Trust (19 page)

He toed off his shoes as he popped out another cork and handed the bottle to her, ordering, “Drink.”

She lifted the bottle to her mouth, caressing it erotically with her fingers, lips, and tongue, promising with her eyes to do the same to him.

His gaze didn’t waver from the show as he finished taking off his clothes. He picked up the bottle from her and let the golden liquid pour from it slowly in a steady rivulet to soak her more.

“Don’t finish it on me,” she snatched the bottle from him with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

The soft light from the incoming dawn danced on her wet skin and flashed on the diamonds of her headband as she tipped her head to drink and her hand closed over him and traveled the length of his erection.

She reached for him and scattered kisses along his jaw, licking a trail to his earlobe. She took it into her mouth and suckled.

Ethan groaned, “So good.” His head dropped to kiss her shoulder and lapped at her collarbone, “You and Cristal, the perfect combination.” He pulled away her nightgown and he licked his way to her breast and drew the nipple between his lips, sucking hard.

Sophia threw a hand into his hair, holding him in place. “Oh,” she gasped, “Ethan.” With a gentle shove to his shoulders, she backed him onto the sofa. She stood between his legs and slowly ran a hand over her moistened abdomen and stroked his erection in her wet palm.

“Sophia,” he moaned, “please.”

“What do you want?” She glided her hand harder, longer.

“Don’t tease, Sophia,” his hips jerked on the sofa and his breathing quickened.

She tightened her hold and stopped, causing him to moan in distress. “What do you want?”

“I want you,” he groaned, “take me in your mouth.”

“Mmm, let me see what I can do about that,” she murmured, her tongue licking his parted lips leisurely.

He sucked her tongue between his lips, grunting with desire and his hands caressed her rump. Her hand left his arousal for his chest and she handed him the bottle, “Drink.”

Her fingers lightly caressed his hard chest and she bent to kiss one nipple and then another, sucking them both hard.

Ethan grunted in instant appreciation.

Sophia nipped her way down the center of his stomach to his navel, dipping her tongue in his belly button.

His fingers found her curls and he tugged. “Down,” he rasped.

She dropped to her knees, between his thighs, her hand motioning for the bottle. She drank a gulp and smiled sinfully at him. Her hands glided over his thighs to his knees and her nails backed up, scrapping the inside of them.

“Damn, Sophia,” his eyes blazed a darker azure.

She bit at the skin beneath his navel and he drew a long and ragged breath. She drew her cheek along the pulsating length of his hard arousal, moving up from the base to his smooth rounded tip and she lightly blew on him. She drank a gulp of the chilly champagne and took him fully into her cold mouth.

“Sophia,” he shouted. His hands held her shoulders, digging his fingers in her flesh. The muscles of his stomach tightened and flexed as he thrust forward between her lips.

She sucked him into her mouth fiercely and he howled in pleasure as she worked her mouth along him.

He watched as her mouth worshipped him.

Her hands grasped the base of his erection as desire shot through her body. She loved giving pleasure.

Seeing was too much, and Ethan pulled her by the arms onto his lap before the orgasm shattered him. “Ride me,” he ordered, gripping her hips.

Her fingers gripped his shoulders and slowly, torturously she sheathed him with her body as he plunged into her at the same time. “Ah, Ethan,” she gasped throatily as he filled her again with a hard thrust.

He gave her a heated kiss, deep and lascivious, dragging his hands over the silky skin of her ribs, down her back to the curve of her bottom as he entered her mercilessly.

He broke the kiss and watched her. Lost in her pleasure, Sophia’s eyes closed and her mouth parted, her head thrown back. Her curls brushed his hands as they moved together.

“So beautiful,” he whispered as he cupped her hips in his hands, “So soft. I love touching you. I love tasting you. Love watching you respond to passion.”

She opened her eyes to look at him.

“How your eyes turn into this yellow feline color when you’re aroused,” he shoved harder into her and she gasped. Ethan felt her body tightening the moment his finger touched her clitoris.

“Sophia, you’re mine,” he said hoarsely with a fierce thrust.

“Ethan,” she gasped and pushed down against him. He plunged into her again and she shattered.

She flung her arms around his neck, dragging him to a searing kiss, her fingers in his hair and holding him tightly as an orgasm consumed her. “Ethan,” she whispered again on his lips.

Every motion and spasm of her body frayed the threads of his self-control. And with another shove, he let go, his climax hitting him hard. With it came a rush of happiness that filled him with wonder. He let himself sink into her soft body.

“Sophia, I love you.” He buried his face in her curled hair and her sweet scent enveloped him.
This is heaven. I want to be here every single day of my life
.

She shuddered one last time in his arms and he stroked her back waiting for their hearts to calm.

“I love you,” he repeated in her hair, “you are my only and lasting love.”

She purred, her face resting on the hollow of his shoulder, her arms flung around his neck and back.

He felt safe.

He felt secure.

And above all, he felt loved, as he never had before.

Chapter 9

London. Leibowitz Oil Building.

Tuesday, February 9
^th
, 2010.

4.20 p.m.

The intercom buzzed, jolting Sophia. “Yes, Sarah?”

“Mr. Ashford’s on the phone, Mrs. L. I informed him you were busy, but he was quite insistent,” Sarah said in an apologetic voice.

“It’s okay, Sarah, I’ll take his call. Please, hold all others, except Gabriela’s calls. Any excuse will do, all right?”

“Yes, Mrs. L, I’m sorry.”

“No prob,” Sophia sighed and picked up the receiver. “Hello, Ethan.”

“What took you so long, Sophia?” Ethan said, in an annoyed voice.

“Good afternoon to you, too, Ethan.” Sophia said in a voice that held a hint of ice. “I was working. I have responsibilities, you know. Lawsuits with final judgments, contracts to review, essays to mark; small things that, perhaps, are far from your big world but they make up my daily life.”

“Sorry, darling, it’s just that I’m having a stressful day,” Ethan explained himself. “Baby, I’ve changed our plans for this evening. I’m hosting a small dinner for some friends, who came over for a business meeting. They’re French and I would like you to help me receive them.”

“Okay. Do you need me to bring anything?” she offered.

“Just your beautiful presence. My secretary has ordered the catering from Arbutus,” he said. The Michelin-starred restaurant in Soho was one of Ethan’s favorites.

“I’m already salivating.” Sophia loved the exceptional modern European food prepared by Chef Anthony Demeter. “What time do you need me there?”

“Seven o’clock, sharp.”

“Ah, Ethan-”

“See you there, Sophia.”

Sometimes Ethan is insufferable
.

Eaton Square.

4.57 p.m.

Sophia arrived at her apartment in a hurry. “Hello,” she called.

Gabriela came running, almost knocking her over on the floor.

“Hello, my love.” She got down on her knees, hugging the little girl and showering her face with kisses.

“Mama, you’re home early today. How was your day? I missed you. I did a pretty drawing for you. And I learned how to write my name and yours. Can I show you? Can I? Can I?” The girl jumped excitedly.

Sophia laughed, standing up with her daughter cradled in her arms. “I missed you too, my angel, and, yes, you can show me your drawing. But I have to run to a meeting. You can write our names for me tomorrow. How’s that? In fact, Maria, I’m not sleeping here tonight.” She looked up at the nanny. “Have Steven and Lucy returned from their day off?”

“Yes, Mrs. Leibowitz. They’re already here.”

“Good.” Sophia breathed relieved. “Don’t forget my instructions, Maria. No one, and I mean no one, is authorized to come up or speak with Gabriela. Not even on the phone.”

“It’s perfectly understood. Mrs. Leibowitz, Lucy informed me when she arrived that everything is ready for us to start moving the furniture and clothes tomorrow and settled in the house by Friday, if this is your wish.”

“Great, Maria. Please, ask her to inform the new cook that she starts tomorrow then.”

Ethan Ashford’s Penthouse.

6.55 p.m.

Sophia rang Ethan’s doorbell and examined herself in the mirrored wall. She liked what she saw. The sleek, tight black dress with a drooping gap at the back did wonders to show off her body and left little to the imagination. She had coiled her hair in a high, loose bun.

She also wore her new gift, a Rolex day-date in white gold and square diamonds, one of the three Ethan had given her. She smiled wickedly. He’d had trouble choosing them, but decided on a diamond pavéd Franck Muller Crazy Hours Totally Crazy watch, a Tag Heuer Calibre Sixteen, and the one she wore tonight.

“Like what you see, Sophia?” Ethan leaned on the doorjamb, looking at her with a small smile on his lips, noticing she had complemented the dress with the spectacular Oiseau des Paradis set he had given her as a Christmas present.

“Yes,” she didn’t heard the door opening. She smiled at him, “Do you?”

His arms wound around her waist, his lips moved close to hers. “Yes, very much. You’re delectable. As always. I think I’m going to cancel dinner and eat you.” He kissed her with so much passion she felt lightheaded.

Oh, my, the man knows how to kiss
.

“We have half an hour before the guests arrive. Come inside before I make love to you in the hall.”

He went directly to his bedroom, flinging her clutch on the armchair in his sitting room. He crooked a finger in her direction. “Come here. I want to taste the dessert before the main course.”

She laughed. “Ethan! I’m all dressed and ready for dinner.”

He pursued her, pushing her dress down her shoulders, kissing, and nibbling them. He gazed in her eyes, an intense, hungry look in his blue ones. “I want you. Now. Don’t deny me.”

She laughed again and her hands went to his shirt, undoing the buttons. “You’re unbelievable.”

Sophia, retouching her lipstick in the bathroom mirror, heard Ethan call. “They’ve arrived. Hurry.”

She held her breath and sprayed her favorite Creed perfume around her, shaking her hair to let the perfume rain on it; she redid her bun. Then she re-pinned the magnificent bird clip Ethan had given her above her heart.

A party of four men and two women had gathered in the reception room. The sound of French was a treat to Sophia’s ears. She loved the language.

Ethan welcomed her by putting an arm on her shoulders and made the introductions in French. “These are my friends, Sophia. François Lefebvre, his wife, Aimée, and his younger twin brothers, Guy and Giles. And,” he motioned to a couple on her left, “Annaïs Fitzroy and her husband, Alain Lambert.”

“
Bon soir. Comment allez vous
?” she greeted them, grinning.

One of the handsome blond twins, Guy, said to her, with intimacy, “
Tu parles a parfait français, Sophie
.”

Sophia’s eyes widened slightly. He had used the second person
tu
to congratulate her on her perfect French, implying a familiarity that didn’t escape Ethan. His arm tightened around her shoulders, his other hand cupping her jaw to turn her face in his direction.

Ethan answered for her, in his perfect French, “Yes.
Sophia,
” he stressed her name, “speaks French fluently. In fact, she speaks six languages perfectly.”
And she is mine
. He kissed her lightly on the lips, bringing her closer, stating his hold on her.

His behavior and possessiveness irritated Sophia, but she let it go.

“Lucky you,
mon ami
,” François interceded smoothly and glowered discreetly at Guy. He was aware of Ethan’s jealousy and Guy’s flirting ways from long ago. No need to have a problem tonight. “So, I heard that you’re also a spectacular lawyer in the oil field, Ms. Santo.”

Sophia grinned at him. “Please, Monsieur Lefebvre, call me Sophia.” She looked at Ethan; he imperceptibly blinked his approval, smiling.

“
Un moment, mon ami
.” Ethan unfolded his long body from the sofa where he had been talking with François and stalked up to Guy and scowled at him, letting him know that he didn’t like the way he looked at Sophia and held her hand.

Ethan snaked an arm around Sophia’s waist, bringing her back close to his body. She jumped. So engrossed in the conversation, Sophia hadn’t noticed him approaching.

“Ethan, you startled me.” She turned in his direction, with a smile on her face.

“Seems that you and Guy are getting along very well.”

“Sophia is a very intelligent and beautiful woman.” Guy smirked at him. “I could spend the whole evening with her. I’m sure time would fly.”

“Indeed.” Ethan’s blood boiled. “Sophia? Come with me for a second.” He didn’t wait for her answer and tugged her behind him to the guest room.

As soon as the door closed, he said in a low, harsh voice, “What do you think you’re doing, Sophia? I thought you were a well-bred and decent woman.”

“You thought…” she exhaled, aghast. “What am I then?”

“You looked like a mare in heat-” he interrupted himself, grabbed her arms, and shook her violently. Her hair tumbled free and the long earrings swung back and forth. “You’ve flirted with Guy all night long. You let him drool all over you and even hold your hand,” he hissed through clenched teeth.

“I flirted with Guy?” Sophia’s voice expressed her shock. She put her hands on his chest, pushing him back. “I think you’ve said enough, Ethan. You’re creating a storm in a teacup. He was admiring the magnificent ring
you
gave me. I wasn’t flirting with him. He is a nice, young man. That’s it, nothing more.”