Unlawful Attraction: The Complete Box Set: Alpha Billionaire Romance (46 page)

“I said I love you.”

“Dena...”

He kissed me again, and this time, it was soft and sweet.

My head was spinning when he picked me up, and then it seemed like the whole world was as he carried me into the bathroom.

“What...” The question was smothered under another kiss, and when he broke away, he was setting me on my feet, the tile cold under my soles.

The bathroom was gorgeous, large enough that half my living room could have fit in here and the sunken tub made me want to climb inside it and lounge around for maybe a week.

“What are we doing in here?” I asked, completely confused.

“I’m going to shower. You are too.”

His voice had an odd note to it. Feeling a little off balance, I stared up at him. “Um…why?”

He backed me up to the clear glass wall that separated the shower from the rest of the bathroom.

“Because,” he said, kissing me again. Another soft, slow kiss, one that smoldered rather than exploded. “I’m going to make love to you. In that bed. Where I can see your face, and then you’re going to say those words to me again. I’m going to have that soft, sweet pussy wrapped around me when you say it. That means...we have to shower.”

“Oh.” I couldn't manage anything else.

Dazed now, I let him guide me into the shower, let him nudge me under the water. It criss-crossed out from all corners, pounding at my body and hitting muscles that were so tense, I’d forgotten just
how
tense they were. How this whole thing had stretched me thin and tight.

Arik had shown me any number of faces: the sharp lawyer, the wicked lover, the playful lock-pick, the sinful, sexy seducer.

But now he was showing me another side, a side that seemed almost...unsettled, by what I said. But he hadn't run away, hadn't told me that he didn't feel the same way. Instead, he washed me, dried me, and I was little more than putty when he scooped me up into his arms and carried me out of the bathroom. He’d dried me in the stall, murmuring in my ear that he didn’t want me getting cold.

I couldn’t even fathom being cold, not now. With the downy softness of the mattress under me and the hard, hot length of him above me, the only thing I could
really
fathom was him.

He pressed kiss after kiss to my mouth, my neck, my breasts.

Every time I tried to draw him down to me, he’d come, but only for a moment, only until a series of teasing kisses had my hands limp and lax against his shoulder, and I forgot how to do anything more complicated than breathing and moaning.

Then he caught my hands and pinned them above my head. His eyes locked with mine as he settled between my legs.

“Tell me again, Dena,” he said against my lips as he thrust inside me.

I cried out, arching up against him. My climax was so close, it was almost painful. I stared up at him, my hips rising to meet his. It was as though nothing else existed.

Just him. Just me. Just us.

“Tell me,” he ordered.

I couldn't deny him. “I love you.”

He caught me in his arms and rolled, shifting our positions. I moaned as it drove him deeper, higher inside me. Hands braced on his chest, I let my head fall back as I rolled my hips against his. Fuck, that felt good.

“Arik…”

“Look at me.” His hands tightened on my hips, and the command in his voice managed to cut through the fog in my head.

Forcing my lashes up, I met his eyes. He looked up at me, the vivid emerald color of his gaze searing me.

“I love you, Dena.”

The climax slammed into me, hitting me with almost as much force as his words.

Almost.

But not quite.

“Say it again.”

Chapter 10

Dena

“You look beautiful.”

Looking into the mirror, I saw Arik standing in the doorway and grinned at him. “You better close the door. Seriously, Arik. Gavin was teasing Carrie about how he wasn’t going to wait until the ceremony before he saw her today, and she’s panicking because she thinks he meant it.”

It was the middle of June, and in just over an hour, Carrie would be marrying Gavin.

I had a feeling Gavin’s teasing had been meant as a distraction so she wouldn’t panic about all the small, inconsequential details. Except, now she was panicking over her soon-to-be-husband jinxing their wedding by catching a look of her in her wedding dress before the ceremony.

Krissy was going to beat the shit out of him. Sometimes men were just clueless.

Arik slid inside and shut the door behind him. He came to me and bent down, just barely grazing my lips with a kiss before straightening up and looking around. His eyes landed on Krissy and DeVon. He smiled at me.

“Seems like I’m not the only one who couldn’t wait to see his woman.”

There was a bit of sadness to that smile, and we both knew why. It was the same reason why DeVon was in here, and it wasn't simply because he couldn't bear to be away from her.

He wasn’t exactly hovering over her – Krissy would never allow that – but he was staying close. My heart ached more than a little for them both.

“How is she?” Arik moved in closer and pitched his voice low so no one else could hear.

Looking up at him, I shrugged and managed a smile. “I couldn’t say. I’ve never been where she is. She seems to be holding it together pretty well. Losing the baby…”

I swallowed and turned back to the mirror, staring hard at my reflection. If I thought too hard about it, I’d get teary and if I cried today, I’d rather it be over happy things. Happy.

“You know,” Arik said as he put his hand on my shoulder. “I’ve been thinking.”

“Today is
not
a day for thinking.” Slanting a look up at him, I made a face before leaning forward to study my reflection. I was still wearing my robe, but my make-up and hair were done. Those were the two big things. The dress was the easy thing, for me at least. Carrie had gone with a simple, strapless style that flattered all of us.

Carrie's dress, however, wasn't simple. She had a designer confection that would take several people to help her get into.

If I ever got married, I think I wanted to do a beach wedding. Something where I could wear a simple little white dress and no shoes. Well, considering the height difference, maybe shoes wouldn't be a bad idea, at least for the ceremony...

“Regardless, I
have
been thinking—”

The door swung open and a harried looking guy in a bad suit came in. His eyes narrowed when he saw Arik and DeVon.

“You two.
Out
. We want some shots of the bridal party getting ready and you two can’t be in here for those.”

Arik open his mouth to say something, but I leaned in, caught his hand. “This is what Carrie wants. Please, baby.”

He blew out a breath, then nodded. Before he turned, he added, “We still need to talk.”

“It can wait.” Rolling my eyes at his back, I focused on the mirror once more. Pictures of the bridal party getting ready. “What is the deal with that anyway?” I muttered. “We sit around powdering our noses?”

A few feet away, Krissy laughed and the sound made my heart lighten. “Sure. Powder our noses, give each other manicures, maybe have a pillow fight.”

I shot her a look and she rolled her eyes. “I think this is something they like doing, coming in hoping we’re half-naked.”

“Oh, please.”

***

It took Arik nearly an hour to fight his way back inside. And fight was pretty close to the right word.

There was a woman at the door, one of Carrie’s relatives. She'd planted her statuesque frame there, and was practically doing background checks before she let anybody in once the photographers left.

Even they tried to come back in, but Carrie sent them away, saying she’d rather hold off on the rest of the pictures until she actually
looked
like a bride.

I'd had to laugh at that.

Now, though…well, she looked like a bride and I found myself getting a little sniffly. At least this time, it was for a good reason.

Carrie didn’t seem to be getting overly emotional just yet, and she proved it by shouting out, “Aunt Ida, it’s Dena’s date you’re arguing with. He can come back if he wants. I don’t think it’s considered bad luck for
him
to see me. I doubt he’s got Gavin hiding in his suit.” Then she muttered under her breath, “Though I wouldn't put it past the bastard to try.”

Krissy, Leslie and I shared a grin.

Carrie rolled her eyes at us in the mirror and went back to sitting like a statue as the hairdresser did last minute fixes on her already perfect hair.

“It’s a good thing we go out there in the next few minutes,” Leslie said, rolling her eyes. “That woman might try to flat-iron and twist her hair out of existence if we stayed back here much longer.”

“That’s why I advocate short hair,” I responded to her, but my attention was on Arik as he cut around flowers and everything else in the room.

He came to a stop in front of me, halting maybe five feet away. “I know it’s supposed to be the bride’s day, but I think the most beautiful woman is standing in front of me.”

“I heard that!” Carrie called out, branding an eyelash curler.

“Technically, Carrie, all of you are standing in front of me,” Arik replied without taking his eyes off of me.

“Don’t be a lawyer today.” Carrie made a harrumphing sound under her breath, but I heard the smile.

“Her mother will be rushing us out soon,” I told him, gesturing to the dry-erase board that had the schedule written out on it.

Carrie’s mom was like a drill sergeant. I was slightly in awe...and a little scared. I was pretty sure Gavin felt the same way.

“That’s fine.” He held out a hand. “Five minutes.”

“What’s the hurry?” As he folded his fingers around mine, I let him guide me to the corner, but when he would have kissed me, I turned away. “I don’t believe in kiss-proof lipstick, pal.”

“You’re cruel. Cruel, evil and malicious,” he said with a sigh.

“Guilty as charged.” Reaching up, I traced my fingers over his lips. “I’ll make it up to you…later. I promise.”

“Good.” He closed his hand over my wrist and squeezed gently. “Listen…I need to do this now. I kept telling myself I’d wait, but I was talking to DeVon, and seeing Krissy…I can’t quit thinking about it.”

My stomach lurched.

What was he…?

Arik shoved his hands in his pockets. “I know we haven't even been together a year. I know that. But after everything that’s happened and after how Krissy and DeVon lost the baby…I just…look, I don’t want to wait forever to start living my life with you.”

Mystified, I stared at him. “Arik, we’re already—”

“No.” He closed the distance between us and stooped down until we were eye to eye. Thanks to my heels, that wasn't as much distance as usual. “We’re dating, yes. I sleep at your place on the weekends, or you stay at mine. But sometimes, especially when we're with a busy case, we can go almost a week without seeing each other. It’s too long. I want a life with you. A real one.”

He nodded toward the women standing beyond us, at Krissy and Carrie and how they stood together laughing. “I want what they have. Something permanent—something real. Maybe later on, a family, if that’s what you want, too. I just…I want more than the semi-casual thing we’re doing. I want forever, Dena.”

Feeling a little weak in the knees, I struggled to breathe as he leaned in and took my hand, lifting it to his lips.

“I want you to move in with me.”

His words tumbled over and over in my head as he kissed the back of my hand. He wanted us to live together. I'd never lived with anyone but a college roommate. I'd never lived with a man.

“What do you think?” Arik asked.

I said the first thing that came to mind.

“No.”

Arik tensed.

“What?”

The word was flat, and I hurried to clarify.

“I don't mean
no
. Not exactly.” Frowning and feeling stupid, I rubbed my forehead. “It's just, I don't really feel like I'm home when I'm at your place. It's gorgeous, and huge, and expensive, but the only thing there I like is you. I don't want to give up my place, even if it is smaller.”

His eyes met mine and I saw the hope in them. Hope that I wasn't actually turning him down.

“I want you to move in with me.”

Arik stared at me for a moment and then he started to smile.

“Why, Ms. Monroe, you drive a hard bargain. Anybody ever tell you that you like to throw your weight around a bit too much?”

“Well...” I lifted a shoulder. “I just know what I want.”

A wolfish grin lit his face. “I’ve always admired that in a woman.” He caught me against him and before I could remember to tell him
not
to, he kissed me, hard, fast and deep. I was panting when he stopped, and ready to beg for more.