First Rapture Read online

Page 9

  Not just because he wanted to feel her warm body pressed against his aching cock, but because he suddenly sensed that she was pulling away from him.

  And that was…unacceptable.

  As if to prove his point, Madison laid her hands against his chest. “Luc. ”

  He pressed his lips to the top of her head, sucking in a deep breath. He didn’t want to discuss what had just happened between them.

  He just wanted to savor round two. And three.

  Tomorrow they could dissect this passion that had only become more explosive over the past eight years.

  “Mmm. Vanilla,” he murmured. “Every time I smell it I think of you. ”

  She pressed her palms against his chest. “Luc, wait. ”

  Reluctantly, he pulled back to study her face that was still flushed with arousal. “What’s wrong?”

  “I need to get up. ”

  Every instinct rebelled against the thought of allowing her to leave the warmth of his arms.

  “Why? We have all night. ” He peered deep into the hazel eyes, searching for…what? An assurance that she’d been as shaken as he’d been by the intensity of their lovemaking? “Hell, we have as long as you want. ”

  “I…I have to use the bathroom. ”

  “Damn. ” He grimaced, loosening his grip so she could scramble off the bed and head for the bathroom. “Don’t be long,” he called after her retreating form, again noticing the smudge of makeup on her lower hip. Sometime he intended to ask her if she had a birthmark. He didn’t want her to feel as if she ever had to hide anything from him.

  Scooting up on the headboard, Luc phoned down to order the champagne and a plate of fresh fruit and chocolates. He hoped that Madison wasn’t one of those women who always felt the need to starve herself. He had an erotic vision of her eating her dinner off his body.

  Just the thought of her tongue lapping champagne off his bare skin was enough to make him groan. Christ. He needed Madison back in this bed.

  He glared across the hotel suite, wondering what could possibly be taking so long.

  Surely she didn’t think she needed to fuss over her makeup and hair?

  Yeah, he was male enough to appreciate her beauty, but it wasn’t what made her so fascinating.

  Or why he was so desperate to have her back in his arms.

  He’d known a hundred beautiful females who hadn’t made him look twice.

  On the point of barging his way into the bathroom and hauling her back to the bed—or maybe he’d just lure her into the shower—the connecting door was shoved open.

  “At last—” His words came to a sharp halt, his brows snapping together at the sight of Madison wearing a casual yellow sundress with a scooped neckline and spaghetti straps. Her hair pulled into a simple ponytail. “Why are you dressed?”

  Opening a large Gucci bag, she set it on a chair and began collecting her clothes that were scattered over the carpet.

  “I think that should be obvious. ”

  Luc watched her jerky movements with a strange sense of incredulity. Was this the same woman who’d just shattered in his arms? Who’d cried out his name at the height of her pleasure?

  “Obvious to whom?” he demanded. “Certainly not me. ”

  She shoved her gown and shoes into the bag, not even glancing in his direction. “I’ve done what I came to do and now I’m leaving. ”

  “Leaving?” His sluggish thoughts struggled to make sense of this abrupt change from lover to stranger. “You said this was your room. ”

  “I paid for the night. ” She at last turned to face him, her expression unreadable. “Feel free to stay if you want. ”

  With an impatient growl, Luc shoved himself off the bed, stalking toward her. “What the hell is going on here?”

  She tilted her chin, her body rigid. “Come on, Luc. You’re an intelligent man. ”

  He halted directly in front of her. “I used to think so, but clearly there’s something wrong with my brain since I can’t think of one reason you aren’t in this bed with me. ”

  “I told you, I finished what I came to Vegas to do. ”

  Luc flicked his gaze toward the packed bag before returning to Madison’s aloof expression. Anger abruptly replaced his confusion.

  She was packing to leave.

  “You came to screw me?” he snarled.

  “To seduce you,” she corrected.

  “Why?” He glared at her in disbelief. “You wanted a quickie for old times’ sake?”

  She kept her chin at a defiant angle, but Luc didn’t miss her covert step away from his tightly coiled body.

  “I wanted you to feel what it’s like to be lying in a bed when someone else walks away. ”

  “Son of a bitch,” he breathed, suddenly remembering his earlier suspicion that Madison was hiding something from him. Now he knew. “This was revenge sex. ”

  “Precisely. ” A sweet smile curved the lush lips he’d so recently imagined wrapped around his cock, but it did nothing to warm the cold hazel eyes. She grabbed her bag. “Goodbye, Luc. ”

  Luc was standing in front of the door before he even realized he was moving. “I don’t think so. ”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Get out of my way. ”

  He folded his arms over his naked chest, his gaze taking in the frantic pulse at the base of her throat.

  So. She wasn’t the ice queen she was pretending to be.

  “No,” he said, grabbing her by the waist and tossing her over his shoulder.

  He hadn’t built a financial empire without developing the ability to take command of a situation.

  No matter how crazy-ass the situation might be.

  “Stop,” she rasped, slamming her fists against his back. “What are you doing?”

  With a smooth motion he had her off his shoulder and dumped onto the mattress. She landed with a furious gasp, tangled in her yellow silk dress.

  “You’re not leaving until you tell me what’s wrong with you,” he warned.

  “Wrong with me?” She shoved herself onto her elbows, glaring at him with a combination of fury and something that might have been fear. Not of him. She had to know he’d never do anything to hurt her. At least not physically. Her fear was of losing control of the situation. “You’re the lunatic who won’t let me leave. ”

  “I will once I have the truth. ”

  Her lashes swept down, hiding her eyes. “I told you the truth. ”

  “That you spent the past eight years plotting revenge because I hurt your feelings?” he demanded, anger still clouding his mind.

  “You humiliated me,” she muttered, refusing to meet his outraged stare. “And I didn’t spend eight years plotting. As you pointed out, I’ve built a successful career. That doesn’t happen without dedicated attention to my work. ”

  “Exactly,” he snapped. “Which means you should have outgrown this petty need for vengeance a long time ago. ”

  She hunched a shoulder. “You ruined what should have been a special occasion. ”

  He had.

  There was no denying he’d botched the entire night. Starting with showing up at the trailer in the first place. He’d known she was innocent, and that she would expect more than he could offer at that time.

  Still it seemed extreme to devote eight years to payback.

  In fact, it seemed preposterous.

  He frowned, forcing aside the fury clouding his mind.

  Madison wasn’t a bunny-burner. She was intelligent, driven, and successful on a level that only a small percentage of people ever achieved.

  So why be obsessed with one lousy jackass from her past?

  “No. ” He gave a sharp shake of his head. His disreputable past as a womanizer meant he understood human nature. Especially when it came to the fairer sex. This wasn’t adding up. “There’s more to this. ”

  She turned her head to glare at the far wall, a
brittle tension vibrating around her. “If you insist on this pointless conversation, would you put on some clothes?”

  He snorted. “Why? Does my body bother you?”

  “I’m tired of seeing you naked. ”

  “Odd,” he purred, his gaze sliding down her slender form. The sundress had twisted around her thighs, revealing the spectacular length of her legs. Legs that had recently wrapped around his waist as he’d pounded into her. “Just a half hour ago you couldn’t wait to see me naked,” he reminded her, taking pleasure as she flinched. “And you certainly weren’t complaining about my lack of clothes when I was buried deep inside your body and you were groaning in pleasure. ”

  She jerked her head back to meet his mocking gaze, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

  “No one could ever claim you aren’t a stud who knows how to use his equipment. You’ve practiced enough, after all. ”

  His eyes narrowed at the hostility that edged her voice. “That’s it. ”

  She frowned. “What?”

  “That bitterness,” he said. “It’s more than a woman disappointed at having her virginity taken by an immature son of a bitch. ”