Hot Commodity(37)

At the promise of some blessed relief, his body stilled. But so did his soul. What would it be like to let her soothe him emotionally, to let her take away all the guilt and pain? Maybe she could ease him.

Ha! As if that were even possible.

"No," Cameron said firmly and stepped away. "Look, I’m a lost cause in that department, Livy." When she frowned as if she didn’t believe him, he lifted his hand and added, "I just want straight sex or none at all. I don’t want to complicate this annulment by adding strings and feelings and crap like that."

Olivia watched him thoughtfully for a minute. Then she nodded. "Okay. No sex then. No feelings. I’ll just give you a few words of encouragement."

Cameron winced. "Make that no feelings, no sappy lecture, but some sex, and I’m in."

Olivia rolled her eyes and grinned. But when she caught his eye, the laughter in her face mellowed. He knew the constructive criticism was coming a split second before she said, "You’re not nearly the monster you think you are."

He nodded. "Good words of encouragement. Thanks. Now can we have sex?"

She threw back her head and laughed. Cameron moved closer and hovered. His eyelids lowered to half mast as his gaze slid down her nightgown.

"Sorry," she murmured softly as she lifted her face and pursed her lips so he could kiss her if he wanted to. "But I still feel all soft and cuddly toward you."

"Give me ten seconds and I’ll change those mushy feelings to hot and wanton." He finally kissed her. Bypassing her mouth, he pressed his lips to her throat, licking his tongue over her pulse and making her body shiver.

~  ~

Still tingling from the orgasm her own pearl necklace had given her, Olivia wanted to experience another explosion of raw hunger. She wanted to feel Cameron move inside her. She wanted to clutch him with her inner muscles and milk him to his own release.

"You weren’t this gorgeous in my memory," he murmured, touching her shoulder lightly and with such delicate care she couldn’t help but feel cherished. He did exactly what he’d done their first night together. He cupped her face as if she was precious to him, and he swooped in low, taking her lips into his and cradling her against him like he wanted to protect her from harm.

It was his body language that said all this, this incredibly sweet and endearing thing that Olivia couldn’t resist. A gentle touch on the cheek, the way his soft mouth pressed so tenderly against hers, the way he closed his eyes and breathed in her smell as if there was only her for him. Yes, all he had to do was kiss her and she was a goner.

"Cameron," she murmured as she closed her eyes and threaded her fingers through his hair. "Did you tell her to pull the trigger when she stuck the gun in her mouth?"

He jerked at her words. She immediately missed the contact as he ripped his mouth away and pulled back. The surprise she saw in his green eyes clearly overrode any anger or pain he might’ve felt at her question.

Then he shook his head. "What? She didn’t shoot herself."

"Whatever," Olivia pressed. "Did you tell her to do it? Did you ever come right out and say you didn’t care what she did, that you’d be happier without her?"

Looking repulsed, Cameron adamantly shook his head. "What? God, no. I would never have said that to anyone, much less my wife."

The relief at his shocked, negative answer had Olivia falling for Cameron Orville Banks right then and there. "Then you’re not even a tenth as culpable for her death as you think you are." She stepped up on his toes to

press her mouth to his.

She could feel him resist her for a good second. Then he melted and his body sank closer. As her lips remained fastened to his, he rid her of her nightgown, shredding the silk to get to her. The groan she heard when he found her naked underneath made her smile. She reached for his tuxedo jacket. He hurried to help and, in doing so, his mouth momentarily lost contact with hers.

Letting out a feral growl, he hastened to unsnap his cuff links. "Okay," he muttered, jerking the cuffs open as she unbuttoned his shirt. "We can have sympathy sex. But just this once. I don’t want you feeling bad for—Oh God."

He threw back his head and groaned when Olivia pressed her open mouth against the rapidly exposed chest she was revealing and bit one of his flat nipples. Before she could loosen the last button, he jerked the shirt off, snapping the thread that had been holding it together. The single button flew unnoticed across the room. Cameron shed his pants in three quick moves. They tumbled down around his ankles even as he grabbed Olivia by the hips and lifted her.