Risky Pleasures Read online

  “Are you ready to leave now, Vanessa?”

  Her gaze dropped to his mouth, and she saw it move, but for the life of her she had no idea what he’d said. Her mind, her thoughts, her entire body were centered on him and on how, just by looking at her, he could make a compelling need thicken inside of her.

  “Vanessa?”

  “Yes?”

  A smile touched those full, irresistible lips. “I asked if you were ready to leave for the concert.”

  Sighing deeply, she nodded. She would go to the concert, but all she’d do was think about what would happen between them later.

  Some women, Cameron thought, were meant to be made love to, day and night, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Vanessa Steele was that kind of woman.

  He was standing in line at the bar to get a refill on their drinks and couldn’t help but stare at her. She was standing, leaning against a palm tree, listening to the music, her body swaying to the reggae beat.

  He had been on edge all night, ever since picking her up. She had come to the door wearing a peasant blouse that hung off her shoulders and a matching skirt whose hem came to her ankles. And she had the cutest-looking sandals on her feet. He had been tempted to kiss her then and there and suggest they forgo dinner and the concert and go somewhere and make love.

  But he hadn’t made such a suggestion. Instead he had taken her hand and led her to his car, all the while knowing this would be one hot night for him in more ways than one.

  The need for her was sharp and compelling. He wanted to touch her all over, kiss her all over, make love to her inside and out. Each thought intensified his need, his desire. Raw, primitive passion clawed at him. He could no longer hold it beneath the surface. It was there, forcing its way free, gripping him, slicing through him.

  As if she felt the heat of his eyes on her, she glanced in his direction and their gazes connected and then locked—something they’d done a lot tonight. At that moment a deep, intense sensation sent flames flaring through him and he knew he had to leave with her. Now.

  “What would you like to have, sir?”

  He blinked when he realized the bartender had asked him a question. He broke eye contact with Vanessa to glance at the man long enough to say, “Nothing.”

  The only thing he wanted to have was Vanessa. He turned to stride back to her, hoping that she would take his suggestion that they leave now.

  Vanessa watched as Cameron began walking toward her, his eyes locked with hers. Even across the distance she felt his heat and read the intense look in his gaze. His shoulders looked massive and he appeared larger than life with every step he took. There was a profound sexiness about him. The way his pants fit his body had her mesmerized because she could tell when she glanced below his waist that he was aroused. From what? Just looking at her? Hidden fantasies in his mind?

  She was glad that everyone else around them was caught up in the concert and didn’t notice that she and Cameron were caught up only in each other. The closer he got the more she could feel her heart thundering, beating wildly in her chest. She no longer wondered how their night would end. He was painting a very clear picture.

  “Our drinks?” she asked, when he finally reached her empty-handed.

  “I think we need more than alcohol to cool off,” he said huskily, reaching out and gently drawing her to him.

  She met his heated gaze. “Do we?”

  “Yes.”

  She then surprised Cameron by placing her arms around his neck, bringing her body up close to his. He knew there was no way she couldn’t feel his erection, the intensity of his desire for her. Hell, she probably had noticed it when he was walking back toward her.

  “And what do you think we need, Cameron Cody?” she asked, breaking into his thoughts.

  The corners of his lips turned up slightly as he stared down at her. Then he leaned close to her ear and whispered, “I think we need to go someplace where we can be alone.”

  She gazed into his eyes for several long moments before saying softly, “I think you’re right.”

  Chapter 8

  “Would you like to see the progress that’s been made on Cheyenne’s pool, Cameron?”

  No. Not really, Cameron thought as he leaned against the closed door. He dug his hands into the pockets of his trousers and watched as Vanessa crossed the room, her skirt twirling in fluid motion around her legs when she walked.

  The ride from the concert had been the hardest drive he’d ever made. More than once he’d been tempted to pull to the side of the road, tug her into his arms and start something that he could handle a lot better in a bedroom. Right now the last thing he was interested in seeing was a swimming pool under construction.

  “Cameron?”

  When he hadn’t answered, she turned and was looking at him with one beautifully arched eyebrow raised. He could tell she was nervous and that it would be to his advantage to do whatever it took to make her comfortable. And if that meant seeing her sister’s pool then so be it.

  Pulling his hands out of his pockets, he stepped a little farther into the room. “Yes, I’d like to see it.” He then tilted his head in the general direction where he figured the pool to be and said, “Isn’t it dark out back?”

  “With the flip of a switch the area will become well lit.”

  Great. “All right, then, show me.”

  He followed as she led him through the living room where she opened a set of French doors. The scent of the ocean immediately filled their nostrils, but it was her scent that was driving him wild, and it had done so all evening.

  When he followed her onto the patio, she flipped a switch and, true to her word the area lit up and he saw it—a huge cemented hole in the ground. “When I first arrived they were just digging it out,” she was saying. “Now it’s begun to take shape. Already I can tell it’s going to be beautiful.”

  He shook his head and his mouth curled into a smile. “Pools aren’t beautiful, Vanessa. People are beautiful.”

  Thinking they had wasted enough time already, he crossed the patio to where she was standing staring out at the pool. When he reached her he took her hand in his and turned her to him. His gaze took in the features of her face, moving from her dark eyes, her high cheekbones, her delicious-looking mouth and back to her eyes again. “You are beautiful,” he said in a deep, husky voice.

  She shook her head. “You’re either seeing things or have bad eyesight.”

  “It’s neither,” he said, reaching out and gently looping his arms around her shoulders and taking a step closer, bringing their bodies right smack against each other. “I know beauty when I see it, Vanessa, and you are beautiful.”

  She sighed, and he knew she’d figured it would be a waste of time to argue with him, so she said, “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  At that moment a million scenarios began filling Cameron’s mind, all of them fantasies or dreams in which she was a willing participant. His dreams were what had kept him going even when it seemed Vanessa’s icy attitude toward him would never melt. Now he was ready to turn one of those dreams—didn’t matter which one since there were many—into reality.

  He decided to take things slow and dipped his head to brush a kiss across her lips. “I like tasting you,” he said, watching her eyes darken.

  “Do you?”

  “Yes.” He then dipped his head to kiss her again, this time gliding the tip of his tongue across the fullness of her mouth. “I do. You taste good. You smell good. And…you can do this to me,” he said, slowly sliding his hands from her shoulders to her backside and pressing her against him so she would know exactly what he was talking about.

  She arched into his erection, and his breath caught at such a bold move. “Are you sure I did this?” she asked in a whisper close to his ear.

  A chuckle rumbled deep within his throat. “Baby, I’m positive you did it. I haven’t thought of anything but making love to you all evening,” he said, trailing kisses down he
r throat.

  “Is that a fact?”

  “Yes, definitely nonfiction.” While one hand remained on her backside, the other gently caressed her back while he continued to taste her slowly, letting the tip of his tongue move to the underside of her ear.

  “Cameron.” Her voice was barely a whisper, but he could hear the deep desire in it.

  “Yes?”

  “Stop torturing me.” She arched into him some more.

  “You’re the one in control, Vanessa. Just say the word.”

  “Take me.”

  She didn’t have to say a single thing more. As far as he was concerned those two words said it all. He swept her into his arms and headed back into the house, pausing only long enough to adjust his hold on her so she could reach out and pull shut the French doors.

  “Where to?” he asked, glancing down at her when he stood in the middle of the living room. Adrenaline was pouring through his veins at an alarming speed. He wanted her. Now. But he refused to allow their first time to be anywhere other than a bed. Later, all the others could be anytime, anyplace, any position, just as he’d said.

  “The guest room is upstairs. First door on your right.”

  Before she had finished what she was saying, he was already moving in that direction. When he reached the room he gave the furnishings nothing more than a quick glance. His attention, however, was definitely drawn to the huge sleigh bed. It looked sturdy and that was good. He crossed the room and leaned down to place her on it and was surprised when she pulled him down on the bed with her, hungrily latching on to his mouth. He groaned deep in his chest when she slipped her tongue between his parted lips and knew her degree of need was just as high as his.

  “Now, Cameron. I couldn’t stand it if you waited.” Her voice was filled with tension and desire and her words reflected a desperation that hit him below the gut.

  In a tangle of ardent open-mouthed kisses and eager, frantic hands, he began removing her clothes, pulling the blouse over her head and sliding the skirt down her hips. He tossed her sandals aside and then she lay there, in full view, wearing nothing more than a white lace bra and a matching thong that barely covered her feminine mound.

  Although the lingerie was fairly revealing, he wanted to see the real thing and reached out and unclasped her bra. Her breasts, in all their fine glory, were exposed to his eyes. He reached out and touched them, caressed them, then leaned over and took a hardened tip into his mouth, sucking relentlessly.

  “Cameron…”

  He pulled back to lower the thong down her thighs. She lifted her hips as he slowly slid the flimsy material down her legs. Tossing her thong aside, he reached out and touched her center. Finding it wet, he began stroking it, stirring up the scent of her in the room.

  “Cameron…” she murmured his name again in a tortured groan. “Don’t play with me. Just do it.”

  “If you’re absolutely, positively sure that’s what you want.”

  “I’m absolutely, positively sure,” she moaned.

  He stood back as his gaze moved all over her naked body, over her breasts, down to the core of her femininity then down the length of her gorgeous long legs, before inching back toward her center, the part of her that drew him. That’s where he would get the ultimate, succulent taste he craved.

  Unable to resist any longer, he quickly began removing his clothes while she watched him, feeling the heat of her eyes over him as he bared all. Her sexy scent now permeated the room, driving him crazy with the need to make love to her after three years of wanting her. He took the time to ease the condom he had taken from his wallet over his shaft before moving back toward the bed.

  “I told you earlier that I liked your taste. Remember?”

  She gazed at him through heavy-lidded eyes filled with desire. “Yes.”

  “Now I intend to show you just how much.”

  Vanessa gasped when his mouth took hers with heated possession, at the same time he moved his hand lower, past her stomach to settle right between her legs. He stroked her there again, ardently fondling the swollen bud of her womanhood.

  “You’re playing with me again,” she accused in a breathless moan.

  “Then let me try something else,” he whispered in her ear.

  Before she realized what he was about to do, he eased her back onto the fluffy bed coverings and began kissing a trail down her stomach. Every place his mouth touched made her skin feel sensitized. When he reached the spot between her inner thighs, he began placing heated kisses there.

  Vanessa lifted her hips, barely able to tolerate the intense sensations overtaking her. Her need for modesty vanished, and she instinctively opened her legs when his mouth moved to the center of her.

  She screamed his name at the first stroke of his tongue on her and her body quivered from the inside out when he began feasting on her hungrily, as if he’d been waiting a long time to do what he was doing. A strangled moan got caught in her throat and her hips rose off the bed when he stopped nibbling on her and began a tormenting lick.

  “Cameron!”

  She screamed his name again when her body exploded in one mind-bending, earth-shattering climax. By the time the sound echoed off the walls, he had leaned up to position his body over hers. The moment her trembling subsided, she looked up and gazed into his eyes.

  “I’ve wanted you for so long,” he whispered, his erection homing in on the heat of her like iron toward a magnet.

  Still recovering from the effects of one hell of an orgasm, Vanessa somehow found the strength to lift her hips, and the moment his hardened tip grazed her womanly core, he threw his head back and slid into her body. She wrapped her legs around him when he began moving back and forth inside her. With each thrust, her body was being navigated to a place it had never been before.

  She might be the one in control, but he was the one plotting a course that was pushing her toward another skyrocketing experience. She had never known pleasure this intense, this extreme and forceful. It was as if his body knew just what position, what angle to take to hit that precise spot—her ultimate erogenous zone.

  Each mind-blowing plunge was made to send her over the edge, and she felt her thighs quaking and her muscles spasming. When he bucked his body with an intensity that tested the endurance of the mattress springs, she felt her body explode at the same time his did.

  “Vanessa!”

  He hollered out her name, giving one last long, hard thrust into her body. She seemed to break into a million tiny pieces upon impact, never realizing something like this could be so powerful and earth-shattering. And then he was back at her mouth, kissing her with a hunger that was sending her body into an erotic spin all over again.

  At that moment, the only thing she was totally aware of was that whether she wanted him to or not, Cameron Cody was rocking her world.

  Neither wanted to move so they lay there, wrapped in each others’ arms, their bodies connected, their limbs entwined for the longest time while their breathing returned to normal and their pounding heartbeats abated.

  Sometime later, Cameron eased off Vanessa to look down at her. He was mesmerized, slightly shaken at what had taken place. He’d wanted her for so long, he wasn’t surprised at the magnitude of his need, his craving, his desire. But what he hadn’t counted on or expected was the intense degree of satisfaction and fulfillment he’d received.

  Never before had any woman made him feel what he’d felt with her. If he had to describe it, he couldn’t. No words could. Sensations he’d never before encountered had rammed through his body, overtaking his mind, as well. It was totally bizarre, impossible to comprehend and even a tad bit alarming that one single woman could make him feel that way.

  But she had.

  Somehow, Vanessa Steele had tunneled her way under his hardest covering, his most tightly sealed wrap, and was embedded under his skin. No woman had ever done this.

  His gaze studied her face. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing evenly, but he knew she was
n’t asleep. Like him, she was probably trying to get her mind and body in sync, which wasn’t easy after what they had shared.

  “You’re one amazing woman,” he said softly, truthfully, breaking into the quiet silence surrounding them.

  He watched a smile touch her lips as she slowly opened her eyes to him. “Thank you. That was a wonderful thing to say.”

  He considered the look in her eyes. It was as if she was both surprised and relieved by his words. Why? Had someone once told her differently? An old lover perhaps? He pushed the thought aside, thinking if that was the case, the person evidently hadn’t recognized true passion when he saw it. Besides, he didn’t want to think of anyone else having shared something so special with her. That was all in the past. Whether she knew it or would accept it, she belonged to him now and that was all that mattered. He would always tell her how remarkable she was.

  “It’s true,” he said, staring down into her face. From that first day he’d known she was a beautiful woman, but he hadn’t known just how beautiful until now. She had that afterglow look, that aroused look in her eyes that said she could and would take him on again. Even now, after what they’d just shared, he still wanted to devour her, and he was certain she knew it because his erection had grown hard against her belly.

  He leaned down, deciding that he wanted to play with her lips again, and began licking them from corner to corner. He liked the purr of pleasure that eased from her throat. He liked it even more when he felt her hand travel down his stomach to close over his shaft. He sucked in a deep breath and groaned when she began stroking him.

  “Two can play your game, Mr. Cody,” she whispered. Her hands were steady, her fingers confident, and he felt a rush of blood surge through his veins, especially the ones located where she had touched.

  “You’re playing with dynamite,” he whispered, barely getting the words out when pleasure as raw as it could get shot all through him.

  “Umm, I can believe that,” she said softly, in a sultry voice. “I’m still recovering from the aftershocks of the last explosion.”