by Mia Caldwell
Sabela shook her head. “It’s like it’s a different world here.”
Colin reached across the table and took her hand, setting off a cascade of pleasurable pinpricks up his arm. “It is a different world than what you’re used to. And it has many things well worth exploring.”
From her expression, he knew she didn’t miss the innuendo. He was mesmerized by her face. Everything that she was thinking and feeling was right there on the surface for him to read, transparent and honest. An open book the likes of which he had never before read, Sabela was a story he couldn’t get enough of.
Why did she have to be a Vaughn?
The sommelier brought the wine and poured it for them. Sabela watched him closely, taking in everything.
When they had their glasses, Colin raised his. “To unexpected beginnings and fortune in the unfortunate.”
“I’ll toast to that,” Sabela said.
Their glasses clinked. Sabela sipped and sighed in obvious pleasure, which pleased Colin.
“You know, I have a lot of questions I’ve been wanting to ask you, but it seems like I never get a chance,” she said.
“No time like the present. Ask away.”
“What do you do? For a living, I mean. You obviously have a ton of money. If it’s not too personal, what did you do to get it? Have you always been rich?”
“I’m in the hospitality industry, like François,” Colin replied, fine with disclosing a few, vague details. Sabela couldn’t know too much more. “I inherited a bar from my uncle and turned it into an international chain.”
“Did you know anything about that kind of business when you started?” Sabela asked.
“Not much. I’d been employed by my uncle for a while, but I mostly learned on the fly. You do what you have to do, as you know so well.”
Without schooling or any degrees to speak of, Colin had learned it all on his own, and he was proud of that. Business came to him naturally, and he exploited those talents to guarantee his future.
“What did you do before you inherited the bar?” Sabela asked.
“I was young, so unless you count a paper route and some fry cook work, I hadn’t done much.”
“You worked as a fry cook?” Sabela’s mouth fell open.
Colin couldn’t help but grin. “For a while, just to pay some bills. Eventually everything came together for me all at once, and I made some investments that paid off handsomely. Before I truly realized what I was doing, I’d made my first million. I’m happy to say I have a better idea of what I’m doing these days.”
“I can’t believe it.” She shook her head. “I can’t see you all greasy in a cap and a uniform. It’s just not you.”
“I vastly prefer suits, but it’s a uniform all the same.”
“I guess so, when you put it that way. Am I asking too many questions?”
“I’m actually glad you’re doing it,” he said.
They chatted amiably and munched on the crusty bread and crudités that had been delivered. Before too long, the waiter arrived with the hors-d’oeuvres, one of Colin’s favorites, Coquilles Saint-Jacques, scallops and mushrooms in a cream sauce and topped with Gruyere cheese. As Colin expected, it was delectable.
But the delicate skin of Sabela’s thigh was even more wonderful. He traced the skin of her knee and moved the hem of her dress carefully up her thigh just a couple of inches. He studied her wide-eyed expression and the slow way she swallowed as if to calm herself. She didn’t try to stop him from touching her.
She pulled off a hunk of the crunchy bread with trembling fingers. “It’s delicious,” she said, and nibbled daintily.
Colin watched her plump lips and felt a twinge down low when her pink tongue flicked out to lick off the flaky crumbs the bread had left behind. It was getting warm, he thought. Best to cool himself down. He took his hand off her thigh and reached for the wine.
“So,” he said, “do you have any other questions for me right now?”
She cut off a tiny bit of scallop. “I’m surprised you’re encouraging me to be nosy.”
“It’s a good thing. Like I said before, I’m glad of it.”
“Why?” She took a bite of the scallop then moaned and closed her eyes in seeming bliss. He wondered if she knew what she was doing to him, the temptress.
He cleared his throat. “Er, we’ll have company at the chalet soon. The more you understand and know about me, the better you’ll come across as my girlfriend,” he said.
“You’re going to introduce me to some of your business associates?”
“I’m not just here in Switzerland for the skiing,” Colin said. “I generally have more than one agenda with everything I do.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Why? What’s wrong with keeping things simple?”
“Simple never made a fortune.”
She appeared to consider that for a moment, then shrugged. “I guess you’d know better than I do. I’ll have to take your word for it.”
Their conversation was interrupted when a large, boisterous man in a white chef’s coat appeared beside the table and threw his arms in the air. Colin smiled at him.
“So this is the demanding customer who requires food that isn’t on the menu?” François Beaudoin snapped, his dark, unruly hair sticking out wildly from under his chef’s hat. “What am I going to do with you? I should have you thrown out onto the street.”
Colin laughed and stood up as he embraced his friend.
“François, it has been too long.”
“Well, yes, especially since you are jet-setting all over the world. You forget about those of us back here at home.”
Colin saw his friend’s gaze dart to Sabela. There was no better time for a test run than the present. If Sabela could come across as his girlfriend to a friend, she’d do just fine when presented to the suits Colin would be entertaining.
“François, this is Sabela Vaughn. Sabela, this is Chef François Beaudoin.”
Colin suppressed a flair of jealousy when François bent to kiss Sabela’s hand. It was how things were done, but he still didn’t like it.
Her skin was for him and him alone to touch.
Sabela would end the evening in his bed. He would make sure of it.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
SABELA LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF her dinner with Colin. He was an entertaining conversationalist and had her laughing at his stories of all the strange things he had encountered traveling the world.
The delicious food had been the cherry on top. Chef Beaudoin was a genius. Rich and delectable, every bite of the eccentric man’s food was beyond delightful. Half the time Sabela didn’t know what she was eating, but she did know that whatever it was, it was fantastic.
The meal concluded with heavenly, airy cream puffs and a chocolate sauce that put Marie’s awesome hot chocolate to shame. The puffs and sauce were the perfect sweetness, and Sabela probably could have eaten a dozen of them.
Colin’s hand on her thigh through the course of the evening sweetened matters even more.
Underneath the table, he stroked her knee and grazed the skin of her inner thigh. He pushed her dress up a couple of inches, both tantalizing and worrying her. But he didn’t go any further, both relieving and disappointing her.
That’s how it was with Colin, always six of one and half dozen of another.
Sabela was acutely aware of how close his fingers were to that intimate center between her legs.
He acted as if he wasn’t aware of what he was doing to her, but she knew better. He kept talking, and there were several times that she had stuttered or missed the flow of conversation because she was so hyper aware of what he was doing to her underneath the table.
A few times, she had caught him smirking to himself when she grew too flustered to continue.
Flustered wasn’t the right word. More like aroused, achingly aroused. His teasing was driving her mad.
After dessert, François came back out from the kitchen and caught them at coat check.
Both she and Colin embraced him before they left.
Sabela liked the easy-going chef. He seemed an interesting counter to Colin’s usually cool aloofness. If a man like that was such good friends with Colin that he could tease him one moment and come out and hug him goodbye the next, she believed her theory wasn’t all that far from the truth.
Somewhere, a thorn was pricking at Colin and making him bearish. It was up to her to find it and extract it.
By the time they were in the car and headed back to the chalet, snow had begun to fall. The partition was raised between themselves and Bruno.
“More fresh powder,” Colin said. “Don’t worry about the pass. Bruno is a master at driving in these conditions.”
Sabela wasn’t nervous about the road. Colin, on the other hand, and her attraction to him … that was another matter.
“I’ve been thinking about having a drink when we get back to the chalet,” Colin said, words spoken in a low, husky tone. “What would you think about joining me for a little scotch?”
And there it was. An unmistakable proposition. Sabela’s mind instantly returned to the last time they’d shared a scotch, and she knew exactly what that would entail tonight. She recalled his hands on her body and how they made her feel. Little shivers raced over her skin at the memory.
She wanted him.
Colin’s hand played over her knee again. Her panties were already soaked with desire. She was barely holding it together, and he had hardly touched her.
She swallowed hard. “I think that sounds like a great idea,” she managed to squeak out.
Colin leaned into her. His lips brushed against hers, and a low moan rose in the back of her throat. He skimmed his lips against her earlobe.
His voice was low and throaty. “As long as you’re not too buzzed from the wine.”
“I’m not buzzed at all.” Not from the wine, anyway.
She could feel her skin start to flush, and her breath quicken as his hand traced up her thigh, so close to the heat between her legs. Sabela didn’t think she could trust herself to speak anymore.
“Good,” Colin whispered, “because I’d hate to cut tonight short.”
His other hand settled on the curve of her waist, and his lips were on hers again. This was different than the night before. His lips weren’t tentative or exploring.
They were plundering.
He claimed her then, and she opened her mouth without reservation. Each kiss brought her to the edge of desire, only to end and leave her craving more. Sabela tried to suppress her whimpers of desire, but they sneaked out nonetheless.
Colin looked deeply into her eyes before grazing his hand up her side. She knew that even in the car’s dim light he would be able to see her nipples stretching against the silk of her dress. She didn’t mind.
Let him see what he did to her. Let him see that she needed him.
Sabela wasn’t ashamed of herself or of her desire.
She ran her hands over his broad, hard shoulders, and over the carved planes of his back.
Colin’s gaze swept up and down her body, even as his hands roamed boldly across the exposed skin of her thigh.
The trip back to the chalet vanished in a sequence of toe curling kisses and teasing caresses. It seemed like moments later they were at the driveway.
Sabela straightened her dress and tried to gain control of her breathing as Bruno walked around the car and opened the door. Colin kept her close to him as he pulled her out of the car and escorted her into the chalet.
They tossed their coats on a settee in the hallway. Sabela was trying to figure out how she would keep a lock on her emotions if she saw Marie or anyone else waiting for them, but thankfully there was no one along the way.
She followed Colin to their wing of the chalet, and hesitated only slightly when they reached the door to her room. Tonight wasn’t supposed to end like this. They were supposed to have a drink. Had he changed his mind?
But he pulled her past it, lips curled with mischief. Sabela’s heart raced. There was only one door further down the hallway.
The one that led to Colin’s bedroom.
Colin pushed the double doors open and stood in the threshold. He looked at her, and his devilish grin grew.
It was an invitation.
All she had to do was step through the doorway.
She wanted him. He knew it as much as she did. The storm of desire that had been growing between them had turned into a full-blown blizzard tonight. She didn’t want to stop what had been started.
Sabela stepped into the room, and he closed the door behind her.
This was it. She’d made her choice.
Colin was a good person; she was sure of it.
“That dress,” Colin remarked as he circled her. He was wild, beastly, riled by his arousal. “Where did you get it from?”
“You gave it to me,” she replied, unsure of what he was doing. She twisted to follow him as he circled.
“I thought so. I’d like it back, please.”
The request caught her off-guard, and Sabela inhaled sharply. Hand trembling, she reached down to lift the hem when Colin grabbed her wrist gently.
“No,” he said. “Not like that.”
“Then how?”
“I want you to do it slowly. Take your time. And if you’re inclined to touch yourself, all the better.”
The words were a cool command, but his tone was heated. Sabela’s heart skipped a beat. Beyond the cool, hardened exterior, Colin Morgan was drop dead sexy, all heat.
Nervous but invigorated all at once, Sabela stepped past him and took her first look at his room. A fire burned in a large marble fireplace across from Colin’s king sized bed, a massive, carved wood four poster that probably weighed a ton. Richly-colored rugs and dark leather furniture gave the place a masculine air.
Like in her room, there were huge plate glass windows that undoubtedly offered a magnificent view in daylight. In the dark, like now, they were black mirrors that reflected her own self back at her. She could see Colin standing behind her, head slightly lowered, intent on her body.
Colin moved to a chair next to the fire. He indicated for her to come closer. Sabela did.
She understood that the tone of their relationship had changed yet again. There was something different about how he looked at her now. The predator had come out to play.
But this time she did not shy away.
Sabela had never done anything like this before for anyone. She nervously bit her lower lip, and Colin waited.
Heart thudding, nerves racing, Sabela turned her back to him with a sultry swing of her hips. No sense giving him the whole show right away. The she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
She could do this.
She wanted to do this.
She wanted Colin to want her like he had never wanted any woman before.
Sabela rocked her hips back and forth in a slow, deliberate manner. She ran her hands over her curves and up her sides. “Could you unzip me, please?”
His response was a gruff affirmative. He slowly pulled the zipper all the way down to her lower back. The bodice of the dress grew slack against her chest, her crossed arms holding it in place. Sabela turned, the slow roll of her hips timing her turn, so that she faced Colin again.
The way his gaze darted across her as if to watch her every movement was mesmerizing. Sabela felt powerful. He had given the command, but she was the one in control.
Her hands still clasping the bodice of the dress, she teased him, trailing her fingertips down along her collarbones and across the rounds of her breasts. The bodice did not yet fall, but it was getting close.
Colin watched her intently, and shifted slightly in his chair.
There was nowhere for her hands to go but down. Sabela let her hands fall away from the bodice to allow the fabric to fall. Beneath it she wore a black slip.
It was just enough to give the illusion that she was wearing clothes.
She hooked her thumbs
into the fabric of the dress and slowly pushed it down her body and around her thighs as if she were caressing herself. From the way Colin couldn’t take his gaze from her, she knew that the show was going well. She pushed the material lower.
Sabela took a step forward and left the garment on the floor. She moved her hands behind her slender neck and did a slow, sultry stretch and arched her back, which she knew would immediately bring his gaze to her chest. She leaned forward and glided her hands down her thighs. Then up again bringing the hem of her slip with them.
Colin leaned forward in his seat. It was close to intoxicating to know that she was the only thing in his world in that moment. She dropped the slip.
Sabela turned so that her body was silhouetted by the firelight. She put her hands on the fireplace mantle and slowly rotated her hips again so that the shimmering slip caught the flickering light.
Ready to take things further, she looked at Colin over her shoulder. He had moved closer to the edge of his chair. His hands flexed on his knees.
She pushed the bodice of her slip down so that one of her breasts was exposed to the air, but he could not see it. Then she turned slightly to her left. Colin would only be able to see the silhouette of her breast and hardened nipple.
The other side of the bodice slipped down. Without the curve of her breasts to keep the slip up, it fell to the floor in a silken pool around her feet. She slowly stepped out of it and kicked the slip off to the side.
The only clothes left on her body was a pair of silky panties, little more than a scrap of fabric between her and total nudity. Sabela was exposed in a way that she had never been before, but instead of feeling uncomfortable and awkward, she was empowered.
A puff of air against her back signaled Colin’s presence. Sabela gasped as his hands settled onto her hips.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“WHO KNEW THAT YOU WERE such a tease,” he growled against the crook of her neck. His hips pushed against her ass, and his arousal was evident.
It was as impressive as what she had felt the night before.