Feel the Heat: A Contemporary Romance Anthology (17 page)

“Jesus!” His hands stilled on her ass. “Please tell me you’re wearing another one of those g-string things.”

She couldn’t find her voice, but that was okay because she couldn’t lie to him either. She didn’t answer. Hoped he wouldn’t question her further. If he knew she was bare beneath her skirt they’d both be lost and even with her mind in a sexual daze she knew they had to make it back to the hotel.

His hands moved higher on her butt, his long fingers explored her hip line, searching for the panties that weren’t there. Muscles flexed and fingertips dug in to meet bone.

“Fuck!” The word exploded from his mouth, blew the hair from her neck. He shook with tension, every inch of his body taut.

The growl had her muscles tensing. Before she could decide if he was angry he let her go, dug his phone from his pocket and yanked them both out of the queue and down the footpath. The humid night air, sticky on her skin, swirled around them. Saxon didn’t slow down, just barked orders into his phone as he all but dragged her down the street. A man on a mission. Carly took two steps to every one of his.

They arrived at an intersection, the lights of the Quay district behind them, the busy downtown area ahead. Friday night was alive in all directions but for once Carly wasn’t interested in the party. She wanted to be alone. With Saxon. A breeze picked up off the river, blew her hair around her face and chilled her heated body. The cool wind floated up her skirt, stung flesh alive with need and sent erotic pulses through her clit.

The deep breaths and fresh air did nothing to calm her racing libido. Every step rubbed her thighs together and with no barrier her cream had nothing to stop it from flowing free. Each slide, a caress of sensual pleasure as she hurtled straight toward the very thing her soul had begun to crave.

Saxon.

She’d suggested a fling. Thought she would be satisfied with a few nights of tangling the sheets with the hottest man to cross her path in months. Like any other hunger, she was supposed to take her fill and leave. But the yearning hadn’t faded. If anything it had grown and now it was an addiction she feared she’d never control. And it wasn’t just the sex she wanted. The need to be with him regardless of what they were doing was just as strong.

If she could think straight she’d end it now. Cut the cord before it attached too firmly, before it entwined so fully with her soul she’d never get untangled. Carly feared it was already too late for that. Knew, even as she thought about walking away, he’d wound his way inside her heart. Become a vital part of her somehow. A part that would be ripped from her and leave her bleeding when their fling ended.

C
arly made
love with a desperation that blindsided him. Saxon couldn’t say why the emotional intensity had changed, but Carly behaved as if every move, every breath taken were her last. It brought out a primitive response in him. He wanted to give her exactly what she demanded, what she craved. What he craved. He wanted to touch all of her. Leave himself imprinted on her mind, her heart—her soul—so she could never turn her back on him.

They’d started with a fling and ended up with so much more. Even when their sex was frantic and hard-edged, they had a connection he couldn’t deny, wouldn’t deny. He wasn’t prepared to let her go. Not now, not ever. When this weekend was over he’d either get everything he never knew he wanted or he’d be left with a bleeding heart and broken soul.

Sunlight streamed into the room. Even this late in the day its rays were bright and filled the room with the gaiety of a summer day at the beach. But this was no sunny afternoon. This was mere hours away from the end. Their overnight flight to Sydney left in six hours and he hadn’t dared to mention where they would go from here. The last two days had overflowed with sex. They hadn’t left the suite again after Friday night. Hadn’t left the bed except to shower or get the food delivered to the dining area. Neither of them had been able to last long away from the other.

While his body may be sated and all the physical activity had drained his energy, he couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t stop thinking about the woman lying beside him or about what would happen when she woke up and they packed to go home. He’d made some plans for the morning a little while ago, plans that would hopefully get him what he wanted but fear still gripped his heart and churned in his belly.

Setting up his company hadn’t given him this much anxiety. That alone told him how much Carly meant to him. How far she’d gotten inside him. His future lay in her hands. When she found out would she open her hands and let him fall, or would she cup them tighter and cherish the gift he offered? This weekend with her had changed so much.

Saxon never would have entertained thoughts like these before. He’d never been a fanciful man. Facts and figures were his world. But now, with Carly, he noticed so much more, thought so much deeper and if he was honest he’d admit his life until now had been black and white. With Carly he saw things in Technicolor for the first time and he’d be fucked if he wanted to go back to black and white without a fight.

* * *

A
t six am
on a Monday morning, Sydney international airport was a welcome sight. They made their way off the plane and through the terminal toward baggage claim. The number of people this early in the day surprised him. Stepping around the dawdlers, he strode with purpose and determination. He had a plan and he couldn’t put it into action quick enough.

Saxon pulled his bag from the carousel and waited for Carly’s to come around. His driver should be waiting on the other side of customs ready to take them home. His home. It wasn’t clear if it would be Carly’s anytime soon. She’d been quiet since waking yesterday. Her one-word answers to any question he’d asked had worried him at first. He thought she was no longer even speaking to him but when everyone else they encountered on their trip home received the same treatment he realized she’d withdrawn inside herself.

Whether she pulled away because she considered them over or in an effort to protect herself he couldn’t say. He did know he hoped for the latter. He could live with the latter because it would mean she felt something. More than just a physical attraction, and that gave him a foundation to work from—something more than his own emotions and commanding nature. Her brown bag came around and he grabbed the handle and lifted; the weight surprised him, he’d expected it to be much heavier.

He wheeled the two bags to where Carly waited. She’d dressed for comfort. The eight hour flight, even in business class, wasn’t exactly the best way to spend a night. Her sweat pants hung low on her hips, and the T-shirt she had on stopped three or four inches above the band, giving him a glimpse of the smooth expanse of her belly. His fingers had itched to reach out and touch her silky flesh so many times over the last twelve hours it had just about driven him insane.

They needed to be alone. Soon. If not, he’d forget about her standoffish attitude and anyone that might see him run his hands all over that supple skin and he wouldn’t be stopping there.

“Come on. The car will be waiting.” He walked straight past her, didn’t wait to hear a protest about her finding her own way home. She wasn’t going to her home.

“Saxon.”

Her voice came from behind him. He kept going.

“Saxon, wait.”

She sounded winded, her voice bringing vivid images of other times she’d been breathless. He lengthened his stride. If he kept ahead of her she’d be forced to follow and even though he didn’t want to bully her into a relationship, he knew he wanted to get her alone somewhere to plead his case.
Their
case. This was about both of them.

They sailed through customs. Neither had anything to declare and no red flags were raised, so they quickly found themselves being ushered to the vehicle waiting for them. Saxon got Carly and their luggage in the car without too much difficulty and before she could voice another protest they were on their way. Leaning back against the leather seat, she drew in a breath, expelled the air on a sigh, and shut her eyes.

Fifteen minutes into the drive her eyes popped open and she turned to look out the window. The second she noticed where they were she jerked forward.

“Why are we going this way? This isn’t the way to the office.”

“We’re going to my place.” He waited for her reaction.

Her gaze swung to his, and the uncertainty in her eyes made him cringe. He didn’t want to confuse her or upset her but he couldn’t explain fully until they had privacy.

“We have to talk.”

She searched his eyes, his face. Whatever she found obviously satisfied her because she nodded and sat back again, and those emerald eyes were slowly concealed by lowering eyelids. Saxon didn’t disturb her again; the silence, while strained, wasn’t uncomfortable. Miles ticked away as they got closer to his eastern suburbs home and his gut clenched, his throat constricted, the sensation not unlike the hours just before he won a new contract.

Only this would be the most important win of his life.

* * *

C
arly watched
the driver bring in all the bags. She stood at the living room window, her back to the view, and watched as Saxon pointed down the hall for the man to take his luggage into his bedroom. When he returned and took hers in the same direction, she spun around to find Saxon watching her with hooded eyes.

“I’ve been waiting a lifetime to see you in my house.”

His whispered words sent a shiver over her skin and down her spine. “What—”

He held up his hand as the driver returned. Saxon handed him a tip then saw him out the door.

The second it closed she spoke. “Saxon, what is going on? Why am I here?”

He walked toward her, slow measured steps, and stopped a foot away. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. If she didn’t know better she’d think he was nervous.

“We’re not finished.” He reached up, cupped her jaw with one hand, his thumb grazing back and forth on her bottom lip.

“The weekend is over.” If she agreed to continue their fling she’d never survive. She’d be lucky to walk away with her heart intact now. If fact, she knew she wouldn’t but she’d at least stand some chance of putting the pieces back together. If she got any closer, slept with him again, she’d bleed to death when he was done.

“Yes. The weekend is over. So is our Singapore fling.”

His words sliced through her; voiced aloud, they did far more damage than thinking them. She fought the sting of tears, gulped over the lump in her throat but she couldn’t speak. Didn’t dare open her mouth for fear a sob would slip out.

“I’m not asking to continue our fling.”

She couldn’t hold the emotion back. A sob hitched in her chest and a lone tear escaped and rolled down her cheek.

“Oh, Carly.”

Saxon pulled her close, wrapped his arms around her and ran his hands up and down her spine, the movement soothing and distressing at the same time.

“Oh sweetheart, don’t cry. You’re killing me here.” One hand cradled the back of her head. His fingers massaged her scalp as he held her against the strong beat of his heart. “I want more than a fling, Carly. We connected in a way beyond the physical. I want to explore that with you. I want to see where it takes us.”

She wasn’t sure she heard him right, wasn’t sure if her mind played tricks on her, only hearing what she wanted to hear. Carly tried to break away, tried to see his face, but he held her tighter.

“Carly, please, just listen to me.” Laced with emotion, his tone played havoc with her heart. “I know it’s sudden, but I can’t let you go.”

His words started to register. What he was asking. Her heart skipped a beat and another gut wrenching sob tore from her throat. She used two hands against his chest to pry herself free before springing up and wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Her lips slammed onto his, her tongue thrusting out to push inside his mouth. For a second he stood still, and then he burst into motion like a sprinter from a starting block.

The kiss exploded with frantic passion, blazing a trail that consumed them both. Hands groped and grabbed whatever was in reach. Clothes were tugged and torn, the need for skin-on-skin contact overwhelming. Teeth nipped and scraped as tongues lapped and tasted. Without knowing how, Carly found herself naked, caught between Saxon and the floor. His legs forced hers wide, his thighs kept them there.

He peeled his mouth from hers and gasped for breath. “I want inside you now,” he panted.

She opened farther for him. Thrust up to offer what he wanted. What she wanted. The head of his cock probed her pussy, slid between folds slick with the need for him. He growled, withdrew from her heat and she whimpered with impatience.

“No condom,” he explained.

“Don’t care,” she cried, her hips bucking up to reconnect them.

“Jesus. Are you sure?” He looked into her eyes. “If we do this now, you’ll marry me. I won’t have it any other way.”

Smiling, she pulled his mouth to hers and spoke the words against his lips. “Make love to me, Saxon. Make a baby with me and I’ll marry you the second we find out I’m pregnant.”

He didn’t speak. He didn’t need to. In one smooth stroke he thrust inside, burying his shaft to the hilt and paused. He held her face in his hands, held her gaze with his and said the words that sealed her fate.

“I love you.”

The tears that slipped down her cheeks now were happy ones. Through watery eyes, Carly stared up at the man she’d come to love with all her soul.

“I love you too.”

“Welcome home, Carly.”