Secret Seduction

It’s neither good nor healthy. You’ve been hired to protect her. You’ve got to stop this.

It was a rational thought, but the ability for any rational action was lost when she angled her head up to take his earlobe between her teeth and nibbled.

Outside the storm raged. Rain pelted hard against the thirdstory window. The scarlet-neon hotel sign threw a red glow into the room. Vanessa’s smile was wickedly naughty as she dropped her head back to the mattress and looked up at him, her lips glistening.

She splayed a palm against the flat of his chest and pushed him away.

“What is it?” he rasped huskily. “Have you changed your mind?”

“Sit,” Vanessa commanded, getting to her feet and patting the mattress with her hand.

Tanner obeyed.

She stepped away from him and in that soft red glowing light slanting through the window, she slowly begin to disrobe, sliding down the zipper of her dress, easing the capped sleeves over her shoulders, exposing inch after tantalizing inch of light caramel skin.

He gulped. What a show.

Finally, the silky dress floated down her body to pool at her feet. She stepped out of the garment, but Tanner didn’t notice. He was too busy staring at the hot vision of her in a black lace bra molded to her high, sumptuous breasts.

His hands tingled with the need to touch her, to fill his palms with the weight of her bosom. He wanted to run his tongue over her skin, taste her rich womanly flavor. He wanted her in the most elemental way. At least for tonight, for this moment. She was the antidote to his malaise.

Tanner’s attention fully captured, his gaze tracked from her chest to the smooth curve of her belly to her black satin thong panties, clinging so provocatively to her sweet, luscious ass.

Then slowly she raised one leg and cocked her stilettoed foot on his thigh, the thin heel digging lightly into him. “Undo me.”

His fingers felt big as sausages as he fumbled with the delicate buckle at her slender ankle.

Her breathing was shallow and quick.

The buckle was stubborn.

Not looking so smooth, slick.

In irritation, Tanner slipped the strap under her heel and just peeled the shoe off her foot, leaving the buckle still fastened. He tossed the shoe over his shoulder. It landed with a plop on the other side of the room.

“Give me,” he said, indicating her other foot.

She complied, putting her bare foot on the floor and extending her other leg across his outstretched palm. Touching the sensuous curve of her calf proved more than Tanner could handle—he had to have her now. He dispensed with the second shoe, then wrapped his hand around that delicious calf and lay back against the headboard, pulling her with him.

Vanessa made a soft noise of half surprise, half pleasure. She was atop him again and his arms went around her waist. Her breasts were pressed against his chest and her head was cocked back.

She was ogling him as if he was something interesting she’d found in a novelty store. Her look was both unsettling and provocative.

His fingers went for the clasp of her bra.

She reached back and closed a hand over his fingers. “Not so fast, Tex. It’s your turn to remove an article of clothing.”

He didn’t need any more encouragement than that.

Tanner pulled his shirt over his head without bothering to unbutton it, and toed off his shoes. Her fingers were plucking at the waistband of his pants, working the snap and zipper almost simultaneously.

She shucked the pants down his legs, Tanner lifting his hips to help. His slacks quickly joined her dress on the floor. He and Vanessa were left in their underwear staring into each other’s eyes.

Sharp appreciation increased Vanessa’s awareness as she drank in Tanner’s muscular body. The man was a work of art.

A flash of lightning flooded the room in split-second illumination, emphasizing the intensity of what was happening between them. A myriad of sensations pelted her. The sound of his ragged breathing. The heat of his flesh. The scrape of his beard stubble as he claimed her mouth in another kiss.

Passion surged high within her, increasing the sexual drive that had been building since their dance at Emilio’s.

He tasted robust and piquant, like the roasted coffee they had shared at dinner. She was thirsty for more.

Their tongues played, gliding in and around and over each other. The tender slide of his palms underneath her breasts as he made her bra disappear became a hungry hunt to increase her pleasure.

The burning urge to stroke him, to travel the tempting terrain of his body compelled her.

She ran her fingertips over his belly, exalting in the way his taut stomach muscles quivered at her touch. His low groan lit her up inside. She tracked her hand lower, finding her way through the coarse curls to glide her palm up the long, hard length of him.

Excitement stirred her blood. A murmured whisper of delight slipped past her lips at the sexy feel of him pulsating in her hand.

Her body clenched, anxious to have him inside her, filling her up, making her whole, but she didn’t want to rush things. She wanted to savor this moment, savor him. It took every ounce of will she possessed, but Vanessa forced herself to hold back. She knew he was worth the wait.

He eased her hand from his shaft and pulled his mouth from hers. “You keep doing that and I won’t last two minutes.”

Tanner kissed his way down her neck to her swollen and achy breasts. His mouth settled over one straining nipple, sending a coil of heat firing like an inferno into her blood.

Her body grew heavier, more languorous until it seemed to liquefy into his. He forsook her nipples and returned to making idle circles around her breasts, until once more he was back, pulling and plucking the straining peaks.

She writhed against him.

He circled back.

This time she moaned through clenched teeth when he reached her nipples at last and rolled them between his rough fingers.

Her breath came out in low gasps and her entire body felt aroused. Nibbling her ear, he lifted her up onto his thigh.

His lips tugged on her earlobe. She delighted in the sensation as he began to suckle on her flesh and the ruby stud nestled there. She shuddered at the wetness of his tongue, the heat of his mouth.

He spread his legs and, in the process, pried hers apart with his knee. His hand slid down her breast and across her inner thigh. His other hand gently massaged her buttocks.

Her breathing quickened and her heart thumped.

Flashes of pleasure bombarding her, Vanessa let out a muted purr of confirmation, telling him he was on the right path as he blazed a trail down her torso with his wicked tongue. She felt his hand at the waistband of her panties, his fingertips taunting her by slipping underneath the silky elastic.

“I’m going to love you with my mouth,” he promised, not asking her permission, simply telling her what he was going to do.

His comment shot her arousal to a fevered pitch. His heated breath against her bare belly was driving her insane. His fingertips shifted through her moist curls, headed for the area she most wanted him to touch.

In response, she arched her back.