It was all she could do to keep herself from crawling up onto his lap and straddling his waist for a more direct, illicit contact. Instead, she grasped his bare shoulders with her hands before her legs gave out on her and she dropped her head closer to his. "And then what?" she dared to ask, even as her breath came in short, anxious pants.
Lifting his free hand up to her face, he gently brushed the backs of his knuckles against her flushed cheek before threading his fingers through her hair and curling them around the nape of her neck. He drew her head down to his, and the last thing she caught was the lust simmering in his eyes before she felt his lips graze along her jaw, all the way up to her ear.
He pressed his cheek against hers, the electric scrape of his evening stubble on her soft skin an erotic sensation that heightened the sexual tension rising between them. She closed her eyes and leaned more fully into his hard, lean body, anxiously awaiting what he'd say next.
He certainly didn't disappoint her. "And then, when you were wet and soft and ready for me, I'd slide deep, deep inside of you," he murmured, his breath warm and damp against her ear. "I'd fuck you slowly, make it last so I can savor everything about how you feel, inside and out… how hot and tight you are, the way you moan when I thrust high and hard, and the way your soft breasts and hard nipples feel rubbing against my chest. Then there's the friction of our bodies straining together, and finally, how exquisite you feel gripping my cock as I come."
She shivered, and with his fingers tangled through the hair at the back of her neck, he gently tugged her head back so their gazes met once more and their lips were mere inches apart. There was something strangely exciting about being at this man's mercy, as she currently was. God, she wanted him, with a fierce, powerful kind of need she'd never experienced before.
With her own mouth poised so close to his, she issued a challenge to get exactly what she desired. "So what's stopping you from doing all that?" Certainly not her.
"At the moment, not a damn thing," he said gruffly, and took her mouth with his own.
Chapter Six
WHEN it came to his kiss, Cameron made good on his promise to go slow and take his time, giving Mia a small sampling of what kind of ecstasy he was capable of giving her with his mouth. And his hands.
At the moment his palms were sliding down her spine in a provocative caress that made her arch toward him like a cat craving more of his petting and attention. He traced the indentation of her waist with his fingers, the curve of her hips, and when he reached her bottom, he cupped her buttocks in his hands and pulled her lower body flush to his. His thick erection pressed against the crux of her thighs, right where he belonged, making her wish they were both naked so she could feel that hard, sleek length sliding along her weeping sex.
The connection of their mouths gradually deepened, but only because he allowed it. Their tongues touched, slid together, and mated in slow, sweeping strokes. He ate at her mouth like a succulent piece of fruit, alternating licking and sucking with mind-blowing precision. He made her weak with wanting. Excited with anticipation. And anxious to feel him pushing deep inside her again.
A woman could die from so much lust and sexual tension surging through her all at once. At least, that's how she felt at the moment.
Moaning deep in her throat, she rolled her hips against his, seeking more pressure. More friction. More everything. She wanted to be taken, right here, right now. On his lap, up on the counter, or even on the floor. Fast or slow, she didn't care, so long as he appeased the growing ache spreading like wildfire through her veins. She was on the brink of going mad, and it was all his doing.
But instead of following through on the rest of the erotic fantasy he'd just shared with her, he ended the kiss and leaned back in his chair, though his hands remained touching her, lingering on her hips. She couldn't read his expression and had no idea what he was thinking or feeling at the moment, though it was obvious by the huge bulge straining against the fly of his jeans that he was still plenty aroused.
Mia's insides clenched with disappointment that he'd brought everything to an abrupt stop, especially when she'd been more than willing to go all the way, but she was hopeful she'd at least managed to sway him to take on her case. "So does this mean you'll help me out?" she asked, striving for a playful, teasing tone.
A half-grin tipped up the corner of his mouth. "Why do I feel totally and completely manipulated into saying yes?"
He was going to make her work for this, she realized, and she was certainly willing to play the game his way to get what she wanted. "You're the one who started all that sex talk, not me." Not that she was complaining, though her body was certainly protesting the way he'd revved her up, only to leave her strung tighter than a bow. But they'd get back to that problem in a few minutes, just as soon as she secured his help.
He crossed his arms over his chest, which only made him look more devastatingly male. More masculine. More sexy. "Yeah, well, talk is cheap."
She laughed. His way of talking had been anything but cheap. "And actions speak louder than words," she quipped right back. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I want the same thing as you?"
His gaze narrowed, though she could tell he was toying with her. Maybe even testing her. "Why? You got what you wanted from me last Friday night."
And of course he believed she was a woman who only indulged in one-night stands. And she couldn't blame Cameron for his way of thinking, considering that's the impression she'd always given him-that she was carefree and frivolous and only out for a good time, nothing more.
She pushed away the unexpected hurt and focused on seducing Cam instead. "Maybe I want more than one night," she said as she trailed her fingers up his hard, muscular thigh, which tensed beneath her touch. "Maybe I want to see if you're really up to the challenge of making me come with a guy. Specifically, with you."
His eyes flashed with heat and lust. "Okay, you've definitely got my attention."
She couldn't contain her triumphant grin. "You want me. I want you." She shrugged as if the end results were obvious. "The way I see it, this can be a win-win situation the whole way around, for both of us."
"A temporary affair while I help you figure out who sent the pictures, while leaving your brothers and cousins out of the equation?"
"It works for me."
But despite her grand plan, Mia was well aware that she'd have to protect her heart in the process, because she was beginning to fear that this man had the ability to affect her on a much deeper level than any guy she'd dated before. And a broken heart at the end of their affair wasn't something she wanted, or needed, because there was no doubt in her mind they would go their separate ways. No matter how good the sex between them might be, she could never be what Cameron wanted in his life-someone demure and sweet and accommodating. Everything about what he wanted in a woman went against who she was, and she wasn't about to change for any man. And especially not that drastically.
"So what do you say, sugar?" she asked in a cajoling tone of voice. "Do we have a deal?"
He stared at her for a long moment, seemingly weighing the pros and cons of accepting her deal. "I'd say you drive a hard bargain."
"Hard being the operative word?" She grinned shamelessly at him.
He chuckled and shook his head. "You're something else, you know that?" Then he grew serious once more. "I'll agree to help you out, with a few conditions."
She should have known he'd set down rales. The man was a straight shooter and did everything by the book. "Which are?"
"When it comes to the case, you do as I say and don't do any kind of investigating on your own or without me knowing about it," he said succinctly.