Bachelor Auction (32 page)

complaining. It felt good. Damn good.

She must have known how much he liked it

because she stopped. She did that a lot, stopped

when he started to enjoy it. But she always came

back to tease him with more. It was only when he

tried to take control that she vanished. Just like in

real life.

A sudden bright light pierced his eyelids, jolting

him from the sensual haze of the dream. He turned

his head away from its brilliance. It couldn’t be

morning already.

“Time to wake up.”

He opened his eyes, squinting through the glare

of his bedside lamp—not the sun—to the figure at

the foot of the bed. “Charlotte?”

When she didn’t answer, Marcus came wide

awake. She wasn’t an apparition; this wasn’t a

dream gone in some strange new direction.

Something was wrong. Charlotte needed him.

He bolted upright, only to have his shoulders

almost wrenched from their sockets when his arms

wouldn’t follow his body. “What the—”

One corner of her mouth lifted, and he knew.

She was up to something. Slowly, almost afraid to

take his eyes off her, he tilted his head back to look.

“Holy hell.” His wrists were bound together with

a brightly colored scarf—like the ones he’d

purchased in the gift shop—and tied to the ornate

spindles he hadn’t even noticed in the headboard.

One of his favorite fantasies brought to life, only in

reverse. He yanked to test its strength and felt the

silk tighten.

“Hell?” she said. “Hell is the cat and mouse

game we’ve played this weekend. But I’m changing

the rules, and you can consider yourself caught.”

He looked back at her to ask what she meant; he

thought they were through with games after this

210

Bachelor Auction

afternoon. But his jaw went slack as she whipped

the pink sweater she’d worn during the morning

shoot over her head. Her breasts stretched upward

with the movement, nearly spilling over the top of a

lacy pink bra before settling back into their cups

when she lowered her arms.

Tossing the sweater on the chair in the corner,

she reached for the waistband of her jeans. A quick

tug at the button and a slow pull of the zipper, and

she shimmied out of them. They went the way of the

sweater, leaving only a scrap of pink lace that

matched her bra in their place. He knew all too well

the pale curls that lay behind that triangle.

Marcus forced his gaze upward, reasoning that

if he focused on her face, he could pretend she wasn’t

half naked and convince her this was a mistake. Not

friggin’ likely when she looked at him with hungry

cat-like eyes, as if she were about to devour him.

“What are you doing, Charlotte?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

She grasped the sheet near his feet, and he

instinctively tried to twist to one side. Silk bit into

his ankles, strangling his attempt, and the panic

that had idled under his skin revved to full throttle.

He wasn’t wearing anything beneath the sheet.

Worse, he still suffered the effects of the dream, not

to mention a hurried but provocative strip tease.

“And just what do you hope all this will achieve?”

One shoulder lifted and fell. “An orgasm.”

His erection jumped beneath the sheet, along

with his desperation. Images of the night she’d come

apart in his arms in the mayor’s garden swirled in

his head. He mentally closed the door on them and

jerked on the restraints. The one at his ankles made

a tearing sound but held. If he could stall her long

enough...”Look, you don’t really want to do this.”

“Oh, but I do.” She pulled the sheet the rest of

the way off, and her eyes zeroed in on the part of

211

Darah Lace

him that would eagerly relinquish control if he let it.

“By the looks of things, you want it, too.”

He had never denied that fact before, and he

couldn’t deny it now. Not even if he wanted to. His

mouth simply wouldn’t form the words as she

hooked her thumbs under the pink elastic hugging

her hips and with excruciating slowness, slid the

lace down long, tanned legs.

Fingers spread, her hands smoothed up the

sides of her hips over her belly and ribs, seductive in

their movement. One arm twisted behind her back,

and an instant later, her bra loosened. She slipped

her hands under the cups, palming the fullness

beneath. Her back arched. Her head lolled to one

side. “Mmm, feels so good. But I can’t help wishing

you were the one touching me.”

Oh, he’d love to get his hands on her all right.

Right around her pretty neck. “Then untie me.”

“I would if I thought you’d actually go for it. But

you wouldn’t.” She shrugged out of her bra,

revealing

pink-tipped

breasts.

Pert,

firm,

mouthwatering. She massaged the underside where

the underwires had left indentions. “So I’ve taken

the decision out of your hands.” Her thumbs flicked

the beaded nipples then looked down at what she

was doing. “Literally, it seems.”

Her knee met the mattress.

“Wait.” He strained once more against the silk

bindings. The one at his wrists slipped again but

held tight. Damn. “Let’s talk about this.”

“That’s part of your problem, Marcus.” She

placed her hands on either side of his legs to crawl

up his body. “You analyze things too much. You need

to let things happen.”

Marcus squeezed his eyes shut and ground his

teeth against the sensation of her warm skin

brushing his, her hair trailing over his legs, his hips.

“Some things aren’t meant to happen.”

212

Bachelor Auction

“This is.”

And it was. But not yet. Not until...What? What

was so damned important that he couldn’t take the

pleasure she offered? God knew he ached for it.

“This wouldn’t be necessary,” she said, settling

between his thighs, “if you’d have just let go of that

damned control of yours. We could have ended this

last summer and moved on.”

There it was. The reason. He could no more have

moved on then than he could now.

He’d loved her all these years and never known.

Or maybe he’d known but fought it. Either way,

until this afternoon, when he’d stood alone and

watched her vanish over the mountain’s edge, he

hadn’t understood.

Grasping hold of the thought with all his might,

he opened his eyes. “But this thing between us didn’t

start last summer, did it? It started years ago.”

Her hand hovering above his cock stilled. She

peered up at him from beneath a veil of silvery

blonde hair, her gaze startled.

“Admit it. The attraction’s been there since the

night we met.”

The shock faded from her eyes as they

narrowed. “I’m beginning to wish I’d gagged you as

well.” Full pink lips stretched into a smile. “But I

know how to shut you up.”

Her fingers encircled, warm and tight. His hips

thrust upward involuntarily. She laughed as she

lowered her head and he tried to sink into the

mattress.

Don’t think about what she’s doing or how good

it feels. Concentrate on something else
.

Wet kisses rained up and down his shaft.

Count
.

Count what?

Her tongue slathered him from root to tip.

Ceiling tiles, the spots in front of your eyes, the

213

Darah Lace

beats of your heart, anything. Just count.

One, two, three...

Her lips slipped over his engorged head.

A low groan choked him, and his back came off

the sheets. His arms strained against the silk

around his wrists. But nothing could stop the

sensations her mouth created. He slammed his eyes

shut and started counting again, faster this time.

One, two, three, four...

Wasn’t

working.

Backwards

maybe.

One

hundred, ninety-nine, ninety—oh, God that felt

damn good. Like...like...nothing he could describe.

No, it felt awful. The worst. Like having a tooth

pulled. He needed drugs.

She stopped and sat up.

Marcus expelled a lung-full of air. Thank God.

His body went limp, the tension easing from his

cramped muscles. Resisting was getting more and

more difficult.

He had to think again why it was so important

to keep fighting her. Why couldn’t he give in to the

pleasure his body craved? He wouldn’t be using her

as other men had. He loved her.

Ah, but that was it. He loved her. And damn if

he hadn’t almost given up on that love once today.

He’d been half way down the mountain when he

realized he couldn’t do it. He had to try again. Had

to show her how much he loved her. For the woman

she was, not what she could give him.

Giving in to his physical needs now would be

worse than if he’d taken her last summer. For her

sake, she had to trust him first. For his, she had to

love him.

She leaned forward, regaining his attention. Her

hair tickled his shoulder. Her breath feathered his

jaw. Cracking one eye open, he found her stretched

above him, fumbling for something on the night

stand. Then she backed up, one hand pushing off his

214

Bachelor Auction

chest, to resume her position between his legs.

He followed that hand as it held the thing she’d

been searching for. A flat, black packet with gold

writing.

“No.” His strangled cry went unheeded as she

tore the foil open and pulled out a dark purple

condom.

“Yes.” She rolled it carefully down his sensitive

flesh. “This
is
going to happen, Marcus.”

She bent and kissed his belly next to his

towering purple erection. Her tongue lashed out to

wet the spot she’d kissed. Then she blew softly.

Pleasure rippled straight to his balls.

Silk bit into his wrists and ankles as he renewed

his efforts to free himself, jerking and twisting. He

concentrated on that pain rather than the sweet

torture of her mouth as it traveled up his stomach,

his chest. Or the feel of her soft thighs straddling his

hips. Or her hot, wet core pressing against his

throbbing shaft.

“Charlotte, no.” He thrust a leg up, hoping to

unseat her. One foot ripped free of its bindings.

“Yes,” she breathed and tilted her hips, taking

the head of his cock inside her.

The thudding in his ears grew louder, faster,

whether from his struggles for freedom or from the

pulsing desire rocketing through his body.

“Yes,” she hissed again as she rose above him

and slowly sheathed him to the hilt, then paused.

“Be still, Marcus. I’m too close. I want this to last.”

“Oh, God.” Marcus froze, afraid to move, as her

muscles tightened around him. This was good.

Better than he’d ever dreamed. His whole body was

on fire, screaming for relief.

Yet as good as it felt, it wasn’t enough. It was

still only sex. Not at all what he would have wished

for once the time came. He wanted to run his hands

over every inch of her soft flesh, to follow their path

215

Darah Lace

with his mouth, to make her feel the same sweet

pleasure she made him feel.

He wanted to make love to her.

A tremor traversed through her, encompassing

him. He shivered and watched her as she came to

grips with her body’s need to surge ahead.

Damn, she was beautiful. Sooty lashes fanned

flushed cheeks. Equally rosy breasts peeked from

behind moon-kissed hair that spilled over her

shoulders. Her delicate hands gripped the top of her

thighs, nails digging into soft flesh.

He closed his eyes, shutting out the vision, just

as she shifted, taking him deeper. He moaned. She

moaned. Then ever so slowly, as if testing against

the threat of climax, she moved, lifting herself until

only the tip of his cock remained inside her.

“Charlotte, stop...” He groaned as she engulfed

him once more and began to ride, slowly undulating,