The Barons of Texas: Jill (12 page)

A lump formed in her throat. She had no reference for understanding his gratitude to have been able to do those things for his parents.

“But then my mother died unexpectedly. Naturally Dad was devastated, so I returned home and began to run my business out of the back of his store with computers, modems and faxes. Whenever I sensed Dad was doing okay, I’d make overnight trips to Dallas. But by then his health wasn’t good, and there was no way I was going to leave him alone for long. He refused to stop working, so to ease some of his burden, I helped him in the store and tried to make it look as if I wasn’t doing much.”

The memory drew another smile from him. “And while I was at it, I continued to use the money I had made up until then to make more. But when Dad’s health began to seriously fail, I became his main caretaker.”

“But why? You had the money to hire someone to take care of him.”

He looked at her. “Taking care of him wasn’t a chore or an obligation for me. It was something I felt privileged to do, though I used my money to make
him as comfortable as I possibly could in other ways.” He reached for his cognac and took a sip. “And that’s the long version of why I only appeared on the social scene a couple of years ago. Before then, I had other priorities.”

She sat there for a moment, attempting to absorb all that he had told her. “You know, you may have had the patience, plus everything else you learned from your dad, to help you accomplish what you have, but you also have a rare brilliance.”

He shook his head. “Not brilliance.”

“No, it’s true. Since I became aware of you, I’ve seen evidence of your work. And you were smart enough to go into exactly the right business. As a venture capitalist, you used other people’s money to make money of your own.”

“But no client of mine ever lost a cent.”

She smiled. “Don’t I know it. In some circles, your name is whispered with reverence.”

“Funny. That’s how I’ve heard your name mentioned, too.”

She laughed. “Oh, sure you have.”

“You should do that more often.”

“What?”

“Laugh.” He stood, reached for her hand and pulled her to her feet. “That’s enough of the past. For now, let’s concentrate on the present.”

“How?”

“By dancing.”

L
ike the night, their dance felt magic to Jill.

Colin moved them slowly around the terrace in a way that was as romantic as the music that filled the air. He held her lightly, one hand at her waist, the other hand holding hers out to the side.

The dance was as different from the way they had danced at the blues club as sunlight was to moonlight. Their first dance had been rawly sexual and darkly dangerous. This was more like a dream, soft and sensual.

At times they simply swayed together; at other times they did a slow, graceful waltz. But always, always, their bodies were in tune. She didn’t even have to think to follow him. It was as natural as breathing, as sweet as the flower-scented night, as inevitable as the tides.

She wasn’t even aware of her feet touching the
ground. She was floating, the lightweight panels of her skirt drifting outward like undulating ribbons of silk. She was intoxicated, not on champagne, but on the night, the music and most of all Colin, yet she felt no alarm.

Her gaze was locked with his, because there was nothing else she wanted to see. And when his steps became even slower and he drew her even closer, she decided there was nowhere else she would rather be than held tightly in his arms. Her body recognized his, softened and melted into his.

She drew her hand from his, slid it around his neck and up into his hair. His hands joined at her back, and his fingers delved beneath the dress’s straps to her bare skin.

The heat started gradually, winding its way through her veins. Her nipples hardened against the silk fabric; her breasts began to ache and swell. She had experienced the same things many times over the past few days, but this time she had no urge to try to censure her feelings. Then the heat reached the spot between her legs and flared. She would have fallen if he hadn’t been holding her so firmly.

The solid ridge of his arousal pushed against her lower body. Physically Colin wanted her, but intellectually, emotionally, she was sure he didn’t. After all, to him they had made a business bargain, a bargain, moreover, that involved one of his best friends.

But it didn’t matter to her, not tonight, not at this moment. Since the beginning, there had been a sexual tension between the two of them that couldn’t be denied. Every time he had touched her, he had made her entire body pulsate with desire for him. His kisses
had left her decimated to the point that nerves and needs had continuously warred inside her.

And it had all left her confused, her thoughts and feelings twisted and tangled to the point that she hadn’t known what was happening to her or what it all meant. She still didn’t. But now, suddenly, she was tired of trying to figure it out. Most of all, however, she was tired of fighting her feelings.

Just this once, she wanted to make love with Colin. And she wanted to do it now, on this magic night, while the trade winds blew over them.

She pulled herself out of his arms and looked up at him. In his eyes she could see the same heat that she felt inside her. She had seen that same heat before. She had also witnessed his control and the way he could pull himself back from the precipice without taking that one tiny step too far that would have them both falling over the edge and into full-scale passion.

So this time, before he had time to think of all the reasons they should rein in their feelings and say good-night, she grasped his hand and wordlessly began to draw him toward her door.

With each step she took, she expected him to pull her to a halt, but miraculously it didn’t happen. She wondered what he was thinking, feeling, but she wouldn’t let herself look back at him. She didn’t want to chance seeing doubt or wariness or any other negative emotion. Not tonight, when she knew so clearly what she wanted. She continued to her room, through the doors and to the side of her bed.

Liana or her mother had already turned down the covers and turned on the nightstand lamp. A small bowl of freshly cut hibiscus that matched the one in her hair sat beneath it. The lamp’s pale golden light
lit a portion of the bed. The only other light came from the spill of moonlight through the open doors.

It was more than enough. If she had been blind, she would still have been able to sense Colin if he had been anywhere in the room. His presence disturbed the molecules of the otherwise peaceful atmosphere, threatening to set it on fire; his body heat reached out and wrapped around her; his musky male scent invaded her every pore.

She released his hand, and still without looking at him, she reached behind her back to unzip her dress.

His hand closed over hers and the zipper tab. “Look at me, Jill.”

She didn’t want to. She didn’t want to see his calm visage or hear his rational words.

“
Look
at me,” he said, this time his voice hoarse with emotion.

She exhaled a trembling breath. Reluctantly she turned and gazed up at him. His eyes were darker than she had ever seen them, and his face was tight, the muscles in his neck rigid. “Are you sure?”

She could hardly believe it. He wasn’t telling her he didn’t want to make love to her. Instead, he was thinking of her, leaving the decision up to her without trying to influence her more than he already had.

“Oh, yes.” Her eyes moistened with emotion; her words sounded barely above a whisper. “I’m very sure.”

He didn’t ask another question or give her a chance to say another word. Before she knew it, he had unzipped her dress and pulled it down her body. She stepped out of it, and at the same time her trembling fingers attempted to unbutton his shirt. He pushed her hand aside and quickly did the job.

“Get in bed.”

His intensity and desire were suddenly coming at her in pounding waves, and it dawned on her just how much control he had actually been exerting the past few days.

She kicked off her shoes and did as he said. Once on the bed, she used her feet to push the covers down to the end, then lifted her hips and slipped off her panties.

Colin came down to her, naked and with every muscle in his body hard. He eased himself on top of her, opening her legs with his, then positioning himself.

Her heart hammered with excitement and anticipation, so hard it felt as if her ribs might break. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew there were bound to be consequences for stealing these moments out of time with Colin and for taking what she wanted, what they
both
wanted. But she had never felt like this before and probably never would again. And for this one time, this one night, if there was a piper to pay, she gladly would.

“Colin.” It was a whisper. It was a scream. She wasn’t certain which, because above all it was a demand.

His mouth crushed hers, and his tongue thrust deep. She wrapped her arms around his neck, then slid her palms down his back, relishing the feel of the rippling muscles beneath his bare skin that, before now, she had only seen. He closed a hand over her breast and roughly kneaded her flesh, taking her beyond reason and into the realm of heat, haze and animalistic urges and cravings.

She moved restlessly beneath him, her hands covering
every inch of him she could reach. She had never been to this place before, where she had absolutely no control over her body, nor did she want any. The kisses and touches had taken her close. The dancing at the blues club, along with the application of the sunscreen, had brought her even closer. But none of them had brought her to the point where she was now.

To be kissed without restraint and touched in a wild urgency of need was incredible, amazing, wonderful. But she wanted more. She wanted Colin inside her so badly and with such violence that if someone had happened to walk in the door and tried to interrupt them, she would have been beyond caring.

And she wasn’t afraid. If she had learned nothing else on this island, she had learned that letting herself go was okay and that, no matter what happened, Colin would keep her safe.

She made a sound of frustration and arched against him, convinced she would shatter if she couldn’t have him soon. She turned her head, tearing her mouth from his, but she didn’t have time to say anything.

“I should go slower,” he muttered harshly. “I’ve wanted this so…”

He entered her with one violent push and buried his thick, long length completely inside her. She caught her breath as sharp, exquisite pleasure jolted through her. Then again. And again. And again.

And then she didn’t have time to consciously breathe anymore. He began to slam into her, time after time, and with such ferocity that the bed shook and her body was jarred. But she met his every thrust with her own, lifting her hips to take him more deeply
into her. She felt possessed, like a wild woman who couldn’t get enough of him.

She was on fire. Her blood was boiling. Her nerve endings were being scraped with a hot, soothing, stimulating, liquid ecstasy. He entwined his hands with hers and pressed them back on either side of her head. She looked up at him and saw that his eyes were almost black, his expression pure male aggression.

She had never known she would love the powerful, sexual mastery of a man. She had never even known such rapture could exist between a man and a woman. She wasn’t even sure what was coming next, but she could feel her body readying.

Unbearable, sweet, hot pressure was building inside her. She tightened her grip on his hands and, with tears streaming down her face, bucked beneath him. He bent his head and drove his tongue deeply and roughly into her mouth, taking her there in the exact same fast, exhilarating, jackhammer rhythm he was using to drive into her.

Suddenly overpowering sensations gripped her. She arched her upper back off the bed and came apart, climaxing with a loud cry as she was carried away on waves of pleasure so large, so intense and so incredible, she could only go with them. Seconds later, Colin’s entire body stiffened and he followed her as a deep, hoarse growl came up out of his being, carrying the sound of her name with it.

He had blown it
.

Colin cradled Jill against him with her head resting on his shoulder. Tenderly he brushed tendrils of
damp, dark hair away from her face. Her eyes were closed, and she was as still and limp as a rag doll.

As for himself, his heartbeat had yet to return to normal.

What was he going to do now?

The plan had been to get her away from her everyday life and pressures, so that here on the island, with its slower way of living, she would have very little to focus on but him. In this environment, he had hoped she would relax and get to know him as a person, rather than as someone to banter with at parties or, conversely, ignore.

Well, she had certainly gotten to know him, he thought grimly. The problem was, things had happened out of order.

His first objective, actually his
only
objective, had been to make her fall in love with him.

He had never thought it would happen over these few days. But he had thought, hoped—God he’d
prayed
—it would give him, at the very least, a niche in her life and, at most, a solid foundation on which the two of them could build a deep and lasting relationship.

He loved her. He had known it since the day he had figured out why he had initially been so attracted to her. She didn’t know it, but her scars and his were the same. And her wants and his were also the same.

She had never had a family, not in the real sense of the word, and though she might not consciously consider that a loss, the scars had been there that night for him to see, to recognize, to feel. And he had seen something else, too. Deep down, in a part of her soul that she had done her best to seal off long ago, when
she had lost her mother and her father had taken over her raising, she wanted one.

He, on the other hand, had had a family—no one could have had a better one—but he had lost them. And ever since, he had wanted a new one, one of his own making. But until that night, when for an instant something had opened up inside her that had allowed him to see into her soul, he hadn’t known with whom he wanted to make that family.

But because of what had just happened between them, they both could be doomed never to have one, at least, not the kind they both wanted. He was convinced they could only have that with each other. For once in his life, though, he hadn’t been patient. During the past few days, despite his best intentions, he had rushed and overwhelmed her.

She moved against him; her hand slipped onto his chest, and he felt his loins stir. Closing his eyes, he gritted his teeth. He could take her again, right now, but making love to her a second time would only compound his error—or much worse, since he doubted he would be able to stop at twice.

He had purposely set out to make the night a romantic one, including the dance. But as the dance had continued, he had instinctively drawn her closer. When it came to her, he had so little willpower it scared him to death.

And when she had pulled away, taken his hand and drawn him into her bedroom, his brain had started to shut down. Saying no to her would have been a near impossibility. He didn’t even know where he had gotten the strength to ask if that was what she really wanted. But when she had said yes, it would have
taken the end of the world to stop him from taking her.

Still, he had been too rough, too quick. Their first time should have been different, yet looking back on it, he didn’t know how it could have been. Quite simply, he had been starved for her.

How was he going to turn things back around when he still wanted her so badly he was in danger of exploding?

She moved, rubbing her cheek on his shoulder, and one leg found its way over his.

“Jill?” he murmured, despite himself, kissing the top of her head.

“Mmm?” Her foot flexed and rubbed against his shin. Her hand slid through the curls of his chest hair over to his nipple.

He groaned and put his hand over hers to still it. “Are you all right?”

“Uh-huh.”

Beneath his hand, her fingers slid back and forth over his nipple. This time he firmly clasped her hand and rolled over on top of her. Her hair lay in a tousled mass around her head; her lips were red and swollen, her lids half-closed, her eyes drowsy with sensual lethargy.