by Leanne Banks
He stopped again and murmured something under his breath.
She would have asked him what he’d said if she could have found the words, but her pulse was pounding as if she’d just run a marathon.
He skimmed his hands upward again just beneath her breasts. He slid his fingers underneath the edge of her bra and she waited breathlessly for him to continue. He stroked the underside of her breast, and she felt a growing heat between her thighs. When his fingertips finally brushed her taut nipples, she sighed with relief.
She took another sip of wine to combat the dryness of her mouth.
“Good?” he asked, his voice vibrating deliciously against her ear.
She nodded.
“You mean the wine?” he asked in a voice that taunted and teased.
“Everything,” she had to admit.
He unsnapped her bra, pulled her back against him and cupped her breasts. “You know how you’re sipping that wine,” he said, rubbing her nipples between his thumb and forefinger so that she felt a corresponding tug in her secret places.
“Yes,” she said, feeling hot all over.
“That’s how I want to sip your nipples.”
The image was so erotic she nearly dropped her wineglass. He saved it, wrapping his hand around hers, then he set the glass on the table next to his.
She turned to meet his gaze. “What are we doing?”
“Nothing we both don’t want to do,” he said, and pulled her mouth to his. He moved his mouth from side to side, then dipped his tongue into her mouth to taste her. He continued to move his hands over her breasts.
He overwhelmed her with such a plethora of sensations that she couldn’t assimilate them all. His mouth on hers, his tongue seeking and seducing, his hands arousing. Acting on instinct, she responded to his kiss by curling her tongue around his. He gave a low groan of approval, sank backward on the sofa and pulled her body on top of his. When he cupped her bottom to rock her pelvis against his, her mind went fuzzy. She balled her fists, not knowing what to do with her hands.
“Touch me,” he told her.
“Where?”
“Anywhere,” he dared her. “Everywhere.”
She hadn’t thought her heart could race any faster. She wondered if she was dreaming. This was the one vision she’d been afraid to dream. She feared that even the power of dreaming about Nicholas would put her under his spell.
She squeezed his shoulders with her fingers and wished she was touching his bare skin. He rocked his pelvis against her and she shuddered at the hardness there. He pulled her slightly upward. Meeting her gaze, he lifted her shirt so that her breasts were bared.
“Number thirteen with clothes,” he told her, then lifted his mouth to her breast.
The room began to spin. It was too easy to lose herself in the sensation of his mouth on her nipple, his hands guiding her bottom over his hardness. If only she was naked. If only he was, too. He would be thrusting inside her, rubbing the ache he created.
He pulled her mouth down to his and took her with his tongue the same way he would take her body. Gail was so turned on she couldn’t think, could hardly breathe.
He pulled his mouth from hers, his breath harsh. “Come with me to the cocktail party tomorrow night,” he said.
The possessive tone in his voice thrilled her. “I— I—”
“Say yes,” he coaxed her.
She wanted to, but something prevented her. Her brain felt as if it were moving more slowly than paint dried. She tried to concentrate. “I—” She broke off. Dr. Gallimore. “I can’t,” she finally said. “Dr. Gallimore has already agreed to go with me.”
Nicholas met her gaze. “Break the date.”
“I can’t,” she said, regret burning through her like acid. “It wouldn’t be fair. I’ve already asked him.”
“But you would rather be with me,” he said, everything about him daring her to deny it.
Much to her irritation, she couldn’t deny it. Her body was still pulsing with desire for him. “Did anyone ever tell you that you can be just a little bit arrogant?”
“No.”
“Well, you can,” she said, pulling her shirt back into place and trying not to think about how much she wanted to be as close to him as humanly, physically possible. “How would you feel if I broke a date with you?”
In one smooth movement, he rose to a sitting position and slipped his hand through her hair. “Once we had each other, you wouldn’t be able to imagine yourself with anyone else.”
That was exactly what she feared. She swallowed over a knot of anticipation. “Why are you interested in me? In the realm of sexual experience, I’m a guppy and you’re a shark. You eat guppies for breakfast.”
He gave her hair a gentle tug, and his lips tilted into a grin so sexy she felt as if she was stuck in a permanent free fall. “I could make you like being my breakfast.”
Seven
Nicholas pulverized the ice chips between his teeth as he watched the good doctor with Gail. The man couldn’t seem to keep his hands off her. Not that Nicholas could blame him. Still, Nicholas felt the not-very-nice Sicilian urge to break one of the man’s fingers when he saw it and four others curled around her waist.
In a sea of black, Gail stood out in a classy cream suit that gracefully followed her curves. She looked like vanilla ice cream topped with caramel sauce, and Nicholas wanted to be the man consuming her.
Family and friends mingled pleasantly in his parents’ Beacon Hill home, but Nicholas wasn’t in a sociable mood.
“You don’t look like you’re having a good time,” his sister Rita said as she joined him beside the bar. “Why didn’t you bring Corinne?”
He shrugged.
“Uh-oh,” Rita said. “Another one bites the dust?”
“Tell me, what did you think of Corinne?” he asked Rita, confident she would offer a frank opinion.
“She’s beautiful. Like all the rest.”
“But not very real,” he said.
Her eyes widened. “I’m surprised you noticed. I figured you were blinded by her beauty.”
Nicholas saw the doctor touch Gail’s hair, and he bit down on another piece of ice.
“For a man who can practically turn hay into gold with his investments, you don’t seem to have the same luck with women.”
Nicholas glanced at his sister. “Thank you for sharing your insight,” he said dryly.
“Well, you did well with Gail,” she said, as if trying to console him.
“What do you mean?”
“She’s obviously a terrific nanny, but she’s also a nice person. She didn’t bat an eye when all four of us descended on her a few nights ago. In fact, she did everything she could to make Molly at ease so we could feed her and give her a bath.” Rita nodded. “See, you do a great job selecting employees, too.”
“Speaking of love life, why haven’t I heard about you hooking up with a doctor?”
Rita rolled her eyes. “Because I work with them, so I know the truth about doctors. Some of them are terrific, but many of them are shallow, egotistical and crass.”
Nicholas glanced over at Gail and her doctor friend and felt a shot of good cheer for the first time that evening. “Really? Did you know Gail is here with a doctor?”
“Hmm. He’ll probably get called away for an emergency.”
Rita’s words proved prophetic. Less than five minutes later, Nicholas noticed the doctor checking his messages. He appeared to be explaining something to Gail. Nicholas left his drink at the bar and moved toward the two of them.
“Hello,” Nicholas said, extending his hand to the man with a kind face and prematurely receding hair-line. “Nicholas Barone. Gail takes care of my daughter.” And lives with me.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Dr. Gallimore. I was just telling Gail that I hate to duck out, but I received an emergency call and I need to leave.”
“How unfortunate,” Nicholas said. “I’ll make sure Gail gets home safely.”
; “Unless I can take you home on my way to the hospital,” Dr. Gallimore said to Gail.
The good doctor was hoping to at least get a kiss, Nicholas could tell. He resisted the urge to grind his teeth. “Gail hasn’t had a chance to meet the rest of the family, yet. Don’t you worry about her. I’ll personally make sure she gets home tonight.”
“I hope your patient is okay,” Gail said, squeezing the doctor’s arm.
The man nodded, his attention on Gail. “I’ll call you, and next time we do this, I’ll make sure there are no interruptions.”
In your dreams, Nicholas thought with a complete lack of charity as he watched the doctor leave. Without missing a beat, he turned to Gail. “You’ve met my sisters and my brother Joe. My uncle Paul is here tonight. And there’s Derrick, Daniel and Emily. But not Claudia.”
Gail shook her head. “Do you have a notepad? There’s no way I’m going to remember all these names without writing them down.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll remind you,” he said, tucking her arm in his.
Gail spent the next several moments getting acquainted with some of Nicholas’s extended family. His quiet uncle Paul was very different from Nicholas’s gregarious father. She met one of Paul’s sons, Derrick, vice president of Quality Assurance for the Baronessa manufacturing plant located just a few miles west of Boston. Gail immediately liked Derrick’s friendly sister Emily. The more time she spent with the Barones, the more Gail couldn’t help wishing she had a large, loving family just like theirs.
“What can I get you to drink?” Nicholas asked.
“Just some ice water,” she said, wanting to keep a clear head tonight. Although she wasn’t sure it was possible when she was the object of Nicholas’s undivided attention. When he looked at her, she felt like Cinderella at the ball. She just wondered what was going to happen at midnight.
“One water,” he told the bartender, then scooped up the glass. “Let’s take a break,” he said, and led her into a small room off the main parlor that had a large fireplace.
“I still haven’t met your other brothers.”
“Reese and Alex? Neither of them is here. Reese is out sailing the world. He and my father don’t see eye to eye, but that’s another story. And Alex is a career navy pilot.”
Her eyes widened. “Does anyone in your family do anything boring?”
He chuckled. “My mother might have preferred that.”
She wrinkled her brow in concentration. “Didn’t you mention another cousin? A twin?”
“Derrick’s brother, Daniel. You don’t need to meet him,” he said in a velvet voice as he held her gaze.
She felt a jump in her stomach at the sensual expression on his face. “Why not? What does he do?”
“He’s a professional adventurer and ladies’ man.”
“And how does that make him different from you?” she asked, unable to hide her amusement.
“Well, I do have a day job,” he said, cupping her elbow as he led her toward the back of the house, away from the crowd. Stopping in a darkened alcove that overlooked a beautiful private deck, he turned toward her and looked deep into her eyes. “I don’t want you distracted.”
Gail felt that free-falling sensation in her stomach again. She took a gulp of water. “Distracted from what?”
“From me,” he said, taking her glass from her hand and placing it on a small antique table.
Gail looked down at the beautiful wood. “If my glass leaves a water stain on your mother’s table, I will seriously croak.”
Shaking his head, he chuckled and pulled a coaster from the small drawer. “I don’t think any other woman has mentioned water stains when I was getting ready to kiss her.”
After he repositioned the glass on the coaster, he turned back to her, standing close enough that the bottom of his black wool slacks brushed her legs. She couldn’t believe that wanting expression in his eyes was meant for her. She sucked in a quick breath of air and inhaled his aftershave. His proximity made her feel dizzy.
“I just can’t believe you really want me,” she whispered.
“I can show you, and I promise you won’t have any doubt,” he said in a low voice, sliding his hand around her waist.
A shiver of anticipation ran through her. She knew he could. Gail also knew anything with Nicholas would be temporary. He’d made that perfectly clear. Although she was afraid her feelings for him wouldn’t be temporary, she tried to imagine nixing the opportunity to be involved with him and couldn’t.
“But what about the fact that I work for you?” she asked, clinging to a few threads of common sense.
“We’re both adults. We can handle it.”
But what about when it’s over? she wanted to ask, but couldn’t. “Why me?”
“You make me warm,” he told her in a sexy, confiding voice that tied her in knots. Then he took her mouth. His kiss spoke of a man’s want and need laced with something tender that she couldn’t quite name. All of it got to her.
She opened her mouth and he slid his tongue inside. Pleasure and every good feeling she’d wondered if she would ever experience rippled through her, and she didn’t want it to end. Pushing aside her doubts and sensible protests, she sighed and sank into him. His chest was hard against her breasts, and one of his long legs slid between hers.
She felt his hands slide down over her hips, lower, lower. It occurred to her that a woman wouldn’t need liquor with him around. The way his mouth moved on hers made her light-headed. Distantly she felt him lift her skirt and then his hands glanced the bare skin of her thighs and her derriere. He stopped and swore.
“What are you wearing?” he asked, pulling back slightly, his eyes dark with desire.
She felt a rush of self-consciousness. “Garter belt,” she managed. “Thong.”
He swore again and dragged his mouth over hers, plunging his tongue inside. He slid both his hands beneath her skirt and filled his hands with her. “I want you,” he muttered against her mouth. “I want to pull this skirt off you and take you right this minute.”
His blatant sexual invitation melted her inside and out. Her breasts felt heavy and achy, and between her legs, she grew moist. His tongue plunged into her mouth at the same time his fingers slid beneath her thong and found her most delicate sensitive place. His finger slid inside her and she clung to him, shuddering. A shocking tidal wave of need rumbled through her. She wanted. She had never wanted this much. “What are we doing?” she whispered.
“Not enough,” he muttered, and pulled her down the hallway into a small darkened room. Shutting the door behind them, he backed her into the wall and took her mouth again.
Her world was spinning on its axis. She had no concept of where she was, only that she was with Nicholas. His mouth, his hands, his heat. He shoved her skirt upward and pushed her thong down, immediately seeking and finding her wet and swollen femininity. He ate at her mouth, and the wildness of his need took her breath. The silent darkness of the room added to the intimacy. All she wanted was to get closer, to please him, to assuage the ache he was building inside her.
He drew her hand to his waist, and she fumbled with his belt and zipper. When she slid her hand inside his briefs to his erection, he moaned, and the sound vibrated inside her mouth. “Damn, I should wait, but I can’t,” he said, and pulled protection from his pocket. Before she could blink, he lifted her against the wall and plunged into her.
Gail gasped at the invasion, at the size of him. Her eyes watered at the burning sensation.
He swore. “You should have told me.”
She took a careful breath, trying to adjust to his size. “Told you what?”
“That this was your first time.”
“I wasn’t thinking about it being my first time. I was too busy thinking about you.”
He groaned and allowed her to sink more fully onto him. He took her mouth in a kiss that managed to combine carnal need and compassion. When he pulled his mouth slightly away, she whispered, “Don’t stop
now.”
She could almost feel lightning crackle through him. He began to move, squeezing her bottom as he thrust in a mind-robbing rhythm that sent her higher and higher. The coil in her nether regions grew tighter until she felt herself explode. The room was black, but inside her closed eyelids, she saw the red burst of the sun as she clung to him.
Seconds passed and she felt him thrust and stiffen, his climax rippling through her. After he caught his breath, he pulled back and allowed her to slowly slide down him until her feet touched the floor. Her knees buckled and Gail reached for him.
Making a sound of reassurance, he pulled her against him and held her for several moments. “Okay?” he asked.
For Gail, everything was still spinning. “I think so.”
He flicked on a light and she instinctively covered her eyes. She heard him groan and peeked through her fingers. He was staring at her nakedness.
She crossed her thighs in a useless act of modesty.
Shaking his head, he moved closer and took her mouth again. “I want you again,” he told her, sending a shiver of need through her. “But I want to take my time.” He gently adjusted her skirt and found her thong on the floor. “You look like you’ve just been sexually mauled and liked it. My family will take one look at you and they’ll know what we’ve been doing. This is between you and me, and I want to keep it that way.” He rubbed his finger over her bottom lip. “There’s a bathroom at the opposite end of the hall. Tell me where your purse is. If you put on more lipstick and pull yourself back together, maybe we can time things so we say goodbye and make a quick exit.”
“This lipstick was supposed to last through eight hours of lovemaking,” she said, her mind a jumble. She wondered how he could think straight after what they’d just done.
“I hope you got a money-back guarantee,” he said with a grin.
She looked away from him in hopes of regaining her equilibrium. She took in the small, elegant writing desk on the other side of the room, the shelves filled with books, and the fresh flowers on a small, antique table. “Where are we?”
“My mother’s office,” Nicholas said, straightening his tie.
