Rule's Addiction (17 page)

“I want you to find a person who can run this goddamn hotel for you so you can be with me when I need you,” he demanded, biting the words out as if there would be hell to pay if she didn’t comply.

“Okay, I will,” she said simply.

“Promise me,” he said, but it sounded as if he hadn’t finished his thought.

“Promise you . . . what?” she asked gently.

There was a pause while Maria thought he wouldn’t say anything more, but then he rattled out in a pained, almost vulnerable sounding tone, “Promise that you’re mine and only mine.”

She heard what sounded like a need for reassurance in his voice and was shaken by it. “I promise,” she whispered.

When she said the words, it was as if a switch flipped inside of him. His eyes closed as if in relief and then his head dropped to her shoulder. His arms wrapped all the way around her, and still buried inside her, he clutched her to his chest almost as if she was as precious as gold.

A ribbon of emotion bled through her veins and encompassed her entire body as she lifted her arms around his neck and held him back.
“Garrett,”
she whispered.

After a moment, he lifted his head and wrapped his hands around her cheekbones. “What?” he asked simply.

She took a deep breath. “Make love to me.”

His eyes closed, almost as if he were feeling an emotion he didn’t want her to see. His eyes opened, ran all over her face, and then with a rasp of oxygen, his mouth fell to hers. He began kissing her as if he couldn’t get enough, as if he wouldn’t ever get enough, and Maria felt fireworks explode in her head.

As they kissed, his hips began moving again and soon, Maria was swamped with a desire, a heightened emotion unlike any she’d ever felt before.

His kiss was so sweet it felt almost like adoration, and she fell hard and fast under his spell. It was exactly as it had been the night before, his caresses though firm and controlled, were as gentle as if she was deserving of everything he had to give.

Right before she fell over the edge into orgasm, she felt him coming with her, felt the scalding heat of his release warming her, and she knew that she was in deeper waters than she’d ever been before.

Her eyes remaining closed, euphoria engulfing her, her last thought was she hoped he’d save her from drowning.

****

When Maria left his office, Garrett sat behind his desk, feeling almost as if he was in a daze. Christ, had he just trusted her to be on birth control? What the hell had come over him? And why, even now, did he know in his heart that he was going to continue to trust her word?

He’d never trusted a woman’s word about birth control in his life; he’d been particularly careful after the incident in grad school with the condom splitting and that bitch claiming she was pregnant.

He’d been so careful, that in fact, the sex he’d just had with Maria was the first time he’d ever been naked inside a woman. And it had been amazing, stupendous even. As he drummed his fingers on his desk, it didn’t escape his notice that he was fast becoming addicted. He’d been obsessed with Maria for a long time, but having her hadn’t helped the feeling go away. Hell no, sleeping with her had only made matters worse.

And now he was acting far from his usual careful self. He never trusted women; he’d found most of them to be prevaricators as well as mercenary.

The memory of Maria calling him a liar the other night hit him. She’d told him that she had no room in her life for liars. The idea that a woman thought that about him was twisted. The tables had damn sure turned on him, and he had no idea if he was as in control of the situation as he was pretending to be.

But for now, he had no choice in the matter; there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that he was ready to let her go.

The insidious thought that he might
never
be ready to let her go tried to well up and take over his brain; he ruthlessly pushed it to the back of his mind, refusing to give it any attention.

****

A week passed and Maria had no idea if she was sinking or swimming. The sex between them was stupendous, amazing.

As she stood in the break room, she heard the click of the door shutting and the lock sliding into place. Without turning and looking, she knew who’d done it; she knew who stood behind her. Her hands shook as she made a fist around the coffee filter she’d just pulled from the box.

She continued to stand still in front of the counter, not moving a muscle, not turning to face the threat behind her.

“You knew Villareal was coming today, I believe I mentioned that yesterday.” Garrett rasped in a low, heated tone.

She had braced herself for a bark, but when he began speaking, that wasn’t what she got. His voice was low and quiet, and the fact that she knew more about his personality wasn’t something that was soothing her now. Hell, no. It was scaring the crap out of her. Garrett
always
barked when he was angry. The fact that he presently felt he had to keep his vocal chords under ruthless control only proved how pissed he really was.

She nodded her head in confirmation of his statement.

“Turn around,” he bit out in a voice that brooked no denial.

She turned slowly and leaned against the counter for support.

“You understand his reputation with women?”

Not fully understanding the question, Maria narrowed her eyes and shook her head.

“He wants to fuck anything on two legs,” he elaborated, gritting the words through his teeth. “I told you that once before—he’s a player.”

She sucked in a breath. “And you think this has something to do with me, how?”

He stared at her for the count of three beats and then pushed off the door. Without hesitation, he advanced on her until he was standing only inches away, invading her personal space. He lifted her chin, and as she looked up, she was mesmerized by his eyes. Eyes that contained a fire that almost scorched her where she stood.

His voice when he spoke reflected only a small slip of control, but Maria knew him well enough to know how affected he truly was. “We have a lot of shit going on between us,” he announced as his eyes ran over her face, down her neck and landed on the madly beating pulse in her throat. Sliding his hand from her chin, his thumb landed on the spot that told of her rapidly beating heart. He pressed on it, with just a hint of his strength, and raised his eyes back to hers. “I get that you’ve made it your mission in life to continue to keep me off-balance. Wearing your hair like this, the stiletto heels, making damn sure I know when you’ve got on thigh-high stockings.” His thumb slid up and down her throat before pressing into her pulse-point again. “Why you feel the need, I don’t have a clue.” He took in a deep breath. “But this dress . . . “ His voice trailed off before he began again. “You, in this dress. You know how fucking good you look in this dress. You knew I’d remember it. You had to know what I’d be thinking about the second I saw you in it.” His eyes turned into gleaming slits of accusation. “And you knew the son-of-a-bitch would be here today, watching you. You did it on purpose.”

“No, I--” She began, knowing he spoke the truth, but not about to admit to it. Why had she worn
The Dress
? Granted, she’d teamed it with a blazer to play it down, but Garrett was right. She
had
known that Maximo Villareal would be here today, and she’d known what Garrett would remember when he saw her in it. Why was she playing with fire? Was it because she’d let him have his way in so many areas that she needed some sort of affirmation of her own control?

He interrupted her thoughts and her fiercely beating heart. “You need to be careful with the game you’re playing. I’ve been letting you have the upper hand, been letting you win your little game, because it humors me. But be careful, Maria—don’t take it too far.” His hand spread out over her neck and his fingers pulsed against her windpipe in a shocking, sexual threat. “Trust me when I tell you that you don’t have to go out of your way to provoke my jealousy.
I’m already jealous
. I already want to kill every motherfucker who looks at you. I already want to take you home to St. Louis, tie you to my bed, lock the door and toss away the fucking key.”

Her heart began pounding so hard, she thought it might explode. She heard a roaring in her ears and her knees began to shake.

When he slid his hand from her throat to land on the vee between her thighs, Maria gasped and closed her eyes.

She heard a deep, tormented sound before he growled, “Now here’s the deal. I’m pissed, and I need to clear my head. And for that I need some clean, Midwest air to breathe. I’m going to finish my business with the motherfucker in my office and then you and I are catching a flight to Missouri.” He glanced up at the clock on the wall. “You have about an hour. Pack what you can, but other than that, don’t worry about it, I’ll buy you what we need when we arrive.”

A roaring began in her head. “Garrett, I can’t go with you. I can’t leave the hotel.”

“You damn sure can leave the hotel, and you
will
leave the hotel.”

“But I—”

“If you want to spend the next hour going through the motions with Beth instead of packing, that’s your business, I don’t give a fuck. All I care about is your little ass next to me on the plane.”

“Why?”

His eyes impaled hers with an icy look. “I told you already. I can’t breathe. Need some goddamn air.”

She swallowed and gave a last ditch effort. “If you want to go home, go, but I can stay here.”

“Not happening, babe.”

“Garrett—”

“
Not fucking happening
. Be ready in an hour,” he snapped as he turned and slammed from the room.

Chapter Nine

Maria hadn’t wasted any more time arguing with him or herself. She’d flown up to her room, pulled off the contentious dress and then slipped into jeans and a shirt. She’d packed an overnight bag in less than ten minutes, and had then spent the remainder of the time allotted to her going over all the minutiae of running the hotel with Beth. Thank God she’d been prepping the other woman for a week already, just in case something like this came up.

It had been an intense forty-five or so minutes with Beth, and now, as Maria sat in first class beside Garrett, she finally let go of worrying about the hotel, and thought about what in the hell she was doing sitting next to him on a plane to begin with.

Christ.

She’d had the thought before, and she was sure she’d have it again.
The guy was a maniac
.

But as he slid his hand over her thigh and he gripped her knee in a subtle caress that sent shivers down her spine, she closed her eyes and let the anxiety she was feeling slip away, concentrating only on the exquisite harmony that seemed to bleed through her entire being every time he touched her.

Please, God, let him be a maniac she could trust
.

****

Maria sat back in the soft leather seat of Garrett’s Mercedes S-Class as he tooled down a winding road shaded by tall trees and flanked by a running path. The neighborhood was in the suburbs of St. Louis, and it was quiet, upscale, and about as far removed from what she was used to as could be. “Do you live here?”

“Yeah. The corporation bought the lake house as an investment, and since no one ever sees fit to make use of it, I decided to move in.”

Maria looked around in both directions. “I don’t see a lake.”

He tipped his head forward. “You will. We’re coming up from behind, but we can go check out everything tomorrow if you want.”

“Okay.” She agreed readily, as Garrett made a turn and then another, and after a moment, they were pulling into a driveway in front of a two-story house set in a hillside.

“Whose car is that?” she asked, staring at the late-model American-made sedan parked in the driveway.

The almost-relaxed look that had encompassed Garrett’s features since they’d sat down on the plane dissolved as he studied the car. “I don’t know. Never seen it before.”

He pulled up next to the car and studied the house. “It doesn’t belong to one of my brothers, not that they come here anyway.” he muttered, and then glanced at her. “Stay here while I check it out.”

He left the motor running, and as he walked up the path and in through the front door, Maria pressed the button at her side, lowering the window by about an inch, to give her the possibility of at least hearing what might be going on.

About sixty seconds later, Garrett walked back out and leaned against the hood of the car, giving her a perfect view of his splendid backside, even if it was through the clothes he was wearing. His stance was casual, yet he gave her no indication that she should leave her spot in the vehicle, so she remained sitting where she was.

About three minutes after that, a man and a woman walked from the house, the man’s face held in lines of fiery displeasure that Maria immediately recognized, because she’d seen the same look plastered on Garrett’s features more times than she could count. This guy looked
exactly
like Garrett, although older, and even though he’d said that the car didn’t belong to one of his brothers, there was no question in Maria’s mind that this man
was
a Rule male.