Take Me (Take Me 1)

The young man grinned as he mixed her drink. “London.”

Lily rested her chin on her hands. “I’d love to go to England one day for more than just a layover.” The bartender set her drink in front of her, and she took a sip. “Delicious,” she said, enjoying the buzz that crept into her skull. She took another sip, and said, “I’ve never been anywhere before. I can’t believe I’m going to Italy.”

The bartender leaned onto the counter, his brown eyes soulful and not-a-little lustful, about to reply when his eyes shifted over Lily’s shoulder.

“I’ll have whatever she’s having,” Travis drawled as he slid onto the barstool next to Lily, trapping her hips between his thighs, making his possession of her perfectly clear to the bartender.

Instantly the young man stood and was once again a consummate professional. Lily put the gin and tonic to her lips and gulped the rest down. “I’m done,” she said. Getting up as fast as she could, she had to steady herself on the gleaming wood bar. “Got to work on upping my tolerance,” she muttered as she hoisted herself back onto her heels. She walked briskly down the aisle past her seat, past the curtains where the flight attendants gossiped, into a private compartment with one bathroom door. She prayed that it was unoccupied as she reached for the handle.

It turned easily and she raised her eyes to the plastic paneling on the low ceiling of the aircraft. “I owe you one,” she said, and stepped into the rather large bathroom. The wind was all but knocked out of her as something large pushed in behind her and locked the door.

She spun around, or tried to, in the space that was definitely not big enough for two. “Are you crazy?”

she said. “Get out of here.”

Travis looked sickeningly at ease in the bathroom with her, and she wanted to poke his eyes out. Or wrap her legs around him to ride him into submission. She couldn’t decide which until he said, “I wanted to make sure you were okay. You seemed a little unsteady there at the bar when you stood up.”

Definitely poke his eyes out, then ride him.

I hate him, she reminded herself, then said, “I don’t like you very much right now,” which seemed a bit harsh to her ears.

But Travis wasn’t scared off by her declaration. “Why not?” he asked, his voice silky and hot. “I like you Lily. A lot,” he said as he deftly turned them around and pressed Lily back against the door.

“Remember what happened last time?” he said, the devil tempting her with memories of one of the best orgasms of her life, of his tongue slipping in and out of her wetness, of his teeth closing in gently on her clit.

Lily shook her head and closed her eyes. “Please go,” she begged, hating herself for being weak, hating herself for not being the kind of woman who could kick Travis out. Hating herself for wanting him so bad she was going insane with it.

“Ever heard of the mile-high club?” Travis’s voice wrapped around her like cashmere, and she found herself looking into a mouth made for cunnilingus. His lips found hers, and she could have sworn the plane dipped a thousand feet as she fell into him, desperate for more of his taste, for the pleasure that only he could give her.

From somewhere deep in her subconscious, Luke’s voice was fuzzy in her brain. ” Women make it too easy for Travis. Make him beg, Lily.”

With sudden clarity she knew that wrapping her legs around Travis’s thighs and riding him in an airplane bathroom was definitely not making him beg. Mustering up every ounce of control she possessed, and then some, she slid her hands from behind his neck around to his chest and pushed with all her might.

Travis fell back against the toilet with a loud thud and a stewardess knocked on the door. “Is everything all right in there?”

Lily stared at Travis, shocked by what she’d done, but obviously not as shocked at Travis, judging by his confused and bewildered expression. Smiling, Lily called out, “I’m fine, thank you. I lost my footing for a moment.”

She heard the click of the attendant’s heels as she moved away from the door. “Strictly professional, Travis,” she said as she slipped out the door and walked back to the bar, a new spring in her step.

“Another gin and tonic,” she said as she savored her victory. God it felt good to best Travis, she thought with a giggle. No doubt he was going to kill her for embarrassing him like that, but right then, with a cool fizzy drink in her hand, and Italy awaiting, for the first time in her life Lily really didn’t give a damn.

Unfortunately, the rest of the trip seemed to go on forever. Especially when Travis blatantly flirted with the pretty stewardess after making it clear that he and Lily were only business partners. She had watched them as surreptitiously as possible through barely open eyes, a blanket tucked up around most of her body and face to hide her spying. It didn’t help that Travis kept “accidentally” brushing up against her to reach for the window shade, or to pick up his pen, which he dropped a dozen times throughout the flight.

Every time his body came in contact with hers, goose bumps covered her skin, and her traitorous ni**les went hard.

Landing in London, picking up luggage, going through customs, boarding a small plane to Rome, the limo ride to their hotel: Everything was a blur for Lily. She couldn’t remember ever being so tired. Or horny, a niggling little voice whispered to her. All she wanted was to stand under a hot shower and crawl under cool sheets to sleep away the nightmare of being so painfully close to Travis and yet so far because of her own stupid rule. But even grumpy and sleepy, the magic of Tuscany started seeping in the minute they began to wind through the ancient streets in the long black limousine that picked them up at the airport.

She had pressed herself all the way against the corner of the limousine’s backseat in an effort to stay as far away from Travis as she possibly could, but the light playing off the cypress trees and golden hills drew her like a moth to a flame. She rolled down her window with the touch of a button and let the sweet smells rush across her face.

“It’s beautiful,” she murmured to herself, having, for the moment, completely forgotten about Travis.

“Yes,” he said, that low hoarse voice of his thrumming straight through her. “It is, isn’t it?”

Lily couldn’t help from turning to look at him, such was the pull he had over her. “Simply beautiful,” he said, staring straight into her eyes.

Lily bit down on the inside of her lip to keep from either yelling at him for teasing her, or worse yet, from kissing him. There was no way he could be talking about her being beautiful, she knew that with every fiber of her heart. Especially not after her little performance in the airplane bathroom. Why did he have to kiss her like he needed her to breathe one minute, then mock her the next?