Breathless (26 page)

She looked up at his profile once more. Strong chin, bold nose, hard lips, and great shoulders. She warmed through and through at the idea of skimming his collarbone with her mouth, allowing her teeth to leave small marks of possession along the path.

He did not look back at the table of companions he’d left behind. No, his focus was on Faye and Faye alone.

She knew he’d keep it there. How refreshing.

They strode across the lobby together, his fingers firm on her arm. Her breath quickened with each step, her breasts bounced, each movement a secret abrasion on her sensitized nipples. Her knees quaked at the knowledge of what she was about to do. Sex with a stranger in an airport hotel room.

Coolheaded logic flushed through her body, washing away the rapacious desire that had brought her here.

The inherent danger in her plan finally rattled her. Faye glanced at Mark out of the corner of her eye as they walked together. He looked like a decent man, a kind man. A normal man. A hot and ready man she’d deliberately enticed. She couldn’t go back on her offer now.

Her body wouldn’t let her, she realized, as the warmth in her loins spread upward again. She tried to tamp it back, but it was useless. This was a battle she’d lost many times in the last three months. Her body wanted what it wanted in spite of her attempts to hold herself in check.

She wanted to scream her need out loud, but she didn’t have to. Mark had picked up on her sexual craving, had responded and answered the call of woman to man. He knew what she wanted, and he would give it to her.

Once alone in the suite with Mark, anything could happen. Any sexually deviant behavior he favored could occur, and she’d be trapped in it with him. But wasn’t that part of the whole thing? The fantasy of being unable to put a stop to things, of being swept up into something forbidden, exciting, and wild. Excitement mixed with a healthy dose of fear twitched and grew and made her pant.

Mark slid a finger over the elevator keypad and grinned into her eyes. “Okay?”

“I’m fine.” Fear mixed with anticipation was a heady blend—arousing and spicy.

“You’re more than fine, Faye. You’re a dream come true.” He let go of her arm and ran his hand down her back to cup her ass the way she’d envisioned earlier. Thrill trails followed his movements. “You’re perfect.”

“Really?” She bit her lip. She shouldn’t sound so ingenuous, so stupidly inexperienced. He’d be surprised enough by her behavior once they were alone.

The elevator doors opened, and they stepped inside the smoke-mirrored quiet. They turned as one to face the doors, bodies thrumming, heat rising, minds racing with images of what was to happen when the door closed, hiding them from public view. Mark frowned at a harried-looking bellman with a luggage cart.

The bellman nodded and stepped back. The last chance to change her mind disappeared as the doors slid shut, closing Faye in with this stranger. This Mark McLeod.