Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 53764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 269(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 269(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
The dress was beautiful--but it wasn't something any of his other dates would have chosen. It was white, for one thing. The virginal color looked good on her, it enhanced her skin tone and defined the soft curves of her body. And yet, it also intensified his awareness of her unsophisticated innocence. It made him feel as if he were about to seduce an innocent, to take advantage of her inexperience, and it didn't sit well with him.
The earrings had to go. They looked as if they came from a gumball machine and they weren't going to cut it at the function they were about to attend. Again, they reminded him that she was very probably inappropriate for what he had planned for her.
But that wouldn't stop him.
The highlights in her hair were another matter. They added an element of shine and depth to her hair, making it vivid and bold--silky. He wanted to run his fingers through it, clench it in his fists as he imagined that first moment he sank inside her.
But again, although they added a new and undeniably gorgeous dimension to her features, he wouldn't have chosen to allow her to do it had he known the outcome.
She was too beautiful now, too alluring, too--noticeable. And he didn't want anyone--any other men--noticing her.
She had been softly pretty before--even seriously beautiful. But now--she was--dangerously appealing.
He'd have to be on his goddamn guard all fucking night long.
****
Natalie sat in the back of the car beside Marco and tried to calm her nerves so that her inner-self matched her outside poise.
She was a quivering mass of tension and when he told the driver to stop outside a large jewelry store, her heart rate only accelerated more.
"Stay here. I'll be back in a minute."
Natalie concentrated on her breathing and on a small crease in her dress she hadn't noticed before as she waited. He wasn't gone for longer than seven or eight minutes.
He sat back down beside her and closed the door, once again locking her into the intimate space of the back seat that the drawn partition created in the limousine.
The car pulled away from the curb and Marco handed her a small box. "Put these on."
Natalie lifted the lid and gasped out loud. Diamond studs lay on a bed of velvet, sparkling and huge. "I don't think--"
"You don't need to think, Natalie. Do what I said--put them on."
She continued to hold the box in her hands, looking down at the diamonds. She sucked in a breath as she felt his hands on her lobes, removing the earrings she wore. His fingers were cool against her hot skin, and a stream of need flowed from the point of contact down her body to flare into heat between her thighs.
Pocketing the costume jewelry, he lifted the first earring from the box and put it in her shaking palm. "Go ahead."
"Are they real?" She deliberately closed out her sexual awareness of him and tried to focus on the jewelry he wanted her to wear.
He lifted one sardonic eyebrow.
She tried again. "I don't think--"
"Sweetheart," he said softly--almost too softly, and her pulse went skyrocketing again. "I'm not in the mood for an argument. If you continue to argue with me, I'm going to shut you up the way I want to--with my mouth on yours. The way I'm feeling right now--your pretty little hairdo won't survive. Neither will your make-up. Possibly you don't realize this, but I've been having a bit of trouble keeping my hands to myself. Now be a good girl and put the earrings on."
Natalie had never liked being treated as a child, but the way his eyes moved over her body and then settled on hers, not to mention the words that came from his mouth, made her very aware that he didn't see her as a child to take instruction. No, more like a subordinate employee he wanted to sleep with--or a potential lover who needed to understand, metaphorically speaking, who would be on top.
The thought of being under him was earth-shattering, mind-blowingly hot. But again, the thought of his dominant personality made her more than a little apprehensive. She was old enough to know where this was headed, and even with the twenty-thousand standing between them, she didn't think she'd be able to withstand him if he made a real attempt to have her. At least, she wouldn't be able to withstand him for long.
So, now, as she slipped the earrings into her lobes, the question of exactly what he expected in a sexual relationship was troubling to her. She knew she didn't have near the experience he did, and while some--sexual concepts--were exciting--even titillating--to read about, living them firsthand didn't appeal to her. Scared her shitless, in fact. She did not want it. At all. It was troubling her so much, she couldn't stop the question when it popped from her mouth. "Are you kinky?"