She wondered what his real name was, who he was—then stopped herself. Tonight wasn’t about that. She would never see him again once this was over. This fleeting feeling of handing over control wouldn’t last and she couldn’t for a second get used to it. She tried to ignore the lancing regret inside her. Regret had no place here. And then the boat was coming to a stop by a wooden jetty and he was turning and holding out his hand to her. Analia stood up and put her hand in his.
* * *
The door of Daniel’s luxurious hotel suite closed behind them and he watched as the beautiful stranger walked into the room ahead of him—still with that intriguing mix of hesitance and confidence.
He rested back against the door for a moment, delicious anticipation winding his body tight with desire. Watching her. Imagining baring her to his gaze. His mouth. A tendril of unease flickered through Daniel. This situation, with this woman, was very different to what he was used to. It felt as if there was a deeper communication taking place than mere lust and it unsettled him, but not enough to turn back. He could no more do that than stop breathing.
She turned around and looked at him. He pushed himself off the door and as he did so he took off his jacket and threw it carelessly on a chair nearby. He came and stood right in front of her and could smell her clean seductive scent tease his nostrils. And something more potent. Desire.
‘I want to see you,’ he said throatily. ‘Take off your mask.’
Immediately she tensed and backed away jerkily. She put a hand up as if to check it was still there. ‘No. It stays on.’
Frustration beat through Daniel’s blood. It made him nervous to realize how badly he wanted to see her revealed. So he shrugged lightly like it didn’t matter. ‘Whatever you want.’
He took her hand and led her into his bedroom, lit only by one dim light, curtains billowing gently in the breeze. He turned and faced her, that beautiful voluptuous mouth cast into shadow.
Cupping her delicate jaw in his hands, he pulled at her lower lip with his thumb, feeling how soft it was. Desire enflamed him. He couldn’t ever remember any woman having such an effect on him.
Urging her towards him he could swear she trembled lightly and yet...would such a woman tremble? A woman who could offer herself up to a complete stranger? And he, the man who would take her...a small voice pointed out. But Daniel had been damned long ago so he didn’t worry about it.
* * *
Analia’s heart was beating so fast she felt sure he must hear it but his dark gray gaze was fixated on her mouth, which tingled under his look. When he’d asked her to take off her mask she’d panicked but thankfully he hadn’t insisted. She was soon forgetting all about her mask though as his hands urged her closer. She was trembling and hoped he wouldn’t notice.
‘Open my shirt,’ he instructed her gutturally. Analia’s hands went to the row of buttons and she prayed her hands wouldn’t shake. Undoing button after button seemed to take a torturously long time. She had to lift his shirt free of his trousers to undo the last ones and saw a dark line of hair disappearing beneath his belt. Lust gripped her insides so fiercely she had to bite her lip.
He did the rest of the job for her, pulling his shirt open and then off, dropping it to the ground. Analia could only drink in the magnificence of his broad and hard muscled chest. His pectorals were dusted with hair and something deeply feminine within her sighed in sheer appreciation.
She heard his belt unbuckle and only noticed belatedly where his hands had gone. She gulped and kept looking up. His mouth quirked sexily and after he’d stepped out of his trousers, he put his hands on her arms and pulled her around so that he could sit her on the side of the bed.
Obeying some impulse, Analia leaned forward and pulled Sasha’s mask off his face and over his head. He drew back for a moment. She couldn’t really make out his features in the gloom but she cupped his face in her sm
all hands, feeling the bristle of his beard tickle her palms. And then she bent forward and pressed her mouth to his.
For a moment he seemed startled and then he took control, coming up to kneel between her legs, spreading them apart, mouth open, tongue thrusting deep, exactly where she hungered for it.
She barely felt his hands at her back, lowering her zipper, or then reaching down to take her shoes off her feet. Or when they trailed up under her dress to her thighs where he found the tops of her stockings and started to roll them down.
She was only aware of how she never wanted to stop kissing him. Of how his overlong hair felt so silky between her fingers as she clasped his head. And of the intensely masculine way his beard tickled her soft skin.
When he drew back Analia went with him, loathe to break the contact. He was breathing raggedly, or was it her? She didn’t know anymore, her heartbeat was so loud. Gently he pushed her back slightly and she only realized what he’d done when her dress fell to her waist.
Instantly she felt embarrassed and went to cover her breasts but his hands stopped hers. ‘No. You’re beautiful. I want to look at you.’
He kept her hands captive and pulled them apart baring her to his hot gaze. Analia knew she should be feeling ashamed but she couldn’t drum it up. Intense excitement spiked her blood. She could feel her breasts responding, the tips puckering tight, aching for his touch.
When he let her hands go he pushed closer, bunching her dress up even higher so her thighs were exposed. Cupping one pertly plump breast in his hand, Sasha flicked a thumb over one deeply sensitized nipple, Analia moaned softly.
Then he bent his head and with his tongue, tasted the taut peak, exploring all around it until she felt as if she might explode from the gentle touch. She was about to beg when he drew the aching tip into his mouth and sucked fiercely making her cry out.
After long seconds of delicious torture, Sasha drew back and said in a low roughened voice, ‘Move back.’
Analia’s limbs felt like liquid but she scooted back on the bed, her dress falling down more with the movement so she was completely bared from the waist up. Sasha bent forward and slipped his hands under her bottom and hips and gently tugged the dress from under her, over her hips and thighs and off where she heard it fall in a silken swish on the floor.
Now all she wore were her lace panties. Then his hands were there too. Analia’s breath felt painful. But instead of pulling them off, Daniel spread her thighs and moved between her legs. He pressed his mouth to her belly and Analia fell back onto the bed. His mouth trailed a hot fire over her navel, and down.
She wanted to press her thighs together but he held them apart. Her breath stopped when she felt his mouth against the sheer lace where they proved to be a pathetic barrier against his exploration.