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“No, I’m not jealous,” she said. “That would be silly, wouldn’t it? It’s not like we’re actually—”
“Married?” His smile disappeared in a blink. “No, guess we’re not. Which is why we’re here. And on that subject, I’ll talk to my cousin Rico tomorrow. Get the bead on who we should go to about arranging this divorce.”
“Great.” She walked toward the iron railing and laid one hand on the cool surface. Taking another drink of the champagne, Julie was aware that the bubbles were going directly to her head, but maybe that was a good thing.
“You’re a good actress, I give you that,” Travis pointed out.
“Hmm?”
“The performance you put on for the clerk downstairs almost had me convinced you were a happy newlywed.”
“Yeah, well,” she said, wondering why her glass was empty just before Travis reached out and refilled it. “She ticked me off.”
“I guessed that much.”
“And you enjoyed it,” she said, taking another sip, allowing the bubbles to slide down her throat and buzz through her blood.
“I did,” he said, draining his own glass of champagne in one long swallow. He refilled his glass and took another sip before speaking again. “Had to wonder, though.”
“What?” God, it felt good to be out here, feeling the wind on her skin and the champagne in her blood. Looking at Travis, she felt a warmth, too. A sort of heat that was settling down low inside her. Danger, Julie. Oh, be quiet, she ordered that annoying internal voice.
“Well, that acting skill of yours,” he said, coming around the tiny table to stand beside her.
Julie drained her champagne and licked her lips as her body began to hum. She wasn’t drunk, but she was feeling pretty good. “What about it?”
“If you’re that good at acting, maybe you’ve been playing me all along.”
She blew out a breath in frustration. If he was going to continue to believe that she was in cahoots with Jean Claude then this year was going to be misery.
“I told you Travis, I wouldn’t do that.” She set her glass down onto the table.
“I’d like to believe you, Julie,” he was saying, reaching out with a finger to play with one of the straps of her dress. “But—”
“But?” How could he really believe that about her and still want her? More, how could she be burning up with lust for him, knowing that he thought her capable of blackmail?
Apparently, though, her mind and her body were riding two different tracks. Her skin felt as if it was on fire where he was touching her. Nerves rattled through Julie’s body and she knew she was in big trouble. But she didn’t care.
“I’m thinking I need some convincing,” he said, his dark eyes flashing with a need that her body was clamoring to answer.
“I don’t know what more I can say.”
“No more talking,” he said and set his glass down on the table beside hers.
“Then what…”
He slid one of her dress straps down her shoulder and smoothed his thumb over her skin. Her gaze locked with his, Julie’s breath caught and her blood began to pump thick and hot and urgent.
“I paid a hundred thousand dollars to marry you today,” Travis said, dipping his head to kiss her bare shoulder.
Julie sucked in a gulp of air.
“Now,” he said, straightening up as his finger slid along the line of her bodice, dipping down to caress the valley between her breasts. “How about you show me what I paid for?”
Five
Julie just stared at him for what felt like forever. Shock had her feeling a little stunned, but as she looked at him, she sensed that he was waiting for her response. To see if she’d take this or stand up and call him on it.
He didn’t have to wait long.
His gaze was dark and hot and spearing into hers, daring her to look away. She didn’t. Instead, she pulled in a deep breath, kept her gaze locked with his and said too sweetly, “Since you actually paid the hundred thousand dollars to Jean Claude…why don’t I call him for you and he can show you whatever you like?”
Amusement flickered in Travis’s eyes and one corner of his mouth lifted. “Good one. But I’m not interested in your Frenchman.”
Frustration bubbled up inside her, frothier than the champagne she’d just drunk way too much of. “For heaven’s sake, he’s not my French—” She stopped because the amusement in his eyes was even brighter now. Frustration gave way to confusion. “You’re laughing?”
“Not laughing, smiling.”
“About?”
“About how we ended up here together, despite your Frenchman—”
She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off quickly. “And how we’ve both had too much to drink,” he continued. “And how you smell so good it’s driving me nuts.”
Her nipples peaked.
For pity’s sake, he didn’t even have to try and her body jumped and cheered.
“Plus—” he added, dipping his index finger into the valley between her breasts again “—you look beautiful. This dress…is amazing. It tempts me to peel it off you and discover all your secrets.”
She trembled. He was too close. Too warm. His breath was too soft on her face and the fire in his eyes was like an incendiary, quickening a similar blaze inside her.
When he wasn’t trying to seduce her, he was nearly irresistible. When he was trying, he was downright illegal. His finger stroked the tops of her breasts and Julie’s already fuzzy brain started clouding up completely.
“Um, Travis?” Her mouth was dry and her breath was coming in tight, short gasps that were really contributing to the whole light-headed thing.
“Yeah?” He kissed her shoulder again.
Oh, he had a great mouth.
“Um…” She was really trying to think, but it was suddenly so hard. Her nerve endings were lit up like a marquee in Las Vegas and her core was damp and hot and oh, so achingly ready that her brain probably figured it wouldn’t be required anymore that night, so it had shut down.
Still, Julie tried to think. She couldn’t quite remember what it was that had seemed so important a moment ago. His lips and tongue moved on her bare shoulder, the edges of his teeth scraping against her skin, sending shockwaves pulsing throughout her system. Like the aftershocks of an earthquake, everything seemed just a little off-kilter.
But at last, a solitary wispy thought flashed across her mind and Julie grabbed for it. “Right. Right, Travis…”
“Mmm…” He kissed the side of her neck and Julie tipped her head to one side to make sure he covered every square inch of available skin.
“We, uh, we agreed,” she said, struggling for air while trying desperately to hold onto that one tiny thought. “Agreed to a no-sex policy for this marriage. Remember?”
“Nope,” he whispered, kissing the base of her neck until Julie’s toes curled. “Don’t remember a thing.”
Was that his tongue on her neck now? Licking, tasting. Oh, my. “It was uh…in the uh…” What was that thing called again? “Contract! That’s it. It was in the contract.”
His fingertips smoothed over the tops of her breasts and her nipples popped even harder, each of them eagerly awaiting his attentions.
“We can always renegotiate a contract,” he said, sliding his free hand up her bare back to the nape of her neck. His fingers rubbed and stroked, and slid into her hair. “If we want to….”
She groaned and closed her eyes, relishing the feel of him all around her. His body was pressed close and his erection straining against her hip was unmistakable. One hand on her breasts, the other stroking her neck, her back, he was overwhelming her with sensation. Short-circuiting her mind with deliciously seductive maneuvers that left her breathless.
“Oh, boy.” She took a breath, forcing it into lungs straining for air, and when she blew it out again, she opened her eyes and looked at him. He lifted his head, his dark brown eyes locked on hers with a burning intensity she’d never seen before and she felt the heat as those flames reached for her, engulfed her. “Do we want to?” she asked. “Renegotiate, I mean?”
“Oh,” he said, sliding his hand from the base of her neck all the way down her spine to the curve of her bottom. Rubbing, stroking, he leaned in and kissed her, then smoothed the tip of his tongue across her bottom lip before easing back to meet her gaze again. “I really think we do.”
“Okay then,” she whispered, moving against him, letting him feel that she was as electrified as he. That she wanted him as much as he wanted her. “Let’s… negotiate.”
“Right.” He kissed her, slid the straps of her dress down and freed her breasts to his hungry gaze. Cold sea air touched her skin and Julie shivered, but it had nothing to do with the temperature. Every cell in her body was eagerly awaiting what came next.
When he cupped her breasts in his palms and bent to take her nipple into his mouth, he murmured, “Here’s my first offer….”
Julie hissed in air through gritted teeth, and held on to Travis’s shoulders as if without that stability she might just slide off the face of the earth. But she would die happy if he only kept his mouth right where it was.
As soon as that thought arrived though, he stopped, lifted his head and said, “Inside. Let’s take this inside.”
“What? What?”
He glanced around as if just remembering where they were. “You never know just how sneaky photographers can get and I’d rather not see us on the front page, if you know what I mean.”
Her eyes went wide as she covered her bare breasts with her arms and scuttled back into the hotel suite. Back against the wall, she waited while Travis closed the French doors and then swept the sheers shut with a yank on the cord.
“Oh, my God,” she whispered, gaze locked on him. “Do you really think someone was out there…watching us? Taking pictures?”
He shrugged, but his eyes were cold and dark, belying his easy dismissal of the notion. “You never know.”
“That’s just—” She blew out a breath and tried to struggle back into her dress as if covering her breasts now could somehow erase their earlier exposure.
“Pointless to worry about,” Travis told her gently. “My fault, I should have been more careful.” He stroked his hand along her shoulder, stopping her from dragging the dress straps back up. “But you tasted so good. You smell so wonderful. Look so…”
Julie’s body fired up again as if there hadn’t been an interruption. She leaned back into the wall as Travis bent his head, taking first one nipple, then the other into his mouth. Sliding his tongue across the sensitive tip, suckling, nibbling. He tormented her with tenderness. Conquered her defenses with gentle deliberation. And when she was gasping for air and wobbling in place, he stood up, took her mouth with his and sent her flying again.
His tongue tangled with hers and everything within her went hot and wild. Her core became a molten ache, desperate to have him inside. Her hips twisted against his, and his erection pressed tight and hard to her body, letting her know that he was as hungry, as frenzied as she.
How was this possible, she wondered frantically. How could she feel so much for a man she’d known her whole life? How was there this much passion in someone she’d considered a friend? How could she slip so totally into complete abandon at his touch?
Then she stopped thinking. Stopped wondering. Instead, she surrendered to the magic rising up between them.
He wrapped a hand around the base of her neck and tipped her head to one side. He nibbled his way down the length of her throat, and then slid back up, leaving a trail of damp heat behind him as he kissed and licked her skin. She was struggling for air, but not really concerned. Who needed to breathe when there was all of this to feel?
But she wanted more. Needed more. Needed to feel his skin beneath her hands. Needed to touch as she was touched. Feel as she was felt.
Sliding her hands up his chest, she tore at the buttons on his dress shirt until she’d freed them all, sending several of them pinging to the floor. Then she was touching his hard, muscled skin, feeling the soft curl of dark brown hair beneath her fingers and dragging her nails across his flat nipples.
He growled in her ear and took her mouth harder, deeper. Their breaths mingled, their tongues played out a dance their bodies hungered for.
“I want you. Now.” His voice was harsh, strained as if it were all he could do to squeeze out those few words. Then Travis reached down, lifted the skirt of her dress and ripped her tiny lace panties from her body.
Julie inhaled sharply and then groaned as he cupped her aching core. Sliding first one, then two fingers into her depths, he pushed her so high, so fast, her head spun. As his fingers delved inside her, his tongue continued to twist with hers in a frantic dance of need and passion.
Her body coiled tight as he rubbed one sensitive spot over and over and Julie’s legs trembled violently as she tried desperately to keep her balance while giving herself over to the incredible sensations shooting through her. Again and again, he stroked her, pushing her as if he couldn’t wait to feel her climax.
But she fought the feeling, wanting to draw this out as long as she could. Incredible, the way he made her feel. Overwhelming, the way she wanted him, needed him. She’d never known anything even remotely like this before and she wanted more of it. Her hands dropped to his waist and her fingers fumbled with his belt, then the snap and zipper of his slacks.
He broke their kiss as she wrapped her hand around him. His eyes briefly slid shut and he ground out one word. Her name. “Julie…”
“I want you to feel what I feel,” she whispered, opening her eyes and looking into his. Raw passion and desire shone out at her and she knew he must be seeing the same things reflected back at him. She was on fire for him, her body burning inside and out. As if a fever were raging through her system.
She stroked him, her fingertips sliding up and down his length, stroking the sensitive tip of him, marveling at the soft strength of him. Travis went completely still for one long, shattering minute when their ragged breaths were the only sound in the room other than the quiet hiss and snap of the fire.
Then he looked down at her, shifted his hands to her waist and said, “Lift your legs.”
She didn’t ask why. Didn’t think. Just went with what she was feeling, needing. Lifting her legs, she wrapped them around his hips and he leaned into her, bracing her back against the wall, cupping his hands on her bottom.
And in the next moment, he was sliding inside her, pushing himself into her body.
“Oh, Travis…” Julie sighed, twisted her hips, writhed on him as she took every amazing inch of him. An invasion of the most amazing kind, she thought, relishing the feel of his body filling hers.
He groaned tightly and began to move, slowly at first, then with a soul-splintering speed that had his hips pistoning against hers. Their bodies met and separated over and over as tension coiled and need escalated.
She felt it building, knew her release was so close she could almost touch it. The tingling sensations soared and a delicious ache rose inside until it was nearly unbearable. His strength surrounded her, his body filled her and he didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. She moved with him, her body welcoming his, holding him tightly, creating a fabulous friction that accelerated the desire clawing at them both.
And when the first tiny explosions shattered within her, Julie’s eyes flew open so that she could look at Travis as her body exploded in a shower of light and color and sensation like she’d never known before. His gaze was dark, hot, steady.
“Let go,” he whispered.
And she did.
“Travis!” She held on to him, arms locked around his neck, legs crossed at his spine. She pulled him in tighter, closer, holding him to her as an enormous wave of pleasure crested inside her.
Her climax pushed him over that teetering edge of control and before the last of the sweeping tide of ripples had died away, Travis called her name on a hoarse shout of victory and emptied himself into her.
When the storm was over, Travis’s blood was still pumping like fury through his veins. He’d thought having her would clear his head, make the wanting less, the attraction he’d felt for her less powerful.
Big mistake.
Julie nestled against him, laying her head on his shoulder and he wanted her all over again. Her heat, her touch, her explosive reaction to his lovemaking all combined to only feed the fires already quickening inside him. He hadn’t eased the desire he felt for her, he’d only fed the flames.
He turned his face toward her, kissed her forehead and murmured, “I’m not done.”
She lifted her head, kissed him lightly, briefly and whispered, “Me, neither.”
