a miracle cure for her acne. The pill, however, only protected a girl against pregnancy. Despite Leo being a gentleman, he lived and moved in a very fast world, where people slept around and were generally risk-takers. On top of that he was drop-dead gorgeous, so women would be throwing themselves at him all the time. She was sure that as a rule he practised safe sex, but who knew?
‘Well, we only need one, don’t we?’ she said at last.
Leo almost laughed. Once wasn’t going to be nearly enough to assuage what he was feeling for Violet. Common sense dictated that he get dressed again, go downstairs and find one of the gents’ rooms in the casino which was sure to have condom dispensers on the wall. But that would take far too long. His need was too urgent, too powerful to entertain such a delay. As it was, it would take some considerable time for her to be ready for him.
Leo wondered how long it would be before he could don that condom. Half an hour at least. Lord, how was he going to bear it?
You’ll just have to, came the voice of brutal logic. Because there will be no second time tonight if her first time hurts too much. If you want to have her again—which you undeniably do—then patience is the only way.
But, best she not know that right now.
‘True,’ he said, and smiled what he hoped was a reassuring smile. ‘Now, why don’t you put that coffee down, Violet, and come over here?’
CHAPTER TWELVE
THERE WAS NO QUESTION of not doing his bidding, but that didn’t stop the butterflies which by then were doing gymnastics in Violet’s stomach. Her hand shook uncontrollably as she clunked the mug down onto the desk surface, her legs going to jelly as she crossed the room to where Leo was standing by the bed. By then her heart was going fifty to the dozen, her head spinning with a thousand panicky thoughts.
‘There’s no need to be nervous,’ he said gently, and cradled her flushed face in his hands.
‘But I...I don’t know what to do. I mean, I...I...’
‘Shh, sweetheart. You don’t have to do anything. Let me do the doing.’
He kissed her then. Kissed her and stripped her at the same time, the robe pooling at her feet before she could object or worry about what he would think of her body. Not that she was capable of rational thought at that moment, his hot, hungry kisses quickly igniting a furnace of desire within her which made her body burn with need.
She moaned in protest when his mouth suddenly lifted from hers, not wanting him to stop, yet at the same time wanting more.
‘Patience,’ he muttered. Violet was not sure who he was referring to.
She watched, dry-mouthed, as he whirled away from her and yanked back the bed clothes, throwing them onto the floor beyond the base of the bed before turning to face her again. His eyes glittered as they raked over her nakedness.
‘Why couldn’t you have been less than perfect?’ he growled.
She wasn’t given any time to wallow in his flattering words before he scooped her up and placed her down in the middle of the bed. Violet gasped as the coolness of the sheets came into contact with her white-hot skin. He didn’t join her on the bed straight away but stood next to it, staring down at her for what felt like for ever. And, whilst his hungry gaze thrilled and aroused her, it was not what she wanted at that moment. She wanted him on the bed beside her. No, no—inside her.
The intensity of her need battled with her natural shyness, making her want to do things she would never have imagined herself capable of. The urge to open her legs was powerful, only the shame of such a wanton act stopping her. But her legs still moved restlessly up and down, one at a time, each knee bending slightly then straightening, her heels digging into the mattress.
‘Leo, please,’ she choked out at last.
Her desperate plea brought his blazing blue eyes back to hers.
He shook his head then laughed, though it wasn’t a laugh of amusement. ‘For pity’s sake, woman, don’t make my job here harder than it already is.’
Violet was torn between pleasure at being called a woman and offence at the word ‘job’.
Any reaction—positive or negative—was swiftly obliterated, however, by Leo stripping off his bathrobe and giving her a full-frontal view of his startlingly beautiful