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“I see. Okay, well, I can catch a cab back to Sanna’s place if you’d like,” I announced, tossing off the covers.
“What I’d like is to wake up with you in my arms, Mellie,” he whispered softly as he eased down on the edge of the bed and tucked the sheets back around me. “I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”
“I’ll be here.” I smiled.
He bent and placed a quick, chaste kiss on my lips. “Get some sleep. I’ll try not to wake you when I get back.”
As he left, he turned off the lights. Tugging at the blanket, I snuggled his pillow. The clock on the nightstand bathed the room in an eerie blue glow. Breathing in his rugged scent lingering on the pillow, I drifted off to sleep.
I didn’t hear him come back to bed, but when I woke the next morning, he was laying on his side facing me, snoring softly. Even though the cloudy fog of slumber enveloped my brain, he looked beautiful. Rumpled sandy blond hair dusted his forehead, and I stared at the tiny lines around his eyes as I’d done before. Drinking in the golden scruff adorning his face and the fullness of his erotic lips, I longed to trace my fingertips over every inch of his face. Instead, I closed my eyes and branded his peaceful image to memory.
Glancing at the clock, I saw it was almost noon. My stomach rumbled, and I was dying for a steaming cup of coffee, but I nuzzled in against Joshua and exhaled a blissful sigh. The enchantment was severed by the sound of my cell phone. Joshua woke with a start. Bolting upright in bed at the unfamiliar sound, he scrubbed a hand over his face as I scurried to retrieve my phone.
“Hello?”
“Mellie? Hayes here. I’m sorry if I’m disturbing you. I know you’re out of town. I got your automated e-mail message.” Hayes Brockman, a rich oil tycoon with more money than sense, prattled on in my ear. He and his wife Dixie had sold their home in Corpus Christie years ago and bought a castle in northern England. Every six months or so, Dixie grew tired of the décor, and Hayes would hire me for another one of her never-ending projects.
“It’s good to hear your voice. How are you and Dixie doing?”
“Not too good, actually. She’s got a bee in her bonnet and wants the dining hall gussied up again. Problem is, we’ve got Lord and Lady Galbraith of Northshire scheduled for some pomp and circumstance shin-dig in three weeks.”
“Three weeks?” I choked.
Joshua frowned as he watched and listened.
“Yeah, yeah. I know. I tried telling Dixie you wouldn’t have time, but dagnabbit, she put on the saddest puppy dogs eyes, I couldn’t take it. Besides, you know how she gets once she sets her mind on something. So, I promised her I’d call and see if there’s a way you can move heaven and earth and work your magic to get us fixed up in time.”
I glanced back at Joshua, now sitting on the edge of the bed, naked. His eyes were vacant, and his expression looked so bleak, my heart clutched.
No. No. Not yet. My head screamed as a wave of despair reached up from my gut and squeezed my heart. I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath.
“Of course. I’ll catch a flight tomorrow. I’ll call you from New York with my arrival information.”
Hayes let out one of his infamous hog calls and thanked me profusely. When I hung up, I swallowed the lump of grief clogging my throat. Forcing a weak smile, I walked to the bed, straddled his legs, and crawled onto Joshua’s lap.
“Duty calls,” I murmured softly. “I have to leave for London in the morning.”
Sliding my arms over his shoulders, I nuzzled his chest. He banded me in a desperate grip, and I fought to hold back my tears.
“I’m sorry,” I choked.
“Shhh,” Joshua soothed. “Just let me hold you, little one.”
The grief resonating in his tone was more than I could bear. Enveloped in his sheltering arms, I mourned the days and nights we wouldn’t share. The bittersweet taste of submission would be gone, replaced with the pain of severing our newfound connection too damn soon.
“It’s only three weeks, right?”
I nodded gloomily.
“Then go do what you need to and come back to me when you’re done.”
Before I could open my mouth, Joshua tipped my chin, cupped my cheeks. and pressed his lips to mine. His kiss held more than passion, much, much more. There was adoration, devotion, and promise on his tongue as he rolled me beneath him.
Just as he’d done in the shower, Joshua set a leisurely pace, trailing kisses down my throat, over my chest, and lower still, to my breasts. He laved, sucked, and scraped his teeth over my pebbled nipples, and I cried out.
Repositioning his body, Joshua straddled my chest. Gripping my hair in a firm but subdued hold, he coaxed my mouth to his shaft. Guiding my mane with his fist, he dictated the tempo and depth of each slick caress. His body tensed and relaxed as I worshiped his cock, and all the while, he murmured praise and encouragement. Working my lips up and down his shaft as he allowed, I basked in the submissive glory he granted.
“Enough. I’m going to come down your sinful throat if you don’t stop,” he cautioned with a hoarse cry as he pulled from my mouth. Capturing my wrists in one talented hand, he raised my arms above my head. “Keep them there and open your legs for me, gorgeous.”
