Destiny (12 page)

Why else would he have sought Kelly out? Told her she was the only person he’d wanted to see if not to untangle himself from their relationship before he went after Annie. Deep hurt settled in her chest, but she wouldn’t make a scene.

“I understand.” Reaching out, she put a hand over his, attempting to reassure him while ignoring the heat blistering her palms when she touched his skin.

“You do?”

She nodded. “And I’m not going to make this difficult for you. Go. Tell Annie how you feel.” Kelly withdrew her hand and waved him away, forcing a smile she didn’t feel, waiting for him to leave so she could give in to the pain slicing through her heart.

Nash shook his head. “That’s not what I want. It bothered me that Joe was there, but not for the reasons you think.”

Confused, Kelly held her breath.

“I was keeping Annie in my life even if she didn’t want the same thing, claiming I just wanted to make sure she was okay and healthy. In reality, I was protecting my ego, not Annie.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I hung on to Annie because that meant I didn’t have to face the fact that yet another person in my life had walked out on me.”

Kelly stared, unable to believe Nash was baring his soul this way.

“Seeing Joe leaving Annie’s place made me ask myself the same question you’ve been asking me. How do I really feel about Annie moving on?” He spread his hands in front of him, as if begging her understand.

She didn’t. Not yet. “And? How do you feel? Or should I ask,
what
do you feel?” Kelly asked, barely able to speak. She was afraid of the answer.

Nash lifted her chin in his hand, gently forcing her to look at him.

“Breathe,” he murmured.

She hadn’t known she’d been holding her breath. “What are you saying?” she asked.

“That faced with the reality of Annie and Joe, I didn’t care.” A sexy smile curved his lips as he said, “And the only person I wanted to be with was
you
.” He then slid his hand behind her head and pulled her in for a kiss.

And this was no ordinary kiss. It held everything he’d been trying to express, the emotion and the feeling, along with a new honesty he’d just now accepted. This kiss let her know that not only did he want her, but that she came first.

Kelly might have other concerns about this relationship and there might be other things that would come between them in the future, but not his feelings for his ex. More than Ryan’s unsigned divorce papers, this kiss assured Kelly that Annie held no romantic place in his heart.

Until her past collided with her present, she wanted to revel in being that only one. While she had him, he was hers.

She threaded her fingers through his hair and kissed him back, passion overwhelming common sense. He backed her to the nearest desk and she ended up sitting on the hard surface, Nash coming between her thighs, never breaking the kiss. His hands came to rest on her waist and he slid her silk shirt out of her skirt so his fingertips brushed the sensitive skin on her waist.

Her breath hitched and his fingertips moved upward until his thumbs grazed her nipples through her bra. She moaned and arched back. Taking the hint, he eased her onto the desk until she lay prone before him. Dark eyes never leaving hers, he unbuttoned her blouse, one tiny button at a time with painstaking slowness and care, teasing her. Tormenting her, since he remembered to skim the pads of his thumbs over the sensitive peaks of her aching breasts each time he worked a button through the loop.

When he was finished, he separated the blouse and pressed a warm, wet kiss to her stomach. Her muscles contracted, her skin rippled beneath his lips and a wave of sheer pleasure rushed over her.

But it wasn’t enough.

And he knew it.

He braced his arms on either side of her shoulders. He didn’t have to ask. She lifted her legs, locking her ankles around his back, forcing his erection into the juncture of her thighs. His hard male flesh pressed insistently against her skirt. The damn material had no give and she couldn’t feel him, not enough of him anyway, and she shifted her hips from side to side in frustration.

In a flash, he lifted her skirt upward until it bunched around her legs. She’d worn a pair of pumps she’d left beneath her desk, and instead of panty hose, a pair of thigh-high stockings covered each leg and when she arched into him, there was nothing between them except her damp panties and the roughness of his slacks abrading her sensitive flesh beneath.

Soft moans and little cries escaped from her throat as he kissed her lips, all the while rocking into her, his hard ridge gliding over her, grinding into her, causing swells of need to crest inside her, building higher and higher.

Suddenly he broke the kiss and his amazing mouth suckled her breast through her bra. He nipped her playfully with his teeth, lapped her lovingly with his tongue, and finally pulled her aching nipple into his mouth once more. The heat and suction he generated combined with the friction of his erection and without warning, she exploded, coming apart as he jerked against her, his hips mimicking rough sex, thrusting against her over and over until her orgasm slowly faded.

She watched through heavy lids as he released the button on his slacks, let them fall to the floor, and shucked them aside.

His thick erection swelled behind the boxer briefs and that quickly she was ready for him to fill her. “Protection?” she remembered to ask.

Just barely.

“Shit.” He sucked in a deep breath, but his body still shook with unslaked need.

Kelly processed their options and decided. “I’m on the pill. And safe.” She glanced up at him, waiting.

He inclined his head, a warm smile her answer. “Same.”

She believed him. If there was one thing about Nash, she knew he had integrity.

She grinned and crooked her finger at him. “Then what are you waiting for?”

Those briefs ended up on the floor in a heap too. And then he was coming toward her, naked and erect, a perfect male specimen who wanted only her. She sighed as he spread her thighs with his strong hands and pressed the tip of his erection into her pulsing, waiting heat.

She expected him to start slowly, carefully, deliberately. Instead, he shifted his hips and with one thrust, buried himself completely inside her. She sucked in a startled breath, thought she’d need to wait, to accommodate him. She didn’t. He fit perfectly. And it was different, she realized immediately. No condom really did mean skin to skin and, as he leaned over her, heartbeat to heartbeat.

Warmth and emotion flooded her and a lump filled her throat. But the last thing she needed to do was focus on feeling and emotion, that much she knew, and his movements meant she didn’t have to.

He slid out, teasing her, thrusting back in, his fathomless gaze never leaving hers. “You feel so damn good,” he said gruffly, his eyes closing as he absorbed the intensity.

“I know.” Just as she knew she’d never forget this moment, and she tightened her inner muscles around him, wanting to imprint herself on him too.

“God.” The word exploded from deep inside him and though he slid out of her slowly, he returned quickly, driving into her harder and faster than before.

She didn’t want soft and careful, she wanted him to
take her and make her forget any messy feelings that might try and slip past her defenses. He did, picking up a rhythm that felt too damned perfect. Hands on her waist, he pumped his hips, making sure she met him thrust for thrust, making certain she felt him each time his body slammed into hers. She felt everything, more than she wanted to and reveled in it, panting at first, close to screaming the harder he took her.

Suddenly he bent forward, eased over her, his mouth coming down on hers, his tongue demanding entry inside, and she found herself reaching for an orgasm that was just out of reach. She arched her back, pressed her pelvis up against him, drawing him deeper until he ground into her, his insistent thrusting taking her up and over the edge.

She thought she screamed or tried to, but he was still kissing her, taking his pleasure and pronging hers, thrusting his hips until a low groan told her he was coming too. And somehow, impossibly, her body’s contractions started over again, taking her on what felt like a never-ending ride.

Holy shit.
Nash pulled out of Kelly, his head pounding
along with his body, the reality of what he’d just done crashing around him. They’d had sex in Richard’s office, the front door unlocked so anyone could walk in and see.

She deserved so much better. He turned and somehow they dressed quickly. Words weren’t spoken. What was there to say? He’d shown up here with a hell of a lot on his mind and he’d lost himself inside her.

The fact that it had been the only place he wanted to be didn’t make it better. And then he turned around to see her. Face flushed pink, her chest reddened as she buttoned her shirt, and a wide satisfied smile on her face. Maybe it was marginally acceptable after all, he thought with a grin.

He opened his mouth to speak when his BlackBerry alarm went off. Annoyed, he pulled the phone from his pants pocket to shut it off when the reminder flashed in front of him and he groaned.

He dismissed the reminder and tossed the phone onto the desk.

Where they’d just…

“Is everything okay?” Kelly asked him.

When he turned back, she was completely dressed. But he could tell what they’d done by looking at her. Her face was still flushed and glowing, her hair tangled and her skirt wrinkled.

He definitely liked what he saw.

“What are you grinning at?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Which question do you want answered first?”

“You choose.” She folded her arms across her chest, which was a good thing because her damp bra was showing through the light silk.

“Okay, I’m smiling because you look like you just had sex on the office desk and enjoyed it a whole lot.”

Her eyes opened wide.

“And that beeping was my calendar reminder. Tonight’s my mother’s birthday and I have to be there for dinner at seven.”

The mention of his adoptive mother reminded him that there was much more going on in life than just them.

“Do you see her often?” Kelly asked.

“Once a week or twice if it’s planned, more often if we run into each other.” He loved Florence in his own way; he was just torn by the past, still struggled with those feelings because of loyalty to his younger brother.

“Come with me tonight,” he said without forethought.

She tilted her head to one side, wary and as surprised as he was by the invitation. “Why?”

He stepped closer, invading her personal space, feeling her heat. “Why not?” He threw the gauntlet back at her.

If he wanted to bring a woman home to meet his adoptive mother, he would.

Kelly bit down on her bottom lip. “Who will be there?”

“Nervous in front of a crowd?” he asked. That didn’t sound like her.

“No, nervous in front of your mother. What if she doesn’t like me because I’m nothing like Annie?”

“She’ll love you,” he assured her. “Besides,
I
like you, and isn’t that what matters?” He leaned over and swiped his tongue over the lip she was nibbling on.

She shivered but didn’t back away. Just one of the things he liked so much, Nash thought. “Did it ever dawn on you that the reason I like you so much is
because
you’re nothing like my ex?”

“Explain.”

“You’re bold, daring, and you protect the people you care about.” They both knew he was referring to Tess.

What she didn’t know was that Nash suddenly wanted to be on that list of people who deserved her loyalty.

“That’s sweet,” she said with a grin.

He cringed. “Not the word I’d choose. Now back to you. You’re also honest about things—when you couldn’t handle Tess, you said so. When you didn’t want to get involved with me, you told me why. You put things out there and that’s something I value.” More than she knew or understood.

“Nash, I—”

“Shh.” He placed a finger over her mouth. “The only thing I want to hear now is you’ll come.”

“Again? So soon?” She teased him, wriggling her hips against his abdomen, making him groan.

“Not that kind of come. Little witch.” He lightly swatted her backside. “Come to dinner, Kelly. It’s just me and my mother, so please. Join us.”

In case she needed incentive, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her against him. “Please.”

“Okay.”

“Thank you.” He grinned, not because he’d gotten his way but because he’d be seeing her again tonight. “What do you have planned for the rest of the day?”

“Work, why?”

“Because I suggest you go home before someone else walks in that door and figures out what we’ve been doing.”

Her embarrassed groan reverberated through him, heightening his anticipation for the night to come after they celebrated Florence’s birthday, and he and Kelly could be alone once more.

Eleven

Kelly had been a sucker for the word
please
coming
from Nash’s mouth. That and the feel of his hard body pressed against hers, reminding her of the heaven she’d found in his arms. It could all be so good—if only she weren’t hiding her past. And if honesty weren’t so important to him.

But because it was, she’d come
this close
to telling him the truth about herself, but he’d silenced her with a touch. He’d wanted one thing from her and she’d given it to him. So here she was, his hand at her back, ready to walk into his adoptive mother’s home.

The sun had begun to set, but it wasn’t as dark as the night Nash had taken her on a tour of Serendipity, and she received a better view of the house now. Though not as grand as the Harrington mansion, the Rossman home was definitely an estate, an immense structure set back on a rolling lawn with an aura of wealth attached.

She stiffened before she even walked over the threshold.

“Breathe,” he whispered in her ear, and memories of this afternoon immediately came flooding back. Earlier, “Breathe” had been followed by “The only person I wanted to be with is you.” At which point, she’d done the most unprofessional thing she could imagine.

And didn’t regret it one bit.

“Florence Rossman has no bite,” he assured her.

Just then the door opened wide. “Nash!” the woman, obviously his adoptive mother, exclaimed. “I’m so glad you’re here!”

“As if I’d miss your birthday?” He handed her a small gift box that even Kelly recognized as the distinctive blue of Tiffany’s.

“You’re all the gift I need,” Florence said, pulling him into a hug.

Her love for Nash, adopted son or not, was so obvious. Never having been the recipient of that kind of affection, not that she remembered as a teenager or adult, it hurt Kelly to watch. It also saddened her to see how uncomfortable the warmth and caring made Nash, who squirmed in the older woman’s embrace.

“Mom, I want you to meet Kelly Moss. As I explained to you, Kelly is Tess’s half sister.”

“Happy birthday, Mrs. Rossman. Thank you for letting me intrude on your celebration.” Kelly held out the flowers she’d bought late this afternoon.

The other woman smiled, inhaling the scent of the bouquet. “Nonsense, you are not intruding. I love having company.” With a welcoming wave of her hand, she gestured for them to follow her inside.

Kelly glanced at Nash and together they walked inside, Kelly’s thoughts on Nash’s adoptive mother. Kelly didn’t know what she’d expected, but the tiny woman with straight blond hair and a tanned face, who wore casual black slacks, Chanel ballet slippers, and a cardigan sweater, wasn’t it. She exuded warmth and inclusion, and Kelly was astounded this same woman had refused to take an orphaned Dare in as well.

Florence Rossman seated them in a family room decorated in warm powder blues and cream. She talked, asking Nash questions about his life and his work. She asked him about Richard and said she would be sending a fruit basket when he was released from the hospital. She was warm and animated, and Nash seemed to relax as they talked, his face softening, his feelings for the woman clear. At least to Kelly. It was only when he was alone and his memories of his real parents intruded, when thoughts of Dare’s foster care reminded him of how lucky he’d been in comparison, that Nash shut down.

During dinner, a delicious chicken dish Florence had made, she told stories about Nash as a teenager, and she continued with fond memories when they’d returned to the family room after the meal.

Kelly loved hearing about the boy he’d been. She’d never thought to get such an inside look at who and what had shaped the man he’d become, and she was grateful for the insight, hanging on Florence’s every word.

“And you should have seen his face when he realized he had to wear a uniform to private school.” Florence smiled at the memory.

Beside Kelly, Nash shook his head and groaned. He obviously still had issues with the uniform.
Just like your sister,
Kelly thought to herself, suppressing a laugh. It always amazed her when she found something Tess and Nash had in common. It almost explained their intense antagonism. They were actually too similar.

“The arguments over the blazer were almost enough to make me send him back to public school.”

Yet she hadn’t.

Thinking of her sister, Kelly leaned forward. “Why didn’t you send him back to pubic school? My—I mean our sister, Tess—is having a rough time in private school too. I’m not sure what to do,” Kelly admitted.

Florence nodded, her eyes full of understanding. “As the adult, it was up to me to look to his future. I knew that in taking Nash from his public school friends we were hurting him. Especially after all he’d just lost,” she said, her voice soft. “But if he stayed where he was, hanging out with kids, most of whom lacked ambition, we were worried he wouldn’t take advantage of the opportunities his new school could give him. So we asked him to give it a chance.”

“And I did,” Nash said, remembering. He’d felt an enormous sense of obligation to these people who’d taken him in.

“Happily?” Kelly asked, obviously still thinking of Tess.

Nash leaned back in his seat. “Not at first,” he admitted.

His first months both at the Rossmans and at the academy where they’d sent him had been horrific. He’d missed his friends, he’d missed Dare, and he was angry at the world for taking everything he’d known and loved away from him.

“But if I’d stayed at my old high school, I probably wouldn’t have cared enough to study or think about the future. And in the end I went to both New York University and then NYU Law.” He shot a grateful glance at his adoptive mother.

“I’m happy to hear you say it,” Florence said. “I never was sure how you felt about… So many things.”

Nash shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He’d always given the Rossmans mixed signals about his emotions because he’d always been conflicted. He realized now that he hadn’t had it simple or easy and so he hadn’t made
their
lives easy either.

He didn’t like seeing himself as ungrateful, but there were times he probably had been, he thought, not liking himself much for it.

“Listen,” Florence said, bringing his thoughts back to the present. “I know it’s easier for you to give in to Tess when she’s unhappy, but perhaps you should push her to stick it out a little while longer.”

Maybe he could talk to her, Nash thought. They had made small headway the other day and she might at the very least hear him out.

Kelly nodded in agreement with his mother. “Wise words.” Her smile hit Nash in the gut.

Everything about her hit him that way. Hard and in the solar plexus, stealing his breath.

“You know, I think Ethan feels the same way,” Kelly said.

As she spoke, Nash felt her eyes on him, sensed her wondering if he’d blow up over her mention of his brother.

“How is your relationship with Ethan?” Florence asked, unaware of the new undercurrent.

“Still unresolved,” Nash said. “But… I think we turned a corner.”

Kelly’s eyes opened wide. Though he’d seen her since Sunday at Ethan’s, they hadn’t discussed what happened between Nash and his brother. Not that Nash had allowed himself to spend any time thinking it over, either.

But now he had to consider it and the answer was an interesting one. Ever since he’d punched Ethan, a lot of the all-consuming anger had disappeared, leaving him with a weird hole in his chest and a bigger sense of confusion. It was strangely better than the hatred he’d lived with for so many years.

“I’m glad. Family is family,” Florence said, echoing words she’d used often over the years.

“Me too.” Kelly’s heartfelt sentiment warmed him. He knew how much she wanted peace and reconciliation between the brothers and not just for Tess’s sake but for his own.

Because she cared about him.

Before he could process that thought, his mother spoke up. “If you two don’t mind, I need to turn in early. I volunteer at the old-age home and my shift starts at eight A.M.”

“I’d like to stay and help you clean up,” Kelly said.

His mother shook her head. “I have help coming in the morning and you already helped me rinse the dishes. Everything else can keep.”

That was something he’d always admired about Florence. Everything got finished without her stressing over it. If she said it’d wait till the morning, it would.

“But—”

Kelly started to argue and Nash knew it would do no good. “She means it,” Nash said, rising. He took Kelly’s hand, indicating she should come along quietly.

“If you’re sure…”

“I am.”

“She is.”

All three of them laughed.

They said their good-byes, Florence obviously happy he’d brought Kelly. Nash was still processing the fact that he’d done so, having never brought anyone except Annie to meet his family. Yet he’d been comfortable tonight and his mother’s reaction told him the instinct to invite Kelly had been correct.

The trip back to Kelly’s was a short one. Everything in Serendipity was a quick car ride from everything else, and soon Nash found himself parked behind Joe’s.

He cut the engine and walked her to the door. With each day that passed, the air grew colder and he wrapped an arm around her waist.
For warmth,
he told himself, knowing it was a lie. He wanted her badly but he had no idea how this night would end.

Her apartment door was at the top of a long flight of stairs, but there was a bright light that at least made him feel she wasn’t walking home alone in the dark at night.

He turned to face her, struck once again by how strongly he was drawn to her. “Thanks for coming tonight. I know it wasn’t the most exciting way to spend an evening.”

She blinked. “Why would you think that? I think I got more insight into you in one night than in all the time I’ve known you.”

Her knowing smirk made him nervous. “What is it you think you discovered about me?”

“Oh, that’s for me to know.” She inserted her house key into the lock. “And for you to be left wondering about.” With a laugh, she let them inside.

Instead of following her, he paused in the entryway. Though he’d been at a family birthday, he’d spent the night watching, waiting, wanting.

“Nash?” Kelly had taken off her coat and put her bag down on a chair. “What’s going on?”

“You’re home safe and sound. I should get going.” Especially if she didn’t plan on him staying.

Because after watching how smoothly she’d navigated what he thought of as his schizophrenic life—his wealthy adoptive mother and the man she thought he was versus the Barron brother he still considered himself to be—Nash was feeling things for Kelly he had no business feeling.

“Do you
want
to go?” she asked in a husky voice.

She’d worn a pink blouse, the color bringing out the natural flush of her skin. She reached for the top button and undid it, then followed with another one, and another. Beneath the blouse was a matching light pink bra, all lace and sexiness teasing him.

Her signals couldn’t be clearer and he released the tension he’d been holding, meeting her in the center of the room. He stretched out a hand, intending to touch her, but she placed both hands on his shoulders, led him to the sofa, and pushed him down.

“You’re playing with fire,” he warned her.

“I can handle it.” She shrugged and her soft blouse fell off one shoulder, revealing bare, creamy skin. “You wanted to know what I learned tonight, right?”

“Right.”

“I learned you need someone that understands you. You’re grateful to the Rossmans. You love Florence. But you hold yourself back because you feel guilty about Dare. Who, by the way, wouldn’t want that for you.”

“I can’t have this conversation now.”

Not while her fingers were hovering around the hard ridge threatening to burst through his pants.

She met his gaze and grinned. “We’re not going to do much talking,” she promised, her eyes glittering with desire. “I just wanted you to know that I get you. And when you’re with me, you can just feel what you’re feeling and I won’t judge. So tonight, you enjoyed a nice birthday dinner with a very sweet woman.”

He nodded, his throat full, touched beyond reason that she’d thought so long and hard about him. What he wanted and needed. He wanted to express his gratitude, his feelings and once again he reached for her.

Once again she eased out of his grasp. “And now you’re going to lean back and just enjoy. No thinking, Nash. Just feel,” she said, and knelt down in front of him.

Her fingers no longer hovered. Instead, she opened the button on his khakis and attempted to push them down. She cleared her throat, obviously expecting him to lift up and he did, until she’d lowered his pants to his ankles. Nash retook his seat on the couch, and Kelly removed his shoes, then socks, after which she tossed his pants out of reach.

By the time she turned to him, still on her knees, and wrapped her delicate fingers around his rock hard shaft, he thought he’d explode.

“Feeling anything yet?” she asked, her hand caressing him, from the base all the way up to the tip, pausing to spread the moisture around.

He sucked in a ragged breath, unable to formulate a coherent word.

“Nothing yet?” she asked, still the tease. “I have the cure for that.” Then, while he watched, she shifted, moving closer until her knees hit the couch and she bent over, her hands on his thighs, her hair spilling over his skin.

“Kelly you don’t have to—”

“I want to.” She cut him off first with her words and then with her lips when she closed over him and took him inside her warm, wet mouth.

He let out a low groan, his entire body shaking in reaction as he fell back against the cushions, unable to withstand the sensations rocking through him and still remain sitting upright. But he wanted more than to just come—he wanted to feel connected—and he ran his hand over her hair, tangling his fingers in the strands, cupping her head as she began to move on him.

The suction of her lips, the slippery glide of her tongue over and over his shaft, the complete rightness of the moment overwhelmed him. So did the way she gave, taking all of him, and sensation came at him from all sides, the wave building, slamming into him with driving speed.