Instructing an Heiress (18 page)

"It's the perfect solution, isn't it? Merge the companies and the families all in one swoop."
 

She stepped around Steve and squared off with Ryan. "We'll talk about this later. Please leave before you make any more of a fool out of yourself."

"None of this isn't the perfect solution for you, CK," Ryan said, crossing the grass to loom over her. In the soft white glow of moonlight, his eyes flashed midnight blue, impassioned and restless, an avenging god claiming his own.
 

A reckless warmth bloomed low in her belly, making her legs weak. Locking her knees, she willed herself to stand her ground. She had to be strong against these feelings for him. She did not need her heart broken, again.

"Back away, if you please, Mr. Anderson," Steven said, calmly.

"Or what?"
 

"Do you really intend to start a fist fight in the middle of a charity ball? In our formal clothes?" He quirked a brow at Ryan.

"Not classy, Anderson," CK said as sternly as she could manage.

"I'm not here to make a good impression." He grasped her arm and hauled her against his chest. "I'm here to get you to call it off."

His mouth landed on hers hard and hot. She parted her lips in surprise and his tongue swept across the inside of her bottom lip. She sighed and softened against him.

Steve cleared his throat behind them. Ryan pulled away and his gaze locked with Steve's.
 

"You appear to expect me to do something," Steve observed.

"If she were mine," Ryan growled, "I wouldn't share."

"Hmm. Good for you," Steve replied, his voice sparkling with amusement. "I'll see you in the study in forty, or so, CK?"
 

She struggled to gather her thoughts, but it was nearly impossible with her body crushed against Ryan and her arms wrapped around his neck. "Okay," she mumbled.

Steve gave a cough that sounded suspiciously like a laugh, and then she heard him moving off. After a moment, a deep silence settled around them, broken only by the soft rustling of leaves as a breeze flirted through the tree tops.

"Is that what you want?" he said. "A husband who doesn't even care enough to stop another man from kissing you?"

"It isn't like that."

"It's just business, is that right? How long do you think you'll be happy with that arrangement?" Burying his hands into the folds of her gown, he cupped her bottom and pressed her tightly against him. "How long before you start wanting a man who can't keep his hands off you?"

CK pushed against his chest, vainly trying to get some distance between them. "You arrogant jerk. You're the one who made it clear we could never be together. You drew that line in the sand."
 

His arms flexed around her like steel bands and he held her tightly, giving her no leverage. Frustration and lust swept through her body like a tidal wave as he bent his head and his lips brushed her neck just below her ear.
 

"I was wrong," he said against her skin, his voice a low, hot purr. His mouth traveled across her jaw.

Her knees turned to pudding and she bit back a moan. "No, you were right. It changed everything."

As he gently bit her neck, he loosened his grip and slipped his left hand around her rib cage and along the side of her breast. He traced his forefinger across the top of her dress, leaving a trail of sparking energy.
 

"Everything
has
changed. I've never wanted someone so desperately in my life." Hooking a finger under the edge of her gown, he pushed the material lower, exposing more of her cleavage. His lips were warm and soft as he kissed the deep valley between her breasts.
 

Running her hands up over his chest, she undid his black tie and the first three buttons on his shirt. "You want me now, but will you tomorrow? Or next week?" she said, clinging to the last shreds of her scattering thoughts.

"Say 'no' and I'll stop," he answered as he slid the zipper at the back of her gown down to her waist. A cool breeze glided across the middle of her back, and then his hand cupped her head and his mouth came down on hers in a searing kiss.
 

He deepened the kiss, mimicking with his tongue the joining her body craved. The thick ridge of his erection pressed against the juncture of her thighs, sending currents of need cascading through her nervous system.

Stepping back, he ran his hand over the tops of her breasts and then pushed her bodice down. He sucked in a breath as her naked breasts sprang free.

"My God, you're beautiful," he whispered.
 

Ryan knelt in front of her. Grasping her around the waist, he flicked his tongue across her right nipple sending a shaft of fire straight to her core. She gripped his shoulders, digging her fingers into the dense muscles as he pulled her into his mouth and sucked gently, coaxing her nipple into a taunt, aching peak.

Her dress rustled as his hand slipped under the material and then his palm skated up the back of her leg. His hand caressed her bottom and he groaned against her breast.

"You're wearing the thong."
 

"I know."

He lightly bit her nipple and then soothed it with his tongue. Bracing her legs wider, she leaned heavily on him, not sure if she'd be able to stay upright much longer. He wrapped his left arm around her waist to steady her as he brought his hand over her hip and slipped his fingers under the small scrap of silk.
 

Without warning, he plunged a cool finger into her wet core and his thumb brushed across the swollen nub of her center. He moved his fingers in languid strokes and the hungry tension deep in her womb buzzed and tightened. Sliding his fingers out of her, he gently rolled the center of her need between his thumb and forefinger and his mouth covered her left nipple, sucking the hard peak fully into his mouth.

CK gasped and her world shattered. A rapturous storm rolled over her, fragmenting her thoughts and plunging her into a world filled only with Ryan's touch and the euphoria gripping her.
 

 
As the sweet spasms eased and a languid contentment flowed over her, Ryan settled her skirt around her legs and gently drew her bodice up over her breasts.

She gazed down at him, her heart expanding with a sudden warmth. She longed to tell him that she loved him, but she was afraid it would chase him away. "What about you? Why didn't you make love to me," she said instead, cupping his jaw in her hand.

"I thought I had."
 

"You know what I mean."

"Despite rumors to the contrary, I don't stuff my pockets with condoms when I go to a charity ball." He smiled up at her. "Though if you were going to be there, I might in the future."
 

A shadow of hope stuttered through her. "Is there going to be a future?"

His smile died and she winced. Why hadn't she kept her mouth shut? Stupid, stupid, stupid!
 

Ryan rocked back on his heels and started buttoning his shirt. "Not if you're marrying Steve," he said, darkly.

She glared at him, outrage building inside her. "Do you really think I'd make out with you while engaged to another man?"
 

"Isn't that what you just did?"

CK held her bodice in place and pushed to her feet. "You are such an idiot, Ryan Anderson!"

"Because I draw the line at adultery?" he snapped.

"Because you don't know me at all." She reached behind her and struggled to get herself in order. With a hiss of frustration, she turned her back on him. "Zip me up."

She felt his heat against her back and then his deft fingers brushed her skin as he held the top of her gown together with one hand and slid the zipper up with the other. "I've fulfilled our contract," he said, his breath brushing across her neck. "My resignation will be on your desk in the morning."

A scorching pain speared the center of her chest and she straightened her back, pulling away from him.

"Don't expect me at the wedding," he added.

The air stirred behind her, sending a chill across her bare shoulders. A moment later, she heard him crashing through the overgrown path as he headed back toward the house.
 

Ryan was an ass, she told herself firmly, tears burning in her throat. He should trust her. He should trust their friendship.

A sob broke past her clenched teeth and she covered her mouth with her hand. Loving him was a constant emotional roller coaster that she didn't need in her life. She was better off without him.

Choking down her grief, she piled her anger around her like a fortress as she gathered up the train of her dress. She had better things to do with her time than fret over a stupid man, she told herself firmly as she stomped across the grass toward the path. Like stopping the train wreck her great-grandfather had started.

Tomorrow she could hole up in her apartment and be as miserable as she wanted to be. And face the heartbreaking truth that this time, she'd lost Ryan forever.

He burned. With anger, with longing, with embarrassment—Ryan felt like he was about to jump out of his skin. He wanted to break something. He wanted to howl.
 

He wanted to drink himself into oblivion.

The thought of her marrying Steve was driving him out of his mind. Yet, he was the one who'd put the brakes on him and CK being together. He was also the one chasing her out into the garden like a love sick adolescent.
 

He was an idiot.

Then, when he'd seen her huddled in the dark with Steve, so comfortably intimate, he'd wanted to...what? Throw her over his shoulder, carry her off to his tower and make mad, passionate love to her until she came to her senses?
 

He released a mirthless bark of laughter. Actually, yah, that's exactly what he'd wanted to do. Instead, he'd loved her until she'd cried out and shuddered with her release while he ached with a hard, painful need. Then he'd lost his temper and walked away.
 

Idiot didn't begin to cover what a mess that woman had turned him into. He didn't even know who he was, anymore.

Ryan stared into the amber depths of his whiskey, his thoughts dark. Brad and Jackson appeared on one side; Todd and Ajax on the other.

"Great. The gang's all here," he said, sourly.
 

"You look like you're planning to kill someone," Todd commented. His tone was light, but a deep V of worry sat above the bridge of his nose.

"Nope." Ryan knocked back his drink and slammed the shot glass onto the polished wood of the bar. "Just pissed at myself."

"Where's CK?" Todd asked.

"Making final arrangements with Steve, I imagine."

A heavy silence closed over his friends.

"You're sitting here, why?" Jackson asked, disapproval rumbling through his voice.

Ryan glanced at him. "Where else would I be?"

"You're bad ass dirty look doesn't impress me, so give it up," Jackson commented. "My question stands."

"Why should I interfere?" Ryan said, sharply, his frustration mounting. "It's her choice and her life. I fulfilled her lame contract. Now I'm going to do what I wanted to do two years ago."

"You have one of the most amazing women I've ever met right under your nose and you're dropping the whole thing?" Todd stated with disgust.

"He's afraid he's not good enough for CK."

"Don't push it, Brad," Ryan snarled.

"Or what? You'll hit me like you wanted to before?"

Anger seethed into his muscles. His hand tightened around his glass making his knuckles stand out white. Ryan wanted to slam the heavy glass into Brad's mouth to shut him up.

Jackson hauled Brad back and slid between them. "We're not your enemies."

Ryan looked away. His fury deflated, flattening out into the pain he'd been trying to numb with whiskey.
 

The bartender appeared and asked what they'd like. "Coffee," Ryan said. "Five of them."

Jackson nodded and relaxed. "You tell her how you feel?" he asked after the bartender drifted away.

"How I feel about what?"

"You're kidding, right?" Todd interjected.
 

"You love her, man," Ajax said, picking up a paper napkin and making a neat crease in it. "You guys should be together."

His heart kicked against his chest. "That isn't what she wants."

"You ever ask her?" Brad said as the bartender deposited mugs of coffee in front of each of them.
 

A heavy sadness filled his chest. "Did you?'

Brad poured cream into his coffee. "Twice. She said she appreciated it, but she had to find a better way. I didn't take it personally." He gave Ryan a half smile and took a cautious sip from the steaming mug.

"We figured you were the better way," Todd said.

"Nope." He wondered if he might have been, if he hadn't decided a long time ago that friend and lover didn't mix.

When had he made that choice, he wondered? That hadn't been true for his parents, his grandparents, or his brother.
 

Why had he made it true for him? Was it after the inevitable high school crush crashed and burned, or when Todd's early marriage ended so miserably?

He pushed his mug away. "Doesn't matter anyway. I resigned. I leave for Paris at midnight."

"You're leaving the country," Brad stated, flatly. "Without even bothering to find out if things could have worked out for you and CK."

"After everything I've said to her—" He raked his hand through his hair, misery pressing in on him. "She's set her course. She doesn't want me to be a part of it."

Todd's mouth pressed into a hard line. "You can't give up."
 

"Sure I can. If it's the best thing for CK."

"The Kazners name has to go, man," Ajax said, setting the origami swan he'd just folded down on the bar.
 

"What do you mean, A?" Jackson asked.

"I read that." Ajax pulled a hundred dollar bill out of his pocket, rolled it into a narrow tube and stuck it in the swan. "In a dream."