Lucky 7 Bad Boys Contemporary Romance Boxed Set

by Pineiro, Charity

  "It feels even better than I had imagined, Rey," she admitted.

  "A confession, Princess?" he murmured in low tones, moving his hands to her waist and slipping under the hem of her shirt once more so he could create that connection of skin to skin. Savor the play of her muscles under his hands as she shifted her upper body close and rested her cheek against his.

  "Totally a confession," she answered shakily, her breath warm and uneven as he trailed his hands along her body, inching higher, until he stopped short of where he really wanted to be.

  She protested that with a little whimper and a hushed command, "Tell me your dreams, Rey. Am I in them?"

  He nuzzled the satiny skin of her cheek. "In a cameo sort of way," he replied teasingly and she huffed in indignation.

  "Only in a cameo sort of way?"

  "How about in a romantic kind of way?" he admitted. He turned his attentions to her ear lobe, where he gently tugged at her lobe with his teeth before dancing his mouth across to her lips, which despite her protest, she opened for him.

  "How ro . . . man . . . tic?" she murmured between kisses.

  "Let me. . ." He groaned as she bit his lip and then licked away the slight sting. Dragging in a deep breath, he finished. "Show you."

  Bianca moaned against his mouth as he brought his hands up beneath her shirt to cup the undersides of her breasts and strummed his thumbs across her nipples. They grew tighter with each pass, until he finally took each nipple between his thumb and forefinger, gently pulled and kneaded until she ached for more.

  She took her hands off his chest, where she had been busy exploring his hard muscles, reached for the hem of her shirt, and quickly whipped it off.

  His groan then was deep and visceral, transferring itself to her as she gazed down at his hands on the satiny, leopard skin print of her bra.

  "God," he uttered harshly. "If you're Jane, I pray to God I'm Tarzan," he managed to quip and drew a chuckle from her. It turned into a strangled moan as he bent his head and opened his mouth on the upper swell of her breasts.

  She cradled the back of his head, held him close and when he bent to take one nipple into his mouth through the fabric, she rose on her thighs to give him easier access, bringing the entire length of their upper bodies close together, skin against trembling skin.

  He bit and suckled her, alternating from one breast to the other, until she was whimpering her need, her hips bumping his body in an invitation to do more.

  Rey was certain he'd die if he couldn't taste her, but he was also sure he'd be a dead man if Alex found out what he had done to his little sister on their first date.

  In a moment of quickly fading sanity, the reality of what they were about to do if he didn't stop, hit him. Although he thought he might be permanently damaged if he didn't have her right then and there, one stubborn little brain cell took control and brought reason.

  He slowed his caresses and tempered them with gentleness instead of the passion that had too quickly escalated out of control.

  Slowly he stroked her back and said, "I want you more than I've ever wanted anyone before."

  "But you want to stop," she finished, sat back onto his thighs and met his gaze, her face flushed. Her lips swollen and slightly red from their passion.

  "I want to wait until what we feel with our bodies catches up to what we're feeling with our hearts," he said, hating that he was sounding way too sensitive guy, but knowing it was the right thing to do.

  Bianca smiled and cradled his cheek. “And I thought women were supposed to be the thoughtful ones."

  She bent and kissed him. A kiss filled with tenderness and acceptance, the fire of her desire banked for the moment as she honored the restraint he was showing. She eased off his lap and quickly pulled on her tank top.

  "Ready for that flan?" she asked.

  "I think I should go," he said grabbed his shirt and slipped it back on as he pushed to his feet.

  Bianca rose, stilled his hands as they fumbled with the buttons on his shirt. He dropped his hands and observed as she slowly slipped each button through its hole and smoothed the shirt over his chest. When she went to tuck in the shirt, he grasped her hands and gave them a teasing shake.

  "If you're trying to tempt me into staying, it won't work."

  "Nope. Not in the least," she said, but judging from her half-glance, he was certain she was trying to do just that.

  "My mom taught me to be a gentleman, Bianca. But even a gentleman has his limits," he warned playfully as he stuffed his shirt into his pants.

  Bianca met his gaze. There was no arguing with him, she could tell. In a way, she was glad he had been able to keep his head. She was worried that if she gave in too quickly to what she was feeling, she would regret it in the morning.

  "My mom taught me to never let a guest leave empty-handed. So if you'll just give me a second, I'll put that flan in a dish so you can enjoy it at home."

  She walked to the kitchen, cut a piece of flan, and put it into a plastic container for him. When she turned, he was standing by the door, his hands stuck in his pants pocket, as if he didn't trust himself not to touch her again.

  "Here," she said, holding out the container to him.

  Rey relented, pulled his hands out of his pockets and grabbed the dish, keeping it between them like some kind of shield. "Thank you for a very enjoyable and interesting evening."

  Bianca smiled and ran her hand lightly over his as he gripped the container with the flan. "I had a nice time, too."

  He shuffled his feet, turned to go, and then surprised her by whirling around and taking her into his arms. She looked up at him.

  He grinned and softly said, "Dream of me, Bianca."

  And then with a kiss so quick she might have imagined it, he rushed out her door.

  Chapter Twelve

  Bianca closed the door and leaned against it, groaning. She passed a hand over her lips which were still tender from his kisses.

  "Dream of me," she repeated and cursed beneath her breath. As if she was going to be able to think of anything but him with the way her body still hummed from the caresses they had shared.

  She walked back to the sofa, tossed herself on it, and reached for one of the untouched plates of flan on the table.

  What had she done? she asked herself, but didn't regret for a moment what had happened. From the first day she had seen him, something almost visceral had called to her. She knew, with a certainty she had never felt about anything before in her life, that what they could share would be something that would satisfy her on every level.

  Physically and emotionally. Every which way.

  Cutting into the piece of flan, she spooned up a chunk and examined her experiment for the first time. Eyeing the flan, she decided it was a sinfully rich milk chocolate color, several shades darker than the color of Rey's skin. Bringing the spoon to her lips, she took her first bite. The texture was satiny and smooth against her lips, but couldn't compete with the way Rey’s lips had felt against hers.

  She moaned and forced him from her mind, needing to concentrate on the dessert and just the dessert so she could decide if her recipe had worked. If it had, they would consider offering it on their menu at the new restaurant.

  Flan, a rich, caramel egg custard, was a staple in Cuban cuisine as well as other Latino cultures. Eduardo, Diana, and she had all agreed they wanted to include some kind of flan on the menu. In keeping with the idea of the restaurant’s theme, they wanted something non-traditional and which would meld elements from one or more Latino cultures.

  She had been chosen to contribute her variation on the flan. Since chocolate and Kahlua were of Mexican origin, she had decided to try and combine those ingredients into her recipe for a traditional Cuban flan.

  Bianca tasted the experimental flan and found it had a nice chocolate taste. Spooning up some of the Kahlua-accented caramel liquid, she sampled it as well. There was only a slight bite from the liqueur and it had a strong coffee taste. That made her recon
sider whether to change the flavoring in the egg base to a coffee one instead of chocolate.

  A cafe con leche flan? she thought.

  She shrugged, ate more of the dessert and was pleased with the blend of the flavors, although in the back of her mind, the coffee-flavored concept lingered like the touch and feel of Rey.

  Placing the empty plate back on the tray on the coffee table, she rose and picked up the tray, returned to the kitchen, and quickly cleaned all the mess. When she returned to the sofa, she moved the coffee table to the side, turned and yanked off the sofa pillows and cushions. With its usual cacophony of squeaks and groans, the sofa bed protested as she pulled it out.

  After straightening the sheets and blankets, she walked to her armoire, slipped off her clothes, and for a moment just stood there in the outrageous leopard print lingerie.

  She ran her hand over her breast, imagining how Rey had touched her and beneath her palm, her still-sensitized nipple beaded.

  God, how she had wanted him to go farther and feel his mouth on her. The thought of it nearly made her weak in the knees and she fought off the desire. She undressed, grabbed fresh pajamas, and tightened the drawstring on the pants to keep them from riding too low on her hips. She had lost some weight with all the hard work and running around.

  Shutting the armoire and slipping into bed, she snapped off the light and lay in the dark, thinking about the day and all that had happened, especially all that had occurred that night.

  Rey was an enigma to her. A bright, talented, and successful man with his own business who seemed to have depths that were dark. She had sensed his pain when he talked about his father. She had also sensed on more than one occasion that he felt he was somehow not good enough for some reason.

  All those things combined to give him that kind of bad boy air she had first noticed.

  Then there were his teasing comments about her being a princess which probably had the ring of truth in them, she suspected. She hoped that after today, she had dispelled some of his thinking on that issue. After all, she was no princess.

  She was just someone who worked with her hands every day the same way that he did. Granted, she hoped the artistic twist she brought to her craft elevated it slightly. Just like the artistic vision which Rey had demonstrated made him something more.

  It was certainly part of the reason he had made his business a success. The other part, namely being business-like and prompt, remained to be seen. The project at the restaurant was still too new for her to tell. Somehow she sensed he wouldn't disappoint her with either the quality of his work or his dedication to the project. His references had all raved about both. Plus Bianca had heard nothing but glowing terms about Rey from her sister-in-law Maya.

  In the back of her mind, she suspected that Maya had some ulterior motives in introducing her to Rey, but she wasn't about to complain that Maya had been successful.

  Bianca closed her eyes, the effects of the long hard day starting to drag at her. Rolling to the side, she grabbed one of the pillows and tucked it against her side, resting her thigh across it. She breathed in deeply, smelled the faint, lingering scent of Rey's cologne and smiled until sleep claimed her, pulling her into another world.

  * * *

  "Dream of me," Bianca whispered against his lips as she started to open the door to her apartment, but Rey wasn't about to leave. Not just yet.

  He grasped her hand as it rested on the door knob and helped her close the door.

  "Can dreams possibly be better than this?" he asked a second before he took her mouth with his and turned her so her back was pressed against the door.

  The urgency of his kiss obliterated whatever thoughts she might have had of asking him to leave. He kissed her over and over, plunged his tongue into her mouth, and she answered him, meeting his desire with her tongue and lips and the press of her body.

  He was shaking, his body almost painfully hard as he drove her up against the door. She moaned, grasped the back of his neck and lifted her legs around his waist, encircling him.

  "Rey," she said huskily against his mouth as he walked with her to the sofa and laid her down.

  He broke apart from her only long enough to remove the small tank top that had been tempting him with visions of the wild-patterned bra beneath all night long. With the top gone, the animal print was revealed and awakened the beast inside him.

  Without a moment of pause, he undid the zipper of her jeans, pulled them off to reveal a matching set of panties. He covered her body with his and inched his hand down to skim his thumb across her center.

  Bianca shook against him, reached down, and cupped his erection through the denim of his jeans. . .

  Rey bolted upright in bed, his breathing harsh and his arousal painful. He wiped at the sheen of sweat on his forehead and rolled over, pressing against his mattress in the hopes of quelling his desire. Gritting his teeth, he made a mental list of everything he had to get done the following morning to distract himself from thoughts of Bianca.

  Call waste company to empty the Dumpster.

  Confirm delivery of the first shipment of lumber.

  Set up work areas and crews.

  Thought after thought churned through his head, including that he had to call Alex and have a man-to-man with him until finally, the last lingering thought flitted through his brain before sleep claimed him.

  Make love to Bianca.

  * * *

  Rey drove himself hard on Monday morning, suspecting that after yesterday and last night, it would be late morning before Bianca made it back to the restaurant to continue with her work in the kitchen.

  By the time John-John, his second-in-command, promptly showed up at nine, Rey was ready to bolt, knowing he had a lot of things to settle before he saw Bianca again after what had happened the night before.

  He left John-John detailed instructions on what he wanted accomplished by the end of the day and escaped to the safety of his office where he scheduled everything that needed to be done for Bianca's job. He placed more orders for the necessary supplies, haggling with his various distributors for the lowest possible prices as he had promised Bianca. He finished by late morning and left the office to check on the other jobs he had going on at other locations.

  At each site he had a man in charge he trusted to oversee both his men and the independent contractors who did the specialty work like the plumbing and electrical.

  By early afternoon he was done, but instead of heading to the restaurant, he ran by his apartment, showered, and then drove down to Edison to see his sister, Daisy.

  She was just getting out of a meeting with her newlywed husband, Maya, and TJ, their other partner, when he arrived at their offices.

  Brad gave him a brotherly hug before he and TJ left him alone with Maya and Daisy in Daisy's office.

  "How's my favorite brother doing? Bianca's place giving you trouble?" his ever sharp sister asked, sensing that there was something bothering him.

  He glanced at Maya out of the corner of his eye and caught her equally astute gaze studying him. He experienced a moment of sympathy for the men married to these two women. Neither man stood a chance of sneaking anything past either of the women.

  "No termites. No pests to speak of, Daze. How's married life?" he asked, although he could see from the radiance pouring off his sister that her personal life was just fine.

  "My love life is just great. How's your's? Bianca giving you a hard time?" Daisy asked. She sat on the sofa in her office and patted the seat next to her, which Maya quickly accepted.

  Rey knew he had no choice but to make himself comfortable in the chair opposite them for the inquisition he was sure would follow. Surprisingly, he wasn't going to avoid it.

  "My love life. . ." he began and grinned since he could finally say that he had the beginnings of a love life. "Bianca and me. We went out last night."

  Daisy eyed him critically and then shot a quick glance at Maya. "I say he has it bad."

  Maya chimed in, "
Very bad, which is very good."

  Rey joined them in the laughter that followed, pleased by Maya's comment. "I hope it can be good between me and Bianca, but we really don't know each other yet. It seems like it's too soon and too fast."

  Daisy raised her hand to silence him. "Bro, you know Bianca is not the kind of girl you mess with, right? As for too fast, I hope you took precautions."

  "Precautions weren't necessary yet, sis," he confessed.

  Both women breathed a sigh of relief which pissed him off a little. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, you two."

  "Rey, it's not that we don't have confidence in you, we do," Daisy began and glanced at Maya for her confirmation. When her friend nodded, Daisy continued. "Once you decide Bianca's what you want, we both know it’ll be really hard for her to turn you down."

  Rey leaned his elbows on his knees and grasped his hands, looking down at them as he considered his sister's words for a moment before asking, "Even if I tell her about my past? About the time I spent in prison? What if I decide not to tell her?"

  There was silence for a second before Maya replied. "You owe it to yourself and to Bianca to tell her and let her make her own decisions. You can't start a relationship based on a lie."

  "It's already started and I haven’t told her, Maya. So what do I do now?" he questioned, although he knew the answer even before his sister answered.

  "You tell her before it goes any farther."

  * * *

  By the time Rey returned to the restaurant, Bianca had left for the day. He regretted missing her for a number of reasons, chief amongst them that he had worked up the courage to tell her about his past.

  After checking that all was going well at the site, he headed home and tried to reach Bianca on the phone, hoping that he could drop by her place and they could talk. Unfortunately, there was no answer on her phone and all he could do was leave a short voice message.

  “I missed you today. I hope we can see each other soon. There's something we need to talk about.”