Amy frowned at him.
“Pick up stuff? What sort of stuff. She’s in no fit state to pick up anything.”
David laughed at her as she dished out some mushrooms onto a guest’s plate.
“No, you misunderstand. This is France. Shop assistants do all the fetching and carrying here. Geraldine just has to sit there looking glamorous.” He winked at his beautiful wife who promptly blew him a kiss back. “But I told her she wasn’t allowed to go on her own as it’s a bit of a drive and as Joe and I will be tied up entertaining this lot,” he indicated the guests who were tucking into their mountainous breakfasts with gusto, “I thought that a qualified nurse would be the perfect person to accompany her.”
Amy smiled at last. She felt as if she could do with a bit of a trip out. Trying to avoid Paul was becoming more and more difficult. He kept turning up where she least expected him. He’d even come and tried to play games with the children the previous evening but fortunately for her pounding, broken heart Robbie had taken him off after stating that he knew where there was a squirrel’s drey and insisting that Paul come and see it immediately.
The fact that Paul wouldn’t be able to see it at all never even crossed the boy’s mind and Paul had gamely gone along with the youngster and had even described the experience in vivid detail at that evening’s meal. Robbie had just stared up at the man as if he was some kind of super human while David had rolled his eyes in amazement at the man’s patience.
Amy gave Geraldine a quick smile before she spoke to David again.
“Great! I’ll look forward to it. At least it will keep me out of Paul’s hair for a while. He won’t have to keep finding daft things to do with Robbie if I am out of the way for the day.”
David looked confused for a moment and then he raised his eyebrows as remembered the squirrel adventure.
“Ha! I’m pretty sure he wasn’t really interested in not being able to see a bundle of sticks very high up in a tree. Poor bloke. I wish you would just put him out of his misery and kiss the shit out of him Amy. Geraldine did that to me a long time ago. I found the experience most enlightening!”
Amy nearly choked on a piece of bread that she had just nibbled after being unable to resist the scrap of crust that had fallen from the breadbasket onto the table.
“What gets into the women around here? Geraldine told me that Ellen had to rip off all her clothes to attract Patrick’s attention and now you tell me that Geraldine had to kiss the crap out of you! I’m beginning to wonder exactly what happened to Joe when Lucy waggled her bottom at him,” she managed to splutter out after clearing her throat.
David burst out laughing and all the guests in the dining room turned to stare at the big, scarred man. He caught his breath before he answered.
“Let’s just say that there must be something in the air about here. After all, it can’t possibly be anything to do with us army guys being totally irresistible, can it?” He winked cheekily at her this time.
Amy was about to answer with a laugh when the dining room doors suddenly crashed open and Paul stood glowering on the threshold, his jaw set in grim determination. Ellen grinned wildly around his huge shoulder and shouted something that sounded a lot like, ‘Ten paces at eleven o’clock!’ and Amy screamed in fright when he instantly barrelled towards her.
He stopped within inches of her but he didn’t hesitate for a moment. He lifted one hand and caught her shoulder, his other hand came up and gently caressed her cheek and then his huge arms engulfed her and his lips silenced her scream as he kissed her as if his very life depended upon it.
Chapter Thirteen
The ringing in her ears was almost deafening but it was nothing to the hammering in her heart. She felt his huge hands in her hair, heard the groan of desire deep in his chest and then his fingertips were under her chin as he pulled his lips away from hers and whispered into her ear.
“We need to talk. Now,” his voice was deep with emotion and she nodded dumbly while her lips tingled with the most delicious sensations that she had ever felt in her life. She was still too shocked to take in the clamour of sound around her and then she noticed all the whistling and shouts of encouragement aimed in their direction. Heat flooded her face as Paul pulled her into his arms and gave a quick grin of delight over her head to his fellow men before he steered her back towards the dining room doors.
“What on earth are you doing?” She asked he dragged her across the hallway towards the stairs but Paul never even answered. She was about to pull her hand away from his but he gripped hers tightly.
“No,” he growled out. “I’m never letting you go again, do you understand Amy?” His tone brooked no argument but even though her heart was pounding with joy, she found her voice and began to protest.
“I was helping serve breakfast. You can’t just come and drag me away from everyone like that,” the indignation in her tone was false to her own ears and Paul laughed at her.
“You just watch me.” They were already halfway up the stairs but Amy managed to pull her hand from his. She was about to turn away from him when he leaned down, caught her up under her knees and around her back and swept her against is solid wall of chest.
Amy wanted to pound him with her fists in protest but she gave up as she looked up at his determined jaw. There was no way that he was going to set her down again until he’d said what he needed to say and while she was being held so tightly in exactly the position that she wished she had been in for weeks, she couldn’t find the fight in herself to argue.
He shoved his bedroom door open with his hip then walked to the centre of the room before he placed her gently on his bed and climbed over her, caging her body with his arms and legs so that escape was impossible. He came down on his elbows, ran his long fingers into her silken hair and then his thumb feathered across her cheek and touched her bottom lip.
“God! You are truly beautiful,” he murmured before he bent his head again and brushed his lips across hers as he lowered his huge body gently.
She was boneless beneath him, every sensation driving her wild with need. His lips were tender yet firm, his body hard and heavy but still gentle and warm. His breath tasted of salt and fresh air and she drank in his power as he settled over her.
“I thought that you wanted to talk,” she whispered as his mouth moved from her lips to her throat and she pressed her hands to his shoulders, nearly moaning with delight as his hard muscles bunched and tensed under her fingertips.
“Talk later,” he mumbled against the soft skin beneath her ear. “Want you too much.”
She ran her own fingers up the back of his neck and into his hairline. She tugged at the thick dark strands gently until he lifted his head.
“Paul, stop for a moment.” His body stiffened and she sighed as she saw the tension mount in his face. She held him tightly so that he couldn’t move away. “You are so easy to read,” she murmured and then she sighed and kissed him right on the tempting indent in his chin. She waited until his features had relaxed again and was about to speak when he suddenly declared.
“Don’t go back to England. You don’t have a job there anyway but you could have one here. We could work together on this project,” his tone was a mixture of desperation and hope.
Amy frowned in despair as she dropped her hands from his cheeks and tried to wriggle from under him.
“I don’t think you needed to bring me up here to your bedroom to say that. And you certainly didn’t need to kiss me in front of all those people downstairs if all you were going to do was offer me a job,” her voice was laced with pent up frustration and she huffed out an angry breath as she realised that she was still pinned to the bed. She glared up at him even though she knew her expression was wasted. “Is that all you wanted to talk about? Some kind of work contract? Because if that’s all you wanted to say you can let me go right now.” She gave another wriggle of annoyance.
Paul pressed his body harder onto hers and shook his head quickly, knowing immedi
ately that he had said completely the wrong thing. He couldn’t mess this up again. He was on his last chance and he knew that he would have to lay his heart on the line and take the consequences however much they might hurt.
“No, that’s not all I want to say and you know it. Even though you would be brilliant at it I really don’t care whether you want the blasted job or not but I do want you to stay here with me Amy. I was so wrong about being able to do this by myself. I need you so badly.” She could see the knot of muscle moving at the side of his jaw and knew how much his admission cost his pride.
She spoke again as she slowly hooked her leg around the back of his knee.
“I have to go back,” she waited for him to try and drag himself from her but his jaw just tightened even further and somehow he kept himself in check as he waited for her to finish. “I have to go back and make my report to the judge and I also have to sort out my job. I won’t be going back to it but I have to leave with a good reference. No one would take me seriously with a stain on my character. I can’t just let it go.”
The relief that flooded Paul’s face nearly brought tears to her eyes.
“You have no idea how much you scared me just then Amy. I know you have to go and settle things but you will come back to me afterwards, you won’t leave me?” He rested his forehead on hers as she clasped his shoulders even tighter.
“No, not if you want me to stay. Are you sure that this is what you want though because I have to tell you that I have been a little confused over the weeks. I thought you hated me.”
He shook his head quickly.
“Never, I just hated the loss of my independence.” He placed his finger over her lips as she was about to speak. “No, I know what a stubborn arse I have been and I still want to be independent but now I want to be independent with you by my side. I can’t lose you Amy. If I do I think I will go mad,” he bit out the words harshly.
She buried her head into his neck and kissed the column of his throat as tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes.
“And I can’t lose you either. I thought I would go home and never see you again. My heart was breaking every time I thought about it. I want to stay with you.” she tasted his tanned skin and felt him tremble beneath her touch.
“Thank God!” He lifted her chin with a finger as his mouth descended onto hers again and this time there was no stopping him. His hands were suddenly everywhere on her, gently caressing, feeling every inch that he could reach and Amy suddenly realized what he was doing.
“Do you want to see what I look like?” She asked him between breathless kisses.
He uttered a strangled response.
“Yes, I need to see you now. All of you. I want to know every inch of you.” His fingers flew to her waist and began lifting her t-shirt. He pulled it up over her head and bent his head to the soft skin of her shoulder, dragging his lips across her silken flesh. Seconds later his fingers moved to the waistband of her jeans.
It was the work of moments before she lay naked in front of him. He threaded his fingers into her hair, loosening the heavy strands over her shoulders then his fingertips skimmed down over her exposed flesh and he trailed his lips across her heated body. The intensity of his gentle touch drove her wild. She couldn’t hold back her moans of desire and was suddenly tugging his shirt from the waistband of his jeans. His hands left her for a moment as he suddenly leapt from the bed and stripped quickly, then he lay back down beside her and pulled her body close to him.
Every muscle on his long frame was defined and hard. His thighs were corded and strong, his arms were like iron. He lifted his leg across her thigh and held her as he explored every inch of her back with fevered hands and then he dipped them lower to her peach-like bottom and pressed her against his hard length.
She stretched herself against him, arching her spine, loving the warmth of his skin, loving the way his body throbbed against her.
And then he pushed her gently onto her back and dipped his head to her breasts.
“Oh God!” He groaned. “I want more. I want all of you,” he swept his mouth across her nipple and gently sucked the puckered skin. He pulled her back to him and swept her up over his body all the time nuzzling her breasts, his hands firmly on her bottom as he lifted her over him, then his hard shaft was throbbing on her slick folds and there was no going back. He slid into her in a gentle thrust that had her crying out at the sensation. He filled her completely, pulling her down onto him until he buried himself entirely inside her heat. His head fell back onto the pillow and he groaned.
“Amy.” It was as though her name was his salvation and he lifted his hips again as she ground down onto him. His hands drifted up her spine and then came around to cup her breasts. He flicked her nipples with his thumbs and growled at her soft cries of passion as he raised his head and suckled at the tender skin again.
Amy had never experienced passion like this. Every touch branded her as his, every kiss granted him ownership of her and she never wanted to leave his arms. She trailed her fingers up the line of muscles that rippled his flat stomach and she massaged her palms into his bulging pectorals. She bent forwards and licked his chest, flicking her tongue and tasting the smooth salty skin, nipping his flesh with guarded teeth while he groaned out his pleasure.
And then he rolled them until she was beneath him again and he threw his head back and thrust into her, long slow strokes over and over, his momentum never stopping until he felt her muscles contract around him, pulling him forwards into the deepest climax he had ever experienced.
For a few moments he wasn’t sure that he hadn’t passed out with the pleasure of the sensations screaming through him. He was still inside her and still hard. The ripples of her orgasm continued to roll over his flesh for what felt like an age. He dragged in a deep breath and wished with all his heart that he could see the expression on her face.
Amy struggled to bring herself back from the storm of emotions sparkling continuously in her head. Her legs wrapped his tight waist in a band of heat, her body throbbed endlessly against his still rigid shaft. She fought for breath as she pressed her lips against his granite hard shoulder and he whispered throatily into her ear.
“Nowhere near enough. I need you more. I need you forever,” the raw emotion in his tone revealed the depth of his feelings and Amy brushed her hand across his sweating brow.
“I need you too,” she gasped out the words as he began to rock his hips, thrusting gently now, taking his time as he filled her once again. He let his fingers explore her body, trailing them over her every fibre of her flaming skin, feathering her with wild intensity as she moaned with pleasure beneath him.
It felt like hours before they fought their way through the haze of passion back into the real world.
Amy languished lazily, half asleep in the huge bed while Paul ran a bath deep enough for the two of them to share. She stirred as the sound of running water stopped and Paul called her from the bathroom.
“I didn’t have any asses’ milk to put in the bath so I bunged in some bubbling stuff and thought I would just join you instead as I have been a complete ass for the last few weeks.” He came to the door when there was no immediate answer.
Amy laughed sleepily and stretched out.
“You know it.” She peered at him from beneath the rustling silk covers and blinked in wonder as she took in the sight of his glorious body once more. His skin was still flushed with the last of their passionate heat.
Paul strolled over to the bed and whisked the tangled sheets from her body. She shrieked in surprise as he leaned down to grab her before she could pull them back. He lifted her and carried her through to the bathroom.
“I always knew there was another reason Ellen had all the bedrooms soundproofed. She must have had some premonition that you would come over and be made love to by me.” He tested the temperature of the water with a toe as Amy slapped his chest playfully before he lowered them both into the frothing, swirling water. “I’ll have to
make sure we soundproof our bedroom at the new place. I wouldn’t want any of the residents thinking I was torturing you.”
She flicked a handful of bubbles at his chest and noticed the surprised look on his face when some of them landed unexpectedly on his nose. She leaned over, wiped them off again and then kissed him on his now wet face.
“Everyone will know exactly what we’ve been doing up here, soundproofing or not,” her voice was still husky. “I don’t know how I’m going to be able to face any of them.”
Paul clasped her around her waist and held her tightly on his lap.
“I couldn’t give a monkey’s if the whole world knows what we were doing. You’re mine now Amy,” his voice was tender against the soft skin of her throat. “I will never let you go again.”
She leaned into his hard but slippery body and rested her chin on the top of his head as he nuzzled at her tender breasts. Her nipples were aching with need again even though he had paid hours of attention to them several times already that morning. He swirled his tongue over an already tightening peak and then turned her to straddle him.
His shaft slid into her easily and he lay his head back against the side of the bath and groaned as she gently rolled her hips. The water swirled about them coating their bodies with foam. She undulated over him, letting the water slop and slap between them.
“We are going to have to stop this sometime soon.” She watched him tremble as she ran a fingertip from his bottom lip to his chin and then down his neck to the slight dip between his pectorals.
His expression changed from one of lazy desire to rapture as she spread her hands across his chest and flicked his dark, flat nipples until they peaked with desire.
“My God woman! The power you have over me,” he gasped out and he gripped her to him as his hips suddenly began to thrust hard and fast.
Scarred Horizon (Scarred Series Book 4) Page 14
