9 1/2 Days (6 page)

Danny shifted from one foot to the other, while Jordan muttered under her breath. The distinctive odor of butane wasn’t doing anything to alleviate his discomfort.

“Press. Hold. Click. It’s simple. So why—can’t I—get this—to work?”

He smelled the accelerant and heard the strike wheel grinding and felt the scar on his back tighten. What the hell was she setting on fire? Danny yanked off the blindfold.

“You’re making me nervous.”

Jordan sighed and set down the fireplace lighter she was holding. “I’m a little nervous myself.”

He glanced behind her to see flames dancing in the first three of a series of small hurricane candles. The rest, though unlit, made a path up the winding staircase.

“Seems we could both use some reassurance. Come on over here.” Danny opened his arms and waited.

She hesitated for just a second, then Jordan moved across the floor and into his embrace, her face tilted expectantly. In the faint light from the transom window above the front door, he saw that her lips trembled slightly and he heard the little catch of her breath. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought she was nervous.

Danny lowered his head and closed his mouth over hers. He’d been dying to kiss her again, so consumed by the memory of the elevator that there was no time to sample or savor. He slanted his lips across hers in a hot, urgent need to taste and take. Jordan pulled away with a gasp. Her brows drew together for an instant as she looked up at him with a bemused expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing. I just—you reminded—” She shook her head once and then smiled. “Where were we?”

A low growl of pleasure escaped him as she moved in, molding her lush body to his straining erection. He slid his hands down to cup her butt and pull her even closer. He traced her mouth with the tip of his tongue, memorizing the sinuous curve of her lower lip, the sweet fullness of the upper one. Then he delved inside to the warm recesses of her mouth.

She tightened her hold on his back, the slick fabric of her raincoat rustling as she rubbed her pelvis across the front of his sweatpants. She took the kiss to the next level, making him feel that she was going to devour him. Her tongue mated with his in what he hoped was a preview of things to come.

Breathing hard, he leaned back just enough to ask a question. Even in the dim light, he could see the excitement in her eyes. “So, stranger, are you just going to hold me for ransom, or was there something else you wanted to do with me?”

Jordan slid out of his arms and held out her hand. He grasped it in his and followed her toward the stairs. She looked over her shoulder, a little smile on her beautiful lips. “This is my fantasy, but it’s our night.”

She dropped her chin, as though embarrassed by his scrutiny, and reached for the belt of her raincoat. After fumbling with the knot, she began to unfasten the buttons. Actually, he thought the short coat was pretty sexy. It made her look more like a secret agent than a kidnapper, but he didn’t care. It left her long, gorgeous legs exposed—

His brain shut down in midthought as Jordan lifted her shoulders and shrugged, letting the coat fall in a puddle at her feet. His mouth went dry as he stared.

She wore only a tight black lingerie top, matching black panties and her sandals. Her body was extraordinary, beautifully proportioned from her graceful neck to her full breasts, long waist and round hips. His gaze returned to and lingered on her breasts, his hands flexing with the need to feel them again.

Wait…

All she wore was lingerie. That’s all she’d had on beneath the coat the entire night. Outside of the condo. In her car. On the front step of her house. He could have reached under the raincoat and her satiny skin would have been bare to his touch. The idea turned him on so much that all of the blood in his body rushed to his groin.

Jordan stepped toward him then, her demeanor uncertain, which surprised him since they’d already shared such intimacy. Maybe it was part of the fantasy. He cupped the side of her face and drew her closer. “The first time with someone new, especially a stranger, can be scary. But I promise I won’t do anything you don’t want.”

She hesitated, then closed the distance between them. The first brush of her lips against his mouth whetted his appetite. The second had him wanting to devour her, but still he held back. Her kisses were warm and sweet and he met each one with restraint until finally she opened to him, letting his tongue explore her in lazy circles. Her fingers stroked the back of his neck while her other hand slid over his shoulders and along his chest. Then he deepened the kiss, unleashing a little of the need he felt, turning the kiss urgent and demanding.

A moan escaped her throat as her fingers slipped beneath the waistband of his pants to drag at his T-shirt, just as she had in the elevator. But this time they would finish what they started. Jordan tugged the fabric up until he was forced to break the kiss and yank the shirt over his head. She smoothed her palms over his bare chest, leaving a trail of heat in the wake of her touch.

He claimed her lips once again, kissing her with all the passion burning inside. He tasted her excitement and responded in kind. The way she arched her back and wiggled against him drove him nuts. He reached up to slide the strap of her camisole off her shoulder. She pushed it back on.

Danny tugged at it again and, while she was distracted, pulled down the other strap. When she started to protest softly, he slipped his hand inside the underwire cup to fondle her breast. The velvety orb, more than filling his palm, warmed beneath his hand.

He brushed his thumb over her nipple until it beaded into a sensitive peak. Her gasp of surprise turned into a moan of pleasure. Danny quickly unhooked the eyelets on the front of the garment, dropping it to the floor and freeing both breasts for his enjoyment. Then he bent down to take one into his mouth. The flick of his tongue on the engorged flesh made her quiver and arch closer as he suckled each breast in turn.

When he straightened up, Jordan kissed him deeply, desperately, wordlessly expressing how much she wanted him. It couldn’t be as much as he wanted her. His erection threatened to poke a hole in the front of his sweatpants. He reached down between their bodies, sliding his palm along her belly until he touched the waistband of her panties. She widened her stance to give him greater access.

Jordan gasped against his mouth as he slipped one, two fingers into her heat. She was so wet, so ready. He felt her clamp down on his hand and she tightened her arm around his shoulders. He’d only begun to touch her and already she was about to explode. He knew exactly how she felt. Then she surprised him by laying her hand on top of his.

He didn’t need any more encouragement than that. He moved his hands so that he could massage her clitoris with his thumb, urging her on toward release. Her hips swiveled in almost frantic circles as he pleasured her. As soon as he increased the pressure of his thumb, Jordan cried out and came apart.

Danny held her as she caught her breath, marveling at her responsiveness and dying to be inside her the next time she climaxed like that. He toed off his running shoes and walked barefoot across the thick carpet to the bed before releasing his hold on her. He tipped her chin up until she looked at him.

“This is our night, but it’s your fantasy, Jordan. What do you want to do next?”

The lust and excitement and curiosity she’d felt moments ago were a positive sign. If she concentrated on the type of character she wanted to be, the kind of seductress she wanted to portray, then all she had to do was believe. She was sexy. Fun. Naughty. Alluring. There was a nearly naked man in front of her and she was going to enjoy him.

Jordan launched herself at David and threw her arms around his neck, knocking him backward onto the bed.

“Hey!” His exclamation was as much laughter as protest.

With a hand on either side of her waist, he adjusted her on his body until she lay atop him, straddling his thighs. The position put her in direct contact with his erection. He let out an involuntary moan when she shifted across the evidence of his desire.

He wrapped his arms around her and swiftly claimed her lips. The kiss was wild and demanding, familiar and yet new. Heart racing, her body on fire, currents of electricity zinged along her nerve endings. She returned his kiss with reckless abandon as his mouth teased and encouraged and enticed.

Then his hands began to glide along her sides.

She froze. Could he feel the stretch marks left from her weight loss? His hands continued toward her bottom and she began to panic. He would definitely feel the cellulite on her buttocks and outer thighs. She pushed up on one elbow, intending to roll off him, but the strength of his arms held her in place.

“Relax, Jordan. Just relax.”

She tried, but the core of tension remained. The reality was that not only didn’t she look like the girls in the magazines; she sure as hell didn’t feel like them, either. Reality sucked.

“I can’t.”

“In fantasies, nobody judges. Especially not strangers.”

Who was he kidding? Strangers were the most judgmental of all. She couldn’t go on with this. The fantasy spell had been broken. Suddenly overcome with anxiety, loneliness and longing squeezed her heart. If they made love now, it would be awkward and embarrassing and quickly over.

“Let me go, please.”

“Shh,” he whispered. “No inhibitions and no regrets tonight. There won’t be anything between us, not tonight.”

He kept one hand on her bottom, wordlessly insisting she accept his touch, while the fingers of his other hand tangled in her hair and guided her mouth back to his. This kiss was gentle and almost tender, a slow exploration and a gesture of reassurance. The intimacy of it added to her surreal feelings of confusion and familiarity.

He rolled over with her until they’d reversed positions. His fingers gently touched her temples and cheeks as he softly claimed her mouth again. Jordan allowed herself to unwind and to kiss him back. The tip of his tongue slipped between her parted lips, inviting her to partake. With a soft moan, she surrendered to the heat building inside her once more.

His left hand caressed the tender skin along her jaw as she parted her lips for him. His other hand moved to her breast, his palm slowly caressing the soft mound until the nipple beaded. She stroked her hands across his broad shoulders, both exploring and encouraging. Shivers of desire danced along her skin everywhere his fingers caressed her.

He brushed his lips along her jaw, nibbled on the sensitive places on her neck before kissing a path down her chest. She groaned as he suckled her nipples. The gentle, tugging pressure sent a wave of need straight to the juncture of her thighs. He continued to kiss her breasts, the top swells and the tender undersides before trailing his open mouth over her ribs and down her abdomen.

Every inch of her body felt alive with an urgent sense of need. He placed hot kisses on her belly and hips before tracing patterns along the inside of her thighs with his tongue. Moaning softly, her pulse quickened in excitement. He knelt over her, slipped his thumbs under the waistband of her panties and peeled them off. Apprehension trembled in her chest only to dissipate when his fingers probed into her damp heat.

He shifted until he could remove the panties altogether, then settled on the bottom of the bed. Jordan half gasped, half groaned at the first touch of his mouth to the damp, swollen flesh. When his tongue delved inside her, her whole being caught fire and a familiar tightening began in her womb. She lost herself in the overload of sensations as he coaxed her toward a quickly escalating climax.

“Condoms?”

“In the night-table drawer.”

David left her only long enough to strip off his sweatpants and underwear and protect them. Then he lay down beside her. Her fears and insecurities resurfaced. The last time they were together, he’d been a considerate lover, trying everything to please her. And yet she’d been left feeling empty and unsatisfied. She prayed this time was different, that her body would continue to respond.

He positioned himself between her legs, supporting his weight on his elbows. Her nipples grazed the crisp hairs on his chest before her breasts flattened against the hard planes. She could feel the ridges of his sculpted abs against her belly. Anticipation formed a knot of tension, the best kind of tension, in her belly.

His leg hairs tickled her inner thighs when he shifted. He moved forward so that the smooth tip of his penis was poised at her entrance. She tried to prepare for the sensual invasion, but she was too eager, too needy. He slowly penetrated her, inch by magnificent inch, until he was completely sheathed inside her. She writhed in pleasure as her body softened and stretched to accept him.

David pushed into her once, withdrew slightly, and then returned. Crying out in need, in relief, the raw pleasure of his possession overwhelmed her. He began rocking in a deliberate, sensuous rhythm that she quickly matched. Then he drew his knees closer, slowing the pace and changing the angle of penetration. In the back of her mind were confused questions about what was happening, but her body couldn’t have cared less as long as this newly discovered passion didn’t stop.

He must have felt the wondrous quickening in her womb because he accelerated the tempo, increased the glorious grinding pleasure. Wild and wanton, she reveled in his hard, fast thrusts. Wrapping her legs tightly around his thighs, her hands clutched at the sweat-slick muscles of his back. The slow insistent throb became a deep pulsating tremor. He arched his hips, heightening the pleasure until they were both frenzied.

She couldn’t think; she could only feel. A sensual wave crested over her, followed by tremors of ecstasy. The orgasm shuddered through her, rocking her to the core. The joy of it almost brought tears to her eyes. He continued pushing deeper and faster until at last a triumphant groan escaped his throat when he found his own release.

Too overwhelmed to speak, Jordan simply held him tight, expressing her wonder and gratitude by her embrace. She felt something shift inside of her, felt her confidence and power as a woman blooming like a rose too long untended. Delight bubbled up inside her like champagne fizz, tickling her and making her giddy. She’d hoped that fantasy sex would be all the guidebook promised, but this had been so much more.

Smiling into the darkness, Jordan considered her seduction plan a rousing success.