by Katie Dowe
*****
She was still asleep when they got to the apartment and so he carried her in his arms, placing her on the bed gently so as not to wake her. He took off her shoes first and then eased her up slowly to take off her dress, his fingers trembling as he looked at her naked body. He sat there wanting to touch her, to explore every inch of her body. But he knew that as soon as he did he would take her and she was sleeping off the drunkenness of drinking too much champagne. He got to his feet abruptly and went to find something for her to put on so that he could avoid temptation. He chose a champagne colored nightgown out of one of the drawers and slid it over her head before pulling the sheets over her. He gently brushed back the hair from her forehead as he stared down at her. He admired her spunk and her fierce independence. She was not afraid of anything or anyone and he loved that about her. He sat there for a moment before he got to his feet and went to take off his clothes. He pulled on a pair of pajamas that he intended to take off as soon as he got into bed and went into his study to pour himself a drink. He went over to sit behind his desk, his expression thoughtful. He loved her, and that much was obvious. For the first time in his life he had fallen head over heels in love with a woman and he was not able or even willing to fight it anymore. He wanted her in his life and he knew the implications of that. He also knew she was not going to agree to marry him. He no longer cared about the damned painting! He just wanted her in his life and he was not sure how to go about it! He could threaten her as he had been doing before, but he did not want to propose to her like that. He drank steadily and closing his eyes he leaned back against the chair. First, he was going to have to tell his mother and sister before the press delved into their lives and exposed everything!
*****
“I am dying,” she moaned as she made her way carefully into the kitchen the next morning.
“You are not dying,” he told her dryly as he handed her a steaming cup of coffee. “This will teach you not to drink too much.”
“Why thank you Mother,” she said sarcastically and winced as she sat on the stool.
“Would you like some eggs?” he asked her innocently.
“Don’t make me hurt you,” she told him darkly as she sipped the coffee. He laughed and hopping off the stool he came around to kiss the top of her head.
“I have to go out for a few hours, go back and get some sleep.”
“You are leaving me here all by myself, knowing that I am dying?”
He took the cup from her and placed it onto the counter, turning her to face him. His hands cupped her cheeks and he bent to kiss her lips gently. “You are most definitely not dying darling; if you were I would not leave your side.”
She stared at him for a moment, her eyes lingering on his lips.
“Stop!” he ordered raggedly.
“Stop what?” she whispered as she lifted her hands and placed them on his chest, feeling the warmth of his skin through the thin sweater he was wearing. He had already showered and dressed, and she could not help but admire how the snug dark blue cashmere looked on him. “This?” Her hands crept beneath the material and encountered his skin, pushing the material up as she let her fingers wandered over his taut flesh and feeling the sprinkles of hairs there. “Or this?” One hand drifted up and he inhaled sharply as she passed a nail over his nipple. “Or this?” She lifted the sweater up, moving her head so that she could touch his nipple with her tongue, tongues of fire licking against his skin!
“Jesus!” He pulled the sweater over his hand and let it slide to the floor, hands wandering over her back restlessly as she continued to use her tongue on his bare flesh! But before long he hauled her up against him! He had slept with her in his arms last night and it was torture. He could feel her body against his but he was not able to do anything about it! His lips took hers in a sizzling kiss that had her moaning inside his mouth and her fingers clutching his muscled shoulders.
She had no idea what this was between them and did not what to think about it too much, but she just knew that she could not stop wanting him! She tore her lips away and begged him! “Please!” she whispered. Without a word he lifted her into his arms and took her back into the bedroom.
Chapter 14
“Her mother was seventeen when she gave birth to her and died shortly after. Her father was a white man, married without children of his own, and the mother had been working for him and his wife. I don’t think he ever knew that he had conceived a child with the maid. A cousin who had been living with the mother was the one who gave the child up.”
“And the father? Is he still alive?” Liam asked quietly.
“He died five years ago from a tumor in the brain. He never had another child and he never knew about Amani either. She has no living relatives, as the cousin died a few years ago as well.” Blake told him. He looked down at the report in his hands. “She had it pretty rough Liam, moving from home to home and getting herself in trouble with the law, but just little things like taking things from stores, mostly food items, until Hanson found her and offered her a place to stay. You know the rest.”
Liam nodded thoughtfully. Blake got to his feet and handed him the folder. “I have to say that I admire her. She beat the odds and even managed to get herself a degree in college, coming in top of her class. She is pretty smart.”
“She is.” A smile came and went on his lips. “Thanks Blake.” Liam watched the man leave and closed the doors behind him. Liam glanced through the pages again and read the details for himself, his heart twisting at what she had been through! Yesterday he had been about to leave her and go to see his mother, but after taking her back to his bed he had ended up staying with her, holding her while she slept on his chest. Later he had ordered Italian for them and they had eaten by the fire in the living room. Afterwards he had pulled her into his arms, and they had watched something on television. He was doing things with her that he had never done with a single person before. She made him angry and she kept him on his toes. He was jealous if she even looked at another man and he enjoyed sparring with her! She was not afraid of him and the only reason she had not tried to get away from him was because he had threatened the man she thought of as a father. He was desperate to use that to keep her with him, but he knew that she was beginning to suspect that he was no longer furious with her!
He took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. He had come in early this morning after leaving her. He had gotten her up by making love to her in the early hours of the morning, ignoring her sleepy resistance and never stopped until she was participating in the lovemaking. He wondered if she was on the pill, because it never dawned on him to use protection and he hated to admit to himself that if she was pregnant, she was going to have to stay with him. He could not bear the thought of her leaving, but he was going to have to decide sooner or later. She was right! He could not keep her locked inside his apartment and the thought of her wanting to leave was playing havoc on his mind! He could ask her to marry him! He could tell her that if she marries him, he would not press charges against her and Hanson. He could tell her that she would not have to retrieve the painting and that he was willing to forget everything if she agreed to his proposal. He would be technically blackmailing her, but he was desperate and he wanted her, no – he needed her with him, but he also wanted her to love him the way he loved her. He knew that she was fiercely attracted to him, that much was obvious because they could not keep their hands off each other! But he wanted her to love him, to want to be with him without strings attached! He was not used to this! Was not used to trying to get a woman to love him and want to be with him, it was usually the other way around and he was scared out of his mind! But first he had to tell his mother and sister the whole story before the press got a hold of it!
*****
Amani prowled the length of the living room restlessly, straightening the silk cushions on the sofas several times before she was comfortable with the way they were, and then rearranging them again until she realized wh
at she was doing. She had called Hanson earlier and had almost told him what was going on, but she did not want him to worry and she did not want him involved. She had to find a way to get away from Liam! She was no longer just attracted to him but had started to feel something more. For the past few days she had been fervently wishing that she was free to be with him, wishing that she was a different person and the circumstances were different, so that she was free to feel and put a word to what she was feeling! But it was not! She had seen the pictures in the magazines that had been sent up to his apartment, the ones that a very avid reporter had taken just as they walked into the ballroom of the hotel. The caption speculated on the nature of their relationship while wondering who she was! There had been several other pictures with him dancing with that blonde and one where they had been standing with his mother, sister and the former First Lady. If she was seen with him again, the reporters were going to start digging into her life to try and find out who she really was, and she could not afford that. She had to get away from him somehow! She sank down on one of the sofas and buried her head in her hands, in despair, as she thought about not seeing him again!
*****
Liam glanced at his watch discreetly for the third time as he sat waiting for his mother to show up. She was ten minutes late for the sudden luncheon appointment he had planned, and he was impatient to get back to his apartment to tell Amani of his plans. He expected some resistance, but he was not going to take no for an answer! He got to his feet just as she made her way to their table and signaled the waiter to bring the juice she always had whenever she came to the exclusive restaurant.
“I am sorry I am late darling, but I had committed to a meeting before you called, and it ran late.” She lifted her cheek for his kiss before sliding into the chair. She waited until the waiter had come with the freshly squeezed lime water and then turned to look at her son. “You sounded urgent over the phone. Everything okay?”
“We will eat before I tell you what is going on. I ordered the grilled chicken, is that okay with you?”
“Of course,” Lillian told him, wondering what was so important that he had to meet with her immediately. They talked about casual matters and she filled him in on his sister’s progress as they enjoyed the meal placed before them. “She seems to be doing very well and coping.”
“So, there is no chance of us hoping that she will come to her senses and give up?” Liam asked with an indulgent smile.
“Early days yet,” his mother said with a gentle smile. They finished the meal and Liam waited until the table had been cleared before he spoke again. “You met Amani Lincoln at the function.”
“Yes,” Lillian sipped her drink and stared at him. “I am assuming that she is one of your – er”
He smiled in amusement as his mother floundered.
“One of my love interests?” he provided helpfully.
She sent him a wry look and shook her head. “Something like that.”
“She was – is,” he shook his head. “She is more than that, Mother. I need to tell you something pretty unusual.”
“Go ahead.”
“The first thing I am going to tell you is that I am in love with her and that I want to marry her.”
Lillian stared at her impossibly handsome son in shock before the shock gave way to extreme delight! “Finally!” she burst out.
“You might not think that after I finish telling you what I need to,” he told her dryly. Liam took a long swallow of his drink before continuing. His mother sat there listening in amazement as the story unfolded, not saying a word until he was finished. He told her everything, from the way Amani had sought him out deliberately so that she could get him to take her to his apartment to the report he had had done on her, ending with her being stashed at his apartment and him blackmailing her.
Lillian carefully placed her napkin onto the table and was silent for a few minutes before she spoke. “And you want to marry her?”
Liam nodded, his hands clenched into fists on top of the table.
“Darling do you have any idea what sort of hornet’s nest this is going to be when the press gets hold of it?”
“They don’t have to know everything. But yes, they are going to dig into her life.” He sighed a little dejectedly. “I don’t care about me, Mother. I care about what this is going to do to her.”
“And the Moses’ name,” she reminded him.
“That as well.” He sighed again. “I just wanted to tell you before it came out.” There was a look of determination stamped on his face as he looked at her. “I love her Mother and I had never dreamed that would happen to me. I cannot stay away from her and when I am not with her I–” He shook his head. “I need her.”
“I can see that.” She said gently as she reached out to take his hands in hers. “What if she says no?”
He laughed briefly. “I have been agonizing over that as well. I am going to make sure she has no choice but to say yes.”
“Darling is that wise? She is going to resent you for forcing her hand.”
“She already feels something for me, but she is stubborn and willful and will not admit it. I am going to make her do so.” He pulled his hands away from hers and eyed her curiously. “You have not said what is on your mind.”
“I am still processing,” she told him ruefully. “Trust you not to fall in love with an ordinary woman.”
“I have always been contrary so why stop now?” he admitted ruefully. “I will let you know the wedding plans.”
*****
Amani was in the kitchen when he went back to the apartment. He had made a few stops when he had finished lunch with his mother and had also met with their lawyers to discuss some matters of concern. The fact was that the women he was going to ask to be his wife was in possession of a stolen painting that belonged to the family. He did not care about it, but it might become a complications in the future. But if she retrieved it, he would not have any leverage! His lawyers had explained the law to him and that the best thing to do was to get her to retrieve the painting, and in return for not pressing charges she should sign some sort of non-disclosure document. The lawyers also advised him to get her to sign a pre-nuptial agreement. “We would have suggested it even if the situation was not so unusual,” they had hastened to tell him, but he was not thinking about that now. He had the dazzling square cut diamond in his pocket and he was going to be proposing, his heart hammering inside his chest. He had an exquisite collection of jewelry with unique stones and settings in his family’s vault, and could have chosen one of them, but he already knew that she was not drawn to the very extravagant. He had picked out the diamond because it suited her.
“I just made pasta,” she said as he walked into the kitchen, where she was sitting around the counter drinking wine. “If you want something else you are going to have to make it yourself. I am not much of a cook and I do not apologize for that.”
He hid a smile as he looked at her. She had showered and was wearing a robe like gown that shimmered against her skin and highlighted her curves. “Maybe you should think about taking lessons?” He walked over to her and brushed his fingers over her tousled hair. She lifted her head and gave him a dry look.
“Not a chance in hell.”
He chuckled at that, bending to kissed her on the mouth before moving away. “I had a big lunch, so I am not really hungry. I had lunch with my mother.”
“So, I slaved over the stove for nothing,” she grumbled.
“You just made pasta darling, not some complicated seven course meal,” he pointed out as he took the glass from her and drank from it.
“I still stood in front of the stove and prepared the meal.” She eyed him for a moment. “Why are you here so early?”
“I missed you?”
“Right.” She took the glass from him and sipped. “Get your own.”
“How about being a darling and getting me a glass?”
To his surprise she did not argue but hopped off th
e stool and went to get a glass, coming back to pour the wine and hand it to him. “Thank you. I came early because there are things we need to discuss.”
“Like what?”
“Like our position.”
“You mean like my position?” she clarified.
“Our position. I cannot keep you locked up here indefinitely.”
Her eyes widened. “I am happy to know that you are seeing reason.”
“I would not quite put it that way,” he told her with a wry smile as he sipped the wine. “I have a proposition.”
“I am dying to hear what it is.”
He chuckled and continued to sip his wine, his gray eyes examining her face. “You are beautiful.”
“Thank you,” she told him formally.
“And sexy. And highly desirable. Opinionated and brave, or foolish depending on how one looks at it.”
“Please, you are making my head swell,” she told him sarcastically.
“And feisty,” he added with a grin. “But you have grown on me.”
“Now I can die happy.”
“I want you to marry me.”
She stared at him, the hand lifting the wine glass to her lips suspended! “Now I am beginning to wonder at your sanity.”
“Are you saying I am crazy?”
“Either that or I am.”
“We are fiercely and wonderfully attracted to each other–”
“So are a lot of people but I am sure they don’t think of marrying each other.”
“We are already living together–”
“I am living here against my will, Liam,” she reminded him.
“But you are not complaining, are you?” he challenged her.
“You cannot possibly want to marry me!”
“I actually do.”
