Taming the Tycoon (12 page)

“You,” he said roughly.

He watched as her eyes widened and heard her swiftly indrawn breath. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Nathaniel couldn’t agree more. “It’s a very,
very
bad idea. But I want you anyway.”

Her fingers tightened on the doorknob. “You should resist.”

Nathaniel quirked an eyebrow, oblivious to everything except the thrum of his heartbeat in his ears. She was right—he should. “Resistance is useless.”

“And what does that mean, exactly?” she asked, her throat bobbing.

“It means in a few seconds I’m going to kiss you—long and hard—and then I’m going to throw you on a bed or, hell, the floor if the bed’s too damned far, and I’m going to strip off your clothes and make you come loud enough to give every tourist here today something to take home with them. And if you don’t want that, Addie, you’d better speak up now because I’m barely hanging on by a thread here.”

He was breathing hard when he finished, his chest thudding as the images he’d described zinged through his blood stream, adding to the heat that already had him in its grip.

Her gray eyes held his and he could see she was waging a mental battle. But the mad flutter in the hollow at the base of her throat, the unevenness of her breath, and the flare of her nostrils told another story.

And she didn’t speak. She didn’t object. She didn’t move.

She just stood right there, waiting.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said, snagging her wrist and pulling her hard against him.

He slammed his mouth onto hers, sucking her breath in with his as he opened his lips wide, demanding entrance to her mouth and groaning when she granted it. She tasted like manna from heaven and smelled fresh and sweet and he grabbed her by the upper arms as he walked her backward into the privacy of the boat.

The doors closed behind them and it was cooler and darker inside. Still walking her backward, he moved his hands to her butt cheeks, pulling them in close and she moved restlessly against him as the kiss went from hot to blistering.

He reached for her shirt, hauling it up the same time he felt her fingers at his belt. His hands quickly claimed her breasts, delightfully naked, just as his foot snagged something and he almost tripped. He cursed under his breath and broke away.

“What the hell is that?” he gasped, looking at a pile of large jagged-looking crystals and some candles scattered on the floor.

Addie blinked at him for a few seconds, her mouth moist and swollen before looking at the floor. “It’s my meditation circle,” she panted.

Nathaniel frowned. “You were meditating?”

She shrugged. “Yes.”

Of course she was. He licked his lips as his sluggish brain tried to take it all in.
God, what was he doing here
?

“Does it matter?” she asked.

Good question. She was standing before him her chest heaving, her breasts bare, her mouth soft and wet and parted. “Nope.” He pulled the tails of his shirt out of his trousers and pulled down his fly. “Take your pants off,” he said.

The second she was naked, he knew they’d never make it to some far-off bedroom. There was a wall just behind them and he pushed her against it, lifting her up, her ankles locking around his waist, ravaging her breasts and before he knew it he was pounding into her, her hands in his hair and her cries urging him on—
deeper, harder, faster.

More.

Yes, yes, yes.

Now, now, now
.

And finally a deep resounding bellow that was the death knell to his absurd fancy that if he could have just one more time with her, she’d be out of his system for good. Because he knew as he held her close for their drift down from the heights that he was nowhere near finished with Addie Collins.

“I want more of this,” he said, his forehead pressed against her collarbone, feeling the pound of her heart beneath slowly settling.

“I want to take you touring.”

Nathaniel raised his head. “No.”

Addie’s gaze didn’t waver from his. “Then no more of this.”

Nathaniel, still hard inside her, pushed back in a little more and was gratified to see her eyes close and her chest rock. “I can’t take time out to play tourist.”

“But you can take time out to come to my boat and be all ‘Me Tarzan’?”

“Damn it, Addie,” he grumbled, pushing into her again. “I don’t have time.”

She sucked in a breath and grabbed his shoulders. “Just an hour a day is all I need.” She undulated her shoulders, thrusting her breasts close to his face. “Then you can have as much of this as you like.”

Nathaniel practically drooled at the pale tips ruching before his eyes. “You’re blackmailing me in the middle of sex?”

“Yep,” she panted.

“You drive a hard bargain,” he murmured, lowering his head to capture an engorged nipple as his erection surged inside her.

Addie shut her eyes. “I think you’re driving the hard bargain.”

It was another thirty minutes before Nathaniel got away.

Chapter Nine

The next morning Addie looked up from admiring the obviously insanely expensive bouquet of flowers that had arrived twenty minutes ago as the bell over the shop door dinged. Penny marched toward her, a bunch of roses in hand that could only have come from St Aggie’s.

Addie straightened guiltily. She’d been avoiding Penny’s phone calls since returning to London. They’d been through a lot together and her friend could always see straight through her.

She took one look at Penny’s determined face and cracked straight away. “I did a bad, bad thing.”

Penny’s gaze flicked to the splashy arrangement of flowers as she lay her offering on the counter. “You slept with him, didn’t you?”

Addie nodded. “Guilty.”

Very guilty. Their tryst in Devon had probably been inevitable, but yesterday? After three days of plotting how to continue her tycoon makeover and pep talks about keeping their “relationship” platonic and focused on helping Nate, she’d ruined it by practically jumping him the minute he knocked on her door.

And then agreeing to more.

She liked to think she’d made a slick business negotiation. Taken it to Nate on terms he understood. Traded him something he wanted, for something she wanted. Kept her end game in sight.

Kept her foot in the door.

And she had.

But in truth, her hormones had done the talking.

Penny sighed. “I knew going away with him would be a bad idea. That man is just too damned handsome for his own good.”

Addie thought “handsome” was too genteel a word for Nathaniel’s blistering sexuality, but she wasn’t going to quibble over adjectives. “Are you mad at me?”

“No. I’m just worried that he may be using you to undermine the St. Aggie protest.”

Addie was pretty sure the rose garden was
the
furthest thing from Nathaniel’s mind when she’d been riding him like New York’s naked cowgirl.

“And…” Penny hesitated. “I don’t exactly think he’s relationship material.”

Addie smiled at her friend. Although she was only two years older, Penny had mothered her since they’d met and even more so since they’d both been devastated by the loss of Alice. And to a degree, Addie had let her. Survivor guilt, she supposed.

“I’m not after a relationship with him, Pen. He’s the last man I’d want to be with—all work, work, work. No thanks.” She shuddered. That was a life she gave up and had no intention of going back to. “I’m just trying to get him to loosen up a bit, then I’m out of there. And don’t worry—I won’t let him undermine the protest. If anything, I have the perfect opportunity to work away at him from the inside.”

“You’ll do that?”

“I’m going to try,” Addie said. “I just have to tread carefully.”

“Yes,” Penny said, squeezing Addie’s hand. “Be careful. I don’t trust him.”

Addie wished she could say the same, but she couldn’t. It was herself and the strange stirring in her gut whenever she thought of Nate she didn’t trust. “What’s the latest? Where are we up to with the protest?”

“Dave’s decided a religious vision might put a spanner in the works. Create a little more publicity and a hell of a lot of heat.”

Addie laughed. Dave was a gray-bearded biker, built like a lorry, and had raised a ton of money for kids’ cancer charities after his granddaughter had succumbed to a brain tumor at St. Aggie’s almost a decade ago.

Despite his appearance, he was a real pussycat, but it was safe to say he did not have a good relationship with God.

“That ought to be interesting,” she mused.

Penny grinned. “Oh, it’s going to be fabulous.”

…

Addie arrived promptly at Nathaniel’s office at one. “Afternoon, Margaret,” she said. “Can you let Nate know I’m here?”

Margaret’s eyes blinked owl-like at Addie through her wire-rimmed glasses. “Oh…he’s expecting you?”

Addie shook her head. “I doubt it.”

She had to give Margaret her due. Apart from the slightest twitch of her lips, she didn’t bat an eyelid as she pushed an intercom button and announced Addie.

“I’m in the middle of something,” the terse squawk replied. “Tell her I’ll call her.”

The PA gave her a look that seemed to say
Ball’s in your court
. Addie smiled at her. “Margaret, I’m about to barge in now. You’re not going to try and stop me, are you?”

The other woman shook her head. “Absolutely not.”

“Thank you.”

Addie made her way around Margaret’s desk and was at Nathaniel’s closed office door in three strides. He looked up when she pushed it open. His gaze snagged hers and Addie’s pulse tripped.

Nathaniel pushed his intercom, his eyes never leaving hers. “Margaret, you’re fired.”

Addie heard Margaret’s “Yes, sir,” as the door swung shut.

Neither of them said anything for a moment or two. Then Nathaniel said, “I can’t believe you’re wearing that dress. That’s just playing dirty.”

Addie, anticipating his resistance, had deliberately chosen the same dress from his grandmother’s party. She figured a visual reminder of what was beneath might tip the balance. Playing dirty, maybe? She preferred to think of it as playing smart.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.

He stood, his hands on his hips, as Addie walked toward him and she was reminded how he’d stolen her breath that day of the protest looking so bloody magnificent in his suit.

As he did today.

“Look,” he said. “Do you think we could do this tomorrow?”

She shook her head as she pushed him back into his chair with a hard poke of her index finger. “Not if you want to do this tonight,” she murmured, climbing onto his lap, straddling him as she’d done in the limo, and plundering his very cooperative mouth for long, dizzying seconds.

She pulled herself away as his hand snaked under her dress up her thigh. Much more of this and she’d be throwing her plans out the window in favor of doing him at his desk.

Which would be playing right into his hands.

“We agreed,” she said, standing on wobbly legs and taking two steps back, crossing her arms.

She could see his hands tighten on the arms of his chairs as a battle raged in his head. One that she could tell he was trying to fight logically, but was being hijacked by the bulge beneath his fly.

“Fine,” he said shrugging into his jacket as he stood. “Let’s go.”

“Just a minute,” she said, opening her bag and bringing out a partially opened bud she’d taken from Penny’s flowers. She snapped off the stem as she advanced toward him.

“Let me guess. That’s not from the ones I sent you?”

“Nope.” Addie placed it in his breast pocket and ran the flat of her palm over a well-formed pec below. “Freshly picked from St. Aggie’s this morning.”

She smiled at him as she turned on her heel and led the way.

The look on Margaret’s face as Nathaniel told her he was going out was priceless. Addie looked back at the dumbfounded PA over her shoulder and winked. For once, Margaret’s Mona Lisa smile stretched to a broad grin.

…

By the time they emerged into the streaming sunlight from the Westminster Tube station fifteen minutes later, Nathaniel was already twitchy. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the work he knew was waiting for him, the rose in his pocket, or Addie in that damn dress. Either way, he was not in the mood for her raving about the pure genius of the Underground or the beauty of the Houses of Parliament.

“Let me guess,” he said as he looked across the river at the glass capsules of the London Eye. “That’s where we’re heading.”

Addie nodded as she tugged on his hand. “You’ll love it.”

He doubted it. It was just a fancy Ferris wheel, after all. He resisted her pull. “Don’t you have to queue for hours to get into that thing?”

She shook her head. “I booked us a private capsule.”

And ten minutes later, he was standing in a glass bubble, a sumptuous feast laid out on the central bench that was covered in a thick white tablecloth.

“You sit on this side. It’ll give you the better view,” Addie said. “I’ve been up heaps so I’ll sit with my back to it.”

Nathaniel was speechless as the capsule slowly moved off the platform, his work forgotten. He frowned. “This must have cost you a fortune, Addie. You shouldn’t throw your money away like this.”

Addie laughed. “This isn’t throwing it away. It’s enjoying it.” She shrugged. “What’s the point of having it if you don’t enjoy it?”

Nathaniel shook his head. He’d never met anyone like her before. People in his circle cared about their money—a lot. Her attitude made him uneasy.

“C’mon,” she urged. “Sit and eat. We’ve only got thirty minutes.”

He sat. The food smelled wonderful and his coffee and muffin seemed a long time ago. He piled some lasagna on his plate, helped himself to the feta salad, and another dish that appeared to be a curry.

They ate in silence for a while as he took in the view. His gaze was constantly drawn to the Houses of Parliament. He had to admit the honey-colored gothic exterior did indeed look grand and important.

“Who did the meal?” he asked as he finished off his curry and reached for some more. It was truly excellent, melting in his mouth with just the right balance of heat and spice.

Just like Addie.

“The Grasserie,” Addie said.

Nathaniel frowned at the familiar name. “The vegetarian place?” It was one of London’s top five-star restaurants.

Addie smiled. “You’re eating Thai red curry with tofu.”

Nathaniel nearly choked as he swallowed his mouthful. “I don’t eat tofu.”

Addie laughed. “You do now.”

He looked at his meal suspiciously. “This is tofu? Where are the rubbery white lumps?”

Addie sighed. “Nowhere if you cook it properly.”

Nathaniel had to admit it tasted damn good as the slow burn of the curry intensified. “Whoa, it’s got a bite.”

“There’s water in the ice bucket,” Addie said around a mouthful of food. “Beer also.”

“I don’t drink during the day. And especially not by myself.”

He watched as Addie licked some sauce from her lips and the heat in his mouth traveled south.

He felt her gaze on his mouth as she looked at him. “I’ll have one if you do,” she said, reaching into the bucket and passing him a bottle.

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you trying to get me drunk, Addie?”

She grinned. “I prefer the term ‘loose.’”

He smiled as he took it and twisted the lid, handing it back to her before opening the second one. He tapped his bottleneck against hers. “I prefer loose, too.”

Nathaniel watched as Addie took a swig, her gray eyes never leaving his face. He had an insane urge to sweep the banquet off the bench and drink his beer off her naked body.

He stood abruptly. Time for some distance.

He wandered to the railing, beer in hand. The capsule was right at the top now and the view up and down the river really was spectacular. He felt that calmness he’d experienced lying in bed at Hill Top all over again.

“It’s an amazing view, isn’t it?” Addie murmured as her arm brushed his. “You don’t realize how big it all is, do you? How small a cog you really are in the giant wheel of life. I like how it puts things in perspective. It’s pretty grounding, considering we’re over a hundred meters in the air.”

Nathaniel nodded. The world looked a lot slower up here, too, and for a crazy second, he wanted to just stay here looking down at everything, seeing it through Addie’s eyes. Then she took a gulp of her beer, her head tipping back slightly, and a surge of lust slammed into him, evaporating the strange nostalgia.

Thank God.

Lust he knew what to do with, nostalgia not so much.

He moved behind her, trapping her body between the railing and him. He nuzzled behind her ear and was gratified to feel her arm snake up around his neck as she pushed back into him.

He groaned at the pressure against his groin. “God, you smell incredible,” he whispered, his eyes closing as the sweet fresh scent of her and roses intoxicated him. His hand left the railing and traveled up from her belly to her breasts and he could feel the tight points of her nipples rub his palm.

She moaned softly and shifted against him. His hand with the beer held her hips steady as he licked down her neck, and bit gently into the angle where her shoulder began. She gasped and her hand tightened around his neck.

“I want to be inside you,” he groaned into her ear.

Addie gave a husky laugh. “Sure, if you want to be on YouTube tonight.”

Nathaniel opened his eyes to find a bunch of uniformed school kids who looked no older than ten in the capsule down from them pointing their cameras and camcorders in their direction. He dropped his hand and moved back from her, his heart pounding.

He took a deep pull of his beer.

What in the hell was wrong with him? They were in a freaking glass bubble for all the world to see. Hell, he’d been just about to hike her dress up and take her from behind.
In front of a group of schoolchildren!

Anger and confusion at his lack of control simmered in his veins as she turned to look at him. He didn’t like that he seemed to lose his mind around her. That he felt calm when he should be pumped for his afternoon meeting.