The Charmer’s Gambit Read online

  “I’m not concerned,” Mark replied. “In any case, you’re safe, Rachel. Finally. And your brother and I will be monitoring the situation personally for any changes.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered, hugging him. He kissed the top of my head, just like Caleb would, and let me go.

  Will observed the exchange with a heated look and mouthed, Two minutes, when I didn’t move right away.

  Right.

  Naked.

  Bed.

  “Enjoy dinner,” I called over my shoulder.

  32

  The Relationship Proposal

  My suit felt heavier than normal, and restricting. I popped a button off my blouse in my haste to unfasten it, then ripped the rest of it over my head once it was loose enough. My skirt hit the floor next, followed by my camisole, bra, and underwear.

  The majority of my clothes were in Will’s laundry room, a result of spending the last several weeks abroad and only returning five days ago. That meant no stockings for me today, much to my lover’s amusement. He’d spent half the morning admiring my exposed calves as I walked barefoot around his office.

  Will appeared in my peripheral vision as I turned, his shoulder propped against the doorjamb. He held a glass of wine and observed me through hooded eyes. “You’re not on the bed.” His deep rumble warmed me in all the right places.

  “But I am naked.” That deserved at least a few points in my favor, if not more.

  “Indeed you are.” He didn’t move from the door, just caressed me slowly with his gaze, up and down, not missing an inch of my exposed skin. His thumb swept over his bottom lip as he considered me casually. “So tell me about the Charlotte opportunity.”

  “Seriously?” I asked, shocked that he wanted to discuss this now. “I’m naked.”

  “Yes, and I’m loving the view, but I also want to know about your potential move.”

  “Do you want me to get dressed again?” I couldn’t help challenging him. It was in my blood, and I enjoyed it far too much.

  “Try,” was all he said.

  I wanted to, if only to prove that I could, but my hands refused to move. The idea of putting clothes on seemed counterproductive, and I rather liked the way he was looking at me. All heat and possessiveness masked behind an expression of benign interest. It fascinated me the way he could control his features and allow only the barest of emotion to color his gaze.

  “The Charlotte office,” he prompted, that thumb still tracing his lip. I wanted to bite it, but I focused on his statement.

  “It’s not a big deal. I just wanted to know if it was even possible to transfer, and Janet confirmed. That doesn’t mean I have to.”

  “Not a big deal,” he repeated, his tone incredulous. “Says the woman who adamantly told me how much she didn’t want to move when I tried to recruit her for Mershano Vineyards.”

  “Yes, but things are different now.”

  “Why?” One word spoken with such confidence that it made my knees weak.

  “Well, for one, I’m naked.” Definitely had clothes on during all our previous discussions.

  He grinned at that. “Yes, you are, and beautifully flushed, too, but go on.” His tone had lowered to the one he reserved for the bedroom, and my body responded as it usually did. My breasts swelled and my nipples hardened, and the space between my legs ached with a need only he could relieve. “Rachel, why is it different?” he asked again when I didn’t readily reply.

  “Because we’re different.” God, my voice sounded strained, and he had to hear it. He knew his effect on me, and although I never told him, he also knew I loved this power play in the bedroom. I craved it. His being clothed while I stood naked before him only heightened my arousal, and it didn’t help that I could see the outlines of his strong planes beneath the tight cotton shirt. “If you don’t fuck me soon, I’m going to scream.”

  His grin bloomed into a smile. “Oh, I intend to make you scream all night, but we’re not done discussing Charlotte. Do you want to live in North Carolina?”

  I groaned in frustration. Always in control. He wanted an explanation, and he wouldn’t stop until I gave him one. Fine. It wasn’t like I had anything to hide, but placing all my emotions on the table didn’t come easily to me. But Will Mershano didn’t believe in easy; he believed in fighting. So fight I would.

  “I love living in Chicago,” I admitted. “But my primary reason for staying there these last few years was because I had to, and now, for the first time in what feels like forever, I can choose. And I chose to ask about relocation opportunities to the Charlotte office because I want to be close to you. The idea of living in another state doesn’t appeal to me, but if you prefer a long-distance relationship, then . . .” His gaze darkened, silencing me.

  His glass clinked against the nightstand as he set it down, and then he started toward me.

  I took a step back in alarm at the intense look on his face, but he caught me by the hip and took possession of my mouth. His tongue mastered mine in a single swipe, telling me without words how he felt about that last sentence.

  “Move in with me,” he whispered against my lips.

  “You don’t think it’s too soon?” Not that I had a normal measure to reference. Our relationship superseded all ordinary boundaries from the beginning. Why would now be any different?

  He palmed my lower back to pull me flush against him. “Darlin’, we both know you’ll be in my bed every night regardless of where you live. You might as well be closer.”

  I punched his arm half-heartedly. “Arrogant.”

  “Confident,” he corrected, like he always did. “Just as I’m confident you’ll be naked in my bed every night as well and screaming my name.”

  “Promises, promises,” I teased.

  He nuzzled my neck and gently bit my pulse. “Mmm, absolutely.” He grabbed my hips and spun me around, placing my back to his front. “Hands on the bed, gorgeous.”

  I shivered at the command and did what he asked. He nudged my legs to widen my stance and dragged a finger down my spine to the top of my ass. His lips trailed along the same path as he went to his knees behind me. I jolted when he nipped my bare cheek.

  “So perfect,” he whispered as he applied pressure to my lower back, forcing me to bend over even more.

  “Oh, fuck,” I moaned as his tongue slid through my slick folds. I’d expected his finger, not his warm, knowing mouth. He murmured his approval at finding me soaked for him and wasted no time locating my clit.

  “Will,” I whispered, conflicted. It felt so wrong for him to do it this way, yet so right. I trembled, my palms the only thing keeping me from collapsing forward onto the bed, as he continued his sensuous assault. It was too much and not enough at the same time.

  I needed more.

  So. Much. More.

  His arm wrapped around my waist to hold me steady as he devastated me with his mouth. My legs threatened to buckle under the intensity, and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. I wanted to come, but I couldn’t. Not yet. Not this way. Not without him.

  “You win,” I panted. “Fuck, you win.” I had no idea what he won, and couldn’t remember if he was even trying to prove a point or not, but to hell with it. “I surrender.”

  He chuckled against my damp flesh. “Do you?”

  “Whatever you want,” I half moaned. Just his breath against my most intimate part was enough to destroy me.

  His tongue lashed out at me one final time before he stood again, leaving me a trembling mess. He palmed my stomach to keep me from tumbling face-first into the mattress, as my arms forgot how to function. It felt like he’d lit a fuse within me and then placed the explosion on a delayed timer.

  I fisted the comforter and groaned.

  “Shh, I’ll take care of you, darlin’,” he murmured with a kiss to the back of my neck. “Always.”

  Something about this felt different.

  Primal.

  Energizing.

  Promising.

  I
barely registered him unbuckling and unzipping his pants, but my body came alive when I felt him nudge at me from behind. His palms went to my hips, steadying me as he thrust inside.

  So deep.

  So right.

  So perfect.

  My fingers tightened their hold on the bed as I arched back into him, needing more. But he already knew. One hand went to the top of my sex to thrum my swollen nub, while the other slid up to palm my heavy breasts. His pace was relentless and filled with purpose, and his fingers stroked me reverently.

  “Every. Night.” He punctuated the words with his cock, sending jolts of pleasure to that place deep within me.

  “Yes,” I whispered in response to both his actions and his words, and to the question he asked earlier. “Fuck, yes.”

  He flipped me around and onto the bed so fast that my head spun, and then he was there, deep inside me again and kissing the life out of me. Sealing the deal, I realized. And I sealed it right back. I wrapped my legs around his waist and urged him to move faster, harder, and he obliged in kind.

  “That’s it, gorgeous,” he praised as my orgasm neared. The man knew my body better than I did, and when he pressed his hand to that sensitive part of me once more, I exploded around him. It hit me so hard and fast that I couldn’t breathe. And then his name crossed my lips in a prayer, over and over and over again. His pacing increased, riding me through my ecstasy and sending himself over the edge to join me.

  “Rachel . . .” My name sounded almost like a growl, and it was sexy as sin and matched the moment perfectly. Our embrace was quick and dirty, it was everything we both needed, and it was only the beginning. Because Will owned me now, and I owned him. Nothing, and no one, would ever come between that.

  I hugged him tight, unwilling to let him roll off of me. I needed him to know, to understand, what this meant to me. “I love you, Will.”

  He went to his elbows to stare down at me. “I love you too, Rachel.” He brushed the hair from my face and smiled. “So you’ll come work for me?”

  “Through Baker Brown,” I added. “Yes.”

  “In Charlotte.”

  Not a question, but I answered anyway. “Yes.”

  “And you’ll live here, with me.” Also a statement, and said in that domineering way of his.

  “Only if you promise to take me to bed every night, even when we’re fighting.”

  “Definitely when we’re fighting,” he corrected. “How else will I shut you up?”

  I smacked his arm. “Not off to a good start, Mershano.”

  “Is this considered a fight, then?” he teased. “Because I have something hard for your mouth, if you need it.” He flexed his hard length inside me with his words.

  I laughed. “You’re unbelievable.”

  “Why, yes, you called me that once before at La Rosas. Glad to see things haven’t changed.”

  “Oh, Will, I think we both know everything has changed.”

  “Has it?” He nuzzled my neck. “Hmm, I’ll bear that in mind, then, for the future, Dawson.”

  “Meaning what?” I asked, curious.

  “You’ll see,” he replied. “For now, I want to make love to my live-in girlfriend. Slowly, thoroughly, and all night long.”

  “Mmm, I think I like the sound of that.” I relaxed beneath him, ready for him to take control again. It would be slow indeed, but I would enjoy every minute.

  “Good, because you better get used to it, darlin’.”

  I smiled against his lips. “Yes, sir.”

  Epilogue

  “Two weeks in Hawaii, huh?” I whistled. “You Mershanos sure know how to throw a wedding.”

  Sarah’s grin brightened my phone screen. “Well, I did say I preferred a vacation in Hawaii over New Orleans, right? Seems fitting.”

  I laughed, recalling our conversation from last year around this time. Just before she went on the show to meet Evan. “Wow, I can’t believe that was twelve, no, thirteen months ago.”

  “Right? Look at us now, you in your fancy office at Will’s house, me talking to you from a private jet.” She shook her head. “And to think, it’s all Abby’s fault.”

  I grimaced at that. “Yeah, I don’t want to give that woman any credit.”

  “Oh, don’t worry. She’ll get what’s coming to her.”

  “Did you finally convince Mark to help you?” He had refused outright when Sarah proposed her plan last fall, and again in the winter. Teaching spoiled little girls lessons is outside of my job scope, he’d said. Get someone else.

  “No, Evan convinced him.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “Seriously?”

  “Yep. I don’t know what he said, but Kincaid is fully on board to help prank my twin. And it’s so good. Wait until I give you all the details . . .”

  A knock at the door had me looking up from the screen into a pair of sinfully dark eyes. I smiled. “You’ll have to fill me in later.” Because I knew that look. It was the one that preceded Will’s doing delicious things to me with his mouth.

  “Hi, Will,” Sarah said in response. She couldn’t see or hear him from the camera on my phone but likely noticed my facial reaction to him.

  “Hello, little minx,” he murmured. “Are you keeping Evan in line?”

  “In line, hmm.” She mocked a thoughtful expression. “Well, if you’re asking if I’m encouraging him to behave badly, then yes, yes, I am.”

  He chuckled and popped a hip against my desk. He wore dark slacks today and a crisp blue button-down, rolled to the elbows. All business, except for that twinkle in his eyes.

  “Good,” he replied. “He needs a deviant in his life.”

  She snorted. “Uh-huh. Bye, lovebirds.” She gave a wave and hung up without waiting for a reply.

  “Did she call about the wedding?” he wondered.

  “Yep, sounds like we’re going to Hawaii for a few weeks.”

  He shook his head. “So much for a small affair, not that I ever expected it. Not with this family.” He placed a stack of papers on the desk in front of me. “Speaking of, would you mind reviewing this contract for me?”

  I eyed the document speculatively. “What’s it for?” Because it wasn’t something I drafted.

  “Read it,” he said by way of answering.

  With a sigh, I kicked my stocking-clad feet up onto the desk and started on page one, which was a list of property and assets, including a few sizable bank accounts. “This looks like something Garrett should be reviewing,” I commented as I switched to the next page.

  It was a list of promises. All words exchanged between us at one point or another, with a few additives of a sexual nature thrown into the mix. My eyes swam over the page, blurring at some of the more touching memories from the last year.

  “Will, what is this?” I whispered.

  “Keep reading.”

  I did. The next page continued the onslaught of emotion, detailing every aspect of our relationship, spoken and unspoken, and at the end was a simple line. Not a question, because that wasn’t Will’s style, but there was a line for my signature. To acknowledge and accept his terms.

  Rachel Dawson agrees to marry Will Mershano.

  He placed a ring box beside my foot on the desk. “For your consideration,” he murmured. “I know how much you enjoy saying no, but for once, I’m really hoping you’ll say yes.”

  My hand fluttered to my mouth as the oxygen stalled in my lungs. I didn’t know what to say. How to react. Whether to cry or to laugh or to jump into his arms. We hadn’t discussed marriage yet, though that’s where our relationship was headed.

  “Will,” I breathed.

  “You don’t need to reply now. I’m sure you would like to make some amendments, and as you already know, I’ll always agree to your terms.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead and started to leave, but I grabbed his hand and pulled him back to me.

  I met his gaze and grinned. “Yes.”

  “Yes?” he repeated, his expression hesitant. Considering all the ti
mes I said no in the past, I wasn’t surprised. But this time my heart and soul were in agreement.

  I stood and wrapped my arms around his neck.

  There was only one word left to say.

  And I put my entire heart into it.

  “Yes.”

  THE END

  Bonus Scene

  Ryan Albertson leafed through the documents on his desk with a calm few men possessed, but that tick in his eye told Jax everything he needed know. It was his job to recognize even the smallest details, like Albertson’s thousand-dollar shirt and the solid-gold pen sitting beside his relaxed hand. Both were indicators that the man could afford a hacker of Jax’s caliber, hence the reason why he’d taken this assignment. At least initially.

  The final page of the report listed the name his client wanted. Ryan’s gaze narrowed as he read the last line, and his brow pinched. “Mark Kincaid. Who the fuck is Mark Kincaid?”

  “He’s an operative with the Alliance of Black Ops Services, sir. A private security company for hire.” That’s what his contact had said, anyway. He couldn’t find any details on them, which was a rarity and one that intrigued him deeply. “From what I’ve gathered, they provide elite services with hefty price tags.”

  Ryan tossed the papers onto his desk with a snort. “Which means someone with adequate finances hired him to destroy me. Any idea who?”

  Jax pulled a note from his leather jacket and placed it on the mahogany desk. “Does this name ring a bell?”

  His icy gaze narrowed, then widened. “Interesting, and yes, it does.”

  “Then I believe my work here is done.”

  “Of course.” Ryan slid an envelope across the flat surface. “I’ve added a bonus.”

  “Appreciated,” Jax murmured as he pocketed the money without counting it. He knew the future senator wouldn’t short him. “Best of luck, sir.” He nodded as a gesture of respect and walked out the door, all the while keeping Ryan in his periphery—a habit of the job, and also why he brought more than one weapon with him should he need it.