by Tonya Brooks
Jedidiah had been incredulous for all of a split second before he'd hauled her into his arms and made love to her like a man possessed. The most astonishing part of all was that Claire was just as passionate as he was. He would have never guessed a lady like her could be so wild in bed, but he sure as hell wasn't crazy enough to complain about it either. The woman drove him past all reason every time they were together and he knew he'd never get enough of her.
He also knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was hopelessly in love with her. And it was high time she knew it, too. Without a word, Jedidiah led her through the crowd of family and friends and all the way to the back of the bar where he pulled her into the storage room and locked the door.
“Jed, what on earth...” Claire began, completely baffled by his abrupt departure from the dance floor.
“I've been a coward, Claire,” he admitted gruffly. “I was too damn scared of being hurt again to admit the truth, but enough is enough. I love you and I don't give a damn who knows it.”
Her expression softened and her eyes filled with tears of joy. “Oh, Jed,” Claire said tremulously because she had waited a lifetime to hear him say those words to her. “Do you really mean it?”
“I've loved you for a long time, sweet lady,” he said gently and brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “It's time I treated you like the lady you are. Will you marry me, Claire?”
Claire gasped in shock. She had been in love with Jedidiah for as long as she could remember and wanted nothing more than to be with him any way she could, but this was more than she had ever dared hope for. Grasping his hands in hers, she shook her head as tears flowed down her cheeks, “You don't have to do this, Jed.”
“The hell I don't,” Jedidiah denied and pulled her into his arms. “I want everybody to know you're mine, and I won't take no for an answer.”
“Are you sure?” Claire asked hopefully, her heart in her eyes as she stared up at his handsome face.
“I've never been more sure of anything in my life,” he assured her. “Marry me, Claire. Let me claim you as mine before God and man.”
“Yes, Jed. Now that I know you love me, I'll do anything you want me to,” she agreed with a tender smile.
Realization dawned hard and swift. “Is that what you were waiting for?” Jedidiah queried.
“I needed to know you loved me,” Claire confessed the reason for her reluctance to make their relationship public. She knew there would still be a scandal, but if Jedidiah loved her, it was a price that she was willing to pay. “That was the only thing that mattered to me.”
“I'm sorry I didn't have the guts to admit it sooner,” Jedidiah said in genuine regret and kissed her tenderly. “You deserved better.”
“All I wanted was you,” she assured him with a contented smile.
“Let's go tell the family,” he suggested.
“No, Jed,” Claire refused seriously. “This is Matt and Harley's day. We can tell them when they get back from their honeymoon.”
She was right, but dammit, he didn't want to wait any longer. One look into those blue eyes and Jedidiah was lost. He couldn't refuse her anything when she looked at him with love shining in her eyes. “Alright,” he agreed reluctantly. “We'll wait one more week, but not a damn minute longer.”
“In the meantime, we can plan our own honeymoon,” Claire said suggestively as she slid her hands up his chest.
“I'll plan the honeymoon,” he said with the bad boy grin that his sons had inherited. “You plan the wedding.”
“Something small,” Claire decided. “Just the family.”
“You don't want a big flashy shindig like this?” he queried.
“All I want is you,” Claire reiterated.
“Sweet lady, you've got me,” Jedidiah grinned and kissed her until they were both breathless with need. “How long do we have to stay for this reception?”
“Until the bride and groom leave.”
“Let's see if we can't rush that along,” he decided as he led her back into the main room again.
~~~~
When the band began to play, Mark decided to take a break. He walked over to Desi and asked, “Wanna dance, pretty lady?”
“Love to,” she agreed and rose a bit unsteadily.
Mark slid his arm around her waist and led her to the edge of the crowded dance floor. Looking down at her face, he noticed she looked flushed. “Are you alright, Desi?” he asked in genuine concern.
“Jus' great,” she said with a dazzling smile.
The glassy eyes assured him that she wasn't. “Have you been drinking?” he asked in surprise.
“'Course not,” she slurred slightly. “I don't drink.”
Like hell. Mark knew an intoxicated woman when he saw one. “What did you drink?” he asked with a worried frown.
“Punch,” Desi said and then hiccupped.
Dammit, she'd been in the bowl with alcohol he realized and the frown deepened because he'd been monitoring that one and hadn't seen her come near it. “Who gave you the punch?”
“John did.”
“Sonuvabitch,” he muttered angrily. His brother had made numerous trips to the punch bowl.
“Are you mad with me?” she asked as she met his eyes in confusion.
He stared down into her huge emerald eyes and sighed. “No, I'm not mad with you,” Mark assured her. “But you drank the punch that had alcohol in it.”
It took a couple of seconds for that to register and when it did, she protested, “John said you made it, so I thought it was okay.”
Desi had drunk the punch because she knew he wouldn't fix her anything alcoholic. Mark felt as guilty as hell even though he hadn't done anything wrong. Dammit. She had trusted him and now she was drunk because of it. “I'm sorry, honey. John doesn't know you don't drink. I made a batch with alcohol and one without it. He gave you the real deal.”
“S' okay,” she said with a lopsided smile. “I feel won'erful.”
“You do now,” he said with a rueful smile and then thought to ask, “How much did you drink?”
“A lot,” she said and laid her head on his shoulder. “It made me thirsty.”
Which was what it was supposed to do, he thought with a sigh of resignation. It was an old bartender’s trick to make the drinks dry to keep the customers thirsty and coming back for more. “Just don't drink anything else unless I give it to you, okay?”
“Okay,” she agreed and closed her eyes in contentment. “Mmm. You smell good enough to eat. I could nibble on you for days.”
Yeah, she was hammered alright, he realized in amusement.
When the song ended, Desi lifted her head and opened her eyes. For some strange reason the room began to spin and she felt disoriented. Her hold on Mark tightened and she swayed unsteadily. “Ooh. I don't feel so good.”
He'd been afraid of that. “Come on,” Mark said as he kept his arm around her waist and led her to his office. “I think you need to lie down for a while.”
Desi stretched out on the sofa and her head began to spin even faster. She sat upright again and pleaded, “The rooms spinning. Make it stop.”
“Stay there and I'll be right back,” he ordered gently. She needed a strong cup of coffee.
Frightened because she couldn't fully comprehend what was happening to her, Desi grasped his hand. “Please don't leave me.”
The fear and confusion in her eyes tugged at his protective instincts and he sat down beside her, pulling her trembling body into his arms. “I won't leave you, Desi,” Mark promised and placed a kiss on her temple.
Now that she wasn't moving, the dizziness began to pass and Desi asked somewhat lucidly, “Am I drunk?”
“You are,” he agreed and heard her groan.
“Don't like it.”
“The first time is always the worst,” he assured her sympathetically.
“Never gonna do it again,” Desi denied and looked up at him. Without being completely aware of what she was doing, she lifted her hand
to caress his cheek. “You're so gorgeous, Mark,” she breathed with a dreamy smile. “I could look at you forever.”
Mark decided he liked it when she drank. He flashed her that bad boy smile and replied, “The feeling is mutual.” She looked absolutely stunning in the scarlet figure hugging gown and his hands itched to slide it off of her. The neckline emphasized her beautiful breasts and the fitted bodice revealed an impossibly small waist and gently curving hips to his hungry gaze.
“Your eyes changed,” she noticed in surprise. Mark's eyes were a warm, dark chocolate, but when he was aroused they became velvety smooth.
“How?” he asked in amusement.
“They were chocolate, now they're velvet.”
Which made absolutely no sense, so he merely nodded his agreement and replied, “Your eyes are big beautiful emeralds.”
“Em’ralds are cold,” she said sadly. “Tired of being cold.” He pulled the chenille throw off the back of the sofa and draped it around her. Desi shrugged it off and shook her head slowly, the auburn curls brushing over her bare shoulders. “Cold inside. Lonely. So lonely.”
Mark got the message loud and clear. He brushed a stray curl away from her cheek and suggested more to himself than to her, “Maybe we should table this discussion until you're sober.”
“Maybe you should kiss me,” she invited.
Knowing that he shouldn't, but not able to stop himself, Mark lowered his head and kissed her tenderly. Tenderness turned to passion, and when she slid her hand up his thigh in silent invitation, his own hand crept up to cup her breast and he heard her gasp of pleasure. “We shouldn't be doing this,” he said against her lips.
“Don't stop,” Desi pleaded as she pressed her body against his.
“You'll regret it in the morning,” Mark warned as he placed nibbling kisses down her neck. He knew without a doubt that she would, because Desi was the not the kind of woman to indulge in casual sex.
“Never,” she denied and slid the jacket off of his shoulders. “I want you.”
Mark didn't have any doubts about that either. “Are you sure this is what you want, Desi?” he asked hopefully, torn between his own desire and his conscience.
“Make love to me, Mark,” she invited with a seductive smile and tried to undo the buttons on his vest with fingers that didn't want to cooperate.
Shoving his own doubts aside, Mark proceeded to do just that with a prowess that left her gasping for air. His nimble fingers found the zipper down the side of her dress with unfailing accuracy and he lowered it with practiced ease. He stretched her out on the sofa and she lay before him bare to the waist as he drank in the sight of her. She looked like a gift from the gods, the auburn tresses spread out around her shoulders, those perfect breasts just begging for his touch.
“You are so perfect,” he said in that silken voice as he knelt beside the sofa and cupped her breasts. His mouth and hands lavished them with attention as she arched upward into his touch.
“Mark,” Desi breathed as she tunneled her fingers into his hair and reveled in the sensations he was arousing in her. “Feels so good.”
His hand slid up under the gown and discovered the wisp of lace at her hips. He disposed of it with little effort and slid two fingers inside her silken depths as she exhaled sharply, the emerald eyes huge as they met his in surprise. “Relax, baby. I've got you,” Mark said huskily before his mouth claimed her other nipple. Sweet God, she was tight. And wet. And so damn hot. His throbbing arousal thumped impatiently against his trousers, straining for release.
Desi's hips began to undulate of their own volition, her legs restless as she arched upward into his touch, her hands gripping his shoulders in fear that he would stop. Heat began to coil deep in her abdomen and she moaned softly as her hold on him tightened. When his thumb covered the highly sensitized nubbin at the juncture of her thighs and began a gentle rotation, her gasp of pleasure became a near sob.
The pressure building inside of her was almost unbearable and Desi felt as if her body were going to implode. “Mark, please. Please!” she begged in confusion, not understanding what she was asking for, but knowing instinctively that he could release her from this madness.
And then his mouth covered hers, swallowing the scream that erupted from her throat as the implosion happened without warning and an indescribable heat filled her abdomen, brilliant whirls of light appeared before her eyes and her body arched upward again and again as she rode the wave of sheer euphoria that washed over her.
Desi went completely limp, her entire body quivering helplessly in the aftermath of the most incredible experience she had ever known. “God,” she breathed in amazement as she stared up into his handsome face. “That never happened before.”
Mark was shocked and it showed. That had been Desi's first climax? Was she serious? What the hell kind of lover had Kylie's father been, he wondered and then scowled at the thought of her with the other man. Pushing that image firmly from his mind, Mark concentrated on the woman lying before him. She was smiling in extreme satisfaction, and the knowledge that he had pleased her filled him with a deep sense of pride.
But he wasn't through with her yet. Mark intended to please her again and again and when he was through, she'd know what it was like to be loved by a man who knew what he was doing. Desi in the throes of passion was a beautiful thing to watch and now she was practically glowing. He smiled wickedly and placed a tender kiss on her slightly parted lips. “You okay, baby?”
“Mmm,” she smiled and closed her eyes. “Perfect. Jus' perfect.”
He laughed softly and slid his hand down her supple leg. “You ain't seen nothin' yet. I'm gonna show you pleasure like you've never imagined,” Mark promised and didn't receive a response. “Desi?” he asked warily and realized that she was asleep. Great. Just freakin' great. He finally gets the chance to make love to her and she passed out cold. He sighed in resignation and assured his aching body that it was just as well. She'd probably hate him in the morning like it was. A scowl covered his handsome face at the thought.
The sound of a knock at the door galvanized Mark into action. He quickly replaced her dress with practiced hands and covered her with the blanket. When he stood, he discovered her thong lying on the floor and scooped it up to stuff it into his pants pocket. Opening the door a few inches, he saw Luke staring back at him with a look of disapproval. “What?”
“Matt and Harley are about to leave,” his younger brother informed him as he noticed the missing jacket and knew what he'd been up to. Mark had decided to seduce the woman after all. “Thought you'd wanna know.”
“Thanks,” Mark said and glanced over his shoulder at Desi lying on the sofa. She ought to be alright alone for a few minutes, so he stepped out of the office, closed the door quietly and followed Luke to the parking lot where his brother and sister-in-law were saying goodbye to their friends and family.
“Mark, have you seen Desi?” Harley asked when he hugged her.
“She's indisposed at the moment.”
“What's wrong?” she asked with a worried look.
“She didn't know there was alcohol in the punch.”
“Oh, lord. Is she alright?”
“She's fine,” Mark evaded going into details because he knew she would worry. “I've got her sleeping it off in the office.”
Her mouth dropped open at that revelation. “How much did she drink?”
“Enough,” he said dryly.
Concern for her friend overrode everything else. “I'll go check on her.”
“No, you won't,” he said and stepped in front of her when she would have walked past him. “I've got it under control and you have an impatient groom waiting.”
“You're sure?” Harley asked hesitantly.
“Go enjoy your honeymoon,” Mark said with a reassuring smile. “I'll take care of Desi.”
“Mark...” Not wanting to meddle, but feeling compelled to do so anyway, Harley hesitated before adding, “Please, don't play with her. De
si is too inexperienced to deal with a man like you.”
“A man like me?” he asked with a frown. What the hell did she mean by that?
“You know what I mean,” she said seriously. “If you decide to turn on that bad boy charm, I'm afraid you'll wind up breaking her heart.”
He'd already figured that out for himself and as much as he resented the warning, Mark knew it was well deserved. Harley knew him too well and she was just trying to protect her friend. “Don't worry,” he said seriously. “She'll be safe with me.”
The sound of a powerful engine being revved drew everyone’s attention to a lethal looking black motorcycle and the handsome man astride it. Harley's mouth dropped open in disbelief as she stared at her husband. “You bought a bike?” she asked incredulously.
“You know why,” he flashed her that bad boy grin that made her heart melt. They had discussed once how women were turned on by the powerful machines and how Harley’s mom had been so hot for her dad's bike, that she had named her after the thing. He had bought it because he knew she'd like it. “How do you like my other Harley, baby?” Matt asked with a wicked smile.
“It's almost as sexy as you are,” she breathed with a matching grin.
“Climb on.”
Without a thought to the gown she wore, Harley lifted the floor length skirt up to her knees, threw her leg over the seat and wrapped her arms around his lean waist. “God, I love you,” she laughed in delight and waved at the laughing crowd as they rode away with her train blowing in the breeze behind them.
“Looks like we get stuck washing the Chevy,” John said as he stared at his brother’s car that they had covered in toilet tissue and shaving cream.
“We?” Luke asked in amusement.
“Damn right,” the youngest assured him.
“It was your idea.”
“You didn't complain about it then, so don't start now,” was warned.
“Alright,” the older brother agreed reluctantly. “You wash, I'll rinse.”
“Like hell.”
Mark walked over to the bickering pair and interrupted their argument to inform them, “For future reference, Desi doesn't drink alcohol.”
