His grin was so sexy it only made me even wetter. “Oh, I plan on it, baby. Just be patient, and I will rock your world.”
I shivered in anticipation. “I can’t help it.”
I sat up and turned to face him. Damn, but I didn’t think I would ever be able to get enough of just looking at him. His chest was covered in dark hair matted with perspiration, his hard abs quivering with desire as his thick cock rose past his navel as if begging me to play with it. “Just looking at you makes me want to come,” I told him honestly as I lifted my eyes from his impressive erection to meet his dark green gaze.
I climbed onto his lap and wrapped my legs around his waist as I sank down on his cock. He stretched me, making me feel wonderfully full and wet. My breasts rubbed against the hair on his chest, causing my nipples to harden even more, if that was possible.
“Kari!” He pulled me down hard on his erection until I could go no farther. “God, you feel like heaven.”
“I want you so badly,” I moaned against his shoulder. “Please, Keith. I want you to make me come.”
“Soon.” He kissed my lips, but he didn’t linger as he trailed soft little kisses along my jaw and over my eyes. “I told you, I want it to last.”
Moaning, I rocked harder. His great length just sitting inside of me was delicious torture. “You like my ass?” I murmured as my fingers stroked up and down his spine, making him shiver and groan. “Tell me. Do you want to come in it?”
His body shuddered. “So fucking bad, baby. But not today. We can save that for another time. I need to prepare you for that. I don’t want to hurt you. Only ever make you feel good. Fuck… Nothing has ever felt so good as being inside you, Kari.”
“I’m close,” I whispered at his ear, my breathing coming faster, harder as I pushed down on him, letting my clit press against his lower abdomen. “Please, Keith. Please make me come.”
“Baby!” His fingers locked on to my sides and lifted me just enough that he slid halfway out. I slammed back down, and he did it again. And again. Twice more and I was crying out his name as I came apart for him.
The force of my orgasm was strong. The power of my contracting muscles around his engorged cock triggered his own release and sent him crashing with me.
seven
Two weeks later found me having dinner with Bianca.
We hadn’t spent much time together lately, and with Christian returning home in a few more days, I was sure we wouldn’t see much of each other for a while longer. So I was glad to have a little girl time with my bestie.
“I can’t believe you, Kari!”
Okay, maybe not as glad as I could have been.
Ever since Bianca found out Keith and I were together, she had been on my case every chance she could get. She was convinced he was only going to break my heart. All I wanted was for her to be happy for me. I didn’t want to have my second thoughts about my relationship with Keith constantly tossed in my face by her.
“Keith Winthrop is a philandering playboy. His relationships only last about two minutes before he gets bored. How can you even think about letting him this close?” She was well into her rant now. After a good meal and two bottles of wine shared between us, she didn’t seem to care that she was hurting me with every word that came out of her pretty mouth. “He doesn’t deserve you, Kari.”
I clenched my jaw, attempting to keep my temper under control. But with nearly a whole bottle of wine cruising through my blood, that control was quickly beginning to slip. “I don’t care if he deserves me or not. I love him.”
“You’ve loved him for years now. And all he has done is hurt you every chance he got. Just because he’s sharing your bed does not mean he’s going to change.”
I quickly got to my feet, unable to sit there with her another second without throwing something at her. Any desire to spend the rest of the evening with my bestie had flown right out the window. “You can be a real bitch sometimes, Bianca,” I snapped as I dropped a few large bills on the table to cover the cost of our meal and the wine. “And there are times, like right now, when I wonder why I still consider you my best friend.” With a cold glare, I left her sitting there, mouth gaping as she stared after me.
I was out on the street attempting to hail a cab when she joined me. “Kari, I’m sorry,” she began in a quiet voice, but I didn’t want to hear it.
“Save it!” I practically snarled. “For two weeks now, all you have done is bad-mouth Keith and attempt to fill my head with doubts. You don’t have to keep reminding me about his past treatment of me, Bee. And I sure as hell don’t need your help in the doubt department, because I have plenty.”
“Kari…” She started to interrupt me, but my glare silenced her.
“Just because you are my best friend doesn’t give you license to bitch at me when I do something you think is crazy. All you are entitled to is one rant, which you have more than exceeded, and the right to be there to say ‘I told you so’ when things go wrong.” I wiped away an angry tear, hating her for ruining our evening. “Why can’t you be happy for me? For the first time in forever, I am amazingly ecstatic, and you are doing nothing but bringing me down every chance you get.”
“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” she yelled at me. “I love you. I don’t want Keith to destroy you.”
“The only one destroying me right now is you!”
She blanched as if I’d physically hit her, but as she opened her mouth to say something, a cab pulled up beside me. With one last glare at Bianca, I got in and gave the driver the address of Keith’s apartment. There was no way I wanted to go back to my own apartment with Bianca.
All I wanted was for my boyfriend to hold me close for the rest of the night.
***
“I don’t like her any more than she likes me, baby,” Keith assured me once he patiently listened to me go on and on about my lousy girls’ night out with my bestie. “In my opinion, she is just a spoiled little bitch.”
I grimaced, about as thrilled to hear my boyfriend speak badly about my best friend as I was for the reverse. “Keith…”
He grinned. “There is no law written anywhere that says the best friend and the boyfriend have to get along, Kari. In fact, I think they are supposed to be mortal enemies.”
I brushed my tangled blond hair back away from my face. “I’m friends with Christian.”
His eyes narrowed. “Yeah, I’m not so thrilled about that. I would much rather you hated him as much as Bianca hates me.”
I rolled my golden eyes at him. “You were always jealous of Christian. Even when you were pretending that I didn’t exist.”
He ignored my comment as he put the finishing touches on the biggest homemade ice cream sundae I had ever seen. There was a large piece of the fresh brownies his housekeeper had made earlier underneath slow-churned vanilla ice cream that had hot fudge sauce, caramel drizzle, and whipped cream smeared all over it. My boyfriend had the biggest sweet tooth this side of the globe.
A sweet tooth that always reared its head after a session of really incredible lovemaking.
I sat at the island in the middle of Keith’s kitchen, dressed in one of his T-shirts and nothing more. He, on the other hand, had no problem walking around in absolutely nothing. And, really, I think nothing looked much better on him than anything else.
“Want a bite?” he asked as he pulled out two soup spoons and offered me one.
I blinked. “Weren’t you going to share anyway?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. I’m not used to sharing.” He scooped up a big, gooey spoonful and caressed my bottom lip with it.
I opened my mouth, and he slid the cold treat inside. Licking my lips as he took a bite for himself, I couldn’t help thinking that this man was going to make me the size of a cow if I kept letting him feed me like this. How he stayed in such good shape when something so rich and decadent was part of his diet, I would never know.
“What?” he muttered around a mouthful when he noticed I was staring a
t him instead of eating his dessert.
I shook my head, grinning. “You are so adorable sometimes.”
“Adorable, huh?” He leaned forward and kissed me softly. “Not sexy, beguiling, and sinful?”
“All of the above,” I assured him with a sassy smirk. “But I really love when you are being adorable.”
His entire body seemed to tense, and I saw something in those dark green depths I had never seen there before. “What else do you love about me?” he murmured.
“I…” I bit the inside of my cheek.
How was I supposed to answer that?
He dropped his spoon into the huge bowl of dessert and reached for me. “Tell me,” he whispered, but I could hear the soft plea underneath. “I want to know.”
“Okay.” I sucked in a shaky breath, ready to bare my soul to this man. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he lifted me from the barstool onto the island top and moved between my legs. “The first thing I fell hard for was that sardonic eyebrow thing you do.” He lifted it, and I raised my fingers to trace the dark brow. “It can be both endearing and incredibly annoying all at the same time.”
“Really?”
“Really.” I let my fingers trail down from his brow to his chest, thrilling at the way his heart pounded against my palm. “You have a really big heart. I knew that before my mother died, but it became even more apparent when I started working at Winthrop Charities.” He gave me a sheepish grin. “You are personally one of the biggest donors I have to more than half of the charities I manage.”
Keith shrugged like it was no big deal. “I like to give back.”
I kissed his lips ever so slowly and softly. “No one gives that much back without really caring, Keith.”
He stepped closer. “Tell me more,” he urged, nuzzling the side of my neck with his nose.
It was hard to think with his warm breath on my skin. “I… Um… I love how gentle you are with me.” I whimpered when he brushed his lips against my collarbone. “Most of the time, you treat me like I am made out of fine crystal. And even though that can get annoying sometimes, it always melts my heart.”
“Keep going,” he whispered as his fingers slid up under my T-shirt and caressed my ass.
“I-I love when you tease me like that,” I moaned as his fingers clenched my ass, spreading my cheeks open and skimming along the seam there. “I love how you make me ache with just a look, a simple touch.”
“More,” he growled.
“I love you,” I breathed into his ear and felt him shudder. “I love everything about you.”
His hold on me tightened to almost the point of pain. “Kari…” He captured my lips and didn’t let me go.
eight
“I’m pregnant.”
I nearly spat the mouthful of wine out of my mouth at Bianca’s news. When she had called me two days ago and asked me if we could get together, I’d had no idea she wanted to give me such staggering news.
Over the last month, we hadn’t been as close as we once had been. Bianca had called me the day after our argument to apologize, and I had accepted. But still, things had been kind of strained between us. I spent most of my time at Keith’s apartment or at the Winthrop estate on the weekends with Keith and Hunter, so I hardly ever went back to the apartment I shared with my bestie anymore.
Bianca and Christian had been pretty lost in each other since his return from Japan. Bianca and I had talked on the phone and texted every other day, but I had lost touch with the girl who had always been a part of my daily life.
But now, she was a mess. It didn’t look as if pregnancy was agreeing with her, I noticed as I gave her a closer look. Her normally perfect skin was blotchy, she looked thin and fragile, and her hair had even lost some of its glossy shine. I’d thought pregnant women glowed with motherhood. Not so with Bianca.
“How do you feel about that?” I asked cautiously, because I knew a baby hadn’t been a part of my bestie’s ten-year plan.
“I…” Bianca blew out a long, tired sigh. “I don’t know how I feel about it,” she answered honestly. “I’m sick all of the time. I have big, angry mood swings. And Christian… He thinks I did it just to get him to marry me.”
I reached for my friend just as she dissolved into a sobbing mess. I pulled her close, ignoring the curious onlookers around the restaurant. I didn’t say a single word as I let her get it all out. I simply sat there and stroked her short, dark hair.
It took a good ten minutes before she finally pulled back, and I offered her a linen napkin from the table. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be a watering can.” She hiccupped, the sound making my heart ache for her. “I-I told you I have bad mood swings.”
“Stop it. I couldn’t care less about that.” I gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Bee, it’s going to be all right. You will get through this, I promise. I am here for you, you know that.”
She bit her lip as more tears spilled down her cheeks. “Oh, Kari!” She hugged me tightly. “I was such a terrible friend, and you still have my back. I don’t deserve you!”
“Shut up. I wouldn’t be much of a friend if I didn’t have your back right now.”
We left a little while later. Bianca begged me to spend the night at our apartment, and I agreed, figuring Keith would understand that I had to be there for my friend. But he sounded disappointed when I called him a few hours later to let him know I won’t be home.
Strange how I consider his apartment home now.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said with a sigh. “I just don’t know how I’m going to sleep tonight without you with me.”
I smiled, happy that he needed me beside him. “It’s only for tonight, Keith. And you hardly ever get any sleep anyway.” Mostly because he tended to spend most of the night making love to me.
“Whether we sleep or not, I can’t find peace without you beside me.”
My heart skipped a beat at his confession. “Keith—”
“Go,” he interrupted me. “Bianca needs you. I… Goodnight, baby.”
***
I spent most of the night just talking with Bianca. There was a lot to catch up on. Normally, we knew everything going on in each other’s lives immediately, but now that I was rarely there, that wasn’t the case.
Thankfully, by the early hours of the morning, I had convinced Bianca this baby was something special. As for Christian, I planned to deal with him myself.
I left Bianca sound asleep back at the apartment the next morning while I went out. I took a cab down to Marshall International, which was on the fourteenth floor of a gigantic skyscraper overlooking Central Park. His assistant gave me an odd look as she showed me into her boss’s office.
Christian was on the phone when I walked in, but one look at my face and he quickly ended the call. With a nod, he motioned for me to take a seat. “I guess I should have expected you to hunt me down,” he muttered.
“Yes, you should have.” I tossed my briefcase aside and dropped down into a leather chair in front of his desk. “She’s a mess, Christian.”
He stabbed a hand through his brown hair, reminding me of Keith. “Hell, I’m a mess myself, Kari. I’m not ready to be a father. And marriage… That just isn’t for me.”
“Has she told you she wants to get married?” I asked, already knowing the answer. “Did she demand that you marry her?”
“No…”
“Has she asked you to do anything?” I asked, frost in my tone, because I knew the answer to that question too.
“No…” He was frowning now, thinking hard about what was going on not just with him, but also with the woman who was carrying his child.
“All she wants right now is for you to be there for her. This pregnancy isn’t all that easy for her at the moment. Bee isn’t well, and you are only making her more stressed out.” I wanted to hit him, but I knew that would be crossing the line. “Can’t you stop acting like a petulant little boy long enough to help her through thi
s?”
“Christ!” he muttered. “What do you want me to do, Kari? What should I do?”
“Just go home and hold her. Tell her that you love her and want this baby. Take things one day at a time.” My cell chimed, alerting me to a text message, but I ignored it for now. “That is all she wants right now, Christian. Not to take away your freedom.”
I only stayed a few more minutes before I told him goodbye, but I felt a little more confident that Bianca would be all right now. I hailed a cab, and just as it was pulling away, another text message came in on my phone. I pulled it out of my briefcase and brought up the messages. Both the one from earlier and the new text were from Keith.
Where are you?
Missing you. Lunch?
I smiled happily as the cab drove me toward work.
nine
Keith tickled me, making me scream and giggle as I tried to fight my way free. But he was so much stronger, and really, I didn’t want to get away. Not when he seemed to be having just as much fun as I was.
But the tickling fingers soon became caressing fingers, and my giggles soon turned to moans. With a careful flip, I was suddenly on top of him, and he was gazing up at me with the most peculiar light in his dark green eyes. “Kari…” He said my name in that way of his that always made me weak.
We’d practically been living together for more than five months now. Other than a few nights here and there spent with Bianca when she had rough episodes with her pregnancy, I hadn’t spent a night away from him. Even when we couldn’t make love, he still wrapped me in his strong arms and held me all night long.
“I love you,” I whispered as I bent to kiss his lips.
“Kari…”
The ringing of my cell phone on the nightstand interrupted whatever he was going to say. As it was after midnight, I was instantly tense about who would be calling me. My father was on the other side of the world right then, and it easily could have been him because he was always forgetting about the time difference. But something in my gut told me that wasn’t the case, and I snatched it up before the call could go to voice mail.