Her Little Secret, His Hidden Heir(29)

After the divorce … well, the truth was that he hadn't been with another   woman since Vanessa left. He'd thrown himself into his work and the   company. Frankly, no one else had even remotely caught his interest in   the past year. He wondered now if anyone else ever would.

Crossing his arms behind her back, he grasped her to him, flattening her   full, round brea**sts to his chest. She ran her hands through his  hair,  raking her nails over his scalp and the nape of his neck,  something  he'd always loved. It sent shivers of arousal down his spine  and blood  pulsing even more heavily between his legs.

Feeling the twitch of his erection, Vanessa shifted on his lap,   arranging herself at a better angle to hover just above him. She wrapped   her slim fingers around his hard length and stroked him lightly for a   moment before guiding him ever so slowly into her damp, welcoming   warmth.

Marc hissed a breath through clenched teeth, reciting stock values in   his head to keep the evening from being over much too soon. The feel of   her surrounding him, of being buried inside her, was one of the most   astonishing sensations he'd ever experienced. No matter how many times   it happened, each was nearly a religious experience. Amazing and   life-altering. Impossibly better than the time before, and certain never   to be as mind-blowing again.                       
       
           



       

She fit him like a glove, snug and hot, clutching at him in a way that   nearly sent the top of his head spinning off. Hands on her bare   buttocks, he tugged her closer-not that there was more than the thinnest   sliver of space between them to begin with. But if he could have   absorbed her into him, he would have.

Her breath whooshed out as she hit his chest with a thump, but he didn't   give her a chance to refill her lungs with fresh air. Instead, he took   her mouth while he lifted her up … and down. Up … and down. Short, jerky   movements at first that grew faster and more frantic as their passions   built and their mingled breathing became ragged.

Marc's heart pounded beneath his rib cage, every cell in his body   tightening, straining, striving for release. He fought it, wanting the   feelings to last. Wanting this time with Vanessa to last.

But holding back his orgasm was like trying to hold back a monsoon. His   only hope was to hang on long enough and make sure she was with him  when  it happened.

Reaching between them, he trailed the flat of his hand over her abdomen   and slipped two fingers into her folds in search of the secret bundle  of  nerves that would send her over the edge. She gasped as soon as he   touched her there and he felt her inner muscles clench around him.

He cursed under his breath, working to school his breathing and praying   for just a little more staying power. Just a little more.

Using the pads of those two fingers, he circled the swollen bud first   one direction and then the other. Vanessa gave a long, plaintive moan,   her spine bowing as she arched above him.

"That's it, baby," he panted, cocking his hips to meet her every downward thrust. "Let yourself go. Come with me."

Her body was growing taut, her movements and breathing becoming more and   more frenetic as her climax approached. Marc continued to tease,   continued to drive her higher and higher. Pinching, flicking, letting   his nails rake across her most sensitive spot while he rocked her from   below.

And then she was over, crying out as wave after wave of pleasure rippled through her, causing her to shudder from head to toe.

Marc wasn't far behind. As soon as he felt the start of her climax, he   released the stranglehold on his own self-control, and followed her into   bliss.





Fourteen




Vanessa awoke to early morning sunlight streaming through the half-drawn   draperies and across the bed. A wide smile split her face as she   stretched like a cat, feeling better than she had in a very long time.

Tilting her head, she checked the clock, then sat up quickly. Ten o'clock! How could she possibly have slept so long?

Granted, she'd had a rather rigorous evening. She and Marc had made love   three times during the long night, and Danny had had them both out of   bed a couple of times in between. But she still should have been up  long  before now, especially since Danny had to be awake and fussing.

Rolling to the edge of the mattress, she started to sit up only to have   her hand bump something near the head of the bed. It crinkled slightly,   and when she looked, she found a slip of paper lying half under Marc's   pillow.

Had to go to the office, it said in her ex-husband's tall, distinctive   scrawl. Danny is with Marguerite. Home for dinner. And it was signed,   Love, M.

Short and to the point, which was typical of Marc. But using the L-word   in a frivolous manner was not. Did he mean it? Or had it simply slipped   out by habit, given their return to familiar marital intimacies?

Vanessa's heart pinched inside her chest. She wasn't sure how to feel   about either possibility, so she decided not to think about it too much.   At least not at the moment.

Slipping out of bed, she quickly dressed in a pair of linen slacks and a   light pumpkin orange top, then made her way out of the suite and   downstairs, peeking her head in several doorways as she went in hopes of   finding Danny.

She found them in the library. A large blanket was spread out on the   floor with Danny in the center. Toys were spread all around, and the   same young maid from last evening sat at one corner, making faces and   playing with the laughing child. She was definitely working overtime,   Vanessa thought, making a mental note to ask Marc if she was being   properly compensated.

"Ms. Keller," the woman murmured as soon as she spotted Vanessa. Pushing   to her feet, she clasped her hands nervously behind her back.

"It's Mason, actually," Vanessa replied automatically. Moving toward the   blanket, she knelt beside Danny and scooped him up, cradling him   against her chest.

He giggled, kicked his little legs and grabbed for her hair. She chuckled in return, kissing one of his warm, chubby cheeks.

"Thank you for watching him again," she said, climbing back to her feet and taking a seat on one of the nearby sofas.                       
       
           



       

"My pleasure, ma'am. Mr. Keller said it was all right to give him a   bottle and some baby cereal, so he's been fed and burped. Changed, too."

Vanessa nodded, sending the young woman a gentle smile. Her first   inclination was to dismiss the maid and take over Danny's care herself.   She wasn't used to having staff on hand and underfoot anymore to see to   her every need or whim. And she was used to taking care of   things-especially her son-almost single-handedly.

But the maid looked so eager to please and Vanessa knew from personal   experience how demanding Eleanor could be. She was hard enough on her   children and their spouses, but with her employees, she was downright   tyrannical.

Standing, she gave Danny another kiss, this one in the center of his forehead, then returned him to the blanket.

"Would you mind watching him for a while longer?" she asked as she straightened. "I'd like to get some breakfast."

The young maid looked both pleased and unaccountably relieved. She   quickly moved back to the blanket and took up her post at Danny's side.

"Of course, ma'am. Take your time."

"Thank you."

As familiar as Vanessa was with Keller Manor, she was anything but   comfortable inside its gates and walls. It was too big and lifeless for   her tastes, reminding her of some cold, cavernous mausoleum. At times,   she could swear her footsteps and voice actually echoed as if she was   inside a giant catacomb.

Although she knew she could go straight to the dining room, and a   servant would be there to take her order in under a minute, she instead   made her way to the kitchen at the rear of the house. The kitchen staff   was busy bustling around, cleaning up from the rest of the family's   morning meal and preparing for the afternoon one.

"Ms. Keller," one of them chirped when she saw her.

Vanessa smiled, not bothering to correct the use of her married name. If   she did that every time one of the staff reverted to the family   surname, she would get nothing else done.

"Hello, Glenna. It's nice to see you again."

The older woman's smile was warm and genuine, not the usual lift of dutiful lips. "You, too, ma'am."