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“Your response when I kissed you this afternoon in the casino was all the answer I needed.”
His lips grazing the sensitive skin along her wrist caused her to shiver. “I—”
“Don’t try to deny it, sweetheart. You’re as attracted to me as I am to you.” His voice dropped seductively. “You’re trembling now from just talking about it.”
Sasha couldn’t think of a thing to say. What could she say? He was right and they both knew it.
“Come on,” he said, rising to his feet and pulling her up to stand beside him. “Let’s go upstairs to my suite.”
Her heart fluttered erratically. “I’m not sure … that’s a good idea.”
His low chuckle sent a wave of heat streaking straight to her inner core. “I think it’s an excellent idea.” He placed his hand to the small of her back and leaning close, added, “Before the evening is over with, I’m going to make sure you do, too.”
Try as she might, Sasha couldn’t stop the feeling of nervous anticipation building inside of her. No matter what Creed said about Blake being untrustworthy, no matter how foolish it might turn out to be or how high a price she could very well end up paying, she was going to follow her heart and see where it led her with Blake.
She sighed as they left the restaurant. If she was perfectly honest with herself, she’d have to admit that she’d never had a choice in the matter.
When they entered his suite, Blake’s mouth went completely dry as he noticed the seductive sway of Sasha’s hips while she walked over to stare out the window at the street below. The clingy black dress she wore hugged her like a lover’s caress and she was without a doubt the sexiest woman he’d ever had the privilege to lay eyes on.
Blake smiled coldly. His brother had been a damned fool to let her make the trip to Deadwood alone and it was going to serve Creed right to lose her. The bastard didn’t deserve a woman as special as Sasha and before the night was over, Blake was going to convince her of that fact.
But the thought of his brother holding Sasha, touching her flawless skin and losing himself in her soft body caused a burning deep in the pit of Blake’s belly and a sudden, uncontrollable need to stake his claim. Tonight he was going to take her into his arms and make her his.
Walking up behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her back against him. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”
She shook her head. “I have too many flaws. My hair is—”
“Gorgeous,” he interrupted, nuzzling the side of her slender neck.
“I—I’ve never liked … my hair,” she said, sounding extremely short of breath. “It’s always been too hard … to tame.”
“You used to wear it down when we were in school,” he said, reaching up to release the pins she used to hold it in place. Free of their confinement, the silky curls cascaded over his hands like a cinnamon-colored waterfall. “Your hair is soft and feminine.” He turned her to face him and, lowering his head, added, “And it compliments your creamy skin to perfection.”
As he fused their lips, Blake slid his hands from her shoulders to her hips and pulled her closer. The feel of her soft body pressed closely to his, the smell of her herbal-scented hair and her sweet taste as she melted against him quickly had him hard with need.
Allowing her to feel his rapidly changing body, he caught her to him and when a tiny moan escaped her slightly parted lips, he seized the opportunity to slip his tongue inside. He explored her with a thoroughness that left them both aching for more. Encouraged by her response, he continued to stroke her tender inner recesses as he slid his hands up to the underside of her breasts.
She stiffened for a split second as if she intended to protest when he used his thumbs to tease the tightened tips through the stretchy black fabric of her dress. Then to his satisfaction, she reached up to put her arms around his neck and leaned into his touch. She might have been resistant to him when she’d first arrived in Deadwood, but her body was telling him all he needed to know about her receptiveness to his advances now.
“So sweet,” he said, breaking the kiss to nibble his way down the column of her slender neck. “So damned sexy.”
“I—I should go back … to my room,” she said haltingly.
“Is that what you really want, sweetheart?”
“N-no. I mean yes.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I can’t … think clearly.”
He chuckled as he kissed the fluttering pulse at the base of her throat. “Would you like to hear what I think?”
“N-not really.”
Leaning back, he gazed into her pretty green eyes. “I think you need to stay right here with me tonight. In my suite. In my bed. In my arms.”
“I can’t … do that.” Her tone was breathy and not at all convincing.
“Yes, you can.” He brushed his lips over hers. “You want me as much as I want you.”
She opened her eyes and, staring at him, slowly shook her head. “I—”
“Don’t try to deny it, Sasha.” He grazed his thumbs over her taut nipples as he pressed himself against her and smiled at the shiver he felt course through her when she felt the hard ridge of his arousal. “Your body is telling me everything I need to know.”
“W-we shouldn’t.”
“Why not?” He nipped at her collarbone. “We’re not kids anymore. We’re both consenting adults with a desire to find pleasure with each other.”
She closed her eyes as she tilted her head back to give him better access. “I’ve never—”
“This won’t be a one-night stand,” he interrupted, anticipating what she was about to tell him.
“But that’s not—”
“Are you committed to Creed?”
She frowned as she shook her head. “I told you, your brother and I are nothing more than just good friends.”
He still had a hard time believing that Creed had spent the last year with Sasha and not taken their friendship to a more personal level. “If that’s the case, then there’s no reason for you to go back to your room.”
Before she could come up with any more excuses why their spending the night together was a bad idea, Blake took her back into his arms and mingled their lips in a kiss that sent a fire racing through his veins at the speed of light. When she sagged against him, he didn’t think twice about swinging her up into his arms to carry her into his bedroom.
Cradled against him, her slight frame felt almost fragile and a tenderness he hadn’t expected filled his chest. A woman as sweet and sexy as Sasha was meant to be loved slowly, thoroughly, and he had every intention of spending the entire night cherishing her as he was sure his brother never had.
Setting her on her feet at the side of his bed, Blake turned on the bedside lamp, then facing her, gently traced his index finger along her delicate jaw. “I’m going to spend the entire night showing you just how special you are, Sasha.”
“Blake, there’s something you should know,” she said, looking a bit apprehensive.
“Do you want me, Sasha?”
“I shouldn’t.”
“That wasn’t the question,” he said, shaking his head. “Do you want me?”
She worried her lower lip with even white teeth a moment before she slowly nodded.
“That’s all the answer I need,” he said, pulling her to him.
He kissed her forehead, her eyes and the tip of her nose before lowering his mouth to hers. Her lips were sweeter than anything he’d ever tasted and he knew beyond a shadow of doubt that if he wasn’t extremely careful, he could become addicted to kissing her.
As his mouth moved over hers, Sasha fleetingly wondered if she was about to make the biggest mistake of her life. But Blake was quickly robbing her of the ability to think of all the reasons making love with him could spell disaster for her and leaving her with nothing but the ability to feel.
“I’m going to love every inch of you, sweetheart,” he said as he rained tiny kisses to the sensitive hollow below her ear.
A delicious tingling filled every fiber of her being and her heart began to pound erratically as he slid his hands down her back. Slowly, deliberately, he began to gather the stretchy fabric of her dress in his fists until he reached the hem.
“As sexy as you look in this little number, you’re going to look even better out of it,” he whispered close to her ear. “Raise your arms for me, Sasha.”
Feeling as if she were in some sort of sensuous trance, she did as he commanded and in seconds she was standing before him in nothing but her underwear and a pair of black spike heels. If she’d had the chance, she might have tried covering herself, but Blake took her hands in his and held them out to her sides as his gaze caressed her from head to toe.
His sharp intake of breath, and the spark of need she detected in his dark blue eyes, made her feel more feminine and desirable than she’d ever felt in her life. “Do you always wear a garter belt … and hose?” he asked huskily.
She nodded. “I hate having to wiggle myself into a pair of panty hose.”
“I’m glad,” he said, grinning. “There’s nothing sexier than a woman dressed in scraps of black lace and silk.” He glanced down at her feet and his deep chuckle warmed her all the way to her soul. “Unless the woman is wearing a pair of high heels.” When he raised his head to look at her, he gave her a smile that sent her pulse racing and caused a delightful fluttering deep in the pit of her stomach. “You’re absolutely gorgeous, sweetheart.”
Her cheeks heated with a mixture of embarrassment and desire. “At the moment, I’m feeling a little underdressed.”
“I fully intend to remedy that,” he said, shrugging out of his sports jacket. He tossed the coat onto a chair, then bent to remove his shoes and socks.
When he straightened and reached for the buttons on his shirt, Sasha tried not to stare as he released first one button, then another. But as he slid the oxford cloth from his wide shoulders, the sight of his perfectly sculpted chest, rippling stomach and lean flanks caused her to catch her breath. She’d known he kept himself in good physical condition, but she’d never dreamed that his clothes were concealing a body that could rival that of a Greek god.
As he unbuckled his belt and lowered the zipper at his fly, Sasha abandoned all pretense of nonchalance and simply stared as he slid his trousers down his muscular thighs and revealed the true magnificence of his hard body. Taut and lean, Blake Fortune was perfect in every way.
She swallowed hard when she noticed the straining outline of his erection through his white cotton briefs. He was also unquestionably aroused. The thought that she was the object of his desire caused an interesting and not at all unpleasant tightening in the most feminine part of her.
Unsure of what to do, she started to slip out of her heels, but he shook his head. “Don’t. I want the pleasure of taking those off of you.” He pointed to her garter belt, bra and panties. “And I’m looking forward to peeling away those little scraps of silk and lace as well.”
She shivered with anticipation as she placed her hands on his wide shoulders to brace herself when he bent to remove her heels, then trailed his hands up her legs to the fastenings holding her stockings in place. As he slid the sheer nylon down her calves, Sasha caught her breath at the feel as his palms gently caressing her skin. She’d never in her entire life experienced anything quite so sensual or exciting as having Blake take off her under things, and by the time he removed her lace garter belt and satin panties, Sasha trembled uncontrollably.
He reached for her then, and holding her captive with his heated gaze, unfastened the front clasp of her bra and slowly slid it from her shoulders. “You’re absolutely gorgeous,” he said as he cupped her bare breasts in his large hands.
Her knees threatened to give way when he lowered his head and kissed first one tight nipple, then the other. But when he took one of the puckered buds into his mouth to tease it with his teeth and tongue, she had to brace her hands on his shoulders to keep her knees from buckling.
“You taste like peaches and cream, sweetheart.”
His warm breath feathering over the moistened tip of her breast made it all but impossible to catch her breath. “If you keep that up … I’m not sure … how much longer … my legs are going to support me.”
Raising his head, his smile held such promise goose bumps prickled her skin. “Let’s lie down.”
Before she could move to sit on the side of the bed, he reached down to pull the comforter back, then picked her up and gently placed her in the center of the wide mattress.
“I could have gotten into bed on my own, Blake.”
He looked at her tenderly as he stood up and hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his briefs to pull them down. “I like the way you feel in my arms.”
She would have told him that she liked having him hold her, but the words died in her throat as he slipped off his underwear and tossed them on the chair with the rest of his clothes. When he turned back toward her, Sasha’s heart stalled at the sight of his impressive arousal. Although she’d seen the nude male physique, nothing could have prepared her for the reality of Blake Fortune standing before her fully aroused and looking is if he intended to devour her.
Feeling more than a little intimidated by his size and the strength of his need, she raised her eyes to meet his questioning gaze. “There’s something … you probably need … to know.”
He shook his head as he tucked a small foil packet beneath his pillow, then lay down beside her to gather her to him. “All I need to know is that you want me as much as I want you.” He raised up on one elbow, and leaning over her, kissed his way down the slope of her breast as he skimmed his palm along her side to the swell of her hip. “You do want me to make love with you, don’t you, Sasha?”
As she gazed up at him, she knew in her heart that she’d waited for this moment her entire life. She’d had other opportunities to make love with the men she’d dated, but she’d never before been able to share herself. And with crystal clarity, she suddenly realized why. None of them had been Blake Fortune.
“Yes, I want you to make love to me, Blake,” she said, surprised at how steady her voice sounded, considering the amount of nervous excitement coursing through her.
He must have detected her lingering apprehension because he gave her a kiss so tender it brought tears to her eyes, then he raised his head and gave her a look that touched her heart. “I don’t want you to worry, sweetheart. I promise, I’ll never do anything to hurt you in any way.”
Before she could tell him that she knew there would be discomfort that neither of them could avoid, he covered her lips with his and she forgot anything she was about to say. Nothing seemed to matter but the feel of his body pressed to hers and the taste of desire in his seductive kiss.
Threading her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck, she held him to her as his tongue traced her mouth, then dipped inside to stroke, tease and coax. Shivers of delight skipped through her when he withdrew and allowed her to enter his mouth to do a little exploring of her own. She wasn’t exactly sure of what she was doing, but rewarded by his groan of pleasure and the feel of his hard erection against her thigh, she decided that Blake didn’t mind. Just knowing that she aroused such need in him heightened her own desire in ways she could have never imagined.
When he slowly moved his hand from her hip, down along her thigh, then up to the soft curls hiding her feminine secrets, she went perfectly still. But the intense impulses that his touch created when he stroked her with gentle care sent a tightening heat straight to her inner core and she couldn’t have stopped her moan of pleasure from escaping if her life depended on it.
Finding it all but impossible to lie still, she gripped the sheet with her fists and moved restlessly beneath his hand. “P-please—”
“Do you want me, sweetheart?”
“Y-yes.” Waves of heat flowed through her as he continued to heighten her passion, but when he took her nipple into his mouth as his finger stroked her deeply, she felt as if the blood in her veins turned to liquid fire.
“Is this where you need me?” he whispered against her puckered flesh.
Unable to form a coherent thought, much less get any words out, she used her hands to raise his head from her breast and, meeting his questioning gaze, simply nodded.
Smiling, he softly kissed her lips. “That’s exactly where I need to be.”
As she watched, he reached beneath the pillow, removed the small foil packet and arranged their protection. Then, taking her back into his arms, he used his knee to nudge her legs apart.
When he rose above her and she felt the blunt tip of him against her moist apex, she closed her eyes and braced herself for what would happen next. Hopefully, the discomfort would be minimal and wouldn’t last too long.
“Look at me, Sasha.” When she did as he commanded, the blazing passion in his dark blue eyes shook her all the way to her soul. “I don’t want there to be any doubt who’s making love to you.”
Confused by the odd statement and the insistence in his deep voice, she started to tell him she knew exactly who she was giving her virginity to. But her voice abandoned her when he pressed his lower body forward and began to fuse their bodies into one.
“So tight,” he said through clenched teeth as he continued to ease into her. But when he met the slight resistance, his eyes widened and he went completely still. “Holy hell. You’re a virgin.”
Five
Blake didn’t move a muscle as he tried to wrap his mind around the fact that Sasha had been telling the truth. She’d never been with Creed, or for that matter, any other man.
“You’re a virgin,” he repeated, still unable to believe he was the first man to sink himself into her soft body.
“Was,” she said, wincing as her tight body resisted the invasion of his. “I don’t think that’s the case anymore.”
“You should have told me.”
Moisture filled her pretty green eyes and he wasn’t sure if it was from the physical pain he’d caused her or the harsh accusation in the tone of his voice. Either way, he could have kicked his own ass for being the reason she cried.
“It’s all right, Sasha.” He gently wiped a tear from the corner of her eye then, brushing her trembling lips with his, added, “Just a little more and the discomfort will start to ease.”
It ripped him apart to see another tear slide down the side of her cheek as he pushed forward and completely buried himself in her moist heat. His reflexes urged him to move, to thrust into her and complete the act of loving her, but he remained perfectly still. Her body needed time to adjust to his and he wasn’t about to hurt her any more than he already had.
Gathering her close, he kissed away her tears. “No more pain, sweetheart. I promise.”
“It’s not really that bad,” she said, taking a shuddering breath.
“I just wish that you’d let me know.” He nuzzled the soft, wispy curls at her temple. “I might have been able to do something to make my entry a little less painful.”
“You were so gentle, I don’t see how you could have made it any easier,” she murmured shyly. “And I did try to tell you.”
He frowned. “When?”
Her watery smile did strange things to his insides. “Just before you assured me our lovemaking was not going to be a one-night stand.”
He vaguely remembered her telling him there was something that she’d never done, but he’d thought she was going to tell him she’d never been one to engage in casual sex. That was when he’d jumped the gun and interrupted her to voice his assurance that wasn’t what he wanted from her. Apparently, he’d made assumptions that were completely off the mark.
But as he continued to stare down at her lovely face, Blake knew as surely as he knew his own name that he meant what he’d said. His seduction of Sasha Kilgore might have started out as an attempt to even a score with his brother, but within the past thirty-six hours his focus had changed and he had no intention of limiting their lovemaking to this one night.
As he felt her begin to relax and accept him as part of her, the strain of holding himself in check became almost unbearable. He needed to love her, to bring her pleasure and find his own in the softness of her sweet body.
“I’m going to make love to you now, Sasha,” he said, kissing her slightly parted lips.
He slowly pulled back, then eased forward as he watched for any sign that he might be causing her discomfort. When he found none, he set an easy pace and in no time he felt her begin to respond, to tentatively move in unison with him.
But all too soon, he felt her tighten around him and he knew she was close to finding the release they both sought. Deepening his strokes, Blake had to grit his teeth to keep himself from unleashing the full force of his need. He was determined to insure Sasha’s pleasure ahead of his own, even if it killed him. And as urgent as his need was, it just might.
When Sasha cried his name and he felt her tiny feminine muscles cling to him, then begin to rhythmically contract, he gave in to the demands of his body and thrust into her one final time. His body stiffened and the white-hot light of completion clouded his mind as he gave up his essence and emptied himself deep inside of her.
Drained of every ounce of energy he possessed, he collapsed on top of her and buried his face in the soft cloud of her auburn hair. “Are you all right, sweetheart?”
“That was … the most incredible experience … of my life,” she said breathlessly.
Finally summoning enough strength to move to her side, Blake gathered her to him and held her close. “You were incredible.”
“Is making love always like that?” she whispered, her breath soft against his heated skin.
He hesitated as he tried to put into words what he didn’t fully understand himself. He’d found his pleasure with more women than he cared to admit—all of them light-years ahead of her in experience. But nothing could have prepared him for the degree of satisfaction he’d found with Sasha.
Unwilling to admit, even to himself, that what they’d shared was significant and unlike anything that had ever happened to him, he ignored her question in favor of one of his own. “After all this time of waiting to give your virginity to a man, why did you choose me, Sasha?”
“It’s absolutely insane and you probably wouldn’t believe me anyway,” she answered, placing her warm palm on his bare chest.
He liked the way her touch felt on his skin and he covered her hand with his to hold it there. “Why don’t you tell me and see if I believe you.”
Her sigh feathered over his shoulder and sent an awakening wave of heat straight to his groin. “They weren’t you.”
She spoke so softly that he wasn’t entirely certain he hadn’t imagined her confession. “You saved yourself for me?” he asked incredulously.
Raising her head, she met his questioning gaze directly. “It wasn’t a conscious decision to wait for you, but I think I fell in love with you the first time I saw you back in high school. Since then, I’ve compared every one of my boyfriends to you and found them lacking in one way or another.”
“Even Creed?”
“How many times do I have to tell you? Creed and I are just good friends.” When she started to get out of bed, he held her to him. “Creed asked me to accompany him to social functions in order to discourage some the more persistent women looking for a great catch. There was never anything more to it than that.”
Blake knew all too well the lengths some women would go to in their quest to catch a man with money and social status. “So you were helping him fend off the gold diggers?”
“Yes.”
“And you never entertained the thought of becoming romantically involved with him?” Blake asked, needing to know.
She shook her head. “He wasn’t you.”
The clarity in her guileless green eyes verified her claim and rendered him absolutely speechless. From the moment he was born, he’d been compared to his older brothers and always seemed to fall just short of everyone’s expectations. Even his father, the high and mighty Nash Fortune, had held him up to Case and Creed’s achievements, both personally and professionally. But for the first time in his life, someone had compared him to one of his older brothers and Blake hadn’t come up second-best.