by Heidi Betts
With a groan, he moved to her other breast and did the same. Her hands stroked his bare back, his shoulders, through his hair and along his scalp. Her nails scraped and dug and clawed.
Between her legs her warmth beckoned. He burrowed closer, locking his jaw to keep from moaning aloud. Continuing to toy with her nipples and the sensitive area surrounding them, he trailed his hands down her sides, over her hips and the mound of her femininity. She gasped as his fingers found her, and he captured the sound with his mouth.
For long languorous minutes, he explored her feminine core. The soft folds, swollen channel and tight, sensitive bud, all slick with tantalizing moisture.
“Alex, please,” she whimpered against his lips, her pelvis rising upward, straining for the pleasure he was so cruelly withholding.
As much as he wanted to keep playing, keep touching and stroking and teasing her for hours on end, he didn’t have all that much restraint left, either. Not after a year of celibacy since their last time together and the torturous session in the limousine.
Sliding more closely against her, he let her wet heat engulf him as he slowly pressed forward. He gritted his teeth while she took him inch by inch, her chest hitching beneath him in an effort to continue taking in oxygen. His own lungs burned just like hers, every muscle bunching tight.
“I remember this, you know,” he grated, nostrils flaring and mind racing while he tried desperately to distract himself from the incredible sensations threatening to make him come apart at the seams.
She made a sound low in her throat. Part agreement, part desperation.
“I never forgot,” he told her, “even though I tried hard to do just that.”
Jessica’s breath blew out on a shuddering sigh. “Alex?”
“Hmm?”
“Let’s talk later, okay?”
She panted the words, her nails curling into his shoulder blades and making him shudder from the top of his scalp to the soles of his feet.
He chuckled. “Okay.”
Grasping her about the waist, he yanked her toward him as he thrust, driving himself to the hilt. She gasped, and Alex ground his teeth to keep from doing the same.
Rolling them both to their sides, he held her there, moving inside of her, kissing her while temperatures rose, sensations built and the air filled with the sounds of heavy breathing and needy mewls. Jessica’s hands on his body licked like flames. Tiny flicks of pleasure that shot straight to his center.
They rocked together on the soft, wide mattress. Side to side. Forward and back. Tongues mingled while bodies meshed, slowly becoming one. Her hips rose to meet his every thrust, her breasts rubbing his chest.
“Alex,” she whispered, pulling her mouth from his to suck in a heartfelt breath. “Please.”
She didn’t need to beg. He was right there with her, desperate and so close to going over, his bones ached.
Clasping her smooth, bare buttocks, he tugged her closer, then rolled them again so that she was on her back and he was above her, covering her like a blanket. Faster and faster they moved until she was clenching around him and he was straining not to explode.
Which would have been a lot easier if she weren’t grabbing at his hair and murmuring, “Yes, yes, please, yes,” over and over again in his ear.
“Jessica,” he bit out, not sure how much longer he could hold out.
“Alex,” she returned with equal urgency. “Alex, please. Now.”
“Yes,” he agreed, forcing the word past his locked jaw. “Now.”
And then he was breaking apart with Jessica spasming around him, her cries of delight filling the room and echoing in his ears.
Sixteen
Jessica stretched and rolled to her opposite side, surprised to find herself alone in the wide king-size bed. All through the night, Alex hadn’t let her get more than half an inch from him except to run to the bathroom or peek in on Henry.
He’d wrapped his arms around her, tugged her snug against his long solid frame and held her while they slept. Then he’d woken her with kisses and the light caress of his hands on her skin to make love to her again. And once she’d awakened him the same way.
As nights went, it had been just about perfect.
Finding herself alone with the midmorning sunlight shining through the curtains put a bit of a damper on that perfection, though. It made her wonder if the entire evening had been as wonderful as she remembered. If the feelings she’d felt for Alex and thought he might return were real.
Insecurities flooding her, she slipped from the bed, pulling the rumpled coverlet along to tuck over her breasts, letting it trail behind her like a long train. She gathered her dress and shoes and other personal items from the seat of a chair where Alex had apparently collected them from the floor. Checking the hall, she tiptoed to her room and dressed in something other than an evening gown and three-inch heels.
With her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail and her body encased in comfortable cotton and denim, she headed for Henry’s nursery only to find the crib empty. Far from being worried, she simply assumed he was with the nanny.
Making her way downstairs, Jessica checked Alex’s office first, wanting to see him again, even though she wasn’t entirely sure how he would respond to her in the bright light of day. But the room was empty, the door standing wide open and Alex’s chair pushed back from his desk.
Turning toward the other side of the house, she trailed along to the kitchen, deciding that even if she didn’t find Alex or Wendy and Henry there, she could at least grab a bite of breakfast.
As soon as she stepped into the deluxe gargantuan room, she heard the sounds of her son’s giggles over the gentle din of pots and pans, spoons and spatulas. Alex sat in the breakfast nook before the wide bank of tall windows with Henry balanced on one strong thigh.
He was dressed more casually than she’d ever seen him in a pair of simple tan slacks and a white dress shirt open at the collar. Henry had a bib tucked under his chin, and there were small dishes of assorted baby foods on the table in front of them. Alex was obviously attempting to feed him, but he must have been teasing too much because Henry couldn’t stop laughing and wiggling around.
Slipping her fingers into the front pockets of her jeans, Jessica strolled to the table. She was a little nervous after what she and Alex had shared last night, but happy, too, to see him so friendly and comfortable with the baby.
“What are you two up to?” she asked in a near singsong voice, sliding onto the bench seat across the table from them.
Raising his head, Alex shot her a wide grin, a spoonful of orange goop—peaches, she assumed—hanging from his free hand.
“Just letting you sleep a little longer,” he replied. “And getting to know my son a bit better.”
He said it so easily, so casually that she almost didn’t catch his meaning. Then the words sank in and her eyes snapped to his.
Her sharp gaze must have been questioning enough, because he gave an almost imperceptible nod. “The doctor called this morning. The test results are positive—Henry is most definitely mine.”
Jessica almost couldn’t hear for the sound of her heart pounding in her ears. She’d never doubted Henry’s paternity, of course—she knew Alex was the father for the simple fact that there’d been no other men in her life at the time of his conception…as well as long before and after. But she’d nearly forgotten Alex’s doubts, and that DNA results were what they’d both been waiting around for.
Taking a moment to mentally slow her rampant pulse, she swallowed and then cocked both her head and a single brow. “Am I allowed to say I told you so? Because I did tell you so.”
To her surprise, he chuckled, a genuine smile breaking out across his normally stern features. “Yes, you did.” His smile slipping a couple of notches, he added, “I hope you know I wanted to believe you. I wanted it to be true, I just…I had to be sure.”
His heavy-lidded eyes were storm-cloud blue and almost—she could have sworn—apologetic
. She did understand. Alex alone was worth millions of dollars, his family as a group likely worth hundreds of millions. For all she knew, dozens of women had shown up on his doorstep claiming he was the father of their children.
Her own father had run off many a young man he suspected was more interested in the Taylor fortune than in her. It had made dating in high school an adolescent nightmare.
“So what do we do now?” she asked quietly.
Before Alex could answer, Mrs. Sheppard appeared at her elbow, sliding a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of her. She added a glass of orange juice and then disappeared again to the other side of the room, well out of earshot.
“Are you going to eat?” Alex asked after she’d sat there a few long minutes staring at the meal but making no move to touch it.
Taking a deep breath, she picked up her fork and stabbed at the eggs but turned her true attention to him instead.
“I’m a little distracted right now,” she told him.
“For good reason, I suppose,” he said, inclining his head and taking a moment to feed Henry another spoonful of pureed baby breakfast.
“I need to run into the office for a while this morning, but was hoping you’d meet me there later. Do you think you could do that—and bring Henry with you?”
“A-all right,” she stuttered, confused by his nonchalance and focus on a topic unrelated to the recent discovery that he was, indeed, Henry’s father. “But what about—”
Pushing to his feet, he carried Henry over to her and deposited the baby into her arms instead. Henry giggled, kicked and wiggled until she got him arranged on her own lap. Alex moved the jars of baby food to her side of the table and handed her the tiny peach-caked spoon.
“Just meet me at my office in a couple of hours, okay? Around one o’clock.”
He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head, ruffling the top of Henry’s at the same time.
“Trust me,” he added.
Calmly, competently, completely at ease while her insides were jumping around like seltzer water.
* * *
Two hours later, almost on the dot, Jessica walked into the Bajoran Designs office building. She wasn’t sneaking around this time, hoping to get in and out without being spotted by security. Instead, Alex had made sure a car and driver were available to bring her into the city and drop her off at the front door.
She’d also changed from jeans and casual top to a short burgundy wraparound dress, and put Henry into a long-sleeve shirt covered in cute yellow ducks with a pair of brown corduroy overalls. She didn’t know what Alex’s intentions were for asking her to come to his office with the baby, but she wanted to be prepared. And knowing she looked good helped to boost her self-confidence.
At least that’s what she told herself as she made her way up to the twelfth floor in the main elevator. The doors slid open and she stepped out.
She was a little surprised to find the reception desk and hallway completely empty on a Wednesday afternoon. Not even a receptionist behind the main desk. If the place had been this deserted when she’d left Henry on Alex’s boardroom table, she wouldn’t have had nearly as much trouble sneaking in and out or been half as nervous about getting caught.
Since Henry’s carrier—with Henry strapped safely inside—was getting heavy, she set him on the low coffee table in the waiting area, wondering if she should stay here or go in search of Alex.
Before she could decide for sure, a door opened at the end of the long hallway and voices filtered out. A minute later Alex stepped into view, standing aside while several other men, also dressed in expensive, conservative suits, filed out. The last man exited the room, flanked by two security officers.
He wasn’t handcuffed. In fact, they weren’t touching him at all. But it was clear they were escorting him, and he looked none too happy about it.
Jessica stayed where she was, watching as the group of men made their way to the elevators, waited for the car to arrive and stepped on. The second elevator carried the angry man and the two security guards to the lobby.
After both sets of doors slid closed, she turned her head to find Alex striding toward her, a warm smile softening the strong lines of his face. From the moment he’d issued the invitation, she hadn’t known what to expect. That look encouraged her, made her think they might be here for something other than bad news.
“You came,” he said, leaning in to press a light kiss to her mouth. He stroked a hand down her bare arm to thread his fingers with hers at the same time he patted Henry’s leg and sent the carrier rocking back and forth.
“You asked us to,” Jessica replied carefully, not quite sure what else to say.
“And you trusted me enough to do it, even though I didn’t tell you why I wanted you here.”
He seemed infinitely pleased by that fact, and she found herself returning his near grin.
“I have a surprise for you,” he said. “But first we need to talk.”
“All right.”
He gestured for her to take a seat on the low leather sofa, then sat down beside her. Their knees brushed, and he reached for her other hand so that he held both of hers in both of his, resting on his upper thigh.
Inside her chest, her heart bounced against her ribs, her diaphragm tightening with nerves. She had no idea what he was going to say, but she felt like a teenager about to be reprimanded for missing curfew.
“I looked into the problem you mentioned about your family,” he told her. When her brows came together in a frown, he clarified. “The belief that Taylor Fine Jewels was forced out of partnership with Bajoran Designs.”
She understood what he was talking about, but was no less confused.
“It turns out you were right. For the record,” he was quick to point out, “I knew nothing about it. All of that was over and done with before I took over the position of CEO, and behind my father’s back. But my cousin George apparently decided he could rise higher and bring in more money for the Bajorans if our two families were no longer in business together.”
Jessica’s eyes widened. She wasn’t all that stunned by Alex’s pronouncement, considering she’d known the truth all along. Maybe not the details—about his cousin being the impetus for her family’s ruin—but she’d certainly known the rest.
What surprised her was that Alex had listened to her and looked into her claims rather than automatically taking his family’s side and dismissing her as crazy or scorned.
“Thank you,” she said with a small hitch in her voice.
Knowing what Alex had done—that he’d discovered the truth and was man enough to admit it—suddenly meant the world to her.
It was so much more than she would have expected of anyone…but especially Alex.
“Don’t thank me,” he said with a shake of his head. “Not when I owe you an apology. What my cousin did was wrong and is what started all the bad blood.”
Jessica gave a watery chuckle. “It seems we both have evil cousins hiding in the branches of our family trees. What I did to you back in Portland thanks to my cousin was wrong and unfair to you, as well. If you can forgive me for that, I think I can forgive you for something you had absolutely nothing to do with.”
Lifting a hand to his lips, he kissed her fingers. “I forgive you,” he murmured in a tone so resolved she could never doubt his sincerity.
“I forgave you long ago,” he continued, “though I’m not sure I realized it until recently. But I owe you—and your family—more than that.”
She started to shake her head. “You don’t owe me—” she began, but he cut her off with a smile and the pad of one index finger pressed to her lips.
“It’s already done, so just sit there for a minute and let me tell you how I’m making this right.”
She swallowed hard, taken aback by his determination on the subject. But she did as he asked, sitting back and giving a short nod to let him finish.
“The man you saw being led out by security…that was
my cousin George. The others were board members who came in for an emergency shareholders meeting. Once I explained to them what George had done and showed them definitive proof, they agreed to his immediate termination.”
His lips twisted at her shocked gasp. “He only went quietly under threat of having criminal charges leveled against him.”
“I can’t believe you would fire your own cousin,” she whispered.
Alex scowled. “He’s lucky I didn’t throttle him. I might yet. But that doesn’t do much to help your family, so I want you to know that I intend to approach them about going into business with us once again.”
Jessica’s lungs hitched, her pulse skipping a beat. “Oh, Alex,” she breathed.
“Do you think it’s something they’ll go for?”
“There may be hard feelings at first,” she said with a laugh. “The Taylors can certainly be stubborn at times. But once they’ve had a chance to consider your offer and realize it’s genuine, I think they’ll be delighted.”
On a burst of pure gladness she bounced off the sofa cushion and threw herself against Alex’s chest, hugging him tight. “You really are a wonderful man, Alexander Bajoran. Thank you.”
His arms wrapped around her, squeezing her back. He cleared his throat before speaking, but even then his voice was rough.
“You’re welcome. There’s more, though,” he said, giving her one last embrace before setting her away from him and taking her hands again.
His chest swelled as he took a deep breath. This next part was delicate. She was either going to be thrilled with him and throw herself into his arms again, or she was going to be furious and possibly slap him a good one.
“Your parents are here,” he announced quickly—almost too quickly, like tearing off a bandage. He saw the question in her eyes, the incomprehension on her face.
“What? Why are they… What?”
Mouth dry and pulse racing, Alex tightened his grip on her fingers. “I’m hoping you’ll consider sticking around Seattle for a while longer, preferably staying with me so that we can see if this…thing between us is as real and as strong as it feels. And in order to do that, your parents need to know where you are—and that they have a grandson.”
