9
Oh, he knew how to kiss. His tongue mated with hers in a rhythm that exactly matched the pulsing it set off in her body. Fireworks sparkled along her nerve endings, making every inch of her so sensitive that the merest brush of clothing against her skin seemed overwhelmingly sensual and sexual.
He shifted, pulling her closer and pinning her body to his, so they were locked together and her throbbing center was out of reach even as it grew heavy and aching with need.
All from a kiss.
Her body wanted to fight the imprisonment until she felt his hardness against her belly. She understood then. He wanted her every bit as much as she wanted him. Somehow that freed her in a way desire alone couldn’t have.
He continued to hold her close with one arm as he kissed her, but his other hand began to wander. He stroked her side from breast to thigh, to the point where his leg trapped hers, then swept it up again, slowly… oh, so slowly.
And as it returned upward, she gasped.
She arched a little, breaking the kiss. He stayed there for a while, drawing slow, lazy circles on her middle while his mouth claimed hers again, this time more gently, echoing the touch of his fingers.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.
Impatience started to build in her again, causing her to squirm a bit against his bondage, but he didn’t release her. Her breasts ached for a touch, a kiss, until she thought she would go out of her mind from the longing.
A burst of laughter jolted them both out of the wild compulsion to pursue more and more sensation. It came from another group ofpeople emerging from the restaurant and heading for their cars. Collins sucked in a deep breath, one hand lifting to cup her cheek, fingers stroking soft reassurance.
‘I know a private place. I’ll drive us there.’ he said.
Her mind was too shattered to think. With quick, purposeful strides, he bundled her around to the passenger side, all his energy focused now on taking her with him. Jasmine was still too tremulous to take any positive action herself. He’d already guided her into the car and fastened her seat bell before she remembered…
‘The key…’ he said
It wasn’t in her hand anymore. ‘I must have dropped it.’ she replied.
‘I’ll find it.’ He bent and kissed her, stoking the need that had been left hanging.
She sat dazed by the whole tumultuous eruption of passion. It didn’t even occur to her that she hadn’t given him permission to take control of her car. He settled behind the driving wheel, flashed her a dazzling grin as he fastened his seat belt, switched on the engine, and they were off.
‘Where are we going?’ she finally found wits enough to ask.
Another white grin-the grin of a man on a winning streak that couldn’t be stopped. ‘To a place that was made for us, Jasmine Leclaire … a place that will give us a night to remember.’
——-
A night to remember… The seductive words kept floating through Jasmine’s mind as Collins drove through Terrigal, crossed the bridge over the lagoon, and headed along Ocean Drive Road-all familiar territory to her, yet nothing felt familiar on this journey with Collins Templeton.
They hadn’t put the hood of the convertible down. She was closed in with him and he seemed to dominate the space inside the car, emanating an irresistible power that would pull her along with him wherever he wanted to take her. That was seductive, too, removing from her all responsibility for what happened. Except Jasmine knew that wasn’t true.
She could still say no, though her gaze was continually drawn to the hands firmly wrapped around the driving wheel, hands in control, sure of what they were doing, and the wanton desire to feel those hands on her clouded any decision. So far he hadn’t done anything she hadn’t secretly yearned for. Why stop now? Yet wasn’t it risky, even dangerous, trusting herself to him like this?
At the Wamberal roundabout he took the road that led towards Forresters Beach. Jasmine told herself it would be easy to stop this madness now, insist he drive to Leonard’s place and say she didn’t want to take this night any further. It was the safe thing to do, just open her mouth… and lose out on having Collins Templeton as her lover for one night.
This immensely desirable man…
Even in profile he was strikingly handsome. And his aggressively male physique had a sexual power which stirred basic instincts she could neither ignore nor deny. More than that, every time he looked at her, his eyes seemed to connect to what she was thinking, what she was feeling… dark burning eyes, challenging her to acknowledge that the desire between them was real. Not a fantasy. Real and urgent and compelling. Every jangling nerve end in her body was still affirming this reality.
Whether it was right or wrong for her… was such a question relevant at this point?
She was over thirty. Thirty-one. And going nowhere with the man who’d monopolised her interest for the past few years. It was time to face the fact that Robert was a footloose philanderer and always would be. Collins Templeton might be one, too, for all she knew, but at least he wasn’t pretending to have fallen in love with her and he’d been honest about not holding out more than one night with him. This blind date did not have a blind end to it. She knew precisely what was on offer.
Well, not precisely. Her imagination was running riot, fueled by the feelings Collins had stirred in her. It might be a wild, reckless act to ride this tide until time ran out but she didn’t want to go home wondering what it might have been like. She needed to know there was something more than Robert had given her, something she could look for in the future, knowing it was real.
The car slowed, turned into Crystal Street, the road to Leonard’s place.
‘We’re going to Forresters?’ she blurted out, seized by the panicky thought that he had changed his mind, deciding she wasn’t worth losing sleep over.
‘No.’ He flashed her a smile that sparkled with anticipation. ‘We are going to a little bay just past the headland at Forresters. You’ll see. It’s the perfect place for us.’
Perfect… He didn’t have any doubts.