Page 34 of One More Sleepless Night

He blinked, frowned, and then gave his head a quick shake. ‘Well, what?’

‘Didn’t I guarantee it would be better this time?’

He blew out a soft shaky breath. ‘You did.’

‘And?’

‘It was better.’

There was nothing wrong with better, thought Nicky, but the imp inside her, the one who’d been slumbering away for weeks now, was waking up. It yawned and rubbed its eyes and made her say with a coquettishness that she didn’t usually go in for, ‘Just better?’

‘Much better.’ His mouth curved into a faint smile and he raised his eyebrows. ‘Why? Think you can improve?’

‘Oh, there’s always room for improvement,’ she murmured and lifted her head for another divine kiss.

And this time when their mouths met Nicky’s brain well and truly went AWOL, because within seconds Rafael had taken control and was angling her head and deepening the kiss and sliding his hand up her side as he kissed her.

His hand curved round her breast and settled, and at the feel of it caressing her achingly sensitive flesh she sighed into his mouth. He brushed his thumb over her nipple, sending more of those tiny electric shocks skidding through her, and she melted against him.

Oh, this was heavenly, she thought dazedly. Absolutely heavenly. Instinctively she

tightened her arms around his neck and tilted her pelvis against his erection and rubbed. He groaned and pulled her even closer, kissed her even harder and blew her mind.

By the time they broke for breath this time her bones had dissolved and she was glad he had some kind of hold on her because otherwise she’d have collapsed into a puddle of lust on the floor.

‘God, I’d love to see how we can improve on that,’ she said shakily, and thought that she doubted it was possible because how could you perfect perfection?

He brushed a lock of her hair back and tucked it behind her ear. ‘Would you?’

The oddly tender gesture coupled with the hint of promise in his voice and the suddenly wicked glint that appeared in his eye shot her pulse so far through the roof and stole her voice so totally that all she could do was nod.

He let her go and nudged her gently back. ‘Then take off your dress.’

A great boulder of desire rolled the length of her body, nearly wiping out her knees, and she swallowed hard. ‘Now?’ she breathed, and inwardly winced at the way he’d evidently turned her brain to mush because was he really talking about next week?

He gave her a slow smouldering smile that had her stomach flipping like a pancake. ‘Now.’

How could she do anything but comply when she was so completely spellbound by him and the dizzying effect he had on her?

Everything but him and the way he was looking at her faded into a blur. As she slipped out of her shoes, her hands went to her side of their own accord and she slid the zip of her dress down and with Rafael watching her every move so closely Nicky was aware of her body in a way she never had been before.

The whisper of her zip sounded abrasively loud in the eerie silence of the afternoon. The soft cotton of her dress brushing against her skin sent tiny shivers scuttling down her spine, and her fingers trembled a little as she slipped the straps off her shoulders and let the dress fall to the floor in a pool of pale yellow. Her heart reverberated like a kettle drum and her blood roared in her ears as she watched Rafael swallow once, then slowly run his gaze over her nearly naked body.

Beneath his scrutiny, a shudder rippled through her and then she went so hot she wouldn’t have been surprised to look down and find that the lace of her strapless bra and knickers had gone up in flames.

‘What now?’ she asked, perfectly happy to have him take charge when it made her feel like this.

‘Sit down.’ His voice was satisfyingly hoarse and she smiled at the thought that despite his attempt to resist her, he was as much at the mercy of this as she was.

‘Where?’ she asked, because the only chairs she could make out in her very fuzzy peripheral vision were the kitchen bar stools and they didn’t look nearly sturdy enough for what she hoped was about to happen.

He scanned the living space. ‘The sofa, I think.’

With her pulse kicking with anticipation, she smiled, then turned and made her way over to the wide, deep chocolate-brown sofa, feeling her body moving languidly and her hips sashaying in a way that had nothing to do with any conscious thought on her part and everything to do with a primitively innate desire to attract.

She sat down before her knees could give way and looked up at him. ‘How do you want me?’

‘Sit back.’

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