New Title 1 (14 page)

He pressed
himself into me, his mouth hungrily devouring every breath.

“God, I want you, Caro. I want to make love to you,” he whispered on my lips.

“Yes,” I said. “I want that, too.”

Chapter 4

Sebastian had to go and park his motorcycle in the hotel’s secure underground garage.

His absence gave me ample time to consider the consequences of what I was about to do. I still wasn
’t sure I trusted him; I had about a minute to decide whether or not to change my mind. But, in truth, there was no decision to make. My body ached to be touched; it had been a long time, too long perhaps, since I’d allowed a man this close to me. And the way I felt when Sebastian was near me, it was as if every nerve ending was sensitized simply by his presence. I hated it and I loved it and I hated it.

I waited for him in the lobby, sitting on the same sofa
where he’d sat last night during our fractured heart-to-heart. The receptionist’s curious gaze bounced off my back: I didn’t have room in my mind to consider anyone else at this point, and I cared even less what she thought of me, if she thought anything at all.

And then he had returned and it was too late.

Watching him walk through the automatic doors into the lobby was extraordinarily arousing. I longed to feel his body intertwined with mine, to feel as I had felt once before. I could see the tension and expectation on his face, and the old insecurities began to worm their way to the surface. Ten years ago, I had been the experienced one and I had led the way, even though my ‘experience’ had been limited to my uncreative husband. Sebastian’s experience, at the time, had been zero, but now… By his own admission, he had fucked every woman who’d let him. I had no doubt that his charm, superficial or otherwise, combined with his extraordinary good looks had gained him entry to a large number of bedrooms.

By contrast, the number of men I
’d slept with since him could be numbered on one hand. I was afraid he would find me… boring.

He crossed the lobby with long strides until he was
standing in front of me, searching my face. He held out his hand, and I didn’t hesitate. If it was a mistake, then it was one I made willingly.

A relieved smile flickered briefly across his face.

He pulled me to my feet and braided his fingers through mine, leading me towards the bank of gleaming elevators.

All were busy, crammed with
tourists returning from day trips, politicians and businessmen retiring to their suites for the evening. Sebastian and I stood off to one side, wedged among a throng of men in suits. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled my back into his chest, bending down to place soft kisses in my hair.

Two men smiled knowingly, but Sebastian didn
’t so much as glance at them.

Several other people got off at the same floor, following us along the corridor, chatting noisily. Sebastian and I were silent.

I pulled the keycard out of my wallet with shaking fingers, and pushed the door open. I stepped inside, my heart racing, my nerves taut. I moved around the room, turning on the side lights, pulling the curtains and shifting my laptop off the neatly made bed. In other words, doing everything rather than look at him.

He hovered by the door for a moment
, then walked in slowly and sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes following me around the room. He caught my hand as I fluttered past on another pointless circuit.

“Hey, it
’s okay. I’m nervous, too.”

I stared at him in amazement.

“
You’re
nervous… why?”

“Because it
’s you,” he said, simply.

He raised my hand to his lips and kissed it courteously, a sweet, old-fashioned gesture.

“Only if you want to, Caro.”

“I do… I just feel, I don
’t know, embarrassed. It’s so stupid.”

He lay back on the bed and gently pulled me down next to him. He began kissing my throat, his hands moving up from my waist.

I felt him everywhere, all over me, suffocating me, and I froze.

“No, Sebastian.”

I pushed him away, and he stopped immediately.

I was half expecting him to get up and leave in disgust, but he surprised me again.

Suddenly he rolled away from me to the other side of the bed.

“Let
’s just make out,” he said, grinning at me.

“Make out? As in…”

“Lie on the bed, watch trashy TV in French or German – your choice – and make out.”

He
raised his eyebrows as he sat up, then he shrugged out of his jacket and dropped it on the floor, unbuckled and levered his feet out of his biker boots, before peeling off his socks.

He grabbed a couple of pillows,
piled them against the headboard and launched himself back onto the bed.

“Where
’s the remote?”

I pointed to the cabinet on my side of the bed and
watched as he stretched over me to retrieve it, exposing a delicious sliver of taut, naked stomach as his T-shirt rode up his body.

Oh, I really wanted some of that
.

He surfed through a few channels before he found some badly-dubbed TV show, then grinned up at me, patting the space on the bed next to him.

I followed his lead, unlacing my boots and dropping them in the corner with my socks. I crawled up on the bed next to him, and he pulled me into his arms so I was resting against his chest. He kissed my forehead and settled back on his pillows with a sigh.

I snuggled into him, feeling surprisingly relaxed.

“This feels good,” he said, happily. “Should we order room service?”

“I
’m not hungry.”

“Would you mind if I ordered myself a beer?”

Just one beer?

“No, I don
’t mind.”

He pulled the hotel telephone towards him
to order a beer and a sandwich, then settled back with his arm around me.

With
typical Swiss efficiency, the beer arrived within five minutes; the ‘sandwich’ – an enormous French baguette – was stuffed with cold meats, lettuce and tomato.

Sebastian
’s eyes lit up.

“Food instead of sex?” I couldn
’t help saying, reminding him of a running joke we’d once had.

He grinned
at me, and licked his lips.

“For now. I
’m still kind of hoping the sex comes later.”

“How
’s that going for you?”

“
Not sure: she’s playing hard to get. I was going to ply her with alcohol and have my wicked way with her, but I guess she’s wise to my game.”

“Women!” I said, rolling my eyes.

He laughed, and started to work on demolishing the sandwich.

When he
’d finished and brushed the crumbs off his T-shirt, he lay back with the bottle of beer and wrapped his free arm around me again. He sighed contentedly and stretched his long legs out in front of him, crossing his bare feet at the ankle.

“I could get used to this,” he said, nuzzling my hair.

“What, badly dubbed reruns of ‘Frasier’ and TV dinners?”

“You know exactly what I mean, woman.”

“Oh, ‘woman’, is it?” I said, thumping him on the chest.

“Yes, a beautiful, amazing, talented, gorgeous woman,” he said, his voice serious.

The mood shifted immediately, from relaxed and playful, to heated tension.

He
placed his beer on the bedside table, then pulled me gently into his chest. With his fingertips, his free hand caressed my ear, gently sweeping my hair aside. His eyes studied my face carefully as he leaned in to kiss me, the lids fluttering closed at the last moment, before his lips touched mine.

His mouth drifted across my face, sweet, gentle kisses, as light as butterfly wings
, hovering over my eyelids, brushing over my chin, then returning to rest on my lips.

My hand crept across his stomach, and slowly up towards his chest,
pausing for a moment just over his heart. Then I lifted my hand to cup his cheek, and he turned his lips to kiss my palm.

He pulled me in more tightly
, so I was half-lying across him, and he ran his hands up my spine while he kissed my neck. His kisses grew more urgent, and I felt him run his tongue over my throat. Then his teeth tugged on my lower lip, and his tongue dove into my mouth. I could taste beer and hot, delicious Sebastian.

I moaned onto his lips
, and heard an answering growl from deep within his chest. I hooked my leg over his thigh, pulling our bodies closer together. Through his jeans I could feel that he was aroused, and the knowledge sent a jet of heat spiraling through my body.

His hands stroked my back through
the thin cotton of my T-shirt as his kiss deepened. Then they dropped to the waistband of my jeans and he pulled the material free, running his strong fingers along my bare skin, toying briefly with the elastic of my bra, before dropping back down to cup my ass.

I shivered with desire
, and his hands stilled.

“Are you sure, Caro?” he whispered.

I leaned away so I could gaze down into his beautiful eyes, softly massaging the small frown line between his eyebrows with my finger.

“I
’m sure.” I sat up and pulled off my T-shirt to add emphasis to my words.

His eyes were dark with desire and he swallowed quickly before sitting up and hauling his own T-shirt over his head.
His silver dog tags chinked quietly as they settled back on his chest.

I reached over to touch him, needing to feel the warmth of his silky flesh
, then stopped.

“You got a tattoo?”

He smiled slightly.

“Standard Marine issue.”

I studied the delicate artwork and misty colors while Sebastian slowly stroked my back.

“
The Marine insignia, right? What does it stand for?”

“The eagle represents the nation,
well, protecting the nation – see the way its wings are spread out? The globe is our worldwide presence, and the anchor is because of our naval heritage.”