Harlequin Kimani Romance September 2014 Bundle: Seduced by the Heir\Secret Silver Nights\Someone Like You\Indulge Me Tonight (68 page)

Grae carried Tielle through the house like a man well familiar with his surroundings. Of course, he knew the place like the back of his hand. He'd fallen in love with his wife there.

Tielle felt no need to hang on to him. He had her secure, her bottom cradled snugly in his palms.
Her
palms ached to get beneath his T-shirt. She achieved her goal, shivering when her nails contacted the ridge of carved muscle packing his abdomen. She could feel him shiver, and she kissed his ear.

“Still ticklish?” she asked.

“I've never been ticklish.”

Lightly, she trailed the honey-toned muscular expanse of his chest and felt his hands flex almost painfully on her derriere. “You're right. Not ticklish at all.”

“I see there's only one way to shut you up.” Impressively, he cradled her in one hand while the other cuffed her neck, his thumb tipping her chin to position her to take his tongue.

Tielle caressed his back. Her hands were still hidden beneath his shirt. She treated herself to the dual luxury of his kiss and the flex and ripple of muscle beneath her fingertips.

Graedon savored his ex-wife's incomparable talent for stroking his ego without saying a word. Her constant, breathy moans and gasping cries heightened his arrogance. He deepened the kiss as though he was intent on seeking out the source of those sensational sounds.

He took a back stairway two steps at a time. The path took him right to the floor of Tielle's room, and they were crossing the threshold within minutes.

In a show of finesse, Grae took the liberty of drawing up the folds of Tielle's dress until the material bunched at her hips—all while he held her.

“Take this off,” he told her.

She pulled the garment over her head and let it drift to the floor. Wearing only the panties he'd seen fit to keep her in, Tielle suddenly found herself tossed to the center of the bed. She supported her weight on her elbows and watched him. Lips parted, she had the look of a woman panting for the tasty morsel in her sights.

Grae reached behind his neck, gripping the neckline of the T-shirt and dragging it over his head to reveal the awesome plane of torso beneath.

Her smile reflected appreciation when he sent his sweats to the floor, revealing the fact that he wore nothing more.

“Impressive.” She sighed.

A lazy shrug accompanied his lopsided grin. “I try.” He took time to apply protection and then crawled his way up her body until he joined her on the bed.

Still bracing her weight on her elbows, Tielle watched him come close. Her lashes batted, promising to close when she felt his skin bare next to hers. She whimpered out her delight over the sensation of their bodies caressing.

Grae mastered her mouth with another probing kiss, simultaneously using his sex to invade hers.

“Look at me,” he told her.

She obliged with no small amount of difficulty. All she wanted was to close her eyes, to intensify her focus on the way he stretched her so magnificently.

“Why'd you make me wait for this?” she purred. Again, her eyes narrowed, and he “punished” her disobedience with a thrust that sent him impossibly deeper.

“Terrace would've been fine.”

“I've already had you there.”

Her walls clenched about his driving erection, and she settled to her back. “Lots of rooms in this house. You haven't had me in all of them.”

“That's about to change.” He kissed her as if to seal the promise.

Tielle would've wrapped her legs about his back then, but Grae kept her thighs spread so she could welcome every inch of his penetration.

Ragged curses slipped past his lips ever so often when that penetration promised his climax sooner than he wanted it. He could've taken her all night, listening to her heightened cries, watching her lovely face expressing pleasure when he made her orgasm... She felt amazing, had always felt amazing the way she sheathed him. How he had survived their separation, he would never know. He only knew that he wanted an end to it.

Tielle rested her arms above her head, bringing her already pert breasts to a higher level. Grae couldn't help himself. The double treat of being buried inside her while keeping her taut nipple captive inside his mouth brought him to abundant release some minutes later. The persistent throb of his need filling the condom coaxed Tielle into her second orgasm.

She chanted Grae's name as though she was thanking him. He collapsed atop her, unmindful of whether he crushed her.

Tielle didn't mind at all.

Chapter 16

A
s she had for the past several mornings, Tielle woke content and decadently toasty thanks to the unyielding slab of muscle at her back. Smiling, she burrowed deeper, wanting more of the heat she was being treated to.

The move caused her bottom to nudge the stiff ridge of flesh below Grae's waist. “Oops.” Her murmur mixed with laughter, and she heard Grae's voice rumble seconds later.

“I hope I get more than an ‘oops.'”

“Well, what more do you want?” She faked innocence and got her answer when his finger enacted a sensuous dalliance with her clit. Moving lower, he massaged the dark petals of flesh guarding her sex. Tielle turned her face into the pillows, softly moaning Grae's name while opening herself to his touch.

Curious fingers explored her moistened core, and Tielle added a subtle yet indulgent arch to her back. She flexed her inner muscles to engulf more of the finger he stirred inside her.

The bedside phone rang.

“Thought we said no phones?” he grunted while feathering kisses across her shoulder blades and nudging coarse tresses to bare more space for his lips to explore.

Tielle could barely form words due to a persistent need to gasp. She was savoring the satisfaction of two fingers then. “It's not my cell,” she moaned and glared over at the ringing phone.

“Where's the phone cord?”

“Why?”

“Because I'm gonna rip it out of the damn wall.”

“No need for violence.” Knowing the threat was serious, Tielle moved to answer. She almost wished she hadn't after greeting Leonard Cartright on the line.

Grae eyed the phone as if it were plague-ridden when Tielle said Leo wanted him. “This is your fault,” he grunted.

“I know,” she said, keeping the receiver pressed to her cleavage, “but he doesn't sound so good.”

Grae stroked his beard, muttered a curse and took the phone. “I don't have time for this,” he told the man on the other end of the line.

Tielle watched Grae handle the call. His responses began harshly and became more so as the call went on. She scooted toward the bed's edge, intending to give him a little privacy. Grae cradled the phone against his shoulder and dropped his free hand on the covers to block her escape. Moments later, he was reaching over Tielle to slam the phone back to its receiver.

“What was that about?” she managed despite having her breathing substantially stifled by Grae's weight.

He felt around beneath the bed. Locating the phone cord, he yanked it from the wall socket. “Listen to me next time,” he said.

“What happened?”

“Never mind.” The words were faint. He nuzzled his very nice face between her breasts, ready to continue what they'd started before the call.

Tielle set her hands to his shoulders, pressing with all her strength even though Grae didn't budge an inch. Finally, she resorted to thumping at the iron wall of his chest.

“Hell.” He rolled his eyes at last, acknowledging the persistent blows. He rolled to his side of the bed, used a forearm to cover his eyes. “Same ol' crap,” he muttered. “‘Come back, Grae, just for a while. Forget about that nasty business in Canada and get back to making us all that money.'”

“Leo wouldn't say that.” Tielle propped herself on her elbow and watched him. “What'd he want?” She nodded once a minute of silence had passed without an answer. “Bedtime's over,” she decided.

Grae stopped her with an arm across her middle. “They want me back. Leo says it won't be long. Just for the interim until they find somebody.”

“Somebody besides your brother. Leo sounded pretty desperate.”

“Yeah....” Grae dug the heels of his hands into his eyes.

“You know you have to go back.”

“I only know I want to be where you are.”

“I'll go with you.” She clutched the arm he'd just dropped over her hip.

Grae was already shaking his head. “I don't want you involved anymore.” He gave her a disbelieving look. “Why would you want to be? Most of 'em didn't show an ounce of regret when we divorced.”

“I just think you should go back.” She raised a shoulder. “We should be there for the ones who
did
show regret.” She brushed her thumb at the bend of his elbow. “Right or wrong, you've never hidden from a confrontation, never allowed anything to stop you from doing what you thought was best.”

“Like forcing you to walk away from our marriage.”

She smiled. “I said ‘right
or
wrong.'”

Grae forced a smile through his scowl.

Tielle scooted closer. “No matter how angry you are, you can't just leave them to fend off Faro and his plans for payback.” Suddenly angered by the thought of it, Tielle flopped to her back and pounded the covers beneath her fists. “He'd probably sell off the company just to spite your father for loving you.”

“What?” Grae's scowl cleared.

“Well, he's always been an angry man,” she said matter-of-factly. “That always came through loud and clear. I thought it was just all the stress between you guys, but he's vengeful, Grae. Are you okay leaving a company you helped to build at the mercy of someone so reckless?”

* * *

Two afternoons later, Leo Cartright looked like a man saved from the grips of a terrible fate when he found Grae in the main conference room.

“I thought they were joking when they said you were here to see me.”

Grae stood and shook the hand Leo offered. “I'm not here for work.”

Leo's exuberance faded. “But I thought—”

“How soon can we get the board and executive officers assembled?” Grae interrupted.

“Shouldn't take long. Mostly everyone's somewhere on the park today. If we hustle...should have everybody here in a couple of hours.”

Grae nodded. “Make it happen.”

“Can you give me a hint about the meeting?” Leo spread his hands. “You've already given your resignation, but you say you're not back to work, so I guess you're not here to make the announcement we all wish you would.”

“Just get everybody here and you'll have your answers.”

Leo nodded, turning to leave the room.

“Leo?” Grae called. “Make sure Faro's here for this.”

* * *

Leo was true to his word. After the brief discussion with Grae, he and his staff spent the next hour or so arranging the early-afternoon meeting. The rumble of mixed conversation settled to a dull roar when Graedon Clegg arrived. The room didn't go totally silent until Faro walked in some five minutes after his brother. The man offered no greetings to anyone in the room and merely spread his hands toward Grae in a
What now?
gesture.

“Thanks to everybody for getting here on such short notice,” Grae said. “I know you're all aware that I've given my resignation, which leaves us in the vulnerable position of being without leadership.” He looked to Faro and saw that the man's eyes had taken on the hungry gleam they adopted when he smelled blood in the figurative sense.

“I know my half brother is interested in running the company and he'd have a very good case for doing so, as we all know. Ken Clegg's will calls for a family member to be one of the chief executives. The duty of selecting the leadership is in the board's hands if no suitable family member is available.”

Faro's eyes virtually glowed then in anticipation of Grae urging the board to give him the power that was his birthright.

“To have Ken Clegg's son, his
real
son, at the head of the business he grew is the best choice, and one that Ken would have supported wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, I'm not Ken Clegg's real son.
More
unfortunately, his real son has made company moves that have gone against codes of conduct in the Clegg business plan as well as his father's own will.”

The gleam in Faro's eyes took on a venomous sheen, and he stepped forward to dispute.

“You tried to sell us out, Faro,” Grae said before the man could give voice to his argument. “You hated Dad for letting me run the company. You hated him for loving me. It made you so mad you were hell-bent on destroying everything he treasured. You made promises—verbal and written—to sell the company upon your assignment as CEO. The land deed would've helped secure that position once you'd ousted me. With that power, not to mention being a
blood
relative, you could've done it.”

“You—”

“It was fortunate that your intended buyer was one of integrity. They came to me, wanted to confirm you had the authority to make such an offer. Following a very interesting conversation that included the details of your written offer, I e-mailed the contents of it to everyone in this room.”

“Bastard.”

Grae smiled. “That may be, but
our
mother's marriage to our father still makes me a Clegg. That, combined with my capacity as CEO, gives me the power to have you removed. It'd be in your best interest to drop any plans you have for legal action. The courts may not look too favorably on your actions—ones we may be able to prove as illegal in their own right.”

“Illegal?” Faro was stunned.

“Think about it, Faro. You can leave here and go home, or we can take it to court where your chances of going to jail could be a high possibility.” Grae raised his hands toward Faro. “Floor's yours.”

Free to speak, Faro declined the offer. Instead, he shot the cuffs of his pristine black suit and left the room. Once silence held just shy of half a minute, faint origins of applause began until the room was alive with cheers.

Several rushed the front of the room to shake hands with Grae and slam hearty pats to his back and shoulders. Grae found he wasn't immune to the good cheer filling the room, and soon he was grinning as broadly as everyone else.

Leo approached finally to offer his hand. “Thank you.”

Grae accepted the shake. “Just keeping my word to Dad. I promised to protect the company.”

Leo's expression grew stern. “Ken
was
your father, Grae. In every way that mattered.”

Still clutching Leo's hand, Grae nodded, squeezing the man's forearm and pulling him into a hug. “I know that.”

“I think a lot of drinks are in order!” Leo was again his jovial self when he and Grae pulled apart. “Let's meet in the exec lounge! Join us?” he asked Grae.

Grae nodded. “I can't stay long. Another stop to make.”

* * *

Tielle was setting freshly folded napkins on the coffee table when the bell sounded. “I got it!” She sprinted for the foyer, opening the door to Grae. “How'd it go?” she asked.

Grae pulled Tielle close, just needing to be fortified by the nourishing powers of her hold before making any attempts at speech. The drive to his aunt's home from Clegg had given him time to reflect on the meeting earlier that day. Those reflections were ones he hoped to soon tuck away in the far recesses of his memory.

“It didn't go well—” he allowed a little space between himself and Tielle “—but the company's secure.”

“And Faro? You think he'll let it go at this?”

“If he's smart, he will. And we both know how smart he is, right?” Grae pulled Tielle into another squeeze, dropping a kiss to her ear in the process.

“Does she know I'm here?” He peered past Tielle's shoulder.

“I'm pretty sure she does. She's been cooking like crazy all day.” Tielle reached around Grae to close the front door of Desree's home.

“Des?” Tielle gave Grae's hand a few reassuring squeezes and tugged him from the foyer.

Desree waited in her living room. Obviously unnerved, she squeezed a white dishcloth in her hands.

“Look who's here.” Tielle left Grae just inside the grand living room drenched in late afternoon sun. She went to check the casserole dishes that Des had placed on the long coffee table. “This looks fantastic!” she said of the macaroni and cheese casserole, greens, wild rice, fried chicken and egg custard pie Des had prepared for dessert.

The woman had toiled over the late supper since Tielle had called to tell her Grae would be stopping by after the meeting at Clegg. Tielle left off listing the meal when she saw Grae make the first move. He crossed to Des, taking the dishcloth from her hands and tossing it to an end table. He smothered her hands in his much larger ones and kissed her forehead. Then he pulled her into a crushing hug.

Desree's muffled, happy cries filled the room as her arms shot around Grae. Her hands rushed up his back to clutch and squeeze him to her.

Tielle blinked, realizing tears were spiking her lashes when she heard the unexpected sounds of Grae's sobbing.

* * *

“He was someone Grace picked up in a bar.” Desree grimaced. “It didn't take much for her to step out—Ken not complimenting a new hairstyle or the way she looked in a dress were usually good reasons. She didn't even know the man's last name.”

“How could she be sure he was the one?” Grae asked slowly.

“She told me the day she found out she was pregnant. Ken had flowers and a new diamond choker on her bed pillow. It was her birthday. She thought he'd forget. The fact that he remembered... It shook her up good.”

Grae bowed his head and cursed.

“What she'd done, the result of it and then Ken's sweet birthday gift—guess it all just drove everything home, and she needed to talk.” Des fiddled with the scalloped edge of the cloth napkin on her lap. “I honestly believe she never looked at another man besides your father after that last...”

Des sighed. “Ken...after he got over the shock that his wife was pregnant by another man, he did what he thought was best. He got the adoption proceedings put in place for when you came. He didn't want whoever the mystery father was to suddenly discover Grace had his child and was married to a multimillionaire besides.