The Playboy's Proposition

“Not so bad, is it?” he asked.

“No, it’s…” She took a deep breath.

He continued to touch her, sliding his hands over the sides of her waist and down over her hips. A slow drag of want pulled through her, starting below her skin and fanning out. Although he hadn’t touched them, her breasts grew heavy and her nipples tightened.

Surprise slid through her. How was it so easy for him to turn her nerves into arousal? Must’ve been the shower, she thought. Not the man. But then he guided her around to face him, pushed her wet hair from her face and brushed his lips over her cheeks. With the water streaming down on them, he took her mouth and her pulse spiked again. Her eyelids fluttering against the shower drops, she caught flashes of his body, his broad shoulders and slick, tanned skin. Another flash, his flat abdomen and hard erection.

She moved closer to him and heard his breath hitch when her naked body slid against his. “I’ve wanted you since that night we spent together.” He slid his tongue past her lips and a primitive yearning beat like a drum inside her.

There were all kinds of reasons she shouldn’t want him. This was just supposed to be sex, but for some reason, it felt like more. She felt protected and desired at the same time. She couldn’t remember feeling this sensual even with…

Michael lifted his hands to her breasts, short-circuiting her brain. Half a breath later, he lowered his head and took her wet nipples into his mouth. The sight and sensation was so erotic she couldn’t look away. He slid lower still and kissed her intimately. Her knees turned to liquid.

“Wrap your legs around me,” he said in a low voice. Catching her against him, he picked her up, turned off the water and carried her out of the shower. He grabbed a couple of plush towels folded on a small bathroom table and pulled one around her as he strode into the darkened bedroom.

He put her on the bed and followed her down, his eyes plundering her the way she suspected he planned to plunder her body. A shiver of anticipation raced through her.

“Cold?” he asked.

She nodded, reaching up to stroke a drop of water from his forehead. He captured her hand and lifted it to his mouth. “I can get you warm,” he promised and slid his hand down between her legs where he found her swollen.

His fingers sent her in a sudden spiral upward. Unable to contain her response, she arched upward.

He growled at her response and pushed her thighs apart. In one thrust, he filled her to the brim.

Bella gasped, feeling her body shake and tremble around him. She clung to him as he stroked her in her most secret place. Her breath meshed with his and her climax ripped through her like a lightning bolt. A second later, she felt Michael stiffen, groaning in release.

A full moment passed and Bella began to understand why she’d been so hesitant about becoming Michael’s lover. He had just taken full possession of her mind and body, and that made him a very dangerous man.

After a full night of lovemaking, Michael awakened refreshed. Still out like a light, Bella sprawled stomach down on his bed. Smiling to himself, he wouldn’t bother her this morning. She’d had a rough night in more ways than one.He left the bed and went to his in-house gym down the hall. He did the elliptical and followed up with weights. Working out was just one more way of staying strong and focused for Michael. Like his brothers, he never wanted to be at the mercy of any person or circumstance. He returned to his suite to take a shower. Bella still slept soundly. After dressing, he went downstairs and read The Wall Street Journal as he ate the breakfast his staff prepared for him.

Just as he stood to leave, Bella stumbled into the kitchen, dressed in a bathrobe too large for her and pushed her mussed hair from her face. She tugged at the lapels of the robe and stared at him. “It’s not even six o’clock,” she said. “How long have you been up?”

“Since just before five,” he said with a shrug. “How are you?”

“Four something,” she said, aghast. “After the night we—” She paused and lowered her voice. “We had you get up at four in the morning?”

“Well, I didn’t walk a mile in the rain,” he pointed out, amused by the consternation on her face. “But I don’t require a lot of sleep,” he said and walked toward her, giving into the urge to slide his fingers over her hair. Soft hair, soft body, mysterious eyes that tugged at something deep inside him.

She met his gaze and pressed her lips together. “Oh, well, heaven help me then. I have to tell you that I’m not accustomed to the degree and amount and—” She shook her head.