Everyone’s attention riveted on the stunningly handsome blond hunk who sank to his knees in front of the masked woman in the chocolate thong. Kate clenched her hands in her lap, her body so taut and aroused she could hardly stand it. Miss Chocolate Leather leaned back, her elbows supporting her on the table. Her voice was firm as she instructed him, “Taste me.”
Tentatively the man licked his tongue along the skimpy thong and then, the lustiest chocoholic in Europe, moaned. “Chocolate,” he said in a heavy Danish accent. “I crave it... and you.” Without any hesitation, he proceeded to lick, suck, and bite away the woman’s thong with a slow lasciviousness that mesmerized the crowd of women. The lights dimmed for several moments, leaving the audience to murmur in wonder and fan themselves.
When the lights flickered back on, the beautiful MC walked out. After explaining that the audience could drop their program notes in a box and their purchases would be ready when they left, she gave a dazzling smile and thanked the crowd for attending.
Enthusiastic applause broke out across the room. The guests had obviously enjoyed the racy show and the finale, but Kate barely heard the clamor through the buzzing in her ears and the titillating visions in her mind.
The lights were raised and crystal chandeliers illuminated the room. For a moment the glare blinded Kate, bringing her back to reality. As the shimmers passed, strong hands grasped her shoulders from behind. She started to turn on the settee, but the hands kept her still and a deep voice murmured, “Do you like to watch?” The sound was so husky, so sexy that hot tingles shot through her belly.
Kate swallowed, then tried to keep her words steady as she replied, “Maybe.”
Shivers skittered down her spine as warm breath stirred the fine hair at her nape. “Would you like me to do it to you?”
Slowly, she shook her head. “Exhibitionism isn’t my thing.”
“Good.” His voice rumbled low and possessive as he added, “I don’t like to share.”
Kate caught her breath, surprised and intrigued, wishing he’d let her turn so that she could see him. “Who are you?”
“Nick,” he said in a tone so deep and melodic that Kate trembled. He flicked his tongue along her neck as he moved his mouth to her ear. “The man who’s going to ravish you.”
Tremors ripped through her at the image of this no-doubt handsome stranger bending her over now, right on the fashion runway, and doing exactly that.
“Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?” she managed, but her voice shook.
“I know what I want,” His voice dropped another notch, consuming and demanding. “And I want you.” He lightly stroked her shoulders through her silk gown as he added, “You’re like a beautifully wrapped Christmas present and I intend to tear away your wrappings to get to the gift inside.”
Kate swallowed.
Oh, my God.
“I’m told you’re the talented designer of all this fashion.” He trailed his fingers up and down her arms. “Anyone who could create lingerie this hot must be a wildfire inside.”
Her clit tingled and she almost moaned aloud. Damn, this man almost gave her an orgasm, and he had barely touched her. Hell, she didn’t even know what he looked like. But did he ever smell good…the heady masculine scent of sun-warmed flesh and the outdoors, and a hint of something more. Wood smoke, maybe?
“You may want me, but are you sure I want you?” It was all she could do to keep her tone nonchalant.
“Oh, yes.” He kneaded her neck and shoulder muscles with a firm, even grip. “What do you like to be called?”
“Kate.” It came out in a sigh as she allowed him to pull her back against his muscled thighs, and she felt his rough jeans through the thin silk of her dress. It surprised her that he was wearing jeans, unlike the other TLC employees she had seen, and they felt coarse and somehow exciting rubbing through the silk.
She started to relax as his talented fingers massaged her tense muscles. He stopped his ministrations and commanded, “Stand, but keep looking straight ahead.”
Kate felt compelled to comply. Almost as if there was a kind of wild magic in his voice designed to peel away her inhibitions. When she was standing, she felt him move the settee, and then he was directly behind her. Fingers brushed her neck, along the clasp of her dress, and her heart jumped. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Checking to see how easily your dress comes off,” he murmured. “I can’t wait to find out what you look like under this red silk.”
She stiffened, clenching her hands so tight at her sides that her crimson-polished fingernails dug into the flesh of her palms. Yet at the same time her panties grew damp at the thought of this stranger with the sexy voice and sensual touch stripping her completely bare. She raised her chin and tried to turn, but he took her by her upper arms and kept her still.
“Don’t move.” The man rubbed his rough hands over her shoulders, down to her forearms and up again in a slow, mind-bending movement. What would it feel like to have those hands everywhere on my body? As he gripped both her shoulders he kissed the curve of her neck, his lips warm and firm.
Could she dare to hope that sex would be different with this man? Because of her career, men always expected her to be aggressive, like some kind of carnal Dominatrix in bed. They had no idea what she was really like.
“Come with me now.” He continued caressing her as he spoke. “I can’t wait to feel your heat, Kate.”
“You–” She took a deep breath, her voice trembling from sheer excitement and arousal. “You’re amazingly overconfident.”
He gave a soft laugh, and ran his fingers from her shoulders, down her sides, toward the hem of her thigh-high dress. “Why don’t I slide my fingers under that sexy little number you’re wearing,” he said, “and find out just how overconfident I am?”
“In front of everybody?” She tried to pull away, but his strong arms caught her waist. He kept her pinned, pulling her flush against his solid length.
“Someone would see,” she hissed. “This is business.”
“Look around.” His warm breath teasing her skin. “I doubt anyone would care.”
Kate had been so wrapped up in her mystery man that everything else around her had ceased to exist. She blinked, and the room came back into focus. The show was over, and the crowd had apparently moved down to the Ballroom for the dinner. “Sure you don’t want to join them?” Nick said close to her ear, and she shivered again.
“Ah,” Kate licked her lips. “I haven’t eaten.”
“Neither have I.” His hands encircled her waist. “It’s time to go eat. And you’re dessert.”
Panic erupted in Kate. “I—I need to find Cheryl. The show—”
“Show’s over.” His hands burned through the silk of her dress, and she could barely focus on his words. “Cheryl reserved a suite for you with room service. She figured you’d be starving after all this excitement.”
Before she had a chance to respond, Nick grabbed her firmly, picking her up. She let out a small shriek as he flipped her, and flung her over one of his broad shoulders in a fireman’s hold. She clenched her hands in his black T-shirt and clung to him as though he might drop her. “What are you doing?”
His voice rumbled. “Going someplace a little more private.”
“Who do you think you are?” Kate pummeled against his iron muscles with one hand and held on for dear life with the other. “King of the Jungle?”
He laughed and started walking. “Something like that.”
From her upside down position, Kate spotted Cheryl who had opened the door and stuck in her head.
“He’s a little untamed,” Cheryl said with a grin before Kate could beg for help. “Just hang on for the ride of your life. The show was terrific, tons of orders. Talk to you tomorrow.”
Hang on for the ride of your life, tons of orders,
Cheryl’s voice repeated in Kate’s mind as Nick carried her out of sight from the showroom. It was now or never. Shameless, no inhibitions whatsoever.
As he carted her away, he rubbed her thighs through the thin silk of her dress. From her vantage point all she could see was his snug black T-shirt, black jean-clad ass, corded thighs, and the rich burgundy carpet beneath his booted feet. He’d turned her so quickly she hadn’t gotten more than a glimpse of his chestnut-brown hair. She’d always had a thing for men in black. Especially a man with brown hair, and a deep, sexy voice. A man who was dark and dangerous.
Nick Hall’s cock throbbed as he carried Kate over his shoulder, his jeans so tight with arousal he could barely walk straight. He’d gotten off his shift late after fighting a fire on West 55th Street, and hadn’t had time to shower or change yet.
Not to mention the aftereffects of the adrenaline rush that had pumped through him while fighting the fire was making him hornier than hell.
For over a year now Nick had been employed at TLC, meeting clients on his days off New York City’s fire department, the FDNY. He’d started working off hours to earn enough extra cash to help pay off his sister’s kidney transplant. It wouldn’t be long until the last bill was paid, and he would make the decision to stay or not.
He enjoyed pleasuring women and making their fantasies come true, and he found the work almost as fulfilling as the FDNY. Of course, another advantage of working for TLC was that here, he never got burned. After fighting this last fire, Nick figured he’d take a shower before beginning his “shift” at TLC. But when he walked past the showroom, the doors had been open just long enough for him to catch a glimpse of her, looking like a holiday poinsettia.
Kate.
When Nick arrived at the employee lounge, Cheryl’s assistant, Tessa, handed him the key card to the tropical island room. She’d told him Cheryl had someone special she wanted him to take care of, the famous lingerie designer.
The minute Nick had spotted Kate; he knew she had to be the one. She was flat-out gorgeous, in a girl-next-door kind of way, when the girl next door decided to go out on the town. Her generous curves were dying to be stroked, her full breasts straining through the silk fabric, needing to be licked and sucked. The sun-streaked blonde hair piled up in a French twist just begged to be set free.
She’d held her chin high as she’d surveyed the room, confidence and self-assurance in her pose yet she clenched her hands so tightly in her lap her knuckles were white. A woman who needed to let go, and be turned loose. His favorite good deed was rescuing damsels in distress. And he was the right man to make every one of her desires come true. Something about her had stirred something deep and primal in him, something territorial. He’d pushed his way into the room, straight toward his conquest, never once doubting he’d have her.
He smiled as he carried Kate, running his hand up her stocking clad thigh, and beneath her short skirt until he reached bare flesh. Damn, she’s wearing garters. “Can’t wait to see what you look like only wearing these.”
“I can walk all by myself, you know.”
Nick rounded a corner to the elevators. As he punched the Up button, he couldn’t help but admire Kate’s curvy butt in the reflection of the polished metal doors. When the elevator doors opened, he stepped inside and poked the button for the fifth floor. She was going to love where he was taking her.
“Really you can let me go, Tarzan. Between hanging upside down and your Neanderthal tactics, I’m getting a little lightheaded.”
As the elevator hummed toward the fifth floor, Nick stroked the inside of Kate’s thigh, moving up until he reached the hem of her satin panties. “Shaved or trimmed?” he asked just as the bell dinged.
Kate audibly caught her breath before she answered. “You’ll just have to find out.”
With a grin, Nick pulled a key out of his pocket and strode up to the door of the tropical island suite. The door swung open into one of the most exotic rooms in TLC. He eased into the dimly lit foyer, and let the door slam shut behind him.
Slowly Nick let her slide from his shoulder, her body rasping against his, until she was standing in the circle of his arms. Her heart-shaped face tilted up, her full lips slightly parted, just begging to be kissed, and he gazed down into her endlessly deep, dark brown eyes.
Well, hell.
He’d always been a sucker for brown-eyed blondes.
Kate struggled to think clearly as she looked up at the man who’d claimed her like a jungle warrior. It was him. The man from the portfolio. In reality Nick was beyond drop-dead gorgeous. Built like a pro-body builder, he was well over six feet of solid muscle.
His black T-shirt stretched over a massive chest, his hair was thick and slightly mussed, his features strong and chiseled. Something black smudged his cheek, and she couldn’t resist reaching up to wipe it away. As she brushed his skin, she felt his stubble coarse against her fingertips. His earthy scent surrounded her, filled her, along with that smoky odor. Nothing like tobacco, more of a deep woodsy campfire smell that somehow made him more exciting.
“Is this a battle scar?” She moved her fingertips down Nick’s cheek to his jaw, where a scar showed white against his stubbled jaw. “From some macho display of might, I suppose.”
He smiled, his teeth white against the tanned skin of his face. “All in the line of duty, Miss.”
She trailed her finger down to the cleft in his chin. “Do you always throw women over your shoulder and carry them away?”
“Only beautiful blondes with brown eyes and sun-kissed hair.” He captured her hand and brought it to his mouth, and she shivered as he pressed his lips against her palm. “And only if they’re named Kate.”
A soft moan escaped her as he moved his firm mouth to her wrist and took a deep breath. “Honeysuckle,” he murmured.
Her nipples ached for those lips, she wanted to feel him driving into her, filling her and… “I want you, Nick.”
He rose up and gave her a slow and sensual smile. “No, sweetheart.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh?”
“Not until I say you’re ready.”
Kate gave him the “don’t mess with me” look she reserved for her toughest suppliers when they weren’t cooperating. “I say I’m ready now.”
Nick shook his head and stroked his thumb along her jaw as he spoke, “You’ll have to trust me. I know what you need.”