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She closed her eyes for a brief moment, enjoying the electric sensation that sizzled through her body the moment he touched her.
He led her from the protective awning of the hotel into the night air. Around them the warm glow of torches danced in time with the sweet sounds of jazz. The breeze coming off the water blew through her hair, and she inhaled deeply, enjoying the salt tang.
“Dance with me before we have that drink,” he murmured close to her ear.
Without waiting for her consent, he pulled her into his arms, his hips meeting hers as he cupped her body close.
They fit seamlessly, her flush against him, melting and flowing until she wasn’t sure where she ended and he began.
His cheek rested against the side of her head as his arms encircled her. Protective. Strong. She reached up, sliding her arms over his shoulders until they wrapped around his neck.
“You’re beautiful.”
His words flowed like warm honey over jaded ears. It wasn’t the most original line, but that was just it. Coming from him, it didn’t sound like a line, but rather an honest assessment, a sincere compliment, one that maybe he’d ordinarily be unwilling to give.
“So are you,” she whispered.
He chuckled, and his laughter vibrated over her sensitive skin. “Me beautiful? I’m unsure of whether to be flattered or offended.”
She snorted. “I know for a fact I’m not the only woman to have ever called you beautiful.”
“Do you now?”
His hands skimmed over her back, finding the flesh bared by the backless scoop of her dress. She sucked in her breath as his fingers burned her flesh.
“You feel it too,” he murmured.
She didn’t pretend not to know what he meant. The chemistry between them was combustible. Never before had she experienced anything like this, not that she’d tell him that.
Instead she nodded her agreement.
“Are we going to do anything about it?”
She leaned back and tilted her head to meet his eyes. “I’d like to think we are.”
“Direct. I like that in a woman.”
“I like that in a man.”
Amusement softened the intensity of his gaze, but she saw something else in his expression. Desire. He wanted her as badly as she wanted him.
“We could have that drink in my room.”
She sucked in her breath. Even though she knew what he wanted, the invitation still hit her squarely in the stomach. Her breasts tightened against his chest, and arousal bloomed deep.
“I’m not…” For the first time, she sounded unsure, hesitant. Not at all the decisive woman she knew herself to be.
“You’re not what?” he prompted.
“Protected,” she said, her voice nearly drowning in the sounds around them.
He tucked a finger underneath her chin and forced her to once again meet his seeking gaze. “I’ll take care of you.”
The firm promise wrapped around her more securely than his arms. For a moment she indulged in the fantasy of what it would be like to have a man such as this take care of her for the rest of her life. Then she shook her head. Such foolish notions shouldn’t disrupt the fantasy of this one night.
She rose up on tiptoe, her lips a breath away from his. “What’s your room number?”
“I’ll take you up myself.”
She shook her head, and he frowned.
“I’ll meet you there.”
His eyes narrowed for a moment as if he wasn’t sure whether to believe her or not. Then without warning, he slid a hand around her neck and curled his fingers around her nape. He pulled her to him, pressing his lips to hers.
She went liquid against him, her body sliding bonelessly downward. He hauled her against him with his free arm, anchoring her tight to prevent her fall.
He licked over her lips, pressing, demanding her to open. With a breathless gasp, she surrendered, parting her mouth so his tongue could slide inward.
Hot, moist open-mouthed kisses. He stole her breath and returned it. His teeth scraped at her lip then captured it and tugged relentlessly. Unwilling to remain a passive participant, she fired back, sucking at his tongue.
His groan echoed over her ears. Her sigh spilled into his mouth.
He finally pulled away, his breaths coming in ragged heaves. His eyes flashed dangerously, sending a shiver over her flesh.
Then he shoved a keycard into her hand. “Top floor. Suite eleven. Hurry.”
With that he turned and stalked back into the hotel, his stride eating up the floor.
She stared after him, her body humming and her mind in a million different pieces. She was completely shattered by what she’d just experienced.
“I must be insane. He’ll eat me alive.”
A low hum of heady desire buzzed through her veins. She could only hope she was right.
She turned on shaking legs and walked slowly into the hotel. It wasn’t that she was being deliberately coy by putting her mystery man off. Mystery man…She didn’t even know his name, but she’d agreed to have sex with him.
Then again, it had a certain appeal, this air of mystery. A night of fantasy. No names. No expectations. No entanglements or emotional involvement. No one would get hurt. It was, in fact, perfect.
No, she wasn’t being cute. But if she was going to go through with this, it would be on her own terms. Her dark-eyed lover wouldn’t have complete control of the situation.
With more calm than she felt, she went up to her room. Once there, she surveyed her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her hair was slightly mussed and her lips swollen. Passion. She looked as if she’d had an encounter with the very essence of passion.
The sultry temptress staring back at her wasn’t a woman she recognized, but she decided she liked this new person. She looked beautiful and confident, and excitement sparked her eyes at the thought of what waited for her in suite eleven.
After a lifetime of loneliness, of being alone, the idea of spending the night in a lover’s arms was so appealing that it was all she could do not to hurry out to the elevator.
Instead she forced herself to take steadying breaths. She stared at herself until the wildness faded from her eyes and coolness replaced it. Then she smoothed her long blond hair away from her face.
Satisfied that she had herself under control, she walked out of the bathroom to sit on the bed. She’d wait fifteen to twenty minutes before she headed up. No need to seem too eager.
Chapter Two
Piers prowled his suite, unaccustomed to the edginess that consumed him ever since he’d parted ways with the blond bombshell downstairs. He stopped his restless pacing and poured a drink from the crystal decanter on the bar, but he didn’t drink it. Instead he stared at the amber liquid then glanced at his watch for the third time.
Would she come?
He cursed his eagerness. He felt like an errant teenager sneaking out of the house to meet a girlfriend. His reaction to the woman couldn’t be explained except in terms of lust and desire.
He wanted her. Had wanted her from the moment he spotted her staring longingly through the open doorway of the hotel. He’d been mesmerized by the picture she portrayed. Long and sleek with slender legs, a narrow waist and high, firm breasts. Her hair fell like silk over her shoulders and down her back and his fingers itched to dive into the tresses and wrap them around his knuckles while he devoured her plump lips.
Even now his groin ached uncomfortably. Never had he reacted so strongly to a woman, and it bothered him even as the idea of taking her to bed fired his senses.
A soft knock at his door thrust him to attention, and he hurried across to open it. She stood there, delightfully shy, her ocean eyes a strange mixture of emerald and sapphire.
“I know you gave me a key,” she said in a low voice, “but it seemed rude to just barge in.”
He found his voice, though his mouth had gone dry as soon as she spoke. He reached for her hand, and she placed it trustingly in his. “I’m glad you came,” he said huskily as he pulled her forward.
Instead of leading her farther inside, he wrapped his arms around her, molding her to the contours of his body. She trembled softly against him, and he could feel her heart fluttering like the beat of hummingbird wings.
Unable to resist the temptation, he lowered his mouth to hers, wanting to taste her again. Just once. But when their lips met, he forgot all about his intention to sample.
She responded hotly, her arms sliding around his body. Her hands burned into his skin, through the material of his shirt as if it wasn’t there. His impatience grew. He wanted her naked. Wanted him to be naked so he could feel her skin on his.
Thoughts of taking it slow, of seducing her in measured steps flew out the window as he drank deeply of her sweetness. He wasn’t sure who was seducing whom, and at this moment, it didn’t matter.
His lips scorched a path down the side of her neck as his fingers tugged impatiently at the fastenings of her dress. Smooth, creamy skin revealed itself, and his mouth was drawn relentlessly to the bare expanse as her dress fell away.
She moaned softly and shivered as his tongue trailed over the curve of her shoulder. He pushed at the dress, and it fell to the floor leaving her in only a dainty scrap of lacy underwear.
All his breath left him as he looked down at the full round globes of her breasts. Her nipples puckered and strained as if begging for his attention. The tips were velvet under his seeking fingers. He toyed with one and then the other before cupping one breast in his palm and lowering his head to press a kiss just above the peach areola.
Her breath caught and held, and she tensed as his tongue lazily traced downward to suck the nipple into his mouth.
Her taste exploded in his mouth. Sweet. Delicate like a flower. So feminine. Perfect. His senses reeled, and he pulled away for a moment to recoup his control. Theos but she drove him mad. He reacted to her like a man making love to his first woman.
Already his manhood strained at his pants, and he was dangerously close to flinging her on the bed and stroking into her liquid heat.
Finesse. He must take it slower. He wouldn’t allow her such power over him. He would make her as crazy as she made him, and then and only then would he take her.
Jewel grabbed his shoulders as her knees buckled. She needn’t have worried. He swept her into his arms and carried her toward the bedroom just beyond the sitting area of the suite.
He laid her on the bed then stood back and began to hastily strip out of his clothing. There was something incredibly sexy about a man standing over her as he undressed. His eyes burned into her, heating her skin even from a distance.
First his shirt fell away revealing smooth, muscled shoulders, a rugged chest and narrow waist with enough of a six-pack to suggest he wasn’t an idle businessman. Hair dotted the hollow of his chest, spreading just to his flat nipples. It was thicker at his midline, trailing lower to his navel, tapering to a faint smattering just above the waist of his pants.
She stared hungrily at him as he unfastened his trousers. He didn’t waste time or tease unnecessarily. He shoved them down his legs, taking his boxers with him. His erection sprang free from a dark nest of hair. Her eyes widened at the way it strained upward, toward his taut belly. He was hugely aroused.
Her question must have shone on her face. He crawled onto the bed, straddling her hips with his knees. “Was there any doubt that I wanted you, yineka mou?”
She smiled up at him. “No.”
“Rest assured, I want you very much,” he said huskily. He lowered his head until his mouth found hers in a heated rush.
Her entire body arched to meet him, wanting the contact, the warmth and passion he offered. It had been so long since she’d purposely sought out the company of another person, and this man assaulted her senses. He flooded her with a longing that unsettled her.
He pushed her arms over her head until she was helpless beneath him. He didn’t just kiss her, he devoured her. There wasn’t an inch of her skin that didn’t feel the velvet brush of his lips.
Her gasp echoed across the room when he licked and suckled each breast in turn. His tongue left a damp trail down her midline as he licked down to the shallow indention of her navel. There wasn’t a single muscle that wasn’t quivering in sharp anticipation.
His hands followed, his palms running the length of her body, tracing each curve, each indention on they settled on her hips. He tucked his thumbs underneath the thin string holding her underwear in place, and then he pressed his mouth to her soft mound still covered by transparent lace.
She cried out softly, unnerved by the electric sensation of his mouth over her most intimate place, and yet he hadn’t even made contact with her flesh.
His hands caressed their way down her legs, dragging the underwear with it. At her knees, he simply ripped impatiently, rending the material in two. He quickly discarded it and returned impatient fingers to her thighs.
Carefully, he spread her, and she began to shake in earnest.
“Don’t be afraid,” he murmured. “I’ll take care of you. Trust me tonight. You’re so beautiful. I want to give you the sweetest pleasure.”
“Yes. Please, yes,” she begged.
He kissed the inside of her knee. With a brush of his lips, he moved higher, kissing the inside of her thigh, and then finally brushing over the curls guarding her most sensitive regions.
With a gentle finger, he parted her. “Give me your pleasure, yineka mou. Only to me.” And then his mouth touched her. She bucked upward with a wild cry as his tongue delved deep. It was too much. It had been too long. Never had she reacted so strongly to a man.
“So responsive. So wild. I can’t wait to have you.”
He rolled away, and she gave a sharp protest until she saw he was only putting on a condom. Then he was back, spreading her thighs, stroking her to make sure she was ready for him.
“Take me. Make me yours,” she pleaded.
He closed his eyes, his fingers tight at her hips. He spread her wide and surged into her with one hard thrust.
Her shocked gasp spilled from her lips. Her fingers tightened at his shoulders, and she lay still, simply absorbing the rugged sensation of having him inside her.
His eyes flew open. “Did I hurt you?” he demanded harshly, the strain evident on his face as he held himself in check.
She touched his cheek, trying to soften the lines. His eyes glittered dangerously, and she realized just how close he was to the edge of his control. In that moment, she relished her power, and she wanted to taunt the beast. She wanted to experience the wildness she could see lurking beyond the iron facade.
“No,” she said softly. “You didn’t hurt me. I want you so much. Take me now. Don’t hold back.”
To emphasize her request, she dug her nails into his shoulders then lifted her hips in a move that lodged him deeper inside her.
He made one last effort to hold back, but she wouldn’t allow it. Wrapping her legs tightly around his waist, she arched into him, reaching for him, pulling him closer. She wanted him. She needed him.
He dropped down, surrendering with a growl. He gathered her close, fastening his lips to the vulnerable skin of her neck as his body took over. Harder and faster, his power overwhelmed her. There was a delicious mix of erotic pain and sensual bliss. Heaven. It wasn’t something she’d ever experienced before. It was like riding a hurricane.
