His Ultimate Demand. Victoria Parker

caught her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him, his steady gaze demanding an answer. ‘Dio, you really don’t remember?’

      Ruby had no choice but to come clean. ‘No. sometimes I...sleepwalk.’

      His brows hit his hairline. ‘You sleepwalk? How often is sometimes?’

      ‘Not for a while, to my knowledge. It only happens when I’m...distressed.’

      His frown intensified. ‘You found last night distressing?’

      ‘Being tied up and kept prisoner? No, that was a picnic in the park.’ She tugged at her ankle restraint. ‘And now I’m tied up again.’

      ‘It was for your own good. After I put the restraint on, you stopped making a run for it. I think secretly you liked it.’ His fingers caressed along her jaw, his eyes lowering to her lips.

      Instantly the mood changed, thickened with sensual promise. ‘I’m not into bondage.’ Or sex with playboys, or anyone for that matter!

      ‘How do you know? Have you ever tried it?’

      ‘No. But I’ve never jumped off a cliff either, and I’m certain I wouldn’t enjoy that experience.’

      ‘Fair point. For the record, I have. With the right equipment, all experiences can be extremely enjoyable. Exhilarating even.’

      She watched, terrified and mesmerised, as his head started to lower. ‘What are you doing?’

      ‘I’m kissing you bon giornu, bedda. Relax.’

      That was easier said than done when every nerve in her body was strained in anticipation of the touch of his mouth on hers. She told herself she was sluggish because she was sleep deprived. But it was a lie.

      As much as she yearned to deny it, she wanted the pressure of his demanding kiss and the heady racing of her blood through her veins.

      His moan as he deepened the kiss echoed the piercing need inside her.

      One hand clamped on her hip, drew her sideways into him. At the sensation of his sleep-warmed body against hers, she moaned. The fact that she was clothed from neck to hip and he was clothed from hip to ankle didn’t alter the stormy sensation of their bodies meshing together.

      Nipples, stung to life at the touch of his mouth on hers, peaked and ached as they brushed his chest.

      When his hand moved under the T-shirt and skimmed over her panties, Ruby jerked at the vicious punch of desire that threatened to flatten her.

      She was drowning. And she didn’t want to be rescued.

      ‘Dio mio, you’re addictive, bedda,’ he murmured against her mouth before plunging back in. His tongue shot between her lips to slide against hers. He staked his claim on her until she couldn’t think straight. Even when his mouth left hers to nibble along her jaw, she strained closer, her hand sliding up his chest in a bold caress that shocked and thrilled her at the same time.

      When her nail grazed his nipple, he hissed. Stunned at the surge of power that action gave her, she flicked her nail again.

      ‘Careful, amante, or I might have to repay the kindness.’

      Lost in a swirl of desire, she barely heeded the warning. Bringing up her other hand between them, she flicked both flat nipples at once.

      ‘Maledizione!’ He pushed her back onto the bed and yanked up her T-shirt.

      Danger shrieked in her head a second before his mouth closed over her nipple. Tonguing, licking, he pulled the willing flesh deep into his mouth.

      Sensation as she’d never felt before tore through her. Between her legs where her need burned fiercest, liquid heat fuelled her raging desire.

      Her fingers curled up and spiked into his hair as he transferred his attention to her other nipple. A little rougher than before, he used his teeth this time.

      Her tiny scream echoed through the bedroom as her head slammed back against the pillow.

      Feeling his thick arousal against her thigh, she moved her leg, eager to rub closer against the potent evidence of his need.

      The snap of the ankle rope broke through her haze. The reality of what she was doing hit Ruby with the force of a two-by-four.

      ‘No!’ She pushed at his shoulders until he lifted his head. The sight of her nipples, reddened and wet from his ministrations, made dismay slither through her in equal measures. She was nothing like her parents. Nothing—

      ‘What’s wrong, bedda?’ he grated huskily.

      ‘What’s wrong? Everything!’

      ‘Everything is a huge undertaking. Narrow it down for me a little. I’ll take care of it.’

      She pushed harder. ‘For a start. Get. Off. Me.’

      His nostrils flared with displeasure and his fingers bit into her hip. ‘You were moaning your willingness a moment ago.’

      ‘Thankfully, I’ve come to my senses. Get off me and take off that...shackle you’ve placed on my ankle.’

      He slowly levered himself off her but not before she got another sensation of his thick arousal. Flames rushed up her cheeks.

      Back in his previous position, he dropped his gaze from hers to her breasts. Realising she was still exposed, she yanked her bra cups into place and tugged down the T-shirt. A T-shirt that bore his unique scent, which chose that moment to wash over her again. As if she weren’t suffering enough.

      ‘I don’t like women who blow hot and cold, tesoro.’

      ‘Where I come from a woman still has the right to say no.’

      ‘A stance I fully respect. Except your actions and your words are at direct variance with each other. You crave me almost as much as I crave you. I can only conclude that this is a ploy to string me along until I’m too whipped to put up much protest against your demands.’

      Again his description of her behaviour struck painfully close to the bone, pushing all her fears to the fore. Struggling to hide it, she raised an eyebrow.

      ‘Wow, you really have a low opinion of yourself, don’t you? Or is that a high opinion on my sexual prowess?’

      ‘Unlike you, I’m not afraid to admit my desire for you. It’s almost enough to tempt me to tell you to name your price so we can be done with this...aperitivo and get to the main course.’ There was a hard bite to his voice that instinctively warned her to do that would be a mistake.

      ‘I only want you to hear me out. You said we’d talk this morning.’

      He got up from the bed in a sleek, graceful move that brought to mind a jungle creature.

      The unmistakable evidence of his arousal when he faced her made her swallow. He showed no embarrassment in his blatant display of manhood. Even in thwarted desire, Narciso Valentino wore his male confidence with envy-inducing ease. Whereas she remained cowering beneath the sheets, afraid of the sensual waves threatening to drown her.

      ‘And so we will. Come through to the kitchen. Caffeine is a poor substitute for sex but it’ll have to do.’ With that pithy pronouncement, he walked out of the bedroom.

      She lay there, floundering in a sea of panic and confusion. If anyone had told her she’d be in Narciso Valentino’s bed mere hours after meeting him, she’d have laughed herself hoarse. Particularly since she’d vowed never to mix business with pleasure after what had happened with Simon.

      But what Narciso had roused in her just now had frightened and excited her. Kissing him had been holding a live, dangerous firework in the palm of her hand. She hadn’t been sure whether she would experience the most spectacular show of lights or blow herself to smithereens with it.

      And yet she’d been almost desolate when the kiss ended. Which showed how badly things could get out of hand.

      Squeezing