Phoebe rested her hand on his by the silver platter. "It's really honorable that you served your country. You had any number of options and you still chose to give back."
He flipped his hand to link fingers, her soft skin, her warmth, and just that fast he found himself imagining how much softer her skin would be under the dress. "Or maybe I just didn't know what to do with myself after graduation."
She shook her head. "If that had been the case you could have simply lived off your trust fund."
"Boring." He shrugged off her compliment, uncomfortable. He stroked his thumb over her wrist, enjoying the way her pulse leapt under his touch.
Her pupils widened with awareness, but she didn't pull away. "What about your new job? Will it keep you from being bored?"
This whole conversation was getting deeper than he'd intended. He didn't want anyone picking around inside his brain, getting closer, especially when he knew his lifestyle and hers ultimately wouldn't be compatible for anything more than a casual affair. They needed to keep emotions well clear, for Nina's long-term benefit. He also needed to get this conversation, this whole outing, back on track.
Still holding her hand, he tugged her nearer until her breasts brushed against his chest. His body tightened instantly in response. "You know what would keep me from being bored right now?"
Her head tipped back, exposing her neck as she stared up at him with intense dark eyes. "Stop it. I want to talk. If you really want to stand a chance at getting me in bed, then be serious for just five minutes."
Phoebe's words stoked his barely banked desire. "You're entertaining the possibility of us in bed?"
Eight
Standing in the jet cabin with her emotions as firmly in the clouds as her body, Phoebe couldn't deny it any longer. She wanted to make love to Kyle. And yes, there was a part of her that was comforted by the fact that he would be leaving soon. The aftermath would be simpler with time to regroup. Maybe, just maybe she could keep her heart safe this go-around.The whole outing had been surreal from the start. She'd never imagined flying in a private jet, wearing such extravagant jewels or hobnobbing with international dignitaries in a historic hotel ballroom. But the man more than the accessories had made the evening. Kyle had been at his charming best, his smile and strength reminding her at every turn of the pleasure waiting a simple stroke away.
If she dared.
She knew without question if she didn't take this chance now, she would regret it for the rest of her life. Kyle was right. She was on fire with unfulfilled needs, needs growing increasingly painful the more time she spent with him.
Committed, nervous-excited-she flattened her hands to his chest again. "As soon as we land, I want us to be together, to consummate this marriage."
His eyes went sexy lidded as he slid his hands around her back, angling her hip-to-hip against him. "Who says we have to wait until we land?"
The possibility of having him now, here, sent a surge of thick longing through her veins. But her ever-present practicality tapped her with reservations. "What about the pilot?"
"He's behind the partition and has his hands full flying the plane. Even if he needs to switch to autopilot and open the door for some reason, he would announce himself over the intercom first," Kyle explained. His hands roved up the zipper along her spine and down her bare shoulders, callused fingertips rasping over her skin with tantalizing masculinity. "The bedroom in back isn't large, but we'll have privacy, atmosphere and protection."
Need gathering speed inside her, she eyed the small door behind the seats. She hadn't paid much attention to it on the flight down since his brothers and sisters-in-law had been along. She also hadn't realized then that she and Kyle would be flying back alone.
Very alone. No more waiting and second-guessing.
Delicious anticipation sent her arching up on her toes until his mouth waited a whisper away from hers. "Then, yes, I'm more than entertaining the idea of us going to bed together."
His hands spanned her waist and he lifted her up onto the counter island. He stepped between her legs, his breath warm and seductive against her brow. "Stay right there, just where you are, so I can touch you," he sketched his lips over her brow, "feel you," he kissed over her cheekbone, "take my time with you."
He sealed his mouth to hers, his tongue searching, soothing and exciting all at once. The thready reins on her restraint snapped. She'd been thinking of him, of this, ever since that night he'd given her the laptop, the night he'd told her she would be in his dreams. She looped her arms around his neck, desperate to get even closer still. The silk tuxedo lapels under her soothed along the overheated flesh of her exposed shoulders, the fabric a sexy, extravagant luxury for such steely strength.
His fingers traced just below the diamond necklace, dipping between her breasts far too briefly. Dragging in breaths between frenzied kisses, she inhaled the scent of his aftershave, gloried in the scratch of his rougher cheek against her skin.
Hot sensation spiderwebbed over her skin, a network of exquisite pleasure from the barest of touches. He cupped her face, brushing kisses over her eyes and cheeks while he stroked her exposed shoulders until her breasts ached for his attention. She linked her ankles behind his knees and urged him nearer, as close as he could come with her gown bunching between them.
Growling his appreciation, he inched the hem of her dress up to her knees, freeing her to wrap her legs around his waist. He cupped her bottom and lifted her off the counter.
She squealed into his mouth, then held on tight as he walked across the cabin toward the door. He opened the door to the sleeping compartment, angled inside and kicked it closed again with a final click. The double bed invited with its thick burgundy comforter that brought out the warm glow of mahogany accents and brass-globe lighting. Dim light, but just enough for her to make out the hard lines of desire etched in Kyle's features as she sprinkled kisses over his face.
He lowered her to her feet, sliding her body down his with sensual precision. "Patience, Phoebe."
"Later." She swept aside his tuxedo jacket, burning to see him, have him.
He tugged the zipper on her dress down her spine until the air gusting from above chilled her back. She trembled in delicious anticipation. Finally. His warm, bold hands tunneled inside, lower, lower still until he cupped her bottom and brought her against him for another moist, searching kiss.
Rational thoughts scattered as quickly as their clothes hit the floor-both his clothes and hers-and before she knew it, cool air blasted over her bare breasts. She tightened in response, her senses humming as surely as the engines powering them through the night sky.
His eyes roved her body as she stood clad in nothing more than her champagne silk panties and a fortune in diamonds. "What was that I said about patience? I can't seem to remember right now."
Reveling in the mutual attraction, she kicked aside her dress pooled at her feet and savored staring at a gloriously naked man. If she'd had more space, she would have stepped back and simply admired him. Instead, she traced the angular line of his jaw, down to the hard plane of his collarbone, over his pectorals. His muscles jumped under her fingertips.
He stepped closer, his skin sealing against hers, the hot, hard length of his desire pressed to her stomach. Kyle walked, backing her until the edge of the mattress hit behind her knees. She toppled onto the bed and he followed her down, ducking his head in the tightly confined space.
The small cavern with curved walls, engine droning, gave her the sense of being closed off from everyone and everything. They were truly in their own private haven.
He stretched over her, leaning on his elbows to hold the bulk of his weight off her. She hooked a leg around him, pulling him full out on her. She wanted all of him, the full-bodied experience of him blanketing her.