Diamonds in the Rough (Diamonds are Forever Trilogy 2)

“You’re mine,” I say into our kiss, pounding harder into her.

She takes the roughness and gives it back with good measure, her nails digging into my shoulders as she pushes on them to flip us around. For her, I roll over. The way she rides me with her head thrown back and her breasts pushed out is enough to shatter what’s left of my control.

I lock my hands around her waist. “Come with me.”

She cries out when I roll my hips and hit that spot that makes her reach her petite mort quicker.

“Tell me, cherie.” I lean forward to steal a kiss. “Tell me how it is.”

“You know how it is.”

Pleasure coils, ready to erupt. “Tell me, anyway.”

“Perfect,” she whispers.

I explode, my body contracting as every physical sensation I’m capable of aligns in my dick. An answering shudder runs through her body. Her inner muscles clench on my cock, milking me dry.

Taking her face between my hands, I kiss her. I don’t know for how long our bodies are fused like this, our mouths and hips joined, but the shadows are longer when I finally convince myself to pull out.

She lays on top of me in a beautiful disarray of dark hair and damp skin, her breasts pushed flat against my chest.

“Perfect,” I agree. “I can stay like this forever.”

“Then let’s,” she says, splaying a palm over the ugly skin that covers my breastbone.

Joy infinitely more powerful than the climax still reverberating in my lower body bursts through my chest. It catches me off-guard, shocking me into silence. It’s unlike anything I’ve felt. Gripping her fingers, I hold her hand over my heart.

“Yes,” I say. “Let’s.”

She snuggles with a content little sigh, burying her nose in my neck.

Like I said, “Perfect.”

On Sunday, our forever comes to an end, but the perfect lingers when I hold her hand as we board the ferry. The minute we step into my house near Cassis, my father calls and summons me for dinner. When I kiss her and tell her I won’t be home late, the only remainder of the paradise we shared is her tan.

We’ve fallen into an easy rhythm, Zoe and I. She’s adapted. All is good. I feel good. My mood sours, though, when I walk through the door of my parents’ house and find Alexis in the foyer with a glass of wine in his hand.

“Brother.” He gives me a cool smile. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

He’ll never forgive me for the lesson I taught him. Together with his envy of my first-born status, it’ll be a rift between us for the rest of our days. Not that I care. It’s not as if there were ever any brotherly feelings between us before.

I hand my coat to the housekeeper. “Is that a problem?”

Alexis smiles at the young woman. She’s new. They never last long with my mother. “I’m just surprised you were able to tear yourself away from Zoe.”

“There you are,” Maman says, exiting the kitchen. “Come on, Max. Help me carve the lamb.”

Throwing a taunting smile over my shoulder at Alexis, I follow my mother to the kitchen.

She pats my cheek. “It’s good to have both my boys at home for dinner. That old table is too big for just your father and me.” She smiles. “But soon, it will be filled with grandchildren.”

Ah. That explains her happy disposition. Me, I’m apathetic about it. It’s a duty, like the business. “Don’t start, Maman.”

“Oh, no. You’re not going to deny me that pleasure.”

I take the carving knife from the wooden block on the counter. “Don’t expect anything too soon.”

She pours gravy into a serving bowl. “You’re not getting any younger.”

For a moment, I think about children. I think about a boy who’ll follow in my footsteps, and a girl who’ll inherit Maman’s fate. I won’t say I’m unhappy with my life, but I’m suddenly not sure if the family future is a gift or curse. Before Zoe, I wouldn’t have even posed the question, but she has a way of making me look at things through her eyes, seeing them differently.

“Don’t you want children?” Maman asks with big eyes.

“Of course, I do.”

She dries her hands on her apron, her posture relaxing visibly. “Good. The honeymoon is over. It’s time to focus on family and making babies, but you shouldn’t forget the business. You’ve been neglecting it, allowing Alexis to fill your shoes. Your place is at the head of the family, Max. Don’t let worldly distractions make you forget that.” She points a finger at me. “You’re the one who’s supposed to take over your father’s business. Alexis can’t run it like you can.”

I arrange a slice of meat on the serving platter. “You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know.”

“I have news you don’t already know,” my father says from the door. He tilts his head toward the hallway. “Join me.”