Page 194 of Irresistible Rogue

“Lie back and relax,” I told her, and she did.

I kissed her breasts, trying to take my time. We had all damn night. I needed to calm down.

Slow down.

My hand slipped down between her legs, my fingers stroking her lightly. She was so slick and wet. I told her how sweet she was as I kissed her skin. How good.

Then I handcuffed her to the headboard. Both hands, spread above her.

Then I went to get the gag. Not a ball gag or anything, just a band of silky black fabric that I slid over her head and into her mouth.

“You’re not going to move,” I told her, stroking the side of her face and down her neck. “You’re not going to make a sound. You’re going to be still and quiet and good for me,” I instructed her, staring in her eyes.

She nodded,Yes.

Then I proceeded to make love to her, denying her her orgasm for as long as I could.

Because I didn’t want her to think about anything else.

Ididn’t want to think about anything else. I didn’t want to think about her leaving.

I didn’t want her to leave.

I didn’t want to say goodbye.

I didn’t want to let her out of this bed, drive her home in the morning, because that just got us one day closer to the end of this.

Maybe I shouldn’t have brought her here. I shouldn’t have caressed and massaged and kissed her body, making her come again and again, fucked her long and slow, then hard and fast, slept next to her afterwards.

Because all this was going to do was make it harder to say goodbye, and watch her walk away.

But I couldn’t stop myself.

For as long as I could control it… I just wanted her to be mine.

ChapterThirty-Two

Jolie

One week before the wedding, Mom gathered her sisters in her sunroom and asked me if I’d show them all the plans for the wedding design. She’d seen everything already, in bits and pieces, but she wanted the others to see it, too, while we went over it all one last time.

Mostly, she wanted them here because of the photo.

I brought it into the sunroom with me, along with Mom’s wedding book and my binder of samples and notes.

“Okay, so, when I first looked over the wedding design,” I told them, “it was beautiful, but it just felt a little off. Like it wasn’t the ideal vibe for Mom and Jacob. It was a very Canadian Pacific, mountain vibe. Cool, but kind of… woodsy. Like, maybe too much? I just thought we should bring in a little touch of like, old Hollywood glam, you know?”

Right away, Aunt Marie smiled. She got it. Because anyone who really knew Mom knew that she exuded classic elegance, with a generous helping of glamor when she was feeling festive.

“And then, I saw this.”

I pulled out the framed photo I’d taken down off the wall in mom’s sitting room. They all knew it well. Every one of them had the same photo at home. It was a photo of their beloved grandparents, Percy and Rita.

Mireille put her hand to her throat, like she was choking back some emotion. I was pretty sure she understood where I was going with this before I even had to explain.

The photo was that strong. Beautiful and romantic, and very old Hollywood vibes.

Madeleine smiled at me.

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