Justin paced to the patio doors and back. “I don’t want to believe Granddad did anything, but I’ve thought a lot about this since this morning and I’ve got to face the facts. Look at where the company is now. If you consider the jobs we have out there, there is no reason for Hunter to be in any financial trouble. My guess is Granddad was already being bled dry, and if we continue to pay, it’ll only be a matter of time before it’s all gone—no matter how successfully we rebuild the business.”
Jordan’s jaw clenched and he looked outside. After a minute, he said quietly, “I hate it when you’re right.”
“In this case, so do I,” Justin agreed.
“So what, we let the guy know this is it, then? Call his bluff?”
Justin thought for a moment. “Let’s see if he’ll still meet and see what he’s got—if anything. We might consider going public ourselves. It could be a lot less damaging if we’re the ones to release the facts as we currently know them.”
Jordan looked horrified at the thought. Justin wondered if his brother would ever get past the matter of appearances being everything. However this all played out, he suspected neither of them would have much choice in the matter before too long.
“Dinner’s on the table,” Marley said from the kitchen table.
Jordan glanced at his watch. “I should get going.”
Marley set a bowl of spaghetti noodles on the table. “I set a place for you, Jordan. You’re welcome to stay.”
Jordan cast him a glance. Justin smiled wryly at the silent request for permission. As if he’d chase his own brother out.
****
Three hours later, he wanted to chase his own brother out. While he and Marley each had a glass of wine with dinner, and another half-glass of the dessert wine with the cheesecake, Jordan finished off the first bottle and almost the second when they moved to the living room to watch TV. He was close enough to drunk that Justin knew he couldn’t let him drive home.
It occurred to him that Jordan had been drinking more than usual, but Justin had attributed it to the stress of the past couple weeks. Jordan would ease up once things returned to normal.
Justin rose from the couch and made his way into the kitchen. The pot of coffee he’d started had begun to percolate when Marley joined him and leaned back against the counter.
Thinking about Nate’s interruption the other night, and Jordan’s tonight, Justin gave her a rueful smile. “Brothers and their timing, hey?”
A quick smile touched her lips, but it faded just as fast. “Does he always drink like this?”
Justin went straight on the defense. “He’s not a drunk.”
“I didn’t say he was, but you can’t let him drive.”
Justin indicated the dripping coffee. “What do you think this is for?”
“Why don’t you just have him sleep in Nate’s room,” she suggested.
“Because…” He walked over to place a hand against the counter on either side of her as he leaned in close. “I don’t want him here tonight.”
Her breath hitched, sending a swift stab of desire through Justin. “Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.”
He placed a soft kiss on her lips, intending to leave it at that and return to the living room. But she wrapped her arms around his neck, opened her mouth under his, and stroked her tongue deep inside.
He tasted mint and smiled when he realized she’d snuck into the bathroom to brush her teeth after dinner. Mindful of the garlic bread he’d eaten, he’d fished his toothbrush and mouthwash from his overnight bag and done the same. Good to know they were on the same page.
He followed her lead with the kiss, letting her control the speed as he fit her body tight against his. His hands memorized the line of her spine and the firm curves of her butt. He lost himself in her passion until the gurgling of the coffee pot signaled completion.
Burying his face in her neck while he fought to regain control, Justin asked, “How fast do you think a cab can get here?”
“Not fast enough,” she said breathlessly.
He laughed and groaned at the same time. “God, Marley, you drive me nuts.”
She pushed him away to reach for some mugs. “Good, that makes us even.”
Sidling up behind her, he lifted the hair off her neck and placed his lips against her soft skin. Her head lolled to the side. She moaned softly when he slid his hands under her shirt and bra to cup her breasts.
“Call the cab company already,” she ordered in a hoarse voice.
“Right, okay. I’m on it.”
He withdrew his hands reluctantly. When she walked past him at the phone with three cups of coffee, his gaze followed her until she was out of sight. After a few more rings, someone answered on the other end. “Yellow Cab, how may I help you?”
“I need a pick up at six-twenty—”
He broke off as Marley returned, shaking her head. “Hang up.”
He lifted a brow, but she just reached to remove the phone from his hand, then spoke into the handset. “I’m sorry, we don’t need a pick up after all. Bye.”
She jerked her head toward the living room. When they reached the couch, Justin wanted to shout in frustration at the sight of his twin brother, sound asleep, snores emanating from his slack mouth.
“I’m beginning to wish I were an only child,” he groused. That earned him a smack on the arm. “I’m kidding,” he tacked on. “Mostly.”
Jordan mumbled and started to roll over with his half-empty wine glass in hand. Marley lunged for it, and Justin took hold of his arm to haul him to his feet. With Marley’s help, he carried Jordan down the hall and laid him on Nate’s bed, removed his shoes, then covered him with the comforter.
Snagging the other pillow and a blanket off the end of the bed, Justin closed the door behind him to face Marley in the hall. She glanced down at the bedclothes in his arms.
“It’s late.”
He looked at his watch to distract himself from the vision of her. “In the world of construction, it’s really late.”
She took a step toward her room. “I guess I’ll see you in the morning then?”
The hesitancy in her words tore right through him. He had to clear his throat before he could reply, “Goodnight.”
He started down the hall, silently cursing his brother to hell and back.
“Justin?”
His heart leapt as he stopped without turning around. “Marley, don’t,” he said gruffly. “One more word and it’s not going to matter one bit that Jordan’s in the next room.”
He held his breath in the ensuing silence. When he heard the soft click of her door, disappointment flooded through him. After changing into a pair of shorts and tee shirt, he made a quick round of the house to secure each entry. He dumped the coffee and left the light on above the stove before making his way into the living room to park his butt on the couch.
Only the hum of the refrigerator and ticking of a clock in the kitchen broke the silence of the night. Justin lay first with his eyes closed, then open, slowly tuning in to the creaks and groans of the house.
Hours seemed to pass as comfort and sleep eluded him. Staring into the dark, he heard the sound of the increasing wind through the trees and around the corners of the house. Already on edge from the events of the past few days, and the repressed sexual desire thrumming through his veins, the noises kept him awake.
An extended creak from the back of the house made him tense. It almost sounded like a door opening slowly. Silence followed. Just when he’d started to relax, the lightest scuff of a footstep on the hardwood floor sent a rush of adrenaline straight to his nerve endings.
He rolled off the couch, his pulse pounding in his ears. A dark figure, haloed by the meager light from the kitchen, headed toward the couch. It registered that the slim shadow was Marley a split second before she whispered his name.
“Justin. You’re awake.”
“Hell, yes, I’m awake.” He met her halfway around the couch. Her face remained in s
hadow, and he gripped her arms. Concern threatened to overwhelm him. “What’s the matter? Did you hear something? Was someone—”
“No,” she hastily assured him. “Everything’s fine.”
“Then what…?”
“I can’t sleep.”
He stared a moment. “But you’re okay? Everything—”
“Is fine.”
Relief gave way to frustration. “You damn near gave me a heart attack.”
“Sorry,” she said in the meekest tone he’d ever heard from her. Now he knew something was definitely wrong.
“It’s almost one in the morning. If nothing’s wrong, then what are you doing up?”
She moved around him and plopped down on the couch. “What part of ‘I can’t sleep’ don’t you understand?”
He stared for a moment. About all he understood at this point was she didn’t seem immediately concerned about anything, and she wore another sexy tank top and shorts like the night before. He sat, careful to keep his distance and not let his bare knee touch hers. Any contact at this point was liable to drive him past the point of no return.
With a deep, silent breath, he strove to think of something—anything—else.
“I owe you an apology,” she said softly. “I should’ve told you about Nate and your grandfather right away.”
Well, there was a change of subject. He waited for all the reasons why she hadn’t, her justification to convince him it wasn’t her fault, but they never came. She left him free to make up his own mind and it didn’t take him long to figure out how he felt.
“I’ve thought about that a lot today. I understand why you didn’t tell me, and I don’t blame you—not anymore, anyway.” He looked over at her. “I’m sorry I got so angry. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
“It’s not an easy situation no matter how we look at it.”
“You can say that again.”
He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the couch. So much had happened since that first day at the Forrester site. He’d gone in suspecting her in his granddad’s death only to find out the M.A.R most likely indicated her deceased father and if anyone in their family was guilty, it was Nate. His own half-brother.
Definitely a lot to deal with, and yet he couldn’t deny a sense of relief knowing she was innocent.
After a few minutes, she asked, “Are we okay, then?”
He smiled toward the ceiling. “Yeah, we’re good.”
When he felt and heard her move beside him, he started to glance over. Before he knew it, she’d kneeled on the couch, then swung a leg across to straddle his lap while she placed her hands on his shoulders.
He stared into her face, lit by the dim light from the kitchen, and swallowed hard as he brought his hands up to rest on her hips. With effort, he kept from sliding them up underneath the material of her shirt. She leaned forward, pressed her lips to his, and then teased his mouth open with her tongue.
Senses reeling, Justin returned the kiss and gave in to the desire to find out just how soft the skin at her waist was. Big mistake. Once he started touching, he didn’t want to stop. Before he lost complete control of his sanity, he pulled back and waited until she lifted her lashes. The desire in her radiant green eyes nearly undid him right there, but he managed to voice the reason he hesitated. “What about Jordan…?”
She blinked, then gave a low, husky laugh. “Are you seriously telling me that your brother—who’s down the hall with the door closed, passed out, is going to keep this from happening?”
Yeah, it sounded weak to him, too, but respect for her made him willing to wait.
Uncertainty entered her expression. “If you don’t want to…”
He gave a short laugh and lifted his hips up to meet hers. “That should completely answer that question.” He would’ve sworn she blushed as he reluctantly eased back down, but it didn’t go with her aggressive actions of the past few minutes.
“I don’t give a damn about Jordan,” he explained. “But I thought it might bother you.”
She relaxed, opening her knees wider until she rested firmly on top of him. “Does it feel like it bothers me?”
His ability to respond was reduced to a low growl deep in his throat. He surged forward to capture her mouth again. He pushed his hands back under the stretchy tank top, impatient for the feel of her naked skin against his.
Urging her arms up, he stripped her top off. Then he turned his attention to her small, firm breasts, experimenting until he discovered exactly what would elicit the soft moans of pleasure that made him want her all the more.
Marley couldn’t stand it. She fisted her hands in his shirt and dragged it over his head. Immediately, she missed his mouth on her breast, but took the opportunity to do her own exploration. The faint tang of salt on his skin teased her taste buds.
His masculine scent raised her level of arousal, intensifying the throbbing deep inside her. He shifted their positions to lay her on the couch and she felt his fingers at the waistband of her shorts. She lifted her hips so he could remove them, while at the same time, she silently acknowledged her nervousness.
Her heart threatened to beat right from her chest and it amazed her that she’d come out here at all. She’d heard over the years that the first time was painful, but besides the ache inside her, she didn’t see how anything that felt this wonderful could hurt.
Justin positioned her on the edge of the couch and knelt before her. She stiffened, having no idea what to expect. His hazel eyes begged her trust in a way words had no hope of conveying. When his touch moved up along her inner thighs, she released her tense muscles and put herself in his hands.
It turns gentle and passionate, he used his hands and mouth to drive her completely wild in a way she’d never expected. Pleasure reached an almost unbearable pitch when suddenly her world disintegrated in an explosion of sensation. When she felt she could speak, she whispered, “Oh my God.”
“Yeah,” Justin’s low voice agreed. “And that was just the appetizer.”
Marley opened her eyes to find him watching her. Self-conscious warmth rushed through her. He’d made her lose complete control. She may have even screamed.
He began to kiss his way up her body, spreading heat of a different kind. Her breasts felt heavy, her nipples super sensitive as he swirled his tongue around each one before sucking it deep into his mouth. Need built deep in her core again. She pulled him up, fusing their mouths together in a hot, wet kiss.
The hard press of his erection reminded her there was more to this than what he’d already given her. Would her mouth offer him the same pleasure? When he removed the rest of his clothes, she skimmed a hand down his chest. An attempt to follow her hand’s trail with her mouth had her scooting farther down on the couch. Curious anticipation built as she wondered if she could make him scream.
Justin groaned at the erotic brush of her lips against his chest. Her hand slid lower and his stomach muscles seized. “Marley, I don’t know if—”
Her hand closed around him. His breath caught in his throat and he abruptly stopped talking. He managed to allow two strokes of her palm along his length before he desperately reached to drag her hand away. Watching her fall apart had put him too close to the edge.
She resisted with a faint sound of protest. “Justin—”
“I’ve wanted you for too long. I’ve got to be inside you. Now.”
He covered her mouth with his while digging into his bag beside the couch for his pants from earlier. After securing a condom, a brief break from her kiss allowed him to tear it open. His lips found hers again while he finished with the protection and positioned himself between her legs.
His attempt to take it slow was derailed when her hips rose to meet him. One deep thrust buried him to the hilt in her slick, welcoming heat. Her sharp inhale registered at the same moment shock reverberated through his body. He lifted his head, staring into her wide eyes.
She was a virgin?
His chest ti
ghtened to the point it became painful to breathe. He held still, afraid he’d hurt her already and not wanting to increase her pain. The fit between them was so tight, pressure throbbed in his groin and radiated throughout his tense body.
Silently, she shifted beneath him. God. He should pull out. He’d had no clue, never would’ve guessed he’d be her first. She moved again, lifting her hips. He groaned. Eased his hips back, but then couldn’t help pushing forward again. The soft sound from her lips made him pause.
“Again,” she said.
He did.
“Mmm.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Not anymore. Please, don’t stop.”
He began to move slowly, as he’d first intended. It didn’t take long before her breath came in short, labored puffs. She urged him faster and harder, lifting her hips to meet his with each thrust, her instinctive rhythm in perfect sync with his.
Her uninhibited passion snapped his control, though he managed to hold his own release until a moment after she screamed his name for the second time that night.
****
Marley woke slowly, stretching under the blanket that’d been tucked so thoughtfully around her. That’s when she realized she was alone on the couch. Eyes still closed, she smiled her contentment even though she was sore in places she’d never been sore in before.
Ask her if she cared.
The sex had been amazing. He was amazing. With the exception of a brief flash of pain, making love with Justin was everything she’d hoped for and like nothing she’d imagined. He was gentle, considerate, rough, and passionate, each at exactly the right time. She’d found herself incapable of rational thought or coherent speech as he held her in his arms after completely altering her universe. Sleep had claimed her before the world shifted back on its axis.
Finishing her stretch, she sat up, wondering where he’d gone. Through the window by the front door, she saw the red tint of a crimson sunrise. The kitchen was empty. Then she heard water running in the bathroom.
Mmm…a hot shower sounded great. Maybe she could go in and surprise him? With a grin, she wrapped the blanket around her and made her way to the bathroom. Her hand turned the doorknob when she noticed that farther down the hall, Nate’s bedroom door stood open.
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