“Can we change the subject? I just want to lay in bed together and snuggle and make love and snuggle again. Is that too much to ask?” she wheedled.

“No more talking about leagues or comparing our financial portfolios. I’m inspired by everything about you, your brains, your passion, how engaged you are with life, your killer bod…” he waggled his eyebrows twirling an imaginary handlebar mustache.

“You’re laying it on a bit thick, but I like it.”

“And I like you.” Yawning loudly, he stood up and took their empty bowls to the sink to rinse out. “Are you ready for bed? It’s been so long since I’ve held a woman in my arms all night… I didn’t realize how much I’d missed it.”

“I hope you don’t snore,” she said.

“I hopeyoudon’t snore.”

“After you Mr. Bennett.”

His eyes smoldered. “Mademoiselle.”

19

Kyle sat sprawled on a club chair waiting for Ella to finish in the bathroom. His eyes were closed but his fatigue had disappeared, and his body tingled with anticipation. Rather than feeling satiated from their earlier exploration in the limo, he felt like that had merely been a taste of what was to come.

“Bathroom is all yours.” Ella stood in front of him, her eyes lively and bright with expectation. He cracked his eyes open and raked her body from head to toe. She still had her dress on but now that she had captured his full attention, she began to undress in front of him…correction, she began to strip.

Smiling seductively, she bent over to kiss him. When he reached for her she backed away, index finger to her lips, and shook her head no. Ella slowly began to undress, running her hands down her hips before reaching around to unzip her dress, then she playfully pulled the thin straps down one shoulder at a time. Meeting his gaze, she tugged at the bodice and her full rounded breasts spilled out, pink nipples engorged. He thought he was going to come right then.

She turned her back to him and took her time bending forward to gracefully step out of the dress, making sure he had a tantalizing view of her ass. She added some extra wiggle as she straightened and tossed the garment aside.

Now naked except for her lacy white panties, she licked her fingers then circled her nipples. Kyle groaned. All her movements were deliberate and meant to drive him insane with desire. It was working. She then slid one hand down her flat belly to slip it inside her sexy underwear.

His nostrils flared as he stared at her perfect body, “I’m going to explode, come over here.”

She took her time sliding the panties off inch by torturous inch, her breasts swaying as she bent over. She kicked the lace aside and knelt on the floor at his feet. She buried her face in his crotch and nuzzled him through his slacks. He brushed his hand through her curls. She looked up at him through her lashes, confident, daring, radiating lust. Kyle thought he couldn’t get any harder, but she’d just proved him wrong.

Ella pulled his pants down over his muscular hips and legs slowly, slinging them to the side. Kyle spread his legs wide as she smoothed her hands up his inner thighs. Her mouth followed where her hands had been, licking and nibbling the sensitive skin of his adductors, until she reached his angry scar. “My poor baby,” she said tenderly as she kissed his healing wound. His heart contracted and he felt a deep longing and with it the realization that he had always felt alone. She finally reached his erection and mouthed him through his underpants.

“Fuck me Ella!”

Putting an end to his torture, she pulled off the last remaining barrier of clothing. Kyle reached into the side drawer and handed her a condom. She looked sexy as hell tearing the wrapper open with her teeth. She gripped him firmly and rolled it slowly over his hard length. Her hips swayed as she straddled him, allowed just the tip of him inside her wet center, before lifting her pelvis teasingly.Teasing… torturing…just a taste. Each time she would sit a little lower onto his throbbing manhood.

Kyle reached out for her breast, pinching and rolling her nipple between his fingers. She leaned forward and held her breast to his face. His mouth covered her areola then circling with his tongue he drew it in to suckle hard. She cried out and arched away, suddenly lowering herself all the way taking his whole length inside of her.Warm…wet…wild…

She threw her head back exposing her creamy throat. He slid his hand down her belly and rubbed his thumb against her sweet spot. She started out slowly, up and down, her quads strong and lean, lifting then lowering, her breasts bouncing with each pump. He watched, mesmerized. She picked up her tempo and rode him hard; She bit her bottom lip her eye’s glazed in rapture. When she began to pant, he knew she was close to climaxing, so he let go. The orgasm rocked him to his very core and only intensified when he felt her pulsating around him as she cried out with abandon.

Ella lay against him, spent. She didn’t want to move…didn’t want him to slip out. Cradled against his chest, her lips pressed against his throat, tongue darting out to lick his salty skin. Her body was hot where his fingertips caressed her back, from her neck to her buttocks and back up again. If she were a cat she would be purring. Kyle buried his nose in her hair and kissed her head.

“Ella, stay with me, don’t go back to your condo.” She stilled, her breath hitching. “I feel so alive with you, I want to be with you Ella, only you.”

She was silent for so long Kyle thought she wasn’t going to respond, then she said, “But for how long? I’m a new shiny object Kyle. The newness will eventually wear off, then what?”

“Then we go deeper.”

“You say that now, but what happens when you’ve grown tired of me? You’ve had everything you’ve ever wanted for your entire life. I can’t compete with that. The excitement will wear off, trust me. I’ve been there, done that. There will always be another beautiful woman waiting backstage.” Ella got up from his lap and moved to the bed, sitting cross legged she tucked her hair behind her ears.

Kyle followed her to the bed and laid down on his side facing her, running his fingers softly up and down her thigh, “I could say the same about you. You have your share of admirers. That’s fear talking. You’re still living in the past.”

“I was that girl, theITgirl. The chief surgeon put his sights on me. Like you, he could have anyone he wanted—rich, gorgeous, successful, and he wantedme. I was the new bright shiny object. He chased me relentlessly, seduced, cajoled, until finally I broke my very own cardinal rule and mixed my personal and professional lives.”

“You can’t paint all successful men with the same brush Ella.”

“Look, I resisted for a while, just like I did with you. Then I caved…it was all downhill from there. Once he had me, it didn’t take long before he no longer wanted me. I was devastated Kyle. I didn’t think I’d ever get over the heartbreak and humiliation. I was stigmatized at my job, and I still had to make myself get up every day, go in to work, and hold my head high.”