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She was taking too long with it, and Ben needed to feel her against him again. He turned to her, framing her face with his palms, his fingers sliding through her luxuriant hair. She tilted her face upwards, waiting for and silently inviting his kiss, her clutch dangling uselessly from her fingers.
He kissed her slowly this time, trying to pace himself, letting his whole body absorb the sweet softness of her yielding mouth.
Her hands came up to cling to the lapels of his tux, her body arching closer to his as their tongues twined together. Lust bit with deep urgency and Ben pressed her against the door, not caring if anyone saw them. Not caring about anything or anyone but her.
He slid his hand down the slippery smooth material of her dress, cupped the ripe fullness of her breast and ran his thumb over the taut peak. Heard Olivia let out a little mewl of sound, and satisfaction roared inside him, along with an even deeper need.
And then he felt her hands flatten against his chest, and she pressed lightly, turning her head away from his. Ben felt as if he’d been dipped in ice water. Once again Olivia was retreating, and suddenly he realised he had no idea if he’d been mauling her for the past few minutes, or if it had been mutual. He’d been too overwhelmed to think clearly, or at all.
He stepped back, shame scorching through him as he realised how aggressive and urgent he’d been. ‘Olivia...’
She let out a shaky laugh. ‘You’re a wonderful kisser, you know...’
‘Yet you stopped.’
‘Yes.’ She took a deep breath, as if she were going to say something more, but then she let out a sigh, twisting out of his embrace and fumbling to retrieve her key card from her clutch. ‘Do you want to come in for a drink?’
Warily Ben watched her, wondered just what was going through her mind. ‘All right.’
She swiped the key card and he followed her into the luxurious suite. He could tell she seemed nervous, although she was trying not to be. She tossed her clutch onto the hall table and then went into the kitchen, searching in the fridge he’d stocked himself for something to drink.
‘There’s a bottle of white wine on the bottom shelf,’ he said, propping one shoulder against the doorway, and she turned around to give him a quick, distracted smile.
‘Great.’
‘Shall I open it?’
‘Would you?’ She thrust the bottle at him and Ben took it, moving past her to retrieve a corkscrew from one of the kitchen drawers. He twisted it in and popped the cork neatly, pouring them both glasses and handing one to her. ‘What’s going on, Olivia?’ he asked quietly.
Her knuckles were white as she clutched her glass. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You’re freaking out,’ he stated, and then forced himself to ask, ‘Did I scare you?’
‘Scare me?’ She blinked at him in surprise. ‘No.’
‘Then why did you kiss me like you meant it, and then back away? I think we both knew where this was going. What we want.’ He swallowed, because the truth was, he wasn’t sure he did know if they wanted the same thing. And he wanted it very badly. ‘Don’t we?’
Olivia took a rather large swig of wine before meeting his gaze with what felt like reluctance. Her face was nearly crimson. She was, Ben realised in surprise, blushing. ‘We do,’ she said, her voice little more than a whisper. She cleared her throat. ‘That is...maybe you should clarify what you want.’
‘You,’ Ben answered bluntly. He felt too much raw need for her to prevaricate now. ‘You in bed now, although to be frank it doesn’t have to be on a bed. Just about anywhere would be fine.’
She gulped, her eyes flaring, and Ben took a step towards her. ‘I want you. A lot. But if you’re not on board with it, then tell me now.’
‘I...’ She licked her lips and Ben nearly groaned aloud. ‘I’m on board with it,’ she whispered. ‘That is...if you’re talking about just sex. A fling.’
‘Yes. I’m not interested in a serious relationship.’
‘I’m not either.’
Which made him want to ask why, but he wasn’t going to go there now. There was only one place he wanted to go right now.
‘So we’re on the same page here,’ he remarked, ‘but you’ve still got a death grip on that glass.’
‘It’s just...’ Olivia let out a shaky laugh. ‘This is kind of awkward.’
‘It doesn’t need to be.’
‘Yes, well, that’s because you don’t know...’ She trailed off, took another sip of wine.
Ben tensed. ‘I don’t know what?’
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘This is the awkward part.’ She walked into the living area and flopped down on the white leather sofa, her dress spreading around her in bright emerald-green folds. She looked like a mermaid afloat in an ocean of leather. She stared at him, her chin raised defiantly. ‘The truth is, I haven’t done this before.’
