“Do you ever think about it?” he asked. “Those two days on the island when there was nothing but sand and sea and us? You and me, naked beneath the hot sun?”
Her eyes were green pools of mystery. And warmth, he realized. Warmth for him. She usually hid it, but she wasn’t doing a good job at the moment. It gave him hope, though for what he wasn’t quite certain.
“I’ve thought of it,” she admitted, her cheeks flushing as she spoke. Such lovely, lovely color, he mused. “How could I not?”
A low throb of arousal pulsed at the base of his spine. He wanted to take her here, now, in the middle of this room with the estate agent outside and the bright London sunshine streaming through the tall paned windows. “Then why are we merely thinking about it,” he murmured, “when we could experience it again? In a bed this time, sweet Anna, with all the romance and tenderness you deserve.”
“I—I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” she said, her gaze dropping to study her fingers where they rested on his shirt.
“How can it be a bad idea? You burn for me, Anna. You want me.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea, either,” he told her, dipping his head to skim his lips along her jaw. She tilted her head back, her fingers clutching him. His body was stone. Hot, hard stone.
“Leo …”
“We’re marrying, Anna,” he said, trying not to make it sound like begging. Was he begging? An interesting thought, really. But he would, at this moment, do anything to get her naked and beneath him again. A singular thought. “Shouldn’t we see if this could work between us before we assume it will not?”
Before she could answer, he heard a door open and shut, and he knew the estate agent had returned. Anna took advantage of his distraction to disengage from his embrace. But it wasn’t a rejection. That much he knew. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and folded her arms over her body. It wasn’t a defensive gesture so much as a protective one.
Triumph surged in his bones. She would be his again. Soon.
Tonight.
CHAPTER TWELVE
A TRIO of boxes arrived within a couple of hours after she’d returned to the hotel. Anna directed the porter to place them on a table. Once she’d given him a tip and he’d gone, she turned her attention to the pretty white boxes tied in red ribbon. A card was on the top of the smallest one.
Wear these tonight. Eight o’clock for dinner.
She opened the smallest one first. A pair of slender designer heels with crystal studs on the straps made her heart kick with excitement. She’d never hidden the fact she loved beautiful shoes. Just because she wore conservative clothes didn’t mean she needed to wear ugly shoes. That would be a sin against nature.
Next was a box with an electric-blue lacy thong and a matching strapless bra that made a tendril of heat uncoil in her belly. Leo wanted her to wear these tonight because he hoped to see her in them. She wasn’t so dumb as to believe otherwise. Nor was she so certain of her answer that she wasn’t going to put them on.
When he’d held her in the flat earlier, she’d wanted nothing more than to lie in a soft bed with him, naked skin against naked skin. She knew what awaited her when she did: heat and passion and physical pleasure so intense it would make her sob with joy. She wanted that again, even while it frightened her.
She wasn’t afraid because she feared sex with Leo. She was afraid because she feared the truths she might have to admit to herself once he stripped her of her defenses. She turned to the last box with a little shiver of excitement dancing down her spine.
It contained a sequined dress in chili-pepper red. The dress was strapless, of course, and fitted through the bodice, hips and knees until it suddenly burst free in a gorgeous fantail. It was bold, far bolder than anything she’d ever worn in her life, with its blazing-hot color and sleek fit.
Her heart thrummed as she picked it up and went to stand in front of the mirror with it. Everyone would notice the woman who wore a dress like this. Could she bear the scrutiny right now?
Did it even matter? she asked herself a minute later. The press was already scrutinizing her. Since she’d started to appear in public with Leo, photographers had become a fixture in her life once more.
In the end, she decided to put the dress on. And the underwear. She left her hair long and loose, curling the ends so they fell in soft waves over her shoulder. A check of her reflection in the full-length cheval glass featured a woman she hardly recognized. A bright, sassy woman who walked into a room and owned it.
She’d never felt like she owned a room before. She’d been counting on her status after she’d married Alex to make her feel that way, but the truth was she should have learned the art long before. For herself alone.
A few minutes before eight, Leo arrived. He stood in the doorway with his hot coffee-colored gaze drifting over her and she felt as if an explosion had detonated inside her. He was resplendent in his custom-fit tuxedo. The white of his shirt contrasted sharply with his tanned skin and dark hair, making him seem even more devilish than he was. His sensual lips curved in a smile that whispered of sex and sin, and her heart went into a free fall.
She didn’t even realize that she’d pressed her hand to her chest until he frowned.
“Are you feeling well?” he asked suddenly, coming into the room and taking her in his arms. “Is it the baby?”
“I’m fine,” she managed. “I just felt lightheaded for a moment.”
And that was the truth. She’d taken one look at Leo and something inside her had shifted for the tiniest moment, taking her breath along with it.
“We can stay in,” he said, looking concerned. “I’ll order dinner up—”
“No, I’m fine. Really.” She clutched his arm. “I want to go out. I didn’t put this dress on for nothing.”
He smiled, too, but there was worry in his eyes. “And a lovely dress it is, sweet Anna. You should always wear bold colors. They suit you.”
She glanced down at the glaring red fabric. Count on Leo to see what she couldn’t see for herself. When she’d looked in the mirror, she’d known he was right about the color. “This is a giant leap for me. I’m not accustomed to calling attention to myself.”
“You should be,” he said, his voice rough and soft all at once. Was that a kernel of need she heard? The idea thrilled her. “You are stunning, Anna. Marvelously stunning.”
She laughed, but the sound was nervous, high. Could he tell? “Thank you for the dress. I would have never picked it.”
But Leo had. Because he saw something in her that she was only just learning to see for herself. It warmed her, made her pulse kick again. She was prepared for it this time.
“But do you like it?” he asked softly.
“I do, actually. I feel quite special in it.”
Leo’s smile had the power to make her heart flutter. “Because you are special, Anna.” He took her hand and kissed it. “Never doubt it.”
The restaurant he took her to was very exclusive. He was greeted by a fawning maître d’ and staff, and then they were shown to a table in an empty dining room. The room was exquisite, with deep mahogany paneling on the walls, a frescoed ceiling and crystal chandeliers. The single table was set with crystal wine and water glasses, heavy silver flatware and a profusion of cream roses in a silver vase at the center.
After they were seated and the maître d’ walked away, Anna glanced around the empty room and then back at Leo. He lifted an eyebrow, as if waiting for the question he knew must be coming. She laughed, then pressed her hand to her mouth and tried not to. Nerves, she told herself.
He reached over and took her wrist gently, removing her hand so her laugh sprang free again.
“Leo,” she said. “This is crazy! Did you buy the restaurant?”
His smile was genuine. Pleased. “No. But I did buy the night.”
She shook her head. It was unreal. Romantic. “We could have eaten with other
people.”
“Not tonight. I wanted you to myself.”
“You’ve had me to yourself nearly every day.”
“Not the same,” he replied. “It never lasts long enough. Tonight, however, we’ll have as much time as we want.”
“There are staff,” she pointed out, feeling bubbly inside nevertheless. “They aren’t going anywhere, I assume.”
“No, and later there will be an orchestra.”
She blinked. “An orchestra?”
“We’ve never danced, Anna. I want to hold you in my arms on a dance floor.”
She looked down at the white napkin carefully folded across a charger plate bordered in tiny gold scrollwork. Her heart felt as if it would burst from her chest any minute. She was happy, happier than she’d been since the island, and it worried her. What if it all fell apart tomorrow?
“You might be disappointed,” she said softly.
“I doubt that.” His voice was strong, sure, as if he’d never doubted anything less in his life.
“What if I step on your toes?” she asked, trying to lighten up the moment. Because, for her, it was too intense. Her skin felt too tight, stretched thin over the weight of emotions boiling inside her.
“Can’t happen,” he said. “You spent years training to be a queen. Queens don’t step on toes. Or, if they do, it’s quite deliberate.”
She laughed again. “So if I step on you, you will chalk it up to malicious intent?”
“Most definitely.”
A bow-tied waiter appeared just then with wine for Leo and a nonalcoholic cocktail for her. They talked about small things once he was gone—the weather, the state of tourism in Amanti as compared to London—and then the food began to appear.
Anna found that she was starving for once, and she ate everything placed in front of her, whether it was a seared fois gras on a bed of baby greens, a grilled filet with béarnaise sauce or a truffle-stuffed mushroom. Everything was delicious.
After the meal was cleared away and dessert served, Leo placed a velvet box on the table. Anna put her fork down, her pulse skipping into full throttle.
“What is it?” she asked, unable to make herself reach for the small black box.
“I think you know, Anna.”
“It’s not necessary,” she said, though it hurt to say it. She wanted a ring to be inside—
But she wanted the reasons to be real. Anna’s breath shortened. Could that really be true? Did she want this to be real?
She did. Oh, God, she did. She wanted him to be marrying her because he wanted to, not because he had to.
Fickle, fickle Anna. This wasn’t what she’d wanted when she’d come to London in the first place. Then, she’d only been thinking of her baby and protecting him or her from scandal. Protecting them both from scandal, if she were honest with herself. She’d wanted Leo’s help, and she’d wanted to continue to play the martyr, the woman who needed no one or nothing to see her through life.
Now, she was realizing that she wanted so much more it frightened her.
“I think it is necessary.” He pushed the box toward her.
She picked it up with trembling fingers and popped the top open. The ring was exquisite. A brilliant cut diamond of at least five carats in a platinum setting, surrounded by another two or three carats of smaller diamonds. The ring sparkled like fire in the candlelight, and she felt a pinprick of guilt and sadness. She’d pushed him into this, and she had no one to blame but herself if it wasn’t real.
“Well?” he asked.
“It’s beautiful,” she said, her voice coming out far more hoarsely than she wanted it to.
Leo stood with a growl and took the ring from the box, which he tossed aside as if it were nothing. Then he put it on her finger and kissed her hand, his warm breath sending tiny fingers of sensation crawling down her spine. When he tilted her head back and kissed her, she didn’t resist. She opened to him, her heart filling with love and despair in equal measure.
Love.
She’d been denying it to herself, but she couldn’t do so any longer. Anna’s heart throbbed with pain and fear and so much love she wondered how she’d denied it for so long. She loved this man, had probably loved him since the moment on the island when he’d kissed her on the forehead instead of the mouth because he’d realized her first kiss should be special. He’d been so tender with her, so thoughtful and selfless. He’d always put her feelings first, and he’d urged her to be her own person without regard to what others wanted from her.
He hadn’t done those things because he loved her, she knew that, but it was what made him the kind of man she could love. The man she did love.
Oh, God.
His mouth moved over hers so expertly, so hotly, that she wanted nothing more than to melt into him and forget everything but the two of them. He’d planned a romantic evening, given her a ring, but she reminded herself that he was simply doing what she had asked, playing a role she’d wanted him to play in order to protect the baby.
And she had no one but herself to blame. She was in love with this man, the father of her child, but he did not feel the same, no matter how beautifully he kissed her.
He lifted his head, his eyes glittering with need, and her heart squeezed with all she was feeling. With all she could not say.
“Damn the orchestra,” he murmured, pulling her to her feet. “I’m through waiting.”
Leo didn’t take her back to his place. Not because he didn’t want her in his space, but because it was Bobby’s flat. And Bobby had taken plenty of women there, both when he was married and when he wasn’t. Hell, Leo suspected he still did, though not when Leo was in town.
To take Anna there would be wrong. Anna was not a bit of fluff. She was the mother of his child. His wife-to-be.
He took her back to the Crescent. The ride was silent, fraught with tension as they sat on opposite sides of the limousine. Leo did it to keep from tearing her dress off and taking her inside a car gliding through the London streets at night. He had no idea why she kept her distance. Perhaps for the same reason.
They rode the lift standing at opposite ends while the lift operator hummed and let passengers on and off. Leo wanted to kick everyone off and speed to the fifth floor, but instead he contented himself with watching Anna. She glanced up at him on occasion, her lovely face flushed. She licked her lips, and a spike of pain shot to his groin. He needed her so badly he was beginning to think he might embarrass himself once he was inside her.
When they arrived on the fifth floor, he swept her into his arms while she sighed and strode purposefully toward her door. He thought of fluffy puppies, of sunny fields of grass, of cows munching contentedly—anything but the woman in his arms. He was too completely aware of her. She was in his blood, his bones, and he wanted her utterly.
But he had to think of other things, or their night of bliss would become a minute or two of hurried coupling.
They reached the door and, with a swipe of the key card, were in.
The instant the door closed, her eager mouth fused to his. Leo groaned as he set her down and backed her against the door they’d just entered.
Her hands were on his tuxedo jacket, shoving it from his shoulders until he let it drop at his feet. Next she went for his belt. He found the zipper of her dress and slid it all the way down, pushing the garment down her lush breasts until he forced her to stop and step out of it before continuing with his trousers.
“Beautiful Anna,” he said as he tossed the dress onto a chair. She stood there in the electric-blue underwear and heels he’d picked out for her, and she looked even more amazing than he’d dreamed she would. In spite of her protests, he turned her so he could view her lovely bottom in the thong panties. Her cheeks were bare, the thinnest slice of fabric disappearing between them before emerging again in a thin strap he wanted to tear apart with his teeth.
He dropped to his knees and worshipped that bare bottom with his mouth while she gasped. He’d never seen anything m
ore beautiful than Anna’s body. Her skin was golden, soft, and he wanted to touch it forever. Wanted to explore every inch of her while she moaned and sobbed and begged him to take her.
He needed her to beg him, he realized. He needed to know she wanted him as desperately as he wanted her.
“Leo,” she gasped as his fingers slid beneath her panties and found the wet, hot center of her. He touched his mouth to the hollow of her back, slid his tongue up her spine and then nibbled her ear while his fingers found her most tender spot and stroked against the hot little ridge of flesh.
“Do you want me, Anna?”
She nodded, her eyes closed, her cheek pressed against the door.
“Tell me,” he said.
“I want you. I want you so much.”
He increased the pressure of his fingers as she began to moan. She shattered with a sharp cry, and then he was turning her, shoving those panties from her hips while she unsnapped his trousers and slid her hand beneath his underwear to wrap around his length.
She made a noise of approval. And then he was grasping her buttocks in his hands, lifting her against the door as his blood roared in his head. She wrapped her legs around him, knowing where he was going with this.
Another moment and he plunged into her as far as he could go. She took him greedily, her body so wet and ready it made him groan. The feelings washing over him were too much to process, so he shoved them down deep and concentrated on what he did best.
“Leo,” she gasped as he slammed into her again and again. “Yes, yes, yes …”
He lost his mind. Lost what was left of it anyway. He drove into her as desperately and as precisely as he could manage. Had it ever felt this good? This right? Had he ever, ever wanted it to continue without end? Had he ever cared more for someone else’s pleasure than his own? Of course he’d always made sure the women he bedded were happy, but had he cared?
When she flew apart, he knew. Her body gripped him hard, squeezed him as he thrust into her.
The Girl Nobody Wanted Lynne Raye Harris Page 14
