The Dare Collection November 2018. Christy McKellen

a long moment before rising to spear mine again.

      ‘I was betrayed by my fiancée, too.’

      Shock squeezed my insides tight. ‘You were engaged?’

      His phone buzzed. He slid it out of his pocket, read the message and tucked it back. ‘Yes. Eat up, Leonora.’

      I stared blindly down at my plate, then back at him. ‘Are we in a hurry?’

      ‘I sure as fuck hope so. Vadim has agreed to the final terms of the deal. His lawyers have just sent the signed papers to me.’

      My heart lurched wildly, then proceeded to bash itself crazily against my ribcage. ‘And that means...?’

      Gideon sat forward, trailed his forefinger over my lower lip. ‘It means I’ve been a good boy long enough. Now I intend to be very, very bad.’

      I had very little memory of finishing my meal. But I must have because by the time Maximo appeared to clear the table, my plate was empty.

      ‘Are you ready to go?’ Gideon’s demand was rough, barely coherent.

      At my nod, he rose, tossed down a handful of crisp notes and meshed his fingers through mine. Whatever he muttered to Maximo on the way out made the other man smile. I added a quick smile of my own before we burst out into the quiet street. Lightning forked from where our hands connected and radiated through my body. Anticipation rippled through me, dragging a jagged little sound from my throat.

      Gideon froze, his grey eyes spearing mine on the shadowed street. ‘Fuck, I’m not even touching you properly and you’re already turned on, aren’t you? I can’t wait to experience all this sexiness.’

      Was it possible to both love and hate that level of arrogance? I remained in place when he started to move again.

      He dropped my hand and planted himself in front of me. ‘What are you up to, Leonora?’

      ‘Are we headed back to the yacht?’

      That edgy look in his eyes increased a hundredfold. ‘Yes. Any objection?’

      I laid a hand flat on his chest, felt the hard thump of his heartbeat beneath my palm. ‘No, but I’d like to start with a clean slate so let’s even out the odds right now.’

      The look on his face was a reward of its own. He laid his hand over mine, trapping it against his chest. ‘I’m up for that. What do you have in mind?’

      We were on a quiet street, with many dark shadows at this time of night. I curled my fingers around his and tugged him towards a darkened doorway. We risked discovery but I didn’t really care in that moment. I’d wanted him for way too long and I was going to have him, self-preservation be damned.

      ‘Leonora.’

      I ran my fingers down his hard torso. ‘Are you ever going to call me Leonie? I bet I can make you,’ I teased.

      His mouth twisted in a half-smile, the heat blazing in his eyes adding a layer of lethal attraction to the dynamism that was Gideon Mortimer. ‘Sweetheart, I’m learning that you can probably make me do a hell of a lot of things,’ he rasped gravely.

      I took three steps up into the sheltered doorway. Lust and darkness saturated the air as I pushed him against the wall.

      The flash of surprise on his face was immediately masked by fevered anticipation. Without giving him a chance to speak, I dropped my clutch, curled my fingers into his collar and pulled him down to me.

      His lips met mine, allowed me entry with an eagerness that matched my own. Hot and urgent hands wrapped tight around my waist, yanking me to him a second later.

      We kissed like ravenous beasts, everything that had gone before a mere foretaste of what was coming. I flicked my tongue against his and then boldly licked my way into his mouth. He tasted of wine, agitation and barely leashed hunger, and I wanted him badly.

      When the need for oxygen pulled us apart, I trailed my hand down his chest again, releasing a few buttons as I planted open-mouthed kisses along his jaw and down his throat. The sensation of his five o’clock shadow against my bruised lips sent flames arrowing to my core. I was supposed to be turning him inside out and yet I was the one growing wilder by the moment. The need to up the ante firing through me, I nipped at the taut skin beneath his jaw and felt him shudder.

      ‘Fuck.’

      His skin was warm, a touch rough and, oh, so sexy. I could’ve spent all night exploring him but a different need powered through me. I drew my tongue over his Adam’s apple as I freed a few more buttons.

      ‘Whatever the fuck it is you’re doing, know that if we end up getting arrested, it’ll be totally worth it,’ he grated.

      I smiled and dragged my nails down his abs to his belt. A couple of quick movements and I released it and tugged down his zip. My eyes locked on his, I slipped my hand inside his boxers and boldly captured his cock.

      A fevered hiss tore from his throat before his head dropped back to thump against the wall. An instant later, he was back to watching me, his greedy eyes following my eager stroking.

      The beauty of his cock overwhelmed me. ‘God, you’re so hot.’

      He gave a husky chuckle. ‘Keep stroking my ego like that, and this will be over much quicker than you want it to be.’

      ‘No, it won’t. You’ll come exactly when I want you to.’

      One eyebrow lifted but I sensed a change in him. Perhaps he was used to taking control with his previous lovers. I intended to meet him on equal footing or not at all. ‘Do what I say and I’ll give you a choice.’

      ‘A choice of what?’ His voice was gruffer.

      I glided my clenched fist from the root of his cock to the tip where a cheeky drop of precome glistened. ‘I’ll give you a choice whether to come down my throat or on my tits. I know how much you love them.’

      His head jerked back against the wall, and he groaned deep. ‘Bloody hell, Leonora.’

      ‘Is that a yes?’

      ‘It’s a hell fucking yes.’

      The taut admission drew a smile from me. ‘Good. Kiss me again, Gideon,’ I instructed.

      Large hands cupped my face and he dragged me into another mind-blowing kiss. It was rough and hard and almost bruising but I loved every second of it. When I wrenched my lips from his, we were both panting. Gideon stared at me with that bewildered look in his eyes again. ‘Jesus, you’re beautiful,’ he muttered.

      Propped against a wall with his shirt undone and savage hunger on his face, he was the most incredible thing I’d ever seen.

      ‘So are you,’ I blurted with unfettered honesty.

      A blush stained his cheekbones as I slowly dropped to my knees. A shudder rolled through Gideon as he watched me from beneath hooded lids. Eyes on him, I leaned forward and flicked my tongue over the tip of his cock.

      His breath hissed out.

      ‘Do you like that, Gideon?’

      He exhaled audibly. ‘You know I bloody well do, you witch,’ he growled.

      ‘A witch, am I?’

      Without giving him the chance to answer, I wrapped my lips around him and sucked him deep. His fingers convulsed in my hair, his stance widening as he jerked forward.

      ‘Leonora...’

      Something tugged in my chest at hearing him say my name with that gruff helplessness. His use of my full name might have irritated me when we first met but something about the way it fell off his tongue had grown on me.

      God, the list of things I liked about him was growing by the minute.

      With a soft moan, I slid my tongue down the underside of his beautifully veined length, then drew him into my mouth,