A Bride for Jericho Bravo Read online

  And for once, he didn’t argue. With a low groan, he yanked her back against him and covered her mouth with his.

  They kissed for a decade. And she could have gone on kissing him for another decade more.

  But they’d been spotted. There were whistles and catcalls and clapping coming from over by the door to the shop.

  Jericho let her go. She really wished he hadn’t, but she didn’t argue that time. He turned to the guys who had gathered at the front entrance and waved an arm at them. “Okay. Knock it off. Show’s over.”

  There was one more loud, long whistle, and they dispersed.

  Jericho turned back to her. “We should talk.”

  We should do a whole lot more than talk. “Tonight,” she said. “The guesthouse. Eight.”

  “I’ll be there.” He touched the side of her face, then. And he gazed into her eyes again. And she thought she would lose it, right there, just come all over herself from the touch of his hand on her cheek and the sizzling heat in those eyes of his.

  Then he turned and left. Her knees felt wobbly. She sank back to the bench and watched him walk away from her.

  She had dinner that night in the main house with Tessa and Ash. Tessa asked her if something was bothering her.

  “Not a thing. Why?”

  “I don’t know. You seem kind of preoccupied.”

  Marnie lied and said she wasn’t. But she had to force herself to eat the really excellent prime rib. Her mind wasn’t on food that evening.

  More than once, she caught herself in the act of lifting her fingers to her lips. She kept remembering the feel of Jericho’s kiss. It seemed almost as if the press of his mouth on hers had left her lips tingling, a slightly hot tingling. Almost like burning.

  Tessa had made Boston cream pie—which was actually yellow cake with egg custard filling and bittersweet chocolate icing on top—for dessert. The recipe was Gina’s, one she used to make for them when they were kids. Marnie knew her sister had prepared the dessert with her in mind. So she lingered at the table, eating the cake, listening to Tessa and Ash talk about their plans for the baby’s room.

  It was quarter of eight when she finally got away. She took a quick shower, put on a white silk wraparound robe that showed more than it covered, and pulled back the blankets on the bed. She felt absolutely no coyness about what she was doing.

  She wanted to have sex with Jericho. And she intended to. That night.

  He arrived right on time, appearing as he had that other night, at the glass door that faced the main house. When she let him in, she could see that his hair was damp from a shower. She could smell the clean, moist scent of his skin. And the heat. Even after a shower, to her, he smelled of heat. Like forged metal, so hot it glowed red.

  She closed the curtains and flipped the blinds inside the glass of the door to the shut position, blocking out the view of the pool and the main house beyond. And also eliminating the possibility that her sister might glance out the kitchen window and see her climbing Jericho like a tree.

  When she turned back from the door, he put his hand on her shoulder, clasping. The simple touch made her whole body ache with yearning. She tried to lift on tiptoe to kiss him.

  But his grip tightened. He held her in place. “I can’t believe what a blind-ass jerk I am. I was all over Gus for putting moves on you. And all the time, it was me. I was the one who wanted to get with you.”

  Even through the fog of her determined desire, she understood what he was telling her. “Today. When you went into Gus’s office with him…”

  Jericho nodded. “I went in there to tell him to leave you alone, that you didn’t need him chasing after you, that you had been hurt and you needed time to get past that. He set me straight, made me see that he wasn’t the one with the problem.”

  “I’m a problem?” It didn’t sound like a good thing.

  “No,” he said. “You’re not a problem. I am.”

  She took his hand from her shoulder and eased her smaller fingers between his big ones, twining them together into one single fist. “Believe me. This isn’t a problem. This is…I don’t know. Like a gift I didn’t realize I needed.”

  “Marnie.” He looked down at her, so serious. So…concerned. “I’m not a good bet, you know? I’m doing okay in my life now. But I like it on my own. I’m not up for any long-term thing, not into settling down.”

  “It’s not an issue. It’s perfect, in fact. All I want from you is right now, tonight.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Oh, yeah. I’m sure.”

  He clearly wasn’t. “You have to know what this is. It’s a classic rebound maneuver. The guy you love hurt you, and you’re looking for someone to ease your pain.”

  How could she argue with that? He was right. “And that’s bad?”

  “I didn’t say it was bad, exactly.”

  “You can be…my hot rebound guy. Would that work for you?”

  “Well, yeah. It would.” He added, more enthusiastically, “Hell, yeah.” Still, he looked worried. Concerned for her. Foolish man. “But I’m not sure that it’s fair to you, you know?”

  She drew a slow, careful breath. “But see. That’s for me to worry about. I’m the one who decides what’s fair for me. And I…I really want this, with you. I trust you and I like you. It’s kind of weird, I know, given the way we started out. But it’s true. All of a sudden, today, right before you first kissed me, I figured it out…”

  “What?”

  “That I want you. A lot. And at the same time, I know in my heart that you would never hurt me intentionally.”

  He squeezed the fingers she had twined with his. “You’re right. I wouldn’t. But you could end up hurt by my actions now, anyway. It’s all up in the air for you at this point. You’re coming off a big breakup. It’s a rough time for you, not a good time to start having sex with your ex-con brother-in-law.”

  “Maybe not. And I don’t care.”

  “You say that now.”

  “Jericho, I mean it. I’m willing to take the risk that I’m going to get hurt all over again. It’s worth it to me, to feel really alive, finally, after much too long. Because I see now that I haven’t been. I guess I didn’t realize how…disconnected from my real self I had become. I’m a brave person, believe it or not. And I’ve been acting like a coward for years now.”

  He said her name again, softly. Regretfully.

  And yes. She was beginning to accept that it wasn’t going to happen with him, to realize that she had to stop pushing him. If he didn’t feel right about this, well, she had to respect that.

  Still, she had one more point to make. “Please. If you turn me down, make it for your sake. Make it because it’s not what you want. Don’t do it for me. Because what I want, right now, I’m willing to step up and claim. What I want is you, Jericho.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck with the hand she wasn’t holding tight. “I just, well, I think that we shouldn’t do anything crazy.”

  She pulled their clasped hands close, pressing them hard between her breasts. “Oh, but don’t you see? Crazy is exactly what I want from you. And not crazy in a Tessa’s-mentally-disturbed-sister way. Crazy in a wild way. Crazy in a really good, open, brave way.” She almost tried to explain to him that it was beyond confidence-building. To want someone who wanted her back.

  But no. That was probably more information than he needed at the moment. She was in this for the heat and the thrill. Pity sex was not going to do it for her.

  Maybe a little total shamelessness was in order. She released his hand and she stepped back from him. Holding his burning green gaze, she tugged on the sash of the robe. The half bow collapsed and the sash fell away. And then she eased the robe off her shoulders. It dropped to the floor in a whisper of sound.

  All she had underneath was her favorite perfume.

  She felt beyond naked, standing there, under his gaze. Exposed in a way she could never remember being before. It terrified her. But at the same time,
she felt so free.

  So completely herself, so exactly the person she was meant to be. Mark’s words came to her, Where is your spark?

  Maybe it had been a valid question after all. Because, since Mark broke it off with her, she was changing. And she was beginning to see that the change was for the better.

  Jericho stared at her. He looked at her in a deliciously predatory way. “Marnie.” He said her name on a strangled whisper. And then he reached for her.

  She melted toward him, lifting her arms, offering her mouth. He took it.

  Oh, that man knew how to kiss.

  When he lifted his head, he captured her face between his big, rough hands. “Listen to me.”

  She moaned in frustration. “Oh, no. What now?”

  “I didn’t bring condoms. I thought, since I was going to tell you what a bad idea this was, that you would agree with me. And we wouldn’t need them.”

  “That’s all? That you didn’t bring condoms?”

  “What do you mean, all?”

  “I’m on the pill. It’s not a problem. Any more reasons why you can’t make love with me tonight?”

  “The family…”

  “This isn’t about the family. You know that. This is between you and me.”

  “I can’t help feeling it’s asking for trouble.”

  “Well, you’re wrong. It’s a good thing, a beautiful thing. Oh, Jericho. Deep inside where you live, in the core of you, you know that it is.”

  Cradling her face so tenderly, he kissed her lips, her nose, her cheeks, her forehead. “You’re a seriously determined woman. You know that, Marnie Jones?”

  “Yes, I am,” she answered proudly. “Any more reasons you’re not letting this happen? Speak now. It’s your last chance.”

  “No,” he whispered. “No more reasons…”

  “Wrap your arms around me, then. And kiss me like there’s nothing else in the whole world tonight. Nothing but you. And me. And this…”

  He bent close and kissed her. It was exactly the kiss she had asked for. Deep and wet and endlessly arousing. And then he straightened, taking her with him. Hard arms banded around her, he lifted her feet right off the floor. She wrapped her legs around him and went on kissing him as he started walking.

  “Bedroom?” he groaned against her parted lips.

  She stuck out a hand and pointed the way.

  Chapter Six

  Marnie moaned in excited expectation when he laid her down on the bed.

  She pulled him down on top of her. And then she reached down between them and touched him, cradling him through his worn-out jeans. He groaned into her mouth and pressed against her hand.

  Iron-hard. Burning hot.

  His pleasured groan, the way he pushed against her palm…it was all the encouragement she needed. She got to work on his belt buckle, got it undone and open. She fumbled with the metal buttons at his fly, easing them free as fast as she could.

  He wasn’t wearing anything underneath, a fact that increased her already-considerable arousal. He sprang out, into her waiting hand, hard and thick, smooth as silk, hot as forged iron, a drop of thick moisture weeping from the slit.

  She already had her legs around him, her eager hand encircling him. She rubbed that drop of moisture around the head, and loved it when he shuddered, his big body yearning.

  Hers to command.

  And she couldn’t wait. She surged up, guiding him into position….

  There. Right there….

  She let out another moan, a deeper one, a sound that hovered between a purr and a growl as she felt him nudging her, touching her at exactly the place that she wanted him, yearned for him.

  And then, with a hard, quick thrust of his lean hips, he slid into her. She was so wet, so eager, so open for him, she took him fully with that first thrust.

  So good. It felt so good, the way he filled her, completely. He groaned in pleasure and went on kissing her, his big hands on either side of her head, his hot fingers tangled in her hair as he began to move.

  Oh, that was even better—when he moved. It was exactly what she hungered for, what she hadn’t even known she craved. His jeans chaffed the tender skin between her thighs and every stroke seemed to take him even deeper, to push her ever higher.

  She reveled in it, gloried in it, in every strong, focused thrust.

  She whispered, “Yes, more. Oh! Like that…” Over and over as he moved within her and her body answered him, rocking in time with him.

  And then, all at once, so swiftly, she was coming, rising to the peak and going over, falling endlessly. Soaring.

  He surged into her, even deeper than before. She felt him pulsing, giving himself over. She clutched his hips in her two hands, dug her nails in and held on tight, whispering, “Yes. That’s it. Right there. Oh, yes…”

  In time, he got up and took off all his clothes. He was so beautiful naked. All hard muscle and male power.

  He made love to her slowly the second time, pushing her hands away when she tried to urge him to hurry. He laughed, green eyes low and lazy, when she pleaded with him, when she insisted he was driving her crazy—he laughed and then he lowered his head between her thighs once again.

  Even though she shoved at his big shoulders, he wouldn’t give in and do it her way. Trying to move him when he wasn’t going to be moved was like trying to push a boulder up a hill.

  In the end, she surrendered to his intimate kiss and was rewarded in the best way possible: with sweet, hot pleasure that built to a finish of shimmering fire.

  When the fire resolved into a soft, happy glow, she realized she was starving. They got up and raided the refrigerator and then went back to bed. He turned on his stomach and she settled in close. Across the broadest part of his back, shoulder to shoulder, he had a beautiful tattoo of an eagle, proud wings spread, in a halo of black spikes. She traced the outline of the spikes idly with a finger, on the nape of his powerful neck. And she remembered that first day, in Tessa’s living room, when she’d seen those same spikes rising up from under the collar of his T-shirt and been so irrationally afraid.

  That seemed impossible now, that she could ever have been scared of this man.

  “This is nice,” she said drowsily.

  He chuckled, snaking out an arm and pulling her in tight. “Nice? I thought you were looking for crazy and wild.”

  “And I got it. I got exactly what I was looking for.” She turned her face to him, kissed him long and lingeringly and then whispered against his mouth, “But right now, this is nice. Very, very nice.”

  They napped for little while. And then they made love again.

  Later, they talked about the chopper he was making for Ash’s charity event, the Texas State Endowment Ball. The family company, BravoCorp, was sponsoring the ball this year. The proceeds from the auction were going to provide financial aid and various goods and services for needy families all over Texas. The ball and auction was happening May 1, a Saturday, just two and a half weeks away.

  He smoothed her tangled hair back from her forehead. “Got your fancy dress yet?”

  “I didn’t know I was going.”

  “You’re going,” he said, which really was news to her.

  “And you know this how?”

  “The family is going and you’re part of the family. Plus, I want you there. And I’ll still be your boss then, so you have to do what I say.”

  “Pushy, pushy—and I thought Gus was my boss.”

  “He’s your supervisor. We’re both your boss.”

  “It’s not easy being an underling.”

  “Save the date. You are going.”

  “Okay, okay.” She had two long dresses hanging in the closet that might work. But she’d bought both of them with Mark’s money. Uh-uh. For this, she wanted something new, something with no memories attached. Which meant she would have to buy one and it would cost her more than she really ought to spend. Maybe Tessa could point her toward a good consignment shop.

  “You�
�re too quiet,” he said. “All right. If you don’t want to go—”

  “Shh.” She put her fingers to his soft lips. “I have my orders and I plan to obey them.”

  He grunted. “Frankly, I don’t see obedience as a long suit with you.”

  “Maybe not. But I’m making an exception in this case.”

  “Because I’m your boss.”

  “And because, the more I think it over, the more I want to go. I want to see that bike you’re building bring six figures.”

  “Yeah. I wish.”

  “Hey. It could happen.”

  “Anything’s possible, I guess.” He reached across her to turn the nightstand clock so he could see it. “Almost midnight.” And then he kissed her.

  They made love one more time and he left at a little after one.

  In the morning, when she woke, she turned to the empty side of the bed and then braced up on an elbow to run her hand across the stretch of wrinkled sheet where he had been. She pressed her nose into his pillow and smelled the scent of his skin on the soft cotton of the pillowcase.

  And then she yawned and stretched, feeling the soreness in her most tender places, a good kind of ache. She felt well used, acutely female in a way she couldn’t remember feeling before.

  It had been a good night. The best. She shut her eyes and relived a few of the highlights all over again, sighing a little, her heart beating faster, just at the memory.

  But later, as she showered, dressed for work and ate a quick breakfast, the events of the night just past kind of took on a hazy, dreamlike quality. And really, it was definitely weird, that she would go to work and come face-to-face with her boss, who was also her brother-in-law, after seeing him naked the night before.

  She started kind of second-guessing herself, losing the joy of what had happened, thinking about how aggressive she’d been, how she’d practically demanded that he have sex with her. At the time, it had all seemed so hot and inevitable.

  Now, well, if she let herself, she could feel a little foolish.

  Scratch that. A lot foolish.

  Tessa showed up from the other house just as she was leaving. “Is everything all right?” she asked when Marnie opened the door.