Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 149209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
This one might as well shout that he’d be both fascinating and determined. He meant to get his way—and have his way with her.
Not if she could help it.
Steeling herself against the impact of his touch, Shanna put her hand in his. No matter how prepared she thought she’d been for the skin-on-skin contact, she’d been wrong. A wild gong of want beat through her the second her palm brushed his. She braced for the rush of heat as she stood.
“The music is starting. Shall we?” He gestured to the dance floor, then eased her forward with a hand at the small of her back.
“Sure.” What else could she say? This was his three minutes; he’d paid for them, so she owed him that. But no more.
God, not a second more.
A soft Latin rhythm began to wash the room from the overhead speakers. Sensual, hypnotic, the music spoke of a humid summer night shared by lovers. Shanna nearly groaned. Great, a rumba, the dance of love. The one that most emulated passion and sex. Why now?
On a strong beat, Alejandro grabbed her wrist and pulled her against him. Shanna tried to stop herself from crashing into him by planting a hand on his chest. But her fingers only encountered hard muscle. He was like a rock under that shirt, and given his mile-wide shoulders, she was suddenly sure that seeing him naked would be ten times better than a slice of her favorite sinful chocolate cake.
He hooked a finger under her chin. Reluctantly, she lifted her gaze to his. The heat in those hazel eyes could melt steel. Look away. Get away! But she couldn’t. Once her gaze connected with his, she was locked in, fused to him in a way she didn’t understand.
That stare sizzled all through her…and settled right between her legs. She felt unable to break his gaze.
Sex had always been something she could take or leave. At the moment, she wanted to take anything he was willing to dish out.
How could he do that to her with just a glance?
As she drew in a deep breath and tried to find her wits, he curled a thick arm around her waist, drawing her even closer. His whole body was hard…every inch of it. From the feel of him, many inches. Shanna trembled to realize he was every bit as interested as she was. Thank god these dances were short.
Then he held out his left hand, palm up. Slowly, she placed her hand in his.
They began to dance. He was incredibly smooth, never dancing on his heels, never losing the beat of the music. Wow, could he move his hips. Perfect figure eights with them. No doubt, he’d learned how to dance very well somewhere along the way.
Basic boxes quickly gave way to an open position, then a cross, which he used as an opportunity to brush his body against hers and caress her hip. An underarm turn led her right back to a basic.
He was good for an amateur. She had an inkling that he might be good at other things, too.
“So, what brings you here tonight?” she asked, grasping at conversational straws. Maybe if she was talking, she wouldn’t be thinking about how much this guy turned her on.
“Helping orphans is not a worthwhile cause?”
“It is. Most men would rather simply write a check than ballroom dance.”
“I brought my mother. She enjoys these things, and it is a very small thing to do in order to see her smile.”
Sexy, a good dancer, family-oriented, crazy handsome—Alejandro seemed like every woman’s fantasy and way too good to be true. He must have some terrible flaw she just couldn’t see at the moment. If not…she was in a heap of trouble.
Her body temperature was rising with every suggestive look, every sweep of his hand over her waist and low dive on her hip, each brush of his palm that inched toward her ass.
Damn! Why hadn’t she found some man to scratch her itch in the last two years? Or even invested in a good vibrator? Maybe if she had, she wouldn’t feel wound so tightly right now, so ready to jump on Alejandro and every protruding part of his body.
“That’s nice of you,” she managed to say.
“Not really. I knew you would be here.”
“M-me?”
“Hmm.” He led her into another open position, then curled her against his body, hips crushed against hips. She felt way more than his pelvis.
“Certainly you can feel my…enthusiasm to see you again.” He laughed, seemingly at himself.
Yeah. His enthusiasm was sizeable and very hard to miss.
Then he leaned her back over his arm in an exaggerated dip and followed her down. Until his face was an inch from her breasts. Shanna felt him exhale, his warm breath caressed her cleavage. Her nipples beaded instantly.
Slowly, he lifted her upright again, then spun her around until her back rested against his chest. He nestled his erection in the small of her back. The flat of his palm covered her abdomen, and he took her other hand in his. The gesture probably looked possessive. It certainly felt that way.