Maid in the USA(23)

“Just making you more comfortable.” He grinned wickedly, his green eyes glinting in the light cast by the lamp in the corner of the room. “Just relax,” he whispered. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

He took her over to the long black couch and laid her gently in the cushions then he was leaning over her, blocking out the light and all she could see was his handsome face - his strong forehead, firm lips and his rugged jaw with the captivating cleft in his chin.

Celine shivered, suddenly feeling out of her depth. Reste tranquile, Celine. Calm down. He’s only a man after all. But that was the problem. Pierce D’Amato was all man and he wanted her. She could see it in the flash of his eyes. She could hear it in the rasping of his breath as he dipped his head to kiss her neck. She could feel it in the pounding of his heart as she pressed her hand against his chest. And even worse, she could feel the intensity of his passion in the hardness that now pressed against her leg.

If Celine had any fear it fled when Pierce began to nibble on her ear lobe. She sighed and arched her back in response. He must have seen her reaction as a signal to go farther because his lips shifted from her neck and slid down to the shadow between her breasts. His hands came up to cup them and then his thumbs were circling her nipples through the fabric of her blouse, making them pucker into deliciously painful pebbles, sending jolts of lightning coursing through her body.

“So beautiful,” he whispered then with a groan he pushed away the blouse and the top of her bra and took the distended rosebud into his mouth.

She gasped and writhed under the expert teasing of his lips. Oh God, he was driving her crazy with want. He released the nub then moved his lips to its twin, administering the same sweet torture till she cried out and arched her back, forcing the nipple deeper into his mouth.

It was when his hands slid lower to caress her belly that she froze. Her eyes opened wide as she realized what was happening. Pierce had bewitched her with his caresses and now he was moving in for the kill. How could she have been so easily seduced? How could she have been so stupid?

Pierce was a man of the world and he must have been with many women. He knew exactly how to turn a woman on. He was certainly doing a good job on her. But was he using his seductive charms to get her into his bed? And to what end? So he could give her the last paycheck and send her packing at the end of the summer?

The thought was like a bucketful of ice-cold water in her face.

She wanted Pierce, there was no doubt in her mind about that. But not like this. She would gladly give him her all if only he had half the love for her that she felt for him. But why would he? He could have any woman in the world. Why in heaven’s name would he settle for her?

“No,’” she said, her voice coming out in a moan. “Please. Stop.”

Pierce went completely still. Even his chest froze, as if he’d stopped breathing. Slowly he lifted his head and in the hazy green of his eyes was a mix of desire and confusion.

He pulled back from her then and raised himself up to sit on the seat beside her. He looked down at her, his eyes boring into her with an intensity that made her look away. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice quiet and low.

She refused to look at him, could not meet his eyes. What was she going to say? That she didn’t want to go farther because he hadn’t told her that he loved her? He would laugh in her face if she said something as stupid as that. Instead, she just shook her head. “I…can’t,” she said, her voice a broken whisper.

Pierce sucked in his breath. Then he reached out and took her chin in his hand and turned her face toward him.

She kept her eyes lowered, not wanting him to read the expression there.

“Celine,” he said softly, “don’t tell me you’re…still a virgin?”

She bit her lip, not trusting herself to speak. Instead, she simply nodded.

She knew she was misleading him, making him think that was why she had stopped him. But that hadn’t been the main reason. She’d stopped him because she was afraid. She didn’t want to be used, to give up her body to a man after waiting so long, and then to be discarded like a dirty old rag.

Her mother had taught her well. Not until marriage, she’d told her, or else as soon as they get what they want they move on to someone prettier or better. Don’t let them use you for practice. She’d never forgotten those words and she’d held fast to that principle in her one and only relationship with Giles.

But now with Pierce it was different. What she felt for Pierce went far beyond what she’d ever felt for Giles. With Pierce she would have thrown her mother’s advice out the window without another thought…if only he could love her.