Kept by Him(23)

“Cool tat!” Chris said. “Great quality work, great bod, too! Ms. Davenport, there’s going to be a

change. I will take only some sample pictures of you with our new guest. Our ads will probably be as

planned, with you alone, but in the meantime let us get into the mood of seduction.”

He turned to whisper something to Daniel, and Daniel nodded and pulled off his shoes and tossed

them aside with two loud thumps. He ended up in dark slacks, a belt, and a chest that got her saliva

glands working like nothing else.

His walk as he came over caused a tightening deep in her abdominal wall. She was so sensitive

today even dressing had felt sexual, and all those places throbbed even more as the blood rushed in

their direction.

A strange dread ran through her as he lifted the blanket to join her, somehow taking care not to

reveal her to the dozens of people gathered around. He turned his big body to face her, his broad back

angled toward the camera as he rolled to his side against her, covering her nakedness from view.

As soon as he dropped the throw over his hips and hers, his legs entangled with her nude ones, and

Monica’s body chemistry altered. Everything—heart, lungs, flesh—heightened to alarming levels.

His scent stole into her lungs, causing her mouth to water even more. “What are you doing here?”

she murmured, horribly breathless, hot, aching.

He bent so only she could hear. “I’m a little early for the board meeting and was told I could find

you here.” His strangely hoarsened voice flooded her with memories of last night and the coiling,

writhing tension of desire came alive within her as he pulled her against him, the move proprietary,

possessive—protective.

He braced up on one elbow, his powerful arm around her waist, his back shielding her from

everyone present as he ducked his head so that practically no one could see her. But him. She felt

immediately safe, while at the same time, electricity crackled through her, clanging off all the

warning bells in her body.

Years ago, she had felt enormous pleasure when she’d lived with the Lexingtons temporarily, and

Daniel had held her at night. She’d count the hours until he’d appear, large and manly at her door, and

when he slid his arms around her, his touch would release some strange calming hormones in her

body.

But that had started changing, even back then.

When the tears stopped, the hormones clamoring for his touch had been different ones, frightening

ones, and had been the reason Monica had pulled away.

Now his effect had magnified to proportions beyond her understanding, his suddenly familiar

nearness causing every cell in her body to jolt into wakefulness. She wanted to melt, while at the same

time, she feared the power of his nearness, remembering how she’d broken in the funeral when he held

her, how she always seemed to shatter either in pain or in pleasure in no place else except his arms.…

“Ms. Davenport, if you would embrace our male?”

Heart accelerating, Monica gingerly slid her free arm around his waist, her hand splayed on his

muscled back as the other soon joined it. His eyes darkened, and he was looking down at her with a

strangely animalistic gaze, the slight flare of his nostrils making him appear almost menacing in his

hunger.

“All right, now act like you want each other. Look, touch, nuzzle…”

Their bodies seemed to seek closer contact, and his muscles quivered under her fingers as her hands

slid almost involuntarily over his skin. Time came to a standstill. Noises fading. People fading. They

were breathing hard and she forgot everyone in the room. Even the screams.

“Yes! You’re dying for a touch … a kiss … look for it, that’s it. My God, that’s superb chemistry.

Superb!”

Daniel spoke in her ear. “Are your nipples hard?”

“Yes.”

“Let me feel them.”

Monica could only hear her heartbeat as he seized her wrists and brought her arms above her and

brushed his nose against hers, grazing her lips with his. She let him draw them up and press his chest

into her, feeling the soft mounds of her breasts flatten wantonly against him, her nipples pricking into

his pecs. She had never been as wet as she was now, this instant, lying in cashmere and Daniel

warming her. His lips parted, and she parted hers, eager, needy, everything else forgotten.

He bent his head, their mouths painstakingly close, their hearts thundering. She could remember his

powerful presence inside her and every way he stretched and widened her, every way he made her feel.

The rising heat in her body made her breath quicken, made her think of wrapping her legs around

him, and she started sliding her feet up his calves, feeling his breath quicken, too. He groaned softly