The Tycoon's Tender Triumph (12 page)

“Chloe, come with me now,” he said and pulled away, taking her hand and pulling her forward.  “We have to finish this in a place that’s more comfortable than my desk.”

“Finish?”

Sam stopped and looked down at her, humor touching his eyes.  “Chloe, when we make love for the first time, I want all of you and not some quick tumble on my desk.  Come on, love.  Let me show you,” he said and started moving towards the door again.

Chloe was confused.  “We’re not going to make love, Sam,” she said but even she could hear the breathy quality of her voice.  Clearing her throat, she tried again.  “I can’t do this Sam.  I don’t want…”

Sam moved closer, his hand moving to the skin he’d bared moments ago under her shirt.  “Don’t say you don’t want this,” he growled out.  “I know you do, your body just told me you do.”

She closed her eyes and took a step back.  “No,” she whispered, humiliation sweeping over her.  “I can’t.  This isn’t right and we won’t work…”

“Yes we will, and I think I just proved that we will.  Come with me and let me show you,” he said with a touch to her cheek.

Chloe almost turned into that caress, her face wanting to feel his rough fingers against her skin.  But she stopped herself, reminding her brain of how difficult it had been to get over Sam after
she saw his picture in the new
s
paper after each dinner with him.  The betrayal had been painful
.  She hadn’t been the same
after seeing those pictures.  For weeks after their dinners, she’d tried to rationalize why he would take her out, make her laugh, talk to her like she was someone special and then go out with another woman
.  She was older now, wiser and she knew that making love with Sam would be both heaven and hell.  The heaven would be in his arms and the hell being the time afterwards, when he moved on to his next lover.  She couldn’t do that, wouldn’t go down that road.   

“Sam, please, we can’t do that.”

He sighed and let his head fall back, closing his eyes as he regained control of his body.  Looking down at her, seeing the terror in her eyes, Sam realized that he’d gone too far and too fast.  There was just something abou
t this woman that drove him more than
a little nuts.  It had happened when she was
in college.  S
he was too young for him and he’d barely gotten out of that situation without
expiring from the lust he felt for her
.  But if he needed to slow down now, he could do it.  He’d learned some control over the years.  Not much, he thought
as he
considered how his body was still hard and ready for her, desperate to feel her softness. 

He backed off though.  Giving her the space she needed although he almost growled with frustration when he saw the relief in her eyes. 

“Fine.  I’ll give you time.”  He hated the fear he saw in her eyes, but acknowledged that something had happened in her past that had put this fear there.  He’d have to understand it and overcome the issues if he were to move forward with her.  He was pa
tient though.  He’d waited nine
years already.  He could give her a little more time. 

Not space though. That was the last thing he was going to do.  He’d give
n
her space when she was sixteen
and she’d disappeared
to her mother’s house and then to college and various internships in different cities
.  He wasn’t going to let that happen again.  She was finally here, back where she belonged and he was determined to keep her here. 

Well, she wasn’t exactly where she belonged, he thought ruefully.  He wanted her here, in his house and in his bed every day and every night.  But he’d get her there.  One way or another. 

Taking a deep breath, he moved closer, but not too close, gauging his distance by the fear that came into her eyes.  This was one scared filly, he thought, damning the man who had done this to her. 

“I need to go,” she said, looking down at her jacket that had fallen to the floor.  She bent down and quickly picked it up, holding it in front of her like a shield.  “I’ll talk to you later,” she said and scooted out of the office. 

“Chloe,” Sam called, but she was already out of the office and rushing down the hallway.  He stepped out into the hallway and called to her once again. 

Chloe debated about just ignoring him, but odds were that he would take a few steps and catch her, that would put her ri
ght back into his
arms and she was just too fragile right now.  Instead, she turned around and looked back at him, keeping her eyes on his chin instead of looking him in the eye. 

“We have that dinner event tomorrow night.  Can you be ready by six o’clock?”

She nodded, uncaring if it was true or not.  She just had to get out of the house and back to safety. 

“Fine.  I’ll see you later.”

Chloe turned back around and almost ran out of the house, desperate to find some place to hide.  She th
ought about returning to her dad’s
house, but that wasn’t a good idea.  She was all alone with nothing to do there.  Her mind would only cause her proble
ms and ask questions she didn’t
want to answer right now. 

Rushing outside, she pulled on her coat, grateful for the cold gust that hit her in the face as she moved out of the warm house.  Her face was flushed and she didn’t want anyone else to see her like this.  They would know instantly what had happened.  Especially
Jessy
.  That woman had
been dropping hints that Chloe and Sam should get together.  Little did she know…Chloe thought. 

On impulse, Chloe swung by her dad’s pickup truck and grabbed her camera bag, thinking that maybe taking pictures would be a good outlet for these strange feelings she was working through. 

Nutmeg!  What she needed was a long, hard run and Nutmeg was just the guy to help her do it.  She rushed across the yard and down the pathway to the
stable
s,
ignoring the heavy bag hitting her leg with each step and
feeling oddly as if Sam were watching her from one of the windows.  That didn’t make sense though because his office was on the front of the house and the
stable
s were in the back.  Besides, he was too busy to watch her walk anywhere.  The man had been helping her out, ignoring his own phone calls so he could get her through the details of her business plan. 

Hurrying down the pathway, she entered the
stable
through a side door, unwilling to risk running into anyone at this time.  She found Nutmeg
in his stall and patted his nose, moving on to the others and giving them attention as well.  She wanted to run with all of them, but
right at the moment, she needed
to
ride
as fast as possible. 

Saddling him up was quick since he obviously was ready to run as well.  He was very cooperative, even nuzzling her when she moved in front of him.  With the blanket and saddle in place, she led the stallion out of the
stable
and through the gate, then climbed up onto a fence and threw her leg over the horse.  Within moments, they were flying over the ground, leaving the problems of the last hour behind her. 

It took more than an hour before Nutmeg was worn out enough.  They rode over hills and across the flat plains, Chloe careful to not take on any unknown pathways that might have holes that would hurt the horse.  Nutmeg was wonderful and exactly what she needed to get her mind off of the way Sam had made her feel.  She loved this horse and the
sense of
freedom he
gave her as they rode together
.  When it was time to return to the
stable
, she wasn’t ready
, wanting to hide for a lot longer
. 
The possibility of running into Sam was too embarrassing.

The horse had to take priority though.  He was worn out and needed some water.  It was also too cold outside to let him start shivering because of the sweat from his run. 

She cooled Nutmeg down
, walking him around the yards and
along the
fence
line
, then gave him a long rub down before patting him back into his stall.  He was grateful for the ride and happy when she gave him a huge bucket of oats.  The other horses were all ready for her attention as well and she took Ginger out next.  She wasn’t as fast, but she was strong and more than willing.  Since Nutmeg had taken all the fight out, riding Ginger was just enjoyable.  She laughed as Ginger pranced through the winter grasses, galloping through the hilltops.  Where Nutmeg was speed, Ginger was all bounce and prancing.  Goodness she was a beauty! 

Cinnamon
was next but by that point, Chloe wasn’t sure she could take her out for a long ride.  They still went down one of the paths but at a much more sedate speed than the previous two rides.  She felt bad for Salt and Pepper, both of whom had been peering over the edge of their stalls, ready for their ride.  She’d take them out for a long ride tomorrow, and bring extra apples for all of them. 

Cinnamon was perfect for taking pictures though.  She led the horse through some of her favorite pathways and, with the dimming lights, she was able to capture several startling pictures of the sun shining through the
winter bare
trees. 

At least she hoped she had been able to capture the
scene
.  She didn’t have a printer that would allow her to print them out so she
c
ould have
instant review, but she’d had pretty good success with her digital camera in the past.  She also had several pictures she’d taken on weekends while in New York that she hadn’t had time to review so this memory card might be filled with some good selections. 

The afternoon was getting late when she finally returned.  She was cleaning out their stalls that evening, talking to them as they nuzzled her neck or nudged her gently.  All of them were very playful and she laughed as she sprinkled fresh hay around them for the evening. 

She
struggled to fa
ll asleep that night, eager to put the whole day behind her
but her mind was working overtime, going through the day and her business plan, problems with her dad and with Sam
.  She prayed that she was too tired to dream. 

But as she drifted off, her last thought was about how she wished she were curled up with Sam beside her, keeping her warm.

Morning was early the next day, Chloe having woken up with the sheets and blanket all tangled around her because of the dream where she was making hot, passionate love to Sam an
d he was making her scream. She
wasn’t sure, but she suspected that
she’d actually woken herself up with her cries.

The house was warmer than what she was used to since she’d
hadn’t
turn
ed
the thermostat
back
down
completely
from the previous day when Sam was here.  Since it was so cozy and warm,
and it felt so deliciously decadent,
she didn’t immediately turn it back down.  Instead, she enjoyed a leisurely morning, sipping her coffee and nibbling at a piece of toast, the only thing she knew how to cook without burning.  She topped off her meal with an apple, then stuffed several into her coat pocket to take to her beauties. 

She stopped by her own
stable
, still thinking it wasn’t such a bad idea to get this place up and running.  It was only a fifteen minute drive to Sam’s house, but that was because she had to go the road way.  She could actually see his house from her
dad’s
back yard and it would be shorter if she could just drive as the crow flies.  Unfortunately, there were pastured in between their houses and lots of fencing.  She smiled as she thought about the expression on Sam’s face if she were to drive straight through his fences to get to her wonderful horses.  He’d probably be
apoplectic
.  It would really be nice to see Sam out of control instead of her, for once. 

She went through her chores for the day, worked on the
stable
a bit more but at a much slower pace than she had previously.  Someone had delivered an air gun with instructions and cautions on how to use it and Chloe was thrilled with how easy it was to get the roof finished with the new tool.  She was careful though, not wanting to nail herself or any of her own body parts as she tried to nail down the roof pieces. 
Sam had sent over some helpers and she could see their work on the inside of the stable and she was extremely grateful for the boards that had been replaced, new locks on the doors installed and various other things she hadn’t even realized were broken.