Page 24 of Wife for a Week
‘God help us,’ he said fervently as he swept her into his arms and carried her over to the bed.
Hallie clung to him as they tumbled onto the pillows, wanting him over her, inside of her, wanting it now. Her heart beat wildly and her breathing was fast and urgent as she undid the buttons on his shirt, pushed it aside, and surged against him, glorying in the rasp of skin on skin as her nipples pressed hard and tight against his muscled chest. More, she craved it, demanded it, fumbling with his belt, with the fastening of his trousers, only to have him push her hand aside with a half-strangled laugh.
‘No,’ he muttered. ‘Ladies first.’
‘Whatever happened to equality?’ she grumbled.
‘Equality is overrated.’ His smile was slow and wicked as he eased her gown from her body and then her panties. ‘Ladies first is a good option for you right now. Trust me.’ He took her hands and drew them above her head and she let him do it, let him do whatever he wanted. She was naked for him, utterly naked except for the diamonds at her ears and around her throat. She felt completely exposed, utterly vulnerable as he loomed over her, his eyes intent. ‘Close your eyes,’ he whispered and she did as he commanded, whimpering with pleasure as his lips traced a path from her wrist to her elbow. He stopped when he reached her elbow, stopped to curse beneath his breath before tracing the area surrounding the angry red graze with gentle fingers. Hallie shivered hard and he moved on, his hands tracing a path down her body for his lips to follow, the soft underside of her breast, the slight curve of her stomach, and everywhere he touched her muscles contracted and the pleasure built. She knew what was coming when he spread her thighs wide and moved lower, knew it and craved it but he made her wait, made her plead while he scattered tiny kisses over her hips and his thumb circled the sensitive folds of her flesh.
‘Please!’ As his mouth moved closer and his hands held her firm. She strained against him, clutched at the sheet above her head, and finally, finally, he licked into her. She couldn’t breathe, the heat of his mouth was divine, the rhythmic stroking of his tongue an unbearably exquisite torment. He knew exactly where to lick, exactly how to please her, and she writhed beneath him, riding the wave of anticipation he built so cleverly, riding it hard. And when she didn’t think she could stand any more, when she was slick with sweat and just about to shatter into a million pieces, he concentrated his efforts and the world exploded inside her, all around her, as she shuddered her release.
‘Oh, my God!’ she gasped.
‘Told you so,’ he muttered, shedding his trousers and moving over her as she brought her hands to his hair and his lips down to hers for a feverish kiss that had nothing to do with tenderness and everything to do with raw, driving need. It was his turn to groan now, his turn to shudder as he settled himself between her legs. His turn to whimper as her need for him turned savage.
‘Shh,’ he muttered. ‘Easy.’
Nick inched slowly into her, inexorably penetrating her hot, slippery flesh as her body stretched to accommodate him. He slid his fingers between them to further coax her taut, tight muscles into submission. And then he was seated in her up to the hilt, exactly where he wanted to be, his entire body on the verge of exploding as her hips slammed into his and her body climaxed around him again. He’d never seen anything more wanton, more beautiful, than Hallie lost in passion. So fearless, so utterly open for him as he spread her legs wide, cupped his hands around her buttocks and surged into her, glorying in his possession, in the scent of sex, and the tight slickness encasing him.
‘This would be the sex part,’ she whispered as her legs encircled his waist and her nails raked his back.
‘This isn’t sex.’ He was spiralling out of control, seconds away from his own pulsing release. ‘This is madness.’
Hallie woke just before dawn, too worried about what the day held to go back to sleep. She slid out of bed and padded to the window to look down on the Teys’ tranquil garden, wondering if John would be up soon and out there practising t’ai chi. Wondering if he did and if she watched, would some of his calm feed through to her? She shifted the curtains aside to lay her palm on the window-pane, and reached for the confidence she knew she had to have if her plan was ever going to work.
Nick stirred and she turned to watch him; saw him reach for her, and wake when he couldn’t find her. She felt the moment he saw her, felt it as a heat that licked over her entire body, and then he was out of bed and heading towards her, beautifully, magnificently naked. She knew that body now, had loved every inch of it during the night. She knew his scent, the taste of him on her tongue, the playful edge in him and the fire.
What she didn’t know was the workings of his mind. What he wanted from her and whether he was going to regret their lovemaking and pull back as he had done last time and, in doing so, shatter her heart. So she looked to his eyes to see if they were cool, to his mouth to see if it was stern, and to his jaw to see if it was set, but Nick was none of those things this morning. He snaked an arm around her waist and drew her into his warmth and his hardness, resting his chin on her head, saying nothing as he too stared out at the wakening day.
‘I couldn’t sleep,’ she murmured.
‘I noticed,’ he rumbled, his voice working its usual magic on her skin. ‘Ready to save the day?’
Not yet. But she would be. ‘Sure.’
‘Liar,’ he countered, with a gruffness that spoke of worry. ‘You don’t have to do this, you know. It’s not too late to change your mind. We can find another way. A safer way.’
‘There is no safe way. This is a good plan, Nick. You know it is. I want to give it a try. I want to fix this my way.’
‘Why? So you can prove to your brothers that you can?’
‘No. It’s not that.’ All her life her brothers had fixed her mistakes when she’d made them. They’d done it out of love for her; she knew that. They’d done it because they considered her upbringing their job and they took their work seriously. But hadn’t they seen? Hadn’t they ever looked beneath the protests and seen how they were eroding her confidence and her self-belief? ‘This isn’t about my brothers,’ she said quietly. ‘It’s about me. I need to prove to myself that I can do this.’
Nick sighed heavily, his arms tightening around her. ‘Can’t we just take that as a given?’
‘No.’
‘Damn.’ He turned her in his arms, turned so that she was facing him, then lifted his hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. ‘How can I help?’ he murmured. ‘What do you need?’
No more questions, no more protest, just simple support and it flew like a shaft, straight and true, to lodge itself in her heart. She’d been walking a tight-rope ever since she’d met this man. She’d resisted his warmth and resisted his wit. She’d even resisted his lovemaking for a while. But she couldn’t resist his belief in her. There would be no more balancing on the high wire, not with this man. Silently, willingly, Hallie tumbled into love. ‘What do I need?’ Her lips curved as she wound her hands in his hair and pulled his lips down to meet her own. The answer was obvious.
Right now, right this very minute, she needed him.
CHAPTER NINE
‘I HATE this,’ said Nick five hours later as everyone gathered in the Teys’ kitchen for a final briefing of the plan. ‘I can’t believe I’m letting you do this.’
‘It’s the only way,’ said John Tey. ‘She’s the only one who can cancel the contract. I’m afraid your accompanying her is out of the question.’
Nick scowled. The thought of Hallie facing down professional assassins without him ate away at his stomach like acid.
‘I still think I should be going there on my own,’ said Hallie. ‘Completely on my own.’
‘No,’ he said curtly. ‘You are not going there alone.
If not me, then Kai.’
‘Why drag Kai into it? Or John, for that matter?
This business has nothing to do with them.’
‘No,’ he repeated. ‘You take Kai or you don’t go at all.’
‘Kai will accompany you,’ said John.
‘He’s very capable,’ said Jasmine earnestly.
Hallie sighed and glared at him, glared at them all. ‘Fine, I’ll take Kai.’
Nick met Kai’s steady gaze and a look of silent understanding passed between them. Kai would do everything in his power to protect her. Everything. He’d better.
‘Stop that,’ Hallie told him sharply.
‘Stop what?’
‘That look. The one that says you’re going to tear strips off Kai’s hide if he lets anything happen to me.’
‘You know that look?’
‘I have four brothers,’ she reminded him darkly.
‘And I can honestly say I don’t know how any of them survived your adolescence,’ he snapped.
John Tey smiled. Kai’s cough sounded suspiciously like laughter. ‘I’ve phoned ahead. The meeting is set,’ said John. ‘They’ll be waiting for you at the shop.’
‘Ready?’ Nick asked her quietly.