her eyes and coolness replaced it. Then she smoothed her long blond hair away from her face.
Satisfied that she had herself under control, she walked out of the bathroom to sit on the bed. She’d wait fifteen to twenty minutes before she headed up. No need to seem too eager.
Chapter Two
Piers prowled his suite, unaccustomed to the edginess that consumed him ever since he’d parted ways with the blond bombshell downstairs. He stopped his restless pacing and poured a drink from the crystal decanter on the bar, but he didn’t drink it. Instead he stared at the amber liquid then glanced at his watch for the third time.
Would she come?
He cursed his eagerness. He felt like an errant teenager sneaking out of the house to meet a girlfriend. His reaction to the woman couldn’t be explained except in terms of lust and desire.
He wanted her. Had wanted her from the moment he spotted her staring longingly through the open doorway of the hotel. He’d been mesmerized by the picture she portrayed. Long and sleek with slender legs, a narrow waist and high, firm breasts. Her hair fell like silk over her shoulders and down her back and his fingers itched to dive into the tresses and wrap them around his knuckles while he devoured her plump lips.
Even now his groin ached uncomfortably. Never had he reacted so strongly to a woman, and it bothered him even as the idea of taking her to bed fired his senses.
A soft knock at his door thrust him to attention, and he hurried across to open it. She stood there, delightfully shy, her ocean eyes a strange mixture of emerald and sapphire.
“I know you gave me a key,” she said in a low voice, “but it seemed rude to just barge in.”
He found his voice, though his mouth had gone dry as soon as she spoke. He reached for her hand, and she placed it trustingly in his. “I’m glad you came,” he said huskily as he pulled her forward.
Instead of leading her farther inside, he wrapped his arms around her, molding her to the contours of his body. She trembled softly against him, and he could feel her heart fluttering like the beat of hummingbird wings.
Unable to resist the temptation, he lowered his mouth to hers, wanting to taste her again. Just once. But when their lips met, he forgot all about his intention to sample.
She responded hotly, her arms sliding around his body. Her hands burned into his skin, through the material of his shirt as if it wasn’t there. His impatience grew. He wanted her naked. Wanted him to be naked so he could feel her skin on his.
Thoughts of taking it slow, of seducing her in measured steps flew out the window as he drank deeply of her sweetness. He wasn’t sure who was seducing whom, and at this moment, it didn’t matter.
His lips scorched a path down the side of her neck as his fingers tugged impatiently at the fastenings of her dress. Smooth, creamy skin revealed itself, and his mouth was drawn relentlessly to the bare expanse as her dress fell away.
She moaned softly and shivered as his tongue trailed over the curve of her shoulder. He pushed at the dress, and it fell to the floor leaving her in only a dainty scrap of lacy underwear.
All his breath left him as he looked down at the full round globes of her breasts. Her nipples puckered and strained as if begging for his attention. The tips were velvet under his seeking fingers. He toyed with one and then the other before cupping one breast in his palm and lowering his head to press a kiss just above the peach areola.
Her breath caught and held, and she tensed as his tongue lazily traced downward to suck the nipple into his mouth.
Her taste exploded in his mouth. Sweet. Delicate like a flower. So feminine. Perfect. His senses reeled, and he pulled away for a moment to recoup his control. Theos but she drove him mad. He reacted to her like a man making love to his first woman.
Already his manhood strained at his pants, and he was dangerously close to flinging her on the bed and stroking into her liquid heat.
Finesse. He must take it slower. He wouldn’t allow her such power over him. He would make her as crazy as she made him, and then and only then would he take her.
Jewel grabbed his shoulders as her knees buckled. She needn’t have worried. He swept her into his arms and carried her toward the bedroom just beyond the sitting area of the suite.
He laid her on the bed then stood back and began to hastily strip out of his clothing. There was something incredibly sexy about a man standing over her as he undressed. His eyes burned into her, heating her skin even from a distance.
First his shirt fell away revealing smooth, muscled shoulders, a rugged chest and narrow waist with enough of a six-pack to suggest he wasn’t an idle businessman. Hair dotted the hollow of his chest, spreading just to his flat nipples. It was thicker at his midline, trailing lower to his navel, tapering to a faint smattering just above the waist of his pants.
She stared hungrily at him as he unfastened his trousers. He didn’t waste time or tease unnecessarily. He shoved them down his legs, taking his boxers with him. His erection sprang free from a dark nest of hair. Her eyes widened at the way it strained upward, toward his taut belly. He was hugely aroused.
Her question must have shone on her face. He crawled onto the bed, straddling her hips with his knees. “Was there any doubt that I wanted you, yineka mou?”
She smiled up at him. “No.”
“Rest assured, I want you very much,” he said huskily. He lowered his head until his mouth found hers in a heated rush.
Her entire body arched to meet him, wanting the contact, the warmth and passion he offered. It had been so long since she’d purposely sought out the company of another person, and this man assaulted her senses. He flooded her with a longing that unsettled her.
He pushed her arms over her head until she was helpless beneath him. He didn’t just kiss her, he devoured her. There wasn’t an inch of her skin that didn’t feel the velvet brush of his lips.
Her gasp echoed across the room when he licked and suckled each breast in turn. His tongue left a damp trail down her midline as he licked down to the shallow indention of her navel. There wasn’t a single muscle that wasn’t quivering in sharp anticipation.
His hands followed, his palms running the length of her body, tracing each curve, each indention on they settled on her hips. He tucked his thumbs underneath the thin string holding her underwear in place, and then he pressed his mouth to her soft mound still covered by transparent lace.
She cried out softly, unnerved by the electric sensation of his mouth over her most intimate place, and yet he hadn’t even made contact with her flesh.
His hands caressed their way down her legs, dragging the underwear with it. At her knees, he simply ripped impatiently, rending the material in two. He quickly discarded it and returned impatient fingers to her thighs.
Carefully, he spread her, and she began to shake in earnest.
“Don’t be afraid,” he murmured. “I’ll take care of you. Trust me tonight. You’re so beautiful. I want to give you the sweetest pleasure.”
“Yes. Please, yes,” she begged.
He
