Page 67 of Her Brother's Billionaire Best Friend

I raised an eyebrow.

“I feel like,” said Laura carefully, “things aren’t just going to be okay. But they always have been.”

“I know,” I said. Slowly, we moved together. And then, before I knew it, I was dancing with Laura, slow-dancing on the porch in the silence of the still night. Her feet kept pace with mine, and she looked up and laughed, her face creasing in all the right places to form a beautiful smile.

“I didn’t know you could dance,” she grinned.

“I’m not in the habit of it,” I grunted.

“Don’t tell me that Lucien Barnes, billionaire investor, rose-grower, helicopter pilot and war hero, is also a ballroom dancer.”

“Just a happy amateur as far as that last one’s concerned,” I said soothingly, as Laura rested her head on my shoulders. And I pulled her closer to me, wanting to protect her. Wanting to banish the shadows of her past, almost as much as I wanted to banish my own.

But how could I when she didn’t know who I really was?

For a moment, it was on the tip of my tongue. My confession. The secret I’d buried so deep that no one else believed it either. That the man before Laura now was a man she’d known a long time ago. A man who’d been willing to do whatever it took to hold onto her. And even though that man might be gone, the one still here before her had everything he needed to change her life for the better.

We came to a stop after a while and stood, holding one another. And then, Laura looked up at me.

“Can I stay here with you tonight?” she said.

I looked down at her and smiled knowingly. “As long as it’s all night. Don’t…don’t be gone when I wake up in the morning.”

“I won’t,” she stepped back from me and took my hand.

“Come with me,” she whispered, her voice low and lovely. And I felt a tingling feeling of want through my muscles, that only Laura Solomon’s patient touch could ease.

Chapter 21

Laura

There, amid the still heat and the trembling leaves of the bushes, I kissed Lucien. My hands braced themselves around his torso, felt at his chest where he’d unbuttoned his shirt. I pressed my lips to his and together, we both fell to the floor, intoxicated by passion, among the sweet smells of the roses and the glorious, humid heat of the garden.

There on the soft grass, I climbed atop his strong body. Intertwining my fingers with his hands, I kissed him deeply, and Lucien responded, his strong hands slipping down my back to cup my thighs. As he squeezed my flesh, he whispered in my ear.

“You look beautiful tonight.”

“Show me.” I rolled away from him, pulling me on top of him. It was hot that night, but I wanted more—wanted Lucien’s heat and the sensuous curves of his strong body.

We clung together as cicadas hummed in the brush around us. I felt for his shirt as he kissed the soft flesh of my neck and my bosom, and began to undo his shirt. I wrestled it clear, pulling it from where he’d neatly tucked it into his belt, and ran my hands along the well-defined muscles of his abs, his glorious, strong chest. Slick with sweat and hopelessly in need of him, I sighed with relief as he lifted up my dress and bent down to kiss my thighs.

I moaned quietly as Lucien’s mouth eased my tensions. Making love to him was like starting afresh every time, unraveling all the mystery of our relationship until our hearts beat as one. As I sighed, his hand slipped over my panties, and he grunted with satisfaction as he felt how wet I was, how moist the soft hairs beneath the fabric were.

“You’re wet for me,” he purred, and his delight sent a tingle of pleasure through my chest. My breasts heaved as Lucien’s hand pressed between my legs, and he began to feel me through the soft lining of my panties.

“Oh, God. Yeah. Just like that. Just like…”

Lucien’s touch was deft, and it wasn’t long before I felt myself opening for him, dripping and soaking with need. I could feel the insides of me pulsing, beating with need for him, and I dared him to indulge his desire for me, lightly pushing my hips until I was grinding my pussy on his hand.

Lucien growled and his hand darted to my wrist, pinning me to the soft grass beneath. I couldn’t believe we were doing this, here of all places. But it was perfect. Just the way I’d imagined as we danced under the bandstand.

Finally I could bear it no longer. I kicked off my shoes, my toes curling as Lucien reached down. He unbuckled his belt and slipped it off, and before I knew it, my hands had delved down, as I unbuttoned the flies of his pants and kissed his mouth, greedily feeling for his sizeable erection.

“Your turn,” I murmured, and pushed him gently. I couldn’t have moved him if he didn’t want to be moved—but Lucien most certainly did want to be moved by me, and I grinned with pleasure as he turned onto his back, and I removed his pants and underwear, letting loose his enormous manhood.

I bent low and tasted his cock, kissing the tip before running my hand up and down his bare chest. I tasted his dick, slowly, delicately, until I was sucking. I wanted to make his head spin, wanted to soothe his worries and ease his desperate desire for me, and before long, I’d gripped the shaft of his cock and was running my hand up and down with gleeful abandon.

“You’re magnificent,” I said, feeling him as he stretched out before me on the grass. Gently I eased myself up and over his body, straddling him.