apart as his mouth closed over her nipple, sucking the swollen tip.
Hearing her soft moan, Malachi nearly lost it. Groaning, lifting his mouth, he dropped her wrists and stepped back unsteadily.
For a moment he stared at her in silence, his breathing ragged, his gaze dark and fixed. Then slowly he reached out and touched her throat, running his hand lightly over her collarbone. With his other hand he reached for her zip and the heavy satin slid to the floor.
Malachi felt his whole body stiffen. She was naked except for a barely-there pair of panties. Looking at her, he could barely breathe. His blood was humming in his veins and then he was jerking her up against him, pushing her back against the wall. His whole body seemed to explode in a fireball of heat as he felt her hand tug at his belt, tearing the zip down, her fingers pulling the hard length of him free.
‘Addie—’
Breathing in sharply, he felt her hand tighten around him, so that his body seemed to stretch out. His muscles started to spasm as he reached between her thighs, pushing aside the scrap of lace and opening her legs wider, dipping his fingers into the warm, slick heat.
Panting, eyes widening, Addie caught his hand, jerking it away. She guided him towards her, her body jolting up to meet his as he lifted her easily and thrust inside. Instantly she was lost, drowning in a shuddering, sensual heat. Eyes closed, she pressed against him, raising her hips as his fingers curled beneath her.
Tightening his grip, he pushed deeper still, opening her, stretching her. She bowed her back, meeting his thrusts, her nails digging into his shoulders, her breath quickening in time to the pulse clamouring between her thighs and then, shuddering, he groaned. And as she felt him spill inside her, her body convulsed around his.
Burying her head against the hollow of his shoulder, Addie breathed out unsteadily, letting her body go limp in his arms. She could feel his heart pounding, his skin damp against hers. Finally he shifted, gently withdrawing, and she felt his lips brush her hair. Somehow he got her onto the bed and she lay curled against his chest, his body damp and warm beneath her.
Staring down at her flushed face, Malachi grimaced. ‘I didn’t hurt you, did I?’ He hesitated and then pulled her into his arms, pressing his face into her hair. ‘I tried to stop but I just couldn’t. I wanted you so badly.’
He had never felt that desperate. His breathing raw and uneven, he lifted his head, wanting, needing to see her face.
‘I don’t know what happens when I’m with you.’
She gazed up at him, stunned, mute, muscles aching. He looked as dazed as she felt. And was he really admitting that he’d just lost control?
She wanted to hear more—wanted to ask him what he meant—but she could hardly think straight, let alone speak. But it didn’t matter, she thought, her eyes closing as she leaned into him. Just for the moment, nothing mattered except him and her and the beating of their hearts...
FINALLY! AN ACE. Feeling a twinge of satisfaction, Malachi placed the card on the table in front of him. Behind him, he heard Addie shift in her sleep and, glancing back at the bed, felt his breath catch in his throat. With her red hair gleaming in the silvery light flooding the bedroom she looked even more like a mermaid than ever.
For a moment he watched her sleep then, breathing out slowly, turned back to his cards. Addie might be sleeping soundly, but sadly he was not. And he couldn’t quite work out why.
After she had got so upset, he had played it slow, choosing to wait, savouring the intensity and heat of his longing so that his desire had been raw and fierce. He had never wanted any woman as much as he had wanted her in that moment. Never waited so long for any woman. But it had definitely been worth the wait.
He should be feeling sated, satisfied. And yet here he was, wide awake, body twitching with lust, playing cards by himself in the moonlight.
It didn’t make any sense. Sex was supposed to solve problems. Not create them. In his head, tapping into their passion had seemed like a foolproof solution to the niggling problem of the sexual hold she appeared to have over him. Only his plan didn’t seem to be working out. Rather than killing his desire, having sex with her not only seemed to have heightened his libido but it seemed to be messing with his mind.
Take earlier. Usually, post-coital affection was something to be avoided, at best endured. But he had found it impossible to lie next to her and not hold her close. He’d actually had to get out of bed to stop himself from doing so.
Standing up, he walked softly across the room and stared down at Addie in silence. For the first time in his life sex didn’t seem to be an end in itself. Instead it felt more like a means to an end.
He breathed out slowly. Something was happening. He was feeling things he hadn’t expected or wanted to feel. Like the fact that this deal with Addie no longer seemed that important. Instead what mattered was spending time with her. Which was why he was going to take her with him to Venezuela, for the opening of his newest casino.
In the bed, Addie shifted onto her side, and then her eyelids fluttered open and she looked up at him drowsily. ‘What’s the matter?’
Gently he stroked her face. ‘Nothing. I’m just not that sleepy.’
She smiled, her lips parting. ‘Me neither.’
His eyes fixed on her face and there was a short beat of silence and then, sliding beneath the sheet, he pulled her soft, unresisting body against his and, capturing her mouth, kissed her fiercely.
‘I’ll have your twos, please!’ Biting her lip nervously, Addie peered over the top of her sunglasses to where Malachi lay sprawled on the other side of the huge bean-filled lounger.
For a moment he stared impassively at his cards, and then finally he sighed and a wicked smile spread slowly over his face. ‘Go fish! And I’ll have your threes, please, sweetheart.’
‘You are such a rat!’ Shaking her head, she dropped her cards into his outstretched hand and picked up another from the deck.
Two minutes later it was all over.
Groaning, Addie rolled over onto her back. ‘I can’t believe I lost. Again. I thought you said you’d never played go fish before?’ she said accusingly.
Shuffling the cards with the skill of a Vegas croupier, Malachi grinned. ‘I haven’t. Is that why you wanted me to play with you?’ His eyes were watching her with amusement. ‘So you could take advantage of me.’
Addie laughed. ‘It did cross my mind.’
‘It did, did it?’ Reaching out, he grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her towards him, pinning her against the cushion with his thigh and his hand. ‘Then maybe I should reciprocate.’
Her breath caught in her throat as he picked up a handful of glossy red hair, threading it through his fingers.
‘Take advantage of you
