"Josh WANT Mister JoJo!" Joshua's lower lip quivered, his face puckering, tears filling his big blue eyes. "Josh want him NOW!"
Candy picked up the little boy quickly as his tears threatened to escalate to a full-blown tantrum. He was normally a sweet, good-natured child but Melinda had warned her that he had inherited Matt's headstrong nature and right now, she was witnessing first-hand, signs of his father's strong will and stubbornness.
Candy picked up the little boy quickly as his tears threatened to escalate to a full-blown tantrum. He was normally a sweet, good-natured child but Melinda had warned her that he had inherited Matt's headstrong nature and right now, she was witnessing first-hand, signs of his father's strong will and stubbornness.
"Josh, honey, Aunty Sarah will find him for you – I promise!" Candy soothed the cranky little boy, jigging him in her arms. She sang softly to Joshua as she tried to remember where he might have left his favorite toy. She had played with him in the garden earlier, then they had gone to the kitchen for Josh's milk and snacks…Mister JoJo had been there then, because Joshua always shared his milk with the plush rabbit. She patted the little boy's back as she traced their movements that day. They had popped into the living room after tea to say hi to Melinda, and then – then they had visited the Kanes' home library briefly for her to pick up a book to read. Yes! It had been time for Josh's nap and she had carried him back to the nursery, leaving Mister JoJo behind.
Candy glanced down at her little boy and smiled. Joshua had fallen asleep on her shoulder, lulled by the sound of her voice. Melinda had told her that Josh always took time to fall asleep but Candy found that the little boy fell asleep very quickly when she sang to him. She laid him carefully in his cot and dimmed the lights. He looked so peaceful, she thought, her heart aching with the love she felt for him. "Every little boy deserves to have his mama and daddy with him," she told him silently. "And I'll see to it that you have both."
She kissed him gently and slipped out of the room to fetch Mister JoJo before her son woke up and found that his favorite toy was missing. The Kanes had a beautiful library which was one of her favorite places in the huge mansion. It was a big, high-ceilinged room with polished wooden shelves all around, holding more books than a person could possibly read, she used to think when she first came to their house. The library was a cozy, welcoming place too, with a big fireplace and enormous, comfy sofas and pouffes that invited the visitor to settle down and put their feet up for a few hours with a book of their choice.
She entered the library now, intent on her mission to rescue the rabbit. The room was dimly lit, with a warm fire going. It was only when she was well into the room that she realized it was not, in fact, empty.
Matt sat in one of the huge sofas, a glass of whiskey in hand, looking broodingly into the fire. He raised his head at her arrival, making it impossible for her to leave without saying something.
"I – I'm sorry to disturb you – it's just that Mister JoJo – I mean, Joshua won't sleep without him…he loves that rabbit…" Her voice trailed off as his lips quirked in amusement at her nervous babbling. "Oh, there he is!" She grabbed the plushie with relief and turned to leave, but Matt snagged her wrist.
"Stay and talk with me," he said softly. "I've hardly seen anything of you after that day."
Candy flushed as she remembered the day he was referring to, when he had found her in his room and things had gotten steamy between them. "I – uh – Joshua needs his toy otherwise he can't sleep. I need to get back to him."
"Liar." Matt's eyes glittered like jewels in the firelight. "Josh must be asleep or you would never leave him alone in the nursery. Besides, I'm sure the baby monitor must be on. So, you can stay and talk to me."
Candy would have protested further but she glimpsed a rare vulnerability in his azure eyes that melted her resolve of not being alone with him. "Okay, I can stay for a bit."
"Thank you." Matt was still holding her wrist so she simply stood there, gazing down at his beloved face. He looked so lonely, she thought suddenly.
When he spoke next, he sounded as though he was far away. "Do you know, can you imagine how it is to wake up one day and find that twenty-five years of your life are taken away from you? Wiped out in a single stroke…" He sighed, absently rubbing circles on her fluttering pulse with his thumb. "Everyone tells you you're lucky to be alive – Hell, you KNOW you're lucky to be alive, but you can't help wondering about all that lost time…" He looked up at her with tortured eyes. "I can't help but feel I've lost some part of me that was very important…if only I could remember…"
Poor Matt, Candy thought, her heart breaking for him. At least she had her memories intact even if she had lost three years of her life, but he had lost everything that had given meaning to his life in that one, fatal moment…
"Anyway, how rude of me to keep the lady standing while I sit." In a lightning change of mood, Matt tugged lightly on her wrist and she dropped into his lap.
"Matt!" she gasped, her hand going reflexively to his chest to steady herself. She could feel his warm, hard muscles under the material of his shirt, and her breathing quickened. She saw the wicked gleam in his eyes, the vulnerability she had glimpsed earlier completely gone. "Matt, we can't -"
"Why not?" he demanded, his arm snaking around her waist to hold her in place.
"Uh…well, because…" Candy found it hard to frame a sentence when he was looking at her with all that heat in his eyes. "Bec-because you're engaged," she blurted out.
Matt was silent for a long time. Then at last he spoke. "Olivia and I got engaged for business reasons," he said quietly. "Meyers and Kane complement each other in a lot of areas, so it just made a lot of sense to collaborate fully with them."
"But surely you don't need to be engaged to collaborate?" Candy tried to ignore the sudden spike in her heart rate as he ran his hand absently along her side.
Matt shrugged. "She's the heir to Meyers Industries and – it was one of their conditions for the collaboration," he said. "Getting married to Olivia just seemed to make a lot of sense, at the time." His eyes fell to Candy's lips, making her wet them unconsciously. "I'm not so sure of all that now, though," he murmured, his eyes following the movement of her tongue.
"Matt, I don't think this is a good idea…" Candy tried to be firm but his proximity was already causing her resolve to weaken.
"I think it's the best idea I've had since that goddamn accident." Matt looked into her eyes, grief and pain swirling in them. "Look, Sarah, I – I'm not sleeping with Olivia, if that's what you're worried about. Heck, I haven't been with anyone in – in the last three years."
"Three years?" Candy stared at him in shock. "You mean, since…"
"Since the accident," he finished for her. "I haven't felt like being with any woman till I met you, Sarah. I don't know why, but there's something about you that reminds me of something…I don't quite know what…maybe it's something from my past? I don't know what it is that draws me to you, Sarah, but I can't seem to stop myself when I'm around you…you make me feel more alive than I've felt in the past three years."
Three years! That explained a lot of things, Candy thought, ashamed of the relief she felt. So that was why he and Olivia occupied separate rooms when they came to visit the Kanes, and why Olivia did not share his apartment. Matt had not been with anyone after her! Her heart soared with hope. If Olivia had blackmailed Matt into marrying her, then he wasn't with Olivia because he wanted to be, but because he had had no choice.
"Oh!" Candy gave a surprised squeak as Matt's lips brushed over hers.
"God, how I've missed the taste of you… I could just kiss you all day and still not get enough…" he murmured before capturing her lips in a hot, hungry kiss that knocked the breath out of her lungs. The kiss went on, deep and drugging, till her arms wound around his neck and she pressed her body to his in mute request. His hand came up immediately to squeeze her breast through her dress while his other hand kneaded her ass. Candy moaned into his mouth, her fingers carding through his dark hair. She so loved the feel of him, she thought in a remote corner of her brain. She had missed him so much, missed the feel of his thick, silky hair in her hands, his rock-hard muscles against her soft, pliant body, the feel of his mouth on hers, his big, strong hands setting her body on fire…
Matt's hand slipped under the hemline of her dress, stroking its way up her thigh till he was poised tantalizingly on the edge of her panties. "I want you so badly, baby," he growled, his fingers slipping inside her panties to stroke her throbbing clit.
"Matt…I – I -" Candy tried to find the words to deny him but her mouth would not say what her brain dictated and her heart denied.
"I know you want me too, sweetheart," he whispered. When she did not answer, he pulled his hand away from her aching core, making her mew in protest. He held up his hand, fingers glistening with her arousal. "Your body tells me what your lips will not." With a sudden movement he lifted her and turned her around so that she was straddling him, her chest mere inches away from his mouth. His big hands cupped her ass to pull her forward, hiking her dress up till she could feel his clothed cock pushing against her soaked panties. His mouth descended on her breast, nipping the taut peak through the cloth.
"Matt!" Candy clutched at his powerful shoulders, arching her back to give him better access to her. He suckled her nipple through her dress, sending a rush of wet heat between her legs. He grabbed her ass, rocking her against his clothed cock as he thrust it at her. He was so hard, so aroused, so hot, just for her – the very thought made her giddy with need for him.
"Yeah, beautiful, pleasure yourself like that…I want to see you come on my cock…" he growled. He squeezed her ass hard, thrusting his clothed cock at her with almost brutal intensity.
"Matt…oh, Matt…" Candy whimpered, grinding herself against him. She needed this release, she needed to come almost more than her next breath…
"Fuck, baby…" His azure eyes were blazing, searing through to her very soul. "Come for me, baby, make my pants wet with your orgasm…"
"Oh, God…Matt!!" Candy screamed as the climax tore through her. "MATT…!!" When she opened her eyes, she saw Matt gazing at her with an intensity that sent a shiver down her spine.
"Fuck, baby, you're so sexy…seeing you come like this drives me absolutely crazy…" He held her trembling body to his till the aftermath of the orgasm subsided, leaving her limp in his arms. Candy cuddled against his powerful frame, a sense of rightness washing over her.
This was where she was meant to be, this was home, she thought, feeling more at peace than she ever had since she came home from the hospice. MATT was her home.
"Waahh…waahhh…" It took them a minute to realize what the sound was.
"Joshua!" they exclaimed simultaneously. Candy slid off of Matt's lap and straightened her clothes hurriedly, not looking at him. It was so easy to forget everything when she was with him, so frighteningly easy to pretend the last three years had never happened, but the reality was that, whatever the chemistry between them now, Matt was still engaged to Olivia Meyers.
"Sarah." Matt caught her wrist, forcing her to look up at him. "This isn't over."
Candy gazed into his mesmerizing eyes, feeling the magnetic pull of him. "I – I – I have to go now," she blurted out and, grabbing Mister JoJo, ran out of the room.