4
“You made two wishes. You owe me one of those.”
“I compromised,”
he said heatedly. Compromise should count for something. It wasn’t like he did it every day, or for just anybody.
“Gimme,”
she answered, wriggling her fingers.
Oh, hell. He had gotten his way. Mostly. Pulling one of the small hearts from his palm reluctantly, he handed it over with a grunt. “Can I have these every holiday?”
“We’ll see,”
she muttered vaguely, a secret smile on her lips, as she tore up the paper.
“What did you mean when you said you’d never gotten flowers? You had a long-term boyfriend.”
She sighed heavily. “He didn’t do gifts. Thought they were a waste of money. Especially flowers, because they eventually die.”
“No offense, sweetheart, but why in the hell did you stay with him for so long?”
His jaw clenched, wishing he could beat the hell out of her ex.
“I honestly don’t know. It probably had something to do with the death of my parents. I missed them. I felt so alone after they died. I guess I was pretty young, vulnerable, and stupid.”
Her voice was forlorn.
Simon hated the bastard even more. She had been young and alone, stunned after losing her parents. He wished he could have been there for her then.
But he was here now. He pulled her unresisting body into his arms, vowing to protect her from this moment on. “Never again, baby. You’ll always have me. I’ll never let you be lonely.”
Neither one of us will ever be lonely again.
He took the clip from her hair and dropped it on the floor. As he ran a soothing hand over the silky strands, he realized that he had been lonely his entire life. He’d just never really recognized it. “I’ve been waiting for you forever,”
he whispered to her in a husky voice. Somehow, he had known her from the moment he saw her. Not with his eyes, but with his heart.
And God, how he needed her.
She pulled away from him slightly to see his face. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t need to. He could see her love, her heart glittering in her eyes. He traced her lips with his fingers, moving slowly to her cheeks and down her neck, savoring the softness beneath his fingertips. He drew invisible initials on her exposed cleavage, left bare by his too-big robe. His initials, tracing over them again and again, needing to stake his claim on this woman who drove him to ecstasy and to the edge of sanity.
“Simon.”
She whimpered his name, pulling his head down to her lips.
He groaned into her embrace as her hands stroked over his shoulders, loving the feel of her fingers on his heated flesh, a touch so exquisite that his heart was thundering against the wall of his chest.
Needing to make her his, claim her, he thrust his tongue into her mouth with desperation, his need so intense that it was almost painful. The possessive beast in him sighed as she opened for him, letting him in, asking for more. He plundered until they were both breathless, panting. Pulling back, he sucked in a deep breath, nibbling at her lower lip, unable to separate himself from her, but also needing to have her naked.
He moved back, cupping one of her silk-clad breasts, running a finger around the prominent nipple. “Do you remember what I told you about this robe,”
he rumbled against her lips, tracing them with the tip of his tongue.
“Every word,”
she answered in a low, sexy voice. “I have very fond memories of this robe.”
“Me too,”
he replied hotly, reluctantly releasing her and pulling one more tiny heart from his other hand. “But right now I wish you would get naked.”
With a graceful move, she swept the heart from his fingers and tore it up. Slowly, she opened the front tie of the garment, letting the silk glide effortlessly off her shoulders. He swallowed hard as her perfect breasts appeared and the garment caught at her elbows for a heart-stopping moment, before it slid to the floor in a pool of shimmering black.
He had to force himself to breathe, make the air move in and out of his lungs. She was so fucking beautiful. So very his.
Mine.
“I love these fucking hearts,”
he rasped, his hand clenched tightly around the remaining two.
Her gorgeous blue eyes danced, but they were also hot with desire. “You wasted that one. I would have done it for nothing. I need you.”
I need you.
His soul echoed her desire, his body clamoring, clawing to possess what belonged to him. His cock was as hard as marble, ready to be buried in her wet, hot pussy. At this point, he was afraid he was going to explode the moment he buried himself inside her. He tucked the tiny hearts beneath a placemat on the table for safekeeping.
She took a step forward, bringing her silken skin against his, making him shudder. Her hand fluttered gently against the material of his boxers, stroking his ready-to-explode cock like it was a treasured pet.
He moved her hand and swept her up into his arms, unable to wait a moment longer. “Time for bed.”
“About time,”
she murmured against his shoulder, obviously impatient.
Immediately, his mind shifted from his cock to the wanting woman in his arms. His woman. She needed him, wanted him to pleasure her, sate her needs. He’d get his satisfaction, but she came first. She would always come first. Literally.
Simon dropped her gently on the bed. She rolled and popped open the drawer on the bedside table, jerking out his restraints and handing them to him. “Tie me. I don’t mind.”
Please. Tie me and fuck me before I die of longing.
She was panting, both her mind and body out of control. If she didn’t have his muscular, hot body possessing hers within moments, she was going to scream.
He looked at her with confusion. “You want me to tie you up?”
“I want you. Tie me up. Tie me down. Whatever you want. It’s hot. You’re hot. I just want you to fuck me. However you’re comfortable with it.”
Oh God, I’m babbling. He’s making me crazy.
“Sweetheart, the possessive caveman in me would love nothing more than to have you at my mercy and make you come until you scream, but I don’t need to tie you up.”
He took the restraints from her hands and dumped them beside the bed. “But now that I know it makes you hot, I’ll do it another time. Right now, I just need to watch you come, make love to you until neither of us can move.”
Every light was on. They hadn’t shut them off earlier. The expression on his face was fierce, tender, and strangely peaceful. She took a deep breath, her whole body quivering, her pussy saturated, ready for him. She became intoxicated as he stretched himself over her, the silk of his new boxers sliding along the tender folds between her thighs. She opened for him, moaning as his rock-hard erection pressed firmly against her mound, stimulating her already-sensitive clit.
She clutched him to her, almost afraid that he would escape, needing some sort of reassurance that he was real, that he was hers. She had never, ever been a possessive or obsessive woman, but Simon was so incredible, so completely amazing, that it seemed almost impossible that he really existed, that he was truly hers. Sometimes he almost seemed like a dream, a lovely dream that took her existence from ordinary to extraordinary.
“Relax, baby,”
Simon whispered in her ear, his warm breath making her shiver.
Relaxing her arms, she wrapped them around his neck, trying to control her feral instinct to bind him to her, protect herself from ever having to live without him. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m feeling desperate.”
She hadn’t meant to say it; it sounded pathetic, but it was true. Her emotions were on overload and her body was clamoring for more.
He trailed hot, open-mouthed kisses up the side of her neck. “No more desperate than I am. Every time I hear your voice, see you, talk to you, I want to get closer. Hell, all I have to do is think about you.”
Lightly, his tongue licked her lips, tracing the contours of her mouth. “I want inside of you. I want us to be fused so tightly that you can never get away.”
Yes. Yes. That’s how she felt.
His mouth came down on hers-no more teasing, no more seduction. He invaded, pillaged, ravished with his lips and tongue, and she opened to him like a flower to the sun. She moaned as he sated a small portion of her desire for cohesion, her hips automatically lifting, wanting other body parts to merge, needing some relief from her hyper-aroused state.
He pulled his mouth from hers, his breathing ragged. “Fuck! You’re sweet. So sweet and so damn hot!”
Pulling her arms from around his neck, he gripped her wrists and imprisoned them at her side, sliding slowly down her body.
She squirmed, pulling at her wrists that were held tightly, one on each side of her waist. He licked and kissed his way down her chest until he reached her breasts, making her want to scream with frustrated desire.
He wasn’t gentle, and she didn’t want him to be. His teeth abraded a sensitive nipple, pulling the tip into his scorching mouth, using both his teeth and his tongue.
Pleasure and pain.
“Simon. Oh, God. Please.”
Her head thrashed as he switched to the other nipple, torturing her, arousing her until she could barely draw breath.
He kept up his erotic assault on her breasts, laving, gently biting, switching from one to the other while he kept her hands clamped firmly at her side. The feeling of being at his tender mercy was maddening, intoxicating, breathtaking.
His mouth dipped lower, moving in circles over her belly, leaving a trail of heat in its wake.
Finally, he let go of her wrists, using his hands to spread her legs wide as he moved between her thighs. “You smell so sweet. Like aroused woman. My woman. Mine to satisfy. My honey to lick up.”
He growled, taking deep breaths, the hot exhalations caressing the tender folds of her pussy.
Her body nearly exploded just from his possessive, completely aroused, masculine snarl. “Yes, Simon. Please. I need you. I need to come.”
“I need to make you come. Satisfy my woman.”
He pushed her legs up, bending her knees, opening her for his hungry mouth.
His attack was immediate and totally carnal. Mouth devouring, tongue penetrating, he claimed her pussy with an intensity that made her cry out his name as her body quivered.
He breached the tender folds, delving deep, licking up her cream with a sensual abandon that left her breathless and whimpering. His tongue found and attacked her swollen clit with mindless focus.
Kara speared her hands into his hair, oblivious of anything other than the total ecstasy her body was experiencing from his primal, animalistic mission. He was going to make her climax. Hard.
He laved the tiny bud over and over. Faster and faster. Again and again.
Her body shaking, she fisted his hair, pulling his mouth tightly against the pulsating flesh of her pussy.
Her body wound tightly, her nerve endings sizzling with heat, she detonated with a force so powerful that her back arched and she tried to pull away from his relentless mouth, the pleasure too sharp, too vehement.
Gripping her hips, he held her tightly, making her ride the waves of the volatile pleasure as she screamed his name. He didn’t stop until the last spasm subsided, leaving her as limp as a wet dishrag.
Still gasping for breath as he crawled up her body and lay at her side, she rolled into his body and threw her arm over his massive chest, burying her head against his shoulder.
“Feel better?”
his voice was raspy, but laced with amusement.
She batted his shoulder weakly. “Were you trying to kill me?”
“Only with pleasure, baby,”
he whispered, his voice heated.
“Well, then you were successful.”
She ran her hand down his chest, tracing his scars, wondering why a man as wonderful as this one had suffered such pain. Sometimes life just wasn’t fair.
Her hand trailed down his abdomen, tracing every toned muscle. He was sculpted like a Greek statue. And had a cock much bigger than those depicted in any of those marble nudes. “You’re so gorgeous,”
she whispered in awe as she followed the silky trail of hair from his navel downward.
“I’m starting to think we need to take you to an eye doctor,”
he rumbled, his voice graveled, but adoring.
“My eyesight is perfect and so is my perception. You’re so strong. Handsome.”
Her fingers curled around his engorged cock. “And big.”
He sucked in an audible breath as she dipped her hand into his boxers and swiped her fingertip over the head of his cock, spreading the moisture of a drop of pre-cum over the silken tip, rubbing it gently, slowly.
“Fuck! I love feeling your hands on me. It’s the best damn feeling in the world.”
Gripping his shaft a little tighter, she started to move it sensually, provocatively. This was something that Simon had always missed because he couldn’t let a woman have her hands free during sex. Until now. Simon would never be tame, but the fact that he felt comfortable with her touch, that he actually wanted it, humbled her. After all he had been through, he trusted her.
He groaned, a tortured sound between pleasure and torment. His larger hand covered hers. “Ride me, sweetheart. Fuck me senseless.”
He stripped his new, already much-loved favorite underwear off, letting them drop to the floor.
Her head jerked up to look at his face as his arms came around her, lifted her over him. “Are you sure?”
She wanted nothing more at that moment than to take that mammoth cock into her body and watch him take his pleasure under her. But she was trembling at the thought, terrified of making him live through another bad memory.
“Yeah. I want to watch you ride me. I want to watch your face as you come from riding my cock,”
he answered, his expression dark and desperate.
Straddling his hips, she hesitated, her heart racing. Could he do this? He didn’t have to. “You don’t need to prove anything to me. We don’t have to do this.”
“Take me inside you, sweetheart. I need you,”
he grunted, his voice husky with desire.
I need you.
Those three little words had her lifting up, grasping his engorged cock and placing the head at the opening of her slick channel. Need surged through her, an elemental, pure desire to feel him fill her, have him moving inside her, as deeply as she could take him. Her hands on his chest, she maneuvered up and down, taking him slowly, getting used to the angle. She lowered again, taking most of the shaft as his hips lunged up, trying to go deeper.
Big, strong hands gripped her hips, pulling her down to meet him as he surged up, their skin slapping together sharply as she finally had him deeply imbedded inside her, filling her completely. He stretched her, opened her, held her hips tightly as they completely joined, his cock buried to the root.
“Christ! You feel so good. So tight and hot.”
His voice was wild, feral.
She watched his face, looking for any sign that the position was troubling for him. There was nothing but pleasure. His liquid chocolate eyes met and held hers fast. His hands guided her strokes, his hips moving up with powerful thrusts.
Their eyes stayed locked and a tear trickled down her cheek as she saw no sign of fear in him, no doubt of who he was fucking.
“Only you, Kara. It’s only ever been you,”
he told her, his chest heaving. “You look so beautiful. Let go. Ride me. Come for me.”
She let her eyes flutter closed as he pummeled her, holding her hips in his strong hands. Her head fell back as she let herself be consumed by the pounding strokes of his cock, the friction of his furious thrusts, the feel of him owning her again and again.
Her breasts bounced with his powerful entries. She lifted her hands and cupped them, pinching them lightly.
“Yeah. Take what you want, sweetheart. Whatever you need.”
He panted heavily as his strokes became deeper, harder.
Her fingers plucked at her nipples as his grip on her hips got tighter, more demanding. She rode him hard, grinding, taking him so deep that she shuddered.
Throwing her head back, she imploded. The muscles in the walls of her channel clenched and released, repeatedly squeezing the cock invading her. As her body quivered, she felt his body tense beneath hers.
She watched, their eyes meeting, as he came.
He was hot and wild, masculine and perfect. The low, reverberating sound that ripped from his throat was the most beautiful sound she had ever imagined.
A hot, explosive stream emptied into her womb and they both collapsed. She could feel his body trembling as her body crumpled, covering him like a blanket. “I love you,”
she murmured with a sigh against his chest.
His arms came around her, holding her tightly against his body. They were both sweaty and spent, but she felt so complete, so content.
It took a while for her breathing to return to normal and her racing heart to quiet. She started to crawl off Simon’s body, to move to his side, but he wouldn’t let her. He grunted and pulled her back over him. “Stay.”
It should have pissed her off that he was giving her a dog obedience order, but the way that he said it, with such longing in his voice, made her smile. She was also so sated that she could barely move.
She snuggled her head back onto his shoulder, determined to get up the energy to move shortly or she would end up crushing the poor guy.
His breathing became deep and even, his arms still locked around her, but relaxed.
He’s sleeping. We just had sex in his nightmare position. And he’s sleeping with me on top of him.
Her heart flipped and a bone-deep ache penetrated her body. He trusted her so much that he could be at ease when he felt most vulnerable. She turned her head and kissed him lightly, her heart overflowing with love for this man.
This man who put her needs first.
This man who trusted her.
This man who would go to any lengths to please her.
This man she loved.
She’d always treasure his trust, nurture it as though it were precious. Which it was.
Exhaustion made her eyes close, her body relax.
Really, you need to roll off Simon. It can’t be a comfortable way to sleep.
Her breathing became deeper, matching the same rhythm as the man beneath her.
They woke the next morning in the same position, completely rested and comfortable.
Simon paced the courtyard of the elegant resort with a frown.
Was he about to make a big mistake? What if she wouldn’t have him? The last six weeks had been the happiest of his life. Did he really want to screw that up?
He looked out at the water, reliving those memories with a contented sigh.
I don’t want to screw it up. But I need her. I want her to be mine. The need to brand her as his, to stake his claim, was nearly overwhelming.
Looking toward the outside door to their suite made him shudder. Fuck! Why was this so hard? He and Kara shared everything. There wasn’t a corner of his heart and soul that she didn’t know.
His phone vibrated in the pocket of his suit jacket. He was in a suit and tie, and it wasn’t even a damn workday. He was currently in Orlando, to visit Disneyworld of all places, to realize one of Kara’s dreams. Incredible that a woman born and raised in Tampa had never been to Disneyworld!
Of course, neither had he. But, then again, he had come to Florida as an almost-adult.
He clenched his last heart-wish in his palm, squeezing it until his hand was white, his blood circulation nearly cut off.
He had saved one wish. The other one had been used to get her to come on a vacation trip during her spring break. He had given her the heart a month ago and told her he wished that he could take her someplace that she wanted to visit during her spring break.
Okay. Yeah. He expected Paris, London, the Orient, or even Africa. Instead, she had mumbled quietly that she had always wanted to go to Disneyworld. Barely more than an hour’s drive from Tampa, and with a private jet available for travel anywhere in the world, he hadn’t expected this to be her dream vacation.
Granted, it had actually been fun. He especially liked it when she got scared on a ride and threw herself in his arms with a shriek and a delighted laugh. Tonight was their last night at the resort, and he was taking her to dinner in one of the best restaurants in Orlando. He just hoped that they had something big to celebrate.
Fishing his phone from his jacket, he looked at the caller ID. Hudson, Samuel.
“What?”
he snarled into the phone.
“Did you ask her yet?”
Simon nearly laughed at the slightly nervous voice on the other end of the phone. Sam acted like this event was just as important to him as it was to Simon. “No. She’s getting ready for dinner.”
“You’ve had a week. What the hell?”
“What do you care?”
Actually, Simon knew very well why Sam cared. He’d let it slip that if Kara said yes, Sam would very likely be seeing Maddie Reynolds again.
“She’s good for you. You need her. Plus, I don’t want to put up with your shitty mood if she says no.”
She wasn’t going to say no. She couldn’t say no. He would just have to convince her. Anything else was not an option.
The door of their suite opened, and Simon lost all interest in his conversation with Sam. “I’ll call you later.”
“Ask her.”
Simon clicked off the call and pocketed his phone, his eyes never leaving the beautiful woman in red, framed in the door of their suite.
God, she’s incredible. Will I ever get used to the sight of her?
Most likely...not. It didn’t matter where she was, or what she was wearing, he started having palpitations the moment he saw her.
Tonight, dressed in a red cocktail dress that flirted with her knees, and a pair of matching heels, she took his breath away. Her hair was down, tiny strands ruffling from the slight ocean breeze.
“You look beautiful,”
he told her truthfully as he reached her side, planting a light kiss on her lips. You look like a fucking goddess.
Every day. Every single time he saw her.
“Thanks. You’re looking very handsome yourself, Mr. Hudson. Are we ready?”
she asked, shooting him a happy smile.
I’m ready. Ready to strip off that sexy dress and see what kind of underwear you’re wearing. Then I’ll strip them off with my teeth and fuck you until you scream.
His cock was rock-hard, but that was nothing new. It happened every day, every time she smiled at him. Or when she didn’t smile at him. When she frowned. When she argued. Fuck! Her mere presence was all that was required to give him an erection.
Or her voice. Or just the thought of her. Damn...he was easy when it came to Kara.
“In just a minute.”
He guided her back in the door, closing it behind him. “I need to talk to you.”
Her smile faded and he wanted to kick himself.
“Is something wrong?”
she asked, her voice suddenly concerned.
“No.”
He sat on a leather couch in the opulent suite and pulled her down into his lap. “I need to ask you something.”
Do it. Just do it. Before you go crazy.
He opened his clenched fist, showing her his final heart-wish.
“Don’t waste it on asking for sex, ’cause I’m pretty much a sure thing,”
she answered, laughing softly.
He slid her off his lap and seated her beside him. Reaching into his pocket, he handed her a small box.
She looked at him, then the heart, and then the box. Taking the box in her hand, she lifted the lid slowly.
“I wish that you would marry me.”
His voice was husky and filled with part hope, part fear.
“Oh, my God. Simon, I didn’t expect this.”
She pulled the huge, sparkling diamond ring, housed in a platinum setting, from its velvet home, her fingers trembling. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say yes. Please.”
Say yes or I’m gonna lose it.
She looked at him with a stunned expression. “You want to marry me? Simon, you haven’t even told me that you love me. I assumed you just weren’t ready. I didn’t expect this.”
How in the hell could she not have suspected? She’d owned his heart, body, and soul for what seemed like forever. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”
Surely he had said that to her before? “I do. I can’t believe I’ve never said it, but you had to have known.”
She smiled up at him. “I know. I just wasn’t sure if you were ready to say it.”
“I’m more than fucking ready. You’re mine and I want it official.”
His eyes were intense, his body tight. “I should have told you that I loved you.
I’ll make sure you hear it so often from now on that you’ll be tired of hearing me say it. You deserve to hear it every fucking day.
Maybe I haven’t verbalized it because there aren’t really words to explain how I feel about you. Love seems lukewarm, not enough. But I love hearing it coming from your lips. I should have known that you wanted to hear it.”
He sighed. “You’re my life, sweetheart. Please be mine. Mine forever.”
She threw herself into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes tightly, knowing he held his whole world in his arms at that very moment.
“Mine forever,”
she breathed, close to his ear, her voice incredulous.
He pulled back to look at her face. She was crying, tears spilling from her eyes in an endless stream.
“Don’t cry. I don’t like it.”
“I know. But they’re happy tears.”
Fuck! Crying was crying, and he hated to see her cry. He plucked the ring from her trembling fingers and grasped her hand gently, sliding the ring on her finger. His heart raced as he stated, “You’re marrying me.”
“I thought you were asking.”
She shot him an amused look. “I haven’t said yes.”
“You will,”
he warned, his expression dark. “Say that you will.”
Say it. Before I have a damn heart attack. Say it. Now. Right fucking now!
She pried his fist open and pick up the heart gently. She tore it up, letting the tiny pieces scatter over the couch. “Wish granted.”
He blew out a relieved breath, his heart hammering. “Yes?”
“Yes. I’ll marry you. I love you, too.”
“Soon,”
he demanded.
“We’ll see. Compromise?”
“No!”
He took her hand in his and gently kissed the ring he had placed on her finger. “No compromise this time.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, dropping a soft kiss on his lips as she caressed the nape of his neck. “A small compromise?”
“No.”
He groaned as she pulled his head down and gave him a toe-curling, hot embrace that had him panting in the aftermath.
“You can give a little,”
she told him in a low, persuasive voice.
He growled as her hand moved down his chest and palmed his erection through his pants. “Are you trying to seduce me into compromise?”
“Maybe. Is it working?”
she answered in her irresistible “fuck-me” voice.
“Hell yes, it’s working,”
he growled, pulling her into his arms. “Fine. We’ll talk terms. Later.”
He stood and pulled her to her feet.
Fuck! He was easy.
“Later,”
she agreed. “Much later.”
She grabbed his tie and tugged, leading him willingly toward the bedroom.
Maybe being easy wasn’t always a bad thing.
They missed dinner and ordered room service hours later. In the hours preceding their celebratory engagement dinner in the suite, Simon learned that compromise wasn’t bad at all and that being easy could be a very, very good thing.