“If you don’t know, maybe I’m not doing it right.”
He set his mouth against her neck and sucked gently, marking her. “You’re doing just fine.”
“Do you need me to tell you what to do next?”
Damn her for making him smile. “No, I think I’ve got that covered.”
He gathered her dress in his hands, bunching the material in slow increments. The hem crept up her thighs as she gulped in air. When her legs were exposed to the top of the stockings, Sebastian stopped what he was doing and grazed his fingertips along the very edge of the nylon a hairbreadth from her bare skin.
What was his ordinary assistant doing in clothing this provocative? “Sexy, sexy woman. You’re driving me mad.”
Missy murmured something unintelligible.
He didn’t ask her to repeat it. Instead, he let his hands wander upward. Contact between his caressing fingertips and her bare skin threatened the semblance of control he’d recaptured.
“Sebastian.”
Frustration filled every syllable of his name as it slipped from her lips. He sympathized. He ached for her in ways he’d never imagined. He drifted a light caress upward over the triangle of silk that covered her mound. Scarce inches below, her heat called.
“Are you sure about this, sweetheart?” He traced her panty’s edge. His heart thundered against his ribs. “Because if I go any further, I won’t be able to stop.”
Truer words had never been spoken.
“Touch me,” she begged, a catch in her voice.
Sebastian slid his fingers lower, aiming for the soft, wet center of her. Despite the throbbing in his groin, he stopped short of his goal. His muscles shook with effort while he forced himself to consider the consequences of what he was about to do. This was Missy. They’d worked together as professionals for four years. What if there was no going back from this? Where did that leave him? Leave them?
“Sebastian, please.”
She squirmed in his grasp. His control wavered. He tried to hold on while rational thought melted as fast as an ice cube in hell.
Her palms came to rest against his thighs. The bite of her fingers against his legs sparked stars in his vision. Her frank sensuality excited him. So did her wanton gyrations.
“Sebastian.” She seized his hand and pressed it against her hot flesh.
With a jubilant roar his carnal side broke free. Surrendering to instinct, Sebastian slipped his fingers between her thighs, applying the perfect amount of pressure to make her cry out. Satisfaction detonated inside him. He intended to make her come. He needed to take back the power she’d stolen with her sexy transformation.
She ascended fast. Faster than he’d anticipated. Great breaths turned her lungs into bellows as she neared the top. Her orgasm hit her so hard she almost took him with her. He’d never experienced anything as incredible as the feel of her as she abandoned all control to him and came apart in his arms.
To his dismay, Sebastian’s knees lost strength. He knelt and supported Missy as she sagged, easing her to the floor. Once she was flat on her back, he followed her to the carpet, pressing her breasts beneath his chest. Linking their fingers, he set their joined hands beside her head and surveyed her flushed cheeks and unfocused gaze.
Mission accomplished. She looked as shell-shocked as a well-satisfied woman should.
Time to stop before either one of them did something they couldn’t take back. He’d agreed to a night with her. No reason that night had to involve either of them naked and rolling around on Egyptian cotton sheets.
They could spend the time working.
That’s what he should do. It’s what logic told him to do. She might be disappointed, but she wouldn’t be surprised. He always based actions on reason, not emotion.
Sebastian dipped his head and stroked his lips against hers. His heart rocked in his chest. What was he doing? This was madness.
He released her hands and framed her face with his fingers. She caressed his shoulders and gathered handfuls of his hair, tugging him closer. He obliged her with a second sweeping pass. This time, finding her lips parted, he lingered, tangling their breath, coasting his tongue along the inside of her lower lip.
She tasted delicious. Tart and sweet like lemons and cherries. Savoring her low hum of encouragement, Sebastian explored her teeth, noting a slight roughness on one in front. Her tongue flicked against his, and the insistent ache in his groin grew. He ignored it. This wasn’t going any further.
Missy had other ideas.
He sank deeper into the kiss, losing himself in the heady wonder of it.
His world narrowed to her soft mouth and the passionate undulation of her body. Intoxicating noises erupted from her throat, their crescendo warning him she was on a fast track to another orgasm.
He might as well help.
Breaking off the kiss, he slid down her body. Her skirt had ridden up and exposed two inches of skin above her black stockings. He shoved the hem even higher, giving him a glimpse of black underwear. Silk. Tiny. And if that wasn’t enough to enthrall him, the musky scent of her arousal invaded his nostrils. There was no turning back.
Sebastian placed a kiss on her skin just above the black material. She gasped. Intrigued, he drew his tongue from hipbone to hipbone and her body began to tremble. His mouth played over the fabric of her thong, teasing her with lips and teeth, down between her thighs to where moisture soaked the silk.
He smiled as he hooked his fingers around her panties and tugged them downward. As she was slowly exposed to his gaze, he was forced to take a series of deep, steadying breaths.
She was a true redhead, he noted absently as he peeled the underwear over her thigh highs and heels and cast them aside. Then, settling back between her thighs, he leaned forward and with the tip of his tongue licked the seam where her inner leg and body came together. Her hips bucked.
Her wild, unrestrained movements made him want to forget the preliminaries and take her. But he held his own needs in check. He was the one setting the tone here. The one in charge.
By the end of the night she would learn what happened when she provoked him.
It was a mistake she would never make again.
He set his mouth against her. His first taste made him groan. Blood surged into his groin, drained from every other part of his body. He sucked hard and her hips jerked and twitched in helpless yearning. Using his tongue to tease and his teeth to tantalize, he brought her to the edge of orgasm twice, backing off each time until a low, keening sound emitted from her throat.
Then she did something unexpected.
Her hands had been busy in his hair, against his shoulders. Now, as he eased the pressure of his mouth and let her body quiet, she tugged her dress off her shoulders, exposing her black bra.
She snagged his hand and brought it to her neckline. Understanding what she wanted, he skimmed his fingertips against the rough lace before hooking them beneath the fabric. Her skin might look like cool porcelain, but heat raged below the surface of her breast, scorching his knuckles.
“Sebastian.” The plea broke from her throat.
With ruthless urgency, he yanked the fabric downward, freeing her breasts. Large and round with erect rosy nipples. Every bit as perfect as he’d imagined they would be. He filled his hands with them, a savage groan rumbling in his throat as he settled his mouth against her once more.
Her every cry drove his desire higher. He threw finesse out the window and stormed her with everything he had. She shuddered against