Beauty from Pain (14 page)

I follow him to the ATV garage and he gases up
before we drive out to what must be the edge of the property. He
parks and walks over to a vine, lifting it for inspection. He puts
his hand up and motions for me. “Come here, Paige. I want to show
you this.”

I walk over and he points to a section on the
vine. “I came to this vineyard for a very specific reason. The
acidity of the soil and this particular type of grape are no longer
compatible. The quality of the grapes is deteriorating. That means
the quality of the wine is as well, so I’m grafting a different
variety onto the existing rootstock. If it doesn’t reject the
change, there will be a more compatible grape growing on these
vines within two years.”

The process sounds similar to skin grafting.
“Is it working?”

“
It’s still too early to tell, but
it’s doing well so far.”

He releases the vine and we walk back to the
ATV. “I’ve never really thought about all that goes into making
wine. It seems like it’s a very complicated and demanding
business.”

“
It can be.”

“
I see why your boss pays you
well. You’re very good at what you do. Did you learn all of this at
the university where Ben attends?”

“
No. I learned from growing up
around it and then I went to another university to learn what I
needed to know about the business part of the industry, but that’s
been many moons ago.”

“
You sound like you think you’re
so much older than I am.”

He studies me like he’s searching my eyes for
something. “I’m eight years older.”

I roll my eyes at him. “It’s seven, but
whatever. I don’t mind. I have daddy issues, remember?”

He leans over and kisses my mouth. “Yes. How
can I forget that, my sweet young thing?”

We make several stops throughout the vineyard
so Lachlan can inspect more grafts. He seems pleased with
everything he sees, so I know he’ll be able to leave the vineyard
for the holidays without worry.

“
What time will you be leaving
tomorrow?”

“
My mum wants me at the house by
five, so I guess I’ll drive you back before lunch. What are your
plans?”

“
Addison has invited me to Zac’s
house with her and Ben, but I’m not going.”

“
Your friends are going to leave
you by yourself on Christmas? That’s shitty.”

He has no idea how much I agree. “I’ll be
okay. I rather be alone than with a house full of
strangers.”

I don’t like the pity in his eyes. It’s
something I spent my whole childhood seeing and it makes me more
uncomfortable as an adult, so I change the subject and hope he
doesn’t bring it up again.

We return to the house for lunch
and then go back out onto the vineyard. I don’t think Lachlan had
the intention of working all
day
, but he sees how content I am to
be outdoors, so we ramble on the ATV until late evening.

When the sun begins to drop from the sky, we
go in for an early dinner. We’re both pretty quiet while we eat,
but we share a lot of smiles and knowing grins because we’re
anxious for what tonight will bring.

We’re cleaning the kitchen together when
Lachlan makes his signature move and comes up behind me. Why does
he love doing that so much?

He grabs my hips and drags my bottom against
him. He grinds against me and I can feel how hard he is. “Go get
ready. I’ll finish up the kitchen and meet you in the bedroom in
five minutes.”

He kisses my neck and lets me go. I have to
hurry because he isn’t giving me long, so I scramble to the
bathroom with my bag.

I’m excited for this—for him—as I quickly
freshen up before slipping into my naughty little Santa-themed
lingerie. I think it’s been a little longer than five minutes when
I hear him call out from the bedroom. “Time’s up, Miss Beckett. I’m
waiting.”

I call out from inside the bathroom. “Sit on
the bed and close your eyes. No peeking. I’ll know if you
do.”

I open the door and see him sitting on the
bed, eyes closed. “And just how will you know if I
peek?”

“
Because I always know when you’ve
been naughty.”

I walk out into the room in the red lingerie
with white fur trim and candy cane-striped thigh-highs. With hands
on my hips, I say, “You can open your eyes now.”

He does as I tell him and when he sees me, he
breaks into a smile. It’s all for me and no one else. “I have a
gift for you if you’ve been a good little boy.”

“
And what if I’ve been
naughty?”

I stroll toward him. “You’ll still get a
present.”

We reach for each other at the same time and
he brings his mouth down hard on mine. It’s almost painful, but I
rejoice inside because it’s the way I want it tonight. Rough and
raw.

He quickly spins us around and shoves me
backwards onto the bed. He strips his shirt over his head and I
enjoy the show from where I’m lying on the bed. “Get on your
stomach.”

I flip over and hear the sound of his zipper,
then that of the opening drawer. Boo. I’m missing that part
again.

I feel the bed dip and he crawls over me from
behind. Hot skin is all I feel against my back. He’s naked. And
wanting, obvious from the hardness pressed against my
thigh.

I’ve come to expect him to push my hair from
my shoulders, and he does. He puts his lips on the skin of my neck
and then slowly moves to my shoulder. He grazes his teeth over it
while his hands are all over me at once. I’m squirming beneath him,
chills erupting over my entire body. He continues to travel
downward until his mouth reaches the band of my panties. He hooks
his fingers inside and tugs. I lift my hips up from the bed a
little so he can get them down.

When my panties are off and tossed
aside, he unfastens my bra. He puts his palm flat against the small
of my back and strokes it before his hand drops to my cheeks. I’m
afraid because I don’t know what he’s going to do. I’ve never
done
that
before,
and I don’t think I want to.

I’m face down, but I feel his hand creep
around to my stomach and then down between my legs until he’s
stroking me in that delightful place. I temporarily forget my fear
because all I feel is longing for more of what he’s doing. I must
have it. I’ll explode with it or without it, but for two completely
different reasons.

I feel him prodding me from behind, searching
blindly for his way inside me, and I’m back to thinking of his
intent. I decide it doesn’t matter. He can do anything to me as
long as his fingers don’t stop what they’re doing right
now.

He pushes my knees apart with his and then
glides into the familiar place. I admit I’m relieved, but I don’t
have time to think about it for long before he’s directing me. “Sit
up and lean back against me.”

I push myself up and then shift backwards
until I’m sitting on him with my knees spread apart. He grips my
hips and begins to guide me up and down. This is a new position for
me. Shit, I’ve never felt so full.

He returns his fingers to my pleasureland as
he fills me from behind. It’s absurd how good he makes me
feel.

When he sees he no longer has to guide my
movement, he uses his free hand to palm one of my breasts. It’s too
many sensations to withstand at once. I’m on the ledge, about to
fall. Or jump. I’m not sure which, and then I hear his possessive
words through gritted teeth and it sends me over the edge. “No one
else touches you. Only me. Do you understand?”

The quaking starts in my core and I don’t
answer him because I can’t find my voice. I’m too entangled in the
flood of ecstasy to speak. I ride him harder as the waves of
pleasure begin because I’ll die if I don’t. He squeezes my nipple
hard and the sensation radiates down between my legs to finish me
off. “Tell me you understand.”

My hands grip the top of his thighs and I
squeeze hard. My answer comes out as a scream. “Yes! I
understand!”

I fall forward onto my stomach with exhaustion
and he collapses with me on top of my back. His weight pushes me
into the mattress and he’s breathing heavily against my ear. “I
won’t share you with anyone.”

His words remind me of my initial thoughts
about him. Lachlan Henry’s world is a dark place I know nothing
about. I think it frightens me, but it’s too late now. I’m a part
of it, no matter what it is.

16

Jack McLachlan

I feel it in the way she’s trembling and it has
nothing to do with her orgasm. I’ve been too aggressive with her.
Now I need to show her I can be gentle.

I lift myself from Paige’s body and kneel
between her legs from behind. I kiss the dip in her lower back and
taste the salty moisture created during our sexual frenzy. It’s
another way I love to taste this sweet girl.

I glide my hands from her waist to her
shoulders and begin massaging her tense muscles. It takes a few
minutes, but I feel her eventually relax under my touch and I
contemplate how to justify my possessive outburst.

I could say that I don’t know where my
irrational demand came from, but that would be a lie. There
should’ve been no room for anything in my head other than how good
it felt to be inside her, but something else slipped into my
thoughts. Someone else—Ben Donavon. I can’t believe I let that
little bastard get into my head. He wants what’s mine and I’m
forced to deliver her to him tomorrow. She might as well be served
on a silver platter.

For two days, I’ll be in Sydney and she’ll be
with him in his apartment. They might find themselves alone. That’s
when shit happens.

I might have gone about it poorly, but I want
to be clear with Paige; she is mine while she’s in Australia. I
won’t share her with Ben Donavon or any other dick.

I lean forward to kiss her shoulder and then
skim my nose across the nape of her neck. She smells so good—all
fruit, sweat, and pheromones. Lots of pheromones. If I keep
sniffing her, I could get sidetracked from what I need to
do.

I place the side of my face against the center
of her back and leave it there while I try to regain some of the
footing I may have lost over my less-than-gentle treatment. “I’m
sorry if I was too aggressive.”

“
You were pretty intense.” She
peers at me over her shoulder. “But I never said I was opposed to
intense.” I feel her words rumble against my ear pressed to her
body. “However, I’m a little confused about what you
said.”

I roll off her and lie on my side. She does
the same and props her head in her hand. She pokes her lips out at
me as she mocks me in a husky tone. “You look so
serious.”

I am. Dead serious. “We may only be together
for a few months, but you’re mine while you’re here. I won’t share
you with Ben Donavon or any other man.”

I see the confusion on her face. “What brought
this on?”

Oh, hell. I’m going to sound like such a
chick. “You live with him.”

She’s giving me that
duh, really?
look that
my little sister gives me. Women must be born with that special
talent. “And you knew that when we met. You didn’t just figure that
out.”

“
I know, but I have to take you
back to him tomorrow.”

The realization clicks in her head and she
understands. “You’re not relinquishing custody of me to Ben. You’re
taking me to the place where I stay with my best
friend.”

“
Which happens to belong to a man
who wants you in his bed.” I didn’t see it before, but it’s become
clear to me. Now that I’ve had Paige in my bed, her residency at
Ben Donavon’s is going to be a problem for me.

She shrugs, as if she couldn’t care less. “It
doesn’t matter if he wants me or not. I don’t want him.” She gets
up and straddles me. “But I do want you.”

She is going to use sex to distract me from
this conversation. I’ll allow it—this time.

–––––

It’s Christmas Eve morning. When I
wake, I see Paige asleep on her stomach again. I’m learning things
about her. She’s a stomach sleeper. She doesn’t want to cuddle when
it’s time to sleep. And she likes her space in the bed. All these
thing are fine by me.

Instead of getting up to have coffee and read
the paper, I stay in bed. I want to be next to her when she wakes
because I’m going to have her again before I take her back. I want
to be freshly on her skin and inside her when she returns to
him.

My American girl isn’t a morning person. She
likes to sleep in, so I get to lie next to her, studying her form
for almost an hour before she wakes. I’m on the verge of going back
to sleep when I feel her roll in my direction. My eyes spring open
and she’s staring at me.

Hmm. The watcher becomes the
watched.

She laces her fingers together across my chest
and props her chin on top of her hands. “Good morning.”

I lift my head and kiss the top of her hair.
“Good morning to you, sleepyhead.”