Since I Saw You (25 page)

Excitement rippled through her at the sound of his illicit words in the near darkness. He shifted, bracing himself on one forearm, his other hand between his thighs. The head of his cock felt warm and hard, probing her slit, insisting upon entrance. She whimpered. “That’s right,” he said thickly. “Open your thighs nice and wide. Let me in.”

He flexed his hips, his cock stretching her, carving through her slowly, melting her flesh with his power and heat. She believed completely in that moment that he’d been up a good part of the night. His cock was huge and heavy with sustained arousal.

“Oh yeah, that’s so good,” he muttered. “You’re so hot, baby. You’re squeezing me so tight.” He paused. She sensed his pitched alertness. “I can feel your heart beating inside you.”

“Kam,” she whispered, moved by the tinge of wonder in his voice. She ran her hands over his shoulders and chest, loving his hardness and strength. He began to rock her. She made a soughing sigh of surrender. He flexed his hips and seated his cock inside her completely.

“So tight but so wet,” he hissed. “You’re going to have a time of it keeping me out of this pussy.”

“You’ll have no fight from me. It feels so good,” she whispered.

He withdrew and sunk back into her, a groan tearing at his throat.

“Lin?”

“Yes?” she asked. It was hard to catch her breath with him throbbing so high inside her, filling her to the brim.

“When we made love before,” he said gruffly. “It’s never been like that for me. I thought you deserved to know. It’s never felt like
this
.” He stroked her again and groaned. She gasped, overwhelmed by sensation, stunned by what he was telling her.

“No. Not for me, either,” she admitted shakily, her fingers digging into the dense muscle of his shoulders. He drove into her. Her head fell back on the pillow as she gasped.

He left her no choice. There was no guarding of her heart in this raw, honest place where he took her. She couldn’t say no to the wild, fierce ride that was Kam.

S
he awoke later alone in the bed. She blinked several times, trying to figure out what it was that had awakened her. The memory of their early morning lovemaking lapped over her like a sensual, warm surf. She’d watched Kam fall into a deep, peaceful sleep afterward, unable to look away from his face. Finally, she’d roused herself from her trance to call Ian and apologize for not being able to attend the brunch meeting with a visiting CEO of one of Noble’s subsidiaries. Then she’d finally joined Kam in a satisfied sleep.

Now he was gone. The bedroom door was closed. In the distance, she heard the sound of male voices. She sat up quickly, clutching the sheet to her breasts. The voices were similar in timbre and volume, but one was French accented, the other British.
Ian was here.
Her glance landed on her leather cuffs on the bedside table. Anxiety swept through her, which was ridiculous. Of course Ian wasn’t coming back
here
. Kam would never let him. She leapt out of bed and approached the closed door. She tilted her head, trying to make out their words over her pounding heart.

“. . . unfortunate what happened with Jason. I’d have never guessed it of him, but some men will turn into idiots around a woman as beautiful as Lin,” she thought she heard Ian say, the direction of his voice making her think he stood near the hallway in front of the foyer. “No wonder she wanted to take the day off to recover after something like that.”

Kam spoke, but it was as if his back was turned in her direction. She heard her own name several times, and then he spoke vehemently in French.

“I understand,” Ian said. “I’m only sorry I ever suggested the meeting. I would have done the same if I came upon someone holding Francesca against her will.”

Lin’s breath froze in her lungs. She pressed her ear to the door, but all she heard was silence. Ian had drawn a parallel between his protective feelings for Francesca and Kam’s for her. Had Ian been opening a door for Kam to talk about her—Lin? If he was, Kam wasn’t taking the bait. She was thankful.

“I stopped by to officially ask you to dinner on Monday night. Lucien and Elise are coming, and Mrs. Hanson is making roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. I’d ask Lin, but she’s out of town for the night.” Lin frowned. Ian certainly kept linking Kam and her together. How much did he really suspect about them? “And we’re meeting for the demonstration of your device with Gersbach on Wednesday. Lin says you two are ready for that?” Ian continued.

“We’re ready.”

“Maybe tomorrow night, you can tell us all what you’re really
planning for your future,” Ian said.

Lin’s breath froze in her lungs at the unexpected comment. She pressed her ear closer to the door when Ian resumed in a more subdued tone. “Don’t give me that look, Kam. I know you’ve been planning something all along for this business trip, and it wasn’t that you ever expected to sell your patent to any of the luxury watch companies that Lin and I have arranged for you to meet.”

“I haven’t ruled anything out. I like Gersbach, and I look forward to meeting the people from Stunde,” Kam said neutrally, foiling Ian’s attempt to get him to open up. The two men continued talking, but they must have shifted positions, because their voices were more muffled and unintelligible.

By the time Kam rapped on the bathroom door five minutes later, Lin was drying off from a quick shower.

“Come in,” she called, tucking the edge of the towel between her breasts.

They stared at each other for several seconds when he opened the door and stood in the entryway, one arm extended on the frame. He really was a sight to behold first thing in the morning.

“Hi,” she said, stepping toward him and yanking her gaze off the thin trail of hair that bisected his ridged abdomen and disappeared below the low-riding waistband of his jeans. My, she had guessed his size perfectly. What Kam did to a pair of jeans would be considered illegal in some parts of the world. She yanked off the vision of him with effort. She noticed his flared nostrils and vaguely dissatisfied expression when she finally met his stare.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Damn Ian,” he muttered. “I was hoping to wake you up myself and keep you in bed.”

“You can’t keep me in bed indefinitely,” she teased him, a smile breaking through.

“Who says?” he asked, scowling at the same time he stepped toward her, his arms surrounding her. “Now let’s just get rid of this,” he murmured matter-of-factly. He tugged at her towel and it fell between them. “That’s more like it.” He pressed close against her naked, shower-warmed body. It felt decadently good. He hadn’t showered yet. Ian’s arrival must have got him out of bed, either that, or he’d gotten up to take Angus out. He smelled like soap and sex and man. Without thinking, she sunk her teeth gently into what was in front of her—a dense pectoral muscle covered in thick, smooth skin. She sampled his skin with her tongue and felt his cock twitch behind his jeans. His hands moved in her hair, releasing the restraining clip she’d put in it for her shower.

“Now that’s
much
more like it,” he growled, delving his fingers into the loose strands and tugging. Her head fell back and he swooped down, claiming her mouth. By the time he lifted his head a minute later, Kam’s cock had stiffened next to her belly and Lin’s flesh—to say nothing of her brain—had turned to warm goo.

“I’m going to make you into a complete hooky addict,” he stated smugly as he nipped at her lips.

“You’re off to a good start,” she murmured, nibbling his mouth back hungrily as she spoke. “There’s only one problem.”

“There’s
no
problem,” he corrected, pulling her closer in his arms. She pulsed her hips against his cock. He hissed and bit at her a tad harder.

“I don’t have any clothes here except for an evening dress,” she reminded him.

“You won’t need them.”

“I will so. I’m not doing the walk of shame in my rumpled evening dress tomorrow morning. Plus, I told Ian when I called I’d get a few things to him by the end of the evening.”

He lifted his head and arched his brows, looking down at her. “You are
not
going to work today.”

“You can be awfully dictatorial for a man who lived alone for so long and had nobody to boss around. I feel a new kinship to Angus,” she complained without any real heat. He gave her a bland look. “It’s just a few things.”

“You’re a grown woman. When will you learn to live a little? There’s more to life than work, little kitten,” he coaxed, running his firm lips along her cheek and temple.

“There’s an important memo I need to draft.”

He lifted his head and scowled.

“At the very least, I have to check a few e-mails this morning and answer them.”

“You can use my computer for that, but after that, you’re done with work,” he said, his hands running over her back, massaging her . . . influencing her. He knew precisely what he was doing, she admitted as her flesh softened and warmed even further under his touch. “And you’re only going to need one set of clothes, because otherwise, I’ll want you naked,” he murmured near her temple. He undoubtedly felt her shivers of pleasure beneath his stroking hands at the sound of his rough voice in her ear. “I’ll shower in the other bathroom and run out right now to one of the stores on Michigan Avenue. I’ll get you some dog-walking clothes.”

“Dog-walking clothes?” Lin asked, her eyes drifting closed under the influence of his big, rubbing hands moving so deftly on her muscles.

“Yeah. Casual, easy, weekend clothes—the kind I hardly ever see you wear. You’ll need something for when we take breaks and take Angus for walks.” She blinked her eyes open, his hot stare telling her precisely what they’d be
taking breaks
from. He kissed the end of her nose and then her mouth, lingering for a moment to penetrate her lips ever so briefly with his tongue, sampling her.

“Well?” he prompted as he backed up, his gaze lowering over her naked body.

“Well what?” she asked, made stupid by the way he looked at her with such heat.

“My computer is out in the living room. Do whatever you need to do while I shower and I run out, because when I come back, you’re mine for the next twenty-four hours. And you’re going to get it if I catch you sneaking any work after that.”

Her heart leapt when she noticed the hard glint in his eyes. She shook her head and rolled her eyes, trying to discount his threat. He arched his eyebrows, giving her a pointed glance that told her loud and clear he hadn’t been teasing. Her eyes widened.

“That’s right. I meant it,
mon petit chaton
,” he assured quietly. “For the next twenty-four hours,
I’m
your boss. If you test me by focusing on anything but relaxation, fun, or pleasure, I’ll have to prove it to you with a punishment.” She blinked. He grinned suddenly, a brilliant flash of good humor. She laughed when he swooped down to give her one last kiss. He started to back out of the room but pointed at her foot.

“Shoe size?” he demanded.

“Seven,” she replied breathlessly. He nodded, turned and headed toward his shower.

For several seconds, she just stood there, dazed. Despite that charming smile that radiated sex appeal like a beacon, Lin was left with a sneaking suspicion accompanied by an illicit thrill that Kam had been dead serious about what he’d said.

Cocky
and
incorrigible,
she thought with wry amusement as she retrieved the towel. She refastened it around her breasts and met her own gaze in the mirror. Her smile faded.

You’ve never been more irresponsible and foolish in your life.

Nor have you ever been more dishonest.

Didn’t Kam deserve to know about her secret infatuation for his brother for the past eleven years of her life?

But when she and Kam were together, like they’d been last night, the only man in the room was Kam . . . the only man in her mind . . . her world. Just because she had some past unresolved—and
unresolvable
feelings for Ian—didn’t mean she should go around making dramatic confessions about it to Kam. That was ridiculous. Besides, maybe Richard had been right when she’d said her unrequited feelings for Ian had kept her safe from commitment. Safe from hurt. Safe from rejection. Between Ian and her work, Lin was lucky she wasn’t still an untouched virgin. Even so, dipping her toe in the water now and then hardly equated to swimming.

If Richard’s analysis was right, what was she doing with Kam? He was no stellar specimen when it came to being an ideal mate, was he? Quirky, commitment-phobic geniuses who also just happened to be drop-dead sexy and could get almost any woman to fall into bed with them were hardly the hallmarks of a perfect partner. Kam had told her point-blank yesterday that his relationship with Phoebe Cane was agreeable to him because it was just about sex, no strings attached. Yes, he’d insinuated that he didn’t plan to hurt her and hinted that he had a deeper interest in her than casual sex. Hadn’t he?

Why did it feel in retrospect that he hadn’t
really
said anything all that substantial last night? She closed her eyes, trying to re-create the intensity of emotion she’d experienced. It’d felt overwhelmingly intimate and beautiful and special while she’d been under his influence. In the morning light, her logical brain tried to re-create the magic of letting go, of trusting . . . but it eluded her.

No, she hardly felt
safe
carrying on this way with Kam.

Yet here she was.

What Kam
did
make her feel, she realized as she opened her eyes and stared at herself honestly in the mirror, was
good
, and more alive than she remembered feeling in her entire life.

Maybe this wasn’t wise and maybe it wasn’t safe, Lin acknowledged as she opened up a drawer and found a comb. But it
was
wonderful.

Didn’t she deserve the spotlight for a precious moment, no matter how short that time was? Didn’t she deserve to bask in the euphoria of great sex, risk, and romance instead of always being the efficient, careful, reliable understudy hovering in the wings?

•   •   •

Kam’s eyes grew warm when he entered the apartment a little less than an hour later and saw her on the floor next to Angus, a computer in her lap and a cup of coffee steaming on the table not far away. Sunlight flooded through the floor-to-ceiling windows and turned Lake Michigan a sparkling teal in the distance. Angus had succumbed to the warm sedative of the sun a few minutes before, when Lin had scratched her behind the ears.

She smiled as he stalked toward her, his gaze lowering over her appreciatively and lingering on her bare, outstretched legs. “You look a hell of a lot better in that shirt than I do,” he said, referring to his gray button-down, which fell on her at midthigh.

“I disagree. I happen to like this shirt on you a lot,” she said, taking a sip of coffee.

He tossed a shopping bag on the couch behind her. “You should, since you’re the one who picked it out.” Lin’s hand jerked, splashing some coffee on her upper lip. “Now we’re trading off. I’m the one buying clothes for you.”

“What . . . do you mean?” she said looking up at him.

He smirked. “You didn’t really believe that I thought Ian picked out all those clothes for me, did you? Or chose the new curtains for Aurore, or all that bedding and linens and the new dishes for the kitchen? Give me
some
credit for reading him. Everyone knows he relies on you for stuff like that. Everyone knows you have impeccable taste.”

She blushed. “I hadn’t realized you knew.”

“Your mark was all over that stuff. Your reputation precedes you. Ian, Francesca, Lucien, and Elise talk about you as if you could do no wrong. You transformed Aurore. Only you could make that ancient pile start to look not only elegant, but also comfortable,” he said matter-of-factly, kneeling on the carpet and sitting next to her, his back leaning against the couch, one long, jean-covered leg bent, the other one sprawled out in front of him, his hip pressed against hers.

“I’m glad you liked the things. It was hard to choose, never having been to Aurore. Never having met you,” she admitted.