He broke the kiss and nipped on her bottom lip. Before she could do more than gasp, he moved lower, kissing, nibbling, and licking his way over her jaw and down her throat. She held her breath, desperately hoping that he might have read her mind. Lower and lower until he reached the loose fabric over her breasts.
Instead of reaching for the zipper, he simply shoved the bodice down, baring her to the waist. Before she could protest, or cover herself, he took one nipple in his mouth and sucked.
She felt the fire all the way down to her toes. Rational thought fled, as did her ability to breathe. She could only gasp as he teased the sensitive bud and drove her wild with passion. Her thighs trembled and ached. Between them a throbbing began, one that made her remember that her very large bed was only a few feet away.
Rafe pulled away and swore. She thought he was going to step back, but instead he pulled her dress back up over her breasts, then jerked her against him and kissed her frantically. His fingers dug into her scalp, his tongue thrust against hers and his body melded with her own. She felt the hardness of his muscles, then a different kind of hardness. One that made her think he was as turned on as she was.
He groaned in his throat and drew back. Zara blinked several times. There was definitely fire in his blue eyes. Fire and wanting. Could this incredible passion be about her?
He stalked to the glass doors leading to the balcony and stared out at the horizon. “That shouldn’t have happened,” he said quietly.
“But it did.” She cleared her throat. She couldn’t stop thinking about that ridge she’d felt. “Rafe, are you, um, armed?”
He turned to face her. “What?”
“Do you have a gun?” She motioned vaguely toward his trousers without actually looking there.
One corner of his mouth quirked up in a shadow of a smile. “No.”
“So you’re um…” Her voice trailed off. “You were, um, interested in what we were doing?”
His gaze narrowed. “What are you trying to find out?”
She couldn’t actually say the words. Heat flared on her cheeks. “You know. I sort of felt…something.”
He shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re asking that. Yes, I was aroused. I wanted you. I still want you.”
Happiness filled her. She felt light enough to float. She hadn’t been wrong. He’d really been hard—and for her.
He walked toward her and stopped a couple of feet in front of her. After putting his hands on her shoulders, he shook her slightly.
“Don’t look so surprised,” he told her. “There’s nothing wrong with your body. In fact, I think everything about it’s just right. Of course I want to make love with you.”
It was the best thing any man had ever said to her. She nearly swooned. Even as air refused to fill her lungs, she had a very clear image of the two of them in bed. They would be naked, moving together. She got a little vague at that point, but Rafe was the kind of man who knew things. He would make her first time wonderful. In fact—
“Whatever you’re thinking, you can just forget it,” he said bluntly.
“Huh?”
He dropped his arms to his sides. “I mean it, Zara. There’s not going to be one damn thing between us. I should never have kissed you.”
“I can’t quite bring myself to agree with you,” she murmured before she could stop herself.
He continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “You’re a princess. I’m your temporary bodyguard. My job is to keep you safe from every kind of threat. That means the sexual ones—even if they come from me.”
She planted her hands on her hips. “Why? We obviously both enjoyed kissing. What’s so horrible about that?”
He dismissed her with a quick jerk of his fingers. “We both know where we were going.”
Her elation grew. Really? They’d been heading to bed? He’d thought they’d been about to do it? The frustration of finally being with a man who really wanted her and yet refused to give in to temptation made her temper flare.
“I don’t understand,” she told him. “In all the movies I’ve seen, the bodyguard always sleeps with the client.”