When she hit the bed, she reached for one of the condoms she"d placed on the bedside table and handed it to him. "Merry Christmas."
He reached as though to take it from her hand, then grasped her wrist instead and pulled so she tumbled across him with a squeak.
"Right back at you," he said and feasted on her mouth. His kiss was deep and hungry, drugging in its intensity.
Her blood pounded through her veins as need blossomed. Now that they were both naked and together, she wanted to touch as much of his body as possible with as much of her body as possible.
"Touch me," she sighed, even as she lay atop him giving him a full-body kiss.
He rolled her until she was underneath him, then trailed his fingers along the seam of her thighs until, with a moan, she opened for him.
When she"d said, "Touch me," she"d had more of a general touch in mind. But he"d obviously taken her request more specifically. When she felt his palm cup her mound, she was ill-inclined to clarify her words. This worked just fine.
"Oh, you feel good," he mumbled against her hair as she felt his fingers moving over her slick, intimate places.
"You have no idea," she said. His touch was masterful, as though he instinctively gauged just the right pressure and friction.
She felt wet, hot and womanly. While his fingers toyed with her hot b.u.t.ton, his mouth stayed busy kissing her.
Knowing she was closing in on ecstasy way too fast, she tried to nudge him in the right direction so he"d be inside her when she climaxed.
"No," he said, kissing her softly. "I want to watch you come. I want to watch your face when it"s not twisted with rage and hurling insults at me."
How could he? How could he caress her, naked and open to him, intimate and giving, and then bring up their less-than-harmonious work relationship?
"I should have known this wouldn"t work," she panted. "Get up. Get off me."
He chuckled and slipped two fingers inside her body. "Are you sure you want me to stop?"
He was pressing... and rubbing... and she didn"t want to give him the satisfaction, but she couldn"t stop the swift slide into bliss.
"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d," she cried, even as he pushed her over the edge and she plunged into a noisy and satisfying o.r.g.a.s.m.
Her climax left her barely sated, wanting more. She needed him inside her so fiercely, she burned. She also wanted to make sure she saw him at his most vulnerable, staring right into his eyes when he lost control.
Fortunately, he either sensed her desperation or shared it, for he sheathed himself with a minimum of fuss and before her breath was quite back in her body, parted her legs and settled between them.
She stared up into his eyes, feeling the strange disconnect between the business-clothed Daniel who drove her crazy and the naked on-the-brink-of-entering-her Daniel who drove her crazy in an entirely different way.
"I can"t believe this is happening," she whispered, lifting her hand to touch his cheek, as though to prove to herself he was real.
"I can"t believe how much I want you."
She felt the blunt, warm tip of his p.e.n.i.s nudging her open and her hips tilted of their own accord as she felt her body softening, opening for him.
She could feel the tension in his muscles as he held himself in check and she waited for him to slip the leash and surge into her. Instead, he cupped her face in his hands and, eyes open, holding her gaze, he lowered his head slowly to kiss her.
It was a long, sweet kiss, so different from what she would have expected from him. As he slipped his tongue between her lips, he eased into her body.
The sound that emerged from her throat was part growl and part purr. He filled and stretched her deliciously, entering her so slowly that she felt the pull and clench of her own muscles sucking him deep.
Once he was fully inside her, she found she wanted to hold him there, even as she craved the friction. She wrapped her legs around his hips, taking him as deep as she could, then wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
He was big and solid and wonderful. Moving slowly at first, he sent warm currents scudding through her body. She was determined that this time he"d lose control first, and it wasn"t long before she felt that happen. He thrust faster, up and hard, reaching a part of her she was certain had never been touched. Mindlessly, she arched against him, unable to hold herself in check, hearing their flesh slap at each mad joining, faster and faster until she was crying out once more, her lips plastered against his sweat-damp shoulder.
A couple more thrusts and she felt his body go rigid as he hit his own point of no return. She held him through his climax and then they collapsed in a tangled, exhausted heap.
She lay sprawled and spent across his chest. Her fingers played idly in his chest hair while she waited for their breathing to slow.
She"d never felt so blissfully and thoroughly loved, which made her uneasy. And that of course made her cranky.
Daniel"s skin, she noted, was awfully bronzed for December in the rainy Pacific Northwest. His b.u.t.t and crotch sported a paler, bathing suit-size patch. "Did you get that tan on company time?"
He rolled his eyes. "Was this whole thing a devious plan to check my body for illicit tan lines?"
She chuckled. "You didn"t think I wanted you for s.e.x, did you?"
With a shriek, she found herself flat on her back while Daniel bit-not all that gently-at her nipples.
"Ow," she struggled, giggling. "Ow, stop it. All right, all right! I only wanted you for s.e.x."
Immediately his mouth gentled, soothing her nipples with his tongue. "I spent a long weekend in Bermuda," he told her. "Between seeing customers on the East Coast. Okay?"
The way his tongue was curling around her nipple made everything okay.
There hadn"t been a lot of foreplay before. They hadn"t wanted it. Hadn"t needed it. Both of them had been in too much of a hurry. Now it was nice to take the time simply to enjoy each other"s bodies.
From her nipple, a tingling warmth began to radiate, and, amazingly, before her heart rate had entirely slowed from the last bout of s.e.x, it started pounding again as desire flowed once more.
"How many condoms did you bring?" he murmured against her breast.
"A dozen."
He grinned up at her. "Me, too."
Soon he had number two on, and slipped into her body, which received him with quiet pleasure. Now that the desperate need was slaked, they took their time, touching, exploring, rolling around the bed until finally, she trapped him beneath her and took him at her own pace, sending them both over the edge once again.
"Hungry?" he asked later, when, sweaty and exhausted, they collapsed against the pillows again.
"Starving."
They ate room service sushi at the table by the window since Tara refused to eat in bed. She slipped back into her silk robe and he shrugged into the hotel"s terry robe, and they drank the rest of the champagne.
They also talked. About traveling, which they both loved, and about sailing which he loved and she"d barely tried. "You live by the ocean and don"t sail?" he asked, sounding astonished.
"Never had much opportunity, I guess."
"I"ll take you out on my boat when the weather warms up," he said. And she wondered just how many women had heard those words, and how many of them had actually lasted through two seasons.
And then the bottle was empty and the food gone. There was a pause and Daniel a.s.sumed they were both thinking the same thing. Stay or go?
If they left now, or if only one of them left now, the whole affair remained casual. They could have s.e.x again if they both so desired, or not.
But, if they climbed back into that big bed-after washing up and brushing their teeth if he knew Ms. a.n.a.l Compulsive-and spent the night, well, it catapulted them beyond the after-work quickie.
Did he want that?
He turned his head and found her gazing at him, and the answer was there. h.e.l.l, yes, he wanted more.
He plucked one of the roses out of the ice bucket and reached forward to trace the silky red petals down her cheek.
She smiled a little.
"We shouldn"t drive after drinking that champagne," he said.
"No," she agreed solemnly. "You"re right."
He shrugged. "We should probably sleep over then."
She grinned at him. "Don"t plan on getting a lot of sleep." She rose and stretched and, as he watched the silk contour her body, he felt like a guy who hasn"t had any in months rather than one who"d spent all evening in bed with a s.e.xy, responsive woman.
"Do you need a toothbrush?" she asked him. "I have a spare in my cosmetics case."
Why was he not surprised? "Don"t worry about it. I stuck one in my pocket just in case."
"All right then. I think I"ll take a shower before bed."
He thought about joining her but decided to give her some privacy. Besides, he needed to save his strength for later.
When she emerged, her body tingling and clean, Tara found he"d got rid of the room service stuff and tidied the bed.
His turn in the bathroom was predictably much shorter than hers, though she did hear the shower.
He wasn"t wearing the robe when he came back out of the bathroom, his hair damp, and climbed into bed beside her.
He ran a hand across his jaw. "I borrowed your razor. Hope that"s okay."
He"d shaved again. How considerate. "No. I don"t mind."
He kissed her and she could feel where he"d missed a spot shaving.
He kissed his way down her body, parted her knees and settled between them. "I forgot dessert," he said, then proceeded to eat her as though she were a banquet.
Oh, what that tongue could do to a woman. He treated her c.l.i.t like a lollipop he wanted to last a long time. But she was only human, and it had been months since she"d been with a man.
And he was too b.l.o.o.d.y good at what he was doing. When his tongue drove her up to bliss faster then either of them wanted, he simply gave her a minute and then started all over again.
Hours later, they fell asleep in each other"s arms.
Chapter Four.
"Ms. Ellison, what is this memo about?" Daniel slapped the offending paper on Ms. Decimal Point"s obsessively, a.n.a.lly compulsive, neat-freak desk, on top of which sat one pencil sharpened to a perfect point-in her favorite shade of red. The only other item on the pristine surface was her nutcracker, which she"d turned into an ornament, he was certain, just to p.i.s.s him off.
Not that she needed any props to do that.
She picked up her memo and pretended to read it, as though she didn"t know perfectly well what had made him ballistic this morning.
"It seems fairly straightforward to me," she said. "Were there some big words you needed help with?"
"There"s your big nose I"d like you to get out of my business."
"Accounting is my business. You can"t give a discount that big to this customer. We could end up losing money on the deal."
He stuck his face close to hers and narrowed his eyes, doing his best to intimidate her with his size. "Selling planes is my business. Got it?"
The intimidation tactic didn"t seem to work. She narrowed her eyes right back at him and he wished he didn"t notice the extra sparkle in the glossy brown irises. "It"s my job to vet those contracts, you know that."
"It"s not your job to screw up a sale. I"m taking this up with Giles."
"Fine by me."
He stomped two steps to her door and turned back as though an invisible rope had yanked him. "My place. Friday night."
The sparkle in her eyes intensified and her b.r.e.a.s.t.s rose and fell on a jerky breath. She nodded sharply.
"Don"t plan on getting any sleep."
Tara drew another jerky breath when Daniel left. They"d barely seen each other since waking, tangled together, two mornings ago. She"d imagined awkwardness and blushes at the office, but somehow, once she donned her suit and pumps, her liaison with one seriously s.e.xy sales manager became a delicious secret.
She wouldn"t reveal their afterhours relationship any more than she"d flip her skirt over her hips to show off her French cut silk-and-lace panties.
Daniel"s anger almost made her smile. Was he really so egotistical as to a.s.sume she"d let flagrant abuses of their firm"s accounting policies slip by her notice because she"d slept with him?
Well, if he"d thought so before, he no longer did.
Her intercom buzzed a few minutes later. "Tara," Giles"s voice boomed, "could you come in here a minute?"
"Certainly," she replied coolly, while she seethed inside.
She swept into Giles"s office all ready to do battle. From his belligerent stance over by the window, Daniel was in the same frame of mind. Angry sparks of fire shot from his gaze as he turned it on her.