Wilde at Heart (16 page)

Her gasp slipped into a moan as he traced her cleft until he found her opening, then dipped his fingers inside. He loved the way her inner walls clamped down to keep his fingers from withdrawing. How something so soft could grip so hard was a wonder to him, and he wanted more time to explore her body. He hadn’t gotten the chance last night and couldn’t take the time now. But soon he would. Very soon.

He withdrew his fingers and fumbled around until he found her clit. Last night, he’d figured out how to tell when he touched the right spot, because her knees would go weak and he had to wrap an arm around her waist to keep her up. He caged her against the island, felt the trembles racing through her body. He circled her clit with his thumb, applied more pressure, and her body seized up, breath rushing out in a squeak.

Triumph roared through him with a burst of pure testosterone. He needed inside her. Hard and fast and claiming and right fucking now.

Reece tore open the condom, unzipped his pants, and sheathed himself in the rubber. He gripped her hips, found her entrance, and slammed home, closing his eyes at the exquisite pleasure of her body giving in to his. Shelby moaned and arched her back, pressed against his thrusts.

Jesus. She took all of him, right to his base. Good thing she only gave him seven minutes, because he wasn’t going to last. He pounded into her, hard, fast, urgent, the only sounds slapping flesh and ragged breathing and the throaty little noises she made as she urged him on with her body.

He was so lost in her, he nearly missed the footsteps outside the closet. Voices followed.

“Where the hell is he?” Dylan asked.

“It’s not like him to just get up and leave,” Alicia said, worry in her voice. “I hope everything is all right.”

“I’ll call him.”

Shit, Dylan and Alicia had stopped right in front of the closet. All they had to do was open the door and they’d get an eyeful of his ass pumping away.

Reece froze and clamped a hand over Shelby’s mouth to keep her silent. He felt her lips curve into a smile before the warm pad of her tongue caressed his palm. She tightened her inner muscles around him, milking him, and he shook with the restraint it took to remain still. Adrenaline poured through his system and, impossibly, the thought of getting caught only hardened him more, to the point of pain.

He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t stay still.

Even as his cell phone vibrated against his leg, he thrust into her again, the strokes short and fast. He kept his hand over her mouth because he didn’t trust that she wouldn’t make one of those sexy as hell sounds and give them away.

With his free hand, he released his hold on her hip and reached between their bodies. He needed her to come. Now. His orgasm was clawing down his spine and was going to rip him in half if he didn’t finish soon. He found her clit, rubbed in tight, fast circles, and her body locked down. She shuddered through the climax, his hand muffling her moans.

Outside the closet, Dylan said, “Reece, it’s Dylan. Where’d you go? Everything okay? Call me when you get this.”

“No answer?” Alicia asked, and their voices faded as they finally moved away.

Reece removed his hand from Shelby’s mouth, gripped her hips, and hammered into her as hard and deep as he could get until he found bliss in his own explosive release. He collapsed forward, resting his head on her back. Under his ear, her breath rushed in and out, and her heart thundered.

Playing with fire.

Yeah, he was, and Shelby was burning him alive.

He groaned. “Your sister was right.”

She laughed softly. “About what?”

“You are a very bad influence.” He straightened and gave her ass one last smack before withdrawing from her heat and dealing with the condom. He put it back in the wrapper, then dropped the bundle in his pocket for later disposal. It wouldn’t do to have Irving James’s butler stumble across it when he retrieved everyone’s coats at the end of the night.

Still breathing hard, Shelby turned to face him and smoothed down the skirt of her dress. “You need a bit of bad influence in your life, Skittles.” She stood on her toes and lightly brushed her lips over his before returning his ass smack with one of her own. “You’re too uptight without it.”

He wanted to be annoyed. He even tried to conjure up some irritation with her, but all he managed was exasperated amusement. Even her candy-themed nicknames were starting to grow on him.

Before he fully realized what he was doing, he cupped her upturned face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers.

I
t wasn’t the kind of kiss she was used to from Reece. Wasn’t the usual crush of mouths, the demand of tongue, the war for superiority. It was soft. Gentle. Somehow even more intimate than the sex they’d just had. Her belly jittered with unwanted emotions too painfully sweet to name.

Oh, this was trouble.

If she knew anything, it was mistakes, and falling for Reece Wilde was the kind of mistake everyone w
alked away from broken.

She drew away, but only by inches, and stared up into his eyes. In the dimness of the closet, they were little more than black pools, which was for the better. She didn’t know if she wanted to see his emotions.

Reece tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and opened his mouth. Oh God. He was going to say something she both dreaded and desperately wanted to hear.

Someone pounded on the closet door.

Reece jolted as if he’d been poked in the ass with a hot brand.

“I know you’re in there,” Dylan said. “I lured Alicia away and she’s entertaining everyone with a story about our trip to Venice, so it’s safe to come out. If you’re dressed,” he added with amusement after a beat.

Shelby giggled but stifled it behind her hand when Reece glared at her.

He cleared his throat and hit the light switch. “Give us a minute.”

“Take your time,” Dylan said, obviously enjoying the whole thing.

Reece shut his eyes for a moment and sucked in a breath through his nose, letting it out slowly. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think… “Are you embarrassed?”

Color filled his cheeks and, okay, that was adorable. “You are! Big, bad, Mr. Gazillionaire is embarrassed. And blushing!”

“I’m not fond of getting caught with my pants down.”

She couldn’t help it—she pinched his butt when he turned to find their coats. He sent her his patented
I am not amused
glare and handed over her coat. Grinning, she swung it on and opened the door.

“Hi, Dylan.”

He tipped his head slightly in greeting and didn’t bother hiding his grin. “Shelby.” Then he gazed past her and burst out laughing. “You both look like you just had energetic closet sex.”

“We did.”

Reece growled. “Shelby…”

She shrugged. “He already knows.”

Dylan just laughed harder, until tears rolled down his cheeks. “Oh man,” he said finally, gasping for breath. “I never thought I’d see the day. I like you, Shelby. A lot. You’re good for him.”

“I like you, too, Dylan.” And she did. He seemed like a nice guy, a little on the nerdy side and not nearly as stuffy as the rest of the dinner guests.

Reece grumbled again and Dylan straightened, knuckling away his tears. “It’s okay, buddy. I remember what it was like to be a newlywed. But…you might want to beg off the rest of the night. You can’t go back in there looking like that or everyone will know. I’ll make all the proper excuses for you.”

L
eaving now was an irresponsible thing to do. Then again, staying was probably even more irresponsible at this point. Either way, if he offended James, he was putting his employees and brothers at risk of losing their jobs.

He needed to learn how to control himself around Shelby. Maintaining control had never been an issue in the past, but now? All he had to do was touch her and he was lost, and it was causing him to make bad decisions.

A quickie in the closet wasn’t worth losing everything he’d worked for. And it wasn’t going to happen again.

Too many beats of silence passed as he mentally berated himself for losing control.

Finally, Shelby looped her arm through his. “I already told everyone you weren’t feeling well when I left the table to come looking for you. Dylan can elaborate on that, and tomorrow you can call James and apologize. Tell him you had some sort of twenty-four hour thing.”

Dylan was nodding. “Listen to your wife, man. Go home.”

Reece swore under his breath. “All right. But if he starts talking about the merger—”

“He won’t,” Dylan insisted. “He already said tonight wasn’t about business. Go. I think I hear Alicia coming this way.”

Shelby pulled him toward the door, and he gave up protesting. They were right. Even before Shelby’s distraction, he hadn’t been in top form tonight.

This was for the better.

The valet retrieved his SUV, and he held the door for Shelby before circling around the hood and climbing behind the wheel. He didn’t say anything more to her—didn’t know what to say. He put the Escalade in gear and drove away from the mansion.

“So.” Shelby said after the silence between them started getting heavy. “That was fun.”

“It was stupid.”

“Ouch.” She was silent for another moment. “I’m sorry. I really thought you were mad at me, and it…hurt. I just wanted to make you as uncomfortable in that situation as I was, but I swear I had no intention of letting it go as far as it did. It’s just…we were suddenly in the closet, and things were coming out of my mouth I shouldn’t have been saying, and all I could think of was how much I wanted you again.”

Some of the knots in his shoulders loosened. He stopped the SUV at a red light and glanced over at her. “I’m sorry I let James make you uncomfortable. I should have spoken up, but—”

“You’re afraid of what will happen to your companies if you do. At least your motives were altruistic. Mine were just childish. As usual.” Sighing heavily, she leaned the side of her head against the window. The streetlamps cast a soft yellow glow over her face, making her look years younger, very much like the lost little girl she once was. “Sometimes I wonder what’s wrong with me, why it’s so hard to act like a normal, responsible adult. Why am I so different?”

“I know how that feels.”

She turned enough in her seat to look at him. “No, you don’t. You’re Mr. Responsible.”

“Yeah, but I know what
different
feels like.” The light turned green, but he didn’t hit the gas. He tapped his fingers thoughtfully on the steering wheel for a moment. Easier to show her what he meant than to explain. “Are you in a hurry to get home?”

“No. Why?”

“I want to show you something.”

Chapter Sixteen

S
helby had no clue where he was taking her. They left the city and ended up in Arlington, but he still wouldn’t answer any of her questions about their destination.

Okay, then. Top secret.

She tried to fill the silence with small talk and, when that didn’t work, decided to go for something with a little more shock value. “I think I know who your blackmailer is.”

That caught his attention. His gaze zeroed in on her. “What?”

“You and Lena Schilling had a thing, right?”

“Who told you that?”

“Alicia.”

“Jesus.” He shook his head. Pushed out a sigh. “No. It was one date, years ago. Afterward, she very insistently tried to invite me back to her place, and I turned her down. That was the end of it.”

“Oh, you silly man. That wasn’t the end of it. She’s still bitter.”

“Because that woman is bitter about everything. There’s a reason it was only one date. She’s a vile person.”

“You turned her down, hurt her pride.” She ticked off each point on her fingers. “Then you fired her. And, you know, hell hath no fury and all that.”

“One has nothing to do with the other. I fired her because she wasn’t doing her job. She hadn’t been for a long time, and the only reason I kept her as long as I did was out of loyalty. She’s been with DMW since the beginning.”

“And I bet she feels entitled to the company because of it.”

Reece opened his mouth but snapped it shut again without uttering a sound. “Shit,” he said after a moment. “You’re right. I’ll add her to my spreadsheet.”

Oh God. He was trying to find his blackmailer with a spreadsheet? That was adorable, but Shelby had lived with her sister and Cam long enough to know that crime wasn’t solved by spreadsheets. The poor guy was doomed. “You should tell your brothers what’s going on, Reece. At this point, it’s silly to keep it from them. They already know we’ve been together, so the pictures aren’t going to faze them. They’re trained investigators. They can help.”

He said nothing for so long, she didn’t think he was going to answer. “I know,” he finally admitted softly. “But I’d rather handle it myself. Greer’s gone MIA again and Vaughn’s obsessing over the disappearance of Lark Warren. Cam and your sister just got married, and it’s only courteous to wait at least a month before dumping my shit on them. And Jude…something’s going on with him, too. He’s been moping lately.”

“Oh, I know why. He and Libby want a baby.”

He jumped like she’d poked him in the side with a knife. “They what?”

“Yeah, Libby said they’ve been trying for a few months now, since their wedding, but keep getting disappointed. They’re both pretty bummed about it.”

He stared at her for a solid ten seconds until the light they were sitting at turned green. “How do you know all this?”

She lifted a shoulder. “People talk to me. It’s a gift.” And a curse, but she wasn’t ready to open that can of worms with him yet. If she didn’t have the unique ability to get people to open up to her, she wouldn’t be trapped under Jason Mallory’s thumb now.

“A baby?” Reece said, shell-shocked. “They want a
baby
?”

“That’s usually how it works. First comes love, then comes marriage, then the baby carriage.”

“B-but—” He actually stuttered. “No. That’s… I can’t picture Jude as a father.”

“Really? I think he’ll make a great one. He has a good sense of humor, which I’ve heard is essential for parenting. Have you ever wanted kids?” The question slipped out without her permission, and she silently cursed herself for it. None of her business. Nope. His answer was not even a little bit her business.