Grapes of Wrath (Billionaires' Secrets Book 2) (5 page)

She realized she was leaning toward him. Since it felt so natural, she leaned closer, her nipples tight and tingling under her blousy top.

She slid one arm around him, aware of his muscled back through the soft fabric of his shirt.

Amado’s bare palm on her thigh made her gasp. He’d hiked her skirt up almost to her underwear and warmth from the fire baked her skin.

She glanced at his face. His eyes were closed, his expression simple and familiar: the intense appreciation of a connoisseur.

Susannah’s eyes slid shut as his mouth claimed hers, hot and ready. She could feel his body heat through their clothes. Almost without thinking, she pulled gently at his shirt until it came loose from his pants in the back, then she slid her fingers over the firm ridges of muscle on either side of his spine.

Excitement built inside her as their kiss deepened.

Heat gathered between her legs and desire thickened inside her.

It had been a long time since she’d kissed anyone. Usually she avoided personal entanglements. She was busy, she traveled a lot, and she didn’t need the drama.

But this was perfect. They both knew what they wanted, and there was a neat and tidy ending already in sight.

Unless he was Tarrant’s son, of course.
A frisson of unease rippled through her.

But that was unlikely. With his dark coloring and smooth, sculpted features, Amado didn’t look like the angular, blue-eyed Tarrant. And Clara certainly didn’t fit the mold of Tarrant’s glamorous ex-lovers.

She shoved the potential complication from her mind.

Tonight would be a delicious interlude. A sweet taste of pleasure, like the sip of a wine she knew she wouldn’t buy for the company, but that she drank purely for her own enjoyment.

Amado cupped her breast in his broad hand, strumming her nipple until it peaked against his palm.

“Come with me,” he breathed the words in her ear.

He picked up her hand and squeezed it in his. Anticipation shone in his coffee-brown eyes.

She rose from the sofa, legs shivering. Her whole body tingled with arousal, from her scalp to the soles of her well-massaged feet.

He led her by the hand, the perfect gentleman, except that he was doing something a perfect gentleman would never do—seduce a virtual stranger.

Somehow that gave her an illicit thrill.

She’d always been the good girl, the minister’s daughter no one even dared to look at, let alone entice into bed. She’d been taught from toddlerhood to set a good example for those around her. To think about others and put her own needs aside.

For a long time, she never even knew she had needs. Right now, as her belly throbbed with desire, she was aware of little else.

Amado led Susannah past antique furniture and rugs glowing with the rich colors of natural pigments. The house had obviously been lovingly cared for by generations of grateful owners.

The stairway’s curved wood banister gleamed in the distant firelight. They exchanged a cautious smile.

Well, hers was cautious, his was encouraging.

Come into my chamber, said the spider to the fly.

But she was a willing fly, so why not?

Amado’s personal bedchamber was large, with velvet floor-length draperies covering the windows. A four-poster bed carved from dark wood dominated the space. The fluffy white duvet covered the high mattress like a low- hanging cloud, inviting Susannah to sink into its softness.

Amado rested his hand on her hip. He kissed her with exquisite gentleness, taking his time, savoring her.

She let her fingers roam over his shirt, enjoying the shape of him beneath the fabric. His body was hard and athletic, capable of speed and force. But his movements were tender, almost unbearably so, as he licked her lips, brushed them with his mouth, and nuzzled his cheek gently against hers.

His suntanned skin wasn’t exactly soft, but it wasn’t rough either. Everything about Amado seemed smooth and mellow, like a fine wine.

He pulled back slightly. “Let me make you at home in my bed.”

Her insides shimmered at the prospect. Amado’s dark eyes shone with simple desire that echoed her own. His forearms brushed the sides of her breasts, stirring delicious tremors of sensation, as he unhooked and unzipped the back of her dress.

He lowered the fabric over her shoulders to reveal her bra. She’d worn a pretty one today. Had she somehow known?

His big hands cupped the silver-gray satin and lace, and rubbed her nipples gently through the fabric. Susannah couldn’t help wriggling as arousal tingled over her skin. She reached for his shirt and pulled the buttons out through the soft fabric.

Amado’s chest was thickly muscled, with a narrow trail of hair descending from his belly button into the low-slung waist of his pants. A sturdy leather belt held the latter firmly closed, and she struggled with the stiff hide while Amado layered hot, breathy kisses over her neck.

His erection jutted beneath the buckle. She enjoyed a naughty sense of satisfaction at this proof that he was every bit as turned on and wound up as she was.

At last, she pulled the leather loose and tackled the fly of his pants. As she pushed the khaki fabric down over his hard thighs, her fingers trembled with excitement.

Amado eased her dress down, and squeezed her backside. His eyes were closed, his lips slightly parted. He had a wide mouth with a bold, sensual cut. High cheekbones and a strong nose. The kind of looks that made women sigh and nudge each other.

Susannah was usually intimidated by extravagant good looks in a man. She didn’t want to deal with the oversize ego that came with them.

But with Amado, his proud features seemed a natural extension of everything she admired and liked about him: his passion and dedication, the confidence born of hard- won success.

Why shouldn’t you be arrogant, if you’d earned the right?

He unhooked the clasp on the front of her bra, and lifted the cups from her breasts. Tight with arousal, her nipples stung in the night air drifting through the open windows.

He eased the straps down over her arms, and placed her bra carefully on a chair, on top of her neatly folded dress.

With the same careful deliberation he lowered his head and licked her left nipple. The rough texture of his tongue on the supersensitive flesh made her gasp. At the same moment, he slid his fingers into her panties. She could feel herself slick against them.

Should she be embarrassed that her arousal was so obvious? She didn’t know what to think. Couldn’t think, as pleasure stole over her body.

Amado’s delight in her was palpable. She could sense his heart beating beneath his ribs, hear his deepening breaths as he sucked her nipples to peaks of pleasurable tension.

He eased her panties down over her thighs and placed them on the chair, then removed his underwear and stood facing her. They watched each other. Both naked, aroused, expectant.

His sturdy male body and the raw strength it implied appealed to her in a way she couldn’t begin to articulate or even understand.

But why should she? She didn’t need to analyze everything and understand it. She didn’t need to figure out how it all fit together.

“You see the world differently than other people.”

Amado’s low voice crept into her ear.

She blinked. “How?” Could he read her thoughts?

She felt naked. She
was
naked.

He stroked her chin. “You don’t see only the surface of things. You see inside them, too.”

“I’m not so sure. I don’t see inside you.”

His dark eyes fixed on hers.

“Yes, you do.”

She frowned. What did he think she was thinking? Should she ask? Her heart beat faster.

But she didn’t get a chance to ask because Amado’s bold mouth covered hers in a swift and forceful kiss.

At the same time, he swept her into his arms as if she weighed nothing and laid her on the duvet.

Chapter Five

S
usannah sank into the thick, soft surface and Amado climbed over her. For a second, she wondered if he’d part her legs and enter her, and her belly tightened with a mix of fear and anticipation.

But he didn’t. He stretched himself out alongside her, skin to skin, his flat stomach against her hip, his long, hard thighs against hers, his muscled arm holding her close.

“Welcome home.” He nuzzled her ear and kissed her neck.

Susannah’s eyes widened as a powerful and deeply strange sensation flooded her.

Welcome home?
What a weird thing to say. Still, no reason to get all worked up. It was probably his shtick for the tourists. It wasn’t like he actually
meant
it.

“Your brain is so busy,” he whispered. “Sometimes you just have to be.”

“To be what?” Her brain raced faster.

“You.”

“And who’s that?”

He kissed her ear, his warm breath sending shivers of heat dancing through her. “Just you.”

His gaze shone black in the scant silver moonlight creeping in around the draperies. “Your mouth.” He licked her lips, left them cool and humming.

“Your neck.” He bit it gently, a careful vampire.

“Your chest.” He brushed her breast with his cheek, then sucked each nipple in turn.

“Your stomach.” He blew hot air on her skin, making it shiver. Then he licked around her belly button and grazed her skin with his teeth. For a second, her womb seemed to yearn toward him and Susannah almost cried out from the odd and powerful sensation.

She’d never experienced anything like this before. Her previous sexual experience was a series of quick and embarrassed fumbles by comparison.

And they hadn’t even done anything yet.

“Stop thinking.”

Her insides contracted again, and ripples of pleasure washed through her.

What is this man doing to me?

He parted her legs and lowered his mouth between her thighs. He licked and sucked until her hips rose off the mattress and a high-pitched moan escaped her mouth.

Her eyes flew open and she glanced down to see his gaze gleaming in the moonlight.

“Just let go and be. With me.” His voice rasped, husky. His hair fell to his eyes, which fixed on her, dark slits of passion.

Already half insane with arousal, Susannah wriggled against him, enjoying the sensation of his hot, hungry mouth on her flesh. Fierce contractions rocked her, starting from his tongue—like the plug in an electric socket—and surging through her entire body in waves. They flung her against the bed where she cried out, again and again, as Amado moved his mouth over her, rocking her deeper into the crazy otherworld where there was no thought, only fierce and overwhelming pleasure.

Howling outside the windows penetrated her consciousness as her shuddering body collapsed back against the hot duvet.

“What’s that?” she gasped.

“The dogs.” Amado grinned. “They want to know what all the fuss is about.”

Her hand flew to her mouth. She could hear them yowling outside the window. “Did I make that much noise?”

“Yes.” He nuzzled her neck, his pleasure at her abandon written all over his face. “But don’t start thinking now.”

“I don’t know what…I’ve never—” Susannah frowned. Stray energy still whipped through her in uneven bursts.

“You never had an orgasm?”

“Is that what this is?”

Amado grinned. “Sure is. Feels good, huh?”

Susannah nodded.

Amado bent down and kissed her belly, which contracted tightly as his lips touched her. “You’re sensitive.” He looked up, eyes shining. “Very responsive.”

He leaned away from her and she heard him rip something. He turned and rolled a condom over his impressive erection. Susannah blinked.

He was so—matter-of-fact about it. Unembarrassed. Like this was a normal, everyday thing to do.

Maybe it was, for him.

He climbed over her and her skin tingled as he hovered above her. He nuzzled her neck again—how she loved that—and breathed in her ear. “You feel more than other people. That’s why you think too much. But it’s okay to simply feel.”

Susannah swallowed. Her brain wanted to make sense of his words but her body was utterly focused on Amado. He entered her in a single swift motion that pushed her into the soft mattress.

So aroused already, she couldn’t stop herself from climaxing again immediately. Tremors rippled through her. She could hear the sounds she was making, but she couldn’t do anything about them. Couldn’t prevent her arms from winding around his powerful torso and clutching him close.

“Oh, Amado.” She heard herself cry out his name as he moved inside her. He thrust into her, gentle, then harder, slow, then fast. Taking his time, then rushing until she climaxed again—and again—totally unable to control the spasm of her muscles and the shivering sneezes of sensation that racked her body.

She took him deeper, pleading with him in Spanish and in English and several other languages to take her and love her and hold her and make her his. To go faster and rougher and harder and—