The Tycoon's Defiant Southern Belle (12 page)

The heat in his eyes as he looked down at her was almost primal.  Possessive.  He
didn’t say a word, but she trembled with need and reached out to touch him, needing
his hands on her skin or she just might explode from her need. 

And all of that was before his mouth covered her breast.  She gasped, holding his
head as her back arched upwards.  Her head moved back and forth, denying the incredible
heat that was slowly burning her up. “Angelo!” she cried out.  He didn’t respond,
only moving to the other breast and giving it equal attention. 

“I’m sorry, Jade,” he growled.  “I can’t hold back.” 

With those words, she felt the probing lower against her heat and lifted her hips,
instinctively trying to ease the ache inside of her.  “Don’t hold back!” she cried
out, her hands moving from his shoulders to his hips, trying to urge him closer. 
“Don’t stop!  Don’t slow down!”

Angelo tried to ignore her pleading, suspecting that this was Jade’s first time. 
He moved into her slowly, but the intense, previously unimaginable pleasure he felt
as her heat slowly closed around him was too hot, too good.  He pressed deeper, his
mind trying to slow down but his body pushing forward, desperate to be completely
impaled by her tight heat. 

When she lifted her hips again, that pushed him all the way in.  He saw her face flinch
only slightly before her eyes widened and she smiled up at him.  He almost laughed
when he saw her amazement, but he couldn’t stop.  When he shifted his hips slightly,
her eyes changed from amazement to excitement.  And then her eyes closed and her hips
moved again, encouraging him to move. 

Over and over again, he pressed into her, feeling the friction, amazed at how perfectly
she fit him in all ways.  When he felt her coming close, he didn’t want her eyes closed. 
“Jade, look at me,” he growled through his gritted teeth, in pain to finish and feel
the climax that was beating him.  “Open your eyes!” he growled even louder.

Jade opened her eyes, biting her lip in an effort to not scream.  “Please,” she gasped,
her body arching, desperate to find something that had so far eluded her but was now
so close!  So painfully close.  “Please Angelo!” she yelled out, gripping his shoulders
with all of her strength. 

“Look at me, baby,” he commanded and moved again, encouraging her in the only way
he could.  And when her eyes focused on his, he shifted once more, taking her over
the edge and she screamed his name.  Over and over again, he pounded into her until
he too found his release.  But her name was a more reverent whisper.  And he held
her close as the waves pulsated around the two of them.

When he could finally breathe again, he moved to the side, not wanting to crush her,
but needing to continue holding her close. 

Jade opened her eyes slowly, her body gradually coming back to reality.  “Wow,” she
whispered, thinking that she’d only said that in her head.  But when she heard the
deep, sexy chuckle next to her ear, then felt Angelo’s lips against her shoulder,
she realized with a start that she’d actually said that out loud. 

“I agree,” he said and shifted his weight so he was next to her, pulling her against
him. 

Suddenly, a giant fur ball jumped up onto the bed.  Jade turned her head to the side,
startled.  “What….?” She pulled back, inadvertently pressing herself against Angelo. 
“Jasper!” Jade sighed when she realized that her monstrous cat had invaded the room
and jumped up on the bed. 

And then it hit her.  “Jasper!” she cried out and sat up, pulling out of Angelo’s
arms.  “No!  What have I done?” 

She looked around, pulling the cat towards her as if his fluffy fur could hide her
nakedness from Angelo.  Well, in reality, it could since Jasper was so huge and had
so much hair.  “I have to go,” she almost cried out.  She couldn’t believe that she
was actually in Angelo’s bed.  And they’d really made love! 

And boy!  It had been so much more than she ever could have imagined.  Even now as
the horror of what she’d done washed over her, she could still feel the amazing delight
in her body from his touch. 

“What are you talking about?” Angelo demanded, sitting up and reaching for her.  But
she evaded his hands and slipped off of the bed.  Jasper really wasn’t in the mood
to be her robe for the moment, but Jade held the cat despite his loud meows. 

“I shouldn’t be here!” She looked around, desperate for her clothes.  “I mean, of
course I should be here, in your house.  I’m fixing everything for you I know, but
not here, in your bed.”

Angelo stood up as well, coming around to the other side of the bed to confront her. 
“Jade, we didn’t do anything wrong.”  He was trying to be soothing, but he was getting
angry that she was going to rush out of here after what they’d just shared together. 

“No!” she gasped, shaking her head back and forth.  “We didn’t do anything.”

Angelo’s black eyebrow went up with that claim and his arms crossed over his massive
chest.  “Are you sure?  Because I’m pretty positive I remember what we just did. 
It wasn’t my imagination.”

Jasper was disgusted with the conversation and jumped down, refusing to play screen
for her any longer.  Jade watched with horror as her fluffy cat pranced away, standing
in the corner and staring back at her as if daring her to try and catch him again. 

She looked back at Angelo, her mind registering that he was still completely naked. 
And completely gorgeous!  Her eyes drifted over his amazing figure but she realized
after only a moment what she was doing and tore her eyes away.  “No, this is so wrong!”
she gasped. 

She turned away, grabbing one of the pillows off of the floor that had previously
been placed neatly in the middle of the bed.  “I don’t do this kind of thing,” she
almost sobbed.

“Obviously,” Angelo stated, starting to understand that she wasn’t just being coy. 
She was genuinely upset.  That seemed to soothe his temper slightly, but he wasn’t
going to let her leave.  Besides, she looked ridiculous holding that pillow up against
her breasts and hips. 

“Jade, what we did was perfectly normal between two consenting adults.  And we’ve
been dancing around the issue for weeks.  We both wanted each other.  There was nothing
wrong with enjoying each other’s bodies.”

“I didn’t!” she cried back, shaking her head violently.  “I didn’t just do this!” 
She looked around and blushed at the mess of the bed.  “Okay, yes, I did.  But I can’t
do it again.  Which is exactly where I know your mind is going.”

“Damn right,” he practically growled and started moving closer to her.  He didn’t
want her on one side of the bed while he was on the other side. He captured her gaze,
not letting her look away while he said, “We’re going to do it over and over again
until you don’t feel so self-conscious about being naked around me any longer,” he
stated firmly.  “And then we’re going to make love even more until I know all of your
secrets.”  He was practically a foot away from her now.  “And then we’re going to
do it even more until we have secrets that only you and I have with each other.” 

“We can’t,” she whispered, unaware of the tear falling down her cheek.  “I can’t. 
This isn’t me.  This isn’t who I am!”

Angelo realized what she was saying.  It was possible that only those words could
have stopped him from taking her into his arms. 

“We’re not married,” he stated, finally understanding.

“You don’t love me!” she countered, unable to say with any conviction that she didn’t
love him.  It suddenly occurred to her that she truly did love him.  With all her
heart.  And it hurt even more knowing that he didn’t love her.  “And yes, when two
people are in love, they get married.”  He probably cared for her, but that was a
significantly different emotion than love.  And she realized that she wanted it all. 
She wanted this man’s love very desperately. 

“Then let’s get married,” he said, shocking even himself by that suggestion.

She looked back at him, completely confused since just last week he’d told her that
he would make a horrible husband.  “You don’t do marriage.  You just told me that
at the ice cream shop.”  Oh, if only he were sincere!  She would jump at the chance
to be married to this astounding man!  But no, she couldn’t marry a man who didn’t
believe in marriage, much less even love her in return. 

Angelo was perfectly aware of his stance on marriage.  But now that he’d said it,
the idea made perfect sense to him.  “I’m changing my mind.”

Jade reared back, shaking her head.  “We can’t get married simply so we have permission
to have sex!” she came back, stunned that he would even suggest something like that.

He laughed softly, shaking his own head.  “I hate to break it to you, Jade, but I
don’t need a marriage certificate to have sex.  That’s your hang-up.” 

She quickly walked around him, holding the pillows in front of her like a shield. 
She had to get to her clothes.  “That’s ridiculous.  People don’t have sex simply
because they like it.”

Angelo leaned against one of the posts of the bed, his massive arms crossed over his
chest as he watched her with both amusement and fascination.  “Jade, I don’t believe
that you’re really that naïve.  Of course people have sex because they like it.  We
just did.  Are you going to say that you didn’t like it?  Because I’ll have to prove
you wrong if you try to say that.”

Jade reached down for her clothes, blushing as she tried to figure out how to get
dressed without lowering the pillow.  In the end, she realized that it was impossible. 
She wished she could make it to the bathroom to dress, but she only had enough pillows
to cover the front of her.  And she couldn’t make it all the way there while still
holding her clothes as well as the pillows without looking more ridiculous than she
already appeared.  So in the end, she dropped the pillows but dressed as quickly as
possible. 

“Your people might just have sex whenever they want to.  But my people don’t do things
like that.”

That eyebrow went up once again.  “Exactly who do you consider ‘your people’?” he
asked, thinking she looked like the sexiest woman alive as she bent down and pulled
her lace underwear up her long, slender legs.  The back of that lace barely covered
her adorable bottom and he thought she looked perfect just like that.  Unfortunately,
the matching lace bra was pulled on quickly, covering up her lovely breasts with the
tight, pink nipples that he’d discovered were more than a handful.  And tasted delicious. 
All of her did, actually.

“My people are those who understand the rules!” she retorted, slipping her khaki slacks
up over her legs.  “They wouldn’t ever have kissed me like that,” she stated, but
thinking about that kiss, and the kiss Dave usually gave her, she was confused. 

“You’re not going back to Dave, are you?” Angelo growled, his casual pose obliterated
at the idea of another man touching her like he’d just done.

“Of course I’m not still seeing Dave,” she almost yelled back, refusing to be intimidated
by Angelo’s anger.  “Not after what happened. But Dave understands the rules.  He’s
kind and sweet and gentle.  He respected my wishes to be married before having sex.”

Angelo wasn’t going to listen to that kind of trash.  He stormed over to her, grabbing
her arms and turning her towards him.  “Dave is an ass, Jade.  I believe the scene
at the party the other night proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt.  So don’t talk
to me about the righteousness of ‘your people’.  I can guarantee that Dave is not
one of those good, righteous people you think are so fabulous about adhering to the
rules.  In fact, I think you’re the only one who wants to hang onto those rules and
you’re obviously having trouble with those rules.  Or are you going to tell me that
this wasn’t supposed to happen?”

Jade yanked her arms, trying to get his hands off of her but he held on, not hurting
her, but refusing to let her go.  “You can’t say that!  Dave is a good man!  Unlike
me who has just had sex with a man who doesn’t love her!”  She buried her face in
her hands, ashamed of what had occurred this afternoon. 

Angelo couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  “Jade, you didn’t do anything wrong. 
But let’s have some dinner.  I’ll take you out, we’ll have some wine and relax.”

She gasped and shook her head.  “I can’t go out to dinner with you!”  She stepped
back, grateful when he released her arms so she could slip her tee-shirt on over her
head. 

“You can.  You’re just saying that you won’t.”  His face hardened with her words and
he stepped back, putting several feet between them. 

Jade looked at him backing away from her, something he’d never done and her eyes widened
with the fear that she’d hurt his feelings. “Could you put some clothes on?” she asked,
desperate to converse with him without that sexual tension in the air because she
wanted him so badly, even now when she was telling him that being with him was impossible. 

He saw the look in her eyes and told himself to stay away.  But that look, the heat
and the anger were fighting for dominance and he suspected he knew which would win
out.  “Why?” he asked softly, moving closer to her.  “Does it bother you when I’m
unclothed like this?” he asked. 

She couldn’t believe how fast he was.  One moment, she was standing next to him with
her eyes plastered to the floor, the next moment, his arm was around her waist and
he was pulling her against him, her hands trying desperately hard not to touch his
hot skin because she knew what would happen if she did.  She’d be lost.  Even now,
her body was melting, wanting him so badly that it actually hurt her to deny them
this pleasure. 

“Please don’t do this,” she begged.  “I’m confused enough as it is.”

Angelo thought that holding her like this broke through all the confusion.  But she’d
asked and he was finding that it was damn hard to deny her anything.  “I’ll let you
go.  For now,” he replied.  “But we’re not through, Jade.”  He let her feet touch
the floor again, steadying her gently with his hands on her waist.  “We need to finish
talking about this.” 

She knew he was right, but she couldn’t handle the conversation right now.  She shook
her head.  “I have to go.”

Angelo sighed heavily.  “No you don’t.  You need to stay here and have dinner with
me.”

She took a deep breath to help her focus, her hand grabbing onto the bed.  “We probably
need to talk, but can I have just a little bit of time?  I’m not sure what’s going
on and I’ve just violated a major part of who I thought I was.  I just need some time
to think this through.”

“Talk to me.  Let’s work it out together.”

She sniffed, wishing she could just burst out with her newfound knowledge that she
was in love with him.  But he didn’t want to hear that from her.  The man was tough
and cynical, although also very sweet and gentle and extremely kind. 

“I don’t even understand what’s going on in my mind,” she sobbed, “much less able
to explain what’s going on inside me to you.”

Angelo sighed, feeling frustrated because she was so upset.  He didn’t like seeing
her cry and wanted badly to make things better.  “Jade, I’ll let you go if you’ll
at least consider the possibility that we didn’t do anything wrong here today.”

She closed her eyes, wishing that he could understand why she felt that having sex
without the emotional, much less the marriage bond, was the problem.  Not the sex. 
She knew that people had sex with each other all the time.  But that wasn’t who she
was.  And she couldn’t shift her definition of what’s right and wrong so easily. 

“I’ll consider the possibility,” she finally said, staring at her shoes. 

With that, she hurried out of the bedroom, desperate to get back to her safe, comfy
cottage.  She needed to find Jasper and Rufus and curl up with them, feel their fur
and know that her world hadn’t changed completely.