Sweet Talk Boxed Set (Ten NEW Contemporary Romances by Bestselling Authors to Benefit Diabetes Research plus BONUS Novel) (11 page)

“How about some Christmas songs before we turn in for the night?” Frederick asked.

Liam sat at the piano and started playing, and the room erupted in a beautiful version of “Silent Night.” Whitney got up and joined Liam on the bench. It made no sense, but she had this desperate a need to be near him.

After a few rounds of Christmas carols, though, she noticed that her niece was nodding off. It was time for bed. The early morning light was starting to slip through the curtains, and they’d all be lucky to get a few hours sleep before excitement got them out of bed again for a holiday breakfast.

“I think we’ll get you tucked in now,” she told Ally. “When you wake up, it will officially be Christmas morning and we’ll have a lot more to do.”

“But I’m not tired, Auntie,” Ally said through a loud yawn.

“I know you’re not, but we’ll try to get some sleep anyway. I’ll read you another bedtime story.”

Ally rubbed her eyes and reluctantly agreed. Liam walked with them to Ally’s room and Whitney tucked her in. Before the story was even halfway finished, the girl was sound asleep.

“You’ve done an amazing job with these two children,” Liam told her as they walked toward her room.

“I love them more than anything. I wish my sister and Vincent could be here to watch them grow, but I am so grateful that I get to be here since their parents can’t be.”

“Don’t you see that they are here?” Liam told her. They’re here each time the children laugh. I know my brother would want no one to raise them but you. You’re incredible.”

“Thank you for giving us this healing Christmas,” Whitney said.

Liam reached down to brush his lips against hers.

“Please come inside with me, Liam.”

She whispered those words, but there was no doubt that he’d heard them. He opened her door without ever releasing his grip on her, and they backed toward her bed.

Chapter Twenty-One

Whitney knew they were moving too quickly, but it had felt like an eternity since she’d last felt his touch. She couldn’t stop what was happening, but even if she could have, she wouldn’t want to.

He backed her up until her legs hit the edge of her bed and then he pressed against her. She felt his arousal pushed into her stomach, and she wanted to reach out and grip him there, but she was unsure of herself. Would that be too bold of her?

But she moved her hands from his well-defined shoulders and brought them slowly down his chest, unbuttoning his shirt along the way. She was desperate to feel the contours of his solid chest. While she was working on removing his clothes, he was slowly stripping hers off too. She could feel the cool air as it whispered along her skin. Excitement surged through her.

“I need you,” he growled, and nipped her earlobe.

She felt his words all the way through her body. She couldn’t get any words past her closed throat. The entire night had been about magic, and this was the perfect ending to it all.

All their clothes finally discarded, he lifted her into his arms and laid her on the bed. She instinctively tried to shield her naked body from his roving eyes, but he quickly joined her on the bed and drew her hands away.

He started caressing every sensitive part of her. His fingers skimmed over her satin skin, sending ripples of delight all through her. She became bolder in her need and her desire, and began running her fingers across his hardness.

She reached his hip and circled around to touch his arousal, then couldn’t stop her excited gasp from escaping. He was so ready for her, and so impressive. She didn’t know how the two of them would fit together, but she was more than willing to try.

“I won’t hurt you, I promise,” he told her, sensing her fear.

She couldn’t help but relax at his words and touch. He was being so gentle with her, how could she do anything but trust him.

He kissed her deeply, exploring the sweet recesses of her mouth, touching every satiny surface. When she was absolutely breathless from that kiss, he moved his head down her slim throat and nipped at her beating pulse. She brought her hands up, running her fingers through his hair, holding him against her body.

He moved over her breasts, swiping his tongue across her peaked nipples and then blowing warm air across those tender buds. She arched off the bed and groaned. She felt the wetness building in her core. She was done with foreplay, and she ground her hips against his. Her nervousness had vanished.

“Patience” was all he said as he continued traveling down her body.

She couldn’t protest, since what he was doing was melting her from the outside in.

He reached her thighs and spread them apart, something no other man had ever done. She wanted to hide from this intimate exposure, but he wouldn’t allow it. She was on display for him, and from the look in his eyes, he was enjoying what he saw.

“You are breathtaking,” he whispered before he brought his head down and nipped the sensitive skin on her stomach.

She stopped fighting him and simply enjoyed the sensations washing through her. He moved his lips further down, his tongue sliding against her hot flesh. When he inserted his finger into her tight core, she nearly shattered. It was too much. But he was relentless. He started moving faster, pressing his hands and mouth forward in a rhythm that quickly had her exploding in passion.

Her head fell back as wave after wave of intense pleasure washed through her. He slowed his movements and made sure she enjoyed every single second of the prolonged orgasm. After the final shudder passed through her body, he started moving upward once again. She felt so spent. She couldn’t possibly do anything further. She couldn’t even open her eyes.

And yet, when he gently nipped one of her hardened nipples, she was proved wrong. That gentle bite started to wake up her body once more. How could he pleasure her so well and then make her want even more?

He lavished attention on her breasts and then again took her mouth with his. He was no longer slow and gentle. He was fast and demanding and she was answering his call. The more feverish he became, the more she needed him to join them together.

He reached down and lifted her leg around his hip, pressing his generous arousal against her core, with just the tip teasing her there. She jerked her hips, no longer afraid of his size. She wanted him to finish what he’d started.

He continued to caress her mouth with his while his hand rubbed along her hip, and the smooth curve of her backside. His every touch sent shivers through her. She jerked her hips again, tired of waiting. Finally, he started to go in inch by amazing inch.

She was so slick, his thick shaft effortlessly moved far insider her. There was no pain, only pleasure, and she felt fuller than she could have ever thought possible. He sank deep within her, up to the hilt, and then paused so they could both relish the sensations.

He looked into her eyes, and the moment so beautiful she almost wept. She loved him so much, and there was no better way for them to be close. He started thrusting in and out of her, and pleasure completely consumed her.

He locked his lips back on hers, gripped her hips tightly in his hands, and started thrusting hard. She thrust met him stroke for stroke as their movements grew frantic.

Her entire body started shaking as she shattered again. And then Liam threw his head back and groaned as she felt him pumping his release inside her.

He collapsed on top of her, and she could hardly breathe from the weight of him. But she didn’t care. She could feel herself sinking into the bed.

With the last bit of energy he had left, he shifted the two of them so that he was lying on his back with her snuggled tightly against his side.

“Thank you,” he whispered as he caressed her back. She couldn’t even reply. Darkness took over her vision and she slipped into a deep, blissful sleep.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Whitney had never been happier in her life. She knew their relationship was theoretically impossible, but somehow they’d seemed to conquer all the obstacles in their path. He seemed as in love with her as she was with him.

She was grateful she’d decided, against her better judgment, to stay. The children were thriving, and she didn’t miss home at all. All it held for her was memories of losing her sister, of never being able to see her again.

She walked down the hallway in search of something to do. The kids were both enrolled in school, and Liam was discussing business with his father that afternoon. Perhaps she could get a ride into town, but she’d be wandering around all alone, and that didn’t seem too appealing.

Strolling by Frederick’s office, she dropped her earring. As she bent down to find it, she heard voices.

“You and Whitney seem to be spending a lot of time together,” she heard Frederick say. Whitney smiled. She knew no good ever came from eavesdropping, but she was couldn’t seem to help herself. She would leave in just a moment.

“Yes, I have. She’s been very good company, and she loves Brayden and Ally so much,” Liam replied, which made Whitney grin. Okay, so it wasn’t a declaration of love.

What Whitney couldn’t see was that Frederick was looking at a list on his desk, checking the people who had reserved places at another fundraising dinner.

“I really didn’t want her to attend the dinner,” he said to his son.

“I quite understand,” Liam replied. “She’s utterly lacking in manners, she dresses inappropriately, and she seems to have no sense of how to behave at such a function.”

“I don’t know how she got invited in the first place,” Frederick said with a sigh.

“Is it too late to uninvite her?”

“Yes, too late. We’ll just try and tuck her away in some corner and hope she can behave for one evening,” Frederick said.

“I suppose you’re right,” Liam told him.

Whitney stood frozen outside the door. She knew she was nobody special, but she felt she’d grown in the time she’d spent with them. Liam had never acted embarrassed to be with her.

Unable to listen for even a moment longer, she ran down the corridors to the safety of her room and locked the door. She lay there crying for a long while, but she somehow managed to pick herself up. She refused to shed another tear.

If they were simply tolerating her for the sake of her niece and nephew, she simply couldn’t stay there anymore. Maybe Liam thought of her only as an amusement, and all the things he’d said to her in the last several weeks were lies. How could she have been so wrong about him? She should have realized, though, that someone like him didn’t fall for girls of her social class. That happened only in her romance books, not in real life.

She started packing up her things, and that didn’t take long. She then went to find the kids. She didn’t know exactly where she would go when she left, but she knew she had to get out of this place. Though being away from the kids would rip her apart, she couldn’t take them away from here — they were doing so well. She’d visit them often, but she couldn’t see Liam again, not when she knew how he really felt.

She found Brayden first. He was in his room, looking so handsome and so happy. He was smiling every day now, so she could never regret the time she’d spent at this mansion.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?”

He beamed at her. “Of course, Aunt Whitney.”

“I have to leave for a little while, but I just want to let you know you can call me anytime, and I’ll be back to visit soon.”

“Why do you have to leave?” Brayden asked her.

“I have to get back to the real world. This place is amazing but it’s not my home. This is your family, and you need time to bond with them.” She was fighting tears as she spoke.

“It won’t be the same without you,” he said, sounding more like a child than the young man he was growing into.

“I’m so proud of you, Brayden. You’ve grown so much since we got here. I know your parents are looking down on you and smiling.”

“I love you, Aunt Whitney. Please promise we won’t be apart long.”

She loved hearing those words. It made her feel as if she hadn’t completely failed in the responsibility her sister had left to her.

“Aunt Whitney, you aren’t ready for the dinner,” Ally said as she came into the room.

“I won’t be able to make it to the dinner, sweetie,” Whitney told her niece.

A tear ran down Ally’s cheek.

“Oh, baby, I’m sorry. I have to go now but I promise I’ll see you real soon.” Whitney’s emotions hanging by a thread. She hugged both kids and scurried away. If she didn’t leave the mansion right now, she’d talk herself out of it, and it was obvious she wasn’t wanted.

She made it to the taxi she’d called and away from the mansion before she allowed her tears to fall. Her heart was shattered, but she’d survived worse things in her life and she would survive this too. The taxi pulled into a cheap hotel nearby, and she wiped her face as she walked inside. She would soon go back to Oregon. That was her home, even if she’d forgotten that for a short time.

Chapter Twenty-Three

“Where is your Aunt Whitney?” Liam asked Brayden as the two children came into the room.

“She left, Uncle Liam. Didn’t she tell you?”

“Left? Where did she go?”

“She said she had to go back home. We don’t really know why. She just said she didn’t belong here and had to leave,” Brayden said.

Liam was stunned speechless. What could have possibly happened?

He rushed to his office and placed a phone call. He then rushed out to find his father and explain he’d be late for the fundraising dinner.

With his connections it didn’t take long to find her, and with his heart thundering like never before, Liam approached the door of her hotel room and rapped on it with some force, and waited impatiently for the knob to turn.

When he saw her red-rimmed eyes, his heart raced. “Why?” He couldn’t utter another word.

“What are you doing here, Liam?”

She sounded so defeated. None of it made sense.

“Why on earth did you leave?” he said, pulling her into his arms.