Blurring the Lines-nook (16 page)

Her gaze lifted, colliding with his. “He would do
anything
to have me, Burke. But you, on the other hand, you gave me up.”

The accusation came out of left field. And stung like hell. “What?”

She shook her head, as if trying to jostle her thoughts into the order she wanted.
“I’m Princess the dog, and you gave me to the neighbor.”

She looked at him as if that explained everything. But the words didn’t line up right
in his brain. Maybe he’d had one too many scotches. “What the hell are you talking
about,
cher
? What was I supposed—”

“You gave me up. Twice.” She held up two fingers. “And walked away.”

“Gretch—”

“Don’t deny it. You gave me up. You did it back in high school and you did it today.”

“I—” He didn’t know what to say to that. Her words were coming at him too fast.

“Why didn’t you fight for me after we had our first kiss?” she asked, a determined
ferocity in her voice. “Why didn’t you make another move?”

He stared at her, dumbstruck. “Are you serious?”

“I need to know.”

“Christ.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Isn’t it obvious? Because my brother
was into you. You liked him back. What the hell was I supposed to do? I’m not a total
douchebag. I wasn’t going to steal you from him just because I had a thing for you.
I knew you’d be happy with him. He could give you shit I couldn’t. And where—”

“Shut up.”

“I’m—” But before he could get another word out, she launched herself at him, bringing
her lips down on his, sending his brain on a spin and his back against the couch.
He eked out a sound of protest, but then she swung her leg over his lap and straddled
him, kissing him like she was starved. Any plan he’d had to talk this out dissolved
in a flash. Gretchen on lap—all systems go. His lips parted, and he banded an arm
around her waist, hauling her even closer.

Everything around them seemed to move in hyper speed—people walking by, music coming
from the club. But in their little bubble, it was only the two of them in glorious,
passionate slow motion. Like time was stretching just for them. She called his name
on a breath between kisses and his entire body burned hot.

“Oh,
cher
…”

She broke away for a second, breathing hard, her breasts rising and falling beneath
her thin tank top, her arousal deliciously on display before him. “Take me to one
of these rooms.”

He pressed a kiss to her throat. “Hmm?”

“Take me to one of these rooms, Burke. Please.”

That got his attention and broke him out his erotic haze. “Wait, you wanna—”

“Yes. More than anything.”

“But what about…”

She put her fingers over his lips, hushing him. “I love you.”

His heart thumped in his chest. He blinked. She couldn’t have said what he thought
he’d heard.

“No. Scratch that. I’m
in
love with you.” She lowered her hand from his mouth. “Not in second place. Not as
consolation. I love
you
, Burke. The Burke who’s always been there for me. The Burke who’d rather me be happy
even if it meant giving me up. I love you. Part of me always has.” She braced her
hands on his shoulders. “And now all of me does.”

The words were too good, too perfect. He couldn’t let himself take them in. “But Harris…”

She wet her lips and gave a little shake of her head. “It’s just us now, Burke. You
and me.”

Hope surged through him like a herd of wildebeests—thundering through him and crushing
any further questions.
Just us
. “Yeah?”

She gave him a tender smile. “Yeah. Now take me to a room, Chatty Cathy. I don’t want
to talk anymore.”

There were still a thousand questions in his head. But she loved him. Was in love
with him. That was all he needed to know right now. The rest could wait. “Which room
do you want, beautiful?”

“The one where you’re there.”

“Excellent choice.” He tightened his arms around her and stood with her in his arms.
She hooked her ankles behind his back, smiling despite the glimmer of heartache that
lingered in her eyes. Whatever she’d been through tonight had gutted her. She’d come
to him to escape into something good.

He wanted to give that to her.

He hadn’t paid attention to which room was where when he’d explored earlier, so this
would have to be luck of the draw. As long as Gretchen was with him, he didn’t really
care what the suite looked like.

He opened the first door and it appeared to be some medieval torture chamber complete
with shackles, whips, and stone floors. “Uh, maybe we should work our way up to this
one.”

She peered past his shoulder and laughed. “Good idea. Though, you were about to tie
up some other woman. You must have skills I don’t know about.”

He pinched her hip as he let the first door shut behind him. “Smartass. I wasn’t going
anywhere with that girl. But yes, there are skills. Many, many skills.”

“Cocky.”

“Part of my charm.” He bumped open the next door, and a suite styled like some secret
bedroom of a Victorian manor spread out before them. Antique furniture and dark colors.
Soaring ceilings. Salacious paintings on the walls. Everything with just a hint of
age to it.

“Well, I must say, sir,” Gretchen said in an over exaggerated British accent. “This
is more than I was expecting. I feel quite underdressed. I forgot to wear my corset.”

Burke eyed the four-poster bed and silk sashes hanging from the corners. Not necessarily
what he would’ve picked for them, but the place had possibilities.

“Care for a romp, milady?” he asked, then registered the second part of her statement.
“Wait, you have a corset?”

She waggled her brows. “Yep, bought one for a portrait session in art school, but
the professor deemed it too revealing.”

“Too revealing? Ah,
cher
. Now I’m going to have to see you in this corset to make a determination.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yep. No getting out of it. Pictures have been painted. I must verify that my imagination
is accurate.”

She laughed and kissed him. “How about I try it on for you when we get back home?”

Home.

His lungs squeezed tight. He hadn’t dared to ask before now. “You’re coming home with
me,
cher
?”

She looped her arms around his neck. “It’s where I belong.”

“So Harris…”

Grief pinched her features. “The island gave me what I needed. It gave him the same.”

“And what was that?” he asked softly.

“A chance to say good-bye. A way for us both to let go.” She touched her forehead
to his. “I will always love him. But you were right. I know who my soul mate is.”

He closed his eyes and held her tight. “
Gretch.
”

“Thank you for letting me go.”

Warmth moved through him, seeping into all the dark, cold places. They’d be together.
She loved him back. “Don’t get used to it. I’ll never do that again.”

“Good.”

He shut the door quietly behind them, walked her over to the bed, and set her on her
feet to undress her. He took his time, kissing his way over her collarbone and down
her body, pausing at the best spots, reveling in the fact that she was really here
with him—fully. With all the history. All the hurt. All the memories. They’d found
each other anyway.

After undressing her and removing her sandals, he stood and stroked the curve of her
jaw. “Get on the bed,
cher
.”

“I’ve got a better idea.” She reached for his belt and unfastened his jeans. “You
got to explore last time. Now, it’s my turn.”

He brushed a kiss over her lips. “Is that right?”

She slipped her hand into his boxers and wrapped nimble fingers around his erection,
stroking upward slow and easy. He bit his lip to keep from groaning.

“Let me show you what I always imagined doing in the coffee shop after one of your
stories.” She lowered herself to her knees and yanked his jeans and underwear down
with her.

A hard shudder worked through him as he gazed down at her, that blond hair flowing
around her bare shoulders and her eyes brimming with feminine confidence. He brushed
the back of his hand over her cheek. “I knew you were having dirty thoughts when we
talked,
cher
. But if I’d known this was on your mind, I would’ve moved our talks to my place.”

Her lips tilted into a smirk as she coasted her hand up his rigid erection, pale fingers
against flushed skin. “Then you would’ve missed out on all those women on your trips
and had no stories to tell.”

He threaded his fingers in her hair, the sensation of her touch making his thoughts
slow and sticky. “Ah, that’s where you’re wrong. There were no women on those trips
except you. Any story I told was a fantasy about what I would’ve wanted to do with
if you’d been there with me.”

Her hand stilled, surprise lighting her eyes. “What?”

“Making love under a waterfall, curling up naked under the stars, binding a woman
with my bungee cords…those were my fantasies about you.”

Her forehead scrunched. “But Miss Georgia?”

“The only one who’s seen any action in a year is my hand.” He smoothed the wrinkles
in her forehead with his thumb. “You ruined me without ever trying.”

Something broke over her expression, and he thought for a moment she might cry. But
instead, she nuzzled her face against his thigh, sending hot goose bumps up his spine,
and then met his gaze as she put her mouth where her hand had been. He grabbed onto
the bedpost as she closed her lips around him and took him inside her lush mouth.
Sweet and hot and confident. Starbursts bloomed in his vision almost instantly. He
groaned and reached for the silk of her hair with his free hand.

How many lonely nights had he stroked himself while thinking about Gretchen? Imagining
what turned on her. Wondering if she’d be a tender lover or a bold one. Picturing
the things he wanted to do to her, how he wanted to make her feel. Now she was here
with him, taking him inside her body, tasting him like she’d been yearning for him
as much as he’d been for her.

She ran her tongue along the underside of his cock and made a sound of pure, decadent
appreciation—like she was the one receiving instead of giving. He wasn’t sure he’d
ever heard a more erotic sound.

But as bone-melting as the pleasure was, this wasn’t what he craved most tonight.
So after a few minutes of enjoying her talented mouth, he eased back, slipping free,
and took her hand to help her to her feet. She gave him a questioning look, but he
lifted her onto the bed instead of answering. He tugged his shirt over his head. “On
your belly,
cher
. I need you under me.”

Her lips were glossy and her eyes full of heat as her gaze cascaded over his body.
“You didn’t give me much time to explore, Mr. Brennan.”

He gave her a slow smile. “When we get home, you can tie me to the bed and do whatever
you want to me.”

Her eyebrow arched. “Don’t make promises you’re not willing to keep.”

“Never.” He crawled onto the bed and kissed her neck. “I’ve got a long list of fantasies
starring you. It’s going to take a while to get through it, I’m afraid.”

“Yeah?”

“Mmm,” he said with a serious nod. “Probably a lifetime. Maybe more.”

She looked thoughtful for a moment then smiled in a way that electrified everything
inside him. “I think that can be arranged.”

He grinned. A lifetime. Looked like Mr. Decker the jeweler would get some business
off Burke after all. Forever suddenly had a nice ring to it.

Gretchen settled back onto the pillows and eyed the silk sashes on either side of
her. “So I heard this rumor that you were good at knots?”

“Well, I’ve managed not to fall off the side of any cliffs.”

She gave him a grave look. “I think I’m at definite risk for falling right now. I
mean, did you see how high off the floor this bed is?”

He took one of her wrists in his hands and pressed his lips to the pulse point. “We
can’t have that. Safety first. Turn over,
cher
. I promise to keep you safe.”

He kissed Gretchen one more time and then rolled her over. Without another word, he
helped her into position and bound her with the silk, touching every part of her along
the way. He’d never been particularly into handcuffs or anything like that, but the
ritual of arranging her had him falling into this quiet place where nothing else existed
but the two of them. He could feel her body growing warmer, more aroused, her pulse
at her wrists pounding. She was breathtaking in her trust.

When he was finished securing everything, he kneeled behind her and took in the sight
of her creamy skin and the red sashes. A small part of him feared that he’d finally
come to the end of this crazy dream. That he’d wake up in his bedroom and there would
be no such place as Eden. That the girl he loved would still be hurting and trapped
in the past. That she’d still be lost to him.

But then Gretchen peered over her shoulder, his beautiful, sexy girl, with eyes full
of love. He knew then that this was no dream. He could’ve never dreamed up this version
of her. He wouldn’t have let himself imagine that he’d ever be this lucky.

He slid his hands to her hips, lifting her to him and kissed along the notches of
her spine. “I want to do really dirty things to you,
cher
.”

“And I want to let you.”

He reached around to stroke his fingers over her heat and groaned at the slippery
feel of her arousal. So. Damn. Sexy. “I love that you’re this hot for me already.”

“You seem to have that effect on me,” she said, her words getting a little choppy
as he explored.

He eased his fingers inside her, slow, purposeful. “Would you get this way when we
had our coffee dates?”

She tilted into his touch, hungry for it. “God, yes. I couldn’t get home fast enough
afterward.”