Читать книгу The Best Of The Year - Modern Romance 2016 - Эбби Грин, Кейт Хьюит - Страница 15

CHAPTER SEVEN

ALEXA HAD NO time to let panic get a grip because the helicopter ride was over practically before it had begun, and then it was buzzing and lowering itself down to a section of lawn which had been converted into a neat helipad.

She had no idea what to expect, but she did know that if Theo had referred to his friend’s house as ‘a mansion’, then it was going to be pretty spectacular—and it was.

She had seen there was a pool from above—a rectangle of pristine bright blue—but the view of the top of the house didn’t do justice to its splendour, which only became apparent as they were transported in something resembling a motorised golf buggy to the curving courtyard.

On either side of the drive immaculate lawns stretched towards hedgerows that had been clipped with razor-sharp precision, high enough to ensure perfect privacy. The house was fronted by a series of striking columns that threw the sprawling veranda at the front into cool shade. On the first floor a similar veranda mimicked the one below, but circled the entire house, providing a massive outdoor deck space on which she could spot clusters of shaded furniture. The top floor was more modest, sheltered by an overhanging terracotta roof, and at the four corners of the house massive chimneys advertised indoor fireplaces.

‘Huge...’ Alexa was duly impressed, even though she was accustomed to grand houses. ‘How many people live here?’

‘Four, once upon a time. Now just two, because both kids have left home. As you might gather, they’re not my contemporaries. I met them a long time ago, when my father was involved in lending Bob cash to fund his dream of building a golf and country club. The golf and country club is now one of the most frequented by top professional golfers, and he’s dabbled in a series of other successful ventures since those heady days.’

‘You must have been very young at the time.’

Theo looked down at her and grinned. ‘I challenged Bob to a game of golf and whipped him. Since then we’ve been firm friends...’

‘That’s something else you do,’ she couldn’t resist murmuring.

‘Come again?’

‘By way of relaxing... You play golf.’

‘Would you like to know which form of relaxation I prefer?’

‘No, I wouldn’t!’

‘You’re so predictable in your responses...’

Suddenly he pulled her towards him and tucked her against his body—and, sure enough, waiting in the open doorway was a small blonde woman in her fifties, her face wreathed with smiles.

‘Bob never thought you’d do it, you great big lug! But I knew that a woman would come along and sweep you off your feet! I’m Felicity, by the way, and you have to excuse my shrieking like a crazy person but we were just so darned surprised when we heard that our favourite boy in the whole wide world was finally going to settle down!’

In between speaking at rapid-fire speed and introducing herself Felicity managed to plant a friendly kiss on both their cheeks while hustling them into the house and calling out for ‘Stanley’ to take their bags up.

Alexa had no time to say any of the usual polite things about the house or about their trip or about anything at all.

‘Like it or not, you’re gonna tell all! Bob! Bob’s in the middle of one those darned conference calls!’

This to Alexa, with a woman-to-woman wink.

‘You make sure when you’ve got a ring on this guy’s finger that you ban all conference calls! And make sure he doesn’t take up golf! I’ve had to start taking lessons or else lose that lug of a husband of mine to fairways and putting greens!’

No concessions were made to the fact that they had been travelling for several hours. Felicity dragged them through the house at breakneck speed, towards a massive kitchen which was the last word in high-tech. Glossy white built-in cupboards concealed everything, and the gleaming marble countertops were bare of all but the essentials. She led them on towards some comfortable seating in a conservatory that overlooked the manicured lawns, and once they were seated offered tall glasses of homemade lemonade whilst promising them that they could ‘go freshen up’ just as soon as they’d spilled the beans.

‘I’ve got to grab you two kids before the house becomes a hotbed for dull businessmen!’ She settled comfortably into one of the chairs and peered at them with lively curiosity.

Alexa could see fine laughter lines around her eyes and mouth. This was a warm, giving woman who loved to laugh and have fun. That was apparent in the way she spoke and the way she punctuated everything she said with a little breathless laugh.

‘So, what does it feel like to be in love?’ She directed the question to Theo, but her twinkling eyes darted between both of them. She was obviously delighted at their engagement.

Next to her, Theo still had his arm around her shoulders and it took a lot of effort not to shuffle a few inches away. Now that she had faced up to her inconvenient attraction Alexa was finding it impossible to keep her body’s responses under control.

‘A refreshing change,’ he said.

Alexa kept her smile pinned to her face and tried to wax lyrical when Felicity looked at her for more of a gushy explanation. ‘Wonderful!’ she chirped. ‘We never thought in a million years that...er...when we met we would end up...well...’

‘In the throes of heady love? Is that what you were going to say, my darling?’

Felicity needed no more encouragement to launch into an impassioned speech about the wonders of love, after which she quizzed Alexa about her family, about what she did, expressing earnest approval of her volunteer work. Everything was interspersed with smug, smiling nods that said Theo had indeed found the perfect woman.

At that point Bob appeared, and there were more introductions and an excited synopsis of everything that had been said in his absence.

These were Theo’s good friends and, looking at their interaction, Alexa could see a side of him that had not been in evidence before. He was warm, thoughtful, interested...and utterly, utterly charming. He had ensured that their daughter in Australia was introduced to a social network, thanks to his brother. He had personally chaperoned their youngest daughter when she had travelled to Europe as a sixteen-year-old, making sure that the family to whom she had been sent on an exchange visit was vetted and ticked all the boxes.

She had a new picture of him, and it wasn’t the sarcastic, ruthless guy who provoked her and rubbed her up the wrong way.

‘I feel like I’ve been tossed into a cyclone,’ she said, when they finally left their hosts to prepare a barbecue for later.

Theo grinned. ‘They like you. And you’ll get used to their high-octane energy.’

Ahead of them Stanley, one of the staff, had disappeared along the corridor. The house seemed bigger on the inside than it did on the outside, and it was furnished in a beautifully airy, plantation style. The paintings on the walls were bright and eclectic, and the marble flooring on the ground floor gave way to rich, deep wood on the first floor.

She was so preoccupied with admiring the rooms they passed that she only realised that they had arrived at a bedroom when she noticed Stanley disappearing back towards the stairs, and then, as she entered, she looked around her with mounting panic.

‘It’s a bedroom,’ she said in a high voice.

Theo had strolled towards the window, and now he turned to look at her for a few seconds, before moving to quietly close the door behind them. ‘Well observed.’

‘I’m not sharing a bedroom with you.’

Had it crossed her mind that they would be put in the same room? If it had, then the thought hadn’t registered long enough to take root. She had glibly assumed that they would be housed in separate rooms... The place must have dozens of rooms, for heaven’s sake!

‘That is exactly what you’ll be doing,’ Theo told her, his voice hard.

He stood in front of her, an implacable rock, until she had no choice but to look up at him.

‘Furthermore, you’re going to compliment Felicity on the room and tell her how fantastic it is being here instead of in a boring, impersonal hotel in Manhattan. Bob and Felicity have bent over backwards to have us here and you’re going to be suitably grateful.’

‘I’m not sharing a bed with you,’ Alexa said, stubbornly holding her ground.

Just thinking about that made the hairs on her hand stand on end. She could imagine his big, muscular body rolling accidentally against hers in the middle of the night and she cringed. She didn’t care whether he fancied her or not. She didn’t care that she wasn’t his type. She cared about the fact that she would combust if they were in the same bed together.

And furthermore... Did he even sleep with anything on? He didn’t strike her as the flannel pyjamas type...

Theo eyed the chaise longue by the window. ‘Fine. In that case the chaise longue is all yours... I’m way too big for that thing.’

‘A gentleman would offer to sleep on the floor,’ Alexa gritted through pearly white teeth.

‘Considering you’ve already written me off as not being one of those, it’s fair to say that I won’t be sleeping on the floor. However, you’re more than welcome to make your bed down there if you like. Now, I’m going to have a shower.’

For a few seconds Alexa remained staring at him in sheer, angry frustration—until it dawned on her that he was beginning to take his clothes off, at which point every nerve in her body was galvanised into horrified action and she spun round to speak with her back to him.

‘Do you mind getting undressed in the bathroom?’ she hissed, and she heard his throaty chuckle in response.

‘Why? Don’t tell me that you’ve never seen a man’s naked body before?’

Alexa seethed. ‘I won’t even bother to answer that!’

Not only did he continue chuckling, he actually whistled as he disappeared into the bathroom, thankfully closing the door behind him and giving her time to unpack her clothes at the speed of light.

He emerged ten minutes later, a towel casually wrapped round his waist.

Alexa, about to reach for her bundle of clothing, was frozen to the spot. Background noises faded and all she could hear was the frantic thud of her heartbeat.

The man was...spectacular.

Bronzed, muscled, broad-shouldered. Not an ounce of body fat. He was utterly, utterly perfect and she could feel her skin prickle with heat. It was as if something alien and unfamiliar had invaded every nook and cranny of her body.

‘I’m going to have a bath now!’ Her voice was high-pitched and she cleared her throat. ‘I’ll meet you downstairs.’

‘Oh, I think it would far more fitting if we were to head down together. Hand in hand.’

Right now his hand was reaching to hook the edge of the towel and she fled, slamming and locking the bathroom door behind her.

She barely noticed the over-the-top luxury of the marble bathroom suite, or the little touches that had been given to make it welcoming. The fragrant pot-pourri, the fluffy white towels, the dinky soaps and shampoos...

She couldn’t concentrate on anything but the fact that Theo was in the next room...probably strolling around in his birthday suit while he decided what to wear...

She took as long a bath as was humanly possible, and then dressed and applied her make-up in the bathroom, peering into the steamed-up mirror and finally abandoning the effort because she could barely make out her reflection. Her hair she left just as it was, long and tangled, and she finally emerged with only her shoes to put on.

He was sprawled on the bed, half naked, just his trousers on, with a book casually propped on his bare stomach. He peered at her over the top of it as she walked into the room.

‘How dare you go into my bag?’

Theo inspected the book cover and grinned. ‘Shall I tell you how it ends or will that spoil the surprise?’

‘I thought you might have got dressed!’

‘I was about to put my shirt on but this gaudy book jacket grabbed my attention. Of course I figured out who did it by page four, but I thought I’d check to confirm—and, sure enough, I was right.’

He chucked the book and it landed neatly back in her bag, which was on the ground, half open.

‘Nice outfit.’ Taking his time, he slid his legs over the side of the bed and sauntered towards the wardrobe to extract a shirt. ‘The bed’s very comfortable. Shame you won’t be experiencing it. You’ll be trying to find a comfy position on the chaise longue or on the floor...’

‘You’re... You’re...’

‘Shall we head down?’

He waited by the door for her, watching as she stepped into some sandals with little wedge heels. He didn’t think she realised just how damned sexy she looked in that strappy little sundress, with her long hair tumbling all over the place. Even her scowl couldn’t detract from the picture.

Difficult, feisty, mulish and prickly as hell. Who would have thought that sexy could come in that package?

He offered his arm and Alexa stormily hooked her hand in the crook as they descended the stairs. He was as cool as the proverbial cucumber, telling her about the history of the house and the antics of the infamous gardener who had landscaped the grounds. Admittedly it was very interesting, and she was big enough to tell him so before Bob and Felicity took over the rest of the evening.

It was relaxed, and they made charming, inquisitive and interesting hosts. Bob had hundreds of amusing anecdotes about the famous golf players he had met over the years...a golf game was arranged...the barbecue was exquisite and informal and champagne flowed. Alexa was even aware that she was laughing at one point as glasses were raised to toast the couple.

But could she relax? Not a bit of it.

Every nerve in her body was stretched to breaking point because all she could think about was that room...that bed...and Theo lying with the duvet half on, half off, possibly clothed but more likely not...

She was spent by the time the evening was at an end. She liked both their hosts, and she could see that they were thrilled at what they considered a wonderful love match. If only they knew!

‘So...’ Theo flung open the bedroom door and stood aside to let her pass, then shut it behind him and lounged against it, arms folded, a slight smile curving his mouth. ‘Did you enjoy the evening?’

The confines of the bedroom and the daunting prospect of the night ahead, not to mention all the other nights ahead, slammed into her with the force of a sledgehammer.

‘I...I really did, as a matter of fact,’ Alexa replied nervously. She remained standing by the window on the opposite side of the bedroom, with the yawning space of rug-covered floor between them. ‘I had no idea what to expect of your friends, but they’re incredibly nice and hospitable...’

And that, by association, said something about the man towering in front of her. She relaxed. She had nothing to fear in sharing a bedroom with him. He’d been nothing but decent in accepting her terms and, frankly, putting up with her moods. She’d sniped and argued and fought him every inch of the way when he hadn’t been the one who had dumped her in this situation. She had used him as a scapegoat for her own frustrations and, arrogant though the man was, he had not retaliated in kind.

‘I...er...just want to apologise...’

Theo looked at her in surprise and pushed himself away from the door to kick off his shoes. He began unbuttoning his shirt and Alexa fought to stay calm and hold on to her relaxed frame of mind.

‘Apologise for what?’

‘I haven’t been the easiest person to be around...’

‘Really?’ Theo said drily. ‘I’m glad you brought that to my attention. I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.’

‘Not that you’ve been plain sailing!’

Theo burst out laughing and Alexa reluctantly smiled.

‘Some men might find your fighting spirit a little challenging, but I admit that I’m growing to rather like it. And now that we’ve established a fragile truce I wouldn’t want to ruin it by forcing you to build your nest on the chaise longue, so I’ll take the floor.’

Alexa nodded.

Good.

But it was a super king-sized bed, and the floor was going to be an uncomfortable resting place even for a guy who probably survived on only a couple of hours sleep a night.

She escaped to the bathroom, washed her face and brushed her teeth and changed into her pyjamas. Feverishly she decided that whilst she could continue ranting and railing and behaving like a child, she could also just...trust that new side of him she had seen. He wasn’t going to make a pass at her just because they happened to be lying on the same mattress, was he? She had been superimposing her own anxieties on to him and it was foolish.

He took the bathroom after her and she pretended not to notice the fact that he was already half naked...that the button to his trousers was undone...that she could see a sliver of his underwear where the trousers dipped down over his lean hips.

In the fifteen minutes during which she heard the whoosh of water and the sounds of him getting ready she tried to get her racing heartbeat under control, and she was burrowed down under the duvet by the time the bathroom door was flung open.

She sneaked a glance and heaved a sigh of relief that he was still in his boxers.

‘Well, well, well...’ Theo strolled into the room and registered that she was in the bed but that there was no pile of linen on the floor, waiting to be turned into a sleeping area. Instead she had banked some cushions down the middle of the mattress in a neat dividing line.

Alexa flipped over and feigned a yawn of exhaustion. ‘It’s silly for either of us to sleep on the floor. The bed is huge and there’s no reason why we can’t share it like two adults.’

‘I like your definition of sharing like two adults...’ He nodded at the military march of cushions along the middle of the bed.

Reluctantly she grinned. ‘I thought it might be a good idea to have separated sides.’

‘Of course.’

Theo was amused at just how innocent that gesture was. He climbed into bed, his antennae noting the way she shifted ever so slightly away from him. She was clearly awake, but she wasn’t reading her book and she certainly wasn’t about to engage in conversation. He reached for his laptop, propped it on his lap and casually asked if it would bother her if he worked for a couple of hours. He was even more amused when she didn’t answer.

Bother her? It bothered her that he was even breathing next to her, far less working.

Her body was rigid. She would never manage to get a wink of sleep. She knew that. Nor would she be able to toss and turn. If she tossed and turned he would guess that she was awake, plus she would keep him up, and then they’d both be awake...in a bed...just the two of them...

Sleep overcame her. It had been a long and tiring day and her exhausted body at last won the battle over her hyperactive mind.

She dreamt that she was skimming over the clouds, looking down. And then, as she looked behind her, over her shoulder, Theo was advancing, getting closer and closer. Part of her wanted desperately to run away, but another, stronger part was holding her fast and liked the fact that she couldn’t move, that he would get closer and closer, and their bodies would fuse... She would be able to skim her hands over his broad chest and feel the rough surface of muscle and tendon...

The dream was so real that she could almost feel his hands on her, brushing against her thigh and then curving between her legs. She moaned softly.

Her eyes fluttered open and...she wasn’t dreaming.

For a few seconds Alexa was completely disorientated. The strategically positioned cushions had hit the floor at some point during the night, and not only had she rolled towards Theo but right now the palm of her hand was flat against his hard chest and he was as awake as she was.

And holding her against him as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Her limbs felt heavy and lazy and, just like in her dream, whilst a part of her desperately knew that she should pull away, another part of her felt heavy and warm and lazy, utterly incapable of doing anything but revelling in the feel of his equally warm body.

‘Shh...’ Theo murmured, as if she had spoken.

After lying in complete silence while he had tried to focus on work Alexa had eventually fallen asleep. He had known by the change in the rhythm of her breathing and, oddly enough, having her asleep next to him had made him a little jumpy.

He had managed to subdue his disobedient libido when it had reared its head and he had done that by rationalising it out of existence. He was in an unnatural and forced situation—heading down the aisle and not by choice. He was with a woman whose emotionalism was not the kind of thing he sought or appreciated in any woman—certainly not in a woman to whom he was to be married. And, physically, since when had he ever gone for small, curvy girls? That had always been his brother’s domain.

But just knowing that she was next to him in the bed had kept him awake. At one point he had seriously considered slipping out of bed and heading for a cold shower—especially when those cushions had been kicked away and, like a little mouse gravitating towards the source of warmth, she had wriggled closer and closer until she had been touching him.

‘You were moaning,’ he whispered. ‘Having a bad dream? Or a really good one?’

Alexa squeezed her eyes shut and remembered exactly how erotic that dream of hers had been. Heat was still making her want to snap her legs together.

‘I’m sorry if I woke you,’ she whispered back. ‘The cushions...’

‘Turns out that soft furnishings don’t make very successful fortifications...’ He sifted his fingers through her hair. His body was raging, his libido in full surge—a primitive response over which he had no control.

Right now, right here, Theo wanted her in a way he had never wanted any woman in his life before. This wife-to-be he had never asked for and from whom he knew he should keep a safe distance. Because if he slept with her...slept with someone who was looking for a guy who was most certainly not him...that single act of passion would make the next year even more impossibly awkward than it was already showing signs of being.

And yet...

‘Why did you feel the need to stick a row of cushions between us?’

His hand dipped to the curve of her waist. She wasn’t pulling back with a screech of maidenly outrage and more than anything else that was a massive turn-on—because it was proof that despite all her protests she wanted him. She didn’t want to want him...just as he didn’t want to want her...but their bodies were not on the same page as their intellects.

In a life that was formidably controlled this lack of self-control felt good...satisfying...addictive.

How the hell was he going to endure twelve months of wanting her and banking down his desire?

They were both adults, he reasoned. They fancied one another, and he knew from experience that it was a very short journey between fancying a woman and boredom setting in. He had no doubt that if she fancied him it was something she was fighting to ignore, which meant that the same would apply to her. If they slept together they would rid themselves of an inconvenient lust—a bit like taking the right medicine to kill a fever.

‘Did you think...?’

His voice was low and soft, and Alexa knew that it was no shock that she was finding it impossible to pull away from him when he was hypnotising her with his deep, dark, sexy drawl.

‘Did you think that if it weren’t for some scatter cushions you might have found yourself wanting to touch me?’

‘No!’

‘Liar.’ He laughed softly under his breath. ‘I’ve felt the way your body tenses up every time I’ve touched you and seen the way you slide hot little glances over at me when you don’t think I’m watching you... Except I’ve been watching you a hell of a lot more than you probably thought. In fact a lot more than I ever anticipated...because I’m feeling what you’re feeling...’

‘I never said...’ Her voice was so feeble and unconvincing that she wasn’t surprised when he laughed again.

‘Sure about that? Because there’s a foolproof way of proving whether you’re telling little porky-pies...’

He was going to kiss her—and she wasn’t going to fight it. Her body was on fire and she wanted him to touch it...she wanted to touch his...and she had never wanted to touch any guy like that—hadn’t even come close...

She’d never suspected—not for a second—that lust could trample all over her principles and turn them to mush.

She closed her eyes on a sigh, leaned into him, and Theo, trailing the most delicate of caresses along her jawbone, simultaneously slipped his finger under the baggy nightie and beneath her underwear and into her wetness to finger her.

It was shocking and unexpected, and Alexa wriggled away from the touch, reaching down to push his hand away, squirming free, but knowing that she didn’t want to create space between them—she wanted to abolish it.

She shouldn’t want this but she did. She wanted his fingers exploring her and she burned with mortification. When he slid his hand along her stomach desire held her fast, stopped her from breaking their connection. It felt like an extension of her dream, weird and surreal and somehow not really happening—at least not in a way that felt dangerous or threatening.

Her breathing quickened. She heard herself pant a desperate ‘No!’ but it felt so good. She slid her treacherous, trembling hands over his chest, yanked them away, repeated the caress, this time tracing the broad, muscled width of his shoulders.

The sexless nightie felt itchy and uncomfortable, and she wanted to squirm out of her underwear—and was immediately horrified and panicked by the impulse.

So she fancied him. And he, to her amazement, fancied her. Maybe it was the strangeness of the situation into which they had both been thrown. In fact that was probably it—because if she had bumped into him under normal circumstances, at one of those social events which she hated and which he saw as part and parcel of being who he was, then she was sure that she would never, ever, have been attracted to him. And he would have had one of those leggy, supermodel airhead types clinging to him like ivy. He wouldn’t have given her a second glance.

But here they were...

She tentatively let her hand stray to his waist, and then a bit lower, and she shivered as she felt the massive bulge of his erection pushing against the boxers. It was terrifying, and she withdrew her hand as though she’d suddenly plunged it into an open fire.

But she wanted to touch him so badly...

‘Theo...this is crazy...’

‘Is it? I don’t think so. In the whole crazy charade, this feels like the least crazy bit...’

‘I don’t do this sort of thing.’

‘You mean make love to your fiancé?’

‘You know what I mean.’

‘I know what you mean, my dearest wife-to-be. But do you want to...?’

‘Yes! No... Oh, I don’t know... Theo! I can’t think straight...not when you’re touching me...’

‘Not thinking straight suits me—and what does “Yes! No... I don’t know...” mean?’

‘It means I find you attractive. Okay?’

‘Okay.’

He’d never had to ask a woman if she wanted him, had never received such a grudging response, but hearing her say that put him on top of the world.

He gradually pushed up the nightie. He was as out of control as a horny teenager about to lose his virginity. Crazy. He cupped the fullness of her breast and then rubbed his thumb over her stiff nipple, over and over, until she was moaning and moving restlessly against him.

‘We shouldn’t...’ In the grip of the sensations that were bombarding her on all fronts she could barely get the pathetically weak protest out.

‘Life is too short for shouldn’t...’

‘That’s easy for you to say.’

You’re experienced. You haven’t spent your life welding sex to love and waiting for them to come along at the same time. You’re relaxed and carefree about this sort of thing. Not like me.

And yet for all that she couldn’t have shifted out of his reach if she’d tried.

‘You’ve done nothing but fight me,’ he moaned softly. ‘Now I want you to tell me that you need this as much as I do...’

‘I...’

‘Say it, Alexa...’

‘I want this so much,’ she confessed shakily, thrilled at the hot urgency in his voice.

‘Good.’ His voice was thick with satisfaction.

He lowered his head, angling her body so that he could lick and kiss her neck, her shoulders. He nearly lost it completely when he felt the hitch in her breathing as he trailed kisses over her breasts, until finally he clamped his mouth over the big, pink circular disc of her nipple.

Her whole body tensed, and then relaxed into the caress. He was dimly aware of the fluttering of her fingers in his hair as he continued to draw the stiffened bud of her throbbing nipple deep into his mouth, nipping and suckling on it. He was a big man, with big hands, and the abundance of her breasts was a good fit as he cupped her other breast and massaged it.

‘Touch me,’ he commanded roughly, pulling her hand down and clasping it hard over his erection. ‘Just hold me. Tight, for God’s sake. I don’t want to spoil the party prematurely...’

He reared up as she obeyed and took a few deep breaths, fighting to recover some of his lost self-control. When his breathing finally levelled out he resumed where he had left off, this time devoting his attention to her other breast, but not until he had looked at her nakedness, feasting his eyes on the paleness of her skin and the contrasting rosy flush of her nipples.

Alexa gazed up at him through half-closed eyes. He had rid himself of his boxers and his erection was a thick, hard, pulsing rod of steel. There wasn’t a shred of self-consciousness in him as he watched her gazing at him. She was scared, thrilled, massively turned on...all at the same time.

‘Would you like to sample the fare...?’ He asked, and when she frowned in bewilderment he grinned. ‘Taste with your mouth what you’re busy tasting with your eyes...?’

He couldn’t understand her... She was enthusiastic, turned on, and yet curiously shy and hesitant. But, then again, the women he slept with were all so experienced that perhaps he had forgotten what it was like to be with one who didn’t see sex as an exercise in impressing him with gymnastics. He liked it. He knew that.

‘I... I’m not... I don’t... This is all so far out of my comfort zone...’

‘Then I’ll let you set the pace...’

He was moved by the nervousness in her voice. She wanted him, but she wasn’t going to jump on him, and he got that. She needed to be treated like a delicate piece of porcelain china. He needed to let her have control. And that turned him on.

She covered him with tentative little kisses. She clearly liked him to touch her breasts and he did. But he wanted her to hold his erection, and after a while, after she had trailed delicate little kisses over his stomach—kisses that were driving him mad, had she but known it—she garnered the courage to take those delicate little kisses lower down.

She whimpered softly, and those little whimpers were a turn-on beyond belief. To a man with a fairly jaded palette when it came to the opposite sex and their bedroom antics, this was uniquely refreshing. She was shy. He wanted her to feel comfortable with his body, comfortable to touch him wherever she wanted, but the way she took her time...agony. He could barely breathe.

To Alexa, witnessing this big, utterly confident and controlled man lose it a little was as heady as a dose of adrenaline shot straight into her system.

Her faltering self-confidence strengthened into a growing sense of liberation. A guy who was restless and impatient, who took what he wanted whatever the cost—a guy for whom tomorrow was not a word in his vocabulary if it could be replaced by today—was letting her take charge, and that felt so good to her.

She straightened and looked down at him. She’d never been naked in front of a man in her life before, and her skin tingled and burned as he gazed at her with open, unashamed desire.

When he reached forward to graze his thumbs across her stiff nipples she moaned softly and closed her eyes. Her whole body was trembling.

She wanted more than this. She wanted him inside her, moving inside her, filling her up...

She guided his hand between her legs and even as she did so was shocked at her forwardness. When he began massaging her there she covered his hand with hers, groaned as he slid two fingers inside, unerringly finding her clitoris and sending her into spiralling, ever-increasing zones of sexual pleasure.

She felt like a rag doll. As her pleasure grew...and grew...and grew...she opened dazed eyes and levelled them at him.

‘I want more, Theo.’ She barely recognised her own voice, which was husky with desire.

‘And so do I... You have no idea... But...’ He reached for his wallet on the dressing table to extract a condom. ‘Life right now,’ he murmured, catching her heated gaze and holding it, ‘is complicated enough without adding to it...’