Fascinated

'It's only a bracelet, darling, not the crown jewels of England.'

'Scotland.'

He rolled his eyes.

'If I decide to keep it, I need three things from you.'

'They're yours.'

'No caution?'

'You can have whatever you want.' A staggering statement from a man who habitually viewed intruders into his life with suspicion.

She grinned. 'That's the third thing.'

His brows flickered in amusement. 'And my favorite, I warrant.'

'First, I'd like some cafe au kit.'

'I've never met a lady so easy to please.' He poured her a cup, glanced up with a spoon poised over the sugar bowl, poured in two when she held up two fingers and added hot milk until she said, 'Stop.'

'And the second?' he asked, handing her the cup.

'Where did you get the bracelet in the dead of night or do you keep a supply in your luggage for the ladies you bed?'

'I ordered it when Claude came up for your note.'

'The shops were closed.'

'The shops are always open if you want them to be.'

'Really. And how many times have you opened the shops?'

'On several occasions. My cufflinks were from Carrier here.'

'Was this?'

He nodded. 'They know me.'

'I don't think I want to hear any more. You probably do this all the time, and-'

'I don't do this all the time.' It was the most honest statement he had ever uttered. He had never been obsessed before. And he had had numerous opportunities in the last twenty years to experience the phenomenon.

'Then, we're both tyros,' she quietly observed, 'because I've never slept with a stranger or any man other than my husband. I've never enjoyed myself so. I've never been given chocolates for breakfast-or diamond bracelets- anytime at all. So thank you for-this rare glimpse of heaven.'

'You're very welcome, and once we-shall I say-engage in the response to question number three, you may thank me again.'

She cast him an assessing glance. 'Such confidence.'

'In the not-too-distant future, I expect you can tell me if my confidence is warranted.' He pointed at her cup. 'Now, drink your coffee and eat some pastry,' he softly commanded, 'because you're going to need your strength.'

'There are times, although don't let it go to your head,' she said with a provocative smile, 'when I adore that voice of command.'

'How fortunate, since I have these inexplicable urges to possess you. Would you like to be mastered, darling?' His dark brows faintly rose in query. 'I could tie you up.'

'No!' But a thrilling frisson fluttered up her spine.

'Or I could initiate you into droits de seigneur.'

With anyone else she would have taken fierce offense; but his dark gaze was scandalously wicked, and the thought of being dominated by his strength and power quickened her ready sexuality. 'What exactly would that entail?' she hesitantly inquired.

An iniquitous smile curved his mouth. 'A good deal of pleasure for us both.'

'How exactly would that occur?'

'Are you taking notes?'

'The concept makes me marginally nervous, although not with you-I think…'

'Trust me, darling,' he assured her. 'It's only for fun. Now eat something,' he added, handing her an almond pastry. 'I wouldn't want my dairy maid to be hungry when I lift up her skirts and put my stiff prick in her.'

His words ignited a flame deep inside her; she could almost feel the thrilling invasion. 'You make certain aspects of a dairy maid's life sound tantalizing,' she murmured, a heated tremor in her voice. 'And perhaps the dairy maid could order her master about as well…'

His gaze went shuttered. 'No.'

'Why not?'

'Because I don't allow it.'

'Because?'

'You don't have enough time for the answer, nor do I care to discuss it. You had your husband, and I had'-his eyes went utterly cold for a moment-'other people in my life I prefer to forget.'

'Except you can't forget everything, can you?'

'It depends what you're doing,' he softly said.

'Is that why you travel the world?'

'I don't want to talk about this.'

'And that's also why you're so good in bed.'

'That's why,' he brusquely said. 'Are we done?'

'Certainly. I know how to be polite.'

'I'm not interested in politeness.'

'Actually, I'm not either.'

His gaze held hers for a potent moment, and then they both laughed.

'I'm interested in sex with you,' she said in well-bred accents.

'I'm interested in protracted sex with you.' His boyish smile lit up his eyes.

'That's pretty simple.'

'It can be.'

'If I don't grill you on your feelings.'

'You're intelligent in addition to being one of the world's most beautiful women.'

'And you should know.'

'And I should know. Are you warm now?' he gently inquired.

The discussion was over

'Very warm. It must be these quilts.' Her glance was playful.

'I'm sure,' he softly drawled, pulling away the fold of quilt that covered her breasts. 'Although your nipples look like they're cold.' They were hard, peaked, provocatively long.

'Your reference to prolonged sex took their fancy.'

'And they became hard for me?' Reaching out, he slid his fingertips around the taut crests, the imprint of his silken touch instantly registering in the pit of her stomach, a delicious heat streaking downward like molten pleasure.

'We've been so busy seeing to your orgasms, I've been derelict in my attentions to these large, lovely breasts.' Softly gripping her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers, he tugged them, pulling them one way and then the other, her plump breasts swinging, quivering, the fleshy contours compressing and swelling-the coffee in their cups on the tray rippling with the gentle movement of the bed.

'Do you like that? Do you like me to squeeze these?' His fingers tightened their grip.

A convulsive heat liquefied between her thighs, and she softly moaned at the carnal pleasure.

'I can't hear you. Should I squeeze them harder?' The pink tissue compressed between his fingers, and bending his head, he licked one constricted tip.

She could feel the touch of his tongue in every taut nerve in her body, and shuddering, she wondered if she would ever get enough of him.

Relaxing his grip, he slid his palms over the outside flare of her breasts, slipping his hands under their delectable weight, lifting the quivering flesh upward until her breasts were mounded high, until her tingling nipples were conveniently at mouth level. 'If you want me to suck on you,' he whispered, lightly bouncing the pink globes,