Barely Mistaken

She’d changed her mind. He tensed, painfully near the point of no return. But if Olivia said no, then it was no. “No?”

“Forget the couch or the bed. Here. Now.” Her voice, low and husky, seduced him. She stroked him through his breeches, her touch a trail of fire. “Against the wall. Just the way you described it at the club, in the garden….”

He backed her against the door before she finished her sentence. “Against the wall like this?”

Her sharp intake of breath transmitted her approval. Her breathing rasped as harshly as his own. “Yes.”

She unzipped his pants and he sprang free. Luke gritted his teeth and barely held himself in check when her fingers found the thick fluid at his tip and spread it down his shaft.

He jerked up the stiff material of her skirt until it bunched around her waist. He held it in place with one hand. Her breath came in short, sharp pants. Her eyes glittered behind her mask as she brought her fingers to her mouth and tasted him. He could barely speak. “Raise your skirt like this?”

She licked her lips and surged against him. “Yes. Just like that.”

He delved between her thighs and discovered wet satin. Pushing the material aside, his fingers found her honey-drenched folds. “Oh, baby.” His voice shook. “Put your hands on my shoulders.” Cupping the soft, plump mounds of her buttocks, he lifted her and tested himself against her slick wetness. “Liv, you are so hot. So wet.”

She wrapped her legs around his waist and strained against him. “Yes. Yes. For you.”

For him. His Lady Olivia. He lowered her onto his shaft. “Slip into you like this?” He braced her against the door and clenched his teeth. As he slid farther into her, she took him to a place he’d never been before, where the current of emotion ran as fast and deep and twice as treacherous as mere physical desire.

Deep within her body, her muscles tightened around him in response. “Yes. Just like that.”

He thrust three more times and Olivia began to climax. The shudder that gripped her, affected him as well. Luke threw back his head and joined her in a release. And for the first time in his life, it was more than a physical release. The fact that they’d just had hard, fast sex didn’t diminish the wellspring of jumbled emotion he felt for Olivia.

Her legs still wrapped around him, she slumped against the door. A satisfied smile curved her lips. Male pride surged through him. He had put that smile on her face. And regardless of how fast she ran this time, he’d be right behind her. And doubtless, she’d run. She wouldn’t be pleased when she discovered his true identity. But he’d discovered the buried treasure and he wasn’t giving her up. She was his booty.

She opened her eyes with a flutter of lashes. A subtle shift of her lips transformed her smile to suggestive seduction. She trailed her finger down his chest to his belly and beyond to where their bodies remained joined. “Ready for a little pillage and plunder?”

OLIVIA TUMBLED back onto her bed, bringing Adam along with her. For the first time ever, she wished she owned something more risqué than pima cotton sheets. For the first time ever, she’d discovered delicious satisfaction and the restless ache for more.

Moonlight filtered through the sheer drapes at the window, bathing the room in a soft glow. It reinforced the surreal quality of the night. She’d swear she’d embarked on an out-of-body experience, except her body was very much involved. The red blink of the answering machine on her bedside table heralded a message. A responsible woman would check her messages. But she’d thrown off that particular gown tonight. Quite frankly, she was much more interested in her pirate than finding out if Marty had landed himself in jail or if the literacy council was meeting next week. She ignored the persistent blink of the red light.

“I’m sure you’d be much more comfortable out of that dress,” Adam teased as he reached behind her and tugged at her zipper. In the amount of time she’d known him, he’d never teased before. She liked this playful side of him. But then again, he’d done a lot of things tonight he’d never done before. And she liked all of them. She could get used to him sprawled across her bed, coaxing her out of her clothes.

Olivia slid off the bed and shimmied free of her starched pleats. She’d lost her earlier sense of urgency, yet not the anticipation of touching him again. Slowly, she raised her hands to the pins in her hair, conscious of the upthrust of her breasts. With sensual deliberation, she released her hair, exhilarating in the weight and slide of it against her bare shoulders. She stood, clad in her mask and merry widow, illuminated by moonbeams.