A Million Kisses or More (18 page)

With a cheerful wave, Harrison whistled tunelessly as he headed back to Ana. And his truck.

Chapter 8

Ana couldn’t believe how freaking good she felt after spending the night making love with Harrison. It was all she could do to not dance around the house and sing show tunes at the top of her lungs. The only thing that prevented her from doing so was the fact that Harrison was sound asleep. He had looked so peaceful sleeping there that she decided to make him breakfast in bed. Putting on the shirt that he had worn last night and nothing else, she had gone down to the kitchen to see what she could throw together.

Scrambling some eggs, she felt him a heartbeat before he slid his arms around her waist and hugged her from behind. Kissing her neck, he rasped, “I love how you look standing in my kitchen wearing my shirt.”

“That’s good because I love wearing your shirts,” she returned, tilting her head to the side to give him better access. God, when he kissed her neck, especially with his unshaven beard, she could feel it in her toes. His kisses made her whole body come to life and even if she ached in places she hadn’t known existed before, she wanted him again. With a sigh, she added, “Also, I didn’t have anything else to wear.”

As she stirred the eggs, he unbuttoned the front of her shirt and slid his hands over her breasts. She could swear her breasts were swelling under the attention but she was practically naked in front of a hot stove. “Harrison,” she protested weakly, letting out a low moan when he tweaked both of her nipples and then he ran his tongue along her throat. “I’m making breakfast.”

“I’m hungry for something else,” he growled, spinning her around.

“That is so chees…. Harrison!” she shrieked with laughter when he grabbed the pan and threw it into the sink. Forgetting about the eggs, she threw her arms around his neck, returning his hungry kisses with a hunger of her own. If she could, she would live off his kisses, especially the minty kisses he was giving her right then.

He spun both of them in a half circle before he walked her backwards, never taking his lips from hers. Even as he untied his robe and lifted her up onto the table, he continued to kiss her. She was wet and wanting and after he managed to get a condom on, he pushed into her. She had known sex was powerful, she had just never anticipated how powerful. Every time they had made love had been indescribably good, the scent of him, the feel of him, everything was perfection. It made her grateful that she waited to have sex until she fell in love.

Wrapping her legs around his hips, she pulled him in deeper, until she could feel him everywhere. When he pulled out, she relaxed her grip, when he pushed in, she flexed her muscles so he slammed into her. Over and over, until the table shook beneath them and she was certain it was going to break at any moment. She didn’t care if the house collapsed around them as he took her to the edge and jumped over with her.

“You might want to consider keeping this shit in a bedroom,” Asher’s familiar voice drawled from the kitchen entry. “People eat in here.”

“Jesus,” Harrison breathed as he started to step away from her. She clutched onto the front of her shirt with what little strength she had left, refusing to expose her bare chest to anyone other than Harrison. Understanding immediately, Harrison stepped back and held her with one arm as he tried to button up her shirt with his free hand. Glaring at Asher, he asked, “What the hell are you doing here?”

Asher shrugged casually, though his eyes were hard and calculating. “I stopped by your mom and dad’s and decided I’d bring Jolie home so you wouldn’t have to drive into town on your day off.”

“I work tonight, asshole,” Harrison muttered, tying his robe together and glaring at his cousin. Carefully, he helped her off the table, holding her steady until she found her legs.

“My bad,” Asher said with a hard grin, showing no signs of repentance.

“Where is she?” Ana asked, her stomach clenching at the thought of the little girl witnessing what had just happened between her and Harrison. She felt Harrison stiffen even further and knew he was worrying about the same thing. Turning her head, she saw the concern in his eyes.

“I sent her upstairs when I heard the unmistakable sounds of sex coming from the kitchen,” Asher taunted.

“I should go check on her,” Harrison said, obviously reluctant to leave Ana but needing to check on his daughter.

“Of course,” she murmured, giving him a quick kiss before he left. She kept her eyes on him until he was out of the kitchen, her stomach churning in dread. Slowly, she turned back to Asher and almost flinched when she saw the anger in his pale eyes.

“I see you’ve changed your mind about premarital sex, Ana,” Asher sneered.

Trying to keep her body from trembling, wishing she had on a pair of pants or at least a pair of underwear, she took a breath before she spoke. “I hardly see what difference it makes to you since you didn’t think I was worth waiting for.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Asher growled. He seemed to grow before her very eyes, taking up all of the space in the kitchen. Stepping closer to her, he lowered his voice as he said, “I bailed on a multi-million dollar merger to come home.”

“That was stupid,” she snorted.

He took another step closer, his eyes roaming over her face in an almost tangible caress. “I came back because
you
were here.”

Her brows drew together as she stared at him in disbelief, “I don’t think so.”

“Maris called and told me you were here until Christmas,” he continued. “And I knew that the time had come to make you mine.”

“The time came and went three years ago,” she told him. “I’ve hardly thought about you since.”

“I’ve hardly thought about anything else.” He kept moving closer, slow, languid movements that oozed sensuality, almost as if he was trying to seduce her. Refusing to be intimidated, she held her ground, even when he reached up and drew his finger along her jaw. His voice was a husky rasp as he asked, “Don’t you remember when I had my mouth on that sweet, sweet pussy of yours?”

Color flooded her cheeks but she snorted, “Once, for like two seconds.”

“Right,” he smirked, running his finger over her lower lip. “You were an inexperienced virgin. How long have you been sleeping with my cousin?”

“What time is it?” she asked, not realizing how it sounded until the words were out of her mouth.

His eyes widened almost comically and he stumbled back a step. “Last night was your first time?”

She wasn’t sure if he was asking if it was her first time with Harrison or her first time altogether. Either way, the answer was the same. “Yes.”

Asher closed his eyes as if in pain and ground his teeth together. “Jesus, Ana. I’ve waited three years for you.”

“You had a helluva a way to tell me you were willing to wait,” she shot back, crossing her arms over her chest. The shirt rode up but not enough to uncover her butt, thank goodness. “Showing up at Jesters with some girl and making sure I saw you before you thrust your tongue down her throat and then disappeared into the bathroom. Five minutes later, the two of you came out looking very happy.”

In a move she hadn’t seen coming but perhaps should have, he had her hands behind her back with his body pressed against her front. Switching his hold to one hand, he slid his other hand down to the curve of her bare bottom and thrust his erection against her stomach. “Don’t you ever wonder why I did it?”

She pursed her lips and pretended to think a moment before she shook her head. “No, not really.”

“Because you wouldn’t break your damn rule,” he growled. “And my balls were so fucking blue.”

Trying to pry her hands out of his grip, she glared at him, “Fuck you, Asher. Because I would have been worth the wait.”

“Oh, I know,” he growled back. “I’ve kicked myself every day since you left.”

“To be honest,” she continued, narrowing her eyes at him. “I’m grateful you did it because it helped me avoid all of the assholes in college. And now I have Harrison and I am unbelievably happy.”

“I’m not going to give you up without a fight,” he vowed.

Finally, she freed her hands. Pressing her palms against his chest, she pushed with all of her might as she hissed, “You’ve already lost.”

“What’s going on in here?” Harrison asked from the doorway. He had put on a pair of pants and a t-shirt when he went upstairs, which was kind of a bummer since she was now the only one barely dressed. As she stared at him, she noticed the palpable tension in the set of his shoulders, in the way his fists were clenched until his knuckles turned white.

“This is between me and Ana,” Asher said.

“There’s nothing between us,” she countered, willing Harrison to believe her.

“Like hell there isn’t,” Asher growled.

In the next moment, Harrison moved over to her side, pushing Asher out of the way. Draping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her against his side, he growled, “You need to back off, Ash.”

Never taking his eyes off of her face, Asher said, “I told you about her, Harry. Don’t you remember?”

With a gasp of surprise because she hadn’t thought Asher told anyone other than Maris about her, Ana’s eyes flew to Harrison to see his expression. There was a moment of confusion on his face before it cleared. He grimaced as he glanced at her and mumbled, “Annie. You called her Annie.”

Ana cringed because she had always hated being called Annie. Well, it used to be bearable but then Asher had to ruin it by saying it in that condescending voice when she wouldn’t sleep with him. Still,
Annie
was better than her given name, which was just awful. Her stomach twisted in on itself as she saw the cruel smile on Asher’s full lips and she knew he was going to tell Harrison. Not that it was a big deal but she wanted to be the one to tell him her name, under more ideal circumstances. Like when they were sending out invitations to their wedding or she had to give him her name for the marriage license.

“It’s better than Anavrin,” Asher said, his eyes focused on Ana’s face to see her reaction. Despite knowing what was coming, she still made a face. With a triumphant smirk, he turned to Harrison, “Oh, I’m sorry. I figured since the two of you were fucking, she would have told you her name.”

“It’s just a name,” Ana muttered, her fingers curling into the waist band of Harrison’s pants to keep him next to her. Amazingly, he didn’t even flinch and she relaxed her grip a little. She belatedly realized that if he was truly determined to leave, she wouldn’t have been able to stop him. “Besides, only my mom calls me that.”

Asher’s eyes narrowed as he glared down at her and she held her breath, waiting to see what he would say or do next. Even after everything, she could admit that he was extremely handsome with his blond hair and perfect teeth and well-honed body. Plus, she knew just how charming he could be when he wanted to be, especially when he wanted something. Being the focus of all of his seductive efforts had been overwhelming, especially since she had been so young. If he had been a little less charming and a little more sincere, she might have changed her mind about having sex before getting her college degree. Thank goodness he was who he was.

It wasn’t that Asher was a bad guy because he wasn’t. He just wasn’t Harrison.

Instead of saying anything, Asher slowly ran his eyes down her body to her exposed legs and it took everything in her to keep from fidgeting. Asher continued his lingering perusal to the point where it was beyond uncomfortable. Just when she didn’t think she could take anymore, a warm hand cupped her cheek. Turning her head, she found herself staring into Harrison’s brown eyes and calmness washed through her. “Harrison.”

“Breathe, Ana,” he whispered.

Her tongue smoothed over her lower lip as she tried to figure out how to speak over the gigantic lump of emotion in her throat. If she wasn’t careful, she’d fall madly in love with him and turn her back on the internship. It wouldn’t matter that she had signed a contract and they’d force her to pay back the money they had provided for her college education. It was only seventy five thousand dollars…. No, the internship was only for a year. She could handle a year. After all, she had lived all of her life without him so far. And in a year, she’d be back, come hell or high water.

As she stared into his beautiful brown eyes, she could see the future laid out before her, a life of bliss with this man. Oh, she knew there’d be difficult times but they’d be with him and together they’d get through them. He’d be able to pursue writing full time and in a few years they’d have a couple of kids….

Asher’s snort of derision interrupted her thoughts. It was torture tearing her eyes away from Harrison to look at Asher but she managed. Asher was smiling at her and she forgot how to breathe. It wasn’t that she was affected by that smile, at least not too much, but she didn’t like the unwavering confidence behind it. Bending his head so that his eyes were level with hers, he growled, “I’m not going to give you up without a fight, Annie. You’re mine.”

Tilting her head to the side, she scowled at him. “I’m not. In fact I never was.”

“We’ll see,” Asher said with absolute confidence, his smile never faltering. “After all, I’m a very patient man.”

As Asher strolled out of there as if he hadn’t a care in the world, Ana turned to Harrison and repeated her earlier statement, “You’re the one that I want.”

“I know,” he said softly, still staring after his cousin even as the front door slammed shut. His brows pulled together as he glanced down at her, “I didn’t realize you were Annie.”

“Please don’t ever call me that,” she said. His lips quirked upwards and she pressed her hand over his mouth before he could speak. “Don’t call me that either. My mom was drunk when she named me and that’s the story I’m sticking with.”

Wrapping his fingers around her wrist and pulling her hand away from his mouth, he tugged her against his body. Tilting his head to the side, he asked, “Is there a special meaning behind your name?”

“Say it backwards,” she grunted, watching as he silently worked it out in his head. As soon as he got it, he grinned at her and she shuddered, “Like I said, drunk.”