Breathless In Love (The Maverick Billionaires #1) (5 page)

Will felt an ache grow in his gut as he watched Harper taste caviar for what he guessed was her very first time. Her cheeks flushed as she chewed, savored, and swallowed, her tongue slipping out to lick away the excess.

The delicacy had a rich, buttery, slightly salty flavor. Mama Cannelli was right on with the preparation—no adornment, no garnish.

Harper didn’t need fancy clothes or glittering jewelry, either. She shone all on her own. Shone so brightly that he wanted more and more from her by the second. Not just a dinner out. Not just one hot night.

Will wanted her to stay and fill the empty spots inside of him. And so that he might also be able to do the same for her.

He knew that he shouldn’t let himself want those things from her. Nor could he argue with the voice of reason that told him he should let her find some perfect guy who had never seen or done the things from Will’s hellish past. Maybe he could have lived with the things his father had made him do. But Will couldn’t forget the things he’d done all on his own after the old man went to prison. He should have left the Road Warriors behind and committed to the Mavericks right then, to Bob and Susan, to his new family. But he’d gone on making mistakes for years. Until things had happened —terrible things—for which he could never forgive himself.

But none of those truths were doing a damned thing to make his desire disappear.

After he fed her another slice and relished the caress of her lips on his fingers, she said, “You’re not having any.”

“It’s better feeding it to you.”

“I can’t eat it all myself.” She selected a slice of toast, ladled on a spoonful of caviar, spread it, and handed over the morsel.

She deliberately kept her hand too far away to feed him. But he couldn’t resist wrapping his fingers around her delicately boned wrist and pulling until she was close enough for him to catch the crisped bread between his teeth. Biting down, he took half, stroking her wrist with his thumb as he demolished the caviar.

Sweet Lord, it was
far
better now than when he’d tasted it on Saturday morning. All because of what Harper brought to it. “You’re right,” he said. “It’s excellent.”

 Her hand still imprisoned, he bent to take the other half, his lips lingering on her fingers, tasting her. The salty caviar was like a chaser to her sweetness. She was breathing harder now, and he very much liked the way her skin had flushed pink with the light caress of his lips. But as they finished the caviar between them, she made sure not to prepare another slice for him. And when he spooned one for her, she inserted her hand before he could put it to her lips.

He was getting too close in more ways than one. And Harper was backing off. The problem was that one taste of her had him dying for more. Just as he’d known it would.

Mama’s food demanded a diner’s attention, and neither of them disappointed as they polished off everything on the plates put before them.

 “Are you sure you don’t want dessert?” he asked after Harper waved Antonio away. “The crème brûlée will melt on your tongue.” The sight would have driven him crazy but it would have been well worth it just to see the look on her beautiful face when she tasted heaven.

“It was all so good, but I’m stuffed.”

Mama refused to bring a bill, as Will had known she would. But he’d wanted the sweet lady to enjoy the caviar.

“You’re too good to us, Mr. Franconi.”

Will folded an arm around her shoulders, hugging her close. She reminded him of Susan, with her big heart and her love of family. She even patted Harper’s cheek, and said, “Please come again.”

“I will.”

Yes, she definitely would, if Will had anything to say about it.

As they’d eaten, he’d dominated the questions while managing to brush aside Harper’s for him. And he’d learned that everything she did was for or about her brother. Her job choice, where she lived, how often she got out on her own—all of it was about what best suited Jeremy’s needs. Again and again, she’d waved away Will’s admiration, saying it was all because of the trust fund some rich guy had used to appease his conscience. But he could see how much of herself she’d devoted to her brother. He’d hinted about whether there were any other men in her life, but it wasn’t hard to guess that there, too, Jeremy took precedence.

Except that in their case, Jeremy had given Will his stamp of approval to take her to dinner—as well as saying that Harper could stay out as long as she wanted, because she was an adult. Remembering the solemn statement made Will smile.

Hell, yes, Harper was an adult, a gorgeous woman who gave him the kind of rush he’d only ever had from fast cars before. And it was a very good thing that she could stay out late tonight... because Will was
far
from done with their evening.

“Let’s go for a drive.” It was pitch black outside as they got into the car. “I’ll put the top down and crank up the heater.”

“I should get home.”

Harper, he’d noticed, used an awful lot of
should
s and
shouldn’t
s. And the more she piled on, the more he wanted to blast through all of them, wanted to see her eyes light up and her skin flush, to watch her let go just as she had on their short ride around the runways.

“I promise not to drive too fast.”

“It’s not that,” she said, even though he knew it had to be, after what she’d been through with those crashes in her family. “And you don’t have to keep promising.”

But he did, because she didn’t trust him yet. Smart woman. “We’ll just take a short drive to a place you’ll like, then.”

She glared at him, but only managed to look adorable as she said, “You always get your way, don’t you?”

“I try,” he said with a grin.

Most people were willing to give him his way. But then, most of them wanted something from him. Whereas from everything he’d seen so far, Harper didn’t. In fact, if he let her have her way, she’d be keeping her distance from him rather than letting him come closer.

But he couldn’t stand the thought of giving her up. Not when she sparked something inside him that he’d never felt with another woman.

“Come on, Harper,” he said in the same voice both he and Jeremy had used on her when they’d wanted her to change her mind. “Say yes.”

She sighed, but her lips had curved up at the corners. “All right. A short drive.”

* * *

Harper should have made Will take her home, but she’d told Trish she’d be out until ten or ten-thirty, so she figured she had a little time left for a drive.

They hurtled along a two-lane road, the top down, her hair blowing. “I thought you promised not to go too fast.” A mesh bar between the head rests kept the rush of air from overpowering their voices.

He slid a lock of her hair back behind her ear, then pointed past her. “I’m going slower than the cars on the freeway.”

He was always touching her—a hand at her back as she climbed the stairs, fingers at her elbow as he helped her into the car—his touch making her crazy inside.

Looking out the passenger window gave her an excuse to draw away, far enough to breathe without his scent filling her head. The road paralleled the highway, with lush greenery flashing by on the other side. He was right; the cars up there were traveling considerably faster.

“It’s the convertible. It makes everything feel like it’s rushing past.” He downshifted around a turn, and trees rose up between them and the freeway. “I’m not going to promise never to drive you faster than you want to go, Harper, but I can promise that I’ll never let you get hurt.”

Her fingers dug into the door’s armrest. But it wasn’t fear. Far from it.

The wind in her hair, the
shush
of tires on the road, the feel of speed—it was all so exhilarating. She found herself wanting Will to take her faster than she’d ever dared. And she wanted to believe he’d never allow her to be hurt.

He made her feel things, made her want things she shouldn’t. Like the moment he’d taken the toasted bread and caviar from her fingers, when she’d wanted to feel the warmth of his mouth and know the taste of his skin. When she’d wanted to bask forever beneath the sensual heat in his eyes.

He was as dangerous as her desire for speed and just as addictive. He had her saying yes when she should say no.

Heck, he even had her asking herself
why
she needed to say no!

As the headlights slashed through the darkness, she couldn’t tell how fast they were going. And, at least for the moment, as the moon and the stars shone above and the crisp air moved over her heated skin, she couldn’t bring herself to care.

She caught his gaze, and in the moonlight, she swore she could see in him the same wildness that was brimming in her.

He was so far beyond any man she’d dated. Her most serious relationship had been with a middle manager for a company she’d done business with. Kevin owned his own home and was amassing his 401(k), and she’d thought he was a prize until he’d suggested that Harper should send Jeremy to a care facility to live with strangers. But Kevin was like a fly on the wall compared to Will, who wore his power and magnetism as though he’d been born to them. Even though, from what she’d read about him, there was no indication he’d come from any money at all, especially since he was always referred to as a self-made man. She hadn’t been sure about much of his past before meeting him and was no clearer after their dinner.

Still, even though he was a mystery—or maybe because of that—she wanted to put her palm over his on the stick shift, mold her fingers around his on the steering wheel. She wanted to touch him, feel the power of the car with him, sense the speed.

Sense
him
.

It was wild. It was crazy. It wasn’t like her.

And yet...tonight, it felt right.

More right than anything had in a very long time.

The car rocked through a few ruts until Will stopped beside a chain-link fence. Harper tried to smooth her hair down after the wild ride, even though it had to be a lost cause by now.

“Where are we?” She heard the breathlessness in her voice, a sensual sound no one had ever brought out in her before.

“An old fountain I found while I was out exploring the area after I first moved to California.”

Despite the fact that he was a businessman at the very top of his game, she could easily imagine him screaming through the countryside in one of his fancy cars, taking roads no one else would dare try, finding places no one else would go. “How long have you lived here?”

“A little over a decade.” Once they’d climbed from the car, he extended his hand to her. “It’s locked, but I know a way in.”

Of course he did. Something told her Will Franconi knew
exactly
how to get into anything he wanted, whether it was off limits or not.

Even, possibly, a heart like hers that had been shut down for far too long.

She put her hand in his, the contact doing nothing to calm the racing of her heart. He’d touched her way too much already. And she’d not only let him, she’d wanted him to touch even
more
of her, if she were being completely honest with herself.

She’d been worried about Jeremy getting too attached—but wasn’t she in just as much danger?

They prowled along the fence for several yards, then Will kicked at a bottom piece until it pushed loose. He let go of her hand to slide through the opening. On the other side, he tangled his fingers in the chain link and pulled it higher, widening the gap for her. “You’ll have to bend down a bit.”

She was wearing heels. This was crazy. But the whole night was already crazy—a crazy blip away from her usual reality—so she gathered her skirt, crouched down, and shimmied through, sneaking under the chain link like a naughty teenager.

The fence fell back with a metallic clang, and Will took her hand again. This time his grip was tighter, warmer. More possessive, as if he thought he’d already made her his. And at this very moment, she wasn’t sure he was wrong, not when she was so aware of him that she could feel her own pulse at her throat, beating faster, rushing like the wind over the car.

“Over here.” His deep voice was laced with a hint of excitement. The same excitement she couldn’t help but feel herself.

He seemed to have vision like a cat, picking his way through the grass. She could hear water ahead, the crash and babble over rocks. Something dark loomed ahead of them, then formed walls and columns, like a small Greek temple.

Will pulled her up to the edge, a parapet overlooking a dark hole through which the water rushed. “It’s part of an old aqueduct. Crystal Springs Reservoir is just down the road.”

Water crashed beneath them, and no grate covered the hole. If she leaned too far, she’d fall right in. But Will’s hand kept her steady. Steady and safe, even though she knew that what she was beginning to feel for him was the most dangerous thing imaginable.

The scent of the water was clean and fresh, as though the river below had come straight from the mountains. Cool air blew up, pushing through her hair, caressing her like fingers. Like Will’s touch.

The noise all around, the darkness, her hand in his, the closeness of his body, his thigh pressed to hers, his heat—it was too much. Too good. Too mesmerizing.

Something was burning inside her, a secret need that she’d worked so hard to push down for so many years. It had begun with dinner, when they’d taken the caviar from each other’s fingers, then sizzled in the car as they’d sped through the night. And now, as they explored a secret, off-limits place together, she was simply burning up inside.

He turned to her then, and if he’d said something, anything, she might have found some control. But when he simply
looked
, with something sparkling in his eyes that felt like longing and desire entwined, Harper was lost.

She had to taste him, had to see if his kiss would be as good as the fast ride he’d just given her in his car.

Her fingers fisted in his shirt, and she yanked him close, chest to chest. Then she was up on her tippy toes, wrapping her arms around his neck, bringing his mouth down to hers. Angling her head, she licked along his lips, savoring him just as she had the caviar.

But it was the moan she couldn’t keep inside that truly set everything in motion. An instant later, Will was holding her tighter and lifting her off the ground. His mouth came down hard against hers and she had to cling to his arms to steady herself. Seating her on the edge of the parapet, he cupped her face in his big hands and devoured her.

Just the same way she was devouring him.

She couldn’t get enough—the hard, strong length of him as he stood between her legs, the headiness of his kiss. In a matter of moments, he had taken control of the kiss she’d initiated, and she was stunned to realize that she loved the way he played with her, sweeping in, stealing her breath, then backing off to take her lips at another angle, before going deep again.

He wooed her passion out and out and out, until it was inextricably tangled up with his. The stone was cold beneath her, a delicious contrast to the burning heat inside and the warmth of his mouth on hers.

No one had ever kissed her like this—taking, demanding absolutely everything she had to give. Kissing had been a prelude with other men, but Will made it seem like kissing her was exactly what he’d been dying for, precisely what he’d dreamed of.

And Harper realized she’d been dreaming about it all along, too. From the moment he’d stepped out of his car beside the hangar, she’d been hurtling toward this moment without even knowing it.

He skimmed his fingers down her arms. “Hold on to me,” he murmured against her lips, bringing her hands up around his shoulders.

 His mouth consumed her all over again, his hands on the move, leaving trails of heat. His thumbs grazed the sides of her breasts, setting fire to all her nerve endings. Harper couldn’t breathe. She could only
want.
Could only
need
as his mouth owned her and his hands promised pleasures beyond her wildest dreams.

Teetering on the edge, she knew she was going to fall. Not into the water, but into something far deeper. Right into Will. Into anything he wanted, right here, right now, with the water raging below them and the midnight sky burning above.

And then nothing would ever be the same again.

She suddenly pushed at him, slamming the brakes on with a squeal of her heart. “Wait, wait, wait.”

She needed to stop, needed to breathe, needed to try and think straight. This was going too fast. Way too fast.

All she’d wanted was a test drive. All she’d wanted was to see if he kissed the way he drove.

But it turned out that kissing Will Franconi was a million times better than any fast ride could ever be.

She never, ever took her eye off the ball. Never for one second forgot that her focus needed to be on taking care of her brother, with everything else coming a distant second. But tonight, for a few heady moments in Will’s arms, she’d forgotten.

Forgotten so easily that it terrified her.

“You okay?” he asked. His breathing wasn’t so steady, either, but that was no consolation.

“I need a minute, just a minute.”

But the truth was that she needed way more than that, needed to find a way to clear her head, her body, of everything Will had just done to her with only one hot kiss.

“I got carried away.” There was a raw huskiness in his voice, and the moonlight was bright enough that she could see the pulse beating hard and fast at his throat. “Forgive me, Harper.”

But Will didn’t need to be forgiven for anything.
She
was the one who had just lost her mind over his kiss, while making the extremely troubling discovery that nothing had ever given her as much pleasure as going fast with him just had.

Which was especially crazy given that caution was her watchword where men were concerned. Sure, she knew it was a world where people jumped into bed on first dates, but that wasn’t what she did. And not with someone like Will Franconi. Not with a fast man who owned a whole bunch of fast cars. If she were stupid enough to jump into his bed, she couldn’t also be stupid enough not to expect him to drive right on past her as soon as they were through.

“I’m the one who should be apologizing,” she told him. “I shouldn’t have kissed—”

He put a palm to her cheek and his thumb on her lips to halt the rest of her words. “Yes, you definitely should have.” Then he added, his mouth only a kiss away, “Your kiss was better than the richest caviar I’ve ever tasted. You taste better than
anything
I’ve ever tasted, Harper.”

She was stunned at how he simply seemed to accept that they’d gone too fast and pushed past her comfort zone, rather than being angry with her for slamming the brakes on a super hot kiss. A kiss that
she
had been the one to initiate.

Harper needed to make it clear to him that there wasn’t going to be another kiss between them, but the words wouldn’t come. “I should go,” was all she could manage. Although the truth was that it was probably all she needed to say, since she couldn’t imagine he’d want to see her again. Why would a gorgeous billionaire who could have anyone want a woman with whom he always had to try so hard? Even just to set up a date? “I don’t want to keep Trish out late.”

Will slowly backed off, his hands trailing down her arms, leaving thrill bumps in their wake. Holding her at the waist, he helped her down from the parapet, then took her hand in his and led her back across the grass to the hole in the fence. She walked on the balls of her feet so her heels wouldn’t sink into the grass.

Back in the car, she asked him to put the top up. “It’s getting cold.” She touched her hair. “And my hair is already enough of a mess.”

“Your hair is gorgeous.”

Of course he’d say that. He always had the perfect words. And it wasn’t truly her hair that worried her. She was afraid the speed would turn her into a wild thing again, and she might actually throw herself at him while he was driving.

Slow, steady, rational—that was what had worked for Harper and Jeremy for the past several years, and she couldn’t risk messing up anything for the two of them. Especially not with a man like Will, whom she sincerely doubted had the long haul on his mind.

It all made perfect sense in her head. Unfortunately, however, neither
perfect sense
nor the much slower ride back down the peninsula to her house did a darned thing to help quench her thirst for more of Will.