Marrying for King's Millions / The Spanish Aristocrat's Woman: Marrying for King's Millions. Maureen Child
caress the valley between her breasts. “How about you show me what I paid for?”
Five
Julie just stared at him for what felt like forever. Shock had her feeling a little stunned, but as she looked at him, she sensed that he was waiting for her response. To see if she’d take this or stand up and call him on it.
He didn’t have to wait long.
His gaze was dark and hot and spearing into hers, daring her to look away. She didn’t. Instead, she pulled in a deep breath, kept her gaze locked with his and said too sweetly, “Since you actually paid the hundred thousand dollars to Jean Claude…why don’t I call him for you and he can show you whatever you like?”
Amusement flickered in Travis’s eyes and one corner of his mouth lifted. “Good one. But I’m not interested in your Frenchman.”
Frustration bubbled up inside her, frothier than the champagne she’d just drunk way too much of. “For heaven’s sake, he’s not my French—” She stopped because the amusement in his eyes was even brighter now. Frustration gave way to confusion. “You’re laughing?”
“Not laughing, smiling.”
“About?”
“About how we ended up here together, despite your Frenchman—”
She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off quickly. “And how we’ve both had too much to drink,” he continued. “And how you smell so good it’s driving me nuts.”
Her nipples peaked.
For pity’s sake, he didn’t even have to try and her body jumped and cheered.
“Plus—” he added, dipping his index finger into the valley between her breasts again “—you look beautiful. This dress…is amazing. It tempts me to peel it off you and discover all your secrets.”
She trembled. He was too close. Too warm. His breath was too soft on her face and the fire in his eyes was like an incendiary, quickening a similar blaze inside her.
When he wasn’t trying to seduce her, he was nearly irresistible. When he was trying, he was downright illegal. His finger stroked the tops of her breasts and Julie’s already fuzzy brain started clouding up completely.
“Um, Travis?” Her mouth was dry and her breath was coming in tight, short gasps that were really contributing to the whole light-headed thing.
“Yeah?” He kissed her shoulder again.
Oh, he had a great mouth.
“Um…” She was really trying to think, but it was suddenly so hard. Her nerve endings were lit up like a marquee in Las Vegas and her core was damp and hot and oh, so achingly ready that her brain probably figured it wouldn’t be required anymore that night, so it had shut down.
Still, Julie tried to think. She couldn’t quite remember what it was that had seemed so important a moment ago. His lips and tongue moved on her bare shoulder, the edges of his teeth scraping against her skin, sending shockwaves pulsing throughout her system. Like the aftershocks of an earthquake, everything seemed just a little off-kilter.
But at last, a solitary wispy thought flashed across her mind and Julie grabbed for it. “Right. Right, Travis…”
“Mmm…” He kissed the side of her neck and Julie tipped her head to one side to make sure he covered every square inch of available skin.
“We, uh, we agreed,” she said, struggling for air while trying desperately to hold onto that one tiny thought. “Agreed to a no-sex policy for this marriage. Remember?”
“Nope,” he whispered, kissing the base of her neck until Julie’s toes curled. “Don’t remember a thing.”
Was that his tongue on her neck now? Licking, tasting. Oh, my. “It was uh…in the uh…” What was that thing called again? “Contract! That’s it. It was in the contract.”
His fingertips smoothed over the tops of her breasts and her nipples popped even harder, each of them eagerly awaiting his attentions.
“We can always renegotiate a contract,” he said, sliding his free hand up her bare back to the nape of her neck. His fingers rubbed and stroked, and slid into her hair. “If we want to….”
She groaned and closed her eyes, relishing the feel of him all around her. His body was pressed close and his erection straining against her hip was unmistakable. One hand on her breasts, the other stroking her neck, her back, he was overwhelming her with sensation. Short-circuiting her mind with deliciously seductive maneuvers that left her breathless.
“Oh, boy.” She took a breath, forcing it into lungs straining for air, and when she blew it out again, she opened her eyes and looked at him. He lifted his head, his dark brown eyes locked on hers with a burning intensity she’d never seen before and she felt the heat as those flames reached for her, engulfed her. “Do we want to?” she asked. “Renegotiate, I mean?”
“Oh,” he said, sliding his hand from the base of her neck all the way down her spine to the curve of her bottom. Rubbing, stroking, he leaned in and kissed her, then smoothed the tip of his tongue across her bottom lip before easing back to meet her gaze again. “I really think we do.”
“Okay then,” she whispered, moving against him, letting him feel that she was as electrified as he. That she wanted him as much as he wanted her. “Let’s… negotiate.”
“Right.” He kissed her, slid the straps of her dress down and freed her breasts to his hungry gaze. Cold sea air touched her skin and Julie shivered, but it had nothing to do with the temperature. Every cell in her body was eagerly awaiting what came next.
When he cupped her breasts in his palms and bent to take her nipple into his mouth, he murmured, “Here’s my first offer….”
Julie hissed in air through gritted teeth, and held on to Travis’s shoulders as if without that stability she might just slide off the face of the earth. But she would die happy if he only kept his mouth right where it was.
As soon as that thought arrived though, he stopped, lifted his head and said, “Inside. Let’s take this inside.”
“What? What?”
He glanced around as if just remembering where they were. “You never know just how sneaky photographers can get and I’d rather not see us on the front page, if you know what I mean.”
Her eyes went wide as she covered her bare breasts with her arms and scuttled back into the hotel suite. Back against the wall, she waited while Travis closed the French doors and then swept the sheers shut with a yank on the cord.
“Oh, my God,” she whispered, gaze locked on him. “Do you really think someone was out there…watching us? Taking pictures?”
He shrugged, but his eyes were cold and dark, belying his easy dismissal of the notion. “You never know.”
“That’s just—” She blew out a breath and tried to struggle back into her dress as if covering her breasts now could somehow erase their earlier exposure.
“Pointless to worry about,” Travis told her gently. “My fault, I should have been more careful.” He stroked his hand along her shoulder, stopping her from dragging the dress straps back up. “But you tasted so good. You smell so wonderful. Look so…”
Julie’s body fired up again as if there hadn’t been an interruption. She leaned back into the wall as Travis bent his head, taking first one nipple, then the other into his mouth. Sliding his tongue across the sensitive tip, suckling, nibbling. He tormented her with tenderness. Conquered her defenses with gentle deliberation. And when she was gasping for air and wobbling in place, he stood up, took her mouth with his and sent her flying again.
His tongue tangled with hers and everything within her went hot and wild. Her core became a molten ache, desperate to have him