Nameless Series Boxed Set (70 page)

After a pause,
Seth went on, “I know it’s important, but Jackson can handle it.” Another
pause, longer this time. “Listen to me. I’ll be there first thing tomorrow
morning. Until then, Jackson is in charge. Tell him that this is what I’ve been
training him for and that I’m sure he won’t let me down.”

Erin gulped.
Felt like she wanted to scream and cry and laugh hysterically and hug someone
all at once.

Seth
disconnected the call and came back over to the couch. Took his seat and looked
around questioningly at the four pairs of eyes staring at him. “What?” he
asked. “I thought we were in the middle of a game.”

Mackenzie
giggled in relief, and Anna squealed and hugged herself. Erin leaned over and
gave him a long, soft kiss on the side of his mouth.

Liz laughed out
loud. “I have got to hang out with you more often. You guys are a hoot. Getting
so excited over the littlest things.”

Two minutes
later, Anna won the game.

***

Later that evening, after Liz
had left and the girls were in bed, Erin went to her desk in the family room
and looked at her inbox.

She actually
had work waiting for her to do.

A month ago,
she’d found a non-profit that needed some legal work done, so she’d volunteered
to help. The organization had recommended her to another one, which had a lot
more work that needed doing.

It was silly,
she was sure, but she wanted to revel in the sense of accomplishment. She felt
like she’d accomplished a lot over the last few months in terms of her
family—as a wife and a mother. But this was a different feeling and one she
hadn’t thought she’d experience again.

She’d thought
her dreams of a career were long gone, but maybe there was an outlet for them
after all. She felt like Erin again.

She was so
caught up in her feelings of pride that she didn’t hear Seth approach until he
wrapped his arms around her from behind.

“Hi,” he said
huskily, skimming her ear with his lips.

“Hi, yourself,”
she replied, smiling fondly and snuggling back against his warm body.

“I looked over
that brief you wrote.”

“Don’t tell me
if it’s not any good.”

“It’s amazing.”

Sighing, Erin
felt like melting away. Seth’s opinion meant so much to her that she’d actually
been nervous when she’d given it to him to read. “Well," she murmured,
reaching up and back so she could caress his neck, “You’re a little biased, I’d
say.”

“I’m a lot
biased.” He bent his neck so he could mouth the pulse in her throat. “But I’m
also a very good lawyer. And so are you.”

“Thanks.”

She turned
around in his arms then so she could embrace him for real. They just hugged for
a minute, pressing their bodies together as Erin buried her face in his shirt.
Then she tilted her head back, and he took the lips she offered him. The kiss
was long and leisurely and tender, and it made Erin feel even more like she was
about to melt away.

When their
mouths finally parted, she breathed, “Thanks for sticking around tonight. I
know it must have been hard for you to not go in if there was a serious
situation.”

Seth gave a
half-shrug, his arms still draped loosely around her waist. “It wasn’t that
hard.”

He was
minimizing the choice he made, but Erin knew it hadn’t been trivial.

Since clearly
he didn’t want a big deal made about it, Erin didn’t object. Her fingertips
gently rubbing circles on the back of his neck, she murmured, “Shall we go to
bed early this evening?”

 “Only if we
agree to keep the volume down. I’m a little disconcerted by being heard down
the hall.”

 “All right.
You won’t hear a peep out of me. I’ll just lay there like I don’t even notice
you.”

“Oh, you’ll
notice me.”

“Well, then,
I’ll do my best to suppress my blissful cries of ecstasy.” She held her hand
out to him. “Let’s go.”

After getting
ready for bed, Erin crawled under the covers, and Seth got in beside her,
spooning her from behind.

“Are you sure
you didn’t need to go in?” Erin asked, feeling her body already respond to
Seth’s closeness, after her mushy feelings earlier. “I’d feel guilty if I
thought you were neglecting something important.”

“It’s nothing
so important that I can’t deal with it tomorrow morning.” He skimmed one hand
over her curves through the thin cotton of her chemise. His voice growing husky
next to her ear, he added, “And, let me assure you, I’d much rather be in bed
with you than working.”

Erin smiled and
pressed her body back against his, loving how the hard planes of his body felt.
“Good.”

He nuzzled the
hollow of her neck, pushing her hair out of the way. His hand strayed up to the
swell of her breast, chafing her hardening nipple with his palm.

Sighing in
pleasure, Erin arched against him, trying to get as much sensation as she
could. But, after a moment, she asked something she’d been wondering all day.
“Seth?  Do you know what today is?”

She hadn’t been
sure she was going to bring the subject up at all. Not until she’d actually
spoken the words.

“Hmm?” Seth
mumbled, his mouth busy nibbling her bare shoulder. “It’s Friday, isn’t it?”

Erin huffed out
a breathless laugh, feeling a wet warmth gathering between her legs despite the
silly fluttering of her heart. “Yes, but I mean today. The date. Do you know
what it is?”

She could feel
Seth’s erection growing against her bottom, and she couldn’t help but shift
against it. He was mouthing her skin hungrily, possessively, and one hand was
still fondling her breast while the other had edged under her body and moved
lower to rub against her groin through her chemise. “Well,” he said, his voice
deliciously textured. “I know I haven’t forgotten your birthday because I’ve
already made plans for it.”

Erin squirmed
at the sensations from his hands, mouth, and body behind her, and in
anticipation of his plans for her birthday, which was coming up very soon. But
she wasn’t going to be distracted, now that she’d brought the topic up. “Not my
birthday.” She moved her hand down to cover his and pressed into it to get a
good rhythm against her clit.

“Well, it’s not
your time of the month,” Seth replied, pushing his erection purposefully
against her. “Because that was—”

Erin choked,
half in laughter, half in pleasure as Seth tweaked one of her nipples. “Never
mind. It’s not important.”

She relaxed and
just enjoyed his touch, telling herself that there was no reason to feel
disappointed that he didn’t know what she was talking about.

She shouldn’t
have expected him too. It was the kind of thing that a woman might pay
attention to, but it wasn’t something most men would even consider. It didn’t
mean it wasn’t important to him.

“Erin.” His
body was hot and tight as he wrapped himself around her from behind. His mouth
was against her hair. “How can you even ask? Of course, I know what today is.”

Something
melted again in Erin’s chest, and she turned to look at him over her shoulder.
His face was only a breath away from hers. “Really?”

He brushed a
kiss across her lips. “Of course. Seven years. I’m going to try to get out to
the cemetery tomorrow if I have enough time.”

Erin felt
another kind of pang in her heart. It was so easy for her to forget that, on
the day Mackenzie had been conceived, Seth had also buried Mac, the only
relative he had left.

Seven years ago
today.

“I can go with
you if you want,” she offered softly, reaching behind her to stroke his warm
cheek.

“I like to go
alone.” Giving her a quick kiss on her cheekbone, he added, “But thanks.”

Before the
shift in mood could distract them from their arousal, Seth edged a hand between
her legs, parting her thighs enough for him to slide a finger inside her,
spilling the moisture that had collected there.

She bent
forward slightly to give him better access as he held his cock in place at her
entrance and then thrust himself home.

She gasped as
he filled her. Then gasped again as he gathered her tightly in his arms,
pulling her upper body back against his chest.

“It seems
strange,” he murmured, his voice like raw silk in her ear, “to be so
devastatingly grateful for a leaking condom.” He drew his pelvis back, then
pushed forward again, sliding his cock with the motion. “But I am. Baby, I hope
you know how much.”

Erin was
pumping her hips back against his thrusts, feeling sheltered and cherished and
hot and exhilarated all at once. His arms were all the way around her, and she
clutched at his forearms, needing to touch him in any way she could. “Yeah. I
know. Me too. Me too. Me too.” Her babbling had fallen into the rhythmic
cadence of his thrusting.

He made a
gravelly sound that sent exquisite vibrations running through her. He must be
low on stamina tonight because he lowered one of his hands to bunch up the
fabric of her chemise enough for him to find her clit. Rubbing it in firm
circles, he rasped, “If not for the ineffective condom…”

He stopped to
suck in a harsh breath, and Erin moaned as his massage of her clit produced a
spiraling pressure deep in her belly.

“Then no us. No
girls. Nothing.” Seth was on the verge of wordlessness, his thrusting becoming
less controlled and more primitive.

“I know,” Erin
panted, trapped between the lush sensations of his hand on her clit and his
cock inside her.

She could
barely stand to think about what her life would have been without that random
encounter with Seth in the cemetery seven years ago. Could barely think of
anything at the moment, as her pleasure coiled even tighter.

With another
guttural sound, Seth leaned over and bit down on her shoulder, the sharp pain
sending a jolt of hot sensation to the climax building inside her.

“I love you,
Seth,” Erin gasped, feeling something so powerful that she needed to say it,
needed to shape it with words.

Seth grunted
something that sounded like “love.” He was far gone now, his pelvis jerking
against her ass.

She was almost
there herself. Felt so much that was so hard to say. “I love you,” she huffed
out. She was shaking now, the rich pressure on the edge of erupting, but she
kept gasping, “Love you. Love you.”

The world started
to dissolve into waves of intense heat and pleasure.

Seth made a
burst of raw sound—emotion and pleasure and need all at once. “Me too. Me too.”

There was more
to say. More to feel. More to express about this experience—this moment, this
evening, these last three months, the last seven years of their lives.

But she
couldn’t. Couldn’t do anything but whimper helplessly as Seth’s body and his
love pushed her into climax.

He came after
her with a hoarse exclamation, the spasms of their release mingling, lingering,
and then fading into soft, wordless peace.

They didn’t say
anything afterwards. Stayed tangled together—hot and damp and drowsily
complete.

In the
aftermath, Erin felt a tangible presence, filling their embrace, their bed,
their room, their home. It wasn’t new, but it was more real now than it had
ever been.

More real
because they’d fought to keep it.

She knew what
it was. Knew it would last, linger, stretch over the rest of her life, beyond
the ways her family might change from this night on.

She knew what
it was. She could name it now. She had watched it shape itself into existence.

She knew what
it was.

Knew its name
was love.

One

Two

Three

Four

He was no longer a young man

Seth was
approaching fifty now, and Erin knew he would never respond to her the way a
younger man would. He wasn’t about speed or urgency or a quick succession of
extremes. His passions were slower, deeper, longer, more powerful because of
it.

He was just as
intense and passionate as he’d always been. His nature hadn’t changed. But he
was older now.

So was she.

She couldn’t
use the kind of simplistic seduction she used to use—a flash of her breasts, a
particular pose, a raunchy suggestion whispered huskily in his ear. That would
intrigue him, get his attention, but it would never cause his physical needs to
take precedence over his will.

His will had
always been strong. It had only gotten stronger.

Any persuasion
Erin wanted to pursue would have to be more nuanced, more sophisticated, more
complex and multi-faceted. She would have to appeal to him in ways that went
beyond the physical. Lead him into urgency slowly and from there to
distraction.

Her body wasn’t
what it used to be either. She still worked out—just enough to fit into the
same dress-size she’d worn through her thirties. But she’d been pregnant twice,
gone through childbirth twice, breastfed two babies, and dealt with the
unavoidable consequences of age and gravity.

She still
looked pretty good, but she didn’t look the way she’d looked at twenty-five.

So Erin didn’t
change into a skimpy negligee before she went to find Seth, and she didn’t
bring with her anything naughty or suggestive. Seth had never been an easy
man—even in sex—and she’d be a fool to expect him to easily succumb, especially
using such obvious, unsubtle techniques. Instead, she dressed with care and
spent a half hour planning an appropriate strategy.

So, at
ten-thirty on a Sunday evening, when she walked down the hall of their
luxurious downtown apartment toward Seth’s home office, she was confident. He
was an impressive man, but she wasn’t unimpressive herself.

And she’d been
married to him for almost fifteen years. She could handle this.

She’d made a
promise to her daughter, and she intended to keep her word.

She’d just
never tell Mackenzie how she’d gone about it.

The door was
half-open so Erin just stood in the doorway, watching him work.

Almost ten
years ago, he’d left his cushy law firm to start his own practice, primarily so
that he would have more freedom about his work schedule and so he wouldn’t have
to travel so often—allowing him more family time. He was always careful now
about spending enough time with her and the girls, but he still worked harder
than almost anyone she knew, so he was often in his home office in the
evenings.

She didn’t speak
as she watched him and didn’t make any noise, but it took Seth less than a
minute before he lifted his eyes from the document he was reading.

He smiled at
her—the way he always did when she appeared unexpectedly—the expression
transforming the focused tension on his face to something close to awe. It
never failed to make her heart clench that, before he could trigger his
characteristic cool control, his face would reflect an astonished delight that
she was a part of his life.

The sappy
feelings, which sometimes faded but never really went away, almost distracted
Erin from her purpose.

Almost.

She took a step
inside the office. “Are you busy?”

Seth shook his
head, his blue eyes giving her an automatic once-over. “No. Did you want sex?”

Erin sucked in
an indignant breath. Damned man—she could never get even a step ahead of him.
“How did you know? I hadn’t even said anything.”

Chuckling and
leaning back in his desk chair, Seth’s expression was both fond and amused. He
was still one of the most attractive men she’d ever seen—the sleek sexiness of
his youth maturing into a face with more character and eyes that were far more
knowing. He was just a little softer around the belly and there was gray
sprinkled through the auburn brown of his hair, but women still watched him
wherever they went. This evening he’d taken off the jacket of his suit, and his
dress shirt was slightly rumpled. “I could smell you from down the hall.”

She gaped at
him. Finally choked out, “What?
What
! That’s impossible—I don’t care how
good your creepy sense of smell is! Besides, I’m not even that aroused yet.”

She was a
little aroused, just thinking through her plan for seduction.

Seth threw his
head back and laughed—long, warm, and genuine. He’d never laughed that way
before they’d gotten together, and she’d always loved the sound of it.

Right now,
however, it was a little annoying. “Why are you laughing? I’m serious. You
couldn’t possibly have—”

“I wasn’t
referring to that particular scent,” Seth explained, his voice still husky with
amusement. “I smelled the scented lotion you’re wearing. You always wear it
when you want to have sex.”

It was true.
Erin, of course, hadn’t done anything as obvious or out of character as wear
perfume, but she had wanted to make herself attractive, in every possible way.
So she’d put on her favorite ginger-scented lotion in addition to choosing her
most flattering bra and panties under her dress and carefully tousling her
hair. She’d thought the scent was a subtle touch. Damn Seth for having noticed
and correctly interpreted it.

Her annoyance
at his relentless perceptiveness came close to distracting her from her
mission, but she caught herself just in time.

After all, this
was just a very small set-back. She’d had a whole preliminary sequence in
place, but she’d just scrap that and move on to the next stage of her plan.

She gave Seth a
slow, sensual smile. “I thought you liked the lotion.”

“I do.”

“So did it
work?”

Seth shifted in
his chair, slouching slightly in a way he almost never did, as if he were
making himself more comfortable so he could enjoy what was coming. “Honestly?
It did. I think I’ve connected that scent with sex so completely that I got a
little hard when I smelled it.”

Erin’s mouth
dropped open, in genuine, uncalculated delight. “Really?”

“Did you want
to come over and verify?”

She felt a
delicious pressure tightening at her center, at the sound of his textured voice
and the sight of his relaxed, rumpled figure. Then she silently berated
herself. Despite her carefully constructed strategy to make Seth properly
receptive, she was getting more seduced by this encounter than he was.

It wouldn’t do
at all.

“Maybe,” she
drawled, moving farther into the office and closing the door behind her. She
locked it. The girls were at home and in their rooms, but who knew when they’d
decide to wander the halls. “You haven’t yet convinced me you deserve it.”

Seth’s smiled
broadened, and he ignored her last comment. “In the office? Really?”

It had been
ages since they’d made love anywhere except their bedroom. “Why not? Getting
staid and boring in your old age?”

Seth narrowed
his eyes as his smile faded, just as she’d known it would. She knew he wouldn’t
be genuinely insulted by her comment—they were far too familiar with each other
for him to take it seriously—but he’d know a challenge when he heard one. “What
did you have in mind?”

Now he was in
the right mood. His gaze had grown focused and intent, and his shoulders and
abdomen had tightened. She knew he wasn’t fully aroused yet—those days were
long since gone—but he would get there.

Sooner rather
than later, if she had anything to do with it.

She moved one
of her hands to the tie on her dress. She’d been wearing the dark green wrap
dress earlier that day—which turned out to be very convenient. When she saw his
eyes were fixed on her hand, she pulled loose the tie.

One side of her
dress fell open, leaving only the inner tie keeping her dress in place.

Seth licked his
lips as he watched her, a naturally sensuous gesture that made her inner
muscles clench instinctively.

She unfastened
the second tie with slow precision. Her dress fell open completely, revealing
her blue lace bra and panty set.

Seth was
staring at her, still slouched in his office chair. His eyes raked over her
exposed body, and he took a deep breath, causing his chest to rise and fall.
“Nice.”

Very slowly,
Erin let the dress slide down her body to the floor. She was still wearing her
high heels—higher and sexier than she normally wore. “They’re your favorite
shade of blue.”

“I can see
that.”

She wanted to giggle
at his expression, but she managed not to break the mood. “I thought you’d like
it.”

His eyes were
devouring her—not with the sudden flame she remembered from their early years
but with a smoldering fire, slower but every bit as hot. “I do.” Then his eyes
flickered up to her face. “I’m just wondering what prompted this little
striptease, no matter how much I appreciate it.”

He’d always
been smart. Always been clever. Of course, he’d question her motivations for
breaking out of their normal routine.

She would have
to be careful.

Erin moved over
closer to Seth’s desk, feeling a pang of self-consciousness despite herself.
With the support of the bra, her breasts looked quite good but the flesh of her
belly, thighs, and butt jiggled a little more than it should.

But all she
said was, “Why not? I’m not even forty-five yet. I can still manage to be sexy
occasionally.”

She’d reached
Seth now, and she positioned herself between his chair and the desk. She wasn’t
touching him yet.

Seth reached
out and touched her, his hands sliding down her back until they were cupping
her bottom. He pulled her closer to him, spreading his legs to make room for
her. “Never doubted in for a minute. Women in their forties are the sexiest
things ever created.”

She couldn’t
help but snort at that. “You only say that because you’re married to one.” She
put her hands on Seth’s shoulders but resisted when he tried to pull her into
an embrace.

Seth’s eyes
narrowed as he considered her statement. “Maybe you’re right. I
over-generalized. I’ll rephrase.” He cleared his throat and gave her a
decidedly wicked look. “Erin Thomas in her forties is the sexiest thing ever
created.”

Erin couldn’t
help it. She burst into laughter, reaching down to hug her husband with a wave
of warm affection. “You’re full of crap,” she told him as he pulled her
securely into his lap. “Plus, you’ve painted yourself into a corner. What will
you do when I turn fifty?”

He nuzzled the
side of her head. “Change my mind.”

Seth was a
criminal defense attorney and a legal powerhouse in Atlanta—notorious for his
ruthless attitude in court and even more intimidating now than when he’d been
younger and a media darling. But he was also an intensely loving man, more so
than anyone who didn’t know him well would ever guess. And Erin knew he loved
her and their daughters with all the blinding intensity of his deep, conflicted
soul.

But he wasn’t
always cuddly or openly affectionate. They had sex fairly regularly—at least,
what she thought must be regularly for a couple in their stage of family
life—but it wasn’t as often as it used to be. And it had always been through
sex that Seth was able to express his love for her most easily. When sex became
less frequent, so did the consistent reassurance of his continued passion for
her.

Which made
times like these all the more precious to Erin.

She dropped her
carefully calculated seduction scheme, without a second thought. Wrapping her
arms around his neck, she snuggled into his warm chest. “You are so full of
crap, it’s not even funny.”

He laughed
softly, his breath blowing against her hair. But he was still Seth, and his
tone was shrewd as well as fond when he asked, “So what’s going on?”

Erin might have
given up her elaborate seduction scheme, but she wasn’t going to let Mackenzie
down completely. So she extemporized. “Why do you ask that? Can’t I be
spontaneously sexy?”

“Yes. But I’ll
always want to know
why
you’re being spontaneously sexy.”

He knew her far
too well. One of the drawbacks of being married so long.

Erin huffed,
“Fine.” She readjusted so she could reach one hand down to the front of Seth’s
pants. She palmed his groin, pleased to discover that—despite the distractions
and his obvious suspicions—he was farther along than she’d expected. Massaging
his growing erection through his pants, she continued, “Then I guess you aren’t
interested in reaping the benefits of my spontaneous sexiness.”

Seth closed his
eyes and breathed deeply through his nose. She knew he was concentrating on the
feel of her hand as it teased him into deeper arousal.

Deciding she
might as well follow through with some of her original plan—if only because
she’d enjoy it as much as Seth—she slid off his lap and positioned herself on
her knees in front of him.

His eyes flew
open at her shift in position. Then widened when he saw what she was in the
position to do.

Inordinately
pleased that she’d surprised him, Erin reached up to his belt and started to
unfasten it, parting his knees as she fit her body in between them.

Seth groaned
deep in his throat as she slid his belt out of the belt loops. When she started
to undo his trousers, he asked with breathy interest, “What did I do to deserve
this?”

She hadn’t gone
down on him in ages. It wasn’t that she disliked it, but it took a lot of
energy, even when she was feeling sexy. Most of the time lately, she preferred
to feel loving and intimate rather than daring and exciting. She figured it was
normal and Seth hadn’t expressed any discontent with their sex life.