Exotic Nights: The Virgin's Secret / The Devil's Heart / Pleasured in the Playboy's Penthouse. Natalie Anderson

her look away.

      When the zip was all the way down, to just above her buttocks, Leo pulled Angel in close again and smoothed his hands up and down her naked back. Electric shocks of sensation made her shudder; the tips of her breasts tingled. She felt him undo the clasp of her bra. Things were moving quickly … too quickly.

      Jerkily Angel pulled away from Leo’s caressing, distracting hands. The dress gaped forward slightly, and she put up her hands to stop it falling. She knew now that she’d blocked out the reality of what it would mean to do this.

      But just when she went to open her mouth to say something Leo started pulling off his own clothes. Her eyes grew huge, and between her legs she throbbed when he stood before her naked, like a proud warrior. His broad, superbly muscled chest and shoulders had been awe-inspiring when she’d seen them, but when her gaze dropped Angel’s breath stopped altogether.

      A taut, flat belly led down to a thatch of dark hair from which sprang a truly intimidating erection. Angel had only ever seen one man in this state, and that would never have prepared her for this. Leo stood proud, legs apart, thighs heavily muscled, cradling his impressive masculinity.

      There was a blur of movement and Angel felt her dress being pulled away and down her arms. Suddenly it lay in a pool of black at her feet. She gave a squeal of protest but Leo was remorseless, and somehow, with an economy and efficiency of movement that took her breath away, she stood before him in just her panties. Her hair fell about her shoulders. She put an arm across her breasts and a hand down to cover between her legs.

      Leo chuckled darkly, ‘There’s really no need to act the innocent …’

      ‘But I’m not—’

      ‘Enough talking,’ he growled, and stopped her words with his mouth again, his naked body coming into hot and immediate contact with hers. Angel’s brain went into meltdown. He took her arm away from her breasts, and Angel’s brain nearly short-circuited when she came into contact with that turgid erection.

      Despite the wild excitement that flared through her body she wasn’t ready for this. She’d never be ready for this. She’d had some dim and distant hope that perhaps she could pretend, that her virginity might not be glaringly obvious, but that hope laughed in her face now.

      Leo was backing her towards the bed, pushing her down. Things were moving too fast. She had to stop him, even though knowing that he was naked and feeling his smooth olive skin next to hers was turning her thoughts to mush.

      Angel couldn’t bear for them to get to the point she’d reached before with Achilles and have Leo look at her with the same awful dawning horror on his face when he found out she was a virgin. Angel could remember the excruciating pain, the awful humiliation when Achilles hadn’t been able to penetrate her. He’d shouted at her, told her she was frigid, that no one would want to sleep with her because she was a virgin.

      And even though Angel felt in her body instinctively that this was different, that the same outcome wasn’t assured, her brain was warning her of the pain and humiliation to come. And she knew that, however bad it had been with Achilles, to face the same from Leo would wound her so much more deeply, and that knowledge alone was enough for her to call a halt.

      With a mammoth move, Angel pushed at Leo’s chest. One of his hands was travelling up her leg, and already she could feel herself weakening, moistening. Her body wasn’t hers any more.

      She shoved again, and knocked his hand away with enough violence to make it sound like a slap, ‘No!’ The sound echoed in the room.

      Leo’s movements stilled over her.

      She looked up at him and bit her lip. All she could see were the strong planes of his face. He too was breathing harshly.

      ‘I … I have to tell you something.’

      After a long moment Leo pulled back and reached over to put on a lamp beside the bed; it cast out a warm pool of low light. Abruptly he plucked his jeans off the floor and pulled them on roughly, standing up.

      Angel felt very exposed and sat up, grabbing the sheet and pulling it around her.

      Leo stood with hands on his hips, jeans undone. She could see the bulge of his arousal. He oozed such potent virility in that moment that Angel knew she was right to stop this now; she was no match for him. He needed a woman with experience, a woman to equal him, a woman like the women she’d seen on the internet. She felt sick.

      ‘Well, Angel? This had better be good.’

      Angel would have stood, but the sheet was tucked into the bed so she sat awkwardly, holding it against her. She looked down for a moment, gathering her courage, and felt the welcome curtain of her hair around her face.

      She looked up finally, and spoke at the same time as Leo.

      ‘Angel—’

      ‘I’m a virgin.’

      They both stopped. Leo looked at her. A strange stillness seemed to come into his body, and the air grew thick with atmosphere around them.

      ‘What did you say?’

      Angel gulped. ‘I said that I’m a virgin.’

      Leo shook his head. ‘No, it’s impossible.’

      Angel felt the cold trickle of humiliation come into her body. This was going to be so much worse than she’d envisaged. On an impulse to cover up properly she scooted quickly from the bed and plucked her dress off the floor, stepping into it and pulling it up over her chest, clutching it there with her hands.

      She looked at Leo and fought to stay standing in the face of his obvious disbelief. ‘I’m afraid it is possible. I’m not what you …’ She bit her lip. ‘I’ve never been anyone’s mistress.’

      Leo’s hand came out in a slashing movement; anger throbbed in his voice. ‘You’re lying. This is some game you’re playing. I’ve told you, Angel, I don’t play games.’

      ‘Neither do I,’ she said miserably. ‘And believe what you want, Leo, but I don’t think it would take long to prove you wrong.’

      Leo just stared at her, his hands bunched into fists on his hips. It was as if he was trying to see inside her very soul.

      Angel couldn’t take the intensity of his regard. She looked down and stupidly felt she had to apologise. She quashed the impulse. ‘We didn’t … there hasn’t exactly been the opportunity to discuss …’ She stopped. Mortified.

      Leo’s tone had gone from angry to icy. ‘You could have informed me when I told you I was going to take you as my mistress.’

      Angel looked up, stung, anger rising. To think that she was going through this humiliation again. ‘How? Was I supposed to just come out with it?’

      Leo just glared at her, a muscle popping in his jaw. Angel felt deflated all of a sudden. She backed away. Leo didn’t let her escape his blistering gaze. ‘Dammit, Angel you should have told me.’

      He stilled then, and instinctively Angel grew wary. He asked silkily, ‘Did you come back here to sleep with me after discussing your options with your father? Like some kind of sacrificial virgin?’

      Horror rose from Angel’s gut. She shook her head. ‘No. No. How could you think such a thing? My father isn’t even here, he’s gone to London.’

      Leo raked a hand through his hair, making it flop with unruly sexiness onto his forehead. Angel’s belly clenched even now. She was aware of a pervading sense of hollow disappointment. Evidently he wasn’t willing to sleep with her, to take her innocence. Suddenly she couldn’t bear to be so vulnerable in front of him for a moment longer.

      ‘I’m going to go back to my room.’

      After a long moment Leo just nodded, and said darkly, ‘I think that’s a good idea.’

      Leo watched Angel walk out of the room, the gaping dress showing the slender length