The Billionaire's Touch (The Sinclairs #3) (17 page)

“It makes me fucking ecstatic,” he grumbled as his head swooped down to capture her mouth with his.

Randi wrapped her arms around his neck, trembling as their heated skin made contact.

Screw the meditation. I need this more. Evan makes me crazy, and I can’t concentrate.

Randi separated her mouth from Evan’s with a determined turn of her head and pushed against his shoulders. “Up,” she grunted as she found herself pushing against what felt like a rock wall. Evan was heavy and muscular, definitely strong enough that she couldn’t move unless he let her.

He did.

Immediately.

Helping her move to a sitting position, he looked at her, confused. “Are you okay?”

Desire still simmered in the pool of his gorgeous blue eyes, but it was mixed with concern.

Randi reached for the bottom of his tank top and yanked, causing him to raise his arms to remove it. She tossed it over her shoulder as she told him sternly, “I promised myself I’d teach you to loosen the reins on your control when you aren’t working.” Reaching for the hem of her own T-shirt, she whipped it over her head and sent it in the same direction as Evan’s garment.

She was braless, and her nipples were pebbled and sensitive, which was probably the reason Evan’s eyes kept returning to her chest.

“Are we going to meditate naked?” Evan asked calmly, his gaze questioning as his eyes scanned her naked breasts hungrily. “If so, I’m definitely doomed to fail.”

“Nope,” Randi answered firmly. “We’re just going to do it differently.”

She pushed Evan onto his back and he went willingly. “Is this your naughty teacher persona?” Evan said huskily. “If it is, it’s pretty hot.”

Biting her lip to keep from laughing at his comment, Randi stood and started sliding her yoga pants slowly downward. “Since you can’t seem to be happy unless you’re getting laid, maybe you can let go of control this way.” She kicked aside the thin, stretchy pants and her panties, leaving her completely naked. She looked down at him and licked her lips nervously.

Evan was a dominant male, and was obsessive about making her climax. Would he tolerate her taking complete control? Would he trust her enough?

“Do you trust me?” Randi asked him as she went to her knees and slowly pulled the drawstring on his sweatpants.

“Yes,” he answered quickly, sincerely.

He lifted his ass as she pulled at his boxers, cooperating to get himself as naked as she was at the moment.

“Good.” She nodded at him as she swung her leg over his body. “Then let me have control this time. All you have to do is think of nothing except sensation.”

His cock had been rock hard as she’d divested him of his clothing. Her core spasmed in anticipation as she grasped his shoulders and finally met his fiery gaze.

“Why?” he asked huskily, looking like he was struggling with the idea of doing almost nothing.

“Because I want you to,” she answered simply, letting her saturated core slide against the long length of his cock.

Rocking her hips, she used Evan’s hard member to rub against her slick clit, a low moan escaping her lips as she felt the friction against the sensitive bundle of nerves.

“Okay.” Evan didn’t sound happy, but he was watching her face as though he was mesmerized by her every movement.

She could feel his eyes on her as she reached up and stripped her hair from its confinement, allowing the silky strands to fall in a messy heap around her shoulders. “Close your eyes,” she requested, her voice deep and aroused as she continued to move her hips against him.

“I want to see you come—”

Randi pressed two fingers against his lips to silence him. “You’ll know when it’s time. Just concentrate on clearing your mind of everything except the feel of us together.”

He pressed his eyes closed, but muttered unhappily, “Like I could think about anything else?”

Randi smiled because she knew Evan couldn’t see her. She knew that he fretted about making her happy and making her climax whenever they were together. She didn’t think he realized that it was going to happen naturally. He didn’t have to think about it, because he was Evan. She could get off just from thinking about him.

She leaned forward and grazed her lips along his neck. “You’re so damn gorgeous, Evan. Everything about you turns me on,” she whispered softly, giving herself permission to be the aggressor, and with a man this dominant, it was pretty intoxicating.

He let out a low growl as she nipped at his earlobe.

“Fuck! Have some mercy, woman,” Evan rasped. “Fuck me. Now.”

Okay . . . maybe he wasn’t able to be completely submissive to her, but it was enough. She speared one of her hands into his hair and pulled his ear against her lips. “I plan on it, big guy. I want to ride both of us to a cataclysmic orgasm. I’ve wanted that since the moment I first saw you.”

“You can start anytime,” Evan replied desperately. “Jesus, you feel so damn good, Randi.” He lifted his arms and stroked his hands slowly down her back and cupped her ass. “There isn’t another woman who feels and smells like you do.”

She could sense Evan’s anguish, the difficulty he was having not taking what he wanted and needed. But he didn’t. He trusted her.

“There isn’t a man quite like you, either,” she confided as she lightly, teasingly brushed her lips against his.

Lifting her hips, she positioned Evan at the opening of her channel and started to slowly slide down his length.

“Oh, fuck, yeah!” Evan groaned, arching his back to help her.

Randi was ready to ride him into oblivion. In fact, she couldn’t wait a moment longer. Sinking down on him, she buried his cock completely inside her, letting out a satisfied moan as she did.

She started a slow, sensual grind, but Evan was having none of it. Granted, he didn’t open his eyes once, but he grasped her hips and held her in place as he pounded up into her . . . over and over again.

In the end, it was Randi who got lost in sensation, focusing only on the feel of Evan permeating her entire being and stealing the breath from her body as they worked toward a common goal: a stunning, fireworks-seeing, sweaty climax.

Supporting herself on his shoulders, she met Evan stroke for stroke, slamming down on him as he thrust his hips up, creating a fullness and a volatile joining that drove her crazy.

“It’s going to happen,” she panted as she felt her impending orgasm.

“I know.”

Looking down, she noticed his eyes were open and watching her before the massive waves of her climax hit her. Evan grasped her hands and held her upright as her channel clenched down on his cock, milking him of his own release as she threw her head back and screamed his name.

He groaned and thrust into her one more time before staying buried deep inside her as he came.

Randi collapsed on top of Evan still holding his hands. He untangled their fingers and wrapped his strong arms around her back, keeping her plastered against him.

When they finally caught their breath, Evan muttered against her ear, “You’re right. Meditation
is
stimulating to the body and mind. I think it should be practiced at least a few times a day.”

Randi actually giggled. It wasn’t often that Evan made a joke, but he seemed to be doing it more frequently in the last few days. “That was what I would call a much-modified version of what I wanted to teach you,” she scolded.

“I think I like the modified version,” Evan decided as he stroked her hair. “I’m feeling very relaxed.”

Randi leaned up so she could look at him. “You don’t really want to meditate for real, do you?”

“I thought you wanted me to find happiness. Right now, I’m happy. I’m ecstatic whenever I’m with you, no matter what we’re doing.”

Randi’s heart stuttered as she saw the serious look in his beautiful eyes. The truth was . . . so was she.

Don’t do this to yourself, Randi. Don’t fall for Evan Sinclair. Even if he cares about you, he never wants to have a child, and you know you love kids. It might feel good right now, but the two of you together forever isn’t an option. He’s leaving, and you’ll still be here in Amesport teaching.

Unable to utter an answer, Randi just buried her head against Evan’s neck and savored the unique scent of him and the feel of his body close to hers.

Right now, she didn’t want to think about what would happen in the future. Right now was all she had.

CHAPTER 16

Randi tried to shake off the strange residual emotions following her visit to the Amesport cemetery on the way home that day.

It felt odd that somebody else was apparently visiting her foster parents’ graves on a daily basis. The path was still clear, even though they’d had some light snow since she’d last been there, and the calla lily and the rose were still entwined and lying between the markers. The problem was . . . they were perfect. There was no way they were the same flowers. The two she’d put together would be frozen and dead. The only explanation was that somebody was there daily, moving the snow and leaving new flowers on the graves.

Strangely, they had duplicated what she’d done by re-entwining the two flowers and leaving them there daily with the same tag with only two words:
Thank You!

As she opened her email, Randi wondered at the identity of the unknown person.

One time hadn’t really made her think about it, but now that it seemed to be happening every day, it was making her curious as to what her foster parents had done for whoever was apparently honoring them.

A note from S. distracted her from her musings.

Dear M.,

Just checking in to see how you’re doing. How’s your new relationship? Have you changed your mind about making it into something permanent?

Randi smiled sadly at the note from S. She’d already given up on writing to him only from the Center. He knew plenty about her, enough to find her if he so desired. Somehow, she knew he’d never intrude on her life unless she wanted to meet him. Besides, he had a woman of his own now.

Dear S.,

No. No change. He has to leave tomorrow morning. Important business.

He replied.

Dear M.,

You okay with that?

She wasn’t okay at all, but it was reality, and she always knew her relationship with Evan could never be more than temporary. She answered.

Dear S.,

Yeah. I’m fine. I always knew it could never be anything more than a brief interlude. I can never fall in love with a man like him.

How are things with your new relationship? Why aren’t you out? It’s a date night.

Randi knew she was lying, but she could hardly tell S. that she was already in love with Evan Sinclair and that her heart was slowly shattering into tiny little pieces because he was leaving tomorrow. Evan might not be S.’s immediate supervisor, but he was the big boss in the scheme of things. Although she trusted S. with her own secrets, she couldn’t talk to him much about Evan.

She waited, tapping her fingers on the desk in anticipation of a reply. He never took this length of time to answer when they were in conversation.

She needed to get dressed and ready for Hope’s party. She’d had a lunch planned with her female friends today, so she hadn’t had time to see Evan earlier. Besides, she would have felt guilty taking up what little time he had to spend with his cousin Julian. The famous actor had just flown in from California late last night.

More time passed before she got a short reply from S.

I have to get going.

Randi frowned at his response, afraid that she might have hurt his feelings because she didn’t want to talk about Evan. Maybe he saw her lack of communication as a snub. She sent a final one-line email, not sure how to explain why she couldn’t share her feelings with him.

Have a great weekend.

She signed out of her email, a sense of loss overwhelming her as she closed the laptop. Somehow, she was losing her connection with S., and tonight was going to be the last time she ever saw Evan. Oh, he’d be back someday for his family, but Randi knew she could never be with him again intimately.

She was way too emotionally invested in this whole affair with Evan, and it hurt. The best thing she could do was try to forget what had happened in the past with Evan and move on. She did want to have children someday. Her love for kids had been her entire reason for going into teaching and trying to make a difference in their lives.

I’ll forget him eventually. The emptiness I feel right now will go away.

Evan had shown up at the Center last night after her tutoring session with Matt, giving the child his personal email address so they could keep in touch. The gesture had almost brought Randi to tears. The thought of a man as busy and important as Evan giving a kid his contact information to hear about his progress was so damn touching that she’d wanted to cry. The sincerity in Evan’s expression, and his personal interest in a little boy who had the same disorder he had was just so damn . . . sweet.

Afterward, she and Evan had gone for coffee at Brew Magic. Randi could still hear his voice saying that he was happy just because he had a chance to see her. They hadn’t done anything except talk about their day, but it had seemed almost as intimate as sex.

Evan had seemed disappointed when he had to leave their impromptu meeting to go see Julian, who was just about to arrive in Amesport.

I’m totally, completely, and undeniably addicted to him. I was just as sad to see him go last night.

Conflicted, Randi got up to head to her bedroom to get ready for Hope’s ball. Because she was going with Evan, she wished tonight could last forever, but the pragmatic woman in her knew it was going to end.

She looked at her computer, thinking about the distance that seemed to be growing between her and S. Randi was glad he had a woman in his real life, but she missed their uncomplicated conversations, too.

No Evan.

No S. to console her anymore.

“It’s going to be lonely,” Randi murmured to Lily as she stroked the dog’s head, wondering why in the world a streetwise woman like her had been stupid enough to fall head over heels in love with Evan Sinclair.

“I’m worried about Evan,” Mara Sinclair shared with her husband, Jared, as she looked at herself in the mirror and changed her earrings. She was almost ready to leave for Hope’s ball, but she had a bad feeling about how things were going to end for Evan after tonight.

Jared stood above her, adjusting his bow tie. “Why?” he asked curiously.

Mara’s breath caught as she looked up and saw her husband’s handsome reflection in the mirror. She still wasn’t used to being married to such an amazingly gorgeous man. Sighing as she picked up her lipstick, she didn’t ask herself why they had fallen for each other so hard or so completely. She was just grateful for that love every single day.

“All of us are worried,” Mara confessed. She, Hope, Sarah, and Emily had shared their concern during their coffee time. “He’s in love with Randi. I know he is. What happens when he leaves?” Would he retreat inside himself again, lose all the progress he had made in coming out of his defensive shell? Mara was pretty certain that Randi was the reason for the change in Evan. And he
had
changed. She was doubtful he’d ever lose his know-it-all arrogance. That was just part of Evan. But he
was
different, less guarded, more connected to the family. She didn’t want him to lose that now.

“I know he’s in love with her,” Jared answered nonchalantly. “I’m just not certain
he
knows it yet. It’s pretty evident to Grady, Dante, and me because we’ve been where he is right now. After the way he stuck his nose into my relationship with you, I shouldn’t feel sorry for the asshole, but I do.”

Mara turned and punched him lightly in the stomach. “That’s a terrible thing to say. You love Evan and you know it.”

“I love you more,” he answered promptly. “I love you more and more every single day.”

Mara’s heart melted. There wasn’t a single day that Jared didn’t declare that he loved her more today than yesterday. “You love your siblings, too.”

Jared shrugged. “I do love them, and yes, Evan saved my life. But I’m not going to meddle in his business.”

Mara smiled, knowing that Jared would absolutely intervene with Evan if necessary, as she took a final look at herself in the mirror and stood up. She didn’t look bad for a plain, ordinary woman. She’d never be a stunner like Randi, or as eye-catching as Sarah, but the way that Jared looked at her was all that mattered.

Jared whistled as he caught her around the waist. “You’re gorgeous.”

Mara wrapped her arms around his neck. “You don’t look so bad yourself, handsome.” She paused before looking up at him, meeting his gaze. “You know you
will
interfere if Evan is miserable. He deserves to be happy.”

Jared’s expression changed to one of regret as he answered, “I owe Evan my life and my happiness now. But I don’t think anyone knows what to do. None of us really knows how Randi feels, and Evan holds everything in a place where no one can see that he’s suffering. I’m hoping they’ll resolve this on their own.”

“She loves him,” Mara said confidently. “She wouldn’t be sleeping with him if she didn’t. She hasn’t been with anyone since college. I tried to pry some information out of her during our lunch today, but she wasn’t talking.”

Randi had arrived to their women-only lunch late that day, after the others had finished talking about how concerned they were for Evan.

Mara was just as concerned about Randi. If she loved Evan, which Mara was pretty sure she did, his departure was going to break her heart. Randi had been through so much in her life. She deserved to be loved by a good man.

“She’s sleeping with him?” Jared asked with a false tone of shock.

Mara rolled her eyes. Her husband knew damn well that Randi and Evan had been hot and heavy with each other. “I don’t know what to do, either. Randi lost Joan so recently; I don’t think she’s quite recovered from that. Her relationship with Evan could hurt her badly.”

Jared stroked her cheek and said softly, “Hey, sweetheart, don’t worry so much. We don’t know that they won’t work everything out for themselves.”

“I don’t have a good feeling about it,” Mara replied sadly. “Evan hasn’t been here long enough to completely lose his guard, and he went through such a lot. I guess I’m worried he’ll leave before he realizes how he really feels.”

“He’s learning fast.” Jared wrapped his arms around her waist again and stroked her back. “Dante pressed him just a little about whether or not he was interested. He told Evan if it wasn’t serious, he wanted to introduce Randi to some friends of his at the station. I thought Evan was going to have a heart attack or a stroke.”

Mara raised an eyebrow. “So Dante was baiting him just like Evan did to you?”

“That was different. Evan did it personally,” Jared grumbled.

Mara laughed. “Why do I have a feeling you enjoyed it just a little?” she asked as she recovered.

“I did,” Jared admitted unabashedly. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see him happy. Hell, I feel guilty about not knowing about his problems. I feel like a selfish bastard. I know Hope, Grady, and Dante do, too.”

Mara lifted her palm to Jared’s cheek gently. He’d suffered enough guilt in his past, and she didn’t want him taking on blame that he didn’t need to carry. “You didn’t know. Nobody did. Evan wanted it that way. You know he’s protective of all of you in his own way.” The eldest Sinclair was hyperprotective, but he’d probably never admit it.

“I wish I would have known, but I know it isn’t my fault. Because of you, Mara, I’m done carrying baggage,” he told her fiercely. “If I need to, I’ll do what I have to do to make my stubborn brother face his own ghosts from the past and learn how much better it is to be happy.”

She smiled at him, proud of how far Jared had come at being brutally honest about everything in his life. “I know you will.”

“I wonder how Randi took the news that Evan was her secret email buddy. Did she say?” Jared was curious.

“She didn’t mention it,” Mara answered thoughtfully, wondering herself how Randi had felt when she found out that she’d been talking to Evan all this time. “I’m sure she was shocked. Hope mentioned that they’d been anonymous friends for over a year, but Randi thought it was an employee of the Sinclair Fund.”