Chapter 4 #2
"I will go and prepare your bath."
"No, dammit. I'm not an invalid and I've been preparing my own bath too many years to count. You doing this--" She flung a hand wide. "Being all attentive and hovering is not going to make me change my mind."
"I know you like it piping hot. I used to wonder how you never burn the flesh off your bones. I'll be in the bedroom."
She wanted to scream. She very nearly gave in to the impulse to just scream and throw something, throw a tantrum.
Damn him to hell and back. He was doing it again.
In the past when they were involved, she would get all heated up over something he did or something he said and he would simply ignore her and turn into prince bloody charming.
Well, it wasn't going to work. She was leaving no matter how well he treated her.
At the end of the week, she was packing her bag and heading out.
Her flight was already booked. She had meetings lined up for all of next week. She had a new client who was interested in a piece of property on Main Street. The man owned quite a bit of real estate and the prospect of landing him as a client would be a coup. She had no intention of spoiling it.
She deliberately lingered over the tea, fuming and whipping herself into a lather.
By the time she had finished and decided she should not have to put herself out because of him, she was running on fury and adrenaline.
Dumping the tray in the sink, she marched into the bedroom, the scent of jasmine and eucalyptus oil hitting her nostrils.
"Want me to undress you?" His voice came from the corner of the bedroom where he was sitting on the sofa.
"No thanks." Sailing into the bathroom, she slammed the door shut and took off her clothes. The water was still piping hot, the way she liked it. He had even placed a folded towel at the head of the tub. The sponge was within easy reach, and another set of towels was on the pale green counter.
Okay, so the man paid attention to details. Stepping into the water, she sighed as the warm bubbles engulfed her and seeped into her skin. That did not mean she was going to suddenly change her mind and stay. She was not. She wasn't going to pick up where they left off either.
It didn't matter that he looked so damn good in the faded jeans or that the cotton shirt draped his broad shoulders like no other man she knew.
She had seen him astride a horse and remembered remarking that he should be in a commercial.
He was the ultimate cowboy, powerfully lean and extremely earthy.
And she wanted him still. Knowing he was waiting for her in the bedroom was doing something to her heart.
She felt the tingling in her thighs and the tightening of her nipples.
But having sex with him would be a mistake.
Picking up the sponge, she used it on her arms, slowly rubbing it under her armpits.
If she had sex with him, he would take it to mean that they were back together and that could not happen.
She could not get involved with him again.
It had been too painful when she had to leave.
And instead of standing by her against his mother, he had let her go, refusing to believe the woman was a nightmare.
And who was she to get between a mother and her son anyway, she mused angrily. She was now carrying a child inside her and she would fight anyone who stood in the way of her and her child. But not at the expense of the child's happiness. And that was where she and Barbara McNab differed.
Putting away the sponge, she used her toe to release the plug and rose just as the door was pushed open.
"What--"
"I was thinking something had happened to you," he told her calmly, his long strides bridging the distance between the doorway and the tub.
"Like what?" she asked angrily. "I had drowned myself in the bathwater?"
"Or fallen asleep. You'd done it before." He took one of the fluffy white towels from the counter and unfolded it.
"You have no right--"
"Quiet," he ordered mildly. Her mouth dropped open and she did not react immediately when he took her hand and helped her out of the tub.
"Who do you think you are?" Feeling like a mindless idiot, she stood there, completely naked and partially covered with suds while he started to dry her neck.
"The man whose baby you're carrying." His eyes met hers as he rubbed her throat dry and went down to her breasts.
She opened her mouth to blast him, but the words died in her throat.
He was wiping her breasts with a gentleness that defied expression.
She went still at the look in his eyes and was catapulted back to a time when they had showered together and he had dried her off.
That had led to them making love right there in his large bathroom, with only the soft rug shielding them from the cold tiles.
"Bryson--"
"It's uncanny and more than a little scary to think that we created another human being.
" He dropped to his knees, the towel folded as he moved it over her flat stomach.
"I want to see my baby growing inside you.
I want to witness the different stages." Removing the towel, he bent his head and kissed the tautness of her stomach, making her gasp.
Biting her lip to stop the moan from escaping, Julianne had to fight the urge to bury her fingers into the denseness of his shoulder-length dark hair and just hold him there.
Her disappointment was acute when he stopped there and started drying her off again. Her breath was backed up in her throat, her body tingling.
When he rose and lifted her in his arms, she did not comment.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she buried her face in his chest and simply breathed him in.
She could no longer pretend to be immune.
If he made the first move, she was not going to resist. Drawing the sheets back, he put her down and went to the chest of drawers to find nightclothes.
"You never wore panties to bed," he mused as he slipped the thin lavender silk over her head. "Has that changed?"
"No." She had to clear her throat to respond.
"I'm happy to know that some things remain the same."
"What are you doing?"
"Taking care of you. In the past you never gave me the chance." His hands circled her neck, thumbs pushing her face up. "I always wanted to."
He smiled at the look of confusion on her lovely face.
He had spent the minutes alternately sitting and pacing the length of the room as he waited for her to finish her bath, battling frustration and anger.
He knew her. They had only been together for a year, but he knew her more than he knew anyone else, because he loved her the most. She was stubborn, willful, and tough.
In the past, she had enjoyed butting heads with him, mostly to prove that she could.
He had spent several minutes while he was waiting for her and had decided to try a different tack.
He was going to show her how much she needed him.
He was going to show her how much better it was to have someone at her side while she was going through this life-altering experience. He was desperate to try anything.
"I don't need you taking care of me."
He nodded as if in agreement, fingers caressing the soft spot at her throat, where the pulse was beating madly. He had to hide a smile of triumph at how she was reacting to him, his touch. She was not as uninvolved as she would like him to think.
"I'm aware. I've always admired that about you." His fingers drifted down to her collarbone and then the swell of her breasts. "Your fierce independence."
"I know what you're doing," she said huskily.
His brows lifted as he continued to caress her skin. "You do?"
"You're trying to soften me up. That's not going to work. I'm resolved--"
"I'm sure you are." He cupped her breasts, marveling anew at how perfectly they fitted inside his palms. She suited him in every way. Her curves fitted his body as if they were made for him, and he suspected they were. No one had ever suited him as she did.
"Please stop."
"Do you want me to?" He drew the straps of her nightgown off her shoulders slowly, his eyes holding hers and burning with intent.
"This is not a good idea."
"I agree completely," he murmured, his words belying his actions as he bent to touch his lips to the pulse beating madly at her throat.
"You smell like heaven and taste even better.
" He nibbled on the side of her neck, and just simply breathed her in.
She was like an aphrodisiac to his system.
The first time he tasted her lips, he wanted more.
The first time he had her, he knew that once would never be enough and it was no different now.
"We can't." Her hands lifted automatically to dig through the rich strands of his dark hair.
"We must." When she lifted her head to accommodate, he felt his senses whirling dizzily and he feasted.
Her fingers dug into his hair as she fought for purchase.
She was getting unbalanced, her common sense taking a beating as his tongue did wonderful things to her skin.
When he pushed her back on the pillows, she fleetingly thought about resisting, but the thought was gone so swiftly, it was as if it had never been there in the first place.