CHAPTER 46

He seduced her with his words as much as with his body. And tonight, she wouldn’t let herself think about the other women he might have said these same things to. She wouldn’t think about her real life that was waiting for her just around the corner. For a few precious moments, it was enough that he was lavishing attention on her, worshipping her body as if he couldn’t get enough. He trailed kisses down her abdomen, licking her navel.

Then he bunched her dress and pushed it up until it was just a ribbon around her waist. The garage lights were bright overhead. He’d see everything. Touch everything. Taste everything. She closed

her eyes and felt the rush of speed again, flying along the highway in his fast car with his fast hands

on her skin.

Nathalie wanted all of it—Darius' mouth, his hands, his desire, his laughter, his  intensity. Everything. Nathalie was like the finest whiskey, the sweetest of late harvest wines. She

reacted so beautifully to each touch, each word, as her sensuality took her over, opening her up to

pleasure for pleasure’s sake.

“You’re so damn sexy. Look at all that see-through lace. You make me

crazy with all your naughty lingerie. I want to see you in it and nothing else. And then?” He paused,

made them both wait. “And then I want to see you out of it. Just you, Nathalie. I want to see you.”

She ran her hands through his hair.

“Please.” The one word sounded so breathless that he was

tempted just to tear everything off her. But he wanted to give Nathalie more. So much more.

Enough to drive her crazy. Enough to drive them both crazy. He pulled the bunched dress down.

“Lift up.” She flattened her hands on the hood and levered herself up. Darius tugged the material

down, then stepped back to slide it over her legs, and tossed it on the hood of the car, next to her

head. Every coherent thought fled as he took in the creamy satin bra with pink lace, her breasts wet

from his tongue.

And then there was the hint of flesh and other delights through the lacy panel of  the endlessly sexy panties. Leaning over her, he trailed both hands from her breasts to her belly to  the scrap of satin and lace at her apex. He took her lips at the same time he slid beneath the fabric  and took her with his fingers. Nathalie moaned against him, then opened her mouth, her kiss wild,  her nails scoring furrows through his hair. She bucked up against him, wanting more. He went  slowly, stroking, teasing, loving the way her body moved beneath his.

“Remember what I said?” he  murmured against her mouth. She shook her head.

“No. I can’t even think right now.” Neither could  he, but Lord, he was trying the best he could.

“I told you I’d make you scream with pleasure.”

“Oh  God.” It was almost as if the memory of his saying that was too much for her right now.

“Do it, Darius. Do it now.” The desperation in her voice made him nuts, too. It wasn’t for his money or his  power or his position or the things he could give her. It was for his hands and his mouth, his touch.

It was for him. And he craved that. Just as much as he craved her. Darius had developed incredible

self-control as an adult. But now, with Nathalie, he couldn’t hold back one more second from giving her what she wanted. What they both wanted, as he kissed his way down her body. Her limbs quaked, and her hot, sexy sounds filled the garage like music.

Hooking his thumbs in the elastic, he tugged her panties down, needing all of her. Needing everything.

“Mine,” he said softly, tossing the lacy confection onto the dress beside her. Then he cupped her hips, shoved her higher up on the hood, and put his mouth to her. He relished her, loving her taste on his tongue, loving the way she gasped and moaned and cried out his name, writhing beneath him.

“Oh God, oh God,” she chanted, a quivering mass of sensation. But he wanted to push her higher. Higher than she’d ever thought she could go. He repeated the wicked pattern of his tongue sliding over her and his fingers sliding into her.

Again and again and again until he felt the orgasm begin in her contracting muscles. She rocked, rolled, shuddered, and finally screamed out his name. It was long—it was loud. And it was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard.

* * *

Nothing had ever felt like that. She’d been a mass of vibrating nerve endings, her skin fiery to the touch, explosions of color before her eyes, his mouth magic on her.

“I want you. I need you. Now. Right now, damn it. But protection is in the bedroom.” Darius leaned over her, murmuring words it took her a moment to understand.

“I hadn’t planned on seducing you out here.”

“I seduced you.” Maybe she should have been shocked that she’d told him to drive her fast, fast, faster. Begged him to touch her right here in the garage. But there wasn’t any room for shock amid all the glorious pleasure. He touched his lips to the pulse beating at her throat, as if he needed to feel the racing of her heart.

“You had me seduced at day one.” Before she could react to his surprisingly beautiful words, he took her with a mind-blowing kiss. It was sexy, decadent, exceptionally naughty, and she closed her eyes and arched up into his body, loving the hard press of him along her entire length.

“I have protection.” She wouldn’t let herself feel shy again. Not yet. Not when she had intentions. Just as he had.

“In my bag. In the car.” He moved so quickly to get her bag, she almost laughed out loud. When he handed it to her, she snapped open the clutch and produced a small box of condoms.

“I love a woman who plans ahead.” He gave her a swoon-worthy smile. But she was too focused on having him—all of him—to notice anything now but the fact that he still had all his clothes on. And she wanted them off.

“I want to touch you.” A wild thrill coursed through her as she gave in to the urge to grab the open neck of his shirt and give it a hard yank with both hands. The buttons popped free, scattering across the concrete.

“Oh my God.” Her hands stilled, holding the edges of his shirt.

“You’re so beautiful.” His chest had a dusting of dark hair across his pectorals and around his nipples, harrowing down to his jeans. Her skin was pale against the darker tones of his rippling muscles. But even this wasn’t enough. She wanted to hold onto his bare shoulders, wanted to strip him the way he’d stripped her. She started to drag the shirt off his shoulders, but before she could, he leaned over to trap her wrists against the hood.

“Not as pretty as you are.” Holding her down with one hand, he ran his fingers between her breasts at the same time that he shifted his hips between hers. He was all sexy male and hard flesh, and she needed him to finish what he’d started.

What she’d started. Pulling her hands free of his hold, she pushed herself to a sitting position between his legs and tugged on his belt. She wanted to play, tease, see if she could make him as crazy as she felt. After unzipping him, she shoved her thumbs into the waistband at the sides and slowly slid the denim and cotton down until all that hot, hard, gorgeous flesh was in her hands. She felt him throb against her palm, and her breath hitched with the thought of how he’d feel inside her.

“Don’t tease.” His eyes were dark and fathomless. A shiver of need ran through her as she whispered,

“I thought you liked to tease?”

“I do,” he said with a wolfish smile that made her core clench tight and hot.

“But I need to be inside you. Right. This. Minute.” There was something in his hoarse words that made her tremble. She had never felt so desired in her life. No one had needed her in quite this way.

“Yes,” she answered softly as they sheathed him together.

“Right this minute.” He pulled her legs around his waist.

“Don’t let go. Hold me tight.” She had no choice. Holding him tight was the only thing she could do. The only thing she wanted to do. But instead of just taking her, he braced himself on the hood and pushed her flat against the metal.

Stroking between her legs with his hard heat, he played her in slow, mesmerizing circles. Nathalie closed her eyes and let sensation take over the rising pulse of her body. She locked her legs around his waist the same way her arms imprisoned his neck and rose up to meet his touch, rolling with his rhythm.

“That’s it, baby, just like that.” Leaning close, he finally moved with a faster pace.

“I want you right on the edge when I finally take you.” His words were as potent as his touch, and she shuddered. Her breath puffed with sounds she barely recognized as her own, and her skin heated.

“Oh God.” She arched her neck. Almost there. One more second. Just one more…

“Now.” He plunged deep. And she shattered.

* * *

“Nathalie.” The way she came apart for him, not holding anything back, giving him all of her pleasure, was enough to make him lose everything right then. But he wanted more. Wanted to see her, to drink in every detail of her pleasure. She was beautiful in her bliss, her breath coming fast as she arched her neck. The long column of her throat begged for his mouth, but he kept up the slow plunge inside her, forcing her to ride the edge. Her eyelashes fluttered, and sexy little cries fell from her lips. She grabbed his forearms, her nails digging in with the most delicious pain he’d ever felt.

“I don’t... I’ve never...”

“You will,” he promised her.

“Take me, baby.” He needed to get as close to her as he could, needing to erase any distance that remained between them.

“Please take me. All of me.” He’d think about the meaning of his words later, but for now, he moved faster, stroked harder, went deeper. So deep he could lose himself in her. Become one with her. With a soft cry, she anchored herself to him, her arms around his neck, her body hugging him, her legs tight at his waist.

“Yes, yes, yes,” she panted.

“That feels so good. Darius...please...more.”

He took her completely then, with everything in him. Pounding hard, his blood racing, his mind fogging to anything but the feel of her hot skin, her breath on his throat, her silky hair against his cheek. He felt her next orgasm begin in the quiver of her limbs. Moments later, he was looking into her blue eyes and calling out her name.

And as he gave her everything—and she did, too—he had the strangest sense of being owned. No one had ever owned him. Not since he was a kid, when it felt like his father had wrapped a tight and jagged chain around him. But when he was with Nathalie, it was as though something eased inside him.

Like a sweet refrain telling him everything was—finally—all right.

* * *

Nathalie couldn’t let go. Didn’t want to. Not when letting go meant returning to the world. To reality. She felt so wonderfully engulfed by Darius, his skin warm, his muscles hard and hot. She wanted to stay like this, without thinking or questioning, just indulging her senses a while longer before they let reality seep back in.

Only...all the things she’d done with Darius were the wild and crazy acts of another woman. A sexy siren. But she was so not that. And already the jittery nerves were rising again. He’d called her baby. And in the moment, it had sounded so sweet, almost gut-wrenching. But she knew she needed to be honest with herself about the fact that it was a pet name most men used for casual sex buddies. Which should be fine, since that’s exactly what this was. She had to keep that firmly in her mind.

“Making love with you was absolutely perfect,” he murmured into her hair. Again, though they were easy words, it felt like Darius was infusing them with so much emotion, almost as though he was saying it had been more than just sex for him.

Which, of course, he wasn’t. This had just been weeks of teasing, some really hot pheromones swirling in the air, and a fast ride in—and on top of—his sexy sports car. She needed to remember that’s all it was. Still, she wanted a few more moments in his arms. Just a few more and then real life could start up again.

“I must be crushing you,” he finally said, but he rose slowly, swiping his tongue over her shoulder. She’d never known a man like him before, such an innately sensual creature, always touching, licking, kissing. As he eased away from her, he trailed a hand over her skin and said,

“The things you do to me.” Except for her bra, she was naked on top of his car, her body still glistening with desire. And when he went to toss the condom, it was cold without him. Cold and exposed.

So even though her limbs still felt boneless, she found her panties and dress on the hood beside her, tucked herself back into her bra, then slid off the hood of his expensive car and stepped into the dress. A few moments later, he was beside her again, his hand warm on her back.

“I’ll help you.” He did her up with a slow slide of the zipper, the brush of his fingers teasing her skin.

“Taking you out here wasn’t exactly what I had planned for our first time.” He was nuzzling her neck, and it did things to her insides all over again. He bit the soft flesh between her shoulder and neck, sending shivers of delight through her.

“But it was so damned sexy, Nathalie. You’re so damned sexy.” She’d bought pretty lingerie, a new dress, and made a trip to the drugstore, all in the name of seducing him. She’d had intentions. And now she’d just had the most amazing sex of her life.

She would not ruin everything because she couldn’t stop thinking of all the other women before her to whom he’d likely said the exact same thing. She turned in his arms, looped hers around his neck, and said,

“It was perfect.”

Her voice was too high and bright, overenthusiastic, like Zion's. She needed to bring herself under control. The problem with Darius was that he could make a girl lose her head. But Nathalie couldn’t afford that.

* * *

Darius changed his torn shirt while Nathalie corralled her brother. As soon as Zion climbed into the passenger seat of her car, he nodded off.

“You two should spend the night.”

Reluctant to take his arm from around her waist, Darius herded her a few feet away so Zion wouldn’t overhear their conversation, just in case he woke up.

“No.”

Nathalie shook her head. She could be stubborn, Darius realized. And the truth was that one of the things he appreciated about her was her iron will. No one would ever hurt Zion while she was on watch. She would be the same way about her kids, he knew—protecting them with her life.

“We need to get home,” she told him.

“Thank you for giving him a fabulous day. And,” she added with another one of those pretty blushes,

“for the fabulous evening I had, too.” Fabulous didn’t even begin to cover it.