Her body betrayed her, quivering with eagerness. “Seth, this is going too fast for—”
“You love it.” He cut off her panicked protests with a fierce, marauding kiss and his hand slid boldly higher, cupping her whole sex. Touching her where no one had ever caressed her, not even during that terrible, botched episode with Frederick. His hand was slow and sure and wickedly clever, and his tongue thrust into her mouth as he stroked the pad of his thumb around her clitoris, tracing sensual, lazy circles through the fabric of her panties and nylons. She trembled in his arms, dazzled and lost.
A loud burst of male laughter rudely broke the spell, and they both jerked apart, startled. She stiffened, pulling away, and Seth cursed beneath his breath.
A group of men were walking towards the gate, smirking and catcalling. One of them made a thumbs-up sign at the car before they disappeared. She looked down at herself, appalled. Her hair was a tangled halo, her skirt bunched up around her waist, her face damp and hot, and probably cherry red. Legs wantonly spread, and his hand—touching her. Dear God, what was he thinking? What was she thinking? This tryst had spun out of control with perilous speed. She squirmed away from him, shivering. “Stop it, Seth. I am not an exhibitionist!”
“Me neither, usually.” He grabbed her hand and pressed it against his rigid penis, clearly outlined against his jeans. “Sex with an audience is definitely not my scene, but you've got me so hot, I wouldn't even care.”
“Well, I care!” she said breathlessly.
“Could've fooled me, sweetheart.” He cupped the nape of her neck and dragged her face to his for another rough, plundering kiss. He pressed her down against his erection as he wound her hair into his fingers, devouring her mouth. His hands were hard, insistent, right on the edge of painful, but it was a quivering, knife-edged pain. As if she were going to fly apart and only he could hold her together.
She squeezed her eyes shut, digging her fingernails into the tough dark leather of his coat. She felt intensely vulnerable, and so excited she felt she would melt apart into a shimmering cloud. She squirmed against the unyielding bulge beneath her bottom and kissed him back hungrily.
He vibrated against her with silent laughter and pulled away, his eyes taunting her. Gleaming with smug masculine triumph.
She tried to glare at him. “That's not fair,” she said shakily. “This is your fault.”
His eyes narrowed. “What's my fault?”
“This!” She made a frantic gesture at their entwined bodies. “It's your fault, for turning me on, making me lose my head!” She swatted him as he pulled her back for another kiss. “Stop that. Oh, God. Please, Seth.”
“But you want it,” he coaxed, his voice husky and seductive. “I love how you respond. I'd love to open my jeans and slide you down onto my cock, right here and now. You could ride me until you come apart. And that would just be just the appetizer, sweetheart. Just a teaser, to hold us until we get to the nearest bed. The nearest door that we can close and lock. That’s when I'll really give it to you. As much as you want. Hard and fast, or sweet and slow. Whatever you want. All day long.”
She stared with helpless fascination into the seductive, molten darkness of his eyes. She felt flushed and wanton, unbearably tempted to yield to him, to give him anything.
The door to the warehouse burst open. Three more men came out and something inside her clenched up. The outrageously naughty fantasy he had woven in her mind evaporated into smoke.
She dug her fingers into his shoulders, trying to steady herself. “Hey, those guys aren't going to disappear,” she whispered. “I'd—I'd rather wait for the bed and the door. Please stop teasing me.”
His face lost all expression. He pulled his hand out of her hair and leaned back. “Then stop lap-dancing right now, sweetheart,” he said, his voice cool and ironic. “You're making me crazy.”
She scrambled back into the passenger seat, pulling down her skirt. “Sorry,” she whispered, and promptly wondered what on earth she was apologizing for.
He put the Chevy into gear. She tumbled back, against the seat as he accelerated out of the parking lot. The world outside the car was a fuzzy blur, reminiscent of her own interior confusion, and she fumbled wildly for her glasses, putting them on with trembling hands. She put on her seat belt, smoothed her cold hands against her crumpled skirt and tried to breathe slowly and steadily. It was a wasted effort. Her lungs refused to expand. “Where are we going?” she ventured.
His eyes flicked over her. “Where do you live?”
“No. Not my house,” she said, without thinking.
“No? Why not?”
She shrugged, not eager to explain. “I don't feel safe there.”
“And you think you're safe with me?”
Her spine stiffened at the derision in his tone. “No, Seth,” she said, with soft dignity. “You don’t make me feel safe at all.”
The mocking smile faded from his face.
“That's why I want you,” she said simply. “You make me feel wild. Fearless. I... I need to feel that way.”
There it was, out in the open. The naked truth. He didn't seem to like it, judging from his grim face and the muscle twitching in his jaw.
He flicked on the turn signal. Panic leaped and pirouetted in Raine's midriff as he began to pull off the highway.
“What—where are we—”
“I saw signs for a hotel” He shot her a brief glance. “A bed and a door that locks. Wild and fearless. Whatever you want, sweetheart.”
He pulled into the Marriott and parked. When she got out of the car he took her by the arm, pulling her alongside him with such restless urgency that she had to scurry to keep from stumbling.
She had set a huge machine in motion. No way to stop it now, thank God. The timid, terrified part of her wanted to cut and run, and the wanton pirate queen was triumphantly glad to have outmaneuvered it. She couldn't sabotage herself now. Not with Seth. He wasn't going to give her the option.
Her fate was sealed. No more waiting, no more games. As soon as the hotel room door thudded shut behind them, he started wrenching off his clothes with sharp, efficient movements, keeping his eyes trained on her as if she might bolt. She followed suit, stepping awkwardly out of her shoes, shoving her glasses into her purse, struggling out of her jacket.
He unbuckled his belt and kicked off jeans, shoes, socks, underwear. He was ready, naked and waiting while she was still fumbling with her cuffs. Her gray eyes gleamed feverishly as she stared at his body, bright flags of color burning in her cheeks. She was too damn slow. She backed nervously away as he advanced on her, but his patience had run out, and as soon as her back hit the wall he started in on the blouse. Christ, he was going to buy her something stretchy that peeled off. Those fucking buttons were going to be the death of him.
His help didn't do her blouse too much good. The fragile silk practically disintegrated under his hands, and at least three buttons flew. She gasped and tried to bat his hands away, but he was already shoving the ruined garment off her shoulders, releasing a warm, heady wave of her delicious scent.
“Sorry,” he said hoarsely. “I'll buy you another one.”
“It's all right,” she whispered. Her cool, slender hands splayed across his chest as he fumbled, cursing, with the zipper of her skirt. As soon as the fabric yielded he sank to his knees, wrenching it down around her ankles. He did the same for her pantyhose and white cotton panties, pulling them both down with one violent yank.
Seth stopped, panting. He was shaking, muscles rigid, heart racing. Losing it. He had to chill, or he was going to make a mess of it But his face was mere inches from the soft curves of her thighs, the tangle of blond curls that hid her sex. He could see every detail, the pale and dark blond ringlets mixed together, the shadowy curves and hollows of her graceful hips, the enticing cleft of her labia.