Rare and Precious Things (6 page)

“You’
re hungry.”

I nodded
against his hand at my scalp. “My appetite is back. I need food to grow this child we made. And dessert.” I ticked him in the ribs to get him moving.

“So feisty you are…and impatient,” he teased. “Far be it from me to be stupid enough to deny food to a pregnant woman—”

“—don’t forget the dessert,” I reminded, with another go at his ribs, which he blocked easily.

“
I’m taking you out tonight. I don’t want you to cook. And…without a doubt, there should be a decadent dessert for my girl.”

“Aww
, thank you, baby, you are too good to me.” I offered my lips to his for a kiss.

He didn’t kiss me though, instead, his eyes lit up with a gleam that could only be described as wicked, when I felt his pal
m smack me on the ass with a playful clap. “You’d better move that divine fanny of yours into the shower before I decide to have it again.”

I scrambled
off the bed, but before I left him there, I leaned over my very loving, but controlling husband, in all his bared male magnificence, and placed one fingertip at the middle of his chest to keep him down. I gave him the sultriest look I could summon up, cupped my breasts and drew on the nipples slowly, with little twists to the tips. I licked my lips exaggeratedly, using my tongue to curl along the edge of my mouth.

He was mesmerized
by it all, and so still, he didn’t even look to be breathing as he watched my little sex-show, slash, lap-dance. I put my finger back on one of his nipples before dragging with my nail all the way down, ever so slowly, over his six pack of muscles, his belly, between his V, and finally, right to the base of his cock.

His torso tightened and fle
xed as I scratched him, teasing him without mercy. Ethan was my sexual minion in that moment and he and I both knew it. I couldn’t resist what I did next.

I winked at him.
“I win,” I whispered, before dashing for the showers.

He chased me down
, of course, tickling me, making me laugh as we washed up for our dinner date—but not before paying me back for what I’d done to him on the bed.

In orgasms.

“SOMEBODY is enjoying their dinner tonight.” Ethan watched me eating with a huge grin plastered on his handsome face.

I moaned
at the flavor of the rich pasta in my mouth. “Oh me, oh my, this is the most delicious baked ziti I’ve ever tasted in my life. I wish I could make it like this.”

“Maybe you can. Take a picture with your mobile to help you remember
some of how they prepared it.”

“That’s a great i
dea. Why didn’t I think of it?” I reached for my purse.

The
gleam in his eyes turned to teasing. “Probably because you’re too busy cramming it in.”

I kicked him in the foot under the table.
“Jackass.”

“
Only kidding,” he grunted. “I’m just grateful that you’re able to finally eat. I was concerned about you wasting away before, so now it’s just one less thing worrying me.”

I blew him
an air kiss. “Number one, you wore me out earlier today, and number two, I think my body is making up for lost time when I couldn’t keep much down. If I allow myself to get over-hungry, then you’ll find you have one very cranky gorgon of a wife on your hands.” I made a face. “Trust me, you don’t want that to happen.”

The
ziti did agree with me, but mostly it was the fact I could now eat and not feel ill afterward. Our baby was definitely making his or her presence known despite being so tiny, and food is what was required to make everything work.

He put down his knife and fork
and feasted his eyes on me. “Well, first, I loved wearing you out earlier today, and second, I love seeing you enjoying your food again. I’m not stupid. When my girl says she needs to eat, then she damn well better
eat
.” He topped his wine glass off. “And third, you’re one hell of a beautiful gorgon, even when you’re scaring the crap out of me.”

“Am I that scary now, Ethan?
You can be honest.” I know some of my emotional highs and lows freaked him out, but pregnancy was hard on me too, and I did worry about the change in me. I couldn’t control any of it, and yet, I didn’t want to be the crazy hormonal wife that made him long for the good ole bachelor days either.

“Never.”
He picked up my free hand and kissed the palm, his eyes smiling up at me lovingly. “What would be really scary is not being with my beautiful gorgon and our little peach.”

“I love you.” I managed to say the words without getting teary, but it wouldn’t take much. Ethan could pull emotion out of me by just looking at me.

“I love you more,” he said softly, reaching for his wine and taking a healthy swig. “And I think that was evidenced by the fact I let you drive us here tonight.” He emptied the rest of his glass in one drink. “I’m still leveling down from the white-knuckle ride.”

“
Are you trying to wind me up, as you Brits say, by all the comments and flaunting the wine because you know I can’t have it?”

He opened his mouth in surprise
first and then turned it into a million dollar smile to dazzle me. “You think I’m winding you up on purpose, baby?”

I didn’t say anything, just sat back in my seat and studied him thoroughly; the casual blue shirt highlighting his eyes, the simple linen slacks
that suggested the powerful legs beneath, his Rolex and his wedding ring, the only adornments he wore. Ethan didn’t need adornments because his face and body were more than sufficient. Such a beautiful man was my husband. I wasn’t stupid enough to believe this very remarkable trait wouldn’t cause me much concern over the course of our lives together. Other women would try to catch him and it would drive me insane when they tried.

“
I’ve discovered that I love to tease you,” he offered finally. The way in which he raked his eyes over my body told me the reaction he got out of me turned him on a little.

“
What does it do for you?” I asked in a whisper, my body tightening in preparation for what he might say.

“It makes me hard when your eyes start flashing and you get feisty with me.”
His eyes flared at me and his voice went low. “I can think of only one thing, Brynne.” He reached out with his fingertip and brushed down the length of my ring finger, sending a tingle up my arm. “Do you want to know what it is?”

“Yes…”

“How long before we’re fucking again and I’ve got you spread underneath me about to come.”

Okay, so it turned him on a lot.

I closed my eyes and suppressed the shiver of desire that zipped through my body to pool between my legs. The Italian crystal glass of water in front of me was drained in one pass, and I no longer cared a bit about having any dessert after my dinner.

Why
on earth did I agree to go out tonight?

I cleared my throat and tried to shake off the blast furn
ace of heat Ethan was throwing off, and attempted to get back to the conversation we were in before. “So, you were alluding to my driving a minute ago…”

He picked up my hand and rubbed with his thumb
over my knuckles, his eyes telling me he would make good on his wicked thoughts just as soon as we could get back to the villa. “Yes, my beauty?”

“I—
I wasn’t that bad driving.” I tilted my head. “Was I?” Ethan had indulged my request to drive us again. We were in Italy where they drove on the
right
side of the road, and I had enough confidence to do it here. My California driver’s license was still valid and I didn’t want to forget how to. In the four years since I’d lived in London I’d not owned a car or driven myself, mostly because of the left-handed driving situation. It was just too scary for me to attempt, and really, not necessary when public transportation was so good in the city. I’d never needed to drive in England. Plus we had a smokin’ hot BMW 650 convertible rental in midnight-blue…and I planned on using it.

“Well
, no, you’re never bad at anything…” he hedged, “it’s just that driving on the right is not even slightly in my comfort zone. And I certainly don’t want you getting hurt. I’d feel much more at ease with you in a bigger vehicle with better safety features.”

“I don’t think I will ever drive in the city. Seriously, I don’t think I could ever be comfortable driving myself in London even if I live there
for the rest of my life.”

He smiled thoughtfully at me, the blue of his eyes darkening to a deep midnight. “You
’ll be living with me for the rest of your life, wherever that is doesn’t matter very much as long as we’re together. And you don’t have to worry about driving around London either, because it
is
a bloody nightmare, and I don’t want you doing it. You’ve got me to drive you.” He brought my hand up to his lips and pressed another seductive kiss to my palm. “You do know…if you want to drive, I can make that happen—”

The waiter who’d served our dinner interrupted right then with a gift from a patron at another table.
A bottle of wine—a very expensive bottle of Biondi Santi, that I, sadly, would not be able to drink for a very long time. We both looked in the direction where he pointed us to a man who looked vaguely familiar to me. Tall, caramel-skinned, and very handsome, he moved with the elegance of someone who used their body as an athlete would, every movement calculated for precision, the unmistakable air of confidence exuded in every step he took toward our table.

“
Well, hello to you, too,” Ethan greeted him, gesturing to the bottle, “and thank you for this. Very nicely done.” The two of them shook hands warmly.

“My pleasure,”
he answered in a sophisticated British accent laced with amusement.

Ethan made the introductions.
“Dillon, my wife, Brynne. And this fellow here, my darling, is Dillon Carrington.”

“How do you do, Brynne.
Lovely to meet you in person. I have only seen pictures of you in the gossip rags.” He extended his hand and I offered mine. There was something very familiar about Dillon Carrington but I couldn’t put my finger on it, even though it was obvious he and Ethan were well acquainted.

“
Nice to meet you as well, Dillon. Thank you for the wine. I’m sure it will be delicious, but I feel as if I’ve seen you somewhere. Have we met before?”

Dillon shook his head
, laughing. “No, never. I would definitely remember meeting you, Brynne.”

“Ethan?” I looked to him for some help but he apparently was having too much fun
at my expense because he only winked at me.

“You know, Dillon,
it’s funny because Brynne and I were just having a conversation about teaching her to drive British, being she’s a Yank by birth.”

“Ahhh, loads of fun that is.
Righty learning lefty. You want to borrow my crash suit, mate?” Dillon asked him.

Crash suit? I had no idea who this guy was but knew
that I definitely
should
know him, especially since he knew who I was. I seriously needed to pay better attention to the gossip mags. Ethan knew a lot of famous people, and our engagement and wedding had been splashed all over British media.

“Would
you like to join us? Are you on your own tonight? Ethan offered out of courtesy.

“No, no thank you. I don’t want to interrupt you, but I saw you
when I came in and wanted to say hello, and give my congratulations of course. I am meeting someone in a minute, actually.”

“Ahh, right, well, I’m glad you did. We missed you at the wedding, but I
know you were just a tad busy that day.”

Dillon laughed at that comment.
“Yes, slightly. They had me driving ’round in circles the whole weekend. I come down here for a little R & R afterward when I can manage it.”

“Congratulations on your win
. I watched the highlights and you tore it up. Brilliant performance.” I could tell Ethan was suitably impressed by whatever Dillon had won.

“Thanks
. And for the sponsorship, too. I hope you got the signed gifts I had them send out.”