Her taffeta skirts rustled softly as they encountered his tuxedo-clad legs. Against the dark material of her bodice, her pale skin gleamed like the pearls around her throat. He recalled when they’d first met how he’d fantasize about dancing with her. Without prompting, Caroline lifted her arms and aligned her every curve to his hard body. He circled her waist, placing his palms on the small of her back to draw her closer.
As they began to sway to the music, her fingers drifted into the hair behind his ear. Simon closed his eyes to better savor the soft press of her breasts against his chest, the tantalizing brush of her thigh against his, and the soothing stroke of her fingers. She felt glorious in his arms as she relaxed, almost boneless against him.
The music ended way before Simon was ready to release her. But her next words made his disappointment disappear.
“Would it be okay if we went home?”
Chapter Nine
Any hope that she’d made the request because she wanted to be alone with him died the second he brushed a strand of hair off her cheek and noticed how pale she looked. “Are you okay?”
“Just a little tired.” She offered him a wan smile. “I think all the excitement of the past few days has caught up to me.”
Simon caught sight of Sarah as he escorted Caroline toward the front door. “I’m going to take Caroline home. Are you ready to leave?”
Hannah appeared at Sarah’s side. “Are you kidding?” She pumped her arms and waggled her hips. “It’s barely nine-thirty. I don’t turn into a pumpkin until at least midnight.”
Sarah laughed. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but you’ve already turned into a pumpkin.”
Seeing Caroline hiding a yawn behind her hand, Simon cut into their good-natured ribbing. “I’ll drop Caroline off and come back to pick you guys up.”
“I’m sorry that we had to leave so early,” she said softly as he drove away from the country club. She rested her head against the back of the seat and closed her eyes.
“It’s fine.” Concern for her sent a discordant buzz along his nerves. He cursed his inattentiveness. Why hadn’t he kept a closer eye on her and prevented her from sampling the punch?
She was equally quiet when they arrived home, but seemed to have regained some of her energy. He held her hand as they walked up the staircase to the second floor. With her soft body pressed against his side, he surrendered to the growing sense of peace that she roused. At the bedroom door, she tightened her grip on his hand and drew him into the room with her.
With his body a tightly strung bow of desire, Simon clenched his teeth and resisted his instincts. She wasn’t in any condition to be seduced. But what if she had been? Simon rejected the question and reined in his libido.
Moonlight streamed through the two windows on either side of the bed, leaving the rest of the room in shadow. Caroline walked to the foot of the bed and let her wrap slip to the padded bench.
“Would you mind lighting the fire?” She rubbed her bare arms. “I’m a little chilly.”
“Of course.”
Glad for the distraction, he struck a conveniently placed match, and touched flame to kindling. The wood had been arranged to catch easily and within minutes he had a blaze going. When he turned back to Caroline, she stood in a patch of moonlight, her skin aglow in the pale radiance. She turned her back to him.
“Could you help me with the zipper? I think it’s stuck.”
Relentless urges tugged at his willpower as he stepped behind her. Her unique scent filled his nostrils and clouded his mind. She bowed her head as he began to slide the zipper downward. Simon concentrated on the vulnerable nape of her neck to keep his eyes off the amount of skin being bared by the downward motion of his hand. Beneath the dress she wore a strapless black bra. When the zipper was at the middle of her back, Simon told himself to stop and let her finish the task, but he couldn’t bring himself to quit until the bodice gaped all the way to the top of her lacy black panties.
Mesmerized by the delicate bumps of her spine, his gaze traveled the skin his hands longed to explore. The contrast of ebony cloth and moonlit skin sucker punched him in the gut. As he reeled beneath the onslaught of longing, his hands spanned her narrow hips. With his emotions off balance, he fought the craving to pull her against his growing erection. When was the last time he’d hesitated to take advantage of such a perfect setup? A half-naked woman. An empty house. If he slid his lips into the place where her shoulder and neck came together, would she tremble in his arms?
“The zipper’s down,” he said unnecessarily, releasing her hips, the ache of loss in his fingers a powerful thing. He raked those fingers into his hair and pleaded for the strength to do what was right.
She turned to face him, clutching the bodice to her chest, her eyes dark and unfathomable as she surveyed his expression.
“Thank you.” As abrupt as a gunshot she let the dress fall.
It pooled around her ankles like a dark cloud. She stepped out of it and kicked it aside.
As elegant in bra, lace panties and thigh-hig
h stockings as she had been in the gown, Caroline lifted her arms and began pulling pins from her hair. Simon grabbed her wrists, intending to stop her and wound up arching her body against his. She melted, as fluid as a river, her heat and hunger flowing into him, weaving a seductive spell around his willpower, weakening it.
“What are you doing?” he murmured in helpless fascination, his breath caressing her temple. He dared not release her wrists, but there was no stopping the quest of his lips for her skin. His mouth slipped down her cheek to her jaw where he lightly tasted the tender area just below her ear.
“Getting undressed.”