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He was right, Hope thought with mounting excitement. Way too much talking. She’d said her piece and now it was time to take this savage passion out of the car and into the bedroom…

She’d never felt like this before. Her hands itched to rip every stitch of clothing off him. She’d obviously been out of the game for way too long.

By the time they made it to his bedroom, half their clothing had been left in a discarded trail up the short flight of stairs.

She barely noticed the room, aside from the panels of glass that stretched from floor to ceiling overlooking the very same panoramic views that she’d seen from her own bedroom.

Unlike Hope’s bed, the king-sized bed in this room was centred to face that view. Behind the bed, a huge painting on the wall in shades of black mirrored the stretches of cliff and sea and sky outside.

Hope had kicked off her shoes somewhere along the way so the hand-laid stone felt cold underneath her feet. As she stepped onto the faded silk rug she had a moment of doubt and panic.

‘I’ve never done this before.’

Javier, thumbs tucked into the waistband of his trousers, looked at her in reflective silence.

‘Nor have I, now that you mention it.’

In the intimacy of the bedroom, with a bed within touching distance, Hope was acutely conscious of her state of undress as she stood only in her light cotton underwear.

She was also acutely aware of her lack of experience.

Nerves joined panic and doubt but there was something gentle and understanding in his expression that went some way to putting her at ease.

She was surprised by just how much her opinion of him had changed in the space of just a handful of days.

She folded her arms around herself protectively. He strolled towards her, unzipping his trousers but leaving them riding low on his lean hips.

He rested his hands on her arms and leaned down to rest his forehead gently on hers before drawing back.

‘I didn’t think that you were the sort of woman who hops in and out of bed with guys on a whim.’ He smiled.

His fingers deftly curved underneath the thin straps of her bra. Just as deftly, he then slipped the straps down until her small, rounded breasts were exposed.

Hope gasped.

She had felt brave and reckless when she’d decided to sleep with this man.

Now, she was as nervous as a kitten but the doubts were fading fast. It felt good to be standing there. She’d stepped right out of her comfort zone and felt truly alive for the first time in years.

He scraped the pads of his thumbs over her sensitive nipples and just like that every single thing faded away. All that was left was the power of raw sensation tearing her apart.

She groaned loud and low. Her eyelids fluttered.

‘Don’t stop,’ she panted in a hitched voice, arching back so that she could savour every sensuous stroke of those fingers.

‘I wouldn’t dream of it.’

He scooped her up as though she weighed nothing and carried her the couple of steps towards the bed. The sheets were cool and silky-smooth. She felt like a princess lying where he had gently deposited her. A princess waiting to be woken from a hundred years of sleep by the only man who could do it.

It was such a fanciful notion that she almost burst out laughing.

Since when had she ever been a princess waiting to be rescued?

She’d had to grow up fast as a child. There had never been time for dreams of being a princess.

She watched in open fascination as he removed the rest of his clothes. The trousers, then the boxers and there he was. Even more beautiful without anything on.

Boldly, aggressively, impressively virile.