Lacey stared at the bedroom door, silently willing it to open. They’d gotten home from the karaoke bar a couple hours before, and Galen had been conspicuously absent since. He’d claimed he was “going out for a while,” but she and Cat had watched almost all of Good Will Hunting and he still hadn’t come back. Cat’s head had started bobbing and she struggled to keep her eyes open, so Lacey had sent her to bed. She’d waited a few more minutes but finally followed suit, promising herself that she wouldn’t wait up for him. The villa’s front door had squealed open a little while later, but that was twenty minutes ago, and he still hadn’t come into the bedroom.
She flicked off the light, forcing herself to stay in bed and not get up to grill him about where he’d gone. He was a big boy, and if he wanted to stay out all night, who was she to say anything?
No one. She had no claim on him at all.
She covered her face with the pillow and tried not to cry. He’d probably decided to sleep on the couch now that Cat was here. Whatever they’d had was over. She’d never get to kiss him again, or run her hands down the thick muscles in his back, or smell—
The sound of the doorknob turning sent her heart into overdrive. “Cat?” she called breathlessly. Please don’t be Cat, please don’t be Cat.
She tossed the pillow aside and squinted, straining to see the doorway in the darkness. It opened on a whisper, and a hulking silhouette filled the space. Not Cat.
“Did I wake you?” His voice was soft and gentle.
“No.” She struggled to keep her tone even, not wanting to sound like a demanding harpy, despite the questions crowding her brain. Where did you go? What did you do? And most pathetic, Do you still want me? She bit her cheek to keep from crying.
“Sorry I took so long. I had to pick up a few things, and they were a little harder to locate than I had originally planned. The, ah, language barrier proved to be a problem. I was going to call Cat, but I left my phone in my other pants.”
She didn’t trust herself to speak without a telling crack, so she slid over to make room for him on the bed and hoped it would be answer enough.
“Nope. I need you to get up and come with me.” He crossed the room and held out his hand.
“It’s almost midnight,” she said in halfhearted protest but gave him her hand. There was no question she would go. She just needed a second to recover from dizzy relief over his return.
“So it is. Are you going to turn into a pumpkin?”
She shook her head.
“Well then what are you waiting for? I promise to make it worth your while.” The slow drawl was brimming with sensual promise. She shivered.
“Are we leaving the villa? Wh-what should I wear?”
“Whatever you have on is fine. We’re not going far.”
Her curiosity was piqued but nerves made her hesitate. If she didn’t know where they were going or what they were doing, how could she mentally prepare? What if she might need something and she didn’t bring it because he hadn’t given her a chance to make a quick list? What if—
“Stop thinking, squirt. Feel for once.” He bent low and scooped her into his arms. “Do you want to come…with me?” he whispered, his warm breath caressing her cheek.
His body was warm from the balmy night air, and she snuggled in closer. “Yes.” And it doesn’t matter where, she realized with a start. She would go anywhere if it meant another night in his arms.
Some of the tension seemed to drain out of him, and he dropped a kiss onto her forehead. “I’m so glad.” He carried her through the villa to the French doors leading to the pool. “Can you get that?”
She pushed down the lever, and he toed the door open. When he stepped out to the tiny pool area, she gasped. The small round swimming pool was surrounded by dozens of flickering candles, and a bottle of wine sat in an ice-filled bucket next to the steps. A snowy white comforter littered with deep red pillows lay on the patio stones.
The whole time she’d been stewing over his absence, he’d been planning this romantic tryst. She blinked back hot tears.
“I know our pool isn’t nearly as grand as Cyrus and Nikki’s, but you seemed to really enjoy the water. I was thinking we could finish what we started at their house that night right here.”
“Plus, you were afraid Cat would hear us in the other room.” She met his gaze and offered a teasing grin.
“She wouldn’t hear me. You’re the screamer.”
She started to protest when something next to the wine bucket caught her eye. “What’s that?”
He set her down and picked up the small wrapped box. “It’s a surprise for a little later.” The gleam in his eye set her heart thumping, and she resisted the urge to snatch it from him and look inside. “I know that look, control freak, but you’re going to have to wait.” He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, and the tender expression on his face took the sting out of his words.
When he offered her wine, she nodded. He set the gift on the blanket and opened the bottle to pour them each a glass.
“To no regrets,” he said, clinking his glass to hers.
She mimicked his toast before taking a sip. It was icy cold and sweetly tart, and she sighed with pleasure. “Nice.”
He set down his glass and lifted a hand to the hem of his T-shirt, stripping it off and tossing it onto the chair behind him. After a week of seeing and touching him, she would have expected to have gotten over her initial obsession with his body, but that was far from the case. It was a jolt to her system every single time, and she drank in the sight, allowing her gaze to trip over his broad shoulders, down his chest, and past his sleek abs to the sexy smattering of hair leading to the button fly of his shorts. Shorts that were getting tighter right before her eyes. She dampened her lips, suddenly desperate to taste him there.
“When you look at me like that, I feel ten feet tall,” he said softly.
Emotion clogged her throat, but she swallowed it back. “Women must look at you like that all the time.”
“I’m not talking about what other women do. I’m talking about you and me.” Those dark eyes were intense, as if he knew she was trying to keep her distance and wasn’t going to allow it.
“You make me feel…special, too. It scares me.”
“You should always feel special, whether I’m around or not.”
She nodded, but inside she wanted to weep. When she tried to imagine what her days would be like without him, the sadness was unbearable.
“Are you going to get your skinny-dipping suit on or what? I’m not going to be the only one naked in the pool.” He strode to the steps and stripped off his shorts, kicking them to the side.
Even more determined to live in the moment, she soaked in the view, envying his grace as he walked down the stairs into the clear blue water.
“Come on in, the water’s fine,” he called with a wicked grin.
She didn’t hesitate. A few minutes earlier she hadn’t even been sure she would get another chance to be with him and there was no way she was squandering it. She set down her glass and straightened to slip her tank top over her head. Next came the boxers, and then she faced him. His hum of appreciation echoed across the water, and she fought the urge to cover herself, forcing her fisted hands to drop to her sides.
“Damn, woman. Elle MacPherson’s got nothing on you.” He let out a long wolf whistle.
“Oh no? Well maybe you should have a poster of me over your bed, then.”
“You give me a poster of you like that, babe, and I will hang it up in a heartbeat. In fact, I’ll hang one in every room.”
She stood a little straighter as the instinct to hide faded under the heat of his gaze. He held out a hand to her, and she stepped into the pool, murmuring with pleasure at the warm water caressing her ankles.
“Almost like a bath,” she said, taking his hand. He led her down the rest of the stairs until she was waist deep, standing a scant few inches from him. She craned her neck to see his face. “What now, boss
?” She couldn’t keep the note of excitement from her voice as the water cradled her hypersensitive flesh intimately like an invisible hand.
“A massage.”
Not what she’d expected, but she certainly wouldn’t turn it down. “I’d love that.”
He sat on one of the wide steps and pulled her down between his legs. With a sweep of his hand, he pushed her hair aside, leaving her back bare to his attention. He traced the line of her shoulders first, and she let her head fall forward to give him more room. She couldn’t hold back the sigh at his gentle touch. He took his time, starting out soft and slow, drawing shapes on her back with his damp fingers, riding that sublime line between tickling her and making her squirm. Heat rushed to the spot between her thighs, and she wriggled against him until she could feel the weight of his sex, hot and heavy, branding her lower back.
“Mmm,” she moaned. “This is lovely.”
He dropped a sucking kiss to her nape and she shivered. Her breasts felt heavy and tight from the warm water lapping at her now hard nipples and she pressed back against Galen’s hard chest, hoping his displaced hands would come around front to sooth the ache that was growing by leaps and bounds. His low, sexy laugh made her bold, and she pushed her bottom back hard until she was flush against his groin and his thighs hugged her hips tight.
“Tell me what you want, babe.” His mouth was so close to her ear, the warm wash of his breath sent a tingle straight to her core.
“You. Inside me.”
“You can count on it. But not yet.” He flipped her around to face him, and she purred low in her throat as his stiff member pressed insistently at the juncture of her thighs. If she opened a little bit, she could—
“You naughty, naughty girl.” He slid two hands down to cup her ass, holding her in place. “Naughty girls need to be punished, don’t you think?” She was only half listening as she leaned forward to nip his chin. “Don’t try to distract me. What do you think your punishment should be? A spanking?”
Her ears perked up then. “Well, I don’t know about that,” she said, and tried to climb off him. Her heart pounded with a healthy dose of fear mixed with a whole lot of something else just as scary.
“No? I think you’d be surprised to find you might like it.” He held her tight and pursed his lips, as if deep in thought. “Maybe a tongue lashing, then?”
She stopped struggling and her clit pulsed in muscle memory. Like one of Pavlov’s dogs, she was practically drooling at the thought of his mouth on her again.
His warm brown eyes danced, and he shook his head. “I guess that’s out because you look more like I offered you a money tree than a punishment. A spanking it is.”
He stood and lifted her with ease, in spite of her halfhearted struggles, and flipped her over his lap, securing her with one thick forearm. “Grip the side to brace yourself.”
His gruff command sent her nerves into overdrive. “I don’t know. I’ve never done anything like this before, and I’m not a huge fan of pain.” The words had barely left her lips when he slipped his big palm over her ass and squeezed.
“Tell me no, then.”
She couldn’t make herself say it. As afraid as she was, she trusted him, and if he said she would like it—
“Ouch!” The sting when his palm connected with her wet cheek was sharp and instant. He was wrong. It frigging hurt. She opened her mouth to tell him to stop, but then his hand was on her, kneading the offended spot. She groaned and pressed harder into his lap, rewarded when his shaft nudged against her clit.
Another slap landed. “Mmph.” This time, she didn’t cry out, instead biting her lip through the sting. And again his magic hand was there, rubbing away the hurt while creating a dull ache between her thighs.
“Your ass makes me so fucking crazy. So round and sweet.”
Smack.
This time, only a sigh escaped her when the sharp slap sent a bolt of heat straight between her thighs.
“Again,” she whispered, crushing her hips against him now, seeking some relief for the grinding need that drove her.
“Oh, yeah.” He swung again, this time switching cheeks, then rocking against her. He slipped the hand anchoring her around to caress her breast, tweaking the stiff nipple until she bucked against him. Right when she thought she might explode from sensory overload, his free hand slid down the crevice of her bottom, then lower still until he found her soaking wet slit.
He tested her with the tips of his fingers and she writhed against his hand, begging him without words for more.
“That’s my girl,” he ground out and plunged two fingers deep. Blood rushed to her ears and every nerve ending in her body went on high alert. One hand on her nipple, the sweet sting on her ass, the glide of his clever fingers, working her. She was so close…
“Jesus, Galen. You’re going to make me come.”
He pulled his hands away and cradled her to him, sucking in a few harsh breaths. “I want to be inside you. I need to feel that pussy squeezing my cock when you come.” He slid her off his lap and led her back into the water toward the ledge of the pool. She turned to face him, but he held her in place.
“Face the fence,” he said. The hunger in his voice sent a sizzle of anticipation down her spine. She rested her arms against the ledge and waited breathlessly for whatever came next. He wrapped his arms around her from behind to cup her breasts. He rolled the stiff peaks between his thumbs and forefingers and she arched against him.
“If you want to feel me come, you’d better saddle up, cowboy.” She groaned, the rawness of her voice shocking her. She waited for the shame…but it never came.
He slipped his hands beneath the water, tugging her hips backward so that she was bent at an angle, and spread her thighs. He raked his hands down her back, allowing them to drift lower, palming her ass and finally reaching her center. He drove one thick finger deep, sliding in and out, then added a second until she cried out. The need to come bore down on her like a locomotive and her legs shook.
“Now. God, please now.” She leaned forward, draping her arms over the cool marble ledge, desperate for something, anything to stop the exquisite agony and topple her over the razor’s edge.
“Move over. A little to the left.”
He closed a hand on her hip and guided her over a foot, then two. A rush of water blasted against her hip and then…there. Right there. The jet pulsed against her, lapping at her swollen flesh and she bucked, groaning.
Galen was there, crooning words of praise in her ear, clutching at her hips, ready to finish her. He pressed forward, sliding into her in one mighty thrust. The water pulsed relentlessly against her and she froze, overwhelmed by the sensation.
“I wish you could see what I see. My cock slipping in and out of those sweet pink folds.” His husky voice grounded her, and she pushed back against him, taking him deeper in a counter thrust. “Damn it, Lacey, I can’t hold back if you do that.”
“Don’t hold back. Please, don’t hold back,” she pleaded.
The dam broke. He gripped her hips tighter and began to fuck her in earnest. Long, sure strokes, every one of which sent the head of his cock dragging against some magical place deep, deep inside her that left her sobbing. He pushed her forward until the jet was only a few inches away and the water went from a low pulse to a pressured spurt against the sensitive knot between her legs. Then she was flying.
“Galen!”
Her muscles strained as the orgasm broke over her. A keening wail rose in her throat and he pounded into her, filling her to bursting. Galen tensed behind her and growled, his hands digging into her hips. He leaned forward to sink his teeth into her shoulder, muffling his shout of completion as he pulsed inside her.
For an endless moment they stayed locked in their embrace until he drew her away from the jets that were far too powerful for her now sensitive flesh.
“Pools rock,” she murmured. He was slumped over her, stroking her rib cage lazily and she could feel his heart still poundi
ng against her back.
He nodded. “Totally.”
He swept her hair to the side and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck. The simple show of affection sent her emotions tilting out of control. She’d never felt this way before, and it left her reeling. It took all the effort she could muster to swallow the words burning on her lips.
Stay with me.
…
Galen stared at the ceiling, replaying the night’s highlights in his mind. That had been hands down the best sex of his life, and he didn’t have a clue what to do about it. He didn’t want to pressure her, but he was quickly getting to the point that the idea of a brief fling didn’t sit well at all anymore.
Lacey shifted in his arms with a sleepy murmur, and he pulled her closer, tucking her tighter against his chest. He fingered the gold chain against her neck and smiled. She’d looked really pleased when he gave it to her. That had to be a good sign, didn’t it?
They’d finished making love in the pool and had moved to lie on the blanket and enjoy the bottle of wine when the package had caught her eye again. “Go ahead, open it,” he’d urged.
She tore the paper off like a kid at Christmas. Nestled inside the box was a slim gold chain with a boxing glove charm. She pulled it out immediately and handed it to him. “Put it on me.”
He hooked it around her neck and she turned so he could see. “Looks great. Do you know why I got that for you?”
“Because you’re a fighter.”
“No, because you are. I don’t ever want you to forget that, or how strong you are.”
Her eyes had gotten suspiciously shiny, and she went quiet for a long moment before she took his hand. “This is the best gift I’ve ever gotten, Galen. Thank you.”
Now, with her soft snore tickling his chest, he wondered if his eyes were a little shiny, too. He knew one thing for sure, though. A woman didn’t look at a rebound guy that way. Tonight, Lacey had been 100 percent, unequivocally his. Now he just had to figure out how to keep her.
Chapter Eleven
“What in God’s name is going on here?”
Lacey’s eyes sprang open as she was awakened from a dead sleep. Horror drenched her when she registered the sound of her mother’s voice. Rowena Garrity stood with her arms folded over her chest, her back ramrod straight, stormy gray eyes filled with accusations.
“Mother? Wh-what are you doing here?” She pulled away from a groggy and confused Galen to drag the sheets up to her neck for more cover. Luckily, he had gotten up for a snack in the middle of the night and was only half naked. Too bad the same couldn’t be said for her.
“I’m so sorry, Lace.” Cat stepped in behind Rowena, her cheeks flushed with anger. “She caught me on the way back up from breakfast. I told her she should call first, but, well…” Cat’s disgusted face said it all. Rowena was like a titanium tank. If she wanted in, there was no stopping her.
“It’s okay, Cat. You’re not in the wrong here. Mother, what’s going on?”
“I believe that is the question you should be answering.” In spite of the frost in her tone, true to form, Rowena never raised her voice. She turned her bone-chilling gaze on Galen. He sat up, but to his credit, he didn’t flinch. Or explode into flames. “And you? I would say I expected better, but then we both know that would be a lie. I’d appreciate it if you’d give me some time to speak with my daughter, Mr. Thomas.” She turned to face Cat and dismissed her with a nod. “Mary Catherine.”
Galen’s face was stony. “Ma’am, I’m happy to do whatever makes Lacey comfortable, and if she’d like me to stay, then that’s what I’ll be doing.”
“From where I’m standing it appears you’ve done enough already. Taking advantage of a heartbroken young woman so you could get into her bed after her marriage implodes hardly seems like the act of someone concerned with my daughter’s happiness. She’s in no state to make decisions, and you took advantage like a carrion-feeder.”
Lacey’s whole body shook, but she managed to keep her tone even. “I’m sorry, Galen. You shouldn’t have to listen to this. It’s better if I deal with her on my own. You don’t have to leave, though—we will. Mother, please wait out front. I’ll change and meet you down the path at the café. We can talk there.”
“It was bad enough I had to confide in the staff with those archaic notes, which incidentally, I’m furious at you for disregarding. Now you think I want to discuss your infidelity in public?” Her mouth flattened into an angry slash of red against her ivory complexion.
“Infidelity?” The tenuous hold she had over her emotions threatened to snap, but she hung strong. “After what he did, I hardly owe him any loyalty.”
“Of course you do. We had an agreement, and Garritys always meet their obligations.” She hitched her Chanel bag higher onto her shoulder and waved an imperious hand in Lacey’s direction. “Get a move on. We need to hash this out ASAP so we can put this ridiculousness behind us. I swear, I don’t know what you were thinking. You’re a married woman, for the love of God. Unacceptable.”
Lacey sat straighter, anger handily defeating the initial humiliation of having her mother find her in flagrante delicto. “Don’t throw that in my face. You know perfectly well the paperwork was never filed.”
Galen took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Rowena narrowed her steely gaze. “Semantics. You made vows. Moreover, we signed contracts.”
Lacey allowed herself a short, harsh laugh. “Vows? Those were broken the minute I walked in on him with Becca. As for the merger, that has nothing to do