Caitlin's Choice (15 page)

She gazed up at him—and broke out in a wide grin. “Gotcha.”

Another wave of anger washed over him. No one else could stir such wrath in him—or such desire. He ran his hands over her back, then down her arms to cup her elbows. “Damn it,” he said softly, “you scared me.”

“Serves you right I don’t like to be called honey or sugar or any other nickname that makes me sound like some treat for a man. My name is Caitlin.”

“Point made. We’re even now. Let’s go back to shore before I get in any more trouble.”

But neither of them moved.

He pushed back a strand of hair from her face and grazed a kiss over her cheek.

The water beat rhythmically against their bodies. Caitlin closed her eyes and, with a soft sigh, let her body relax against his. The lazy ups and downs of the ocean as he held her close wreaked havoc on his body.

Caitlin got to him in a way no woman had before. With just one look, one small touch, she unleashed a fire in him that smoldered for hours. He slid his hands to the narrow indentation of her waist. With his elbows, he urged her arms up around his neck. A breeze danced over them.

* * * *

Caitlin trembled until his mouth came down on hers. Then the shivers running through her were a different kind altogether. She returned the kiss with an urgency that matched his. She wanted him as much as he seemed to want her. How a man could have that kind of physical reaction while standing in the cold Atlantic Ocean was beyond her.

More surprising was the way he managed to ignite a raging inferno in her. She had never been able to resist him, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to anymore. The feel of his lips on hers, the taste of him, obliterated all rational thought from her mind. She was very close to losing control and way beyond caring.

A loud wolf-whistle broke the intimate mood. Long Island in the middle of the summer was not an ideal place to indulge in a necking session. As a group of teenagers applauded their public display, Caitlin wriggled free from his embrace and slipped under the water.

“Did that cool you off?” Andrew asked.

“Not a bit.” Before he could reach for her again, she dove under the water and swam to shore. As she dragged herself up the beach, tired out from the strong currents, she turned back to catch a glimpse of Andrew’s face. He looked like the Cheshire cat, mighty pleased with himself.    She joined Maggie and was treated to another knowing smile.

“Shut up,” Caitlin warned.

“Good thing you’re not interested. I’d hate to see what you might have done out there if you were.”

She threw herself down on the blanket with a grunt. “I admit it, I’m spineless! Can I help it if his touch turns my legs to Jell-O and my brains to spaghetti?”

“Why don’t you tell him and put the man out of his misery?”

“He already knows. I won’t give him the satisfaction of hearing me say it.” When she had agreed to Andrew’s bargain, the last thing she’d envisioned was falling for him again. Until Andrew trusted her enough to give her back her freedom, she couldn’t trust him with her heart.

TEN

Andrew paused outside the nursery door and watched Caitlin make a fuss over putting Tyler to sleep. She had been quiet and withdrawn ever since this morning on the beach. Had her sister mentioned the wedding dress, or was something else bothering her?

He hated seeing her unhappy, particularly when he had to acknowledge that he was part of the reason. The family life he offered her was not the quaint and cozy Rockwell painting that she had lost. That was something all his money couldn’t buy for her.

She turned and half smiled. “Erik and Maggie leave already?”

“Yeah. They said they’d be back around midnight.”

“Oh.” She lowered her head. “We have to talk, Andrew.”

“I know.”

They walked together down the hallway. Tension blanketed him like a winter fog. She paused outside her bedroom door. As if to gather her courage, she braced herself against the wall and exhaled slowly.

He tried to come up with a rebuttal to what he was sure would be an argument over her moving back to her apartment. To threaten her now would be a giant step backward in their relationship.

“Look, Caitlin, I know my family has been unbearable, but I’m sure in time . . .” His words trailed off as a believable lie eluded him.

“That’s not what’s bothering me.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“The way you react. You’re not helping by going out of your way to antagonize your mother. She blames me afterward.”

He cupped his hands over her shoulders. “Has she done something to you?”

“No. But it’s just more unpleasant than it has to be. I can ignore her if you can. This is a temporary arrangement we have. You’re still going to have to deal with her long after I’m gone.”

A mix of emotions ran through him; disappointment at the reminder that their living arrangement wasn’t permanent, and relief that she hadn’t insisted on leaving immediately. Never one to push his luck while on a winning streak, he agreed. “I’ll try it your way for a while.”

She nodded and gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you.”

A long silence hung between them, and he felt every bit the awkward teenager she had once jokingly called him. “Do you want to watch television?”

“No. It’s all reruns.”

He shrugged indifferently, but Caitlin noticed the disappointment on his face. “I guess you’re tired,” he said.

The smart course of action would have been to say good night and retreat into the room. But when she gazed up at him, her heart stopped listening to her head. She wanted him. Part of her even needed him. But what broke through her defenses was the look of longing on his face that allowed her to believe that, just maybe, he needed her too.

“I’m not that tired. I’m up to a few games.”

He shook his head violently as if he didn’t trust his own hearing. “Excuse me?”

“You seem surprised,” she noted with a satisfied smile. “Was that or was that not what you were thinking?”

A glimmer of hope sparkled in his golden eyes. “What kind of games did you have in mind? Cards? Monopoly? Trivial Pursuit?”

She reached for his hands and tugged him into the bedroom. “I’m not sure I’d call you a trivial pursuit. Foolish, possibly. Trivial, never.”

“I’m not sure what you’re getting at. You’re going to have to tell me the rules of this game you want to play.”

Caitlin felt her cheeks burn. What had happened to her courage? She could sure use half a bottle of champagne. No, she decided. She wanted nothing to dull her senses. If she was going to regret this later, then she wanted to enjoy every minute now.

She took a deep breath. “The rules? Well, first we take off this.” She pulled his polo shirt over his head and tossed it onto a chair.

“And the next rule?”

“I never did much care for rules. I prefer a free- for-all.” She tilted her head up and sprinkled a line of kisses along his neck and face. Her finger traced a path down the center of his torso, twisting at the soft mat of hair on his chest. “Have you figured out the game yet, Andrew?”

He inhaled sharply. “Yeah. It’s called Torment Your Opponent.”

His mouth lifted in a lazy grin, then brushed over her lips. Before he could take possession, she lowered her head and traced her tongue along the same path her hand had taken. As he reached for her, she sat on the bed and pinned his arms to his sides. She continued to press kisses against his stomach.

One gentle tug on the waistband of his jeans brought him down next to her. With her tongue, she laved the hard tip of his nipple.

He groaned.

She gazed at him and grinned. “You’re very sensitive there.”

“I think you’re cheating,” he barely managed to choke out.

“You can’t cheat in a free-for-all.” She continued her seductive exploration of his body. As she had that first night with him, she closed her mind to anything but the moment. Any consequences she would deal with later. Right now, she needed him. She wanted him. And in truth, she loved him.

With trembling hands, she reached for the snap of his jeans and tugged them open. She slipped her hand inside, her fingers tangling in the hair below his navel.

“This isn’t a game. You’re trying to kill me.”

His raspy voice, heavy with passion, moved her. Even without his heartfelt words, she knew what she did to him. She continued to arouse him, enjoying her power. In this part of their relationship, she felt equal to him.

“You know, this is a game for two.”

This time when he reached for her, she offered no resistance. When he ran his hand over the outside of her shirt, she quivered in anticipation.

“First rule, we get rid of this, right?” he asked. He removed her shirt and tossed it on top of his.

He explored every nuance of her neck and shoulders, covering her skin in moist kisses. Her body swayed and she held onto him for support. ‘Jell-O’ flashed through her mind; then all coherent thought vanished.

His mouth covered her breast, sucking and releasing the hard peak until she thought she would go mad. It wasn’t enough. She wanted more.

Impatiently, she pulled at her remaining clothes with frustration. Andrew covered her hands with one of his own. As if enjoying his revenge, he took his time removing her clothing, thwarting any attempt on her part to hurry the process. Then his own jeans landed in a careless heap on the floor.

She reached for him. He knelt down next to her and parted her legs with his hand. He knew just where to touch her to get a response. Her body writhed as he ran his fingers along the inside of her thigh.

He stroked her cheek with his other hand and pushed back the hair from her face. “Do you like that?”

Heat coursed through her. She opened her mouth to answer, but all that came out was a muttered cry as he moved his hand higher, intimately caressing the folds of skin, damp with desire. Her body shuddered from the pure pleasure he gave her.

“No more games, Andrew.”

The plea in her voice was more than he could fight against. He had a burning need to feel her beneath him again, to be inside her. Nothing before in his life had come close to what he had shared with her.

Some last-minute flash of reality brought him back long enough to fumble for his jeans and extract a foil packet from his wallet. One time was forgivable. Twice would be stupid.

In seconds he was back, lowering himself over her. As he pressed inside, she tensed almost imperceptibly. So attuned to her was he, he noticed immediately and paused to give her time to accommodate him.

“Are you okay now?”

“Never been better.” She wrapped her arms and legs tightly around him. As their bodies moved together in an escalating rhythm, it was impossible to tell where he ended and she began. They were one, joined by a white-hot passion that consumed them, and she matched his every move as if she had been made just for him.

The air seemed to explode around them. She whispered his name like a prayer as she gave in to the release, arching her back, as if to meet the tremors that washed over her.

Andrew squeezed his eyes shut in a last-ditch effort to retain his tentative control. As her muscles clenched around him, the last of his control shattered. He thrust deeply inside her one last time and gave into his own long-awaited climax.

When the final shimmering tremors of release ebbed, he collapsed on top of her. She wriggled beneath him until she found a position where her soft curves would absorb the weight of him. When he tried to move, she tightened her hold.

Locking his arm around her waist, he flipped to his back and pulled her on top of him. Long strands of her silky hair fell across his shoulders. She kissed him, then folded her arms on his chest and rested her head on them.

“Are you planning to sleep right there?”

“Have you got a problem with that?”

“None at all. I didn’t think you would want me here when your sister got back.”

Caitlin raised her head and giggled. “I think she’d be devastated if you weren’t. This morning, they had no plans. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, they had a previous engagement.”

Andrew slid her down to the bed and cradled her in his arms. “I do like your sister.”

“It’s amazing what happens when you get to know someone before passing judgment.”

He expelled a groan. Was he ever going to get beyond that? “I want to get something straight. I did feel that Erik and Maggie were rushing into marriage too quickly, and I had hoped to talk them out of it. Not because she wasn’t good enough, as Maggie believed, but because they had only known each other a month. It wasn't until I met you that I realized it sometimes takes only a minute to know if something is right.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me who you were when you sat down at my table?”

He grinned devilishly. “Lady, you had me hotter than Texas chili before my ass landed in the chair. You weren’t exactly trying to discourage me, either. My brother’s marriage was the farthest thing from my mind. I felt so guilty the next morning I was sick.”