“Give me one reason why not.”
“Um, gee, let me see. Maybe because I don’t want to be the poster child for sexual harassment?”
The change in his face is instant and disturbing, and I am left with no doubt that I’ve angered him. My immediate instinct is to slip off the stool and scoot away, but I remain rooted to the spot. No way am I giving him the satisfaction of backing down.
“Did you feel harassed last night?”
“No,” I admit. As much as I’d like to take the easy way out, I can’t lie to him.
I see the relief wash over his face, banishing the anger. Or was it fear? I’m not sure, and it doesn’t matter. Right now, I see only desire.
“I thought about you last night,” he says. “Giselle and Bruce will probably never have me out for drinks again. I was terrible company.”
“I’m so sorry to have ruined your evening.”
“Hardly,” he said. “And the ride home—I think that was the first time in my life I wanted a drive to be longer. Me, alone in the back of the limo, surrounded by the scent of you.”
He doesn’t mention the panties. I wonder if he’s found them. And if he hasn’t …
Oh, dear. Who else does he let use that limo?
I feel my cheeks warm, and from the way his eyes crinkle with amusement, I know that he’s noticed.
“I imagined undressing you,” he says, reaching for the top button on my blouse. He pops it open effortlessly. “I pictured you naked.” Pop, another button. “You’re beautiful,” he whispers.
With the side of his thumb, he gently strokes the swell of my breast and the lace of my white satin bra.
My breath catches in my throat. I open my mouth to tell him to stop, but no words come out.
His hands find the bra’s front clasp, and as efficiently as he unbuttoned my blouse, he’s released me from my bra, which hangs limp from my shoulders. His groan is low and needful and desperately arousing. I want nothing more than to close my eyes and surrender, but I can’t, I can’t—
“Damien, please.”
He lifts his eyes to mine. He’s breathing hard, and there’s longing in the hard angles of his face. “Free will, Nikki. Tell me to stop, and I will. But tell me fast, because I’m going to kiss that damnable mouth of yours, and goddammit, Nikki, I’m doing it to keep you quiet.”
Faster than I can react, his mouth covers mine. Claiming me, marking me. Making me his. My mind goes blank, all thoughts dissolving, replaced only by pleasure and the need to be claimed by this man. To open my mouth and take and be taken.
Blindly, I grope for him, my fingers clutching at his hair, pulling him closer. It’s as if all my protestations have been nothing but a sham, and now that they’ve been beaten aside, the pressure of emotion—of need—that’s been building inside me has to burst out, wild and hot and desperate and demanding. The kiss lasts either seconds or an eternity, I’m not sure. But when he releases me, I suck in air, craving oxygen because I am light-headed and weak.
This is my chance, and I know it. Tell him to stop now, and he will. Tell him to leave me alone, and he’ll walk out of my life.
I throw myself at him. Wanton. Willful. I’m risking everything, but right then I don’t care. All I can feel is the fire.
Our mouths clash as I draw him in, and he’s right there, tasting me, his low moan of pleasure making all my risks worthwhile.
He breaks our kiss roughly, then closes his mouth on my neck. I gasp and arch back, and as I do, his hands slide into my shirt, cupping my breasts, and then his mouth is there, suckling, drawing me in until my nipple is a tight pearl against his teeth. I realize he’s tugged me closer, so that my ass is barely on the bar stool and his thigh is wedged between my legs. I’m bucking against him because the pleasure has shot like a hot spark from my breast to my sex.
“Baby,” he whispers, as he comes up for air. His fingers quickly finish unbuttoning my shirt, and his hands ease down to my waist, leaving my skin hot and prickly in his wake. He slides me off the stool so that I am standing in front of him. I’m damp from the heat of my desire, and my body aches all over, craving his touch.
“So soft,” he says, as he untucks my shirt and brushes his fingers lightly over my skin. His fingers skim around the waistband of my skirt, then slowly unzips it. It falls a bit, hanging loose around my hips. “So damn beautiful.”
The awe in his voice unnerves me, and cold fingers of trepidation creep in beneath the fog of pleasure.
I tremble, not sure if it’s from my fears or from his touch. “Reach back,” he orders. “Hold on to the stool.”
“Damien …” I hear the protest in my trailing voice, but my actions don’t match my words. I do as he says, my hands clutched tight, my back arched, my head tilted back with pleasure.
He opens my blouse fully, so that the thin material hangs limply on either side of me, and I feel the gentle flutter of the edges against my bare flesh. He brushes his mouth over my nipples, and I groan, wanting to feel him suckle me, but he’s only teasing, and with each soft, feathertouch of a kiss upon my nipple, I feel my sex tighten and throb. I want him—I want him desperately. And yet I don’t. And all I can do is hold tight to the stool and try to ride out the storm, afraid all the while that I will shatter and break.