Before he could recover she was on top of him, straddling him even as she pulled at his tie, quickly loosening it and throwing it onto the floor. Then she was attacking his shirt, not pausing to loosen the buttons but ripping it open, sending buttons flying.
“Hey, that’s the second shirt in two days.” He didn’t get the chance to say another word.
Lani clamped his face in her hands and lowered her lips to his then she was kissing him fiercely, so hungrily that she was like a woman gone wild. What made it worse, as she kissed him she was moaning like she really wanted this. Was she faking or was this real? God, she was driving him insane.
Panting now, wanting her like he’d never wanted her before, Ridge moved his hands up to capture her and lift her off him, breaking the kiss.
“Why did you do that?” she wailed, trying to get back on top of him.
But he wouldn’t let her. He put up a hand to block her attempt to straddle his waist again. “I can’t deal with this,” he growled. “This damn teasing. You’re driving me crazy.”
To his surprise, Lani gave him a sly smile. “Who says I’m teasing?” she asked, her voice seductive and soft.
And at the sound of those words Ridge felt his heart stop and his hardness swell in his pants.
***
Lani wanted Ridge so bad her heart felt like it was ready to burst out of her chest. She’d always known she wanted him but her anger had always been that brake that kept her from giving him her all. But now, with the threat of him leaving for good, her anger had to take a back seat. There were other, more important things on the table right now, like holding on to this man, like f**king his brains out.
Yeah, she would go there. She’d turned bold, she’d turned forceful and she’d turned rude. Right now she didn’t give a damn about decorum. She wanted Ridge here and now and she would have him even if it meant she would have to turn into a big, bad bitch to do it. She might be small in body but when it came to getting what she wanted she could be as big and bold as the best of them.
Grabbing his shirt as it flapped open, Lani heaved, letting Ridge know that she wanted him to rise.
Thank goodness he didn’t resist. Eyes deep, dark and intense he raised up from how she’d had him lying flat on his back and when she kept tugging he got up off the bed.
Smiling with relief but glad he was letting her boss him around Lani hung on to his shirt and dragged Ridge off to the bathroom. For being such an obedient little boy – in this case, a really big, little boy – she would give him a special treat.
As soon as they were inside the bathroom Lani pushed Ridge back against the sink and dropped to her knees in front of him. She heard when he sucked in his breath but she pretended not to notice. Instead, she focused on the task at hand – getting Ridge good and naked.
Lani’s hand flew to his belt and as she loosened it he groaned. She smiled. What did he think she was going to do to him? Moving quickly, she pulled the button at the top of his pants then reached for the zipper. Then, wanting to make him wait, wanting to watch him writhe, she began to pull it down, her movement tantalizingly slow. Like she knew he would, Ridge groaned again and now he’d reached behind him and was gripping the countertop so tight his knuckles were white.
Her smile deepening, Lani slid her hands inside Ridge’s trousers, her palms gliding over the cotton-covered cheeks of his bottom then she pushed down, letting his trousers fall to the floor.
She let him step out of trousers, socks and shoes and shrug the shirt off his back and now he was standing in front of her with only one insignificant garment blocking her from her goal. Still on her knees, Lani glanced up, an involuntary smile curling her lips when she saw the look on his face, a an endearing mix of desire, uncertainty and anticipation. She had him by the cojones now – figuratively speaking, of course – and if she played her cards right she would soon have him eating out of her hand.
Lani reached up and hooked her thumbs into the sides of Ridge’s boxer shorts, ready to pull the underpants down and reveal him to her gaze but then she paused. Maybe she was a masochist, prolonging her torture, but she decided to wait just a little bit longer. He was ninety percent na**d and she was fully clothed. How fair was that?
Lani got up from her knees, taking note of the soft hiss that escaped Ridge’s lips as she moved away. She stifled her chuckle. The man had complained about her driving him mad. Pity he didn’t know she was about to make things a whole lot worse.
Her gaze never leaving his face, Lani backed away, almost to the other end of the spacious bathroom, and it was from that vantage point that she began her striptease. Unbeknownst to Ridge, this evening she’d decided to be his very own private dancer.
She started with the coat, which she’d almost forgotten she was wearing. With a flourish she slid it off her back, twirled it around then dropped it on the floor. Next, she reached her hands up and slowly undid the buttons on her shirt, taking note that as her fingers went down the line, from button to button, Ridge’s gaze was following every step of the way. Within seconds the shirt was dangling from her fingers and then it, too, was falling in a heap on the floor, leaving her top bare except for her bra.
By this time Ridge’s eyes were glued on her, taking in every curve, looking like he was ready to devour her whole.
Lani stepped out of her loafers then dropped her hands to the waist of her slacks and began to undo the button there, making her moves sexy as sin. Shirt and slacks weren’t exactly the best selection for a sexy striptease but she was making all the sultry moves to make up for that and if Ridge’s reaction was anything to go by, it was working.
The big man didn’t move as he watched her from across the room but his grip on the counter did not relax and when he swallowed his Adam’s apple bobbed like a dinghy in distress. She was having an effect on him all right. A big one.
And Lani meant to keep it that way so, straightening her back to give him the full impact of her jutting br**sts, she reached behind and pulled the clasp at her back then let the bra slide off her shoulders and down her arms, exposing her full br**sts to his gaze. She was rewarded with his sharp intake of breath.
Not stopping there, she tilted forward and hooked her thumbs into the sides of her bikini underwear then slowly she pushed it down, off her bottom, down her legs and to the floor. When she straightened up and stepped out of the panties she looked over at Ridge again and this time there was no hiding his arousal. A sizable tent was jutting forward in his shorts, making his response no secret whatsoever.