Who's the Boss?

by Jill Shalvis

  “I feel overdressed.” Straightening, he whipped his shirt off, and the light that had been too stark only a moment before became a blessing. Rugged, lean and rangy, he was quite simply the most magnificently made man she’d ever seen. His gaze held hers as his fingers went to the button on his jeans. It opened and...

  Oh, how could she have forgotten? “Joe—” She let out a disparaging sound. “I don’t know quite how to tell you this,” she moaned.

  His fingers stilled. “You could start by opening your eyes,” he suggested quietly.

  She did, then wished she hadn’t. His body was incredible. His chest drew her fingers. She couldn’t help herself, the tensed muscles, the light, springy hair that tapered down and disappeared into his open jeans...

  Capturing her wandering hands in his, he looked at her. “Tell me now, before this goes any further. A change of heart?”

  “Not exactly.” Bravely, she met his hot, frustrated gaze. “I’m sort of a...virgin.”

  12

  “SORT OF?” Joe let out a choked laugh. “You’re sort of a virgin? How is that?”

  “Because I haven’t done it before.”

  “Caitlin.” His rough voice held a hint of a smile. “How is it you’ve never done this before?”

  Self-conscious now, she turned from him and once again crossed her arms over herself. “I know you probably thought I had lots of experience. I let people think that because...”

  “Because?”

  This wasn’t the time to shrink back and try to save her feelings, or her pride. “Because then they know I mean it when I say back off.”

  “Ah...the curse of being desirable.”

  “I don’t understand it.” She wished she had her shirt back, but in her haste to jump him, she’d tossed it dramatically across the room. “But nobody looks beneath the surface.”

  “Or past the checkbook,” he said in her ear, making her jump.

  “I guess you do understand.”

  “What I don’t understand is why you were going to let me have you.” With terrifying tenderness, he pulled her back against his chest, crossing his arms over hers to hold her close.

  It took every ounce of courage she had, but at this point, there was nothing to lose. Turning in those warm, capable arms, she met his questioning, and yes, still passionate, gaze. “Because I love you, Joe. I wanted you to be my first.”

  His eyes were bright, eloquent. “I thought we weren’t going to make promises.”

  “I don’t expect one back,” she assured him, pulling his head down to hers. “Please, Joe. Love me. Just for now.”

  Her lips clung to his, warm and wet. Sensuous and innocent. Just for now, Joe promised himself. His eyes never left hers as he stepped out of the rest of his clothes. “Don’t regret this. I won’t be able to stand it if you do.”

  “I won’t.” Her gaze was glued on him, her eyes wide and huge as she unabashedly stared at his proud, heavy sex. “You’re so beautiful, Joe. All virile and...hard.”

  On a laughing moan, he lay down, wrapped her in his arms and held her to him while his mouth ravaged hers again. “Hard being the key word here.” He slipped his hands beneath her skirt, caressing her thighs, playing with the tiny panties he knew were covered with happy faces. “I’ve wanted to take these off since the moment I got a front-row view of them on the landing.”

  She closed her eyes, her face flushing. Laughing, Joe kissed her until she was flushed with passion, not embarrassment. He loved the texture of her—all soft and dewy, he discovered as he removed the last of her clothing. Loved, too, the way her body quivered at his every touch. Lowering his head, he nuzzled at her, kissing and nipping until she was squirming and burning and restless beneath him.

  Lifting his head, he whispered, “Every time I was a jerk at work, it’s because I wanted to do this.” His thumbs made passing caresses over the tips of her tight, aching breasts, and he watched her body’s response, the way she panted for air, how her nipples puckered and beaded. When he drew her into his mouth again, she arched off the bed and into his arms.

  His hands ran down over her stomach, her thighs and back up between her legs. She caught her breath when he touched her there, then again when his touch deepened. Tossing her head back, she fisted her hands in the sheets and pushed up against his fingers, whimpering shamelessly.

  “Good?” he asked.

  “More.”

  She was the sweetest, most desirable woman he’d ever seen, and for the moment, she was his. “Yes,” he promised. Her slippery heat coated his fingers and he moaned. “Yes, more.”

  Her body tightened as he stroked her slowly, every muscle clenched. His fingers continued their sensuous play, giving her what she’d wanted, and she whispered his name, her voice torn between need and panic.

  “It’s all right.” He drowned in the pleasure of watching her discover desire. “I’m right here to catch you.”

  She was on a tightwire, grappling and struggling for balance. She hadn’t expected this. Had thought it would be fast. Reckless. Even painful. What she got was hot, delicious sensation. “Joe!” She wriggled, but the heat just consumed her all the more. “Where’s my more?”

  “For someone new at this, you’re awfully bossy.” He kneeled between her legs. “I like that in a woman.” He put on a condom before she could stop him. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be protected, but she wanted to participate in everything. Before she could complain, he was kissing her again and she could participate in that, oh yes, she could.

  Joe tasted her lips, her jaw, the precise spot on her throat where the pulse frantically leaped, then took her mouth again, shaken with the force of his own need. And those fierce little sounds that escaped the back of her throat were the most arousing he’d ever heard. He heard her sigh, then when he nudged at her hot, wet center, she gasped.

  “Okay?”

  “Yes,” she murmured, opening for him. “More. You promised.”

  “Hold on to me, Caitlin. Hold on tight.”

  Her arms slipped around him. His mouth closed over hers as he slid into her inch by inch. When she cried out, he froze in terror that he’d hurt her, but she shifted her hips, lifting experimentally. “Oh,” she breathed, drawing him in deeper, snugger, tighter. “Oh, I like it.”

  His hands shifted from her hips to brace on either side of her face where, from behind a haze of deep hunger, he watched her for any signs of pain or discomfort. She shot him a dazzling smile, and he saw only pleasure—dazed, dark pleasure.

  “There’s even more, isn’t there?” she asked hopefully, making him both groan and laugh at the same time.

  She met him stroke for mind-blowing stroke. And in her eyes, he saw everything he’d feared. Warmth, affection, acceptance, heat, need. Love. He saw her soul, and his mirrored back. He knew that alone should have brought the most fear of all, but miraculously, it didn’t.

  Beneath him, her eyes went wide, her mouth opened in a surprised O as she began to tremble and quiver. He tried to hold back, to prolong it for her, but his body finally betrayed him as she convulsed. Her shudder worked through him and became his, swirling and demanding, and he buried his face in her neck. She sobbed out his name as she climaxed, and clenching her fisted hands in his, he let himself go with her.

  CAITLIN WOKE FIRST, to the sound of a light spring rain. Joe held her as he slept, her back to his front, his arms possessively tight. One of his large hands, fingers spread wide, was low on her belly. The other had tangled itself in her hair. One of his thighs was pressed between hers, and for a minute, she allowed herself to snuggle in deeper, surrounded by his warmth.

  She’d made love, for the first time in her life. Giddiness welled, as did a blissful wonder. She’d never known...never expected it to be so spectacular.

  He had made it that way, she thought, joy flooding her. He’d been fierce and wild, and gentle and tender. And afterward, he’d carefully cleaned her with a warm washcloth, expressing concern, but it hadn’t been necessa
ry.

  She felt fantastic.

  And ready for more.

  His breathing was deep and even, and she decided to show mercy as she’d obviously exhausted him.

  The scent of the rain on the air drew her, as did her curiosity about the house. She’d only caught a short glimpse of it. She slipped out of his arms, then stopped to admire his tough, rangy body, only half-covered by the sheet.

  He was...heart stopping. And, for now, hers.

  The air was hot, muggy, so she walked nude to his dresser and stopped short, baffled at the reflection. Her hair exploded around her face in loose curls. Her lips were red and swollen, her eyes bright with light

  She looked...like a wild woman in love, one who’d just been shown how much she was loved back.

  Did Joseph love her?

  She twisted to see the still sleeping form on the bed. He was magnificent, sprawled in all his glory. He certainly lusted after her, and she blushed remembering exactly how much.

  But did he love her?

  She sighed, suddenly discontent. She stepped out onto the dark patio. His house faced the ocean, giving her an incredible view of heavy waves lit only by whatever weak moonbeams managed to evade the clouds.

  A jag of lightning flashed across the sky, and a second later thunder rolled. The roof of the deck was slatted and the cool rain fell through, wetting her. Shivering a little in spite of the hot air, she stood there, face upturned to the mist, loving the erotic feel of the cool drops landing on her hot body.

  MY GOD, JOE THOUGHT as he stepped onto the deck. That’s a sight. Caitlin stood there with her head tipped back, the slim column of her neck exposed, her full breasts thrust out, her legs taut as she rose up on tiptoe, stretching. Her white skin glimmered and shone as the rain ran in small rivulets down her body.

  Just standing there watching her take her own pleasure from the rain had him rock hard. He walked up behind her, slid his arms around her slick body. “I thought it was all a dream,” he whispered in her ear, taking the soft flesh there between his teeth, drawing goose bumps to her skin.

  Arching back, pressing her spine to his chest, she sucked in her breath when his hands spread on her thighs, streaked up her hips, over her belly and captured her wet breasts. “If it was,” she moaned, “it’s the best dream I ever had.” His thumbs flicked over her rigid nipples, making her writhe, her hips rubbing urgently back against his.

  “Caitlin.” He slid his hand down, down past damp curls and into hot, creamy heaven, thrilling to the soft, dark sounds she made. “Are you sore?”

  “No, not yet,” she murmured, gripping the railing in front of her for balance and grinding her hips in tune with his hand. “I had no idea...how it would be. I want more, Joe...more.”

  Whatever she wanted tonight would be hers. Whatever she needed, he’d find a way to give it. The rain fell unnoticed, and the night sang with the sounds of the ocean waves hitting the shore below them.

  He kept her from falling as she came, quivering in the pale light, her skin aglow. He held her like that, just held her, with her bottom snugged up to his thighs, with their hearts racing together, and he had to fight against swiftly and greedily taking all that she offered. It wasn’t easy, not with her hands urging him as she reached back and gripped his hips, and her body poised and waiting, silently confirming she yearned as much as he. The ache within him became primal and blinding as he absorbed the exquisite feel of her against him.

  Nothing would ever be the same again.

  Suddenly, there was no reason to rush; there was time. Time for everything. And oh, how he wanted everything, every whisper, every promise, every touch, every single second of this time with her.

  Everywhere he touched, she turned something inside him to gold. Despite the misery of his past, she made him feel good, wanted, needed...loved. “You make me feel so alive,” he said huskily, kissing his way along her jaw. “So alive.”

  She twisted her head, and her lips parted for his kiss. The urgency returned tenfold. She pressed back against him, restlessly running her hands up and down his thighs, trying to draw him inside her.

  Too fast, he wanted to tell her. He wanted to savor, explore, but he couldn’t be gentle or tender now. Nor patient, either, with her fingers digging into him, urging, demanding.

  The darkness cocooned them; the rumbling thunder and flash of lightning provided their music. There was no other sound except the frantic roar of their own hearts and harsh, needy breathing. One last time, Joe brought his mouth down to hers, taking her stunned cry into his throat as he gripped her hips and sheathed himself into her from behind, filling her. Not just with his body; even in his confusion, he understood that.

  Caitlin threw her head back against his shoulder, her body bowing in slim arch with strain and wonder and abandon. Even as part of his brain struggled to register that he didn’t want to love her, didn’t want to need her, she was taking him away to a place where there was no reality. Where love didn’t hurt. Where he could let himself go.

  He closed his eyes and did just that. He’d known, hadn’t he, that it would be like this with her. No restraints, no boundaries. No hurt. Nothing and no one but the two of them, soaring as high as the clouds.

  “I HAVE NO IDEA why I waited so long to do that,” Caitlin said conversationally a short time later. “It was the most fun I’ve ever had.”

  “Fun?” He pulled on a pair of sweatpants and laughed shortly. “You nearly sent me to another world, and you thought it was fun?”

  He watched her blond head poke out the neck of his shirt as she put it on, and his blood surged again at the way she looked wearing his clothes. “You know what I mean,” she said, lifting her gaze and smiling at him.

  His throat closed. “Yeah.”

  “I...uh...you know. Had an orgasm.” She blushed gorgeously and he laughed.

  “An orgasm?” He laughed again. “Princess, you most definitely had more than one.”

  “Is it always like that?”

  His amusement faded. It had never been like that. “No, not always.”

  She was looking at him with such emotion, he nearly lost it right there. His lungs seemed to collapse. He needed her, so damn much. Fear welled, but he beat it back. She wouldn’t know, couldn’t know, unless he told her. And if he didn’t tell her, he had nothing to fear. Nothing at all.

  But she deserved more than a quick toss in the sheets. She needed a man who would give her a future, a man who could give in to his emotions and love her as she deserved to be loved. She didn’t need him further screwing up her life. Hell, she already thought she was in love with him. Delusions, of course. No one could love him, not really. He was trouble. Had an attitude. A temper. He could be a real selfish bastard. He’d once walked away from his family without looking back. He’d taken everything Edmund had given him without questioning Edmund about Caitlin, and what she might need. Caitlin didn’t know this, didn’t understand, or she could never believe herself in love with him.

  He had to walk away now. Had to forget that she could make him laugh, could make life seem more important than work. He had to get over how her chaotic world was as fresh as spring-water when compared to his, which was stagnant, dead. He had to forget that her way of living revived his, gave him back the joy of being. She’d wormed her way into his heart, spreading happiness like wildfire, and he hadn’t even noticed it happening. He had to forget, or the realization of exactly what it would cost him to walk away would kill him.

  She took his hand, and that simply loving, trusting gesture had him swallowing hard.

  He’d betrayed Edmund by failing to protect Caitlin. He’d betrayed Caitlin by taking her love and innocence without means to repay it. Any minute, fate was going to come knocking and swipe away any semblance of happiness.

  She led him down the stairs. “I’m starving,” she said. “I hope you have more food in your house than I do in mine.” In the entryway, halfway between his kitchen and the living room, she came to a grinding halt
. “I’ve never seen your place.”

  He let out a laugh. “Should’ve opened your eyes when I was playing pirate and hauling you upstairs.”

  But Caitlin didn’t crack a smile. She stared at the beautiful glass-and-stone foyer, looked through the kitchen and then sank to a large window seat in the front room, which overlooked the sea. “You never told me you lived at the beach, too,” she said with mock calm while her heart drummed painfully.

  “I didn’t know where you lived until yesterday.”

  It was a day for truths, and she had to have this one. “My father loved the beach. He gave this place to you, didn’t he?”

  A shadow crossed Joseph’s expressive, rugged face. “Yes. Years ago. When I graduated from the college he bullied me into attending.”

  “I see.” Pain slashed through her, and she didn’t quite manage to keep it out of her voice. “I’m sorry. I...have to go.”

  In three strides, he caught up with her at the door. Gently, his heart already dying, he turned her to face him. “I didn’t know he didn’t pay yours off, Caitlin. I swear to you, until that day we had lunch, I didn’t know. Come here. You’ll see.” He dragged her back through the living room into the kitchen. On the table was a file, which he opened. “The deed for this place,” he told her, lifting it up for her inspection.

  Attached to it was a quit-claim notice, which even she knew meant Joseph was signing this house over, and out of his name. To her.

  “I don’t understand why Edmund had paid mine off all those years ago, and hadn’t done the same for you.”

  “I do,” she said sadly. “It was my own fault. I moved around a lot, was a fickle little thing. He never believed I’d stay in one place for long.”

  He tossed the document to the table and took her shoulders so he could see into her face. “Whatever his reasons, I can’t keep this place while you lose yours. It’s wrong, and so was I.”

  “Wrong? How were you wrong?”

  He’d gone a little pale. “I should have done this a long time ago. I’m ashamed of myself that I didn’t. I’m giving you this place.”