Getting It Right This Time (12 page)

She didn’t know if she was doing the right thing. She had no idea if they would last a week, yet all she could think--no matter how disloyal it felt--was that James never made her feel the stomach-churning excitement Mark did. He never understood her like the man who was causing such a need in her she automatically tipped back her head, allowing him easier access to her neck.

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58

Getting It Right This Time

James never made her center ache as he nipped, tasted and branded her skin, making him more hers with each passing second as Mark was then. And most of all, James wasn’t there with her, or Jessica.

It was time to move on. Time to start building a future.

With Mark she felt young again, felt the exciting tremors of the unknown, the feeling they could conquer the world as long as they were together. And as he touched her now, discovered and awoke her, Kate fell beneath the delicate gossamer curtain and let herself believe a happily ever after was possible. That she, Mark and Jessica could make it. They could have it all…

He pressed his weight against her, steering her back against the sofa. His mouth caressed her collarbone within the open V of her shirt. If she could just lose herself for one blessed moment…

Her eyes snapped open. What was she doing? A bolt of guilt shot through her, sending her scrambling into a sitting position. The violence of her actions would have sent a lesser man hurtling to the floor, but Mark merely held his hands up in surrender and sat back.

“I thought you wanted…” He stopped, his tone changed. “Kate? What is it? What are you looking at?”

She stared toward the window. What if the press were watching them right now? What if the look she’d seen on Marcia’s face never changed? What if…

Standing, she strode over to the window and snapped the curtains closed. She crossed her arms, suddenly feeling cold. “I’m scared, Mark.”

He pushed to his feet with his gaze still locked on hers and walked across the room. He stopped so close to her, she had to tip her head back to meet his eyes. He brushed his thumb under her eye and she felt the cold echo of a tear she didn’t know she’d cried.

“Everything will be all right.” He pressed a firm kiss to her forehead. “I’ll make sure of it.

No one is going to step one foot toward ruining what we are starting here, okay?”

She wanted to believe him, but they were standing alone in the most fragile of bubbles and when the world woke wanting a new story, a new scandal to devour over their morning coffee--

what then? Surely their story made perfect tabloid fodder? Kate squeezed her eyes shut. She could see the headline already.
Widow cavorting with her dead husband’s friend.

“Mark, listen to me. Marcia brought the press to your offices. She’s serious. Her career means everything to her. And if she feels like that, you can bet more of your clients will feel the exact same way.”

He shook his head. “Marcia is riding the wave right now. She’s big news and doesn’t want the slightest thing to jeopardize her position. She’ll be fine. Once she understands what goes on between me and you has nothing to do with my managing her career--”

“Say she does. What about the others? What about the press? Who knows what they’re capable of?” She paused, gnawed at her bottom lip. “They’re going to come after me all guns blazing once they know I’m the new woman in your life. I can handle a lot, Mark, but the British press? I think that’s even past my capabilities.”

Rachel Brimble

59

“Listen, I will deal with Marcia and I will deal with the press. You have to trust me.”

“But--”

His jaw tightened, his hazel eyes darkened. “Enough. We’re going to enjoy this. All of it.

Starting right now.”

“Mark--”

His kiss swallowed her protest. His tongue, warm and soft, sought hers and she let him find it with a pathetically weak struggle. Resistance was futile. Her body melted against his as her muscles weakened. To deny her feelings for him was one battle she was sure to lose, and that fact did nothing toward lessening her fears regarding the press and Mark’s clients.

Yet one thing he was right about--now was now.

And suddenly Kate didn’t want him to move away from her for one tiny second. For now, they would enjoy this time alone to re-discover and love, to surrender and take. Lifting her hands to his shoulders, she pulled him closer, and when she did he slid his fingers firmly around her waist, drawing circles over her skin, heating her want and need. The fight of their tongues intensified and Kate reached into his hair, her nails scoring down lower over his neck and across muscular shoulders. The seconds grew more fervent, their hunger deepening until Mark pulled away. They looked into each other eyes, their breathing in total sync. Passion and need swirled in his green-brown gaze, and Kate knew the same desire would be evident in hers.

She’d been helpless in her endeavor to control her feelings for him and now, as he took her hand and led her from the sofa, her mind darted to Jessica asleep upstairs. He must have sensed her hesitation as he touched his finger gently to her chin.

“Do you want to stop?”

She licked her tender lips, stole a glance toward the ajar living room door. Did she? Could she? Shaking her head, she brushed past him and gently shut the door. He stood in the middle of the room and Kate glanced at his crotch. Her mouth curved into a smile to see the tented V there.

She looked up and his self-satisfied smile popped the bubble of laughter at her throat.

“You actually look proud of yourself,” she said.

“Shouldn’t I be? You want me, don’t you?”

She tilted her chin, looked at him in as blasé a way as possible. “Oh? Who says?”

He nodded toward her breasts.

Frowning, Kate looked down and heat seared her cheeks. Her nipples strained against the thin cotton of her shirt--a pretty indicative state under the circumstances. Sink or swim. Swim every time. Arching her eyebrow, she strolled toward him. Once there was barely more than three inches between them, she pushed him hard in the chest.

“Sit.”

His grin widened. “Mmm, taking control, are we?” He paused. “Okay. Fine. I’ll let you this time. Just this once. Next time…” He left the sentence unfinished.

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Getting It Right This Time

A rush of delight tickled over her skin. Mark never gave in, never relinquished control--this was a significant and clear sign. And she read him loud and clear. He wanted her. And not just for the heated and passionate minutes that were guaranteed, he wanted a future. Swallowing hard, she savored the warmth in her heart before pushing him back onto the cushions, feeling more alive than she’d felt in years. She wanted to own this moment, to bottle it and never let it go.

His gaze drifted over her face and body, making her feel every inch of her femininity. His eyes, full of fire and possession, caused the pulse between her legs. Slowly, purposefully, she pulled her t-shirt over her head to reveal the satin half-cup bra she wore underneath.

Mark gave a low whistle. “You’re so bloody beautiful.”

She leaned forward and gently brushed her lips over his. When he reached for her breast, she pulled away and stood up. Her skin yearned for his touch, her heart swelled with desire and need.

She couldn’t endure any further constraints. Neither physical nor emotional.

Unzipping her jeans, Kate shimmied them over her hips until they slid down her legs and pooled at her feet. Stepping out of them, she kicked them to the side. Dressed only in her bra and thong, she felt completely in control and sexy as hell. Smiling impishly, her gaze wandered back to his fly. The material strained against his erection.

“What shall we do now?” she murmured.

He swallowed. “How about this?”

Her breath left her lungs as Mark reached forward and pulled her roughly down beside him.

Any chance of resisting him was impossible…even if she’d wanted to. His arms came around her, strong and unyielding. She trembled beneath his urgency as her own rose to meet it. Lifting her hands to his shirt, she ripped the cotton open, splaying her fingers across hard muscles. He groaned and shifted to banish the shirt completely, throwing it to the floor.

As his weight pressed down against her tender breasts, Kate desperately wanted more. All intentions of the controlled seductress abandoned. Her breathing shook. His body was finely tuned, the muscles hard, the stomach flat. His mouth covered her nipple as his fingers trailed beneath the lace of her thong.

She whimpered as he circled her rigid clitoris. He paused to dip into her wetness before slowly easing back to gently circle her again. Her heart pounded and her muscles weakened as he rhythmically built her closer and closer. She closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip to stop from crying out when he pushed his fingers back inside a second time. The years of worry and fear, apprehension and self-doubt, melted from her conscience as thoughts of their future churned Kate’s need, her desire, her belief…

“Oh, God.”

Her torrent exploded and she clung to him as her orgasm crashed through her body, taking her under and sealing her fate with the man she’d always known she should be with--yet never lain with, never touched. Slowly, as each second passed, the sensations ebbed away, leaving her entire body damp with perspiration. She couldn’t open her eyes or even lift her arm.

Rachel Brimble

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“Kate?” His voice whispered softly over her skin.

“Mmm?”

“Open your eyes.”

She could hear the smile in his voice, and her heart swelled. She opened them and her breath caught. He stared at her with so much love. Adoration mixed with desire, love mixed with concern.

She felt beautiful.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

He smiled and dipped his head to kiss the curve of her neck. Using his tongue and teeth along her sensitive skin, he brushed his hand down the length of her body, under her breast, down the curve of her waist and over her hip. She let out a sigh, ready for round two. He left a trail of moist kisses from her collarbone to her navel as he inched further down the sofa.

With frightening precision, Mark pressed his mouth against her wetness and re-awoke every erotic sensation she’d forgotten. Her hands scored into his hair as she pushed against him. He responded eagerly to her blatant invitation, groaning a breath against her. Slowly edging high, he hovered above her until his lips found hers again, Kate inhaled her own intimate scent as they kissed. When he pulled away, she watched him watch her. He tenderly brushed the hair from her eyes.

“I want you, Kate. Here. Now. But Jessica. If she…”

She wanted to laugh out loud. Couldn’t he feel what he was doing to her? But she didn’t laugh and she didn’t smile. This was more serious, more real than anything she’d ever experienced.

They needed to consummate their commitment now, tonight--otherwise she might wake tomorrow and forget the two of them were joined in whatever lay ahead. She cupped his jaw and he nipped her palm.

“I love you. So much,” he murmured.

“Then make love to me, Mark. Let’s not think past each other. Just for now.”

With his gaze still locked on hers, he stood and took off his trousers and boxers. He started toward her and then stopped. Kate’s stomach rolled with panic. If he…

But then he bent down to retrieve his discarded trousers and took his wallet from the pocket.

The silver packet winked beneath the light and she grinned. He ripped open the packet and eased on the protection.

She beckoned him forward and the sofa dipped beneath their weight as he hovered above her. Without word or aid, he guided himself inside her. Kate moaned with pleasure.

His thrusts were slow, controlled and purposeful. Digging her nails into the smooth skin of his shoulders, she savored the sensation of his massive strength against her slender frame. She felt his urgency swell with her need and slid her hands down to his buttocks, pushing him deeper until neither of them could wait a moment longer. And when the explosion came, it took her breath away and Kate clung to it, humbling to its power and letting it bond her to the man she’d never stopped loving.

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Getting It Right This Time

* * * *

It was mid-July and the sun shone high and hot in a perfect azure blue sky. His hands were laced behind his head and a mammoth grin covered his face. He would willingly bet one hundred thousand pounds he was the happiest guy in the country. Every person, every building, every bloody brick shone with renewed vitality. It felt as though God himself rejoiced in his internal metamorphosis.

Dropping his hands from his head, he stepped forward and spread them against the glass. His mind filled with the night before and his heart kicked. After their lovemaking and the paralyzing affects of being totally enamored and focused on each other melted away, they both jumped from the sofa like naughty school-children who’d been caught making out behind the bike sheds.

Their horror-struck gazes momentarily locked before they’d scrambled to their feet and frantically dressed while trying not to fall over their tangle of clothes in comical unison. True, he’d mentioned Jessica being upstairs, but Kate’s eyes and his desire had been too strong to resist the fire raging between them. Afterward, he had no idea if their moans of pleasure and discovery were subdued and controlled or downright animalistic. One look into Kate’s eyes told him she was thinking the same thing.

Her beautiful face etched with worry and guilt, she’d raced from the room and taken the stairs two at a time to get to her daughter. But soon she came back downstairs, the worry sated and her face flushed and happy. Jessica was fast asleep. They’d sat on the sofa talked into the early hours.

It was only when Kate realized Jess would wake in less than four hours that she’d shooed him toward the door and out onto the street. Full mother mode back in place, she blown him a hasty kiss before shutting the door unceremoniously in his face. But did he bang on the door demanding she kiss him like he’d never been kissed before? No. He laughed until his sides ached. Laughed until it hit him like a punch to the gut. For the first time in a long time, Mark Johnston hadn’t been aware of the seconds ticking by where money wasn’t being made and multi-million pound deals struck.