her into anything. She seemed to be enjoying this as much as he was, if her dazzled expression was anything to go by.
And if he could gauge her desire by the way her mouth was moving slowly, but inexorably toward his …
Their lips met in a slow collision, like two thunderstorms meeting out over the ocean. Rain and hail and lightning exploded inside him at the touch of her skin to his. His hands flew out and gripped her with force, holding her close as he’d ached to for days.
Her hot breath on his skin set his senses on fire. Her fingers reached into his hair, down his neck, over his shirt, moving with fevered anxiety echoed in his own body. Before he could stop himself he’d undone some of the buttons on the back of her dress and slid his fingers inside. Instead of historical corsetry they met smooth, bare skin.
“Are you naked under this dress?”
“Maybe.” He could hear the smile in her voice. “You’ll have to explore to find out.”
Her invitation tantalized him and worked like fresh oxygen on the flames of desire ripping through him. Undoing the buttons had loosened the shaped bodice, which softened its grip on her breasts.
Annie wasn’t shy about undressing him. She pushed his jacket off and unbuttoned his shirt with an intent concentration that made him want to laugh. “You must be hot after all that rowing,” she murmured as an excuse. The way she licked her lips, as if anticipating a treat, suggested a more delicious ulterior motive.
Already he was hard as the stone piers on the dock. The heat flushing his skin had more to do with anticipation than exertion. Having cracked open Annie’s demure shell once—or did he simply peel it away?—he knew that a sensual and passionate woman lay beneath her quiet and compliant exterior.
She tugged his shirt from his pants with a flourish and pulled it off, exposing his chest and arms to the balmy night air. “Doesn’t that feel better?”
“It does.” He kissed her gently. “Especially because now I can do this.” He pulled her closer, until her breasts spilled against the muscle of his chest, her taut nipples grazing his skin and shifting his arousal into high gear.
Their kiss deepened as they pressed against each other, skin to skin, surrounded by the whisper of trees and the gentle lapping of the water against the dock. For the first time in months—no, the second time—Sinclair felt a sense of peace and contentment well up inside him. Right here, right now, everything was perfect. Their kiss tasted like honey and fruit and champagne, tantalizing his taste buds and every other part of him.
Why did he feel this way with only Annie? He couldn’t remember enjoying the company of a woman so much. Was it pure sexual attraction?
He didn’t think so. There was something more substantial about the pleasure he felt in her company, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.
He pulled back from their kiss, letting the night air cool his mouth before lowering it to her breasts. Her skin glowed in the silver moonlight, making her look like an ancient statue in a tempting state of undress. He licked her nipples, and enjoyed the little murmur of pleasure that escaped her lips. Her fingers roamed over the muscles of his back and arms, sparking little rivers of sensation that flowed through his body, and increasing the pressure building inside him like water behind a dam.
When Annie’s hands slid inside the waistband of his pants he flinched, responding powerfully to the increased sensation. “I want to make love to you.” It sounded so old-fashioned the way he said it, but he couldn’t think of a better way to express his desires or intentions.
“And I want you to make love to me.” She breathed it in his ear, hot and sultry. “Again.”
His eyes slid closed as memories of their first encounter met and mingled with the sensations and emotions of the present. He fumbled with the last of the buttons on her dress and it fell and pooled around her feet before she stepped out of it, wearing nothing but a delicate pair of flesh-toned panties. She looked totally unselfconscious, a glorious, timeless study in feminine beauty, standing on the hand-hewn limestone of the terrace. The moon dressed her in light and shadow that emphasized the full curve of her breasts and the sweet pear shape of her behind. He could sit and stare at her for an hour.
But, growing impatient, and with a glint in her eye, she slid his belt out of the buckle and soon he was also naked in the moonlight.
“Are you sure we’re alone here?” She glanced suddenly over her shoulder, into the dark woods on the edge of the lawn.
“There’s probably a crowd of admirers in the trees.” He let his fingers skate over the curve of her waist.
“You’re kidding.” Her eyes widened.
“But they’ll keep our secrets. They have other things to do, like feather their nests, and bury their acorns in the tree trunks.”
Her look of alarm mellowed into a smile. Then her expression grew more serious. “Is this going to be another secret?”
Her gaze hinted at a well of sadness beneath her lovely exterior. Guilt stabbed him for the way he’d pushed her aside after their surprise encounter. He’d been shocked at his own behavior. He was barely even divorced and already he’d pulled another woman into his bed. His emotions had been jolted out of the deep freeze and he didn’t know how he felt about anything. His first and only impulse had been to run and keep on running.
But all that running had led him right back here into Annie’s welcoming arms. “Only if you want it to be.”
She looked at him, her eyes clear and bright. “I don’t like secrets.”
“Me, either. Usually they make me worry about the SEC and insider trading accusations.” He watched the smile creep back onto her face. “But in this case it just seems unnecessary. We’re adults.”
“There’s no arguing with that.” She surveyed his body with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “You’re certainly all man.”
His arousal pulsed stronger. His hands rested at her waist, and he pulled her gently to him and kissed her lips. “And you’re all woman.” He sighed as he ran his hands over the sweet curve of her backside. His erection pressed gently against the soft skin of her stomach, and throbbed with anticipation at finding an even more inviting and intimate hiding place.
Annie spread herself out on the elegant fabric, sheltered from the stars by an elaborate canopy. Her body looked like an invitation to sin, of the most enjoyable kind. Right now he must be the luckiest man alive.
Then a dark thought crossed his mind. “Now is probably not the ideal time to mention this, but I don’t have a condom.”
“Better now than afterwards.” She simply smiled and shifted herself into an even more delectable pose. “But don’t worry. I still have it covered.”
Thank heaven. He wasn’t sure if even a bracing plunge in Long Island Sound could take the edge off his current state of erotic tension. “That doesn’t surprise me, since you’re always prepared for everything.”
He climbed over her on the wide, cushioned sofa, sinking against her warm skin and drinking in her subtle fragrance. Her arms wrapped around his back, holding him close as she layered kisses over his face. He sighed at the luxurious sensation of her body in his arms, and the ever growing
