The Ultimate Playboy

‘What happens tomorrow?’ she asked quietly.

‘Tomorrow we talk. And by talk I mean you come clean, completely, as to why you’re here. Because if you hold anything back from me, I won’t hesitate to throw you to the wolves.’

CHAPTER FIVE

RUBY WOKE WITH the distinct feeling that something had changed. It took a millisecond to realise what that something was.

‘You took my clothes off?’ she screeched, her fingers flying to the hem of the black T-shirt that had miraculously appeared on her body.

The man who lay so languidly beside her, his head propped up on his hand, nodded.

‘I feared you’d suffocate in your sleep in that dress. Despite your dubious reasons for being here, even I would find it difficult to explain death by designer gown to the authorities. You were quite co-operative. I think it was the only time you’ve been co-operative since we reached my suite, which tells me you were as uncomfortable as I suspected.’

She licked her lips and struggled not to squirm under his scrutiny. At least her bra and panties were intact. But the fact was she didn’t recall what had happened. And there was only one worrying explanation for that. ‘I was tired,’ she bluffed.

‘Right.’ Silver eyes bore into her until she felt like a fly hooked on a pin.

His gaze dropped to her twisting fingers, and she abruptly stilled the movement. ‘Tell me what happened. Exactly.’

One brow rose at her firm directive but Ruby was desperate to know what had happened during the night. She’d tossed and turned in agitation until sheer exhaustion had finally pulled her under some time before dawn.

‘You tried to escape a few times. I brought you back to bed.’

God. No. It’d happened again...

Definitely time to leave. She tried to move, and felt a snag on her foot. Shoving aside tangled sheets, she stared in horror at the rope tied around her ankle.

‘You tied me up again! Do you have a thing for bondage?’

His eyes gleamed. ‘Until last night, I’d never needed to tie a woman to keep her with me.’

‘Oh, well, lucky me. Did you tie me before or after you took off my dress?’

‘After the second time you tried to take the door off its hinges to make your escape, we came back here and I relieved you of your suicidal gown and put the T-shirt on—’ A deep frown slashed his face. ‘Are you saying you don’t remember any of this?’

She sucked in a slow breath and looked away.

He caught her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him, his steady gaze demanding an answer. ‘Dio, you really don’t remember?’

Ruby had no choice but to come clean. ‘No. sometimes I...sleepwalk.’

His brows hit his hairline. ‘You sleepwalk? How often is sometimes?’

‘Not for a while, to my knowledge. It only happens when I’m...distressed.’

His frown intensified. ‘You found last night distressing?’

‘Being tied up and kept prisoner? No, that was a picnic in the park.’ She tugged at her ankle restraint. ‘And now I’m tied up again.’

‘It was for your own good. After I put the restraint on, you stopped making a run for it. I think secretly you liked it.’ His fingers caressed along her jaw, his eyes lowering to her lips.

Instantly the mood changed, thickened with sensual promise. ‘I’m not into bondage.’ Or sex with playboys, or anyone for that matter!

‘How do you know? Have you ever tried it?’

‘No. But I’ve never jumped off a cliff either, and I’m certain I wouldn’t enjoy that experience.’

‘Fair point. For the record, I have. With the right equipment, all experiences can be extremely enjoyable. Exhilarating even.’

She watched, terrified and mesmerised, as his head started to lower. ‘What are you doing?’

‘I’m kissing you bon giornu, bedda. Relax.’

That was easier said than done when every nerve in her body was strained in anticipation of the touch of his mouth on hers. She told herself she was sluggish because she was sleep deprived. But it was a lie.

As much as she yearned to deny it, she wanted the pressure of his demanding kiss and the heady racing of her blood through her veins.

His moan as he deepened the kiss echoed the piercing need inside her.

One hand clamped on her hip, drew her sideways into him. At the sensation of his sleep-warmed body against hers, she moaned. The fact that she was clothed from neck to hip and he was clothed from hip to ankle didn’t alter the stormy sensation of their bodies meshing together.

Nipples, stung to life at the touch of his mouth on hers, peaked and ached as they brushed his chest.