The Illegitimate Heirs: Luke, Zach and Jake. Kathie DeNosky

complex that you would be moving? Surely you didn’t think you’d be returning to your apartment, did you?”

      She shook her head. “I…still have to…move my clothes.” How was she supposed to think with his fingers dipping beneath the scalloped trim?

      “Don’t worry. I had some of my staff move your personal effects after we left yesterday,” he stated, his voice low and intimate.

      Haley froze. “You did what?”

      He kissed her shoulder. “Everything will already be unpacked and put away by the time we get back on Tuesday.”

      She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Your arrogance has no bounds, does it?”

      “What do you mean?” He had the audacity to look truly puzzled.

      “Did it ever occur to you that I might not like someone else handling my underwear?”

      He smiled as he continued to touch her and every stroke of his warm palm on her suddenly sensitive skin increased the heat building deep inside of her. “I don’t…know what surprises me more…your arrogance or…you taking a day off from work,” she explained, struggling to catch her next breath and trying desperately to remember she was irritated with him.

      “Why would my taking time off surprise you?” he asked, his warm breath close to her ear.

      “The only time I’ve ever known you to take a day off from the office was when your sister graduated from college,” she retorted, trying to concentrate on something besides his hands moving steadily over her body. She was definitely losing the battle.

      “I’m not all work,” he insisted, slowly easing her to her back. When he leaned over her, his smile and the gleam in his vivid blue eyes told her in no uncertain terms exactly what he meant when he added, “Believe me, I do know how to play, sweetheart.”

      “I’m, uh, sure you do,” she hedged, staring up at him. “But I don’t think—”

      “That’s all right. I’ll do the thinking for both of us,” he interrupted as he brought his mouth down to cover hers.

      His lips teased and caressed, making Haley forget anything she’d been about to say. Wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders, she gave up trying to think and lost herself to his tender exploration.

      How could she even begin to form a rational thought when she was lying in bed with a half-naked man? The very man she’d fantasized about for over five years? The man who was kissing her like she was the most desirable woman he’d ever known?

      When he used the tip of his tongue to trace the edge of her mouth, she couldn’t deny him entry. She wanted to once again experience his taste and the feeling that Luke was claiming her for his own.

      Her pulse sped up and she wasn’t entirely certain it would ever return to normal when he slowly slid his hand from her back to her abdomen, then up to the underside of her breast. Never in her wildest imaginings could anything have felt more sensual as when he cupped the soft mound and began to relentlessly tease the puckered bud with the pad of his thumb.

      “You’re so sweet,” he said, breaking the kiss to nibble his way down her throat to the top of her nightgown. When he raised his head, he gave her a smile that heated her all the way to her soul at the same time he used his finger to trace the delicate lace edging at the neckline. “Let’s get you out of this.”

      Before she could respond, he tossed the comforter back and propping himself up on one elbow, used both hands to rip the thin cotton garment from the top all the way to the hem.

      Gasping, she reached for the sheet. “Good heavens, Luke, you didn’t even give me the chance to take it off.”

      He was not the least bit apologetic when he shoved the sheet farther from her grasp. “I didn’t want to waste the time.”

      “That was the only gown I brought with me…I didn’t expect to be staying more than one night,” she explained, covering her breasts with her palms.

      Taking her hands in his, he moved them to her sides. “Don’t try to hide from me, Haley. We’re married. There’s no reason for you to be embarrassed or shy with me.”

      “But couldn’t we learn about each other on a more personal level with our clothes on first?” she asked as a fiery flush heated her cheeks.

      She knew he thought she’d lost her mind, but that couldn’t be helped. To have their relationship go from strictly business with no contact outside of the office one day, to being married and naked in bed together the next was more than a little intimidating. And even though she’d dreamed that one day he’d notice her as a woman instead of just his competent assistant, in her fantasies, things between them had never progressed this far this fast.

      “I told you before that there’s no better way for a man and woman to get acquainted than making love,” he reminded, lowering his head to kiss the tip of her breast. “Besides, the sole reason for our getting married was for me to make you pregnant.” Laughing, he traced the valley between her breasts all the way down to her navel. “And that would be hard to do with clothes on, sweetheart.”

      When he lowered his mouth to her overly sensitive nipple, a swirl of heat gathered in the very core of her and Haley forgot about everything but the way Luke was making her feel. Shamelessly threading her fingers through his thick black hair to hold him to her, it took a moment for her to realize he’d slipped his hand below the band of her silk panties.

      Inch by slow inch, he caressed his way to her most secret parts, and she thought she’d melt from the delicious heat threading though her veins. The intense longing he created was like nothing she had ever known and she didn’t even try to stop her moan from escaping.

      “Look at me, Haley,” he said, raising his head from her breast. When she did, his smile sent another wave of tingling sensations straight through her. “In the past few minutes, I’ve already learned several things about you that I wasn’t aware of before.”

      “R-really?”

      Smiling, he nodded. “You like the way I make you feel when I touch you here.” When he moved his fingers to dip inside and stroke her intimately, every fiber of her being hummed with pleasure.

      “I…oh…y-yes.”

      “And you really like for me to do this,” he added, nipping at the tip of her breast with his firm lips.

      When he took the bud into his mouth to draw on it deeply, exquisite feelings flowed to every nerve in her body and her will to resist became nonexistent.

      Unable to make a sound, she nodded as Luke continued his gentle assault on her senses. Completely lost to the feelings he was creating within her, she didn’t have the slightest clue when he’d removed her panties and his boxers. But the feel of his bare body against hers and the solid strength of his arousal as he pressed himself to her thigh, brought back some of her sanity and she shivered from nervous anticipation.

      “I’ve gotten to know you quite well already, sweetheart,” Luke informed, kissing her. “But now it’s time you learned something about me.”

      “W-what…would that…be?” she asked, finding oxygen in extremely short supply.

      “I want you,” he said, nudging her legs apart with his knee. “I want to be deep inside of you. Right now.”

      As he moved to cover her, she closed her eyes and lay back against the pillows. The electrifying excitement he’d built inside her was undeniable, but so was a fair amount of nervous apprehension.

      He’d said that making love was a good way to get to know each other on a more personal level. And there was something very important that he was about to find out about her. Something that she was fairly certain he would have never guessed.

      What was Luke going to think when he found out? How was he going to react when he discovered that his wife had never been acquainted with