Read Pursued (The Diamond Tycoons 2) Online
Authors: Tracy Wolff
Tags: #Contemporary, #Romance, #Fiction, #Family Life, #Adult, #Saga, #Diamond, #Tycoons, #Pregnant, #Enemy, #Steamy, #Weekend, #Temporary, #Fling, #Reporter, #Exposé, #Paternity, #Heir, #Emotional, #Drama, #Pursued, #Truth
Normally she spent Sunday mornings cleaning her apartment, but a cleaning service had shown up before she’d left for work on Thursday. When she’d tried to turn them away, thinking they’d gotten the apartment number wrong, they’d assured her that Nic had sent them. And that they’d be back every week to make sure her apartment was “spick-and-span.” Their words, not hers.
When she’d tried to talk to Nic about it, to tell him she didn’t need or want him to pay for a cleaning service, he’d told her it wasn’t for her, it was for him. He was a total pig, he claimed, and he needed someone to clean up after him.
The fact that she could hear the laughter in his voice as he said it—and called him on it—didn’t make him change his story. That was when she’d figured out what she’d only suspected when she’d gone home with him all those weeks ago—that she really had met her match.
“I cleared out half the closet for you,” she told him as he made his way into the apartment. “I figured you could use that chest for stuff you didn’t want to hang up.” She pointed at the arts and crafts–style highboy she had found at a garage sale right out of college. She’d brought it home, stripped it and painted it a bright sunshiny yellow that she loved—and that, it turned out, clashed horribly with the hot pink French provincial sofa that now dominated her living area.
Normally she used the chest to hold her books, but for now they were in boxes under her bed. If she played her cards right, the books would be back where they belonged by Wednesday. Maybe sooner, if that couch was as uncomfortable to stretch out on as she imagined it would be.
“Thanks,” he said with a smile that was way too sexy for her peace of mind. “I really appreciate that.”
Guilt slithered through her, made her palms sweat and her stomach swirl. But she shoved it back down, hard. Nic had to go and he had to go now. She repeated her mantra like the lifeline it was.
“Do you need help unpacking?” she asked, reaching for one of his suitcases.
“I’ve got it.” He held the bag away from her. “Why don’t you sit down and rest while I empty these suitcases, and then I’ll take you to lunch.”
“I’m pregnant, Nic, not an invalid.”
“True, but I am neither pregnant nor an invalid, so I beat you.” He pointed to the monstrosity of a sofa without so much as batting an eye. “Now, sit.”
She did her best not to cringe. Why, oh why, had she not considered the fact that he would expect her to sit on that couch? Which wasn’t as bad as lying on it, obviously, but was still not good.
“I actually prefer the bar stools,” she said, gesturing to the three chairs that lined the overhanging counter on the outside edge of her kitchen.
As she turned away, she thought she heard him murmur, “I bet,” under his breath, but when she whirled back to look at him, his smile was perfectly innocent.
Yeah, as if she was buying that.
After grabbing her laptop off her desk, she settled at the bar to put the finishing touches on an article about the charity ball benefiting the LA Zoo that she’d attended the night before. It was due by five, but getting it in early could only help her career. Though Malcolm didn’t treat her any differently, she couldn’t help feeling as if she was persona non grata in the newsroom.
Or maybe that was her own sense of guilt and responsibility. Stephanie—who’d been at the
Times
for nearly ten years—had assured her that all reporters screwed up sometimes. Maybe that was true. But how many of them screwed up on their first major assignment? When she’d asked Stephanie that, her friend had suddenly needed to make a phone call. Which told Desi everything she already knew.
She’d written the zoo story earlier because she’d thought it’d be hard to work with Nic in her apartment. After all, the place was only about seven hundred square feet, and he was big enough that it felt as if he took up most of it.
Yet, as he unpacked, he was as unobtrusive as a gorgeous, six-foot-four man could be. He didn’t interrupt her, didn’t ask her where he should put his belongings. He just did his thing and let her do hers. If she’d had a little more self-control and actually been able to stop herself from stealing glances at him every five seconds, she probably would have finished proofing her article a heck of a lot faster.
As it was, they finished their tasks at the same time, after which Nic insisted on taking her out to lunch to celebrate their new living arrangement. He plied her with
queso
and guacamole and deep-fried ice cream—which was nowhere near as disgusting as it sounded—then took her for a walk around Griffith Park. It was crowded because it was a weekend, but it was fun all the same.
She’d spent so much of her life alone—by circumstance when she was young and by choice after she reached adulthood—that it hadn’t occurred to her how nice it could be to do things with someone else. How something as simple as a walk in the park became so much more fun when there was someone to share it with.
And when they finally made it back to her apartment and she saw what she’d missed earlier—three books on pregnancy and parenting that Nic had, if judging by the bookmark placement, been spending some serious time reading—it hit her that she might be in serious trouble.
Because for the first time since she’d decided to let Nic move in, she wasn’t thinking about how to get rid of him. Instead, she was thinking of ways to make him stay.
Twelve
N
ic had just finished shaving early Monday morning when Desi called to him from the kitchen. “Nic! Come here! Hurry up!”
The urgency in her tone struck fear into his heart, and he rushed out of the bathroom and through the bedroom without even stopping to grab a shirt. “Are you okay?” he called as he ran through her matchbox-sized apartment. “What’s wrong?”
He got to the kitchen before she could answer, and he glanced around wildly, looking for some kind of threat. But there was nothing, only Desi leaning against the kitchen counter, her hand on her stomach and a huge smile on her face.
“Is something wrong with the baby?” he asked as he crossed the kitchen and stopped directly in front of her.
“He’s kicking!”
It was so not what he’d expected her to say that it took her words a few seconds to register. When they did, his gaze flew to her stomach. He’d felt that one small kick at her desk, but he’d been too surprised to appreciate it—or the fact that it happened on a regular basis. “He’s kicking?”
“Yes.” Rolling her eyes at his slowness, she pushed her clothes out of the way with one hand and grabbed his hand with the other. Then she brought his palm to her bare stomach and held it there.
For long moments, he didn’t feel anything and he looked at Desi questioningly. But she just nodded her encouragement, her hand tightening on his. So he waited, heart pounding and breath held, to feel…something.
And then, there it was. A gentle bump against his palm.
“He kicked me!” he crowed with delight.
“Actually, I think he kicked me,” she told him drily. “You’re just collateral damage.”
“Don’t listen to your mother,” he told the baby as he dropped to the ground at Desi’s feet and leaned his mouth close to her gently rounded tummy. “She’s just grumpy cuz she’s not allowed coffee in the mornings anymore.”
“Hey! Don’t be calling me grumpy to the baby.” Desi poked at his shoulder. “Or I won’t tell you the next time he kicks.”
“See, I told you she was grumpy. Mean, too.” He smoothed his palm over her stomach, checking out the changes to her body since the last time he’d been this close to her. There weren’t many yet, despite the fact that she was nearly halfway through her pregnancy. Just the added roundness to her tummy and the swelling of her breasts, both of which he found sexy as hell.
“You’d be mean, too, if you had to give up caffeine cold turkey.”
“No doubt,” he soothed, just as the baby kicked a second time.
“See! He got my hand again! I told you he was kicking me.”
She snorted. “No offense, but
your
hand pretty much covers
my
entire stomach at this point.”
He wasn’t sure what it was that did it, but suddenly he was much less aware of the baby and much more aware of the fact that he was on his knees in front of Desi, his hand resting on the bare, silky skin of her stomach and his mouth inches away from her sex.
Once the realization set in, he couldn’t stop himself from leaning forward slightly and breathing her in.
Desi stiffened against him and he froze, ready to apologize. But she didn’t push him away. Instead, her hands came to rest on his shoulders, then slid slowly up his neck so that her fingers could tangle in his hair.
Desire shot through him at the first touch of her hands, and he leaned forward even more, until he closed the last scant inch between her stomach and his lips.
She groaned at his mouth on her skin, but again she didn’t push him away. Instead she pulled him closer, her body arching against his as her fingers tightened in his hair. He’d read in one of the pregnancy manuals he’d picked up that women’s hormones went crazy during pregnancy, which often caused a spike in their libido. If that was what was happening now, he didn’t want to take advantage of it, even though his whole body ached with the need to touch her, to kiss her, to slide inside her welcoming heat and feel her clench around him.
But at the same time, he didn’t want to leave her like this, either. He could feel her arousal in the way she was moving restlessly against him, could hear it in the soft sounds of distress she was making in the back of her throat. Could smell it in the sexy warmth of her skin.
“Let me make you feel good,” he whispered against her skin as he skimmed his lips across her belly. “Just that. Nothing else.”
“Yes,” she said, her head falling back against the cabinet with a light thump. “Please, Nic. I need—”
He clamped a gentle hand over her mouth, not because he didn’t want to hear the words of need pouring out, but because they were building his own arousal, making him hotter and harder than he’d been since the last time he’d had Desi’s body pressed against his own. And no matter how much he wanted to make love to her right now, her words from the other night—her rules—were fresh in his head.
He didn’t mind bending the rules to make her feel good, but until she told him otherwise, sex was off the table. Which would have sucked completely if he didn’t at least get the benefit of watching Desi climax. She was so beautiful, so hot, so gorgeous when she came, and he’d missed seeing it more than he should have if all she’d been to him was a one-night stand.
But there was time enough to deal with that later, to try to figure out where they were going from here and how everything would end up. Right now…right now all he wanted was to get his mouth on Desi and to hear her call his name as she came.
With that thought in mind, he pressed soft kisses in a straight line up from her abdomen. When her tank top got in his way, he pulled it off with a growl and flung it over his shoulder. And there she was, soft, sun-kissed skin and full, heavy breasts. Dark pink nipples peeking between strands of long blond hair.
“Beautiful,” he murmured as he looked up at her. “You’re so damn beautiful, Desi.”
She was looking back down at him, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. She blushed at his words, turned away, but he caught her chin in his hand and gently brought her gaze back down to his.
“Don’t hide from me,” he told her, underscoring his words with a soft bite to the underside of her breast.
She moaned, her eyes going blurry, and he almost lost it. Almost turned her around, bent her over the counter and took her as he’d dreamed of too many times in the past five months.
But that wasn’t what she needed right now—wasn’t what either of them needed—and so he tamped down the wildness inside himself and concentrated on her instead. Just her.
The changes in her body were more evident now that she was naked, her stomach round, her breasts full and swollen, her nipples bright pink and hard as rubies. She was still tan, golden, but for the first time he could see blue veins running beneath the delicate skin of her breasts.
They made her seem so fragile, so delicate, and he forced himself to be gentle as he cupped her breasts in his hands. She gasped, and he asked, “Are they sore?” before leaning in to trace the upper curves with his tongue. “The books say—”
“They’re okay. A little sensitive, but if you’re gentle—”
Her breath broke as he licked his way closer and closer to her nipple. Tiny, tender strokes of his tongue meant to both soothe and inflame. He took his time, was as slow and gentle as he knew how to be as he relearned her body after all the long months without her. He kissed and licked and lapped at her, learning every inch—every centimeter—of her breasts all over again.
It took only a couple of minutes before Desi was thrashing against him, her beautiful body trembling with need as she clutched at his back, his shoulders, his hair. He loved the way her hands felt on him, loved even more the way she responded to him. The way she held nothing back. The way she gave him everything.
He wanted to do that for her. Wanted to give
her
everything. Wanted to make her feel so good that even when this was over, even when she was away from him, she wouldn’t remember all her reasons for why they shouldn’t be together.
He wanted her to want him—to need him—the same way he needed her.
“Nic, please.” She trembled against him, then bucked and arched as she tried to coax him into giving her what she wanted.
He laughed and pulled his mouth completely away, but stayed close enough that she could still feel his breath on her nipple. She moaned in response, grabbing his head in her hands and tangling her fingers in his hair as she tried to pull him back to her breast.
“Don’t tease me,” she pleaded.
“Baby, I haven’t begun to tease you.” He curled his tongue around her areola and sucked it into his mouth hard enough to have her gasping.
“Too much?” he asked, immediately softening the pressure. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.
“No! Please. I’m so close. I’m—” She broke off as he stripped her pajama pants down her legs and tossed them aside. “Take me,” she said. “Please, Nic, I want to feel you.”
“I’m right here,” he told her, kissing his way down to her firm, round stomach. The noises she was making, the things she was saying—they were revving him up, making it harder for him to be careful. Harder for him to take his time.
Even as he tried to calm down, his hands were rough when he parted her trembling thighs. She cried out and he soothed her with a kiss to the soft skin right above her navel. Then he pulled back and just looked at her for long seconds. “You’re so beautiful, Desi. So damn beautiful.” He stroked a finger right down the center of her.
As he did, he noticed a small tattoo on her inner thigh that hadn’t been there five months before. He spread her legs wider so that he could get a better look.
“I like this,” he murmured, leaning forward so his mouth brushed against the tattoo. “It’s new.”
“I got it on a trip I took to San Francisco, before I knew I was pregnant.”
“It suits you.” He nuzzled at the small tattoo, licked over it again and again. He moved on, skimming his lips over her hip bone and her abdomen as he stopped to explore each curve and freckle.
“I can’t—Nic, I’m going to fall,” Desi cried out, her hands clutching his shoulders.
“I won’t let you.” His mouth closed over her navel, and he fought to keep his tongue gentle as he probed her belly button and the soft skin of her belly. “I’ve got you, Desi. I promise. I’ve got you.”
And then he was moving on, moving down, his lips skimming over the curve of her stomach, down the side of her hip. He made little forays under her hip bone, delicate touches and sharp little nips, all designed to make the fire burn hotter inside her.
And then he was there, right there, his mouth poised over her sex. She smelled delicious, like warm honey, and for long seconds he just knelt there, his cheek pressed against her as he tried to absorb her scent. He took a deep breath, then another and another, even as his thumbs stroked closer and closer to her slick, sexy folds.
With each slide of his thumb, Desi trembled more. With each press of his fingers into her hip, she took a shuddering breath. And when he moved forward, blowing one long, warm stream of air against her, she started to cry, her body spasming with even the lightest touch.
He was nearly as desperate as she was, his erection so hard he feared he might actually come in his pants like a teenager with his first girl. But this wasn’t about him getting off, he reminded himself viciously. This was about giving Desi as much pleasure as her body could handle.
He wanted to savor her, wanted to push her higher than she’d ever gone before and then send her flying over the edge.
He knew he didn’t have much longer, though, not with the way she was coming apart in his hands, her body so sensitive and responsive it humbled him even as it made him sweat.
“You’re unbelievable,” he muttered as he delivered one long, lingering lick along her sex. “So sexy, so gorgeously responsive, I could just—” He stopped talking as Desi screamed, her hands grabbing his hair. He kissed her a second time, then again and again, lingering each time on her most sensitive spot.
And then his name fell from her lips like a prayer as she hurtled over the edge of ecstasy. He held her while she came, stoking the flames higher and higher until she screamed silently, her hands holding him as if he was a lifeline. And when her body came back to earth, he held her still and murmured sweet nonsense words as he pressed gentle kisses to every part of her he could reach.
When she was lucid again—when she’d stopped trembling and her eyes grew a little more focused, a little less dazed—she sank to the ground beside him and started to unbuckle his belt. Though it cost him, he stopped her with a gentle hand over hers.
“Don’t you want…?” She looked confused, and maybe even a little hurt, which was the last thing he was going for.
“Believe me, I want,” he told her, pulling her into his lap and cuddling her against him. “But not now, when we still have so many things unsettled between us.”
“I don’t understand. I thought you wanted me. I thought—” She broke off, looking away.
“Don’t do that, baby. Talk to me.” Gently, he turned her face back to his. “What did you think?”
“I don’t know, I just… I made the no-sex rule, but I thought that was more for you than for me. And now I’m the one taking advantage of you, and—”
He laughed. He couldn’t help it. “Oh, honey, you can take advantage of me anytime you want.”
She pouted up at him. “I’m trying to be serious here.”
“I’m being serious. Believe me. Anytime you want.” He lowered his mouth to hers, slow and lingering. But as he started slipping under her spell, he heard the beat of a helicopter’s propeller closing in on the building.
He pulled away reluctantly and dropped one final kiss on her forehead before gently setting her on the floor next to him. “I have to go, baby. That’s my ride.”
“Your ride?” She looked confused.
“The helicopter that’s about to land on the roof? It’s for me.”
Her mouth fell open and she stared at him out of huge, shocked eyes. “I didn’t think you were serious about that.”
“Are you kidding me? If you think I’m going to spend five hours in traffic every day when I could be spending them with you and the baby, you are sorely mistaken.”