“What don’t you want reminding of?” she asked gently, but sensed almost immediately that she would be added to the Forget List very shortly.
“Just about everything important,” he said flatly. “My mom, the place I should be able to call home, and my dog.”
“Your dog?”
“Timmy, a mongrel stray that stole my heart and then got killed.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “I won’t be making that mistake again.”
“Oh dear, that’s so sad.” Piper immediately thought of Aspen and how she’d feel if anything happened to her. And then how tender Matt had been around the animal. Her heart twisted. “I’m sure you gave him a wonderful life in the time you had together.”
“Stepfather of the moment didn’t like him. It wasn’t that great for me or the dog.”
“Oh.”
“I buried him in the backyard in Boston and then I left for good. Not a smart move for a sixteen-year-old, but I turned out okay in the end. Financially.”
Piper stared at the ice cream sundae that had been steadily melting into pink and white soup under the halogen lamps. “You won’t want one of Aspen’s kittens then, I guess.”
He smiled sadly. “No, that wouldn’t be a good idea.”
“So you’re really leaving on the sixteenth?”
“I’m really leaving. Are you mad at me for that?”
Was she? There was a fist-shaped ball in her chest and she felt sick as she tried to form a coherent answer. She wanted to look him in the eye and ask if she would ever see him again after the beer launch because that was what she really wanted to know. But it was a question she couldn’t ask. It would be so needy of her that he’d run a mile in the opposite direction, and she wouldn’t get those last eight days of being with him. She wanted those last eight days with him more than anything, she suddenly realized, and the truth made her feel weak and hopeless. She was in love with him, and he was going to leave her like he left everywhere and everyone in the end.
“It’s your life, Matt,” she managed to say. “I can’t be mad at you for wanting to live it.”
“The dancing has started back there if you’re interested,” he said and reached out to take her hand.
“Actually, I’m not. Really, I’m sorry, but I’d be happy to go as soon as it’s polite for us to leave.”
A slow smile parted his lips. “Sounds like a plan. Our suite is exquisite. You should come and see it.”
“Our suite?”
“Yeah, why not? All part of the wedding of the year exploitation experience, something to make the whole PR circus bearable after the bride and groom have gone to bed. A reward for us having to smile at strangers for so long. A refuge from the relentless cameras. Because publicity is the only reason we’re here.”
“I thought the groom was your buddy.”
“We’re business associates, that’s all, but both of us know a good promotional opportunity when we see one. Did you notice all those guys with the tripods and white screens? Hello magazine, exclusive access, worldwide glitzy glossy coverage of me. And you.”
“And presumably the happy couple,” she said.
“The toast was made with PCB No. 68. The bride loves pink, but doesn’t like pink wine. It’s a media coup.”
She glanced down at the untouched glasses of pink fizz and picked them up. Handing him one, she pasted on a smile. “So here’s to you and never failing to mix business with pleasure. May you sell many, many barrels.”
He laughed and took a sip without taking his eyes off her. “Business is over for the day. It’s pure pleasure time now.”
“Don’t you want to exploit a few more photo opportunities back there?”
He shook his head. “They’ve had enough—keep them hungry for more. There’s an amazing shot of us together.”
“I look forward to seeing it. I might even frame it.” She put her glass down and couldn’t fail to notice the change in his expression. “Joke,” she added quickly to squash any impression she might have given about being sentimental. The cards were all laid out face-up on the table. A no-strings fling for the next eight days. Business, pleasure, money, and decadence.
Most definitely not commitment, sentimentality, or anything beyond that.
In eight days, it would be adios, arrivederci, adieu, and she had to get used to the idea quickly. She had agreed to go along with it and if she was going to back out, it really had to be now.
She should back out before she got sucked in deeper, before he’d had his fill and spat her out…
“Come on, let’s get out of here,” he said with a million-dollar grin and fished a key card out of his pocket. “You have got to see where we’re staying tonight.”
Chapter Fourteen
They took the elevator to the top floor of the chateau, and the suite door opened straight into an enormous room with the trademark high-beamed ceiling, panoramic windows, and a crackling log fire. It was dominated by a colossal bed that had white silk drapes hanging over it like something out of Arabian Nights, but it promised much more than a good night’s sleep. In the corner of the room surrounded by flickering candles was the biggest, deepest, most luxurious Jacuzzi she had ever seen. It was set into a wall of rough rock and stones that gave it the feeling of being a deep, languid pool in the mountain forests.
A specially positioned domed ceiling above it was subtly lit with tiny spotlights, like stars or fireworks. A secret place for lovers. Scarlet rose petals were scattered around the wide ledge, and to the side was an ice bucket holding an unopened bottle of champagne.
Piper felt more relaxed already, safe in this sensuous hideaway. “Wow, anyone would think we were the bride and groom—talk about luxurious.”
He took her by the hand and led her closer to the hot tub. “See that red glass bottle set into that little alcove in the rock?”
“Yes, it’s gorgeous, catching the candlelight like that.”
“Any idea what’s in it?”
“It’s probably just an ornament,” she said with a grin and slipped off her shoes, relishing the feel of the mellow wood on her stiletto-ravaged feet.
He plucked the bottle from its resting place and offered it to her. “Open it.”
She took the cold crystal stopper between her fingertips and eased it out. The fragrance hit her immediately and she closed her eyes with pleasure. “Moroccan rose…you don’t forget a damn thing, do you?”
“Nope.” He took it gently from her and poured a stream of the precious liquid into the glassy pool before using the tiny remote control by the champagne bucket to start the bubbles working. “I remember you raving about it over that rose martini in Sanibel.”
“I’m not going to be able to resist getting in there, you know that?” She giggled “Of course you know that, you planned all this.”
He smiled and pulled her into his arms, gently brushing her lips with his. She melted into him, soft pliant flesh gripped by rock hard muscle and male sexual intent. Matt DeLeo was a fantasy man and this was a fantasy situation, an amazing erotic dream that she wasn’t going to fight and hoped she wouldn’t wake up from until it was well and truly over. And that would be on the sixteenth, the day their fling had to end.
She whispered into the fine silk of his shirt. “Help me off with this dress, will you?” She shivered as he slid down the zipper and the fine straps so that the gossamer material slithered into an aqua puddle on the floor.
He stood back and drank in the sight of her dressed in just a strapless ivory bra and matching panties as he opened the buttons of his dress shirt. “You’re more beautiful every time I see you, Piper. I think I’m addicted to you.”
“I think that wedding turned your head into mush.” She helped him shuck off his shirt, marveling at the smooth contours of his hard-muscled torso, running her fingertips over the thick black swirls of his body art, and leaning forward to recapture his lips.
This time the kiss was slow and more intense. His mouth moved against hers, and s
he shivered as the tip of his tongue teased her lips apart. She felt him slide one hand around the back of her neck and the other down the side of her body and into the naked small of her back, pulling her against him and pressing her softness into his hard contours. She kissed him hungrily back, desperate for wild physical contact. She wound her arms around him, savoring the play of muscles in his back as his arms tensed and shifted, and where their hips were pressed together she felt the unmistakable ridge of his erection.
He moaned softly as she broke the kiss and ran the tip of her tongue down the side of his neck and over the hard bunched muscles of his shoulder, and then his determined mouth was back on hers, hard and hungry. He cupped her breasts, and then reached one hand around her back to undo her bra. It fell with a whisper to the floor and he ran his thumbs over her nipples, hard and erect and as eager as he clearly was.
She eased her hands around his firm buttocks and curled her fingernails into the tantalizingly soft skin, loving the warmth and scent of him. He ran his hands through her hair and then down over her curves before hooking his fingers under the elastic of her panties. He ripped the sides away and the flimsy material joined the rest of her clothes on the floor. She noticed his breath caught as she stood totally naked under the dome of stars next to the sea-green foam of the Jacuzzi.
He threw his head back as she moved her hands around the front of him, brushing his hard groin teasingly with her fingertips before moving to the button on his fly and pulling the zipper down. She circled his freed erection, and he swore softly as she began to move her hand slowly up and down the velvet skin, running her thumb over the already slippery tip.
“I want to taste you,” she murmured huskily, and he cursed as she sank to her knees.
“Christ,” he groaned as she traced the contours of the swollen head with her tongue. She licked him slowly at first, flicking over and around, then took the head in her mouth and sucked, gently for a moment and then harder, moving her lips and fingers slowly up and down, whirling her tongue over the delicate flesh. He twitched in her mouth, and then she felt his hands on her head, guiding her upright.
“Not yet,” he said and kicked off his trousers, quickly followed by his briefs. “Unfinished business, remember?”
She followed his dark gaze to the bubbling water and understood immediately, taking his hand and tingling with excitement. They sank down into the warm fragrant water and she leaned back against the cool marble side of the pool, stretching her arms above her head so that her tight red nipples were just visible above the white foam, deliberately provoking him to come and take charge. He plunged his hands under the water and massaged her from her feet to her thighs. He dropped kisses lightly onto her parted lips as he splayed his palm over her flat stomach, and then his fingers were between her legs, pushing her thighs apart so he could explore the tight heat within.
She shuddered as he found her clitoris and rubbed it in tiny circles with his fingertips. Then she closed her eyes with shock and pleasure as he slipped two fingers from his other hand into her. Her spine arched as he leaned in closer and bit possessively down on the taut muscle between her neck and shoulder. The sensations coursing through her were like wild electricity, pulsing erratically, zapping shocks that contrasted intensely with the soft, slippery rose water that she floated in.
“Come inside me,” she whispered. “I can’t take much more.”
Silently, he shifted position so he towered over her, crushing her against the stone wall of the Jacuzzi and plunging his tongue deep into her mouth. She arched her hips upward as his hands slithered over the soft mounds of her breasts beneath the water. Her fingers mirrored his on his hard buttocks.
“Wait,” she said, and his hands stilled. “Lean back.” She caressed him under the foam until his eyes fluttered shut with pleasure.
“Whatever you say,” he said with a tremor in his voice.
She was over him in seconds, her movement made so much easier by the water, and positioned herself above him. “Are you ready?” she purred.
He nodded and grasped her by the hips as she sank slowly downward, inhaling the warm mist of sensuality and exotic oils. She watched his face darken into sexual oblivion, and the power she felt over him was intoxicating. Then her own eyelids fluttered shut as she began to rock slowly, gasping as he matched her thrusts, and she felt as if her heart might burst with beating so fast.
His wet hands explored her shoulder blades, buttocks, and breasts, and she eased an erect nipple into his open mouth. She felt him swell and flex inside her—it wouldn’t be long before they both gave in to the moment. He gripped her hard and his rhythmic strokes became urgent thrusts that were so powerful she clung to his shoulders like some kind of anchor, digging her nails into his warm skin.
“I’m coming,” she cried out as orgasm began to overwhelm her. “God, I’m coming so fast.”
“Yes,” he said and she felt the huge surge begin. He pulled her down onto him hard and it took her breath away. “Yes. With me. Now.”
She gasped at the feel of him exploding inside her as he shuddered his release. Long, hot, lengthy spasms shook his body, and the feel of him coming so violently pushed her over into the abyss. A supernova of sensation exploded in her, sucking him in with her orgasmic muscle spasms. He cried out in what sounded like agony as they climaxed together and then collapsed, flesh on sated flesh in a rose-scented mist.
…
Matt was disappointed that he hadn’t been able to find a flicker of emotion on Piper’s face when he’d announced he was leaving Passion Creek. They’d made love like they were possessed for most of the night after the Jacuzzi, but surely it couldn’t still be just sex for her? Then Matt felt angry with himself for even thinking about what he wanted Piper to be feeling. He should be hoping with all his heart that it really was just the physical act that was keeping her close to him for the next seven days because anything else would be plain cruel. And he wasn’t a cruel man. Was he?
Her head stirred beneath his arm where she’d fallen asleep a few hours ago, and he found himself staring at the deep lustrous red of her hair as he wound a tress around his finger. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever met, but it wasn’t just her gorgeous coloring, bright green eyes, and cool creamy skin. It was the fire that glowed deep within her, the thing that made her who she was. Maybe that was her soul.
Her eyes flickered open and it was clear for a moment that she didn’t have a clue where she was. “What did you dream about?” His voice sounded soft even to his own ears. He must be going soft himself, except a certain part of him was becoming decidedly un-soft as her rosebud mouth unfurled in a yawn.
“I had my favorite dream.” She snuggled into the soft skin of his armpit. “The one where I have a wooden house by the ocean. It has pale blue shutters that are kind of battered, but cute all the same, and out back there’s a workshop.”
“A workshop? Isn’t that a kind of a middle-aged man’s dream?”
Her tiny laugh feathered his shoulder. “Only if the old dude is into silvering whelk shells and making mosaics out of abalone.”
“Oh, I see.” He brushed the hair out of her eyes. “Warmer than your workshop downtown, I guess.”
“I don’t have a workshop. It all happens on my kitchen table. Or at least it did until my sister and Aspen moved in. The chemicals worry me, too dangerous.”
“I had no idea,” he said and felt like a heel. He had no idea because he’d never made the effort to find out. And he had never made the effort because he never got involved with women and didn’t know how. And she wasn’t really his girlfriend, she was someone else’s ex-girlfriend…and his head was getting seriously messed up. “You should find a place to work safely.”
“I will when there’s more money in the bank,” she said lazily and stretched. “Oh, but this time the dream had a little doggie in it, a cute black and white Jack Russell terrier. He went like the wind around that shack chasing gulls.”
Matt suddenly fel
t sick. Timmy had been a black and white terrier.
Too fucking weird.
“Want some breakfast sent up?” He tried to shatter the intimacy of their conversation. “You must be hungry.”
“Which means you’re hungry,” she said and jabbed him in the ribs. “I’d be more than happy with another one of those fancy cigarettes and…you.”
Lust kicked involuntarily in his groin as he looked down into her mischievous face and watched her pink tongue slowly lick her bottom lip. He felt a strange emotion constrict his belly and that feeling of a hand closing over his throat. “You’re irresistible,” he said and covered that soft inviting mouth with his.
Chapter Fifteen
Piper fiddled nervously with her phone, checking every few seconds to see if there was a text from Matt. There was nothing, and she should be glad he wasn’t demanding her attention every few hours. She’d made it clear she didn’t need him checking if she was okay all the time. But today she wasn’t glad. Now she realized that him calling her meant he might have cared.
She was in the lush waiting room of Melanie’s wedding planner business, Decadent Events, a pre-planned appointment to discuss future commissions that would tie in with her friend’s bookings. Most bridezillas planned meticulously and months ahead, which made life easier and more lucrative if their requirements were made to order. However, Piper was more eager to get a weight off her mind today, rather than pretend she was the businesswoman she felt she ought to be.
Melanie popped her head around the office door and beamed her usual gorgeous smile. The sight of it was enough to make Piper well up. Life had been so dull and uncomplicated up until recently. Even the Stanley house of horrors at Christmas hadn’t reduced her to the thin soup of a woman she felt like right now. But walking into Mel’s office and sinking into a luxurious, silk-covered armchair felt as good as a hug. And she needed a hug.
Blackmailed by the Billionaire Brewer Page 14
