Marriage Terms

“What you do back,” she breathed, burying her face in his neck, inhaling his scent.

“But I’m a little busy right now.” His fingertips danced their way between her legs, tickling, teasing, tantalizing. “And I’m not sure this is the time or place—”

“Don’t mess with me.” She scrunched forward, urging his explorations to go further.

“Like you’re not messing with me?”

“It’s for your own good,” she gasped, reaching down to press his hand into her.

He disentangled himself, but then dropped to his knees. “My own good?” He feathered light kisses along her inner thigh.

She sank back on her elbows. “Okay, this part’s for my own good.” Her muscles started to melt.

He chuckled against her, and moved higher, higher still, and then his voice vibrated on her tender flesh. “I think there’s a company rule against this.”

“Don’t you dare stop.”

“Maybe even two.”

“Daniel.”

He chuckled again, and then he kissed her, hard and deep, and a little bit of heaven zapped right down into Snap. She sucked in gulps of air, gripping the edge of the desk as he nearly drove her out of her mind.

She was soaring, flying, cresting…

Then she realized what he was doing, and she jerked away.

“What?” He looked up.

“Uh-uh.” She sat up straight, latched on to his shoulders and pulled.

“You done?” he asked, slowly rising.

“Hardly.” She went after the button on his slacks.

He grabbed her hand to stop her.

But she stroked him through the fabric and he groaned, grasping the edge of the desk with his free hand.

“You’re mine, Daniel,” she vowed.

“I can’t…” He gritted his teeth, and the hand stopping her relaxed.

She popped the button. His zipper slid down easily, and her hand contacted searing hot flesh.

“Amanda—”

“Do me on the desktop, Daniel,” she purred.

“You’re out of your—”

She squeezed. “Now.”

He swore.

She pressed forward, bringing him against her, guiding him inside her.

He swore again, but it sounded like a prayer, and he gathered her to him with a groan of surrender.

He slipped his hands right under her bottom, holding her in place while his body thrust, and his muscles bunched beneath his suit jacket, turning to tempered steel.

He whispered of how she looked, how she felt, how she tasted. She reveled in his words, his touch, his scent.

She lost track of time as the tension mounted and the room spun around. She frantically kissed his mouth, tangling with his tongue. His fingers dug into her as he groaned her name and jerked harder and harder against her.

Sensation radiated out like fireworks, and she slipped off the edge of the world, her body contracting over and over and over again.

When their heartbeats finally slowed, his hands were tangled in her hair. He gently kissed her temple, stroking his knuckles down her cheek.

“I’m beginning to love spontaneity,” he breathed.

“You give a whole new meaning to the word,” she admitted.

His chest puffed against her.

“Burger?” she asked.

Daniel laughed deep in his throat, and his arms contracted around her. “There’s a bathroom through that door.” He pointed. “If you want to freshen up.”

She kissed his mouth. “Yeah.”

He kissed her back. “Okay.”

She kissed him again. “Hope you like cola.”

He kissed her. “Sure.”

She kissed him, and this time they lingered. “I guess we don’t have time to do it again, huh?” she asked.

“Not and eat the burgers.”

“You don’t want to miss the burgers.”

He stepped back, and she slid off the desk.

While she washed, and combed her hair, she could hear Daniel unpacking their lunch.

On the way back through the office, she scooped his tie from where it dangled over the back of a guest chair and looped it around her neck.

Daniel handed her a burger, taking the guest chair beside her.

“These aren’t bad,” he said after the first bite.

“Would I steer you wrong?” The waxed paper crackled as she unwrapped hers.

“Apparently not. Where did you get them?”

“Across the street. You know it’s a national chain, right?”

“Really?”

She shook her head and laughed lightly. “There’s a whole world out there you’ve never seen.”

He stopped eating and gave her an intense stare. “You want to show it to me?”

Amanda felt a surge of guilt. He was coming around. He was willing to meet her halfway, to experience new things. And she still hadn’t budged.

It wasn’t Daniel’s fault that Patrick was a Machiavellian genius. More than any of his siblings, Daniel had tried to exert his independence. And the fact that Bryan was the only Elliott who’d succeeded in breaking free was partly thanks to Daniel.

She swallowed, making a decision. “Only if you’ll agree to show me your world.”

He crumpled his wrapper and tossed it into the trash. “What do you want to see first? Paris? Rome? Sydney?”

“I was thinking more along the lines of The Met.”

“You’ve already been to The Met.”

“But you can get better tickets.”

“La Bohème, followed by pizza?”

Amanda laughed and stood up, tossing her own wrapper in the trash. “I’ve got an appointment at one,” she told him.

He moved in front of her, kissing her gently on the lips and reaching for his tie.

“Uh-uh.” She shook her head and held the tie fast. “Souvenir.”

“Fine,” he agreed easily.

While she gathered her purse and took a last drink, he moved around the desk. He opened a drawer and extracted another tie.

Amanda dropped her paper cup in the bin and followed him around. She commandeered the second tie.

“Hey!”

“No tie.”

He grabbed for it, but she backed away.

“What do you mean no tie?”

She looped the second one around her neck. “Price you pay for spontaneity.”

“Nancy’s going to know what happened.”

Amanda shot him a grin. “Yeah, she will.”

He took a step toward her. “Amanda—”

“Call me.” She quickly scooted out the door.

Chapter 11

At precisely two o’clock, Daniel strode into his father’s outer office. Making love with Amanda had taken the edge off his anger. Making love with Amanda had taken the edge off everything.

But then, making love with her had also reminded him all over again how cruelly his father had manipulated a frightened, pregnant teenager.

“Is he here?” Daniel asked Mrs. Bitton, barely breaking his stride.

“He’s expecting you,” she answered.

Daniel swung the door wide, then shut it firmly behind him.

His father didn’t look up from the papers he was signing. “Do we have some kind of a problem?”

Daniel took a few steps into the office, struggling to keep a rein on his temper. “Yes, we have some kind of a problem.”

Patrick glanced up. “And that would be…?”

“You blackmailed Amanda.”

Patrick didn’t flinch. “I haven’t said more than three words to her in sixteen years.”

Daniel took two more paces. “You threatened to take Bryan away from her.” His voice rose, nearly shaking. “How could you do that? She was eighteen, pregnant, defenseless.”

Patrick set down his pen and squared his shoulders. “I did what was best for the family.”

Daniel smacked his palms on the desktop. “Best for you, yes. Best for the family, maybe. Best for Amanda? I don’t think so.”

“Amanda wasn’t my responsibility.”

“Amanda is my wife!” Daniel shouted.

“Was your wife.”

Daniel clamped his jaw and sucked in a breath.

Patrick rose to his feet. “This is ancient history, Daniel. And I have a meeting.”

“Don’t you dare.”

“Don’t I dare?”

Daniel pointed a finger at his father’s chest. Strangely, the man who had intimidated him all his life didn’t look so intimidating now. “We’re not finished with this conversation.”

Patrick started around the desk. “We are definitely finished with this conversation, and you’re damn lucky you still have a job.”

Daniel stepped sideways, blocking his father’s exit, folding his arms over his chest. “You are going to apologize to Amanda.”

Patrick’s eyes glittered and a muscle ticked in one jaw. “Amanda made her choice.”

“You gave her no choice.”

“She chose to sleep with you.”

“You know nothing about what happened that night.”

“Are you telling me she was unwilling?”

Something exploded in Daniel’s brain. He doubled up his fists and leaned in.

“Are you suggesting I raped her?”

“Did you?”

“No! Of course not!”

“Then she made her choice. There was a baby. An Elliott baby. I protected the family, and that’s all I’m going to say on the matter.” Patrick started to go around Daniel.

This time Daniel didn’t stop him. His voice dropped to a growl. “You betrayed her, and you betrayed me.”