Surrender to a Donovan (Kimani Romance) (7 page)

“You’ll stay with me. Get your stuff together and we’ll pack up the cars and head over now.”

“No!” she said adamantly, standing up to stare at him like he’d lost his mind. “I can’t stay with you.”

Chapter 10

W
hy she’d even tried to argue, Tate had no idea. Sean Donovan was one stubborn man. As she’d argued with him, he’d calmly played with Briana while going from the baby’s room to the living room, transporting her toys and breaking down her playpen. After he’d simply stared at her and asked, “Are you finished?”

No, damn it! She hadn’t been finished. She was willing to bet he hadn’t even been listening to her, as his mind was already made up.

“This is not a good idea,” she said as they pulled up to a white gate and waited while Sean swiped a card and was allowed in.

She’d left her car at the apartment—that was another argument he’d won. Sean had talked to the officer who was still at her apartment. He mentioned the break-in of her car the other day and how she thought they might be connected. So they left the car to make it look like she was still home, in the event the assailant came back. She supposed that was a good enough reason but really didn’t like having her independence taken away so blithely.

“It’s the best option for right now. Relax,” he told her.

How could she relax? She hadn’t lived with a man in a year, and that man had been her husband. Sean was not.

“I can still go to a hotel,” she said as he parked the car.

When the vehicle was stopped and Sean had clicked off his seatbelt, he turned in his seat to face her.

“Look, I’d really like for you and Briana to stay with me. The attack on your car and the break-in must be connected, which means this person is looking for you personally. As your employer, I’m very concerned for your safety as well as the safety of Briana.”

He sounded so sincere, so compassionate, and oh so smooth. If she kept staring into his soothing bedroom eyes, Tate was sure she’d strip right here for him if he asked. Instead, she took a steadying breath and tried to make the best possible decision for her and her daughter.

“We’re not staying here long,” was her reply.

He nodded and stepped out of the car. She carried Briana while he carried their other bags, saying he’d come down later for the rest.

It was early afternoon and Briana hadn’t had lunch yet. So when they arrived at his door she was beginning to whine. Tate was cooing against her daughter’s ear when she walked through the door, telling her she was getting ready to fix her lunch and then she could have a nice nap.

His home was beautiful. She shouldn’t have been surprised—he was a Donovan, after all. It didn’t have the grab-you-by-the-throat-and-strangle-you-with-hospitality-and-warmth feel of his parents’ house, or what they called the Big House. No, Sean’s home, from what she could see so far, had a more contemporary appeal. Without question, it said high-rise Miami Beach, with its floor-to-ceiling windows and crisp white-tiled floors. The walls in the foyer were also a brilliant white, which instantly had Tate worrying. Briana was at the age where she liked to touch things, and everything she touched inevitably picked up her smudged fingerprints. She could see these walls as a blank canvas for her inquisitive toddler.

“The kitchen is this way,” he said, leading her down a long hallway.

On the way there were open doors and more sunlight spilling in from windows. Her sandals clicked lightly on the floors as she followed him into a spacious kitchen decorated in muted colors. She noted that it was extremely orderly for a man who lived alone.

“I’ll let you get her settled. I have some phone calls to make,” he told her.

As he walked past, he rubbed a hand over Briana’s head. Almost like a father would do. When he was gone, Tate sighed and then slapped a palm against her forehead. Sean Donovan was just being nice. He was not, nor would he ever be, Briana’s father.

Lord only knew where her father was.

* * *

“You’re right,” Trent Donovan said through the phone. “It’s got to be connected.”

Sean had closed himself in his room and called Dion. Once he told his brother what had happened, they’d immediately hooked Trent up on a conference call.

“So somebody’s stalking her?” Sean asked, his throat constricting at the very thought.

“I don’t know if you could say stalking, but somebody’s definitely trying to get to her. What else do you know about her past?”

“Just that she just moved here with her daughter, and Briana’s father is not in the picture,” he informed them.

“That’s not much to go on,” Dion said. “We can pull her personnel file to see what’s on her resume.”

“I want security on her and Briana at all times,” Sean told them, but he was greeted by silence on the line.

“She’s staying with you and you want security on her?” Trent asked.

“He’s interested in her,” Dion offered.

Sean let them take a moment to laugh and make their snide comments. He was probably the last Donovan they thought would fall for a woman with a kid, or any woman at all, since he’d remained focused on work and family for so long. No, Savian would be the absolute last. He felt a world better at that thought.

“Look, I don’t want anything to happen to them. Is something wrong with that?”

“No. Not at all,” Trent said. “Man, I’m just glad to see you taking action for a change instead of worrying and overthinking everything.”

If he only knew, Sean thought. He’d been overthinking Tate Dennison since the day he walked into her office. And after their kiss last night, the one that neither of them had mentioned at all today, he knew he wouldn’t think of anything else but getting his hands on her again.

“A friend of mine lives in the area. I’ll give him a call. If he’s available he’ll be in touch with you tonight. I presume you’ve got her covered for the night,” Trent said with a chuckle.

Dion joined in. “Yeah, I’m sure he’s got her covered tonight.”

“Very funny, both of you. We’ll stay in tonight. I don’t want them going out and chancing anything.”

What Sean realized he wanted for Tate and Briana was much more than he’d ever dreamed of with another woman. He wondered what it was about this one that had clicked into place so soon and so decisively.

After hanging up with his brother and his cousin, Sean stood in his bedroom staring out the window at the Miami scenery. He thought about his parents, about their long, love-filled marriage; about his brother and his new wife, and the other Donovan men of his family. None of them had planned to fall in love and settle down, at least not at the exact moment it happened. He shouldn’t feel concerned about this new development in his life. And actually, he didn’t. But he knew Tate was.

Chapter 11

“Y
ou make it look so easy,” Sean said as he watched Tate put a sleeping Briana into the Pack and Play crib they’d set up in the second-floor guest room.

Usually his guests used the first-floor bedroom, but he’d wanted them closer to him. Tate had unpacked earlier while Briana napped after her lunch. The room looked totally different than it had just that morning, he noted. There were baby things all over. And now he watched the woman who’d enchanted him through another dinner that night, performing what looked like her normal nightly ritual with her daughter.

And Sean realized he was sinking fast.

She shrugged, her long hair falling freely around her shoulders. “I’m used to it now,” was her reply.

“She usually sleeps all night?”

Tate nodded. “Except for last night.”

“We’re going to find out what’s going on, Tate. I don’t want you to worry about that.”

When she looked up at him Sean’s breath caught as the dimly lit room made her skin look almost golden and her eyes look like simmering pools. “How can I not worry? Somebody’s after me and my baby.”

He moved closer until he was standing directly in front of her. Lifting his hands, he grasped her shoulders and pulled her slowly until her body brushed against his. “You’re safe now. I’m not going to let anything happen to either one of you.”

She began shaking her head. “But you’re my boss. You don’t know us at all. I don’t understand why you’d go through all this trouble for us.”

“Because of this,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. “Because of what I feel when I’m with you. And what I know you feel, too.”

She was shaking her head again.

“You’re going to develop a neck condition if you keep that up,” he said.

She stopped instantly, and Sean used a finger to lift her chin. “Does it seem quick? Yes. Would I have believed I’d be so interested in a woman I’d just officially met days ago? Probably not.” He shrugged. “But I’ve never been one to second-guess what I feel. I go with my gut. Always.”

“And let me guess,” she said with a smirk, “you’re never wrong.”

“I wouldn’t say never. But my track record’s looking pretty good so far,” he said honestly.

She smiled, and it was as if someone had flipped a switch inside his body. The pleasant warmth he’d felt just holding her escalated tremendously.

“I’m not used to this,” she said, her voice trembling.

“Believe me, neither am I.”

Holding her felt too right—it felt perfect, to be exact—but a part of Sean wanted more. The finger that was on her chin traced a line along her jaw and then touched her bottom lip lightly.

“We can’t ignore this,” he said softly, watching as her eyes grew darker with his touch.

“No. I don’t think we can,” she admitted on a deep sigh. “I wanted to. I really did. But I’ve always been a realist.”

“It shows in your writing.” He couldn’t help but say that. “It’s one of the first things that attracted me to you. There’s a brutal honesty in your words. You have no idea what a turn-on an honest woman is.”

She laughed. “Really? I don’t think a lot of women know that.”

“Obviously not.”

He couldn’t wait another minute. He replaced his finger with his lips, touching hers in a whisper-soft connection. To his continued delight, she didn’t flinch or attempt to move away. Just like during their kiss last night, she only melted into his embrace, parting her lips at his insistence. Kissing Tate produced this eerie fog that engulfed both of them as they sank deeper, melding their bodies closer together.

Her arms circled his back, their bodies pressing together tightly. She tilted her head, coming up on her tiptoes to offer him even more. His palms itched to touch her, to feel the heat of her skin against his own. With one hand he grasped her bottom, and the other reached beneath the rim of her T-shirt until he was touching her bare back. Her hand went to the back of his head, pulling him closer, pressing for a deeper kiss.

She was breathless when Sean finally pulled away. He didn’t hesitate to lift her into his arms, dropping soft kisses on her forehead, her nose, her cheeks as he carried her into his bedroom.

His bed was huge, even for a man of his six-foot-four, 227-pound frame. It was a king-size mattress on a chocolate-brown leather-covered platform. His sheets and the complementing decor were in ivory. The moment he lay Tate on the satin comforter, her golden complexion and dark eyes became even more vibrant and her body became more alluring.

She moved to take off her shoes, but he pushed her hands away. “I’ll do it,” he told her. “You just lie there.”

It was just after nine in the evening, and there was a full moon that sent slashes of smoky white light through the slits in his blinds. He knelt on the floor in front of the bed and untied each of her shoes, pulling them slowly from her feet. He rubbed her bare soles up to her toes, massaging deeply.

Tate moaned, her head falling back on her shoulders. “That feels divine,” she told him.

“Just wait till I really get my hands on you,” was his reply.

Leaving her feet for the moment, he vowed it would not be the last foot massage she received from him. He undid the clasp of her jeans, slid the zipper down and then pulled the denim over her thighs and off. His hands whispered over her calves, upward until the soft flesh of her inner thighs warmed his fingertips. Spreading her legs slightly, he touched her juncture, which was covered in a silky fabric that had already grown damp.

She gasped, and he swallowed deeply, forcing himself to take his time. The T-shirt came next in a quick pull over her head. Sean sent up a silent thank-you to the heavens for matching panty-and-bra sets. The same cream-colored silk that graced her center cupped her mouthwatering breasts. On quick assessment, he noticed that it had a front clasp, and he gingerly pushed a finger between her mounds to release it. When they were free, it was his turn to gasp. Dark nipples instantly hardened, and he deftly lowered his head to take one into his mouth.

Spears of lust soared through his body, and his erection pressed against the zipper of his jeans. His hand grasped the second breast, kneading it while his mouth caressed its twin. Then he had to have both hands on her, so he grasped both breasts and pushing them together so his tongue could quickly move from one puckered nipple to the other.

Her fingers clenched tight at the back of his head as Sean’s heart pounded wildly in his chest. She whispered his name, and inside he went insane. It was a toss-up between the nervousness of the first time he’d had sex and the best sex he’d ever had. The intensity that rushed through him at this moment was almost overwhelming. What he knew for certain was that he’d never had an erection so hard, so damned persistent.

She grabbed at his shirt, pulling it from the collar in a race to get it over his head. He reluctantly tore his mouth away from her, dipping his head lower and straightening his arms so she could remove the shirt. Her palms feathered over his bare skin, tracing a scorching path from his pectorals down to his stomach.

“It’s so damned hot in here,” he groaned, his teeth nipping her earlobe.

“That’s because you have on too many clothes.”

He leaned back on his knees, preparing to unbutton his pants, when she swiped his hands away and undid the button herself, pushing his pants along with his boxers over his hips. It took some maneuvering to get them and his shoes off, and they laughed as their bodies contorted in unseemly positions. When they fell back on the bed, both of them gloriously naked, she slapped a palm on his chest.

“Do you have protection?”

As if she had to ask. Sean didn’t respond, only rolled to his side and retrieved a condom from his nightstand. After he’d covered his length with the latex, he stretched over her, pushing her thighs apart, looking down into her lust-filled eyes.

“Never doubt that I’ll protect you, Tate. I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said. And Sean never said what he didn’t mean.

* * *

He looked so sincere, his deep brown eyes so alluring, like some kind of drug drawing her in. And try as she might, Tate could not resist him. She just couldn’t.

So instead of fighting what she knew would be a losing battle, she extended her arms until they once again wrapped around his strong shoulders. There was strength in his touch, in the feel of skin over lean muscles. She found that touching him was intoxicating all by itself. Her fingers practically itched to drum along his skin. She sighed when her hands were clasped behind his head. And when she pulled him down and his lips hovered just over hers, she made her request.

“Take me.”

It felt familiar, like a lover returning after a long absence. They fit perfectly, his rhythm—hungry and erotically precise—matched hers exactly. When he moaned, Tate moaned. He filled her so completely that she wondered where he stopped and she began.

Never in her life had sex been this way, and that confused her, because this felt so natural. When he lifted her legs, resting them on his shoulders and thrusting deeper inside her, she couldn’t speak, could only grip the sheets tightly and close her eyes. Then she opened them again, because she didn’t want to miss one moment of seeing him. His face barely contorted, his jaw locked and strong, eyes piercing and focused solely on her. His lips parted slightly to accommodate the rush of breath. It was as if he were concentrating deeply on her.

Tate didn’t know how that should make her feel. What she did know for certain was that this joining was everything she’d ever imagined from a real lover. Not the quick jaunts in bed that she shared with Patrick. This was real, it was adult and it was driving her insane with a still-growing need.

“I can’t stop,” he said, his voice hoarse with the effort. “You feel so good.”

She gripped his biceps and moaned when he hit a particular spot, sending ripples of pleasure up and down her spine. “Yes! You feel good, too.”

He put her legs down, scissoring them to the side. She rolled partially, lifting her hips so he could enter her from this new direction.

“Mmmmm,” she moaned as his erection pierced her deeper at an angle that felt absolutely amazing.

“More?” he asked.

Hell yes!
her mind screamed, but all she could manage was another, “Mmmmhmmm.”

After several glorious minutes, Sean pulled out of her gently and lay on his back. His strong hands gripped her hips and pulled her over his body. Tate straddled him instantly, her breath only hitching minutely.

Patrick never liked her on top, said it made her seem wanton and desperate. She’d dismissed the comments about her being too heavy to ride him in lieu of slapping him for them.

When her palms flattened on Sean’s stomach, he didn’t even flinch. Instead, his hands circled her hips, grasped her buttocks and kneaded. He licked his lips, blew out a deep breath and moaned.

“You feel so good, Tate. In my hands, connected to me, just everywhere.”

His words melted around her, wrapping her up like a favorite treat. Lifting herself slightly and touching his still-throbbing length, Tate guided him back inside. Her thighs trembled as she lowered herself onto his thick shaft. His teeth gritted. Finally, he was completely inside her and Tate remained perfectly still, loving the feel of him embedded so deep.

But that wasn’t the only feeling she loved. It was the power. As she lifted slightly, let a few inches of him slide from her tight grasp, he hissed, his teeth biting down on his lower lip. There was nothing but pleasure etched over his gorgeously sculpted face—pleasure that she provided. She rocked back gently and then slid down completely. He grabbed her hips tighter. She repeated the up, rock, down motion until he was cursing. Then she pumped faster, moving her hips to the blissful feel of his erection. The friction was fierce and caused her to tremble from its delectability.

When her climax came it was quick and strong and forced her thighs to clench around him, holding them close together until the swirling sensations were complete.

* * *

Sean watched with unparalleled pleasure as her head tilted back, her lips parted and she moaned with the force of her release. His hands stilled on her hips, fingers digging deep into her skin. She was beautiful, her skin glistening in the moonlight, her curves begging to be touched. He wanted her again and again, but he also wanted to find his release. Because that would cement what he’d been thinking since she’d climbed on top of him.

It was just like the dream he’d had nights ago—every sensation, every moan, every touch. This was the woman. He’d dreamed of her before he’d met her. Now he’d met her and he’d made love to her. He wouldn’t let her go, he knew that without a doubt. The name for the emotion swirling around in his chest eluded him at the moment, but he did not deny it outright. This was different for her—new, fast, doubtful. For him, the man who prided himself on being decisive, it was an absolute.

His release came with that thought, bursting from him in a rush of satisfaction. She collapsed on his chest, her hair tickling his nose. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close so that their hearts beat in unison.

She was his. Now and forever. That was a fact of which Sean was absolutely certain.