The Earl's Outrageous Lover (12 page)

He looked confused for a moment, then realized that she must have seen Julianna with him.  That explained a lot.  It also told him that she was jealous which, normally he would feel bad about, or even irritated, but with Jessica, it told him that she was emotionally invested.  That was a start.

Not that he wanted her to continue to feel that horrible emotion.  He wanted her to feel other things for him, but not jealousy.  It was a gut wrenching emotion that he’d experienced enough of each time he’d seen Jessica in another man’s arms, or even contemplating her in another man’s arms.  He was quick to disabuse her of the notion that Julianna had been at his house for anything other than the real reason.

“Jessica, Julianna wasn’t there about me.  Not really anyway.”

“I saw her there.  And she was crying.  What did you say to her?”  she asked, her body angry and stiff with both curiosity and frustration.

“She came to tell me that she’d been…..intimate with James Cavanaugh,” he said, carefully watching her face to see if there was more to the relationship than he’d thought.  But when her face only brightened, her eyes clearing up at the news, he breathed a little easier.  “I don’t know what’s going to happen between them, but it’s up to them to work things out.”

“She was there to break up with you?”  she asked, her voice whisper soft with hope and relief.

“Yes.  But I was never as attracted to Julianna as I instantly was with you.  Hence the reason we ended up in bed both last night and today.”  This was the strange part.  They’d been together for too short a period for him to think she might feel something for him.  Even knowing how he felt about her, he still didn’t understand it.  But he had to get her married.  It was that important to him right now.

He took out his ring and shook his head.  “Now about that other issue we’ve been working on.  I think I have the perfect solution.  “

Jessica watched with curiosity as he took her hand.  With a gruff voice, he pushed a startlingly beautiful ring on her finger, then said, “We’re getting married this weekend.  And there’s really nothing you can say that will change the situation, so you might as well just accept it and get used to the idea.”

Chapter 7

Jessica wasn’t really sure what was happening.  She looked down at her hand, saw the ring and blinked.  Took a breath.  Then looked down at her hand again.

She would never have expected a ring like this.  From Edward, she imagined a solitaire, possibly an emerald cut or a similar ring with elegance and old-world beauty.

This ring was the most incredible set of diamonds set in a flower arrangement, with the center stone being the largest.  There were tiny swirls and miniature leaves but the setting was actually magnificent.  It was the perfect ring and she couldn’t believe how much she instantly loved it.

Jessica stood up and walked over to the fireplace, wishing that there was a roaring fire that was snapping and crackling.  The silence of the room was haunting because she knew that all of her problems could so easily be solved by a simple yes.  But she didn’t say that word.  She couldn’t put her finger on the issue, but something just didn’t feel right.

She fiddled with the ring, then turned back to face Edward, noticing that he stood in the center of the living room, his arms crossed over his chest and looking like the ultimate alpha male with confidence oozing out of every cell.  He might be elegant and handsome, but the man was high test testosterone, a lethal problem for her.

“Thank you very much for the offer, but I don’t know if this is a very good idea.  I’ve thought about this over the past hour, worrying about what we’d done.  I know we discussed this over lunch and you disagreed with the idea, but I still think it would be best if I simply went to an agency that will help me with this problem.  I’m sure they have a very good process for doing background checks on the clients.  I’ve also contacted my father’s lawyer.  He will draw up a prenuptial agreement that will eliminate any possibility of my future husband gaining control of my father’s money.”  She looked down at the ring, still unable to take it off of her finger.  “I appreciate the sacrifice you’re willing to make to help me, but I just can’t let you do this.”

Edward watched her carefully, not sure where she was going with this.  Not that he was going to allow her to marry any other man, much less go to an agency to find a husband.  He moved to stand next to her, looking at her face as she looked into the blackened fire area.  “We’re getting married, Jessica,” he declared firmly.  After yesterday and today, he wasn’t letting her get away from him.  He stood there, arms crossed over his chest waiting for her to argue with him.  As soon as she offered whatever objections were in her pretty little brain, he’d refute them easily.

Jessica almost laughed at how he stood there, looking so strong and confident, absolutely sure of his ability to win her over.  “We’re not, but I sincerely appreciate your offer.”

Edward shifted slightly and shook his head.  “That wasn’t an offer, Jessica.  We’re getting married.  Saturday.  You’re an extremely smart woman but you’re not grasping that I will win at this argument.”

She did laugh at that, but it came out to her ears sounding a bit more like a sob.  “I have to go now.”

He wanted to stop her but the sad look in her eyes held him back.  “What are you planning to do?”

She put her hand on the doorknob.  “I’m going to go find a wedding dress, I suppose.  And then I’m going to try and find a job.  I have a degree in a field that I love, I think I could do well at and I’m going to take my career and start building.”

“Your degree is in psychology, am I right?”  He wanted her to stay and tell him more about her plans, but she seemed determined to leave the room.

“Yes.”  She pulled the door open and walked out, not even looking back at him.  “Thank you very much for your proposal.”

Edward stepped out himself and watched as she walked slowly up the stairs and turned to the left, heading down the hallway to her bedroom.  Edward didn’t accept her rejection.  As he stared at the now empty hallway, he smiled and worked things through in his head.  Jessica was only saying the words she thought he wanted to hear, but she hadn’t taken his ring off of her finger.  He noticed that her fingers were closed into a fist, as if she didn’t want to lose the ring he’d just put there.

He chuckled and walked out of the house.  Her car was still parked in front of her house and he smiled at the Mini Cooper.  The style fit her, he thought.  It was relatively new, but he made a mental note to have Tim look over the car to make sure it was running properly.  He was suddenly finding himself very protective of the woman who only a few days ago seemed like an irritating burden.

Well, to be honest, she’d only felt like a burden when he’d been discussing the situation over the phone with his uncle.  The moment he’d seen her sitting so prettily at a table full of police officers, she’d become something completely different.  What that was, he still wasn’t sure how to define.

But he liked it.  And he liked her.

Chapter 8

Jessica left the luxurious offices feeling horrible, almost as if she were betraying Edward in some way.  She had an envelope filled with eligible bachelors, all of them handsome and wealthy, all wanting a wife who was on an equal social and economic footing and had contacted the agency to find a wife.  There wouldn’t be any issues with a prenuptial agreement with any of them.  All gentlemen who had signed on with this particular agency would require that original funds from each party would stay with that person in the event of a ‘dissolution of the partnership’ as the contract put it.

Her cell phone rang and she lifted it absently to see who was calling.  She considered just ignoring the call, not wanting to talk to anyone right at the moment.  She didn’t like any of the men in the envelope and all she wanted was to curl up on Edward’s lap and sob out her heart to him.

Unfortunately, she just couldn’t talk to him right now.  He would know that something was wrong and she couldn’t face his inquisition, even over the phone.  Once she felt better and could think more clearly, maybe she could go to him and ask him for advice on the gentlemen in question.

She pressed the ignore button and moved back to her car, tossing the folder onto the passenger seat.  Driving home, she thought about the men the agency had brought up.  The lady she was dealing with was very smart and had a sense of confidence that would probably rival Edward.  She smiled as she thought about the two of them together.  They would probably make a perfect match.

No, not nearly as perfect as he and Julianna.  She still thought about them that night despite Edward’s assurance that they’d broken up.  They were such a perfect couple, could their disagreement last?  Was James involved, or was he just with Julianna as another one of his women?  She thought of that evening when she’d slipped downstairs after waking alone in bed.  Edward’s dark head bent low to listen to whatever she had been telling him and the concern in his eyes as he helped her through whatever she was saying.

Her honey blond hair looked perfect next to his darker hair.  Besides, Julianna was perfect; her manners, her speaking, the way she could sit perfectly still for what seemed like hours.  Edward would need her by his side to grow his business.  Jessica hated sitting still and had vowed she’d never do that again once she’d become an adult.  She smiled at that memory, remembering that she’d been sitting in Edward’s house on that horrible, dreary morning of his mother’s funeral when she was five and vowing that she’d never sit still once she left her father’s house.

Well, she’d learned to sit still…when it suited her.  She had loved her classes in school and had listened to the professors, enraptured by their insight into the human mind and human behavior.  She’d do that all over again if she could and she hadn’t minded sitting still during most of her classes.

As she drove into her driveway a half hour later, she thought about her degree and tried to come up with a career plan.  She’d been so intent on getting through school, then her parents had died.  So she hadn’t had a chance to figure out what she wanted to do now that she didn’t have school.  Well, besides get married.

Why had her father done this to her?  What a waste!  Women were perfectly capable of running enormous empires.  Okay, so she didn’t really want to do that herself, but there were women out there who did.

So why couldn’t she just sell the factory to someone who would keep it intact?  She didn’t want the workers to lose their jobs, which would happen if it was broken up and doled out to charities.  He’d definitely mandated this.

No, her father’s will had been a horrible way to ensure that his daughter got married.  He knew she’d never let people down.  He had certainly come up with a nefarious plan to get his way.  She should visit his grave some day, but right now, she was too angry with him.  Even a year after the reading of the will, she still was furious with him for his ridiculous terms.

She heard something behind her and glanced in her rear view mirror.  When she saw Edward’s furious face glaring at her as he walked up beside her car, her heart instantly started beating faster.

“Get out!”  he ordered and opened the driver’s side door for her, grabbing her hand and pulling her out.

He pressed his whole body against her, pushing her back against the car and Jessica looked up at him, wondering why he was so furious.  “Is this just because I didn’t take your phone call a half hour ago?”  she asked, pushing against his chest, her traitorous body already reacting to his touch and her breath caught in her throat.

“Where have you been?”  he demanded.

Jessica stared at his chest and when that didn’t help her state of mind, she looked to the right, trying to focus on the trees out in front of her house.  “Where I was is none of your concern, Edward.”

“Since we’re getting married tomorrow, it damn well is my business.  So tell me where you were.”

She took a deep breath, but that was a mistake because her whole body tingled with the reaction of his male scent filling her lungs.  “Let me go and we’ll talk about this.”

He looked down at her curly head but rejected her suggestion.  His hands moved from the top of her car down to her waist, sliding sensuously along her ribs and then down to her hips.  “I don’t think I’ll do that.”

“Just….give me some space,” she pleaded.

“The last time we were like this, all of your reactions were honest and sincere.  But I left you that evening and ever since, you’ve gone out of your way to avoid me, and I have a feeling that you’re trying to figure out a way to be dishonest with me.  So if it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll keep you just like this.”

“I’ve never been dishonest with you!”  she came right back, grabbing his wrists when his hands moved too high on her waist.  They were still, but precipitously close to her breasts which were aching to feel his hands move higher.

She closed her eyes, her mind instantly remembering what his hands felt like when they cupped her breasts, when his thumbs rubbed against her nipples or, even better, when his mouth took a nipple and sucked or nibbled.  She could barely catch her breath as she thought over those memories.

“What do you want, Jessica?”  he asked softly, his hips shifting slightly, his knee moving so that it was between her legs.  He moved it higher and she gasped.  Her hands were no longer holding his wrists but instead, were sliding up his arms, feeling the bulging muscles of his biceps and shoulders underneath his suit.

“Not this,” she sighed and her head moved back and forth as if she could deny what he was doing to her.  He was practically making love to her in the driveway of her father’s house!

“Yes this,” he countered and his leg moved higher, pressing against her and she couldn’t help it when she shifted against his leg, rubbing her core with the pressure.

His hands moved to her neck, a thumb on each side of her head slid against her jaw, tilting her head backwards so he could kiss her.

She was no longer in control.  Her body was riding his thigh and she pressed harder while he kissed her, his tongue mimicking the sexual act and she couldn’t fight him, just went with his ministrations.  On tip toe she pushed, moved, wiggled, holding onto his shoulders as if her life depended on standing in this exact position until she found satisfaction.

Suddenly, he was no longer there, the air cold around her.  She opened her eyes and looked up, only to find herself lifted into his arms.  He took the stone stairs to her front door two at a time.  How he had her keys in his hand, she had no idea, but within moments, he had the door unlocked and he kicked it closed behind him.

He was at the bottom of the staircase when he put her onto her feet and pressed her back against the wall, kissing her like there was no tomorrow.  And she was kissing him back just as passionately.  She wanted him so intensely, it was like an aching need inside of her, desperate to be fulfilled.

He pressed himself against her and this time, her legs didn’t need his invitation.  She grabbed his shoulders and lifted her legs, wrapping them around him.  He helped her by putting his hands on her bottom, holding her there while he kissed her.

Jessica didn’t like the inequity of this position and she tore at his tie, pulling it out of her way so that her fingers could undo the buttons of his dress shirt.  She didn’t even care about his suit jacket as long as she could reach the skin underneath all of that refined, tailored fabric.

He shifted her weight and brought her the rest of the way up the stairs.  When they finally tumbled onto her bed, she felt freed and more than eager to tear his clothes off.  She tried to slap his hands away when they got in her way, but he only grinned and shook his head before grabbing both of her hands, holding them over her head so that his free hand could lift her shirt up, pull her bra out of the way and his mouth devoured her breast.

Jessica cried out, arching into his mouth while her hips shifted under his, her legs wrapping around his waist in a desperate attempt to find the satisfaction that he was continuously denying her.

“Let my hands go,” she almost yelled at him.

He only laughed and shook her head.  “Not a chance,” he said and his hand moved down her waist, quickly working the buttons on her slacks before he pushed them down and off her legs.  He finally released her hands when he had her as naked as he needed her, but only so that he could get rid of his own clothes.  With swift movements, he tossed his clothes off, uncaring of where they landed.

Jessica watched for all of one second before she sat up and pressed her mouth against his nearly naked chest, doing to him what he’d just done to her.  Her mouth covered his flat nipple and she almost smiled when he groaned at her caress.  She felt his hands on her shoulders and knew that he was about to push her back so she wrapped her arms around his waist to delay him.

When he allowed her the time, his hands diving into her hair and she reveled in how glorious it felt to feel him with her hands and her mouth not to mention the rest of her body.  She moved her mouth downward, wanting to explore the muscles lower down on his abdomen but he growled and took her hands off his back, pinning them up above her head once again.

With a swift movement, he entered her, filling her up completely while he watched her face.  He didn’t want to hurt her, but he needed her almost violently and she took all of him, shifting slightly to accommodate his size but the look of rapture on her gorgeous features told him that she was fine.  More than fine, actually.  As he moved inside of her, he reveled in how perfectly this little woman fit him.  She was the perfect size for him and he loved it when her legs moved higher, wrapping around his waist once again.

He pushed deeper, watching her face to gauge how slow or fast he should move.  Her face was so expressive but when she was about to climax, he knew exactly what was going on because her eyes opened up, her hands on his shoulders curled up and she arched her back.  The keening sound coming from her was so incredibly sexy that he couldn’t hold back his own orgasm any longer even though he wanted to push her higher, make it better for her.  As she throbbed around him, he knew that he’d never find any woman who fit so perfectly and made him feel so absolutely, incredibly good.

A long time later, Jessica looked around, startled to find her bed a complete mess.  How had the comforter come up like that, she wondered, trying to slow her breathing down.  She didn’t want him to know how completely he rocked her world.  If she was going to pull away from him, she had to be firm.

She could almost laugh at that admonition to herself since she was still attached to him intimately.  She hadn’t done a very good job of staying away from him yet, had she?

He shifted his weight and walked to the bathroom, coming back a moment later to look down at her as she curled up into the bed covers.  “You didn’t answer my question,” he said and leaned down over the bed once again, those soft, chocolate eyes looking back at him warily.

“You can’t stay here.  This was a mistake,” she said, but gasped when he tore the comforter away from her hands so she couldn’t hide her nakedness from him anymore.

“Since we’re going to be doing it a lot after our wedding, I don’t see any need to abstain from the activity now.  We’re getting married tomorrow, by the way.  Eleven o’clock.”

“No,” she gasped and tried to move away when his hands slid along her skin once again.  She rolled over to stop his fingers from finding her breasts and tried to distract herself by looked out the window at the diffused sunshine coming in through the sheer draperies.  It didn’t work though.  Edward even in a one hundred foot proximity seemed to have her blood pumping and her body doing all those rocket-like things.  She just hoped her reaction to him was a secret.  Probably not though.  The man knew a woman’s body well, and he definitely knew how to play her like an instrument.  Not that she minded, of course.  Well, she minded, but she just wished the issue were….different.

Edward just laughed softly at her new position and softly stroked her back, enjoying the way she gasped and her mouth opened, a good indication that she was just as turned on as he was.  “Wanting to try something new?”  he asked and grabbed her ankles, pulling her slowly down the bed so that she was back underneath him.

“What are you talking about?”  she asked, looking over her shoulder at him.

His fingers left a trail of fire down her back and she tried to wiggle away when they reached her bottom, but he held her hips and continued doing what he wanted.  “If this is what you want to try next, I’m all for it,” he murmured his mouth following where his fingers had just been.  He found several spots on her back that were almost as sensitive as her breasts and he teased her unmercifully, his body already hard and ready, aching to be inside her again.

“Edward, we can’t do this,” she said, but she prayed that he wouldn’t stop, her hands gripping the bed covers as the desire spiked within her body, making her crazy once again.  When he kneeled behind her and pulled her hips back, she didn’t understand.  But as he entered her from that angle, she gasped out loud, completely in agreement with this new position.  And he didn’t relent until she was screaming out his name, her whole body throbbing and exhausted.