Kings of California

Gina watched as Adam stripped quickly out of his clothes. Her mouth went dry when he was naked and her gaze dropped down to the incredible, hard length of him.

Gina forced herself to relax, ordering her legs to loosen and the hard knot of worry to dissolve in the back of her mind. She’d known him her whole life practically. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her. Knew that even if he didn’t love her, he would take care of her.

Then he was moving over her and her brain shut down. All she had the strength to focus on were the sensations rippling through her body in relentless waves. His hands, his mouth, his body, lavished attention on her. Every inch of her felt alive and tingling.

He closed his mouth over one nipple and Gina nearly leaped off the bed. His lips and tongue and teeth tormented her until she whimpered and shifted beneath him, trying to get closer. Her hands slid up and down his broad, muscled back and her short, neat fingernails scraped over his skin.

He groaned against her and Gina’s hips rocked into him. She lifted one leg, trailing the sole of her foot along his leg, desperate to touch him. To feel all of him.

“You smell incredible,” he whispered, moving his mouth from one nipple to the other.

Gina made a mental note to buy more of the citrus/flowery body lotion she preferred.

She stared up at the moonlit ceiling above them and stared blindly as shadows shifted and waved against the pale lemon paint. Her breath struggled in and out of her lungs. Her body burned and when he moved lazily and she felt that hard, thick length of him rub her core, she gasped and arched higher. “Adam…”

“I know,” he whispered, lifting his head to look into her eyes.

She met his gaze with a dazed look, and saw the wildness in his eyes. Gina took his face between her palms and drew his head to her. She wanted to kiss him. To feel that connection of want and desire build between them. To have his body atop hers, his heartbeat thundering in time with her own.

The kiss seared them both. Heat and passion trembled in the air and Gina put all she had into it. She gave him her heart in that kiss, whether he knew it or not. She poured the feelings she’d so carefully banked for years into that one instant of mouths and hearts blending and when she felt him shift, positioning himself between her legs, she kissed him even harder.

She wanted his mouth on hers when he entered her and so she moved with him, spreading her thighs, lifting her hips while at the same time keeping her lips firmly attached to his. His tongue swept across the inside of her mouth as he pushed his body into hers.

He lifted his head, looked down into her eyes and held perfectly still, allowing her body to adjust to the presence of his. Gina groaned, digging her head into the mound of pillows behind her. She wriggled her hips, lifting, shifting, feeling him slowly sink deeper within and as he claimed her, inch by inch, she felt her body stretching to accommodate him.

“Oh, my…” She let out a breath on a sigh and looked up at him smiling down at her.

She smiled, then gasped as he rocked his hips, pushing higher within.

He eased back, sitting on his haunches, scooping his hands under bottom, lifting her hips a little, pulling her body down harder on his. “We’re just getting started.”

“Oh, boy.”

His thumb stroked the hard, hot nub of flesh at her center and Gina’s back arched high off the mattress. Her hands scrabbled for something to hold on to and her fingers curled into the silken sheets beneath her. It didn’t help; she still felt her world swaying and tilting weirdly around her as he moved, withdrawing only to plunge inside her again.

His fingers continued to rub and stroke her most sensitive spot, until Gina was writhing in his grasp, twisting her hips, unconsciously drawing his body deeper into hers. Too much, she thought. It was all too much. She couldn’t handle so many sensations. So much pleasure. Surely there was a saturation point where her body would simply dissolve and her mind become a puddle of goo.

And then he showed her differently. Reaching for her, he took hold of her waist and lifted her off the bed, settling her down on his lap, so that his length was deep inside her. Gina looked directly into his eyes as he guided her in an easy rhythm that had her rocking on him, tantalizing them both.

The wind slid into the room, and the scent of sage melded with the scent of their heated bodies and the bloom of sex. Skin met skin, breath intermingled and their sighs became a symphony of want and desperate need.

Moving on him, sliding her body onto his, Gina found a magic she’d never expected. Her body quivered, her insides straining, reaching toward the release that built within. Her heart swelled, filling with the thrill of being a part of Adam at long last. And her mind raced with images she couldn’t allow herself to indulge in. Images of Adam’s eyes shining with love for her. Images of the two of them, together. Always.

But even though a part of her mourned, she relished the feelings coursing through her. She looked into Adam’s eyes, lost herself in those dark, dark depths and watched as passion ignited, firing sparks she knew she had brought him.

Tension coiled tighter, tighter. Her body trembled. She held her breath and when she slid down his length one more time, the first explosion smashed into her.

“Adam!” She gripped his shoulders hard, trying to keep herself stable in a suddenly wildly unstable world.

“Let go,” he ordered, his voice a low rush of sound, scraping from his throat. “Let yourself go, Gina.”

She did. She couldn’t help it. Didn’t want to try. Instead she gave herself up to the incredible sensations coursing through her. Riding wave after wave of tremors that continued to ripple through her long after that first tremendous burst had diminished.

And when Gina thought she couldn’t take another moment, there was more. Adam dropped one hand to the spot where their bodies joined. Once again, he rubbed that tender piece of flesh that seemed to hold a store of electrical-like nerve endings. She jolted in his embrace and instinctively ground her hips against him.

“Adam…” She whispered his name now, a sigh of pleasure.

“Again,” he said, pushing her even higher than she’d been before. Her mind splintered, her body shattered and when she felt herself falling, she heard Adam groan and knew he was taking the fall with her.

Adam’s heart was racing and his body felt more lax than it had in years. He turned his head on the pillows to look at the woman lying beside him. Her eyes were closed, and she lay, one arm flung back behind her head, the other reaching toward him across the wide expanse of mattress.

Her skin was softer than the silk they lay on and her hair was a tumble of curls he couldn’t seem to touch enough. Her sighs, her pleasures, tempted him to take her again and again. Even now, he felt himself stir, his body already hardening for her.

“You’re watching me.”

“Your eyes are closed,” he pointed out. “How do you know?”

“I can feel it,” she said and turned her head on the pillows to look at him. A smile curved her delectable mouth and Adam felt another jolt of desire slam into him. Maybe this bargain between them hadn’t been such a good idea after all, he thought, at the realization that in the last hour with her, he’d felt more than he had in the last five years.

“Now you’re frowning,” Gina said, rolling to her side, unabashedly naked, her tanned, smooth skin nearly glowing in the moonlight. “No frowns allowed.”

“Don’t know if I can accommodate that request,” he said.

She sighed, pushed one hand through her hair, throwing the thick mass over her shoulder. “Adam, you don’t have to be worried.”

“What makes you think I’m worried?”

She laughed and the sound of it sang through the otherwise quiet room. “Please. I know exactly what you’re thinking.”

“Is that right?” Turning to face her, he went up on one elbow. “Then what am I thinking?” he said with a slight smile.

She stroked the tips of her fingers across the sheet covered distance separating them and Adam wished she were touching him.

“That’s easy. You’re worrying that you made a mistake by agreeing to this little bargain.”

He opened his mouth to argue, more because he hated knowing that she could read him so well than anything else, but she spoke up again.

“You’re worried that I’m building up romantic notions. Hoping you’ll fall in love with me.”

He frowned harder, because damn it, she was right. He had been worrying about that, too. But he wouldn’t admit it. “Wrong. I know you’re not doing anything that foolish.” At least, he hoped not. “After all, this was your idea.”

“True.” She smiled and rolled onto her stomach, coming closer to him. Close enough that he couldn’t keep himself from reaching one hand out to stroke the line of her spine, the curve of her bottom. And he wondered how in the hell she’d managed to get a tan all over.

Shaking his head to get rid of the image of her stretched out naked in the sun, Adam asked, “Why?”

“Why what?” She looked at him, her golden eyes shining in the darkness.

“Why’d you offer me this bargain? I mean, I know you want a baby. I understand that. What I want to know is why me?”

She stretched lazily, moving that tanned, toned body on the white silk sheets until blood vessels started popping in Adam’s brain.

“Easily enough explained, Adam,” she said, glancing at him. “You wanted the land, so that gave me some leverage….”

“Yes…” He wanted the rest of her reason.

“And, I’ve known you forever, Adam. I like you. I think you like me—”

He nodded. He did like Gina. He’d just never paid much attention to that fact over the years. She was younger than he was, so they hadn’t spent much time together when they were kids. Then, when they were grown, he’d had other priorities.

“—it seemed like the perfect answer to both of our problems.” She lifted one hand to him and stroked her palm across his chest. Adam sucked in a gulp of air at the heat that instantly shot through him. “And…I think the two of us will make a beautiful baby.”

A slice of something cold and dark cut through his mind at those words. He’d once made a vow to never have another child. To never open himself up to that kind of risk again. But this was different, he reasoned, so he pushed those thoughts into a corner of his mind. He’d made this bargain and he’d honor it. The child he and Gina made between them wouldn’t be a part of his life. He wouldn’t know it. Love it. Or lose it. In fact, best to not think about it at all.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered and Adam cut her a look.

“About what?”

“Talking about the baby I want must make you remember your son.”

Adam froze. He felt his features tighten and everything in him go hard and still as glass. Memories jumped into his mind, but he refused to acknowledge them. He turned them off as easily as punching the remote button aimed at a television. He’d had a lot of practice.

He wasn’t open to talking about the son he’d lost five years before and they might as well get that straight right up front. “I don’t talk about him. Ever.”

Her eyes went soft in sympathy and Adam resented it. He didn’t need her feeling sorry for him.

“I understand.”

“You couldn’t possibly,” he told her.

A silent second or two passed before Gina said, “Fine, you’re right. I don’t understand. I hope I never learn the kind of pain you experienced and—”

He caught her hand in his and gave it a hard squeeze. Just enough to get her to stop talking. How the hell had they gotten onto the subject of his lost family anyway? Wasn’t their bargain supposed to be about sex, plain and simple? “What part of ‘I don’t talk about it’ didn’t you get?”

She pulled her hand free of his, pushed herself up on the bed and leaned in close to him. Staring into his eyes, it looked as though she were searching for something, some sign that there was warmth hidden somewhere inside him. Adam could have told her to not bother looking.

After a long moment, Gina leaned in even further and kissed him, briefly, softly. “I get it, Adam. The subject’s off-limits.”

“Good.”

“I don’t want to talk anyway.” Gina stroked his cheek with her palm and drew his head closer to hers.

“That’s good, too.” At her touch, his body heated and was instantly ready for her again. He’d been too long without a woman, that was all. He’d been a damn recluse for five years, with only the occasional, temporary woman to ease needs that couldn’t be denied any longer.

That explained why his response to Gina was so overwhelming. It was just biological, that was all. It wasn’t about her. It was about sex. Need.

And when she moved into him, he kept telling himself that, even as he inhaled her scent, drawing it deep inside him. Even as he twisted his hand into her hair, letting the silky feel of it slide over his skin. Even as he took her mouth and tasted the sweetness that was Gina alone.

He couldn’t—wouldn’t—allow anything else.

She tried to roll over in his arms, but he kept her on her stomach and shifted enough that he could trail kisses along the length of her spine. Such soft, honey-brown skin. Such long lines and rich curves. He heard her sigh and felt her tremble as his left hand swept down to stroke her bottom. He glanced at her, saw her eyes closed, her hands fisted in the bank of pillows.

“Adam…”

“We have all night, Gina,” he said and suddenly knew that he wanted every moment of the night. He wanted her over him, under him. He wanted to taste and explore every glorious inch of her and then he wanted to start all over again.

Fire erupted in his blood as she moved on the sheets and he knew he had to have her. No more thinking. No more worrying about tomorrow or the day after that. For now, he would waste no more time with her.

Flipping her over with a quick twist, he grinned when she smiled up at him and lifted her arms in welcome. He slid into her embrace, covering her body with his and when he entered her, she arched her hips to take him completely. To hold him deep inside her heat. And Adam closed his mind to everything but her.

They moved together in a rhythm that left them both breathless. Bodies sang, minds emptied and when the first flash of release slammed into Gina, Adam held on to her, watching her eyes, dazzled with pleasure as he surrendered himself to the glory waiting for him.

Seven

Thanks to Esperanza Sanchez, Adam’s longtime housekeeper, Gina was pretty sure she’d gained five pounds in four days. The older woman was so happy to see Adam married again, she hadn’t stopped cooking all week. And every time Gina tried to help out in the kitchen, straighten up the living room or even to dust, she was shooed out of the room and told to go spend time with her new husband.

Not as easy as it sounded.

Esperanza was determined to see that Gina felt at home. Even if Adam was a little less than welcoming. Staring into a full-length mirror in the bedroom she now shared with Adam, Gina wasn’t looking at her own reflection so much as at the gigantic bed behind her. That was the only place she felt as though Adam was glad to have her in his home.

“Happy to have me in his bed anyway,” she muttered and tried to find the bright spot in that statement. At least they shared passion. At least they connected occasionally. Even if it was only physically.

“Pitiful, Gina, just pitiful.” She shook her head, met her own gaze in the mirror and gave her reflection one last glance. Not exactly a femme fatale, she admitted. In her pink T-shirt, worn jeans and boots, she looked more like a ranch hand than a newlywed. Her long dark hair hung down her back in a single braid and her eyes looked huge in her face.

She’d had a lot of hopes for this bargain. Had counted on Adam being a little easier to maneuver than he was proving. Instead he seemed determined to keep to himself. To keep their relationship as superficial as possible, despite the fact that they were married and living together.

Gina turned away, opened the French doors to their bedroom terrace and stepped out onto the glossy wood floor. The early morning sky was deep blue, but there were storm clouds banking out over the ocean. Now why, she wondered, did that sound like a perfect metaphor for her marriage?

They’d been back from Vegas for nearly a week, and it was as if that brief “honeymoon” had never happened. She leaned both hands on the second-story balcony railing and curled her fingers over the sun-warmed decorative iron. The minute they’d arrived back at the ranch, Adam had closed himself off. She actually felt like they were a couple those days and nights together. It was as if a switch inside him had been flipped. He’d become the recluse he’d been for five long years. She hardly saw him during the day and when she did, he was distant, if polite. The only time he warmed to her was at night.

Then, he was the man she’d always dreamed he would be. Then, he gave himself and took from her. Every time they came together was better than the time before. Frankly the sex was incredible. Gina’d never known anything quite like it. But at the bottom of it, if all they shared was great sex, was there anything between them worth fighting for?

“Way to go, Gina,” she muttered. “Depress yourself.”

She squinted into the sun and watched Adam walk with long, determined steps into the barn. Once he’d been swallowed by the shadows, Gina sighed. She wondered what he was doing. What he was thinking. He didn’t talk to her. Didn’t share his plans for the day. Didn’t let her into what was going on in his head. It was as if she were a boarder here at the ranch. Nothing more than a guest who would be moving on shortly.

Another sigh escaped before she could stop it. Bending slightly, she leaned her elbows on the railing and studied the shiny new gold band on her ring finger. She wasn’t a guest. She was his wife. For now.

At least, for as long as it took her to get pregnant.

Which, she thought, explained why she was still using her diaphragm. A tiny thread of guilt whipped through her like summer lightning. She admitted at least to herself that what she was doing wasn’t technically fair. But she was willing to risk everything for the chance at real love. Even if that meant Adam one day finding out what she’d done. If that day came, she’d confess all and hope that he understood.

Every night, he did everything he could to impregnate her, no doubt so that he could end the marriage quickly and send her on her way.

He just had no idea that she was sabotaging the bargain she had proposed in the first place.

“Gina, this might turn out to be a lot harder than you thought it would be.” And maybe, she admitted silently, it would be impossible.

But even as that thought niggled away in her brain, she vowed she wouldn’t give up so quickly.

She’d made the decision to keep using her diaphragm before the wedding. Yes, she wanted a baby. Adam’s baby. But she also wanted a chance to make Adam want her for longer than the duration of their arrangement. She wanted time for them to get used to each other. Time for him to realize that they could have something special together.

Time to make him fall in love with her.

Risky?

Oh, yeah.

But if she could pull it off, so worth it.

While her mind wandered down the “what if” paths it was getting so used to lately, she noticed a bright red sports car turning into the driveway. Before she could even wonder who their visitor was, though, another vehicle turned onto the ranch road right behind the zippy little car. This one was a huge horse trailer. Instantly excitement shot through her.

“They’re here!” She grinned, turned and ran back into the bedroom she shared with Adam. She raced through the big room, hardly looking at it, then down the hall and took the stairs two at a time. She was already standing in the driveway when the car and then the horse van pulled up in the yard and stopped.

A tall, gorgeous man stepped out of the car, took one look at Gina and said, “I’m guessing that eager welcome isn’t for me?”

Gina gave Adam’s brother a quick smile. Travis was so easygoing. So relaxed. So ready to smile and quick to laugh. How much easier would her life had been if she’d only fallen in love with him? Unfortunately, though, when she looked at him, she didn’t get that “zing” of something hot and sweet inside her. It was just pure female admiration for a gorgeous man.

“Hi, Travis. Nice to see you.” She waved a hand at the trailer. “My horses are here.”

“Upstaged by a truck full of horses?” Travis walked around the front of his car, then leaned lazily against the front fender. “Must be losing my touch. Came by to see my new sister-in-law and say welcome to the family.”

She knew that Travis and Jackson had a feeling of the true circumstances of her marriage, but he’d come anyway. Wanted to welcome her, however briefly, into the King family. For that, she wanted to kiss him. She walked to him and gave him a brief hug. “Thanks. I appreciate it, really.”

He gave her a hard squeeze and held on to her when she would have backed away. Looking down into her eyes, Travis asked, “How’s it going, Gina? Adam making you nuts yet?”

“Not completely.” She smiled, grateful for the understanding.

“Give him time,” Travis said with a wink. Then the smile faded from his face. “Gina, I just want you to be careful, okay? I don’t want to see you get hurt and—”

“Why’re you hugging my wife, Travis?” Adam’s voice boomed as he walked out of the barn.

“Well, she’s just so damn huggable, isn’t she?” Travis sounded amused as he gave her another squeeze. He winked down at her before letting her go.

Adam’s features were tight and his eyes were narrowed. Gina wished she could pretend he was actually a little jealous, but she had the feeling it was more about Travis showing up unannounced than about a hug.

Adam looked at her, then shifted his gaze back to his brother. “What’re you doing here?”

“And hello to you, too, big brother,” Travis answered.

Gina looked at her husband and tried to rein in her instant physical response. But it was way too late. No matter how she tried to control it, her body lit up the moment she saw Adam. Where she could look at Travis or Jackson, for that matter, and see a handsome man with a great body and lots of charm, that’s as far as it went. When she looked at Adam, though, her stomach fluttered with the nervous clip of butterfly wings and her heartbeat quickened into a fast gallop.

Even with his crabby nature and tendency to shut out anyone who threatened to get close, she loved him. Somewhere inside that perpetual crab, there was still the guy who at sixteen had helped her home after she’d fallen off her horse. Inside Adam, there was still the young hero who’d come to her rescue at a school dance when her date had gotten too grabby.

She looked at him and saw not only the past, but their possible future and the love for him she’d carried around inside her for years was alive and well. God help her. She took a deep breath, waited for him to look at her and then said with a forced brightness, “My horses are here.”

“I see that,” he said, shooting a glare at the trailer as it parked close to the corral. “Why?”

That she hadn’t expected. “What do you mean, why?”

“Simple question, Gina,” he said, folding his arms over his chest, planting his booted feet wide apart as if readying for battle. “Why are they here? Why didn’t you just keep them at your folks’ place?”

Gina stared at him. He was mad about her horses being shuttled to the ranch? “Because I live here now.”

“Temporarily,” Adam said.

Direct hit, she thought and inwardly winced.

“For God’s sake, Adam.” Travis straightened up and walked to Gina’s side, clearly aligning himself with her.