And now would be an excellent time to take a break. Honestly, Joyce was more than just an assistant, and could easily handle most of this herself without his input or assistance. In fact she was a financial wizard, with the ability to juggle multiple million-dollar balls and never drop a penny, and she’d probably appreciate not having Ethan butt in. But Granddad insisted on having family in charge of the family business. And, while there were plenty of Marshalls to choose from, the number who were willing or able to be tapped for the jobs was distressingly small.
Just another thing to cause his blood pressure to rise. Carefully and deliberately, he pushed his chair back from the desk, putting physical distance between him and his computer.
Of course, part of his current black mood had a lot to do with the fact he’d woken up grouchy and frustrated. And while that was Lily’s fault, he really could only blame himself. It wasn’t like she had any control over the things she’d done in his dreams again last night.
He needed to deal with that situation today as well. The thought helped his blood pressure greatly, if for no other reason than it sent all his blood rushing to his lap.
Ethan was tempted to head to the stable now, but common sense told him Lily would be working. Like he should be.
There was that black cloud again.
Gloria’s voice over the intercom, letting him know lunch was ready, was a welcome distraction from the conflicting moods caused by work and thoughts of Lily. His grandparents were already seated at the table in the small family dining room by the time he arrived.
“There you are, dear. I haven’t seen you all morning.”
Ethan paused to press a kiss against Nana’s cheek. “Unfortunately I’ve had a ton of work to do.”
“It’s not healthy to stay locked in an office all day,” she scolded. “I did hope you’d be spending more time out of doors in the sunshine and fresh air. We won’t have this gorgeous weather for much longer.”
As far as Nana was concerned he was still about fourteen. Sometimes it was sweet, especially when she patted his cheek like that. “Trust me, I can think of several things I’d rather have spent my morning doing.” That was an understatement. “But duty calls.”
Granddad laid his fork down. “Speaking of calls, I got one from Sylvia today.”
He’d already had his blood pressure spike over that today. “So did I, Granddad. It’s taken care of.”
“Good to hear. She did say that she’s been trying to get in touch with you for days.”
“Aunt Syl thinks everything is an emergency. And, honestly, I refuse to be lectured about my business responsibilities by a woman who has never worked a day in her life.” Ethan caught the small smile on Nana’s lips as she cut into a tomato. The relationship between Nana and Aunt Syl was complicated and full of mutual annoyances.
“Oh, I heard about that, too,” Granddad grumbled.
“Why am I not surprised?” He shrugged. “The truth hurts sometimes.”
Nana pinned him with one of those looks guaranteed to make him feel like a child again. “But there are ways to be truthful and yet tactful at the same time.”
“I don’t have time to dance around Aunt Syl’s feelings. If she’d just been patient…”
“Not everyone appreciates your bluntness, dear.”
“Then they need to find someone else to talk to.”
“Ethan…” Nana seemed ready to launch into one of her favorite lectures.
“But when I bluntly tell you how lovely you look today, you know it’s an honest compliment, not just bull—” He caught Nana’s frown and corrected himself. “Empty flattery.”
Nana shot him a look that said she wasn’t buying it, but she did drop the subject.
“However,” Granddad cut in, “Sylvia will be at the fundraiser Saturday, and you’ll need to behave your self. I smoothed her feathers today—took me forever, too—so don’t go ruffling them again.”
Just another reason why Ethan liked to avoid those events: too much smiling and nodding and shallow pre tending. At least if he put in an appearance at this one he’d have a better chance of begging off the next time. But he nodded, accepting Granddad’s edict, and both the Grands seemed pleased.
“Oh, and by the way,” Nana added casually—too casually not to get Ethan’s attention. “Senator Kingston’s daughter is back from Europe as well, and she will be there Saturday night. She’s such a lovely girl. You know, her grandmother and I were just talking about…”
That statement, coming fresh on the heels of Nana’s lecture on tact, was no coincidence. Nana was old, but she was still sharp. She also wanted great-grandchildren.
He looked at the mountain of food on his plate. Sadly, lunch was a long way from over.
Shower. Dinner. Sleep. In that order. Lily had made it through the day, but just barely. She had no doubt she’d sleep tonight—she just had to stay awake long enough to wash the smell of horses off her and eat a bite of something.
As she climbed the stairs to her apartment a huge yawn caused her jaw to crack, and she figured she’d be willing to forgo eating. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d gone to bed without dinner, so she knew she’d survive.
The hot water felt divine, as did clean pajamas, and both revived her enough to cause her stomach to growl. She made a quick sandwich and turned on the news.
They were interviewing Senator Marshall—the current one, Ethan’s father—and he looked so much like Ethan her heart skipped a beat. Basic looks, though, was as far as the father-son similarities went. Douglas Marshall was articulate and passionate about the issues, but he left her oddly cold. Maybe it was because she knew the generations above and below his.
Personality-wise, Ethan was more like his grandfather, whom she adored. She’d never met either of her grandfathers, but she liked to pretend they’d be a bit like Porter Marshall—as unlikely as that could possibly be. The older Marshall had a friendly approachability about him that must have skipped a generation.
Douglas was just too slick, and his charm seemed forced instead of natural. Lily knew he was a good senator, but he didn’t seem like a good man. She had nothing at all to base that on beyond a gut feeling, but she’d been trusting that gut feeling her entire life, and it had never let her down.
It might be an unfair judgment, since he wasn’t as horsy as the rest of the family and didn’t come down to the stables much when he visited the estate. She hadn’t had the opportunity to interact with him much at all, but self-protection had no use for “fair” when it came down to it.
Douglas Marshall reminded her of Pop—only with power and money to back him. It made her skin crawl, and she felt a little sorry for Ethan and his brothers.
Vaguely she recalled something Ray said about Ethan and his brothers living here on the estate after their mother died. That would help explain why Ethan was so close to his grandparents, and why he was more like the former Senator than the current one. She was also cynical enough to wonder why they hadn’t remained in the primary custody of their father.
There was always a reason for that.
Or maybe not, she argued with herself. Maybe she was reading things through her own non-rose-colored glasses again. Maybe the rich and powerful did things differently than the rest of the world.
She’d still lay her bet that it had more to do with Douglas Marshall than anything else.
But it was none of her damn business. She shouldn’t speculate. And she turned the TV off as she finished her sandwich and reached for a book instead.
Three pages in, she remembered what she’d forgotten to do today in her zombie-brained state, and she cursed. The feed order had to be in by eight, and a glance at the clock showed her she had ten minutes. Just enough time.
Lily slid her bare feet into her boots and pulled a hoodie off the hook behind the door. She looked ridiculous, but she wasn’t in a fashion show. On the off-chance she did run into someone in the stable this late, the pajamas covered everything important. She g
rabbed her keys and went downstairs to the office.
The computer took forever to boot, and Lily drummed her fingers impatiently, one eye on the clock.
The ordering itself was easy, and she’d done it dozens of times now, but it still took time to do. Hitting “send,” she checked the computer’s clock. Two minutes to spare.
“Yes!” she crowed. “I rock.”
“Forgot the feed order, huh?”
Lily nearly jumped out of her skin at the voice; the voice’s owner registered a half a second later, and she spun in the chair to see Ethan leaning against the office doorframe. “Not entirely—because it’s done. With time to spare, I might add.”
Once again Ethan seemed to fill the room more than was normal, making her feel like there wasn’t enough oxygen for them both. His body also blocked the only exit, which was nerve-racking for a reason that had nothing to do with fear. And, while there was a desk between them to act as a barrier, Lily was suddenly very aware of how little clothing she actually had on.
And that she lacked underwear.
She tugged the edges of the hoodie closer to each other. “Are you going riding again tonight?”
“Hadn’t planned on it. Why? Would you like to go?”
“Oh, no—thanks.” Ethan still didn’t move. “Is there something you needed in here, then?”
“No.”
Oh, she was not in the mood to play Twenty Questions right now. “Then you’re here because…?”
“You weren’t upstairs and the lights were on in here.”
It took a minute for the words to process. “You were looking for me?”
He nodded. “Yep.”
She was very glad he’d found her here and not in her apartment. This was bad enough. “I’d ask why, but I’m not sure I want to know,” she muttered.
Ethan’s lips twitched in amusement. “I came to talk.”
That was what she was afraid of. “About yesterday…?”
“Yeah, let’s talk about yesterday.”
She took a deep breath. “We can just forget it happened. No problem.”
Ethan’s eyebrows went up. “Try big problem.”
“I don’t want to lose my job.”
Ethan stepped inside and closed the door behind him. “And I don’t want to be accused of sexual harassment.”
“I don’t want this to get all complicated and awkward and messy.”
“Neither do I.”
They were agreeing this wasn’t a good idea. Why, then, was Ethan still looking at her like that? “Then why can’t we just forget it happened?”
“Because I don’t want to. I probably should, but I rarely do what I should.”
Lily knew that feeling, that freedom. It almost always led to bad decision-making. And sometimes jail-time. It was also a very hard habit to break. “So you always do what you want?”
“Usually. Unless it’s impossible.”
“So what do you want from me?”
Surprise crossed Ethan’s face. “From you? Nothing.”
Her heart sank a little. That honesty thing of Ethan’s could be a real pain.
He crossed the office in a heartbeat and rounded the desk. Placing his hands on the arms of her chair, he caged her as he leaned forward until their faces were only inches apart. “I just want you.”
On second thought, that honesty thing might not be so bad. Four words had never done quite so much for her libido. The room felt very warm all of a sudden, and her lack of underwear no longer seemed like a problem. She swallowed hard.
There could be repercussions. It could prove to be a bad decision. She just might regret this.
Or not, she corrected as Ethan kissed her. She locked her arms around his neck and let him lift her from her seat. He backed her against the desk and she boosted herself up onto the surface, allowing him to fit nicely between her legs.
The kiss turned carnal then, wild and devouring. Ethan slipped the hoodie down her arms and off, and his hands found the bare skin of her back under her pajama top, pulling her even closer to his body.
She wanted to feel his skin under her hands, and his shirt frustrated her. She tugged impatiently at the hem, sliding it up until Ethan finally lifted his arms and allowed her to pull it up and off. Then he did the same with hers.
Lily wanted to be pressed against his chest again, wanted skin-against-skin contact, but Ethan traced a finger over her collarbone and down between her breasts. His scrutiny had her feeling extremely self-conscious, but the look on his face made her think he might be pleased with what he saw.
Ray kept a pile of old saddle blankets in the office, and Ethan scooped one up in one hand as he tightened the other arm around her waist and lifted her off the desk.
When Ethan lowered her to the floor on top of the blanket, Lily had a small moment of panic. Moment of truth. Time to put up or shut up. But it all felt so good—and strangely right—and all rational arguments were quickly shouted down by the feel of Ethan’s hot mouth on her breast.
With the embers still smoldering from last night, that touch was all it took to light her blood on fire. A hand slid over her stomach, spreading the heat down to her hip, then the curve of her thigh. His fingers teased under the hem of her pajama shorts, then slid inside to wrap around a cheek as his mouth caught hers again.
She didn’t know what felt better—his hands on her, his mouth against her neck, or his skin against hers. His skin was hot under her palms as she explored, feeling the thump of his heart against his chest and the contractions of the muscles in his stomach when she traced them.
Ethan’s kiss was hungry, his hands demanding, but he wasn’t hurried. The slow slide of her shorts down her legs was followed by a leisurely exploration on his way back up—carefully avoiding the bandage on her shin—and her skin trembled in its wake.
She was naked; Ethan wasn’t. She wanted to change that. Now. Her hands were shaking with desire as she reached for the clasp of his jeans and found him straining against the zipper. She ran her hand over the bulge, and Ethan returned the pressure with his hips as he groaned into her mouth.
She felt like an electric current was thrumming through her body, causing shocks and tingles like she’d never felt before. She felt clumsy and ham-handed as she struggled with his zipper, and finally Ethan moved in to help her. He removed the last of his clothing with ease, never letting the task interrupt the play of his lips and tongue, and Lily realized she really was way out of her league in more ways than she’d wanted to think about.
She flattened a hand against his chest, putting a few inches of space between them, and gasped for air as she broke the kiss. “Th-there’s something you should—you need to know.”
It took a second for Lily’s words to filter into his brain and make sense. That sentence didn’t bode well at any time, but at a moment like this, and the tense way she said it… Her face was flushed, her breathing ragged, and she couldn’t meet his eyes as she chewed at her bottom lip.
He tilted her chin up and caught her eye. “What?”
“I, um…” She blew out her breath. “I don’t do this often.”
He had to turn that one over in his head for a minute, looking for the meaning, but the deepening color in Lily’s cheeks finally gave it to him. “Often? Or—” God help him “—never?”
“Often.” She laughed nervously, and he tried not to let his relief show. “I just…didn’t want you to get your…your expectations up too high.”
It was a vulnerability he hadn’t expected Lily to possess, much less admit to. And, while her words implied some hesitation, her hands were still busy, caressing him eagerly. He chose his next words carefully. “I didn’t have many—but you’ve already exceeded them all.”
That earned him a smile, and Lily threaded her fingers through his hair, pulling him back to her. The kiss was drugging, instantly addictive. He could happily feed on her for days, but not touching her more would kill him very quickly.
Lily’s body was a study in
contrasts—silky skin draped over muscles toned by real work, not a gym membership. The different shades of her skin, from the freckles across her nose to the fair skin of her stomach, came from working outside in the sun, and he ran his tongue over the paler skin that contrasted against the tan on her shoulder. When he tasted her, short, blunt fingernails dug into his shoulders—a practical necessity that contrasted with the impractical bright pink color he discovered on her toes.
Everything about Lily was real, something sorely lacking in the rest of his life. It was refreshing and very, very arousing.
Lily’s hesitant confession pounded through his mind, reminding him to go slowly and carefully, but her response to his touch fired his blood and stole much of his ability to think. The need to bury himself in her—to feel that silky hot skin wrapped completely around him—took over.
Ethan reached for his jeans with one hand, searching the pocket until he found the condom he’d optimistically stashed there earlier. Lily moved restlessly beside him, encouraging him to hurry, then sighing when he rolled her beneath him.
Lily couldn’t hold a thought for longer than a second. Her body burned and ached at the same time, and while she wasn’t sure how much more she could stand, she didn’t want Ethan to stop touching her. Ever.
The weight of him between her thighs was bliss; the slow slide inside her body…torture. She was stretched to the brink, but craved more, pressing her hips up to meet his. She could feel the strain of his muscles—the strength and power and the desire held in check—under her fingers.
Just when she thought she’d go insane from the waiting Ethan began to move, and she no longer cared about her sanity. Each thrust pushed her higher, until the pleasure became too much to bear and tremors shook her body. She held on to Ethan as he took her over the edge. Someplace in the distance she heard Ethan’s growl and felt the arms holding her shake.
And then everything exploded.
Ethan looked slightly smug as he trailed a finger lightly down her arm. Lily wanted to smack him on principle, but she really couldn’t muster the energy to move. And, anyway, he’d certainly earned the right to look smug. Hell, her vision was still gray and fuzzy around the edges.
The Privileged and the Damned Page 6
