Kings of California. Maureen Child

you’re not having any.”

      He held her tighter, his right hand sliding up her thigh. “Once I make a deal, I stick with it.”

      “Of course you do,” she said, nodding even as she let one hand slide from his neck, down his throat to his chest. His heartbeat thudded beneath her hand and she knew, whether his features were stoic or not, he wasn’t as calm as he pretended. “And so do I,” she added.

      “Good to know. Now, how about we start taking care of business?”

      “That might be easier for me if we didn’t call it business,” she pointed out, unbuttoning the front of his shirt.

      He shook his head and his eyes seemed to swallow her. “This is business, though, Gina. Nothing more. Don’t fool yourself. Don’t pretend that this is a real marriage. You’ll only be hurt in the end.”

      Well, nothing like a cold flood of reality to warm you up for the night’s festivities. He was making sure she didn’t put too much of herself into this bargain they’d struck. And maybe assuring himself that there wouldn’t be any hard feelings when it was done.

      That was fine with Gina. He could think what he wanted. Her thoughts she would keep to herself. Her dreams would remain hidden and secret, locked away in her heart. For now, she had the man she’d always wanted and she wasn’t going to let doubts or fears about the future ruin the night she’d been waiting for all of her life.

      Six

      His hands on her bare skin felt wicked. Felt…right. She felt as though she’d been waiting for this one particular moment all of her life. The moment when she would have Adam to herself. When she would take him into her body and hold him there.

      Her stomach was spinning, a weird combination of nerves and champagne. Her brain was racing, alternately shouting out warnings and egging her on. But Gina didn’t need urging. She unbuttoned his shirt and slid one hand across his bare chest. She felt his body jerk at the slight touch and knew that he wanted her as badly as she wanted him.

      The plush, gigantic bedroom was dark, but for the desert moonlight streaming through the open balcony doors. The white sheers hanging there fluttered and swayed seductively in a soft wind and the scent of desert sage wafted into the room.

      The bed was wide and high and covered in a luxurious white silk duvet that had already been turned down for the night. A mountain of pillows were stacked against the black iron headboard. Adam carried her with quick steps, right to the edge of the bed. Then he set her on her feet, grabbed the edge of the duvet and tossed it heedlessly to the foot of the mattress.

      Gina’s knees went a little wobbly, so she locked them just to make sure she didn’t do anything totally stupid like topple over. In the semidarkness, Adam’s chocolate-brown eyes looked nearly black as he stared down at her. His mouth was thin, tight, as if he were holding on to the ragged edge of control.

      Well, she didn’t want him controlled.

      She wanted him wild and eager and spontaneous. Biting down on her bottom lip, Gina lifted her hands to the front of his shirt and undid the rest of the buttons. While he stood there, unmoving, she pushed the shirt off his shoulders and down his arms, to drop to the floor. Then she let her hands slide across his hard, warm chest. Felt the soft brush of the dark hair that whorled across his tanned skin. Felt him flinch when her thumbnail stroked the tip of one flat nipple.

      He grabbed her waist, his hands big and hard and strong. Then he yanked her close, holding her to him so that she felt the thick ridge of his arousal. Looming over her, he stared into her eyes and Gina felt the heat of that gaze fire up her insides like a match to a pool of gasoline.

      His mouth came down on hers with a fierceness she hadn’t expected. His tongue parted her lips and she opened for him, inviting his exploration. Their tongues twisted together in a heated dance that was only a prelude of things to come. Gina’s breath caught in her chest and her head began to swim.

      Her body alive with sensation, she groaned from the back of her throat when Adam’s hands slid up to cover her breasts. He stroked her, causing the lace to rub across her already sensitized nipples with a delicious friction that heated her core and drove her to the edge of madness. Each touch was a fire. Each touch only made her want the next. Each stroking caress tautened the tension already coiled inside her.

      When he tore his mouth from hers to lick and nibble his way down the length of her throat, Gina tipped her head back to give him more access. His mouth was a wonder. His hands at her breasts a lovely torture.

      Then he shifted position, lifting his hands to the thin, ribbonlike straps of her nightgown and he slid them down over her shoulders. Gina shivered a little at the cool glide of his fingertips against her skin, then shivered harder as he pushed the nightgown down and off to puddle at her feet.

      The desert wind was cool as it brushed into the room and danced across her skin, but Adam’s gaze kept her too warm to notice. He looked her up and down, then looking directly into her eyes, he lifted her again and dropped her onto the mattress.

      She bounced once, then settled back against the backdrop of pillows, a lavender scent drifting to her like a lost memory of summer. Her center, hot and aching, had her shifting on the smooth, cool sheets, looking for the release her body already clamored for.

      Gina watched as Adam stripped quickly out of his clothes. Her mouth went dry when he was naked and her gaze dropped down to the incredible, hard length of him.

      Gina forced herself to relax, ordering her legs to loosen and the hard knot of worry to dissolve in the back of her mind. She’d known him her whole life practically. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her. Knew that even if he didn’t love her, he would take care of her.

      Then he was moving over her and her brain shut down. All she had the strength to focus on were the sensations rippling through her body in relentless waves. His hands, his mouth, his body, lavished attention on her. Every inch of her felt alive and tingling.

      He closed his mouth over one nipple and Gina nearly leaped off the bed. His lips and tongue and teeth tormented her until she whimpered and shifted beneath him, trying to get closer. Her hands slid up and down his broad, muscled back and her short, neat fingernails scraped over his skin.

      He groaned against her and Gina’s hips rocked into him. She lifted one leg, trailing the sole of her foot along his leg, desperate to touch him. To feel all of him.

      “You smell incredible,” he whispered, moving his mouth from one nipple to the other.

      Gina made a mental note to buy more of the citrus/flowery body lotion she preferred.

      She stared up at the moonlit ceiling above them and stared blindly as shadows shifted and waved against the pale lemon paint. Her breath struggled in and out of her lungs. Her body burned and when he moved lazily and she felt that hard, thick length of him rub her core, she gasped and arched higher. “Adam…”

      “I know,” he whispered, lifting his head to look into her eyes.

      She met his gaze with a dazed look, and saw the wildness in his eyes. Gina took his face between her palms and drew his head to her. She wanted to kiss him. To feel that connection of want and desire build between them. To have his body atop hers, his heartbeat thundering in time with her own.

      The kiss seared them both. Heat and passion trembled in the air and Gina put all she had into it. She gave him her heart in that kiss, whether he knew it or not. She poured the feelings she’d so carefully banked for years into that one instant of mouths and hearts blending and when she felt him shift, positioning himself between her legs, she kissed him even harder.

      She wanted his mouth on hers when he entered her and so she moved with him, spreading her thighs, lifting her hips while at the same time keeping her lips firmly attached to his. His tongue swept across the inside of her mouth as he pushed his body into hers.

      He lifted his head, looked down into her eyes and held perfectly still, allowing her body to adjust to the presence of his. Gina groaned,