‘Do we have time?’ she posed coquettishly.
He laughed. ‘For this we make time.’
‘Fine by me,’ she admitted, dying to have him inside her again and exhilarated that he wanted to be there.
She stepped out of the panties as he drew them down. No pantihose today. She’d left her legs bare, wanting her red toenails to show against the white sandals. Which he left on. With her skirt hitched up around her hips, he sat her on the table and moved between her legs, clearly intent on quick action. Only essential undressing this morning.
‘Maybe you’d better tell me our schedule for today,’ she said, watching him unzip, wanting to see what she’d already felt, her inner muscles already pulsing with the anticipation of being stroked and pleasured, wanting to squeeze her own possession of him, feel him fill her so deeply she couldn’t think of anything to worry about.
He shot her his devil-may-care grin. ‘You first.’ He extracted a condom from his wallet and proceeded to roll it on.
Won’t have to use that when we’re married, Merlina thought, which instantly reminded her…What about children? Her heart jiggled uncertainly. Would Jake want to be a father?
‘Then off we go to buy a ring,’ he said, shooting her another grin. ‘For a scarlet woman, I think we should choose a ruby. It can be set with diamonds but we should definitely have a red-blooded ruby at the centre.’
Laughter gurgled from her throat. Jake Devila was a terrible playboy but she loved him. Loved everything about him. ‘It won’t look like the other one,’ she pointed out.
‘Which I hope you’ve taken off.’ He whipped her hand down from around his neck to check. ‘Ah!’ he said with satisfaction.
‘I put it in a safe place,’ she rattled out.
‘This place is mine.’ He stunned her by drawing her ring finger into his mouth, sucking on it as his eyes glittered his own rampant desire to possess her.
It took a few moments to catch her breath enough to say, ‘My father will notice the difference.’
He released her finger and answered with his usual arrogant confidence. ‘Your father thinks I surprised you with that one. You didn’t really like it so today we chose one together. How’s that?’
He’d slid between her thighs, seeking entry, and was teasingly poised to push forward. ‘Fine!’ she approved, finding it extremely erotic to be carrying on a conversation while everything within her was thumping a wild welcome to the sexual connection with him. ‘What’s next?’ she asked, feeling wickedly provocative.
‘Right now I want to feel your flesh ringing mine,’ he said, forging the deeply intimate link, then lowering her back onto the table as she wound her legs around his hips, instinctively compelling the fulfilment of her need for him. ‘My scarlet woman,’ he murmured with relish as his hands glided over the curves of her breasts, still trapped inside the bodice of her dress.
She smiled, loving the possessive pleasure in his voice, revelling in the desire that couldn’t wait. He drove himself in hard, his body slamming against her and she arched up, squeezing him in blissful joy. A wild savagery leapt into his eyes. He leaned over and kissed her, his tongue driving into her mouth, plunging rhythmically to assert complete ownership, hunting for sexual domination which she readily conceded, revelling in the intense physical passion, the climactic urgency of it, moving together, reaching for the same ecstatic release, a fusing frenzy of explosive excitement that peaked exultantly and floated into sweet endearments as he cuddled her close, gruffly whispering, ‘My gorgeous girl…you are unbelievable…so beautiful…awesome…’
She ran her fingers through his hair, adoring every touch of him. ‘So are you,’ she whispered back.
He lifted his head, brushing his lips over hers. ‘What am I going to do with you?’ It sounded as though she was a puzzle to which he had no reference points for resolving.
‘You said you were going to marry me,’ she reminded him.
He laughed, his eyes twinkling at hers. ‘That’s a definite start.’
A start.
But would there be a finish line?
Merlina fiercely clamped down on this negative train of thought. Jake wanted to marry her. Maybe it would work out perfectly. Not to take the chance was unthinkable.
‘We go now and buy the ring,’ he ran on. ‘Then since I feel on top of the world, we’ll have a celebratory lunch at Level 21 and enjoy overlooking Sydney. After which we’ll catch our two-thirty flight to Griffith…’
‘You’ve booked it?’
‘Mmm…’ He flashed his wicked grin. ‘And since we’re doomed to separate bedrooms in your family home, maybe you can take me for a walk in the vineyard your father told me about. Before we retire for the night.’
The instant thrill at this suggestion told Merlina that sex with Jake was already highly addictive and she couldn’t possibly turn her back on it at this juncture. Whatever the future brought, she would never regret having known the best of Jake Devila.
‘There’s no such thing as privacy anywhere near my family, Jake,’ she warned ruefully. ‘You’ll be swamped by them this evening.’
‘I have you as my lifeboat.’
‘Uh-uh.’ She shook her head. ‘You’ll lose respect if you look to me for rescue. It’s sink or swim for you.’
‘I’m a natural born survivor,’ he claimed, not the slightest dint in his confidence.
But it was a different game, Merlina thought, and the rules would be foreign to him. ‘Just take it easy,’ she advised seriously. ‘Don’t try too hard.’ She wanted her family to like him, to accept him into their fold.
He gently stroked the worry lines from her forehead. ‘I’ve got your father onside,’ he reminded her. ‘I promise you, it won’t be a problem, Merlina. Don’t fret over it.’
She couldn’t help it. Jake was into winning but laying a solid foundation with her family required genuine responses that struck harmonious chords. If that didn’t happen…well, she did have the choice of going it alone with him. Though even contemplating that path brought a scary sense of loss. She might have chosen to live apart from her family most of the time but she wanted them there for her. As they’d always been.
‘Have you packed a bag ready to go?’ he asked.
‘Yes. It’s in my bedroom.’
‘Good. Mine’s in the car.’ He sat her up on the table and kissed her again, a very fresh reminder of what they’d just experienced together, ending in a sigh of resignation over the time factor. ‘Guess we’d better move, tidy up and head into the city.’