“You were explaining why you were such an ass,” she reminded him.
He swallowed a rueful sigh. Why was she dwelling on the past when the future promised to be filled with sensual pleasure?
“You looked at me as if you were picturing your Prince Charming,” he reluctantly conceded. “I panicked.”
Her body remained pliant, but he sensed a tangle of emotion behind her smooth expression.
“You didn’t want to be Prince Charming?”
His lips twisted, remembering his fierce pleasure as he’d taken her virginity. Hardly the behavior of a Prince Charming.
“I was more the big bad wolf type.”
“And now?”
He tugged her against his chest, his head dipping down to trace the line of her throat with his lips.
“Now I can be whatever you need me to be.”
Her hands clutched at his shoulders as he found the sensitive spot at the base of her neck, but she refused to melt against him as he wanted. Dammit. He needed to feel her pressed tight against his aching erection.
“Actually I’ve discovered I’m no longer a Cinderella wannabe,” she informed him. “I don’t need a man.”
He nuzzled downward, discovering the prominent thrust of her collarbone. Too prominent, he abruptly decided. Her slender body was beautiful, but she felt too fragile. Clearly she wasn’t taking adequate care of herself.
Something he intended to change.
“That would be a shame,” he murmured.
She made a choked sound, shivering as he reached the top curve of her br**sts. “A typical male response.”
His hand tangled in her hair, desire blasting through him as he felt her ni**les harden through the silk of her gown. A part of him desperately wanted to strip off her dress and take her against the French doors.
Another part wanted to take her back to his home and spend the next month making slow, delicious love to the woman who’d done what no other woman had done.
Remained in his thoughts long after he’d left her bed.
“Doesn’t your glamorous lifestyle ever get lonely?” he asked, his arms sliding around her waist to press her tight against his aching body.
“Does yours?” she easily deflected his question.
“Yes,” he readily admitted. “Sometimes it’s unbearable.”
He felt her tiny jerk, as if she was startled by his answer.
“So find a Sherri to share your bed.”
“I don’t want Sherri.” He lifted his head to meet her wary gaze. “I want you.”
CHAPTER TWO
I want you…
They were precisely the words that Madison had been waiting to hear. Weren’t they?
It was why she’d returned to Vegas. Why she was at this ridiculous party.
Why she was on this balcony with Luc’s arms wrapped around her.