She lay before him, naked and flushed. His eyes swept over her, studying her and the rich sweet curves of her body. He lingered over her taut, rounded breasts, the small waist and womanly curve of her hips, the long, shapely legs and the alluring dark triangle lushly shadowing her femininity.
“Oh, baby, 1 want you so much.” His voice was thick. He wished he could be more eloquent, but his gift for words seemed to have shorted out in the electrical fire storm sizzling between them.
Jamie watched as he struggled with his jeans, working them over his swollen manhood, then repeated the procedure with his briefs. She stared at him, her blue eyes wide. He looked very strong and very powerful.
Their eyes met and held for a long, silent moment before Rand lay beside her and took her in his arms. His hands learned the shape of her, caressing every curve, savoring the soft and supple texture of her skin.
Jamie responded with all the pent-up longings of her passionate nature. The sensations he was evoking were exquisite, making her aware of her own femininity in a whole new and thrilling way. She wanted to give and give to him, to surrender herself to the strength and power of his masculinity—and to the strength and power of her love for him.
Hesitantly, but curious and excited, she reached out to encircle the pulsing, hot shaft with her hand. Rand drew in a deep, ragged breath and moved his body in counterpoint with her hand. Jamie felt his control slip, watched him shudder with the pleasure she was giving him and felt a surge of feminine power she’d never dreamed she possessed. Tenderness flooded her in loving waves as she continued to caress him. He seemed vulnerable, so totally in her command, and love swelled within her.
Rule Breaker Page 14
