Seduced - Book Three - Surrender Series (10 page)

Rachel

Rachel clutched the chilled bottom of her cognac glass as she leaned against the balcony — was her hand imparting any heat to the crystal? Probably not, and if she wasn’t careful, she’d shatter the thing.

Her eyes were frightened as she struggled with her choice. Or was she really struggling? She’d drunk a little too much, but it was giving her the courage to do what she wanted to do in the first place. She knew it was foolish, but she also knew that when the morning light hit, she would only have regrets if she were to walk away from the invitation in Ian’s eyes.

She wanted this man she’d met just that day — wanted him with a desperation that bordered on obsession. She’d never before felt such intense desire for a stranger, but as her evening with him had continued, she’d found herself enamored with his words, his accent, his beautiful obsidian eyes — everything about him.

Wanting to feel his body against hers, she gave him a look that was sure to let him know what her decision was. Thankfully, Ian wasn’t a stupid man. But then, if he were, would she be so attracted? Of course not.

Setting down his cognac, he closed the distance between them in a heartbeat.

“You are trouble, Rachel,” he said as his hand lifted and he ran a finger across her lips. Her breath rushed out in a heated sigh, and his eyes darkened even more, making her think of a starless midnight.

“I can be,” she whispered as she arched her back, pressing her breasts against the hard contours of his chest.
Yum
was all she could think as her body went flush against his, her softness meeting his steel-like musculature.

“Are you sure this is what you want? I don’t think I can stop once we start,” he said, his gaze boring into her widened eyes.

Was she sure?

“Yes, this is exactly what I want,” she said with a confidence she hadn’t known she possessed.

Without a further word, Ian wrapped his arms around her and lowered his head. Rachel had been expecting heat, hunger, passion — she got all of that and more.

He was like a man possessed as his lips claimed hers, taking ownership and telling her with nothing but the whisper of his tongue that she belonged to him right now. For tonight, she was all that he was focused on, and she hoped the clocks somehow froze and this would never end.

When Rachel was about to melt at his feet, Ian pulled back, his eyes blazing. Lifting his hands, he traced a finger beneath the collar of her shirt, the soft pad of his index finger lightly tracing her collarbone and trailing across the top of her chest.

Still looking into her eyes, he lifted his hands and slowly began unbuttoning her blouse, one button at a time, as if he weren’t in the least bit of a hurry. It was torturous. She wanted his hands on her skin, not on her clothing. She reached up to assist him, but he caught her hand and shook his head with only the slightest tilting to his lips.

Not knowing why she was obeying him, Rachel dropped her hands and leaned back against the tall railing, allowing him to continue with his achingly slow removal of her clothes.

Finally, the last button was undone, and instead of instantly removing the shirt, he parted it only a couple of inches, then placed both of his hands on the shirt and ran them downward, his knuckles rasping against her skin, brushing the edges of her breasts for only the briefest of moments.

“Please, Ian,” she begged, wanting his hands on her bare skin, his mouth tasting her flesh.

“What do you want, Rachel?”

Oh, the low timbre of his voice sent a thrill to her core, heating her body, and demanding satisfaction.

“Please touch me,” she cried as he ran his knuckles against her skin again, still not taking hold of her peaked nipples.

“I am touching you, Rachel,” he said as he gripped the edges of the shirt and pushed it back, sliding it down her arms, and letting it drop to the deck.

“Touch me more,” she demanded, feeling the warm wind blow against the lace of her bra, making her nipples harden even further, stretching out against the delicate material that barely covered them.

Rachel felt a woman’s power as his eyes flared while looking at her body. He wasn’t as in control as he wanted her to think.

Impatience taking hold, she quickly lifted a hand before he could stop her and unclipped the front clasp of her bra, freeing her aching breasts, and groaning as his gaze and the wind rolled across her nipples.

“You are unbelievably perfect,” he said in an awed voice, making her knees shake. She wasn’t ashamed of her body, but the reverent way he was gazing at her made her feel like a goddess.

“I would really like to give you my opinion on how you look, but you’re wearing far too many clothes,” she said huskily, hoping her voice was teasing, but knowing she sounded too aroused to pull it off.

Ian grabbed his shirt and ripped the material, not taking time to unbutton it. The sound of material tearing only heightened her arousal. Then, in an instant, all that was hiding him from her view was a pair of tight black underwear that he looked good enough to model in.

“Oh, yes, Ian, you are most certainly beautiful,” she gasped as she gazed at his impressive manhood straining through the material.

She reached out her hand to remove that last barrier, but he grabbed her and smiled. “Ladies first.”

Rachel wasn’t going to argue. She unzipped her skirt and slid out of it, then lifted her fingers to take down her panties, but he stopped her again.

“No. You are astonishing just as you are,” he said, his gaze slowly caressing her body.

He grabbed her hips and pulled her to him, the sweet sensation of his hardness pressing against her stomach. Then, with no effort at all, he lifted her, setting her on the wide ledge of the balcony with her back against the high railing and tugging her hips forward as he pressed tightly against her, his long, thick staff resting against her heat.

She wiggled against him, her breasts brushing his chest, her nipples pulsing with the need to be touched. She didn’t know whether she asked him aloud or not, but his head moved, his lips trailing down her jaw and then lower, his tongue going in circles around her breast.

“Please,” she called, needing him to end this torment. Why wouldn’t he give her what she needed so badly?

He circled his tongue around her dusky aureoles several times, wetting her skin, then moving back as the warm wind blew across her, making her stomach tighten.

Finally, when she was ready to grab his head and force him to do what she wanted, he opened his mouth and sucked her nipple inside, his tongue sweeping across the hardened peak, making her head fall back as she groaned in pure bliss.

“More!”

She couldn’t ever remember feeling so much pure lust and yet ethereal passion, and she couldn’t help but wrap her legs around his waist. She couldn’t have ever imagined wanting a man so badly. She didn’t take sex casually, ever! But she was grateful in this moment that she was breaking her rules, because she was on fire.

Moving his head, Ian gave her neglected breast equal attention, then lifted his hands and gripped them both tightly as he tweaked her nipples, causing the slightest ache, but soothing them so quickly, all she knew was pleasure.

“Lean back,” Ian commanded.

Rachel didn’t even think of arguing with him. She leaned against the safety rail, gripping it with her hands as Ian’s mouth traveled down her stomach, his tongue making lazy circles against her quivering flesh.

When he reached the top of her panties, she waited for him to remove them, but he kissed her right over the top of the material, his wet tongue swiping the revealing lace. She’d never imagined something feeling so good, but when he reached the apex of her core, and sucked her swollen flesh through the lace, she jumped, her body nearly exploding with one touch of his masterful lips.

Pushing her thighs apart further, his tongue ran along the smooth flesh between her thighs and her core, slipping beneath the edge of her panties and rubbing along the smooth lips that protected her core.

After his hand shifted the lace, his skillful tongue finally touched her where she craved it most and ran along her hot pink flesh, making her body orbit to a whole new realm of pleasure. “Yes,” she moaned in praise, her fingers holding on tightly to the rail.

His tongue sank inside her, pushing against her flesh, rubbing her in ways she never imagined wanting to be rubbed. He lifted his other hand, and with a quick rip, her panties fell from her body, leaving her completely bare and vulnerable before him.

“You taste more exquisite than the finest wine,” he said before his lips closed over her heat and sent her soaring. Her body quivered over and over again, for seconds, minutes, hours — she didn’t know. All she knew was that she was flying, and she hoped she never had the misfortune of landing.

Not pulling from her core, he squeezed her buttocks as his tongue continued flicking against her flesh, and instead of dying down, she felt the sensations in her body building again as it reached for pleasure once more.

What was this? She didn’t understand. She’d never been able to come more than once. It always hurt to have this area stroked after she’d already been pleasured. But here she was, lifting higher and higher.

Before this moment, she’d fooled around with men, gone far enough that she’d been pleasured, but never to this extent, never to where she felt as if she had lifted off the ground, and would never land again. Yes, it was time to let go, time to experience what so many others had spoken of. Why would she have waited so long to experience something like this?

Because she hadn’t found the right man to set her free.

“Yes, Rachel, let go,” he called, lifting his head for only a second.

When he plunged two fingers deep inside her core, she flew again, her body gripping his hand as she shuddered at his touch, feeling as if she had been stripped bare.

“Oh, Ian…” she moaned as he pulled back, his lips red and moist from his thorough attentions.

“We have all night, Rachel, but I must feel your sweet flesh gripping me right now,” he said as he stood and quickly thrust inside of her. A sharp pinch ripped through her, but she wouldn’t allow him to know that. She was through being a little girl, and this couldn’t stop.

Somewhere along the way he’d lost his underwear, and for a brief second, she was disappointed to not have seen him in all his glory, but then he pulled back and re-entered, and all her disappointment was washed away.

She gazed at the glittering stars high above her, the sound of the ocean way below washing across her. No one could see them, but she still loved being out on the open balcony, loved having only the slight rays of the quarter moon cascade across her.

“Oh, my sweet Rachel,” he called out, groaning as he continued his slow and magical movements.

Rachel lifted her legs, wrapping them around his torso as she leaned back a little more, her breasts being pushed up as he quickened his pace.

“Yes, hard like that,” Rachel cried as his hips thrust against her, his manhood filling her to the utmost, heating her body toward another earth-shattering orgasm.

“You are so damned beautiful,” he growled as he sped up, one hand gripping her hip while the other lifted to caress her breast, his fingers pinching her nipple gently and rolling it between his fingers.

Rachel went over the edge and cried out at the same time she felt him shaking, then heard his growl of pleasure as he let go.

Several moments passed before either of them felt the last tremors of their orgasms, both of them groaning as wave after wave washed over them.

When she felt him withdraw from her, she whimpered, but couldn’t find the strength even to reach out and grab him. She didn’t need to worry — he lifted her into his arms and carried her to his bed, where he pulled her close, laying her head against his chest while he began stroking her back.

She expected him to fall instantly asleep, sated — having gotten what he wanted. But his hand curved around her backside, and his movements became more aggressive. To her shock, she felt him harden.

Rachel came fully alive again as she lifted her head and looked into his burning eyes.

“You didn’t think we were finished, did you?” he asked.

Ohh, this was a good, good night.

Ari

You are welcome to stay and look through the journal. There is cereal in the cupboard, fruit cut up in the fridge, and coffee brewing. I have to be out the rest of the day on business, but here’s my number in case you need it. I will drop everything for your call. By the way, it took every ounce of control I possess not to slowly strip you of your clothing and sink my constantly hard body deep inside your moist folds. I could practically taste you on my tongue as I pictured your beautiful hot pink flesh. I want you — need you — am incomplete without you. Just a simple yes from you and I will make you scream in ecstasy beyond anything you’ve felt before. Thinking of you right this minute. Hard for you. Ready to take you. Any time. Anywhere.

Rafe

Ari did not see that letter from Rafe. She didn’t know what he’d written in a growing frenzy driven by his immediate thoughts of her. His second thoughts had intervened. Here he’d just been telling himself that Ari was a romantic, that he should treat her as a woman should be treated, not as just an ornament for his bed. How had he screwed up so royally? That letter would probably have gone over like a lead balloon. It was crass and coarse and it treated Ari as little more than a much-desired body. So he’d put it through the shredder and started again. His second draft began with breakfast and business matters. And it continued —

I will drop everything for your call. You must know that it took every ounce of control I had to obey your request that I not touch you. You know that I ache for you in every fiber of my being. I want you — need you — am incomplete without you. Being in the same room with you last night was gloriously painful, and I hope that we can repeat it. Any time. Anywhere.

Love, Rafe

Ari looked at the handwritten note and single orchid lying on Rafe’s unused pillow and her gut clenched with need. No. No. No. What was he doing to her? She’d been down this road and it had been a complete disaster.

She couldn’t cave in to her desire. If she did, she’d be right where she was before and she’d never be free. But a voice in her head argued that this was different.
He
was different.

“They always say they’re different!” she shouted at herself, then looked around the empty room feeling like a fool. Now she was speaking to voices in her head. This wasn’t healthy, not healthy at all.

Ari rose from his bed, having known exactly where she was from the moment she’d awoken. Once you slept with a man like Rafe, his scent washed through you, never left your consciousness. Without opening her eyes, she’d known she was in his bed. She just hadn’t known whether he was in there with her.

Ari didn’t want to admit it, but she was slightly disappointed that his side had been vacant and unrumpled. She was so indecisive, and that angered her. She’d been strong two years ago — strong enough to walk away from him. But he’d been demanding and arrogant. It had been hard to leave, though clearly not impossible.

This new Rafe, intent on seducing her in a civilized way, was zapping her of willpower. She wanted to say yes and fall into his arms. It shamed her even to think this way, but she wanted him to take the choice away from her so she wouldn’t have a reason to feel guilty about what she’d chosen.

That made her weak — that alone should have made her feel guilty.

Ari found a change of clothes in the bathroom, in her size and something she was sure to love. He wasn’t holding anything back in this quest he was on. Her favorite shampoo and body wash were there, along with her well-loved lotion.

She should leave, gather her purse and briefcase and just go home, she told herself. But an evil grin spread across her face.

She’d been so busy playing defense, the thought of playing offense hadn’t even occurred to her. Rafe said he was intent on seducing her — OK, she’d just have to see how intent he really was. If she pushed him, would he become the same ruthless man she’d first met? Would he show her he hadn’t changed, and make her decision so much easier?

It was time to find out.

Stripping off her clothes, Ari let them fall to the ground, her panties billowing out as they floated on top of her skirt and blouse. Leaving them there, she turned the shower on, making it steaming hot, almost to the point of scalding her, then climbed in and used a generous amount of the shampoo and body wash that Rafe had provided.

By the time she’d climbed from the shower, her skin was red and his bathroom was filled with her scent. She applied lotion generously to herself, and even placed a touch of it behind the faucets to make his bathroom really smell like her, then she put on the clothes he’d left out.

With only a glance at her discarded clothes, she walked from the room and entered his living room. She wished she could sit down and pore over the pages of the journal once more, but she didn’t want to take a chance that he might show up early. With a longing look at the old leather cover, she walked out his front door.

Let the games begin.

* * * * *

Should he call or shouldn’t he? He could email. No. He’d said the ball was in her court. He’d left her a nice message, clothes, her favorite bathroom products, even food. It was only fair that she call and thank him.

Right?

Yes. Anyone would say thank you. He’d been considerate and kind — not demanding anything of her. Holy hell, he should receive a giant gold medallion for not touching her the night before. He’d certainly earned it. She wasn’t easy to resist, but he’d walked from the room.

He wanted a damn award!

Rafe continued gazing at his phone as if his will would make the electronic device ring. This was ridiculous. He paced his office, irritated that he was allowing this woman to affect him so much — to completely throw him from his normal cool, composed self.

“Mr. Palazzo, you have a call on line three.”

Rafe’s heart sped up as he gazed at the phone. He’d given her his cell number, not his business line. Not that his cell had changed in the last two years, but he didn’t trust that she still had it on her. He was sure that was the first thing she’d deleted from her phone when she’d walked away from him.

Maybe she had called him on the office phone.

“For criminy’s sake!” Rafe grumbled as he walked to his desk and picked up the phone. “Rafe Palazzo,” he snapped.

It wasn’t Ari. It was his business manager and Rafe leaned back as he prepared himself for an hour-long call. Work. This was good. This was the distraction he needed.

His cell phone shook against his desk and he glanced at it briefly without thinking much about it. Suddenly, he did a double take, because there was a message and it was from Ari. Heart thundering, not hearing a word his manager was saying to him, Rafe picked up his cell and opened the message.

Love the panties. Teal has always flattered my skin complexion. Wearing them now. Thanks.

Rafe hit mute on his end of the line as his manager droned on. What did this mean? Was she saying
thank you
? What did it mean?

“Steve, I have to go!” Rafe said as he unmuted the phone, quickly hung up on his manager halfway through a sentence, then called his secretary into the room. Since she’d been with him for more than ten years, she was used to his unorthodox questions. She was like a second mother, or at least an aunt. He could trust her.

“Yes, Mr. Palazzo?”

For the first time he could ever remember in his life, Rafe felt his cheeks heat. He was actually embarrassed. When he stared at her at a total loss for words, Nina looked at him as if he’d grown a second head.

“Is everything OK, Mr. Palazzo?”

Great. Now she looked ready to call an ambulance. Did he look so far gone that she didn’t know whether he was having a heart attack or some other affliction? She was turning to make the call, or so he feared, when he finally gained his voice.

“No. No! I’m fine,” he called, and she turned and raised an eyebrow.

“OK…” she said, drawing out the word as if she didn’t believe him.

“I just need some advice from you,” he muttered, then shook his head. Rafe didn’t mutter. He wasn’t indecisive in the way he spoke. He was a man who made a decision and then went through with it no matter what. Not knowing how Ari felt about him was changing who he was, and he didn’t like that at all.

“What advice?” He could understand her confusion.

“I got this text message from Ari, and I don’t know how to interpret it.” He spoke firmly, hoping to convey confidence, but from the knowing look in Nina’s eyes, he had a feeling she wasn’t being fooled.

“I would be happy to give it a look,” she said as she strolled over to his desk; he handed over the phone.

She was looking at the message for so long that Rafe began to feel a need to yank his phone back, but he’d asked for her advice, so he would see it through. Finally, she looked up; the corners of her eyes were crinkled with laughter.

“She is flirting with you,” Nina told him.

“Flirting?” He said the word as if it were a foreign concept.

“Yes. Flirting. You need to flirt back.”

Nina had been there when his wife cheated on him and walked out the door. And she’d also been there as he’d conducted his relationships like business transactions. She understood him more than most. He knew she’d been disappointed in him, but he hadn’t cared. It was his life, and he was the one who was living it. If she didn’t like it, she knew where the door was.

However, she had liked Ari. Everyone liked Ari, including his parents and sisters. Ari just had a way about her.

“Well, what do I say?”

“Are you kidding me, Rafe?
You
don’t know how to
flirt
?” she said with exasperation. In her surprise, she called him by his first name, something she never did. Nina was always professional — to a tee.

“Of course I know how to flirt! Hell, I can have just about any woman I want. One look and they’re mine,” he said almost with a smirk. Ari seemed to be the exception, and though they both knew
this, neither of them said it.

“If you can have any woman you want, how do you get them?”

Rafe was at a complete loss for words. He didn’t know the answer to that question. It had never taken him any effort to get a woman. Women were just naturally drawn to him.

“I’m just a likable guy,” he said with a cocky grin.

“Please!” she snapped, then pursed her lips.

“I am,” he insisted as he leaned back in his chair and glared at her.

“Fine. Then it looks like you don’t need my assistance,” she said, then turned and began walking from the office.

“Nina, I’m sorry,” he called, not exactly admitting that he needed her help again, but hoping she wouldn’t leave him in the lurch.

She turned, but she didn’t look to be in the most helpful of moods. She crossed her arms against her chest and waited with one eyebrow slightly raised.

“How should I reply?” he asked.

Her irritated expression evaporated. “Rafe Palazzo, I will not help you snowball this woman. I actually like Ari. If you can figure it out and win her back, you will be a better man for it.”

With those words, she walked from the room. Rafe listened to the quiet click of the door shutting, then stared down at his phone.

Flirting. OK. He could do this. She wanted romance; she wanted words. Well, he was a master at that.

All I could picture was stripping that bit of lace off of you when I bought them. And, yes, I personally picked them out, ran my fingers across the fabric, and closed my eyes, imagining how you would look wearing them…and nothing else. Come see me tonight and I’ll undress you slowly as I run my fingers over every delectable inch of your skin.

There. That was good. Surely she didn’t want any mushy stuff. Of course not. So he leaned back as he waited, all thoughts of work forgotten. His phone rang, and he quickly clicked the button, rerouting the call, and then shut it down. His sole focus right now was this new game that Ari wanted to play.

I thought you agreed to no touching.

Rafe grinned.

That was only for one night, Ari. I plan on touching every inch of your body — again and again and again…

Rafe’s body hardened as he closed his eyes, recalling the smooth curve of her breasts, the sweet angle of her backside, her defined legs. She was a vision, and he had to have her soon. Several heartbeats passed before his phone beeped again.

Thanks for the gifts, but I have a date tonight. Maybe some other time…

Immense jealousy wrenched Rafe’s gut. His first instinct was to demand she break the date right now. She belonged to him, and no other man was allowed to touch her. He would pound anyone who tried to a bloody pulp.

He began typing exactly that, but he came to his senses before he hit send. If he said those words, he would surely lose her all over again.

No. If Ari wanted to play games, he’d just have to prove that he was always the winner. Instead of sending a response, he picked up his other phone and made a call.