Scent of a Woman (8 page)

She arched into him as his mouth found the pulse throbbing just below the surface of her skin.

“I thought we’d stop off in the park at Villa Borghese. Maybe walk to the Trevi fountain and past the Coliseum. I’ve heard it’s better to see a few things in Rome than to tackle too much.”

“
Oui
. I have seen the park and it is beautiful.” Her breath huffed faster, hands alighting on his shoulders as she hummed her satisfaction. “We will let our feet follow paths that are over two thousand years old. Who knows how many other lovers have chased each other through the Eternal City?”

He broke away, sitting up to look her in the eye.

“You’re not trying to give me the slip the way you want to do to those photographers?”

The instep of her bare foot rubbed against his calf with slow deliberation and that wicked smile of hers unfurled.

“I am looking forward to being caught by you at the end of the night. Maybe sooner if we grow too restless on our trip into the city.” Her fingers combed down the front of his jacket and it occurred to him that wearing a suit wasn’t so bad when a woman like Danielle wanted to take you out of it. “That, I can promise.”

Heat crawled all over his skin at her words, making him hope like hell the driver would floor it on the way back to the ship. He needed to get her alone, to peel away the exotic layers of this sexy French woman to find out what made her so different from other women.

She made him want to do things he’d never cared about before—making a crazy dash through Rome sound like foreplay. She’d convinced him that her conservative clothes were sexier than tight T-shirts and tiny cut-offs. She even made him want to find out more about perfume just so he could keep up with her.

He’d either lost his freaking mind or he was falling for her. Both possibilities scared the hell out of him. He’d seen what relationships could do to smart guys. The divorce rates of his friends were sky-high and his own long-term liasons had ended badly. For that matter, to call any of his relationships “long-term” would be a stretch at best with the work hours he kept.

But there sat Danielle, the most incredible woman he’d ever met, and he was ready to do whatever she wanted.

Hell.

He closed his eyes and found her lips. The sweet flavor of her kiss silenced all the warning bells going off in his brain, making her taste, her pleasure, the only important things right now. He kissed her for an endless moment, savoring the sweet satisfaction of that simple joining.

Her arms wound around his neck with no reservations, her breasts flattening against his chest, tantalizing him with images of what they could do until the car arrived in Rome.

Groaning with need, he hauled her up into his lap, seating her crossways so that her legs sprawled out along the seat beside him. Her hair draped down on either side of her face, curtaining their kiss and releasing the scent of fruity shampoo. He smoothed one side behind her shoulder, needing to see his hand on her body as he touched her.

“One question has been driving me crazy all week.” He slipped his hand into the slit at the side of her dress, the fabric already parting to reveal toned calves tanned from their day on Capri.

“You wish to know the secret of my perfume success?” she teased, shifting in his lap so that her skirt slid farther up her legs.

“I’m sure my brother wishes I were that dedicated to work.” He tugged her lower lip into his mouth and feasted for a long moment before he released it again. “I’m dying to know what kind of lingerie a sexy perfumer likes to wear.”

“You naughty man,” she chided, undoing the knot in his tie. “I believe you were thinking about my underwear when I was trying so hard to teach you about distinguishing scents.”

“Maybe the desire to find out more about your panties made me want to be a better student. I think the incentive of getting you naked one day really helped my learning curve in the fragrance department.” He fingered a sensitive spot behind her knee that made her breath catch.

“You are lying to me already and we’ve only known each other five days.” She bent her knee farther, making her hem slide up until only the tops of her thighs remained covered by the purple silk. “And I was ready to believe you really needed my help.”

“I do need you,” he assured her, grateful for the tinted windows that gave them privacy despite the daylight. They’d entered the outskirts of Rome and foot traffic slowed the pace of the limo as it made its way along the narrow roads.

Danielle flexed her fingers against Adam’s broad chest, his words wrapping around her as seductively as his touch.

He needed her.

She knew the phrase might be just a general statement of physical desire, but to her it meant more. She felt the same need, and there was nothing remotely generic about it. Her thirst for Adam was far more than some random sexual itch. She longed for him at a deeper level, aching to connect with him, fearing she would fall apart if she didn’t fulfill the need. Her fingers flew over his shirt buttons, her whole body reacting instinctively as she unveiled his bare chest to her touch.

“There is such vitality in American men,” she observed to herself as much as him, marveling at the sinew and muscle beneath his heated flesh. “You accused me of having a sensuous nature, but I see this is where you indulge
your
physical side. You,
monsieur,
are an athlete.”

She traced the lines that separated his abdominal muscles, the rock-hard plates lining up into six neat compartments. He closed his eyes and tipped his head back against the seat as she touched him, and it pleased her to know she could affect him that way.

“Work can be stressful.” He reached out to imprison her fingers for a moment as he stared at her, his breathing shallow. “The gym is a good place to work off that stress in a socially acceptable way.”

“Ah.” She nodded her understanding and wriggled her fingers free again. “You need a release.”

“Yes.” He slipped his hands beneath her hair and pulled her to him.

She paused when they were nose-to-nose, breathing one another’s air.

“I have an idea for a release you’re going to like much more.”

D
ANIELLE HADN’T REALIZED
how much time had passed during those kisses until the driver’s voice startled her right off Adam’s lap.

“I can’t take you any farther, sir, unless you would like me to take you to another park?”

She realized the limo had stopped as she tried to calm her unsteady heart. Her lips were swollen, her hair spilling untidily around her shoulders.

“Why?” Adam barked through the speaker. “Are we even close to the Villa Borghese?”

“Yes, but the road is closed off here by the
polizia
and I’m afraid it will not open for some time. It looks like there must have been trouble at the Galleria Borghese because all the streets around there have been closed.”

Straightening her dress, Danielle peered out her window to orient herself.

“We can walk to the park from here. Or we can proceed straight to the Coliseum and see what we find along the way.” She had been to the Villa de Borghese twice as a girl. Her mother loved to visit art galleries of all kinds, and believed the Italian masterpieces were the best in the world. Danielle didn’t care where she and Adam went today as long as they spent time together.

After those heated moments in his lap, she looked forward to returning to the ship.

“How far is it?” Adam called to the driver, working on his shirt buttons. Outside, pedestrians walked past on the sidewalk near the closed street.

“A few blocks. No more.” The driver launched into directions in broken English, but Danielle was already mapping the route in her mind.

“I know where it is,” Danielle said. “Follow me.”

She opened the car door on the side opposite him, not waiting for the driver to come around.

“Danielle, wait.”

She heard Adam’s voice behind her, but she wanted fresh air and a moment to steel herself before she fell into his arms again. She wasn’t usually this bold with any man, but she’d been cautious for so long that something inside her seemed to rebel this week, clamoring for her to run wild.

Italian men were notorious flirts and they whistled their appreciation as she walked by. Unswayed by any man’s attentions save Adam’s, she shook out the shrug she’d discarded earlier and used it to protect her bare shoulders from the sun. The day had turned warm and humid, the city alive with scents of garlic and strong coffee, and a hint of the Tiber River nearby.

After he paid the driver, Adam caught up to her, his tie still undone around his neck. That note of disarray sent a thrill through her, reminding her that they would be shedding far more than his tie tonight.

When he reached her, he pulled her against him, his hands firm around her waist.

“I’m not letting you five feet from me in a strange city with packs of wolves prowling the streets.” He eyed a pair of young men who edged past them, clearly not appreciating the extra attention she received.

The thought pleased her more than it should.

“You are jealous of strangers when only you get to take me home with you?” She couldn’t resist reminding him what awaited them.

He muttered something under his breath, but she felt the vibration beneath her hands, resting on his chest.

“Until then, we’re sightseeing, damn it.” Turning her in his arms, he didn’t chase her through the streets of Rome so much as propel her, and that turned out to be every bit as exciting.

The day was improving by the minute.

H
OURS LATER
they returned to the ship and the privacy of Adam’s suite. The car ride back to the port had required incredible restraint from both of them. All afternoon they’d savored the sights and sounds of Rome, but the pleasures of the Eternal City had almost lost out to the thrill of anticipation Danielle felt at the thought of being along with Adam tonight.

“Danielle.” He spoke her name with a reverence that made her knees weak as he locked the door behind them. His penthouse suite was more lavish than hers, and chills chased up her spine as she acknowledged she was completely in his hands tonight. The lights in the room were on a dim, soothing setting. Wine and fruit had been delivered to the room earlier and now sat on a cocktail table near a chaise longue. The ice in the ice bucket hadn’t melted so much as a drop.

All day it had been that way. Adam had commanded attention and good service for them at the coffee shops, at the small galleries and with the deferential driver who’d driven them back to port even faster than on the outgoing trip.

“You live very well,” she observed, feeling a little out of her league with this man for the first time since they had met.

Danielle had been so confident of herself, so certain her knowledge as a perfumer was superior to anything Adam might offer to win the Dubai account. But today she’d realized that Adam Burns was an extremely powerful man, and that intimidated her professionally even if it thrilled her on a more intimate level.

And—she reminded herself—tonight definitely wasn’t about business.

“Yeah? Having you here with me makes me think you’re right. I’m living very damn well tonight.”

Compelled by the promise of his words and the heat in his eyes, Danielle closed the space between them and walked into his arms. Maybe it was the memories of their day in a romantic old city, but she could have sworn she heard violins swell triumphantly in her head.

Winding her arms around his neck, she arched up to kiss him and found herself swept off her feet. Adam cradled her to his chest, kissing her as he strode through the sitting area to the bedroom.

Danielle opened her eyes long enough to see a beautiful high bed draped in a white duvet. The covers had been turned back to show perfectly smooth sheets, the scent of starch mingling with lavender water as Adam laid her down.

“Lying here—it feels like sinking into heaven,” she sighed on a contented breath, speaking more about Adam’s presence around her than the luxurious sheets beneath her, but then, maybe he did not need to know that.

In fact, maybe he had not heard her, intent as he seemed now on lowering the zipper down the side of her dress. She arched up as he tugged the purple silk off her body, leaving her clad in only a strapless bra and undies.

“They match the color of your eyes.” Adam grinned up at her wickedly as he wrenched his gaze from her panties. “Violet.”

Only then did she recall his curiosity about her lingerie, an interest that had him tracing the silk over her hipbone. Making her shiver.

“There is no such thing as violet eyes,” she disagreed, oddly pleased that her blunt-speaking American would spout this bit of romantic nonsense to her.

“Maybe I’m saying the wrong thing.” He trailed a fingertip along her belly, skimming the line of her panties until she felt faint from the surge of heat that coursed through her. “Whatever color this is—” he dipped his finger ever so slightly beneath the waistband “—it’s the same shade as your eyes.”

No longer wishing to argue, Danielle couldn’t even form words as his small movement produced delicious counter pressure on her most sensitive places. Her breath caught. Held. There was no room in her for air, her body so full of want she could not contain anything but this sharp need for Adam.

Fingers infused with that desire, she unfastened his shirt buttons and tugged away his crisp white dress shirt. She smoothed her fingers down his bare chest to his trousers.

His skin was on fire, burning with the same fever that seemed to grip her. She savored the solid strength of him, the hard muscle that forced her feminine softness to mold to him and around him. Even now, as he unfastened the front hook of her bra, her breasts flattened to accommodate the weight of him when he leaned down to kiss her.

“I’ve never been with someone so—soon.” Her words caught as his thumb skated over one taut peak.

He stilled before pulling back to look her in the eye.

“Is it too fast for you? Tell me now and—”

She was already shaking her head. “No. It is not too fast. I just…well, I wanted you to know this is a first for me.”

Adam heard Danielle’s words, but it took a moment longer for them to reach his brain so he could process what they meant. She was giving him something special, something unique. Despite all her talk of a wild side, she’d never gone to bed with a man after knowing him for such a short period of time, and that meant—

Holy crap. He couldn’t even think about what that meant right now while he held her almost-naked body against him, the scent of her skin making him drunk with want.

“I’m going to take such good care of you tonight you’ll never regret it,” he vowed, wishing he didn’t have to cram a whole relationship into a ten-day cruise with this exotic woman. “I promise.”

She wouldn’t know he wasn’t the kind of man to promise anything lightly. But he knew he was committing a hell of a lot with his words. He planned to make sure she went back to Nice a well-pleasured woman.

Unfastening his pants, he wrenched himself away long enough to stand and step out of his clothes. She looked like a goddess against the white sheets, her dark hair spilled over the pillowcase like one of the ship’s classical statues come to life.

He spun her around to face him, her legs spilling off the bed. Stepping between her thighs, he strained toward her. Ready for her. He reached into the night-stand for the condom he’d placed there earlier and tore it open. He intended to keep her safe so they could enjoy this night to the fullest.

“You think of everything, I see.” She ran her fingers up his thigh as he swept her panties down her endlessly long legs.

“I wanted everything perfect for you,” he told her honestly. “I figured if I was ever lucky enough to get you here, I didn’t want you to have to worry about a single thing.”

She kissed her full lips to her finger and then reached up to place the kiss on his mouth. He stood over her, sheathed and ready. Oh, so ready.

Unable to wait any longer he leaned down and kissed her. She moaned, hips grinding against him until he positioned himself between her legs and edged his way inside.

Sweat broke out across his forehead as he tried to maintain control, but it wasn’t easy with the sweet heat of her all around him, her legs wrapped around his waist to pull him closer. Tighter.

He felt himself losing control and he fought that sensation, needing to make this last for her. For them both.

“Danielle.” He called out her name in a mixture of pleasure and anguish as she tilted her hips, making room to take every last inch of him.

“The fire inside is too great,” she murmured brokenly, twisting beneath him. “It is like an unbearable fever.
Please
. I need you.”

Her nails bit lightly into his hips as she reached for him and he knew all was lost. He thrust deeply inside her again and again, finding his rhythm. Or was it hers? He hardly knew where his needs ended and hers began in this wordless quest for fulfillment.

When she finally found that perfect high note to please her, she let out a keening cry he covered with his mouth, absorbing the uncensored sound of her pleasure as her body pulsed with shuddering spasms. The sensual squeeze of her fulfillment triggered his release, taking every last ounce of his energy until he fell into bed beside her, replete.

He didn’t know how much time passed before he fell asleep, but he made sure to cover their cooling bodies with the sheets before he smoothed Danielle’s tousled hair away from her flushed cheeks. As he watched her sink into slumber, he thanked his personal saints for bringing her to him, all the while wondering why—now that he’d found this incredible woman—she had to be a business competitor. No matter how much she’d claimed to be comfortable with that dynamic, Adam knew their relationship would change when he won the account she coveted.