The Billionaire's Touch (The Sinclairs #3) (22 page)

Her tears flowed faster as she read the response again through blurred vision. If it had been any other man except Evan, she might hesitate before she believed what he was saying. But this
was
Evan, and he was special. His brain was wired a little differently, and his experience with true relationships was almost nonexistent. She believed him.

She typed back.

Evan,

Why does it matter to you what I said? We’ve always both known that our relationship couldn’t go anywhere. I have a life here, and you’re constantly traveling. I never meant to fall in love with you. It just happened. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you, but I couldn’t hold it inside me anymore. But I didn’t expect the words to matter, and I didn’t expect anything for saying them. I’ve just learned that life is too short not to tell somebody you love them if you really do.

Randi sighed as she sent the message, her hands still shaking from the knowledge that her feelings had been
that
important to a man like Evan.

He wrote back quickly.

Randi,

Maybe I’ve never had a woman who made me want to stay in the same place before. Perhaps I’ve been chasing goals that I’ve already achieved. I wanted to be better than my father, and it’s been my priority for years. I guess when you meet the right woman, your priorities change completely. I challenged you to make me happy. You do. You’re the only person who can. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing. If I’m with you, I’m a happy man.

She read the message quickly, realizing that he was saying he wanted more. Although she wanted the same thing desperately, it just wasn’t possible. She started to sob as she typed back a quick reply.

Evan,

Being together permanently isn’t practical. I’m a prostitute’s daughter, Evan. I was a street kid. You’re a very powerful man, and people would love to get that kind of gossip to make your life miserable. I can’t do that to you, no matter how much I care
.

After she sent her reply, Randi knew she should sign off. Her emotions were drained, and she had her answer. It was more surprising than she’d ever imagined. Evan cared about her so much he had been afraid he couldn’t measure up in person to the man he’d been while she was writing to him. For such a complicated man, his emotions were simple. He had been afraid to tell, terrified of being rejected.

Evan shot back an email moments later.

Randi,

Bullshit! Do you think I give a flying fuck about what other people think? Your past has made you who you are, and I love everything about you. I’d change your childhood if I could, but only because nobody was there for you except your foster parents. Contemplating all of the things that could have happened to you rips my heart out every time I think about it.

“Evan loves me,” Randi told Lily, stroking the golden head that was currently plopped in her lap. Lily’s ears seemed to prick up as though she recognized Evan’s name, her nose twitched interestedly, and her tail thumped a couple of times before she laid her head back down.

Randi’s heart started beating so hard and fast that it was pounding in her ears. She wrote back.

Evan,

We can talk next time you’re in town. Maybe we just need some time to think about this before we jump into anything stupid. Since you’re already on the way to your meeting in San Francisco, we can spend some time thinking about if we can manage to work this out.

Randi felt like she needed to give Evan an out, an opportunity to think about who he was getting seriously involved with before he made declarations he might regret. Distance and time wouldn’t change the way she felt about him; she’d just miss him more.

“Did you seriously think I was going anywhere? I’m going to convince you to marry me before you have a chance to think about what a jerk you’re committing yourself to—even if I have to drag your gorgeous ass up the aisle.”

The masculine voice behind her made Randi gasp and swing around in her chair. There at the door to the bedroom was the man of her dreams, his shoulder propped against the doorf
rame, the cell phone he’d been using to communicate with her in his hand, and a stubborn look in his eyes. “Hello, my mystery friend,” he said in a husky, seductive voice. “I’m glad we could finally meet in person.”

Randi’s heart melted and her tears started all over again.

CHAPTER 22

“What are you doing here?” Randi’s vision was blurred from crying, but her tears were of joy rather than pain. “Your meeting—”

“Wasn’t important to me,” Evan finished for her. “Sweetheart, what do I have to do to make you understand that nothing means a damn thing without you?”

“Will they reschedule?” She knew Evan had wanted this deal pretty badly.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t ask, and it doesn’t matter. All I want is to hear that you forgive me for being an asshole.”

Randi knew Evan was serious. He’d blown off a huge deal just because he cared about her. “Your plane left. I saw it take off when I was running this morning.”

“It was Julian. He had to get back to California, so I let him use the jet since I’m not going anywhere in the near future.”

She swallowed hard. “You’re not?”

“No.”

He looked exhausted, his expression weary. He hadn’t shaved this morning, and his jawline was dark. “Are you okay?” she asked, concerned.

“No. I got drunk for the first time last night, and I didn’t sleep. All I could think about was you and how much I love you.” He pushed upright, tossed his phone carelessly on a small table, and came slowly toward her, his eyes a stormy sea of desire, possessiveness, and intensity.

Randi stood up as Lily circled Evan excitedly, whining for attention. Evan stroked the dog’s head, making her go into fits of ecstasy.

“Did you say that you loved me?” Randi asked, not able to take her eyes off Evan’s face.

“It’s either love or madness. I’m thinking it must be love that produces some type of insanity. I’ve watched Hope and all of my brothers go through the same thing. I never knew I could feel like this,” he told her in a raw, hoarse voice, finally getting close enough to wrap his arms around her.

Coming from Evan, the declaration was enchanting and magical. He sounded tortured and relieved at the same time. Randi wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly, riding the wave of emotions along with him as they clutched each other like they never wanted to let go.

“I love you, Evan, so much that it hurts,” she admitted as she sobbed into the gorgeous sweater he was wearing. He looked amazing in a pair of jeans and jade wool. It made her wish she was dressed in something nicer than jeans and an old college sweatshirt.

She knew she was a mess, but Evan didn’t seem to care. He just held her tighter, swept her up in his arms, and carried her out to the living room. He sat on the couch and cuddled her on his lap.

“Don’t cry. I don’t want it to hurt because you love me.” His voice was pleading and husky with emotion.

“They’re happy tears,” she rushed to explain. “It doesn’t hurt. It feels wonderful.”

“Then marry me, Randi. I want you to feel wonderful for the rest of your life, and I’ll give you whatever you want to make you stay that way. God knows you’ve shown me a happiness I never knew existed. I need you.”

Tilting her head, she looked into his eyes and saw her future. “I don’t need
things
to make me happy, Evan. I just need you.” He didn’t realize it yet, but she needed him just as much as he needed her. Fate had brought him into her life at a time when she’d really needed to not feel so alone. Destiny had brought her something special, a man she loved—heart, body, and soul.

“We have to talk about marriage,” Randi said cautiously. She wanted to say
yes
with every fiber of her being, but it was a big step for both of them.

“No talk,” he growled. “Say yes or I’ll lose it,” he warned her dangerously.

She straddled his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. “What happens if I don’t?” she asked curiously.

His hand wrapped around her nape and he jerked her head down to his mouth before she could even blink. “I fuck you senseless until you don’t have the strength to say no anymore,” he rasped, grasping her hair as he held her head so he could kiss her.

She melted into him as his heated mouth ravaged her lips and her senses. He tasted delicious, masculine and exactly like Evan. She kissed him back, unable to resist rubbing her wet denim-clad core against his hard erection.

Heat spiraled through her body as Evan thrust his tongue into her mouth, taking what he wanted and giving her what she so desperately needed.

He didn’t stop ravaging her with his possessive embrace as he stood up and pinned her against the wall. “Clothes. Off,” he grunted bossily as he yanked his mouth from hers, his eyes like liquid blue flames as he met her gaze and let her feet touch the ground.

Randi felt another flood of wet heat gush between her thighs at his dominance as he swept her sweatshirt over her head. He divested her of her bra, dropping it on the floor without a second thought. He pulled his sweater over his head and it fell on the carpet along with the growing pile of clothing. Her jeans and panties joined the collection a moment later.

“Jesus, you’re beautiful.” Evan’s voice was reverent and raspy as he stared at her completely nude body.

Randi knew that he meant it. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t really a big-breasted beauty who spent hours in a spa or beauty salon. To him, she
was
attractive, and that was all that mattered.

To her, Evan was perfection, and she trailed her palms down his bare, muscular chest. “I’ve always thought you were the hottest guy I’d ever met.” Her voice was a needy whisper. She had to have him inside her before she started begging.

“Always?” He lifted an arrogant brow.

“Yes. Ever since the first time I met you at Emily’s wedding.” She cried out as he cupped her breasts, his fingers teasing her nipples relentlessly.

“Marry me,” he insisted again.

“Evan, we can talk about it,” she whimpered.

“No talking. I need a
yes
from you.” His hands moved slowly down her belly until they reached her pussy. He stroked his fingers lightly between her folds, sliding slowly through her wet heat.

“Oh, God.” She clenched his shoulders, her legs starting to get weak as he sought and found her clit. “Fuck me, Evan. Now.”

“You’re so wet, sweetheart,” Evan crooned in a low, sultry voice as he removed his fingers and deliberately put them to his lips and sucked her juices from the digits. “Your taste is addicting. Did you know that? I want my head between your thighs every time I look at you.”

Randi’s legs gave out as she watched him lick and suck every bit of her essence from his fingers like it was nectar. Evan wrapped his arm around her waist and lowered her gently down until she was on her back, lying next to the pile of clothes.

He shucked his remaining clothing before following her to the floor and kneeling between her parted thighs. “I can’t wait right now,” he told her in a demanding, graveled voice. “Tell me, Randi, because I don’t think I can hold off any longer before I bury my cock inside you and fuck you until you come.”

The look on his face was fierce and dangerous as he towered over her, but Randi didn’t feel anything except a thrill of excitement at his loss of control. “Then do it,” she dared him, moving her hand down her belly as he watched and sliding her fingers through her own slick warmth. “I can’t wait either.”

She met his eyes with a challenge as she stroked her clit, moaning softly as her body vibrated with longing. Lifting her other hand, she stroked and pinched her nipples, making her own body rise into an even hotter state of arousal. She knew she was pushing his buttons, but she didn’t care.

It should have been awkward to masturbate in front of Evan, but it wasn’t. She wanted him to lose it, and he needed to learn that he wasn’t going to always get his way by teasing her until she broke.

Some things required a logical, rational conversation.

“Does it feel good?” Evan asked huskily, his eyes following every one of her motions.

“Oh, yes,” she moaned, watching his heated eyes as she put more pressure on the tiny bundle of nerves between her saturated folds. “I wish you were inside me right now. I’d love to feel your cock filling my emptiness.”

“I just want to see you come,” Evan replied, sounding completely fascinated.

He stripped her of all of her intentions with his reaction. Jesus, he
did
just want to see her pleasured. He had started out by insisting on her promise to marry him, but his desire to see her happy had just trumped his own wants and needs.

Evan Sinclair was the most complicated man Randi had ever met, and the only one who could make her crazy and so damned touched at the same time.

“I love you so much,” she moaned, the look of pleasure on his face as he watched her take herself to climax arousing her almost unbearably.

“I love you, too, baby. Make yourself come,” he encouraged, his eyes now glued to her face.

The fact that he was watching her with laser focus was so erotic that Randi found herself tumbling over the edge as she pinched and stroked her clit harder and harder.

Her back arched as she moaned, her body pulsating as her head moved from side to side.

She screamed as Evan pushed her thighs apart, pinned her hands over her head, and entered her with one smooth thrust. The feeling of him filling her on the heels of her self-induced climax was almost more than she could bear.

“That was one of the hottest things I’ve ever experienced,” Evan rumbled above her. “But I was getting jealous of your own hands.”

“Nothing feels as good as this,” Randi purred as she wrapped her legs around his waist. “Fuck me, Evan. I need you.”

She heard a desperate, low groan fall from his lips as he pumped into her again. “I love you, Randi. Don’t ever doubt that. There’s never been anyone for me but you. There never will be.”

Believing him wasn’t a problem. She felt the same way, and she knew she couldn’t be feeling all of this alone. “Feels so good,” she panted. “More. Please.”

He gave her what she wanted, releasing her hands and putting one of her legs over his shoulder to change his angle of entry. His massive cock rubbed against her clit with every hard thrust of his hips, pushing her higher and higher.

Randi watched his face as she felt another orgasm starting to build. Evan was a miracle to her, a man she considered out of reach to a woman like her. Little did she know how very real he was, or that he had a heart as big as the ocean beneath his arrogant façade.

“I love you, Evan,” she cried out as she felt her climax thundering over her, her emotions tumbling along with the waves of rapture.

She raised her hips, meeting his thrusts with her heart skittering and her body vibrating in ecstasy.

Evan let her leg drop from his shoulder and he found her mouth with his, absorbing her screams of pleasure as he ravaged her with a kiss of deep possession and urgent demand. She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his embrace with the same fiery passion, as her fingernails dug into the skin of his back with a grip so strong she knew she was marking him.

He pulled his mouth from hers and bit at her bottom lip. “Fuck, yes!” he exclaimed with a low groan that was almost a howl as she continued clutching at his back, endless pulsations gripping at his cock.

Her climax had milked him of his own release, and the two of them clung to each other in a hot, sweaty mess as they both tried to catch their breath.

“Mine!” Evan growled. “You’ll always be mine, Randi.”

She shuddered at his animalistic tone and covetous, carnal words. Strangely, his claiming felt more like a vow, his commitment to be there for her for the rest of their lives.

He rolled, pulling her with him so she was sprawled on top of him. Randi sighed, knowing it was just one of many of Evan’s moves to protect her and keep her from taking his weight on top of her, even though she’d welcome it.

“Yes,” she said simply in a breathless voice.

“Yes?” Evan asked hopefully.

“Yes, I’ll marry you.” She’d do everything in her power to make Evan happier than he’d ever been in his life. He deserved to love and to be loved more than any man she’d ever met. Randi knew nobody would ever love this complicated man more than she would, and nobody would ever understand him better than she could. He’d probably never lose his veneer of sophistication and arrogance, but it didn’t matter. She knew the kind of heart that was underneath all of that.

“What convinced you?” he asked, sounding elated.

“Not your teasing tactics,” she admonished him.

“Then what was it? I’d like to know for future reference,” he told her jokingly.

She put a gentle palm to his whiskered jaw and told him honestly, “Because there’s never been anyone else for me but you, either.”

The look of relief on his face spoke volumes as he covered her palm with his larger hand and lowered his forehead to rest against hers.

“Thank fuck,” he whispered fiercely, as though she was the most precious thing he’d ever been given in his entire life.

Knowing the pain that Evan had suffered and the burdens he’d carried for so long all alone, Randi held him close to her and promised herself that this man of hers would never be alone with any future troubles ever again.

“I love you, baby,” he said huskily.