her hands gripping the edge of the oak table, her eyes closed.
He knew he wouldn’t last long, but it didn’t matter. He wanted to be buried inside her and let his orgasm consume him. The tension began to build, a wonderful discomfort that promised an explosive release. He gave himself over to the feelings, and when Eden tightened around him, Marcus knew it was time.
Her spasms closed in on him and he drove into her once more, burying himself to the hilt. And then it was there, washing over him like a warm rain, soothing nerves that were on fire. It seemed to last forever, surge after surge of pleasure.
His knees went weak and he braced his hands on the table, leaning against it as he caught his breath. It had happened so quickly, yet the satisfaction was just as intense.
Eden stretched her arms above her head and groaned lazily, a contented smile on her face. When she opened her eyes, they were still glazed, as if she hadn’t quite returned to reality. Marcus didn’t move, anxious to stay connected as long as he could.
She smiled at him and pushed up on her elbows. “What was that about?” she murmured.
He shrugged. “I don’t know.” In truth, he wasn’t sure how to explain himself-he had merely followed his instincts. “You’re so beautiful. Sometimes I just have to have you.”
Eden reached out, and he wove his fingers through hers, drawing her up into his embrace. “How am I ever going to do without this?” she asked, her lips pressed against his chest.
“Don’t leave.” The instant he said the words Marcus wanted to take them back. But they were easier to say than the other words rattling around in his head.
“I thought you wanted me to go. You kept-”
“I know what I said, Eden.”
“And now you don’t want me to-”
“No,” he said. “You’re right. You need to go. This is starting to get a little too comfortable for me.”
“And that’s not a good thing?”
He shook his head. “No, that’s definitely not a good thing.”
She nuzzled his chest, her breath warm against his skin. “This was supposed to be fun. If we get all serious, it will just be ruined.”
Marcus ran his fingers through her hair, brushing it back from her face. Though he’d like to believe in love at first sight, he knew that the chances of making that kind of relationship last-hell, any kind of relationship-were fifty- fifty at best. And though it would be difficult to say goodbye to Eden, it would be far more difficult to let himself love her only to lose her later.
This was for the best, her leaving. He’d just have to keep telling himself that until he believed it.
EDEN DIPPED THE BRUSH into the bottle of pink nail polish and carefully painted her big toe. She glanced up at Marcus, who was comfortably stretched out on the other end of the sofa, a sketch pad resting in his lap.
He had one more design to complete for her father’s commission and had been worrying over it all day long. But she sensed his preoccupation was more about her leaving tomorrow than about his work.
They’d made an agreement when they’d first met that they would enjoy each other and then move on-and they certainly had enjoyed each other. Eden had never been one to stay too long at the party. Things were always so ugly when they turned the lights on.
She sighed softly and went back to her pedicure. Over the past few days, they’d settled into an odd type of domestic bliss. Eden imagined that newly married couples spent their evenings in much the same sort of mundane pursuits-watching a game show on television, cooking spaghetti, making love on the kitchen floor.
But the more she’d come to enjoy playing house with Marcus, the more restless she’d become. It was simple to ignore what was going on in the outside world when she was wrapped up in his life. Though they spent fabulous nights, and sometimes entire afternoons, in bed, outside of their sexual attraction, she felt…confused.
Marcus had a life-he did his work, he ran errands, he talked to his family. But Eden was trapped in a strange limbo between two worlds-a past that she was determined to leave behind and a future she couldn’t quite see.
She dipped the brush into the nail polish and started on her other foot. There were things to do, places to go to find work, but she’d hesitated to make a decision. Was Marcus the cause of her procrastination? Was she hoping that he’d suddenly profess his love for her and all her problems would be magically solved?
Life with Marcus was exciting and interesting. They talked about important matters and joked about silly things. He respected her opinion and listened to her advice when it came to his work. And Eden admired everything that he’d made of his life so far.
But Eden had no illusions that it would be that way in the real world. If they stayed together, then he’d take on her past, as well-the celebrity, the press, the constant speculation and innuendo that seemed to follow her everywhere she went. Even if she moved to a mountaintop tomorrow, they’d chase after her for at least another year or two, trying to eke out one more salacious story.
She couldn’t ask him to be a part of all that. Even the most devoted lover would tire of the constant intrusions, as her past lovers had. Eden didn’t want to see what they’d shared turn nasty and awful. For the first time in her life she’d walk away while the memories were still worth remembering.
She studied Marcus as she fanned her toes to dry the first coat. Emotion surged up inside of her and she fought it back, gathering her resolve. Her thoughts wandered back to the encounter that they’d had earlier that week.
He’d been almost frantic to possess her, and she’d felt the same. They’d dropped the pretense that they were casual lovers and now made love without protection. Eden had always covered her own birth control, yet still insisted that her lovers use condoms. But it was different with Marcus. Deep down she knew she could trust Marcus. And he obviously knew that he could trust her. She’d wanted to share that one last thing before she left.
They could do this and they could do it right. Leaving didn’t have to be full of anger and recriminations. Goodbyes could be bittersweet. Maybe once life became simple for her again she could come back. And maybe if Marcus hadn’t found someone else, he might fall in love with her.
Marcus tossed the sketchbook aside and crawled across the sofa to sit next to her. Gently he took the bottle of polish from her fingers and started on her second coat.
“First you color my hair and now you do my toes,” Eden said. “You’re a handy guy to have around.”
He looked up and smiled. “I studied art in college. This can’t be any harder than Oil Painting 101.”
“Beauty college for you, clown college for me. I think we have a very promising future ahead of us, don’t you?” Her breath caught the moment she said the words, and Eden sent him a teasing smile, hoping that he’d take her comment as a joke.
“I think we’ll be very happy together,” he murmured. “I could dye your purple wigs and you could entertain my customers at the beauty shop.” Marcus twisted the cap back onto the bottle and handed it to her.
“I could do your toes,” she offered.
“No, thanks. Pink really isn’t my color.” He leaned back into the sofa and stretched his arm out, casually toying with her hair. “What time is your plane tomorrow?”
Eden closed her eyes. “Two,” she said. “I have a stop in Washington, D.C., but I’ll land in L.A. at about eight- thirty. My mother is sending a car to pick me up at the airport.”
“Did you get a reply from your father?”
She shook her head. “I wasn’t really expecting one.” Eden drew a deep breath. “Once I get back, I’m going to have to deal with the video, and it’s probably not going to be pleasant. My mother’s already called her lawyer, and I have just enough left in my trust fund to pay for him. If he can’t get the tape back, then I’m going to have to suffer the consequences.” She reached out and grabbed his hand, then squeezed it tight. “There’s going to be a lot written about me, but I want you to know that what’s on that tape was nothing close to what we had.”
“I know,” Marcus murmured.
Eden groaned. “I don’t want to talk about this. Not now.” She got up from the sofa and walked over to the kitchen, then walked back to Marcus. “Let’s go out. There must be a club around here somewhere. We’ll get dressed up and drink champagne and go dancing. It’ll be fun. A celebration of our last night together.”
Marcus shook his head. “You know what will happen, don’t you?”
“So what? Let’s risk it. I need some excitement. Don’t you ever get bored sitting around here?”
