His Seductive Proposal: A Touch of Persuasion / Terms of Engagement / An Outrageous Proposal

Back and forth. Back and forth. That brazen fingertip brought her closer and closer to the edge. “There haven’t been that many,” he said slowly, looking at his hand’s mischief and not her face. “I work long hours when I’m overseas. Not much time for play.”

“But a man like you can’t go without sex for long. Back in university you wanted it twice a day, three times if we were lucky.”

“That’s because I was obsessed with you.”

The blunt confession gave wings to her heart. But she reined in her excitement. The pertinent word in that sentence was in the past tense. Was. Kieran had been a horny young adult male. And Olivia had fallen into his bed like the proverbial ripe peach.

As a fully mature man, he was no less sexually primed, but he’d had any number of women since he left England so suddenly. And even now, being with Olivia was probably more about expedience and availability than any deep-seated obsession.

Kieran’s early experiences in life had clearly stunted his ability to express deep emotion. He was a passionate man, but she doubted whether he was capable of true romantic love. That would mean putting a female first in his life, and she had seen no sign of such willingness in his behavior.

He clearly wanted her, but for Olivia, that would never be enough.

His hand moved, and she gave up analyzing the situation. Today was about physical pleasure. Her heart was safely locked away.

Kieran released her wrists. Sliding far down in the bed, he used his hands to widen the vee of her legs. When she felt his hot breath on her thighs, she tensed in panic. They had never explored this kind of intimacy when she was younger. “No, wait…” she blurted out. “I don’t like this.”

“How do you know?” he asked, a lazy smile tilting the corners of his mouth.

“Seriously, Kieran.” She pushed at his shoulder. “I mean it. Stop.”

He reared up, all humor erased from his face. “I’ll stop. If you insist. But it would give me great pleasure to do this with you.”

She nibbled her lower lip, caught between unease and cautious interest. “What if I can’t come, because I’m too self-conscious?” Blurting out what she was thinking wasn’t something she planned, but he might as well know the truth.

“Relax, Olivia. It’s not an exam you have to study for. I want to make you happy. That’s all. You don’t have to do a thing.”

Her hand fell to the sheet. “Well, I…”

Anticipating her consent, he resumed his earlier position. She felt the softness of his hair on her leg, jerked briefly as his hot breath feathered over her belly. “You’re beautiful,” he murmured.

She closed her eyes, arching her back at the first gentle pass of his tongue. When she moaned, helpless in the grip of shivering sensation that spread in warm ripples throughout her lower body, he repeated the motion. The sensation was indescribable. Like a warm, electric shock that built and built until she called out his name in a frenzy of need. “Kieran. Oh, God. Kieran.”

His muffled response was neither decipherable nor important. She was lost, caught up in a whirlwind that slammed into her, dragged her over the edge of a perfect climax and dropped her helpless into his embrace.

When she recovered, he had moved up beside her and was leaning on an elbow watching her with a totally masculine satisfaction. “Still don’t like it?” he asked drolly. One eyebrow lifted in a questioning stance.

She tried to corral her ragged breathing. “Don’t brag.”

He placed his hand, palm opened flat, on her belly. “Watching you come like that ranks as the highlight of my year.”

“The year’s only halfway done,” she quipped, trying not to let him see how completely undone she was. “Too early to tell.” She put her hand on top of his and laced their fingers together.

“Don’t be so modest. I’m sure they heard you in Brooklyn.”

“Kieran!” Mortification washed over her and she rolled to her side, bending her knee and resting her leg across his hairy thighs. They were hard and corded with muscle. His deep tan extended everywhere except for a narrow band of white at his hips and the tops of his thighs.

She imagined him, laboring out beneath a blazing tropical sun, shirtless, wearing only cargo shorts and boots. Did he ever get lonely always living among strangers? The question hovered on her lips, but she knew it was self-serving. Obviously his lifestyle suited him. Otherwise, he would have come home long ago.

He lifted her without warning and settled her astride his hips. His hunger unappeased, he flexed and grew at least another centimeter beneath her fascinated gaze. She put both hands on him, measuring the length and breadth.

Hard steel pulsed beneath his velvet skin. Even if she had been with a dozen lovers in the interim, she couldn’t imagine that any of them would have been as beautiful in body and spirit as Kieran Wolff. Perhaps such a virile man might balk at the feminine adjective, but Olivia chose not to retract it, even in her own private discourse.

Kieran’s body was perfect. Even the smattering of scars that were part and parcel of the hard physical labor he performed only served to make his physique more interesting.

She saw him reach for a condom, and her heartbeat accelerated.

Extending his hand, he challenged her. “Will you do the honors?”

Eleven (#ulink_3ea591b9-742f-5a17-a7e8-bc1ff5d0b8fd)

Kieran waited, amused and impatient, as Olivia fumbled with the condom. The earnest intent on her face filled him with tenderness and another feeling not so easy to diagnose. He brushed aside the unfamiliar emotion and concentrated on the physical.

While she labored, he played with her breasts displayed so temptingly in front of his face. He tweaked a nipple, noticing with interest that his gentle pinch washed her face with color. A similar firm caress on the other breast deepened the crimson.

Olivia finished her task, her face damp with perspiration. “There. All set.”

He tested the fit and nodded. “Good thing I brought a dozen.”

“A dozen?”

The strangled squeak in her voice made him chuckle despite the fact that the skin on his penis was tight enough to cause every vein to bulge. He’d been in this state, in varying degrees, for over an hour now. In fact, he might set some kind of damned record for extended foreplay.

Not that he hadn’t enjoyed himself immensely. God, she was sweet. And hot as a firecracker. Though she probably didn’t see it in herself, she was one of the most innately sensual women he had ever met.

With his hand, he positioned himself. “You ready, honey?”

Her eyelids were at half-mast, her lips swollen from his kisses. The skin at her throat bore the marks of his passion, and her nipples puckered as if begging for his kisses. He leaned up and obliged, just as he thrust as hard as he could manage into her welcoming heat.

Their foreheads actually bumped together.

“Hell,” he said ruefully, the pain giving him a moment’s respite from total insanity. “Rub my head.” His hands were clenched on her curvy ass, and he had no plans to let go.

She kissed his forehead. “Poor baby.”

Her innocent motion seated him more deeply. “Hold still,” he said through clenched teeth. “Damn it, I’m about to come.”

“Isn’t that the object of this exercise?”

He groaned, caught between incredulous laughter and the imminent explosion in his loins. Had any woman ever made him experience both in such measure? His heart caught, and he buried his face in her neck, panting, trying to stay the course. “You’re killing me.”

Reaching behind her, she found his sac and delicately played with him. It was like being hit by a lightning bolt. He lost control of himself, of her, of the entire flippin’ situation.

Pumping his hips wildly, he thrust upward again and again, deaf, blind, mute… except for the caveman grunts that were all he could manage. Olivia clung to his shoulders as he fell to his back. Her breasts glided across his face, sweet-smelling, soft and warm.

God, he never wanted to stop. He wanted to mark her as his, to stake a claim. She found his lips and kissed him. That was all it took. He shot so hard that his balls pulled up, a vise tightened around his forehead and he saw nothing but blackness and yellow sparks for long, agonizing seconds.

At last, he lay spent, Olivia draped over him like a weary nymph.