by Tina Folsom
Most times he used her as an excuse.
“Holly, darling, can I get you another drink?” he said smilingly as another young woman tried to drag him into a conversation. Sabrina stretched out to hand him her empty glass and while he took it out of her hand and put it onto a side table, he led her hand to his mouth, kissing her fingertips in full view of the other woman who instantly made her exit.
“You’re terrible,” Sabrina chastised him laughingly, knowing he’d deliberately showed affection in order to get rid of the other woman.
“I can’t help myself.” Daniel winked at her. Whatever he meant by that, she wasn’t going to ask.
“Ever heard of self-control?” she teased.
“Impossible to achieve in the presence of a beautiful woman.”
“Which one?” Sabrina let her gaze wander around the room.
He didn’t answer and instead pulled her with him to make more introductions.
Later, she and Daniel stood next to a beautiful arrangement of colorful flowers at one end of the large hall. As a waiter passed by, Sabrina snatched another canapé off the tray and devoured it. She’d stopped counting how many delicious little canapés she’d already scarfed down and didn’t care. What did it matter if she gained another pound? It wasn’t like anybody would see her naked anytime soon.
Daniel smiled at her briefly and continued his conversation with Martin while his wife carried on telling her what travels she and her husband had planned after the deal was done.
Sabrina listened politely and asked questions whenever the opportunity arose until suddenly her nose started twitching uncomfortably. She tried to hold back a sneeze, but too late. Her sneeze was too loud for polite society, she was sure.
“Bless you!” all three of them said in unison.
“Allergies,” Sabrina replied apologetically and pointed at the flowers while she rummaged in her small handbag to find her handkerchief. She never left home without it. As she pulled it out to clean her nose, something small and square fell out and onto the side table that housed the flower arrangement.
Her head snapped in its direction, as did everybody else’s.
Oh, no! One of the condoms she’d tucked into her purse had gotten tangled up with her handkerchief and fallen out. Instantly, Daniel’s hand elegantly swooped in, captured the errant Trojan and put it in his jacket pocket as if he were picking up nothing more than a candy wrapper.
Sabrina caught his look. Oh God, she’d embarrassed him. His face seemed agitated. His cheeks turned red. Oh no, he was furious!
“I think it’s getting late. Holly and I should head back. I’ve got a busy day ahead of me,” Daniel abruptly said to Martin.
Yes, she’d embarrassed him, and now he wanted to leave. Both Martin and Nancy had clearly seen the condom but been polite enough not to comment on it. Sabrina was hoping for the ground in front of her to open up so she could disappear in it, but instead she felt Daniel’s hand on the small of her back.
“Shall we, darling?” His voice was just as sweet as before. He was obviously trained in self control, keeping his anger in check while they were in the presence of their hosts.
She was in a daze when they said their goodbyes and Daniel led her out of the hall and back in the direction of the Mark Hopkins.
Sabrina felt horrible. She’d completely screwed up. This would get back to Misty, and then Holly would be in trouble. Instead of saving Holly’s ass, she’d managed to get her even deeper into trouble. She had to try and salvage what she could, for Holly’s sake.
“I’m so sorry,” she started.
Daniel gave her a surprised look as he continued leading her across the foyer of the Mark Hopkins they’d just entered. “Sorry?”
“I really didn’t mean to embarrass you. It was an accident.” Her voice was pleading, and she hoped he could hear the sincerity in it. He’d have to accept her apology. She hadn’t done it on purpose.
“Embarrass me?” He suddenly sounded bemused as he pressed the button for the elevator.
“Yes, I’m so sorry. I really didn’t mean to. I should have been more careful,” she rambled. She wasn’t cut out to be an escort. Something was bound to go wrong, and it had.
The elevator was empty when they stepped inside. As soon as the door closed, Daniel turned back to her. “You didn’t embarrass me. On the contrary.”
Sabrina gave him a startled look. “But then why did we leave so suddenly?”
He let his gaze wander over her body. “Because I can think of something much better to do with the rest of the evening than hang out at a boring reception.”
Daniel took a step toward her and placed his palm on the wall behind her. His head was only inches from hers, his eyes fixed on hers. She could smell his masculine scent, a faint mixture of cologne and man, and her stomach twisted itself into tiny knots.
“Oh.” She couldn’t say anything else, realization flooding her veins. The closeness of his body turned her brain into the consistency of porridge.
“You have to help me out here, Holly, but I haven’t been with an escort before, so I’m not sure what the protocol is.” She felt his breath on her face as he spoke to her in a low voice.
“Protocol?” she echoed breathlessly, being only too aware of his body virtually touching hers. She was pressed against the wall with nowhere to go.
“Yes. I don’t know, but … do you kiss?” His eyes were focused on her lips now. Had they been lasers, she would have been burned to a crisp within seconds.
“Y-yes,” she stammered helplessly.
His hand came up to cup her jaw, lazily stroking her with his thumb. His touch was electrifying. Instinctively, her tongue snaked out to moisten her lips, and if he’d waited for a sign from her, this was it. Daniel lightly touched his lips to hers, and a faint sigh escaped her mouth. And then with one sweep, he captured her mouth fully, demanding her surrender.
His lips tugged on hers, suckling on her lower lip and pulling it into his mouth, where he swept over it with his moist tongue. He nibbled gently on her until she parted her lips, inviting his searching tongue inside her, expecting him.
Her hand went to the nape of his neck to pull him closer, when he couldn’t get any closer than he already was. His body crushed hers against the wall of the elevator, barely leaving her space to breathe. But Sabrina didn’t care. Who needed oxygen when she could inhale his scent instead?
Daniel tasted like a fresh shower in the middle of a rain forest, woodsy, vibrant, yet so dark, with layers of hidden treasures piled one on top of the other. And with every twirl of his tongue, he released yet another flavor, making her eager to capture his tongue with hers and imprison him within her.
***
Daniel couldn’t believe what he was doing. He was kissing an escort, a prostitute. He’d probably lost his mind—and he knew exactly when it had happened. When she’d accidentally dropped the condom, he’d realized that what he’d paid for wasn’t just to have a pretend girlfriend at the reception. She’d evidently been told by her agency to expect sex.
Who was he to disappoint her?
The way her mouth tasted made him feel intoxicated. He deepened his kiss, plundering her mouth and playing with her responsive tongue. Every time she moaned, the sound reverberated through his chest and filled him with eager anticipation of what was to come.
Holly had a way of turning him on as no other woman had ever managed to. He was a sexual guy, all right, but he generally needed more than two seconds of kissing to get fully aroused. She’d managed to arouse him with just that look she’d given him before he’d planted his lips onto hers.
She definitely knew what she was doing. After all, she was a professional. This was her job, to arouse men and please them. He could think of hundreds of ways how she could please him, but none of those ways were prudent in a hotel elevator.
As soon as the doors opened, Daniel pulled her out of the elevator with him. He looked at her face and saw that her cheeks were red, and her li
ps were plumper than before. He’d get back to those lips in a few seconds. But first, he had to get them into his room, away from prying eyes.
It seemed too long until they reached his room. Neither of them spoke, as if there was nothing to be said. Nothing that could be said in a public area anyway.
As soon as he let the door slam behind them, Daniel pulled her back into his arms and continued where he’d left off in the elevator. Those luscious lips needed more attention, and he was all too willing to give it to them. He put his thoughts about the fact that she was an escort aside. Right now, he didn’t care. She was a woman, who excited him more than any woman had ever excited him, and he was only just kissing her.
He hadn’t even touched her naked skin yet. He hadn’t even kissed her breasts yet. And already he was as hard as an iron rod and yearning for release. If a woman could do that to him, he didn’t care whether she was an escort or not. To hell with conventions.
Daniel took her wrists, fully encircling them with his hands and pulled them up to each side of her head, pressing them against the wall behind her. This woman brought out his most primal instincts. Her body pressed flush against the wall behind her, she looked vulnerable, yet her eyes were hungry, filled with desire.
Daniel ground his hips against her, making her aware of his need. Her response was a stifled moan as if she didn’t want to admit she could feel him pressed against her through the thin fabric of her dress.
Instead, her head moved toward him, begging for another kiss. And he complied. How could he not? Holly was full of fire, and he had nothing to douse the fire with, only his own fuel to stoke the flames even more. Besides, he wasn’t a fireman; he had no duty to put out a fire, and he sure wasn’t going to put hers out, at least not until he had brought it to its roaring crescendo. And then some.
But he had to slow down before the entire room would combust and they’d start a fire which rivaled the one that had razed San Francisco in 1906.
Daniel tumbled to the couch with her and lowered himself, pulling her with him to rest on top of him as he stretched out, his lips never leaving hers. He could get drunk on her taste. Seriously drunk. Her kiss was pure sin. He pulled away for a second.
“Do you kiss every man like this? No. Don’t answer that.” No, he didn’t want to think of the fact that this was what she did for a living, kiss strangers and have sex with them. No wonder she was so good. She had plenty of practice.
He sighed deeply.
“Is this ok?” Holly suddenly asked as he released her lips for a brief moment.
“Okay? I don’t think I can ever go back to kissing an amateur after this.”
“Amateur?”
“As opposed to a professional like you. Has nobody ever told you that your kisses can make a man commit every sin in the book?” He chuckled softly.
“And that’s a good thing?” She sounded unsure, her green eyes searching his for an answer.
“Oh, yeah. That’s a good thing.”
Her lips curled into a smile, and he couldn’t help but kiss it away and crush her lips with his mouth. His kiss became more demanding as he plundered her mouth greedily. His hand slid to the soft curves of her lower back, and he squeezed the swell of her ass, pressing her harder against his full-blown erection.
***
Through the thin fabric of her dress, Sabrina felt the outline of his body clearly, including his massive erection. She was amazed at how a man as gorgeous as he was could get turned on by her so quickly. She’d never considered herself a vixen. She knew she was pretty and had a decent figure, but she certainly wasn’t a stunner like Holly.
But this man made her feel like she was the most desirable woman in the world. Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around? As an escort, wasn’t she supposed to do the seducing? Instead, it felt like he was trying to seduce her. Maybe she should have gotten more detailed instructions from Holly. She could really screw this up.
And this was one thing she didn’t want to screw up, not just for Holly’s sake, but also for her own. Feeling Daniel’s arms around her and his lips on her was the best thing that had happened to her in an eternity.
This man knew how to kiss and just how and where to touch a woman to make her melt under his hands. And there was no rush, no hasty movements despite the hunger she sensed in him. He allowed her to enjoy his touch and his kisses as if he got lost in them himself. No man had ever kissed her this thoroughly.
“Daniel,” she murmured. His eyes dark with passion, he looked at her.
“Hmm?” he replied nibbling on her lower lip.
“Do you kiss every woman like this?” she teased him.
“You mean like this?” he asked and kissed her as if to brand her before releasing her a few minutes later.
“Uh-huh.”
“What was the question?”
“Whether you kiss every—”
He interrupted her by capturing her mouth again, letting his tongue slide over her lips. “I can’t answer any questions right now. I’m busy,” he evaded her. “Or would you rather we talked instead?”
“No!”
***
Daniel laughed, and she blushed like a schoolgirl. He’d had no idea that escorts could find real pleasure in their work, but it was clear to him that she enjoyed what they were doing. She couldn’t possibly be faking her body’s responses to his touch. And then those quiet, barely-there moans she’d released. Almost inaudible, as if they were unintended. Had she wanted to fake her pleasure, she would have gone with a louder version. No, her reactions were real, and the knowledge fuelled his desire even more.
“What?” She gave him a confused look.
“You’re beautiful.”
There, she blushed again. Impossible to fake.
“I want to touch you.”
She sat up, straddling him around his mid section. Slowly, her hands went behind her back to lower the zipper of her dress, but he stopped her.
“May I do that?”
She dropped her arms and nodded in approval. Daniel pulled himself up to sit, and his body touched hers. While his hands went to her back to work on the zipper, his lips weren’t idle. Softly, they skimmed over her slender neck, tracing her skin with his tongue, gently nipping and grazing her skin with his teeth. She trembled under his touch.
Daniel worked his way along her shoulders and pushed the spaghetti strap of her dress over her arms. It fell easily now that he’d pulled down the zipper of her dress. Another pull and her dress pooled at her waist. He inched back to admire her naked breasts.
Perfect. Round and firm, no bra needed. Her dark pink nipples were hard. He needed to know what they felt like and allowed his hand to brush over them. She jerked as if she hadn’t expected his touch. So sensitive. So responsive. A taste was what he needed.
Slowly, Daniel lowered his head until his mouth hovered over her nipple. His tongue swept over it in one smooth move before his lips encircled her hardened nipple and suckled slowly.
Her breathing instantly became heavier, faster, and he knew she was as aroused as he was. Her hands ran through his hair holding him to her body as if she didn’t want him to stop. He wouldn’t. He wanted everything she was willing to give him tonight. He would push her as far as she’d let him, and then he’d ask for more.
Daniel felt his erection strain against his pants and wasn’t sure how long he’d be able to restrain himself, but he didn’t want this to be over too quickly. For all he knew, all he’d get was only one act of sex with her. What if she left immediately after that? No, he had to make this last for a while.
Daniel wished he’d asked Tim more questions after he’d given him the details of the booking, but it was too late now. He’d just have to go along and hope he got what he wanted. And what he wanted was Holly, underneath him, on top of him, in front of him, every which way possible. Never before had he wanted a woman with such intensity.
Daniel kneaded her neglected breast while he continued sucking and gently biting
the other one before he switched and inflicted the same sweet torture on the other. She didn’t suppress her moans, and he relished her body’s response to him.
“Oh, Daniel, that’s so …” She didn’t finish her sentence, either because she ran out of breath or because her brain had turned to the same mush as his. He couldn’t think of anything else but to kiss her, touch her, be with her. All rational thoughts had gone out the window the moment she’d dropped the condom.
“Holly, tell me what you want.”
Her eyes flew open. “What I want?”
What had made him ask that? She was the escort. He shouldn’t be asking her what she wanted. It wasn’t his job to pleasure her, but the other way around. Yet, he wanted to please her. “Yes, I want to know what you like.”
***
“You’re doing a pretty good job turning me into putty without any instructions.” As soon as she’d said it, Sabrina wanted to take it back. How could she have said something that exposed her like this, something that made her so vulnerable?
“Yes, but imagine what I could do if you told me what you really liked.” He gave her a wicked grin.
Daniel Sinclair was definitely something else. What man hired an escort and then insisted on pleasuring her rather than letting her do the job? What the hell was wrong with him? Or had Holly completely misrepresented what her job was like? It wasn’t like her to lie about these things. No, something was wrong with this man.
Before he could sink his lips back onto her breasts, she cupped his face and pulled him up.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you want to know what I like?”
“Because I think this night is going to be much more fun if we’re both satisfied. Don’t you think so?” Their gazes locked. “And besides, what man wouldn’t like to be considered the best lover a woman has ever had? So maybe you want to help me out here a little?”