Sets Appeal. Virginia Taylor

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СКАЧАТЬ had largely guided these self-serving thoughts.

      Now, although still influenced by a keen body part, he found he couldn’t use Vix in an act of silent revenge. Perhaps if she had been the woman he’d always assumed she was, a rich bitch with haughty opinions, he wouldn’t have changed sides, but a sophisticated man-toy she was not. Instead, she was bright and wryly funny, both of which he found more sexually stimulating than a bored divorcée looking for a night on the wild side.

      Crap! He couldn’t knock back a woman with so little confidence in herself. If he had her, he would be all kinds of a heel. If he didn’t, he would be all kinds of a fool.

      He massaged the back of his neck, undecided.

      Finally, he eked out a breath, opened the cabinet door, and glumly reached for a condom. This had to be his unluckiest night in his whole misbegotten life.

      Chapter 2

      Vix tried to ease her shoulders. Not knowing which was JD’s preferred side of the bed, she had taken the middle, lying on her back, hands at her side, looking available—or looking like a tomb effigy. Sighing, she sat up, chin on her knees, fingers thrumming on her shins. Perhaps posing on her side, one hand under her head and facing the door would look more appealing, more casual. She quickly rolled, wishing she had something to do while she waited, but a woman couldn’t do a lot in a strange bedroom other than wait and try not to feel apprehensive.

      Finally, the bathroom door opened and he appeared in the bedroom doorway, still dressed. He tilted his eyebrows at her, stalked toward her, and dropped a single packaged condom onto the bedside table nearest the door. Taking the hint, she scooted to the other side, staring at him. He stared back, his eyes refocusing on her lacy, flesh-colored underwear. With a sexy hitch of his mouth, he pulled his shirt over his head, baring a lightly fuzzed upper body packed with muscles. Her breath shortened.

      She didn’t want to stare, but he had a physique nothing short of magnificent. Turning his back on her, he sat on the bed and removed his shoes. He stood to unbutton his waistband, but before unzipping, he picked up his socks, shoes, and shirt. In a bundle, he tossed everything into his wardrobe and, as she watched, his jeans followed.

      He looked stunning from the back view. Surely, a rough-around-the-edges man like him would get her through this. Unfortunately, she could barely breathe after he turned. The well-marked length of his enormous erection showed clearly beneath his cotton jocks. She moistened her dry mouth, holding the bed cover so tightly that her fingers locked. As he swung onto the bed beside her, she swooped the covering to her chin in an automatic reaction.

      “Shouldn’t you be naked?” He sounded relaxed.

      She cleared her throat, willing herself not to blush. “Shouldn’t you?”

      “Not yet.” Facing her, the expression on his face looked wary. He ran a thumb slowly across her collarbone.

      She shivered, a reaction she couldn’t control. “Could you turn out the light?”

      “I could. Do I have to?”

      “Yes.” She swallowed.

      He swiveled around and switched off the bedside lamp. The heat of his body hovered, and she could smell toothpaste, which she now wished she had used. As her eyes grew accustomed to the dark, she could see his looming shape as he gathered her up against him. His overlong silky hair touched her cheek, tickling, and his bristles scraped her chin. Then, his palm slipped beneath the strap of her bra. She put up a hand to stop him, but he snapped the elastic onto her upper arm.

      Reacting like a petulant schoolgirl, she pushed against his hard shoulders. “No, don’t.”

      “Don’t what?” His mouth slid from her chin to the top of her breast.

      “Don’t touch me. Just do what you have to.”

      “Okay,” he said, his tone careful. Within a second, he was sitting on her thighs.

      She wouldn’t have minded lying that way forever, or at least until she could regulate her breathing, but she assumed she would eventually have to move her legs. Fortunately, he couldn’t see her or the expression on her face, which would be somewhere between nervous and puzzled. She tried to sound interested in proceeding. “Are you going to keep sitting on me?” she said in what she hoped sounded like a sophisticated voice. Her heart thudded like a drum.

      “If I did, that would make doing what I have to do fairly difficult.” He pushed her hair back with a single, casual finger, a gentle touch like a caress, but he didn’t need to placate her. He simply needed to get the whole thing over and done with. “What’s your next order?”

      “I don’t have one.” She wet her lips.

      “Well, do you mind if I follow my own plan?”

      “As long as... No, please go ahead,” she said, at a loss and wishing she didn’t want to tear the sheet off his bed and run. She hadn’t thought the whole encounter through. A man like him, well, he would be ultra-experienced. Women would flock around him. He would need to bat them off. She had chosen wisely, but she didn’t have the nous to follow through. Breathing through her nose, she tried to relax.

      He took each of her hands in his and, calloused palm against stiff palm, he raised them to the pillow beside her head. His mouth touched on hers, and stayed, lightly teasing. Her breathing sped up, her skin heated, and she tingled where she should. Now would be a good time to get the act over and done with. She arched her back, prepared to change to a more promising position while he buried his face into her neck, his breath shorter than she might have expected. Then, his knees edged hers apart. She tensed as his shape pressed between her legs. He exhaled and his grip froze.

      Momentarily, she coped with the heightening sensation but he made a noise like a growl and slid down farther down her body, taking both her bra straps to her elbows. She flipped her chest sideways. “No. Please.”

      He rolled off her, sat up, and turned on the light, blinking at her. With a wary expression on his face, he said, “How about a glass of milk?”

      “A glass of milk? You don’t want to…you can’t…I didn’t mean…I just don’t like being naked.”

      “So you implied.” He eased off the bed and disappeared.

      She sat hugging herself, hearing him clatter in the kitchen. She should leave. At the very least, she should be fully dressed when he returned, not foolishly expecting him to try again. Her eyes heated, and she blinked hard. Although he’d implied he would be cooperative, apparently if he couldn’t do as he wished, he wouldn’t do anything, and what he wanted to do was paw her all over.

      Her chin at an upward tilt, she moved to the side of the bed. If he preferred being in the kitchen to having sex with a willing woman, he could swill to his heart’s content. Then again, her pride wouldn’t let her escape until she had made a concerted effort. Chewing at her forefinger, she slid her cold feet back under the spread. While she made no decision whatsoever, he reappeared holding two frosted glasses. He placed one on the console beside her.

      “Do you not like being touched by me, or by anyone?”

      She reached for the milk. “I think touching is unnecessary, that’s all. It puts me off when I’m prepared to…when I’m willing to…when I’m thinking about…oh, great heavens, I don’t find СКАЧАТЬ