Mediterranean Nights: The Mistress Purchase / The Demetrios Virgin / Marco's Convenient Wife. PENNY JORDAN

she had brought her wrap—and she was even more pleased when without a word Leon took it from her and draped it gently over her shoulders. Was it her imagination or did his fingers really stroke slowly against her bare skin before he stepped back from her?

      The path which wound up along the hillside and through the gardens was well illuminated by the strategically placed lighting. The sky was a blue-black dome of velvet, sprinkled with diamond-bright stars, with the thin sliver of a crescent moon.

      The path curved and slipped between a small stand of trees into a hidden grove of scented darkness, which took Sadie by surprise, causing her to half stumble on an unseen step.

      Immediately Leon reached out to steady her.

      ‘Thanks.’ Although the ground was in darkness there was enough light from the moon for her to see his features. The intensity of his gaze her made her heart thump frantically. ‘I didn’t realise there was a step there.’ It was disconcerting to know how at odds with the way she was feeling the bland mundanity of her words was.

      ‘No. I’m surprised the hotel management hasn’t had this area better lit. Surprised, but extremely pleased,’ Leon told her rawly.

      ‘Pleased?’ Was he actually saying what she thought he was saying? Sadie’s heart was doing more than merely thumping now; it was practically turning excited cartwheels! Instinctively she looked up at Leon, and the hungry look in his eyes caused the whole world to spin dizzily round her. She stood very still.

      Slowly Leon lowered his head, his mouth seeking her own. Silently she waited, hardly daring to breathe in case she broke the spell that was binding them together in the magical and intimate darkness.

      His lips touched hers, firm, warm, sure and knowledgeable, making her feel…

      Making her feel like a woman, Sadie acknowledged giddily. Like a very desirable woman.

      Strong male hands drew her closer, one resting in the small of her back, the other lifting to her neck, sliding beneath her hair, supporting her head as the pressure of his kiss tipped it backwards.

      Sadie exhaled a disbelieving shaky whisper of breath before eagerly parting her lips to the probing thrust of Leon’s tongue. She could feel the solid trunk of a tree behind her shoulders, and yet had no memory of having stepped backwards. Leon’s hand had left the small of her back and travelled to the rounded curve of her bottom, urging her into his own body.

      With a fierce thrill of delight she recognised his arousal, her body reacting to it with a sensual abandon that had her pushing her hips against him, revelling in the immediate and passionate response of his hands and his mouth as he gripped her harder and thrust his tongue deeper into the eager softness of her mouth.

      Her own arms were wrapped tightly around him now, her breasts sensitised by the movement of her body against his. In her mind she could already picture his hands covering their nakedness, feel the fierce tug of his mouth against her nipples.

      She shuddered violently at her own thoughts. A sharp spike of shock pierced through her, only to be overwhelmed by a fresh wave of aching longing as Leon pressed her even more closely to his body.

      He felt excitingly hard and… Instinctively Sadie’s mind shied away from what she was thinking, imagining…

      She wasn’t in the habit of assessing a man’s virility in terms of shape and size, and she most certainly wasn’t in the habit of getting excited about them—or him!

      What had happened to her normal reserve? Not to mention the moral objections… the sheer common sense she should be heeding?

      Leon’s mouth was moving along her jaw and towards her ear, leaving a trail of delicate kisses that filled her with stunning delight. Dizzily Sadie acknowledged that just the whisper of his breath… his lips against her skin… was sending her crazy. Not that he was exactly immune to the reaction he was arousing in her, judging by the way he was gripping her hips and pulling her tightly against his body, Sadie realised with a fierce thrill of female pleasure.

      ‘The way you’re making me feel I could take you here and now, do you know that?’ Leon groaned against her ear, confirming her thoughts and sending her pulse rocketing out of control whilst the images inside her head became even more explicit and steamy.

      Again she wondered—where was her normal, sane and sensible self that should have been objecting sharply and immediately to what he was saying? Why was she moving her body even closer to his instead of pulling herself away?

      Sadie didn’t know, and what was more she didn’t care. In fact, if Leon chose to put his threat into action, she didn’t think she would be able to object. Object…? She was aching so badly for him that…

      Now it was her turn to moan out loud with delight as his hand moved up her body and cupped her breast. Just the feel of his thumb-tip rubbing sensuously across her tight, aching nipple made her bite on her bottom lip to stop herself from begging him to take off her top and expose her breast to his gaze, his touch and the hot, hard caress of his mouth.

      Frantically she tensed her muscles, squeezing her thighs together as she felt the surge of longing rocket through her.

      As though he guessed what was happening to her, Leon cupped her hip, his fingers kneading her rhythmically.

      She was leaning fully against the tree now, letting it take the weight of her body whilst Leon’s hands sensitively explored every inch of her, making her quiver from head to foot in open longing.

      When his hand stroked gently between her legs she groaned huskily and shuddered.

      ‘Sadie…’ As Leon took her hand and placed it against his own body she almost sobbed with pleasure. Her hands were long and slender, but the hard swollen length of him extended beyond her outstretched fingertips. Sadie closed her eyes, pleasure a dark velvet blanket of sensuality behind her eyelids. She ached as though she had a fever for the feel of him inside her. She’d had no idea there could be desire like this—instant, immediate, hot and hungry, a need that burned everything else into oblivion and drove a person relentlessly until it was sated.

      No doubt in Leon’s eyes, she decided helplessly, she was totally unworldly and naïve not to have experienced something like this before. Unlike him!

      How many times… how many women…? That thought burned through her in a hot agony of molten jealousy that stiffened her whole body.

      ‘Sadie?’

      Suddenly they both heard voices somewhere lower down the path. Immediately Leon released her and bent to pick up the shawl which had fallen from her shoulders.

      Tucking her hand through his arm, he guided her back to the path. She was shaking so much she suspected she would have stumbled if he hadn’t been holding on to her.

      Unable to keep her feelings to herself, she burst out emotionally, ‘I don’t believe this is happening.’

      ‘You don’t believe or you don’t want to believe it?’ Leon challenged her.

      Tiny tremors of reaction were still seizing her body, and Sadie knew that Leon must be aware of them. What an idiot he must think her, to get in such a state over a mere kiss. Only for her it hadn’t been just a kiss, had it? For her…

      ‘It’s all right, Sadie,’ she heard him telling her gently, when she was unable to answer his question. ‘Will it help if I admit that I’ve been caught as much off guard by what happened back there as you? I can’t pretend that I haven’t spent all evening imagining what it would be like to take you to bed, but…’

      ‘I… I don’t do things like this,’ Sadie told him stiffly, suddenly feeling exposed and vulnerable. ‘I don’t make a habit of… of this sort of thing. You might…’

      ‘I might what?’ he asked, disconcerting her when he guessed accurately. ‘Were you thinking that I might go to bed with a different woman every night of the week? Is that what you’re trying to say?’

      Embarrassed, Sadie shook her head.