His Instant Heir(25)

"Thank you for my son. I didn't realize until tonight how great a gift  he is. You could have made a different choice, given that I wasn't in  the picture. I wouldn't have blamed you at all," he said. "And I never  would have known what was missing in my life."

She felt her throat close and tears burn the back of her eyes. He would  never know how hard the decision had been, given that she had been on  her own and that he was her family's sworn enemy. "I don't know what to  say."

"You don't have to say anything." He pulled her into his arms so that  her head was cuddled on his shoulder. Then he moved around so they were  on their sides facing each other.

His hands swept down her side to her hip, his fingers flexing on her  buttocks. He traced a pattern on her hip and she moved a little closer  to him.

"Do you trust me now?" he asked. His voice was deep in the quiet of the night.

"Yes, Dec," she said. It was nothing less than the truth.

"Good. Will you let me make love to you?" he asked. "Since we were  together, I've been limiting myself to good-night kisses since that  night in your office to give us both a chance to really get to know each  other, but I don't think I can wait any longer," he said. He rubbed his  hips against hers and she felt his erection.

"Me either," she said. She'd been aware of the boundaries between them  that she'd set that night in her office, but that had changed. She  wanted to be in his arms again. To be honest, it was all she'd thought  about for the past few weeks. As much as she hadn't been sure she could  rely on him, she'd still wanted him. After the revelations she'd had  this afternoon, nothing would make her happier than to make love with  him tonight.

He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her gently but thoroughly. With  only the moonlight overhead and the fragrant blossoms in the backyard  surrounding them, she felt like they were in paradise.

She put her hands between them and unbuttoned his shirt until she felt  the springy hair of his chest under her fingers. She rubbed her hands  over his hard pecs and traced the hair as it tapered down his stomach.  His belly flinched as her fingers moved lower, and he put his hand over  hers.

She pulled her mouth from his and looked up at him, but he lowered his  head to her neck, dropping nibbling kisses down the length of it as his  hands moved down her leg to the hem of her skirt and drew it up.

With long, languid strokes of his hand up and down, he caressed her  thigh. She squirmed and reached again for his belt buckle. She undid it  and then struggled with the button at his waist when his hand slipped  under her panties and drew them down her legs.

He rolled her over onto her back and she stared up at him in the  moonlight, and in his eyes she saw the emotions she'd craved. She saw  the love and the caring that she felt for him reflected back in his  eyes.

He nudged her knees apart with his and settled his hips overtop of hers.  It was a shock to feel the warmth of his erection against her naked  flesh. He shifted his hips, lightly rubbing his manhood over her center  and she felt herself moisten as she got ready for him.

He pushed her thighs farther apart and held himself poised at the  entrance of her, with only the tip of his erection inside her. She  shifted under him, trying to force him inside of her, but he wouldn't be  budged.

She looked up at him and he brought his mouth down on hers hard,  thrusting his tongue deep inside her mouth as he finally entered her  fully. Spasms of pleasure shook her as he continued to thrust deep  inside of her. She wrapped her thighs around his waist and urged him to  move faster, with her heels against the small of his back.                       
       
           



       

She tangled her tongue with his as she felt her orgasm wash over her.  She tore her mouth from his and cried out his name as he thrust into her  again and again, burying his face in her neck and suckling on the pulse  point as he came with a final thrust and his entire body shuddered over  hers.

She rocked her hips against his one more time. He settled over her for a  moment and she thrilled to have his full weight on her. She wrapped her  arms and legs around him and held him with all her strength. He kissed  her lightly, and when she looked up at him he was staring at her with a  look of tenderness she'd never seen in his eyes before.

He rolled them to their sides, cuddled her close and stroked his hand  down her side and back. She tried to shift, afraid her weight might be  too much for his arm, but he held her where she was and urged her to  place her head on his chest, right over his heart.

She closed her eyes as she listened to the reassuring beat of it. Being  in his arms made her think that she didn't have to worry about the  issues Emma had raised this afternoon. Emma didn't know Dec like Cari  did. Surely a man who held her this tenderly couldn't hurt her.





Thirteen


As night deepened around them, Dec held Cari in his arms. He wanted to  make love to her again. In a proper bed instead of outside on the deck  chair. But he didn't regret his actions. He had waited too long to have  her in his arms again. He'd thought he'd explode if he hadn't gotten  inside of her.

His determination to have her and to keep his Montrose cousins happy had  set his mind to turning over what he was going to do next. It was hard  to think when he had Cari in his arms. He fastened his pants, found her  panties and put them in his pocket so that the housekeeper didn't find  them later and then stood up and lifted her into his arms.

She stirred and smiled up at him.

"I feel asleep," she said.

"Yes, you did. Now I'm ready to sleep, too … with you in my arms. May I spend the night?"

"I was hoping you would. Just promise me if you do, you'll still be here when I wake up."

He hurt inside at the fact that she had to ask that. He didn't blame her  for needing reassurances. He'd done that with own actions and he was  going to keep reminding her that he was here to stay.

"Yes, I will be," he said.

She picked up the baby monitor before he carried her into the house and down the hall to her bedroom.

"How did you know where my bedroom was?"

"I checked it out earlier," he said.

He set her on her feet and she put the baby monitor on her nightstand. "I'm going to wash up for bed."

"Go ahead. I'll use the hall bathroom and meet you back here."

She gave him a tentative look as she entered the master bathroom, and he  looked around her bedroom while he was in there alone. He'd noticed the  baby pictures on her dresser earlier. Photos of DJ from the moment he'd  arrived in the hospital being cradled in the arms of a very  tired-looking Cari, all the way up to a photo of him from the Infinity  Games company picnic two weeks ago.

She had chronicled her son's life, and he looked at the pictures from  the nine months when he'd been absent in their lives and realized that  DJ wouldn't have to know he'd been missing if he handled the next few  days right.

But he knew that he was also going to have to be able to give Cari what  she needed from him. And he suspected sex and a dinner companion weren't  going to be enough. He shoved his hands through his hair and left her  bedroom to wash up. He cleaned himself and came back into her bedroom to  find Cari lying in her bed.

She was propped up with some pillows behind her back and started when he  opened the door. He stood there for a second and had no idea what to do  next. Sure, he'd slept with women before-hell, he'd even slept with  Cari-but it had been spontaneous and naturally flowed out of sex. This  was different.

He was here because he wanted to be, and he felt a little vulnerable at  that thought. It reminded him of his first night in his parents' mansion  and how much he wanted to stay there forever. He'd gotten his wish, but  it hadn't turned out exactly as he'd expected it to. But he'd been a  kid with unrealistic dreams.

"Come to bed," she said, pulling back the covers and inviting him into  the room. She'd left the nightstand light turned on and it cast a soft  glow into the room. He wanted to believe he belonged in there with her,  but he knew that he didn't. He was darkness and she was light.

He wanted to resist her. Despite what he'd been thinking all day, his  gut instinct was to turn and run. Hadn't he learned that life was easier  when he didn't rely on anyone? What kind of father could he be when he  was still so afraid to stay in one place?                       
       
           



       

It didn't change his feelings for DJ. He felt so much love for his son;  he wanted only the best for him. And he questioned whether or not he was  actually the best for DJ and for Cari.

Despite the fact that she'd filled that emptiness inside of him, he  still didn't know how to commit to her. He was still thinking of the  gassed-up Maserati waiting outside and how he could be halfway to Canada  before the sun rose if he wanted to be.