The warmth she was starting to feel for him didn’t have anything to do with garden variety lust.
“I told him to take us to my hotel,” Kyle explained as he slid into the seat beside her. “I’m on a floor away from the rest of the team.”
A smoky blues tune played on invisible speakers while white lights ringed the roof, dimming slightly once the driver closed the door. Shut behind blackout glass, Marissa felt her heart hammering wildly, and her skin tingled with the memory of how he’d made her feel earlier today at the carriage house. She’d been so busy since then—making plans for the trip, arranging care for her mother and contacting reporters—that she hadn’t had time to think about what this new shift in their relationship meant. But he’d been so good to her. So considerate and incredibly thorough when he’d touched her.
Kyle leaned forward and for a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her. But he reached past her for a remote control on the seat beside her.
“Privacy window,” he said aloud before thumbing a button. “Locked.” The device clicked into place with an audible hitch. “Doors, locked.” Another electronic snap.
He’d sealed them into complete seclusion.
There were no club-hopping voyeurs here. No competition for his attention. But she felt a little embarrassed about the way she’d sprinted out to the street, so eager to be with him. All her barriers were falling away and she wasn’t doing a thing to stop them. She tried to steady her breathing.
“A story will make it into the social pages tomorrow, for sure,” she informed him, tugging absently at the silk wrap dress that skimmed her knees. “Shawna owes me from a long-ago private interview with my mother.”
The stretch limo eased away from the curb, crawling slowly through the dark streets. One blues song faded into another, but the sound Marissa was most aware of was her pulse pounding in her ears. Being alone with Kyle—heading to a hotel—made her light-headed with awareness.
Part of her wanted to act on the sensual rush, while the other part of her feared the emotions winding around the attraction, intertwining with them, making her feel too much.
“Thank you. But right now, I don’t want to think about tomorrow.” Kyle’s voice turned rough with a hunger she understood all too well.
His green eyes roamed over her freely, heightening the awareness she already felt.
“No?” She didn’t want to, either. She’d sent a text to Stacy to prepare her for the story that would run linking Kyle to Marissa, but she wasn’t sure how her former client would react.
“No. I’m just so damn glad I talked you into being here with me.”
His hand rested on the seat between them. Close but not touching. She swallowed hard.
When he lifted his hand, he smoothed a strand of her hair where it rested on one shoulder.
“Did I mention how fantastic you look?” He tugged gently on the strand, extending it toward a shaft of light from one of the overhead “stars” on the limo ceiling.
“I don’t usually go all out—”
“You don’t need to. You have no idea how attractive you are.”
She hitched at the skirt again, oddly self-conscious.
“It’s okay. I don’t need you to feed my ego. I know my attributes are more … understated. After standing in my mother’s shadow all my life, I understand that I didn’t win the genetic lottery or anything, but I’m comfortable with who I am.”
Kyle was already shaking his head.
“I don’t know where you got the idea that you ever stand in anyone’s shadow. You command attention, Marissa. You’re charismatic. Captivating.” He lifted a hand to cup her face and smooth over her jaw. “It’s the force of your personality, whether you know it or not. I think you have some of that famous Brandy Collins stage presence. People can’t take their eyes off you.”
The idea surprised a laugh out of her. “Definitely not. But I think it’s nice of you—”
“I’m feeling a long way from nice right now.” A growl rumbled in his chest as he pulled her against him, the sound so feral it vibrated right through her. “Believe it. Don’t believe it. It’s still a fact.”
She didn’t want to argue with him now, when her blood heated at his touch.
“I’m glad,” she murmured, her hands finding his broad shoulders and savoring the feel. “I have to admit I’ve been looking forward to seeing you ever since my plane touched down.”
Her heart pounded with the admission and the memory of the moment. His eyes darkened and he palmed her knee, his hand heavy on her leg. The high leather seats and dark windows created a cocoon of intimacy.
“I wish I could have seen you get dressed.” He picked up the remote control again and dimmed the overhead lights until they twinkled like faraway stars. “I would have liked watching you brush out your hair. Slide on the stockings.”
He traced the thin line up the back of her calf and she shivered, her skin tightening and tingling. She inched closer, her knees grazing his.
“I don’t think we would have made it out of the hotel if we’d been together.”
With one finger, he skimmed down the line of the stockings to her heel, then made a curving, slalom run back upward. His progress was slow and steamy, making her picture that same teasing touch in other places. Her bare stomach. Down her hip.
“Do you think we’re almost at the hotel?” She slipped her hands under his jacket to touch him through the thin T-shirt beneath. The warmth of his skin made her want to tear off everything between them so she could feel that heat on her flesh.
“No.” He edged her skirt dangerously higher, lifting it just enough to expose one clasp holding up a stocking. “How about you let me take the edge off for you before we get there?”
Tugging on the elastic strap, he shifted the lace of her garter belt, a phantom touch along the top of her panties. Pleasure cascaded over her skin, desire pooling in her belly.
The soft tremor of the tires made the seat beneath her vibrate, adding to the fever building inside her.
“Only if I can do the same for you.” She wanted to touch him as badly as she wanted to be touched.
Besides, being with him earlier today had only made her more hungry for him, as if she’d churned up some inner sex goddess who demanded fulfillment.
“You don’t have to—”
She climbed onto his lap and straddled him, ending that line of discussion. Denim rubbed against her legs, tantalizing her with the warmth of the man beneath.
“I want to.” She’d never been the sexually aggressive kind, but Kyle had been so gentle with her before that she found herself wanting to repay him. Lavish touches all over.
For a moment, he held himself so still she was afraid he wouldn’t agree. It was crazy to mess around in the back of a limo. But the doors were locked. And she wanted him so badly….
A bump in the road nudged her forward, her thighs sliding down his and bringing them deliciously close. His gaze dipped south, taking in their perilous proximity.
With a groan, he gripped her hips and drew her down on top of him, his erection branding her sex right through their clothes. Then, a frenzy began as they moved in synch, unfastening hooks and buttons, clips and buckles.
Mindless with need, she stripped away his shirt and unfastened his fly, rocking against him while her fingers worked the buttons. Finding the condoms she’d stuffed in her purse, she laid them on the seat beside him. Ready.
“I don’t know what’s the matter with me,” she whispered to herself as much as to him, confused and overwhelmed by