by Mary Malcolm
Stephen knew if someone didn’t cut him off soon, his younger brother would make a fool out of them all. As it was, his brothers wanted to out Cassie.
After what happened with Jordan Giles, Stephen didn’t feel the least protective, either. Sure, she looked beautiful in that flowy green dress with her auburn curls pinned loosely all over her head. And the way her hips swayed as she walked away from their father. But he couldn’t think about that.
Or the fire he’d seen in her green eyes as she’d looked over at them. All he could think about was Abigail handing Cassie that phone.
Giles. Stephen still didn’t know the details of their relationship, but he couldn’t imagine it to be coincidental.
“So it’s settled then,” Andrew finished.
Stephen had been too caught up in his own thoughts and missed what his brothers settled on. “What’s the plan?”
William rolled his eyes. “Next weekend we’re throwing a party for you and Cassie. That’ll give us a week to figure out what’s really going on and then we’ll out her in front of Dad. That will get you out of this marriage, will show her as the conniving bitch she really is and will let you get the revenge you deserve.”
It sounded perfect.
Cassie had stepped out into the garden area and stood next to the railing. A gust of wind blew and she pulled her wrap tighter around her shoulders. He wished like hell he didn’t want to go out there and pull her into his arms, block the wind.
Revenge.
That’s what this whole thing had been about. Revenge for what she’d made him feel. For breaking his heart after he’d given it, only to come back into his life demanding more from him.
“Let’s do this,” he said, finally. “She deserves everything she’s got coming.” His brothers nodded in agreement as they set about making their plans.
Out of the corner of his eye, Stephen saw Jordan Giles enter the room.
Dammit to hell! The man’s eyes settled on Stephen’s, then searched until they spotted Cassie. A snake-like smile slithered across his face as the man took a few steps toward her.
“Sonovabitch!” Stephen hissed as he jumped from his chair. The chair knocked over onto the floor and the whole room looked in his direction, waiting to see what would happen next.
Stephen didn’t care. He knew the plan. He knew they were supposed to out Cassie at the party, but if Giles thought he could come into the Travis Building, of all places, and make a fool of Stephen, he had another think coming.
Crossing the room in a few short strides, he reached Jordan Giles at the entrance to the garden. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked in a low, threatening tone.
Giles straightened his back so he stood almost eye to eye with Stephen. “This is a free country, I came for the steak medallions. They’re delicious here, you should give them a try. Juicy, salty, perfect.” As he spoke, he turned from Stephen to Cassie. “Have you been here before, Cassie?”
“Don’t talk to my wife.” Stephen grabbed Giles lapels and shoved him back a foot.
“Stephen! What do you think you’re doing?” Cassie marched over to them and pushed between the two men. “You can’t just go around shoving people around because they talk to me. Dammit, Stephen! What the hell did you think was going to happen? Think he’d screw me right here in the garden, in front of everyone?”
All eyes in the restaurant had turned to the trio at the garden entrance. “Cassie, this isn’t your fight.”
“Like hell it isn’t.” Cassie pushed Stephen. “I didn’t even know this man until I met him at your office yesterday and you’re acting like he’s some big threat to you. Really!” She shoved Stephen a few more feet and then turned. “And you. You have no right to follow me around like some lost puppy dog. I told you earlier I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t know what you thought we had. What moment you thought passed between us during the five whole minutes I talked to you yesterday, but there was nothing. So Back Off.”
Each of her words came out punctuated and Stephen felt sudden overwhelming pride toward his wife. She and Giles didn’t have anything going on. He could see that now. He turned his gaze from his wife to Giles. “Mr. Giles, I believe we are through here. I will take out a restraining order if I must to keep you away from Cassie, but understand you will not make our business battle personal. I will put papers in on Monday to finish out the bid for your property so think long and hard this weekend over why you’re choosing to stay. I’ve been more than reasonable and my reason has run out.”
He looked around the restaurant. All eyes still stood riveted on the three. He took Cassie’s hand. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, I’m taking my wife home.”
Jordan Giles face grew blood red but he didn’t argue further. Instead, he spun on heel and left the restaurant.
Pride filled Stephen as he tried to lead Cassie toward the door. Only, she didn’t budge. “What are you doing?” he said under his breath.
“I’m not leaving.”
“Why?”
She looked around. So did he. The restaurant seemed to have grown bored realizing there wouldn’t be a fight, so they’d gone back to their drinks and meals. “I’m here to meet your brothers. I’ve already met your father and I’ve been humiliated enough for tonight. So let’s get the brothers out of the way while we’re at it. That way, I can get all my humiliation in one night. Is that okay with you, Mr. Sands?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Look at this place. I don’t fit in. You knew I wouldn’t and you brought me anyway. So I can only assume you brought me to humiliate me in front of everyone and I’d just as soon get that out of the way, if you don’t mind.”
“Mind?” He took a step back and looked at her. She was serious. “We had an agreement. I didn’t bring you here for any other reason than to show you off as my wife.”
“Well, you’re doing a great job of that spending the entire night with your brothers and leaving me by myself. Which, by the way, is fine. I prefer it that way even, but if your intention was to show me off, you’re doing a piss-poor job. To leave me alone with your father wasn’t fair. Anyone looking can see I don’t belong here. And trust me, they’ve all been looking.” Graciella had told her to talk to him, but Cassie doubted from the dumbfounded look on his face this was what her friend meant.
He shook his head. “I had this dinner set up long before you came back into my life, Cassie. Do I need to remind you that you’re the one who contacted me? It isn’t as if I set out to bring you down. You tried to blackmail me.” She rolled her eyes and tried to turn. He grabbed her shoulder. “No. Talk to me.”
“The blondes. The last girl you were with was blonde as well. What is it with your family and those women? I stand out like a sore thumb. Like a big, fat sore thumb. I’m short, and my hair will never be anything other than frizzy. I outweigh those women by at least thirty pounds, maybe more. I’m not your type. Your dad said it. I knew it when I looked you up. I have no doubt your brothers and really everyone here realizes it. What did you want with me? Why did you want to marry me in the first place?”
He guided her deeper into the garden area, away from the prying ears of the tables closest to them. Out of earshot and blocked mostly by foliage, he bent his head and placed a kiss gently on Cassie’s lips.
She pulled away. “Stop that!”
He pulled her in closer and wrapped his arms around her back. He kissed the top of her head and looking her in the eye said, “I wanted to marry you because I loved you. I was playing make believe pretending to be someone I wasn’t but it felt so nice with you. I didn’t know how to stop pretending. You were the most passionate person I’d ever met.”
She laughed and allowed her head to rest against his chest.
“We really screwed this up, didn’t we?”
He wanted to remind her that she’d been the one to walk out, but now didn’t seem the time. Instead, he thought about the plans he’d made with his brothers. In a week, for good or for bad
, this would all be over. No reason not to enjoy the time they had left. She might not be into Giles, but he knew Cassie didn’t love him the way he loved her. How could she? He’d lied to her from the beginning, forced her into an arrangement she didn’t want, basically taken away her freedom and, she was right. She didn’t fit in. And never would.
His father could see it; his brother’s saw it immediately. It was his problem, and his alone that he loved her. He couldn’t force her to love him back. She was the most passionate person he’d ever known. And he wanted to know that passion at least one last time before this all ended for good. “I’m an overachiever,” he said.
Stepping back, she lifted her head up, her brow raised in question.
“Overachiever. If I’m going to screw something up, I want to do it right.”
With that, Cassie let out a low, heartfelt laugh. It tickled his ribs and set a shiver up his spine. “Do you want to go back in?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“Is that a no for now, or a no, not at all?”
“No for now.” She turned so that her back was against him and her bottom pressed against his groin. “Look at that city. It’s so quiet out here. Right now we can pretend as if nothing else exists. As if this whole mess we’re in doesn’t exist. Can you do that with me, Stephen?” She turned her face up to his. Her green eyes pleaded for them to take a moment. A breather.
He leaned down and pressed his fingers lightly against her neck. He kissed her lips softly and then crossed his arms over her chest, pulling her in close. “We can do that.”
The lights from the city filtered up over the garden wall. Somewhere below a street band started playing music, some kind of country, jazzy mix Stephen had never heard before. Cassie swayed to the tune and Stephen found himself swaying with her. He was reminded of how well they fit together. He wanted nothing more than to whisk her away from here and back to his house.
Everything was so screwed up. Stephen knew what he’d told his brothers. The truth, really, but right at that moment he wondered how much it mattered. Cassie, as she leaned into his arms, relaxed against his torso, fit him perfectly.
And no matter what had brought her back, it wasn’t his money. It might have been, at first, but definitely not for the reasons he’d led his brothers to believe. The smell of her shampoo lifted into his nostrils. It was a smell that lingered long after she’d left.
His arms tightened.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
“About your hair.” He tugged one of her curls loose from its pin. He twirled the silky strand around his finger and brought it up to his nose to smell. “I’ve always loved your hair.”
“It’s a frizzy mess.”
“It’s silky, soft, womanly.” His voice had grown husky. In that moment, nothing else mattered. Reaching up, he let his thumb caress Cassie’s nipple through her dress.
She dragged in a swift breath. “What if someone sees?”
He lowered his mouth and kissed her neck, just above her collarbone. “What if they do?”
“Won’t it bring a scandal?”
“We wouldn’t want that now, would we?”
She took another hissing breath as he pinched her nipple through the material. “No, I don’t suppose we would.”
“What do you suggest?” he asked, moving to the other side. He left a trail of kissed that ended at the nape of her neck.
She shivered in his arms. “I happen to know this place that has a great, very soft bed. We could go there.”
“Yeah?”
She nodded and turned. “You know how I told you we wouldn’t be having sex?”
He nodded.
“I lied.”
Chapter Thirteen
They reached the house in record time. Cassie never felt so grateful to have such a large space all to themselves. They shed clothes the entire way up the stairs, landing in the master bedroom. No need for formalities, Stephen lowered his lips to hers as he walked her backwards into the room. He still wore a white undershirt and she pressed her hands against his flanks as she worked it up over his wide shoulders. The heat from his skin radiated against her cool cheek; unable to resist herself, she leaned forward and pressed her cold nose into his collarbone. It gave the desired effect. He shivered as he removed her bra pulling her in tight against him.
“Not very nice, Mrs. Sands.” Reaching down, he cupped her chin then landed a kiss on her nose. His lips moved lower as their eyes locked. “So beautiful,” he whispered.
His soft brown eyes swirled with depths of emotion and Cassie didn’t want to look away. She felt she may never want to look away again. She pressed her fingers through his thick hair and deepened their kiss, tongues swirling, sucking. Each vying for the dominant role. Cassie won out as she grabbed his bottom, pulling him harder against her.
He groaned in response and took a step back. She followed, leading them both to the bed. They fell onto it with a soft thud, her on top and him, deliciously, on the bottom. He moved until he was in the middle of the bed. Cassie straddled his torso and used her hands to smooth his arms above his head. “I like this,” she whispered as she leaned in to kiss his neck. She led a trail of light nips and licks all the way down to his nipples.
As she licked across the first, Stephen growled and tried to push her over. “God, that feels so good,” he hissed.
She wouldn’t let him. Instead, she licked the other and kissed every part of his bare chest. She felt him growing hard beneath her and felt devious as she told him, “Stay.”
He gave a cocky grin as he interlaced fingers and placed hands behind his head. “Yes, Ma’am.”
Casually, she ran her index finger down the length of his chest and landed at his boxers. His hips strained upward in an effort to help her remove them. Somewhere in the hallway she heard his cell phone ring. He tensed for a moment.
“Ignore it,” she said. Her eyes locked with his and he nodded slightly.
With that, she hooked her thumbs around the waistband of his boxers and peeled them away. His erection strained tall, proud and oh so thick as the boxers fell to the floor.
Cassie remembered the first time they’d made love, but her memory didn’t make her twitch with anticipation the way she did now. Heat filled her lower belly and poured down into her sex as she thought of him filling her. It had been too long since they’d been together. Mesmerized, she reached her hand up to touch the already-glistening tip.
He groaned and his thighs flexed on either side of her. Cassie sat up and ran her fingertips from his chest down across his ribs, his hips and thighs, purposefully avoiding his straining erection.
“You’re killing me, you know.”
She grinned in response. “Wouldn’t want to do that.” But she did. She wanted to torture him, make him beg for her. “Should I touch you here?” she asked as she slid kisses along his inner thigh.
“Mmm.”
“Or how about here?” she asked as she landed on his hipbone. His muscles flexed. Her eyes slid over his length and the followed a trail back up to his face. She ran her fingernail down the length of his shaft. “Here?” she whispered as she lay one feather-soft kiss on the tip.
He growled once more and flipped them both. Before Cassie knew what was happening, he had her on her back, pinned beneath him. “I don’t think I can handle myself with you in control, Cassie.”
She grinned as his rough hands settled softly over her breasts. His lips pulled her nipple in and sucked. Liquid heat pooled between her thighs in response. She strained against him, but he held her with his knee. The only thing separating him from her sex was the tiny scrap of her white cotton panties.
Stephen moved to the other breast and sucked her nipple. Cassie squirmed. He’d brought her to orgasm just hours before and that excitement hadn’t left just because he’d finished. She wiggled tried to bring her hands down to his erection, but he wouldn’t let her. Every time she stretched for him, he grabbed her and held her back.
/> “What are you doing to me, Cassie?”
“I want more.” She’d waited hours. Perhaps a lifetime for this. Her memories of Stephen almost all revolved around how they fit together in bed. In spite of everything, Cassie couldn’t forget how well he fit inside her. “Please.”
The please did it. With a groan, he slid her panties over her hips and down. Cassie kicked them free and moved against his thigh. “Stephen, I don’t want to wait.”
“Really?” He nudged her further apart and slid a finger down the length of her wetness.
Moaning, Cassie arched up, forcing his finger inside. “Stephen,” she growled this time. His hands still held her tight, but she couldn’t wait.
And he seemed to sense that. Moving over her, he knelt between her knees and inched her sex open with his erection. Finally breaking free, Cassie used her hand to guide him into her. The heat from their connection almost made her come right there, but as he slid into her, she did everything in her power to hold off. It’d been too long.
Memories flooded as he filled her completely. She pushed her breasts up to him and moved her hips in unison with his thrusts. They sped up and Stephen kissed her neck, bent over her.
“Don’t hold back,” she urged. She wanted him to fill her, completely.
And he did. The final thrusts pushed her over the edge and Cassie clawed at his back to pull him in deeper. She bit his shoulder as he came inside of her. The sounds of their heavy breathing filled the room as Stephen rolled over to his back, pulling her atop. “I missed you, Cassie.”
She laid her head against his chest as he pulled a blanket over them both.
“I missed you, too, Stephen.”
****
He didn’t know how much time had passed, but Cassie now curled warm and vulnerable in the crook of his arm. He leaned up onto his hip and moved a bit of hair away from her face so he could see her better. Her soft breathing, the way her lashes lay across her cheek. The pink tint of her well kissed lips. The whole look made Stephen hard as a rock again.
Not wanting to wake her, he instead gently pulled his arm free and worked his way out of the bed. His cell phone had rang while they’d made love. He knew he should leave it be, but with multi-million dollar deals hanging in the balance, Stephen couldn’t very well just pretend the world stopped around him.
