by Amber Page
Shaken by the power of her response, Nick fell back on the humor that had always been his savior. “Save those words until you really mean them, sweetheart … after I’ve gotten you in bed.”
His words had exactly the effect he wanted. She bounced back on her heels, trying to decide whether or not to be miffed, but definitely out of kissing range.
“You’re also a scoundrel. Now, take me up in the sky. Is this thing yours?”
“Yep. My grandfather bought it for me for my twenty-first birthday. I suppose he knew I’d need a reliable way to get away from my dad—quickly.”
She laughed. “Sounds like my kind of guy, your grandfather,”
“Yes, he would have liked you. Let’s go!”
Jessie looked around her in amazement. She’d never seen New York like this. The city stretched below her as far as the eye could see. From this distance the busy streets looked like rivers of light, and the buildings twinkled with every color imaginable.
“It’s beautiful,” she said through the headset that connected her to the man next to her.
He turned and grinned. “It is, isn’t it? This is New York at its best.”
The chopper turned and a moment later she saw the Statue of Liberty, glowing proudly in the harbor.
“You know, I’ve never actually been there—to see her,” Jessie said, pointing.
“Then let’s take a closer look.”
Soon they were flying across the harbor, swooping around the famous statue as close as they dared.
“I feel like a bird,” Jessie said, loving the way the chopper could turn on a dime.
“That’s one of the things I love about flying too,” Nick said. “There’s also something about the insanity of it. A little over a hundred years ago flying hadn’t even been invented yet.”
Jessie looked at him, taking note of the quiet confidence that radiated from him. He looked like a man who was used to winning. Part of her wondered if this was all just part of some elaborate plot to get her to agree to sell Roar. But when he grinned at her all she saw was joy. Surely he wasn’t that good an actor?
“Want to take one more spin around the city?”
“Yes, please!”
She applied herself to the view again, thinking about all the lives those sparkling lights represented. What would her mother have said if she had seen this? If she’d met Nick? Probably something like, Don’t let this one go, sweetheart. This one knows how to live.
But she knew she’d have to let him go—sooner rather than later. Much better to keep things simple and get out before hearts got broken.
“Penny for your thoughts?” he said.
“Oh, just thinking about how much my mom would have loved this.”
“Well, I’ll bet she’d be just as glad that you’re getting to enjoy it.”
“You’re right.” But she didn’t want to talk about her mother with him, so she decided to change the subject. “You know, I’ve never heard you talk about your mom. Where is she?”
He shrugged. “Right now? I don’t know. Probably quietly getting drunk at some required social function. I haven’t talked to her in months.”
“That’s sad. How come?”
He looked out the window so she couldn’t see his expression. But his voice sounded sad even through her headphones. “Because she was more of a birth parent than a real mother. I was raised by nannies. When I refused to marry the girl she had picked out she pretty much washed her hands of me.”
“And what kind of girl was that?” she couldn’t help but ask.
“The kind that looked great in a cocktail gown, ran parties like a dream, and who was only interested in the kind of sparkle that you buy at a jewelry store.”
The kind that had been a dime a dozen at the charity ball they’d gone to together. She made a face. “Not your kind of woman at all, huh?”
“You’ve got that right.”
“Is that the kind of woman you’re still expected to marry?”
“Yes. Good thing I have no plans to ever leave bachelorhood behind.”
“I see.”
In other words they were on the same page. She could enjoy him tonight without worrying that he would want more. So why did she feel so disappointed?
Her ears filled with the thudding whir of the rotors and she gave herself to the beauty below her.
“Are you getting hungry yet?” he asked eventually.
As soon as Jessie thought about it her stomach growled. “Starved.”
He grinned. “Good.”
Soon he was setting the chopper gently down. Not on a rooftop, as she had expected, but on the deck of a huge yacht anchored in the harbor.
“Is this yours, too?” she gasped.
“No, it belongs to a friend. But I thought this was probably another side of New York you’ve never seen. It’s my second favorite view.”
Too amazed to come up with a witty response, she just nodded.
“Sit tight. I’ll come around and help you down. It’s a bit tricky.”
A minute later he appeared at her door, holding out his hand. She took it and put her foot on the step, expecting to float gracefully down. Instead her stiletto caught in a metal rut and she tumbled forward into his arms.
“Thanks for catching me,” she said when she’d caught her breath, grinning up at him.
“Thanks for throwing yourself at me. It’s got my appetite revving.”
She laughed when he grabbed her butt and squeezed.
“I hate to tell you this, but my derrière is not on the dinner menu.”
“Perhaps for dessert, then,” he said, reluctantly releasing his hold.
“We’ll see. Where are we eating? Did you transport a restaurant into the middle of the harbor?”
“Good question. Shall I show you to our table?” he asked, offering her his arm.
“Yes, please.”
He led her down a short metal stairway on to a wooden deck. “This is what we call the promenade. Your dinner is waiting just through here,” he said, leading her around the side of the boat.
What she saw on the other side made her gasp out loud. There was a table set for two with fine china, real silver, and crystal wine glasses. A tuxedoed waiter stood off to one side.
“You did all this for me?”
He smiled. “Of course. I’d do just about anything to make a beautiful woman like you happy.”
Not I’d do anything to make you happy, she noticed. Just a beautiful woman like her. She wondered how often he had pulled this trick. But then, remembering he’d been in London for the last few years, she realized it couldn’t have been too terribly often. She shook her head silently at herself, deciding that, whether this was something unique he’d done just for her or not, she fully intended to enjoy the experience. After all, a tiny voice in her head said, she might not get another chance.
“This is wonderful, Nick. Thank you.”
He nodded and pulled her chair out for her. “Let’s eat, shall we?”
The waiter went into action as she sat, pouring golden liquid into her glass. “Champagne?” she asked.
“Of course. I remember how bubbles go to your head.”
“They do at that. Plus, it’s the only wine fitting for a celebration—which is what this is,” Jessie said.
“What are we celebrating?”
“Life. It’s too short. We need to enjoy it while it lasts.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Nick replied, tipping his glass to clink it on hers.
Jessie looked into his eyes and almost drowned in the depths she saw there. She felt the cage of self-control she kept around her heart crack open the tiniest bit. As soon as the thought occurred to her she slammed it back closed. This could never be more than a one-night stand. Neither one of them did long-term.
The waiter brought out course after course after course of delicious food as they talked about anything and nothing. Caviar. Delicate salads. Pâté. Filets. By the time the waiter took their final plates
away and disappeared Jessie thought her stomach might burst.
“I can’t believe I ate all that.”
“I’m glad you did. I can’t stand bird-like eaters.”
“Well, then, you should keep me around. I never met a food I didn’t like to eat.”
He threw her a wicked smile. “Oh, I intend to. At least for the night.”
Again, she found herself feeling disgruntled. She didn’t like the fact that he thought getting her naked was a done deal. She wasn’t that easy. It was time he realized it.
“I don’t think so,” she blurted.
“You don’t think so, what?”
“I don’t think I’ll be staying the night.”
“Y-You won’t?”
“Nope,” she said, almost unable to keep a straight face. She loved turning the tables on him.
“Why?” He seemed genuinely bewildered.
“Because you seem to expect that I will. And if that’s what all this,” she said, motioning wildly at their surroundings, “was about, then accepting your invitation would make me no better than a prostitute.”
“How on earth did you arrive at that conclusion?”
“Because you’ve been trying to buy my affections. And, as I told you before, I am not for sale.”
“Are you serious?”
Was she? She wasn’t sure. “As a heart attack,” she said. Okay, apparently she was.
“So if I was to do this,” he said, getting out of his chair and kneeling in front of her, “and beg you to stay, would you still refuse?”
“Are you begging?” she asked, doing her best not to let him see how much his closeness affected her.
Instead of answering he gently pulled her left hand from where it had been sitting frozen in her lap and started kissing a path up her arm. Her breath stuttered when he reached the inside of her elbow, igniting every nerve in her body with one strategically placed kiss. Then he kissed his way back down to her palm, every touch of his soft mouth feeding the fire.
When he got to her fingertips he looked up, his eyes dark with longing. “Please. Stay.”
Say yes, her body screamed. But she couldn’t give in. He wasn’t begging yet. “I can’t.”
“Please. I’m begging.”
There they were. The magic words. She looked at the powerful man she’d brought to his knees and felt a strange sort of pride. This man could have any woman he wanted, but he wanted her. Was begging her.
“And if I say yes now, what happens in the morning?”
His mouth rose up into a slow, sexy grin. “I’ll bring you breakfast in bed, if you want. Or take you to brunch at the Four Seasons. Hell, I’ll sail us to Nassau for lunch if that’s what you want. Just say yes.”
Triumph raced through her. “I’m still not sure. Kiss me.”
“As you wish,” he said.
He circled his arms around her and lifted her bodily off her chair, then lowered her until she straddled his lap.
“You,” he breathed, “are amazing. I want to kiss every inch of you—from these luscious lips,” he said, breaking off to suck her bottom lip, “to these …” His hand moved to the crotch of her jeans and slowly rubbed her most sensitive area.
She groaned, fighting the urge to thrust more of herself into his inquisitive hand. She knew that there was a big chance she’d regret this later, but as he kissed the pulse-point in her neck she realized she no longer cared.
Life was short. She deserved to know what a night with a man like this would be like.
Waving goodbye to her principles, she wrapped her legs around his waist, bringing her sex into contact with his hard length, separated only by their clothing.
“Okay. I’ll stay.”
“Thank you. I promise you won’t regret it.”
“Talk is cheap, buddy,” she managed to say as he slid his hand under her shirt. “Prove it.”
Taking that as the invitation it was, he picked her up and carried her into the cabin below, locking the doors behind them.
The bedroom, she noted as he kicked the door closed, was surprisingly posh. The walls were a deep crimson. The floor an expensive-looking hardwood. And the bed was gigantic, and covered with a mountain of pillows and satin sheets.
“Up you go,” Nick said, throwing her on the bed.
She was so intent on the hard body above her she barely registered the change in position. Her hands scrabbled on his white button-down shirt, desperate to feel the planes of his chest.
“You first,” he said, pulling upward on her top. It vanished over her head, exposing the gorgeous copper bra she’d bought to match it. “Good God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered.
Without waiting for permission, he tugged her jeans down over her thighs. He got frustrated when the cuffs caught on her heels, but when she brought one leg up, intending to take her shoe off herself, he growled.
“No. I want them on.”
Jessie melted at the command in his voice. He delicately maneuvered first one jean leg, then the other, over her shoes, trying to be delicate. When it didn’t work, he just yanked until her pants ripped.
“Hey!” she squawked.
“Don’t worry. I can buy you more.”
She knew she should be offended by that. Should, in fact, demand that he unhand her and head out the door. But when she saw the blissed-out expression on his face she couldn’t make herself move.
For a long moment he just stared, his gaze moving from her red curls to the mounds of her breasts, down to the auburn curls peeking out from the copper lace undies, and then down to the stilettos she was still wearing.
“You are my teenage daydream come to life.”
Jessie shivered at the raw heat in his voice. “Oh, yeah? Well, what would you have wanted to do with the girl of your dreams?”
“All sorts of things,” he whispered.
“Show me.”
He grinned at her, then nodded.
Without warning, he dived down low, taking the entirety of her nether lips into his mouth, his tongue looking for entry through the delicate lace. Her hips reared up off the bed of their own accord, seeking something more.
He rumbled appreciatively, then shoved the lace of her panties aside and delicately stroked her with his tongue, licking and sucking at the sensitive tissues. When at long last he found the hard little nub at her center she thought she might die. She’d had a lot of men, but none had paid as much attention to her as this.
Her ability to think disappeared—along with the voice that begged her to maintain some semblance of control. She felt her hips rocking back and forth. Knew her back was arching, begging for more.
“Do you want me, baby?” he asked, his fingers teasing all the places his tongue had been.
“Oh, yes. So much.”
“Good,” he growled, “because I want you.”
“Make love to me, Nick,” she said, in a breathy voice she didn’t recognize.
“I thought you’d never ask,” he said, and suddenly his hand was gone.
She whimpered in frustration.
“Oh, I see. You want to come before I do, huh?”
She could only nod, her eyes still pressed tightly closed.
“Look at me,” he commanded.
Slowly she opened her eyes.
“Beg me.”
For a moment she just stared at him. She didn’t beg. Ever. But then he rubbed his thumb over her and her pride crumbled.
“Please, Nick,” she whimpered. “Please.”
“Please what?”
“Please make me come.”
“Your wish,” he said, thrusting his fingers in and out, “is my command.”
Unable to help herself, Jessie locked her legs around his waist and gave herself over to the sensations. Losing herself in the motion of his hand, she climaxed in record time.
She came back to herself an indeterminate time later and registered Nick hovering over her, his breath harsh with want.
“I need to feel you inside me, Ni
ck,” she said, unable to think of anything more eloquent.
He groaned, then ripped his shirt off his body with one hand. She fumbled with the slippery metal button on his jeans, desperate to feel him inside her. Seconds later he took over, pulling down his jeans and the boxer briefs underneath them in one fell swoop.
She heard the rip of a condom package, then seconds later Nick was back, nudging at her entrance.
“Ready, baby?”
“Oh, yes.” She thrust her hips upward.
He sank into her up to the hilt and they both groaned. It felt as if he belonged there.
She whimpered and shivered, no longer able to form words. Luckily he knew what she wanted, and soon he was moving in and out, in and out, somehow hitting the sensitive bundle of nerves inside her with every stroke.
She knew she should try and take some control back, but instead she just grabbed for his back.
“More!” she cried. “More.”
He complied, thrusting even harder into her core. She threw her head back and closed her eyes, loving how he played her body. Seconds later her orgasm began to build, rising in intensity until she thought she might break. When his thumb delicately began to massage her she broke into a thousand pieces of infinite pleasure.
She was still shivering with aftershocks when he began to move with more intensity. She wrapped her legs around him, determined to take control and give him the pleasure he deserved, but before she knew it she was shattering again.
This time he came with her. The pair of them shuddered together in silence, enjoying the aftershocks.
Finally he turned to her and said, “Jessie, don’t ever leave me.”
Looking into his deep blue eyes, she found herself wishing she could actually promise him eternity. Instead she whispered, “I won’t. At least not until after you feed me breakfast.”
He laughed. “Where shall it be? In bed or at the Four Seasons?”
“How about Tahiti?”
“You’re on. I’ll just have to tell the boat captain in the morning.”
“Okay,” she murmured. “But you’ll probably have to make love to me another time or two before then.”
“Don’t worry. If I have my way you’re not going to get any sleep at all.”
She just smiled and kissed him. This was one sleepless night she was looking forward to.
