The Billionaire Boyfriend Proposal: A Kavanagh Family Novel (8 page)

I was assaulted by sensations coming at me
from all directions. They were sweet torment as they accumulated
inside me, building and swelling into a throbbing ball of energy. I
couldn't stand it. I was going to explode and I didn't want to. Not
yet. Too soon. But damn, I was already beginning to unravel and it
was too late to stop now. If he removed that finger I would just
have to finish myself in front of him.

Thank God I didn't have to. Instead of
withdrawing, he thrust in another finger and rubbed my clit with
his thumb. "Yessss," I hissed. I threw my arms above my head and
scrunched the bedcovers in my fists, trying to hang on to something
in case I was I blown away by the explosion I felt building inside
me.

"Cassie," he murmured against the pillow of
my breasts. "My Cassie."

His words set me off. The mass of sensations
centered at my groin broke apart, then broke me apart. My body
rocked and throbbed, from my core, along my limbs to my fingers and
toes.

"Blake!" It burst from my lips and seemed to
urge him on. He changed his position, and as my body quivered and
twitched from its release, he entered me to the hilt.

I took him easily, despite his size. I was
slick and sated, my muscles useless. He groaned against my forehead
where his lips pressed to my hot skin. Slowly, we rocked together
to a familiar rhythm. The muscles in his back trembled beneath my
hands as if he were straining to control himself. I didn't want
control. I wanted him to let go as I had done.

I linked my ankles at his ass, stroked the
smooth skin at his shoulders and thrust up my hips. But it wasn't
enough. I rolled him over, or maybe he rolled me. There was no way
I could have budged him if he didn't want to change position.

I sat on top, thrusting out my breasts,
enjoying the touch of his big hands, the tweak of his fingers. He
stared at his handiwork as my nipples grew to points. I ground
myself against his hips, deepening his thrusts, then drew myself up
his cock until he was almost out of me.

"Jeez, Cass," he groaned, grabbing my hips.
He pulled me back down, slamming his cock all the way in. He
groaned again and his eyes rolled back. "I'm not…going
to…last."

His words drove me on. It was a thrill to
know I had so much power over this big, tough guy. I felt like I
could make him do anything at that moment, promise anything.

I took his hands in both of mine and used his
strong arms for support. I pumped him hard, riding his cock,
drawing myself up and down until my back and thighs were slick with
sweat.

His breathing quickened. His eyes flew open
to watch me, first my bouncing breasts then up to my face, my eyes,
where his hot gaze rested. It was too much. I was going to come
again.

He clutched both my hands in one of his and
touched his other to my tender nub. The sensations wracked me all
over again, more powerful than ever. Jolts shot through me,
maddening, electrifying.

I cried out his name, unable to stop it
bursting from my mouth. He grunted once, twice, and thrust hard and
drew me down to him at the same time.

We kissed and came, our bodies fused together
by our heat and something too powerful for words. I lay on top of
him, drawing breath into my lungs, drawing
Blake
in with
each gasp.

My blood slowed and my head began to clear,
but not too much, thankfully. I didn't want to think yet. I just
wanted to feel and enjoy what we'd shared. He was right. It had
been too long.

I was spent. My body felt limp and weak. I
couldn't move off him and he didn't let me go. His arms still
trapped me against him. I tucked my head under his chin and closed
my eyes. The rhythm of his breathing steadied, slowed, until I
suspected he was asleep. I felt myself drifting off too, the
feeling of completeness filling me up.

***

It was darker when I awoke. The inky black of
a moonless night disoriented me at first and it took a moment to
realize I was in my own bed, still lying on top of Blake. Half on
top. I must have slid to his side at some point, but my upper body
and one arm lay across his chest. His muscles twitched and jerked,
and his breathing had quickened. It must have been that which woke
me.

I lifted my head to see him, but his face was
in shadow. He didn't move and I suspected he was still asleep. I
didn't want to wake him so stayed where I was, cocooned by his
powerful arm. The arm suddenly tightened its hold. I couldn't have
moved even if I'd wanted to.

He said something, half grunt, half whisper,
then fell silent. His head turned from side to side and every
muscle went rigid. He was having a nightmare.

"Blake," I said. "Blake, wake up."

He suddenly sat upright, dislodging me. "Get
down!" he growled.

"Blake? It's me, Cassie. Get down from
where?"

I could just make out his silhouette as he
twisted toward my voice. His eyes were like two gleaming pinpricks
in the dark. "Cass?" he rasped, his chest rising and falling
heavily.

I touched his arm. "It's okay. You're in my
bedroom with me."

"I know that." He jerked away and scooted off
the bed. He snatched clothes off the floor. I didn't know how he
could see anything in the dark. He strode to the door, but stopped
before leaving. He lowered his head and let out a long breath, then
came back to the bed. He stood beside me, a looming, ominous
shadow. "I'm sorry," he muttered, brushing his fingers against
mine. "I didn't mean to snap at you."

"It's okay." I wanted to tell him to come
back to bed and let me hold him. I wanted to tell him that I would
help him banish his bad dreams. But I didn't. That's what a lover
would do. We weren't lovers. We'd just lapsed for one night and it
wouldn't happen again.

I shifted my hand away and severed the touch.
It was too dark to know what he thought about that. "Cassie?" He
sounded uncertain, and I guess I
did
know what he thought.
He was confused.

I wasn't. I knew nothing had changed between
us. Our love-making could best be described as being for old time's
sakes.

"Thank you," he said, "for…"

"You don't have to thank me. I—"
I enjoyed
it
, I wanted to tell him, but didn't. "I'm as much to
blame."

"Blame?"

Maybe that was the wrong word. "We're two
consenting adults who came together for…relief." There, that was
better. No room for misinterpretation. "It's okay. It happens."

"Not to me."

He stalked away from the bed to the door, his
strides long and purposeful. Hell. We were going to end this night
on a note of anger and resentment, exactly what I didn't want.

"Blake, wait." To my surprise, he paused at
the door. "We've managed to do okay since you returned. Not friends
exactly, but it's been…comfortable. Please don't let what happened
tonight ruin it."

"I wasn't." His voice was barely a whisper.
"I haven't."

I swallowed. "We should keep to the rules I
laid out earlier. No touching."

"Except for extreme circumstances," he
sneered. "Well, there's your problem, because all circumstances are
extreme when I'm around you." He pulled the door open, but turned
back before leaving. "Damn it, Cassie. I thought the army was going
to break me, but I was wrong. You will."

CHAPTER 6

I didn't see Blake in the morning, but I
heard hammering coming from the summer house. I paused at the back
door and warred with myself. On the one hand, the ice had to be
broken at some point, but on the other…what should I say to him?
Was an apology in order?

No. No way. I had nothing to apologize for.
If anything, he should apologize to me for the way he'd treated me
eight years ago. He'd tossed away my feelings as if they didn't
matter as much as Reece's. He'd accused me of being wrong, of
wanting to hurt someone because I was hurting. And when I couldn't
process all my dark emotions let alone voice them, when I needed
him most, he'd left me.

No way was I going to feel guilty for
shutting him out of my heart. He didn't know how fragile it was, or
that exposing myself to pain again was more than I could bear. My
parents, Wendy, Lyle, Gran and then Blake…I'd loved them all and
they were all gone. Except Blake had come back—but for how
long?

I made myself pancakes then cooked a batch
more. I should go and see if he was okay. He
and
Robbie.
After all, they were my guests and a good hostess always checked on
her guests and fed them. The sooner I got this first awkward
meeting out of the way, the better, and we could return to the
comfortable place we'd been in before last night happened.

It was nice out, sunny. The river, just
visible between the trees, glinted like a diamond amid the pretty
setting of weeping willows and wildflowers. I loved Serendipity
Bend. Sure, it was inhabited by the aloof and privileged, but there
was something so calming about the slow, easy glide of water with
the dragonflies flitting over the surface, and the ancient trees
with their thick trunks and shady canopies. They'd been great to
climb as a kid or to hide behind. Now they were familiar friends to
sit against while sketching.

"Hey," came a warm, male voice. I hadn't
heard Blake approach. He stood a few feet away near the front door
of the summer house, a saw in one hand and a plank of wood in the
other.

I smiled, hesitant, and he smiled back,
equally uncertain. It was enough, for now. Any apology or mention
of last night would only lead us right back to where we left off in
my bedroom, and I didn't want to do that. This was better.
Safer.

"I brought breakfast. Have you eaten?"

"Did someone mention food?" Robbie called
from inside the cottage.

We laughed. "The kid is a bottomless pit,"
Blake said.

Robbie brought out two chairs and sat on one.
I took the other while Blake sat on the top step. We ate pancakes
smothered in syrup then got back to work. I didn't have any classes
on a Thursday, but I thought I might give Robbie some extra
tuition. Blake would insist on paying me, but I could tell him it
was just for fun and to pass the time while he worked.

"I have to stop at lunchtime," he said
leaning back against the porch post.

"Oh. Okay." I wouldn't ask him what he was
doing. It was none of my business.

Robbie didn't seem to have the same qualms.
"Got a hot date?" He grinned and winked at me.

"Yeah." Blake smiled. I looked away, my heart
sinking to the floor. "With my brothers."

Oh. Well. That was okay then. Not that it
wasn't okay if he had a girlfriend. A hot guy like him should have
a girlfriend. Then again, I'd just slept with him and I did know
one thing about Blake Kavanagh with a hundred percent
certainty—he'd never cheat on a girl. So, right, there was no other
woman. No woman at all, because I didn't count.

Why did a hot guy like Blake not have a
girlfriend?

"So what do the bazillionaire Kavanagh
brothers get up to when they're together," Robbie asked, licking
syrup off his fingers.

"Surfing," Blake said.

"You still do your Thursday afternoon thing
down at Prospect Point?" I asked.

He nodded. "They kept it up while I was away,
and made me join them again after I came back. It's good. Keeps us
active and we talk about everything down there. It keeps us
close."

Ever since Reece could drive he'd been taking
his younger brothers down to The Point to surf. I didn't know why
the tradition had begun, or how they'd even got into surfing in the
first place, but it was just something they did together. They were
lucky to find time in their busy schedules to spend an afternoon
every Thursday surfing. Very lucky. The brothers were tight. They
stood up for each other no matter what, sometimes at the expense of
other people in their life—something I knew all too well.

Despite having a brother and sister, I never
really experienced the sort of sibling attachment the Kavanaghs
had. While I'd been closer to Wendy than Lyle, she'd always been a
little distant, her attitude so different to mine that I struggled
to understand her. There was never any rift between us, but we just
didn't have that closeness that the Kavanagh brothers had, or the
Denny sisters. I was envious of them.

"Just one problem," Blake said. "I don't want
to leave you guys here alone. It's not safe."

"You think Skull will come back?" I asked.
"During the day?"

"Unlikely," Robbie said. "He and the gang are
creatures of the night."

Blake shook his head. "I don't want to risk
it."

"I have a solution," I said. "You go and do
your thing with your brothers and I'll take Robbie shopping."

Robbie groaned. "Do I have to?"

"Do you own any other clothes?"

He looked down at his paint splattered
T-shirt and jeans. "No."

"Then you have to. Also a haircut."

He ran his hand through his shoulder-length
brown hair. "Okay, I guess."

"I also think you should cancel classes until
we're sure Skull isn't coming back," Blake said. "You don't want to
be responsible for their welfare as well as your own."

"You're right. I'll go call them now." I got
up, but he grabbed my hand.

"Cassie…are you okay?"

"Sure. Why wouldn't I be?"

His gaze flicked to Robbie, now licking the
plate clean. "Just asking. These circumstances are trying at
best."

Did he mean the circumstances of Skull coming
back or of him and me being forced together? I pulled free, shot
him a flat smile, and took the plate back up to the main house.

I called all my students and canceled the
models, and tried not to think how much I'd miss having them
around. The house would be too quiet without their lively chatter
while they painted.