The Rumours Collection

‘What’s on the menu?’ Bad choice of words.

Her eyes glinted. ‘What do you fancy?’

He tried not to look at her mouth but a force far more powerful than his resolve pulled his gaze to its lush ripeness. ‘What’s on offer?’ What was it with him and the double entendres? He was acting like Jake, for God’s sake.

‘Whatever you want,’ she said. ‘Your wish is my command.’

‘I thought you didn’t take too kindly to commands?’

She tiptoed her fingers along the corded muscles of his arm. ‘Maybe I’ll make an exception tonight.’

He suppressed a shiver as her fingers lit every nerve under his skin with red-hot fire. Need pulsed in his groin. Lust growled, roared. ‘Why?’

‘Because I’ve missed you.’

Julius barked out a laugh and gently pushed her arm away as he moved past. ‘Go to bed.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me you were going away?’

He turned back to look at her. ‘You’re answerable to me. Not me to you. Or has that somehow slipped your attention?’

Her caramel-brown eyes ran over him like a lick of flame. ‘Were you with a lover?’

He gritted his teeth until his jaw ground together like two tectonic plates. ‘No. I was working. Remember that word you seem to have so much difficulty with?’

She leaned one shoulder against the door jamb. ‘I’ve been working. Go ask Sophia.’

‘I will, but not at this time in the morning.’

Her eyes did another scan of his body, her chin coming to rest at a haughty height. ‘I even cleaned your room.’

Julius didn’t like the thought of her in his room. Actually, he liked the thought way too much. His mind filled with images of her laid out on his bed, her gorgeous, luscious body as hungry for him as he was for her. His flesh crawled with lust. It was like a fever in his blood. Raging. Taking him. Taking over his control like a shot of a powerful drug. ‘I’d prefer it if you’d stay out of there.’

‘Why?’ she said. ‘You let Sophia change your bed. Why shouldn’t I?’

Because I want you in it, not changing it, he thought with a savage wave of self-disgust. ‘I trust you left everything as you found it?’ he said.

Her brows drew together. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘I seem to recall your rap sheet includes theft.’

‘So?’

‘So I want you to keep your hands clean.’

Her top lip curved up on one side. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘You have nothing I want.’

‘Only my body.’

A dark, triumphant glint shone in her gaze. ‘Not as much as you want mine.’

‘You think?’

‘I know.’

Julius wanted to prove he could resist her. He needed to prove it, if not to her then to himself. He reached for her, encircling her wrists with his fingers. Holding her. Securing her. Her eyes widened but not in fear. He could read her signals as easily as she read his. Mutual desire ran between them like the shock of an electric current. He could feel it through her flesh where it was in contact with his. He looked at her mouth and watched as she ran the tip of her tongue over her lips, leaving a glistening sheen.

Her eyelashes came down over her eyes, her breath dancing over his lips as she rose on tiptoe. He felt the brush of her body against his just before her mouth touched his. He didn’t move. Didn’t respond. Willed himself not to respond. Her tongue licked his top lip and then his lower one. The tantalising friction set his nerves screaming for more but still he stayed statue-still.

She came at him again, her tongue sweeping over his lower lip in a drugging caress that made his groin tighten to the point of pain. The need to taste her, to take control of the kiss, was like an unstoppable tide. He let out a muttered swear word as he splayed his hands through her hair and covered her mouth with his.

Her lips were soft and full, her mouth tasting of chocolate, milk and temptation. He drove his tongue through her parted lips, plundering her mouth, seeking her tongue to tangle with it in a duel that made the blood pump all the harder in his veins. She made a sexy little sound of approval as he pulled her closer to his body, letting her feel his hardness, the need he couldn’t hide even if he’d wanted to.

Julius succoured on her mouth as if it was his only source of sustenance. She was a drug he hadn’t known he had a taste for until now. He was lethally addicted to her. His body craved hers. Ached for hers. He pulled at her lower lip with his teeth, taking little nips and bites before using his tongue to salve where he had been. She responded with her own little series of playful bites, not just on his mouth, but also on his neck, and his earlobes, sucking on them until he thought he was going to disgrace himself. He shivered as her tongue came back to play with his, in and outside of their mouths in little flicks and thrusts of lust.

He took charge again by backing her up against the wall, his hands shaping her curves as his mouth crushed hers. She made a little whimpering sound as one of his hands cupped her breast. She moved against him, a gesture of encouragement he was in no state to resist. He shoved aside her top and bra to access her naked flesh. He brought his mouth down to suckle on her erect nipple before he swirled his tongue around her areole. He kissed his way over her breast, lingering on the underside when he heard her gasp as if he had found a particularly sensitive erogenous zone.

The skin there was as soft and smooth as silk. He trailed his tongue like a rasp along that scented curve, his senses in overload as he thought of how much he wanted to possess her. It was a driving force in his body. A primal urge he had no hope of controlling. His desire was a wild, primitive beast that had broken free of its chains and was now on the rampage.

Julius uncovered her other breast and subjected it to the same sensual assault, breathing in the fragrance of her body—a mixture of the flowery perfume he had bought her and her own bewitching female scent. The scent that was filling his nostrils, making him crazy, making him want her more than he had wanted anyone.

He left her breasts to come back to her mouth, driving his tongue through the seam of her lips, as he wanted to drive through the seam of her body. She gave a breathless whimper and reached between their hard-pressed bodies to uncover him. Her hands were on his belt buckle and then his zip, but he didn’t do anything to stop her. It was too intoxicating to feel those wicked little hands moving over him, releasing him, stroking him, pleasuring him.

He smothered a rough curse as her thumb caressed the sensitive head of his erection while her mouth played with his. He had never had a more exciting encounter. He wanted to feel her mouth on him, to have her submit to his wildest fantasies.

And, as if she was acting a role scripted right from his imagination, she sank to her knees in front of him, cupping him, breathing over him with her dancing breath, her moist tongue poised.

He put a hand on the top of her head and pulled back. ‘No,’ he said. ‘You don’t have to do that.’

She looked up at him questioningly. ‘But I thought all guys...?’

‘It’s not safe without a condom,’ Julius said.

She got to her feet, pushing a strand of her hair back behind one of her ears as she did so. ‘That’s a first.’

He frowned as he thought of all the men who had been with her. How many? Did it matter? Who was he to judge? He’d had his share of sexual encounters. Not as many as his brother, but enough to forget times, places and, yes, even some names.

But there would be no forgetting Holly Perez, he thought. The taste of her was still fizzing on his tongue. The feel of her was still tingling in his fingertips. His need of her was still firing in his blood.

‘Holly.’

She rounded on him with a combative look. ‘So who won that round, do you think? I kissed you but you took it to another level.’

Julius blew out a jagged breath. ‘That should never have happened.’

Her chin inched up, her eyes flashing at him. ‘You want me but you hate yourself for it, don’t you?’

‘I don’t want to complicate my life, or indeed yours.’

‘That wasn’t the message I was getting a few minutes ago when you had your mouth on my breast—’

‘Will you stop it, for God’s sake?’ Julius said. ‘This is not going to happen, okay?’

Her brown eyes shone with a victorious gleam. ‘It already did,’ she said, moving up so close he could feel her breasts against his chest. ‘You’re not going to get that wild animal back in its cage any time soon, are you, Julius?’

He looked down at the tempting curve of her sinful mouth. The mouth he had savaged, pillaged and supped on like a starving man. The luscious and deliciously ripe mouth that had offered to pleasure him. God strike him down for wanting her to. He put his hands on her hips to gently push her back from him but then his right hand felt a cube-shaped ridge against her hip. ‘What’s that in your pocket?’

Her expression faltered for a moment before she tried to move away. ‘What? Oh...nothing.’

Julius held her steady, his hands anchoring her so she had to face him. ‘Empty your pockets.’

Her eyes flickered with something that looked suspiciously like panic. ‘Why?’

‘Because I asked you to.’

‘Just because you asked me doesn’t mean I’ll—’

Julius held her left hip with one hand while he dug in her right pocket with the other. He pulled out the cufflinks Miranda had bought him for his last birthday, holding them right in front of Holly’s defiant face. ‘Want to tell me how they got in there?’

Her teeth sank into her bottom lip. Her eyes skittered away from his. ‘I—I can explain...’

He dropped his hands from her as if she was burning him. Which she was. Burning him. Exploiting him. Stealing from him while his back was turned. How could he have thought she might not be as bad as she acted? How could he have been so stupid as to feel affection for her? What an idiot he was. How could he have let her fool him into believing she was worthy of a second chance? She wasn’t just deceitful—she was dangerous. He was nuts to have let her get under his guard. She was a liar and a thief and he’d been too damn close to getting caught in her sugar-coated web.

‘I want you out of here by morning,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to hear your explanation. There isn’t an explanation you could give that would satisfy me.’

‘I was in your walk-in wardrobe earlier tonight.’

‘Doing what?’

‘Straightening your ties.’

Julius laughed. ‘What? You can’t do better than that?’

Her chin came up to a pugnacious height. ‘I got caught off-guard when Sophia came in unexpectedly. I panicked. I hid in your wardrobe as I thought it was you. I didn’t realise I’d put the cufflinks into my pocket until just now. I honestly don’t remember doing it. It must’ve been an impulse or...or something...’

He rolled his eyes. ‘Do you really think I’m that stupid?’

She bit her lower lip again. ‘I know it looks bad...’

‘Why were you in my room?’

She shrugged one of her shoulders. ‘I was having a look around.’

‘For what?’ he said. ‘Loose change?’

She gave him a gimlet glare. ‘I know you think I’m nothing but a petty thief but I didn’t take them on purpose. It was an...an accident.’

Julius gave another cynical laugh. ‘Yes, Officer,’ he said in a parody of her voice. ‘I was just walking past Mr Ravensdale’s wardrobe and the diamond cufflinks fell into my pocket by accident.’

Holly set her mouth. ‘I don’t care what you think. I know I didn’t steal them and that’s all that matters.’

‘Actually,’ Julius said. ‘It’s not all that matters. Your caseworker will ask me when she calls in the morning and I’ll have to tell her you’ve been stealing.’

Her eyes blazed as they met his. ‘Tell her. See if I care.’

She did care. Julius was sure of it. He came to stand in front of her, close enough to feel the heat of her body emanating towards his. He picked up a handful of her hair close to her scalp, making her feel each strand pulling as he brought her mouth close to his. He let his breath mingle with hers, teasing her with the promise of what was to come. ‘Here’s where your little game backfires, querida,’ he said. ‘You want me just as much as I want you. You weren’t expecting that, were you? You thought this would be a one-sided game but it’s not.’

Her body brushed against his, by intention or chance he couldn’t quite tell. But he saw the reaction on her face—the flicker of want that flashed across her features. The way her pupils dilated, the way her tongue sneaked out to moisten her lips. ‘Get your hands off me,’ she said.

‘When I’m good and ready.’ He brought his mouth even closer, breathing in the scent of her, bumping noses with her, nudging her with his chin, rasping his tongue along the seam of her mouth. Teasing her the way she had teased him. He heard her sharp intake of breath as his tongue stroked harder, more insistently. He could feel the struggle in her. The will she had to resist him was faltering just as his had faltered in him. She leaned towards him, her mouth open, her hands on his chest, not flat in the effort of pushing him away, but her fingers curling into the front of his shirt as if she never wanted to let him go.

He allowed himself one touchdown on her mouth. But one wasn’t enough. How could he have thought it would ever be enough? Her mouth flowered open even further beneath the light pressure of his until he was suddenly swept up in a passionate exchange that had his blood thundering all over again.

Her tongue entwined with his, her arms looped around his neck, drawing him closer. His hands went to her neat behind, holding her against his throbbing heat. Her breasts were pushed against his chest so hard he could feel her pert nipples through the layers of their clothes.

Her hand reached between their bodies and stroked the hardened length of him, inciting his lust to fever pitch. He did the same to her, outlining her feminine form with the stroke of his fingers until she was breathing as hard as him. He took it one step further, driven by an urge he couldn’t control. He tugged her trousers down past her hips so he could access her naked skin. He slipped one finger inside her, his control almost blowing when he felt how hot and wet and tight she was. She gasped and moved against his hand in a plea that needed no language other than the one their bodies were speaking. He stroked the bud of her core with the pad of his thumb, feeling it swell and peak under the pressure of his touch.

She suddenly gripped his shoulders and arched up as she convulsed. Violently. Repeatedly. He felt every contraction of her orgasm. Watched as the pleasure rose in a tidal glow over her face.

He kissed her mouth. Hard. Passionately. Swallowing the last of her breathless gasps as the aftermath of release flowed through her.

But then she slipped out of his hold, not quite able to hold his gaze. Her hands pulled up her trousers and fixed her gaping shirt before going across her body in a defensive, keep-away-from-me pose.

‘Holly...’

She gave him a tight smile that didn’t reach her eyes. ‘What’s the protocol here? Should I say thanks? Or offer to do you in return?’

He let out a long breath. ‘That won’t be necessary.’

‘Well, thanks anyway,’ she said. ‘I didn’t know I had it in me to get off like that. That’s quite some technique you’ve got there.’

Julius scraped a hand through his hair. ‘I shouldn’t have taken things that far.’

‘No problemo,’ she said. ‘I enjoyed it, as you could probably tell. Which is another first.’

He frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I’ve never had an orgasm with a guy before.’

‘Never?’

‘No, but don’t tell any of my ex-partners that,’ she said. ‘You know how fragile the male ego is.’

‘How many partners have you had?’

‘Four. Five, if you count yourself,’ she said. ‘But does that count, since you didn’t actually put your...?’

‘No,’ Julius said. ‘It doesn’t.’

She shifted her lips from side to side. ‘So, are we done here?’

He moved far enough away from her so he wouldn’t be tempted to touch her. ‘I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight.’

‘You mean you’re not sending me on my way to prison after all?’

Julius clenched his jaw. ‘I’m giving you one more chance.’ He hoped he wouldn’t regret it.

She walked to the door to leave but at the last moment turned and looked at him. ‘If I’d wanted to pinch your cufflinks, do you think I’d be carrying them around in my pocket?’

‘Maybe you haven’t had time to hide them in your room.’

Her eyes held his without shame. Without flinching. ‘I had time to do lots of things. I could’ve called the press, for instance. I could’ve given them an exclusive.’

‘Why didn’t you?’

She gave one of her cute little lip-shrugs. ‘I don’t like it when people say stuff about me that isn’t true, so why would I do that to someone else?’

Julius had measured the risks when he’d left to go away for work. But he’d figured Sophia would keep things in check. His housekeeper guarded his privacy almost more zealously than he did himself. But it was true Holly could have made things difficult for him. She could have made herself a small fortune. All it would have taken was a phone call. Why hadn’t she? It wouldn’t even have broken her probation conditions. Had he misjudged her? Or was this a clever ploy of hers, to get him to trust her before she went for broke? ‘Thank you for acting so...honourably,’ he said.

Her features took on a cynical cast. ‘Haven’t you heard there’s honour amongst thieves?’

‘But you keep insisting you’re not a thief.’

‘I’m not.’

Julius wanted to believe her. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe to reassure himself he wasn’t harbouring a criminal under his roof. Maybe so he could justify his growing affection for her. Something about the way she held herself, the stubborn pride he could see glittering in her gaze as it held his, made him wonder if he wasn’t the only one to have misjudged her. He knew enough about the legal system to know the courts did not always serve justice. Attack-dog lawyers could swing a case. Evidence could be planted. Reputations ruined by innuendo. Holly had no money, no way of defending herself against a powerful lawyer. She had already hinted about the bleakness of her background. What chance would someone like her have against a system that favoured those with unlimited money and power at their disposal?

‘It’s late,’ he said. ‘You should’ve been in bed hours ago.’

‘By the way, thanks for the clothes and make-up and stuff.’

‘You’re welcome,’ he said. ‘Your hair looks nice, by the way.’

‘Much more acceptable, huh?’

‘It was fine the way it was, but I thought—’

‘It’s fine, Julius,’ she said with another stiff smile. ‘Do you airbrush all of your girlfriends?’

‘You are not my girlfriend. And, no, I do not.’

There was an odd little silence.

Julius watched as she sank her teeth into her lower lip as if she had suddenly found herself out of her depth. Had he offended her by organising a hairdresser? Sophia had suggested it, but now that he thought about it, maybe it had sent the wrong message. Had the clothes also been too much? Had he made her feel she wasn’t acceptable without fine feathers? He thought he’d been helping her. She’d been bathing in her underwear. Surely it was the decent thing to do, to buy her appropriate clothing? The make-up and perfume... Well, didn’t all girls enjoy that sort of stuff? She had come with so little luggage. Just a beaten-up backpack that hardly looked big enough to carry anything. Surely it hadn’t been wrong to give her a few things to make her feel better about herself...or was he trying to make himself feel better about those fingerprints on her arms?

His gut clenched sickeningly as he thought of how easily she could have exploited him. All it would have taken was a photo of those bruises and a call to a nosy journalist and his reputation would have been shot. She’d had the perfect opportunity to get back at him, yet she hadn’t. The week had passed without incident. Sophia had informed him Holly had been a perfect house guest, going out of her way to be helpful.

A good girl...

Not a moment’s trouble...

‘If you say you didn’t intend to steal the cufflinks, then I believe you.’ It was only once Julius said the words that he believed they were true. Her explanation was perfectly reasonable. She could have been startled and slipped them into her pocket without realising. How many times had he done the same with his keys when something or someone distracted him?

Or was he looking for a way to keep her with him?

It was a shock to think his motives were perhaps not as altruistic as they ought to be. The energy he felt with Holly, the electric buzz of sensation and thrill of her, overrode everything that was logical and responsible in him.

Her eyes widened momentarily before narrowing. ‘Why?’

‘I just do.’

She dropped her gaze from his. ‘Thank you.’ Her voice was just a thread of sound. Then she seemed to gather herself and brought her eyes back to his for a brief moment. ‘Well, goodnight, then,’ she said and left him with just the lingering scent of her fragrance to haunt his senses.

CHAPTER NINE

HOLLY CLOSED THE door to her bedroom and leaned back against it as she let out a long, shuddering breath. Julius believed her. He actually believed she hadn’t tried to steal those wretched cufflinks. She hadn’t registered she’d put them there, or at least not consciously. It had been a knee-jerk reaction to being discovered in his room. She must have slipped them into her pocket when she’d first heard Sophia and forgotten about them.

But Julius said he believed her.

How could he? She would never have believed him if the tables had been turned. But then, she was cynical. She didn’t trust anyone. She was always on guard, always watching out for someone to take advantage, to rip her off or exploit her.

Was Julius different? Was he the sort of person to suspend judgement until reliable evidence came in?

Holly wondered if she had done herself a disservice by antagonising him so much. He might turn out to be the best ally she had ever had. But from the moment she had met him she had put him off-side. Winding him up, needling him, making him believe things about her that weren’t true.

Was it too late to turn things around? Could she even bother? She would only be here another couple of weeks and then she’d be gone. It had never worked for her to get too attached to anyone or any place. They always changed. People changed. Circumstances changed. One minute she would feel marginally secure and then the rug would be ripped out from beneath her and she would hit the hard, cold floor. This time with Julius in his flash villa was a temporary thing. There would be no point in getting too comfortable. He hadn’t even wanted her here in the first place. She was a burden he had to bear.

Why was she always a burden?

Why couldn’t someone want her in spite of all her faults? In spite of all her failings? In spite of all her stupid impulses that caused her more trouble than she wanted?

Her body was still firing with the sensations Julius had made her feel. Cataclysmic sensations she had never felt before. He had barely touched her and she had gone off like a firecracker. But he had remained in control. She had even offered to pleasure him and he’d held back. She still couldn’t understand why she had done that. Why she had felt such an urgent desire to take him in her mouth bewildered her. She loathed oral sex. The musky, stale scent of a man usually nauseated her.

But with him it was different.

He wasn’t musky and stale. He was fresh and intoxicating in his maleness. She had wanted to explore him, to pleasure him, to make him buckle at the knees in the same way he had done to her. But he hadn’t insisted on her doing it. He hadn’t pressured her.