Page 40 of One Naughty Night (Single in South Beach)

“What kind of gentleman would I be if I got in the way of a determined woman?” He looped his arms around her neck, allowed her to tug him across the yard and through the back door of the house.

“Not a very lucky one, that’s for sure.” Esme stalled inside the kitchen since she had no clue where the bedroom might be. She hooked a finger in the collar of his T-shirt. “You want to get lucky, partner?”

* * *

Renzo decided thenand there he could gladly take an occasional backseat to the kind of woman who issued invitations like that one.

Somehow when Esme twisted his shirt around her finger, she twisted him right along with it. He could damn well spend a lifetime of days compromising with her if it meant he could spend a lifetime of nights just like this. How could he mind a woman who took the lead when they ended up tangled in his sheets?

“I’m feeling damn lucky already.” He molded his fingers to the curves of her hips, drawing her lower body flush against his. “It’s not every day a beautiful woman shows up at my workplace and drags me to bed to have her way with me.”

Esme’s eyelids fluttered as she hissed in a gasp between clenched teeth. Her reaction to their hips locked together definitely didn’t hurt his ego.

Of course, he hovered near hyperventilation status himself just from the soft feel of her thighs. The promise of so much more.

“Strong and beautiful all in one day?” Esme pulled him down the hall toward the bedrooms, even though she couldn’t possibly know her way around the house. “You’d better be careful, or you’re going to turn my head.”

He paused outside of the room that had been his since childhood. He’d shared it with Nico long ago, but he’d far rather share it with Esme Giles tonight.

“I wouldn’t want to turn your head just yet. I’m sneaking up on you, Esme. I plan to wheedle my way into your bed and into your heart before you know what hit you.”

Not giving her a chance to think about that for too long, Renzo leaned in to kiss her. He wanted all her attention on the here and now anyway. The future and the past both seemed to unsettle Esme, but she definitely knew how to wrest every last bit of pleasure from the present.

She backed him into the tall Colonial rice bed that had been his first substantial furniture project the summer he turned eighteen. She seemed determined to keep a physical upper hand tonight as she shifted and maneuvered him right where she wanted him. Renzo didn’t mind letting her be on top, but if he was going down, he was taking her with him.

Her grip on his shoulders tightened as he tumbled them both into the unmade tangle of blankets, keeping her anchored against him.

A slow smile spread across her face, a gleam lit up her eyes.

“Then I’m sure you’ll be very patient while I undress you.” Already her hands slid down his thighs to tug his jeans down his hips.

Ah, hell.

He sensed imminent sensual torment at her sweet hands, and yet he couldn’t wait. She slid down the length of his body, backing up on all fours to pull the denim off his feet. Her breasts grazed his legs as she shifted rather deliberately over him. The soft weight stroking over him reminded him exactly how much he wanted to undress her.

But the stakes tonight were more than simple pleasure. He wanted to tear down the boundaries she seemed determined to keep in place, to prove to her that he could let her take the lead sometimes. And although that might be easier to do in bed than out of it, somehow he knew the pain of Celeste leaving him at the altar would be like a hammer on his thumb compared to the buzz saw cut to his heart if he couldn’t win over Esme.

He weathered the slow torment of her lithe body wriggling, shifting and crawling over his until she’d stripped every last piece of fabric from him. Renzo needed every ounce of self-control to keep his hands to himself. The need to touch her, to palm a thigh or skate a few fingers underneath her skirt, inundated him.

“Patience doesn’t come easy for a man like me,” he reminded her as she kissed her way down his chest, her lips pausing mere inches away from a raging, on-fire and sure-to-be-the-death of him erection.

Esme levered herself up to a sitting position, her fingers moving to work the buttons on her blouse. “Then maybe your efforts deserve a little recognition.” She shimmied out her blouse, the movement jiggling her lace-covered breasts in a way that made his mouth water and his hands twitch to cup the soft mounds.

“You’re killing me.” He didn’t care what kind of good intentions he’d had tonight, if he didn’t touch her soon he’d lose his mind.

She stretched out on top of him, pressing sweet flesh to his burning skin. “Maybe I can help. As long as you let me stay right here, I think it would be okay if you undressed me.”

“With pleasure.” His hands skimmed her ribcage up to the icy blue lace that hid her from view.

Straps off, hook unfastened and the thing was sailing across his bedroom to land on his bureau. She purred when he stroked his thumbs across the delicate points of her breasts, her back arching to give him better access. And although he couldn’t wait to get inside her, to strip away every last inch of fabric covering her body, he found he had all the time in the world when it came to giving this woman what she wanted.

He drew on one taut peak and then the other, alternating the stroke of his tongue with the glide of his fingers until Esme’s hips twisted against his in an insistent, notice-me rhythm. Her vanilla scent filled his nostrils along with the musky scent of desire. He thrust both hands up her skirt, over her thighs to find the satin straps holding her lace panties in place. Careful not to be too hasty with more of her lingerie, he slid the insubstantial garment down delicious curves, shifting her legs to one side so he could ease the lace and the khaki skirt to the floor.

Still, Esme had no intention of being unseated. After rolling on a condom, she straddled his thighs again, positioning herself directly above him.

Easing down the length of him in one silken stroke, Esme levered herself into place with her hands on his chest. The cry in her throat paled in comparison to his roar of satisfaction that resonated through the room. He’d waited forever for this woman and the fierce heat of their connection seemed like undeniable proof they belonged together.

When she collapsed against his chest, holding herself very still as he moved inside her, he knew instinctively she was giving him the reins once again.

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