against hers. Hunger arced inside her again, fresh, greedy. She’d never felt like this before.
She’d been with a man before, of course. Her fiancé and then Joshua. But those experiences were nothing compared to what was going on inside her at the moment. She’d never felt the compulsion for more as she had tonight.
Even though she’d just been with Rick, she wanted him again. Now. Inside her. She wanted to feel his body moving within hers. Wanted to feel a part of him. Wanted to be locked within his embrace—and that was new.
A part of her wanted to explore these new sensations. And another, more wary part of her wanted to back off now, while she could still think logically. There was no future with Rick. He was just like every other man she’d ever come across. He wanted her to help him out at work. He wanted her in his bed. But, like every other male in her life, he didn’t want her. This wasn’t a relationship. This was simply two people who felt a…connection. Was that enough reason to enjoy each other? And could they keep it that simple?
‘‘Can we do that, do you think?’’
‘‘I can,’’ Rick said, smoothing his fingertips across her cheek, pushing her hair back behind her ear. Looking at her now made him want her again. And yet he knew he would be able to say goodbye. Because he had to. He wouldn’t let her get close. Couldn’t let her in. He’d taken one chance and got smacked for his trouble. He wouldn’t be doing that again.
Rick had learned years ago that life was easier if lived alone. Sex was one thing. Love—a relationship—was something else. Something he wasn’t interested in. ‘‘So the question is,’’ he asked, ‘‘can you?’’
She shivered at his touch, the tiny bursts of heat transferring from his fingers to her skin. Could she forget what happened tonight in tomorrow’s light of day? She wasn’t sure. Could she give up the chance to feel more of what she already had? No way. So there was really only one answer to his question.
‘‘Yes, I can.’’
‘‘Good,’’ he said, and pulled away from her.
‘‘I say yes and you leave?’’
He pushed off the bed and turned back to look at her again, a smile tipping one corner of his mouth. Her heart jumped in response.
‘‘Just going to light a few of these candles,’’ he said. ‘‘This time I want to see you.’’
‘‘Oh, boy.’’
She looked beautiful by candlelight.
Tiny flames flickered around the room, tracing halos of golden light against the flowered wallpaper. Beyond the windows, the storm still raged, rain pelting at the glass, lightning and thunder growling and snapping, like ferocious beasts demanding entry. The four-poster bed looked wide and soft and compelling, as Eileen lay across the clean white sheets, her bare body a temptation no man could resist.
And Rick had no desire to resist her.
He couldn’t remember ever feeling this hunger before. The sizzle and snap of heat that burst into life every time he touched her made him yearn to feel it again. Watching the candlelight play on her smooth, pale skin made his palms itch to touch her again.
Eileen was unlike any woman he’d ever known.
Hell, everything about her was different.
Unique.
Her attitude, her laugh, her scent. She smelled of roses and sunlight—a compelling mixture to a man too used to burying himself under mountains of work, shut away in corporate towers. She laughed at his work ethic. Teased him about taking himself too seriously and fought him when he gave orders. And he was enjoying himself far too much.
Which should have worried him—but he was too hungry for the taste of her to think about it now.
He crossed the room to her, his skin tingling in anticipation of the brush of her body against his.
She went up on both elbows, cocked her head to one side and smiled. ‘‘You know, something just occurred to me.’’
The pale light in the room danced on the ends of her still damp hair and glistened in the water drops like diamonds. That stray thought brought him up short. Hell, he’d never been particularly poetic before. ‘‘Yeah? What’s that?’’
She drew one leg up, sliding the sole of her foot up the length of her other leg in a long, slow caress that caught his gaze and stole his breath.
‘‘Do you always go armed with condoms when you travel with your secretary?’’
He stopped at the edge of the bed and dropped one hand to her calf, smiling when her eyes closed at his touch. His fingers drifted along her skin with a feather-light caress. ‘‘Nope. Remember when we stopped for gas?’’
‘‘Uh-huh,’’ she murmured as his hand slid higher, higher, past her knee, up along her thigh.
Rick smiled, remembering the impulse that had told him to buy a couple of the dusty packages of condoms he’d found on a back shelf. ‘‘Stop-and-shop gas stations carry a lot of items these days.’’
She dropped backward onto the mattress and arched her hips as his fingers brushed the juncture of her thighs. She sucked in a gulp of air and released it from her lungs slowly. ‘‘Thank heaven, you’re a careful shopper.’’
He watched her through narrowed eyes. Flickering light played across her features as she practically vibrated under his touch. ‘‘One of my many gifts.’’
‘‘What’s another?’’ She lifted her hips into his hand, her breath hitching as his fingertips stroked her center.
‘‘You’re about to find out.’’ Rick’s heartbeat pounded in his ears. Blood rushed through his veins, creating a heat that made him feel as though he were standing in the center of a roaring fire. His breathing strangled, he gave into the urges riding him and grabbed her legs. Pulling her quickly around, he turned her abruptly on the mattress and yanked her toward him.
‘‘Hey!’’ She grabbed at the sheets beneath her as if holding on.
‘‘Shut up, Ryan.’’
‘‘Excuse me?’’ She lifted her head to stare at him.
Tugging her to the edge of the bed, he spread her legs with a gentle touch, then sank to his knees in front of her. ‘‘I said shut up.’’
‘‘What the he—’’ She stared down at him. ‘‘Rick…’’
He looked at her and his breath stopped. Candlelight danced in her eyes and brushed her skin with a soft golden haze. She looked beautiful and wild and lush enough to steal a man’s soul.
If he let her.
Rick wouldn’t.
He just had to have her.
‘‘Trust me,’’ he whispered, his voice a hush, lost in the fury of the storm beyond the cozy, softly lit room.
Lifting
