Fortunes' Women: Mistress of Fortune. Kathie DeNosky

speed of light. When she sagged against him, he didn’t think twice about swinging her up into his arms to carry her into his bedroom.

      Cradled against him, her slight frame felt almost fragile and a tenderness he hadn’t expected filled his chest. A woman as sweet and sexy as Sasha was meant to be loved slowly, thoroughly, and he had every intention of spending the entire night cherishing her as he was sure his brother never had.

      Setting her on her feet at the side of his bed, Blake turned on the bedside lamp, then facing her, gently traced his index finger along her delicate jaw. “I’m going to spend the entire night showing you just how special you are, Sasha.”

      “Blake, there’s something you should know,” she said, looking a bit apprehensive.

      “Do you want me, Sasha?”

      “I shouldn’t.”

      “That wasn’t the question,” he said, shaking his head. “Do you want me?”

      She worried her lower lip with even white teeth a moment before she slowly nodded.

      “That’s all the answer I need,” he said, pulling her to him.

      He kissed her forehead, her eyes and the tip of her nose before lowering his mouth to hers. Her lips were sweeter than anything he’d ever tasted and he knew beyond a shadow of doubt that if he wasn’t extremely careful, he could become addicted to kissing her.

      As his mouth moved over hers, Sasha fleetingly wondered if she was about to make the biggest mistake of her life. But Blake was quickly robbing her of the ability to think of all the reasons making love with him could spell disaster for her and leaving her with nothing but the ability to feel.

      “I’m going to love every inch of you, sweetheart,” he said as he rained tiny kisses to the sensitive hollow below her ear.

      A delicious tingling filled every fiber of her being and her heart began to pound erratically as he slid his hands down her back. Slowly, deliberately, he began to gather the stretchy fabric of her dress in his fists until he reached the hem.

      “As sexy as you look in this little number, you’re going to look even better out of it,” he whispered close to her ear. “Raise your arms for me, Sasha.”

      Feeling as if she were in some sort of sensuous trance, she did as he commanded and in seconds she was standing before him in nothing but her underwear and a pair of black spike heels. If she’d had the chance, she might have tried covering herself, but Blake took her hands in his and held them out to her sides as his gaze caressed her from head to toe.

      His sharp intake of breath, and the spark of need she detected in his dark blue eyes, made her feel more feminine and desirable than she’d ever felt in her life. “Do you always wear a garter belt … and hose?” he asked huskily.

      She nodded. “I hate having to wiggle myself into a pair of panty hose.”

      “I’m glad,” he said, grinning. “There’s nothing sexier than a woman dressed in scraps of black lace and silk.” He glanced down at her feet and his deep chuckle warmed her all the way to her soul. “Unless the woman is wearing a pair of high heels.” When he raised his head to look at her, he gave her a smile that sent her pulse racing and caused a delightful fluttering deep in the pit of her stomach. “You’re absolutely gorgeous, sweetheart.”

      Her cheeks heated with a mixture of embarrassment and desire. “At the moment, I’m feeling a little underdressed.”

      “I fully intend to remedy that,” he said, shrugging out of his sports jacket. He tossed the coat onto a chair, then bent to remove his shoes and socks.

      When he straightened and reached for the buttons on his shirt, Sasha tried not to stare as he released first one button, then another. But as he slid the oxford cloth from his wide shoulders, the sight of his perfectly sculpted chest, rippling stomach and lean flanks caused her to catch her breath. She’d known he kept himself in good physical condition, but she’d never dreamed that his clothes were concealing a body that could rival that of a Greek god.

      As he unbuckled his belt and lowered the zipper at his fly, Sasha abandoned all pretense of nonchalance and simply stared as he slid his trousers down his muscular thighs and revealed the true magnificence of his hard body. Taut and lean, Blake Fortune was perfect in every way.

      She swallowed hard when she noticed the straining outline of his erection through his white cotton briefs. He was also unquestionably aroused. The thought that she was the object of his desire caused an interesting and not at all unpleasant tightening in the most feminine part of her.

      Unsure of what to do, she started to slip out of her heels, but he shook his head. “Don’t. I want the pleasure of taking those off of you.” He pointed to her garter belt, bra and panties. “And I’m looking forward to peeling away those little scraps of silk and lace as well.”

      She shivered with anticipation as she placed her hands on his wide shoulders to brace herself when he bent to remove her heels, then trailed his hands up her legs to the fastenings holding her stockings in place. As he slid the sheer nylon down her calves, Sasha caught her breath at the feel as his palms gently caressing her skin. She’d never in her entire life experienced anything quite so sensual or exciting as having Blake take off her under things, and by the time he removed her lace garter belt and satin panties, Sasha trembled uncontrollably.

      He reached for her then, and holding her captive with his heated gaze, unfastened the front clasp of her bra and slowly slid it from her shoulders. “You’re absolutely gorgeous,” he said as he cupped her bare breasts in his large hands.

      Her knees threatened to give way when he lowered his head and kissed first one tight nipple, then the other. But when he took one of the puckered buds into his mouth to tease it with his teeth and tongue, she had to brace her hands on his shoulders to keep her knees from buckling.

      “You taste like peaches and cream, sweetheart.”

      His warm breath feathering over the moistened tip of her breast made it all but impossible to catch her breath. “If you keep that up … I’m not sure … how much longer … my legs are going to support me.”

      Raising his head, his smile held such promise goose bumps prickled her skin. “Let’s lie down.”

      Before she could move to sit on the side of the bed, he reached down to pull the comforter back, then picked her up and gently placed her in the center of the wide mattress.

      “I could have gotten into bed on my own, Blake.”

      He looked at her tenderly as he stood up and hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his briefs to pull them down. “I like the way you feel in my arms.”

      She would have told him that she liked having him hold her, but the words died in her throat as he slipped off his underwear and tossed them on the chair with the rest of his clothes. When he turned back toward her, Sasha’s heart stalled at the sight of his impressive arousal. Although she’d seen the nude male physique, nothing could have prepared her for the reality of Blake Fortune standing before her fully aroused and looking is if he intended to devour her.

      Feeling more than a little intimidated by his size and the strength of his need, she raised her eyes to meet his questioning gaze. “There’s something … you probably need … to know.”

      He shook his head as he tucked a small foil packet beneath his pillow, then lay down beside her to gather her to him. “All I need to know is that you want me as much as I want you.” He raised up on one elbow, and leaning over her, kissed his way down the slope of her breast as he skimmed his palm along her side to the swell of her hip. “You do want me to make love with you, don’t you, Sasha?”

      As she gazed up at him, she knew in her heart that she’d waited for this moment her entire life. She’d had other opportunities to make love with the men she’d dated, but she’d never before been able to share herself. And with crystal clarity, she suddenly realized why. None of them had been Blake Fortune.

      “Yes,