She reached for him, but he caught her hands before she made contact and held them at her sides. When she murmured a protest, he just smiled.
“This bed was made for sex, wasn’t it, Belle?”
Instead of being turned off by his language, Belle’s body tightened, desire drenching her like a downpour. Her nipples tightened into unbearably hard peaks, the muscles of her pussy clenching in anticipation.
“Will you let me fuck you on this bed? Clothes on, fast and hard, down and dirty.”
Jared released one of her hands so he could run a finger down her torso starting at her chin, carefully avoiding her breasts until he reached the soft curls between her legs. He drew a few strands between his fingers, curling them around the tips, before he withdrew, causing her to groan.
“Do you trust me, Belle?”
She couldn’t speak so she nodded.
He moved then, reaching above her head.
When he untied the tasseled cords from the posts and left them dangling, she thought she might hyperventilate from excitement. He released her right hand, then brought her left one up and wrapped the cords gently around her wrist, laying the ends in her hands.
When he’d done the same to the right, he just stared, his breathing a harsh rasp in the silence.
When he reached for her again, he brushed against the sides of her breasts, sweeping down to her hips and her outer thighs. Sensation followed, pulsing over her like a wave. He touched every inch of her body but the throbbing flesh between her thighs, until she strained against the cords so hard she was afraid she’d bring the bed down on them.
At the precise moment she couldn’t take it any longer, he groaned and froze, his fingers shaking as his control began to implode.
Then his fingers moved again, arrowing straight between her thighs. He slipped two fingers between her legs and felt the wetness seeping from her. Because of her jeans at her knees, she could barely open her legs, and his fingers felt huge as he worked her.
When she was panting and nearly ready to climax, he withdrew, making her cry out. But in the next second, he found her clitoris and rubbed the moisture around it until she sobbed.
“Jared, please.”
Her eyes closed, she banged her head against the mattress and pulled on the cords, wanting to release her wrists so she could reach for him.
The sound of foil tearing made her pause and her eyes opened to find him rolling a condom onto his engorged shaft.
“Hurry.”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he stepped back, but only far enough so he could grab her ankles and lift them to his right shoulder. He lifted her until he was perfectly aligned to thrust into her. The tip of his cock pierced her, and he gave one shallow thrust before he slammed home and slid deep.
The pace he set was hard and fast and just this side of dirty. The position allowed him to watch her, his eyes slitted and intense, a dark, dark blue. He reached out to caress her breasts in time with his thrusts. Raising her hips to meet each thrust, she encouraged him to go faster, to fuck her harder.
She couldn’t look away. He had her pinned with his eyes. He forced her to stay with him, to match his every thrust with her own.
“Like it, Belle?”
She didn’t have the breath to answer. She could only tighten around him, making him groan.
“I know you do. Jesus, Belle, you are so fucking tight. I love being inside you.”
His words tugged on that invisible string inside her, making her body tighten almost to the point of pain.
Her orgasm built low in her body, her blood beating in her veins. She drew the scent of him into her lungs with each breath and let that trigger her final descent into bliss.
Her orgasm ripped through her, arching her body and taking him even deeper.
With a groan, he froze for a second before he began to piston his cock in and out, each stroke a sensual delight, until finally he came with a flood of warmth.
With her eyes closed, she felt every inch of him buried inside her, felt every twitch and pulse. Only the sound of their heavy breathing filled the air for several minutes.
Jared lay unmoving on top of her, the heat of his body like a blast furnace.
Finally, he pressed his lips to the side of her neck for an open-mouthed kiss that roused her desire once more before he slid out of her and reached for the cords around her wrists. With a few flicks, he released her, staring down at her with lust-darkened eyes and a wry smile on those gorgeous, talented lips.
“You’re going to be the death of me.”
“I think that’s my line,” she said, running her hands up and down his sweaty, but quickly cooling arms. They’d been too hot for each other to notice the cold before. “Are you cold?”
His chuckle sent a tingle down her spine. “Yeah, not so much. But I’m sure you’re freezing.”
Jared pulled her up and into his arms, holding her against his naked chest. For several seconds she listened to him breathe, felt the steady rise and fall of his chest beneath her cheek.
Now, this is what I want. Forever.
Everything stilled in that second of realization, which wasn’t really that much of a shock. She’d been falling for him since the first moment she saw him. Her heart had made up its mind days ago. Her brain had been slower to catch up.
Well, crap. What the hell did she do now?
Jared took that second to sit back, his gaze dropping to her sweater to watch his fingers slide each button back into place.
When he’d finished, he stood and gathered the rest of her clothes and placed them on the bed next to her.
His blue eyes glittered and his smile made her want to pull him back down onto the bed with her.
“I’m just gonna see if the bathrooms are working. Stay put. I’ll be right back.” He bent down to kiss her softly on the lips before pulling up his pants and heading down the stairs.
Annabelle couldn’t move, her emotions roiling from more than just sex. Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she took a deep breath and tried not to panic.
She loved Jared.
She loved his tenderness and his wit, his laugh and his sexy smile. She loved the way he held her after they made love and she loved to see him asleep in her bed, sprawled on more than his half, but always touching her.
He made her adventurous and she loved feeling that way about herself.
She finally felt like she was coming alive after being in limbo for so many years since her parents had died.
She realized she needed to tell him about her parents. About who she really was. He deserved to know the truth.
And when he knew the truth, would that change how he felt about her?
As a kid, she’d encountered two kinds of reaction to who she was. Horrified outrage from those who thought her parents were degenerates. Or sly, innuendo-filled curiosity.
That last had been the worst. She could shrug off the outrage because those people didn’t have a clue. They hadn’t known her parents, hadn’t known how loving their relationship had been. How adored she’d been by three parents, who’d loved one another.
But the curiosity…That had been the toughest to deal with. The cruel questions from the press, even some of the cops and social workers who’d taken custody of her until her grandfather had taken her away.
How would Jared react when she told him?
And she had to tell him. She couldn’t love him then continue to lie to him about who she really was. What if someone in the press figured it out before she told him? He might not forgive her and he had a reputation to protect.
Jared was Philadelphia blueblood royalty. The gossip rags would have a field day.
If she told him, maybe…Maybe what?
Maybe when they got married, her cover story would hold up to the press?
Christ, was she really considering marriage?
Shaking her head, she grabbed the rest of her clothes.
No, she was getting way ahead of herself. Jared hadn’t sai
d anything about marriage. Hell, he’d basically told her he wasn’t looking to get married. And she’d told him the same.
She heard footsteps below and hurried to pull on her clothes, working to clear her expression of any and all signs of her thoughts.
She needed a little more time to think about this.
Jared couldn’t believe his luck as he hurried down the steps from the loft.
This place was almost too good to be true.
And then there was Annabelle.
She was perfect.
For the first time in his life, Jared thought he might actually be in love.
It should have scared the crap out of him. Should have made him want to head back to Philadelphia like there was a gun aimed at his head.
Instead, all he wanted to do was run back to Belle and tie her to him. Forever.
There, that brought the fear back. Not a fear of commitment, though.
The fear she’d say no.
Latching onto the basin in front of him, feeling the cold porcelain beneath his hands, Jared tried to sort through an avalanche of feelings threatening to bury him.
Annabelle rapped on the door. “Jared, are you okay?”
Staring into his reflection, noting his disheveled hair and sated expression, he knew he was more than okay.
“Yeah, I’ll be right out.”
Turned out only the cold water worked, but it helped. And when he opened the door a few minutes later, Belle still waited on the other side.
She smiled at him, and he couldn’t resist. He wrapped her in his arms and pressed a kiss to her lips that left her gasping.
“Come on,” he said when he could breathe, “we’ve got work to do.”
For the next hour, they wandered through the house, Jared making all sorts of notes as he placed phone call after phone call—to his brother, his lawyer, a contractor. It seemed like he was planning a siege, and maybe he was.
Stopping in what would be the reception area just inside the front door, while Jared continued into the kitchen, Annabelle took a closer look, trying to see what he saw.
Yes, the building had a great shape and large rooms, several fireplaces and the grand staircase. But it didn’t have enough bathrooms, the kitchen wasn’t equipped to handle a multitude of guests, and the entire place had been plastered, which meant there were thousands of cracks all over the walls.
Jared saw beyond the surface. From what she’d picked up in his conversation with the contractor, he already had an image in his head of what he wanted. He explained in detail the building’s attributes and its faults. Crown molding and paint colors were already fixed in his mind’s eye.
He was fascinated and, as she watched, she became fascinated with his vision. The more she listened to his plans, the more it took shape in her mind. She saw how to furnish Jared’s dream.
“Hey, Belle, you ready to head out? We’ve gotta get to the agent’s office by six.”
“Yes,” she said. “I’m ready.”
Eighteen
“Annabelle, someone’s been digging into your background.”
With the cell phone caught between her shoulder and her ear as she carted a rug out of storage to the shop Friday afternoon, she had to stop to catch her breath. Though not from exertion.
Dropping the rug where she stood, she took the phone away from her ear and blew out a deep breath. She wanted to be surprised. Really, she did.
She wasn’t.
“Annabelle, are you there?”
Was it Jared? Was her background something he had Dane looking into? Had she said something to tip him off?
She put the cell back to her ear. “Yeah, I’m here, Reggie. Were they able to get enough info to piece it together?”
The man who’d been entrusted by her grandfather to keep her secrets gave a frustrated sigh and Annabelle knew Reginald Kauffman was running one hand over his bald head as if shining it. “That’s the thing, Annie. I’m not sure. Whoever was nosing around was damn good. My IT guy wouldn’t have caught it except for the fact that he was actually in the system at the same time as whoever was attempting to access the files. He’s not even sure if the guy got in or not.”
“And when was that?”
“Last Saturday afternoon.”
The day Dane had been there.
“Thanks for letting me know, Reggie.”
“Would you like me to look into it?”
If Dane was as good as Jared claimed, Reggie wouldn’t find anything. And if it hadn’t been Dane, then maybe she’d be forewarned about some journalist’s interest.
“Sure. That’d be great.”
Reggie paused. “You sound…unsure. Is something going on, Annabelle? Is everything alright?”
“Yes, everything’s fine. I’ve just…I’ve been thinking about revealing my identity, Reggie. I’ve met a man…”
“Ah.”
So much said in one word.
“Annabelle, are you sure that’s wise?”
“No, I’m not.”
Another pause. “Would you like me to have him checked out?”
The thought had occurred to her, though she couldn’t imagine Reggie would be able to discover anything about Jared she didn’t already know or couldn’t find out by asking.
And maybe she was being incredibly naïve.
If Dane had been the one digging into her background for Jared, what was he looking for? Did Jared suspect who she was? And if he did, was he only interested in her because of who she was? And the paintings she owned?
What should she do?
“Listen, can I call you back, Reggie? I need…I’ll let you know.”
“Of course you can. And you know I’ll do whatever I can for you, Annabelle.”
After saying good-bye, she hung up the phone and silence filled the shop.
Jared had left Tuesday morning for Philadelphia to deal with hotel stuff. And put an offer together for the property, which looked like it was a go.
He’d called every night but hadn’t been able to return yet. Hotel business, he’d claimed.
She tried to take a deep breath but it kept getting stuck on the lump in her throat.
Was he playing her?
Yesterday, she might have said no. Today…she didn’t have a clue. It made her feel like an idiot.
He’d said he’d call tonight. Should she confront him? What if it turned out Jared had nothing to do with this and she revealed her most closely kept secret without cause?
Would it be bad if he knew who she really was?
And what if someone else was hunting her? What if someone exposed her before she got the chance to tell Jared who she was? Would he be angry she’d lied to him?
Hell, maybe her true identity didn’t even matter anymore. The tragedy that had destroyed her world more than a decade ago was old news. She’d survived. She’d built a life and a career.
And she’d fallen for a guy who deserved to know who she was. Because if the past blew up in her face, she wanted him to know what he was in for. But did she want to continue a relationship with a man who was having her investigated behind her back?
There were too many damn questions.
The bell over the door rang, startling a gasp out of her.
“Hey, you ready to head—Whoa, Annabelle.” Kate held out her hands, as if declaring surrender. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I…” Kate’s gaze flashed over her, concern showing in her narrowed eyes. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
She sighed. “Someone’s digging into my past.”
Kate frowned. “Oh. That’s not good. Who do you…” She paused. “Wait, you think it’s Jared, don’t you?”
“It makes sense. He’s seen the painting of my mom and he’s a smart guy.”
Annabelle abandoned the rug in the middle of the floor to sit on the stool behind the main desk, resting her elbows on the counter.
Kate followed, mirroring her pose on the other side of the desk. “Assuming you’re right, and that’s a big assumpti
on at this point, what are you going to do?”
Annabelle bit her lip. “Do you think I should tell him?”
Kate just gazed at her steadily. “Do you want to tell him?”
She thought about it for several seconds. “I don’t want this secret hanging over our heads like a black rain cloud. I want to trust him with this.”
Kate’s smile had a wry twist to it. “But…”
She shrugged. “What if he’s only after my dad’s paintings? And I’m just the means to get them? Or what if it all blows up again? What if all the publicity is just too much? He shows up in the tabloids sometimes. I don’t know that I want to live that life. Not with my past.”
“Do you honestly think he’s sleeping with you just so he can get to your dad’s paintings?”
Damn, she really hoped not. But…
“The media was relentless after my parents were killed. They were vicious and cruel. I don’t know that I could live through that again. I come with a lot of baggage, Kate. He’s got family issues of his own, big ones. Maybe he just won’t want to deal with my shit.” Shaking her head, she sighed. “You know, I don’t know why I’m even stressing over this. It’s not like he’s going to ask me to marry him. When we first met, he told me he was never getting married. Said he didn’t believe in it and I think I understand why now. Maybe none of this will even matter. Maybe he’ll just say ‘See ya’ and move on.”
“But you don’t want him to, do you?”
Kate’s quiet question made her breath hitch in her chest. “I knew going into this that he didn’t want a long-term relationship. And I wasn’t looking for that either.”
“But that’s changed?”
Had it? Honestly…Yes, it had. Christ, why didn’t she just ask to have her heart broken?
She stared at Kate, whose eyes seemed so sad.
“Hey…did something happen?”
Kate’s gaze dropped for a second before she nodded. “I called off the engagement.”
Annabelle’s eyes popped wide and her mouth opened on a gasp. “Oh, God.” She reached across the counter to take Kate’s hand, lacing their fingers together. “When?”
“Last night. I knew I couldn’t keep going like this. It wasn’t fair to Arnie or me.” She sniffed, blinking back tears. “He didn’t even put up much of a fight.”
By Private Invitation Page 24
