Matched to a Billionaire(24)

Daniella's fingers danced across the back of her neck. His gut clenched   as he realized what she was doing, but the protest died in his throat  as  her glittery dress waterfalled off her body, catching at the tips of   her brea**sts for one breathless second. Then it puddled on the floor,   baring her to his greedy gaze.

A beautiful, half-nude vision stood before him. Daniella, in all her   glory. Fire raged south, ravaging everything in its path to his center,   numbing his extremities and nearly bringing him to his knees.

It would be fitting to kneel before a goddess.

"Daniella." His raw voice scraped at his throat and he cleared it. "What are you doing?"

He knew. She was doing what he'd been pushing her to do. But she was   supposed to slap him. Or storm out. Or push him in kind, the way she   always did. As long as she punished him for being an ass, any response   would have been fine.

Except this. And it was a far more suitable penance to get exactly what he asked for.

"I'm eliminating the problems," she said, head held high. "All the problems."

That was impossible, let alone this way. "Put your clothes back on. I'm-"

Actually, he had no clue what he was. Nothing could have prepared him to   feel so...ill equipped to be in the same room with a woman who  radiated  power and sensual energy.

He shut his eyes.

Strip yourself as bare as your body, she'd suggested. But his wife's   simple act of disrobing, of making herself vulnerable, had accomplished   that for him, even while he was still fully dressed.

Everything about her touched him in places no one had ever dared tread.

This night was not going to end well. She wanted something he couldn't   allow himself to give her. Once that bottle was uncorked, he'd focus on   nothing but Daniella and lose his drive to succeed. Then he'd fail   her-and himself-on a whole different level, which he could not accept.

"Leo." The softness in her voice nearly shattered him. "Open your eyes. Look at me."

He did. God help him, but he couldn't resist. His gaze sought hers, not   the gorgeous bare brea**sts there for his viewing pleasure. His eyes   burned with effort to keep them trained straight ahead.

"I would never-" she emphasized the word with a slash of her hand   "-dishonor you with anyone else, let alone a friend or a business   partner. I respect you too much. I'm sorry if I behaved in a way that   made you question that."

Her words, sweetly issued and completely sincere, wrenched that hollow   place inside. He'd been treating her horribly all night for who knew   what reason and she was apologizing. "You didn't. You were just being a   good hostess."

A very poor depiction of how absolutely stellar a party she'd thrown.   She deserved far more than degradation at the hands of her husband. Far   more than the absent, unavailable man she'd cleaved to.

"I really hope you think so." Her expression warmed. "You're the only man I want. Forever. That's why I married you."                       
       
           



       

The sentiment flowed like warm honey through his chest. This was the   kind of romantic nonsense he'd gone to EA International to avoid. But   then, wasn't she describing exactly what he'd asked for? Fidelity and   commitment? It just sounded like so much more than that from her mouth,   so deep and profound.

What was he supposed to do with that? With her?

"Don't you want me, too?" she asked, her voice dropping into a seductive whisper that funneled straight to his erection.

"So much more than I should," he muttered and regretted saying it out loud.

"Then come over here and show me."

His feet were rooted to the carpet. It wasn't going to be just sex.   Maybe just sex wasn't possible with someone he'd made his wife.

Regardless, he'd married Daniella, and consummating their relationship meant they were embarking on forever at this very moment.

Part of him strained to dash for the door, to down the rest of the   scotch until the unquenchable thirst for Daniella faded from memory.   Then he wouldn't have to deal with the other part that compelled him to   accept everything she was offering him, even the alarming nebulous   nonphysical things.

"So the touching moratorium is lifted?" he asked. "Or is this the precursor to another round of rules?"

Apparently he wasn't finished lashing out at her. If he infuriated her   enough to leave, they could go back to circling each other and he'd put   off finding out exactly how weak he was.

He didn't want her to leave.

"This is about nothing more than being together. Do whatever feels right   to you." She spread her arms, jutting out her perfectly mounded   breasts. His mouth tingled and he imagined he could taste one. "Standing   here in nothing other than a tiny thong is turning me into Jell-O. I'd   really like it if you'd kiss me now."

"A thong?" He'd been so focused on her front, the back hadn't even   registered. The feel of silk beneath his pinky when he'd pushed past the   fabric at her waist during the party rushed back and he groaned.

Slowly, she half turned and cocked a hip, bare cheek thrust out. "I wore   it for you. Hoping you'd pick tonight to make me your wife in more  than  name only."

He was so hard he couldn't breathe. Let alone walk. Or kiss. Neither was   he ready to cross that line, to find out how far she'd suck him down   the rabbit hole if he gave in to the maelstrom of need.

Her lips curved up in a secret, naughty smile. Palms flat against her   waist, she smoothed them downward over the curve of her rear, down her   thighs. "If you're not going to touch me, I'll just do it myself."

Provocatively, she teased one of her nipp**les with an index finger. Her   eyes fluttered halfway closed in apparent pleasure and he swore.  Enough  was enough.

She was serious. No more choices, rules, games or guidelines. She wanted him.

It was too late to address all the lingering questions about the status   of their relationship or how this would change it. It was too late to   imagine he'd escape, and far too late to pretend he wanted to.

Daniella was going in the lover box. Now.

In one stride, he crossed the space between them and swept her up in his   arms. He swallowed her gasp a moment before his lips captured hers.   Crushing her against him, he leaped into the carnal desire she'd incited   all night. Actually, since that first glimpse of her on the stairs at   their wedding. Every moment in between.

Their mouths aligned, opened, fed. Eagerly, she slid her tongue along   his, inviting him deeper. He delved willingly, exploring leisurely   because this time there'd be no interruptions.

He was going to make Daniella his, once and for all. Then he'd recover   his singular concentration and no more deals would slip away as he   daydreamed.

The taste of her sang through his veins and instead of weakening him,   she gave him strength. Enough strength to pleasure this woman until she   cried out with it. Enough to grant her what she'd been begging for.   Enough to make love to her all night long.

He'd hold on to that strength, because he'd need it to walk away again   in the morning. It was the only outcome he'd allow, to delve into the   physical realm without losing himself in it. Just tonight, just once.

Leo broke the kiss long enough to pick her up in his arms. Carefully, he   laid her out on the bed and spent a long moment drinking in the   panorama of his wife's gorgeous body. All that divine skin pleaded for   his touch, so he indulged himself, running fingertips down her arms,   over the peaks and valleys of her torso and all the way down to her   siren-red toenails.

He glanced at her face. She was so sensuously lost in pleasure, his pulse nearly doubled instantly.                       
       
           



       

She shivered.

"Cold?" he asked.

Shaking her head, she got up on her knees and pulled his tie free. "Hot. For you."

Then she slid off his jacket and went to work on the buttons of his shirt, watching him as she slipped them free.

Finally, she'd completely undressed him. Taking her in his arms, he   rolled with her to the middle of the bed and picked up the kiss where   they'd left off.

Her lips molded to his and his mind drained as her warm body snugged up   against him. They were naked together, finally. Physically, at least.

Almost naked. He skimmed a hand down her spine and fingered the thong.   Silky. Sexy. She'd worn it for him. If he'd known that, the party would   have been over at about seven-thirty.