Lucky 7 Bad Boys Contemporary Romance Boxed Set

by Pineiro, Charity

  She was beyond speech, so she hummed her answer. "Mmm-hmm."

  "How do you want me to touch you, sweetheart?" He pulled her sweater up to her waist, and then a little farther.

  "Take it off, Cole," she whispered. Shocked at her own scandalous suggestion, she nevertheless lifted up a bit to help him.

  A low sound came from his chest when he swept the sweater up her midriff, grazing the sides of her bare breasts, and pulled it over her head. The sweater hit the floor with a poof. A strand of hair fell across her upturned cheek, and he lifted it behind her ear with his finger.

  "So beautiful," he whispered, and her heart swelled with joy. The sound of his hands rubbing together was followed by a waft of gardenia in the air around them. Tentatively at first, then more boldly, he massaged the light oil into the skin of her back, stroking it on with slow, sensual movements.

  Her body was liquid fire. A steady throb of desire between her legs pulsed deeper with every heartbeat. Even the slight contractions she felt around the baby pulled the coil of tension in her woman's center that much tighter.

  "Turn over, baby, so I can do the other side."

  His words hit her like an erotic wave. Without letting herself think, she obeyed. He sat on his knees, watching her turn, his eyes hooded, his face taut. His gaze brushed over her bare breasts. "Oh, God, Rini."

  He tossed a few of the pillows aside, then poured more oil into an unsteady palm, and smoothed his hands together. Starting with her fingers and hands, he worked up her arms, placing them above her head when he was done.

  Her heartbeat sped as he spilled a few more drops of oil onto his hands. Her already hard nipples tightened eagerly, craving his touch. Her eyelids fluttered shut.

  He drew his fingers along her jaw, then gently stroked down her throat and applied the oil to her upper chest. Her tortured breasts ached for his caress, but his hands skimmed by them, smoothing down her sides and ribs until they hit the top of her leggings. He hooked his fingers under the elastic, and her body arched.

  "Shall I do your legs?" His voice sounded raw, almost hoarse.

  She opened her eyes and looked into his. Reckless hunger, want, and steely determination were what she saw. Blood surged rhythmically through a vein in his temple.

  If Cole could take it, so could she.

  "I'd like that," she whispered, mewling softly when he quickly drew her leggings and panties off in a single motion. She turned her head shyly, not daring to watch his reaction to her swollen body.

  "Woman, you are so incredibly beautiful."

  Slowly, she turned back. She lay before him, naked beneath his ravenous gaze. Over eight months pregnant, forty pounds heavier than usual, and she'd never in her life felt as sexy or alluring as he made her feel at that very moment.

  A muscle jumped in his clamped jaw. A light sheen of perspiration coated his forehead. He reached for the bottle of oil and drizzled a thin line from her foot to her trembling thigh. With strong, clever fingers he massaged her ankle and calf, moving slowly up past her knee to her thigh. She could feel the back of his hand brush the curls between her legs, but maddeningly, frustratingly, he came no closer to the place where she most wanted him.

  He started on the other leg. By the time he reached her upper thigh, she was a witless mass of molten desire. Wantonly, she parted her legs slightly, inviting his intimate caress. She nearly groaned in frustration when he took a deep breath and started on her baby belly. Lord above, he had to run out of safe territory soon.

  Suddenly it hit her. He was waiting for her to tell him what she wanted. He'd promised a massage and nothing more, unless she said so. The man must be a saint.

  "Cole?"

  "Yeah, babe?" A rivulet of sweat trickled from his cheek down his neck and disappeared into a stain spreading on the front of his white T-shirt.

  "You missed a few spots."

  Chapter Eleven

  Kneeling beside Rini, Cole swallowed heavily. "That right?"

  She nodded, loving the effect her words were having on him. "Uh-huh."

  Loving him.

  She deliberately shifted her body, stretching her arms above her head, subtly thrusting her breasts out. Cole caught his breath. Oh, yes. She could deny it no longer. She was in love with her husband and longed to show him just how much.

  "Where did I miss?" he asked in a strangled voice.

  "My earlobes," she said teasingly.

  She watched his jaw clench, the muscle twitching wildly. "Okay."

  He moistened his fingertips with oil and gently kneaded the sensitive lobes between them. A moan of pleasure escaped her.

  "Anywhere else?"

  "My lips."

  His gaze dropped to her mouth, his teeth clamped tightly. "Right."

  Using his thumb, he stroked oil onto her lips, easing back and forth across her lower lip, smoothing over the bow of her upper lip.

  "Wonder how it tastes," she murmured, then swiped her tongue over his thumb. "Hmm."

  "Well?" His eyes were black as midnight, his face a study in painful restraint.

  She licked her lips. "Not too bad. You should try it."

  He blinked a couple of times, his eyes on her mouth. Without lifting his gaze, he sucked on his thumb where it had touched her lips. "Mmm. Spicy."

  The air between them sizzled and cracked with electricity. Cole's chest heaved with labored breaths. Her own was tight with want.

  His eyes locked on hers. "Rini, are we done here?"

  She shook her head. "Almost. Just one more place."

  He exhaled slowly. "All right. Where?"

  She caught the front of his T-shirt in her fingers and gave it a little tug. "Come closer and I'll tell you."

  He slid his legs down the bed and stretched out beside her, holding himself up on his forearm, bending his head to hers. She turned to him and pulled him closer yet, so their noses were end-to-end, their parted lips nearly touching.

  "The tips of my breasts," she whispered into his mouth.

  His nostrils flared and his tongue dragged across his lower lip. Wordlessly, he sat up and poured a small amount of oil into the cap of the bottle. He rolled her so she was on her back again.

  Excruciatingly slowly, he let one drop fall from the cap onto her right nipple. She gasped at the impact, savoring the slippery warmth that spread down the hard point.

  He toyed with her for a moment, poising the cap above her left breast, making her wait for the precious liquid to fall. She tried to hold perfectly still so it wouldn't miss, but her heart pounded so hard it made her breast bounce slightly with every beat.

  "Please, Cole." Her voice cracked.

  When the drop finally fell, hitting the tightly knotted bud, she cried out, her control snapping. She grasped his T-shirt and pulled him to her, covering his mouth with hers, swallowing his answering groan, savaging him with kisses.

  "Cole." She whispered his name, keening in pleasure when his hands closed around her breasts.

  "Oh, woman." His tongue met hers and stroked boldly into her mouth. "God, how I want you."

  She grabbed his T-shirt and yanked it up his chest. "I want you, too," she urged. "I've dreamed of nothing else since May." She couldn't believe her dreams were about to come true.

  He helped her slip it over his head, then slid his arm under her and awkwardly pulled her close. "Will it be okay? The baby?"

  "Just be gentle."

  "I will, sweetheart." Joining his lips with hers again, he spread her legs apart. "So silky," he breathed into her mouth. "So wet. Like a flower in the rain." He tested her depths with his fingers. "Rini, the baby's right there. I'm so hard for you I'm afraid I'll hurt one of you."

  "Please don't stop, Cole. I'll guide you." She reached for the waistband of his sweats.

  He stroked her intimately and whispered in her ear, "I want to be inside you."

  Rini's heart filled with happiness and she threw her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply. "Oh, Cole, I'm so happy. It's going to be okay, isn't i
t—our marriage?"

  "Shh, of course it is."

  "And you will love me, won't you? Swear you will…."

  She felt him go still. Then he held her away from his chest and looked into her face.

  "Rini," he said quietly.

  "Because I couldn't stand it if I thought you wouldn't learn to love me. Not right now, but...eventually."

  "Honey—"

  Rini's words continued to spill out, regardless of her growing uneasiness. "I understand it'll take time. But we're together now. A family. You and me and our son. I'm pretty sure I could love you." I already do. "You could love me one day—" she nestled against him, waiting for reassurance...or something else "—couldn't you?"

  Anything…?

  Please!

  "Rini. Honey…"

  With a feeling of impending doom, she looked up into his eyes, and her heart shattered in a million pieces. "Oh, God."

  "Sweetheart, please don't—" The look of profound guilt and confusion on his face told her everything his words didn't.

  She squeezed her eyes shut. "You don't want that."

  "It's not that I don't— It's not that simple. I—"

  "Alexa was right. You don't really want me at all."

  "That's not true. I've never wanted anyone more in my life, Rini."

  "For sex. Just sex. And for the baby." She pulled her arms from him and buried her face in her hands. "Oh, what have I done?"

  She turned her back and curled into herself, hugging the child in her womb. How could she have misjudged the situation so completely? How could she have deceived herself into thinking he could ever love her, or even accept that she might love him?

  He put his arms around her from behind. "I'm so sorry. I honestly thought love was the last thing on your mind."

  "Cole, I'm having your baby! What did you think was on my mind? Just a quick roll in the hay and then back to our business proposition? I thought—" She covered her face with her hands. "Oh, I'm such an idiot."

  Hurt stabbed through her chest and a single tear fought its way past her tightly squeezed lids. She had to get control of herself. She would not cry in front of him. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction. "Please, leave me alone."

  She felt his hand on her arm. "Rini—"

  She jerked away, unable to bear being touched by him. Shame burned in her face. "Go away. Please, just go away now."

  She could sense the reluctance in his movements, but he got up, grabbed his T-shirt, and left without another word.

  She trembled with guilt and disappointment, frustration, and dashed hopes. She thought with bitterness of her mother's scorn, of David's cruelty, and now this ultimate humiliation from the man she had married.

  Married.

  She swallowed furiously, refusing to let herself cry. Why didn't he want to love her?

  She took a long, shuddering breath. She knew she had to reach deep inside herself for the strength to go on hoping.

  "I've been such a fool," she whispered to herself. "He doesn't love me. He doesn't even want to try. But for my baby's sake, somehow, some way, I have to change his mind."

  * * *

  Rini sang softly as she gathered ingredients to make French toast. Glancing at the mullioned window of Cole's kitchen—her kitchen now, she reminded herself—she caught the reflection of the determined look that refused to leave her face that morning.

  She was married. And he was a good man, she knew, despite… Well, anyway, in a few short weeks she would have his baby, and they would be a real family.

  After a long, sleepless night of soul-searching, she had decided the situation was definitely worth salvaging.

  Sure, they had a few problems to iron out. Like the fact that he had no intention of ever falling in love with her. But she would work on that. She could find a way. Under the circumstances, she felt justified in her course of action. It was obvious he was attracted to her, sexually. She was certain he could grow to love her, too. She had to believe it was possible. For her own sanity.

  In the meantime, she'd keep him at arm's length. No repeats of last night's weakness, that was for sure. She couldn't let herself get close enough to be susceptible to his heated looks and erotic caresses. That would be her downfall.

  Grabbing a bowl, she cracked eggs and dipped bread. Their relationship had to be strictly platonic. Just until he realized he loved her, of course. But that was only a matter of time. Humming, she poured Cole's coffee, hot and black, just as he liked it. She'd take such good care of him, he wouldn't know what hit him.

  She had just finished piling his plate high with French toast when she heard him stride down the hall toward the kitchen. She smoothed her dress, brushing at a splotch of powdered sugar, then turned to greet him.

  He blew into the kitchen like a storm cloud. Her smile faltered, but she quickly repossessed it. "Good morning."

  "Morning." He strode directly to the table and grabbed his coffee. It sloshed over the side of the cup onto his hand. "Damn!"

  She hurried over with a cloth to wipe off the hot liquid. When she touched him he flinched worse than when the scalding coffee had hit his flesh. He jerked his hand away.

  "Cole!"

  "I'm fine. Don't fuss." He turned to the table.

  She stared at his back, unaccountably hurt. "Okay." She pushed the hurt away and fetched the maple syrup from the counter. "Have some breakfast. I've made French toast."

  "I don't eat breakfast. Coffee's fine."

  She gripped the edge of a chair. "At least sit down."

  He shook his head. "I have to get to the office."

  Her heart stalled. What was wrong with him? "But...it's Saturday. I thought—" Was he mad about last night? What possible reason did he have to be mad? She was the one—

  "I have a case coming up next week. I need to prepare."

  Pulling out a kitchen drawer, he extracted an envelope and ripped it open, then lined up the contents on the table between their rapidly cooling breakfasts.

  "Before I go, here is a house key, car keys, checkbook, credit card. There's a thousand dollars in the checking account and a two-thousand-dollar limit on the card. Another thousand will be transferred into the checking account on the first of every month. I know it's not much, but I'll have to cut back on work when the baby comes, and liquidating some of my stocks will take time, so I'm playing it safe for now. Later on there'll be plenty."

  She gaped at him as he counted out another five hundred in cash onto the table.

  "This is for food and other household expenses in the meantime. Enough?"

  Mutely, she nodded. Pain curled around her stomach, spreading through her whole body with each beat of her stinging heart.

  He picked up the car keys. "I'd prefer you didn't drive your own car all the way to UCLA and back every day. Brad says it's falling apart and it's a miracle it has lasted this long. These keys are to the Camaro. It's yours if you want it. Oh, yeah…" He pulled out his wallet and tossed another credit card onto the table. "Here's a gas card." He looked at her levelly. "Did I miss anything?"

  Not trusting her voice, she gave her head a small shake.

  He drained his coffee. "In that case, I'll be going."

  His hand was reaching for the back door when she finally broke through the paralysis that held her in its grip. "I'm sorry about last night, Cole. I was upset. I've known all along you don't love me, and I have no right to expect anything more. Please don't—"

  He stopped, then swung around, his face a study in cool indifference. She took a step back and hit the counter.

  Memories of the way David had changed as soon as she'd moved into his condo crashed through her mind—memories of the way, almost overnight, a seemingly affectionate, considerate man had become the detestable bastard who'd flung biting, hurtful sarcasm at her every time she made a decision he didn't like. Which was nearly always.

  Bracing herself for the ego-numbing abuse that was sure to follow, she recoiled from Cole's scrutiny. When he spoke, it was
in a low voice, insinuating itself like a virus into her already frazzled nerves.

  "No, Rini. You have every right to expect love from a husband. But don't ask me for it. I simply don't have it in me to give." His eyes seared her almost painfully. "Physically, I want you like crazy, and I'm going to continue to want you. I'll honor our agreement, Rini, but I'm only human. Do me a big favor, and from now on just stay out of my way. It'll be easier on both of us." He spun on a toe and stalked out the door, slamming it shut.

  Rini's whole body reverberated with the weight of that slam. Her legs finally gave out and she slid down the cupboard to the floor, where she sat staring after him in a daze.

  Clearly, she had been dreaming to think their life could be anywhere close to normal, given their platonic relationship.

  She glanced around the neat, simple kitchen, battling the despair in her heart. It would look nice painted yellow, she thought bleakly. With pretty white, lacy curtains. And white trim, too. Yes, he'd like white trim.

  She bit her lip, tasting copper.

  He hadn't ripped her to shreds, but he hadn't given her a chance, either. She closed her eyes and ran a shaky hand over the baby as he moved inside her. What would she do? She'd lost Cole before she'd even had a fair shot at winning him.

  He just didn't understand. She'd already shared the bed of one man who didn't love her. It was just too painful to expose herself to that kind of hurt again. She'd come too far to go back to that place.

  For a long time she sat there on the floor, only her hand on the baby moving. Cole had been very, very angry. But still, he hadn't made her feel like she was a subhuman moron. In her misery, that thought nurtured a small seed of hope.

  Finally, she roused herself. Shuddering out a sigh, she glanced up. Maybe she'd stencil a border around the walls up by the ceiling, too.

  Yes. He'd like that.

  * * *

  Cole stumbled in after midnight, and the house was dark. The door to his bedroom stood wide open. Dog tired, he nearly collapsed into his bed, momentarily forgetting he no longer resided in the master bedroom. At the last minute he spied Rini there, ensconced in a pile of pillows and his Pendleton blanket.