Chapter 14
She had a man who insisted on taking care of her.
She never had that before.
She was thirty-two years old and never lived with one.
Never knew what it was to give over control.
And even so, it had to be wrestled away from her. She told Jessica to take care of her own stuff, her home was flooded, and she had her neighbor to think about.
Besides, she had Bryce.
And she did.
It was a wonder to her and despite the fact that he was a celebrity and had been born wealthy, the man was useful.
They cleaned, from top to bottom.
And afterwards, he insisted on them taking a break.
In between, they ate light.
She fixed a well loaded sandwich and made lemonade with sprigs of mint and lemon.
By the time the sun was drifting over the horizon, they were finished, and he told her he was cooking.
“What?”
She stared at him blankly.
The power was still not back, and they were making do., Wood chips were hauled from the storeroom at the back and stacked against the fireplaces.
The weather had turned nasty, with icy winds dancing over the skin and sending shivers along its wake.
“I’m cooking.”
He repeated and proceeded to haul out two thick steaks from the freezer.
“There’s a grill around back and look, some vegetables we can throw on there too.”
“You can’t…, I will…”
“No.”
Putting the chunks of meat on the counter, he took her shoulders between his hands and pointed her up the stairs.
“I don’t need your help.
Go take a shower or a bath, a long, hot one…”
“There’s no power.”
“The generator is up and running.
We will have the meal on your balcony.”
She still stood there, staring at him.
“What?”
“Can you cook?”
He gave her a pained look that had her rolling her eyes.
“It’s a logical question.”
“It’s an insult.
I lived on my own for years and did not want a maid.
I relished my own space.
Go.
I promise I am not going to end up poisoning us.”
Still, she hesitated.
“Do you know how to work the grill?”
He shot her another look this one tinged with impatience.
“Go away, Zahra.”
“Okay fine.”
She stood there inside the doorway and watched as he opened cupboards to take out the seasonings.
“You’re still here.”
He murmured without looking up.
She went away without another word and figured she could whip something up if he ended up burning the steak to a crisp.
He was taking care of her, and she should accept that he is.
Should relish it as a matter of fact.
Stepping into the bathroom, she selected body wash, a citrus scent and poured a generous amount into the warm water.
The generator would not be able to offer much power, but it was better than nothing.
She had a man.
Taking off her clothes, she stopped and stared at herself in the mirror.
A gorgeous man who was also a celebrity.
Shaking her head, she backed away and slipped into the water.
She would not think about it. If she did, she was going to come up with all sorts of reasons to end it.
This was here and now.
And she was going to enjoy every blessed and blissful minute of it.
*****
He fired up the grill and grinned in delight as the flame glowed and hissed.
He had found the things he needed to slap on the meat.
It might not be as tasty as hers, but it would be tolerable.
The wind had picked up and within minutes, the scent of meat charring settled on the air.
He would add the vegetables in another minute or two.
He had found a bottle of wine that would go well with the red meat and wished he could run into town to pick something up.
But no matter.
He wanted to take care of her.
Wanted to slide into her life until she realized that she needed him.
Like he needed her.
Brushing a hand at the back of his neck, he stared off into the horizon, a frown marring his brow. He felt comfortable here. He would make it his home.
He could make it one of his homes.
Perhaps he could ease her into the idea of adding some more rooms.
The place was big enough to accommodate the extras.
An office for him, a bigger suite.
And when the children - he felt weak at the thought of her carrying his babies.
He knew she was skeptical and still questioning his intentions.
She had told him she loved him, and they would go on from there.
Everything else would follow.
Switching his gaze back to the meat, he turned them over in the nick of time.
He had his pride and his ego to protect and would not want to hear her say anything about the food.
He grinned in anticipation.
They would have a quiet night.
Dinner for two – making love by the fire and snuggling. It was perfect.
*****
She pretended not to see his brows arching.
And had hidden her surprise very well.
He had turned out an excellent meal.
The steaks were done just right and the vegetables crisp without being soggy or overdone.
She had cleaned her plate and supposed she owed him a compliment.
“It’s good.”
His brows arched even higher.
Settling back in the chaise, he stretched his legs out.
He had taken a shower and was wearing loose-fitting lounge pants and a black sweater.
His hair was still curling from the shower.
“What?”
“I am sure you can do much better than that.”
“Do you want a trophy?”
“That would be nice, but I would settle for ‘well done, it’s the best I have ever tasted.”
Something like that.”
“Your ego is astounding.”
Hiding a smile behind the glass, she took a sip of wine.
“My ego is just fine.”
Blue eyes met hers.
“I am going to need you to say it.”
“It’s not the best I ever had, but it was pretty good.”
He inclined his head gracefully.
“And I surprised you.
You were planning on a backup meal, weren’t you?”
With his eyes on hers, she could not lie.
“So?”
He shook his head and pulled her against him.
“Oh ye of little faith,”
he murmured against her ear.
“I never dreamed you knew how to cook.”
She snuggled against him and thought that nothing could be more perfect than this.
“What with you being rich and all.” She looked up at him.
“You have lived alone for a while.
You don’t have a housekeeper?”
He kissed the tip of her nose, wanting to feel the contact.
“I travel a lot of course and am never in one place for more than a couple of months.
When I am anywhere, I eat out or order in.
I usually have a service who comes in to take care of the place, but as for cooking, no.
And I never employ anyone full time. “
“How long have you ever stayed in one place?”
She tried to make the question casual, but he caught on.
Tilting her chin up, he gazed at her.
“Six months.
In New York when I was filming Crossover’.”
He said quietly.
“I know why you’re asking.”
She shrugged.
“Just wondering.”
“If I am really going to stick around.”
“We don’t have to talk about….”
“We do.”
He kept his fingers on her chin.
“You don’t believe me.”
“It’s not that…”
“You think I am going to go poof.
Like the first time.”
“Bryce…”
“And nothing I say is making a difference.”
Letting go of her, he lunged to his feet, impatience and frustration in every step.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, he strode over to stare out at the darkness shrouding the trees.
The light from the moon shone through the trees and he could see patches of white clouds drifting over a velvety blue sky.
He had never seen moon so big or sky so wide.
Perhaps he had been too busy to notice it, or everything looked bigger in a small town.
She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her face on his back.
“Do you know what I was thinking when I came up to take a shower?”
“That when you were finished, I would be gone?”
His tone was tinged with bitterness.
“That I never had this before.
Never had someone taking over the reins, taking care of me.
I told myself that I didn’t need it, that I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself.
But you took over, whether I wanted to let go or not and I …,”
she heaved out a breath.
“I loved it.
And if you leave, I would be destroyed.”
He turned to face her then, eyes scanning her lovely face.
The light from the moon shimmered over her features, giving her an ethereal look that tugged at his heart.
“I am not leaving.”
His hands gripped her shoulders.
“Get that into that thick head of yours.
I am here and I am staying.”
Tears clogged her eyes and thickened her throat.
“What do you see in me? Be honest.
You’ve been with so many beautiful women and I am not one.
I know what I look like Bryce.
I am a plus sized black woman with this…”
Lifting her hand, she tugged at a thick coil.
“I am never going to change, and I don’t want to.
I also do not want to compete with your past relationships.”
“You’re in a class of your own.”
He ran his hands up and down her arms slowly.
“You’re the best person I know.
I love every curve, every part of you.
I have been around the world and yes, I have been with lots of women.
But that just gives me the experience and knowledge to realize that what I want is right here.
With you.
Baby, all I need is you.
And if I have to spend the rest of my life proving it, then I will.”
One hand lifted to cup her face.
“To me, you’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”
“If you leave me…”
“I won’t.”
“If you do, I will hunt you down and commit murder.”
She drew in a ragged breath.
“Fair enough.”
“I am going to need time.”
“Sweetheart…”
She shook her head.
“I need time to adjust, to get used to us - to what I am going to have to face as your …”
She bit her lip.
“Your girlfriend?”
“How about as my fiancée?”
Her eyes popped wide open as she stared at him.
“What did you think this was?”
He asked her gently.
“I want a life with you, darling.
I want children - to live with you until we’re old and gray.
I want years, to make up for the ones we lost, the ones I threw away when I left.”
He lifted her left hand and smoothed out her ring finger.
“I want to put a ring on it and have you take my name.
I want the whole world to know that you belong to me, and I belong to you.”
“Bryce…”
“Say yes.”
“Your parents.”
“I don’t care what they say.”
“They’re your parents and my mother…,”
she choked on that.
“She’s going to want you to do her favors, and I cannot bear that.”
“Then I put in a word for her.
It’s nothing.
I don’t mind.”
“I do.
I won’t have her taking advantage…,”
she broke off when he laughed.
“What?”
“That’s your default mode.”
“What is?”
“Protecting those you love.”
“It’s not.”
He drew her to him.
“I don’t mind.
In fact, I love it.
Makes me feel so special.”
“Bryce…”
“Shh.”
He laid a finger over her lips.
“Don’t spoil this moment for us.
I am not leaving, and I have every intention of marrying you, even if I have to drag you to the altar.
In the meantime, I am sticking close.”
Tears blurred her vision.
“I never expected to see you again.”
She told him huskily.
“I told myself that I was over you, that it was a good thing you left.
But then I saw you again and it all came back.
Only, this is more intense.
I love you so much, that I cannot…”
She lifted her face to his.
“Make love to me, right now.
Make me feel you on me, in me.”
His eyes darkened and he felt the heat invading every area of his body.
Taking her hand, he drew her into the bedroom and closed the glass doors behind them.
Leading her to the bed, he left her only to add some chips to the slowly simmering fire.
Coming back, he drew her up again to cup her face between his hands.
“This time I will take it slow, even if it kills me.”
His voice was thick with feelings.
“I love you completely.
You’re the best of me and the whole of me.” He trailed a finger over her damp cheeks.
“You make me want to be better.
Nothing means as much to me as this, as right now where we are.” His hands trembled.
“Bryce…”
Turning her head, she kissed his palm and closed her eyes as she felt him against her. “Bryce.”
She arched her neck, and he bent to taste, to sip, to nuzzle, his lips cruising over the smooth skin.
He slipped the robe off, hands roaming the bare skin.
She had not bothered to put clothes on after her bath and when he tugged at the string of the robe, it came away like magic.
The words were strangled inside his throat as he stared at her.
He meant it when he told her she was the most beautiful woman in the world. She was.
There was something about her, a glow, a light inside her, that shone with a brilliance that was blinding.
How could he not love her? He thought achingly.
How could he even think of leaving? If he did, he would be leaving the most vital pieces of him with her.
Survival would be non-existent.
He could not go on without her.
“My love.”
He cupped her breasts and watched as the flesh reacted instantly.
“Bryce.”
“Soon, baby.”
He pushed her back and wrestled with his clothing, cursing silently that he had not just donned a bloody robe.
He was losing time; time he could be spending lavishing on her.
He finally got everything off.
With a sigh of relief, he climbed in next to her, hands reaching for her immediately.
She melted into him, her own hands running up and down his chest, feeling the quiver of muscles and still not believing that he was all hers.
That she would make him feel this way.
This was his woman, his lover, his best friend.
The love of his life.
He had fallen for the girl and left with his emotions in tatters and something or someone had given him a second chance.
He was going to run with it, embrace it and never let it go.
“I am going to love you until we’re both weak and of little use to each other.”
He vowed.
“Starting here.” He kissed her forehead and drifted to her cheek.
Then he touched her nose, inhaling her scent.
Her body vibrated, but so did his.
His flesh was already hot and feverish.
Little jolts of fire seared his belly, making him weak with need.
The need was so incredible, so intense, he had to take several deep breaths.
He had no idea how he was going to hang onto the control which was already slipping away from him.
It amazed that she could be so potent, that just merely touching her could have this devastating effect on him.
he kissed her, lips brushing against hers- slowly back and forth.
He sucked in a breath when she inched against him, nipples brushing his chest.
He was hard as rock, primed, and ready to enter her.
But not yet. No.
Not just yet.
He nibbled at her lip and swallowed her moans.
When her arms came around his neck and her body arched to his, he almost let go of the control, just go with the flow.
But tonight was special, it had to be special.
It took sheer will for him to end the kiss and use his mouth to torment her neck and the hollow of her throat.
She tasted like sex, love, and honey – addictive like a very potent wine.
She was sweet, hot and the passion rising from her threatened to overwhelm him.
By the time he reached her breasts, she was writhing beneath him, restless fingers tugging at his hair, digging into his shoulders, his back.
He passed his tongue over the rigid nipple and had her crying out.
“Bryce.”
God, I can’t.”
The voice, the need, the passion, the tone of it was driving him crazy.
Reaching between them, he palmed her and had her arching.
He was on her and then in her and it took just that to have her exploding.
She cried out his name over and over again as sensation swamped her.
She felt as if she was drowning in quicksilver, her body arched and vibrated.
He held her down, furiously suckling at first one nipple and then the other.
All the time his fingers slicked with her climax stayed inside her, moving slowly as she slowly came back down from the high.
But he was not through yet.
He was bursting, throbbing, aching, but he was not through.
His mouth drifted to her quivering stomach where he took little bites.
Zahra felt as if she was going mad.
The violence was erupting inside her again and she could not stand it.
She could not keep still.
Her fingers dug into the sheets, gripping them as she tried to anchor her body.
Her eyes popped wide open as she jerked.
He was killing her, she thought dazedly.
His mouth was slowly and ruthlessly destroying her.
When his tongue replaced his fingers, she screamed and fell – was falling so fast and so hard, she became dizzy.
Nothing had prepared her for this.
She was dying.
Her heart was thudding so hard, she was faint from it.
Sliding up, he covered her body with his, his dark eyes, face harsh from trying to hold onto the control.
The look on her lovely face had his heart turning over.
No one had ever affected him like this, and he knew no one ever would again.
It was just her.
He stayed still for a minute, hands cupping her face.
“You’re mine.”
His voice was thick, almost incoherent. “Say it.”
“I am yours.”
She whispered.
“Say it again.”
He demanded.
“I am yours.”
She sobbed it out, arms wrapping around his neck as she buried her face against his throat.
He moved then, driving into her with a force that broke the tenuous hold he had over his control.
Lifting her left leg, he bent it at the knee, the thrusts becoming feverish.
He called out her name, told her he loved her over and over again.
Begged her never to leave him.
Emotions were bursting inside his chest, making him mad for her.
Jerking her head up, he seized her lips and savaged her mouth.
He was rough, but neither of them cared.
And when she fell, he fell with her, his chest bursting, his body coated with sweat.
He swallowed her cries as he poured himself into her until he was empty.
It took several minutes for him to gather his strength and move off her, but he kept her close, his arm wrapped around her body.
She burrowed against his chest, fingers curled into the damp hairs.
She did not know what to say, wondered if there was anything left to say.
He rubbed a hand up and down her back, tense expression and puzzled.
He had never lost control like that.
Not in all the years he had been with a woman.
He wanted her with a fierceness that was uncanny and troubling.
“Hungry?”
She burst out laughing and managed to dispel the heavy air of tension around them.
“Seriously? We just ate.”
“In case, you don’t remember, we just had what be qualified as a sexual marathon.
Guaranteed to burn a hole through a full stomach.”
“I am fine.”
She lifted her head to look at him, suddenly feeling shy as his eyes met hers.
This man knew everything there was to know about her, intimately and she felt a little strange.
“Uhm.”
His eyebrows lifted as he waited for her to say more. “Wine.”
She burst out suddenly.
His grin flashed, letting her know that she had taken the easy way out.