She couldn’t bear this standoff positioning. Eloisa strode past to shove the bag of seafood into the refrigerator. She had to be in control of something, even if it was making sure the shrimp didn’t spoil. “Why are you here? Now?” Eloisa froze as a horrible possibility avalanched over her, far more chilling than the blast from the fridge. She spun back around. “Is he dead?”
“He’s alive,” Duarte reassured her quickly, even though his somber face gave her pause. “I’m here because you contacted the lawyer. And we would have been in touch with you soon anyway. Our father is sick, most likely dying. He wants to see his children.”
“How many of us are there?” Damn, where had that cruel response come from? From the deep recesses of her late-night childhood fears and tears, no doubt.
Jonah placed a comforting, steadying hand between her shoulder blades, while nudging the refrigerator closed with his foot.
Duarte stuffed his hands in his pants pockets. “Just you, our two brothers and, of course, me.”
“Pardon me if I’m not so sure.” Eloisa breathed deeply to expand the tightness rapidly constricting her rib cage with tension. “I am sorry he’s sick, but I don’t think we have anything to say to one another. Not after so many years.”
She expected an argument, smooth persuasive reasons why she was wrong. But Duarte simply shrugged.
“Okay then. I’ll let him know the message was delivered and you declined. Since you don’t have any questions, I’ve completed my task.”
That was it? He was leaving?
Duarte slid a card onto the sofa end table, simple white vellum with a number printed in raised, black ink. He anchored it with a paperweight. “You can contact me when you decide to see him.”
When?
Another decade or two?
Duarte had simply shown up, rocked her balance until she didn’t know what she thought, and then he was gone again before she could gather her thoughts. He hadn’t come to see her. He’d come to pass along information. God, she was such an idiot, still hiding hopes deep in her heart like those pictures of her biological family tucked under her socks.
She wanted to cry but her eyes were dry after all these years.
Jonah stepped around her, nearly nose to nose with her brother. “I’ll walk you to the door.”
“No need.” Duarte nodded to Eloisa, starting toward the front door. “I’ll let our father know you will be visiting soon.”
She stifled the urge to scream out her frustration. Who did these Medina men think they were to blast into a person’s life once every decade or so and wreak total havoc? “You’re assuming a lot.”
He pivoted back toward her fluidly. “There are many times when my life has relied on my ability to read people.”
Duarte Medina slipped out of the door as quietly and quickly as he’d arrived.
Jonah rubbed between her shoulder blades. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Totally fine. Why wouldn’t I be? It was just five minutes out of my life. No big deal. Now he’s gone and everything’s back to normal again.” She pulled away and yanked open the refrigerator. “I’ll start supper.”
His hands landed on her shoulders, squeezing gently with a sympathy and comfort that swept away her defenses. She shattered inside from endless vows that she didn’t care if her father never fought for her. And when her brothers struck out on their own, they never even bothered to contact her. Years of being everyone’s support and nobody’s princess crashed down on her until she hurt so bad inside she couldn’t find any corner of her soul to hide and escape.
She had nowhere to go except straight into Jonah’s arms.
Nine
Eloisa blocked out the ache in her heart left from her brother’s shocking visit and focused on Jonah. Just Jonah, with her, both of them hopefully naked very, very soon.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and flattened herself to him. He stumbled back a step and nearly slammed into the kitchen counter.
“Whoa.” He gripped her hips, steadying them both so they didn’t knock off the remaining groceries or tumble to the tile floor. “Let’s slow this down a minute and think things through. I know you’re upset—”
“Damn straight, I’m upset. I’m angry and hurt and confused and want it all to go away. You can fix that for me, so let’s get to it.”
She plastered her lips to his, opened, demanded. The ever-ready attraction between them blazed to life on contact, thank goodness. She welcomed the blissful sensation expanding within her, pushing everything else to the far corners. Less pain.
Total pleasure.
Muscles in his chest and arms twitched and flexed under her searching fingers. “Eloisa, I hear you and I understand. And God knows, I’m more than glad to comply until you’re not able to think or talk, but I also have to know you’re not going to bolt out of here afterward before I even have time to pull on a pair of boxers.”
Eloisa nuzzled along his ear, kissing, nipping, whispering soft gusts of air over his skin as she buried her face in his hair. “We’re in my home. That makes leaving a lot tougher for me.”
“But not impossible,” he insisted even as his hand slid down to cup her bottom and lift her closer, more intimately against him until she could feel the fly on his jeans straining against the thickening length of him.
“We’re here to resolve things,” he said, “not make them more complicated between—” He clasped her hand already making fast work of his jeans snap. “Take a breather, for now, anyway.”
She flipped her hands to link in his as she met his eyes square on. “Jonah, look around you. Think. What did I bring in when I got home from work? Dinner. Wine. I planned a romantic meal because after what we did—” she paused, suddenly breathless at just the mention, the memory “—after the way you made me feel, I’ve been thinking about finishing this every second since. I’ve been planning what I want to do to you, how to make you every bit as crazy as you make me.”
“Eloisa,” he groaned, loosening his hold on her hands until she flattened her palm to his fly. “You already make me crazy just by walking through my mind, much less the room.”
“Then it’s time to do something about that.”
She peeled his black polo shirt over his head. Was it only last night he pulled up at her sister’s party? It seemed like a lifetime ago, as if the past year apart hadn’t even happened.
But it had and oh God, she couldn’t let herself think about that. Better to focus on now, with him. He was right. They did need time together to work through their feelings or she—he too?—would spend forever wondering, wanting.
Growling low, he tunneled his hands under her dress, bunching it up and away in a deft sweep that left her breathless and bare, other than her icy-blue lace bra and panties. “Do you have any idea how gorgeous you look right this second?” He reached behind her to pull the scarf from her ponytail, releasing her hair. “I’ve lost a lot of sleep this past year thinking about you like this.”
“I hope you’re going to lose even more tonight.” Her hair teased along her skin until she was ready to scream for a more insistent touch.
Thank goodness he didn’t need any further encouragement. He kissed her again, backing her as he moved forward, their legs tangling in the desperate dance toward the stairs, which stopped them short.
But not for long.
Jonah ducked his shoulder into her midsection and lifted her into a fireman carry. Eloisa squealed, but certainly wasn’t about to tell him no because he was making fast tracks for her bedroom.
Once in her room, he flipped her over and onto the antique bed with a smooth sweep, the wooden thrift store find she’d painstakingly whitewashed. She bounced once in the middle of the pouffy comforter. A pink tulip print hung over the headboard.
Her haven where no one entered.
Until Jonah.
He traced her collarbone. “When I watched you sleep before, I fantasized about what kind of jewels would look best nestled right here
.” He skimmed his mouth along after his fingers’ path.
“And here.” He nipped her ears.
“I didn’t think I slept,” she gasped as his mouth trekked lower, “for even a minute that night.”
“I didn’t need more than a minute to picture you in my world.”
Her breath caught as his words sunk in. Her eyes met his, so deeply somber for a second, then he smiled and she lost the chance to decipher what she’d seen.
“Besides,” he said, shuffling away the seriousness, “I have an active imagination.” He traced her belly button with his tongue, flicking her simple silver ring between his teeth. “Most definitely a diamond here.”
Jonah kissed her hip, his hand sliding down her leg and scattering thoughts as quickly as the rest of his clothes and their underwear. “And anklets. There are so many options for stones I would have specially set for you to wear right there for trips to the beach.”
A ceiling fan clicked, gusting over her bare skin and ruffling airy sheers that hung from bamboo rods. She felt like those curtains, fluttering and writhing with every brush and breath of Jonah’s along her body. She grasped at his back, his taut buttocks, his chest, touching and tasting frenetically in contrast to his smooth exploration.
How could she be this hungry for Jonah when by all rights, he had taken care of her needs just a few hours before in her office? That should have at least eased the edge, but instead seemed to have only made her ache for more. Then he slid up along her, over her, the solid weight of him anchoring her to the bed and the moment so perfectly.
She slid the arch of her foot along his leg, opening for him, wanting him, welcoming him inch by thick, delicious inch.
“Shhh…” he whispered in her ear although she couldn’t for the life of her remember what she’d said or asked for. “Patience. We’ll get there.”
Unable to wait, she slid her hand between them and clasped him, caressed him, coaxed him until his hands shook, too. He reached to the floor, to his pants, his hand returning with a condom. He tore open the packet and sheathed himself before she had time to do more than be grateful one of them was thinking clearly enough to take care of birth control.
Finally, he was inside her again, the pressure of him familiar and new at the same time, but then Jonah had always been an unpredictable mass of contradictions that shuffled her perfectly ordered world.
Braced on his elbows, he stared down at her, holding her with his vivid blue eyes. His jaw, tight with restraint, told her he ached for this as much as she did. She’d been tipsy when they’d been together before, but this time she was stone-cold sober, aware of every moment and sensation. And it was even better. Her senses were heightened, sharp, responsive.
He moved over her while the bed rocked under her. He was so large and gentle, completely focused on her and…oh my, what a heady feeling that was after so long in shadows. She wanted to stay right here and bask in the sparks showering through her, but knew there was no way in hell this could last. Maybe next time… There had to be a next time.
Frantic to hold on to the feelings, to him, she clenched around him.
“Eloisa…” His eyes closed, his jaw clamping tighter as he said her name again and again, telling her exactly how often he’d thought of her, the other ways he dreamed of adorning her in jewels, erotic images and possibilities she’d never considered and now couldn’t forget.
She tried to answer, but words… She had nothing except a moan of increasing need. Jonah’s hands fisted in the pillow on either side of her head, his head dropping to rest on her brow.
His hair slid forward, covering most of his face. She cupped his cheeks, her fingers playing with the wavy strands and wondered if he’d ever considered letting it grow longer. Somehow it seemed more lord of manor, leader of the land, with its extra length. He was the epitome of fairy-tale fantasies she’d only barely dared acknowledge to herself.
More, she wanted more of him, of this, of the whole fantasy. She hooked her heels behind his back and arched upward, accepting him deeper. Her fingernails scored desperate furrows down his back as the intensity gripped her, begging for release. This couldn’t last much longer. It was too intense. Too much of everything and already the ending built and tightened and tingled through her in ripples she couldn’t hold back any longer….
She didn’t bother trying to hold back the shout of pleasure. Jonah thrust faster. She gripped his back harder. Sparks glinted behind her eyes much like the jewels he’d detailed earlier. With one last prolonged thrust, he buried himself inside her…and stayed, his face in her hair, his groan against her ear until his arms gave way and he rolled to his back, taking her, replete, alongside him.
His hand slid over her stomach, his finger tracing a circle around her belly button, his breathing ragged. “We’re definitely going shopping for a diamond soon.”
Her heartbeat tumbled over itself at the mention of diamonds…until she realized he meant navel rings, not engagement. Technically, they were already married anyway. But for how long?
Jonah continued to draw lazy circles with the backs of his fingers. A murmur of unease echoed inside her as she thought of their baby that had rested there, tragically too briefly. She should tell him, and she would, but how could she just toss it into the mix right now? More importantly, how could she trust he would stay? He’d made it clear he’d been angry with her for leaving. She couldn’t help but wonder if he’d come looking for revenge.
Could he be that calculated? She had no way of knowing because as she’d told him before, they didn’t know each other well enough to be certain of anything. Her best bet? Wait—a couple of days, perhaps?—to let the dust settle. To let her mind clear while she got her bearings. Then she would tell him about the baby they’d lost.
As the fan dried the perspiration on her body, she wondered how long she could selfishly take from him before the truth put this tenuous connection to the test.
Reclining in Eloisa’s antique bed, Jonah tested a lock of her hair between his fingers, so long and soft. He’d wanted to have her and walk away. He’d expected to put an end to their unfinished business by being with her one last time, and instead? He couldn’t imagine how the hell he would let her go.
If they weren’t married, he would have asked her to travel with him. Why not ask her anyway? Certainly they couldn’t solve anything continents apart.
He knew her secret now, after all. Sure, being with him brought an added level of attention, but her heritage could too easily come out no matter what in an unexpected instant. Better to be prepared.
He was the man who could keep her safe.
Now he had to persuade her to go with him to Peru after her sister’s wedding. And wouldn’t waking up beside Eloisa daily be a pleasure? Not that he expected her to agree right away. She was stubborn, and she had a blind loyalty to her sister and stepfather that made him grind his teeth in frustration.
He needed to show her the way their lives could blend, that she deserved better from people. He cared about her in a way her self-absorbed family never had.
Jonah took in the every curve draped in a cotton sheet, a light purple. She looked damn good in that color. Natural purple diamonds were among the rarest. Like her. But he intended to shower her with jewels and his undivided attention.
He released the strand over her breast where it curled to rest around the creamy swell. “I’ve missed you so damn much this year.”
“We barely knew each other then.” She rasped a fingernail lightly down his chest. “And things are happening so fast again now. Can’t we just enjoy this moment?”
“Think how much we’ve learned in just a day of really talking. Let’s talk some more.” He splayed his hand over her rib cage, then upward to toy with a pert nipple. “I’ve missed being with you, seeing you, feeling you move underneath as you whisper how much you need me, need more of what I can give you.”
She laughed, covering his mouth with her hand. “Okay, okay. I get the picture.”
“Of course I thought about it.” The sheets rustled as she sat up, hugging her knees to her chest. “You have a way of making an impression on a person that isn’t easy to forget. Staying away was my only option for keeping my sanity.”
“I make you crazy? Good.” He swept her hair forward over her shoulder and traced down her neck to her spine, one vertebrae at a time. “Let’s see if I can do it again.”
“You know you do, on so many levels.” Sighing, she rested her cheek on her knees as he made his way down her back.
“Then let’s talk some more.”
“I’m still finding my footing. I’m not exactly the tumultuous type, you know. Let’s deal with the most basic level for starters.”
“You’ve got a one-track mind right now.” And while he sure as hell wasn’t going to complain about that, he also noticed the way she wouldn’t meet his gaze. Not a good sign.
She smiled, still not looking at him, instead inching the sheet ever so slowly off him. “What’s so wrong with a married couple having sex? Lots of sex. In every room and vehicle at our disposal. We can talk the whole time. In fact, I’ve already got a pretty good idea of some things I’d like to say to you, too.”
He clasped her wrist, stopping her, holding her until finally she met his gaze. “I’m being serious here, Eloisa. We shared something special just now. We’d be fools to just toss that away again. But for it to work, I need you to be honest with me this time.”
Eloisa clutched a pillow to her stomach, the shadows and pain so intense in her eyes he wanted to scrap the whole conversation and just hold her. What in the world could have hurt her so deeply? He started to ask, but she pressed her fingertips to his mouth.
The Tycoon Takes a Wife Page 9
