Sierra jerked away, and he dropped his hands. Moving back into the room with an innate male grace, he slung the damp towel into the bathroom. “You look as if you’ve been enjoying yourself.” His tone was neutral, his expression guarded.
She strived for a similar tone. “I took your advice and decided to check out the hotel.” Dear God, she didn’t know herself anymore if the mere sight of a bare chest sent her pulse racing. “How was your meeting?”
He cleared his throat. “Good. Productive.”
She snuck a peek at him as she opened her case and then wished she hadn’t. He was staring at her, and she looked away, pulse still skittering. There ought to be a law against how sexy he looked, half dressed and still damp from a hot shower.
They were spending the night together whether she liked it or not, and it was time to clear the air. She took a deep breath, exhaled, and faced him, tightening the belt of her robe. “Look, Michael, I’d like to apologize for my behavior earlier. Our bargain, the engagement—everything has me rattled these days, and I don’t even know how to act. I behaved badly. I’m sorry.” The words came out in a rush. It was an effort to meet his eyes but when she did, she saw reluctant admiration and the glimmer of a smile on his lips. Also something that looked a little like surprise. There was a slight pause and then he nodded.
“Apology accepted.”
She relaxed a little, and he continued. “You know, I expected our arrangement to be simpler than it’s turned out to be.”
Astonished, Sierra asked, “What part of it did you expect to be simple? The one thing I knew was it wouldn’t be easy at all!”
He shrugged. “I thought it would be a business deal like any other. Unconventional, yes, but straightforward, governed by a contract.” He paused. “I hadn’t really bargained on—this.”
“This?” In an instant, her air supply diminished.
It was happening again.
“Don’t back down now, Sierra. It doesn’t become you.” His words were a challenge.
She was an adult. She could do this. In for a penny, in for a pound. “I thought you felt our attraction would serve our role-playing. That’s what you suggested at our first meeting.”
There was silence.
“Brava.”
“For what?”
He smiled. “For naming the elephant in the room. For admitting the desire we both know is there.” He shook his head. “Ignoring it isn’t going to make it go away.”
She strove for a practical tone. “True, but talking about it when we’re half-dressed probably isn’t going to help, either.”
Uh-oh. Maybe she shouldn’t have mentioned that.
“Ah, you noticed.” His smile grew. “Only I see it differently.”
“Oh?”
“You see us as half-dressed, while I see—”
“What?”
His tone deepened. “You. As half naked.”
Her nipples tightened. She’d walked right into that one. Michael naked. She must not think about that. Must. Not. Go. There.
“I can fix that, then,” she managed, striving to be casual. “I’m going to get dressed, and I suggest you do the same.”
At his sudden laugh, she grabbed her overnight case and headed for the bathroom, shutting the door.
“Coward!” he called.
Fifteen minutes later, after donning a light summer skirt and a white tank top, putting some order to her unruly red curls, and applying a light dusting of makeup, Sierra emerged from the bathroom. Michael was on the veranda, golden in the waning light of the day. Like her, he, too, had dressed. He was wearing a pair of worn jeans and a white T-shirt. To her surprise, he was setting out the food Grace had packed.
“It seems a shame to waste it. Why not have our picnic here and enjoy the view instead of going out again?”
“Why not? I’ll help.”
An implicit truce in place, they finished prepping the table in friendly silence. Michael answered a knock at the door. “I ordered a bottle of wine from our cellars here for dinner.” He grinned. “Since we never made it to an actual winery today because one of us was in a bad mood.”
She refused to rise to the bait. “One of us was.” Sierra handed him a corkscrew “What a good idea.”
He chuckled. “You know, you’re pretty good company when you chill out.”
“Why, thank you. You’re not bad yourself when you’re not acting like an autocratic dictator.” Her smile took the sting out of her words.
This time it was Michael who declined to react. “Seems we’re both learning to give each other the benefit of the doubt, then.”
“Seems like it.”
He poured them each a glass of wine and raised his. “Shall we have a toast, then?”
“Sure.” Sierra was game.
“To us. And to greater understanding.” He clinked her glass, raised his to his lips, and held her gaze as he swallowed.
God, he had a beautiful mouth.
“To greater understanding.” She chose to ignore the gleam in Michael’s eye as he recognized her omission of the first part of his toast.
Two hours later, a sleepy Sierra surveyed the remains of their al fresco meal and sighed. “That was great.”
They’d savored the food and found a surprising number of things in common to talk about. Michael had proven himself again to be an entertaining conversationalist, skilled not only in talking but in listening. This evening Sierra had opened up more, and she felt grateful for the camaraderie they’d managed to establish. Surely that would make things easier between them as they dealt with each other over the ensuing months.
“Yes, it was.” He gazed at her across the table. “But judging from the clock and your yawns, it’s time to hit the hay.”
“I suppose you’ve noticed there’s only one bed in this room.” Sitting back in the chair, she felt proud of her casual remark.
“Am I supposed to be gallant now and suggest sleeping on the floor with a blanket?” Michael inquired.
“It would be the gentlemanly thing to do,” she allowed, keeping a straight face.
He looked appalled, and she laughed.
“Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to do that.”
“No?” Michael looked interested.
“It’s a king-sized bed. It seems to me that there’s more than enough room for two.” She attempted a nonchalant tone.
He waggled his eyebrows her. “Why, Ms. Callahan, are you suggesting we invite a third party?”
She threw her napkin at him. “Not at all, Mr. Donovan. You stay on your side, I’ll stay light-years away on my side, and I think we’ll do just fine.”
Only it wasn’t that easy once it came down to it. For one thing, her case contained no sleepwear, unless she counted the black scrap of French silk Jen and Nora must have slipped into in with the clear goal of igniting banked fires.
There was no way Sierra would wear that. She settled for the tank top and panties.
Before slipping under the covers, Michael stripped off his shirt and jeans, leaving only a pair of thin black boxers. He was going to keep those on, at least.
She hoped.
She got under the covers and turned on her side away from him, without waiting to find out, ignoring her brief glimpse of a strongly muscled male thigh.
Tired though she was from the day, any chance of sleep fled the moment she felt the mattress next to her give a little. Michael got into bed and snapped off the bedside lamp, leaving only light from the window to cast some faint illumination.
An age passed, or perhaps it was only ten minutes. Michael cursed under his breath.
“This isn’t going to work.” He sounded strained.
“What isn’t?” She remained taut and still.
“You lying over there like a marble statue and me lying here all hot and bothered.”
He didn’t just say that.
“I don’t think this is the best time to discuss it…” Sierra said, only to gasp as Michael reached across t
he brief expanse of bed between them, rolled her toward him onto her back, and slung one of his legs over both of hers.
“I agree,” he said, his tone still taut. “Believe me, it’s not discussion I have in mind.” He trailed hot, stinging kisses down her neck. “We’ve been fighting this all day,” he muttered. “Watching you eat food from my fork was incredible. Feeling your hand on me when you spilled your water almost made me come unglued.” He braced himself on a forearm, one hand cupping her cheek and the other slipping under her tank top to mold a bare breast. “And lying here next to you without touching you is pure torture. It’s all I can think about. Tell me you think about it, too, Sierra.”
“I do,” she whispered. Because she did. And right now she wanted Michael so much she thought she’d shatter. Never had she felt a fraction of this kind of desire with William.
“God, you’re responsive,” he groaned, slipping a leg between hers so she could feel the full extent of his arousal.
She lifted her hips, then shifted to cradle him between her thighs, and he shuddered. She pulled his head down and met his mouth with hers.
She was lost.
He took her mouth in a deep kiss, their tongues meeting, and she went up in flames. She pressed the heat of her desire against his rock-hard erection through the thin cloth of their underpants, seeking release. In another moment she would explode.
“Wait, babe.” Breathing hard, he pulled back, his hands now cupping her face. “Shhh, it’s okay. You don’t have to go so fast.”
She stared up at him in the semi-darkness. “Yes,” she gasped, lifting against him again, but he resisted, pulling away a little. Rolling onto his back, he brought her with him so she was tucked against his side with his arm around her.
What had just happened? Had she done something wrong?
“No, don’t tense up.” He soothed her, and she relaxed. “You don’t have a lot of experience at this, do you?”
His tone was gentle but Sierra stiffened all over again. She was tempted to lie, yet there was no shame in the truth. “That obvious, is it?” She sounded defensive, even to her own ears.
“Yes.”
She winced despite herself. “It must be a complete turn-off, then.” She tried to move away, but he stopped her. “Certainly my ex-boyfriend thought so.”
“Then the guy was a complete idiot. It’s a total turn-on. You erupt at the slightest touch. There’s no artifice in your response.” He smiled a little. “But you haven’t learned yet to pace yourself for the sake of your own pleasure or insist your lover do the same. You race for satisfaction, as if it will disappear if you don’t grab it immediately.”
It was true. Her experience of sexual pleasure with a partner was so fleeting she wanted to grab it with both hands lest it slip out of her grasp.
He stroked her hip. “You deserve a lover who takes his time with you, Sierra. Who savors every last inch of you. Who brings you to the brink over and over again, and only then give you release.”
His words and tone made her ache. Tonight, she wanted Michael to be that lover, and to hell with their contract. Damn thinking. She touched his chest, and he caught and stilled the movement with his hand.
“Tell me you don’t want me, and I won’t go any further.” His voice was taut.
“I can’t tell you that,” she said, “because I do.”
For a moment there was silence.
Then, with a groan that was half triumph, half relief, his mouth came down hard on hers. Weeks of pent-up longing were poured into that one kiss, his lips slanting over hers in a way that was punishing and pleading at the same time. Sierra gasped against his mouth and he took advantage of the access she’d given him. She’d never been so aroused.
“You’re gorgeous,” he whispered. “I’ve wanted you since the first day you walked into Murdoch’s office.” His eyes bored into hers. “We’ve both known this was coming.”
She moaned as Michael took her nipple into his mouth through the fabric, continuing to suck and tease it with his teeth. She wanted him. No strings and all.
“Let me see you.” Slowly he peeled her thin tank top up her chest and over her head. The cool air tautened the wet, sensitized tips of her breasts, and she tried to cover herself.
“Absolutely not.” He stopped her. “You’re not hiding that beautiful body from me tonight.”
She watched as he tugged her panties down her thighs and off her legs. A hot flame burned in his eyes, causing her to feel both exposed and aroused.
Her breath came faster as Michael licked his way down her body, pausing to dip his tongue in her naval with a tiny thrust that anticipated a more intimate entrance into her body. He whispered compliments as he went, arousing her further. Then his mouth was at the juncture of her thighs as he held them apart.
“Michael!” She didn’t recognize herself. She knew only that she craved more of him, would die if he didn’t lick and touch her there. Almost despite herself, she lifted her hips from the bed, grasping his dark hair and holding herself against his mouth.
Michael’s breath was coming faster now, too. He reached beneath her to cup her buttocks, held her up to his mouth and bent his head. Already he was proving himself a generous lover.
Sierra cried out, fisting her hand in the sheets on either side of her. Surely he would make her come apart. “Please,” she gasped. “Please…now.”
He stopped for a moment and looked up the length of her body. He was breathing deeply, self-control etched in the hard angles of his face. “I said you deserve a lover who takes his time with you. This is just the beginning.”
Slipping two fingers into her moist channel and thrusting, he resumed the intimate ministrations of his mouth, increasing pressure. Licking into her heated core, Michael flicked his tongue over its swollen bud. Her wordless, almost desperate cries escalated as her body clenched, and then those cries turned into a long scream as she spasmed and came hard against his mouth.
He licked her from her first orgasm through her second and third before Sierra pulled him up to the level of her face. “Stop…my turn,” she gasped.
The question in his eyes turned to a burning affirmative response. Hooking the waistband of his boxers with her fingers, she dragged them over the tent of his erection, down his thighs. With an impatient growl, he helped her, and then lay back so she could look at him.
She swallowed. He was so big. So hard. She wanted to taste him.
Instinct guided her as she knelt before him on the bed and took him in her mouth. She’d never enjoyed this aspect of sex before, but she never wanted a man as much as she wanted Michael. As she cupped him below and moved her mouth up and down his length, her desire built again. She hummed in the back of her throat. She’d never wanted to make love to William like this.
“Jesus, Sierra. That feels so good.” He fisted his hands in her hair as she moved up and down his shaft.
“Enough!” Almost roughly, he drew her up, desire etched on his face. “That’s all I can take right now.” He lowered her onto her back.
Sierra reached up and brought him down on top of her. His shaft rubbed against her wet heat. “Now,” she whispered, shifting beneath him to bring her more fully into the hollow of her thighs. “I want you now.”
If she had to, she’d beg.
“Wait,” he groaned, fumbling with his discarded jeans next to the bed. Grabbing a foil packet and opening it with his teeth, he sheathed himself and then loomed over her.
He braced himself on either side of her shoulders as she wrapped her fingers around him and guided him to her entrance. She gripped his hips, encouraging him, and then he was inside her, filling her, slowly at first, inch by inch.
She wrapped her legs around his waist to deepen his penetration, and then he was buried in her wet heat.
No strings.
“You okay?” His face was strained with desire.
“Don’t stop.” She felt mindless with need. She lifted her head to bite his shoulder none too gently.
His control snapped. She gasped as he withdrew, then plunged deeply into her core. They were moving together in an ancient rhythm, their moans mingling. Sierra raced toward her peak, Michael’s hoarse encouragement in her ear.
“That’s it, babe. Come on. That’s it!”
The sound of their bodies moving together, the feel of Michael inside her, and the scent of sex around them pushed her over the edge at last. With a scream of pleasure that was so intense it was almost painful, Sierra came hard a fourth time. Orgasm wracked her body. Her inner muscles tightened around his length. Michael shouted her name a moment later, and then he, too, shuddered as he thrust himself into her a final time and lost himself in her dark heat.
Chapter Nine
Sierra woke with a start and glanced at her watch. It was still early morning, but Michael was nowhere to be seen. That was just as well. What on earth would she say to him after the night they’d shared?
He didn’t return until after she showered and dressed. It was now or never. They had to discuss it. “Michael. Let’s talk about last night.”
“Look, let’s not make a big deal out of what happened, Sierra. It doesn’t have to be complicated. All we have to do is marry soon, stay together for the remainder of our contract, and then we’ll both be free to go our own ways. No strings attached, remember?” Michael’s expression was remote.
Trepidation gave way to caution.
Sex didn’t involve strings for him, then. He was the well-known ladies’ man whose image she had been hired to rehabilitate. Of course it didn’t.
“Sex wasn’t part of our original bargain,” she observed. “You don’t think that complicates things a little now?”
“It was a mistake. We got carried away.” His face looked as if it were carved in granite. “However, there’s no harm done. We’re consenting adults. We simply revert to the terms of our deal and move forward with no repetition of last night. Agreed?”
Chilled at his bloodless tone, particularly because it was such a vivid contrast with the passionate man of the night before, Sierra blinked. She wasn’t looking for strings, either. Her few personal dealings with men had been complete disasters. So why should she care about how distant Michael behaved this morning? Whatever was bothering him, he was a client and nothing more. If he chose to act like a jerk, that was his problem, not hers.
Buying His Bride (The Donovan Brothers Trilogy Book 1) Page 10
