because of me, I hope.”
She smiled.
“And here I thought you’d stick around at least long enough to find out what I’m really doing here.”
A creak of a door.
They both swung to watch the thief exit the guest room across the hall. He clutched a black velvet bag in his hand. But rather than making a run for it, his attention was on another door. Namely the one Alex and Nicole stood behind.
Alex eyed the woman standing in front of him. He hadn’t known how much he had been hoping for just such an opportunity until he hauled one very wily, supremely sexy Nicole Bennett into his arms. She stared up at him in naked shock. Then he slowly lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her, absently thinking that she tasted like cinnamon candy, too.
3
SO…TALL. SO…HARD. SO…HOT.
And far too slow.
Nicole kept her eyelids cracked open, watching Alex’s finely honed features as he launched a mock attack on her mouth. Only there was nothing mock about her instant reaction to it. She heard the door creak farther open behind her, but immediately forgot about it as Alex moved his hand up the outside of her leg then slid his fingertips under the hem of her skirt. She dipped her tongue into his mouth just as he found out that she had absolutely nothing on underneath the classy shift. She drank in his expression of first shock, then pure wicked pleasure. Ah. Just her type. The kind of guy capable of compensating for any surprise thrown his way. That assessment was quickly confirmed when he traced the line of her clean-shaven pubis.
Nicole’s knees buckled at the rush of instant and overpowering heat caused by his intimate touch. All the while, his mouth continued to slowly explore hers.
Too slowly.
Deciding to ratchet things up a notch, she tunneled her fingers wildly through his hair then pushed her mouth almost painfully against his, swirling her tongue against his teeth like a starving woman. She was rewarded with a small groan…and the feel of his hand circling around to her bare bottom where he clutched her roughly to his growing hardness.
Mmm. The long, thick ridge she felt under his trousers felt…promising. She wiggled her hips to get a better sense, then smiled as she recklessly kissed him. Very promising, indeed.
Things escalated very quickly. One moment Nicole was trying to speed things up, the next she was dizzy from the quick pace. She forgot about the house, the jewels, the thief that could still be watching them. She tunneled her fingers into the front of Alex’s slacks, desperately needing to touch the silken length of him. The only thing she knew was the accumulating need to go as far as she dared with this man—a man with the power to put her behind bars, yet who set her on fire with a simple, well-placed touch.
Alex caught her fingers just as she touched his hard heat, then broke free from their spiraling kiss.
“I…think he’s gone,” he said raggedly, his breathing irregular, his hair gorgeously tousled from where she’d restlessly played with and tugged on it.
“Who?” she whispered, blinking as her gaze traveled from his hair to his eyes then his decidedly decadent mouth.
“Who, indeed,” he said, his eyes darkening.
Nicole gasped when he shoved her against the opposite wall, then followed, sandwiching her between the wall and his heat. A picture frame tipped back and forth and a chair toppled over as Alex kicked it out of the way, then sweet heaven descended as he picked her up and wrapped her legs around his hips, pressing his hard arousal against her soft, exposed flesh.
Nicole had always gotten a rush out of stealing. And she couldn’t remember a time when she didn’t love sex. But when the two of them crashed together, it nearly sent her plummeting right over the edge. She couldn’t seem to get enough of Alex fast enough. She pulled at his tie, shoved his suit coat down over his arms, then dove for his belt buckle and the zipper beyond. She heard the ripping of material. Namely that of the strap of her dress where Alex was trying to gain access to her breasts. She smiled at him through their kiss.
“Sorry,” he rasped.
Nicole ripped open his shirt, sending buttons ricocheting around the room. “Not a problem.”
She took in the wide, hard planes of his chest. No donut-induced middle about this ex-cop. He was a pure, undiluted hottie with a chest that could make a grown woman cry. She pressed her palms flat against his nipples, then dragged her fingers down over his taut, rippled flesh. Damn. She hadn’t seen a guy this hot since she’d dated the captain of the football team back in high school. Maybe she’d been going after the wrong guys. Maybe the jocks were where it was at.
She gave a soft laugh at the twisted thought even as she wriggled her hips to get the room she needed to free his erection. She finally held his long, hard length in her fingers. Impressive. Very impressive, indeed. She’d heard of extralarge condoms being available, but had never actually had the cause to buy one.
Speaking of condoms…
Alex fastened his mouth over her right breast, chasing the air from her lungs and causing her to throw her head back against the wall and groan. God, but he had a great mouth. Tiny tendrils of fire licked along her nerve endings, ending in a throbbing pool of molten electricity right between her thighs.
“Rubber,” she said breathlessly. “Give me a rubber.”
Alex froze.
Just froze.
His mouth still rested against her breast.
His erection still pulsed against her too hot flesh.
But he wasn’t moving anymore.
And Nicole didn’t want to know the reason why.
He finally pulled back enough to look into her face. She didn’t have to ask. The answer was right there in his tortured expression.
Nicole felt the tremendous urge to hit him.
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” she whispered, uncrossing her ankles behind his back and sliding her feet down to stand on her own. “You don’t have a rubber?”
“The tux is a rental.”
“Your wallet?”
“Contains my ID and cash.”
“No condom.”
He shook his head, looking as frustrated as she felt. “No condom.”
Nicole sagged against the wall, feeling the incredible, confusing urge to cry as sexual frustration pressed from the inside out. She wanted release. But for her there was only one way that would really do it for her. And that was feeling Alex deep inside her. Oral sex wouldn’t do. Petting, no matter how heavy, could never lessen the need.
She swallowed hard, just then realizing that Alex was staring as hardly at her as she was at him.
“Wait a minute,” she whispered, looking toward the large bed they had purposely avoided.
She
