The stairs seemed to go up and up forever, growing darker with every step, climbing up to a secret tower. Something told her to turn back, that she shouldn't be trespassing in a stranger's house, but she was more afraid of the devastatingly handsome man who awaited her at the bottom of the stairs than she was of being caught.
Continuing to climb, she felt for a light switch along the wall. She heard footsteps on the steps behind her a moment before she flicked the switch and gasped aloud.
At the top of Gordon Montague's secret tower was a fully equipped sexual hideaway . . . the last place on earth she wanted Ty to find her.
Only, judging by the heat she felt at her back, he already had.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Ty had long believed in the power of positive thinking. Coach after coach during the past decade had pressed the power of visualization upon him and his teammates. Although he wasn't big on woo-woo stuff, acting like you already had what you wanted worked most of the time on the field. Ty wanted to win games; he won them. He wanted lots of money; he had it. It hadn't occurred to him to use this technique for getting a girl, but then, he'd never wanted anyone nearly as much as he wanted Julie. And he'd certainly never had to work for it like this before, either. He'd made his way through the kitchen, signed a few autographs, and asked which way she went. Something about the dark stairwell conjured up a flow of sexy images. Julie asking him to unzip her dress, beckoning him over, ripping his clothes off, lying across his lap, begging him to spank her sexy lace-clad ass.
He'd been stuck on this fantastic image as he made his way up the circular stairs. A light scent of apples and cinnamon lingered in the air and he'd known he was on the right track. His cock had hardened at the thought of how soft her ass cheeks would feel beneath his palm, at how good it would feel to cup her breasts with his other hand.
And then she'd switched on the light, and he'd seen a sex toy wonderland. He'd never seen so many erotic pictures, paintings, sculptures, dildos, vibrators, and books outside of a porn shop. He was clearly better at this ask and you shall receive stuff than he'd ever realized. Maybe when he retired from the game, he'd write a book on visualization.
He whistled at the S and M equipment hanging from the walls, the thick chains by the bed. "Damn. This is some room." He figured Julie was probably freaking out right now. She giggled. "You know when you took me into your basement? I thought you had one of these rooms under there."
He smiled. "As if I'd ever need to chain a woman down."
Her eyes were big as she examined a two-headed dildo from a distance. He was pretty sure she had no idea what it was for.
"True," she agreed. "But you still could have been into kinky stuff." He pushed her farther into the room. "Go ahead, examine everything. I know you're dying to." She made a face. "I'm too grossed out right now. Just thinking about Gordon in here with ... whoever he comes here with." Her shoulder nearly brushed into a fully erect statue and she jumped. "I hope he washes everything on a regular basis."
As Ty did a quick perusal of the room's contents,he could see Julie warring with herself, opening her mouth, then shutting it.
"Go ahead, ask me. I know you're dying to." She stood in the center of the room, a perfect, pure goddess in the midst of sin. "Have you ever ..." Her cheeks flushed pink. "Once." Her mouth flew open. "You've used this stuff?"
He grinned, looked around at the impressive contraptions. He wasn't into anything crazy, but a pair of handcuffs with Julie certainly wouldn't suck.
"Not exactly."
"Please tell me pictures aren't going to surface of you naked in leather chaps with a spiked collar around your neck."
"I went to an S and M club once, a long time ago. Just to watch. Not participate." He shrugged.
"Every guy wonders."
"Not the guys I know," she muttered. Then she asked, "Was it weird? Or . . ." She looked like she couldn't quite get her mouth around the word. "Exciting?"
Ty spotted a balcony out the window, and he grabbed her hand.
"Come outside with me and I'll tell you," he said as she willingly escaped with him out a set of French doors.
The view from the rooftop terrace was breathtaking. The sun was just starting to set over endless fields of vines, and the air was scented with growing grapes. Holding Julie's hand, something in Ty's chest buzzed like he was on the verge of a game-winning play.
"Honestly" he said as he rubbed his thumb softly against her palm, "I don't need a bunch of contraptions and semi-naked strangers to make sex exciting." She looked up at him, her blue eyes almost translucent in the sunset's reflection. He was going to put himself out on the line. He'd just have to pray that she wouldn't take him down.
"All I need is you."
It should have sounded like a sappy come-on but it didn't. And there were a million things she could have said, like, "I bet you say that to all the girls," or "Give me one reason to believe you." But she didn't. The only words she had were, "One night only."
He stared at her with an intensity that made her go hot all over.
"Only tonight."
He moved quickly, not giving her a chance to change her mind, to listen to the part of her brain that was reminding her she was on the clock right now, that she was supposed to be policing Ty's licentious activities, not leading him down the path of sin.
He brought her hand to his lips, kissing the pad of one finger. His lips were soft, so soft, and she wasn't prepared, couldn't have ever walled herself off to the sensation of him unfolding her other fingers, of the kisses he laid on her skin, of the way he was worshipping even the smallest areas of her body.
"So stern tonight," he murmured.
He slowly turned her away from him, and she placed her hands on the balcony railing as he pressed his hips against her bottom.
"But always so perfect. So beautiful."
Julie was helpless to move, to speak, to think as his thumb slid up from the base of her neck to her hairline. She held her breath, waiting for his next move, knowing it was going to be just the right one. She'd twisted her hair in a tight bun. He gently removed the pins holding back her hair one at a time, letting it fall down around her neck and shoulders. Strong fingers massaged her scalp. A moan emerged from her throat. The longest tips of her hair brushed against the top of her breasts and she found herself wishing his hands were on her, instead.
"Does that feel good?" he whispered against her hair.
"Mmm-hmm," she whispered back, not wanting him to stop the massage, yet wishing he would just push her skirt up and take her from behind without any more foreplay. His hands moved across her shoulders, his fingers brushing against her collarbones as he slid her black wrap off her shoulders. It slid against her sensitive skin, down her back, to the floor. Julie had never felt so sexy. She'd never been undressed by a man before; no man had ever taken the time. Ty brushed her hair to one side and began unclasping and untying the tiny strings behind her neck that held up the top of her dress. The way his fingers brushed against her skin, the fact that every ounce of his attention was focused on her, was unbearably sensual.
The fastenings give way and arousal flooded her from head to toe. No matter how things turned out between them, she'd remember his kindness, his tender touch, for the rest of her life.