Author: Bella Andre

Her pulse began to flutter even more wildly at the thought of being laid out over his lap, bared to him from the waist down, his big hand coming down over her skin.

“No.” She shook her head. “Of course not.”

His mouth curved up at the corners at her reaction. But instead of saying anything more about spanking, he said, “What did I ask you to do?”

She suddenly realized that she hadn’t yet taken off her sweater or tank top. She was torn for a split second between leaving them on and risking a spanking—a flood of arousal shot through her at the shocking thought—or doing as he asked.

Fear of the unknown—and of her own surprising desires—had her moving quickly to do as he asked.

When she was naked from the waist up, she lay back against the pillow and started to lift her arms. But even though Marcus was more than a little familiar with her breasts by now, she was still shy about baring herself to a man like this.

“You’re doing beautifully.”

His sweet words combined with the warmth in his eyes had her finally lifting her arms all the way up.

She expected him to touch, to fondle, to taste. Instead, he simply looked at her, for so long that she almost started begging. Finally, he surprised her by picking up her sweater and tying it around her wrists.

“Try to move your hands so I can see how tight that is.”

His voice was husky, rich with desire. She moved her arms and found the binding to be soft against her skin, and yet, she knew she’d have to work quite hard if she wanted to be set free.

Two days ago, she would have sworn she would never let herself be put in a position like this. She should be pulling free. But she didn’t want to, did she?

As if he were privy to the silent questions she was asking herself, Marcus said, “Tell me what you need, Nicola. Tell me what you want.”

He put his hands on her waist, his tanned skin dark against her pale belly. She shivered at how small she was compared to him, at the knowledge that he could do anything he wanted to her right now, that she was completely helpless against his strength. Those thoughts shouldn’t have made her more aroused. But, shockingly, they did.

“If you won’t tell me, I’ll just have to guess,” he said before leaning over her bare torso. His hair tickled the underside of her chin as he pressed his mouth to her shoulder for just long enough that she was seared with his heat before he sat back.

She wasn’t used to voicing her sexual needs, but they were strong enough that she forgot all about keeping her hands above her head. She started to reach for him before remembering her hands were bound.

By Marcus.

Obviously seeing the flare of desire in her eyes, he said, “That’s right, kitten. You’re all mine to play with right now, aren’t you?”

Seriously, for all that she portrayed a sex bomb for the world, she was a feminist. Girl power was her thing. She should be freaking out right now.

Not practically coming at the thought of being all his to play with.

“This isn’t—” She didn’t know how to tell him what she was feeling, but somehow she knew it was important that she did. “I shouldn’t be feeling like this.”

“Tell me what you’re feeling."

His low voice that rumbled over her, through her, made her want to give up all her secrets, all her desires that she hadn’t even known were there, waiting to be uncovered this whole time.

“This isn’t me. I don’t like being bossed around.”

She swore he almost smiled and strangely, instead of being angered by it, instead of feeling like he was laughing at her, it made her feel like maybe she wasn’t so weird after all to be liking these things he was saying—and doing—to her.

“Am I bossing you around?”

She was about to say yes, when she realized it wasn’t precisely true. “You tell me to do things,” she whispered, unable to look at him now, feeling more shy than she ever had before. “I shouldn’t do them.” She could feel how hot her face was. “I shouldn’t like doing them.”

His fingers slid beneath her chin and gently tipped her face back up to his. “I love watching you respond to me. I love watching the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen tremble with desire in front of me. I love hearing you beg me to touch you, to kiss you, to take you.”

Everything he’d just said, the rough quality of his voice as he said it, had her shivering with lust. But still, she felt she should try one last protest, one last bid for sanity. “But I’m the one who usually tells people what to do.”

“Have you thought that maybe this is the break you’ve been waiting for?” he said softly. “That this is the chance to let someone take care of you for a few hours, instead of having to take care of everything yourself?”

Her brain felt fuzzy with desire, but even so, what he was saying made sense.

“Touch me now, Marcus. Kiss me.” She paused, gathering up all her courage. “Take me.”

The next thing she knew, she was laid out flat and Marcus was over her, his large body pressing hers into the cushions. He made sure her bound hands remained over her head with one of his while the other moved between her legs at the exact moment that he covered her breast with his mouth.

She arched into his touch, their conversation about how much he liked telling her what to do and how much she liked doing it—not to mention the massage before that—more than enough foreplay to prime her for even the slightest touch.

“Give me more, Nicola,” he urged her, his words hot as he feathered kisses across her chest so that he could take the tip of her other breast into his mouth. “Give it all to me.”

His thumb made delicious circles of pleasure over her and she pressed her hips into his hand over and over again as her orgasm shook through her.

Almost incoherent with exhaustion from the extreme pleasure, she was only vaguely aware of Marcus unwrapping the sweater from around her wrists and moving to remove his clothes. Through half-closed lids she watched him go to the bathroom and then return with a condom on. Her arms weren’t bound anymore, but she simply didn’t have the strength to move them.

And then he was kneeling in front of the couch and shifting her so that her back and shoulders were braced against the cushions, but her hips were hanging off the edge. Before she could take her next breath, his hands gripped her bottom and he surged into her, taking her body, making her irrevocably his, owning her as nothing but music ever had.

Needing to feel his hard muscles beneath her fingertips, she reached for him. Winding her arms around his neck, she pulled herself up so that her breasts were rubbing against the dark hairs on his chest. Her mouth found his, greedy for his kisses—kisses she’d dreamed of all day long, even as she’d tried to convince herself that she was too busy to think of him.

He kissed her back just as hungrily, as if he couldn’t get enough of her, and then he was groaning against her lips, filling her so completely she had to fight for breath. When he broke their kiss and the sound of his pleasure reverberated in the room, Nicola was pitched over the edge yet one more time.

Straight into Marcus’s waiting arms.

Chapter Fourteen

Marcus was getting too used to waking up with Nicola curled up in his arms. When he was making love with her and she was coming at him with all her hunger and passion, he almost forgot how small she was. But as he spooned her body in the big bed, he was reminded all over again. She was holding one of his hands over her breasts and he had to dig deep for a control that had been missing practically since the moment he’d met her. He would not take her before she even woke up.

He tightened his hold on her, pulled her closer into him, even as he forced himself to face the insanity of what he was doing.

He shouldn’t have spent more than one night with Nicola. Even one night on Smith’s couch while she slept on his lap had been too much. He definitely shouldn’t be looking forward to an entire day with her, shouldn’t feel like a kid in a candy store at the chance to see the way her skin glowed in the sunlight, to wait with held breath for her to laugh again and fill his soul with her joy and beauty.

And he sure as hell shouldn’t be dreading saying goodbye to her when she got on her next plane to another town, another show.

He was so focused on steeling himself against everything he shouldn’t be feeling for her that he was caught off guard by the slow slide of her tongue against one of his fingers, and then another, and another.

Jesus, was she really going to lick her way up each finger, one at a time?

Holy hell, she was.

Thank God he’d put some condoms close enough to the bed for him to easily grab one. Hating to take his hands from her for any longer than he absolutely needed to, he broke the wrapper open with his teeth and quickly slid it on.

There were no words between them as he put his hands on her thigh and shifted her hips so that he could slide into her heat. Her breath left her in a hard whoosh as he pulled her tightly against his chest.

This was what he’d miss most, he realized as he slid his hand over her breasts and felt her heart beating strong and fast. Not just her incredible body, not just her passion, not just the way she was seemingly always ready for him to take her like this...but how pure, how sweet she was.

The unexpected flood of emotions for Nicola had him losing hold of the shreds of control he still held. Knowing he barely had thirty seconds left before he exploded, he slid his hand down from her breasts. She gasped as his fingers slipped and slid over her and then she was pushing back into him in wild jerky movements that told him it was safe to let go, because she was already there.

Together, Nicola helped him greet the day with more pleasure than he’d ever known. And as her climax drew his out, he could no longer deny the truth: She now held a piece of his heart.

Whether he wanted her to or not.

* * *

Nicola looked at Marcus over the small round table by the window where they’d just devoured pancakes and sausages and a huge bowl of fruit. How was it, she wondered, that eating breakfast together could feel as intimate as making love?

Probably, she told herself, it was simply that she hadn’t shared a leisurely morning-after like this with a man in a very long time. Ever, really, considering Kenny had always been too hung over to wake up much before noon.

Although Marcus worked in the wine industry, she couldn’t picture him drunk. It was just one more thing about him that made her feel safe.

Suddenly wanting him to know how much she appreciated him, how much she was enjoying their stolen, secret hours together, she said, “I know how much you must have to do at your winery.” She reached for his hand across the table, thrill bumps moving up her arms when he threaded his fingers through hers. “Thank you for spending this time with me.”

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” he said, and then, “What do you normally do on your days off?"

She bit her lip. “I don’t know. I haven’t had many since I started singing.” Especially this past six months after her heart—well, her pride, actually—had been broken, it had been easier to focus all her attention on her music and her career.

“It’s the same with me. Like you said, the vines demand a lot of attention.”

For all the obvious ways that they were different, Nicola was surprised to realize they weren’t at opposite poles on all fronts.

She grinned at him. “Aren’t we sad, two workaholics who can’t figure out what to do with a beautiful day off?”

He pulled her onto his lap. “I can think of a good half-dozen things."

She giggled as he nibbled on her neck, ridiculously tempted to spend the entire day in bed with him. Especially when he was being playful like this. She turned her face to meet his as he lifted his mouth to hers and sank into the sweetest kiss anyone had ever given her.