Harper came straight back. ‘You shouldn’t be drinking. You’re pregnant.’

‘Strictly orange juice for me. But thought you might want to join Steve in a beer. If you’ve got time, that is.’

Cody felt laughter beginning to rise up his throat. These White girls knew how to wind each other up something awful and didn’t care who else they caught in the web. He turned to Steve. ‘Do they ever let up?’

‘Better get used to it.’ The guy nodded, then added, ‘If you’re hanging around, that is.’

‘Jeez, you’re no better.’ He should’ve done as Harper had demanded and told the taxi driver to turn around while he’d had the chance. Was he hanging around? Did he want to spend time with Harper? Time beyond today and what they were heading for at his house? Yes. Yes. Oh, hell, yes.

Steve chuckled. ‘The White family is not for the faint-hearted.’

Right now Cody couldn’t give a damn about his heart, faint or not. All he wanted was Harper in his arms so he could do things with her that no one else need know about. ‘That meter’s ticking over,’ he called down the hall.

Suzanne added, ‘He’s impatient, Harper. Better get a move on.’

Steve just chuckled again and headed inside. ‘I’m having my beer.’

Harper burst out the door, nothing more in her hand than the handbag she’d carried inside. ‘Have a great night, you two.’

Get in, be seen to do the right thing and get out: Cody couldn’t argue with that. He caught her elbow and started down the path. ‘See you, Suzanne, Steve.’

‘We’ll see you at Levi’s party,’ Suzanne said.

‘Maybe,’ he muttered, and got a quizzical look from the woman he was hurrying towards the taxi. ‘One thing at a time,’ he told her.

Tonight was about Harper. And him. And that incredible need cranking up again with every step he took away from the nosey sister. Getting Harper into the cab made him hum. Giving the driver his address caused him to pause for a breath, then shrug. He’d already admitted to himself he was more than interested in furthering their relationship. Letting her into his home was another step in the right direction.

*

Cody’s solid timber front door closed with a heavy thud behind them, and Harper gazed around at the wide entrance with massive painted pots filled with flowers placed strategically on either side. ‘Those are beautiful.’ The house was massive. She’d been wrong to think he’d bought a starter house. Unless he was aiming for a castle some time.

‘Did I get the colours right, then?’ Cody asked with a little hitch in his voice.

‘Did you choose these?’ Had he been winding her up about being colour-blind? She turned to look closely at him, wondering about that hitch, and saw nothing but pride in his expression.

‘The pots are my mother’s. She had them for years, since before they were fashionable. Dad gave them to her for their thirtieth wedding anniversary. Unfortunately there’s nowhere for them in her room at the rest home. These need space to be appreciated. As for the flowers, I get the local florist to take care of those.’ His chest lifted on a deep breath, drawing her gaze and reminding her why they were here.

As if she needed reminding, when her body was ramped up and in hot turmoil. Her heart hadn’t stopped its heavy tattoo since they’d been in the pub. Not even seeing that smug, knowing look on Suzanne’s face had quietened it down. There’d been a moment when they’d first pulled up outside her apartment when the heat in her belly had cooled a weeny bit. But one look at Cody, one word spoken in that husky voice, the slightest of touches from his hand and arm and, pow…where were the fans? She flapped her hand in front of her face. Her body needed relief. Relief of the kind that only a man could give, a man built like a sex god. Not any sex god either. Cody. The one and only. To hell with vases and flowers.

Harper reached for him.

He grasped her, those hands heavy and hot on her waist.

Pulling at his shirt, she pushed it up over that magnificent expanse of chest so she could see it, feel it, without the hindrance of clothing. His body was better than her imagination had conjured up.

Cody tugged at her blouse, pulling it free of her skirt, taking it up and over her head, his gaze fixed on her lace-covered breasts. Thank goodness she’d left her plain, sensible bras in the drawer that morning.

Leaning in, she kissed a trail over the warm skin tempting her. She started with one nipple and worked her way across to its opposite number, tasting, sipping, enjoying.

His fingers slid up under her bra, found her breasts and cupped them while his thumbs flicked back and forth over her taut nipples.

It wasn’t enough. Her body craved Cody’s. All of Cody’s. Against her, inside her, with her. Her fingers worked the button of his chinos, then the fly that strained against the throbbing, hard heat pushing between them. Then he was filling her hands with all that hot length. Her fingers wound around his shaft, tightened, loosened, tightened.

Above her head, Cody gasped. His hands groped for her skirt, found the zip and jerked it down, shoving at it until it slid over her hips to pool at her feet. Then she was in his arms, being lifted and turned so her back was against the wall.

Winding her legs around his waist and her arms behind his head, Harper lifted her mouth to his. He was ready for her, his lips swollen and demanding. As she closed her eyes, Harper wondered if she’d fallen into a deep dream. This was beyond great, beyond anything she could dream of. The male scent of Cody’s skin filled her nostrils. Those large, strong hands held her tight yet easy. They touched, teased, tweaked, caressed. They drove her to the edge in a very short time.

Pulling her mouth free, she managed a strangled, ‘Cody…’ before he claimed her again, giving more kisses, taking hers in return. Whatever she’d been about to say was whisked away in a haze of need.

She couldn’t wait any longer. Her throbbing, moist sex was way past ready. ‘Please,’ she begged as her hands found him again, pushing his boxers aside.

‘Wait.’

She couldn’t.

‘Condom,’ he wheezed through gritted teeth. ‘Pocket. Trousers.’

How was it that his chinos hadn’t slid down to his ankles? Not enough movement could be the problem. She grinned under his mouth. Her fingers dug into his back pocket and thankfully it was the right one. She mightn’t be able to last long enough to do a search of every pocket on those trousers.

‘Hold on.’ Cody tore open the packet with his teeth.

Wrapping her arms around his neck and tightening her grip with her legs, she obeyed. And then…then… He was filling her, with heat and movement, himself.

She’d been mad to think she could go without Cody even for the past week. She’d wasted days. Tipping her head back hard against the wall, she gave into the sensations tripping and ripping through her; gave in to the need clawing at her insides; gave in to Cody’s hot demands and accepted his gift as he made love to her as she’d never been made love to before.

*

Cody scooped Harper up into his arms from where they’d finished up sprawled over the floor, precariously close to one of those massive pottery urns. ‘Let’s make ourselves comfortable,’ he murmured near her ear and headed for the stairs that led to his bedroom.

‘Mmm.’ She barely moved, her eyelids stayed closed, but that delicious—yep, now he knew how delicious—mouth curved up into a beautiful smile that sent warmth spearing at his heart.

Whoa. His heart had nothing to do with what had just gone down between them. That would be plain dumb. No matter how great the sex was, how well they got on, what if he gave her his heart and he lost her? He couldn’t guarantee he could survive that a second time. He’d believed after Sadie had been killed that nothing similar would happen to him again. Then along had come Strong and the body packer. Terrifying. Did violence follow him? What if something occurred he couldn’t protect Harper from? He’d failed with Sadie. He wouldn’t risk not getting it right for this surprise package in his arm

s. She didn’t deserve his mistakes.

Harper’s lips grazed his jaw, her tongue flicking over his lips, turning up his blood to race along his veins.

Now is not the time for this, his inner voice snapped. Enjoy, have fun, forget consequences. Just go with the moment.

Not a bad plan, he admitted. At the door of his bedroom, he paused. ‘Now you get to tell me what colour to decorate in here.’

Her eyes slowly opened and she peered around. ‘This is a bedroom? It’s the size of my whole apartment.’ Her head came up off his chest as she tried to take in more. ‘Cripes. I don’t believe what I’m seeing.’ She snuggled down against him again, her eyes now shut and her mouth still smiling. ‘I knew I was dreaming.’

Cody laughed as he gently laid Harper on the bed before crossing to open the windows and let some air in. The room pretty much got all-day sun, which on a day when the temperature had been high made it a furnace.

A light sea breeze obliged him, sending soft tendrils of cooler air over his skin. ‘Feel that?’ he asked as he lay down beside this woman who had him all shaken up. Or was that all melted down?

Tags: Sue MacKay Billionaire Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net