In Too Deep (5 page)

“I
thought you had left to go into the city.” Matthew glanced up and nearly swallowed his tongue. Carmen was standing in the kitchen doorway dressed in a two-piece bathing suit with a sheer, short sarong wrapped firmly around her small waist that placed emphasis on her curvaceous hips and beautiful long legs. Her hair was pulled up into a knot displaying the gracefulness of her neck, and even from across the room he could smell her luscious scent.

He felt a flash of anger with himself that she could still have this kind of effect on him. But last night had proven just how things were between them. Of course sex had never been the issue—her inability to believe she was the most important thing in his life had been. What he resented most was her not giving them time to work anything out. And once the media had gotten wind of their problems,
they had made a field day of it, printing and stating things that hadn't been true.

But seeing her now almost made it impossible to recall why there were problems between them. She was the most beautiful, desirable woman he had ever laid eyes on.

He lowered his head and resumed eating. It was either that or do something real stupid like get up from the table, cross the room and pull her into his arms.

“I figured since you have business to take care of in Manhattan, you would have left already,” she explained, looking genuinely surprised to see him.

He wondered if she'd actually been hoping their paths would not cross today, and he knew that was a pretty good assumption to make. Sighing, he picked up his coffee cup. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I'll be doing most of my work from here.”

“Oh,” she said. He continued to watch her as she crossed the room to the stove.

“I take it you're spending the day on the beach?” he asked, wondering why she had to look so ultra-feminine and much-too-sexy this morning. But then she always looked good, even when she'd just woken up in the morning. He'd so enjoyed making love to her then, stroking the sleepiness from her eyes as he stroked inside her body.

“Yes, that's my plan, after taking a dip in the pool first,” she said, pouring a cup of coffee. She took a sip and smiled. “You still make good coffee.”

He chuckled as he leaned back in his chair. “That's not the only thing I'm still good at, Carmen.”

 

Carmen swallowed hard, thinking that he didn't have to remind her of that.

Her heart began pounding in her chest and she felt breathless when he stood. All six feet three inches of him
was well built and dangerously male. And she thought now what she thought the first day she'd laid eyes on him: Matthew Birmingham had the ability to ignite passion in any woman.

Focus, Carmen, focus. Don't get off track here. You need to win back the upper hand.
Remembering her call from Rachel, she asked, “Has Candy Sumlar called you yet?”

He pushed his chair under the table and went to the sink, pausing for a moment to glance at her. “Is she supposed to?”

Carmen shrugged. “Don't be surprised if she does. Someone took a picture of us yesterday and it made the front page of the
Wagging Tongue.
”

He turned toward her after placing his cup in the sink. “I know. It could cause a problem or two, I suppose.”

He took a few steps toward her until Carmen had to tilt her head back to look up into his face. “Then why did you kiss me?” she asked.

“Because I wanted to.”

His words, precise and definitely unapologetic, gave her a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. Sexual tension filled the room and for a moment, she was mesmerized by his gaze—those extraordinary dark eyes could render a woman breathless if she stared into them for too long.

So she broke eye contact and moved away. “Doing things that you want to do without thinking about the possible outcome can get you in trouble.”

“And who said I didn't think about it?”

Carmen fell silent. Was Matthew insinuating that he'd kissed her knowing full well what he was doing? That he would have done so anyway, even if she hadn't made a move first with that kiss on the cheek? She ignored the tingle in her stomach at the mere thought that this was
more than a game to him. That perhaps he had wanted her and initiating that kiss had been just the thing to push him over the edge.

Umm. The thought of that had her nipples feeling hard and pressing tight against the bikini top. She drew in a deep breath and as her lungs filled with the potent air they were both breathing she felt her nipples grow even more sensitive. He was leaning against the counter, his eyes roaming up and down her body. She wanted him to check her out good and assume that he could get more from her than just the hot-and-heavy kiss they'd shared last night. Then she would gladly show him how wrong that assumption was. If he was playing a game, she would show him that two could play.

She moved toward the table to sit down, intentionally swaying her hips as she did so. She took a sip of her coffee as she felt heat emitting from his gaze.

“There are some muffins in the refrigerator if you want something else to go with your coffee,” he said.

“Thanks, I'm fine.”

“There's another polo match tomorrow. Do you plan on going?” he asked.

“I do,” she replied.

She knew why he was asking. By tomorrow, a number of people would have read the article and all sorts of speculations would be made. The main question was, how would they handle it?

The room got quiet. He finally broke the silence by asking, “What about Bruno? Will he get upset when he hears about the article?”

Carmen looked over at him and plastered a smile on her lips. “No, because he knows he has nothing to worry about.” She knew that comment irked him. Back in the day when he'd been a movie star, Matthew and Bruno had
been rivals as Hollywood heartbreakers. The two never developed a close friendship and even now merely tolerated each other for appearance's sake.

“Good. I wouldn't want to cause friction between the two of you.”

“You won't.” Seeing she would not be able to drink her coffee in peace while he was around, she stood and announced, “I'm going to the pool.”

 

Matthew watched her leave, irritated by what she'd said about Bruno knowing he had nothing to worry about. The very thought that the man was that confident about their relationship didn't sit well with him. A sudden picture of her in Bruno's arms flashed through his mind and he felt anger gathering in his body, all the way to his fingertips.

He drew in a deep breath and then let it out slowly, wondering what Bruno would think if he knew his girl had gotten pleasured by her ex last night. Although they hadn't made love, Matthew knew her well enough to know that that orgasm had been real and potent. In fact, if he didn't know any better, he'd think it was the first she'd had in a while, which meant Bruno wasn't taking care of business like he should.

But the thought of that man taking care of business at all where Carmen was concerned had steam coming out of his ears and a tic working in his jaw. Deciding it was time to rev up his plans of seduction a notch, he left the kitchen to go upstairs to change.

 

Carmen opened her eyes when she heard footsteps on the brick pavers. She took one look at Matthew and wished she'd kept them closed. He was walking toward her wearing a pair of swim trunks that would probably be outlawed if worn in public.

Her gaze settled on his face and the intense expression she saw there, before lowering her eyes to the sculpted muscles of his bare chest and then sliding down to his midsection. The waistband of his trunks hung low and fully outlined a purely masculine male.

She stiffened slightly when she felt a deep stirring in the middle of her stomach and fought to keep perspective. She sat up on the chaise longue and held his stare, wishing her heart would stop beating so rapidly.

And wishing she still didn't love him like she knew she still did.

That stark realization had her moving quickly, jumping out her seat, nearly knocking over a small table in her haste. “What are you doing here, Matthew?”

He came to a stop in front of her. “Why do you always ask me that like I'm out of place or something?”

Silence hung heavy between them. Then she lifted her chin and said, “Probably because I feel like you are. I'm not exactly used to having you around.” She then moved toward the pool.

Matthew didn't say anything, mainly because he was focused on the pain in her voice—as well as the realization that she was right. This
was
the longest they had been together in the same place in a long time—including when they were married.

Suddenly, he couldn't even fortify himself with the excuse that all those hours he'd been away working had been for her. Because in the end, he'd still failed to give her the one thing she'd wanted and needed the most: his time.

He had missed this—her presence, the connection they'd shared in the beginning but had somehow lost in the end. How could he have been so wrong about what he thought she truly wanted and needed? He had wanted them both
to find happiness, but they sure as hell weren't happy now. At least, he wasn't. His stomach clenched at the thought of just how unhappy he was. His plan for revenge didn't taste as sweet as it had yesterday, and he had no idea what to do.

He watched as she stood by the pool, untying the sarong from around her waist and dropping it to the ground. And then she dove in, hitting the water with a splash. He stood watching her, remembering when all he'd wanted was to make her his wife and to have children together one day. He had loved and wanted her so much.

And I still love her and want her.

The admission was like a sharp punch to his gut. Nothing mattered at that moment—not the humiliation he'd felt when she left, nor the anger or frustration he'd suffered when she chose to file for a divorce. What he was sure about more than anything was that he wanted her and if given the chance to repair the damage, he would handle things differently. What he was unsure about was whether or not she wanted another go with him. There was one way to find out.

It was time he was driven by a different motivation, not of revenge but of resolution. He moved toward the pool and dived in after her.

It was time to get his wife back.

C
armen surfaced when she heard a big splash behind her. Seeing Matthew in the water, she decided it was time to get out of the pool and began swimming toward the other side.

She eased herself out to sit on the edge and watch him, studying his strokes, meticulous and defined, and the way he was fluidly gliding through the water. He was an excellent swimmer, of course—after all, he had attended UCLA on a swimming scholarship.

He swam toward her until he was right there, treading water between her legs. And before she could catch her next breath, he reached up and pulled her into the water. “Matthew!”

Carmen wrapped her arms around his neck so she wouldn't go under, but that ended up being the least of her worries as he tightened his hold on her and pressed his mouth to hers. She whimpered when his tongue grabbed
hold of hers, stroking it hungrily. And when he deepened the kiss, she automatically wrapped her legs around his waist, feeling the strength of his thighs and his hard erection through his wet swim trunks.

She returned the kiss, realizing that she was powerless to resist this intense interaction, this outburst of sexual chemistry and reckless behavior. Heat and pressure were building up inside her. The feel of the water encompassing them captivated her, making her all too aware of the way he knew exactly what to do to her.

He began licking and nibbling around her lips, and she knew instinctively that this was a man with outright seduction on his mind. The only thing wrong was that she was supposed to be seducing him, not the other way around.

She couldn't resist the urge to clamp her mouth down on his, needing the feel of his tongue tangling with hers. She could truthfully say she'd never enjoyed kissing a man more—she had missed this intimate foreplay tremendously. Though she hated to admit it, being here with him was long overdue and she needed it like she needed to breathe.

When he began wading through the water toward the steps, she saw they'd somehow made it to the shallow end. Pulling his mouth from hers, he shifted her body in his arms as he walked up the steps from the pool. Cool air brushed across her wet skin and her entire body shuddered in his embrace.

She didn't ask where they were going. It didn't matter. She was overwhelmed by the way he was staring down at her with every step he took. And when he placed her on the lounger, she reached out, not ready for him to release her.

“I'm not going anyplace,” he whispered in a deep husky
tone, running his hands along her wet thighs. “I'm just grabbing a couple towels to dry us off.”

He only took a step or two away from her but Carmen instantly felt desperate for his touch. The loneliness of the past year loomed over her and she felt a stab of regret, wishing she had handled things between them differently.

She had known from the first that Matthew was a proud man, a man who'd had to work hard for anything he'd ever had in life. That was the reason he was so driven. When they'd married, he had vowed to take care of her and in his mind, working hard was the only way to do that. And although she'd told him over and over that all she wanted was him, he hadn't been able to hear her, mainly because he was who he was—a man determined to take care of his own.

At that moment, something in her shifted and she felt something she hadn't felt in a long time—peace and contentment. When he returned to her with the towels, she reached up and touched his face, tracing his lips with her fingertips before leaning in and kissing him softly on the mouth.

She felt his hold tighten and she detected the raw hunger within him, but he let her have her way. Knowing he was holding back caused a surge of desire to flood every part of her body.

She released his mouth and he wrapped her up in one of the towels, wiping her dry. She moaned in total enjoyment over the feel of the soft terry cloth against her flesh. He slid the towel all over her body to absorb the water from her skin, leaving no area untouched. She knew she was being lured into a temptation she could not resist.

He dried himself off, as well, and she watched, enjoying every movement of the towel on his body, looking at his
chest and shoulders and legs. He was so well built—watching him had to be the most erotic thing she'd witnessed in a long time.

Tossing the towels aside, he leaned down and covered her mouth with his once more while stretching out to join her on the lounger, her body under his. He broke off the kiss and used his teeth to lift her bikini top. Before she could utter a sound, his mouth was at her breasts, sucking the hardened tips of her nipples between his lips.

Matthew had always enjoyed her breasts and that hadn't changed. Carmen could tell that he refused to be rushed while cupping the twin globes in his hands, using his mouth to tease them one minute and lavish them the next.

And then she felt him tugging at her wet bikini bottoms, removing them from her body and tossing them aside. He stepped back and began lowering his swim trunks down his legs.

She shifted on the lounger to watch him like she'd done so many other times. Her breath caught at what a fine specimen of a man he was in the raw—she had always enjoyed seeing him naked. And at that moment she was filled with a need to pay special tribute to his body the way she used to.

When he moved toward her, she sat up and her mouth made contact with his stomach as she twirled her tongue all around his abs. She felt the hard muscles tense beneath her mouth, and her hands automatically reached out to clutch his thighs as the tip of her tongue traced a trail from one side of his belly to the next, drawing circles around the indention of his belly button.

He moaned her name. Pressing her forehead against his stomach, she inhaled the scent of him. She then leaned back, her face level with his groin. She reached out and
grabbed hold of his shaft, feeling the aroused member thicken even more in her hands.

The dark eyes staring down at her were penetrating, hypnotic and displayed a fierce hunger she felt all the way in the pit of her stomach. Although he wouldn't verbally express his desires, she knew them. She had been married to him for three years and she knew exactly how to pleasure him in a way that would give him the utmost gratification.

She opened her mouth and leaned forward, her lips and tongue making contact with his erection. She heard his tortured moan as she greedily licked him all over, focusing on her task as if it were of monumental importance—and to her, it was. He was the only man she'd ever performed this act on, and she derived just as much pleasure giving it as she knew he was getting from it. “Carmen.”

Her name was a guttural groan from his lips and when she felt his fingers plunge into her hair, she slid his erection inside her mouth and went to work, just the way he'd taught her, the way she knew that could push him over the edge. She so enjoyed watching him fall.

The thought that she was driving him crazy was a total turn-on for her. As her mouth continued its torment, she could feel his pleasure heightening. Soon, the same heat and passion consuming him began taking hold of her. He was the only man who could make her bold and daring enough to do something like this, the only man who made lust such a significant thing.

Was it wrong to desire her ex-husband so much? He was the very man who had broken his promise to make her the most important thing in his life, to cherish her forever….

She pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind, not wanting to dwell on all the things that had gone wrong.
Instead she wanted to dwell on him, on making love with the most irresistible man to walk the face of the earth. “Carmen!”

The throaty sound of her name on his lips—the instinctive response of a man reaching extreme sexual pleasure—pulled her back to the here and now. When the explosion she'd been expecting happened, she was overwhelmed by her own passion and the depth of her love for him.

And then she felt herself being lifted into his arms. When he crushed his mouth to hers, she knew there was no stopping either of them now. Their wants and desires were taking over and they wouldn't deny themselves anything.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as she felt herself being carried up the winding stairs. She knew exactly where he was taking her—to the master suite, their bedroom, their bed.

She pulled in a deep breath when they reached their destination and he eased her out of his arms and onto the bed. Before she could draw in another breath, he was there with her, reaching out to her and pulling her back into his arms.

His hands touched her everywhere, and where his hands stroked, his mouth soon followed. He moved from her lips down past her neck to her chest where, after cupping her breasts in his hands and skimming his fingertips across them, he used the tip of his tongue to lavish the twin mounds and hardened tips.

Matthew then glided his hands down her hips and between her legs to cup the warmth of her womanhood. And then his mouth was there, pressing against her feminine folds, as if needing the taste of her on his tongue. “Oh, Matthew.”

She rocked her body against his mouth and he responded
by plunging his tongue deeper inside of her. The sensations he was evoking were so intense she could only cry out in a whimper once more before pleasure erupted within her, spiraling her into a shattering climax, the intensity of which brought tears to her eyes.

“You liked that?” he asked moments later when he slid back up her body and began licking her neck.

Unable to speak, she nodded her head. His mouth claimed hers again. Moments later he straddled her body with his arms, inching her legs apart with his knees. When he released her mouth, he peered down at her. “You sure about this, baby?” he whispered hoarsely before moving any farther.

She hadn't been more sure about anything in her life. “Yes, Matthew, I'm sure.”

 

That was all he needed to hear. He continued to hold Carmen's gaze as his body lowered onto hers, his thick erection moving past her feminine folds and deep into the core of her. Her inner muscles clutched him and he groaned her name. He had missed this. He had missed
her.
He wanted to close his eyes and relish the feeling of being inside her this way, but he kept his eyes open. He held tight to her gaze as he continued moving deeper and deeper inside of her as she lifted her hips to receive all of him.

And when he'd buried himself in her to the hilt, he let out a rugged growl as pinnacles of pleasure began radiating through him starting at the soles of his feet and escalating upward. He felt every single sensation as he moved, his strokes insistent as he thrust deep, fully intent on driving her wild, over the edge and back again. “Matthew, please…”

The longing in her voice revealed just what she was
asking for and his strokes increased to a feverish pitch, giving her just what she wanted. He understood her need, comprehended her desires since they were just as fierce as his own. He thrust deeper still as they moved in perfect rhythm.

She tightened her legs around his back when he groaned, triggering an explosion that ripped through their bodies. As he spilled into her, he lowered his mouth to hers and took her lips while an earth-shattering release tore through them.

He sank deeper and deeper into her as a pulsing ache took control of his entire body and he felt himself swelling all over again inside her. Moments later, another orgasm slashed through him, drowning him in waves after waves of intense pleasure.

The moment he released her mouth, she cried out for him. “Matthew!”

As she gazed up at him, he knew their lovemaking had proven what they'd refused to admit or acknowledge up until now, this very moment.

Divorce or no divorce, their life together was far from over.