Strictly Confidential Attraction Page 10

  “You taste good,” he whispered, the intensity in her eyes making her even hotter. “And I want to get inside of you, Alli.”

  The heat of his words, uttered so close to her ear, made her skin vibrate and her stomach quicken in anticipation. “And I want you, Mark,” she whispered back, still swooning from the drugging sensations of his kisses to her mouth and breasts.

  “I want to make sure you’re completely ready for me, baby.”

  She met his gaze, wondering why he would do that when her body was already overheated. “Remember, your promise,” he whispered softly as he leaned down and his lips began skimming softly, gently, heated over her bare flesh. He stopped when he reached her navel and plied it with wet kisses that brought her to complete awareness.

  While Mark had her full attention, Alli was aware that he was removing her panties, and he pulled back slightly to ease them down her legs. Then he stood and she watched as he eased his pajama bottoms from his body, and they became a puddle at the foot of the bed. The lamp in the room gave her enough light to see him and she began breathing hard. Never had she thought that a male’s body could be so beautiful, so well defined and so masculine. She had thought he was built before, but now, seeing him completely naked sent a delicious shiver all the way through her.

  She wanted to reach out and touch him, run her hands down the expanse of his hairy chest, along the muscles of his shoulders, and as her gaze moved lower to that part of him that she had brazenly touched earlier, she inhaled deeply at the size, wondering how on earth…

  She blinked when he moved and reached over to the nightstand, opened the drawer and pulled out a condom packet. Anticipation ran rampant through her as he put it on.

  Then he lifted his head and their eyes met. The way he looked at her made erotic sensations engulf her. He joined her on the bed again. Leaning back on his haunches, he continued to look at her. Instead of making her nervous and embarrassed about not having on a stitch of clothing, she was eagerly anticipating his next move.

  He made it.

  He leaned down and slipped his hand between her thighs, touching her intimately. She sucked in a deep breath when he gently inserted a finger inside of her, and instinctively her hips moved, her thighs opened to accommodate him.

  If she thought he had a talented mouth, then his fingers were a close second. She began feeling dazed at the way he was making her feel with each movement. The feelings it was evoking within her were beyond belief and, when he drove a little deeper and touched an area inside of her that had to be some type of pleasure point to make her body feel this way, she felt a gush of blood rush through all parts of her, centering right where his finger was located. The intensity of it caused her moan almost to become a sob. Never had she been so unreservedly aroused before.

  “I think you’re ready for me now.”

  She met the intensity of his gaze, thinking that she’d been ready…for nearly two years. Long ago she had made up her mind to have him if he ever made the move. She was tired of living a lonely unexciting life. She wanted to share this most intimate and personal act with the man she loved. And although he might not love her, tonight he was making her feel wanted, desired and beautiful.

  Before she could think another thing, he eased over her, positioning himself between her open thighs, supporting his weight on his elbows. The heady thought of what they were about to do sent shivers racing through her. He must have felt them and looked down to meet her gaze.

  She closed her eyes, but he whispered, “Open them. I want to be looking at you the entire time. I want to see your reaction, your response to my loving you this way, Alli.”

  She opened her eyes and wound her arms around his neck. Then she felt it, his attempt to ease inside of her, but struggling to do so because her body was too tight. He eased out a little and then tried again, the huge tip of him hot and eager at her entrance.

  Alli watched perspiration forming on his forehead, his gaze still holding hers. “We’re going to try this again. Hold on, baby.”

  She did.

  And she breathed deeply as she felt him entering her once more, this time not letting the barrier get in his way. Inch by sensual inch, he continued going deeper, breaking through, overwhelming her with his size as well as his possession. She felt the pain and tried not to show it on her face but knew she did anyway. And when a tear she couldn’t control eased from the corner of her eye, he paused.

  Apprehension about what she knew he was thinking about doing ruled her mind. Still holding his gaze she whispered, “Don’t stop.” And when he still hesitated, she added, “Remember your promise.”

  She watched as he breathed in deeply, and then he was slowly penetrating her again, moving deeper, painfully so, until he was completely sheathed inside of her.

  “Are you okay?”

  Looking into his eyes, she nodded, seeing the concern and the caring there. She noticed the pain was going away and what she was beginning to feel was a deep driving need right in the place where their bodies were joined. He must have felt it, too, because she felt him move, slowly at first, gentle, long, even strokes that started a heated flame escalating through her, as if feeding on what she needed. Feeding on it as well as intensifying it.

  Her body began writhing at the sensations she was feeling and all she could think of was having more of him, him going deeper inside of her, touching every part of her that existed. He increased the tempo, the intensity of it took her breath away. He stroked deeper, thrusting back and forth. She cried out at the tension she felt building inside of her and the only thing she could think about was how much she loved him and how he was making her feel. Mark had captured her heart and was initiating her into the throes of womanhood in its truest form.

  Then something happened. Something snapped inside of her and her first instinct was to scream but she knew doing so would wake the baby. Instead she groaned and moaned out loud as sensations racked through her and she muttered his name from deep within her throat.

  “Mark!”

  “That’s it, baby, let go. I’m here with you all the way.”

  And he was.

  He grabbed her hips as he continued to thrust inside of her, over and over again, completely filling her with him and taking everything she was offering. He shuddered one, twice, a third time then called her name, the sound a deep wrenching moan from his lips. She felt his body jerk, the same way hers was, and knew that what they were experiencing was an orgasm of the highest magnitude, the most explosive kind.

  Their moans of pleasure filled the room and when he lowered his mouth to hers, the joy of what they were sharing brought more tears to her eyes. She knew that she would love Mark Hartman forever, no matter what.

  Some time during the night, Mark woke up and glanced down at the woman snuggled against him. After making love to her that first time, he had picked her up and carried her into the bathroom where he’d run bathwater for both of them. In his huge whirlpool tub, he’d washed the soreness from her body, glorying in them sharing such an intimate act as bathing together.

  Then he had wrapped her in a huge towel and taken her back to his room to dry her and had slipped her nightshirt on her. Evidently assuming she was being dismissed, he had reached out to capture her wrist when she had headed for the door. After kissing her deeply, to show her how wrong that assumption was, he had picked her up in his arms and taken her to bed with him, cuddling her gently beside him until they had gone to sleep. He could even admit that he had gotten the best sleep he’d had in years.

  He would never forget the expression on Alli’s face when she had experienced her first orgasm. That sight would remain in his brain forever. She had come apart in his arms the same way she did everything else, with breathtaking enthusiasm.

  They had broken the rule of maintaining a strictly professional relationship, but that didn’t bother him. In fact, he was waiting for her to wake up so they could break the rules again. He smiled, not ever remembering wanting a woman so much.<
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  He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, refusing to think where all this could lead…and where it couldn’t lead. How would they go back to spending hours in the office together without him needing to touch her, spread her out on his desk and enjoy a little afternoon delight? How in the hell was he going to control his deep craving for her? It was different when he just had his fantasies, but now he had sampled what he considered the most delicious morsel he’d ever had the pleasure of tasting.

  And that included Patrice.

  Patrice had never really enjoyed making love and only did so because she felt it was her duty. But Alli was totally different. She had to be the most passionate woman he knew and he could tell she thoroughly enjoyed making love with him. He was going to enjoy tapping into her passion.

  A sudden thought unnerved him. What if now that he had unleashed her sensual side, she decided that making love with him wasn’t enough? What if she decided that since he wouldn’t commit to her, dating other men was the thing to do? His jaw tightened at the thought of her in bed with another man, another man holding her in his arms this way, another man making her scream out his name.

  Mark inhaled in a deep breath. He would have to make sure that while Alli lived under his roof and worked at the studio, he was the only man she needed. The only man she wanted.

  Satisfied with that decision, he shifted positions, reached out and held her in his arms as he drifted off to sleep.

  Alli slowly opened her eyes and glanced up. Mark was lying beside her and had been resting on his elbows looking at her, evidently watching her sleep…or waiting for her to wake up.

  “Good morning, Alli.”

  The sound of his voice, deep, rich and ultra sexy, sent shivers through her. She tilted her head and glanced at the clock on his nightstand. She guessed that technically it was morning although it was just five o’clock. “Good morning,” she said, trying to rid her voice of that drowsy sound.

  “I’ve been waiting for you to wake up,” he said, leaning down, close to her lips.

  “You have?” Her pulse began racing, especially when he shifted positions slightly and placed his leg over hers. The contact of flesh on flesh sent more shivers escalating through her.

  “Yes. I want to make love to you again.”

  She swallowed. “You do?”

  He chuckled. “Oh yes, I do.” And then he was kissing her and she forgot everything except how he was making her feel.

  The only thing she remembered after that was him pulling back long enough to remove her nightshirt and his pajama bottoms and put on a condom, then him using his hands to drive her to what had to be the highest sexual peak. It was at that moment that he eased his body over hers and slowly entered her, not finding the impediment he had the night before.

  As he continued to kiss her and thrust back and forth inside her body, his tongue did likewise, moving back and forth between her parted lips. She felt emotions in every part of her as he deliberately drove her over the edge. When she lost control and exploded in what seemed like a thousand pieces, she cried out his name. With a deep animal groan, he followed her and she felt the tremors that slammed into him ram into her as well.

  And when he pulled her closer as he continued to pump into her as they groaned out their pleasures, she had a feeling that Mark Hartman wasn’t through with her yet.

  And wouldn’t be for a long time.

  Nine

  Mark walked into Erika’s bedroom and saw Alli and Erika sitting on the floor going through his niece’s toy box.

  The sheer beauty of everything they had shared left him breathless when he thought about it. After making love to her again that morning, once, twice, he had been driven to make love to her over and over again until they had both succumbed to total exhaustion. And when they heard the sound of Erika’s voice coming over the monitor, exclaiming she wanted to eat, he had encouraged Alli to sleep a little longer while he took care of his niece. It was halfway through breakfast when Alli had walked into the kitchen, looking utterly gorgeous and apologizing for having overslept. He had taken great pleasure in pulling her into his arms and kissing the apology right off her lips.

  “Da-da!”

  Automatically, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do, he crossed the room to them and crouched down to place a kiss on Alli’s lips.

  “Kiss me, Da-da,” Erika said, wrapping her arms around his neck so he could pick her up. Her request caught him up short. He had never gone far in showing that sort of affection to his niece. “Kiss me, Da-da,” she said again. A little more adamant this time.

  Not wanting to disappoint her, he placed a kiss on her cheek and she let out a shriek of happiness. He quickly handed her to Alli. “I just wanted to let you know I need to go to the studio for a second. I’ll be back in an hour.”

  Alli nodded. “How is the temporary help working out?”

  He shrugged, deciding not to mention the mix up in appointments the woman had made on Friday. “She’ll do until you get back. I’m hoping to hear something from Mrs. Tucker in a couple of weeks whether or not she’ll be returning to Royal.”

  “Do you think that she will?”

  “I’m hoping that she does. That would be the best thing that could happen.”

  To Alli, the best thing that could happen was for Mark to fall in love with her and want to keep her around, but she knew that was really reaching for the stars. “What do you think about grilling something for dinner?”

  Mark raised his eyebrow. “We usually eat whatever Mrs. Sanders prepares on Friday.”

  Alli smiled. “I thought it would be nice if you grilled hamburgers or hot dogs. Something simple. I’d be glad to prepare all the trimmings.”

  “Trimmings like what?”

  “Potato salad, corn on the cob, bake beans.”

  Mark smiled. “Sounds delicious.”

  Alli returned his smile. “Then it’s settled. I’ll have everything set up when you get back.”

  “Okay.” Then he leaned over and kissed her before turning and walking out the door.

  “So how was your date last night, Kara?”

  “Do you really want to know, Alli, or are you calling to lecture me again like I’ve never gone out on a date before? I know more about dating than you do.”

  Alli opened her mouth to say something then changed her mind and closed it. In a way Kara was right. How could someone who’d never dated give anyone advice about it? And spending a night in Mark’s arms didn’t really count.

  “I’m sorry, Alli. That was tacky of me to say such a thing. Tacky and thoughtless especially when you sacrificed your social life for me.”

  Hearing Kara’s apology she said, “Hey, it’s okay and you’re right, I’m no expert. So how was the date?”

  She spent the next few minutes listening to Kara tell her how the hottie named Cameron took her to a fraternity party on campus and what a perfect gentleman he’d been. Kara also mentioned that they had another date this weekend and would be going to the movies.

  “Look, this might not be the best time to remind you, but you were coming home this weekend,” Alli decided to say.

  “Oh my gosh, I forgot all about that.” Moments later she asked. “Do I really need to come home?”

  Alli sighed deeply. This would be Kara’s first visit back since school had started and Alli wanted to see her. Besides, she hoped to have a surprise for her. The extra money she was making as Erika’s nanny meant that she could swing the payments for a used car for Kara and had wanted to surprise her with it. “No, not if you don’t want to.”

  “It’s not that I don’t want to come home, Alli, but I forgot and told Cameron I’d go to the movies with him this weekend. Please don’t get upset with me about it.”

  Alli considered Kara’s words. She knew that she and her sister loved each other but even the strongest loving relationships could suffer from the strain of opposing opinions about things. “I’m not upset and I understand you wanti
ng to stay there and go out with your new friend.”

  “Thanks for understanding, Alli. You’re the greatest and I love you.”

  Alli smiled, not really understanding. “And I love you, too, kiddo.”

  After hanging up the phone, Alli walked over to the window and looked out. Was she being unfair to Kara by expecting more of her than she should? It was natural for girls to be interested in boys and vice versa. Although Kara had dated while in high school, she’d never let anything, especially boys, interfere with her studies.

  Alli turned when she heard the gentle knock on her bedroom door. “Come in.”

  Mark entered the room looking as gorgeous as usual. “I finally got Erika off to sleep. She was determined to play all night.” He grinned. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think that applesauce you gave her was laced with some sort of energy booster. She’s been a live wire all afternoon.

  Alli couldn’t help but agree. When Mark had returned from the studio, she’d been busy in the kitchen preparing the trimmings. It hadn’t taken him any time to put the hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill. He’d even cooked a couple of steaks. Afterward, they had sat outside on the patio. For a handful of seconds while sitting across from him, it had run through her mind just how much of a real family they seemed to be. When he’d mentioned something about Gavin calling a Cattleman’s Club meeting for tomorrow night, she had been reminded of just how outside of his world she really was.

  She watched as he stepped farther into the room. “I was wondering if you wanted to eat a slice of apple pie with me,” he said. “And I know I’ve already told you, but I have to tell you again how good the pie was.”

  She smiled at the compliment. “Thanks. And thanks for inviting me to have another slice of pie but I don’t think I can eat anything else.” She tilted her head and looked at him. “I’m wondering how you can.”

  He chuckled. “Well, it was just that good. You knew apple pie is my favorite, didn’t you?”