When he turned a corner and heard the sound of Ari’s laughter, his apprehension faded. Then he saw her. For a stunned moment, Rafe stood motionless, gripping the champagne flutes almost too tightly as her beauty stole the air from his lungs.
Ari was facing him, sheathed in a gold creation that flattered her every feminine curve. He drank in her alabaster complexion, touched with just enough makeup to bring out the fire of her eyes and the natural plumpness of her lips.
When she threw back her head and laughed, his stomach tightened at the sight of her enticing cle**age, showcased by the exquisite cut of the gown. But when the man she was speaking to raised his arm and caressed her shoulder, rage quickly crowded out lust.
Ari was his — and some man had just made the very foolish mistake of touching her.
Rafe moved swiftly through the parting crowd, ignoring the few people unwise enough to try to speak to him. Ari didn’t notice his approach until he was grabbing her arm and pulling her away.
“Rafe! That was rude. I was speaking to someone,” she scolded.
“You were done,” he snapped as he dragged her across the room, intent on getting her away before his anger escalated.
“What is your problem?” she asked as she stumbled along beside him, his pace making it hard for her to keep up in her heels.
Before Rafe could answer, he got a glimpse of the back of her dress while prodding her to go through a doorway before he did. The amount of skin she was exposing for all the men to see jacked up his anger to a new level.
Needless to say, his stylist was fired.
“What is going on? Why are you acting this way?” she asked as he led her down the terrace steps and out to the back lawn. He spotted a secluded path and hurried her down it. When he found a small alcove with a bench, he pulled her inside and crushed her against his chest.
“You are mine! Don’t ever forget it,” he growled before his lips crashed down on hers. The kiss was all about possession and need, about untamed hunger. He wanted to brand her, make sure she never looked at another man again.
Even though Rafe knew jealousy was egging him on, he couldn’t seem to stop. His hand gripped her h*ps as he pushed against her — pressing his solid manhood against her body.
He backed up and sat on the bench, pulling Ari forward so she was standing between his thighs. The anger still gripping him fused with an overwhelming passion that pulsed straight through his erection. Rafe leaned down and gripped the hem of her dress, sliding it over her seductive hips, his frustration mounting at the semidarkness and his inability to drink in her full beauty.
“Straddle my lap,” he ordered as he drew her forward. Ari stumbled before he caught her and assisted her onto his muscular thighs.
The feel of her straddling him was indescribable. His hands traced the curve of her back as he lost himself in the taste of her neck.
“No one should see you in this dress except me,” he growled.
“It’s just a dress, Rafe,” she panted.
Surprise made him lift his head. He needed to look into her eyes, but he could just barely see the outline of her features through the dim moonlight.
“You’re right, Ari. It is just a dress — but with you in it, the material comes to life, showcases your curves, and makes every man in the room think of taking you home and ravishing you until the morning light breaks the dawn. That right belongs only to me.”
Ari shuddered in his arms as she leaned toward him, and he couldn’t resist taking her mouth as he moved his hands to shift his clothes. He didn’t want foreplay — he wanted to sink deep inside her. He hoped she was ready because he felt on the verge of exploding.
“Take me, Rafe. If I’m yours, then show me,” she demanded as her hands gripped his shoulders.
Relief coursed through him as he finally freed himself from his pants. Moving his hands back to her hips, he ripped her panties free and then pressed himself against her aching core, with her wet heat summoning him to enter.
“Mine,” he growled as he gripped her h*ps and thrust deep inside her, their bodies now fused into one.
Ari took over as she clutched his shoulders and began moving up and down his shaft, her h*ps swinging forward, torturing him with pleasure. She wasn’t in a hurry, taking her time as she groaned with each seductive movement.
“Faster,” he urged.
Ari stilled as she bent down to kiss his neck, making a slow journey to his ear where she licked the outer lobe. “Don’t you know the voyage is what it’s all about, Rafe? Listen. Can you hear the music?”
Her husky words confused him until she started gyrating her h*ps and rising and falling to the beat of the slow song that drifted out from the clubhouse and trickled down to them.
“Yes, Ari. You can’t imagine what you’re doing to me right now,” he groaned as his head bent forward and he ran his tongue down her cle**age.
Her moans encouraged him to go on and he shifted the delicate fabric with his teeth, not caring if her dress ripped in the process. With a shrug of her shoulder, the small strap fell down her arm and the material moved, exposing her na**d br**sts to his mouth.
Normally, Rafe didn’t like ha**ng s*x in the dark. He wanted to watch his partner plunge over the edge of pleasure. With his sight out of commission, however, he needed his other senses to take over. Pricking up his ears and making his mouth explode with flavors, he was able to focus so much more on the sound of her moans and the taste of her skin.
With a tug of his jaw, her dress slipped further and he immediately sucked in the delicious peak of her breast and nipped at her greedily.
As the music picked up rhythm, so did Ari’s synchronization. She began moving faster, pushing down on him with each beat of the bass, making him lose his breath as he neared completion.
Lifting his hand, he pushed down her other strap and shoved her dress down so both br**sts were exposed for his pleasure. He alternated between the toothsome mounds, teasing her peaks and making her cry out.
She was his — and he could do whatever he wanted with her.
What he wanted was to pleasure her.
“I want to hear you scream my name,” he whispered before taking her lips, thrusting his tongue inside her mouth and committing her texture to his mind.
It still wasn’t enough — he could never get enough.
“Now, Ari. Your heat is gripping me — I can’t hold out anymore,” he said as his hands held tightly to her backside.
“Yes…now…Rafe…I’m ready,” she agreed, her halting words ending on a groan.