“Depends. Are you going to do a credit check?”
“I swear not,” she said, “I won’t even fingerprint you. But...you’re a stranger, and I can’t have that.”
“Really? And what is it that will make me not a stranger?”
She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, and when she opened them, Alex filled her visions. “Favorite color?”
“Don’t have one.”
“Come on. What color is your bedspread?”
He laughed. “Black.”
“Okay. How old are you?”
“Twenty-six,” he said.
“Oh.” For some reason the answer sent a little thrill through her. “Well, I’m twenty-eight, I hope that doesn’t deter you.”
“Not in the least,” he said. “I might, in fact, be more turned on now. If such a thing is possible.”
Her pulse kicked into a higher gear. “One more thing,” she said. “Would you rather...sleep under the stars, or in a beautiful suite?”
“Either. As long as you were with me. Preferably in a state of undress.”
The air rushed out of her lungs. “Well, that was the perfect answer.”
“Can we go in?”
“Yes,” she said, of course, since there was no way she was saying no now. “You aren’t a stranger now, so it’s all good.”
“I’m glad,” he said.
They went into the hotel and passed quickly through the lobby. She pushed the button and stood in front of the elevator, waiting, her nerves building as each second ticked by.
As soon as they were inside, as soon as the doors closed behind them, he pushed her back against the wall, his mouth hungry on hers, his hands roaming over her curves.
She could feel the hard press of his erection against her hip, could feel his arousal, not just there, but in every line of his body. The tense hold of his shoulders, the thundering of his heart, the urgency in his kiss.
She’d never in her wildest fantasies imagined herself here. Like this. With a man kissing her like he was starving for her. She never imagined she would be kissing a man as though she was starving for him, in truth.
Her past experiences included fizzy, alcohol-flavored kisses and heavy coercion. This wasn’t alcohol going to her head. Nor was it coerced. It wasn’t about rebelling against her neat and orderly life. It wasn’t about a sense of duty. It was about her.
They were at her floor not nearly fast enough and all too quickly. Any slower, she might have died—or he might have just taken her straight to heaven with her clothes on. She was close, so close, and she knew it.
She might not have ever considered herself overly passionate but she had a sex drive. And since Ajax was patiently waiting to take things to the next level, that meant she was an expert at satisfying that sex drive on her own.
Orgasm she knew. But having it entirely out of her control? That was a whole different matter. She’d given Colin pleasure, but he’d never really touched her. And anyway, that was eleven years ago, and the extent of her experience with men and any sort of nudity.