With Love From Las Vegas. Cat Schield

his lips were already gone. She sighed in dismay as he drifted kisses along her cheek.

      “You smell like sweetness and sin,” he murmured, dragging his thumb across her lower lip. “How do you manage it?”

      Relieved to know he wasn’t completely immune to her, she said. “New perfume. It’s called Sweetness and Sin.”

      “Remind me to buy you a case for Christmas.”

      His hands cupped her head, holding her poised between close-enough-to-kiss and his-lips-weren’t-going-anywhere-near-hers. Despite the anticipation humming through her body like a high-voltage power line, anxiety was beginning to seep in.

      Why was he stalling?

      Had she imagined the interest in his eyes? What if he didn’t find her attractive after all?

      Maybe if she gave him a little reminder why they were here, he’d remember his manners and make love to her.

      “Sebastian,” she began, her tone a low warning.

      “Yes, Missy?”

      In one long caress, he eased his hands down her spine to her hips and back up again. Her muscles melted against his hard body. As nice as it was being this close to him, proximity to so much raw male power was causing a dramatic spike in her sexual frustration.

      “We had a deal.”

      “Deals are made to be broken.”

      “I won you fair and square,” she said, determination punctuating each word. “So, quit stalling and pay up.”

      Frustrating woman.

      Yet amusement dominated annoyance at his assistant’s command. How had he never noticed her bossy streak before? “Where would you like me to start?”

      “I’d like a kiss.”

      His attention zeroed in on her gorgeous mouth. At the moment, it was pursed like a disapproving librarian’s. Far from kissable.

      “Then what?”

      His question launched her eyebrows toward her hairline. When her lips popped open to utter whatever brazen retort brimmed in her eyes, he lowered his head and took control of her mouth.

      Warm. Sweet. Pliant. Her lips came alive beneath his. She opened to him and surrendered. He’d never dreamed it would be like this with her. No hesitation. No games. Just pure joy. Delicious perfection.

      Right now, he wanted Missy like no other woman he’d ever known. His need gave her power and that infuriated him. But he couldn’t stop the onslaught of longing to take everything she offered him.

      Her tongue danced with his. Already he knew how she liked to be kissed and what to do with his lips and teeth that made her writhe against him in wild abandon. Desire swept over him, an enormous, overwhelming rush unlike anything he’d ever experienced. He swallowed her curves in his hands, pulling her tighter against his body.

      Seconds before he lost himself, Sebastian tore his mouth from hers and twirled her around. Chest heaving, he trapped her in his arms.

      “Why’d you stop?” she demanded.

      Because taking advantage of this situation would come back to haunt him later. She wove her hips from side to side in a way that drove him half out of his mind. He groaned.

      “What are you doing to me?” Fanning the fingers of one hand on her pelvis, he pulled her snug against his erection.

      “If you don’t know, maybe I’m not doing it right.”

      He set his mouth against her neck and sucked gently, marking her. “You’re doing just fine.”

      “Do you need me to tell you what to do next?”

      Damn her for making him smile. “No, I think I’ve got that covered.”

      He gathered her dress in his hands, bunching the material in slow increments. The hem crept up her thighs as she gulped in air. When her legs were exposed to the top of the stockings, Sebastian stopped what he was doing and grazed his fingertips along the very edge of the nylon a hairbreadth from her bare skin.

      What was his ordinary assistant doing in clothing this provocative? “Sexy, sexy woman. You’re driving me mad.”

      Missy murmured something unintelligible.

      He didn’t ask her to repeat it. Instead, he let his hands wander upward. Contact between his caressing fingertips and her bare skin threatened the semblance of control he’d recaptured.

      “Sebastian.”

      Frustration filled every syllable of his name as it slipped from her lips. He sympathized. He ached for her in ways he’d never imagined. He drifted a light caress upward over the triangle of silk that covered her mound. Scarce inches below, her heat called.

      “Are you sure about this, sweetheart?” He traced her panty’s edge. His heart thundered against his ribs. “Because if I go any further, I won’t be able to stop.”

      Truer words had never been spoken.

      “Touch me,” she begged, a catch in her voice.

      Sebastian slid his fingers lower, aiming for the soft, wet center of her. Despite the throbbing in his groin, he stopped short of his goal. His muscles shook with effort while he forced himself to consider the consequences of what he was about to do. This was Missy. They’d worked together as professionals for four years. What if there was no going back from this? Where did that leave him? Leave them?

      “Sebastian, please.”

      She squirmed in his grasp. His control wavered. He tried to hold on while rational thought melted as fast as an ice cube in hell.

      Her palms came to rest against his thighs. The bite of her fingers against his legs sparked stars in his vision. Her frank sensuality excited him. So did her wanton gyrations.

      “Sebastian.” She seized his hand and pressed it against her hot flesh.

      With a jubilant roar his carnal side broke free. Surrendering to instinct, Sebastian slipped his fingers between her thighs, applying the perfect amount of pressure to make her cry out. Satisfaction detonated inside him. He intended to make her come. He needed to take back the power she’d stolen with her sexy transformation.

      She ascended fast. Faster than he’d anticipated. Great breaths turned her lungs into bellows as she neared the top. Her orgasm hit her so hard she almost took him with her. He’d never experienced anything as incredible as the feel of her as she abandoned all control to him and came apart in his arms.

      To his dismay, Sebastian’s knees lost strength. He knelt and supported Missy as she sagged, easing her to the floor. Once she was flat on her back, he followed her to the carpet, pressing her breasts beneath his chest. Linking their fingers, he set their joined hands beside her head and surveyed her flushed cheeks and unfocused gaze.

      Mission accomplished. She looked as shell-shocked as a well-satisfied woman should.

      Time to stop before either one of them did something they couldn’t take back. He’d agreed to a night with her. No reason that night had to involve either of them naked and rolling around on Egyptian cotton sheets.

      They could spend the time working.

      That’s what he should do. It’s what logic told him to do. She might be disappointed, but she wouldn’t be surprised. He always based actions on reason, not emotion.

      Sebastian dipped his head and stroked his lips against hers. His heart rocked in his chest. What was he doing? This was madness.

      He released her hands and framed her face with his fingers. She caressed his shoulders and gathered handfuls of his hair, tugging him closer. He obliged her with a second sweeping pass. This time, finding her lips parted, he lingered, tangling their breath, coasting his tongue along the inside of her lower lip.

      She tasted