Shine Not Burn(22)

He shook his head. “Nope. I’ve got all my faculties.”

“Damn, you’re just full of those quarter words today, aren’t you?”

He pulled me up against his chest in one quick move, reminding me what a strong man he is and how much restraint he’d shown so far. “What’s a quarter word?” He dipped his head down and kissed the side of my mouth.

“It’s … it’s…” I tried to answer, but then I forgot the question. The small kisses he was feathering around my mouth were making me go air-brained.

“Hmmm? Quarter word?” he prompted.

“It’s a … big word … worth twenty-five cents…” I opened my mouth and tried to turn and meet his lips, but he moved away, leaving me hanging. His mouth moved to my neck where his lips put a little suction to my skin. He licked the tender spot and then blew on it a little, making goosebumps come up all over that side of my body.

I strained to get closer to him, my breasts pulsing with need.

“I want to see you naked,” he whispered, his hands going behind me to move my hair out of the way and slowly unzip my dress. His fingertips trailed behind the zipper, sliding along my skin from the top of my spine all the way to the small of my back. The cool air of the room whispered across my skin as the shoulders of my dress went slack and slid down my arms. The heat of my desire banked and my face burned with the fear of him seeing my body and judging it as less than worthy. I stood there in bra and panties, my face going bright red.

“Jesus, woman …” He pulled me against him roughly again, the hardness of his desire slamming into my pelvis. It was the sweetest pain I’d ever felt. A moan escaped my lips and urged him on.

He pushed my dress down until it pooled at my feet. I stepped out of it and kicked it lightly to the side, clinging to him the entire time. I didn’t want us to get too far apart, but he had other ideas. He pulled back abruptly, pushing me away slightly by my upper arms. “Wait … just for a second. Let me look at you.”

I dropped my gaze to the floor, unable to meet his eyes.

He said nothing for so long, I had to peek, unable to stand the pressure of not knowing. He was scanning my body from head to toe, and the dim light shining in from the attached bathroom told me nothing. His expression was serious. Dangerous, even.

“What?” I said, wanting to cross my arms over my body.

“No, wait … don’t cover yourself. Please. Let me just admire you for a little while longer.”

My face went red again. All I could think about were my too-small breasts with two rubbery booby-hikers hidden under them, my wide hips, and my big butt. “What are you talking about?” I felt like I was stuck halfway between feeling awkward and feeling sexy. I could have fallen over to either side with a single word from him.

He shook his head. “I thought bodies like this were only alive in my fantasies. I didn’t realize they existed in reality.” He ran his hand down my ribs and hip. “Curves everywhere.” He looked into my eyes. “The body of a real, honest-to-God woman.”

I pushed on his chest, laughter bubbling up from my throat as the fear disintegrated and then disappeared completely. He likes curves! “Get out of here, you lunatic.”

He grabbed my hands and pulled me up against him. “Heck no, I’m not going anywhere. You lured me up here to your lair and now I’m going to let you take advantage of me.”

My mouth dropped open in mock offense. “I lured you up here? Are you kidding me?” I tried to wrestle away, but he held on tight, walking us over to the bed.

“Don’t play with my heart, Andie. Tell me you didn’t bring me up here just to strip down to your gorgeous bits and then kick me out. I don’t think my ego could take it. And neither could my … other parts of me.”

I lifted my chin to sass him back, but he took advantage of his height and came down to my lips, silencing me with his mouth.

The idea that he found my body so sexy lit some kind of fire inside me. Whatever misgivings I might have had about bringing a man to my room who’d I’d never see again after tonight? Yeah … they went flying out the window and into the hot Las Vegas night. Any second thoughts that might have been brewing about my own attractiveness? Yup .. they joined those misgivings, leaving in their place a very horny, very excited me. Andie the party girl was definitely back. I shimmied out of my underthings as he kissed me and then stepped away from him when I was totally naked.

“Wow.” He stared at me, his eyes taking in every detail of my body. “Talk about getting lucky. The blackjack table was nothing compared to this.”

My heart soared with his compliments and a sudden surge of energy burst through me. “Woo hoo!” I yelled, pushing him down onto the bed and jumping on top of him. My leap was a little too enthusiastic though, because I misjudged my landing and fell to the side. I tried to catch myself on the edge of the bed but the stupid satin cover gave me nothing to grab onto. I tipped off the bed and fell onto the floor with a loud thud. I stayed there for a few seconds, waiting for the room to stop spinning.

“Holy shit,” he said, trying to cover up his laughter as he leaned over the edge of the bed to look at me. “Are you okay?”

I jumped to my feet and smiled, determined to keep having fun regardless of the fact that I was a complete idiot. I held my arms above my head and stretched them to the ceiling. “How’s that for a dismount?” I said, giving him a superstar smile.