"Distractions," he said, then turned slightly in the seat so that he was looking at her directly. Then he took her hand, his thumb gently stroking her palm as his low, melodic voice caressed her senses. "We've been talking in circles, so let me be clear. I intend to take you to sensual heights that you haven't imagined. To bring you such pleasure you beg me to stop, then scream my name in protest when I do."
Anticipation rippled through her, leaving her aching and breathless, but he didn't even pause in his relentless seduction.
"I'm going hold you close while you shatter, and then I will slowly and deliberately, put you back together again."
He moved his hand onto her thigh, this new delight making her gasp. His palm rested on the material of her dress, but his fingertip brushed her bare leg, and it seemed that the point of contact was all that she knew, all that she was. He was driving her crazy with that innocent touch coupled with his decadent words, and yet he didn't even acknowledge the state into which he'd already led her.
"That's my mission, Megan. And I intend to pursue it re
lentlessly." The fingertip stopped its erotic ministrations. "Do you understand?"
She wasn't sure she did. All she knew was that he'd intoxicated her with his words. But she nodded anyway. A little overwhelmed, a little numbed.
"Pleasure is as much a mental response as a physical one. Do you think you'd feel as much from my touch if you were thinking of another man?"
She swallowed, unable to imagine how any other guy could possibly squeeze into her thoughts past the force of nature that was Parker Manning.
"Do you remember what I said in my office?" he asked, then continued before her spinning thoughts could conjure an answer. "I want you, Megan. Body and mind. I want your submission. Your trust. Your surrender. Most of all, I want to please you. I want you to go as far as you can, and I want to be the one to take you there."
For the first time, she realized that he'd been easing the hem of her dress up as he spoke. Now his fingertip grazed her inner thigh, just mere inches from her now-damp panties.
"Do you understand?"
She nodded, not trusting her ability to form words.
"Good, then come on."
With a start, she realized that the car had stopped moving. More than that, they appeared to be on a tarmac, parked just a few yards from a small jet.
She turned to him. "Go as far as I can?" she said, referring to his earlier words. "Is this what you meant? A trip?"
"No," he assured her as he twined his fingers with hers. "But it's a start."
Chapter Six
Megan stood beside him on the tarmac, her eyes fixed on the jet, and Parker felt his stomach sink. In the car, she'd been responsive. Open to his touch. He'd seen the surrender in her eyes when he'd told her that he wanted her. He'd watched her skin glow as the heat of a blush warmed her skin when he promised her pleasure.
His fingertip still tingled from heat of her skin against his, and his entire body ached with a need that had been building since the moment she walked into the bar wearing that flirty dress with the fitted bodice, its tiny white buttons practically begging to be ripped open.
They should have kept driving. Hell, they should have gone to a fucking Denny's. Anything to have kept the look of growing passion in her eyes, and to have shut out this expression of apprehension he saw creeping onto her face.
All night, he'd craved the moments when he could be alone with her. In the car. On the jet. Long moments when it was just the two of them with a drink, a caress. With words and lips and decadent promises.
Now, though, he was afraid that Desire had made him her bitch, and that by bringing Megan here, he'd pushed her too far.
The irony was that he never used his money as an enticement for women. He never took them to his penthouse. Never flew them to exotic locations. Never zipped across town in his Ferrari or took them out for a Saturday afternoon shopping spree, filling their closets with jewelry and designer clothes.
When he was younger, he hadn't wanted to spend a dime of his father's money on himself or anyone else. And now that he had his own money, he only wanted to use it when it mattered.
Tonight, it had mattered. She'd mattered.
But he hadn't factored in Megan's hesitation. It was a mistake he would never have made in a business deal, but dammit, the woman had gotten under his skin. He was trying too goddamn hard, and he knew it. But somehow, he couldn't bring himself to back off.
He wanted her, dammit. And Parker had spent his life going after what he wanted.
He didn't intend to stop now.
"Megan." He'd released her hand after they'd gotten out of the car, and now he reached for her again. She avoided him though, crossing her arms over her chest as if blocking a chill. A ridiculous notion in the middle of an Austin summer.