She flushed. “Now you’re embarrassing me.”
He barked out a laugh. “Are you kidding me? You let me devour you like that, and now you’re embarrassed?”
“Oh hush.” She reached downward and took him in her hand. “You’re still really hard.”
“I wanted to wait until we could do it again. I want to come with you.”
* * *
Hilary rubbed her thumb over the tip of his erection, spreading his slickness all over the head. “So do I, Mark.”
She couldn’t think of anything better than coming apart in his arms with him following her into sweet oblivion. Reaching behind her, she undid the bra clasp and dropped it on the floor. Now they were both fully naked with nothing between them.
“Do you have a condom?” she asked.
He made a show of thinking hard. “Hmm… There might
possibly
be one in…my right front pants pocket.”
“Prepared, aren’t you?”
“Hopeful. I’ve wanted to be with you like this for a long time.”
She smiled and retrieved the protection from his trousers. She sheathed him and murmured, “I want to be in control of this.”
“Whatever feels right. I want you to be comfortable.”
She let out a throaty laugh. The last thing she was was comfortable. She was so needy it wasn’t even funny.
She ran her fingernails along his balls and heard his breath catch. His cock twitched at her every teasing touch. She loved that. She couldn’t believe she had this powerful, gorgeous man at her disposal…to do with as she wished for their mutual satisfaction.
She straddled him and fed his cock into her, slow inch by slow inch. He felt enormous, the delicious stretching of her inner muscles almost too much to bear. She couldn’t remember the last time she was this wet and eager. But most importantly, she felt safe.
Mark would never hurt her.
He groaned when she was fully seated. She linked her hands with his and bit her lower lip. Slowly she started moving. He matched her rhythm, but he didn’t rush her. He hadn’t been kidding when he’d said he wanted her to be comfortable. Slowly she picked up the tempo, as her body craved more of the sweet friction between them. Her fingers tightened, and her toes curled as he placed his feet flat on the bed and pumped into her. It seemed to push him even deeper and harder into her body, and she sighed as her blood sizzled in the beginning of an orgasm.
“Say my name, baby,” he said, his voice rough. “Say it.”
She screamed his name and came. He made one final hard push and joined her. His teeth were clenched tight, and the muscles of his neck stood out starkly. His hands tightened, but he made sure he didn’t crush hers. His dark gaze focused on her, and she knew he loved this passionate side of her.
Breathing hard, she collapsed on him. His heart thundered under her ear, and she closed her eyes to savor the moment. This was beyond lovely and nothing like she’d experienced before. She’d always thought being with him like this would shackle her and strip her of whatever control she needed to be strong. Paradoxically enough, she felt more liberated than ever before in his arms. It was like he’d freed her from her long-held belief about dating acceptable men who didn’t excite her. There was power in being able to respond to her man fully and honestly and wantonly.
But…
She was never lucky in love. None of the Rosenberg women were.
She clung to him, willing this to be an exception. Anything else would ruin her.
Early the next morning, Mark watched Hilary sleep in his bed. She hadn’t been comfortable staying at Jo’s if he was going to stick around, and he had no intention of spending the night alone, not when he finally had Hilary where he wanted her—in bed with him.
They’d been busy breaking in his hardly touched kitchen, the well-used bar, the living room, the dining room, the bathroom and of course the bedroom. Hilary had been insatiable, and he loved the passionate side of her that fed his own need. She was the most perfect lover a man could ask for. And it was great that she wasn’t self-conscious about her curvy body. He adored her hourglass shape—it was full of sexy feminine curves and dips that begged to be explored.
Right now he was hard again, and his baser instincts said he should wake her up, but he slipped out of the bed instead. She should get
some
sleep. He didn’t want her to relapse. It still bugged him she wouldn’t see a doctor. What if she had something more serious than just being overworked?
So he went out and got various bagels and cream cheese.
Not so good at cooking
,
but great at buying
, he thought to himself. And just in case she wanted some variety, he also tossed in a couple of croissants. He didn’t know a single woman who didn’t love croissants, even if they generally avoided “evil” carbs.
Hilary didn’t care, and that was another thing he loved about her. A woman who enjoyed her food was super hot.
When he returned, he found her in the kitchen, dressed in his robe, her hair mussed. Sharp desire and need dug into his chest, stealing his breath away, but he pushed them aside for the moment, searching for any signs of fatigue in her. He felt a small pang of guilt…but it was pretty small.
She smiled at him and yawned. “I made some coffee,” she said. “Hope you don’t mind.”
“Mi casa es tu casa.” He plopped the paper bag full of baked goodies on the table. “See if there’s anything you like. I’ll get some plates.”
“I’m sure whatever you have in the bag is great.” She typed something on her phone.
“You texting Josephine to let her know what an amazing night you had?” he asked from the kitchen.
“No! I’m sending a note to Amandine. I know the perfect person to be her new assistant.”
He selected two bone-china plates and some pieces from the heirloom Nathan and Hayes silverware set his mother had given him. He’d never had a chance to use either, but now seemed like a good time. “You do?”
“Yes. We professional assistants network, you know.” She finished her text and put the phone down.
He finished setting the table, complete with the fresh coffee she’d made. “You should’ve done that months ago instead of taking on more work. It’s not like Gavin’s too poor to hire someone for his wife.”
“I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.” Hilary sat and picked up a croissant. “Amandine doesn’t like having personal assistants. She seems to think they’re too CIA-like or something, always watching her and stuff.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Just the way she is. She didn’t grow up with money the way you did.”
He stopped in the middle of spreading cream cheese on his bagel. He couldn’t identify it, but there was an odd undertone in the way she’d said “the way you did.” “Does it bother you?”
“What?” she said, buttering her croissant.
“About my upbringing.”
“Not really. I just know we grew up very differently.” She frowned at the heavy silver knife in her hand. “Does it bother you that I’m not like your other girlfriends?”
“Good god, no. I’m glad you’re different. If you were anything like the others, I’d be bored to tears by now.” He’d been watching and speculating about Hilary long before he’d approached her. He wanted to see if the reality would match his imagination. So far, it had surpassed it.
“The party’s today right?” she asked.
“Yeah. It’s at the grove.”
“How many people are coming?”
“Basically everyone, except maybe for Blaine and his fiancée.” Blaine was Salazar’s illegitimate son.
“Ceinlys didn’t invite him?”
“No, he got an invitation. But he might avoid the whole shindig because it’s awkward.” Also he didn’t like Ceinlys. Mark had noticed that, and in some ways he couldn’t blame the guy. He probably thought—incorrectly—that if Ceinlys hadn’t been in the picture Salazar might have married his mother. From what Mark had gathered, Blaine grew up dirt poor. Mark wondered how he would’ve reacted if the situation had been reversed.
“Okay, well, I need to go to Josephine’s place to pick out something to wear,” she said. “Afterward, I’ll meet you back here.”
“You don’t have to do that. I already have your clothes here.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. I asked Josephine to choose a good outfit for you.”
She fidgeted. “I don’t want you to make me look like I’m something that I’m not.”
“Which is what?”
“Knowing Josephine, she probably bought the most expensive stuff possible, which means it’s going to be something I could never afford on my salary. That’s not how I envisioned this…outing.”
“Hilary, don’t worry about money. I want you to wear something that’ll be comfortable for you. But some of my distant cousins and aunts are snobbish, and it would be unpleasant to give them something to talk about.” Then there was his mother, who hadn’t said anything directly to him yet about his dating Hilary, although she had to be unhappy about it. She’d made it clear she didn’t approve of his choice.
“I don’t know.”
“Just humor me, okay? Besides, think of the time we can save. We can use that for something better than arguing about your outfit.”
“Which is…?”
He gave her a wicked grin. “Let me show you.”
* * *
Hilary was forced to admit Mark had done well to have Jo select her outfit. It was a comfortable coral orange sundress with spaghetti straps and cute casual shoes that were comfortable without looking too under-dressy. Jo had even included a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses that went well with the outfit. The hat turned out to be a huge bonus; the sky was cloudless and the day scorching. The grove had plenty of shade, but it was always nice to have extra protection to prevent burning. And being a redhead, Hilary was particularly sensitive to the sun.
Mark took her to the center of the action where his parents were. Salazar and Ceinlys Pryce stood next to each other and greeted every member of the family who arrived. He was handsome—an older version of Mark. He’d shed his usual suit for the picnic and donned pale shorts and a sapphire blue polo shirt that brought out his eyes. Ceinlys hadn’t dressed down quite as much as her husband. In a pristine white dress and a matching hat with netting, she looked like European royalty. Unlike Gavin and his wife at Eliza’s charity event, Salazar and Ceinlys seemed to take great care to avoid any sort of contact with each other. It couldn’t be easy to stand close enough to appear as a couple, but still avoid touching each other, even accidentally.
The weird thing was, nobody seemed to notice it…but maybe this was just a normal thing at Pryce family gatherings. Salazar patted Mark on the shoulder, and Ceinlys gave him an air kiss.
“Mom, Dad, you know Hilary,” Mark said.
Salazar’s face split into a smile. “Welcome. I hope you enjoy the picnic.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Call me Salazar,” he said. “Sir makes me sound so old.”
Ceinlys’s gaze flicked to Mark’s arm around Hilary’s waist then rose back to Hilary’s face. There was something that felt like repugnance in the way Ceinlys looked at her. Hilary stole a quick glance at Mark, but he seemed oblivious from the way he was grinning at his mother.
Then Ceinlys’s eyes changed, becoming suddenly warm and inviting, and she smiled at Hilary. “Welcome, my dear. How lovely to see you again.”
“Thank you,” Hilary managed. She was sure she hadn’t imagined the earlier distaste, but she wouldn’t make a big deal about it either. This was Mark’s family, and they were important to him. She didn’t want to ruin the day by being critical.
“Where’s Shane?” Mark asked.
“He missed his flight.” Irritation put a little line between his mother’s eyebrows. “I offered to send him the family jet, but he said no. I should’ve done it anyway.”
The arrival of some cousins cut their conversation short. There were so many more people than Hilary had expected. She recognized most of the immediate family—except for Dane. She wasn’t sure if he’d come. Dane was a bit of a recluse when it came to his family gatherings from what she’d heard. She’d done some digging to see what kind of boss Kim might end up with if she managed to stay with the Pryce family business, and nothing about Dane indicated he would be easy to work for. Thank god Amandine was serious about hiring somebody. It wasn’t like being an executive administrative assistant, but Kim could still make good money and build a great network. Amandine and Gavin traveled in the very top social circles. Getting introduced to those people couldn’t hurt, and when you knew them, unexpected opportunities just seemed to crop up. Hilary had contacted Amandine that morning to make doubly sure Kim would have the best chance at the job.
“Smile,” Mark said, squeezing her hand. “You look tense.”
“I’m not,” Hilary said. “I’m just wondering which one Dane is.”
“Don’t.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “You don’t want to meet that ogre.”
She swallowed a startled laugh. “What?”
“He’s not the most pleasant guy to be around. Sort of a party pooper. I’m not even sure he’s here. He usually doesn’t bother.”
He introduced her to tons of cousins and other far-flung relatives. She was good with faces and names, but it eventually became overwhelming. Everyone was so nice and sweet, doing their best to make her feel welcome. She couldn’t help but compare his family to hers. If she’d brought Mark to Lila’s home for a Fourth of July barbecue, it would’ve been a disaster with Bebe plastering herself all over him and Lila going on about her “great love affair” with Tim. None of them would know how to be gracious, and even if they tried to make Mark feel comfortable, they’d only end up alienating him.
Despite their sweet lovemaking earlier that day, Hilary suddenly felt like there was a chasm between her and Mark that nothing could bridge. She couldn’t imagine how all these people would react if they knew the truth about her background. They’d probably gasp…or flee in horror.
And would Mark stand by her?
She shook herself inwardly.
Stop getting ahead of yourself
. They’d only been together for about a month. She was expecting too much.
Some time later, a few cousins came by to challenge Mark to some blind testing. Apparently guessing the wine vintage and its year correctly was his party trick, and they were certain they’d found a few that Mark wouldn’t be able to pinpoint.