Chapter 4
The fact that Sienna had agreed to go to a nice hotel with him was a great comfort to Max. He knew how difficult it was for women to take such a bold step; to enter an unfamiliar space with an equally unfamiliar man. A man of his height and evident strength was probably quite intimidating. With that knowledge, he did everything in his power to make her feel at ease. He modulated his tone and, despite his mounting desire for this beautiful woman, willed his body to appear relaxed and under control.
They had their first argument the moment they’d stepped out of the bar. He’d arrived on his motorcycle, and she’d been ridden shot gun with her friend. He’d offered to take her on a night ride through the city on his bike, and return her to her place of residence, but she’d tartly responded that it would be over her dead body. Eventually, he hoisted the bike inside and informed the night shift manager that he was leaving it there overnight.
Outside on the pavement once more, he held out his empty hand, palm up, clearly requesting her car keys. She pulled them out of her purse, dangled them before his eyes, and then clutched them in her clenched fist. “Nuh-uh. I drive, or we go our separate ways.”
He smiled mockingly. “Control freak, huh?”
Her plump lips pursed. “So, I’ve been told. Frequently.”
“No problem.” Then he made a big show of walking around the car, kicking the tires one by one. “Just checking to make sure yourpneuscan stand up to the task.”
Sienna stuck her tongue out at him. The flashing pink tip made him almost instantly hard. “You aren’t gonna let me forget that, are you?”
“Nope.” His grin was sardonic. “Not every day a man gets to be a hero.”
The locks made a soft click, and the car doors obediently unlocked with a beep. “Get in, hero.”
Get in he did, sitting back comfortably, willing his hand not to reach out and meddle with her radio station. He had the feeling that if he so much as touched a dial, he should prepare to lose at least one finger.
Max needn’t have worried. It was set to a bluesy station, and soon, the inside of the car was filled with the aching strains of guitar and sax. He had the feeling that this moment in time, this fragile point between himself and this gorgeous, spirited creature, was a delicate one. Make or break. Wisely, he kept small talk to a minimum. Besides, they’d done more than enough talking for the night.
It was action that would come next.
Following his directions, she swung into a discreetly appointed driveway, illuminated softly by floodlights, and slid into a parking spot not too far from the entrance. He’d already tapped into his phone a message of his impending arrival, and instantly a text message had been returned, giving him the room number and access code. There would be no need to subject Sienna to the embarrassment of a manual check-in.
Up went the emergency brake, but the engine continued idling. She sat there, still belted in, staring forward through the windshield to the darkness of the hotel garden. He sensed she was wrestling with something and decided not to push her.
After several seconds of pondering, she spoke, without turning her head in his direction, “I need you to listen.”
“Okay.”
“I’ve never done this before.”
“What, exactly?” he asked carefully. Surely, she was no virgin; she had told him about her failed relationship with some philandering douche. What was she talking about?
“I’ve never hopped into bed with a man I’ve just met. Never had a one-night stand. Not even in the wildest years of my youth. I’m the girl that needs at least five planned dates before going to the third base.”
He nodded in understanding. “Why now, then?” he asked softly.
Tilting her head to look at him, she said, “I don’t know. Being on the safe side hasn’t gotten me a bed of roses. Maybe it’s time for something different.”
Max reached out and took her hand, feeling its warmth and the delicate bones beneath his. Her nails were exquisitely done, using that magic that only women understood to have them shining and flawlessly shaped. “Sienna, I think you are amazing. You took my breath away from the moment I saw you—cussing like a pirate—and there is nothing more I want tonight than to feel you under me.”
She shifted at his words, and he felt heat roll through his body again. But he pressed on. “Nothing I desire more than to pleasure you, over and over. To discover how you look and sound in your deepest throes of passion.”
Those lips parted just a little, enticingly so, and her full breasts rose as she inhaled deeply.
“Mais, mon minou, if you are having second thoughts,pour l’amour de Dieu(for the love of God), please tell me. You can return to your friend’s home, and I will return home. We don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with.”
Her eyes shone like twin moons, full of surprise, and he wondered if no man had ever given her the option to change her mind like this.
Maxim waited, exerting control over his mind and his urges, willing himself to be patient.
Her response came in the form of a quick movement, in which she switched off the engine and withdrew the key. Then she held it up as she had done earlier, smiling at him, and plopped it into her purse.
Of one accord, they leaned toward each other for a kiss, and discovered they were both still belted in. They chuckled. Deftly, he popped her seatbelt clasp, then his. Now they were free to connect—no, to collide with each other.