His mouth came down on hers just as another, bigger, slash of lightning scraped jagged fingers across the sky. Brilliant light flashed before her closed eyelids and Eileen felt the sizzle in the air. As the following thunder boomed around them, it seemed to pale in comparison to the thudding of her own heart.

Rick lifted his head and stared down at her, his breath rushing from his lungs. Behind them, the room was dark, plunged into blackness.

‘‘Power’s out,’’ he murmured.

‘‘Not from where I’m standing,’’ she said, meeting his gaze, her blood quickening on the hunger she read there.

A cold, strong wind whipped past them, wrapped itself around their bodies like a frigid embrace, then dissolved in their combined heat. Lightning flashed, thunder rolled and desire, fed by the raging storm, clawed at them. Air rushed in and out of Eileen’s lungs and still, she felt light-headed, as if a fog were settling over her brain, making thought impossible. But who needed to think when your blood was racing and your stomach was spinning and all points south were tingling in anticipation?

Rick must have felt the same because he took her mouth again. Hunger roared through her as he plundered her. His tongue parted her lips and swept into her warmth, tasting, exploring, plunging again and again into her depths. She welcomed him, her tongue meeting his in a tangled dance of need.

She arched forward, pressing herself into him, and moving, rubbing her aching nipples against his chest and torturing herself with the action. Her knees went weak and she tightened her grip on his shoulders to keep herself upright. His hands moved over her body, up and down her spine. He dragged her shirt free of the waistband of her skirt and skimmed his hands beneath it. Her skin tingled, firing with his touch until she felt as if every square inch of her body were bursting into flame.

He tore his mouth from hers and shifted lower, running his lips and tongue along her throat, tasting her pulse point at the base of her neck.

Eileen groaned and tipped her head back, inviting more, silently asking for more. And he gave. His lips and tongue teased her. His teeth nibbled at her skin, sending ripples of awareness and greed dancing through her. She clung to him, digging her fingers into his shoulders and, even while her brain sizzled with sensation, she was alert enough to notice that beneath his starched white shirt, his muscles had muscles.

‘‘I can’t get enough of the taste of you,’’ he muttered, his breath dusting her skin as his words quickened her pulse.

He dropped his hands to the waistband of her skirt again and Eileen hung on as she heard and felt the zipper slide down. As soon as the black fabric was parted, he shoved it down over her hips. She felt the fabric slip along her legs and pool at her feet. Quickly, eagerly, she stepped free of the skirt and kicked it aside.

Cold, damp air caressed her bare skin, but she was too hot to care. Nothing mattered but the touch of his hands on her body. The feel of his mouth across her skin. And she needed more. Needed all of him. Now. She shifted her hold on him, her hands moving around to the front of his shirt. Quickly, deftly, her fingers undid the buttons on that white conservative business shirt and once she had the fabric parted, she scooped her hands across the white T-shirt beneath. Even through the warm cotton fabric, she felt the clearly defined muscles he hid so well.

He sucked in air through clenched teeth, then let her go long enough to pull off his dress shirt, then yank off the T-shirt.

‘‘Wow,’’ she murmured, her gaze dropping to the broad expanse of his chest. His flesh was golden-brown, still tanned from summer, and deeply cut, with each muscle defined as if by an unseen sculptor. She ran the flat of her hands across his skin, twining her fingers through the dusting of brown curls and smiling when his breath hitched. ‘‘You’re hiding an awful lot under those suits and ties.’’

He grinned wickedly. ‘‘You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.’’

Her stomach pitched and deep within her the flames burned hotter.

Rick reached for her, his fingers tearing at her shirt buttons. Hell, why’d they have to make buttons so damn small? Impatience drove him and he damn near gave in to the driving urge to just rip the blouse off her body. But then the last of the buttons slid free and he was pushing the shirt off her shoulders and looking down at the silky, dark red teddy she wore. Lace decorated the bodice, caressing the tops of her breasts. Her nipples, hard, erect, pushed against the fragile fabric and his mouth watered. He wanted to taste her. All of her. He wanted her beneath him, he wanted her over him. He just wanted her.

More than he’d ever wanted anything.

Rick lifted both hands to cup her breasts and she wilted into him, tipping her head back, shaking that glorious hair. She moaned, her mouth opening on the sound, her tongue sliding across her bottom lip in a not too subtle message.

Lightning crackled again and the resulting boom of thunder clapped directly overhead, rattling the windowpanes and electrifying the air. The scent of coming rain filled him, but it could have poured on them and he still wouldn’t have moved. Holding her here, in the open. In the darkness with the crash of nature all around them, felt…right. He wanted her here. On the balcony.

Now.

His thumbs and forefingers tweaked her nipples, tugging, pulling, sliding over the tips, pulling the fabric taut and using it to torture her gently. She twisted, moving into him, pressing her abdomen against his erection until he couldn’t stand the wait any longer. Letting her go briefly, he ordered, ‘‘Stay here.’’

He stepped into the darkened hotel suite, but in moments, he was back. While the storm raged around them, he tore the rest of his clothes off, then reached for her again.

‘‘Just a second,’’ she whispered brokenly, and tugged the hem of her red lace teddy up and over her head, baring her breasts to him. In the electrified night, her skin glowed with a creamy translucence. Dark red lace panties were all she wore and he ached to get her out of those, too.

She stepped into his embrace, and Rick’s arms came around her, holding her close, pressing her body along the length of his. Bodies brushed together. Soft to hard, rough to smooth. And with each touch, the storm between them grew stronger.

‘‘Gotta have you,’’ he murmured against her mouth as he took her bottom lip, and then her top lip between his teeth, tasting, nibbling, claiming.

‘‘Oh yeah,’’ she said, swallowing hard as she took a tiny bite of his neck. ‘‘Now. Please, now.’’

‘‘Now,’’ he agreed, and with one quick turn of his wrist, snapped the flimsy elastic band of her panties. The red silk dropped from her skin and lay like a forgotten flag on the balcony’s gleaming wood floor.

Lifting her easily, he sat her on the narrow metal railing and she yelped at the kiss of cold iron on her bare behind. One brief spurt of panic shot through her, remembering that they were on the second story. But his hands were strong and warm, holding her safely, tightly. Then he kissed her again, taking her mouth in a long, fast, hard plunge of desire. Panic receded and the heat between them fired and exploded.

Tearing her mouth from his, she fought for air as she held tightly to his shoulders. ‘‘Now, Rick,’’ she urged as she parted her legs for him, ‘‘I want you inside me. Now.’’

Her hands on his shoulders speared heat through his body and it was all Rick could do to one-handedly slide the condom he’d retrieved from the bedroom into place. Then, without another thought beyond easing the turmoil raging within him, he pushed himself inside her.

She gasped and tipped her head back, staring wide-eyed up at the stormy sky.

His hands clutched her waist in a firm grip, holding her safely. Holding her to him. In and out, he rocked within her, claiming her, taking her, giving her all he could give and taking the same from her. Her hot body surrounded him, holding him as tightly as he held her.

Above them, lightning flashed again and again. Thunder roared, crashing down on them, muffling the sounds they made as they came together in an urgency that mirrored the strength of the storm.

Bodies meshed, breaths met, mouths claimed, hands gripped.

Eileen felt him slide in and out of her body and felt the quickening rush of expectation building within her. He drove her, pushing them both higher, faster, until all she could see was the lightning reflected in his eyes. Dazzling flashes of light dancing across deep brown pools of emotion, sensation and she lost herself in it—in him.

She felt wicked. Wild. Wanton.

Surrounded by the storm, the cold, sharp wind, scented with rain, pushed at them, enveloping them. The metal railing beneath her was cold and narrow, but Rick’s hold on her made her feel safe enough to enjoy the thrill of the moment. To concentrate on nothing more than the hard, solid strength of him driving into her body.

Eileen lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist as her climax neared. She moved into him, rocking as much as she dared, taking as much of him as he gave, offering herself and pulling him closer, deeper, within her.

The rain started.

Icy pellets of water sluiced over them in a rush.

As if the sky had reached the point of no return and hadn’t been able to hold back any longer.

Eileen knew the feeling.

With rain cascading over them, she shook her wet hair back from her face and fought for breath. Her mind splintered. Her body exploded.

‘‘Rick…Rick…’’ Her fingers flexed on his shoulders, her nails digging into his flesh, holding on, squeezing as he pushed her up that last, sweet climb to release. She looked into his eyes and watched him as he kissed her. His tongue swept across her lips, her teeth, moving inside, taking her breath and giving her his. She felt it all. Felt the magic build. Felt the sudden sway of her body tipping into oblivion, and then she groaned and rode the wave of completion, locked within his grasp, his mouth muffling her cries.

And before her body had stopped trembling, he plunged deep within her and stiffened, reaching his own release in time to join her on the slow slide down from heaven.

Five

His body still quivering with reaction, Rick lifted her off the railing, and keeping his body locked tight within hers, carried her inside, out of the rain.

She wrapped her arms around him and kept her legs twisted about his waist like a vise. Burying her face in the curve of his neck, she shuddered, then whispered, ‘‘Okay, that was impressive.’’

He chuckled, and holding her close, made his way carefully across the darkened living room to his bedroom. ‘‘And that was wet. I do my best work when I’m dry.’’

She lifted her head to look at him in the dim light. ‘‘Well heck,’’ she said, ‘‘hand me a towel.’’

He gave her behind a sharp pat. ‘‘That’s the plan.’’

‘‘Love a man with a plan,’’ Eileen said, keeping her gaze fixed on his as he stepped through the doorway and into his room.

Rocking her hips, she moved on him and he sucked in air through clenched teeth. Slapping one arm across her behind, he held her still. ‘‘You’re killing me,’’ he admitted.

‘‘Oh,’’ she said, shaking her head, letting water droplets fly, ‘‘not yet.’’

One corner of his mouth lifted as he eased down onto the soft mattress, his body still deep within hers. ‘‘Got your own plans, have you?’’

‘‘I’m making it up as I go along,’’ she said, reaching to cup his face between her palms.

‘‘You’re doin’ fine,’’ he assured her. ‘‘Don’t stop now.’’

‘‘Don’t worry about that.’’ Now that they’d started, giving in to the tension that had rippled between them all week, Eileen didn’t want to stop. She wanted more of him. She wanted to feel that building excitement within again. She wanted to experience the crashing explosion of desire and the throbbing pulse of satisfaction.

She hadn’t expected this.

Hadn’t planned on it.

But she was smart enough to enjoy it once it had happened.

The old quilt beneath her felt warm and soft. Cotton brushed her skin and wrapped up around her like a cocoon. She felt surrounded by warmth even though her skin had been chilled by the rain, now beating down on the roof like tiny fists in a fury. Occasional flashes of lightning were the only illumination in the room, but it was enough to see Rick’s face, read his features, and know that he was feeling the same things she was.

He moved within her, hard again and she arched into him like a lazy cat waiting to be stroked. Tipping her head back into the mattress, she unwound her legs from his hips and planted both feet on the bed. Then rocking her hips against his, she opened wider for him, taking him as deeply as she could and wishing she could take him completely inside her. He was so big, so hard, she felt as though he was touching the base of her heart when he plunged inside her.

‘‘More,’’ she demanded, dragging her nails along his back, down his spine.

‘‘More,’’ he agreed and suddenly flipped over, taking her with him, until she straddled him and he lay flat on his back.

Rick watched her in the half-light and wished he’d taken the time to light some of the candles that were sprinkled around the room. Apparently there were lots of power outages around here. And a few lit candles would have been enough to let him completely enjoy the sight of Eileen atop him.

With her legs on either side of him, she braced her palms on his chest and fingered his flat nipples, stroking, caressing. She moved on him, rocking her hips and bucking, arching her back as though she were riding a half-wild horse in a rodeo.

Her skin still damp with rain, cold drops of water dripping from the ends of her hair to splatter against his body, she looked fierce and tender and free. Her head fell back and her eyes closed as she moved on him, taking him deep within her and grinding her hips against him. She drove him higher, higher than he’d expected. Higher than he’d thought possible. And the flashing need erupting inside him nearly strangled him.

He reached up, covering her breasts with his hands, his fingers and thumbs squeezing her hardened nipples. She pushed herself into his touch and he smiled, before dropping one hand to the spot where their bodies met. He fingered her center, toying with that small nubbin of flesh that held her secrets, cradled her need.

‘‘Rick!’’ She groaned his name and moved harder on him, swaying, moving with a rhythm that rocked him to his bones.

‘‘Feel it,’’ he ordered, watching her face, seeing the pleasure streaking across her features.

‘‘Too much,’’ she murmured, shaking her head, biting her bottom lip.

‘‘Never enough,’’ he told her, and kept stroking her center as she moved on him, rocking, swaying, taking.

She gasped as her body tightened on his. The first tremors took her and she moved quickly, fiercely, heightening her own pleasure while demanding his.

‘‘Never enough,’’ she echoed as he erupted inside her, then cradled her gently as they took the fall together.

Minutes, hours…heck, it could have been days later, for all Eileen knew—or cared—she collapsed beside him in a boneless heap. She licked her lips and tried to fight off the buzzing in her head long enough to say, ‘‘That was…amazing.’’

‘‘In a word,’’ he said, his voice nearly lost in the crash and boom of thunder.

‘‘You know…’’ Eileen took a long, unsteady breath and blew it out again before continuing. ‘‘For a guy who looks like Mr. Uptight and Closed Off, you do some great work.’’

‘‘You’re not so bad yourself,’’ he said.

She smiled in the darkness, then felt that smile slowly fade away as reality came crashing down on her. ‘‘We’re gonna be sorry we did this, aren’t we?’’

‘‘Probably.’’

‘‘That’s what I thought.’’ Eileen studied the play of slashes of light across the beamed ceiling and listened to Rick’s heavy breathing in the quiet. Her thoughts raced across her mind in such a blur of speed she couldn’t really nail one down long enough to examine it. And that was, no doubt, for the best. Considering that if she really stopped to think about what she’d just done with Rick, she’d probably smack herself in the forehead.

‘‘I want you to know,’’ she said, ‘‘I’m not looking for a relationship.’’

‘‘Me neither.’’

‘‘That’s good, then.’’

‘‘Yeah. Good.’’

‘‘Still, this is going to complicate things, isn’t it?’’ she asked.

‘‘You mean, am I going to look at you sitting at your desk and picture you here?’’ he asked. ‘‘Oh yeah.’’

‘‘It’s not going to be easy for me either, you know.’’ She couldn’t even imagine being in the office with him and not thinking about those wild moments out on the balcony. Stupid, Eileen. Really stupid. She shouldn’t have done this. Shouldn’t have given in to her hormones like some vapid teenager who didn’t know better.

She should have remembered that men were trouble and her track record was less than stellar.

‘‘Which is why we shouldn’t have.’’

‘‘True.’’ Eileen glanced at him, and noted that he, too, was staring up into the darkness. She wondered what he was really thinking. If he was wondering how to make a graceful exit from the bed. If he’d just fire her right now and avoid the whole embarrassing after-sex scene. ‘‘I’m only in your life—your world, temporarily. Two weeks. That’s it.’’

‘‘Should have been simple,’’ he said.

‘‘Not anymore.’’

‘‘Nope.’’

She sighed and turned onto her side. Heat from his body reached out for her and she couldn’t resist touching him again. Sliding one hand up his chest, she murmured, ‘‘Just think, our grandmothers got us into this.’’

He chuckled, caught her hand and threaded his fingers through hers. ‘‘I don’t think this is what they had in mind.’’

‘‘Hardly.’’

‘‘Look,’’ Rick said, his voice gaining strength, his fingers tightening on her hand. ‘‘What happened, happened. We’re adults. It shouldn’t be any big thing to deal with. It was just sex.’’

‘‘Amazing sex.’’

‘‘That goes without saying.’’

‘‘It’d be nice to hear, though.’’

He looked at her. ‘‘Amazing sex.’’

‘‘Thank you.’’

‘‘No,’’ he countered, ‘‘thank you.’’

‘‘Trust me,’’ she said, a reluctant smile curving her mouth. ‘‘My pleasure.’’

‘‘Yeah, I know.’’

‘‘No ego problems here.’’

He rolled over, pushing her onto her back and bracing himself up one elbow so that he could look down at her. ‘‘It’s one night. One night out of a lifetime. Neither one of us is looking for—or expects—roses and cherubs. We enjoy each other, then go back to business as usual tomorrow.’’

Eileen looked up at him, studying his eyes, his face, the curve of his mouth. She wanted to kiss him again. To taste him. To feel his tongue sweeping against hers. Hunger arced inside her again, fresh, greedy. She’d never felt like this before.

She’d been with a man before, of course. Her fiancé and then Joshua. But those experiences were nothing compared to what was going on inside her at the moment. She’d never felt the compulsion for more as she had tonight.

Even though she’d just been with Rick, she wanted him again. Now. Inside her. She wanted to feel his body moving within hers. Wanted to feel a part of him. Wanted to be locked within his embrace—and that was new.

A part of her wanted to explore these new sensations. And another, more wary part of her wanted to back off now, while she could still think logically. There was no future with Rick. He was just like every other man she’d ever come across. He wanted her to help him out at work. He wanted her in his bed. But, like every other male in her life, he didn’t want her. This wasn’t a relationship. This was simply two people who felt a…connection. Was that enough reason to enjoy each other? And could they keep it that simple?

‘‘Can we do that, do you think?’’

‘‘I can,’’ Rick said, smoothing his fingertips across her cheek, pushing her hair back behind her ear. Looking at her now made him want her again. And yet he knew he would be able to say goodbye. Because he had to. He wouldn’t let her get close. Couldn’t let her in. He’d taken one chance and got smacked for his trouble. He wouldn’t be doing that again.

Rick had learned years ago that life was easier if lived alone. Sex was one thing. Love—a relationship—was something else. Something he wasn’t interested in. ‘‘So the question is,’’ he asked, ‘‘can you?’’

She shivered at his touch, the tiny bursts of heat transferring from his fingers to her skin. Could she forget what happened tonight in tomorrow’s light of day? She wasn’t sure. Could she give up the chance to feel more of what she already had? No way. So there was really only one answer to his question.

‘‘Yes, I can.’’

‘‘Good,’’ he said, and pulled away from her.

‘‘I say yes and you leave?’’

He pushed off the bed and turned back to look at her again, a smile tipping one corner of his mouth. Her heart jumped in response.

‘‘Just going to light a few of these candles,’’ he said. ‘‘This time I want to see you.’’

‘‘Oh, boy.’’

She looked beautiful by candlelight.

Tiny flames flickered around the room, tracing halos of golden light against the flowered wallpaper. Beyond the windows, the storm still raged, rain pelting at the glass, lightning and thunder growling and snapping, like ferocious beasts demanding entry. The four-poster bed looked wide and soft and compelling, as Eileen lay across the clean white sheets, her bare body a temptation no man could resist.

And Rick had no desire to resist her.

He couldn’t remember ever feeling this hunger before. The sizzle and snap of heat that burst into life every time he touched her made him yearn to feel it again. Watching the candlelight play on her smooth, pale skin made his palms itch to touch her again.

Eileen was unlike any woman he’d ever known.

Hell, everything about her was different.

Unique.

Her attitude, her laugh, her scent. She smelled of roses and sunlight—a compelling mixture to a man too used to burying himself under mountains of work, shut away in corporate towers. She laughed at his work ethic. Teased him about taking himself too seriously and fought him when he gave orders. And he was enjoying himself far too much.

Which should have worried him—but he was too hungry for the taste of her to think about it now.

He crossed the room to her, his skin tingling in anticipation of the brush of her body against his.

She went up on both elbows, cocked her head to one side and smiled. ‘‘You know, something just occurred to me.’’

The pale light in the room danced on the ends of her still damp hair and glistened in the water drops like diamonds. That stray thought brought him up short. Hell, he’d never been particularly poetic before. ‘‘Yeah? What’s that?’’

She drew one leg up, sliding the sole of her foot up the length of her other leg in a long, slow caress that caught his gaze and stole his breath.

‘‘Do you always go armed with condoms when you travel with your secretary?’’

He stopped at the edge of the bed and dropped one hand to her calf, smiling when her eyes closed at his touch. His fingers drifted along her skin with a feather-light caress. ‘‘Nope. Remember when we stopped for gas?’’

‘‘Uh-huh,’’ she murmured as his hand slid higher, higher, past her knee, up along her thigh.

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