The Flaw in His Diamond(22)

'Ah,' she murmured as he brushed her mouth with his.

'Shall we go inside and continue this in greater comfort?' he suggested.

'Yes, why don't we do?'

His senses roared. One moment she was the innocent, and the next Eva  was like no other woman he had ever known. There was only one certainty  and that was that he wanted her. And this time she wouldn't say no. He  deepened the kiss and she softened against him. He closed his arms  around her and she pressed her body into his. His erection thrust  against her. She moved a little, and then with more confidence, taking  her pleasure from him. He cupped the back of her head and laced his  fingers in her wild, silky hair. She groaned deep in her throat in  response. He lifted her and carried her the rest of the way to his  bedroom, and when she saw that his bed faced the lights of the city  through the floor-to-ceiling windows, she gasped.

'No history lessons now,' he warned as he lay her carefully down on the bed.

'I hope you're going to join me?' she said.

'I've got nowhere else to go.'

Laughing, she reached out for him. 'Am I ever going to knock that arrogance gene out of your system?'

'I doubt it,' he murmured, starting on her zip.

Kicking her shoes off, she pushed the jacket from his shoulders and  unbuttoned his shirt. He shrugged it off, and by the time he'd slung it  on a chair and turned around she'd taken off her dress. He moved back to  the bed, and she reached for the buckle on his belt. Unfastening it,  she freed it from the loops and then reached for the button above his  zipper. They did that at the same moment and their fingers tangled. They  laughed, and he left her to it. He stood in low-slung boxers staring  down at the woman on his bed, wondering how he ever got so lucky.

'Are we overdressed?' she queried, putting a cheeky finger beneath her chin as she stared up at him.                       
       
           



       

'You definitely are,' he said, viewing her bra and pants.

'And you're not,' she said, hooking her fingers into the waistband of  his boxers. 'Do you have something in that nightstand to rectify that  situation?'

'Might have.'

He sat on the edge of the bed, toying with her hair. He didn't want to  rush a moment of this. Tiny auburn curls framed her face and a fan of  gold-red hair cascaded across his snow-white pillows. She looked like a  promise and a dream all wrapped in one. And, hell no. He was not a  born-again romantic. It was simply a fact.

* * *

She wanted him so much and this felt so right that all the fear had  left her. Their previous disastrous encounter had faded into oblivion.  She had changed and so had he. Roman had deepened. He had revealed more  about himself, so she knew now that he was more than a warrior in  business, or an irresistible sexual animal-he was a man like any other  with all the same struggles and flaws, and that was what made him  perfect.

She felt close to Roman in a way she had never felt close to anyone  before. But she needed to be closer still. She longed to be one with  him. This wasn't a whim, or a need to prove she could overcome her fears  or even a memory to lock away of one night with an incredible man. Her  feelings went so much deeper than that. It was something she couldn't  put a name to, unless she called it love. And yes, she was taking an  incredible risk with a man who had always laid his cards on the table.  She was risking her heart and her pride and her future happiness, but  none of that mattered. Nothing added up to this. Only Roman making love  to her was important now. Nothing else came close.

Roman stretched out beside her and took her in his arms. He was  leisurely and confident, as if they had been lovers for years. She felt  so safe in his arms, and so turned on. Roman's body was magnificent, but  it was the man beneath the rugged frame who would keep her safe. This  was like no feeling on earth. Every part of her was singing with  arousal, and every part of her was primed and ready for whatever would  come next...in her heart, in her body, in her soul. She was desperate  for physical release, but every time she sighed and clung to him like a  desperado, he smiled against her mouth and held her back. 'You can't  keep me waiting for ever.'

'But I can try,' he argued.

'This is one battle I won't let you win.' Reaching up, she laced her  fingers through his hair. Feeling it spring against her palm, as strong  and virile as he was, was the ultimate torture, and then he added to  that torment by rasping his stubble across her neck.

'You're merciless,' she gasped as sensation shimmered through her.

'Lucky for you...' Roman smiled wickedly against her mouth.

'You're right,' she agreed, panting. 'I deserve this.'

'For however long it takes?'

'Oh, I hope so.'

'We could be here some time.'

'I'm planning on it.'

Breath left her body in a rush as Roman swung her beneath him. He  judged the weight of his body on hers, supporting most of it on his arms  as he nuzzled her mouth, her lips, her eyes, her forehead, not  forgetting the very sensitive lobes of her ears before moving on to her  neck. And then he kissed her mouth, and she floated away on a sea of  sensation...wanting more...always wanting more.

She gave a shaking cry as he lodged a thigh between hers.

'Not yet. You have to wait, Eva.'

'Why?' Her voice was shaking with need.

'You know why-'

'Let me,' she said, taking the packet from his hand. 'Lie back.'

'And think of England?' he teased.

'Stockholm, please... Though perhaps you'd do better thinking what a mess I'm going to make of this.' She was only half joking.

'You are not going to make a mess of anything, Eva. You operate complex  machinery in Skavanga, don't you? This should be well within your  technical capabilities. I'm pretty sure my aide's exhaustive report  mentioned your expertise with power tools.'

'Yes to all the above. But unfortunately, I don't have too much  experience with machines that can feel or are quite this complex.'                       
       
           



       

'Damn. And there was me thinking you were going to say you weren't used to dealing with machines of this complexity and size.'

They laughed and she forgot to be worried. Because she trusted him, Eva  realised. And because she loved him. What could possibly go wrong?

Nothing went wrong. Roman drew her beneath him and she was soon lost in  sensation; he saw to that. When his hand found her she was more than  ready and she didn't even flinch when he brushed his erection against  her, teasing her with the tip. He finally eased carefully inside her and  when she was used to the new sensation, he almost brought her to the  brink with shallow strokes. It was a happy shock to find she wanted  more. Give and take, thrust and relax, rise and fall, arch and subside,  rhythmically, eagerly... She was greedy to take more of him than she  would have believed possible. Turned out she had quite a talent, Eva  realised as Roman groaned with pleasure as she drew him in.

'I'm supposed to be telling you to wait,' he growled against her ear.

'And now you're having a problem? Think drill bits and diamonds and you'll be fine.'

'You think?'

She wasn't doing too much thinking, as she was right on the edge  herself, and could only give in gracefully as Roman pressed her knees  back and upped the pace.

'That's so unfair,' she said when speech was possible. 'You didn't even give me a warning.'

'Did you need one?'

'No,' she decided, thinking about it. 'I like to be surprised.'

'Big surprises as often as possible?' Roman guessed.

'All the time.'

'More?'

'What do you think?' She rose against him, welcoming him back.

They made love all night. Neither of them tired. Why would they be? She  had waited a long time for this, and Roman was inexhaustible. They were  well matched. Turned out she was a closet nymphomaniac, and Roman had  the answer to her every need.

'There's one thing I don't understand,' he said as they lay with their  limbs entwined during one of their brief resting periods.

'Tell me,' she managed groggily, easing comfortably against him. Roman  was so big and she was so small, and yet every part of them fitted so  perfectly together. How did that happen?

'Why were you frightened of men?'

She lifted her head, suddenly wide awake. 'I'm not afraid of men.'

'Really?' Roman murmured. 'So why haven't you had any affairs, Eva? You're not exactly a troll.'

'Well, thank you for that,' she mocked. 'And how do you know I haven't  had hundreds of affairs?' But then she remembered Roman's people in  Skavanga and their famous reports.

'I don't believe you've ever allowed a man to kiss you as I kiss you, because that would put too much power in their hands.'

'Now you're being ridiculous.'

'Am I?'

There were some things she never talked about, and she was in no mood to spoil the moment.

'Relax, Eva. You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to tell me.'

But the craziest thing of all was that she wanted to tell him  everything, but the memories had been buried so long she couldn't just  flaunt them as if they meant nothing. She didn't trust herself to go  back to that dark place just yet without losing it-without losing him  and losing all the gains she had made in confidence.