He opened the door to her bed-sitting-room.
She hesitated. Was she ready to commit herself to an uncertain fate with him? ‘Maybe we should...’
The blaze of desire in his eyes seared the thought from her mind. ‘Now,’ he said with a deep throb of passion. ‘This is the moment we’ve both been waiting for. The moment of truth.’
Sasha knew there was something wrong with that statement, although there was something right in it, too. Before she could identify the flaws in the argument that would clarify what she should or shouldn’t do, Nathan manoeuvred her into the danger area and she was in his arms with the door shut behind them.
He kissed her.
It fuzzed up her mind very badly. She had the sensation of her legs moving backwards, being pushed along by piston-like thighs, but there was a lot of other sensational things happening so she wasn’t absolutely sure about that until she toppled on to the bed and found herself underneath the man who was still kissing her, trailing a hot, hungry mouth down her throat, cutting off her breath, making her feel giddy with his ardour.
‘I drank too much champagne. Otherwise I wouldn’t be letting you do this,’ she gasped out, trying to explain the strong urge to unrestrained wantonness that was pumping through her body.
‘More champagne,’ he breathed in her ear. ‘That’s what we need. More champagne.’
He started to move away from her. She pulled him back because she didn’t think she could handle any more champagne, not when she should be trying to think of other things. Nathan misunderstood. His mouth ravished hers with increasing intensity, kissing her again and again, excitement escalating into a writhing desire that was frustratingly restricted by their clothes.
Nathan suddenly raised himself, straddling her as he tore his arms out of his jacket and hurled it on to the floor. A sobering splash of reality gave Sasha the strength to make one last effort against committing herself to the unknown.
‘Let’s not be too hasty about this, Nathan,’ she pleaded, uncertain whether the point of no return had already been passed in making up her mind as to what she should, or should not do.
‘You’re right.’ His eyes had a feverish glitter. ‘I don’t want to be tempted into taking you prematurely. We should have the pleasure of slowly undressing each other, being naked together.’
‘That’s not what I meant.’
‘It’s what I meant. I’ll do the tricky bits first.’
He pushed his cufflinks free and tossed them in the same direction as the jacket. Then he started on his bow-tie. The pressure of his loins had her pinned to the bed. The heat of his body, the controlled strength of his thighs, the promise of seeing him as all raw male, made a heady intoxicant for Sasha. She didn’t really want to move, but there was a niggle in the back of her mind that wouldn’t go away.
‘I won’t have you taking me,’ she said more strongly.
‘Wrong label. Politically incorrect. Forgive the expression.’ He flashed her a wicked grin. ‘I want you to take me, too. All of me.’
That conjured up tantalising images. Her stomach contracted excitedly, warningly, as he discarded the bow-tie and proceeded to undo the studs of his dress-shirt.
‘What do you think you’re doing?’ she croaked.
‘Taking my clothes off. Better to get them out of the way. Frustrating otherwise.’
‘You can do that in your own bedroom,’ Sasha said shrilly. The glimpse of bare skin from the gape in the fabric made naked fact of fantasy, and what if he didn’t feel the same about her as she did about him? What if...?
Again came the grin that undermined any train of reason. ‘No novelty in that. Done it many times before. If you’d like to help me...’
‘No!’ She swallowed hard. ‘I think we should talk sensibly about this, Nathan.’
He raised a quizzical eyebrow. ‘When it’s your turn I won’t use any hands to undress
you. Just my mouth, teeth, lips and tongue. What do you think of that?’
Her mind boggled. Could he do it? ‘But this doesn’t solve anything,’ she wailed somewhat desperately as he shed his shirt and threw it on to the ever-growing pile.
‘My word it does, Sasha. It solves a lot of things,’ he replied fervently.
He had a torso that would make any woman go cross-eyed. Sasha was no exception. It was not often one saw a splendid arrangement of muscle, skin and bone. Her impression in the park was absolutely correct. A perfectly proportioned lover.
It’s not human to resist, she argued to herself, and Nathan was right. It would solve a lot of things. Like knowing instead of wondering. Tentatively she reached out, stroking her fingers over the flesh from the waist up. He flinched and she could see the muscle spasm under her touch. It made her feel... powerful. Nathan had his little sensitivities, as well. She could touch him and... On a wave of wild exhilaration she put the tips of her stroking fingers into her mouth and sucked them.
‘You taste good.’