Big Easy Temptation (10 page)

“Those influences will still be around come morning, Dax.” She spoke his name because
he was right. She had been trying to keep her distance. But if they spent the night
together, there would be nothing between them for those beautiful hours. No investigation.
No worries about the future. Just one glorious night with the man of her dreams.

“We’ll deal with them then.” His gaze had heated, but he made no move to kiss her.
“But I won’t touch you unless I hear you say exactly what you want.”

She wasn’t going to pretend to misunderstand. She heard the need in his voice and
it touched her. He probably craved hearing her say the words out loud because she’d
pushed him away for almost a decade. Had she convinced him that he meant nothing to
her? “I want to make love with you, Dax.”

He must have known the words were coming, but even so his body tensed. “I’ve never
wanted a woman the way I want you. Be sure, sweetheart. I don’t want a one-night stand.
If we spend the night together, it’s because we’re going to give us a chance. That
means you’ll be in the press. Unless we never leave this apartment again, they’ll
snap pictures of us. But you’re right. Since I’m the boring Perfect Gentleman, after
a few weeks, it will calm down. Everyone in your family and in your office will know
about us, though. No getting around that.”

She would take some serious ribbing from her peers and with her uncle, but she could
handle it. “Kiss me again and see if I run this time.”

His lips curled up in a sexy, dangerous smile. “We’re at your place. There’s nowhere
to run. The first time I approached you, I should have locked the door and thrown
away the key.” He sobered a bit as he met her gaze with a stare so hot and intent,
her pulse jumped. “I wonder what would have happened between us that day if my father
hadn’t interrupted. I sometimes wish I could go back and make sure Zack’s mom didn’t
dive headfirst into a vat of Chardonnay.”

Like Dax’s father, Constance Hayes was dead, too. She’d perished on a road in England,
years of alcoholism and poor decision-making finally taking their toll.

So much loss all around her, yet Holland had never reached out to grab life. She’d
let the loss and the potential for pain frighten her, but now she was realizing how
little life meant without some risk—and someone to share it with. “Are you going to
kiss me?”

“The funny thing is, I’m nervous. I’ve waited all these years . . . You know?”

She was nervous, too. How long had it been since she had butterflies in her belly,
her skin warming to a hot sting of a flush? And he’d barely touched her. She’d certainly
had sex, and some of it had been good. But she hadn’t wanted any other man like this.
“You’ve kissed hundreds of women.”

He brushed his fingers along her jawline, watching her as if he intended to memorize
this moment. “None who mattered besides you.”

“You didn’t have a problem with shyness earlier today when you nearly showed those
little old ladies on the food tour how Naval captains make babies.” Somehow his nervousness
eased her own. Despite the ridiculous amount of experience he had, she would be new
to him. They would make their own memories, their own rules and rituals.

He chuckled and leaned in, his arm curling around her back and over her shoulders.
“It wasn’t that racy.” As their laughter fell silent, he
fused his gaze to hers. Hunger filled his dark eyes, tightened his big body. “I’m
going to kiss you now and I won’t stop unless you tell me to.”

“I won’t say a word,” she breathed.

He lifted his free hand to her hair, sliding out the elastic band holding the low
ponytail she typically wore. He gripped the strands. “Soft as silk. Just like you.”

“I’m not soft, Dax.” She didn’t want him to think she was like the other women he’d
been with. They likely had been sweet, feminine creatures. Holland couldn’t afford
to be.

“Yes, you are. You can be strong and soft and silky all at the same time. That’s who
you are and one of the reasons I find you interesting. I want to know every single
facet of Holland Kirk. I want to be the man you explore with, experiment with, be
true with.”

She had the feeling he wasn’t merely talking about sex. This was why she’d always
hesitated. Dax wanted all of her, even the parts of herself she’d shut down and hidden
and told herself didn’t matter. He wouldn’t accept anything less than the whole of
her soul.

But if he gave her back the whole of his, wasn’t that worth it? If they were both
vulnerable, they could learn to trust.

She leaned in and his lips finally met hers. Slow and steady. He took her mouth like
a man indulging in decadence, as though knowing they would share the pleasure of sex
made him willing to stretch this moment out to something rich and sinful.

Gently, he fisted a hand in her hair, lighting up her scalp with sensation as he took
her lips more fully, clasping her body against his own. She softened, giving in to
the demand of his mouth, his hands. And when his tongue slid over her lower lip, demanding
entry, she couldn’t stop herself from flowering open for him.

Dax pulled her up and onto his lap. She clasped her arms around his neck, bringing
him closer. She could feel his erection pressing against her, thick and hard. So big.
She couldn’t help but wriggle a little, trying to get closer to him.

His arms tightened on her. “Stop it, sweetheart, or we’re going to
have a problem. I want this to last. After waiting this long, I want to savor tonight.”

But she was already on the edge, dying for him to be on top of her, inside of her.
“We should go to my bedroom.”

“We should set some ground rules first,” he growled against her neck. “Holland, I’m
crazy about you, but you’re going to let me control sex. I’m not foolish enough to
think I could control anything else in our relationship but I need you to let me handle
this.”

“Why does anyone have to be in control?” She’d always been in the power position with
the men in her bed. Ceding it to Dax both excited and scared her.

“Because, as you pointed out, I have more experience. And I’m wired to take control.
We’re not going to go at it like two teenagers. Not this first time. Maybe later,
when I know exactly how to touch you to get you hot.” Heat melted his dark eyes like
chocolate. “But right now I have to figure out how to handle you, how to steer you
the right way.”

“I’m not a boat, Captain.”

“Aren’t you?” He brushed a big hand over one of her breasts, cupping her flesh in
his broad palm and making her gasp. “Everything that’s worth doing is worth doing
right. Making love to you is definitely worth my best effort. See, this little nipple
is begging for attention.” He dragged his thumb across the sensitive bud so slowly
she bit her lip to hold in a moan. “Take off your shirt and your bra so I can give
it the proper attention.”

His voice had dropped an octave and gone velvety. Holland found herself obeying him.
Her fingers shook as she reached for the buttons of her shirt, twisting each and releasing
it before moving to the next. She didn’t leave the comfort of his lap, but he sat
back like a king watching the show, mentally undressing her with those eyes. There
was something a bit forbidden about baring herself while his erection pressed so intimately
against her.

Holland unfastened the last button and let her shirt fall away before she unhooked
the front clasp of her bra. Her breasts were nothing
special. She hit the gym three or four times a week to stay in shape. She considered
herself more athletic than sexy, but the way Dax’s breath hitched and he affixed his
stare to her bare mounds, as if he’d never seen anything sexier, made her rethink
all that.

He dragged his heated palm down the valley between her breasts. “Sweetheart . . .
I always knew you would be gorgeous without all those clothes. So beautiful.”

Until him, she hadn’t felt that way. Her body had been a tool to use in service of
her job, a way to move about each day. When she’d had sex, she preferred to go to
the bedroom, get the deed done, and get to sleep. Her few longer-term boyfriends hadn’t
seemed to mind, but she got the feeling Dax would take exception to that routine.

With him, it meant far more to her than a rote activity, too.

He kissed her again, their tongues tangling as he explored her breasts, caressing
her nipples, plying them with his touch. Fire licked through her system. She could
feel herself getting wet and ready.

“Lean back for me. I’ll hold you and keep you safe.” His words rumbled over the sensitive
flesh of her neck as he gently leaned her back, resting her over his arm until she
arched and thrust her chest up to him like an offering.

“Yes, these little pearls need affection.” He tongued one, laving and sucking it.

She had to bite her lip to hold in a cry. She’d never thought her nipples were particularly
sensitive, but that was because they’d never experienced Dax’s clever mouth.

She heard herself whimper as he sucked one bud deeper between his lips. He didn’t
satisfy himself with a little lick, a short few seconds of suckling. Not Captain Dax
Spencer. He indulged. He reveled. He caressed her with his tongue, tracing her areola
before he sucked the tip back into his mouth and gave her the bare edge of his teeth.
A tiny bite of pain flared before he soothed the bud with a soft laving. Her body
balled into an ache, her sex throbbed as he shifted his attention to her left breast
and gave it the same loving treatment.

“I want to kiss and lick and taste every inch of you, Holland. Do you know how long
I’ve waited to be here? Years. Fuck, sweetheart, even before I met you, I dreamed
about you. I’ve always known you’re the one woman who could make me feel, make me
want forever.” He nuzzled her, the stubble of his hard jaw gently abrading her skin.
“Stand up and take off your pants. I don’t want anything to stop me from touching
you.”

God, she wasn’t the girl who simply obeyed, but she found herself sliding off his
lap and standing in front of him. Breathless, the moment full of gravity, she peered
down at the man who had tried so hard to be her hero. None of her boyfriends had fought
for her like that. Most had considered her more competent than they were. Not one
of them had made her feel soft and feminine or so desired. Her father had wanted a
boy, so he’d raised her to be tough. Maybe Dax was right that she didn’t have to be
a stereotypical tough girl. Maybe here with him it was safe to be open, to express
all her facets—strong and soft and terribly weak where he was concerned.

Holland lowered her guard and opened her heart as she unhooked the fastening of her
slacks and let them slide down her hips. For a night, she could be Dax Spencer’s woman.
That made her feel beautiful and feminine for once. And whole.

She watched as his hot stare followed the trail of her slacks as they fell slowly
to the floor. He was right. They didn’t have to rush. After waiting for so long, they
should savor every kiss and touch. After all, they’d never have a first time together
again. Why hurry when she had no intention of moving on? Dax was the destination.

Every inch of him looked so masculine, his face all hard planes and angles that somehow
formed a perfect definition of male beauty.

Dax sat, still fully dressed while he studied her. She stood a heartbeat away wearing
nothing more than her panties. Being so exposed should make her feel vulnerable. Instead,
Holland felt every bit as beautiful as he’d told her she was even as the fear of being
so emotionally exposed cut through her. But she took a deep breath and
remembered his sweet words. God, when he told her how much he wanted her, that he
wouldn’t leave her, she believed him.

Flirting with something lasting was uncharted territory for her and perhaps a bit
dangerous with Dax, but she couldn’t turn back now. She was finally ready to see if
they could have something like forever.

She stepped out of the slacks, having kicked aside her shoes long ago. He sat forward,
his stare unwavering as he cupped her hips. There was nothing between those hot hands
and her aching flesh but a tiny scrap of cotton. Her bikini panties weren’t as sexy
as she’d like, but Dax didn’t seem to mind. He leaned in and nuzzled his nose against
her sex, breathing in her scent.

Normally, she would shy away from such intimacy, but he gave a low groan. The sound
rumbled and vibrated along her sensitive flesh.

“Fuck, I can smell how aroused you are. Your panties are damp. You’re wet, aren’t
you, sweetheart?”

She closed her eyes and sank her fingers into his hair. “Yes. I’m not usually like
this, Dax. What are you doing to me?”

“Showing you how good we are together. Give over and let me take you somewhere only
the two of us can find. This isn’t normal for me, either. Something this amazing can
only happen with you.” His fingers slid under the straps of her panties and dragged
them down her thighs, baring her feminine flesh to him. “You smell so fucking good
to me.”

His words were like drugs, clouding her mind and turning her whole world soft and
hazy. He nosed her, rubbing against her labia as he dragged her scent in with an audible
breath again. And when he nudged her folds with his tongue, gliding between to taste
her, she couldn’t help crying out in a strangled scream.

Her body trembled as she closed her eyes and sank into the moment. “Oh, Dax. Oh . . .
That feels so good.”

“You taste good, just like I knew you would. Honey and sunshine.” He wrapped his arms
around her waist and lifted her onto the couch. “Lie back and spread your legs for
me.”

She did, and he followed her, settling on top of her. Holland’s sofa
was apartment-sized and Dax was a big man, but the awkward tangle of arms and legs
still made her shiver with a pleasure that went beyond the physical. She enjoyed being
close to him and feeling like a woman in his arms. She loved feeling as if he was
all hers.