mock groan. He pushed her long hair away from her face. “I lay awake half the night, picturing you nude, on the beach, your arms open for me,” he said huskily.
“Why, that’s just what I—!” She stopped, her mouth open, horrified at what she’d admitted.
“There’s nothing to be ashamed of,” he said gently. “You’re human. So am I. We had a little too much to drink, we quarreled—that’s all.”
“King, you—you won’t try to seduce me?” she asked, afraid that he might out of frustration over Bess and knowing from last night’s experience that he wouldn’t meet much resistance.
“Could I?” he asked in a smooth, sensuous tone, searching her wide eyes.
“Yes,” she admitted, lowering her gaze.
His own reaction startled him; it was instantaneous and overwhelming, and he caught his breath as his body tautened. He saw her blush scarlet at the awareness of what was happening to him, and he muttered unsteadily, “This is absurd.”
“King?” she whispered, her body throbbing wildly from the knowledge of what her response had done to him.
“Oh, what the hell,” he breathed, and he bent to her mouth.
His lips came down on hers and opened them sensuously, while his arms lifted her against him, savoring her soft weight. He carried her to the huge king-size bed and placed her carefully on the black silk coverlet. Then he slid alongside her, his look lazy, his eyes dangerous. Lowering his head, he trailed a string of warm, moist kisses from her temple to her throat.
“Does this untie?” he murmured, searching her shoulders for the ends of the straps.
Her lips parted. She thought she wanted to protest, but her body was singing to her, her blood raging in her veins. She wanted his eyes on her, there, his mouth, she wanted...
“You have bedroom eyes,” he whispered. His fingers found the tiny bows just behind her shoulders, and he untied them very slowly. “When I look in them I can see what you want.”
“What do I want?” she whispered, her voice husky and unfamiliar to her own ears as she lay beneath him.
“My eyes,” he replied, drawing the bodice of her dress down just to the soft beginning slope of her breasts. “And my mouth.” He bent his head to her creamy skin, running his lips just beneath her collarbone in slow, sensuous sweeps. His hands were on her rib cage, smoothing the black crepe, his thumbs just under her breasts, touching them as if by accident.
Her fists clenched beside her head, and her breath caught. He lifted his head, looking at her.
“You’re trembling,” he breathed, reaching for the top of the bodice.
“King,” she moaned helplessly.
“Innocent,” he whispered. He held her eyes as his hands moved, and she felt the cool night air on her breasts as the fabric fell to her waist.
“Oh!” she whispered softly, arching her body gently.
His gaze moved slowly down to her breasts, their small pink nipples aroused and hard, her body shuddering a little with the newness of this kind of intimacy.
“The first time,” he said under his breath. “My God, they’re exquisite.” His lightly calloused fingers brushed them, tenderly tracing their contours, touching the hard nipples just lightly enough to make her shudder with pleasure.
She couldn’t even speak; her throat was tight with exquisite tension.
“Now,” he whispered, bending. “Now, Elissa, now...”
His hand cupped her while his mouth opened on her, and she cried out. Then his mouth caught hers, stifling the tiny sound while his hand possessed her, savoring her silky warmth.
“I could eat you,” he ground out against her eager, open mouth. “I could eat you like candy.”
Another sound tore from her, and he lifted his head, looking dazedly past her to the radio. His hand trembled as he reached for the volume and turned it on to a heavy reggae beat.
“Now,” he murmured, “you can make as much noise as you want.”
Her lips opened to voice a protest, and his crushed down over them, his tongue moving into her mouth with a slow, hungry rhythm, his knee easing between her legs.
She felt her fingernails digging into the nape of his neck, reveling in the feel of his thick dark hair. Her body was on fire for him; she’d never in her life felt anything as explosively sexual. She wanted fulfillment; she wanted to be part of him, rock with him, writhe under him.
Her moans grew sharper when his mouth traveled down over her breasts to her waist, her stomach. She moved helplessly in his embrace, feeling his strength, loving his hands, loving