A Heart Decision (16 page)

“No—” She gasped as he pinched her nipples. “But if
you keep that up, it might help your cause.”

“Oh,
really
?” He rolled the tips of her
breasts between his fingers and tweaked them again. Her whole body
jolted and shook at the intense pleasure rocketing from her breasts
to the intimate crease she taunted him with.

“Two can play that game.” She pinched his flat
nipples, and his breath hitched.

“Baby, you don’t want to get into a titty-teasin’
war with me. I guarantee, you’ll end up the loser.”

Grinning down at him, she arched her back and thrust
her breasts more fully into his hands. “Or the winner,” she moaned
softly, “depending, of course, on your perspective.”

As his gaze trekked down her body, stopping at
strategic points before returning to her face, the heat in his
half-lidded eyes melted her insides.

“Any second now, my perspective could disappoint
you.”

“How so?”

“The view is so spectacular from down here....” He
winced as he lifted his hips toward her heat again and missed
making contact with her core by a millimeter. “Do you have any idea
how beautiful and sexy you look, straddling me naked? Seeing you
like this has given me the granddaddy of all hard-ons.”

She peered down between her legs and chuckled.
They’d just made love an hour ago, and he was more ready than ever.
“Hmm....Mr. Happy doesn’t look like a granddaddy. In fact, at the
moment, there’s not a wrinkle on him.”

He squeezed her breasts and arched one dark eyebrow
at her. “Well, in about thirty seconds, if you don’t slide down on
my stiff friend, he’s likely to shrivel up and get as soft and
wrinkled as one of your ex-geriatric patients.”

“Ohhh, that would be a pity.” She giggled, aligning
herself with his twitching flesh. “I guess it’s sort of foolish to
waste such a magnificent example of masculinity, huh?”

“I knew you’d see the wisdom in my—” His words
caught in his throat as she sank down hard, impaling herself on his
rigid shaft. A savage flame flared in his eyes as the head of his
erection slammed against her womb, stealing her breath as well as
his.

“
Holy shit
.”

He could say that again. It felt so good to be
filled by him. “What’s the matter?” She pouted innocently. “I
simply did what you told me to.”

“It would be nice if you gave a guy a couple of
seconds warning.” He grabbed her hips as she started to rock and
held her still. “Please, just don’t budge for a few moments,” he
forced past gritted teeth. “If you do, I won’t be responsible for
the outcome.”

If she didn’t move, the gnawing ache inside her was
likely to drive her mad. Ignoring his plea, she braced her hands on
his muscled chest and rose up on her knees again. As she dropped
back down on his erection, the helpless vulnerability in his eyes
brought a lump to her throat.

It was as if his desire had rendered him incapable
of stopping her from stealing his restraint. His look of utter
defeat almost made her feel sorry for him. But not quite.

She’d never felt so powerful. So much in control.
She wanted to bend him to her will. She wanted to make him come
even though he resisted.

Where had this overwhelming need to dominate him
come from?

“Princess.” He panted. “If you don’t stop for a
moment, I’m gonna lose it.”

“Tough.” She continued bouncing up and down, spurred
by the incredible pleasure produced by his hard flesh sliding in
and out of her. “You’ve been calling all the shots in our
relationship. This time I’m in charge.”

He clawed the mattress. “Please, I can’t take much
more of this.”

“Then, by all means, surrender.”

“No, damn it.” His eyelashes flew up. Renewed
determination lit his gaze. “I want you to come, too.”

He had no idea how close she was to doing just that.
But the devil in her compelled her to torture him a bit more. She
trailed her fingernail down the center of his chest to his navel.
“Then I suggest you control yourself a little longer.”

“That’s like asking me to keep an active volcano
from erupting.” His hips bucked frantically beneath her, rubbing
his velvety erection against the bud of pleasure inside her.”

Their gazes locked as she rode him faster, and he
plunged deeper with every thrust of his hips. Their joining became
too frenzied to continue their verbal sparring. Everything she felt
for Luke reflected back from his eyes, and they became one, mind,
body, and soul.

“I love you, Brina,” he rasped as he rolled her to
her back and took control. He slowed the pace of their lovemaking,
and the intensity of emotion on his face brought tears to her
eyes.

“And I love you, Luke, always and forever.”

If only he would tell her what was stopping him from
spending the rest of his life like this with her. He’d left her no
choice but to pry and, if that didn’t work, go behind his back to
uncover his terrible secret. It had to be awful. Otherwise, he
would never let her go.

~*~

Luke stared down at the clothing strewn over the
staircase.

Sabrina descended the steps ahead of him and picked
up their clothes along the way. At the bottom, she glanced back up
at him sliding down the stairs on his butt. “What happened to my
underwear?”

“I threw your panties down there with my—” His gaze
shot to the dogs yapping at her feet. If he hadn’t been so
distracted, he would’ve locked the puppies in their crate before
he’d taken Sabrina upstairs the night before. “I think our friend,
Dusty, might’ve taken them.”

Sabrina reached down and scratched the puppy’s head.
“Okay, fella, what’d you do with my underpants?”

“You don’t really think he’s gonna lead you to them,
do you?” Luke laughed as he stood at the base of the steps and sank
into the electric wheelchair. “If I were him, you’d have to ante up
a juicy T-bone to get me to surrender them.”

“What on earth would he want with my panties?
Besides, what makes you so sure he took them? Maybe Mopsy hid
them.”

Obviously, Sabrina had no idea what the scent of a
woman could do to a male—regardless of the species.

“Don’t worry about them. They’ll turn up eventually.
Right now, you need to concentrate on making me breakfast, woman.
I’m starving.” They’d made love four times since their ice cream
the night before. He wasn’t used to expending that much energy
without refueling.

“I don’t doubt it.” Sabrina glanced at her watch and
chuckled. “But don’t you think eleven o’clock calls for
brunch?”

“Call the meal whatever you want. Just feed me. But
first, you’d better take the dogs outside. I’m amazed they haven’t
made a mess already.” Pushing the control on the chair, he followed
her into the kitchen and parked himself at the table.

“They’ve been out. I snuck down the servants steps
at about seven o’clock, gave them breakfast, and took them out.”
Sabrina removed the can of coffee and the orange juice from the
fridge and poured him a glass of juice. “That should tide you over
while I make—”

A knock on the back door cut her off. “Good
morning.” Ben walked in and brushed Sabrina’s mouth with a kiss.
“Where the hell have you two been?”

Ben was the last person on earth Luke wanted to see
at the moment. He’d never felt more uncomfortable in his life.

“Uhhh....we’ve been right here.” She bit her lip and
flashed a guilty look at Luke as she measured coffee into a
filter.

“Well, I tried calling the house last night and
didn’t get an answer. So I tried your cell phone until midnight and
left half a dozen messages. When Tyler told me he’s been trying to
get you all morning, too, I started to worry something might be
wrong. You always check your voicemail a dozen times a day.”

Ben had graduated suma cum laude and had an MBA from
Wharton. There was no way, he wouldn’t have suspected what Sabrina
had been doing after what he’d asked of Luke. Obviously, he was
making excuses for his visit because he needed to confirm his
suspicions.

“It’s my fault.” Luke spread his hands in apology.
“I turned the ringer off on the bedroom phone last night.”

Ben’s smile fell as his gaze darted between
Sabrina’s wet hair and Luke’s damp head and bare chest and finally
rested on the glass of juice. “Oh. You just woke up.”

“Not exactly.” Luke stared at the table, avoiding
BJ’s speculative gaze. “Showering with a cast takes a while.”

Since he hadn’t needed any pain meds the night
before, Sabrina had helped him shower that morning. Of course,
after soaping each other all over several times, they’d ended up
back in bed for an hour.

She poured a carafe full of water into the coffee
maker and started it. “I’m sorry I didn’t answer the phone. I
forgot to take it upstairs with me. I hope you didn’t drive all the
way down here just because—”

“No. I came because I missed you. And to reassure
your brother everything was all right.” And, no doubt, to torture
himself.

“So what did Ty want?” Luke asked.

“He was hoping you two could go over there and watch
the kids for a couple of hours this afternoon and then stay for
dinner. Dorothy had a last minute emergency with her sister, and
Annie has a dentist appointment.”

The live-in housekeeper Tyler hired after he married
Annie treated their three kids like they were her
grandchildren.

“Annie can cancel it,” Ben continued. “But if you
can sit with the kids, she won’t have to.”

Sabrina laid her hand on Luke’s shoulder. “You don’t
have a problem with that, do you?”

“Not at all. I love playing with the rug rats.”

Ben stared down at Sabrina’s hand. “Sweetheart,
where’s your ring?”

Her face flushed to a deep pink while she rooted
through the pile of discarded clothing she’d left on the counter
and dug the diamond ring out of the pocket of her slacks.

Ben picked up Luke’s shredded T-shirt and studied
it. If that wasn’t bad enough, Dusty chose that moment to scamper
into the kitchen with the crotch of Sabrina’s purple bikini panties
in his teeth.

She took one look at the puppy and dashed down the
hall and up the stairs.

As Ben bent down and wrestled the underpants from
the dog, Luke closed his eyes and muttered to the puppy, “I know a
couple of Vietnamese chefs who’d love to get their hands on a mutt
like you.”

Staring at Luke, Ben rubbed the silky fabric between
his fingers. The muscles in his throat visibly pulsated as he held
up the torn T-shirt in his other hand and rasped, “This is why she
didn’t answer the phone, isn’t it?”

Ding, ding, ding
. Give the man a prize.

“You can’t tell me the possibility didn’t cross your
mind. Especially since
you
orchestrated the whole
affair.”

Was it possible his friend simply hadn’t believed he
would go through with it?

Whatever the case, his night with Sabrina had
obviously damaged his relationship with Ben as badly as he’d feared
it might.

Why had she ever believed this could work? Sabrina
sat at the top of the steps and buried her face in her hands while
she listened to the guys argue downstairs.

“Hell, yeah, it crossed my mind. But you said you’d
give it some thought.” Ben snorted. “You certainly didn’t waste any
time once you made up your mind, did you?”

Luke pounded on the table. “Damn it, BJ, you forced
the woman I love on me as my nurse and begged me to take her to
bed. Now you’re mad at me for doing what you asked? Where’s the
logic in that?”

“There is no logic. I made that request with my
head. I’m reacting from my gut. And right now my gut wants to choke
the living sh—”

“So go ahead. Beat the crap out of me! I won’t even
fight back.”

Her brother and his two friends threatened to pound
each other all the time. But this was different. Ben and Luke were
really furious at each other—all because of her.

“I
knew
this would happen!” Luke shouted.
“Why do you think I hid what I felt for her all these years?”

“So, should I assume you’re going to marry her
now?”

“No. Nothing’s changed—except maybe the way you feel
about me.”

She held her breath waiting for Ben to reassure
Luke. Unfortunately, he didn’t.

“Then why’d she take her engagement—”

“Because I wouldn’t sleep with her while she was
wearing another man’s ring, okay? I don’t know what you’re so
pissed about. You pleaded with me to give you a flesh and blood
rival to compete with.”

“Yeah. So what the hell happened to that case of
buyer’s remorse you were gonna give her?” Ben asked.

Buyer’s remorse? What did he mean by that?

“I’m sorry I suggested it,” Luke said more softly,
as if he truly regretted it. “Call me selfish, egocentric, or
whatever, but I realized, if I was gonna do what you asked, I owed
it to myself to make the most of the few nights I have with her.
And that doesn’t include disappointing her in the sack to make you
look like a super stud.”

“Maybe not, but you didn’t have to set the bar quite
as high as you obviously did.”

“I don’t believe it.” Luke sputtered. “You’re
actually developing performance anxiety over this?”

“You bet I am. You don’t know what it’s like to kiss
a woman who thinks the sun rises and sets on your best friend. Do
you really think, after being with you, she’ll ever tear the shirt
off
my
back?”

That T-shirt had been so old and threadbare, it
would’ve ripped if she’d breathed heavy on it.

“You have nothing to worry about, pal. I roomed with
you for four years. I know how long you keep the bed springs
squeaking.”

She buried her face in her hands, hating what she
was doing to their friendship. She had no business marrying Ben. He
deserved better than a woman who just wanted a companion and a
father for her children. “BJ,” she called down the steps, “would
you come upstairs, please?”