The Garrisons: Cassie, Adam & Brooke: Stranded with the Tempting Stranger

He reached for the menu he had placed on the table. “You want to take a look?”

She shook her head. “No, I have every entrée on it memorized.”

He chuckled. “I’m impressed.”

She grinned. “Just one of my many skills. And if I may …”

“And you can.”

“Then I would recommend the Salvador. It’s a special dish that’s a combination of lobster, fish, crawfish and various other seafood that’s stewed and then served over rice.”

“Sounds delicious.”

“It is, but I have to warn you that it’s kind of spicy.”

A smile curved his lips. “I can handle a little bit of spicy. And please make yourself comfortable while I phone room service.”

Cassie placed her jacket across the back of the sofa and sat, crossing her legs. She hadn’t missed the look of male appreciation in Brandon’s eyes when he had opened the door. His already dark gaze had gotten darker and his seductive look had sent heat flowing through her body.

Deciding she needed to cool down, she glanced around. The layout of this suite was similar to one she used whenever she stayed overnight at the hotel. However since hers was an executive suite, it was slightly larger and also had a kitchen, although she never used it.

“Our dinner will be delivered in about thirty to forty-five minutes,” he said, sitting on the sofa beside her and shifting his position to face her. “So, how was your day?”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Crazy. Hurricane Melissa can’t seem to make up her mind which way she wants to go, so we’re taking every precaution. Just yesterday she was headed north, but now she’s in a stall position as if trying to decide if she really wants to go north after all. We had a number of people who decided not to take any chances and have checked out of the hotel already.”

Brandon nodded. He’d been keeping up with the weather reports as well and understood her concern. Being a native of Miami, he had experienced several hurricanes in his lifetime, some more severe than others. Earlier that day he had spoken with his secretary, Rachel Suarez. A Cuban-American, Rachel had been working for his firm for over thirty years, and had started out with his father. When it came to handling things at the office she could hold her own—including the possibility of an oncoming hurricane.

“And if the hurricane comes this way I’m sure your staff knows what to do,” he said, tempted to ease over toward her and run his hands up her legs to see how far up her boots went.

“Trust me, they know the drill. Every employee has to take a hurricane awareness course each year. It prepares them for what to do if it ever comes to that. Dad mandated the training after we went through Hurricane Andrew.”

Brandon remembered Hurricane Andrew, doubted he would ever be able to forget it. It had left most of Miami, especially the area where he had lived, in shambles. “Well, hopefully Lady Melissa will endure a peaceful death before hitting land,” he said mildly.

He then asked, “Would you like anything to drink while we wait? How about a glass of wine?”

“That would be nice. Thanks.”

He stood and Cassie watched as he did so. She watched him walk across the room, thinking he was so sinfully handsome it was a shame. His gray trousers and white shirt were immaculate, tailored to fit his body to perfection. Last night he had done the gentlemanly thing and had stopped anything from escalating further between them, and after he had left her home she had felt grateful. Now she felt a sense of impending loss. He would be leaving tomorrow and chances where they would never see each other again.

For the past two days she had felt alive and in high spirits, something she hadn’t felt in the last five months—and all because of him. He hadn’t pushed for an affair with her. In fact when he’d had a good opportunity to go for a hit, he had walked away. Had he exerted the least bit of pressure, she would have gladly taken him into her bed. There had never been a man who’d had her entertaining the idea of a casual fling before. But Brandon Jarrett had.

“Here you are.”

She looked up. Their gazes connected and she reached out to take the wineglass he offered, struggling to keep her fingers from trembling. “Thanks.” She immediately took a sip, an unladylike gulp was more like it. She needed it. The heat within her was intensifying.

“You okay?”

She favored him with a pleasing smile. “Yes, I’m fine.” She held on to the look in his eyes and then asked, “And are you okay?”

He returned her smile. “Yes.”

She lowered her head to take another sip of her drink, trying to ignore the towering figure standing in front of her. She sensed his movement away from her, but refused to lift her head just yet to see where he had gone. Moments later when she did so, she drew in a quick breath. He was standing across the room with a wineglass in his hand, leaning against the desk and staring at her. Not just staring, but he seemed to be stirring up the heat already engulfing her. Then there were pleasure points that seemed to be touching various parts of her body. She was a sensible woman but at the moment she felt insensible, deliriously brazen. She knew what she wanted but inwardly debated being gutsy enough to get it. But then, as awareness flowed between them, she was compelled to do so.

With his eyes still holding hers, she stood and slowly began crossing the room to him. His strength, as well as his heat, was filtering across to her, touching her everywhere, and putting her in a frame of mind to do things she’d never done before. He watched her every step, just as she watched how the darkness of his eyes did nothing to cloak the desire in his gaze. It was desire that she felt in every angle of her body, in every curve and especially in the juncture of her legs. Especially there.

When she reached him she stood directly in front of him, still feeling his strength and heat, and still radiating in desire. With great effort she held on to the wineglass in her hand, needing another sip to calm her nerves, to quench her heat.

She lifted the glass to her lips and after taking a quick sip, Brandon reached out and took the glass from her, leaned in and placed his lips where the glass had been.

Brandon’s heart was pounding furiously in his chest and every muscle in his body ached. Fire was spreading through his loins and a quivering sensation was moving through him at a rapid pace. Her mouth had opened beneath his and he tasted her with a ravenous hunger that was gripping him, conquering with a need he could no longer contain.

Pulling back, he placed both of their glasses on the table, and with his hands now free he took her into his arms and quickly went back to kissing her with a passion that was searing through him. With very little effort his mouth coaxed her to participate. Once he took hold of her tongue, he strived to reach his goal of ultimate satisfaction for the both of them.

What they were exchanging was a sensual byplay of tongues that was meant to excite and arouse. Their bodies were pressed so close that he could feel the tips of her breasts rub against his chest. He could feel the front of her cradle his erection in a way that had his heartbeat quickening and his body getting harder. A need to make her his was seeping through every pore. He lowered his hand and pulled her even closer to his aroused frame, as he was in serious danger of becoming completely unraveled.

She pulled back and breathed in deeply, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. It only took a look into her eyes to see the fire burning in their depths. That look made him feel light-headed. The room seemed to be revolving, making him dizzy with smoldering desire. The experience was both powerful and dangerous. His lungs released a shuttering breath and a part of him knew he should do what he’d done last night and walk away. But his wants and needs had him glued to the spot.

And then she rose on tiptoe and whispered. “Make love to me, Brandon.”

Her words, spoken in a sexy breath, broke whatever control he had left, every single thread of it. With a surge of desire that had settled in his bones, he swept her off her feet and into his arms and headed straight for the bedroom.

Cassie’s heart began thumping in her chest when Brandon placed her on the king-size four-poster bed. And when he stood back and gave her that look, like she was a morsel he was ready to devour, she automatically squeezed her legs together to contain the heat flowing between them. There was an intensity, a desperation bursting within her, but not for any man. Just this one.

Since meeting him she hadn’t been able to put him out of her mind. Even as crazy as today had been, periodically he had found a way to creep into her thoughts. And she had felt herself getting flushed when she thought about the kisses they had shared. The memories had been unsettling on one hand and then soothing on the other. His kisses had easily aroused her and had made every nerve in her body quiver … like they were doing now.

She watched as he slowly began unbuttoning his shirt before shrugging broad shoulders to remove it. Her gaze zeroed in on his naked chest and suddenly her mind began indulging in fantasies of placing kisses all over it. She held her breath watching, waiting for him to start taking off his pants. However, instead of doing so, he walked back over to the bed.

“Do you know what I want to know? What I have to know?” he asked, staring at her from top to bottom.

Her mind went blank. She didn’t have a clue. “What,” she murmured, feeling the sexual tension that had overtaken the room.

“I have to know how far up your legs those boots go.”

That definitely was not what she had expected him to say and couldn’t help but smile. “Why don’t you find out,” she challenged silkily.

Brandon took a couple of steps toward the bed, reached out and slowly raised her dress. He sucked in a deep breath as he lifted it higher and higher. The top of the boots ended just below her knee, giving him a tantalizing view of her thighs.

“Satisfied?”

He shifted his gaze from her legs and thighs back to her face. “Partially. But I will be completely satisfied in a moment.”

Cassie swallowed when Brandon unzipped her boots and began removing them, taking the time to massage her legs and ankles and the bottom of her feet. “Do you want to know something else?” he asked her.

“What?”

“I stayed awake most of the night just imagining all the things I’d like doing to you if ever given the chance,” he said in a husky tone.

“Now you have the chance.”