Strong and Sexy Read online

  “Okay, good.” He brushed her hair from her face and looked into her eyes, smiling, but clearly just a little confused. “Maybe we could go over exactly what we are doing.”

  “Well . . .” She wriggled again, careful with her knee this time. Leaning down, she thought to give him a kiss, because that would surely remind him—

  They bumped noses.

  Not letting that deter her, she changed the angle of her head, leaned in and—

  Bumped his nose again. “Ohmigod.” Lightly slapping a hand on either side of his face, she held him still. Determined, she leaned in again, and found him—

  Laughing.

  At her.

  Letting out a breath, she pressed her forehead to his. “Are you laughing at me or with me?”

  “With you,” he promised. “Definitely with you.”

  “Maybe you could do one more thing with me.”

  “Anything,” he said in the most thrilling voice. She executed another wriggle, complete with eyebrow arched that hopefully signaled “do me, do me now.”

  But he, the most frustrating, patient man on the planet, just lay there.

  “You know what I’m asking,” she finally whispered, beginning to sound desperate, even to her own ears. “You’re a guy. A really sexy, virile guy who has women calling him at the crack of dawn. You know.”

  “Yes, but do you?”

  “Do I know that I want to have just sex? Yes!”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Are you kidding me? You probably have women throwing themselves at you nightly. You probably never have to make the first move. And yet you want me to beg you.”

  “Whoa—”

  “Because believe me, Shayne, I’m this close to begging you.”

  “Dani—”

  “What?” she snapped, just a little too close to the edge.

  Cupping her face, he pulled her in for a kiss. “I’m not laughing at you. I’m not waiting for you to throw yourself at me. I’m trying to resist you.”

  “Oh.” That deflated some of her annoyance. “Why?”

  “Because . . .” He slid his hands down her back, over her bottom, her thighs, and then up again, beneath the big T-shirt this time, and let out a low, thrilling groan at the feel of her satiny panties. “Because that’s what you wanted before I brought you here. Because I don’t want to hurt you.” Some of the smile went out of his eyes. “Because I tend to end up hurting the women who care about me.”

  “You can’t hurt me.” Liar, liar. “This is a one-night thing only, remember?”

  For a long beat he just looked up at her. “You’re very different from the women I’ve gone out with.”

  “Different.” But because his fingers slipped beneath that satin, this came out all breathless and whispery. “Different how?”

  He didn’t answer, and she lifted her head. The light from the kitchen slashed over him, and she could see the answer in his eyes. “Oh,” she breathed. “Different as in not beautiful and rich—” Damn it. She tried to shift off him but his hands held her still.

  “No,” he said firmly. “You have it all wrong. I meant you’re not . . .” Something flickered in his eyes. Discomfort? “You’re not someone I would sleep with and then not call again.”

  The naked, raw truth of that statement was in his eyes, and finally, she understood, both his hesitation and the emotion in his voice. She wanted to hug him for it but instead she sat up. Since she’d had a leg on either side of him, that left her straddling his body.

  He thought she was different. Good different, and though he could have no idea what that did for her, she felt deliciously empowered for the first time in her entire dating life. “Shayne?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m so, so sure.”

  Shayne struggled for brain cells, for working brain cells. Not easy with Dani straddling him wearing only his T-shirt and those peach panties. But he managed to find a few. “Dani.” His voice was soft, his body not so much so. “It’s just that this is out of character for you, and—”

  “I’ve had one-night stands.”

  Lifting up a hand, he stroked her jaw. Her skin was like silk. “Have you?”

  “Okay, no.” She covered his hand with hers. “But I’ve thought about it.”

  “Dani—”

  “I want to do this,” she whispered, her hair falling over his shoulders and arms like a silk curtain. “I want to be held, touched. Kissed. I want to know I’m not alone.”

  “You’re not alone.”

  “Thank you.” Eyes luminous, thighs hugging his body, she reached down and grabbed the hem of the T-shirt she wore and slowly began to lift it up.

  His heart stuttered to a stop, then jerked into motion again, kicking hard against his ribs. “I love the way my shirt looks on you.”

  “Held. Touched. Kissed,” she repeated huskily. “I didn’t say anything about talking. Did you hear me say anything about talking?”

  His laugh backed up in his throat when the T-shirt revealed the gentle curve of her belly, her ribs . . . ah, God, she wasn’t wearing a bra. Her breasts popped free, creamy pale and full, tipped with nipples already pebbled and begging for his attention.

  He lifted his hands to start the touching part of the program, but looked up in confusion when she let out a “goddammit.”

  She’d gotten herself caught in his shirt. Arms lifted over her head, face covered by the cotton, she fought with the shirt, a motion that had her breasts gently bouncing. Bella, excited at the struggle— which she interpreted as playtime—came flying over just as Shayne cupped Dani’s breasts in his palms, but all laughter backed up in his throat at the feel of her. “Bella, go lie down.”

  Bella tilted her head to the side, studying Dani in curiosity.

  “Bella.”

  With a sigh, the dog padded off.

  “What are you doing?” Dani gasped. “Help me.”

  “I am.” He gave her a nudge, and she fell forward, and look at that, one of her breasts bounced right near his mouth.

  Perfect.

  He opened up and rasped a tongue over her nipple.

  “Oh!”

  Smiling against her skin, he did it again, watching as it puckered even more. Such a gorgeous, mouth-watering sight.

  “Shayne—” She was fighting the shirt again, trying to get free. “Damn it! I’m trying to make you lose control!”

  He had her gorgeous breasts in his face, her legs spread wide over his so that he could feel her heat, which had his hips rocking helplessly upward. Control? He had none when it came to her. “Trust me. You are.”

  “A little help?”

  “Sure.” He stroked a hand down her smooth back and right into her panties, cupping her bare, sweet ass before slipping lower—

  “Shayne!” she gasped. “That’s not what I meant!”

  “Ah, that’s a shame.” Pulling his hand free, he traced the peach panties in front now, outlining the small triangular patch before scraping the material aside to touch bare flesh instead.

  Dani jerked, then went still as stone, only the smallest of sounds escaping her, the sexiest sound he’d ever heard.

  He found her wet, thrillingly wet, and he let out a rough sound of his own, which seemed to galvanize her into action. Managing to rip off the stuck T-shirt, she glared down at him, hair wild, eyes glossy with hunger and desire, her breathing none too steady. “You.”

  “Me,” he agreed.

  “Are still wearing pants.”

  “Easily fixed.” Surging up, he kissed her, his eyes open on hers. She watched him too. Watched as he sank his teeth into her lower lip and lightly tugged while his fingers stroked her again, hitting ground zero.

  And given that those eyes went opaque on his, and words stopped tumbling from her lips, she liked it.

  “Strip,” she managed, sounding quite firm, then ruined it by adding a soft “please.”

  He’d already been in motion, rolling, tucking her beneath him, then surging up to his kn