He leaned into her touch and sucked on her clit. She stifled a scream. Her thighs began to shake and his fingers went deeper. Stretching her, preparing her for when he would replace his fingers with his penis. The thought of him being inside of her was enough to send her over the edge.
Clutching his hair, she simultaneously tried to pull him closer and push him away. His arms snaked around her, holding her captive against his erotic mouth. She was helpless in his embrace, in the onslaught of emotions and how aware she was of her body. How the breeze was cool on her bare skin. How her hair flowed over her shoulders. How his fingers dug into her hip.
As the last of her orgasm faded away, she became aware of his mouth on her inner thigh. “My turn.”
“Wait,” she began and he looked up at her, desire and lust in his pale blue eyes.
“Why?”
No one had ever done that to her before; her ex-boyfriend only kissed her and kept his hands in very safe places. And she was still reeling from the shock of it, from the exquisite pleasure he’d wrung from her. “I…uh…” Good Lord, she would sound like an idiot if she confessed that. At twenty-three she was still inexperienced about so many things that it was laughable. Or cry-worthy. She glanced up at the night sky, then back at him. “Nothing.”
His brow furrowed, then his hands fell as he stood. “I think I know what the problem is.”
“You do?” she squeaked.
He nodded at the open windows and doors, then smoothed down the material of her dress. “We’ve practically an audience.”
She felt her eyes grow huge. “Oh my God.” Her family was inside, within hearing distance and who would’ve known what would have happened had any of her brothers come out here and caught them.
“So…”
“I guess we’re done?”
Tilting his head to one side, he raked his gaze over her. “If that’s what you wish.”
What she wished and what she knew to be true were two different things.
She should walk away from him, from this destined to be a one night stand. An experience she knew she wasn’t emotionally built for but wanted with him anyway, despite her better judgment.
The silence lengthened between them as he waited for her answer. She made her gaze leave his face and concentrated on the ocean crashing against the rocky cliffs in the distance. The full moon shone down as fireflies zoomed around twinkling lights and ornate fountains, making it the perfect summer night for seduction.
“Amber?”
Turning her attention back to him, her heart plunged to her toes. How emotionless he looked at this moment. How poised, as if he were waiting for a server to appear with one of those little trays. Then she saw the flush along his cheekbones, his hands clenching into fists and the stiffness in his broad shoulders.
“Christian,” she said without thinking. Or maybe it was because that’s how she thought of him. When she’d glimpsed the real him at her Aunt Martha’s house parties, while she hovered on the edge and listened. He’d always seemed to have an underlying note of sadness when he spoke, when he told stories that had nothing to do with anything at all.
Those perfect lips of his frowned. “Well, I’ll be off.” He began to walk away, but she caught him by the sleeve of his tuxedo jacket.
“I won’t call you that again. It’s just…I’d rather think of you as a normal person than an actor.” Great, Zoe, just great. She’d all but called him abnormal. “Please, stay with me.”
The corners of his mouth kicked up. “What’s a normal bloke do if he wants to be seduced by a beautiful woman.”
She bit the side of her lip, then said, “Calling her beautiful helps.”
“Flattery is my strong suit.” He pulled her to him, stroking the curve of her cheek. “Shall I take you inside and ask you to dance properly?”
“How about I take you back to my room and fu—” She blushed at his wicked grin as she tried to get out the word he’d used earlier. Finally she settled on saying, “seduce you properly?”
“Where are you staying?”
“The Benson.” Her friend, Jaylen Stone, had suggested the hotel, the hair color, the colored contacts and a fake name. Zoe had been dubious at first, but Jaylen had become her confidant since Zoe had moved out to Los Angles from her small town of Holland Springs, North Carolina. Plus, Jaylen had seemed to genuinely want to help her capture Christian’s attention. Besides, Jaylen was friends with Christian, knew his likes and dislikes because she could actually carry on conversations that lasted longer than five minutes. Unlike Zoe, who’d barely managed three sentences when she’d first met Christian at her aunt’s agency’s New Year’s Eve party.
Never before had she had problems talking to a man. Growing up with four brothers, who made no qualms about how men really acted when women weren’t around, tended to make her less than impressed with the opposite sex.
“Too far.”
“So that’s a no?” He started to answer, but she held up a hand. “Please don’t say it’s up to me. I’ve told you what I wanted. Tell me what you want.”
***
“I want you, Amber.” Never had Christian wanted another woman like this. He hungered for her, her taste. The sight of her bare and wet for him as she lay on his bed. “My room’s here.”
“But this is a private residence.” Her brow wrinkled adorably, until understanding dawned in her chocolate eyes. “This is your house.”
“Does it matter?” What he really wanted to know was if that was important to her.
She shook her head, sending red waves over her shoulders. “I don’t care how much or how little money or things you have. I want you, the man standing before me.”
He believed her. She said it with such conviction, without hesitation, that he couldn’t not believe her. And he had a pretty good bullshit detector. Something that his brother, Sebastian, set off every time they were in the same room together. “Are you an angel?”
“Only if angels are allowed to seduce.”
“I’ll allow you to do whatever you’d like.” He craned his head, looking right and left as he searched for the quickest exit. “If we travel the perimeter of the room, we can get to that far door without being seen. There are seven columns along the way to hide behind.”
Grinning, she said, “I think I saw that in a movie once. The main characters crashed a wedding.”