Nightwind by Charlotte Boyett-Compo

Angeline’s swaying hips. “I think the lady likes to play games.” He
    brought Beth’s hand to his lips and touched her knuckles with his tongue, gazing at her from beneath his
    thick dark lashes. “Don’t you?” he whispered.
    Beth felt a tingle of pure sexual lust drive straight through her belly. His touch was like nothing she had
    ever experienced before and she wanted him, wanted him so badly she would have torn his clothes from
    him there on the dining room floor and devoured him had they been alone. She could show him what
    wickedness really meant.
    “Promises, promises.” He chuckled, eyeing her with interest.
    Beth jumped. Had he read her mind? From the hot look he was giving her, he must have guessed where
    her thoughts had skipped. She leaned against his taut body and felt the warmth of passion flood through
    her.
    “Would you like to come back to my apartment?” she asked, her mouth watering as she looked up into
    the dark planes of his incredibly handsome face.
    “Now?” he asked. He looked about him. “The party has just started.”
    “I can show you a better time than any party you’ve ever been at,” she whispered huskily.
    He arched a dark brow at her invitation. “I would imagine you’d try.”
    She felt slightly insulted by both the words he had spoken and the tone that had been just a touch short
    of condescending, but Beth ignored it, wanting him so desperately she was willing to strip naked before
    him at that very moment, the hell with the people milling around Allen Turnbridge’s home.
    “I’ll tell you what,” he said, taking his hand from hers. “You go on ahead and I’ll join you a bit later.” As
    she started to protest, he put his thumb on her bottom lip, shushing her as he stroked the velvet surface.
    “That will give me time to discharge my neighborly duties to our hosts and you time to prepare yourself
    for me.” His powerful hand cupped her chin. “Undress and wait for me in your bed.” He heard her draw
    in an eager breath. “I won’t be long.” He smiled wickedly.
    Beth nodded, unable to look away from the strange intensity of his dark stare. It was as though he were
    commanding her, bidding her to do his will. She felt lost in those deep brown eyes, beyond surrender to
    the gaze that filled them. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes.”
    He watched her go, her face filled with a lusty rapture that made people look at her as she passed. Her
    pupils were dilated almost as much as if she had been given a strong tranquilizer. He turned his back,
    dismissing her, and found Angeline staring at him, one perfectly tweezed brow lifted in challenge.
    His slow smile was all the answer Angeline needed.
    Lauren turned overin the bed, angrily fluffed up her pillow, mumbling to herself. She wasn’t any more
    comfortable in that position than she had been in the one she’d just restlessly left. She sat up, sighing
    angrily and stared for a long time into the dark shadows of her bedroom then she turned her head and
    looked at the bedside clock. It was only ten o’clock on a Saturday night and already she knew she’d had
    all the sleep she was likely to get. She was about to reach out to turn on the bedside lamp and read
    awhile, when the jingle of the phone brought a soft yip of startled surprise from her. She picked it up on
    the second ring. “Hello?”
    “Can’t you sleep?” he asked in that soft, gentle voice.
    Her heart slammed against her chest. “I’ve been trying,” she confessed. She heard his low laugh.
    “No sheep to count?”
    Lauren laughed. “I’m allergic to wool.”
    “Maybe you should try warm milk.”
    Lauren heard laughter and the tinkling of glassware in the background and she remembered the party he
    had invited her to attend with him. “Are you having a good time?” she asked, not knowing what else to
    say.
    “No.”
    “Why not?” she heard herself ask and felt stupid for doing so.
    “Because you’re not with me.”
    Something