The Inheritance Part VI Page 3

  Chapter 33

  The ride to Andrew’s condo was quiet. He didn’t press her to talk, and she was grateful. Her head ached a bit, and her eyes burned. She reached over and put her hand on his upper thigh, relishing the solid feel of him beside her.

  This whole thing had been a nightmare, but from day one, Andrew had been by her side, offering his strength, his wisdom. Protecting her.

  He dropped his right hand down to stroke the tops of her fingers, and she focused on that sensation, driving out all other thoughts at the moment. Let herself take comfort from the firm touch of his hand.

  She closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the headrest, and the gentle swaying of the car nudged her into a dreamless sleep.

  ***

  “Wake up.” Sometime later a voice pierced her consciousness, followed by a hand on her shoulder. “Maggie, we’re here.”

  She blinked and sat forward, staring in confusion. The car was parked in Andrew’s driveway. “Oh, sorry,” she said with a self-conscious chuckle and wiped at her eyes. “I didn’t realize I was so tired.” She’d only meant to sit there with her eyes closed.

  He gave her a crooked grin. “No problem. Let’s have some lunch inside, and you can take another nap if you want.”

  They made their way inside, and Andrew tossed his keys on the table beside the front door, strolling toward the kitchen.

  “Oh, you can take a shower first if you want,” Maggie protested.

  “Eh, we’ll eat. Then I’ll shower.” He tugged the fridge door open and peered inside. “In the mood for anything in particular?”

  Maggie settled at the table. “I’m flexible.”

  Andrew pulled out some salad greens and fresh veggies, then started chopping and whipping them up a salad. Maggie watched the muscles of his arms and back work. Every movement was precise, and he knew his way around a kitchen, that much was apparent.

  The dark hairs along his neck brushed the very top of his collar. He’d rolled his shirt up his forearms, revealing dusky skin and lean muscles. His fingers were lean, firm as he grasped a tomato and chopped it.

  Suddenly she wasn’t very hungry anymore. She wanted to feel those hands on her skin.

  He paused his chopping, and her heartbeat stumbled for a bit as she irrationally wondered if somehow he’d heard her thoughts.

  “I feel guilty,” he said in a quiet voice.

  “Guilty? About what?”

  “I should have been there. That night, you know. At the party. If I had, I could have protected your sister.”

  She stood up and moved to stand behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She pressed a cheek to his warm back and said, “Hey, no guilt. Neither one of us could have known. And if we had, we would have been there, right?”

  “But if I hadn’t been so . . . caught up in my own worries, I could have prevented it. All of it. And I would have beat the hell out of Scott and Joel for even thinking about trying what they did.” He sounded rough and broke on the last few words, and she felt the muscles tightening under her cheek.

  She held him tighter, squeezing him to her. “I know. It’s just horrible. But we can’t live our lives beating ourselves up over it.”

  With a flash of shock, she realized it was true. All this time she’d been harboring deep-down guilt over not being at the party. Over not knowing where or how to find her sister. And so had Andrew. But they’d both tried to do what they could, and in the end, they’d gotten their answers.

  And what a cost it had been.

  “Wanna go to the hospital with me later to go see Bethany?” she asked.

  He turned around in her arms and peered down at her. “Yeah, that’d be great. I stepped out and called while you were talking with your mom at the station and found her room. I figured you’d want to check on her.”

  She reached up and stroked her fingers along the underside of his jaw. His eyes flared and hooded just a bit, but he pulled out of her embrace.

  “Keep going like that and I won’t get any food in us,” he said, his tone a bit husky.

  She leaned up on her tiptoes and brushed her mouth against his. The words I love you flew to the forefront of her mind again. God, she wanted to tell him over and over until he kept her in his arms. But she was petrified of pushing things too far.

  They’d just found out about her sister. She didn’t want to dump anything else on him right now.

  With regret, she swallowed her sigh and made her way back to the table, pasting a smile on her face. “Well, that’s a good-looking salad. I’d hate to be the one to waste it.”

  He offered her a smile in return and went back to finishing the salad.

  They ate quickly, neither one saying much, both apparently lost in their thoughts. Maggie was hungrier than she’d realized, and she finished the salad, scooping up the last bite with some vinaigrette dressing.

  Andrew made quick work of rinsing the bowls and silverware and popping them in the dishwasher. “I’m going to shower now. Won’t take long, but please, make yourself at home. Listen to music, watch TV. Anything you want.” He reached over, stroked a lock of her hair and with a crooked smile, headed to the bedroom.

  Maggie remained in her seat for a moment. What she really wanted to do was follow him into the shower and show him how much she loved him. But did she have the courage to do so? He hadn’t asked her to join him.

  Then again, given everything that had just happened, she knew he wouldn’t push anything on her. So if she wanted him, she’d need to take the initiative.

  Drawing in a slow breath to ease her rapid heart rate, Maggie rose from the chair and made her way down the hallway into the bedroom. She could hear the water kick on from inside the bathroom. The door was barely peeked open, and she saw light and shadow playing through the tiny slit.

  Her pulse throbbed in her ears. With shaking hands, she stripped her clothes off before she could talk herself out of it and reached for the doorknob. Now or never.

  You can do this, she told herself. She needed Andrew, yes. But right now she also wanted to comfort him, to give him whatever she had and show him how important he was to her. How she loved his support, his easy smile, the steady warmth of his hand. The fire he ignited in her. Everything about him.

  She opened the knob and stepped inside. The shower stall was large and steamed up already, and she could hear Andrew washing off in there. She slid the door open and stepped behind him.

  He spun around, and water pelted their skin, heating her instantly. “Hey,” he said, his eyes wide. He glanced down at her, and his lips parted as he took in her naked body. She could see his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard. His chest was lathered, and the rich ocean scent of his soap filled her nostrils.

  Maggie took the bar of soap from his hand. “I thought maybe I could help,” she said, her voice throaty. She couldn’t hide the desire in her eyes. She didn’t want to.

  He stared at her but remained still as she lathered her hands and ran them up and down his warm, wet chest. The muscles flexed and tightened beneath her fingers but he stood still, giving her the space to set the speed. She took a step closer to him, her nipples pebbling as they brushed his skin.

  She couldn’t find the right words to say everything in her heart. So she gave him what she could, washing every inch of his firm body. When she squatted down to get his legs and feet, his fingers tangled in her wet hair, and she heard him give a small groan. She peered up and her lips parted as she saw his long, hard cock bobbing right in front of her mouth.

  She kept her face pointed toward his shaft but looked up at his eyes. His pupils were so large and dark that the light blue of his irises was just a narrow strip. He wanted her. His fingers tightened on her hair; water sluiced down his shoulders onto her skin. She felt her own arousal stirring more, that deep, pulsing throb in her core.

  Keeping her touch ligh
t, she ran her palms with slow, careful deliberation from his ankles to the backs of his knees, up his thighs to grip his tight, firm buttocks. Then she leaned forward and took his tip into her mouth. His clean male taste filled her tongue, made her ache for more.

  He groaned again and pressed his pelvis forward just a fraction to push into her mouth. She sucked him greedily, drew him in deeper, wanting to make him harder than he’d ever been. Water coursed from his body to hers, peppered her cheeks and brow; she pressed her breasts against his legs and ran the flat of her tongue along his lower ridge.

  “I want you right now,” he growled, then pulled her up. He pressed her back against the cool tile and she shivered lightly. His deft fingers cupped her breast and with a small squeeze, he bent down and took her nipple into his mouth. Sensation exploded from the sensual contact, and her inner walls gave an involuntary squeeze.

  She gripped his back, digging her nails into his skin and pressing her breast deeper against his mouth. Harder. He sucked her like she’d sucked him, his tongue swirling as he tasted her flesh.

  Then he spun her around. She smacked her palms against the tile to stop her movement then gasped and jolted when his hot mouth caressed her sex. Shivers slid across her skin, and she grew instantly wet for him.

  “You taste amazing,” she heard him say, his voice like velvet. A finger teased her clit, and the other hand urged her thighs apart until her feet were braced along the sides of the shower stall.

  Her core became impossibly clenched in arousal, and he slid his finger inside her wetness. She gasped, pressed down against his hand. His long fingers stroked her walls, building the heat in her pelvis. She could feel his hot breath panting against her damp folds.

  Her nipples hardened even more, and she rubbed them against the cool tile to alleviate some of their almost painful ache. Her clit swelled. She rested her forehead on the tile. “That feels good,” she said with a gasp.

  He thrust another finger inside and swirled his tongue along the length of her lower lips, and she shuddered. That desperate coil deep in her grew tighter and tighter as he stroked and teased her. Her legs tensed.

  So close. So . . . close . . .

  Then, with a blaze of sensation, she burst over the edge, crying out her orgasm. He wrapped a large hand around her stomach and pushed his tongue to keep licking her as she unfurled against his mouth.

  He turned her around and took her mouth with a bold, intimate kiss. She could taste the shower water, his unique taste and her own arousal. Andrew pulled back just a fraction. His hair was mussed, his eyes locked on hers with a heat she’d never seen radiating from them before.

  “I need you,” he said, sounding raspy.

  “Bedroom,” she managed to reply. Where they could stretch out and he could push into her with that deliciously hard cock.

  He shut off the water, scooped her into his arms and, with them both still wet, he dropped her onto the bed.

  She gave a startled laugh. “We’ll soak the bed,” she protested.

  “I don’t care. I need you right now. I can’t wait.” He fumbled for a condom in his bedside drawer. Just as a chilly shiver settled across her skin, he sheathed himself, then tugged the blanket down below her. He slid on top of her, breast to chest, thigh to thigh, and draped the blanket back over their bodies.

  He paused, staring down into her eyes. A small bead of water dropped to her forehead.

  “I need you too,” she whispered, lifting her pelvis so she could feel his hardness against her. I need you and I love you. God, I love you. Why couldn’t she say those three simple words? Why was she so afraid?

  He stroked a strand of wet hair off her damp forehead. His touch was beyond gentle, and she wrapped her arms around him, drawing his warmth closer. She closed her eyes, letting her other senses heighten the moment. His breath came in small puffs that caressed her cheek. His body was still damp, but he exuded heat that seeped into her skin.

  His fingers landed on her chin. “Open your eyes,” he said quietly.

  She did so and saw layers of emotion there. His body remained still above her.

  “I don’t just need you right now, Maggie,” he continued, his face as serious as she’d ever seen it. “I need you tomorrow. And next week. And when you go back to Florida . . .” He paused, his brow furrowing as he seemed to struggle for the right words.

  “I love you,” Maggie blurted out, then froze. Had she really just said that? And in such a blunt way?

  He blinked. Blinked again. “You love me?”

  Her heart slammed so hard against her chest she thought he might be able to feel it through his own rib cage. She merely nodded.

  “You love me,” Andrew said, this time as a statement. His eyes grew unreadable as he stared down at her.

  Silence stretched for a painfully long moment. Maggie’s heart sank as seconds ticked on. Stupid, she chided herself. She should have just kept her mouth shut. Should have seen how he felt first and then—

  Andrew gripped the back of her hair and slanted his mouth against hers.

  Chapter 34

  When Andrew finally tore his mouth away from her, they were both panting, their breaths ragged and offbeat.

  “I am so in love with you,” he finally said, his eyes blazing with emotion that shocked her to the core. He pressed his thighs against the seam of her legs, and she parted for him. “I can’t let you go, Maggie.”

  Her heart beat hard against her chest. She drew his head down until there was only a scant inch between their mouths. “Then don’t.”

  Andrew pressed his cock into her opening, and she spread her thighs as far as she could part him, arching against his body. He moved slowly, filling her inch by decadent inch. Yet she couldn’t get enough of him. She licked the muscled curve of his neck, sucked the tender flesh at his throat, and he groaned.

  “I love you,” he whispered as he withdrew, then entered her again. His fingers slipped down to grip the curve of her ass, angle her pelvis so he could enter her deeper. “God, I can’t get enough of you.”

  “Me neither,” she admitted, then pressed kisses along his damp skin. Wanting to taste everything, know everything. Her soul felt light, unburdened for the first time in a long, long time. And it was because of Andrew.

  He loved her.

  She took his mouth in a possessive kiss and he slid his tongue along her teeth, her tongue, creating little shivers down her spine.

  His thrusts became harder, faster. He gripped her hips and moaned his arousal.

  “I want to feel you come,” she told him as she twisted her pelvis against his. Their joined flesh was hot and wet, and the sounds of his thrusting made her clit throb in painful need. “Take me.”

  “God, yes,” he growled, slamming hard into her now.

  Pleasure swelled and flowed from her core through her limbs, and she gripped his shoulders.

  “I’m going to come,” he choked out, his eyes locked dead on hers. The pupils were large and black, and his breath huffed in small bursts. He took her mouth, owned it, penetrated her fully, still staring into her eyes.

  Her walls contracted, tugging him as deep as he could get. He pounded against her cervix, giving a light flash of pleasure-pain. She wanted to milk every drop from him.

  Then he gave a low, guttural groan as his body froze. Maggie dug her nails in and twisted her hips one last time to give him an extra burst of pleasure.

  When he was finally spent, he cleaned himself up, tossed the condom, then collapsed at her side. Her limbs felt like delicious liquid; she didn’t want to ever leave this spot.

  His warm breath poured over her shoulder as he nuzzled into her neck. “That was . . . beyond words,” he said. He stroked his large palm over her lower belly in a gentle, possessive manner.

  Maggie wrapped her arms around Andrew. Her heart was slamming in an erratic beat against his face.
She was completely naked and vulnerable to him—not just physically, but emotionally too. All her cards on the table. Now that they’d finished making love, she wondered what would happen. He’d told her he was in love with her. That he couldn’t let her go.

  As if he knew what she was thinking, he tugged her down into his embrace, nestling her into his side. He rubbed his luscious lips against her forehead, leaving invisible lines of kisses along her skin.

  “You’re all mine,” he whispered through what sounded like a tight throat. “And I’m all yours.”

  Maggie swallowed, smiled, cuddled herself deeper into his arms as post-sex sleepiness overtook her.

  Home.

  ***

  “Please, come on in,” Mr. Webber’s secretary told Maggie and Andrew. The woman had on a pastel green suit that illuminated the brightness of her green eyes, and her hair was tucked into a tidy bun at the base of her neck. “Mr. Webber is on a phone call right now, but he’ll be done soon. We have coffee ready in the conference room, but if I can get you anything else, please let me know.”

  Andrew threaded his hands through Maggie’s. “We will, thanks.” He led her into the black-tiled conference room, and she took a seat at the huge cherry table beside him. He was all cool calmness as he poured them both a cup of black coffee, adding a dash of cream and sugar into Maggie’s.

  She took a nervous sip of the strong but good coffee and tried to force her stomach to relax.

  Bethany wasn’t here yet. From what Maggie had heard, the woman had been released from the hospital yesterday after a two-night visit. She and Andrew had visited Bethany both days. That first visit, the tension had been palpable, so uncomfortable that Maggie wanted to flee. But Andrew gradually eased the tension with his gentle questions and concern for Bethany, who had warmed under the attention.

  If Maggie didn’t already known Andrew was in love with her, she might have been a bit jealous.

  This morning, Mr. Webber’s office had called to see if the three of them could meet today to discuss the final arrangements for the inheritance. After she’d gotten the call, Maggie lay in Andrew’s bed, staring at the ceiling, plagued with anxiety over it all. To be honest, she hadn’t thought about the money side of the competition; she’d been too worried about finding the truth.