Kings of California. Maureen Child

snapped the phone closed before Travis could get started again. Then he turned the phone off before Jackson could call and have his say. He didn’t need to hear his brothers’ opinions. He knew going into this what they’d think. And it didn’t matter a damn.

      He and Gina were two consenting adults. Their marriage—such as it was—was nobody else’s business.

      “Well,” Gina said from behind him. “You look like you want to take a bite out of somebody.”

      He turned, schooling his features into the calm, unreadable mask he used with everyone but his brothers. But even as he fought for distance, the sight of her had a hot ball of lust pooling in his belly.

      In the pale wash of the soft balcony lights, she looked almost otherworldly. Her nightgown was short, stopping midthigh. A deep, rich red, the satin fabric clung to her skin, outlining every curve and exposing what looked like a mile of leg. The bodice was red lace and it cupped her breasts like a lover’s hands. Her hair hung loose and thick over her shoulders, the untamed curls enticing him. She smelled like heaven—peaches and flowers and the smile she gave him was knowing and nervous at the same time.

      “You look,” he said, “beautiful.”

      Her smile brightened. “I feel silly.” Then she smoothed one hand over her stomach as if trying to calm butterflies and he wondered if she was regretting making the offer that had brought them to this place.

      Adam poured her a flute of champagne and when she took it from him, her fingertips grazed his skin and heat exploded. He ignored it for the moment. “Why silly?”

      She waved a hand at her negligee and shrugged. “I went out and bought this, especially for tonight and I probably shouldn’t have. It’s not like this is an ordinary wedding night, is it?”

      “No,” he conceded and found he couldn’t take his gaze from her. From the curve of her breasts. From the hard tips of her nipples, pressing against the dark red lace. “It’s not. But it is the beginning of our bargain.”

      “True,” she said and took a sip of champagne. Then she licked her bottom lip and everything in Adam tightened painfully.

      “And,” he said, taking a swallow himself, “for myself, I can tell you I appreciate your shopping talents.”

      Her eyes widened, then she smiled more easily. “Thanks.” Stepping out onto the balcony, heedless of the negligee she wore, she looked out at the view and sighed. “It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?”

      “Yeah, it is.” But he wasn’t looking at the neon-lit desert or the mountains beyond. He was staring at her. He took another drink of champagne, hoping the icy wine would spill into his blood and cool it off a little. No such luck.

      She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Thanks for flying Mom and Dad here and home again.”

      He shrugged. He hadn’t minded bringing Sal and Teresa along, though he also hadn’t been sorry to see them go. Teresa especially. The woman had looked daggers at him all day. “Seemed important that they be there for you.”

      “But you didn’t want your brothers?”

      He leaned back against the stone railing. “I thought it would be easier all around if we kept it simple.”

      “Right,” she said. “Simple. Do they know?”

      “About us?” he asked. When she nodded he said, “They do now. Esperanza told them.”

      She smiled. “How’d they take it?”

      He looked at her and lied. It didn’t matter a damn to him what his brothers thought about this. “Fine. Talked to Travis a few minutes ago.”

      A desert wind sailed past them and Gina shivered.

      “You’re cold.”

      “A little.”

      He set his glass down on the table and went to her. A short walk and yet Adam felt as if each step were measured. He was about to seal their bargain. There would be no going back. And if he woke up tomorrow regretting what he’d done tonight, then he’d have to live with it.

      But then, he’d had plenty of practice living with uncomfortable realities.

      “Come here.” Pulling her close, he wrapped both arms around her, drawing her in, her back to his front. Heat pooled between them, seeping into his bones, firing his blood. Adam felt that sweet rush of need fill him and he gritted his teeth to maintain control. He wouldn’t be led around by his groin. This bargain was one thing.

      Releasing control was something else. Something he wouldn’t allow to happen.

      “Adam,” Gina said, her voice so soft, he almost missed it. “I know this was my idea, but I suddenly don’t know what to do next.”

      “We do what we planned to do. We make a child together.”

      She shivered again and pressed harder against him. “Right. I mean, that is what this is all about. So,” she said, turning in his arms to look up at him, “no point in wasting time, is there?”

      She lifted her arms and hooked them behind his neck. Then she went up on her toes, tilted her head and kissed him. The soft, almost hesitant touch of her mouth to his lit up Adam’s insides brighter than any of the neon stretching out across the desert beneath them.

      He’d spent the last five years alone. Pushing aside wants and needs he didn’t have the time or patience to deal with. Now, there was no reason to hold back. So he didn’t. Wrapping his arms around her middle, he held her to him with a fierce grip and took her mouth with all the pent-up hunger he felt surging within.

      She groaned a little as he parted her lips with his tongue and tasted her warmth. She sighed and fed the fires racing through his blood. He held her tighter to him, grinding his hips against hers, needing that sweet pressure.

      Again and again, his tongue delved inside, claiming her, taking all she had to give. He allowed his control to slip and he surrendered to the waves of desire crashing inside him. He slid his hands up and down her back, cupping her bottom, stroking her spine, threading through the thick mass of curls that fell in a dark curtain around her.

      Her scent filled him. Her taste enflamed him. And his body physically ached to have her under him.

      He tore his mouth from hers, like a man struggling for air before he drowned. Gina swayed unsteadily, but Adam’s arms were like steel bands, supporting her, holding her. She tipped her head back to stare up at the desert sky while Adam’s mouth moved up and down her neck, nibbling, licking, tasting. She felt like a banquet laid out before a starving man.

      She felt needed. Wanted.

      If only she also felt loved.

      But when that thought appeared in her mind, she shut it off instantly. For now, it was enough that she loved. It was enough that she finally knew what it was to have Adam King’s legendary focus directed at her. And she wanted more. She wanted it all. Tomorrow, she would begin the pretense of a marriage they’d decided on. But tonight was her wedding night and she wanted to remember every moment of it.

      When Adam swept her up into his arms, she gasped. Then she looked into his dark, dark eyes. She smiled at him, but there was no glint of humor or warmth in his gaze.

      Only need.

      A part of her saddened at that knowledge, but she fought that sensation back, cupped his face in her hands and said, “We can do this, right?”

      His mouth quirked. “Oh, we’re going to do this, Gina. Now.”

      A swirl of something delicious swept through her, heating her core, making her blood run thick. She took a deep breath as he started to carry her back into the suite. “I wasn’t talking about sex, Adam. I was talking about our bargain.”

      He stopped dead just inside the French doors. Looking down at her, he asked, “Second thoughts?”

      And