Chapter 3
What are you doing agreeing to a one-night stand?
Maya’s inner voice screamed. Too bad she didn’t have an answer.
She had never done something so bold in all her life.
Her mind and body were at odds but, somehow, clearly her body had gained the upper hand.
She felt like she was in one of those old cartoons with the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other.
The sensible side of her said women did not sleep with a man they just met, that she should date for a while and then see.
But there was a side of Maya begging to get out that argued, Sensible and practical is overrated.
Isn’t that what you did with Stephen? And look where that got you?
This was so unlike her. She hadn’t even asked where they were going.
For all she knew, he could be a serial killer.
Okay, she didn’t believe that last part, but still.
She glanced around the hotel lobby. At least there would be dozens of witnesses.
Then again, last-minute reservations were expensive.
“Maya?”
She blinked and realized Ian was talking. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
“I said I hope you don’t mind that I reserved a room here.”
“No. Wait. When did you reserve a room?” Maya’s first thought was relief, then curiosity.
Ian grinned sheepishly. “Right after I left you earlier. Are you having second thoughts?”
“Um...no.” Actually, she was flattered. Stephen had never taken the initiative to even make dinner reservations.
He squeezed her hand and smiled. “I’m glad. Can you excuse me? I need to speak to the concierge for a minute.”
“Okay.” She watched him confidently stroll across the lobby.
The man certainly knew how to command a room.
She put him close to six feet tall—wearing a pale gray suit she knew had never touched the rack—clean shaven, closed-cropped black hair, smooth coffee-with-cream skin and eyes.
Several women did double takes as he passed.
In fact, one woman stopped, turned and stared with her mouth hanging open. Maya chuckled.
“Ready?” Ian asked when he returned.
She took his extended hand and walked with him to the elevators.
The reflective glass elevators rose swiftly, making the city lights pass by in a blur.
Maya continued to have mixed emotions about what she was getting ready to do while they rode the elevator up to their floor.
As much as she tried to deny it, Stephen’s deception had been a major blow to her self-esteem and some part of her wanted.
..no, needed to feel desirable again. And Ian made her feel that way.
Tonight, she decided, would be all about her.
Tomorrow she could go back to her old, practical self.
The elevator came to a halt on the thirtieth floor and she allowed him to guide her down the hall.
He stopped at a door, unlocked it and stepped back to let her enter.
Her gaze swept over the room and she realized he had booked a suite.
Maya jumped slightly when Ian came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders.
He turned her to face him and she tried to hide her embarrassment.
“Nervous?” Ian asked.
She nodded. “A little.” That wasn’t exactly the truth. She was a lot nervous.
Ian angled his head and stared intently at her. He obviously sensed it, because he pulled her into his embrace and said, “Maya, I want you, but if you’re having second thoughts we don’t have to do anything.”
She knew he wanted her, felt the solid ridge of his erection pressed against her belly and read the desire in his eyes. She also saw honesty reflected in his face and it had a calming effect on her nerves. “I want you, too.”
“Good. I want to kiss you again.”
“That’s all?”
He chuckled low and dark. “Sweetheart, kissing you is just the start of what I want to do to you...what I’m going to do to you.” Ian lifted her hand and placed a lingering kiss on the back, turned her palm up and circled his tongue over the pulse point on her wrist.
Her breath hitched. Electricity shot from her arm straight to her core and she felt a rush of moisture between her thighs.
“I hope you don’t have anywhere to be tomorrow,” he murmured, still teasing the pulse point. “I plan to touch, taste and explore every delectable inch of your gorgeous body. When I’m done, neither of us will be able to move.”
Maya’s eyes widened when his statement filtered through her haze of desire.
What had she gotten herself into? Before she formed a reply to his heated promise, he slanted his mouth over hers in a kiss that was hot, hard and literally made her weak.
He tasted of chocolate and cognac. The heady combination sent her senses spiraling out of control and she gripped the lapels of his suit coat to keep from sliding to the floor.
Desire unlike anything she had ever felt raced through her body and she trembled as his tongue made sweeping, swirling motions inside her mouth.
He brought his hands up to frame her face, holding her in place and delving deeper.
When he finally lifted his head, Maya was breathing like she had run a marathon.
“Mmm,” Ian said.
“What are you doing to me?” she asked, still trying to catch her breath.
A wicked gleam leaped into his eyes. “Tasting you.”
Oh. My. God!
He leaned forward again, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. “Ah, right on time.” He stepped around her and went to open the door.
She tilted her head, puzzled. A hotel employee entered pushing a cart with two covered domes. Ian tipped the man and closed the door behind him. “Did you order dinner?”
A smile played around the corners of Ian’s mouth and he shook his head. “It’s a little dessert.” He lifted the covers to reveal a bowl of strawberries, a bowl of melted chocolate and two servings of the black-and-white pudding parfait.
Maya laughed. “Is that from Mr. Capshaw’s party?”
“I told you chocolate is my favorite.”
“Well, go ahead.” He shrugged out of his jacket, loosened and removed the tie and then tossed them on the sofa.
Next, he went to work on his shirt. Keeping his eyes trained on her, he undid the buttons, one by one, until it hung open.
Her mouth ran dry when he discarded it, leaving him in trousers that hung low on a trim waist. Lean muscular arms, defined chest with a light dusting of hair and washboard abs.
Chiseled chocolate! She was so busy gawking she didn’t realize he had moved until he stood in front of her, and had undone the first button on her blouse.
“Will you trust me tonight, Maya?” Ian asked, his fingers lightly tracing the tops of her breasts above her bra.
There was something about the way this man touched her. “Trust you?”
“Yes. Will you trust me to give you pleasure? If you don’t like something, you can stop me at any time.” He bent and replaced his fingers with his tongue.
Maya could hardly talk. “Ye...yes.” For one night it would be about her and she wanted everything he had to give.
He continued unbuttoning her blouse. “Nice. Sexy.”
She glanced down at her black lace-edged bra. Thank goodness she’d had the presence of mind to wear matching underwear.
He helped her out of the top and carefully laid it across the corner of the chair, then reached behind her to lower the zipper on her skirt. Ian squatted down. “Step out.”
She did as he asked, along with the sensible two-inch pumps she always wore when working.
“I’ve been wanting to touch these beautiful legs all night,” he said, skimming his hands along her calves, up her thighs, and dragging her panties down and off. He came to his feet.
Maya started shaking again. “I... I thought you were going to have dessert.”
Ian picked up one of the parfaits, snaked an arm around her waist and walked her backward to the large table.
“I am.” He dipped his finger in the whipped cream, smeared it across her lips and proceeded to lick it off.
He groaned. “Absolutely delicious.” He dug out another portion, this time a mixture of the cream and the pudding, and made a path from her neck to the top of her breasts.
The sensation of the cool dessert followed by the scorching heat of his tongue sent shivers down her spine, and all she could do was brace herself against the table and moan. “Ian,” she whispered.
“Do you like that?”
“Yes.”
“What about this?” Ian unclasped and removed her bra. He smeared the pudding across her breasts, then made sweeping circles around her breast until he reached her nipple. He took the hardened bud into his mouth and sucked, repeating the action with the other breast. “You taste so good, so sweet.”
Her eyes slid closed and Maya managed a strangled moan. She couldn’t even begin to respond to his question. Never had a man done to her the things Ian was doing now, or made her feel so alive.
“I take that as a yes. Well, let’s see how you like this.”
She felt a warm sensation and looked down to see him drizzling the warm melted chocolate in a path from her chest to her belly and disappearing between her legs.
He picked up a hulled strawberry, dipped it in the chocolate pooled in her belly button and, holding her gaze, brought it to his lips. The sight turned her on even more.
“Mmm. The strawberry is good, the chocolate better, but neither compares to the delectable flavor of your skin.” He picked up another berry, dipped it and smeared the chocolate across her lips.
Maya snaked her tongue out and licked the chocolate from his finger, then drew the strawberry into her mouth, chewing slowly.
Emboldened by his play, she took some of the chocolate, rubbed it across the muscular planes of his chest and licked it clean.
“Mmm, yes. It’s very good.” She smiled, delighting in his sharp intake of breath and the tremor in his body from her touch.