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Returning to the changing room, she put the bandeau dress into the “no” pile, then turned to the final gown hanging on the hook. She’d saved her favorite choice for last, and she hoped it fit her.
“What’s been going on with the Russell case anyway?” Jo asked from the other room. “I’ve seen Elena in the office a few times this past week.”
Melodie took off her bra, since the dress was completely backless. “She’s been briefing us on the layout of the mansion and giving us details of where and how to find the box of letters she needs me to read.”
“Must be some pretty hot stuff they wrote to one another if Elena won’t let Cole read them.”
Removing the fancy black velvet halter dress from the hanger, Melodie carefully slipped the gown over her head before replying to Jo’s comment. “I’m sure she feels the letters are too personal and private to share with just an
yone.”
Melodie could easily understand Elena’s special request that a woman read the correspondence between her and her lover. Melodie’s own letters to Cole were very intimate and provocative, written from her heart and soul, for his eyes only, and she’d be very reluctant to let anyone but Cole read them.
With a shimmy of her hips, the fabric fell into place. The beaded halter top molded to her breasts and the tailored skirt draped perfectly along her waist as if it had been custom-made for her. The hem grazed her ankles, and there was a sexy slit in the leg that flashed a good amount of thigh when she walked. Striking a sultry pose, she held her hair up on the top of her head and let a few tendrils curl around her face and neck, completing the sophisticated look.
Oh, yeah, this dress was the one.
She bit her bottom lip and stared at her reflection, and while she was still amazed at her own transformation, she came to a stunning realization. Despite the outwardly conservative appearance she’d grown up with, she’d always been a seductive, sensual woman inside. It had just taken the right man to unleash all the daring, wanton impulses lurking just beneath the surface of her good-girl facade.
And no matter what ultimately happened between her and Cole, she had him to thank for giving her the courage to be such a confident, independent woman.
* * *
Cole’s gaze kept returning to the smooth, bare expanse of Melodie’s back as they mingled in the crowd of people attending the charity auction at Thornton’s mansion. Something was different about the way she looked tonight, but he was having a heck of a time putting his finger on what it was.
When he’d arrived at her place a few hours ago to pick her up, he’d been bowled over by the woman who’d answered the door. She looked gorgeous and mouthwateringly sexy in her black velvet gown with the thigh-high slit, and her hair swept up onto the crown of her head, exposing the sensitive flesh at the back of her neck and the slender column of her throat. It was all he could do not to bend his head and sink his teeth into all that soft, pale flesh and mark her as his.
She was as sophisticated and beautiful as a woman could be, as well as charming and sweet to the guests they struck up conversations with during the cocktail hour and dinner. Her intelligence made her even more attractive, and her light laughter drew appreciative stares from many of the men in the ballroom. She was an overall perfect date, complementing him like no other woman ever had, and he felt damned lucky to have her on his arm.
He was also in a constant state of lust because of her. One week of spending time with Melodie and keeping his hands off her had made him feel sexually deprived and hornier than he could ever remember being. Arousal hummed just beneath the surface of his skin and his mind had a bad habit of conjuring fantasies of Melodie at the most inopportune times that left him hard and aching.
Now that he knew how good she felt beneath him, surrounding him, he wanted more of the same, and while she seemed completely uninfluenced by her desires, his were on the verge of raging out of control. He feared it wouldn’t take much at all for him to finally give into the excruciating, undeniable need to fuck her again, even though he knew he shouldn’t.
The emcee for the night’s festivities announced that the charity auction would begin in ten minutes, and Melodie turned to him with a seductive smile. “Care to dance before the auction starts?”
Remembering what had transpired on the last dance floor they’d shared, a slow, drugging heat spread through his limbs. “Are you going to behave this time?”
She fluttered her long lashes innocently at him, contradicting the shameless glimmer in her eyes. “Do you really expect me to make such a promise and keep it?”
Her teasing, flirtatious response quickened his pulse, as she’d no doubt intended, and he didn’t fight the sensation. Instead, he let her lead him into the midst of people enjoying the mellow tune the band played. He watched the sashay of her hips as she walked and thought about all that bare skin on her back he’d get to caress once he drew her into his embrace.
An overwhelming sense of déjà vu washed over him, and it finally clicked in his brain what was missing that he hadn’t been able to pinpoint earlier.
Pulling her into his arms, he flattened his hand on her lower back and gathered her close, relishing the feel of her soft curves aligned against his body. He looked down at her smiling face and did his best to ignore the soft, parted lips begging for him to kiss. “What happened to the butterfly tattoo you had on your shoulder?”
She entwined her arms around his neck, crushing her unrestrained breasts against his chest. “It was one of those temporary tattoos you can buy in the store.” She tipped her head, causing a wispy tendril of hair to brush along her cheek. “You didn’t really think I’d get a real one, did you?”
Her tone was so incredulous that he winced, then laughed. “Well, yeah, I guess I did. Especially considering how impulsive you’ve been lately.”
“It was fun to wear for a night, but I don’t think I’ll be getting a permanent one any time soon.” Her fingers stroked the hair at the nape of his neck in an intimate caress. “Did you like it?”
He couldn’t lie. “It was very sexy.”
A satisfied, feminine smile tugged at her mouth. “Just for your knowledge, I’m wearing another one tonight.”
He groaned at the thought. “Not where I can see it, obviously.”
A naughty sparkle lit her eyes. “No, not with the dress on,” she confirmed.
