Eternally Yours Read online

  Clayton quickly searched her face to see if any of what he was saying was sinking in. When all he saw was an unreadable expression, he continued. “We’re both private people but a relationship won’t threaten our privacy because we trust each other. We enjoy each other’s company, we’re friends, we respect each other’s profession, and we enjoy being together in every way a man and woman can be together. But most importantly,” he murmured softly, “becoming lovers is the perfect solution to our problem.”

  “What problem?” Syneda looked into Clayton’s dark eyes and felt the heat displayed in them with every nerve in her body.

  “The fact that you want me as much as I want you. And no matter how much we try to convince ourselves otherwise, last weekend was not enough for either of us. What we shared was very special, but it only made me want you that much more. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted a woman in my life.”

  Syneda frowned. “That’s impossible. You’ve had lots of women. Most of them a whole lot more experienced than I am. Why me, Clayton? And why are you even considering limiting yourself to dating just me? You’ve always enjoyed having lots of women.”

  Clayton didn’t think she was quite ready to hear how much he loved her. So instead he answered, “I’m getting older, wiser and more cautious. There’s no longer such things as ‘safety in numbers’ and ‘no risk, no pleasure.’ Now the present climate is more like ‘unsafety in numbers,’ and ‘no risk, live longer.’ And although I’m a careful man, I don’t like the chances I take sleeping around. It’s time for me to make some lifestyle changes. Therefore, you and I getting together is the perfect solution. Like I said, we’re perfectly suited for each other. Besides, you’re all the woman I need.”

  He lowered his head and touched his lips to hers. He deepened the kiss when he felt her immediate response. He heard himself release a groan of pleasure when her mouth began opening beneath his.

  Syneda’s hands slowly slid up his chest, wrapping themselves around his neck. He reveled in her fire, her heat, her scent and her trembling warmth in his arms.

  Clayton slowly broke off the kiss and looked deeply into her eyes. The passion he saw glittering in them was a mirror of his own. He then rested his forehead against hers, his breathing unsteady.

  “You don’t have to give me your answer tonight, or even this weekend if you need time to think about it,” he said huskily, stroking her shoulder. He lifted his head to again look in her eyes. “I don’t want to rush you into anything. Just promise me that you’ll at least consider the idea.”

  Syneda nodded, unable to say anything. It wasn’t too often she was at a loss for words. If anything, she usually had too many of them. But as usual, Clayton’s kiss had zapped her of all logical thought.

  Clayton heaved a deep sigh as he stood. “I think I’ll go out for a while.”

  “Go out? Where?”

  “No place in particular. I’ll just take a walk.”

  “Take a walk? In New York? This late?”

  Clayton grinned. “Yeah, I’ll be all right. I might stop by that video store and pick up a movie or something.” He reached up a hand and rubbed the back of his neck. “I just need to get out of here or I won’t be responsible for my actions. I told you I would visit as a friend this weekend, and until you say otherwise that’s all I’ll be.”

  Syneda drew in a shuddering breath. He had left the decision in her hands. What did or did not happen between them this weekend and any weekend that followed would be her choice.

  “I’ll be back later.”

  She watched as he turned and walked out the door.

  Alone, Syneda walked across the room, her arms cradling her middle. It was an instinctive protective action, and she needed all the protection she could get from Clayton Jerome Madaris.

  How dare he suggest they become lovers! She didn’t want to be that involved with any man. Men had a tendency to get too possessive, too domineering, too crazy. Her life was just fine without a man in it. She liked being in control of her life and not having to answer to anyone. And most of all she hated feeling vulnerable.

  And with Clayton she felt vulnerable.

  Even with the confrontational tension that usually surrounded them, lately there had been an increase in physical tension between them.

  Syneda sighed, acknowledging the effect Clayton had on her. She was intelligent enough to know it wasn’t based on love but on something for which she really didn’t have a clue. Neither Thomas, Marcus, nor any of the other men she’d dated had made her feel the way Clayton did. None of them had even come close.

  Her palms felt strangely damp. The neat, tidy case Clayton had presented to her was in no way a weak one. Like the brilliant attorney that he was, he had presented all the advantages of their becoming lovers. He had stated them so eloquently that there was no way she could even poke holes in his opening argument.

  A cross-examination of the facts he’d presented would have been useless. He had, beyond a reasonable doubt, cited all the reasons she had avoided an intimate involvement. He had then used those very reasons not in favor of the defense, but to further the prosecution.

  There was no way she could deny there would be some real benefits in becoming his lover. She would have the space she liked, the stability she wanted and the privacy she craved. But most importantly, she would have relief from the intense combination of passion and desire Clayton had stirred up within her. She had become trapped in the depths of her own sensuality. It was a state that only Clayton could rectify. At least with him, she didn’t have to worry about being fed a line. There would be no “I love you” and no promises of “forever after.” With him she could enjoy the present without the pain of the past or the worry of a loveless future.

  “It’s all about mutual satisfication,” she said softly to herself. “Mutual satisfication and nothing more.”

  Syneda nodded, her decision made. She would agree to become Clayton’s lover only if he was willing to accept her conditions.

  Nearly an hour had passed before Syneda heard the key rattle in the lock. Tossing aside her legal pad, she stood. She didn’t care that the expression on her face clearly showed she’d been worried. When Clayton hadn’t returned in what she had considered a reasonable amount of time, she had begun pacing the floor, peeking through drapes and gnawing nervously at her bottom lip.

  The nerve of him to make her worry!

  “Where have you been?” she demanded the moment he walked in.

  Clayton gave her an inquiring glance before calmly saying, “Out.”

  Syneda felt a surge of renewed anger. Here she had been driving herself crazy wondering if he had gotten mugged or run over by a speeding cab. And all he had to say regarding his whereabouts was “out.”

  “I know you’ve been out, Clayton. But you’ve been gone for over an hour. Did it ever occur to you that I was worried?”

  Clayton shook his head. “No. That thought never occurred to me.”

  Infuriated, Syneda walked up to him. Heaven help her, but she wanted to grab him and shake him one time. “Well, I was.”

  A hint of a smile played around Clayton’s mouth. His hand slipped to her waist and pulled her closer. “I’m sorry that I made you worry about me. I stopped by that arcade shop around the corner and played a couple of games.”

  Syneda frowned at him. “Look, Madaris. If we’re going to be lovers, we need to have an understanding about a few things. I don’t believe in disappearing acts.”

  Clayton’s heart almost stopped beating with Syneda’s words. He cupped her face in his hands, smiling brightly. “Are we going to be lovers?”

  With a gentle smile she said, “Yes.”

  Clayton pulled her closer to him. “Does this mean you’ve decided to accept my proposal?”

  “Yes, Counselor. You presented a pretty good argument, but I do have two conditions.”

  Clayton studied her eyes, noting the determined set in them. He knew that whatever her conditions were, there would
be no negotiations. “What are they?”

  “First, I want you to agree that at any time if either of us wants to end this relationship we can do so without any questions asked. Other than dating each other exclusively, we are not bound to each other.”

  Clayton didn’t like that condition at all. More than ever he was determined to make sure she never wanted to end the relationship. “All right,” he finally said.

  “The next one involves your family.”

  Clayton raised a brow. “My family? What about my family?”

  Syneda stepped out of the circle of his arms. “I don’t want them knowing about us, Clayton. I don’t want them to know we’re involved.”

  He frowned. “Why?”

  “I don’t want to become one of those women they constantly tease you about—the kind they think you only date. I don’t want to lose their love and respect.”

  “Syneda, that would never happen.”

  “I can’t take that chance. I won’t take it.”

  Clayton pulled her back into his arms. Although he didn’t like what she was asking of him, he understood why she was doing it. Because of her deep-rooted doubts and fears, she needed an attachment to people she could count on and trust. His family had become that to her. They were her surrogate family, and she would never take the chance to be rejected and abandoned again. But what she failed to realize was that his family would always be there for her, no matter what. They would always love her. Nothing could or would ever change that. If anything, they would love her even more for finally opening his heart to love. But he knew nothing he said would convince her of that. Only time would prove it.

  “Okay, Syneda, if that’s the way you want it, I won’t mention it. Justin and Lorren are the only ones that will know. But I want you to know up front that I don’t care who knows. We’re adults and don’t have to answer to anyone. I won’t ever be ashamed of what we’ll be sharing, and I don’t want you to be, either. You’re very special to me.”

  The manly scent of Clayton filled Syneda’s nostrils as he embraced her. She liked being held in the comfort of his arms. “And you’re very special to me, Clayton.”

  Clayton’s tongue traced the outline of Syneda’s lips. He then moved his mouth from her lips to her neck and began kissing her there.

  His caress on a sensitive part of her neck aroused her, setting her body on fire with desire. He lifted his head.

  “Where do we go from here?”

  Syneda smiled up at him. “How about the bedroom.”

  Smiling, he gathered her into his arms and took her to the very place she’d requested.

  Late Sunday evening Syneda walked Clayton to the door wearing his white dress shirt. She looked down at herself. “This is becoming a habit.”

  He smiled as he pulled her into his arms. “But it’s one I like. You look good in my shirt. I want you to return it to me in New Orleans.”

  Syneda’s eyes widened. “New Orleans?”

  “Yes. Let’s meet in New Orleans two weeks from now. Will you do it?”

  She looked at him for a few minutes before saying, “Yes.”

  Clayton smiled. “I can’t come back to New York this coming weekend. I promised Dex and Caitlin I’d babysit Jordan while they attend Caitlin’s high school reunion in San Antonio. I would invite you to keep me company, but Jordan would love telling her parents when they returned that Aunt Neda spent the weekend with her, too.”

  Syneda grinned. “Yes, I can just imagine Jordan doing that.”

  They looked into each other’s eyes, momentarily becoming lost in the memories of the weekend. Clayton had been right. Somehow this weekend had far surpassed the last. The last time they had spent together was due to a mixture of curiosity and hormones. This time they had become closer friends, as well as lovers.

  On Saturday morning over breakfast they had again discussed the Drayton case. And this time although they still didn’t agree completely, they had respected the other’s opinion.

  “Waiting two weeks to see you again will seem like forever,” Clayton said. He pulled Syneda into his arms giving her a goodbye kiss that was destined to be the longest on record.

  Chapter 12

  Clayton Madaris’s slow-paced walk and relaxed smile reflected an extremely happy man. As far as he was concerned he was on top of the world. What man wouldn’t be when he had found the woman of his dreams?

  He could barely contain himself as he walked through the doors of the Remington Oil Building. The only thing that would make him any happier, he thought as he scribbled his name on the clipboard the security guard had handed to him, was for him and Syneda to have a Christmas wedding. But first he would have to make sure the future bride had fallen in love with him by then.

  He shook his head, grinning. Very few people would believe that he, a man who’d always avoided any serious involvements, would be contemplating something like marriage. At times it was hard for him to believe, and he would find himself spending a very long time in the shower doing some serious thinking.

  Then all it would take was for him to remember some of the reasons why he had fallen in love with Syneda to bring him back to reality. From the start, although they’d been at odds with each other, there had always been very good open communication between them. He liked the fact she was a very up-front person. She didn’t believe in sugarcoating anything. And the truth of the matter was that he’d found her combustible nature absolutely irresistible. He still did.

  Before, when he’d dated a lot of women, he’d had to date quite a number of them to obtain all the qualities he had found in the one he considered as the ideal woman: Syneda.

  His thoughts drifted to the weekend they had spent in New Orleans a few weeks ago. He had been to New Orleans several times before, but never had he enjoyed the city the way he had done with her. They had wined and dined in the French Quarter, had been entertained at a number of hot spots, and had made love in the heat of the night in their hotel room. He had fallen even more hopelessly, madly and passionately in love with her.

  As Clayton stepped on the elevator, his thoughts turned to his brothers. Although they were now happily married to the women they loved, he could remember them going through some really tough times in the name of love. In fact, he of all people had had to intervene to keep them from making a complete mess of things. If it hadn’t been for him, Justin would not have had the good sense to accept Lorren as his fate, and poor, pitiful Dex would still be on the “pain and suffering list,” working himself to death at Madaris Explorations trying to forget Caitlin.

  Clayton was glad he wasn’t going through any changes over a woman like his two brothers had. Things were progressing smoothly between him and Syneda. For most people, love didn’t grow in a short time as it had done with him. That was the reason why he would give Syneda a little bit more time before springing his true feelings on her. By then, hopefully, she would be in love with him so much that she would agree to marry him right away. Nothing would please him more than coming home to her each and every night.

  When the elevator stopped on the executive floor, he got off, checking his watch. He was right on time for his meeting with the president and CEO of Remington Oil, S. T. Remington.

  He had gotten the opportunity to work closely with Mr. Remington last year when Dex’s wife, Caitlin, owned a piece of land that Remington Oil had been interested in buying. Caitlin hadn’t wanted to sell the property and instead she had leased it to Remington Oil. He had represented Caitlin as her attorney in the contract negotiations.

  S. T. Remington, Clayton had soon discovered, was a sharp but fair businessman. He had taken an immediate liking to the man whose family’s blue-blooded lineage could be traced all the way back to Texas’s beginning when his great-great-great-grand-father rode alongside Sam Houston. Although Remington had been born to wealth and was considered to be a private person, he was caring and concerned for all aspects of human life. That was evident in his generous contributions to numerous c
harities.

  “Good morning, Mr. Madaris,” the secretary greeted. “Mr. Remington is expecting you. You can go right in.”

  “Thanks.” Clayton entered the plush office and watched as the tall, distinguished-looking gentleman in his late forties stood to greet him.

  “Madaris, how are you?” S. T. Remington said heartily, extending his hand to Clayton.

  “Fine,” Clayton responded, accepting the man’s warm handshake. “And thanks for seeing me on such short notice. I hope it wasn’t a problem.”

  “None whatsoever,” the elder man said, gesturing toward the chair next to his large oak desk. “You mentioned something about a job referral.”

  “Yes,” Clayton said, taking the seat.

  “You didn’t have to have a special meeting with me to refer someone for employment with Remington Oil. Stephen James is the manager of my Human Resources Department. He’s always looking for energetic, career-minded individuals to bring on as part of our management team.”

  “Yes, but I thought it best to talk with you first. It’s only fair that you know that if your company determines the person I want to refer is suitable for employment, and decides to hire him, there may be possible repercussions.”

  Remington lifted a brow. “I don’t understand.”

  “Do you know John Drayton?”

  “The John Drayton of Drayton Industries?” At Clayton’s nod he said, “Yes, but not personally. Why?”

  Clayton told Mr. Remington about the problems Larry Morgan was having finding employment because of John Drayton. He was careful to leave out confidential information or to reveal his source for the information he was sharing. “So, as you can see, no one will hire him.”

  “Is Morgan a friend of yours?”

  “No, in fact, I’ve never met him and he knows nothing of me, and I prefer to keep it that way. I know of him and the problems he’s having through an acquaintance whose identify I prefer not disclosing. It’s a rather complicated story.”