Project: Runaway Bride (11 page)

Her hands moved up to cup his shoulders, his tight muscles flexing beneath the fine cotton weave of his shirt. He was exactly as she remembered him—strong and warm and overtly masculine.

Without breaking the kiss, Reid backed her the short distance to the bed. When she bumped the edge of the mattress and started to fall, he fell with her, sinking onto the soft surface, covering her with his weight and power and sexual intent.

It reminded her so much of their first time. The passion, the need, the intensity. The way he took control and possessed her without ever making her feel constrained or dominated.

While her arms lowered to caress the expanse of his back, his hands drifted down to her waist and slipped under the hem of her knit top. The pads of his fingers danced across her bare skin, pushing the sweater upward. Higher and higher, taking away her ability to draw oxygen into her lungs.

Hoping to repay the erotic favor, she trailed her hands around to his front, deftly loosening his belt, unfastening his slacks and slipping her fingers inside. Reid groaned into her mouth, and she swallowed the sound even as she reveled in it, let it empower her. She pushed the trousers down over his hips at the same time she lifted her arms to allow him to tug the sweater all the way off over her head.

They were both breathing heavily as she floated back to the mattress. Their gazes locked, and she could see herself reflected in the sable brown of his eyes, along with raw heat and longing.

He began to trail nibbling kisses everywhere he could reach—her mouth, her chin, the corners of her eyes, back down the column of her throat to the valley between her breasts. He cupped them together with her bra still in place, teasing the budding nipples with his thumbs through the material.

Juliet released a sigh, letting the sensations roll through her, letting them fill her and build and spill over. She ran her hands down the center of his chest, releasing the tiny buttons of his dress shirt as she went until she could slip her fingers inside and push the material apart.

He had to let go of her breasts and shift to allow her to remove the shirt altogether, but it was no great loss since it gave her the chance to stroke his firm, sun-bronzed skin. The smooth flesh that covered rock-hard muscles and tendons, that flexed and flowed beneath her touch.

She pushed the shirt over his shoulders and down his arms, letting it fall to the floor behind him. Her hands found the upper curve of his buttocks and she gave them a gentle squeeze before running her nails up the line of his spine.

A shudder vibrated down the length of his back, air hissing through his teeth on an exhale. Juliet grinned at the untamed response, but her amusement was short-lived when he growled low in his throat and grasped her ankles, shoving her farther onto the bed. She clutched at the covers to keep from falling as he yanked her boots off one at a time, then reached for the waist of her pants and peeled them down her legs in a single swift motion before the second boot hit the floor.

His actions left her in nothing but her bra and underwear, and he quickly toed off his own shoes, kicked out of his trousers and stepped between her parted legs. He ran the flat of one palm up the center of her body, from the lacy band of her French-cut panties, over the still-flat plane of her abdomen, to her rib cage and between her breasts. Then he caught her under the arms and hauled her into a sitting position.

He stared deep into her eyes, his hot breath spilling across her face as she pressed against him once again. She hitched her legs high over his hips, keeping him close while his arms snaked around to the rear clasp of her bra. With a flick of his thumb and forefingers, the elastic gave way, the straps and modest cups falling away from her body.

She helped him free her arms from the garment, then arched off the bed as he went for her underwear. He disposed of his own at the same time but didn’t give her a chance to admire his arousal before hauling her up and turning around to take her place on the edge of the bed.

He brought her down on top of him, so she was straddling his lap. The heat of his erection pressed between them, but he didn’t move to use it. Instead, he splayed his hands at her sides and brought her in to capture her mouth. While his tongue slipped past her lips to tease and taunt, he caressed her back, up to her shoulder blades, back down to her waist and the globes of her bottom.

With his hands on her buttocks, she lifted up, moaning as her swollen, sensitized breasts rubbed against his chest. The kiss deepened as they shifted, moved exactly as they needed to until he was poised at her opening, brushing but not quite ready to enter.

She clawed at his biceps, the muscles bulging beneath her fingertips as he clutched at her hips in return. But no matter how many times she canted her pelvis or tried to lower herself onto his length, he held her just out of reach.

“Reid,” she groaned in frustration.

When she opened her eyes, he was smiling up at her much as she imagined a wolf would smile over a stag once it had run it to ground and was getting ready to devour—gleaming teeth and all.

“Let’s see just how compatible we are,” he murmured in a voice so low she almost didn’t hear him.

And then he pulled her down, sliding inside of her in one long, powerful glide.

Juliet sucked in a breath, letting her head fall back and her lashes flutter closed as she acclimated herself to his size, his heat, his possession. Beneath her, Reid remained equally still. She could hear the air sawing in and out of his lungs, but otherwise it was almost as though he was afraid to move.

She was pretty sure she knew precisely how he felt. Not only because being with him like this put her on the teetering precipice of losing control, but it felt like forever since they’d been together.

It wasn’t just the sex, it was the nearness, the intimacy. When they were together, like this, without quarrels and conflicts between them, things were amazing. They connected in a way she never had with any other man.

Unfortunately, there
were
quarrels and conflicts between them. Almost too many to count. And as much as she might have enjoyed it otherwise, they couldn’t stay naked and in bed 24/7. If only.

But for now, they
were
naked and in bed. For now, the gulf of problems between them was forgotten and there was only the physical, a whirlpool of sensation dragging them both down.

Reid’s mouth found the underside of her jaw, his lips and teeth and slight beard stubble scraping her there. She pushed up on her knees, drawing away from him, and they both gasped. Then, with the help of his hands glued to either side of her hips, she moved back down.

A hiss accompanied her descent, though whether the sound came from him or from her, she couldn’t be sure. And then it didn’t matter. The room filled with sighs and moans and heavy breathing, along with every manner of other inarticulate noises as she rose and fell, as he plunged inside of her again and again.

If it hadn’t been for his hold on her—strong almost to the point of pain and completely assured—she was pretty sure she would have fallen several times over. Right off the edge of the bed and flat on her butt...or worse.

But Reid didn’t let her fall. He barely budged himself, even as their activities became nearly acrobatic.

As tension mounted, pleasure building at her core, she tightened her hold on the only anchor in her rapidly spiraling universe. Her hands curled into the meat of his shoulders like talons, her legs circling his waist in a viselike grip.

“Reid.” She panted his name over and over, unsure whether the sound was actually passing her lips or was merely an ongoing chant inside her head.

He whispered her name in return, and that was all it took to send her flying. Her entire body went rigid, her spine bowing as a single tremendous orgasm tore through her, followed by a series of small but no less intense ones.

Shimmers of pleasure continued to rock her as Reid’s fingers dug into the flesh of her hips and buttocks, and he gave one final pump upward before shouting his completion into the curve of her neck.

Her face was buried against his throat while she struggled for breath and Reid’s chest rose and fell choppily against her. Another second of almost suspended animation passed before the strength seemed to go out of his muscles and he fell backward, taking Juliet with him.

Long minutes later, after their breathing had returned to normal and she was telling herself to get up even as sleep pulled at her, Reid’s voice reached up to stir the hair near her ear.

“I’d say that we passed.”

Rolling her head to rest on the upper portion of his chest to face him a bit more fully, she made an indistinct sound low in her throat. “Passed what?”

A chuckle rumbled beneath her. “The compatibility test.”

“Mmm.”

Since that had never been a question in her mind, she didn’t want to say too much one way or the other. Especially when she knew this had all been his way of proving a point...and convincing her that “compatibility” should translate into “commitment.”

Something she would be only too eager to agree to if circumstances were different. But she couldn’t let a surprise pregnancy and his sense of chivalry push her into a situation she didn’t think either of them were ready for.

“But you’re not going to change your mind, are you?” he asked quietly. “About marrying me.”

Holding her breath and hoping her answer didn’t completely destroy the nice little bubble of contentment surrounding her, she said, “Not today.”

After another stretch of tense silence, he sighed but didn’t let go of her and didn’t sit up and walk out. Instead, he stayed exactly where he was, with his arm growing even tighter around her waist.

Ten

W
hen Juliet next awoke, she was alone in her bed. Or the bed in the guest room of Reid’s town house, at any rate.

Though Reid was no longer lying naked beneath her, acting as the best human mattress ever, he had apparently shifted her around so that her head was on one of the pillows near the headboard and she was covered up to her chin by the sheets and lightweight comforter.

Throwing back the covers and pushing to the edge of the bed, she blew out a breath. She didn’t know whether to categorize this most recent encounter as a failure or a success. A little of each, she supposed.

But for now, at least, Reid seemed willing to let the topic of a shotgun wedding drop.

She had no doubt Reid McCormack was in her life to stay—which was only right, since they would soon share a child. But while she couldn’t agree to marry him—because he’d suggested it for all the wrong reasons—that didn’t mean she wasn’t still attracted to him. Sort of overwhelmingly, distractedly attracted, if she was completely honest.

Even now, the scent of his cologne reached out from the tangled bedclothes and made her want to breathe deep. The same as it had the entire time they were involved. The same as it did every time they were in the same room together, to the point where she was perpetually tempted to crook a finger and invite him to take her to bed.

A flush of heat warmed her from her hairline straight down to the tips of her wine-colored toenails. Flashes of her collective time with him filled her head. All the meals they’d shared, the conversations they’d had. All of the other times she’d been in this house with him, often wandering around nude under Reid’s oversize robe after they’d already made love or whiling away the hours in bed with him. His big, king-size bed, not this one.

She wished they could go back there, when things were—ironically—simpler.

Which made her realize that she really needed to leave. She couldn’t stay here, wishing they could go back in time or that things could be different when they were never going to be.

And having Reid propose to her—as rough around the edges as that proposal had been—only aided in driving home the fact that she was hiding. Hiding from Paul, hiding from her family, hiding from reality.

But she couldn’t hide forever, and the longer she did, the weaker she would appear. The harder it would be to return to her old life.

She was also afraid that if she let Reid host and protect her any longer, especially with side benefits like the ones they’d recently shared, he would continue to see her as
needing
his help and protection. But she didn’t want to be a job for him, a responsibility. Not like this.

It was time to get back on her feet and set herself up as the strong, independent mother she would need to be when this baby arrived.

Decision made, she hopped off the bed, reached for her discarded clothes and started to pack.

* * *

Packed and ready to go, Juliet made her way downstairs. Reid wasn’t on the second floor, so she knew he had to be down here someplace, she just wasn’t sure where or whether or not he’d want to see her.

He might not be in the mood to deal with her again so soon. Maybe he regretted what they’d done or was still upset that she’d turned down his knee-jerk proposal.

But she wouldn’t feel right sneaking out and leaving only a note, so she left her bag by the front door and went searching for him. She found him in his study, the lights off, a fire roaring in the fireplace, and a bottle of liquor on his desk that looked as though he’d been nursing it for several hours.

A pang of guilt went through her at the sight. Had she done that to him? Driven him to empty an entire bottle of...whatever strong alcohol it was with her secrets and dropped bombs and refusal to let him step up and save the day?

But she didn’t want him to rescue her, not out of obligation.

Steeling herself for the confrontation that she suspected was about to happen, she tapped on the doorjamb to get his attention.

His head snapped up and he turned away from his computer screen to face her. She caught a glimpse of his knit brow and the lines of displeasure bracketing his mouth before he realized he was scowling and cleared his features.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” she said, taking a single step into the room, “but I wanted to let you know that I’m leaving.”

“Leaving?” The knit brow and frown lines reappeared. “Why?”

“I’m going home. It’s time. I can’t hide out here forever, any more than I could have hidden up at the lake house forever. I need to face up to my mistakes, come clean with Paul and let my family know what’s going on.”

Her fingers found the knob of the open door and wrapped around the cool brass. “Thank you for everything. Back at the cabin and...here. You were more patient and understanding than I probably deserved, given the circumstances.”

“You don’t have to do that,” he said gruffly, his own hands curled into fists on the flat surface of the desk before loosening again. “Leave or thank me.”

She smiled softly. “Yes, I do. But I’ll be in touch. And you know where to find me. I won’t disappear again, I promise.”

Juliet didn’t know what kind of reaction she’d expected, but it wasn’t the complete and utter silence that followed her final statement or the blank, verging on annoyed look on his face. When a couple more minutes ticked by with no further response from him, she decided this must be his way of dismissing her.

The alternative was that he was too furious with her to speak. Either way, she figured exiting stage left as quickly as possible was probably her best option.

Inclining her head in one last goodbye, she slowly backed out of the study and walked toward the front of the house, where her bag and a car from the service she’d called were waiting.

* * *

Not sure what kind of reception she would receive when she arrived home, Juliet let herself into the loft with her key. She wasn’t sneaking, exactly, but she was trying to be relatively quiet.

She needn’t have bothered. Lily and Zoe were both standing at the kitchen island. Zoe’s back was to the door as she leaned negligently against the countertop, one knee resting on a stool and her sparkling, bejeweled stiletto dangling from the tips of her toes. Lily, however, was facing Juliet’s direction, a large bowl in front of her as she tossed what looked to be salad ingredients.

At the sound of the front door softly clicking closed, both of her sisters’ heads popped up and their eyes went wide.

“Juliet!” Lily cried, dropping the utensils and coming around the island.

At the same time, Zoe uttered a typical “Oh, my God” before stomping her foot back into her shoe and clicking along behind Lily as they made a beeline for her.

For the next several heartbeats she was surrounded and smothered and hugged within an inch of her life. And despite the inability to breathe, Juliet cherished the sensation, tears prickling behind her closed eyelids.

No matter what she ever did, how much trouble she might get herself into or how crazy she might act at times, she knew her sisters would always be there for her. They would accept her, support her and, just like now, welcome her with open arms.

There was a lot of sniffing and blinking and happy laughter from the three of them as they separated, but it didn’t take long for her sisters’ expressions to turn accusatory. Lily even put her hands on her hips.

“Where have you been?” she wanted to know. “We’ve been worried sick.”

“Well, until Reid McCormack called to say he’d located you and that you were okay,” Zoe supplied. “Then we were just plain worried, especially when he wouldn’t tell us
where
you were or when you planned to come home.”

“I know. I’m so sorry,” Juliet said, reaching for their hands and giving them each a squeeze so they would know just how sincere her apology was.

“There’s...a lot going on, and I promise to tell you everything now that I’m back. But I couldn’t go through with the wedding and needed some time to myself to think about what I
was
going to do before I came home.”

There was a heavy pause while Lily and Zoe considered that. And then Lily leaned in to give her another quick, hard hug.

“We’re just glad you’re all right. And we’re ready to listen whenever you’re ready to share. Whatever it is that sent you running...” Lily gave a low chuckle. “Well, I’ve been there, done that. You forgave me for keeping secrets, and I’m sure Zoe and I can forgive you for yours. Right, Zoe?”

Their youngest sister got an elbow to the ribs, which she took like a drama queen—yowling in feigned pain, rubbing her side, hitting Lily back. But under it all, Juliet knew that Zoe was equally happy to have her back and every ounce as there for her as Lily was.

She made that clear when she grew serious and turned sky-blue eyes on her. “Girls in glass slippers shouldn’t throw stones. As long as you and Lily keep putting up with me, I’ll keep putting up with you.”

Juliet gave her baby sister a watery smile before pulling her close. “Deal.”

After a few more minutes of excessive hugging, Lily carried Juliet’s things farther into the apartment and said, “We were just fixing dinner. Do you want to go upstairs and unpack or maybe take a nap before we eat?”

Juliet rolled her eyes in self-deprivation. “I’m pretty much napped out for the time being, believe me.”

Lily and Zoe both gave her odd looks, but she waved them off. She would explain
everything
soon enough.

“Let me take my stuff to my room, and then I’ll come back down and help. What are we having?”

“Pizza,” the two of them singsonged at exactly the same time.

“Perfect,” she said, and meant it.

The scent of baking crust filled the loft. There would be mile-high veggies in deference to Zoe’s vegetarian preferences, and wine or soda or sometimes even beer while the three of them cozied up on the couch to watch a movie or talk about their weeks. In this case, she suspected she would be doing most of the talking while her sisters listened eagerly. And, boy, did she have a tale to tell!

While Zoe and Lily returned to the kitchen, Juliet carried her overnight bag upstairs and put a few items away. Makeup bag on the bathroom vanity; dirty laundry in the hamper. She changed out of her lake house clothes and into a more comfortable pair of yoga pants and a soft, roomy cotton tunic top, the better to lounge around in while she caught up with her sisters.

Heading back down to the main living area of the loft, she joined Zoe and Lily at the island, offering a hand wherever necessary. They made small talk the entire time, keeping things light. Juliet let Lily and Zoe fill her in on what
they’d
been up to since her failed wedding ceremony, saving her own long and winding tale until they were settled in with their meal and she could tell them everything they needed to know without interruption.

An hour later, all three of them were perched cross-legged on the sofa with small plates of salad, large plates of piping-hot pizza and glasses of fizzing cola on the coffee table in front of them.

It took five, maybe ten seconds from the time their butts hit the cushions for Lily to cock her head, pull a chunk of broccoli from the top of her slice and say, “Okay, spill,” before popping the green floret into her mouth.

Taking a deep breath and realizing she was probably going to be doing a lot more talking than eating, Juliet started at the beginning and didn’t stop until she was well and truly finished.

She told them about the first time she’d met with Reid at his office to discuss Lily’s disappearance, when she’d run off to Los Angeles to find out who was stealing her designs.

She confessed her instant attraction to the too-handsome-for-
her-
own-good investigator, and the guilt she’d felt over thinking about him at all when she was already engaged to Paul.

From there, she knew it wouldn’t be a terribly big leap for Lily and Zoe to see where the story was going. But she’d promised all, and so she told them. About Paul’s slowly increasing abuse, Reid’s discovery of bruises and his anger at her fiancé’s treatment of her, of that first night they’d spent together and how she’d broken up with Paul immediately afterward only to carry on a clandestine, nearly forbidden affair with Reid for the next few months....

And she told them about the pressure she’d felt from Paul and their families to go through with the wedding after all.

Finally, she admitted her reason—reasons?—for running away on her wedding day. The stick turning blue, and her rather sudden realization that she couldn’t walk down the aisle and say “I do” to Paul while carrying another man’s child. Especially while she still had feelings—as confusing, mixed up and jumbled as they were—for that other man.

Juliet wasn’t sure what her sisters’—especially Zoe’s—record was for how many times they could utter “ohmigosh, ohmigosh, ohmigosh” in a row, but she was pretty sure they broke it. But even given their complete and total astonishment at her long list of admissions, when they finally stopped gaping like guppies, they zeroed in on
exactly
the right aspect of her narration.

“You’re pregnant?” Zoe nearly squealed.

Lily’s reaction didn’t include the squeal, but only because her smile was already so wide and beaming. “Oh, Juliet, that’s wonderful! Congratulations.”

Almost simultaneously, they set aside their empty plates and cocooned her again in delighted sisterly embraces.

When they pulled away, Lily tucked a loose strand of blond hair behind her ear and asked, “So have you told Reid about the baby?”

Juliet nodded and filled them in on the rest—Reid tracking her down at the lake house, catching her in the most embarrassing throes of morning sickness and how she had to tell him about the baby whether she was ready or not. Then coming back to New York and staying with him until the doctor of his choice confirmed the pregnancy.

“Oh, no,” Zoe groaned, covering her face with one hand. “We never should have asked him to help us find you. We messed up everything.”

“Of course you didn’t,” Juliet assured her, peeling her sister’s fingers from her eyes and giving them a squeeze. “I would have told him eventually anyway. He has a right to know he’s going to be a father after all. And it gave us a chance to work things out. For me to let him know I’m not going to ask him for anything, but won’t try to keep him away from the baby, either.”