With a low groan, he erupted, his cock pulsating, his entire body shuddering with his orgasm. His chest heaved, his heart thumped in time with the rhythmic clenches of her sex around his cock. She came just after him, moaning his name, her limbs trembling as she clutched him close.
He held her, her face pressed against the crook of his neck, her arms slack around him. They stayed that way for long, quivery minutes, until their breaths evened out and their bodies calmed.
“Come home with me,” he whispered in her ear before dropping a kiss on it. “Please.”
She nodded, the movement so subtle he hardly noticed it.
Triumph slipped through him, filled him to bursting. She was his. She belonged to him.
And he couldn’t wait to declare it to the world.
Chapter Eighteen
Ella nestled close to Rhett in the backseat of the hired car, her head resting on his chest, the steady beat of his heart soothing her still-frayed nerves. What had started as an almost impossible day to face was ending up being the absolute best day of her life.
And she still had a few hours to go. All of them spent with Rhett, in his arms, in his apartment, in his life.
She could hardly believe her good fortune.
He had his arm slung around her shoulder, his fingers drifting up and down her upper arm absently. Holding on to her as if he owned her, as if she belonged so close to him, and she couldn’t protest. Couldn’t begin to find the words to complain.
It felt too delicious, being so close to him. Her every silly dream come true.
“I’ll send someone to your apartment to gather your belongings,” Rhett said, his voice a sexy rumble beneath her ear. “Move all your stuff into my place.”
Lifting her head, she met his gaze. “Isn’t that going a little too fast?”
“I don’t think so.” He reached out, settled his hand against her cheek. She nuzzled his palm, a shiver moving through her at the gentle way he caressed her. “I don’t want to waste any more time without you, Gabriella.”
His words a balm to her slightly frazzled soul, she turned her head so she could press a kiss to his palm. A low growl sounded from him and he bent, brushing his mouth with hers, his hand still cradling her face. She melted into the kiss, opening to him, never wanting it to end…
A phone rang and Rhett gently nudged her away. “It’s yours,” he whispered. “You should get it.”
She plucked the irritating phone from her purse and saw that it was her father. Anxiously she answered it. “How are you? How’s Italy?”
Her earlier feelings of betrayal evaporated with her happiness. She couldn’t wait to tell her father the excitement over the positive reception of her scent.
“Bah. That place, it’s abysmal. I’m already home,” her father griped.
“What do you mean? Why didn’t you tell me?” She took a deep breath. “What happened?” She glanced at Rhett, saw that he watched her with a troubled expression on his face.
“The Renaldis are nothing but a bunch of arrogant Italians who cannot make up their minds. They want this. No, they want that. They fight with their father who has final word and he can hardly conjure up any words, he is so sick.” Michel Durand grunted in disgust. “I could take it no longer. I asked to be bought out of my contract and left yesterday.”
“Father. You barely worked for them. How could you ask to be bought out of the contract?” Talk about arrogant. He had some nerve.
“My time is valuable, non? I think you could learn something valuable by all the things I do.”
“Oh, trust me. I’ve learned plenty.” Both things she should and shouldn’t do, but she didn’t feel like getting into that at the moment. “I met with the Worth executives today. They loved my scent.”
“Really, my darling? Well, that’s odd considering Rhett Worth called me and asked for a meeting.” The tone of his voice was unmistakably triumphant. “I think he wants to beg me to come back.”
Shock swept over her, rendering her blood ice-cold. Carefully she extracted herself from Rhett’s grip, scooting clear across the bench seat so she could press against the door. “Are you serious?”
“Would I lie to you, my daughter? I am meeting with him. I am reconsidering my letting such an opportunity go. Now, I’m sure they played along nicely and enjoyed the little scent you created, but how many ingredients did it take, hmm? And how many other scents does it smell like? It is so hard to be an original with such little experience on your side, don’t you know?”
His words sliced her open like a thousand knives cutting across her skin. “How could you do this to me?” She kept her voice pitched low, waved her hand at Rhett when he made to slide across the seat and join her.
“You did this to yourself, with your high expectations and eagerness to please. This is a cutthroat business. You should well be warned of it.”