Page 84 of The Baby-whisperer and the Brute
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Possession
Angelina
The past few weeks with Sully, witnessing his struggle with unthinkable pain and his determination to grow stronger every day, watching him stoically endure the daily indignities and forced intimacy of being taken care of by another person, only solidified what I realized the night of the fight.
I was in love with Sullivan Reece.
I’d seen his constant grouchiness for what it was—the frustration of a powerful man over being hurt and helpless. And in the past few days, I’d come to understand he was struggling with something else—his desire for me.
The first few weeks following the fight, he gave no indication he was still interested in me as anything more than just a caretaker for his children.
Those searing life-changing moments of intimacy we’d shared had begun to seem like a fluke born sheerly of male-female proximity and an exceedingly high testosterone level. I vowed to keep my feelings to myself, to do my best to take care of him and Skyla and Claire until he was healed and told me it was time to go.
But now I could see it—my feelings for him were not unrequited. Perhaps he was no longer in love with me the way I was with him, but hewasinterested.
Today, I’d simply run out of willpower and selflessness.
Sully was clearly on the mend. When I’d learned he was considering risking his life in the ring again, I’d been unable to hold back any longer. Ihadto let him know how I felt.
And when he’d pressed my hand to his heart and called me Angel, I’d had no choice but to kiss him.
But now I wasn’t feeling so sure of myself. While I abandoned all propriety and restraint and pressed ardent, desperate kisses against his lips, he stayed still, as cold and immovable as a marble statue.
I’d been hoping he would wrap his arms around me, sink his big hands into the hair he seemed so fascinated with, and return my kisses with the same kind of fervent need I felt charging through my own body.
But he wasn’t responding to me at all.
Was I too late? Had he met another woman in New York before the fight?
No women had called the house or come by to see him, but he did have a cell phone. Perhaps he’d been speaking to someone, perhaps hehadmoved on.
Perhaps the longing looks he’d been giving me lately were just a product of my imagination? Maybe God really was punishing me for reneging on the promise I’d made so long ago.
Mortified, I began to pull away.
As if a dam had burst, Sully was suddenly in motion. He was everywhere, all around me, wrapping his strong arms around my back and waist and pulling me tightly against his chest.
Yes.
He dragged me forward until I was in his lap, and his lips captured mine. He kissed me with voracious hunger, mesmerizing me with his mouth.
It wasmorethan kissing. It was a possession.
With every hot, silky caress, Sully claimed me, put his brand on me, and I was flooded with heat and joy and love so acute I thought I might not be able to endure it.
He broke the contact—I might not have had the strength to ever stop—and stared into my eyes. His large hands still clasped my face, holding me with a touch so possessive I felt faint.
“I hope that was okay.”
I nodded rapidly, though my thoughts were still scrambled along with every hormone I possessed.
“More than okay. Idon’twant to leave you, Sully.”
His expression grew fierce. “Good. Because this isright, you and me. No one can tell me any different, and I don’t want you to doubt it, either. This was meant to be. Don’t feel bad about kissing me—or guilty or weird, or whatever other crazy thought is going through your head right now. I know you’re my kids’ nanny, and I’m your boss, and yes there’s a monastery in New Jersey missing a junior nun, but there are obstacles and complications in every relationship. We’ll figure it out. Iwantyou. I guess I’ve made that abundantly clear.”
He chuckled and gave me a self-deprecating look that bordered on an apology. “But more than that, I love you. I’m in love with you Angelina.”
