“One.”
He arched a brow as the muscles at the back of his neck tensed. Could she really be as innocent as all that?
She shot him a defiant look. “Hey, you asked, so don’t blame me if you don’t like the answer.”
His eyes narrowed. “I know your game. You think I’ll back off if you tell me you’re inexperienced.”
She placed her fork on the table. “Actually, I don’t care what you think. It’s the truth.”
His gut clenched. “Tell me about it.”
“Why should I?”
“Because I want no more secrets between us, Kia. Not in bed, anyway.”
She considered him for a long moment. Then she said, “I lost my virginity at a party when I was fifteen. It was the one and only time I got drunk and I gave it away to the first boy that looked at me because my father had just gotten married and didn’t want his ‘plain-looking’ daughter at his wedding and I needed to feel loved. He didn’t even ask me my name.”
She said it so matter-of-factly that he believed her. He swore under his breath.
She shrugged. “I hardly remember most of it. I was just so lucky not to have found myself pregnant.”
He scowled. “The boy didn’t use protection?”
“I was too drunk to notice.”
“But surely—” His jaw clenched, then he forced himself to relax. “I’ll make a deal with you. We’ll make love, but if at any time you want me to stop, I will.”
Her throat convulsed. “You’d do that?”
Something softened inside him. “I want a willing female in my bed. I don’t get my kicks from forcing a woman.” Rising, he held out his hand. “I need you. Need to make love with you, Kia Benton,” he said, deliberately saying her name, wanting her to know that he knew exactly who she was, unlike the boy who had stripped her of her virginity. “I promise you this won’t be like your first time.”
Chapter Seven
The evening breeze gently lifted the lace curtains away from the open window as Kia followed Brant into the bedroom. In a way, she felt like those curtains. As if she was lifting a part of herself, unveiling herself for him to see.
Yet it was a risky move to make, and for a moment she hesitated. Did she really want him to leap the boundaries she kept around herself? Today in his office she’d relinquished her body to him. But now, once his body was inside her, once he knew her so physically, what would happen to her emotionally?
Just then, he squeezed her fingers and she looked at him. The sheer depth of desire in his eyes made her shiver with longing. All her doubts disappeared.
“I want you, Brant,” she admitted, unable to stop the words from spilling from her. She couldn’t deny herself this. No matter what happened afterward, no matter what he thought of her, she would always have this memory. “I want you so much.”
Heat flared in his eyes. “Then you’ve got me,” he muttered, pulling her close.
She went willingly into his arms, the palms of her hands pressing against his chest, feeling his warmth and vibrancy through the material of his shirt.
“I have never had a more beautiful woman in my arms,” he rasped, his warm breath flowing over her.
“You make me feel beautiful,” she murmured. And he did. As if someone had waved a magic wand over her and turned her into more than she was.
She lifted her face for his kiss, and his mouth swept down and took possession of hers. And from that moment on she was his. Her need had been smoldering inside her for so long now. She needed this release.
His mouth moved against hers, silently telling her how much he wanted her. She reveled in it, opening her lips, letting him take whatever he wanted yet returning the favor. She wanted to be a part of him, so much a part of him that he’d never forget her.
The kiss deepened, lengthened. His hands caressed her spine through her dress, then eased down the zipper to stroke her bare skin, gliding up to the curve of her shoulders and provocatively pushing the material aside like a maestro playing their song.
He broke off the kiss and skimmed his lips along her jaw. Hypnotized by his touch, she arched her neck, as his mouth continued to her earlobe and then proceeded down the smooth column of her throat. He planted a tantalizing kiss at the hollow of her neck and she gave a soft moan and slid her hands beneath the material of his shirt, not prepared to wait another millisecond to touch him.
Her head spun at the first feel of his warm flesh beneath her tingling palms. “Oh, my God,” she whispered, the shock of his taut muscles running through her body even as she luxuriated in feeling the strong beat of his heart against her palms. Strong and fast.
“You’re playing with fire,” he said, shuddering, then stormed her mouth again in a kiss that sent her up in flames. At the same time he clasped her hips, grounding her against him. She’d felt his arousal once before when they’d danced together. This was different. This was her first full contact of him as a man. It stunned her. Delighted her. It made her ache for him.
He pulled away and in one swift motion tugged at her dress, letting it rush down her body and fall to the floor. But he didn’t stop to stare, though she felt his gaze on her. Her bra vanished next. Her panties followed. Then he swept her up in his arms and carried her over to the bed, laying her out on top of the comforter.
And that’s when he finally stopped to look down upon her. The intensity in his eyes sang through her veins, making her very much aware of being not only a woman but the woman he wanted.
“Tonight you’re mine, Kia.”
Her throat went dry. She wanted to deny it, but how could she deny something so intrinsically right?
“Yes,” she whispered.
His hands went to his shirt and he quickly began to undress. It hit the carpet, followed by his trousers. It didn’t take long before he stood beside her all naked and in full glory.
Her breath caught in her throat. He was absolutely magnificent, with a beautifully proportioned body that shot her pulse right off the chart. His broad shoulders topped a powerful chest that fostered wisps of dark hair and tapered down to lean hips and long, muscular legs. And to a commanding erection that magnified his masculinity tenfold.
He joined her on the bed and she surrendered to the moment, to herself, to him. She gasped when his lips moved to her breast and enclosed a nipple, pleasuring her into a mindless state even as his hand brushed over her hip and dipped to the junction at her thighs. His fingers slid between her feminine folds and ran around the small, sensitive nub in circles. Sanity began to blur as her world shrank to that one caress of his finger, to the sweet tug of his mouth at her breast.