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Now why did that thought make her heart slide down to her toes?
She slipped off the stool and took the hand he offered. A quiver went through her and she bit her lip.
His was a large hand, warm and strong, and she could imagine such a hand sliding up her body, cupping her breasts in a bold caress.
Erin, stop it. She gave her head a quick shake and focused on her new dance partner as he led her toward the dance floor.
Once she was safely hidden in the crowd Erin gently pulled on her hand, wanting to break contact as soon as possible. To her dismay, instead of releasing her the man pulled her closer to him and began to sway to the sounds of Boyz II Men’s ‘I’ll Make Love To You’.
Erin wanted to resist. She really did. But his hard body felt so good against hers as he held her close, and the music was so sensual that she felt her reserve melt like the ice in her pina colada. She relaxed as the music pulsated around them. She closed her eyes and let him lead, swaying her hips and matching his every move.
His hand slid to the small of her back and a delicious tingle ran all the way up her spine.
Now was the time to thank him for the dance and make a hasty exit but her tongue felt heavy in her mouth. She closed her eyes. She could not speak.
“What’s your name?”
Erin jumped. The man had bent his head and his lips were close to her ear, so close that his warm breath tickled the fine hairs on her skin.
“I’m Erin. And…and you?”
“I’m Dare,” he said softly into her ear, and the way he said it made her shiver.
Dare. What an unusual name. But it certainly seemed appropriate for this man holding her close on the dance floor, so bold and unapologetic.
The strains of the song died away and Erin took a deep breath. This was her chance. She cleared her throat.
“Thank you for the dance,” she began then gasped as the man, Dare whatever his name was, grasped her hand and started walking off the dance floor, pulling her along with him.
She looked around frantically. Where were the girls? She needed to be rescued. Now. Her eyes skimmed the sea of people but in that mass of bodies there was hardly any chance she would find her suite mates.
Tugging her arm, Erin blurted, “Where are you taking me?”
Dare spared her a backward glance. “This place is getting too crowded for me. Let’s get out of here.”
Get out of here? To where? He was forgetting that they hadn’t arrived at the nightclub together.
“Excuse me,” she tugged again, “but I’m not going anywhere with a stranger.”
The man ignored her.
By this time they were out a side door and onto a terrace surrounded by an abundant tropical garden. Dare let go of her wrist and leaned his shoulder against a cast iron trellis through which flowered vines twisted and coiled. As he lounged he folded his arms across his chest, watching her.
“So what was that about us being strangers?” He gave a dry chuckle. “After all we’ve shared – a hug, a dance, a dunk in the pool. I thought we were more than that?”
She bit her lip and looked away. She could understand how it all looked. As far as he was concerned she’d been the one doing the pursuing. She could only guess what he must think of her.
She took a deep breath, thinking fast. Should she tell him the truth about the stupid dare or would he think her a crazy college student who would do anything for kicks? Maybe that wouldn’t paint her in such a good light but she could at least tell him about the stalker in the nightclub. He would surely understand her actions then.
She opened her mouth to speak and the man chose that moment to reach out and pull her to him. Caught off guard, she tilted into him. He took the opportunity to turn with her then backed her up against the trellis, pressing her into the flowery metal frame.
Dare raised one arm and rested it on the metal bar above her head, effectively trapping her between himself and the wall. His eyes glinted in the moonlight as he stared down at her.
Erin’s heart thumped and she swallowed hard. Goodness. How was she going to get out of this predicament in a dignified manner?
“Kiss me.”
“Wh…what?”
“That’s what you want, isn’t it? Now’s your chance.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She glared up at him, shocked by his audacity.
“You threw yourself at me twice in one day. I have to reward all that effort. Now kiss me.” Dare’s tone was commanding. He put a finger under her chin and tilted her face toward his.
Erin’s heart pounded. He was going to kiss her. And she wanted it, dear God she wanted it. But she’d always been “the good girl”. Did she dare?
She did. When his lips touched hers she did not stop him. She did not pull away. Erin closed her eyes tight and clung to his muscled arms. His lips were hard, unyielding. His arm snaked around her and he pulled her tight against his body, so close that she could feel the rippling muscles of his torso against her breasts.
She kept her eyes closed, not daring to look into those enigmatic gray eyes, not wanting to read what lay in their depths.
Then all coherent thought flew from her mind as Dare softened his kiss, his lips moving sensually over hers, stealing her breath away. Erin leaned into him, her nipples as hard as pebbles, and then she was kissing him back, answering his passion with a fervor that was alien to her. She moaned under the caress of his lips.
Erin trembled in Dare’s arms. Her body was responding to him like she’d done with no man before. And as she stood there wrapped in his arms Erin knew she was in deep trouble.
Chapter 3
Slowly, Dare lifted his head and stared down into the dazed eyes of the girl in his arms. What was she doing to him? He’d meant to dominate her, knock her off balance with his kiss. After all, she’d been pursuing him all day. It was time to take her up on what on what she was offering, maybe even teach her a lesson in the process.
But, to his chagrin, it was he who was caught off guard. The kiss had left him breathless. Damn, was he getting soft?
He released her and put her away from him. Only then did he speak. “I want to see you again. Let’s have dinner tomorrow.”
Her eyes widened in apparent shock. “Dinner? But…I don’t know you.”
Dare almost laughed out loud. What kind of game was she playing? Did she take him for a fool? Why else would she have been coming on to him, twice in one day, if she didn’t know who he was? He would have respected her more if she’d just been honest.
“Listen, I know enough about you to know that I want to see you again.”
“But…”
“No buts. Do you want to see me again?” He knew he was bullying the girl but that was the whole idea. She’d decided to play with fire so it was no fault of his if she got burned.
“Yes.” Her voice was a mere whisper, her eyes huge pools of iridescent hazel. On her face was a look of uncertainty tinged with just a hint of anticipation.
Dare chuckled inwardly. The girl was playing temptress but she had a lot to learn. First lesson - don’t make your feelings so obvious. With an expressive face like hers she was going to have a hard task succeeding in her chosen role as seductress.
“It’s settled then. We’ll have dinner tomorrow at Michelangelo’s. They have a private lounge where we can eat and talk undisturbed. Seven o’clock. Meet me there.”
She opened her mouth then, those soft lips still swollen from his kiss, but he cut her off before she even had a chance to utter the first word. There was no way he was giving her a chance to back out. He’d had a taste of her lips and, deceiver though she may be, he wanted more.
He took her by the elbow and turned her toward the pathway. “Come. Let me walk you back to your villa.”
“N…no,” she said quickly. “No, thank you. I’m fine. I can get back on my own.”
He shrugged. “Until tomorrow then. Seven o’clock.” He watched her hurry away, heels clicking on the cobbled stones along the lighted path. He had no concern for her safety. He’d made sure security was at its highest level at his resort, with plain clothes security guards patrolling the grounds twenty four hours a day. In his five years operating the resort he’d never had a visitor fall victim to a crime on his grounds. He was determined to keep that record spotless.
Dare DeSouza was an entrepreneur and had been since as long as he could remember. He’d grown up in Michigan and while in elementary school he’d run a candy business, buying bags of candy for a dollar and selling the sweets to his classmates for a quarter a piece. When his home room teacher found out about it he’d had to abandon his enterprise but by high school he’d graduated to selling soda pop and comic books and was raking in a few hundred dollars a week. By the time he started his engineering degree at MIT he was running an online trading company specializing in collectable items, a business which he sold in his senior year for over a million dollars. With this seed money he started yet another business, another trading company that far surpassed the success of the first, and was soon the head of a multi-million dollar operation.
