Reunited in Love (25 page)

He unzipped her dress and pulled it over her head. Then the panties were gone, leaving her bare to his gaze. Yet it was her heart that seemed open and vulnerable now, without the usual shield to keep it safe.

“You’re stunning,” he whispered. He reached for her breasts, cupping the soft mounds in his warm, large hands. He flicked his thumbs against the pointed tips, and she bit her lower lip to contain a moan.

One hand left to travel downward, fingertips running down her ribs and belly in a tortuously slow tour to where she was wet and quivering. He seemed to know her every secret, her every sensitive spot.

And for once she didn’t mind that the man she was involved with knew so much about her.

He wrapped his hand around her ass, while pulling on her nipple. She slowly moved her pelvis against his, wanting him deep inside. But she didn’t want the moment to end too soon.

She opened her eyes and looked at him. His were slitted, his blue gaze brilliant and dark. Passion had flushed his cheeks, and their earlier kiss had turned his lips swollen.

She studied every line of his face, listened to every breath he drew. She wanted to etch this moment forever onto her brain, so she’d never forget it.

After putting a condom on him, she slid onto him, completely ready, and found him so big it was slightly difficult to get him in.

She moved up and down, slowly and deliberately at first, then faster as the heat built. His breathing grew labored, his hands firmer and rougher on her body, marking her. She loved the possessiveness of his touch.

Yes, yes, I’m yours. Do whatever you will with me
.

Tension coiled inside her, her muscles tightening more and more as he thrust harder, his hips surging upward.

She screamed her pleasure as he gritted his teeth and emptied himself. She slid forward and wrapped her arms around him, sated and happy.

*

Ethan felt Kerri go limp with sleep in his lap. Normally he would have given in to the urge to snooze a bit, too, but now he brooded.

She always responded so passionately, so openly…but was that the same as emotional openness and love?

The physical bond between them was fine, but without the heart it wouldn’t be enough to sustain a long-term relationship. Kerri had a habit of running away from pain. No one had to spell it out for him. It was obvious from what he’d been able to piece together.

Would she consider staying with him worth whatever pain her family would inevitably inflict on her when they found out about the two of them? Or would she vanish without a word? Ethan was certain they wanted her back in the fold. Pattington had ascertained that Kerri left Hong Kong around the same time Barron Sterling had left for Asia. Too much of a coincidence, especially combined with her discomfort at being in Houston.

His plan to show Kerri that she could be happy and content with him and the people around him had imploded. Damn Gavin and Jacob.

Ethan closed his eyes briefly, not wanting to get angry all over again. Kerri needed to see that what the two of them had was worth staying put for, that they could deal with her family as a team. She had to feel safe, and understand that he’d never let anyone hurt her.

But it was entirely possible that he could fail and Kerri would slip away again, this time forever. Icy fingers of dread took hold of his heart, because he was no longer certain he could do enough to hold on to her.

*

Later that evening, Kerri watched Ethan moving around the kitchen, a sharp knife in his hand. The black apron looked good on him, the first time she’d thought that about a man and an apron. He’d put on a black polo shirt and faded jeans to work behind the island counter. The smells of chicken Parmesan coming together were tantalizing.

Already her mouth was watering.
I’m like one of Pavlov’s dogs,
she thought.
Just seeing Ethan in the kitchen is enough to do it
. She’d gain weight at the rate things were going, and would no longer be able to fit into her clothes.

The doorbell rang. Kerri rose. “You want me to get it?”

“Please,” Ethan said over a sizzling pan.

She opened the door to find a small, well-proportioned brunette with sharp eyes on the other side. High heels didn’t quite manage to bring her up to Kerri’s height, but a fashionable black raw-silk dress hugged the other woman’s hourglass body, and her posture was imperious. She tossed long curls over a shoulder and stared at Kerri like she would a bug.

Kerri straightened and put a hand on her hip.

“Who are you?” the woman said.

“Well, at the moment I’m the woman who’s going to decide whether or not to shut the door in your fa—”

Ethan appeared by Kerri’s side. “Catherine! What are you doing here?”

“What do you think?” She started marching into the penthouse. “I had to come here to see you. It’s not like my entire future is something we can talk about over the phone.”

Kerri stepped aside as the other woman swept past. So this was Catherine Fairchild Lloyd, member of the TLD Board and Ethan’s sister-in-law. Given Jacob’s bigamy, Kerri assumed the woman would be more…subdued. But no, she was strikingly good looking and obviously hyped up about something. Her golden brown eyes glittered like lasers, her cheeks flushed to a dark pink—and not from artful makeup.

The second the door closed Catherine wheeled around and said, “How could you, Ethan?” The fact that Kerri was standing there didn’t seem to faze her. “How could you tell everyone I’m an embezzler?”

Ethan sighed. “I guess Simon ran to you.”

“No. Jacob told me everything.”

He scowled. “You’re still talking to Jacob?”

“He called me this morning to rail at me about all the accounts and credit cards I closed. It’s the least he deserved considering what he’s done. But he had the last laugh in our little conversation, oh yes he did. He said you told everyone I stole from the company, and that’s why it’s doing so badly. I could hardly believe my ears when I heard it.”

“I said no such thing. The official audit isn’t finished yet, and there are quite a few other people who had access to the company’s funds besides you.”

“He said I was going to
jail
to pay for it.” Her lower lip trembled slightly.

Kerri winced. Jacob was the biggest ass ever.

“Catherine, listen to me. We don’t know what happened to the money yet,” Ethan said. “It might just not have been properly accounted for…which wouldn’t surprise me, given how sloppily the rest of the company has been run lately. So long as you aren’t responsible for the missing funds, you aren’t going to jail.”

“But he said—”

“Don’t you know your husband well enough to disregar—”

“He’s not my husband!”

“Okay, okay. The point is, you should know how Jacob can be when he’s angry.”

“I didn’t steal anything from the company. Or from Jacob.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about.”

“You think?” Catherine didn’t seem sure. “Sometimes truth has nothing to do with how life turns out.” She turned to Kerri, studying her from head to toes.

Kerri arched an eyebrow and returned the favor. She wouldn’t let Catherine intimidate her.

“I suppose this is the Kerri who found the problems?” Catherine said finally.

“One and the same,” Kerri said.

“You really trust this woman?” Catherine said to Ethan. “Everyone knows she’s Barron Sterling’s granddaughter. Born right in the middle of the enemy camp.”

He took a step forward, invading Catherine’s personal space. She flinched, but didn’t back down. Her head tilted back and her chest thrust out like a rooster ready for a fight.

“Let me be perfectly—
perfectly
—clear. You have no right to question Kerri. She is superbly qualified to look at the books and help me,” Ethan said, eyes boring into Catherine’s. “Unlike, I might add, some other people who apparently didn’t see anything going wrong at the company even though they sat on the board and attended every meeting.”

Catherine paled. “You’re on the board too.”

“Some of us were never able to go to any of the meetings due to scheduling conflicts, which in retrospect seem rather convenient. Kerri’s a Yale graduate, and received an MBA from Wharton. Was a VP at Goldreich Stanley. International experience. The Lloyds Development is lucky to have someone with her qualifications looking over the mess that Jacob’s left behind. If you and the others hadn’t been so busy spending Lloyd money, you might’ve realized the company wasn’t doing so well or that Jacob was mismanaging everything, and I might not have had to hire her in the first place.”

Catherine’s face was crimson. “How was I to know that? He did everything.”

“You’ve been on the board ever since you got married. Your husband is the CEO.
How could you not know?
”

Kerri cringed. Ethan was obviously furious, but he wasn’t being entirely fair. If Catherine didn’t have any training or experience reading financial reports and so on, she wouldn’t have known what to look for. It had nothing to do with her seat on the board. In fact, it was likely that Jacob had chosen Catherine for the board specifically because she wouldn’t know enough to challenge him. “Ethan, maybe Catherine really didn’t—”

“Stay out of this,” Catherine snapped, then turned back to Ethan. “For your information, Jacob never shared anything meaningful about the business with me.” Despite the cold disdain on her face, her voice started shaking. “And if you think I buy your whole ‘I’ll take care of everyone’ routine, you’re mistaken. I know what you’re doing, Ethan. You’re trying to get rid of me, cut me off, and indulge in your twisted kink.”

Twisted kink?

“Jacob told me all about you. You like them weak, needy and just slightly messed up so you can swoop in and fix everything for them.” Catherine glanced at Kerri. “Sound about right? You know Jacob said Ethan only dates two types of women? Ones who are just like Lisa, or the exact opposite. Guess which one you are.”

It was Ethan’s turn to pale. His hands clenched into fists so tight they shook. He looked furious enough to strike Catherine.

“See, I’m right.” She tossed a cruel smirk at Kerri. “You’re such an idiot, thinking you’re special, when what you really are is just a chance to undo his fuckup.”

“Drop it, Catherine.” Ethan’s voice lowered to a register Kerri hadn’t heard before. “Before I cut you off for real.”

“Wasn’t that your plan from the very beginning? Get rid of the grasping, fake in-law? Isn’t that why you hired this, this surrogate to go throu—”

“
Enough!
” Ethan roared. “Get out!”

“You never liked me. Just because I don’t have a fancy degree doesn’t mean I’m stupid!”

Kerri took Catherine’s arm and dragged her out of the penthouse. Cripes, the woman had a death wish. Or maybe she just didn’t care what happened any longer.

“Come on.” Kerri half-pushed, half-escorted Catherine to the elevator. Despite everything that had been said, she found herself feeling sorry for the woman. Catherine had discovered the man she thought she was married to wasn’t really her husband, the lifestyle she obviously enjoyed was probably going to be radically downsized in the very near future, and to top it all off, there was a very real possibility she might go to jail. It was a lot to deal with.

“You shouldn’t bait him.” Kerri pressed the button for the elevator.

“What the hell do you mean?”

“I think you know.”

Catherine’s jaw tensed, as though she was bracing for a fight, then moisture appeared in her eyes. Her hands shook. Panic and humiliation flashed in her gaze before she yanked her arm out of Kerri’s grip.

Kerri suppressed a sigh. Under the killer looks and haughty veneer, this woman was obviously hurting so badly that Kerri couldn’t help but wonder if she really loved Jacob. It would explain a lot.

“You need to go,” Kerri said. “But just so you know, I don’t think Ethan’s going to cut you out. He’s way too devoted to his family.”

“Yeah, great, except I’m not his family. Never was.” Catherine’s voice was bitter. “God, it wasn’t supposed to end up like this. Four damned years, and I’m left with nothing.” She looked at Kerri levelly. “They always hated me, you know. The whole Lloyd clan. I wasn’t what they wanted for Jacob. They’ve got to be thrilled I was never his lawfully wedded wife.”

Yeah,
Kerri thought.
I’m sure they’re
much
happier that he’s really married to a stripper
.

Catherine pulled out a silk handkerchief and carefully blotted her tears away. “Well, good luck with Ethan. I hope you know what you’re doing. But if you want my advice, go find someone else. When he’s done playing with you, he’ll toss you out like so much stale bread.”

She disappeared into the elevator.

ETHAN WAS POURING HIMSELF a stiff drink when the door opened and Kerri walked back into the penthouse.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

He nodded.

“She’s gone.”

“Thank you.” He didn’t say anything more, leaving the door open for her to ask the inevitable questions.

Kerri eyed his drink with something akin to longing, then went to the fridge and concentrated on pouring orange juice into the largest glass in the cupboard. Her cheeks were slightly flushed.

Damn it, why wasn’t she asking about Lisa?

Do you really want her to? What are you going to tell her if she does?

He didn’t know how to explain the Lisa situation without making things worse, especially after Catherine’s damning statements. Catherine was wrong, of course; Kerri was strong and capable, nothing like Lisa, but that wouldn’t mean anything if Kerri refused to believe him.

Then there was his ability to explain. Lisa was a difficult topic. His family didn’t understand exactly what had happened—only that she was dead and that Ethan had been under suspicion but had managed to clear his name. They’d never doubted his innocence, but everyone had their own interpretation of the event and he’d never bothered to correct them. Moving on was preferable to letting one event—no matter how traumatic it had been at the time—color the rest of his life.