Im fine, she insisted.
No, youre not. You freaked out when I touched you.
It wasnt quite that dramatic, but he didnt seem interested in listening to her protests. If she were more of a shark, she would play on his sympathy and get him to woo her romantically. But lies werent her style. I swear, Jackson, Im okay. Go ahead. Put your arms around me again and let me prove it to you.
Very carefully, he stepped close to her.
How tall are you? she muttered, craning her head back to stare up at him in the dark.
Six foot three.
Isnt that huge for a movie star?
He shrugged and rested his hands cautiously on her waist. I guess its tall. I never have to worry about my female leads being taller than me.
She smiled a little and reciprocated by putting her hands on his waist. See? Im fine.
So it wouldnt bother you if I moved one of my hands up your back like this? he murmured.
Uh, no. Shivers were spreading outward from the slow glide of his fingers, threatening to shatter her into a million pieces. But other than that, everything was hunky-dory.
Can I cup the back of your neck like this? Your hair feels like warm silk on the back of my hand.
Yeah. Sure. Thats, um, great.
Do you mind me moving a little closer to you?
A little closer? His clothes brushed against her dress from her shoulders to her knees. Something akin to a magnetic field emanated from him and enshrouded her, energizing her from head to toe. Dang. What was that? Charisma? Raw, animal sex appeal? Whatever it was, she could see why he had become a movie star.
He stared down at her, his eyes black pools in the shadows of his face. Even wreathed in darkness like this, he was beautiful. It just wasnt fair. His mouth was less than a foot from hers, and she could taste the fine wine on his breath. She hadnt been able to drink any of it because of the painkillers shed been given, but she savored the hint of it, anyway.
Thewhatever it waszinging between them built until she thought she was going to explode. His eyes actually glowed a little as he stared down at her.
Say something, she whispered. Youre making me nervous. Not nervous in the way he was going to think she meant, but what he didnt know wouldnt hurt him.
My grandmother likes you.
I like her, too. Ill bet you I could convince her were dating.
He exhaled a gust of silent laugher. You could convince me without too much trouble.
Ana blinked up at him in shock. Her? Him? Her and a movie star?
Talk to me, Ana.
Her mind was completely blank. The notion of the two of them as a couple knocked words completely out of her brain.
She blurted the first thing that came to mind. Kiss me.
Oh, no. Where on earth had that come from?
His head bent down toward hers. If youre sure, I wont say no. He was actually going to kiss her!
Her stomach leaped and twisted while she tried to think of something clever and casual to say back to him that wouldnt make her sound like a moron.
His mouth touched hers very lightly. It wasnt tentative in the least, merely very tightly controlled. Careful. Intentionally gentle. Ana shocked herself by surging up into him like one of the waves pounding the rocks behind her. His lips were as hot as the rest of him, scorching her mouth as they moved restlessly, obviously interested in deepening the kiss, but unwilling to do more.
She opened her mouth hungrily, and when he didnt act on the invitation, she caught his lower lip between her teeth and bit down on it enough to get his attention.
Well, then, he breathed. And then his tongue plunged carnally past her lips. She met his tongue with her own, and they swirled together, wet and hungry.
Her arms looped around his neck, and one of his hands simultaneously slid down her back to the indent of her waist. He dragged her up against him until her toes barely touched the sand. Another kind of heat pressed against her belly, hard and demanding through the zipper of his jeans. He turned to the side, taking her with him, and pressed her back against a wall of cold, hard rock. You okay? he asked roughly.
Her entire body strained toward him, toward the fire of his hard body surrounding her. Oh, yes. She was more than okay. Her hands slid down his chest, down to his waist. Tugged at his shirt. Ahh, skin. Her palms flattened against his ribs, sliding around to the slabs of muscle that defined his back. The same muscles that had surrounded her in safety earlier.
He tasted of the wine hed sipped at the end of the meal, sharp and heady and masculine. His mouth lifted away from hers, then kissed its way across her cheekbone. Across her jaw, her neck. Her shoulder. And then his kisses trailed across her collarbone toward the low neckline of her dress. He nipped at the higher curves of her breasts. And heaven help her, she ran her hands into his hair and pulled his head down to her breasts more tightly.
I wanted to do this all the way through dinner, he muttered.
And I wanted you to do it.
The way your nipples puckered up made me crazy.... His teeth closed on one of the offending body parts through her dress, and she gasped at the pinch, her breast arching up into his mouth hungrily.
His hand closed on her rear end, pulling her hips up against his erection snugly. She didnt recognize the wanton woman shed turned into all of a sudden. Her right leg wrapped around his hips and he ground his hard-on lightly against her core through that thin little thong that did nothing to dull the delicious sensations exploding through her.
What are you doing to me? she gasped under the roar of the surf.
He made an incoherent sound in the back of his throat that managed to convey both laughter and possessiveness. Apparently, whatever it was, she was doing the same thing to him, too.
Youd better tell me to stop right now, Ana. Or this is going to turn into something more pretty damned fast.
Dont stop, Jackson.