Harlequin Kimani Romance September 2014 Bundle: Seduced by the Heir\Secret Silver Nights\Someone Like You\Indulge Me Tonight (63 page)

“What are you doing here?”

“Came to drop off some papers.” Leo enveloped Tielle in a bear hug and kissed her cheek. “Business stuff,” he added.

“Sorry for interrupting.” She glanced toward Grae.

Grae's focus, however, had shifted from his uncle to settle on his ex. “No need to apologize. He's not here to see me.”

“Ah...” Tielle smiled toward Leo again. “Well, I hope to see you before you go.” She stepped close for another hug and kiss from the man and then turned to Grae. “Can I talk to you?”

His bronze stare adopted a wolfish gleam. “Alone,” he stated. It was a subtle reminder of his earlier warning that she not find herself alone with him if she didn't want to be detained.

“You two go on, Tielle.” Leo gave an affectionate squeeze to her wrist and then took advantage of the opportunity to escape further questions from Grae. “We'll meet up later,” he said in passing.

Grae barely noticed the man's departure. “Are we talking in my room or yours?”

She worked to ignore the suggestion in his voice. “My office.”

“Hmm...” The gesture held a growling effect. “Sounds like fun.”

Tielle rolled her eyes, took Grae by the arm and led him off. “Everyone seems content,” she observed on their way past the dining room.

Grae wasn't impressed. “They're eating.”

Tielle had to laugh.

* * *

“Are you all right?” Grae asked the instant Tielle pushed her office door shut behind him.

Tielle frowned, bewildered by the question.

Mumbling a curse, Grae advanced and squeezed her arm.

Memory surfaced when discomfort barely throbbed. “I told you I was fine,” she said.

“You were lying then. I'd like the truth now.”

“Grae, what exactly do you want me to say?” She slapped her hands to her sides. “What? That in a show of brute force, you misused my body in pursuit of your own selfish pleasure?”

“Tel...” Grae breathed out her name while running the tip of his thumb across his brow.

“Please believe I'm fine.” She moved closer to smile up at him. “I'm better than fine. Better than I've been in a long time. You didn't do anything I didn't want or approve of.”

“Don't lie to me.” The order was gruff.

She smiled pityingly. “I never have and I'm not about to start now. Good enough?”

“It'll do.” He used the closeness she'd risked to his advantage and drew her high against him.

“This isn't why I called you here.”

“I know.” He was already taking her into the office living area.

“Grae, come on, listen to me.” She slapped his shoulder. “I need to ask you something.”

“Mmm-hmm.” He doused her neck with the most luxurious glides from his mouth. All the while he unraveled the wrap tie of her shirt. “It's okay, I have condoms.”

“Idiot.” She punched his shoulder that time. “This isn't about that.”

Grae lifted his head. “It's not?”

“Not exactly.”

“Right.” He went back to nibbling her ear.

The act sent Tielle falling under the spell of his touch. She summoned additional strength to her voice. “Be serious.”

Eventually, Grae obeyed her orders. His expression was unreadable as he studied her, waiting for her to say what she would.

“Come away with me.”

He blinked. Her words were clearly not what he expected. “Come away with you and do what?” he asked.

She bit her lip and glanced toward the sofa he held her over. “Whatever you want. Talk.”

“And?”

Tielle sent a silent curse toward Des. Not that she minded going away with her ex, but there was a storm brewing. It was definitely not the time for her to be away.

She rolled her eyes back toward his very nice face. “Whatever you want, Grae,” she assured him and felt her heart leap when his extraordinary eyes narrowed and raked her body lying prone beneath his.

“Whatever I want. Anything.”

The question-non-question statements adequately dampened her panties. “Wouldn't be much fun otherwise.” Her response was steady.

“Sounds damn good. When do we leave?” His voice was a rumble when he resumed his nibbling on her ear, freeing her from the shirt once he'd laid her down.

Tielle was fast approaching the point of speechlessness. Grae was manipulating a nipple between his thumb and forefinger while his free hand occupied space beneath the rising hem of her skirt. His fingers teased the lacy stitching of her lingerie.

“You'd really leave with all that's going on?” His voice was maddeningly calm, as though he were doing nothing out of the ordinary.

“I think that's why.” Her voice was a rush of breath. “This is more than I expected when I—I agreed to it.”

“Sorry I made you get involved.” He took in the emotions crossing her face as he touched her.

“I—” her lashes wouldn't still “—I couldn't say no.”

He brought his forehead to hers. “I don't always leave you much room to do that, do I?”

“I can hold my own...mmm... Y-you shouldn't think so highly of your abilities...”

His grin was devilment displayed. “My abilities are nothin' to underestimate.” He returned to lay siege to her earlobe, assaulting it with his lips, teeth and tongue, and continued the affecting caresses along her panties' stitching.

Chapter 11

T
ielle's office was colored by the rich sounds of delight being granted. Faintly, she chastised herself for being insatiable. After all, she'd had the pleasure of Graedon Clegg just that morning, the night before...

Another self-chastisement intervened just then. She was reminding herself of how long she'd been without him. While a year was perhaps not such a lengthy duration of abstinence, it was far lengthier than what she was used to, given who her lover was.

Grae's sexual appetite was as big as he was—if not bigger. If Tielle had somehow forgotten that, she recollected it all within the first ten minutes.

Grae had tired of skirting his fingers along the edge of her panties. He insinuated two inside the crotch. The sensation of flesh to flesh had Tielle biting down so hard on her lip, she threatened to draw blood. She strained beneath him, seeking to improve her position in order to receive every aspect of his caress.

“Mmm... Not now, Grae... No time for this...” Her mouth and body had taken differing trains of thought.

Grae had unwrapped Tielle's shirt, unbuttoned her khaki skirt like she was his own pleasure provider. He undid the front clasp of her bra and swirled his tongue on a budding nipple while his fingers eased deeper inside her. His mouth curved beneath the satisfaction roused by her breathy cries near his ear. The suckling he applied to the firm tip of her breast was as desire maddened as his intimate exploration of her body.

“Grae, I can't—can't come out of my clothes...Grae...”

“Too late,” he growled between the valley of dark chocolate.

Tielle discovered that her clothing had served as a mere pallet for her body against the sofa. The sofa left only a scant bit of space for his big frame to maneuver in. Tielle didn't know whether she wanted to celebrate or be disappointed by that fact.

Grae was obviously disappointed, for he cursed viciously when the sofa refused to accommodate his plans for her body. “I'm taking you to a bed.”

“Grae, wait.” She gave his forearms a squeeze when he would've gathered her up from the sofa. “Just give me a few hours to get some things squared away and then I'm all yours.”

Her word choice seemed to cool his ardor. “You haven't been
all mine
in over a year.”

“We can discuss it while we're away.” She sought to cool the temper she saw stirring in his eyes.

“How long?”

“Just a few hours. Two at the most,” she tacked on with haste when his gaze narrowed. She figured her fate was sealed when her attempts to slow her breathing only sent his eyes faltering to her chest.

“Grae...” Her sigh wavered when he dipped his head to begin another possessive examination of her nipples. Beneath gentle nudges from his nose, he shared his attention between her taut and glistening pebbles.

He let only the tip of his tongue touch her body. Faintly, he encircled her areolas, ignoring the nipples that bumped his mouth each time she inhaled. Her panties were uncomfortably damp—a side effect of his attentions, but one she was unable to do anything about.

Needy, Tielle rubbed the sensational ridge of denim-clad muscle that was pronounced and hard where it pressed against her belly.

“All right then.” He favored a nipple with one last skillful tug and then set her bra to rights. “Handle your business.” He wrapped her back into her shirt and buttoned her skirt. “I'll meet you out back?” Expectancy pooled in his entrancing stare as he waited for her to confirm or correct. At her nod, he relieved her of his weight and drew her up to sit on the sofa.

“Pack light.” He cupped her face. “Don't make me come looking for you.” He kissed her mouth, granted her a wink and was gone from the office without further hesitation.

Tielle waited until she heard the door lock click and then quickly tended her clothes and hair while scooting to the edge of the sofa. She pushed herself half off, reconsidered and reclaimed her prone position in an effort to make sense of her ex's sudden and unsettling return to her life. She failed miserably at the task, a fact that didn't surprise her in the least.

* * *

“It's probably not a good idea for you to stay for this.”

“Forget it.” Leo slanted a look down the conference room table to Desree. “Especially when you just told me that you asked Ti to get Grae out of here.”

Desree rolled her eyes. “I can handle Faro.”

“Can you? Giving him that deed is lunacy.”

“It's the only way to quiet him down.”

“That's a crock. Faro's never been trustworthy.” Leo tugged at his shirt cuffs and snorted. “You're a fool, Des, if you think he only wants that deed as a memento of his father.”

“It's a chance I'll have to take.”

“And if it blows up in your face?”

Desree slammed her hand against the table. “Dammit, Leo, what more can I do?”

“Talk to Grae.”

“And you call
me
a fool?” Desree practically sneered. “Why would you suggest that?”

Leo shrugged. “Should've been done long ago.”

“The child's just blowing a lot of hot air.” Desree fidgeted with the stylishly frayed sleeves of her sweater. “Once he has this—” she reached for the folder containing the land deed to the Clegg Marketing Park “—it'll be over.”

“Des...” Leo closed his eyes.

“
You
know how much he thinks of Tielle. For him to do what you're thinking would hurt her as much as Grae.” She shook her head. “Maybe there's a part of him that won't risk that.”

“Desree, no one means as much to Faro as Faro.” Leo swiveled the chair he occupied at the head of the table. “The only reason he settled down when Tielle was in the picture was because he probably thought she could get Grae to step down and let him have the top spot. I believe he thought her attachment to this place—” he extended his hands toward the ceiling “—would have her wanting to come back here and take Grae with her.

“Grae let his drama with Faro blind him to the fact that he was losing his wife. How do you think Ti will react knowing she'd stood up for someone willing to hurt the man she loves this way?”

Desree rested her head in her hands. “You want
me
to be the one to talk to Grae, but I can't put that in his head.”

“And if Faro puts it there?” Leo challenged.

Desree sighed. “I just want them all out of here. If giving him this deed has a chance in hell of accomplishing that, then I have to see it through.”

A smile cracked his face then. “You're one stubborn woman. All right, then. I've got no desire to witness what I know is coming, but I'll be damned if I leave you here to handle it on your own.”

Leo's voice fell silent just as a knock landed on the conference room door.

“Come in,” Desree called. Her lips thinned as Faro walked inside.

“Got your message, Aunty,” he said. His angular, dark face appeared guarded when he noticed Leo in the room. He greeted the man with a stiff nod then looked to Des with mock expectancy. “Well?” he prompted.

* * *

“Right here.” Tielle pointed toward a paved, tree-lined road while giving Grae directions.

“I remember, Tel.” His voice was quiet. He'd insisted on driving and had barely spoken a word since they'd left the retreat.

Tielle regarded him closer then. Even in profile, he looked rather subdued, and she figured their locale had much to do with that.

They had spent their wedding night at Brunch and Memories. The secluded bed-and-breakfast wasn't far from Turner Estates and Gardens. The two businesses shared such an easy coexistence, in fact, that all couples who exchanged vows at Turner Estates received a complimentary wedding-night stay at Brunch and Memories as part of their wedding package.

Tielle remembered that she and Grae had so enjoyed the perk that they extended their stay to include two additional nights before jetting off to begin their honeymoon. She felt herself growing a bit more subdued when the B and B came into view.

“I miss you, Tel,” Grae said once he'd parked the SUV and sat looking out at the inviting brick-and-stone structure beyond the windshield.

“I never wanted to go,” she said.

“I was a bullheaded idiot.”

“Yes,” Tielle confirmed, smiling when she heard his chuckle.

“There're things you need to hear me say, Tel. Things you deserve to hear.”

“I'm ready to listen.” She studied her hands clasped in her lap. “I was always ready to hear it. I was an idiot, too. I should've never walked away before I made you tell me everything you wouldn't—everything I knew you needed to.”

Grae took her hand from her lap. He toyed with her fingers before he kissed them. “That'll be difficult here,” he said.

It was true. They'd made love all over the place and
in
places that they were surely not allowed to. All Grae wanted was to revisit those places, to improve on those vivid memories if that were at all possible.

“I'm gonna have to count on you to be the cooler head,” he told her.

She laughed. “What good will that do against you and your plans to improve our memories of this place?”

Her tease didn't have the intended effect, and Grae's expression was a stony one. “I know I bullied you throughout a lot of our marriage. The fact that you were always so hell-bent on pleasing me was why I thought you were lying to me about not hurting you the other night.”

She gave a slight wince. “My grandmothers always said, ‘If you treat your husband like a king, he'll treat you like a queen.'”

Grae smirked. “Your grannies were lucky to find men deserving of the crown. Thinking like that has gotten a lot of women in trouble. I think it got you in more than your fair share with me.”

“Grae—”

“Just let me say this, Tel, please.” He squeezed her hand, keeping it trapped on a denim-clad thigh. “I pressed my advantage. A lot. Wore you down when you leaned toward doing things I wasn't in favor of.”

She turned on the suede seating to face him fully. “I never had brothers or sisters. I thought you needed to get along with yours.”

“Tel, I'm not talking about Faro. I'm talking about you wanting to come back here to Vancouver long before we divorced. You wanted to run the place for your family. Do you remember what I did when you told me that?”

She tried to tug her hand free of his. Grae wouldn't let her. She raised a narrowed gaze to his face. “You didn't bully me.”

“I kept you in bed two days.
Convincing
you how much I needed you to be there for me.”

“It wasn't unreasonable for you to want that.” She smiled sadly. “Vancouver isn't a place I'd want to commute to and from Portland every day. Not the best move for a married couple who like each other.” She put her hand over his. “And I can think of a lot more unpleasant ways to be bullied.”

“Then let's talk about how I bullied you with Faro.”

“Let's not. I can think of so many other things I'd prefer to do.”

“Such as?”

“Such as...” She settled her head to the rest and sighed. “Improving our memories. I think you said something about having whatever you wanted.
Anything
you wanted...”

“I remember.”

“And?”

The word had barely passed her lips when Grae reached for her, tugging her unceremoniously across the gear changer. They launched a kiss that deepened quickly, tumbling into a realm that was equal parts lust and desperation. Tielle was practically straddling his lap seconds into the X-rated kiss that had her chanting his name without shame.

“We need to get out of this car...”

Tielle smiled through the throaty kiss. “Finally...something we agree on...”

* * *

“What'd you do?” Tielle blurted upon realizing the bellman was bypassing the short stairway to the inn's suites.

“Anything I want, remember?”

“Within reason,” she grated.

Grae gave her a sidelong glance. “Where's the fun in that?”

“Will you at least tell me where we're going?” she whispered.

“We're going to improve on a memory,” he whispered back.

Immediately, Tielle began to file through the numerous and naughty acts she and her new husband had indulged in at Brunch and Memories so long ago. It seemed like another lifetime.

Her cheeks burned at the possibilities. “They won't allow that.”

“Are you serious?” Grae's voice was hushed and amused. “You supply almost half their business.”

She had to laugh despite the bellman's close proximity. “Don't use me to advance your perverted interests.”

“Interests I only endeavor in with one woman.”

“How'd I get so lucky?” She sighed, sobering when their escort took them down a long, silent corridor.

Tielle felt her breath hitch when she saw they were headed toward the pair of imposing red oak doors at the end of the hallway. The maple placard, engraved in gold lettering above the doors, read Billiards.

“Grae.” Her fingers tightened reflexively on his arm.

Grae merely kept moving along behind the bellman. Tielle managed to keep up with his long strides, though she was more focused on swallowing the sizable ball lodged in her throat.

Somehow, the ball increased its size when Tielle preceded Grae and the bellman into the billiards room. An enormous pool table was adorned with plump king-size pillows and fern-green fleece blankets. Heavy russet-brown drapes were closed to permit bronze wall sconces to drench the atmosphere in a soothing golden glow.

“The luggage is in the garden suite, sir.” The bellman gave away nothing that would hint of any curiosity he may've had over what was about to take place in the room. He handed Grae an old-fashioned brass key and shook hands when Grae thanked him with a fifty-dollar tip.