In The Tycoon's Bed: One Night, Two Heirs

“Not asking it to,” he whispered.

“It would probably only make things harder.”

“Things are pretty hard right now,” he confessed, lifting his head to smile down at her.

She laughed and shook her head. “How am I supposed to fight you?”

“You’re not. I’m tired of fighting, Sadie. And so are you.” He kissed her then, long and deep, tongue tangling with hers, silently demanding that she feel what he felt, want what he wanted.

Finally, though, he broke the kiss, lifted his head and looked into her eyes. He read passion glittering there and knew he’d won this round. Knew that her needs were going to overpower her sense of propriety. Just as they had that night three years ago.

He dropped his hands to her waist, then skimmed his palms up, beneath the hem of her yellow silk shirt. Her skin was softer than that silk and just touching her again inflamed him more than he had expected. His body went rock-hard and aching. His heartbeat pounded in his chest and need clamped a tight fist around his lungs so that breathing was nearly impossible.

Her eyes locked with his and when he covered her breasts with his hands, he saw the flare of desire quickening in those pale blue depths. Even through the lace of her bra, he felt her nipples pebble at his caress. Felt the sweeping rush of heat that was going to engulf them both.

“I am tired of fighting you. Fighting this,” she said, arching into him, silently asking for more. “So touch me again. Touch me all over. Make me feel the way you did on that night.”

He wouldn’t have thought it possible to get even harder, but he did. Hearing her ask for him. Seeing her desire. Feeling her heat.

Rick was lost.

Right where he wanted to be.

Seven (#ulink_73ef3303-92d4-5dfd-a877-4666ab45334c)

With the summer wind blowing all around them like a soft caress, Sadie forgot about standing her ground and gave herself up to the wonder of being in Rick’s arms again.

Her entire life, she had done the right thing, said the right thing, been the perfect daughter. Yes, she’d gotten a divorce, but even society expected that to happen once in a while. Until that night with Rick, she had never really rebelled. And in that one night, she had felt more alive than she ever had before.

She wanted it again.

His kiss enveloped her. Their tongues danced in a sensual feast of sensation until Sadie was panting for air and not really caring if she got her next breath or not. Her hands swept up and down his back, loving the feel of his hard, muscled body pressed against her.

He grabbed her and pulled her abdomen close enough that she felt the thick heaviness of his body. Desire pumped through them both with a rush that was simply shattering. There were so many sensations. So many emotions churning inside her.

Rick unbuttoned her blouse and slid it off her shoulders and down her arms to puddle on the stone patio at their feet. She lifted her arms to him, encircled his neck and gloried in the feel of his hands moving over her bare flesh. In moments, he had unhooked her bra and dropped it, too, to the patio.

Then he set her back from him and looked his fill. The warm summer air felt cool on her heated skin. He bent his head and took first one hardened nipple then the other into his mouth. His lips, tongue and teeth tortured her gently, sending her mind spinning out of control as her instincts took over.

She groaned and held his head to her breast, smoothing her fingers through his short hair, loving the slide of it against her skin. He suckled her and she felt everything inside her liquefy in a rush of molten heat that settled deep at her core.

“Rick …” She swayed into him as her knees went weak in response to the overload of sensation. “I’m going to fall over here in a minute.”

“I’m going to lay you down in a minute.”

A stirring of unease mixed with excitement lit up her insides. “Out here?”

“We’re alone, honey,” he said, kissing her again, lightly, teasingly. “There’s not a soul around.”

“But Elena. John Henry—”

“Never leave their place at night. No more buts, darlin’,” he told her, laying one finger across her lips to keep her protests quiet. “Just relax and trust me. Can you do that?”

She looked up into his eyes and realized that she had already made her decision. She wanted another night with Rick. He was the man who had shown her what real passion and excitement was. Did she really want to back away now?

“I can do that,” she said before her rational mind could override her desires.

“Just what I wanted to hear,” he said and tore off his own shirt.

She reached for him, unable to keep from stroking her fingertips along that bronzed, sculpted chest. He sucked in some air at her touch and Sadie smiled to know that she was having the same kind of effect on him that he was on her.

A purely female, sexual power swirled through her as she ran her palms across his flat nipples and when his eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched, she loved the rush she felt.

“Sadie, you are making me crazy.”

“That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me,” she said huskily, leaning in to kiss him.

He chuckled and the sound was dark and rich, rolling through her system like warm wine.

“This is crazy,” she murmured, knowing it was true, but not really caring. “Heck, you’re crazy,” she added and even she thought it sounded more like a compliment than an accusation.

“It’s part of what you like about me,” he said and led her to the double-wide chaise. It was warm from the summer sun and overstuffed to make lounging on the patio as comfortable as possible. And Sadie could hardly believe that she was stripping out of her clothes and lying down on it, naked in the moonlight.

The heavy cotton felt scratchy against her skin, but any discomfort was lost as she watched Rick quickly get rid of his clothes. She sucked in a gulp of air when she took her first look at his body, hard and ready for her. Then she couldn’t think at all because he was there, lying on top of her, flesh to flesh, heat to heat.

She sighed when he rolled to his back and pulled her on top of him. She straddled him then, looking down into dark eyes that flashed with wicked heat. He lifted both hands to cup her bare breasts and at the first touch of his hands, she arched into him, pushing herself into his grasp. Sighing, she let all thought slide away as his fingers and thumbs tweaked at her already sensitive nipples.

She needed to touch as well as be touched. Reaching down, she wrapped her hands around his heavy shaft and smiled when he hissed in a breath through gritted teeth. She stroked him, rubbing her fingers up and down his length and across the very tip of him until he was lifting his hips into her touch.

“You’re killing me,” he groaned.

“Oh, not my intention at all,” Sadie promised. Then, feeling sexy and wild and completely out of control, she went up on her knees and slowly, slowly took him into her body. Inch by glorious inch, she accepted him, giving her own body time to stretch to accommodate his. It was an invasion of the most intimate kind and she wanted all of him within her.

She took her time, prolonging the suspenseful glide of bodies locking together to torture both of them. Her eyes closed and she moaned her pleasure.

“Enough,” he grumbled a moment later and rolled them over again, until Sadie was on her back and he was wedged between her thighs.

She smiled up at him. “Impatient.”

“Damn right. We’ve waited three years to do this. So let’s get to it.”

“You are a romantic, aren’t you, Rick Pruitt?”

“Darlin’, you, naked, in the moonlight—that’s as romantic as it gets.”

“Smooth talker.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted her hips to him.

He pushed deeper inside her and Sadie gasped, tipping her head back to look up at the stars. He was inside her. Filling her. And for the first time in three years, she felt … complete.