She licked her lips. “Is there any sort of…you know, etiquette…or anything for one-night stands?”
His smile grew. “They’re generally called hookups.”
A mix of humor and embarrassment made her laugh. “See?”
“Baby, there’s no right or wrong.”
“No?”
“No.”
He made her feel like the teenager she’d never had the chance to be. “Okay.”
“Damn, you light me up. Anything else before I strip you naked?”
The fiery lust burning in his eyes struck right between her legs. His bold words, his passion, and the sense of possession she felt in his touch, in his kiss, unnerved her. Not exactly in a bad way. But she didn’t understand this kind of man. She was used to careful, conservative men. Men who wanted to seem in control but didn’t know how to take it. Men who fumbled and worried and then rushed.
“I… A shower, maybe.” She lowered her gaze and felt her cheeks heat. “I’ve been out in the sun and in these clothes all afternoon. God, I was so determined to meet him today. It was stupid to think I’d be able to track him down.”
“You’re dressed to kick ass and take names, baby.”
She scraped out a laugh and lifted her hands. “And look at me.”
“I’ve been lookin’ at you for hours. He’s the big loser here. I’ll let you kick my ass and take my name.” When she met his gaze again, he was wearing that crooked smile. “And a big ol’ yes to that shower. Your naked, sudsy body sliding all over mine? Oh, hell yes.”
He released her waist and grabbed her hand, then started down the hall at a pace that made her jog to keep up with him. He made her laugh. Made her feel so alive for the first time in a long time.
He slid his key card into the door, pushed it open, and gestured her inside. “A room fit for my princess.”
Nerves fluttered in her belly. She moved into the foyer, but as soon as she got a look at the room, she stopped dead. It wasn’t a room, it was a suite. A magnificent suite with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the ocean.
“Oh my God.” She wandered farther into the space, pausing behind the sofa facing the windows. Below, the hotel pool shimmered aqua, ringed in palm trees. Beyond the pool, the ocean glimmered in moonlight. “This is insane.”
He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Drawing her back against him, he rested his chin on her shoulder and pushed his hips against hers, where his erection indented the flesh of her ass. “What’s insane is how bat-shit crazy you make me.”
He turned his head and pressed a kiss to her neck, shooting tingles across her skin. Then his hands flattened low on her belly and slowly traveled upward, feeling every inch of her until he cupped her breasts in both hands. And moaned.
The skin of her breasts tightened in his palms, and her nipples went taut. Tessa’s heart thundered. Her head swam. The sensation angled like a V straight to her sex, which also tightened and ached. Ian’s fingers brushed her nipples, and lightning strikes of pleasure made her spine arch and her breath catch. Her ass pushed harder against his erection, and he growled against her skin.
“Talk to me, Tessa,” he murmured at her ear. “Tell me what you want.”
He brushed her nipples again and again until her hands dug into the back of the sofa.
“Let go,” he told her. “I can feel the tension humming through your body.”
Let go. Let go. Let go. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and chanted the words in her head.
“That’s better,” he praised, his smooth confidence easing another layer of stress. “You’re perfect. Right here, right now, you’re absolutely perfect.”
His words drove deep into her heart, touching a part of her she rarely visited. Tessa had never been perfect, and she had no illusions she ever would be. But he had chosen to take her home and not one of the dozens of bombshells he’d had access to tonight. And she couldn’t deny the warmth his words created, or how they spurred her to strive to push all her fears aside and enjoy the moment.
He kissed and sucked the curve of her neck while his hands fisted her blouse and pulled it from her waistband. “Do you want to leave it up to me? Do you want me to take care of you?”
“Oh yes.” She wanted that so badly.
“Do you want me to take control?”
“Yes,” she admitted in a hoarse whisper.