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He leaned back in his chair, curious at her remark.
She pressed on. “I’d say you’ve had plenty of practice having sex.”
“True. But I’ve always practiced safe sex, so you have no worries on that score.”
“I’m relieved,” she said drily.
“It’s important, Kia.”
She sighed. “I know.”
“So, Kia.” He paused and took a sip of wine. “How many lovers have you had?”
“One.”
He arched a brow as the muscles at the back of his neck tensed. Could she really be as innocent as all that?
She shot him a defiant look. “Hey, you asked, so don’t blame me if you don’t like the answer.”
His eyes narrowed. “I know your game. You think I’ll back off if you tell me you’re inexperienced.”
She placed her fork on the table. “Actually, I don’t care what you think. It’s the truth.”
His gut clenched. “Tell me about it.”
“Why should I?”
“Because I want no more secrets between us, Kia. Not in bed, anyway.”
She considered him for a long moment. Then she said, “I lost my virginity at a party when I was fifteen. It was the one and only time I got drunk and I gave it away to the first boy that looked at me because my father had just gotten married and didn’t want his ‘plain-looking’ daughter at his wedding and I needed to feel loved. He didn’t even ask me my name.”
She said it so matter-of-factly that he believed her. He swore under his breath.
She shrugged. “I hardly remember most of it. I was just so lucky not to have found myself pregnant.”
He scowled. “The boy didn’t use protection?”
“I was too drunk to notice.”
“But surely—” His jaw clenched, then he forced himself to relax. “I’ll make a deal with you. We’ll make love, but if at any time you want me to stop, I will.”
Her throat convulsed. “You’d do that?”
Something softened inside him. “I want a willing female in my bed. I don’t get my kicks from forcing a woman.” Rising, he held out his hand. “I need you. Need to make love with you, Kia Benton,” he said, deliberately saying her name, wanting her to know that he knew exactly who she was, unlike the boy who had stripped her of her virginity. “I promise you this won’t be like your first time.”
Seven
The evening breeze gently lifted the lace curtains away from the open window as Kia followed Brant into the bedroom. In a way, she felt like those curtains. As if she was lifting a part of herself, unveiling herself for him to see.
Yet it was a risky move to make, and for a moment she hesitated. Did she really want him to leap the boundaries she kept around herself? Today in his office she’d relinquished her body to him. But now, once his body was inside her, once he knew her so physically, what would happen to her emotionally?
Just then, he squeezed her fingers and she looked at him. The sheer depth of desire in his eyes made her shiver with longing. All her doubts disappeared.
“I want you, Brant,” she admitted, unable to stop the words from spilling from her. She couldn’t deny herself this. No matter what happened afterward, no matter what he thought of her, she would always have this memory. “I want you so much.”
Heat flared in his eyes. “Then you’ve got me,” he muttered, pulling her close.
She went willingly into his arms, the palms of her hands pressing against his chest, feeling his warmth and vibrancy through the material of his shirt.
“I have never had a more beautiful woman in my arms,” he rasped, his warm breath flowing over her.
“You make me feel beautiful,” she murmured. And he did. As if someone had waved a magic wand over her and turned her into more than she was.
She lifted her face for his kiss, and his mouth swept down and took possession of hers. And from that moment on she was his. Her need had been smoldering inside her for so long now. She needed this release.
His mouth moved against hers, silently telling her how much he wanted her. She reveled in it, opening her lips, letting him take whatever he wanted yet returning the favor. She wanted to be a part of him, so much a part of him that he’d never forget her.
The kiss deepened, lengthened. His hands caressed her spine through her dress, then eased down the zipper to stroke her bare skin, gliding up to the curve of her shoulders and provocatively pushing the material aside like a maestro playing their song.
He broke off the kiss and skimmed his lips along her jaw. Hypnotized by his touch, she arched her neck, as his mouth continued to her earlobe and then proceeded down the smooth column of her throat. He planted a tantalizing kiss at the hollow of her neck and she gave a soft moan and slid her hands beneath the material of his shirt, not prepared to wait another millisecond to touch him.
Her head spun at the first feel of his warm flesh beneath her tingling palms. “Oh, my God,” she whispered, the shock of his taut muscles running through her body even as she luxuriated in feeling the strong beat of his heart against her palms. Strong and fast.
“You’re playing with fire,” he said, shuddering, then stormed her mouth again in a kiss that sent her up in flames. At the same time he clasped her hips, grounding her against him. She’d felt his arousal once before when they’d danced together. This was different. This was her first full contact of him as a man. It stunned her. Delighted her. It made her ache for him.
He pulled away and in one swift motion tugged at her dress, letting it rush down her body and fall to the floor. But he didn’t stop to stare, though she felt his gaze on her. Her bra vanished next. Her panties followed. Then he swept her up in his arms and carried her over to the bed, laying her out on top of the comforter.
And that’s when he finally stopped to look down upon her. The intensity in his eyes sang through her veins, making her very much aware of being not only a woman but the woman he wanted.
“Tonight you’re mine, Kia.”
Her throat went dry. She wanted to deny it, but how could she deny something so intrinsically right?
“Yes,” she whispered.
His hands went to his shirt and he quickly began to undress. It hit the carpet, followed by his trousers. It didn’t take long before he stood beside her all naked and in full glory.
Her breath caught in her throat. He was absolutely magnificent, with a beautifully proportioned body that shot her pulse right off the chart. His broad shoulders topped a powerful chest that fostered wisps of dark hair and tapered down to lean hips and long, muscular legs. And to a commanding erection that magnified his masculinity tenfold.
He joined her on the bed and she surrendered to the moment, to herself, to him. She gasped when his lips moved to her breast and enclosed a nipple, pleasuring her into a mindless state even as his hand brushed over her hip and dipped to the junction at her thighs. His fingers slid between her feminine folds and ran around the small, sensitive nub in circles. Sanity began to blur as her world shrank to that one caress of his finger, to the sweet tug of his mouth at her breast.
But then, just as she was about to go over the edge, he pulled away, making her cry out in intense disappointment. “Don’t stop!”
“Shh. This time we make love together,” he murmured, reaching for a foil packet on the bedside table. He sheathed himself and poised at her thighs. She softened beneath him, ready to take him into her. Needing him in her.
“Open yourself to me,” he said, nudging her legs farther apart, and she did willingly.
He entered her slowly, his eyes never leaving her face as her tightness confirmed what she had told him earlier. No man had ever filled her in this way before. Acknowledging this, his eyes bathed her with a tenderness that took her breath away. Then he filled her completely, gently, only stopping when he could fill her no more. His sensitivity made her heart roll over.
For one long moment they stayed still, each studying the other, connected in both body and spirit. It was the most profound moment Kia had ever experienced. She sensed it was the same for him.
As if in silent agreement, he took a deep breath and slowly began to withdraw. Then he moved forward and filled her again. He took another breath and withdrew as far as he could without separating their bodies. He kept repeating the motion, and she lifted her hips to take more of him into her, feeling something building, something so electric she had to close her eyes.
“Look at me,” he said hoarsely, and she moaned but she did what he told her, finding it incredibly erotic when he mesmerized her with his eyes and began to move once more. He picked up the pace, and that rush of heat turned into a whipcord of male muscle, stamping her with each thrust of his body, taking everything she had within her. She offered it up to the one man in the world worthy of everything she had to give.
“Brant!” she cried as he rasped out her name in a strangled tone that said he couldn’t hold on much longer either. He kissed her then. A deep, deep kiss that was followed by a final plummet of his body as she arched against him.
They reached their climax together, holding themselves as one, in total sync at this precious moment in time.
Kia spiraled down to a hazy aftermath with a series of lingering kisses before he rolled over and held her in his arms for a few moments.
Then she watched his long, lean length disappear, as he rose and headed toward the bathroom. She lay back and closed her eyes. She had to, otherwise when he came back he would see something that had just hit her.
She had fallen in love with him.
Shock ran through her. She went hot, then cold. She loved Brant Matthews. She would love him until the day she died, even knowing she would never be enough for him. Dear God, this couldn’t be … yet she knew it was, felt it in her heart.
The bed sank on one side and she scarcely dared to breathe. Brant was sitting beside her, waiting for her to look at him.
“Kia?” he murmured, tenderly pushing some strands of hair from her face.
She had no alternative but to look at him and pray that he didn’t see what was so obvious to her now. How had she not seen this coming?
Her eyelids lifted, and her breath hitched in her throat at the look in his eyes. It was all-knowing. All male. Full of sexual satisfaction.
And he had no idea she loved him.
Thank God. She could breathe easier now and enjoy their time together. That’s all she’d let herself ask for. That’s all she’d let herself want. It would be over soon enough. And if he ran true to form—as her father did with his women friends—having gotten what he’d wanted from her, she wouldn’t be seeing much more of him after this anyway. She shivered. Already that thought cut through her heart.
“Did I hurt you?” he murmured.
“No.” But he would. When he dumped her.
His shoulders relaxed, his mouth curving with sheer sensuality. “Woman, that was the best sex I’ve ever had.”
Yes, that’s all it came down to with Brant. She tried not to show her hurt. “Me, too.”
“For all intents and purposes, you were a virgin.” He leaned forward and gave her a long, slow kiss, then looked into her eyes. “I’m honored I was the first man to sleep with you.” He kissed her again briefly, then leaned back, an odd look in his eyes. “Why?”
Her breath stopped and she realized he saw more than she’d thought. She licked her lips. “Because I … I mean, you …” She shrugged. “Well, what woman wouldn’t want to make love with you?”
His mouth twisted. “Flattery will get you everywhere,” he mocked, but she had the feeling he wasn’t happy with her answer.
But if he expected a declaration of love, he was going to be disappointed. Maybe that’s what his other women always provided, but she wasn’t about to copy them. She swallowed hard at the thought of all those other women who would come after her. She couldn’t bear to think about it. And she wasn’t going to wait around for him to throw her away like some piece of garbage that was past its use-by date either.
Panicking, she sat up, almost knocking him out of the way. He put his hands on her shoulders, stilling her.
“What’s the matter?” he said with a scowl.
“I’m going home.” She tried to push him away, but he kept his body firmly in front of her.
Surprise came and went in his eyes before they flared with anger. “I won’t let you run out on me, Kia.”
“You won’t let me?” she choked out. Did he think because he’d made her his own she would leave her brains at the door?
“I’ve already had one woman who mattered run out on me. I’m not going to let you do the same. Not yet, anyway.”
She gave a soft gasp. A woman who mattered had run out on him? And she was in the same category? But what did he mean by mattered?
“Are you saying that I’m … that we …?” She tried to find the words to say it. “Is there something more between us than I think, Brant?”
He stood up, and she saw he had wrapped a white towel around his lower half. “You bet there’s something between us. And we’re going to see it through to the end.”
The end. She shouldn’t be surprised by his choice of words, yet she was. How could she love this devil of a man? Fate had certainly played a sick joke on her.
“Don’t tell me what to do, Brant.”
“If I told you everything I wanted you to do, you’d run for your life.”
She got to her feet, wrapping the sheet around her as she did. “I don’t need to run. I’m leaving anyway.”
“I don’t think so,” he warned ominously.
Her heart jumped in her chest. “You can’t stop me.”
Can’t I? his eyes said arrogantly. “Then you have nothing to lose by coming over here and kissing me like you mean it. Do that, and I’ll even hold the door open for you on the way out.”
She moistened her suddenly dry lips. “And if I don’t?”
“Then I’ll come over there and kiss you, and we’ll see where it leads.”
“What a choice,” she muttered.
She swallowed. One kiss. Could she kiss him this one time and get away with it? She knew she would melt in his arms again. She knew she would want more. But hadn’t she always prided herself on her strength of will?
Without stopping to think further, she pulled the sheet tighter and closed the distance between them. Then she went up on her toes and quickly kissed him on the mouth before turning away.
He grabbed her arm and spun her back toward him, his eyes holding a faint glint of humor. “Like you mean it, I said.”
Somehow she’d known he wouldn’t let her get away with that chaste peck. “Oh, but I did mean it like that,” she mocked, even as a thrill raced through her. This time she’d give him exactly what he wanted and more. Then she’d walk out that door, put everything back on a business level and hope to God she could cope with knowing she’d fallen in love with a man who thought woman was a synonym for sex.
Her heart beating at full speed, she moved back toward him. In the split second before she put her lips to his, she saw his eyes darken and she realized she’d never once instigated a kiss with him. The other two Christmas kisses had been him coming to her, not the other way around. She felt thrillingly provocative.
She placed her mouth to his and began a kiss that gave him all the love she had inside her. Her stomach quivered even as she let her tongue slide around his mouth, then briefly dip between his slightly parted lips. She heard his groan deep within his throat, so she repeated the action, this time her tongue sliding over the top of his, tasting him, loving him.
The clean male scent of him exuded an attraction she found difficult to deny, and her arms slid up around his neck and cupped the back of his head, holding him to her, deepening the kiss. The sheet slipped down between them, and she felt the muscles of his chest tighten against her bare breasts. She rubbed herself against him, the feel of curly male hair teasing her nipples.
Suddenly he broke off the kiss with a guttural sound that made her think he had almost reached his limit. Then he swung her up in his arms and strode toward the bathroom.
