At first, he wasn’t sure what she meant, but then she showed him. Hart moaned as she pulled off his paint stained shirt. It plopped wetly onto the concrete floor beside the canvas. When she was done with his, hers followed it to the floor.
Together, they were a painted mess.
Still, she was gorgeous. Blue was definitely her color. Hart felt the need to warn her before they went any further.
“If you’re going to start something, I don’t know if I can stop,” he stated. He believed in honesty. “I don’t know if I can keep turning it on and off, Lennox.”
She stared down into his eyes. “Don’t turn it off. I want you, Everhart.”
His heart skipped.
There was no way he’d heard those words come from this beautiful woman. It wasn’t possible. She wanted him.
Why?
He hadn’t a clue.
Instead of arguing, they rolled. Hart pinned her beneath him on the white canvas. “Are you sure?”
She reached up and touched his cheek with the palm of her hand. It left a blue smudge, and he never looked sexier. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”
That hit him at his core.
It was like the secret words opening up that magical place in him that no one had ever been able to reach.
She’d found a way in.
Truthfully, he’d always longed for someone to want him this way. After Ivy’s mother, he wondered what was wrong with him. Had he been a jerk to deserve having his life torn apart?
Was this karma?
Was Lennox finally his reward for surviving it all?
For years, he analyzed the whole thing and just maybe, it wasn’t about him. The way she was treating him proved that he was perfectly fine.
“Oh, Lennox,” he whispered, finding her mouth again with his. The kiss was so filled with passion that he thought he was going to overflow with pleasure.
She held on as he plumbed the depths of her mouth with his tongue as if he couldn’t get enough of her.
Lennox didn’t understand that.
No one had ever wanted her that much. It was as if she was burning up from the fire.
Then she realized she wasn’t participating.
Hell!
She had a slippery sexy man over her body. It was time to explore. With eager fingers, she let her hands slide down his torso until she found the bulge in his jeans.
When she rubbed him, he moaned in pleasure.
“God! Yes!” he whispered into their kiss. “Please touch me, baby,” Hart pleaded.
It had been too long but that was about to end.
Slowly, she slid the painted zipper down to slip her hand into his jeans. When she grabbed him through his boxers, holding his erection in her hand, his breathing hitched.
“Please tell me you’re not going to change your mind,” he begged. Her hand on him felt so damn good he nearly came right then and there.
“I’m not going to stop unless you want me to.”
He laughed.
That was never going to happen.
Hart wanted to thank anyone who was responsible for this miracle. He had a sexy woman fondling his junk. This day was going on his calendar. It was like a man holiday.
“Too many clothes,” he muttered, struggling to pull her sweats from her body as she was beneath him.
When he finally succeeded, they landed beside the wet shirts on the floor.
Hart didn’t hold back.
When she shoved down his jeans and boxers, his erection sprung free.
Somehow, he’d managed not to get paint on his dick.
It was a miracle.
“I have to have you, Lennox. Next time, I swear to God I’ll go slowly. I just need you so much that I’m going to die if I don’t have you,” he admitted, praying that she wouldn’t hold it against him.
He knew how to romance a woman, only now—he wanted that fast rush of their bodies becoming one.
He wanted to feel.
Hart needed it.
Lennox stared up at him. His words fired her.
How could she say no to that?
“God! Yes!”
He was so damn glad she wasn’t telling him to get off her. At this rate, Hart didn’t think he could if he tried. His body was on autopilot, and he needed this more than anything in the world.
Reaching down, he ripped off her panties. They tore beneath his fingers like the flimsiest paper.
They both moaned at the sound it made.
“I will replace those,” he muttered.
“Then you can rip those off too.”
His whole body reacted to her words. Apparently, she was telling him that there was going to be a second time.
Hart wanted to throw a damn party.
Before he could say anything, she pulled him down to her body. They were skin to skin. When her legs wrapped around his hips, he was holding his breath.
He couldn’t believe…
Hart felt the wetness, and it wasn’t the paint. Lennox was open for him, and he couldn’t control himself any longer. As he slid into her, his heart stopped.
“Oh, shit!”
She stared up at him. “What’s wrong?”
He was tense, and it had nothing to do with the heat of the moment.
“We can’t do this. I’m not wearing a condom.”
She couldn’t believe this.
He was buried balls deep in her, and NOW he wanted to stop?
Really?
Could fate be that cruel?
“Everhart, before you freak out, there’s something you should really know.”
He couldn’t think.
Honestly, he might just hyperventilate. Last time, he’d been drugged and unaware. This time, he’d slid bare into a woman who had the power to destroy him.
He had to be the dumbest man alive.
Hart wanted this, but his brain was holding him hostage. He pictured Ivy, and he knew he couldn’t be the father to another child at that point in his life. He was barely keeping his head above water as it was. The idea of two kids running roughshod over him was enough to kill his libido.
“What?” he asked.
“I can’t have kids.”
He stared down at her, his heart thundering in his chest. He wasn’t sure what to say.
“I won’t do to you what Ivy’s mother did. I can’t have kids because I’ve been fixed.”
He didn’t hear a lie.
In fact, she was being honest with him.
She saw the look on his face and knew she had to give him an out. As great as this was, if he was going to be worried the entire time, what was the point?
It had to be magical for both of them. Wasn’t that the point of your first time with someone?
“It’s okay, Everhart. If you want to stop, I get it,” she said, giving him an out. It was the last thing she wanted to do. Only what choice did she have?
The man was freaked out, and for good reason. He’d been burned by a woman before, and while it took two people to make a child, he’d been left holding the bag.
Alone.
That had to be scary.
Hart had a few choices.
Pull out and walk away.
Continue and enjoy the moment with a beautiful woman.
Or ask her why she had her tubes tied so early in life and ruin the moment—their first moment.
Hart decided, and fast.
“I want you, Lennox. I trust you.”
And he really did. For the first time, in a very long time, he felt safe again.
She smiled up at him. “Then you can have me.”
He brought his mouth back down to hers, and the kiss helped him calm down. He sought her hands with his own, as he pinned her to the canvas beneath them. Their fingers met, twined, and were held above her head as he refocused on the pleasure.
Then he began moving.
With each stroke in and out of her body, she met him with tipped hips. It was the most amazing feeling of h
is life.
The last woman he’d been with had been a drunken free for all, and he couldn’t even remember if he’d enjoyed it.
This he’d never forget for as long as he lived.
Lennox had made that a reality.
As he continued the hot, wet slide into her body, both of their hearts pounded. He could feel his in his chest, and her pulse in her wrist.
“Lennox,” he moaned as her body began tightening down on his. “So damn good,” he muttered.
And it was.
His control was shot.
Lennox could feel him get harder. He was like steel, buried in her body, and she couldn’t think straight. He was working himself in and out of her and the fit was incredible. Everhart Rose was made for sexy, hot fantasies.
She’d never forget this moment.
As she shook beneath him, he pushed himself off her body to stare down into her eyes.
Hart believed they were the windows to the soul, and he wanted to watch her cum.
Then he wanted to join her.
As he drove into her, she couldn’t hold back any more. The delicious feel of his erection hitting that one spot, the brush of his chest hair across her nipples, and the way he watched her was more than enough to push her over the edge.
She exploded apart.
As Lennox’s body began milking his, he drove himself into her with one last thrust, and then he poured hotly into her.
“Oh, Jesus!”
He came and came hard.
Breaking his sex fast was even more incredible than he’d ever thought it could be.
His body collapsed onto hers.
She nestled her face into the crook of his neck and breathed in the scent of his skin and cologne.
She loved it.
Hell!
She loved him.
She could already tell. This moment, while messy and out of control, had been so different than any other time with any other man.
It had been special.
Unique.
He had been what her heart needed.
This one moment was more than enough to help her heal, and she hoped it would do the same for Hart.
She never wanted to go a day without it.
That was her proof.
She was madly in love.
Crap.
“Am I crushing you?” he asked, still not moving. “If I am, I can get off you. You can’t be comfortable on that canvas. Next time, we should use a bed.”
She was excited that he wanted it to happen again. “You mean this wasn’t just a heated bout of sex?” she asked, trying to keep her voice neutral.
It wasn’t easy.
As long as she didn’t have to look him in the eyes or answer a question, she would be fine.
So of course he lifted his head and forced her to look up at him. “What do you want to happen between us?” he asked.
Oh, this was a minefield.
What to say…?
“I want to get to know you better.”
His bullshit detector went off. His instinct was screaming, and for the first time since he’d met her, she wasn’t being honest.
“You just lied to me.”
She closed her eyes.
Well, shit!
“Maybe you should be honest with me since my dick is buried in your body. Really, lies are awkward at this point.”
He was exasperating.
As was his gift.
“Fine. I want to have so much sex that I can’t think straight for the rest of my life. Better?”
That made him laugh.
Simply because she was telling the truth and it embarrassed the hell out of her. A flush had begun working its way up her neck.
So, he gave her the truth back.
“I want that too.”
She opened her eyes. He was still buried in her body and Lennox never wanted to be away from him.
Still…they couldn’t stay like that forever. At some point, the maid would be coming in to clean, and they weren’t exactly in a good position.
Well, it was a great position, but not for someone gawking at their naked, painted bodies. It was bound to raise eyebrows.
“Want to take a shower?” she offered. “I can ring the maid and get us some robes from the pool house—unless you want to walk back to your room naked and painted purple.”
Yeah, he liked the first option better.
“Will you be joining me in the shower?” he asked. “Or will I be in there alone?”
Two could play the question game.
“Will you be accosting me in there or are we just getting cleaned up?”
“Um…is this a trick question? Do you want me to?”
She laughed. “Yes.”
He stared at her.
“Wait! No, it’s not a trick question, and yes, I really want you to.”
He grinned.
“Then, yes, I shall be accosting you once we get cleaned up. I don’t want a blue dick. People will talk,” he teased.
She snorted. “If you have random people staring at your man-junk, you have worse issues to worry about than a little paint.”
Yeah, like her kicking their asses, but she kept that to herself. It was one bout of sex.
It wasn’t a commitment, and she knew it.
Pushing off her body, he reached down to pull her to her feet. Then he kissed her.
Lennox’s toes nearly curled in response.
Jesus!
The man could kiss. He did this thing with his tongue that shot licks of heat right to her clitoris.
When he set her free, she was flushed.
“I’ll be right in. I want to call the maid,” she offered. “Get the water running.”
He headed toward her private bath off the workroom and at the door, he turned around to look at her.
“You’re beautiful covered in paint. You look like a beautiful piece of art.”
Her heart skipped.
“You’re a masterpiece, Lennox Valentine Easton. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
It had been so surprising to hear that from him that it made her eyes well up with tears.
“I mean it.”
That was the most romantic thing anyone had ever said to her.
Then he changed the tempo of the conversation. “Hurry up. I want to accost you.”
When he was gone, she turned to look at the painting on the floor. It stole her breath. The red and blue had combined, making purple-ish streaks, but that wasn’t what caught her eye.
It was the shape.
They’d made love on the canvas, and it looked like…
A heart.
The tears that had just filled her eyes overflowed, as she tucked their work of art safely against the wall where he couldn’t see it.
She was going to keep that painting for as long as she lived. It would forever remind her of Everhart Rose.
The love of her life.
Chapter Sixteen
Tori and Julian headed to the old business partner’s home. All the way there, she was working on the questions in her head, prepping for the interview. When she glanced over, she became distracted and found herself thinking about Julian’s sexy black hair as it kissed his shoulders.
“What?” he asked, sensing her eyes on him.
“When did you get your hair cut?” she asked.
He laughed. “A week ago, why?”
“I thought you were growing it out.”
Julian kept driving. “I was going to, but I felt like it was getting scraggly. You know how I am with my hair.”
It was true.
Julian liked being impeccably tidy. From his polo to his shoes, he was always orderly. When he would get messy, it would make him a nervous wreck.
“Can you grow it out?” she asked.
“Seriously?”
Tori leaned over and caught his ear between her teeth. While it was there, she whispered, “It turns me on. After we have Veronica, I’d like to resume our little sex game
s and a Native with longer hair is high on my list.”
His body reacted.
It always would, especially when Tori was referring to the little trips they took to the local hotel as they played out a fantasy. He liked how they spiced up their relationship.
Don’t get him wrong.
Their sex life was still hot, but that little interlude was something they both kept thinking about even after it was done. Just the thought of going back to the hotel made him hard.
“Please?” she whispered. “I really want to be under you and have your hair kiss my skin as it hangs around us.”
Well, hell!
If that’s what she really wanted.
“Yes,” he muttered as she tugged on his ear. It was so damn hot, that he couldn’t think straight.
“We’re here,” she said, releasing him.
Julian was appalled. “You got me all hard and now you’re going to turn it off?” he asked. “You’re sadistic.”
Tori found that funny.
“Well I can’t give you a blowjob in the man’s parking lot, and let’s be honest…we,” she said, pointing at herself and her growing belly, “won’t fit between you and the steering wheel to ride you. Your options are shot to shit.”
He stared at her.
“What?”
“That’s not going to turn me off and help me lose the erection, honey. Now I’m picturing you riding my dick. You’re really bad at this. In fact, you are horrible at turning me off.”
Tori knew what would work. “Clarissa did our laundry, and she found the stripper panties that get you off. She said they were right up your alley.”
“Jesus! My mother? Really? I said turn me off—not scar me for the rest of my life.”
She snorted. “Shall we?”
He stared down at his lap.
His erection was gone.
“Yeah, let’s do it. After, we should grab you something to eat. You can’t sustain Veronica on coffee.”
Tori was good with that.
As they headed into the large building, they found the man’s name listed beside the elevator. Getting in, they rode up in silence.
Julian knew his wife was gearing up for it. He’d watched her enough to know that when she was ready to dig, she got quiet to observe.
Her game face was on.
When they walked into his office, it wasn’t as fancy as they thought. In fact, it was void of a lot of things.
The most important—a receptionist.
Forbidden Secrets Page 25
