First Rapture Read online

Page 7

  “There’s no need to pretend,” she said with a shrug. “It’s time to put the past behind us. ”

  He studied her pale face, wishing he could read the emotions that churned just below the composed surface.

  He didn’t doubt her desire. Her slender body was shivering with the same excitement that pulsed through him, her nipples already hard and begging for attention. And he didn’t doubt for a minute that he could arouse her to the point she would forget everything but their mutual passion.

  But he didn’t like the suspicion she was holding a part of herself separate from him.

  He grimaced. Did she think he intended to do another hit and run?

  Damn. Maybe it was time for a full confession.

  “I’m all for concentrating on the here and now. ” He allowed his gaze to run an appreciative glance down the perfect lines of her body, taking pleasure in the sight of her black, fuck-me-now stilettos. “But there’s something you should know—”

  “No,” she sharply interrupted. “There’s been enough talking. ”

  Luc’s body agreed as she turned to cross the ivory carpet, crawling onto the bed with a sensuous grace. He was briefly distracted by the faintly darker patch of skin on her lower back. It almost looked like…makeup? Odd. Unless she had a birthmark she was covering up.

  Then his curiosity was forgotten as she laid back, her hair flowing across the ivory pillows.

  Shit. He reached down to undo his pants, releasing his erection that was painfully sensitive. With concise movements he had them shoved down his legs along with his silk underwear. He kicked them off, ridding himself of his socks as he prowled toward the bed.

  Madison watched his approach from beneath lowered lids, provocatively licking her lips as he perched on the mattress next to her.

  “What are you waiting for?” she asked in husky tones.

  “I’m trying to remember,” he muttered wryly.

  She reached to run a finger down his arm. “Stop thinking,” she urged. “God knows that I have. ”

  It was the hint of self-derision in her tone that forced him to think past the lust thundering through his body. He wanted to claim more than just her body.

  A knowledge that should have been terrifying.

  Instead it just felt…right.

  “Not until I’ve confessed the truth. ”

  Her eyes narrowed at his soft demand. “What truth?”

  “I came back,” he said with blunt simplicity.

  She stiffened, something that might have been denial rippling over her face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. ”

  “The next morning,” he said, deeply regretting when her fingers fell away. He loved the feel of her light caress. “I returned to the trailer. ”

  She shook her head. “You don’t have to lie. ”

  “It’s no lie. ” He leaned down to steal a slow, searching kiss, tasting expensive champagne and pure female desire. It was intoxicating. “I knew when I was fleeing from your bed that I was acting like a coward. Unfortunately I didn’t have the backbone to return and face you like a man. Instead I went back to my apartment and drank myself into oblivion. ” Their lips brushed as he spoke, sending white-hot darts of pleasure straight to his aching cock. “It wasn’t until I woke hours later with a pounding head and a nasty taste of shame in my mouth that I knew I had to go back. ” Another long, lingering kiss. Who knew kissing could be so addictive? “When I couldn’t find you, I assumed you must be with your mother. It wasn’t until nearly a week later that I finally accepted that you’d left town. ”

  “It doesn’t matter,” she muttered, sounding as if she was speaking more to herself than him. But she readily tilted back her head as his mouth moved to plant a line of kisses down her throat. “Nothing matters but tonight. ”

  “It will be different, Madison,” he promised, his tongue pressed against the pulse racing at the base of her throat.

  She shivered, her breath coming in tiny pants. “Please…no more talking about the past. ”

  “I want you to trust me. ”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Madison struggled to think. Hell, she struggled to breathe as the erotic sensations thundered through her.

  Why was he doing this?

  She didn’t want to know that Luc Angeli had gone back to the trailer. Or that he might actually have felt guilt for having broken her heart.

  Tonight was all about revenge. A revenge she’d dreamed about for eight long years.

  Of course, her dreams had never matched this moment.

  She’d forgotten that a mere brush of his fingers could send lust jolting through her. And that his kiss would make her feel as if she were melting.

  She’d been a starry-eyed innocent the first time she’d shared her body with Luc, so overwhelmed with giddy excitement she’d barely been able to appreciate being seduced by a master. Now she was all woman, and while the giddy excitement remained, it was edged with a sharp-edged hunger that was demanding satisfaction.

  A realization that was both annoying and inevitable.

  Tonight was not going at all like she planned, but grimly ignoring the whispers of warning in the back of her mind, Madison placed her hands on his chest, exploring the satin heat of his skin.

  “This isn’t about trust,” she told him, relieved when his eyes darkened at her soft caress. “This is all about need. ”

  There was a brief hesitation before Luc gave a low growl, allowing himself to unleash the hunger that she could see smoldering in his dark eyes.

  “Yes. ”

  He turned on the edge of the mattress, leaning toward her reclined body.

  Madison’s breath tangled in her throat as his bronzed skin glowed in the muted light.

  He was stunning. Broad shoulders. A toned chest that was lightly dusted with black hair. Washboard abs, a narrow waist and a thick erection that made her pussy clench in anticipation.

  God almighty.

  It’d been so long since she’d felt this near-painful excitement. Eight long years. She’d forgotten just how overwhelming it could be.

  “No man should be so beautiful,” she whispered, openly staring.

  “I’m not beautiful. But you…” He sucked in a slow, deep breath, his eyes darkening until they looked black in the shadowed light. “I need you. ”

  She licked her lips. Christ. Was she really going to do this?

  Was she going to have revenge sex with a man in the hopes it could purge him from her system?

  The answer came without hesitation.

  YES.

  And she was going to savor every second of it.

  Easily sensing the last of her hesitation being seared away beneath the heat of his hungry gaze, Luc was swooping down to claim her lips in a shattering kiss that demanded utter surrender.

  He rolled on top of her, pressing her into the mattress. She groaned in pleasure. The heat of his skin scorched her with a dizzying pleasure, the drift of his fingers down her arms leaving trails of fire behind. Everywhere he touched was tingling with an excruciating arousal, the faint tang of his male cologne teasing at her senses.

  “You feel perfect in my arms, Madison. ” He cupped one breast in his hand, gently taking her nipple into his mouth.

  Madison hissed out a shaky breath at the feel of his tongue lashing the tip of her sensitive nipple, the sensation arrowing straight to her pussy. How could he enthrall her with such ease?

  And why the hell couldn’t she feel this with any other man?

  Was it because she’d fantasized about Luc from the second she’d become aware of her own sexuality?

  Or was it the simple fact that he was the most gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes on?

  Lifting her hands, she slid them over his hot skin, stroking them down his back. Smug satisfaction spiraled through her at his low moan of pleasure. It was proof that he wanted her with the same intensit
y as she wanted him.

  As if the thick erection pressed against her inner thigh wasn’t proof enough.

  “You’re good at this,” she muttered.

  He lifted his head to smile down at her.

  “We’re good together. ”

  “Yes. ” Emotions long forgotten seared through her at the familiar bad boy smile and the heat in his eyes. The intensity of them was unnerving. As if she’d harbored a portion of her childish crush beneath the years of seething anger. All at once her instinctive fear threatened to yank her out of her sensual daze.

  No.

  It couldn’t be possible.

  Could it?

  “Luc—”

  “You were right, Madison, there’s no more need for words. ” He kissed her, using his tongue to deepen his possession. Madison shuddered, her body arching beneath the greedy demand of his hands that stroked over her naked body. “Just feel. ”

  Excitement raced through her like wildfire, the sheer force of his demands overriding her annoying inner voice.

  Feel…

  She closed her eyes, concentrating on the sensation of his thumbs teasing at her tightened nipples, and the hair-roughened thigh that slid between her legs to press against her sensitive clitoris. With every caress he spoke of his need for her. His blatant hunger was the finest aphrodisiac, making her wet and ready.