Second Chance Proposal: A Man Without Mercy / Bring It On / Rancher to the Rescue

‘I should have known you wouldn’t do as you were told for too long,’ he growled. ‘You’re too strong willed.’ He smiled a devilishly sexy smile.

Vivienne couldn’t believe it when her own lips curved upwards in a saucy smile of her own. ‘Maybe I prefer it this way.’

‘Mmm. Now that I don’t believe. Women of your obvious experience never prefer the missionary position.’

Vivienne tried not to laugh. But it was rather funny, given the limited range of her sexual experience.

‘Do you always talk this much when having sex?’ she asked him.

‘Only when I need to get my act together. I’ve never been fond of ending a good thing too soon. It would be especially disappointing on this occasion, when I might be relegated to one time only.’

‘Oh, I don’t think that’s very likely, Jack,’ she said, green eyes glittering up at his. ‘I can’t imagine not wanting at least seconds from a man of your rather...obvious attractions.’ Lord, but was it really her saying that? Talk about wicked!

‘Well, that’s good to know, Vivienne. But, just in case you change your mind afterwards, we’re going to do this the way I prefer.’

Vivienne gasped when he abruptly withdrew, her mind spinning when he turned her over, wrapping one of his huge arms around her waist as he scooped her up on all fours.

Dear heaven, she thought dazedly.

As personally inexperienced as Vivienne was in the many sexual positions possible, she wasn’t ignorant. She knew exactly what Jack was going to do. She could feel him right behind her but she couldn’t see him, her wide eyes seeing nothing but the wallpapered wall above the bed. There was no question of resisting him, not once he re-entered her, and certainly not once he took hold of her breasts and started moving inside her. Immediately, any rational thinking shut down, her desire-laden brain making all her decisions for her, demanding that she move with him, her hips rocking back and forth in a frantic rhythm, her body searching for release from the almost torturous tension building up inside her.

Vivienne had never understood the concept of pain being closely linked with pleasure. But she understood now, even more so when Jack started squeezing her already burning nipples. Just when Vivienne thought she could not bear the sensations any longer, Jack removed his hands and pressed her upper body down onto the bed, the position emphasising her raised hips and bottom, her face flaming with a heady combination of embarrassment and excitement. When he stopped moving, she moaned in frustration, her buttocks clenching tightly together as he caressed them with long, slow, circular strokes of his very big hands.

‘Do you like this?’ he said thickly as his hands caressed her sensitive flesh. She tried to feel shocked but all she felt was a dark, delicious pleasure.

‘Yes,’ she choked out.

‘Another time, then,’ he said, and took hold of her hips once more. This time he thrust faster and deeper, Vivienne struggling to stay silent the way she usually did during sex. She tried muffling her moans in a nearby pillow, but in the end she could not contain the animal sounds which escaped her lips. Her moans became groans, her fingers scrunching up great handfuls of duvet as her whole body spun out of control.

She came with a rush, her release as fast as a balloon bursting. One moment she was suspended in a type of erotic agony, the next all that dreadful tension was gone, replaced by great waves of pleasure washing through her, pulling her one way then another, like the tide. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying out. Jack didn’t bother with such niceties, roaring out his satisfaction as he held her tight and shuddered into her for an incredibly long time.

By the time he finally finished, Vivienne’s own incredible orgasm had just faded away, her limbs succumbing to a languor which would have seen her flopping face down on the bed if Jack hadn’t been holding her up.

Slowly, and with surprising gentleness, he withdrew then lowered her onto the bed where she closed her eyes and sighed the type of sigh she’d never sighed before. It contained nothing but total sexual satisfaction.

‘Don’t go away now,’ he murmured, and dropped a kiss in the small of her back.

She would have laughed if she’d had the energy.

Vivienne vaguely heard the sound of a toilet flushing and water running. Was he having a shower? she wondered.

It was her last thought before sleep claimed her.

CHAPTER ELEVEN (#ud8887f14-a148-5fbf-8088-29c9a3d45c2b)

JACK DIDN’T REALISE Vivienne was sound asleep until he came back from the bathroom. She didn’t reply to his telling her he was going to go down the road to buy some supplies, and was there anything particular she would like to eat.

Poor darling, he thought as he looked down at her luscious but unconscious form. She was obviously exhausted, not just from the sex but from everything else she’d endured lately. Best let her sleep, at least for a while.

Very quietly Jack put on his clothes and left the room, making his way to the nearby kitchen, where he rifled through the various cupboards and drawers till he found paper and a pen. Writing Vivienne an explanatory note, he returned to the bedroom where he propped the note against her pile of clothes, careful not to look at her lest he be overcome with desire for her once more. Time enough for those seconds she’d mentioned after they’d both had some lunch.

Not that he had any intention of stopping at mere seconds. Or of letting Vivienne say no to becoming his lover on a more regular basis. Anyone could see what Vivienne needed at this point in her life. Besides, being kept busy with work, she needed a man who would make mad, passionate love to her as often as possible; who would make her see that her life wasn’t over just because she’d been dumped by some fortune-hunting bastard.

Jack believed he was that man.

He’d even offer his friendship, if she wanted it.

Jack frowned at this last thought, recalling how Vivienne had said earlier that she’d never liked him all that much. He wondered why that was. Still, that had been before she’d got to know him. And he wasn’t just referring to their getting to know each other in the biblical sense. They’d actually talked to each other more in the last two days than in all the years Vivienne had worked for him. He’d certainly confided more to her than he had to any other woman. He’d even told her about his mother’s lover! Jack liked it that Vivienne hadn’t been judgemental about anything, especially his decision not to marry and have children, saying he had the right to live his life as he saw fit.

She was like him, in a way, practical and pragmatic, with a sensible head on her shoulders. Except when it came to that Daryl creep. Of course, dear old Daryl had obviously been clever, saying and doing all the right things to get Vivienne hooked. No doubt he’d thought he was on to a good wicket, until a better one had come along. Or so he’d mistakenly imagined. The fool had no idea what he was getting into, marrying Courtney Ellison. Still, they were a well-matched pair, both totally without morals or consciences. Vivienne didn’t realise how lucky she was, not to have married a man like that.

Jack was about to leave the room when there was a sound from the bed. For a split second, he thought Vivienne had woken up. But she hadn’t. She’d just rolled over and curled herself up in the foetal position, moving her peach-like bottom into a highly provocative curve. Jack suppressed a groan, then very carefully lifted up the end of the duvet and placed it over her. Unfortunately, it only went as far as her waist, leaving her upper half on show.

As he stared down at her, Jack’s mind went back to that moment when he’d taken her on all fours, her lush breasts cradled in his hands. He recalled how she’d moaned when he’d squeezed her nipples; how she’d rocked back and forth on her knees, slapping her buttocks against his hip; how she’d cried out when she finally came. Jack couldn’t remember being with a woman who’d come as hard as she had. It had felt incredible, being inside her at that moment.

‘Better not think about that right now,’ he muttered to himself and hurried downstairs, locking the front doors behind him before climbing into his car and driving off. Time enough for such thoughts after he’d had lunch; his stomach was telling him it was eating time. Jack remembered passing a small shopping centre on the way here where they were sure to have everything he would need for the rest of day.

* * *

Vivienne woke to the sound of silence, plus the realisation that at some stage Jack had covered her with the bottom half of the duvet. Sitting up, she glanced around the empty room, looking and listening for evidence of where he might have gone to. There were no sounds coming from anywhere nearby, other than some distant chirping of birds. Surely Jack wouldn’t have left her alone in the house? Alone and naked.

A shiver ran down her spine.

It was then that she saw the note. Swinging her feet over the side of the bed, Vivienne reached down to pick it up, sighing with relief as she read his message. Not that she seriously imagined Jack would run out on her. Why would he, when he no doubt thought he’d now solved two problems with one Vivienne? His need for an interior designer, plus his need for a sexual partner. After the act she’d just put on for him in bed, he would naturally conclude she would agree to whatever he wanted.

But it hadn’t been an act, had it? Vivienne accepted with a degree of confusion. She’d been genuinely swept away with desire and passion for the man. She’d enjoyed everything they’d done together, thrilling to her new, uninhibited self. As for that mind-blowing orgasm... A girl would have to be insane not to want more of those.

Why was it, Vivienne puzzled, that she’d never experienced anything like that with Daryl? After all, she’d been madly in love with the man. But not once had she been carried away in bed the way she had been with Jack. Not once had she come with Daryl inside her. Surely it couldn’t just be a question of size? She didn’t believe that. After all, she’d been panting for Jack before he’d taken off his clothes. She’d been panting for him back in the restaurant yesterday, for pity’s sake!

It was all very perplexing.

The sound of a car roaring up the steep driveway sent Vivienne into a momentary panic. As wildly uninhibited as she’d been during sex with Jack, no way did she want him walking in on her still in the nude.

Scooping up her clothes, she raced over to the door which she presumed led into a bathroom. And, yes, it was a bathroom...in a fashion.

‘Oh, lordie, lordie, lordie!’ she exclaimed, laughing.

Vivienne did know that, in theory, pink and black bathrooms had been all the rage at some stage last century but she’d never actually seen one. Talk about hideous! Shaking her head in wry amusement, she closed the door behind her. After using the black toilet and washing her hands in the pink vanity basin, she quickly dressed. She was finger-combing her hair in the large but chipped wall mirror when there was a sharp rapping on the bathroom door.

‘You in there, Vivienne?’ Jack called out.

‘Er...yes; I’m getting dressed,’ she said, feeling suddenly awkward with him, not to mention embarrassed. It seemed the old Vivienne was rearing her uptight head once again.

‘I’ve bought us some food,’ Jack said as he opened the door and walked straight in.

‘Don’t you believe in knocking?’ she said sharply.

He looked taken aback. ‘I thought I did.’