She loved it when his lips firmed. ‘Agreed,’ she said faintly.
‘Louder, Holly.’
‘Agreed.’
‘That’s better,’ Ruiz murmured. ‘Now come here. We haven’t said hello to each other properly yet.’
She stood. Taking a couple of small, prudent paces forward, she stretched out her hand to shake his.
Ruiz took hold of her and dragged her close. ‘Hello, Holly,’ he murmured, laughing down into her eyes.
She stared into the dark, amused eyes, and then at the firm, sexy mouth only a whisper from hers. ‘I thought you said this room was to work in,’ she protested without much force.
‘It is,’ Ruiz agreed. ‘Here’s your next headline.’
His kiss took her breath away. It was both fierce and tender. Two dams had burst at once, she thought as Ruiz swung her into his arms. ‘You can’t do this in the office.’
Shh you crazy woman, and savour the moment!
‘I can do anything I want, anywhere I want,’ Ruiz assured her. ‘Just so long as you want it too …’
‘All I want is you,’ she said softly, opening her heart when caution couldn’t save it.
‘If you’re sure?’ He held her above the sofa. ‘I can always leave you here to work.’
‘You dare,’ she said, feeling excitement spring inside her. ‘And you know what they say about too much work.’
‘I know what I say,’ Ruiz commented under his breath.
‘Where are we going?’ she said as he carried her towards the door.
‘To bed,’ Ruiz said bluntly. ‘This might take some time and I’m not confident the sofa springs will hold up.’
She could hardly breathe for anticipation as he strode down the landing with her in his arms. Opening a door at the end, he walked into a spacious room and kicked the door shut behind them. He carried her straight over to the bed and she barely had time to register that this was a very different room again: elegantly furnished in the Italian style rather than in the heavy traditional manner of the rest of the house. ‘I like a man who knows what he wants.’
‘And a woman who knows how to give it to him.’
She wouldn’t argue with that, Holly thought as her breathing quickened. Ruiz’s bed was big and firm, and had been recently dressed in crisp white linen. She was sure she could smell sunshine coming off the sheets. Lowering her onto the bed, he joined her and then, cupping her face, he kissed her. ‘You’re in a rush,’ she said, fighting to catch her breath when he released her.
‘Would you have me any other way?’
‘Absolutely not,’ she admitted. And then, because she was a glutton for punishment, she added, ‘How about me?’
‘Stop hiding behind the column,’ Ruiz said frankly.
‘And live a little?’ Holly suggested.
‘No.’ He paused. ‘Live a lot.’
Her body responded urgently as Ruiz kissed her again. She loved the feel of his arms around her and the touch of him beneath her hands. She loved the taste of him and the smell of him, warm, clean and musky with rampant maleness. ‘I’m so glad you invited me.’
‘Don’t play prim with me.’ His lips tugged in a grin. ‘I know what you want.’
‘Seriously, Ruiz.’
‘Seriously?’ he queried, stopping her with a kiss. ‘I know what you want. And you should know by now that I’ll call you any way I have to, as loudly as I have to, from as far away as I must.’
She wasn’t used to this feeling, this safe, sure, happy feeling. Maybe Ruiz was right and this was living. It was certainly risking everything for one man. And it was better this way. She stared into the dark amused eyes and knew then that for her this was the only way.
‘Now stop trying to kid yourself and me,’ Ruiz told her in a husky voice. ‘We both know you’re a very bad girl. So, what’s holding you back, Holly?’
‘Nothing,’ she said, moving down the bed.
She took her time tracing the lines of Ruiz’s muscular thighs. Then, pulling up his top, she traced the band of muscles across his belly. As her fingers trailed lower she had the satisfaction of hearing him suck in a fast breath. ‘Was the belt really necessary,’ she murmured. Cupping the arrogant swell of Ruiz’s erection over the fabric of his jeans, she directed a teasing stare into his face. ‘Is all this for me? You shouldn’t have.’
Holly gasped out as Ruiz swung her underneath him. ‘But I have and I will,’ he promised as he began unbuttoning her shirt. ‘And if you can’t give me a very good reason for keeping me waiting for this, I shall just have to pleasure it out of you.’
‘Oh, no. Please don’t do that,’ she murmured, watching as Ruiz reached back to tug his top over his head. Tracing the formidable muscles on his chest, she turned her attention to his jeans. ‘You are massively overdressed,’ she complained, wrestling them off him. And massively erect, she discovered with excitement.
‘And you are as forward as I remember.’ Ruiz paid her back by whipping her top off and tossing it away.
‘Lie on that bed, Señor,’ she warned, stripping down to bra and pants. ‘There is some unfinished business requiring my immediate attention, and it cannot wait.’
‘Go easy, señorita,’ Ruiz growled. ‘I’ve been waiting a long time for this.’
‘Are you saying the renowned playboy has lost his self-control?’ she taunted, kneeling over him.
‘I’m saying that with you it might be impossible to hold on.’
‘Don’t touch,’ she warned when Ruiz reached for her breasts. Currently threatening to spill over her bra, her nipples were deep rose pink and erect.
‘Do your worst,’ Ruiz encouraged in a husky Latin whisper.
‘Don’t worry, I will,’ she promised, slipping her fingertips beneath the waistband of his boxers. It was Holly’s turn to suck in a fast, excited breath when she had removed them. Ruiz was magnificent in every department and most especially in this. She dipped her head to take him in her mouth, relishing his smoothness and the sheer size of him as she traced the veined surface with her tongue. She tasted and suckled gently, before licking him while cupping him with her hands. She wanted to hold him now, to feel the promise of pleasure beneath her hands. She needed both her hands.
‘That’s enough,’ he exclaimed suddenly, swinging her beneath him.
‘Can’t you hold on?’ she challenged him.
Ruiz’s eyes were equally wicked. ‘Let’s find out, shall we?’ he teased.
‘Oh, yes. Let’s,’ she agreed with enthusiasm as Ruiz lost no time removing her remaining clothes. Nudging her legs apart with one powerful thigh, he tested and positioned her, using a pillow to raise her hips to an even more receptive level. After protecting them, he eased inside her with infinite care.
‘That feels so good.’ She breathed out a shuddering sigh as Ruiz lifted her.
‘And now you can see,’ he said.
She hummed, pretending that didn’t matter to her. But it did. And now Ruiz had started to move his hips from side to side, so skilfully massaging he stole the breath from her lungs. Would it ever be possible to breathe normally again, she wondered, while Ruiz was inside her and stretching her so incredibly?
‘This feels so good …’ he said as he continued to roll his hips.