by Nina Blake
Not long after dinner, the two older couples excused themselves for an early night and Conrad thought perhaps he and Bree should do the same. She had already stood up and Conrad rose to join her, his hand reaching across to hold hers.
Her gaze met his, the hint of a smile washing across her lush parted lips. She beckoned him with eyes glimmering with desire, her pale skin aglow, her whole face smouldering.
“You’re not leaving, are you?” Daniels asked.
“We’ve had a long day.” Conrad squeezed Bree’s hand.
“But I’ve just ordered a cognac for us. The waiter’s bringing them over. It’s the least I can do after your hospitality this evening. Surely you’ll have one quick drink with me. Just so I can say thank you.”
It didn’t sound like an unreasonable request.
“Would you like to stay a little longer?” Conrad asked Bree quietly. She shook her head, hardly a surprising response. He added, “Then I’ll meet you in your room.”
Conrad was still standing, watching the gentle sway of Bree’s hips and the soft rippling of the fine skin of her bare back as she left when he heard Daniels ask Shannon to leave.
When she was out of her fiancé’s line of sight, the young woman lowered her eyelids and flicked her tongue across her top lip as she passed Conrad. Now there was an invitation he could resist.
“To Il Bosco.” Daniels raised his glass. “May the best man win.”
Conrad had no doubt as to who would win and tossed back a gulp of the rich amber cognac.
“The jewels Bree was wearing must have cost a pretty packet,” Daniels said. “How much were they?”
“That question is too gauche to answer.”
“Is she worth it?”
Conrad slammed his glass down on the table and spoke slowly, his eyes flaring at Trevor Daniels. “You have no idea.”
“Oh, yes I do. I think I’m in a position to say what I want since you spent most of the evening flirting with my fiancée.”
“Is that what this is all about? Sorry, mate, but you’ve got it the wrong way around.”
“You might be rich, Conrad, but you’re not the kind of man Shannon would be interested in.”
He’d had enough. “I’m not interested in Shannon. I don’t want your used goods.”
“Like Bree?”
“What do you mean ‘like Bree’?”
Daniels’s laugh reverberated through the night air. “What? She didn’t tell you? We went out together for two years.”
Conrad stood and strode towards Bree’s room.
The night wasn’t over yet.
Chapter six
Conrad slammed the door of Bree’s room behind him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
After everything he’d said about respecting her privacy, she’d expected him to knock before entering and certainly hadn’t anticipated his outraged question or demanding tone of voice.
Bree knew immediately it was something to do with Trevor. She didn’t know what he’d said or why he would badmouth her behind her back when he’d supposedly moved on. But there was no doubt this was Trevor’s doing.
She’d had a bad feeling about it when Conrad agreed to have a drink with the man. She should have trusted her instincts and refused to leave them alone together or, better still, convinced Conrad to come back to her room with her. After all, that was what she had wanted all along.
He walked straight in and stopped in front of her.
“This isn’t your room,” she said. “Why didn’t you knock?”
“Why should I?”
She pointed towards the door. “I want you to leave.”
Conrad stood only inches away from her, his tall masculine form towering over her. She had the urge to step back but the bed was behind her and she had nowhere to go.
“Why didn’t you tell me he was your boyfriend?” he asked.
“Why should I? He’s not my boyfriend any more and I can assure you we didn’t part on amicable terms.”
“What else are you hiding?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. That dinner wasn’t my idea. None of this was my idea. You were the one who invited me up here.”
“And it’s such a coincidence that Trevor Daniels just happened to turn up at the same time.” His voice was filled with sarcasm. “There are only five rooms at The Residence and he just happened to take one of them. I don’t think so.”
“How should I know why he’s here? I haven’t spoken to him for months but since you’re both involved in bidding for Il Bosco, I don’t think coincidence has anything to do with it. I’m sure he’s here because of his client. Maybe he has some business up here. Maybe they gave him a free trip out of the goodness of their hearts. Whatever the answer, I really wouldn’t know.”
His eyes were daggers. “So you knew he was involved in a rival bid for Il Bosco?”
“I knew that was one of the things he was working on several months ago but I really have no idea about his current clients or projects. And anyway, the way you talked about Il Bosco you led me to believe the deal was in the bag.”
“You still haven’t answered my question. Why didn’t you tell me you were intimately involved with that man?”
“Have you told me about every relationship you’ve ever had? I doubt it.”
“There’s a difference. My ex-girlfriends haven’t turned up at such an inopportune time.”
She’d done nothing yet was being accused of much. As if she even wanted to see Trevor again and be reminded of her own inadequacies, of the many reasons why she was below him, why she would never be marriage material.
She’d assumed Conrad had known she’d gone out with Trevor but now she wasn’t so sure. Perhaps she’d jumped to the conclusion that since he also knew Trevor, Conrad was also aware of their past relationship.
She’d been wrong but that didn’t mean there was any ill intent on her part and she wasn’t going to let Conrad get away with it.
Bree relaxed her shoulders and met his steely gaze with her own. “You know, you haven’t mentioned anything at all about any woman you’ve been with. That’s quite an omission for a man with your reputation. You’ve had lots of women.”
“If you’re talking about the reports in the social pages, I really wouldn’t believe everything you read.”
“They may exaggerate but they have some basis in fact. The stories don’t come out of nowhere.”
He tilted his head. “I used to have lots of women, Bree. The papers were probably right when they called me a playboy but I don’t play that game any more. I’m simply not interested.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You could’ve fooled me. You haven’t exactly made it clear to me from the start that you’re not interested in sleeping with me. Quite the opposite.”
“No, I haven’t. I didn’t plan on making a promise I had no intention of keeping.”
Her lips parted in surprise. “So you brought me up here to sleep with me?”
“Is that such a crime?”
Conrad was committing no crime but the decision wasn’t his. It was hers.
She held his gaze. “And what makes you so sure I wish to sleep with you?”
“That’s the million dollar question.”
Could she trust him? He made her feel she was different from the other women he knew but was that truly the case?
“I didn’t get the chance to tell you Trevor was my ex,” she said. “Not when Shannon spent most of the evening flirting with you. It was slightly distracting to say the least.”
“She’s nothing but a little gold digger. She was interested in me as soon as she got a sniff of what I was worth. She’s so shallow she didn’t even make any effort to hide it.”
How had they come to this misunderstanding? That’s all it was, a misunderstanding. Neither of them had intended anything bad.
“I thought you knew,” she said.
“What?”
“When we first walked into the lounge area and Trevor and Shannon were having
cocktails, you clearly knew who Trevor was and I assumed you knew we used to be together.”
“Did you think I’d care? Did you think it’d make that much difference to me that you used to go out with him?”
Bree lowered her eyelids but her voice was still crisp and clear. “I don’t know what I thought. I’m still in shock from it all. I didn’t find out what kind of person he was until we broke up and now I can’t believe I went out with a man like him. I had no idea.”
“Is that the truth? You thought I knew about him?”
Bree nodded. Conrad slipped his hands onto her waist and waited until she raised her gaze to meet his eyes. “Is that really how you feel about him now?”
“Believe me, I’d be happy if I never saw him again.”
“I hope your taste in men has improved,” he said dryly.
There was a delicious pause between them, a moment in limbo where anything might happen. It was a little snippet of time during which there was an absence of commitment. He might push her away or he might consume her.
Suddenly that moment was over.
Conrad pulled her closer. She slid her hands up his arms and twisted them around the back of his neck, their mouths colliding in a hot, heady kiss. He flicked his tongue inside her mouth and she rolled hers against the soft suede of his.
His body pressed against hers, it was as if they were the only two people in the world. There was nothing else. Only their bodies intertwined, their tongues gliding against each other, their mouths open as they struggled to get enough of the other.
A current of electricity surged through her body, her nipples tingling, a thrill shooting through to the most feminine parts of her body.
She wanted him and she would have him.
Pushing him away, she undid the buttons of his shirt, one by one. She roughly pulled the shirt tail from out of his trousers, jerked the white fabric off his torso and threw it away.
This was how she wanted him. Undressed, bare chested before her, muscles rippling with each small movement, his arms reaching forward to take her.
Conrad threw them into another intoxicating kiss, ravishing her, making her feel he couldn’t get enough of her. She slid her body against his, her breasts crushed against his chest, the flimsy fabric of her dress the only barrier between them.
He trailed kisses down her neck, devouring her throat, his breath hot and moist on her skin. His hand slid across her breast as he cupped its fullness through the fabric of her dress. A little cry of pleasure escaped Bree’s lips.
She felt his hands wandering across her breasts, her waist, her hips, settling in the small of her back as he slowly slid down the zipper of her dress.
His mouth returned to the curve of her neck as he nuzzled against it. He slid his hands gently across her neckline, his fingers slipping inside it and over her shoulders so her dress slid down into a pool around her feet.
Conrad stood looking at her nearly naked form, her sheer black knickers the only thing that covered her. His hands were on her waist but his eyes slipped across her whole body.
“The only thing that could make you look more beautiful,” he whispered into her ear, “is being completely naked.”
He skimmed his fingertips over the fine fabric of her underwear, sending an exquisite shudder up her spine. His touch was so gentle it was torture. His fingers slid under the flimsy material. He kept touching her. A muffled moan stuck in her throat.
There was only one way and that was all the way.
She hooked her thumbs into the band of her panties and slid them down over her hips, kicking off both the flimsy underwear and her high heeled shoes.
“Is this naked enough for you?” she said.
Conrad’s response was to cover her mouth with his. Wrapping his arms around her naked body, he lifted her up and tossed her onto the bed.
In a wild frenzy, he ripped off the rest of his clothes and stood at the foot of the bed in all his masculine glory while she reclined back, admiring the vision before her. His shoulders were broad and strong, his chest well muscled, his abdominals rippling with the slightest movement.
Conrad looked magnificent in his nakedness. To Bree, nothing had ever seemed so natural, so wonderful.
From the foot of the bed, he brushed one hand softly across her leg and up her inner thigh, the bare flesh quivering with anticipation. Conrad was now on his knees on the bed. His tongue joined his fingers as they explored her body.
His hands floated across the sensitive skin of her breasts, his fingers circling her aching nipples. Then he lunged at one nipple with his lips, pulling it into his mouth ferociously while his other hand cupped and massaged her other breast.
If it hadn’t been so damn pleasurable it would have been pain.
Bree’s body writhed against his. He nudged his legs between hers and hovered over her on all fours. She reached down to run her fingers over his manly length and hold him in her hands. She caressed him, enjoying his moans.
“Do you like that?” she whispered.
He nodded.
“Are there other things you like?” She paused. “Have you ever been tied up?”
Bree had never done anything like this before but tonight she’d do this her way.
She would not be taken, and she certainly would not be bought.
He was hers. She would have him.
Sliding out from under him, she reached across to grab the two silk scarves sitting on the bedside table. Conrad stared at her as he reclined on his side but she ignored his quizzical expression. Instead she pushed his shoulder so he fell back onto the bed.
She worked quickly, tying one scarf onto his wrist, then stretching the fabric across to the bed post. She tied the other scarf the same way into a firm knot, but just how firm she didn’t know. Would he be able to escape?
“Bree, do you know what you’re doing?” he asked.
Her voice was a whisper. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”
He was physically strong, forceful in more ways than one. Wealthy and successful, perhaps he was right and she truly had no idea what could be bought with resources like his.
He was a powerful man and she had him at her mercy.
This was what she wanted, what she’d been waiting for.
She’d switched their positions completely as she now hovered over him on all fours. “You think you’re my client. Now I’m the master.”
Nestling up against him, she pressed her lips against his and kissed him with surprising tenderness. She peppered little kisses along his neck and chest. She nuzzled her lips over his nipples. They puckered up instantly so she sucked on them gently.
She continued her exploration of his body, trailing little kisses down to his belly button and lower still.
Her breast accidentally swept against the bulge of his genitals, sending a charge through her and perhaps a greater one through him.
Looking at Conrad through hooded lids, she paused as though waiting for permission.
“Don’t stop,” he mumbled.
As if she was going to.
She went down on him, taking him into her mouth. She heard him panting, his heart rate increasing, and took pleasure in his sexual excitement.
Bree felt her own sensual pleasure increasing, currents of electricity shooting through to the hot moist flesh between her thighs.
“I want to be inside you,” Conrad said.
She took her position and hovered over him on her knees, her legs parted. With his length in her hand, she brushed him up against herself and gasped at the exquisite pleasure. She repeated the movement. Another hot sensual current shot through her.
A few more stokes and she screamed out, deep sexual pleasure radiating through her body in waves. She’d never had an orgasm so quickly.
Conrad pushed himself up and slipped inside her with ease. They were rocking in unison. Renewed pleasure surged through her body.
There was a hot sexual ache deep inside her which only he could relieve. He thrust deep
er, more quickly, their need more urgent. She gasped for air, the tension too much for her. She couldn’t believe it as burning sexual pleasure once again pulsed through her body into the waves of a climax even more intense than before.
Opening her eyes just in time, she watched with delight as she saw Conrad’s orgasm rocketing through him. Knowing he felt the same way and had the same pleasure surging through his body made her feel closer to him, if that were possible.
She lifted her hips, separating their two bodies, then lowered herself onto the glistening skin of his bare chest.
She flinched for a moment as his body jerked and he ripped the scarves from the bedposts to which they’d been secured.
“You could have escaped whenever you wanted,” she said.
Conrad wrapped his arms around her, rolling her onto her side. “Why would I have wanted to get away?”
She closed her eyes. “I thought I was in charge.”
“That’s what I wanted you to think but that was only round one. You’re not getting off that easy.”
Bree smiled. She’d never had such an intense sexual experience before and wasn’t sure her body could stand a second assault. She didn’t know what to say.
He then loosened his hold on her and slid one hand over her shoulders and across her pale breast, her nipple puckering in response even before he reached it.
“I can still take you on,” she teased.
Conrad held her gaze with his own. “This time I want you completely naked.”
“But I am.”
He shook his head, propping himself up to slowly remove her earrings. He slipped his hands to the nape of her neck and unclasped the necklace, placing the items by the jewellery box on the bedside table.
His lips curled to a gentle smile. “I want you to keep these.”
“Conrad, I can’t accept something like that.”
“It’s a gift.”
“Or is it payment? Is this the price you’ve paid for me?”
He grabbed her arm brusquely. “Is that what you think? This has nothing to do with money.”