He tipped her chin up and made her look at him. “Did you come to kill me?”
“No.”
Not this time.
He must have believed her because he asked, “Then why?”
“I was curious.”
“About what?”
What could she say to that? She searched her mind, but embarrassingly enough, it was the truth that popped out. “Why did you kiss me? In DC, I mean.”
He studied her for a long moment. “Because I had to.”
Her heart hammered and her skin felt as if it’d been electrified. She didn’t want to keep thinking. Didn’t want to analyze everything to death. She wanted to feel safe and protected. And loved, dammit. Not that Ian Black was capable of that. And not that she wanted him to be.
Not him.
But, holy hell, she wanted him. She hadn’t wanted anyone in a very long time now, so to feel this way was shocking. The pull of him was magnetic. Like she was the moon and he was her earth, anchoring her to him while they circled each other. She’d felt it from afar, and she’d answered the call by coming here tonight.
“Kiss me again,” she said before the feeling went away.
He didn’t hesitate. His mouth settled on hers, his tongue thrusting into her mouth to stroke her own. Natasha moaned as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back with all the passion of so many lonely nights.
He broke the kiss first. She gazed up at him, disoriented. Her head swam. She thought maybe he’d spiked her Scotch. But no, she was simply drunk on him. What a sensation.
“I want you,” he said. “I want to strip you out of that dress and explore you for hours. But if that’s not what you want, then you need to go. Now.”
Natasha sucked in a breath that was heady with the scent of him. She curled her fists into his lapels. “I want you out of my system. I want to go back to my life without you invading my dreams every night.”
“You think spending a few hours in bed with me will cure you? Or will it make it worse?”
That’s what she didn’t know. In truth, when she’d begun this journey tonight, she hadn’t known what to expect. But she was here now, he knew who she was, and he wanted her.
“I don’t know,” she said, her body humming with arousal. That was something she hadn’t felt in a long time. And never quite like this. “But I intend to find out.”
Ian’s sensual mouth curved in a wicked smile as his fingers found her zipper and slowly tugged it down. “From your lips to God’s ears, kitten.”
Chapter Five
Natasha gripped the dress before it could fall. “Not here. Anyone could see.”
They were still standing on the terrace, and Ian chuckled. “That’s part of the fun.”
She looked scandalized. “You’re a bad man, Ian Black.”
He could hardly believe she was here, or that he was touching her. He turned her until she was facing the Grand Canal, then he ran his hands up the sides of her legs, pushing her dress upward as he went, shaping her hips, then caressing the sweet roundness of her ass. She wasn’t wearing panties, and he groaned as he dropped his mouth to her neck. She tipped her head to the side, gasping.
“Ian…”
He pushed against her with his hips and she rocked back into him, sending shivers of delight straight into his balls. “No one can see us from mid-torso down. Should we do it here, with the tourists floating along the canal below—or should we retreat to my bed where I can spread you out and devour you slowly?”
He thought she might finally snap to her senses and pull away from him, but she surprised him with her reply.
“Mmm, what if I ask for both.”
He ran a hand over her hip again, then dipped down her abdomen to the seam between her legs before she could change her mind.
“God, you’re wet.”
She gasped as he caressed her clit, her head falling forward as she tilted her hips and moved against his hand, seeking more. He nibbled the skin of her neck, obliging her with extra pressure. She moaned brokenly—and then bit back a cry as her body stiffened in his arms.
“Jesus. Did you come already?” He knew the answer, but he wanted to hear her say it.
“You got lucky,” she told him a few seconds later.
Ian laughed. “So lucky.” He tugged his zipper down and grasped his cock, sliding it into the wet folds of her pussy. This entire thing was madness, but he was as caught up in the heat of the situation as she was.
And he didn’t want to let her go in case the madness evaporated. Still, he hesitated at her slick entrance, his body throbbing as he held his need in check. Below, he could hear the tinkling of laughter from the party. The scent of a cigar wafted by on the breeze and was gone. The moon shone down on them, illuminating everything.
He almost stepped away from her and zipped his pants. He hadn’t lied that no one could see what was happening on the balcony. The balustrade was massive and it hid the important parts from view. But this wasn’t how he’d envisioned the moment when they finally gave in to the desire between them.
He’d thought there would be more care, less desperation.
“Don’t stop,” she whispered, and all his good intentions evaporated.
“I don’t intend to,” he growled as he slid inside her body.
Good heavens, she was wet. Wet and hot and tight. So perfect he could feel his pulse in his cock, feel the pull between them as if it were a physical tie binding them together.
“Oh my God,” she said. “I didn’t know…”
He nipped her ear and sucked the lobe. “Didn’t know what?”
“That it would feel like this.”
Ian circled her clit rhythmically as he began to move deep inside her. God help him, he hadn’t known it would feel like this either. Some part of his brain told him he was playing with fire, but the other part—hell, most of it—wanted to burn in the flames.
It didn’t take long for her to come again, shaking in his arms as she gasped. He pulled her against him, holding her tightly, moving harder, quicker, until his own release built to a crisis. At the last moment, he jerked from her body and spilled his seed onto the stone at her feet.
Then he zipped his trousers and turned her in his arms. “More, angel?”
She still shuddered from her last orgasm. “I’m not an angel.”
He chuckled. No, she wasn’t. “You didn’t answer the question.”
Her eyes glittered behind her mask. “Yes, I want more. Take me to your bed, Mr. Black. Make me forget everything but you for a few hours.”
He swept her into his arms and strode inside with her cradled against him. “I think you’d better start calling me Ian, don’t you?” he asked as he slid her body down the length of his and set her on her feet.
“If you prefer it.”
He laughed as he stripped her naked. He untied her mask and pulled it free, catching the pins she’d used to secure the ribbons to her hair. When her face was revealed, he kissed her forehead, her nose, her chin, while she untied his mask and dropped it on the bed.
When they faced each other without masks, they let their eyes roam each other greedily.
Then Ian swept her up and lay her on the bed. He started from the beginning and worshipped her the way he’d dreamed about for so long. He lost track of the hours as they made each other delirious with pleasure.