Glad you’re all right, she texts back. Call me soon! P.S. Work sucks even worse without you!
I can’t believe it was only yesterday that I walked out of Vendange. Less than twenty-four hours with Nick on this fantasy getaway makes Joel and the restaurant seem like a distant dream.
All the rest of my problems seem far off, too, held at bay by the pleasure Nick has given me and by the feeling of safety I know when I am in his arms. It’s not something I’ve had with anyone else—this sense that I am truly protected and secure.
That I am sheltered from everything. Even my past.
Hidden away up here with Nick in his paradise in the clouds, I can almost believe that nothing bad can touch me.
Only an illusion, I know. Right now, I am too content to care about reality.
As I take in the awe-inspiring view, I snuggle deeper into the white bathrobe Nick gave me to wear when I stepped out of the shower with him a few minutes ago. The thick cotton terrycloth carries his scent. The indescribable blend of clean, masculine skin and spicy sensuality has become my favorite drug, arousing everything female in me and stirring a deep possessiveness I cannot deny. Crossing my arms over my breasts, I tilt my chin down to nestle my nose into the plush lapel and I inhale slowly, savoring this sensory reminder of him.
As beautiful as this morning is, I don’t want to let go of the night we shared. I don’t want to go back to New York, where everything Nick has whisked me away from still awaits.
Including the many lies I’ll have to explain to him.
“I thought you’d be dressed by now.”
At the sound of his voice, I glance over my shoulder and see him walking up behind me in nothing but a large white towel fastened around his hips. My mouth waters as I watch him moving with predatory grace across the terrace. I’ve had my lips and tongue all over every inch of that tan, muscular body, and just the sight of Nick striding toward me now makes me hungry to do it again.
I smile, unable to keep the joy off my face. “I can get dressed anytime. I don’t know when I’ll have another chance to see the sun come up from such an amazing vantage point.”
“Glad to know you have your priorities straight. Clothing is highly overrated anyway.” He grins, drawing up beside me and leaning his hip against the railing. “After last night, I doubt I’ll ever be able to stand out here again without getting a raging hard-on.”
As evidence of that fact, I can’t help noticing how enticingly his towel is bulging at his groin. He has no shame, of course, standing there half-naked and looking hot enough to melt me on the spot. My sex responds with a tingling surge of wet heat, spreading flame into my limbs and beading my nipples against the soft fabric of the robe.
I’m sure Nick sees my reaction. He’s become attuned to my body’s needs even more than I am myself. Blue eyes darkening, he reaches out and takes the tail end of the robe’s long sash, pulling me against him. I don’t fight it. More than anything, I want to feel his hands on me again. I want to feel him inside me now, again . . . for as long as I possibly can.
He kisses me, wrapping his arms around my back. “Have you decided what you’d like to do today?”
“I can think of a few things.”
His dark brows wing up with the slow curve of his lips. “Oh, trust me, Ms. Ross, so can I. And we will, I promise.” His lips brush mine again, e
nding with a deliberate nip that makes me gasp. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten that I still owe you some form of punishment.”
“If last night was any indication, I can hardly wait for more.”
He chuckles at my challenge and the hands clasped loosely at my back slide down to squeeze my ass. He draws my pelvis against the now massive ridge of his erection. “Feeling daring, are you?”
“I can’t help it. You’re a very bad influence, Mr. Baine. I’m a shameless harlot around you.”
“Shameless happens to be my favorite kind of harlot,” he growls as he kisses me again, grinding his cock against me in a hard demand that fires up all of my nerve endings. I moan at the arousing feel of him, already half-drunk with desire. He tears his mouth away from mine on a ragged curse. “Jesus, what you do to me. You get me so damn turned on, I think I could fuck you for weeks without coming up for breath.”
I sigh with pleasure at the very idea. “Mmm, sounds good to me.”
His hands slip inside my robe. I drop my head back on a soft cry as his fingers trace up my rib cage, then begin to caress my naked breasts. My thighs are straddling his leg, and I can’t resist moving against him, my sex wet with arousal and aching for contact. Nick doesn’t keep me waiting for long. One hand skims down my body and into my swollen cleft. He delves between my folds, stroking the hard bud of my clit before penetrating me with his finger.
“Oh, God.” My breath is rushing in and out of my lungs as he thrusts and withdraws, driving me mad with rising need. “Nick, that feels so good.”
His eyes deepen to a stormy blue as he watches me writhe and squirm on his hand. When he speaks, his voice is rough as gravel. “Now who’s the bad influence, Ms. Ross? Here I was planning to take you out for coffee and a nice breakfast before I made you come again today.”
I laugh and shake my head. “Coffee and breakfast later. Right now, I just want you to fuck me.”
“Shameless and demanding,” he replies, lowering his head to claim my mouth in a deep, dominatingly possessive kiss. Then he withdraws his fingers from inside me and gives my clit a light pinch. “Get your sweet ass in my bed, Ms. Ross. Unless you want me to take you right here in broad daylight.”
~ ~ ~