She heard him chuckle, low and sexy. She’d never heard that sound from him before and she liked it. She liked the way it rippled over her skin and made her quiver.
He stepped forward just enough to cast his body into the murky light, but kept his face in the dark. He shrugged out of his suit jacket and tossed it toward a settee. Next he worked the knot of his tie loose, and then yanked it free with a quick whip of sound.
“Shall I keep going?”
She’d had no idea Max had a naughty side, but that teasing tone was definitely the looking-for-trouble variety. She dampened her lips and nodded. “Please.”
He unfastened his cufflinks and dropped them on the credenza. His watch followed. The clunk of metal hitting wood echoed in the high-ceiling space. He unbuttoned his shirt from the top down, revealing a widening wedge of his tanned chest with each passing second. He peeled off the shirt and tossed it on top of his jacket.
His hands settled on his leather belt, but stilled and then dropped to his sides. “Your turn.”
She ripped her gaze away from the rippled definition of his muscles. Why would a man who looked like this work behind the camera instead of in front of it? She had no clue. The women of America would certainly appreciate the view she currently had.
“I—I—” She didn’t know what to say. Feeling both excited and completely out of her element, she reached behind her back for the zipper. The tab slid down a few inches and then snagged. She tried to reverse it, but it wouldn’t budge. “It’s stuck.”
“Turn around.” He stepped into the light, giving her a glimpse of the hunger stamped on his face. His desire sent a thrill through her. Her legs trembled as she turned.
His hands cupped her shoulders, stroked down to her wrists and then back up. Her insides went all shivery—the way they always did when he touched her.
He brushed her hair forward over her shoulder. His warm breath on her nape was her only warning before his teeth lightly grazed her skin. A shudder quaked through her. His fingers manipulated the stuck zipper, his short nails scraping her spine as he worked. She had no idea how he could see with the lack of light. And then the tab rasped down. Cool air swept her back seconds before his palms, hot and strong, slipped beneath the fabric to grasp her waist. He held her in place while he strung a necklace of kisses along her shoulders and beneath her ear.
“Turn around and drop the dress,” he ordered huskily in her ear.
Her entire body flushed with heat. On unsteady legs she pivoted only to discover Max had moved back into the shadows. But the glimpse of desire she’d seen earlier gave her the courage to be bolder than she’d normally be. She folded her arms at her waist and dipped her left shoulder. That side of the dress slid down to her elbow. She heard him inhale and repeated the action on the right side leaving her bare from the waist up except for her sheer black lace push-up bra. Only her crossed arms kept the dress up.
She straightened her shoulders and then slowly lowered her arms. The dress floated to the floor, leaving her in the bra, matching lace bikini panties and black heels.
His breath whistled out and he stepped forward into the light, but abruptly stopped. His nostrils flared and his hungry eyes burned over her, filling her with a sense of empowerment.
She lifted her hand and eased down one bra strap and then the other. Max watched through unblinking eyes. She opened the front clasp and peeled back the cups of her bra. His Adam’s apple bobbed. She shrugged and her bra fell to the floor behind her.
Max’s gaze devoured her breasts. The growing ridge beneath his zipper made her mouth dry. She dampened her lips, and then taking a deep breath, she stroked her hands from her rib cage to her waist and then her hips.
A quiet growl rumbled from him. She needed him to touch her, but he waited. Dana hooked her thumbs under her string bikini panties and pushed them over her hips. They slid down her legs and Max’s eyes followed. She stepped out of them, but kept on her shoes.
When his gaze met hers again, her knees went weak at the barely controlled passion she saw in the hot blue depths. His hands returned to his belt buckle, made quick work of loosening the leather and unfastening his trousers. He kicked off his shoes and shoved his pants and boxer briefs to the floor. Next, he ripped off his socks and straightened.
The size of his erection shouted his desire more clearly than words. Max Hudson wanted her. That was something she’d prayed for for years and all that mattered at the moment. She’d work on making him love her.
He prowled toward her. “Do you have another condom in your purse?”
She barely heard his low growled question over her pounding pulse. She believed in miracles, in happily ever after and love at first sight, but mostly she believed in being prepared for all three. That was the reason she carried condoms. “Yes.”
“Get it.”
She crouched to reach the purse she’d dropped on the floor. Max surprised her by kneeling behind her. He curved his body around hers, wrapping her in a tight, hot hug. His arousal slid between her buttocks and came to rest against her wet center. She gasped. His palms caught her waist and his thighs flanked her hips as he stroked his length against her damp folds, moistening himself with her arousal. Then he leaned away, but only far enough to caress her shoulders and arms and length of her spine.
“You are beautiful, Dana,” he murmured, “and very sexy.”
Her heart squeezed with love. She’d waited what felt like forever to hear those words from him. She smiled at him over her shoulder and reached back to caress his bristly jaw, but she couldn’t make out the emotion in his eyes in the darkness. “Thank you. So are you.”
He cupped her bottom and lifted her upright as he stood. His sex remained pressed between her cheeks. His hands found her breasts and kneaded them.
“Get the condom. Now.”
She was so turned on and her hands were shaking so badly she had trouble holding on to her purse, but she located the protection and dropped her bag again. The smack of it hitting the floor echoed off the walls.
He hooked an arm around her middle and yanked her backward. His chest blanketed her back with heat. He caught her jaw with his hand, turned her head toward him and took her mouth as if he couldn’t wait another second.
The kiss was rough, hard and deep, with no warm-up preliminaries, and the odd angle with him behind her made her feel a little powerless. But the vulnerability aroused her so much she could barely stand, because Max never lost control. That he was clearly on the verge of doing so now had to mean something.
Slightly off balance in her heels, she reached up and looped her arms around his neck, holding on as tightly as she could. His hands briskly raked her torso.
“To hell with the pool,” he growled against her lips and walked her deeper into the darkness.
“Max, I can’t see.” Afraid she might run into a wall, she stretched her arms out in front of her.
“I know the way.” With his hands on her waist he guided her forward only a few feet and then stopped. His short nails scraped the middle of her back. He grabbed her hands and lifted them. “Hold on.”
Dana made out the shape of a door frame with her palms. Where was she? The doorway to her bedroom hall? “Max?”
His hands found her breasts. He kneaded her, tweaked her tight nipples and then buffed the stiff tips, causing an ache deep in her womb. A hot, open-mouth kiss scorched her neck, followed by another and another while his hands worked magic on her body. His touch was hurried, but sure and devastatingly effective.
He caressed her belly, circled her navel ring, and then finally, finally, slipped his fingertips into the curls between her legs. She was already slick for him.
He traced a devastating