by Janice Lynn
Having been only children to single moms, neither Robert nor Carolyn had had any living family and had asked Matthew to be Carrie’s godfather prior to her birth. Not believing he’d ever actually be raising the little girl, Matthew had agreed. Nothing was supposed to have happened to his friends.
But three months ago, it had. Something horrible that neither he nor Carrie would recover from, when the couple’s small-engine plane had crashed, instantly killing them both.
If only his friends had made better arrangements for their daughter. Surely anything would have been better than him.
Matthew paused outside the ballroom door. What was he doing? His life was in total upheaval. He should not get involved with Natalie or any other woman when his world was so topsy-turvy.
Wasn’t that why he’d hesitated to accept Natalie’s invitation to sit beside her?
To let her think there could be anything between them would be wrong. He had a whole new messed-up life he had to figure out. Until he did, Carrie had to be his priority. Only, so long as he made sure Natalie knew that whatever happened in Miami would end in Miami, there was no reason why they couldn’t enjoy the next few days. He needed the next few days. He’d not had sex in months. Not since before his friends had... Hell, he didn’t want to think of that anymore.
Natalie would likely tell him to kiss her lovely behind when he told her he couldn’t offer more than a few days of fun in the sun. Sure, there had been a rare moment when he’d been at Robert and Carolyn’s that he’d envied their relationship, the closeness they shared. But he had never actively thought about marriage or a long-term relationship for himself. He liked being single, liked being able to do what he wanted when he wanted with whomever he wanted, that if he wanted to stay at the hospital for twenty-four hours straight there was no one to complain or be disappointed that his work meant more than they did.
All that had changed with Carrie. Now, whether he wanted to or not, he had to keep a regular schedule, had to come home at night.
He raked his fingers through his hair. Yeah, he hadn’t been free to do much of anything over the past three months. Instead, he’d been trying to figure out what to do with the sweetest little girl he’d ever known, who was heartbroken over the loss of her parents and who had the unfortunate luck of being in Uncle Matthew’s care.
Uncle Matthew, who was now thrust into the role of Daddy Matthew.
For the next three days he got to just be Matthew, and to do what he wanted.
And what Matthew wanted was Natalie. Naked and beneath him.
There she was, waiting by the fountain, her gaze dancing with seduction and making his head spin. Would it be wrong if he threw her over his shoulder, carried her to his hotel room and took her every way he’d imagined over the course of the day? He couldn’t recall ever wanting a woman more than he wanted Natalie. Had to be the turmoil of the past three months and his need to just...escape. That, and the fact he’d not even thought about a woman or sex since Robert and Carolyn’s death. His reaction to Natalie was probably his subconscious guiding him to take what he could while he could.
He made his way to the fountain, took Natalie’s hand and practically dragged her toward the elevator bank where he’d been waiting for her earlier.
CHAPTER THREE
“I WANT TO make love to you, Natalie,” Matthew told her as the elevator doors slid shut behind them.
Natalie’s breath caught.
“But—” he began.
No! She didn’t want there to be a “but”. Please, the one time she was willing to just let go and have a fling with a man, don’t let him have a reason they couldn’t.
With his free hand he pressed the door-close button rather than a floor number, then continued. “I don’t want to deceive you in any way, and, if we go further without my telling you the truth, that’s what I’d feel I was doing.”
Had he lied to her earlier? Was there someone special in his life?
Please don’t be married or engaged or whatever it is that’s so horrible that you have to confess before having sex.
“You’re a beautiful, intelligent woman and deserve better than anything I’m able to give. Which is why I need to explain all the reasons why you should tell me no.” He took a deep breath, kept those pale blue eyes locked with hers. “Beyond the next three days, I have nothing to offer to you or any woman.”
Natalie’s breath caught, at his words and at his hand still clenching hers.
“I don’t understand,” she admitted, trying to make sense of what he was saying.
“What I’ve wanted from the moment you stepped off this elevator before dinner was to put you right back on it, go to one of our rooms and not come out for hours.”
He watched her as if he half expected her to pull her hand free and slap him.
As if.
“You’re not married?”
His look of shock gave answer before his words.
“There’s no other woman in my life, Natalie. It’s just that my life is complicated, and letting you think there could be anything beyond the next three days would be wrong. Whatever happens between us this weekend ends when we leave Miami on Sunday. When deciding what floor this elevator stops on, keep that in mind.”
So neither of them wanted anything beyond the next three days, and time was too precious to waste. She wanted him. He wanted her. They didn’t need to know anything more about each other.
Well, almost nothing more.
“Are you...?” How did she ask this? She’d been a virgin with Jonathan and was screened annually at the hospital, so she hadn’t had to do blood tests or anything of the sort. Trying to convince her it was time for them to take that next step, he’d gone on his own and given her a copy of his lab tests prior to their becoming physically involved. As time and their busy schedules had allowed, they’d fallen into a mutually satisfying relationship.
Or maybe it hadn’t been so mutually satisfying, since he’d been having sex with another woman.
Ugh. No. She was not going to let thoughts of Jonathan’s infidelity creep into this moment. All she needed to know was—how did couples usually bring up a clean bill of health? Or did they? No matter what other couples did. She would ask.
“I mean, do you have...?” She struggled to find the right words.
“I’m clean, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Relief filled her at his answer and at how easily he’d known what she was asking.
“Me, too,” Natalie assured, excitement coursing through her. Excitement and heat. White-hot heat that burned at her very core. She wanted Matthew. More than she’d ever wanted any man. Mentally and physically. She. Wanted. Him.
She reached for his hand. “We both know what we want, and it isn’t a relationship.” There. She’d said it. There could be no confusion. “So, truly, your comments, while gentlemanly, are a waste of valuable time when you could be impressing me in ways I’d appreciate much more.” Her boldness surprised her, but good grief, he seemed intent on being a gentleman when what she wanted was a rogue lover setting her body on fire. “My room is on the eleventh floor.” She reached over and pressed the button. “Are you getting off with me or not?”
* * *
Despite her brave invitation, Natalie’s hands trembled as she slid her card into the key slot. Her heart pounded as the little green lights flashed and she twisted the handle, opening the door to let Matthew into her hotel room.
Even as her feet moved, carrying her inside, she asked herself how this worked. Did she go to the bathroom and freshen up? Did he? Did she just take off her clothes and get into bed, as Jonathan had always preferred?
Once they were inside the room and she heard him secure the lock, she turned to him, hoping to break the silence that had enveloped them on their ascent to her room.
Before she could get a word out, Matthew p
ushed her back a couple of steps to sandwich her between the wall and his hard body, his mouth covering hers. There was nothing slow, indecisive or gentlemanly in his touch.
Finally, she thought.
His mouth was ravenous. His hands roaming over her body voracious. His lean hips pressing against her belly giving proclamation of just how much he wanted her.
She kissed him, touched him with equal intensity, running her hands over his arms, his shoulders, cupping his face in her hands as his kiss deepened.
One little kiss and they’d gone straight to fast and furious.
Ha. There was nothing little about how Matthew was kissing her. Big. Huge. Gigantic. That was how his kisses felt.
That was how his body felt grinding against her.
Fireworks went off in her head, in her chest, her whole body, at his mouth moving over hers, at his hands sliding over her, tugging her blouse from her skirt and letting in a swoosh of welcome cool air across her sensitized flesh.
“I can’t believe you’re here, that we’re doing this,” she murmured as he traced kisses along her neck, her collarbone. She dug her fingers into his hair.
“You aren’t changing your mind, are you?” he breathed against the indentation at her throat, his tongue darting out to dip into the sensitive flesh.
Natalie quivered.
“No. Never.” She arched against his mouth. “This is what I have played over and over in my mind today.”
What she needed. Crazy, but she did need him—this virtual stranger who was setting her body on fire. His touch, his kiss, his full attention. His body grinding against hers, hard, lean, thrilling.
“Tell me what you want, Natalie,” he coaxed, pushing her blouse off her shoulders and letting the silky material pool around her red heels, revealing her lacy white camisole and matching bra beneath. Cupping her bottom, he bent, kissing the valley between her breasts. “Tell me what you’ve been imagining us doing.”
“That,” she breathed, running her fingers into his thick, inky dark hair and holding him to her breast. “I like that.”
That. That. That, her body screamed.
“Me, too.” Pushing aside her camisole and bra, he took a puckered nipple into his mouth and gave a gentle tug.
Natalie almost died. Or exploded. Or imploded. Or all of the above, so many sensations shot through her electrified body. His hands held urgency as he continued to caress her, his mouth claiming everything in its passionate path. Within breathless minutes he pushed her skirt up her hips to bunch at her waist so he could slide his hands inside her panties to cup her bottom once more.
Yeah, she wanted that, too.
His hands were hot on her skin, electrifying. She wanted him. Desperately. She kissed him with that desperation. Touched him with that desperation. Moved her body against his with that desperation. Her fingers found their way to his waist, to where he strained against his dress pants’ zipper. After a moment’s fumbling, she had his pants to where she could touch him. She explored what she craved to feel deep inside.
“Natalie,” he groaned. Or maybe he’d growled.
Either way, she’d never heard her name said as Matthew had just said it. Had never felt the power filling her at how he responded to her slightest touch.
“I like this, too,” she whispered close to his ear, in awe at how free she felt to touch him, at how uninhibited to give and take as she pleased. She’d never felt this freedom with Jonathan. She had always followed his lead rather than blazing a path of her own. “I like touching you and feeling your reaction and knowing I did that.”
He mumbled something against her throat, where his mouth was wreaking havoc on her nervous system, but she didn’t catch his words. They didn’t matter. His body was telling her all she needed to know.
“I like what you’re doing,” she continued, barely recognizing her voice, but further emboldened by the fervor of his kisses. “I like the way you’re touching me, as if you need to touch me.” She’d never felt more desirable than in this moment, than the way his touch made her feel. He made her feel beautiful, desirable, wanton even. Unlike anything she’d ever felt or would possibly ever feel again. The knowledge promised ecstasy.
“That makes two of us,” he assured her, between more ardent kisses.
“I like the way you’re looking at me,” she continued, her voice breathy, her fingers tightening around him. “As if you want to put every detail of me to memory.”
* * *
Matthew didn’t have to put every detail of Natalie to memory.
She was already there.
Every delectable inch of her.
He had no doubt he’d never forget what was happening. She was timeless, beautiful. Unforgettable.
Barely hanging on to his sanity, he took her hands into his, kissed her fingertips, then pressed against her. Eyes locked with his, her fingers moved to his shoulders, kneaded deep into his muscles as he grazed her lips with his teeth.
“More,” she breathed, arching into his touch. “I want more.”
Completely caught between him and the wall, she shifted her hips against him, pressing her upper body against the wall to give added pressure to the sensuous contact between their bodies.
A long leg slid up his, wrapped itself around his waist, pressing her pelvis more fully against where he throbbed.
Heaven help him.
They were barely inside her hotel room door and he was about to rip off her panties and take her like a madman. He’d meant to take her slow, to kiss her all over, and when she was ready, take them both over the edge.
Her body was ready now.
He could feel her damp heat burning into him and that reality undid every good intention he had of slow. Her mouth was against his now, hard and demanding. Her hands tugged at his shirt, managing to pull the material loose. He wasn’t sure if she’d unbuttoned it or popped every button. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was having her.
She made him manic, illogical, driven by physical need in ways he didn’t understand.
“Now,” she urged, her fingernails raking over his back, then gripping his buttocks to pull him tighter against her. “I want you inside me now.”
Matthew didn’t need to be told twice. Supporting her weight between his body and the wall, he reached into his sagging back pocket for his wallet, pulling out a condom.
“I only have one of these,” he confessed, ripping it open and making haste of putting it on. “I have the feeling I’m going to wish I had a dozen more before morning.”
Her eyes molten honey, Natalie kissed his mouth, hard, full of passion, and, keeping her eyes locked with his, she guided him to his own personal heaven.
* * *
Natalie’s boldness shocked her. Her boldness in how she touched Matthew, in how she wrapped both legs around his waist and took him deep inside her body with her skirt bunched at her waist and her panties pushed aside.
Her boldness in the things she said to him, in how vocal she was about what she wanted from him and to do to him.
Even more, she was shocked by how she bit down on his shoulder to keep from crying out as an orgasm rocked her body at his powerful thrusts.
Wave after wave of pleasure ripped through her.
If not for the wall, his strong body against hers, she’d have dropped to the floor to float her way back to the land of mere mortal beings.
She thought he’d climaxed with her, but he must have somehow held back. Rather than relax against her as she’d expected, he kept moving, pounding against her as she peaked in pleasure, then started the cataclysmic climb all over again, leaving her frantically moving against him until she went places she’d never been, to heights she’d never scaled, until she went into a blissful free fall that might go on for days.
Weeks.
Just when her orgasm began to spiral out of contr
ol, his willpower broke and her body became unwound with him, every nerve cell inside her zinging to life and exploding with a heated force so amazing she couldn’t believe her body remained intact.
Intact? More like turned inside out and back again.
From her biased, soaring view, this man lost in passion was a glorious thing.
A satisfied Matthew’s damp forehead dropping to rest against hers as he stared into her eyes was splendid. The way her body felt was beautiful. Everything felt so beautiful that Natalie wondered if orgasms were mind-altering.
Her mind had definitely been altered.
“If I’d known this was how it would be, we’d have never made it off the elevator.”
Looking a bit mind-altered himself, Matthew laughed. “You might be right.”
“Might be?” She squeezed her thighs, loving how his eyes darkened instantly in response. He kissed her forehead, and when his gaze met hers there was a contentment in his eyes that puffed up her chest.
She smiled at him with a confidence she didn’t understand, but that felt addictive. Yeah, they’d had amazing sex. This was the after part. Shouldn’t she feel awkward? Embarrassed by her daring?
She didn’t. She felt... She searched for a way to describe what she felt. More connected with him than with any person she’d ever known. How could she feel that way with someone she’d just met? Much freer than she’d ever been with Jonathan. She’d enjoyed their sex life, but, compared to what she had just experienced, sex with Jonathan had been boring. And not only because she’d just been pushed up against a wall still half-dressed and ravaged, rather than in bed with calm, intentional acts meant to please.
The way her body had responded was what had been different.
Matthew electrified every nerve ending, making her aware of every cell, every nuance of her body, of his body. She’d never had orgasms like those she’d just experienced. Maybe no woman had ever experienced orgasms like the ones Matthew had just given to her.
Whether it was how she’d admired his mind for years or how his sex appeal had toyed with her psyche from the moment she’d laid eyes on him, everything about this moment felt right. Perfect. For that, she hugged him.