Wicked Valentine (Sizzling Encounters) (6 page)

She sniffed and raised her chin. “You seem to enjoy those little surprises.”

“I do.” He hugged her to his side. “That’s why it’s your turn now.”

After passing enough doors that she started to wonder how many bedrooms the pool house had, they reached an open entryway. She stared at the beautiful scene before her.

“This is amazing,” she whispered.

They were in an indoor garden. Glass walls surrounded the place, giving the already-open doors even more of an outdoor look. This side of the house faced a river. And that was the view they had in the glass room. It was obvious the room was an extension of the house to keep the outdoors inside when the weather was bad.

A table was set for two in the center of the room. He held her seat for her and then pulled a covering off their plates.

“I had arranged for dinner.” He lifted a brow. “But someone got me distracted. I think we are OK because the food should still be hot.”

She bit her lip to keep from smiling. “I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not.”

Chapter Seven

He shook his head and opened up the wine bottle. “I had the steak made the way you like it.”

When did he notice how she liked her steak? She glanced down at the perfectly cooked skirt steak with vegetables and potatoes. Of course, her stomach chose that moment to grumble.

She smiled sheepishly. “I guess I’ve worked up an appetite.”

His impeccable manners were causing havoc on her self-control. But she already knew Max didn’t do anything half-assed. So far he’d been not only the perfect gentleman, but so sweet she wanted to tie him up and keep him.

“You’re a busy man, Max.” She cut a piece of meat and took a bite. A combination of flavors burst in her mouth, making her taste buds do a happy dance.

“If I knew getting you steak would get that kind of reception, I’d have gotten you some long before now,” he said of the moans she made with each bite. “I love that about you.”

She stopped to take a drink from her wineglass. “You love what?”

“That you like to eat, because I like to eat too.”

She eyed his plate, noticed how quickly he’d reduced the amount of food, and grinned. “I do like to eat, but unlike you, I gain weight.”

“Where? I don’t see anything but a beautiful body when I look at you. A sexy body.”

Another arrow pierced her heart.

“Believe me,” she groaned. “I gain weight. Every time I eat, it goes to my hips, legs, and butt.”

“Your legs, hips, and butt are the sexiest I’ve seen on any woman.” He licked his lips, and she forgot all about the food. “I could spend the entire day touching your body and stroking your curves.”

She took another sip of her wine. “You sure know what to say to a woman.”

“I’m only saying what comes to mind. You’re beautiful. End of story. Now enjoy your food.”

Her heart flipped-flopped in her chest. The way he looked at her, so hot and possessive, ignited a fire in her core.

“Nina, you
are
the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen. You’re beautiful.”

“Thank you.” She gulped. “You’ve made today really special.” Much more than she could have ever anticipated from any man. With him, she felt not only sexy, beautiful, and desirable, but special too. And that combination had never happened for her. Ever.

He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her palm, all the while watching her. “I don’t know what it is about you, but I can’t seem to stay away from you.”

She swallowed at the dryness in her throat. “Do you want to? Stay away that is.”

His gaze landed on her lips. “No.”

“Max.” She took a deep breath. “I want us to continue seeing each other.”

A wolfish grin covered his face, and he squeezed her hand on the table. “Thank you. I had hoped you’d want to try that.”

“I just…can we keep this to ourselves?” She winced when he frowned, obviously not fond of her idea.

“Keep it to ourselves?”

“You know it’s just that the people at the office are already strange about office romances, Eve in particular. And she’s my manager. I don’t want to create any tension at your business.” An uncontrollable flip-flopping took over her heart.

He picked up her hand again and rubbed his scruffy cheek on it. Electric currents ran up her back.

“If that’s your wish, we can take things slowly and see where it goes.”

She smiled and nodded. “It is. Thank you.”

He stood, took her empty plate to the cart, and returned with two pieces of cheesecake.

“I know it’s not Junior’s.” He winked. “But the chef that made this is fantastic, and I really think you’ll like it.”

Emotion clogged her throat as she stared down at the piece of strawberry cheesecake on the pristine white plate. “Thank you.”

She wasn’t going to ask him how he knew about her cheesecake obsession. Clearly Max had been paying a lot more attention to her than she’d realized. She took a bite of the dessert in silence. Thoughts of a relationship filled her mind.

“Do you like it?” Genuine curiosity filled his eyes.

She took another bite and really savored the cheesecake. “Oh,” she moaned. Sweet, creamy flavor exploded on her taste buds. “This is so good.”

He beamed. “I know the chef. He said he’d make his special cheesecake just for you.” He twined his fingers through hers. “I told him you’re a very special woman, and I wanted to impress you.”

Her heart melted. “You definitely impressed me.” Which reminded her. “So.” She grinned. “Is someone dropping off the bag?”

His confusion made her smile.

“The one you have with all those things you got to make the evening more pleasurable for me?” Her smile widened when he flushed.

He was embarrassed. After everything he’d done to her, he was embarrassed.

“Come on, tell me.” She dropped the fork next to the half-eaten dessert and focused on Max. “I want to know what you have planned for me next.”

Heat sparked in his eyes. Her nipples pebbled when he licked his lips and glanced down at her mouth before looking at her in the eyes.

“The bag is here. But maybe you’re not ready for what’s left inside the bag.” A small, taunting smile slid across his lips.

“Or maybe you’re just scared I’m not going to enjoy it.” Whatever
it
was, she now wanted to try it just to prove she had an open mind. “I have a proposition.” She took a deep breath and watched his eyes flare when her breasts strained against the fabric of her dress, almost spilling over the drooping neckline. Their gazes connected. Passion sizzled between them. “What if I pick a toy and allow you to use it without question?”

His brows rose. “I don’t know. What if you grab one of the tamer toys?”

What kind of stuff did he have in that bag? “Fine, you pick the toy, and I’ll allow you to use it however you want.”

“Two toys.” He grinned wickedly.

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Two toys.”

Before she had a chance to blink, he was on his feet and grabbing her hand. “Let’s go.”

They marched down a hallway at a desperate pace. She wondered what it was about her proposal that had fired him up. Excitement buzzed in her blood.

He opened a door and tugged her inside. She glanced around the bedroom, her eyes growing wider the more things she took in. A four-poster bed sat at the center of the large room. Sheer, royal blue chiffon draped from the ceiling into a bubble and gathered back up at the edges of the walls. A lighter shade of blue chiffon covered each of the posts on the bed. The material gathered at the tips, held by a circular, silver chain on each pole. Sapphire silk sheets covered the massive bed. Lace curtains over black panels hid the windows. Tons of large decorative pillows surrounded the room, on the floor. In each corner of the bedroom was a statue of a naked woman. Paintings of couples in different sexual positions graced the walls.

“This is…” She gulped, unsure what to say.

“Yeah, I know. A lot,” he commented and headed for the dresser, wading through the large cushions on the floor.

A lot? It was like someone had taken out a scene from Arabian Nights, mixed it up with a dose of Kama Sutra, and let it explode inside the bedroom.

She took careful steps into the room, tried not to break her neck bypassing pillows, and neared the bed. Just as she reached it, Max turned toward her. He held a black velvet bag in his hand. She raised a curious brow and waited.

He lifted a hand, cupped her neck, and twined his fingers into her hair, holding her in place. And then he kissed her. It was a hot, wet, possessive kiss. The kind that turned the simmering fire inside her into a raging inferno. She whimpered, slid her hands up his warm body to his head, and gripped his short hair.

He took a step back and stared at her. Goosebumps rose over her skin at his heated look. She peered into his piercing eyes while his hands caressed down her body, stopping at her waist and bunching the thin material of her mini-dress in his fists. He slowly pulled the dress over her head, until she stood completely naked before him.

Possession flared bright in his eyes, ramping up the need that made her pussy throb. Moisture dripped from her slit, trailing down her thighs. She slid out of her heels, losing some of her height in the process. Her gaze roamed his flexing pecs, and she placed a hand flat on his muscular chest. The heat from his body enticed her to lick him.

With a single step, she closed the distance between them and tugged his pants down. He toed off his shoes, kicking them and the pants away.

“Max—”

“I got you, love.” He picked her up in his arms and walked back toward the door. There was a second darkened entrance she hadn’t noticed before in her stunned amazement over the décor, right next to the bedroom doorway. Cool marble met her soles when he put her down. He flicked on the light to the attached en suite.

He entered a large glass shower stall and pulled her along with him. Interested to see how the multiple showerheads in the stall worked, she stood watching him intently. He pressed a button on the metal panel on one wall. Warm water sprayed around them.

“This is awesome. I have to get a bathroom like this.” She grinned.

He chuckled and pressed a second button. “Just wait.”

More water dropped from above and squirted from the wall sides, giving off the effect of raindrops. Squinting to keep the water from her eyes, she glanced around, noting that all of the showerheads were softly pumping out water through their massaging jets. It felt amazing.

“Come here, beautiful.” Max tugged her into his slick body. His hard erection pressed on her belly.

“Mmm.” She curled her arms around his neck and gripped the back of his hair, hauling him down for a kiss. Their bodies slid over each other in a sensual dance. Incessant throbbing took hold of her core, begging for relief. He groped her ass and ground his cock into her. The steely feel of his shaft sent a shard of electric current down to her clit.

She moaned. “Fuck me, Max. I want you inside me.”

He shook his head and chuckled at her gasp of outrage. “In a bit, but first we must clean up. I have something special in mind.” With that he opened a panel and pulled out a bottle of apple-scented body soap.

“How did you—?”

He shrugged. “I think you’re the most beautiful and interesting woman I’ve ever met. And I wanted to make today special, so I gave your cousin a call.”

“Alex?” Her eyes widened. Alex had given him information on her?

At his nod, she gaped. “My Alex? She told you about me?” He nodded again, smiling.

“What else did she tell you, aside from my body wash type?” She asked. Her cousin knew a lot about her dating history. And about how hard it was for Nina to commit to a man long-term.

Dropping dollops of the body wash on a loofah, he answered her. “Just your likes and dislikes and general stuff like that. Nothing too personal.”

He washed her. First he did her back and worked his way down and around, until she smelled like a green apple all over.

She took the loofah out of his hands. “I hope you don’t mind smelling like fruit.” She giggled.

“If it’s for you, I don’t mind anything.”

Another dart straight to her heart, on Valentine’s Day no less. Soft emotions filled her. Why the hell had she kept him at a distance this long?

With each stroke over his body with the soft loofah, she became more and more aroused, until her pussy throbbed, her nipples ached, and her throat dried. She washed down his legs and kneeled, his hard cock right in her face. Squinting so as not to get water in her eyes, she peered up at him. Hunger and desire tightened the lines of his face into a feral mask.

Smooth, velvety flesh met her palm when she gripped him in her hand.

“Nina…”

“I promise I won’t do anything, yet.” She licked her lips. “I just want to touch you.” The soap gave her the lubrication she needed to jerk up and down his shaft.

He groaned and dropped his head back. She continued to smooth her hand over him, slow and steady, loving the feel of his warm skin on her hand and the cool water raining down on them.

“Baby, please.”

She glanced up at his soft words, caught him watching her, and increased the speed of her jerks.

“You’re so fucking perfect, you know that?”

A giddy thrill raced up her spine. “You think so? You haven’t seen me when I wake up in the morning.” She squeezed the head of his cock. He grunted and thrust into her hand.

“You’re beautiful. All the time.” He pulled out of her grasp. “We’re still not done with what I want.”

She pouted, stood, and they both rinsed the wash off their bodies. He dried her and carried her back to the bedroom. He placed her on her feet in front of the bed and grabbed the velvet pouch.

“You promised,” he reminded and opened the velvet pouch.

A moment later he pulled out a pink, rubber butterfly with an attached mini vibrator and crouched down by her feet. He held one thin strap wide for her to slide her foot through and then did the same with the other, slowly drawing up the butterfly until the vibrator slid inside her slick pussy. The cold plastic made her gasp. Small bumps rubbed against her clit when she moved.