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‘You once told me I was a fool to give up on sex, love, and companionship. Love and companionship aren’t for me, but you’ve convinced me sex is worth a shot. I want to join the ranks of your liberated passionate women who can do a fling.’ She wanted to know she wasn’t still living her life as if her parents watched and waited for her to screw up. ‘So...’ She smiled up at him. ‘What are you waiting for? The ball is in your court, Gabe Derwent.’
‘Now, that isn’t a problem at all.’
The smile that accompanied the honeyed words was downright sinful, and her skin shivered in response.
‘Let’s start like this...’
His hands dropped to the belt of her coat and he unbuckled it in one deft movement and shucked the woollen garment down over her shoulders.
‘I think we can get rid of this too...’
Seconds later her jumper joined her coat in a colourful pool.
‘Your turn.’
Without hesitation, her fingers trembling with unabashed greed, she slid her hands under the pure cotton of his top, heard his intake of breath as she touched his skin, ran her hands over his glorious chest.
‘Come on.’ In one clean movement he scooped her into his arms. ‘It would be a shame to waste that bed. Let’s move this over there.’
A few strides later and he’d laid her on the decadent bed and was looking down at her, his eyes dark with raw desire.
She reached up and pulled him down next to her.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ETTA OPENED HER eyes and blinked as she absorbed the vast stuccoed ceiling, the deep gold of the folds of curtain that hung from the bedposts. Then the ornate splendour was obliterated by memories of the previous night and warmth swathed her body with a flush of remembered pleasure, joy and wonder tinged with a hint of anxiety.
What should she do now? What would one of Gabe’s liberated women do?
Turning her head, she looked at Gabe—took in the strength of his bare chest, the sprawl of his long limbs tangled in the sinful silk of the sheet—and something tugged at her chest.
Whoa, Etta. Don’t mix up the physical and the emotional. That way lay stupidity of Mount Everest proportions. What Gabe had given her last night was the realisation that she was capable of passion, of the giving and taking of pleasure, and for that she owed him a debt that she wouldn’t fuzz with any other feelings.
He opened his eyes, went from drowsy to instant alert, and his lips curved up in a sinfully decadent smile. ‘Morning, gorgeous.’
‘Good morning.’
As if he sensed her hesitation he reached out. ‘It is—and I know how to make it even better.’
His deep chocolate drawl with its wicked note of laughter dissolved the remnants of her reservations. ‘Hmm...that sounds like a proposition I’m happy to explore.’
‘Exploration was exactly what I had in mind.’
And then Etta got lost in the magic and the sizzle and the sheer exhilaration of the moment, until the dawn light had given way to bright Viennese winter sunshine that streamed through the gap in the brocade curtains.
Eventually... ‘What shall we do today?’ Gabe asked. ‘I think we may need to add more options into the hat. But, whilst spending the whole day in bed has its plus points, I don’t want you to miss out on Vienna. So over to you.’
The temptation to remain in bed was nigh on irresistible—but way too dangerous. She was Etta Mason, eminent historian, and she would not let herself forget that. Outside the hotel was a city that she had always wanted to visit, and she wouldn’t be distracted from that.
Yet somehow her mood didn’t lend itself to visiting a museum, or even the historic splendour of a palace. ‘I’d like to go on the giant Ferris wheel. Apparently it’s an experience not to be missed.’
‘Leave it to me.’
By the time Etta emerged from the luxurious magnificence of a marble bathroom that was big enough to do the Viennese waltz in, complete with domed ceiling and chandelier, Gabe was standing at the window of the lounge, dressed in jeans and a thick knitted dark blue jumper.
‘All sorted,’ he said. ‘Let’s go.’
The sky was clear and their breath mingled white in the cold air as they stepped onto the busy Viennese streets, walked side by side, and Etta marvelled at the difference twenty-four hours could make. Now her awareness of Gabe had heightened into a knowledge of exactly what would happen if she succumbed to temptation, and the added frisson sent a small shiver through her.
