The Ultimate Playboy

She went down the hallway and knocked on his door before her courage deserted her.

The evidence that he was indeed up came a second later when the door was wrenched open. He was dressed in his silk pajama bottoms and nothing else.

‘What the hell are you doing here, Ruby?’ he flung at her.

She struggled to look up from his chest. ‘I...wanted to make sure you were okay. And to apologise for what happened earlier. I had no right to push you like that.’

His eyes narrowed for several seconds before he turned and strode back into the bedroom. ‘I’m learning that warlocks and demons keep good company.’ He picked up a crystal tumbler of Scotch, raised it to her and took a sip.

Ruby found herself moving forward before she’d consciously made the decision to.

Her hand closed over the glass and stopped his second sip.

He stepped back away from her but, hampered by the bed, he abruptly sank down. She took the glass from him and set it on the side table.

‘Drinking is not the answer. Trust me, I know.’

Strong hands gripped the sheets as if physically stopping himself from reaching for her and he exhaled harshly.

This close, the beauty of him took her breath away. His chest heaved again, the movement emphasising his stunning physique and golden skin.

Fiery desire slammed into her so hard she reeled under the onslaught.

Before she could stop to question herself, she slid her hands over his biceps. Warm muscles rippled under her touch.

‘What the hell are you doing?’ His voice was rough and gritty with need.

Her face flamed but a deeper fire of determination burned within her. ‘I have a feeling it’s called seduction. I don’t know because I’ve never done this before.’

She leaned in closer. He groaned as her hardened T-shirt-covered nipples grazed his chest. ‘Per amore di Dio, why are you doing it now?’

She placed a finger over his lip and felt a tiny jolt of triumph when it puckered slightly against her touch. ‘Because it’s driving me as insane. And because I don’t want to live in fear of what I might become if I let go. So this is me owning my fear.’

He cursed again and he shook his head. Knowing he was about to deny her, she pushed him onto the bed and sealed her mouth over his.

He groaned and accepted her kiss with a demanding roughness that threatened to blow her away. Encouraged by that almost helpless response, she threw one leg over him and straddled his big body.

Immediately, his already potent arousal thickened, lengthened, found the cradle between her legs. Before she lost her mind completely, Ruby reached out to both sides of the bed and loosened the ties she needed, then she worked quickly before he could stop her.

He wrenched his mouth from hers, and glanced up. Silver eyes darkening in shock, then disbelief. ‘Hai perso la tua mente?’

‘No, I haven’t lost my mind.’

‘Clearly, you have.’ He yanked on the binds but they only tightened further. ‘Release me, Ruby.’

‘Nope. What goes around comes around, tesoro.’

Feeling a little bit bolder now she knew he wouldn’t easily overpower her or dismiss her, she took a deep breath, drew her T-shirt over her head and flung it away.

‘Ruby...’ Warning tinged his low growl.

She wavered but the look in his eyes stalled her breath—hunger, anger, a touch of admiration, that little bit of wonder and vulnerability she’d seen earlier on the deck all mingled in his hypnotic eyes.

‘I would, but the look in your eyes is scaring me right now. What’s to say you won’t devour me the minute I set you free?’ She trailed a finger down his chest and revelled in his hitched breathing.

‘I won’t,’ he bit out.

She shivered again at the menace in his voice. ‘Liar, liar.’

‘Madre di Dio, do you really want to lose your virginity so badly?’

She shook her head and her hair came free from the loose knot she’d put it into. ‘No, it isn’t actually that important to me. What I want, what I crave, is to make love with you.’

His eyes darkened. ‘Why?’

She tamped down on what she really wanted to say. That he’d shown her another way to view herself. Another way that didn’t make her skin crawl for feeling sensual pleasure.

‘Do I have to have some noble reason? Isn’t crazy chemistry enough? I was absolutely fine before you touched me. You woke this hunger inside me. Now because of some stupid principle, you’re trying to deny me what I want. What we both want. I won’t let you.’

His chest heaved. ‘I won’t let you either. Not like this.’ The roughness in his tone gave her pause. When she looked into his eyes, that bleakness she’d spotted in the kitchen on their first morning in Macau was back. ‘If you want me, release me.’