Wishful Thinking Read online

  Chapter Ten

  Jovie paced around her office, wondering how many circuits over the rose carpet she’d need to complete in order to wear a track in the fibers. Would he appear tonight or had she sufficiently run him off the previous evening? She glanced about the office, smiling. Dimmed lights, a bottle of champagne waited in an ice bucket near the settee and faint, romantic jazz music filtered into the room from the computer speakers.

  She’d drawn inspiration from Rand himself. If he thought he could use seduction on her, he could forget it. Sexual manipulation ran both ways and surely magical beings weren’t immune. If he needed encouragement, she’d brought a couple of silk scarves from home. In fact, tying the stubborn creature to the furniture sounded better and better the longer she waited.

  He’d give up his name tonight or else she hadn’t tried hard enough. A flood of warmth surged between her thighs. There was always a second chance if the first one didn’t pan out.

  Now, he only needed to show.

  “If you desired me that badly, you should have called my full name.” Rand’s mocking tones floated through the air as his breath warmed the back of her neck. He snaked his arms around her waist, pulling her backside against his front.

  Prick. Even as she thought it, she couldn’t help but smile wider. She’d get even with him. She settled more comfortably into his embrace—exactly where she wanted to be. “Tell me what it is and I’ll be happy to say it.” She turned in his arms. “Or if you want, I’ll scream it so loud the security guards will come running.”

  Rand lifted a glossy black eyebrow. “Your confidence and good nature has returned.” He looked past her shoulder then returned his gaze to hers. “What do you plan, little one?”

  “Nothing that won’t make both of us sweaty and tired.”

  “This makes me very happy, my dove.”

  “Really?” She tugged the hem of his white t-shirt from the waistband of his black jeans. “Then me putting my mouth on various parts of your body should make you ecstatic.” Jovie uttered a throaty laugh when he visibly swallowed. “I can’t get to the fun stuff while you’re still wearing clothes.”

  His breath hissed between his teeth as she ran her hands beneath his shirt to stroke the planes of his hard chest. “Is this what you want?”

  “You won’t know for certain until your drop the duds.” Excitement made the baby fine hairs on her neck stand to attention. “Maybe this will be enough incentive.” Slowly, making sure he watched her, Jovie lowered the zipper on her lightweight sweater dress until it came apart from its track. With one shrug of her shoulders, the black garment fell to the floor.

  “Still as beautiful as that first day—the day when I made you claim the adoration given to you.”

  Clad in a bra and panties of lacy midnight blue, a wash of feminine power moved over her while Rand stared, appreciation clearly written across his face. “Cat got your tongue, Rand?” She reached for his fly. Her fingers brushed against the warm, smooth skin of his abdomen then tugged at his waistband. “I want you.”

  “It’s my pleasure to take care of your every whim.” His sensuous lips curled with a mischievous grin and he snapped his fingers. His clothes disappeared and he stood proudly naked and wildly aroused. “Where would you like to start?”

  Where didn’t she? Jovie raked his body with her gaze, lingering on every contour of his form. She moved close to slide her hands over the portions of him that she’d just inspected. His scent wafted through her nostrils, alluring, and her mouth watered in anticipation of tasting him.

  As she trailed her fingertips lower on his torso, she followed with teasing nips and nibbles over his skin then sank to her knees before him. It was time to begin the game. “Why won’t you tell me that elusive last name?” She smoothed a hand along his hips as his erection bobbed a few inches from her face. “Don’t you trust me?” The longing to take him into her mouth grew strong, but she’d never done such a thing before. Insecurity held her in its cold grip, a companion to fear.

  “I am bound by the rules of my world.” He looked down at her, meeting her gaze. “It’s not possible.” He laced his fingers into her hair. “Let me kiss you instead.”

  “I think I’d rather do this.” Before she could lose her nerve, she wrapped the fingers of one hand around his shaft.

  Watching his expression, she closed her lips around the dark, mushroomed head of his cock. When he shuddered, she swept her tongue on his tip, stroking it back and forth, swirling it around him, investigating its slit. The sharp, masculine taste spurred her onward for more. Pulling slightly away, she grinned. The powerful feeling grew in intensity. “Do you need more encouragement?”

  His answer was a soft moan. She took him into her mouth again. This time, she licked the underside of his dick, tormenting his silky skin before sucking with gentle pressure on its head. Rand bucked against her lips. He shoved his cock farther into her mouth. Jovie scooted closer. The carpet dug into her bare knees. She didn’t care. The carnality of connecting with him in such an intimate way caused her brain to reel. She brought her hands around to cup his firm ass, digging her nails into his flesh.

  Rand fisted his fingers in her hair and dragged her closer still. He began to thrust in time to her teasing tongue and gentle bobs of her head. Every moan, every jerk of his hips turned her on so much, her panties dampened and she squirmed, desperate for her own release.

  The first time the tip of his cock touched the back of her throat, she thought she’d suffocate, but he guided her head into a different angle and she accepted him without incident. His shaft throbbed and tightened between her lips. She tasted the salty, unique blend of his liquid arousal and knew he was nearly at the edge.

  Withdrawing, she gave his length one last lick. “Come on, sexy. Give me your last name.” God, she loved bringing him to the brink, loved knowing she held power over him and could make him lose control with the touch of her mouth.

  Rand growled low in his throat and yanked her to her feet. “You have become a tease since meeting me.” He claimed her lips in a savage kiss and punished her with his tongue, demanding her surrender, accepting nothing less. “Your turn, sweetness.”

  “Not quite.” She shook her head, grabbed one of his hands and tugged him toward her desk. “This night is mine, so what I say goes.” Glancing at him over her shoulder, she winked. “Unless you want to give up that one little word? If you do, I’ll let you do anything you want to my body.” Desire prickled her skin at the thought.

  “I cannot.” Despair coated his voice like syrup. “I can give you anything else—wealth, pleasure beyond comprehension, whatever you desire.”

  “Perhaps this will persuade you.” Jovie shoved him into her leather desk chair. The springs groaned under his weight.

  “My dove, surely there are better places—”

  “Not tonight.” She grinned and ran her tongue along her bottom lip, tasting him. Need streaked through her blood, burning, igniting into huge fires of want until she could hardly stand up straight. “I intend to ride you until I’m spent.”

  His eyes flashed with lust, bolstered with something much darker and stronger. “You have no idea how attractive you are to me right now.” He pumped his cock and pinned her with a hot look. “I’m ready.”

  “Oh, Rand.” Fire blazed through her core, tempered by a twinge of disappointment. Why wouldn’t he give in? Did being mortal mean more to him than saving her life? Why won’t you back down?

  “Jovie, please join me or else the moment will pass. Let me feel your pussy around me.”

  Another glance at him caused tears to prick the back of her eyelids. They only had tonight and tomorrow together. Why was she wasting time thinking about a stupid name when he waited for her with his erection, warm and willing, and his hard-muscled brown body primed? Kicking off her heels, she shimmied out of her panties, letting them drop to the floor. Without another word or thought, she closed the distance between them. She climbed into his lap, careful not
to stick a knee into his groin and ruin the mood.

  She’d fuck him with every ounce of energy she had and make it unforgettable. She’d need the remembrance for the long, lonely times she feared were ahead.

  Holding his gaze, she lowered herself onto his cock, crying out as his girth filled her core. Her slick heat flowed around him. His hands went to her waist, adjusting her position before he moved to grip her hips, grinding his pelvis against hers.

  Jovie leaned in and kissed his gorgeous mouth then applied herself to the task. Bracing against his chest, she rose up and plunged down onto his cock, rotating her hips, being sure to repeat the process again and again. His length hit every pleasure point she knew and some she didn't. Pressure built, undulating in waves of pleasure and breath-stealing sensation as she moved at a more frenetic pace. She rocked her hips, rubbed her clit against him, shivering at the waves of bliss rolling over her body.

  A cry escaped her lips when he thrust upward, meeting each of her downward pushes. Tiny tremors began inside her passage. She slid a hand over her abdomen then between them and pressed a finger to her clit, spurred onward by his knowing grin. Swift jolts of desire possessed her insides, ushering her closer to climax.

  “I can’t hold on much longer, sweetness.” Rand bucked his hips, pumping upward until Jovie couldn’t determine where she ended and he began.

  She bit her bottom lip as her body stiffened. Another few frantic gyrations. She moved her hands to his shoulders, digging in her nails. “Please, tell me your last name.” The harshness in her voice rasped in her ears.

  “It’s impossible.” He grazed a lace-covered nipple with his teeth.

  “Oh, God.” Her mind fractured as release loomed, then when Rand gave a final thrust and cried out his completion, she slid over the edge herself. Warmth seeped into her core as his seed filled her. Starbursts appeared behind her closed eyelids. Her body relaxed into a boneless heap and she crumpled against his chest, her breathing ragged.

  Rand wrapped his arms around her and held her close. He pressed a kiss to her hair. Jovie snuggled into him and allowed silent tears to escape onto her cheeks.

  One more night. Both their existences would change in twenty-four hours. A black cloud of sadness rose to push away her elation. How could she let him go? Even if she did procure his full name, the result would be the same.

  They would never be together and the thought tore her apart.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jovie glanced at the antique carriage clock on her desk and sighed. Midnight. Rand hadn’t visited yet on this, their last night together. Moving about the room, she switched off the tabletop lamps as well as the overhead light. Might as well go home. Moving behind her desk, she sank into the chair. A few clicks of her mouse began a shutdown of the computer.

  The faint scent of Rand permeated the air around her. She inhaled then let her breath ease out between her lips. Her heart ached. Once upon a time, she would have laughed if someone told her the same thing. Now, she had no other explanation except that her heart felt as if it were being squeezed by unseen hands whenever she thought of the future without Rand; ached with the hurt of the ages at what she stood to lose—and what’d she gained and couldn't keep.

  Essentially, he’d given her back her life. His belief in her as a person and a woman had shoved her out of the protective shell she’d placed around her psyche. Not to mention the way she lit up whenever he touched her or brought her to the edge and over it.

  She should have been able to let him go with no regrets, just thank him for everything he’d done for her and let destiny decide their fates.

  But no matter how she told herself it was selfish and stubborn of him to ask her to give up her life so that he could live, she didn’t believe it. He deserved a chance the same as she did. It was unfortunate the battle lines had been drawn to separate them because her every thought was of him. His scent filled every breath she drew. Every step she took brought her closer to him. With Rand she’d found the one person—being—who made her feel complete.

  How could she be asked to sever that intimate connection?

  The computer screen went black, done with its cycle, leaving Jovie sitting in darkness, broken only by the dim glow of a security light somewhere beyond her window. Unable to stop the tears, they flowed over her cheeks like a spring rain. She folded her arms on the desktop and laid her head on them, sobbing out her grief and frustration.

  I love you, Rand. Please, don’t make me choose.

  Minutes passed in slow succession.

  “My heart, why do you cry? Nothing can be as sorrowful as you make it seem.”

  Jovie jumped at a slight touch on her shoulder, but it was the gentle concern in his voice, the tenderness in the slight English accent, that brought harder tears. “Go away.” She tried to shake his hand from her shoulder, but he swiveled the chair around to face him.

  “Am I the cause of your distress?” He lifted her face with a finger beneath her chin. “That was not my intention.”

  “Of course you’re the reason.” She wiped at the moisture on one cheek. “Do you care that after tonight, it’s all over? We’ll never see each other again.” Pushing one foot against the floor, she rolled the chair away.

  “I care very much.” Rand rubbed a hand along his stubble-covered jaw. “It hurts here.” He placed his hand over his heart. “When you released me from my prison, I couldn't wait to give you everything I knew you longed for. I didn’t expect our meeting to end with such dramatics or that I would want a life with you, despite the rules that bind me. It pains me to think we'll be forever apart.”

  Jovie looked away, too overwhelmed by emotion, too aware of his presence. “I wish it wouldn’t end at all.”

  “Unfortunately, I cannot do what you ask—regardless if I want the same.”

  A shiver skated through her as he leaned close and cupped her face in his hands. She licked her lips and tasted salty tears. Heat radiated from his body to warm hers. “Do you want me to continue to guess your last name? We have several hours before dawn. I still have time.”

  “No.” Rand grasped her hands and pulled her to her feet. “I’d much rather spend the remainder of the night in a more worthwhile pursuit.” He tugged her into a loose embrace. “Let me love you the way I can only dream about had our paths been different.”

  She peered into his eyes, teetered on the edge of the brilliant green depths, then let herself fall, tumbling into the unknown, confident he would catch her. Lifting her hands, she caressed his face as if attempting to memorize him by touch. “I’m going to miss you so much.” Her fingers slid into his hair and the silky length of it slipped over her skin like water.

  “Shh.” He pressed his lips to hers in a kiss that teased more than it comforted. “Right now, we live in this moment. Enjoy it. The future will arrive soon enough.” He tightened his hold and slanted his mouth over hers.

  Pressing herself closer, she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave herself up to his kiss. He teased her lips, neither demanding nor asking for more than she could to give. The mere meeting of their mouths conveyed an acceptance that went beyond a physical connection or longing. Jovie traced his lips with her tongue, tasting him, then pushed inside to fence with his. Wet satin stroked along warm silk until she wrenched away to breathe.

  Fearful she’d pause too long to think and dissolve into tears, she trailed moist kisses along his jaw line and down the strong column of his throat. His comforting scent warmed her insides as much as the stroke of his hands up and down her arms. Lifting her gaze to his, surprise tightened her chest at the raw need reflected there.

  She brushed the fingertips of one hand along his face then stilled her movement and captured his hand with hers. He turned his head, pressed a kiss to her palm and traced a line of whisper soft kisses up the inside of her arm. Jovie shivered. A tiny moan escaped as he paid the same attention to the other arm.

  No longer did the desire for his surname drive her. Wanting him was
enough.

  Without a word, Rand slowly and methodically removed each piece of her clothing. Blouse and skirt were abandoned. Panties and bra dispatched with gentle care. When she stood naked, she returned the favor and couldn’t resist running her palms over the expanse of his chest, kissing each pectoral, fingering the ridges of his abdomen. His perfection brought on another round of tears.

  “No sadness tonight.” Wiping away the moisture on her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs, he then lifted her into his arms and carried her across the darkened office to the velvet-upholstered settee. “Tonight is our present and future combined. We exist for this moment only.”

  If she hadn’t already lost her heart to him, it would have gone in that moment. As soon as the plush velvet grazed her ass cheeks, she reached for him, stroking her fingers over every part of his lean frame she came into contact with. He knelt before her and spread her legs, caressing her inner thighs. When he brushed his fingers higher, barely touching the edges of her trimmed curls, she trembled and moisture wet her folds.

  “Touch me.” Urgency roughened her voice. She clutched his shoulders. “Please.”

  “Patience.” He pulled her forward until her back was flush against the cushions and her tailbone balanced on the edge of the sofa. “You deserve to be savored like the finest wine or most expensive piece of chocolate.”

  As much as the romance of the moment tugged at her heart, the only thing she could concentrate on was the scratch of his stubble against her thighs or the silky heat of his tongue as he licked along her sensitive slit. Jovie squirmed and nearly launched off the settee when he drew his tongue over her swollen clit, teasing back and forth. Rand kept a tight grip on her hips, hooked her knees over his shoulders and continued his torment.

  “You taste so good, so sweet.”

  His voice tickled her skin, vibrated against the sensitive flesh. She made a wordless sound, lost in a sea of pleasure. Her fingernails dug into the cushions in a quest to anchor herself to something solid as he snaked his tongue through her folds and into her channel. A harsh cry ripped from her throat and she rocked in time to his thrusts. Pressure built and crawled through her belly like a hungry beast, intent on devouring her whole. Desperation chased through her brain. God she needed the release. “I’m almost there.” Tremors pulsed in her core, crashing in waves, relentlessly pushing.