Bachelor Undone

by Brenda Jackson

  She watched him move to the sofa while heat spread throughout her body. He looked too darn comfortable for her liking. There was something about the way he was sitting, with his arms spread across the back of the sofa, that made her want to slide down on the sofa with him, ease the tux jacket off his shoulders and run her hands across the broad width of his chest.

  Where on earth had those thoughts come from? This was York Ellis, the one man she didn't get along with, the one man who seemed to enjoy rubbing her the wrong way whenever their paths crossed. “What about Damien?” she spoke up and asked, reminding herself the only reason he was sitting on her sofa was because she was interested in what he had to say.

  For some reason, the mention of Damien made him lean closer, cause something akin to anger to flash across his features. “You met him tonight.”

  She heard the censure in his tone and wondered the reason for it. “Yes, and why do you care?”

  Evidently her question stumped him. The irritation in his face was replaced by a slow smile, one that didn't quite reach his eyes. “Personally, I don't other than the fact that you're screwing things up for me and my investigation.”

  She bit down on her lips as she struggled to keep a civil tongue. “What investigation?”

  As he sat back, York drew in a deep breath, trying to calm the anger that was flowing through him. And it was anger he could not explain. What she did and who she did it with was her business. He shouldn't care one bit, and he had tried convincing himself that he didn't. But the truth of the matter was that he did. There was no way he would allow her to blindly walk into a dangerous situation.

  “I wasn't absolutely up front with you earlier today when I gave my reason for being here on the island.”

  “You weren't?”

  “No. I'm here on a job. My company was hired by a group of moviemakers for security detail on a movie being filmed, the same one Felder is associated with. And while my outfit is doing that, I'm working behind the scenes to protect their interest. Someone is slipping the movies to the black market before their theatrical release.”

  She lifted a brow. “And what does that have to do with Damien Felder?”

  It was hard to explain why a part of him wanted to kiss her and strangle her at the same time. What was there about her that could drive him to such extremes? “I have reason to believe Felder might be involved in some way.”

  “Do you have any proof?”

  “No.”

  “Then it's merely speculation on your part.”

  “For now. But he is being watched, and if he is guilty, I would hate for your name to be linked to his.”

  She glared at him. “And what if your suspicions are wrong? Do you expect me not to enjoy the company of a man because you think he might be involved in some case you're investigating?”

  “I was hoping that you would. And as far as me suspecting him, I'm almost sure he's my man. I wouldn't have come to you if I didn't.”

  Darcy wondered just why he had. They weren't friends, so his concern about her had nothing to do with it. He must have been truthful earlier when he'd said she had the potential of screwing things up for him.

  She stood. “Okay, you've warned me. I'll walk you to the door.”

  He remained sitting. “And what the hell does that mean?” he asked.

  The anger in his tone made her lift her chin. “It means just what I said, York. You've warned me. Now you can leave.”

  “But you will take my advice.”

  To Darcy, it sounded more like a direct order than a question. “No, I don't plan to take your advice. Unless you have something more concrete than assumptions, I see no reason not to see Damien again. In fact, we've made plans for later today.”

  He held her gaze, and she could see the fire in his eyes. He was so angry with her that he was almost baring his teeth. He slowly leaned forward in his seat, and in a tone of voice tinged with a growl, he asked, “Why are you being difficult?”

  She curved her lips into a smile only because she knew it would get on his last nerve. “Because I want to.”

  She knew she was being childish. Pretty darn petty, in fact, when for whatever his reason, he had come to warn her about Damien. She had no intentions of telling him that the warning was not needed since she wasn't attracted to Damien and didn't plan on seeing him again after their date that day. And the only reason she was keeping her date with him was because she'd always wanted to check out a movie set, nothing more. Even with Damien's handsome looks, he hadn't done anything for her.

  And definitely not in the way the man sitting on her sofa was doing. Even now she was struggling, trying hard to fight the attraction, the magnetic pull, especially since it was an attraction she didn't want or need. And it was an attraction she didn't intend to go anywhere.

  “You like rattling me, don't you, Darcy?”

  His words pulled her attention back to the present. She figured there was no need to lie. “Yes, I guess I do.”

  Darcy didn't think there could be anything sexy about a man who merely stood up from sitting on a sofa. But with York, watching his body in movement was enough to cause heat to flare in her center and the juncture of her thighs.

  And when he slowly walked toward her, advancing on her like he was the hunter and she his prey, she merely stood her ground. She refused to back up or retreat. And it seemed he had no intentions of halting his approach until he came to a stop in front of her.

  “I've heard of stubborn women before, but you have to be the stubbornest.”

  She glared up at him. “I'll take that as a compliment, York. Now if you don't mind, it's late and you need to leave.”

  York thought some women had to be born for trouble, and this one standing in front of him was one of them. Against his better judgment, he had come here tonight to give her fair warning and he had done so. If she didn't want to heed to his warnings, there was nothing he could do about it.

  He tried to push the thought from his mind that while he'd been sitting on the sofa, whether she knew it or not, he had been fighting desire for her that had all but seeped into his bones. Why on earth would he be attracted to her of all women?

  Before he'd come up to her room tonight, he'd been approached by a couple of women who'd all but invited him to their hotel room. One had brazenly offered to give him a blow job right there on the elevator. But he hadn't wanted any of them. He wanted this one. This haughty looking female, who had blood firing through his veins, who was staring him down and standing in front of him looking as sexy as any woman had a right to look in a bathrobe.

  He glared down at her when the room got too quiet for his taste. “Don't say I didn't warn you.”

  “I won't. Now goodbye, York.”

  At that moment, something inside of him snapped. She was glaring at him, yet earlier tonight she'd been smiling at Damien Felder. Not only had she been smiling but she'd also flirted with the man. “You like pushing my buttons, don't you, Darcy?”

  “Yes,” she said smiling. “Gives me great pleasure.”

  “No, this is pleasure.” And then he reached out, pulled her to him and captured her mouth with his.

  Chapter 3

  He was right, Darcy thought, when York began kissing her with a hunger that surprised her. This was pleasure. And it began overwhelming her as sensations tore through her. When she felt those big hands she'd checked out earlier tighten their hold on her, she became wrapped in his heat with every languorous stroke of his tongue. That was all it took for desire to start coiling deep in her body, thickening the blood rushing through her veins. And when she released a surprised gasp, he slid his tongue deeper inside her mouth.

  He shifted, and his body pressed hard against her and she felt him—his aroused thickness. His hardness. It was poking her in the belly. A part of her wanted to push him away. But another part wanted to draw him even closer. She knew what part won when a moan flowed from deep within her throat. Instinctively, she eased up on tiptoes to return the kis
s with the same demand and hunger he was putting into it. And when her tongue tried battling his for control, his arms tightened even more around her, almost crushing her body to his. Easing upward shifted his aroused part from her belly right to the juncture of her thighs, and immediately she could feel her panties get wet.

  York's heart was hammering hard in his chest. He didn't understand why he was kissing Darcy this way, a woman he'd convinced himself that he didn't even like. Evidently his personal feelings toward her had nothing to do with lust, and he was convinced that was what was filling his mind at that moment. That was what had him eating away at her mouth as if it was the last meal he would have. And she was kissing him back with just as much intensity. It seemed as if a floodgate had burst open, and they didn't know how to stop the lusty water from rushing through.

  They didn't know or they didn't want to know?

  At that moment, it didn't matter to him, and he had a feeling it didn't matter to her either. He wanted her, and from the way she was kissing him back, she wanted him as well. And if she didn't let up on his tongue he was certain he was going to lose his mind. He hadn't made love to a woman in a while, and he couldn't recall one being this passionate, this aggressive, this damn hot. He had initiated the kiss, but there was a big question as to who was being seduced.

  Suddenly, he pulled back, reached out and ripped the bathrobe off her body. Just as he thought, she was completely naked underneath.

  “What do you think you're doing?” she asked, inhaling a deep breath of air.

  He glanced over at her while tearing off his own clothes, not believing she had to ask. But just in case she had any intentions of suddenly deciding she didn't want this as much as he did, he stopped short of removing his slacks. Instead he reached out, pulled her to him and captured her mouth once more.

  Darcy couldn't help the moan that eased from deep in her throat. Had it really been two years since she'd felt sensations like this? Sure, there'd been Bruce, but York was showing her that when it came to hot sex between a man and woman, there was nothing like the real thing. A sex toy couldn't compare.

  She felt everything. The hardness of his erection was pressed against her center, the material of his tux was rubbing against her thigh causing all kinds of sensations to erupt within her. And when she felt those large hands of his stroke the soft skin of her backside, molding her cheeks closer to him, she couldn't do anything but surrender. He had blazed a fire that was consuming them both.

  Knowing she was capitulating didn't sit too well with her, but every stroke of his tongue in her mouth was making her appreciate the benefits. The man didn't intend to hold anything back, and she decided at that moment, neither would she.

  She'd had all intentions of having an island fling, so there was no stopping her now. Besides, this would be a one-night stand. She would merely use him to take the two-year edge off, since he seemed to know just what he was doing.

  He broke off the kiss, and his gaze burned into hers as he kicked off his shoes before easing his pants and briefs down his legs all at once. Her breath got caught in her throat when her gaze lowered. Maybe that saying about the size of feet and hands in comparison to other parts of a man's body wasn't just a theory at all. It was a truth.

  Her gaze moved back to his face, and she wasn't sure who made the first move—nor did she care. All she cared about was that she was in his arms again while he kissed her with a madness she felt to her toes. And she was convinced what they were doing was sheer madness. A thought entered her mind that maybe they should slow down and talk about it. Then she decided there was no need to waste time talking.

  He tore his mouth from hers, and the look she saw in his eyes indicated his agreement. “I want to get inside you, Darcy.”

  He couldn't have said it any plainer than that, she thought. She went to him and then spread her hands out across his stomach. His skin felt hot beneath her fingers, and that same heat spread through her when she moved her hands lower. When her hand pressed against the thickness of his muscular thighs, she felt a stirring in the pit of her stomach. The intensity of it was almost frightening.

  She was convinced the desire taking over her mind and her body had nothing to do with York per se but with the fact that he was a man. But not just any man. He was a red-hot, good-looking man who had the ability to shoot adrenaline up her spine in very high dosages.

  And she couldn't discount the fact that she hadn't slept with a man in almost two years, not since moving to New York. Before then, thanks to her ex-husband, she had washed her hands of men. She found there was too much drama where they were concerned. Bruce had been given to her as a prank gift and she—who'd never considered using a sex toy before—had discovered in time of need he could be her best friend.

  But now York was reminding her in a very explosive way that there was nothing like a flesh and blood male. Nothing like a real man breathing down your neck, kissing you, touching you, letting you touch him. And at that moment, it didn't matter one iota that the man causing her so much sumptuous turbulence was the one man she thought she didn't even like.

  She might have regrets for her actions in the morning, but at that very moment, she wanted him, too. She wanted him inside of her.

  Her breaths were coming out in tortured moans when she lowered her hand and touched his erection. Ignoring his masculine growl, she cupped him, loving the feel of his hardness in her hand, loving the heat of it. It was rock hard. Solid. Big. And when she began running her thumb over the shaft's head, wanting to feel the protruding veins beneath her fingertips, she felt him shudder in her hand.

  She imagined in the deep recesses of her mind this same solid flesh sliding all the way inside of her and how her muscles would clench it, possess it, milk it for everything it was worth and then some. It had been a long time for her, way too long. She was greedy and wanted it all.

  She glanced up at him, met his gaze through desire-glazed eyes and saw the state of his arousal in the dark eyes staring right back at her.

  “Condom?” she asked him almost in a moan. When he nodded and made a move to step back, she had to release him and immediately felt the loss.

  And then he took time to remove his socks before retrieving a condom packet from his wallet. As if having a woman watch him don a condom was the most natural thing, he proceeded to put on protection.

  She was suddenly engulfed in strong arms when York swept her off her feet to carry her to the bedroom.

  York could not recall when he'd wanted a woman this much. And why did that woman have to be Darcy Owens? He should find the very thought unsettling, but at the moment too much desire was running through his body to be concerned with emotions he wasn't used to.

  He figured there had to be a full moon out tonight, or maybe there was something to that passion fruit he'd had at lunch. Regardless, tomorrow and the days that followed he was certain he would be back on track—revert to his right mind and be ruled by logic and less by lust. He shouldn't have any problems keeping his distance from Darcy during his remaining time on the island.

  But at this very moment his thoughts, his actions were ruled by a yearning that had taken over his entire body. Deep down, he knew it was almost two years in the works. He had wanted her the first time he'd seen her at Ellie and Uriel's wedding. He had even warned his other godbrothers to keep their distance. And when she had snubbed him, told him in no uncertain words that she wasn't interested, his attraction had turned to outright dislike. He hadn't taken her rejection well.

  That's why one of the most satisfying things for him right now was to know she was as much of a goner as he was. She definitely wasn't rejecting him now. The thought made him smile as he placed her on the bed and then took a step back. Seeing her naked body in the middle of the king-size bed made him more aroused, especially when the mass of dark brown hair looked in total disarray around her shoulders. She looked sexy. She looked hot. She looked as if she was ready for anything he had to give her. And tonight he had plenty.
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  But she intended to play the vixen. He figured as much when she deliberately stretched to make her breasts lift at an angle that made them appear ready for his mouth. And her legs slowly opened, showing how ripe, wet and ready she was. A fierce need ripped through him, and he moved back toward the bed. He was well aware of the rules he would be breaking about never losing control when it came to a woman.

  He chuckled. It was too late. He'd already lost it. And he would make sure that her payback for driving him over the edge was a night she wouldn't forget. He knew for certain that he wouldn't.

  York moved toward the bed, and his main thought was to reconnect his mouth to hers. He pulled her toward him and captured her mouth. There was something about her taste that had him wanting more. But she seemed just as ravenous as he and was returning his stroke lick for lick.

  He broke off the kiss and lowered his gaze from her wet lips down her breasts, and he saw how her nipples were hardening to stiff buds right before his eyes. He felt all his senses begin to flash and his tongue all but thicken in his mouth with thoughts of just what he wanted to do with those nipples.

  “You want to taste them, York? If so, don't let me stop you.”

  Her words had him glancing up. She must have seen the intensity in his gaze when he'd been staring at her breasts. He found a woman who spoke her mind in the bedroom pretty refreshing. But then he wasn't surprised that was the tactic an outspoken woman like Darcy would use.

  His gaze lowered back to her nipples. Yes, he wanted to taste them. He was getting harder just thinking about all the things he'd liked doing to them with his mouth.

  But he wouldn't stop at her breasts. He intended to taste every inch of her and felt he should at least warn her.

  “Your breasts aren't the only thing I want to taste, Darcy.” He didn't feel he had to go into specifics. And just the thought rocked his senses.

  York immediately drew a turgid nipple into his mouth and began devouring it with a greed he knew she'd feel all the way to her toes but especially at her center. And speaking of her center …