Chapter 8
Becca stepped off the plane feeling frazzled and impatient. All she wanted to do was get home, dive into a bubble bath, and forget that this day had ever happened. She was angry with Marcus for hiding something from her, furious with the world for invading her privacy and exhausted. She hadn’t really done anything except sit on a plane or airport for more than half the day, but it had drained her.
Pulling her roller bag behind her, she slowly made her way out of the airport terminal to the main section, then straight towards the line of people waiting for a cab. When it was her turn, she simply tugged her suitcase up onto her lap and gave the driver her home address, then leaned her head back against the vinyl seat and closed her eyes. Almost home, she told herself. No reporters lurking about, she thought with relief. She’d made it all the way through the airport without being accosted.
Forty-five minutes later, the cab driver pulled into her driveway. Rebecca paid him with her credit card then lugged her stuff into the house.
As soon as she closed the door on the outside world, she leaned back against the wood and stared up at the ceiling.
She needed to tell Marcus where she was. Yeah, she should have done that a long time ago. Like this morning. Before she’d gotten on the plane.
Okay, so she should have texted him as soon as the reporter had asked that invasive question. But she’d tucked her tail between her legs, acted as if she’d done something wrong, and run away. She’d acted like a coward.
Taking a deep breath, she pulled her cell phone out of her purse and texted him a note. “I’m okay, and I’m so sorry for leaving like that. It was unprofessional and unacceptable. I’ll make it up to you.”
She was just about to walk up to her bedroom and put her clothes into the laundry when a text came back from Marcus. “Where are you?”
“I’m home. I’m so sorry for not telling you. I just needed a break.”
Her foot was on the first step when he replied back, “You needed to hide.”
Rebecca sighed and leaned her shoulder and head against the wall. He was right. “Yes.”
“Seems that you’ve been doing that a lot lately.”
Rebecca didn’t know what he meant by that, but the text started her heart to a rapid pounding beat. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“Pour yourself a glass of wine, Becca, then come out to your backyard.”
Rebecca stared at the words. She could hear Marcus’ commanding, unbending voice in her head and the trembling started up. Goodness, she’d been away from him for less than twelve hours and already she missed him, missed that voice. Missed his touch.
She was so lost.
Then his words hit her. Backyard? He hadn’t said, “Go sit in your backyard.” He’d said, “Come out to your backyard.” Did that mean…
She rushed over to her kitchen window. Sure enough, Marcus was sitting in one of her comfy chairs, a half empty beer in one hand and…
She swung around, noticed that her recording equipment was gone from her dining room. She’d forgotten to put everything away! Goodness, she’d been in such a rush to catch her flight, she hadn’t put her music away! Darn it, she’d vacuumed her house but hadn’t hidden her secret! That was stupid of her. She and Marcus always hung around each other’s homes! He didn’t even ring the doorbell now, just walked in, and she did the same at his place.
Her eyes moved from the headphones and music recorder, to his hands and then slowly traveled higher. When her eyes finally reached his face, she gasped slightly at the anger in his eyes. He knew! If there had been any doubt in her mind, that look told her that he knew about her music, her lyrics.
Swallowing, she pulled open the door and stepped outside.
“You don’t have a glass of wine, Becca,” he commented with a casual tone of voice.
She shrugged, her head moving back and forth slightly as she said, “I don’t…”
“Yes, you do. Go get some wine. I opened the bottle for you. The glass is on the counter.”
The look in his eyes told her that they would not be discussing anything until she’d followed his orders.
Unfortunately, her innate stubbornness rose up at that moment. Spinning around on her heel, she stalked back into her house, picked up her suitcase, and carried it up the stairs. Marcus thought he could tell her what to do? Oh no! She wasn’t that kind of a woman. Yes, she’d run away at the first sign of trouble, but that didn’t give him the right to order her around. No man gave her orders.
She stumbled on the last step when she thought about all of the orders he’d given her recently. In bed. Or not in bed. Her face flamed with color at all of the memories, as well as how eagerly she’d followed his orders. Yes, and also because of how thoroughly she had enjoyed following his orders. He was amazing in bed. He knew how to touch a woman, how to talk to her so that she was a quivering mass of need.
She flung her suitcase onto the bed, pushing all of those memories out of her mind. She’d just unzipped her suitcase when a strong hand wrapped around her wrist, spinning her around.
Facing a furious, towering Marcus had not factored into her stubborn plans. Leaning away from him, she glared right back up, only slightly intimidated.
Well, a lot, actually. But she wasn’t going to let Marcus see how nervous she was. He wouldn’t hit her. No way would he lay a hand on her to hurt her. He wasn’t that kind of a man. But his anger…yeah, that was scary.
“So you want to talk about this in here?” He growled. “Fine. Here it is,” he said and started to pull his shirt off over his head.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, her mouth going dry as all of those muscles came into view.
He shrugged as he tossed his shirt off to the side. “You wanted to discuss this in here, we’re going to talk.” He had her pinned against the wall now. “But we’re going to do it naked.”
Naked? Was he serious?! She shook her head. “You’re crazy. I’m not…”
Her response was muffled since he’d simply pulled her cotton blouse up and over her head. She didn’t even have time to stop him or pull her arms down before he’d accomplished the deed. Now her shirt was laying on top of his and she was just as furious as he was. “Marcus! This is ridiculous!”
He stopped her by covering her mouth with his, kissing her until she was melting against him. And even then, he didn’t stop kissing her. With her hands held high over her head, he pressed her against the wall, his body pressing against hers in all of the ways he knew she liked. “You lied to me,” he growled when he finally lifted his mouth from hers. But she couldn’t respond since his lips were now teasing her neck, his teeth scraping along her sensitive skin.
A moment later, she was in his arms and he was lifting her higher, their bodies more perfectly aligned and she gasped when she realized how hard he was. Everywhere!
“Marcus,” she moaned, her body taking over as her hips pressed against his throbbing erection. It had been fine when that part of him had been pressing against her stomach. But now…now it was pressing against her core, making her body throb with need. She shifted her hips against him, wanting more of him. All of him! “Marcus, please,” she whimpered, shifting and sliding as much as his hold would allow.
Marcus lifted her higher and, with one foot, shoved her suitcase off of the bed, and gently laid her down on her back. It took him mere moments to tug their clothes off and then he was back, his body pressing hers into the soft mattress. “Why did you hide your music from me, Becca?” he asked as he took one of her nipples into his mouth, tugging, sucking, and teasing the tip with his lips, tongue, and teeth. It was almost as if he needed to tease the truth out of her, somehow.
She cried out, trying to dislodge his head, his mouth, but he was stronger than she was. He grabbed her wrists and pulled them away from his head. “Talk to me, Becca,” he said and lifted his head up. Looking down into her eyes, he shook his head. “You can’t hide from me now. You’re naked. I’m naked. It’s just us, the two of us. Why did you hide your music from me? All this time, you’ve been sending me your music, watching me try and find the right singer, but you never said a word. Why?”
Rebecca shifted her hips, trying to entice him to finish the job, or at least focus. “Couldn’t we…discuss this later?” she asked.
Marcus grabbed a condom and rolled it down his erection and Rebecca almost sobbed with relief. Gone was her anger over his words. All she wanted now was to feel him inside of her, to know that bliss that only Marcus was able to give her. “Hurry,” she whispered, getting onto her knees so that she could touch his chest, run her fingers down his shoulders and explore all of those fascinating muscles that she loved so much. “Please hurry,” she begged and started to reach down to help him, or entice him, she wasn’t sure which.
But he grabbed her hands and pressed her back against the bed. Rebecca willingly followed his hands’ commands, lifting her legs up to wrap around his waist. Goodness, she loved this man. She’d figure out what to do about the paparazzi’s pictures and the music later. Much later! From recent experience, she knew that Marcus was not a once-a-night lover. There would be another round of this amazing experience very soon after this one.
When he looked down at his Becca, he wanted answers, but he also needed her body wrapped around his. He needed reassurance that she was his woman, that she trusted him. And the simplest way, in his mind, was to take her and make her his once again.
Pressing into her heat, he closed his eyes as her heat slowly gave way to his body’s invasion. He was as gentle as he could be, but this was Becca! He’d wanted her for so long and she’d run away from him this morning. Yeah, he should have shown her the picture of them in Miami, but she should have told him the truth about her music.
When he was fully inside of her, feeling her muscles tighten against his erection, he knew there was nothing better than being here like this with this woman. His Becca.
“Why did you run away from me this morning?” he demanded, catching her hands and lifting them over her head.
Becca’s soft, amber eyes looked up at him and he would have relented, but the need for answers was stronger than his other needs at this moment.
Her soft lips parted and those eyes…damn, he loved her eyes! “What do you mean?” she asked, straining against him but he was several inches taller than she was and about several pounds heavier, not to mention, he had a whole lot more strength. So she wasn’t moving. Not even a little to find a bit of relief.
“Tell me what I want to know, Becca, and I will give you what you want.”
She shook her head. “Later,” she said and that sexy tongue darted out, wetting her kiss-swollen lips.
“Now. Tell me.”
She tried one more time, her breathing heavy as she rubbed her inner thighs against his hips. “Marcus…this isn’t the time.”
He pressed in and out of her once, twice, but when she arched into him, he stopped. “I think it is the perfect time. You want release, I want answers. Sounds like a perfect win-win scenario to me.”
She tugged at his arms but he wasn’t letting her hands go. “Marcus, this isn’t fair!”
She gasped when he pressed his hips against her, exactly how she loved him to move. “You want to know what’s not fair?” he asked, bending his head to nibble at her earlobe. “It isn’t fair when the woman I love hides things from me.” He moved to the other side and teased that ear as well. “It isn’t fair when the woman I love and, who loves me back, runs away from me when things get rough.”
She was angry now and tried to push him off of her. “Yeah? Well you hid things from me too!”
“Yeah,” he said and nuzzled her neck, ignoring her efforts to try and get away from him. “I’m sorry about that. I was trying to protect you, but I should have just shown you the picture back in Miami.”
Something about his words, his previous comment, hit her like a ton of bricks and all of her struggles stopped. “You love me?”
Marcus chuckled and scraped his teeth against her neck, causing her to squirm again. He almost gave in with that movement, but this was too important. He pressed in and out of her again, demonstrating what she wanted, giving her just a taste but not letting her have more.
“Of course I love you, Becca,” he told her, almost angry that she would doubt him. “Why don’t you know that?”
She struggled again, but when he still wouldn’t release her hands, she stopped and glared up at him. “Well, maybe because you never told me?!”
He sighed and pressed against her once more, causing her body to arch with need. “You should have known. You shouldn’t have needed to hear the words.”
She laughed, but the sound was harsh. “Marcus! You’ve dated so many women since I’ve known you! How was I supposed to know that I’m any different from the others?”
He stilled, looking down into those amber eyes. “Is that why you didn’t trust me? Because you thought you were like the others?”
Rebecca bit her lip as she stared up at him, angry with herself for revealing so much. She didn’t like insecurities and yet, she’d just told him her biggest fear. But the look in his eyes showed her something different. It wasn’t condemnation or, even worse, pity. It was…hope? Marcus was hopeful of her answer?
That seemed so…strange. And…wonderful!
“Yes,” she finally said, unaware of the way her legs were rubbing against his thighs, her calves almost wrapped around his knees. She needed to touch him and the only way she could do that, with her arms held up above her head like this, was with her legs.
But Marcus was aware of her movements. Hell, he’d been hyper aware of Becca ever since the first moment he’d walked into his building and saw her adorable, hopeful, beautiful features smiling up at him from behind the receptionist’s desk.
“Oh Becca,” he groaned and bent lower, gently touching her lips with a tender, soul-filled kiss. “I love you, Becca,” he told her as his body moved against hers, giving her what she wanted. He released her hands so that he could wrap his arms around her body, holding her close as he made love to her, moving in ways that he knew would give her the most pleasure. “I love you, honey. I have for so long!” and he groaned when she tightened those inner muscles around his erection, making him crazy. Over and over, he moved inside of her, pressing against her body and making her gasp with the pleasure.
When her climax finally came, he felt her arch against him, her screams silent as her body convulsed over and over. With every tightening of her inner muscles, he came closer and closer until he couldn’t hold back any longer and he followed her into bliss.
For a long moment, he just held her, their breathing ragged as both of them came to terms with what had just happened. He felt like he’d just melded his soul to hers.
Rolling over, he brought her with him so that she was draped over his chest as his hands moved along her body, touching her, kissing her shoulder, the top of her head, anywhere he could reach. He felt all of her small touches too. He loved the way her fingers gently fluttered against his arms, his sides…the touch almost tickling him, if he were the kind of man who was ticklish, which he wasn’t. But he still grabbed her hands, chuckling as he laid them higher on his shoulders before kissing to top of her head again.
“Sorry,” she whispered, turning her head to look up at him.
“Sorry for what?” he asked, enjoying the view. She’d lifted a bit higher so he could now almost see her nipples since they were pressed against his chest.
“Sorry for tickling you,” she replied.
He quickly shook his head. “I’m not ticklish.”
He smacked her bottom when those soft, full lips curled into a smile. “Right. Not ticklish.”
She only laughed since the smack wasn’t very hard. But when she giggled, he sighed, his breath blowing wisps of her hair away from her face. “Men are not ticklish woman,” he told her in a mock-angry tone of voice.
“Right. I’ll remember that.” Her smile disappeared as she looked at him. “You meant it? It wasn’t just the heat of the moment?”
He knew exactly what she was asking and he shook his head, not wanting any doubt to enter her mind. “I meant every word of it. And you’re not going to hide from me anymore.”
Those soft, beautiful lips pursed into a frown and he knew that something else was bothering her. “Talk to me, Becca. What’s wrong?”
“I won’t sing. Not publicly. But I want my songs to be heard. I want to share them with the world. And you’re the only man who can make that happen.”
He smiled slightly, but then chuckled when she started to reach down for his sides. “So I’m just a means to an end, right?” His laughter burst out of him when her deft fingers reached his oblique muscles, tickling him. “Admit it. You’re just having sex with me to get your music out into the world!”
With that comment, she sat up and went into full battle mode, her hands moving across his hard stomach, tickling anywhere she could reach. The man really had a sensitive stomach and sides, she thought with vengeance.
He laughed and her heart warmed with the deep, vibrating sound. Until he caught her hands and pulled them behind her back, making her vulnerable once again.
“You should know by now that I have a plan.”
She tugged slightly, testing his strength but she knew he wouldn’t release her wrists. “A plan,” she said, her voice skeptical. “Am I going to like this plan?”
He shook his head. “Probably not.” He thought about it for a moment, and shook his head. “No. Definitely not. But you’re going to trust me. And I’m going to make it work.”
She looked down at him with skepticism. “Why should I trust you?”
He transferred her wrists so that he had them in one of his big hands, easily holding them behind her. “Because you love me. And you trust me. And you have complete faith that I know what I’m doing.”
Rebecca knew that he was right, but she watched his free hand suspiciously. And just to ensure that his mind was going in the same direction as her own, she snorted as if to say that she disagreed with him.
To her delight, he took the bait. One moment, she was straddling his rock hard stomach. The next, she was flat on her back with him looming over her and she couldn’t stop the giggle of excitement.
“Oh, you think you can taunt me and get away with it?” he asked ominously.
She shook her head and tried to grab his wrists now that her hands were free. It was a pointless effort, but she still tried. “Yes,” she said.
His head moved lower, capturing her already pointed nipple.
As soon as the sensations from that hot mouth and magical tongue hit her, she closed her eyes and whispered, “Yes!” again, but in a different tone this time.
And yes, he fell right in line with her plans. “I love you,” she whispered when she was once again cradled in his strong arms, sated from another intense climax.
She smiled when she felt his lips against her bare shoulder. “I love you too.”
His fingers moved gently over her hand and she suddenly felt something cold slide down her finger. Opening her eyes more fully, she stared down at her hand, gasping at the enormous, beautiful diamond ring now glistening on her left ring finger.
“Marcus?” she asked, not voicing the question in her mind.
“We’re getting married, Becca,” he said, and tucked her fingers closed over the ring. “You love me. You said the words, so we’re going to be married.”
She shook her head, staring down at him as she twisted around to see him. “We don’t need to be married,” she said, choking out the words. She didn’t care about marriage. She just wanted to be with him.
“Yes. We do. I want the whole world to know that you’re my wife. I want the right to protect you and cherish you. I want to have kids with you.” He leered at her as his hands moved up to cup her naked breasts. “I want to have lots of practice making babies with you,” he teased. “And I want to know that you are as committed to me as I am to you.”
How could a woman say no to something so sweet?
“Okay,” she said, and quickly wiped away the tear that appeared at the corner of her eye.
He laughed softly and kissed the tips of her fingers. “Just okay?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes! Is that better?”
He pulled her into his arms. “Definitely better,” he told her and kissed her until she was once again clinging to him.