she’d been waiting for. The moment when she got to triumph over what had happened six years ago. She had to seize it or she could well regret it for the rest of her life.
So she said the only thing that seemed important. ‘I don’t have any protection with me.’
‘Lord, I love practical women.’ He barked out a laugh. ‘Don’t worry, I came prepared, but the supplies are back at the hotel.’
He stroked his thumbs down her neck and gripped her bare shoulders in hot hands. ‘Are you sure about this?’
That he would ask, when it had to be obvious she was already a sure thing, gave her the courage to take that final leap into insanity.
She nodded.
‘Thank heaven for that,’ he said, grasping her hand and marching back across the balcony. ‘Let’s get the hell out of here. We’ve wasted enough time already.’
CHAPTER FIVE
M AC got to the hotel in eight minutes flat, driving the Porsche like a maniac as Juno sat trembling in the passenger seat. The scent of leather and man cocooned her in a world of the senses. She tried to focus only on the physical. The painful throb of her heartbeat, the sharp, heady fragrance of arousal that permeated the car and the rush of the warm night air in her hair as the dark countryside flashed past. She didn’t look at him. She couldn’t allow herself to think about consequences, about caution or practicality.
But as she rushed to follow his long strides through the hotel lobby and up the stairs to his suite her mind tumbled back to that long-ago summer. What if she were getting in over her head? What if she couldn’t handle what was going to happen?
She walked through the door into his suite and forced herself to remember she wasn’t that foolish girl any more. She’d grown up. She’d survived the very worst and now she was taking the next step. This night with Mac had nothing whatsoever to do with love or dreams. And everything to do with purely physical pleasure. Tony had stolen something from her all those years ago and now she was going to get it back. And that was all that mattered.
Mac didn’t ask her permission, he simply strolled through the suite’s drawing room into his bedroom, her hand stillclutched tight in his. He hadn’t said a word and neither had she since they’d left the château.
Her pulse pounded as he stripped off his jacket and threw it over a chair, then flicked up a switch on the wall. The light dazzled her for a second before he came into focus, looking imposingly masculine and out of place amid the room’s fussy antique furniture. Then her gaze snagged on the distinctive bulge in his trousers and she froze.
‘What is it?’
Her eyes shot to his face. ‘Nothing,’ she mumbled, feeling like a naïve fool as a whole new set of doubts crowded in.
What if she was terrible at this? What if she made a mistake? In the comforting shadows of the balcony, with him kissing her, holding her, the physical chemistry between them had seemed so simple, so natural, so right. But now, under the bright lights of his hotel bedroom, with his body so obviously hard and ready, it didn’t seem simple any more.
She knew next to nothing about sex. She hadn’t made love in six years and the little she remembered about that one brief liaison hadn’t exactly prepared her to sleep with a man like Mac Brody.
A man who’d probably had more good sex than she’d had hot dinners.
He placed a hand on her shoulder and she jumped.
‘Easy, darlin’,’ he said, stroking his thumb into the hollow of her collarbone. He pressed a kiss to her cheek. ‘Relax. This’ll be good for both of us, I promise.’ He took her hand, led her to the bed. ‘Let’s lie down. Take it slow and easy. I’m not going to jump you straight off. I swear.’
She couldn’t speak, the rapid beats of her heart hammering against her throat. If only he would jump her. Then she could get this over with quickly, before she lost her nerve completely.
He settled next to her, his long,
So she said the only thing that seemed important. ‘I don’t have any protection with me.’
‘Lord, I love practical women.’ He barked out a laugh. ‘Don’t worry, I came prepared, but the supplies are back at the hotel.’
He stroked his thumbs down her neck and gripped her bare shoulders in hot hands. ‘Are you sure about this?’
That he would ask, when it had to be obvious she was already a sure thing, gave her the courage to take that final leap into insanity.
She nodded.
‘Thank heaven for that,’ he said, grasping her hand and marching back across the balcony. ‘Let’s get the hell out of here. We’ve wasted enough time already.’
CHAPTER FIVE
M AC got to the hotel in eight minutes flat, driving the Porsche like a maniac as Juno sat trembling in the passenger seat. The scent of leather and man cocooned her in a world of the senses. She tried to focus only on the physical. The painful throb of her heartbeat, the sharp, heady fragrance of arousal that permeated the car and the rush of the warm night air in her hair as the dark countryside flashed past. She didn’t look at him. She couldn’t allow herself to think about consequences, about caution or practicality.
But as she rushed to follow his long strides through the hotel lobby and up the stairs to his suite her mind tumbled back to that long-ago summer. What if she were getting in over her head? What if she couldn’t handle what was going to happen?
She walked through the door into his suite and forced herself to remember she wasn’t that foolish girl any more. She’d grown up. She’d survived the very worst and now she was taking the next step. This night with Mac had nothing whatsoever to do with love or dreams. And everything to do with purely physical pleasure. Tony had stolen something from her all those years ago and now she was going to get it back. And that was all that mattered.
Mac didn’t ask her permission, he simply strolled through the suite’s drawing room into his bedroom, her hand stillclutched tight in his. He hadn’t said a word and neither had she since they’d left the château.
Her pulse pounded as he stripped off his jacket and threw it over a chair, then flicked up a switch on the wall. The light dazzled her for a second before he came into focus, looking imposingly masculine and out of place amid the room’s fussy antique furniture. Then her gaze snagged on the distinctive bulge in his trousers and she froze.
‘What is it?’
Her eyes shot to his face. ‘Nothing,’ she mumbled, feeling like a naïve fool as a whole new set of doubts crowded in.
What if she was terrible at this? What if she made a mistake? In the comforting shadows of the balcony, with him kissing her, holding her, the physical chemistry between them had seemed so simple, so natural, so right. But now, under the bright lights of his hotel bedroom, with his body so obviously hard and ready, it didn’t seem simple any more.
She knew next to nothing about sex. She hadn’t made love in six years and the little she remembered about that one brief liaison hadn’t exactly prepared her to sleep with a man like Mac Brody.
A man who’d probably had more good sex than she’d had hot dinners.
He placed a hand on her shoulder and she jumped.
‘Easy, darlin’,’ he said, stroking his thumb into the hollow of her collarbone. He pressed a kiss to her cheek. ‘Relax. This’ll be good for both of us, I promise.’ He took her hand, led her to the bed. ‘Let’s lie down. Take it slow and easy. I’m not going to jump you straight off. I swear.’
She couldn’t speak, the rapid beats of her heart hammering against her throat. If only he would jump her. Then she could get this over with quickly, before she lost her nerve completely.
He settled next to her, his long,
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