Rush (3 page)

For a long moment he simply stared at her, and she wondered what it was she’d done that offended him so much.

His scent taunted her. A touch of spice without being overpowering. The cologne he wore was a good match. It complemented his natural scent while giving that tantalizing hint of male, rugged, wood, outdoors and…sophistication.

“What the hell,” he muttered. It was a sound of resignation, as if he were giving in to some unknown force.

Before she could respond, he hauled her forward so that she landed against his hard chest. Her mouth flew open in surprise, and a small sigh escaped. Her lips were close to his. Tantalizingly close. She could feel his breath, see the muscle twitch at his temple. His jaw was tight and bulging as if he was holding himself back. And then he seemed to lose the battle.

His mouth crashed down over hers, hard, heated,
demanding
. And oh God, but she loved it. His tongue pushed inward, hot and sensual, gliding over hers as he licked playfully at the roof of her mouth and swirled around her tongue in a delicate dance. He didn’t simply kiss her. He devoured her. He possessed her with just a kiss. In that span of time, she was owned completely by Gabe Hamilton. Any other man she’d ever kissed faded into obscurity.

She sighed, allowing herself to completely melt into his
embrace. She became boneless, seeking more. More. More of him. His heat, his touch, that sinful mouth. It was everything she could have possibly dreamed and more. Her fantasies, her imagination…they had nothing on the real thing.

His teeth grazed over her lips and nipped at the fullness. It had just enough sting to tell her who was in charge. And then he gentled his movements, following it up with a sensual lap of his tongue, and then soft kisses over the bow of her mouth.

“God help me but I’ve wanted to do that for the longest time,” he said in a raspy voice.

She was stunned. Her legs wobbled and shook, and she prayed she wouldn’t go down, a victim of the heels she’d worn. Nothing could have prepared her for what had just happened. Gabe Hamilton had kissed her. Not just kissed her, but he’d dragged her onto the terrace and ravaged her.

Her lips still tingled from his sensual assault. She was wrecked. Utterly wrecked. It was like having a total buzz, the highest of highs. She hadn’t had
that
much to drink so she knew damn well she wasn’t reacting to the alcohol. It was him. Pure and simple. He was lethal to her senses.

“Stop looking at me like that or it’s going to get you into some serious trouble,” he growled.

If it were the delicious kind she suspected, she wouldn’t mind getting into trouble with him at
all
.

“How am I looking at you?” she asked huskily.

“Like you want me to peel that flimsy excuse for a dress from your body and fuck you right here on the terrace.”

She swallowed. Hard. It was probably better not to say anything at all. She wasn’t at all sure what had just happened here. Her senses were reeling, and she couldn’t quite come to terms with the fact that Gabe Hamilton had just kissed her and then talked about fucking her on the terrace of his hotel.

He moved in close again, until his heat swallowed and consumed her. Her pulse beat erratically at her neck, and her breathing was ragged and tight.

“Come see me tomorrow, Mia. At my office. Ten sharp.”

“W-why?” she stammered out.

His expression was hard, and his eyes glittered with a fierce light she couldn’t interpret.

“Because I said so.”

Her eyes widened, and then he reached out to take her hand, pulling her back toward the entrance to the ballroom. He never paused, and kept walking until they reached the lobby. She struggled to keep up with his determined stride as her heels tapped across the polished marble floor.

Her mind was a flurry of upheaval. “Gabe, where are we going?”

He walked outside and motioned to his doorman, who rushed over the moment he saw Gabe standing there. A few seconds later, a sleek, black car pulled to the front and Gabe ushered her inside.

He stood, bent over so that he could see inside the back of the car as his hand grasped the door.

“You’re going home and getting out of that fucking dress,” he said. “Then tomorrow you’re going to come into my office at ten.” He started to close the door but then leaned over to stare at her once more. “And Mia? You better damn well be there.”

chapter two

“So let me get this straight. You bailed on going to the club with me and the girls so you could go to some stuffy grand opening of your brother’s hotel, and while you were there, Gabe Hamilton dragged you onto the terrace, kissed you and then sent you home with explicit instructions to be in his office at ten this morning.”

Mia slouched on the couch across from her roommate and best friend, Caroline, and rubbed her eyes in an effort to get rid of the fog hanging over her. She hadn’t slept at all the night before. How could she? Gabe had tilted her entire universe and now ten o’clock was bearing down on her and she had no idea what she was supposed to do.

“Pretty much, yeah,” Mia replied.

Caroline made an exaggerated face and then fanned herself with one hand. “And here I thought you couldn’t possibly have as good a time as we did. But I sure as hell wasn’t kissed by a gorgeous billionaire.”

“But why?” Mia asked, frustration making her voice edgy. It was a question she’d asked herself repeatedly during her sleepless vigil.
Why
had he kissed her? Why did he want to see her now when he’d seemed to spend so much time avoiding her?

It hadn’t been a request, but then Gabe Hamilton never
asked
for anything. He gave orders and he expected results. And she didn’t know what it said about her that she found that particular trait delicious. It made her all warm and shivery inside.

Caroline rolled her eyes. “He wants you, chica. And why wouldn’t he? You’re young and hot, and I bet you’ve starred in his fantasies a time or two over the years.”

Mia wrinkled her nose. “You make it sound so icky.”

“Oh for God’s sake. It’s not like you haven’t lusted over him since you were a teenager. And it’s not like he ever acted on those urges. You’re twenty-four now, not sixteen. Big difference.”

“I just wish I knew what he wanted,” Mia said, worry evident in her tone.

“If you have to wonder that after he threatened to fuck you on the terrace then there’s no hope for you,” Caroline said in exasperation.

She made a show of checking her watch and then leveled a pointed stare in Mia’s direction.

“Girlfriend, you’ve got less than an hour to get ready before you have to leave. I suggest you get off the couch and go make yourself look fabulous.”

“I don’t even know what I’m going to wear,” Mia muttered.

Caroline smiled. “I do. Come on. You’ve got a man to dazzle.”

Dazzle?
Mia wanted to laugh. If anyone was dazzled, it was her. She was so befuddled by the events of the night before that she was going to be a walking disaster if and when she actually made it into Gabe’s office.

• • •

Gabe fingered the contract he’d taken out and stared at the front page, silent as he contemplated the exact path he wanted to take with Mia. It was new for him to spend any time pondering how he handled his approach. He only did things one way. Straightforward. He treated his personal relationships as he did
his business. There was no room for emotion, even in a relationship. He’d got caught with his pants down once—completely blindsided if he was going to be brutally honest with himself—and he’d sworn it would never happen again.

There was nothing like being made a complete fool of by a woman he’d trusted implicitly to ensure he didn’t travel that path again.

It wasn’t as if he’d sworn off women—he liked them too much. Loved the feel of a submissive woman under his hands and tutelage. But his approach had changed. The way he dealt with them had changed. He hadn’t had a choice.

But Mia…

He couldn’t pretend she wasn’t different from any other woman he’d had. She was. She wasn’t just another female face that he might view with affection, but keep his distance from any messy entanglements. The women he chose to be with knew the score. They knew what was expected of them and what they could expect in return.

Mia was Jace’s baby sister. Beyond that, she’d been a girl he’d watched grow up. Hell, he’d attended her high school graduation. He’d scowled at her prom date when the little prick had come to pick her up. He’d enjoyed watching the jerk’s balls shrivel up when he, Jace and Ash had told him in no uncertain terms what would happen if he disrespected Mia in any way.

He’d seen her when she’d visited Jace at holidays and when she was out of school. He’d even gone to her college graduation.

That had been a hell unto itself, because Mia had blossomed into a stunning young woman. She no longer had the look of a much younger, innocent girl. He didn’t even want to think of how many lovers she’d had. It would just piss him off. He wasn’t concerned with them anyway, because they were in her past and that’s where they were going to stay.

Mia didn’t know it yet, but she was going to be his. He just
hadn’t quite settled in his mind how bluntly to put his approach. She was…different. Younger, yes, but she was quieter, more naïve maybe. Or perhaps that was merely his perception. Who really knew what she did away from Jace’s eagle eye?

No matter how he decided to approach her, it had to be done with finesse, and in such a way that he didn’t completely overwhelm her and scare her off before he ever got in the door. Because there was no way in hell he was backing down or taking no for an answer when he’d finally decided to make his move.

And then there was the whole bloody issue of Jace. That was one factor Gabe hadn’t figured out, but there was no sense in addressing it now before he even reeled Mia in. Jace would simply have to be dealt with later.

A noise at his door had him glaring up in annoyance. His instructions to the receptionist for HCM had been explicit. He wasn’t to be disturbed. By anyone. And it wasn’t time for Mia to have arrived. He had over an hour yet.

Jace and Ash sauntered through the door and Gabe’s irritation only grew. What the hell were they doing in the offices today? They were both supposed to be on a plane to California to meet with a contractor to go over plans for a new resort.

All three men traveled extensively, often splitting the duties of overseeing foreign and domestic projects. And they had several in various stages of work at the moment, including a hotel about to break ground in California, one still in the early planning stages in Paris and a potential site in the Caribbean for a luxury resort. Lately, however, Gabe had been stuck in the city overseeing the finishing touches of the Bentley, their newest luxury hotel in Union Square. He was the closer. He was too anal to trust even his best friends with that task.

Jace and Ash were the middlemen, as Gabe referred to them. Though they both had equal partnership in the corporation, Gabe
initiated projects, bid them out, got every detail down to his ultimate satisfaction. Then Jace and Ash came in to oversee, get construction off the ground and make sure things went smoothly. Then Gabe came back in to put the polish on.

It was an arrangement that suited the three of them well. And they all dealt with the day-to-day operations and management of the hotels and resorts.

The three had been friends since college. Looking back, he wasn’t even certain what had brought them together other than alcohol and frat parties and plenty of girl chasing. They’d just clicked and hit it off.

Things had gotten difficult for Jace when his parents had been killed in a car accident and he’d had to assume responsibility for a much younger sister, but Gabe and Ash had banded around him, offering their support, and they hadn’t left him to make it on his own.

Later, it had been Jace and Ash banding around him during his very messy and public divorce.

Perhaps, in a way, Mia was very much responsible for the strong bond between the three. Ironic, since she could well mean the end of it if Gabe didn’t handle this just right.

“What’s got your shorts in a knot this morning?” Ash drawled as he slouched into one of the chairs in front of Gabe’s desk.

Jace settled in the other, quieter and slightly less irreverent than Ash.

Yeah, Jace and Ash were the only two people he considered friends in the true sense of the word. He trusted them—the only people he trusted—and they had his loyalty, which was something he didn’t blindly offer to anyone.

Jace was the quiet brooder of the two, while Ash was the charming playboy who attracted women like flies. Gabe was convinced it was the combination of the two that made women a little
crazy. They certainly had no shortage of women lining up to have a threesome with them.

Ash was always on the front line. Flirty, outgoing, he made women breathless and fluttery. Gabe had witnessed Ash’s charm and how it affected women firsthand. Jace merely stood back and observed with those dark eyes and that silent demeanor. Women found him a challenge, and maybe they considered Ash an easy enough conquest, but they went after Jace with single-minded determination only to discover that he was unreachable.

All three men had their kinks and were unapologetic about it—another of their discoveries during their college days. They’d made enough money and reached a level of success beyond their wildest imaginations that they had no issue finding willing participants for sex, or even a longer relationship, as long as the women always knew the score.

It was an unspoken agreement among the three of them that they played hard but lived free. Especially after the debacle of Gabe’s marriage.

Just as Gabe and Ash had rallied around Jace when he’d stepped in to raise Mia, Ash and Jace had been an unbending source of support for Gabe when Lisa had divorced him. And they’d been his staunchest defenders when Lisa had made baseless accusations that forever tarnished Gabe’s reputation both personally and professionally. To this day, Gabe still didn’t understand what had made Lisa snap. But he’d always be grateful to Jace and Ash for their unconditional support during some of the worst months of his life.