Chapter Three
Mark woke with his heart pounding, wondering where the hell he was. Something didn’t feel right. He took a moment to breathe, and let himself come to full consciousness.
Of course. He wasn’t at home in his San Francisco townhouse. He was in Sydney, Australia. In a corporate house. All that fit with what he knew. What didn’t fit was the naked woman sleeping beside him.
No wonder his heart was pounding. What the hell was that about? What had happened?
He raised onto his elbow and gazed down at the woman beside him. Everything fell into place as he recognized Bronwyn, her hair a sexy mess down her back, her skin smooth and fresh, her lips parted slightly in what looked like a smile.
A naked and beautiful woman beside him in bed with a smile on her face was a good thing.
What wasn’t so good was that he had no memory of the night. None at all. He touched her hair and wondered what had happened between them in this bed.
It would have been nice if the earth had moved. It would be terrific if she’d cried out three or four times in ecstasy; it would be stellar if one of those times, preferably the last, he’d cried out with her.
And it would be goddam stupendous if he could remember any of it.
No wonder his heart was pounding.
He didn’t expect to be Mark, the Wonder Stallion every time out, but he liked to think he never left a woman unsatisfied. Could his complete mental blackout of the night before mean he’d humiliated himself as a lover and a man?
Okay, he said to himself, get a grip. He ran his hand in a light exploratory fashion over her back. Nice back. Long and muscular. It didn’t ring any bells.
But it did cause her to shift in sleep so her back pressed intimately against him.
Casually, he put an arm around her and ran his fingers lightly over her breasts and belly. Ooh, nice, nice, nice. She had full, firm breasts with pointy nipples, and her stomach had the tightness and tone of a professional swimmer.
Whatever sense impressions his brain was receiving came across as brand new ones. He felt as though he’d never touched those particular contours before—all the textures and angles that made up her body. Odd to be so clueless about a woman you’d made love with.
The only thing in his life he’d ever blocked out was having his wisdom teeth extracted. Having decided against general anesthetic, he’d gone gamely into the oral surgeon’s chair and to this day didn’t remember a thing about the experience. He knew the procedure had been completed, since he was sans wisdom teeth, but he had no memory. Like certain shock victims who blanked out intensely painful experiences.
Had last night been one of those?
His hand froze, claw-like, against her naked breast. Oh, God. Had he been so terrible in bed that he’d blocked the experience from his memory?
Would Bronwyn have all the women of her acquaintance squealing with laughter over his performance while he was forever in the dark about what happened?
He squinted at the clock on the bedside table. Nine. Sun streamed in the windows, suggesting it was morning.
He rolled to his back and blinked hard a few times. What day was it? Sunday, he thought. It must be Sunday.
Sneaking out of bed, he headed for the bathroom where a nice long morning pee relieved his mind somewhat as well as his bladder. While he brushed his teeth, then splashed cold water on his face, he tried to pull himself together. If she was still in his bed, the night couldn’t have been a complete disaster, otherwise she’d have sneaked out of bed sometime in the night.
Wouldn’t she?
He walked back into the bedroom and watched for a moment as she slept. She had the kind of natural beauty that’s as potent first thing in the morning as it would be when she was all made up to go out somewhere. Her shoulders were lightly tanned against the white of the sheet, and he wished he could see the breasts he’d so recently touched.
She shifted and made what could be a waking-up noise. Panicked, he didn’t want to be caught standing there naked staring at her, and his robe was hanging in the closet.
Her eyelashes fluttered.
He dove back under the covers beside her and rolled up behind her in his previous position.
A bit of sighing and then a kind of morning stretch that had her spine elongating itself against him from shoulders to ass in a way that made him want to bash his head until his memory returned.
“Morning,” a sleepy and very female voice said beside him.
Oh, no. Reckoning time. And he wasn’t ready. “Morning.”
“Sleep well?”
“Yes.” He said politely. “You?”
“Fantastic.” She leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips. That had to be good, didn’t it?
Mark glanced over at her with her sleepy morning skin, golden hair tossed over the pillow, a twinkle of humor in her eyes. It was the humor that did it. If he’d made an ass of himself last night he needed to know. Insane as it was, he’d torture himself forever if he didn’t have the truth.
He cleared his throat. “I had a great time last night.”
Her smile dazzled him. “Me, too.”
Well, she looked happy.
His sigh had more to do with relief than satisfaction. “I wasn’t sure how good a time you really had, last night being our first time together.” He sucked in another breath for courage. Since he had no idea what had happened, he was going to have to finesse the details out of her.
“Our first time?”
“As lovers,” he said. Surely he’d managed penetration. Never in his life had his body let him down that badly.
“Right,” she said, shaking her head so her hair tossed about. He wanted to smooth it back off her face, but held himself in check until he knew more. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m not much of a morning person.”
He could let it go and forget about dragging the details of his performance out of her, but for some reason he really had to know. “I was just wondering, about last night, when we made love . . .” This was a lot tougher to talk about than he’d imagined. It had been a long time since he’d been with anyone but Jen, he realized; he had no idea how to go about this.
“Which part did you like best?” she cooed, that smug little smile annoying the hell out of him, as did the fact that she got the question in before he could. Damn it.
Panic flooded his brain. He had no idea since he couldn’t remember a thing. Bluffing was his only option. “Oh, um. The part where you . . .” he made a vague gesture with his hands, “and the part where we,” he made another equally meaningless hand motion.
“Mmmm,” she sighed, clearly interpreting the gesture and imbuing it with meaning. “Me, too. We were something, all right. I never remember coming so many times in one night.”
Relief washed over him like an unexpected summer rain. Pure, cleansing, cooling. His pounding heart slowed. His panic receded. It was a tragedy that he couldn’t remember last night, but at least he’d satisfied this woman. More than satisfied her.
All right! This Australian plan was already working out better than he could have imagined.
“And you,” she said dreamily, her fingertips trailing down his chest to his belly, “well, I never knew American men could be so . . . creative.” When she got to the last word she did a pretty creative move herself and wrapped her fingers around his cock, which had already perked up nicely with all the flattering talk.
She said they’d been spectacular together. Damn, he wished he could remember it. Maybe if he stopped trying so hard, it would be easier, or maybe if he started the day in his favorite manner he could bring it all back.
He rolled her over until they were pressed together. “Think we can be just as good the second time?” he asked, kissing her. A tiny sound of pleasure escaped her lips as their mouths met.
He let his hands stroke her sleep-warmed skin. Her shoulders, down her arms, up her belly to her breasts. They fascinated him, those generous mounds with the proportionately large nipples. He was dying to see them, taste them.
So he did. Easing the sheet down her body caused a soft sigh that was a caress to his ears. They were gorgeous breasts. Tanned all over, the tips dark apricot. When he sucked a nipple into his mouth, unable to wait, her back arched and she reached her arms above her head like a cat stretching in the sun.
He ran his tongue around her nipple, then sucked lightly, delighted to feel the peak harden against his tongue. Amazing he hadn’t remembered the touch and taste and responsiveness of her body. He must have been more tired than he thought.
Her skin tasted warm and a tiny bit salty as though all her time on surfboards and in the sea air had imprinted her with the flavor and scent of the sea.
“You taste like a mermaid,” he mumbled and felt the taut muscles of her belly shift as she giggled softly.
She moved as sinuously as a mermaid, too, when he took his tongue down her belly and she groaned as his ultimate target grew closer. Her shallow breaths of excitement spurred him on and heated his blood so he thought of nothing but plunging into that wet, pulsing heat.
Moving down the bed until his head was between her legs, he noted that her tan was smooth and even all over. He pictured her naked in the sun, imagined how the light would glint dark gold on the curls he was currently nuzzling.
She was as plump and juicy and succulent as ripe fruit. When he licked her, he felt her quiver, felt her glory in her own body and her pleasure in her own sexuality. He toyed with her gently, building her up slowly, exploring her mysteries with lips and tongue and fingers.
Her intimate flesh grew plumper and firmer under his ministrations. He licked at her, teased her, eased the tip of his tongue inside her, and her body pulled it into her like a riptide pulling an unwary swimmer. He was aching with the urge to let her suck his cock into her body in the same way.
His own breathing grew harsh as he stoked her excitement. She was panting, moaning, her lower body making crazy figure eights as he swirled his tongue over and around her hot button.
“Now,” she cried, grabbing his ears and pulling, “now!”
As much as he wanted to feel her come right in his mouth, he wanted more to be pumping inside her body when she came, so he slid back up, grabbed one of the condoms off the night table, sheathed himself in record time.
Considering he’d made love so recently, he felt as eager as he’d ever felt in his life.
He was about to plunge into her in animal frenzy when he stopped himself.
He never acted like an animal. What was wrong with him? Aching all over with the effort, he slowed down, kissed her softly and sweetly and eased himself into her like a lover rather than a madman.
That lasted about a minute, then she started doing that crazy figure-eight thing again and madness gripped him and wouldn’t let go.
He plunged and bucked, driven half-mad by the scent of her, the sound of her, and the wild way she gripped him.
She stayed right with him. Under him, while her panting grew loud and sweat sheened her forehead, she wrapped around him and they flipped, changing the angle but not the crazy speed now that she was in control.
He felt the squeeze, watched her eyes blank, and doubted she was even aware that her fingers gripped his shoulders like claws, her short nails still managing to make respectable dents. He kissed her when she climaxed, taking her wild cries into his mouth.
He flipped her again, thrust deep, rode out the aftershocks. Then she flipped them. For a wild second they teetered on the edge of the bed, but it was a losing battle between passion and gravity. Mark hung on to just enough sense to grab her hips and hold her to him so that when they hit the floor they were still joined.
She fell on top of him with a laugh and even though the breath was knocked out of him, he laughed up at her. God, she was gorgeous.
She leaned back, giving him a view that would be imprinted on his mind forever. Her position also gave him easy access to her sweet spot. He played her with his fingers, bringing her up again.
As much as he wanted to drag the loving out, he couldn’t. When she came the second time, he was lost. Maybe his grunt wasn’t as musical as her cries of release, but it was heartfelt. He came deep inside her, burying his face in her neck when she slumped on top of him.
In the five years he and Jennifer Talbot had been together, he’d never considered another woman. He’d imagined growing old, faithful and true to his wife through thick and thin, richer and poorer, sickness and health.
Now he’d slept with someone new. Not only that, but it had been incredible.
Even as he breathed in the wonderful fresh scent of the woman he’d met and bedded within twenty-four hours, he was conscious of a desire to get to know her better. To make love to her again and again.
She was sweet, a little goofy, too gorgeous for words, and there was something about her that made him relax and have fun. He’d turned down all her offers yesterday to get outside and enjoy life, and forced himself to work. He’d spent more time wishing he’d said yes, than actually working, and since his reason for saying no was to keep his hands off the woman, it hadn’t worked anyhow. Today, he was going to make up for lost time. He and Bron were going to have some fun.
“Have you seen the enormous bathtub in your bathroom?” Bron whispered in his ear, ending the question with a nibble on his earlobe. “It’s a good size for two people.”
Oh, she was fun all right. And that creative mind of hers didn’t stop at designing beach fashions.
He ran his hands up her back, still slightly damp with the sweat of their mutual morning workout, and said, “I am a big believer in conserving water. Let’s go.”