Текст книги "Reckless In Love"
Автор книги: Bella Andre
Соавторы: Jennifer Skully
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Текущая страница: 20 (всего у книги 21 страниц)
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
It was the most decadent kiss Charlie had ever tasted, and overflowing with hope. When he lifted her into his arms to carry her out of his office and into his bedroom, she deepened the kiss until her heart beat recklessly.
Their kiss was gentle and rough all at once, sweet and desperate. They rolled over on the bed until she was straddling him, and he reached up to smooth her hair back as it fell in a curtain over them. “I believe in love,” he said softly. “And I’ve loved you from the very first moment.” His gaze roamed her face like a touch. “But I grew up believing love wasn’t enough.”
She leaned her forehead against his. “It can be.”
“You’re teaching me that. Teaching me that we aren’t my parents and we don’t have to drag each other down. We don’t have to be toxic to each other even if we’re not exactly the same, even if some of our passions and hobbies are different. I should have learned a lot more from Susan and Bob than I did from my parents.”
She nuzzled his hair. “It just took longer to understand that you could break the cycle your parents were stuck in.”
He nodded so slightly it was barely there.
“Love goes wrong because of the two people involved,” she told him. “It doesn’t have to be that way for us, not if we’re willing to work at it.”
He stroked beneath the fall of hair at her nape. “Loving you isn’t work. But I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop trying to help you in any way I can.”
She held his face in her palms. “You wouldn’t be you if you did. And I wouldn’t love you so much if you weren’t true to yourself the way I need to be true to who I am. I didn’t see us as a partnership before, but now I do. And partners support each other. They share the cost, both physical and emotional.”
“I will share anything and everything with you. You tell me what you need. I’ll tell you what I need. Then like you said, we’ll figure it out.” He spread his hands. “All those parties, the people...I like to play there, but you, the Mavericks, Bob and Susan, that’s my world. So if you want to attend a party with me, then you’ll come. If you’d rather stay home to work or catch up on lessons or whatever, then that’s what you’ll do. I want you to be happy. We’re not joined at the hip. I just want to come home to you.”
“Home,” she whispered. “I like the sound of that.”
“You pick and choose your commissions. If it doesn’t inspire you, don’t do it.”
“Or maybe when they ask for a cherub, I’ll tell them they need a pterodactyl instead.”
He laughed. Truly the most beautiful, wonderful man she’d ever known.
“God, I love you.” She threw herself into him, hugging hard and tight, with all her breath, with everything in her.
“Then move in with me for good. Tonight. Now. Share my bed. Fall asleep in my arms every night. Wake up beside me every single morning.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes to tonight. Yes to now. Yes to every night. Yes to every single morning.”
Then she kissed him. Tasted his lips, then took his mouth, played with his tongue, and opened herself fully. She was ravenous for him, ripping his shirt off his shoulders, popping the snaps of his jeans. She gasped as he pulled down the top of her sundress and took her nipple in his mouth. She arched, moaned, tangled her fingers in his hair to hold him tight against her as pleasure spiked deep in her center.
His fingers caressed sensuously down her belly, pulling up the dress so he could slip beneath the elastic of her panties. “Marry me, Charlie. Marry me and be mine forever.”
“Wait. Stop. What did you just say?”
But Sebastian didn’t stop stroking her with sweet, hot patience, pushing her even higher. “Marry me.”
“Sebastian.” She writhed against him, struggling for breath, panting, everything a blur of sensation, his fingers inside her, his body plastered against her, his words. Marry me. She couldn’t seem to say anything more than his name.
“Say yes, Charlie. Say you’ll marry me.”
She cried out then, a full-body explosion, an earthquake shuddering through her, breaking her apart, tearing her down. Then she grabbed Sebastian by the hair and pulled his face to hers. “Yes,” she whispered again. “Yes, yes, yes.”
And she devoured him with a kiss that said she’d never let him go.
* * *
They tore off the rest of their clothes in a flurry of madness. Sebastian wanted to be inside her, needed it so badly he could barely stop long enough for protection. Charlie’s fingers trembled as she helped him. When the deed was done, she pushed him down and took control.
And it was so damn good to give everything he was over to her.
“Marry me,” he rasped as she buried him deep inside her.
She rode him, slowly, tantalizingly, then leaned close over him. “I already said yes.”
“I thought that was the orgasm talking.” It was probably the last coherent thing he could get his mouth to say.
“That was an I-love-you-want-you-need-to-spend-the-rest-of-my-life-with-you yes.”
He planted his hands on her hips and moved her, needing so much more than the sensuous slip-slide of their bodies. “God, thank you, yes.”
He filled her until she gasped out his name. She filled him just as deeply, claiming his heart. “Take me, Charlie,” he begged. “Take everything.”
They came together, split apart, moving as one, over and over, stealing his sanity, giving him his soul. Her hands on his chest, her eyes so green, glittering like jewels, her lips plump from his kisses.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“I’ll always love you.” There was no other way. “I’d have loved you forever even if you never came back.”
“I’ll always come back, Sebastian.” She made the vow even as her body contracted with pleasure around his. “Always.”
He lost it all then, gave her everything, joined her in ecstasy, riding the perfect wave of release with her.
A while later, they lay sweaty and replete in each other’s arms. He kissed her forehead softly. “You’re my gorgeous Zanti Misfit.” She laughed, the throaty sound that never failed to make him tremble with desire. He tipped up her chin with a finger. “I’m serious. You’re my unexpected.”
“Don’t make me cry,” she said, her voice already full of tears. Then she gasped and sat up, her eyes sparkling with that vision he so loved to see. “Oh my God, that’s it.”
“What?” He loved her gasps. They were either pleasure or inspiration.
“The gate!”
“The crusty old thing you found at the construction sale?”
“Yes.” She bit her lip, her eyes sparkling. “I know what to do. We need to put it on the slope below the terrace with all the Zanti Misfits behind it. Whenever we need something unexpected, we’ll let one out.”
“Brilliant. That’s what the Zantis are—all the unexpected things to come.”
“I love you.” Her smile lit the room like a moonbeam.
“And I love you.” He disentangled their limbs. “So here’s the first test of our new plan.”
She sat up as he climbed off the bed, reaching over to turn on the lamp. They’d never slipped beneath the covers, and the light falling across her set her radiant skin glowing.
“What kind of test?” She narrowed her eyes playfully.
“You’ll see.” He retrieved the box from the closet and laid it on the bed. He’d had it wrapped in blue, with a dark blue ribbon around it. “A present.”
Charlie tore into the paper with gusto, the way she did everything, from making love to welding her stallions to loving him. Then she pulled off the lid of the box.
After a long moment, she reached out to stroke the silk velvet. “The pearl dress.”
“I bought it the same day you tried it on. I wanted you to wear it when we unveiled the stallions.”
“Sebastian.”
He put his finger over her lips the way she always did with him. “You know exactly how much it cost. I have money, and I’ll always want to buy you pretty things without looking at the price tag. I’ll want to spoil you. You just have to decide whether you want to take it.”
She pulled the dress from its box, holding it up, touching the strands of real pearls. “It’s so beautiful.”
“You’re what makes it beautiful.”
She held it against herself, then gave him the gentlest of smiles. “Thank you. I love the dress. I want to wear it for you. Especially when we show everyone the chariot race.”
“The chariot race?”
“It needs a name. Like a Rodin statue. The Chariot Race.”
He pulled her close to kiss her. “It’s perfect.”
“And actually,” she said when he finally let her up for air, “our first test has two parts.”
“Anything, Charlie.”
She let out her breath in a sigh as if she were preparing herself. “I’d like to frame your drawings of me working on The Chariot Race and hang them on the lobby walls for the grand opening. I want your work to complement mine.” She dropped her voice to a plea. “To complete mine.” She waited three beats of his heart. “And I want the world to know we’re a team.”
His body felt hot and cold, but he’d said he could change. He thought of all the nights she’d exposed herself for him, all the nights he’d paraded her through crowds of people. And the truth was that she’d shown him something special in his own work. She’d shown him the magic with that reflection in her face shield and the halo of sparks around her head.
“We’re a team,” he said. “How many drawings do we need?”
Charlie threw herself at him, crushing the dress, the box, and him. Giving him everything he’d ever wanted, all the love he would ever need.
EPILOGUE
Sebastian’s sketches of Charlie were nothing short of genius.
Matt leaned in for a closer look. Sebastian had captured the fully completed sculpture in the reflection of Charlie’s face shield. That small detail turned the drawing into a masterpiece.
Next to him, Daniel was grinning. “I’m glad Sebastian finally came out of the closet.”
Matt laughed. “Don’t let the press hear you say that or they’ll be starting rumors it’ll take years to put down.”
“Sebastian wouldn’t care. Hell, he’d probably love it.”
Matt laughed his agreement.
Everyone had arrived for the big unveiling at noon, and the lobby of Sebastian’s new building was a crush. The crème de la crème of San Francisco society had turned out for the grand event—and so had all of Charlie’s students from over the years. Her mother too. The champagne flowed, white-coated waiters circulated with trays of hors d’oeuvres, and at twelve-thirty, there would be a buffet on the mezzanine level above.
The sun edged toward the fountain. The Chariot Race was covered with a drape of silk attached to a pulley by nearly invisible wires that would sweep it away at the appropriate moment. The building itself was incredible, the glass setting off an astonishing view of San Francisco’s financial district, and the bright, cloudless sky above. The supporting columns were gleaming chrome, and even the polished marble floor could be considered a work of art.
“How the hell did Charlie get him to show his sketches?” Daniel shook his head in wonder.
“She told me it was magic.”
Matt was happy for his friend. Charlie was a class act. A good woman was hard to find, as Matt well knew since the fiasco with Noah’s mother. After Irene, he wasn’t taking any risks. He had a hard enough time keeping Noah’s nannies around, let alone a girlfriend.
“Have you seen Will and Harper?” Matt asked as they moved down the impressive line of Sebastian’s artwork. Elbowed out of the way by a woman demanding a closer look, he stepped back before she punctured his foot with her stiletto heel.
“I saw Jeremy earlier.” Daniel chuckled. “He said they’re going to watch from the mezzanine above so they could be close to the real food as soon as it’s served.”
Matt smiled. Jeremy was great. Sure enough, he noticed three figures on the second level. Jeremy saw him and shook his arm at them so hard Matt feared he might topple into the fountain, but Will’s hand was on his shoulder, his other arm around Harper. Will would never let either of them fall.
“What about Susan and Bob?”
“Over...there.” Daniel pointed.
Standing by the fountain, Susan waved at them. Bob had his hand at her back and Matt thought his foster father looked a little overwhelmed by the press of people.
“Honey, I’m so glad to see you.” Susan threw her arms around Matt in a huge hug. He remembered all the years as a pipsqueak kid when her hug was the only thing that made him feel safe. He would love her forever for that.
They moved in close to hear each other over the voices and laughter. “Sebastian and Charlie will be so happy you made it.”
She sparkled with joy. “We wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“It’s all she’s been able to talk about,” Bob agreed. “That and wedding plans.”
But Matt knew Bob was equally focused on getting everything ready for Harper and Will’s wedding. Susan had revealed he was already working on the trellis. It would be a white Christmas wedding in Chicago with a small gathering, the nuptials to take place in Susan and Bob’s living room.
“And now we have another wedding to plan.” Susan was in her element, her eyes starry with the thought of more grandchildren. She adored Noah and wanted more, more, more.
Susan gave her son a huge hug while Matt clapped Bob on the back in greeting. “This is a real swanky place,” Bob said, lifting his gaze to the sky above. “When are you boys moving in?”
The Maverick Group was taking the twenty-ninth floor. “Next week.”
“How’s Noah? You didn’t bring him today?”
Matt spread his arms to encompass the packed lobby. “I didn’t want to risk losing him in this crowd. Will let me drop him off for a few hours with Mrs. Taylor.” Will’s housekeeper was a very sweet lady, and Noah adored her chocolate chip cookies. Come to think of it, they all adored Mrs. Taylor’s chocolate chip cookies. “You’ll see him at the barbecue tomorrow.”
“Mrs. Taylor?” Susan’s antennae had popped up. “Oh dear, what happened to your latest nanny?”
Matt felt the darkness rise up in him again, and he clenched his fists to tamp it down. “I caught her yelling at Noah when he knocked over a glass of milk.”
Matt wasn’t a violent man, but when he’d walked in on the woman’s tirade, he’d been closer to losing control than at any time in his life. Even with all of Irene’s crap, he’d never felt that kind of rage.
No one abused his kid, not ever.
“I’m glad you fired her ass.”
He laughed. Susan always knew how to defuse the tension. “Yeah. I fired her ass. So now I need another nanny.”
“Oh, sweetie.” She gave him a hug for all his woes.
“You must have tapped out all the nanny services in town,” Daniel drawled beside him.
It was the unfortunate truth. He didn’t know how he’d managed to find every bad caregiver in the area—but he had. He’d have to look farther afield and hope the candidate wanted to move.
Above the din, the tinkle of metal on glass gathered attention. The sun was a foot from the fabulous fountain. Matt glanced at his watch. It was closing in on noon.
Rapping his champagne flute with a spoon, Sebastian stepped onto a small dais erected by the fountain. As the crowd began to quiet, he pulled Charlie up beside him.
“Oh my,” Susan said in a breathy voice. “She’s absolutely beautiful.”
Matt had to agree. Her black dress was short and flirty, her back draped with strands of pearls, her red hair pulled up. Even from here, he recognized adoration brimming in Sebastian’s eyes.
“That must be her mother.” Bob indicated the elderly woman seated close by in a chair brought especially for her. “Sebastian told us her story, and she’s a marvel. Even with her terrible arthritis, she walks a mile every day.”
“I can’t wait to meet her.” Susan said. “I have so much to thank her for. Raising such a marvelous woman who’s so perfect for Sebastian.”
Sebastian held up his hands, and the last of the noise died down. “Thank you all for coming to celebrate the opening of my new headquarters here in San Francisco. In a few moments, the sun will be at its zenith, and you’ll all see why I chose this space. Because it’s a special spot, I needed a special sculpture to do it justice.” He put his arm around Charlie, kissed her temple. “In the process I found this very special, brilliant woman who has agreed to be my wife.”
The crowd erupted with oohs and aahs, and Susan wiped her eyes.
It was then that Matt saw Whitney, to Sebastian’s right, with Evan slightly behind her. If looks could kill, every last one of them would be dead. Whitney didn’t like all the attention going to anyone else. Sometimes Matt wished he could fire her ass too.
But only Evan could do that.
“Step back, folks,” Sebastian called out. “The sun’s coming.”
Those closest to the fountain shuffled back as the sun crept up the first tiles and they burst into glowing rainbows of color.
“I present to you The Chariot Race by Charlie Ballard.” Sebastian waved his arm, and the silk drape was whisked away, disappearing somewhere above the mezzanine.
A pin dropping in the fountain’s waters could have been heard at the other end of the lobby. Four magnificent stallions strained against their harnesses, racing into the sky. The fountain’s waters began to churn and hiss, billowing up like the dirt and dust beneath the animals’ charge as they dragged the broken chariot behind them. They were triumphant while their driver had been lost in defeat.
As the sun hit the metal, the splendid animals came to life and Matt could almost hear the roar of their hoof beats. With no driver, the reins blew wild in the wind, and their copper tails flew out behind them like flames. Everything was awash in color, even the mosaic gleaming on the platform of the fallen chariot as it was exposed by the oncoming light. The spectators were utterly in thrall of the sculpture’s power as the sun moved over it.
He heard whispered words like genius and brilliant. On the other side of the fountain, Charlie glowed as brightly as the chimera she’d created. Matt was in awe that she could produce such beauty from all its disparate parts—pitchforks and bicycle wheels, tractor seats and pipe fittings. She made sense out of senselessness. And in turn gave power and strength to everyone who gazed at her masterpiece.
The sun revealed new facets like diamonds sparkling in radiant light. His gaze followed its path until he saw a woman beyond the fountain, hidden in the shadows until the sun found her.
Her long blond hair turned a fiery gold as the light hit her, and she was suddenly the only thing Matt could see, young and lithesome, pretty and wholesome, pure and sweet.
It was the girl from the group home, the one who’d played with Noah. Ariana.
Noah had adored her, and she’d been so good with him, endlessly patient, her smile angelic as they played in the dirt. Would she want to be Noah’s nanny?
Matt usually had older caregivers for Noah. Young women wanted to date, they could be flighty, or they moved on too soon. But he sure hadn’t been batting a thousand with anyone he’d hired so far.
Maybe it was wishful thinking. Maybe it was something extraordinary about this young lady that set her apart from every other woman who’d walked through his front door. Maybe he’d been alone way too long.
Whatever the reason, when Ariana suddenly turned, her gaze met his like a lightning strike. He had no idea what her story was, or if she’d even consider becoming a nanny, but he put down his drink and headed straight for her. Damn good thing a Maverick always knew how to get what he wanted. Because today, Matt knew exactly what—and who—he wanted.
Ariana.
~ THE END ~
BREATHLESS IN LOVE, the first book in our Maverick Billionaires series about Will Franconi, is out now! FEARLESS IN LOVE (Matt’s story) will be released June 15, 2016!
For news on Bella Andre’s upcoming books, click http://BellaAndreFans.com/Newsletter to sign up for Bella Andre’s New Release Newsletter.
For news on Jennifer Skully’s upcoming books, click http://bit.ly/SkullyNews to sign up for Jennifer Skully’s New Release Newsletter.
* * *
Enjoy an excerpt from BREATHLESS IN LOVE, Will’s story...
Will Franconi has a dark past that he’s kept a closely guarded secret―very few people have ever heard his real story and he plans to keep it that way. After surviving a hellish childhood, he’s now living the dream life where everything he touches turns to gold. But something’s missing. He doesn’t quite know what, until a simple letter from a teenage boy brings Harper Newman into his life—a woman who just might fill up the empty places inside him...if only he could ever be worthy of her love.
When a man has more money than he could spend in five lifetimes, Harper has to ask herself what Will Franconi could possibly want from a woman like her. She’s learned the hard way that rich men always get what they want no matter the cost. If it were only herself she had to worry about, Harper would manage, but she’s guardian to her younger brother, who depends on her for everything. After he nearly lost his life in a car crash, she’s vowed never to let anyone hurt him ever again.
Still, sometimes Harper can’t help but long to change her story from that of the always cautious woman to an adventurous tale of a heroine who’s wild and free...especially when Will’s kisses and caresses make her utterly breathless. And as he begins to reveal his story to her, she discovers that he’s so much more than just another wealthy, privileged man. He’s kind and giving, and he fills up all the spaces inside her heart that have been empty for so long. Together, can they rewrite their stories into a happily ever after that neither of them would have believed possible?
Harper was utterly gorgeous, the sun sparkling in her wind-tossed hair, ecstasy glowing on her face. She didn’t shout or cheer—but she did hold up her arms. And she smiled.
The most beautiful smile Will had ever seen.
He wasn’t even near freeway speed, yet the shriek of the motor, the rumble of the pipes, and the open sky above them made it seem as if the car were flying at over a hundred miles an hour.
Just as he’d promised, he took her around only once. He didn’t want to push her limits.
Not yet, anyway.
While harnessing her in, it would have been so easy to touch her, to let his fingertips graze her gorgeous skin. His heart had hammered with the desire to put his hands on her. Even now, his fingers sizzled with her heat, and her sweet scent filled his head. But he could tell that she wasn’t like the women he usually spent his time with—women who knew the score and were in it for what they could grab before he moved on.
Harper Newman was different. And he liked that, liked knowing that wooing her would be unlike anything else he’d ever done in his life. Even if a voice in his head reminded him that he shouldn’t be looking for anything more than a quick roll between the sheets with her.
Not because she didn’t deserve more, but because she did. So much more than a fundamentally broken man like Will could ever give her.
He slowed after the last turn, heading back to her brother. Back to sanity for both of them.
For now.
She let her arms drop, and her sleeve brushed his arm as she said, “That was fast.”
She was trying for a noncommittal tone, but he could hear the breathlessness she was trying to hide. She might normally be good at hiding her feelings, but Will was too interested in her to miss one single thing. Especially the thrill of the speed still coursing through her veins.
“Too fast? Or just right?”
Her eyes met his and sparks jumped between them again. Sparks that had been there from the very first moment they’d looked at each other.
Finally, she admitted, “It was good,” her words a little huskier than he imagined she wanted them to be.
Ahead of them, Jeremy was hopping, skipping toward the car. He looked so happy. Which, Will was glad to see, made Harper very happy, too.
They rolled to a stop and he said, “Let me give you a hand.”
But she didn’t wait for his chivalry, simply unbuckled before he could help her and said, “I’m fine, thanks,” then turned to grab the roll bar and hoist herself up.
Jeremy ran over to them. “Wasn’t it cool, Harper?”
“I enjoyed it.”
Her answer was far too tight-laced, but Will knew that for a few moments out there, she’d been one with the car and the rush of speed. Just as he had.
“But once was enough,” she added, smoothing her jacket, then her skirt, and finally her hair.
“Once is never enough,” he said softly.
Despite how hard she was working to rein herself in, he heard her breath catch on the slightly sensual undertone to his words. Will knew that if her brother hadn’t been standing right there, he would have done something crazy, like grab her and kiss her.
No, he wasn’t good enough for her. But that knowledge didn’t keep him from wanting her. If anything, he was even more powerfully drawn to the good in her, to the sweetness and warmth she shared with her brother.
“I don’t have to be anywhere special for another couple of hours. I can show you the Aston Martin at my place.”
In truth, Will had a dozen important things to take care of today, but Jeremy was like a bright, mystical sphere that beckoned him closer, a breath of something clean that made him feel young instead of jaded.
And then there was Harper.
Beautiful, unique Harper with all that tightly leashed passion inside of her just waiting to be set free...
...Excerpt from BREATHLESS IN LOVE by Bella Andre & Jennifer Skully © 2015.
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