Kate Hoffmann - Marcus

“Then who does?”

“You do,” Eden snapped. “My mother and father do, to some extent, although that can be hit-and-miss at times. Some of my friends-but not many. And Sarah, my father’s housekeeper, and Maria. And that’s about it. Oh, and your mother. I hope that she has a good opinion of me.”

Marcus glanced over his shoulder as they turned onto the bridge. “I don’t want to provide amusement for some lady waiting on line at the grocery store.”

They drove the rest of the way to Marcus’s place in silence. He wasn’t angry, just frustrated. He and Eden were like a runaway train, heading for the end of their relationship at top speed, and there was nothing he could do about it. At this rate, there was destined to be a huge crash with at least one casualty-him.

In the past, he’d never given a second thought to breakups. In most cases, he was glad to be free of the responsibility for some woman’s happiness. But with Eden, he was loath to face the inevitable.

He craved the feel of her naked body against his, the sensation of sinking into her moist heat and the act of bringing them both to a mindless ecstasy. It wasn’t just the sex. He loved spending time with her. He loved falling asleep with her in his arms and waking up to her sweet smile. He loved her.

He glanced over at her and fought the urge to reach out and touch her. Maybe it was better this way. This incident just proved that he couldn’t live in her world, and she wasn’t willing to give up her world to live in his.

“You’re all right?” he asked.

Eden nodded. “I’m fine.” She glanced over at him and forced a smile. “Thanks for standing up for me. Nobody’s ever done that before.”

“No problem.”

EDEN STOOD IN FRONT of the kitchen sink and filled a glass with water. Marcus watched her from his spot on the sofa. Since they’d returned home, she’d been curiously silent.

He shouldn’t have reacted the way he had, blaming her for what had happened. But how could she expect him to understand or to tolerate behavior that she’d grown immune to? From the start Marcus had protected her, and he wasn’t about to stop now.

She had no more control over the situation than he had. Well, maybe a little control. If she hadn’t made that video, then the drunk with the camera probably would have had to find some other insult to hurl at her. And perhaps Marcus could have tolerated a different one.

Eden sat down at the end of the counter and picked up the camera, fiddling with the buttons until she’d managed to rewind the tape. She walked out of the kitchen, her gaze on the view screen, filming her surroundings as she went.

When she reached the sofa, she turned the camera on Marcus. “Smile,” she said.

He held his hand up in front of the lens. “Stop.”

“Why?”

“You got in enough trouble the last time you appeared on video. And I’ve had enough of cameras for one night.”

“Come on, don’t be so depressing,” Eden said with a pout. “I don’t want to spend our last night together all gloomy and doomy. Smile.”

Marcus shook his head and covered his face with his hands. “Go away, Eden.”

“I’ve got an idea. We’ll just make a little video of our last night together and then you’ll have something to remember me by.”

“I’m not going to play this game with you.”

She pried his hands away from his eyes and trained the camera at his face, standing above him. “Tell me. What did you think the first time you saw Eden Ross?”

“Nice ass,” he muttered. “Naked girl. Big trouble.”

“And what about later?” she continued. “Did you want to touch me?”

The answer was obvious. From the moment he’d met her he’d thought of nothing else. “No,” he lied.

“I don’t believe you,” Eden said, peeking out from behind the camera. “Take your shirt off.”

Marcus refused, but Eden wasn’t about to be deterred. “Then you hold it,” she said, handing him the camera, “and I’ll take my clothes off.” She pointed to the miniature screen on the back. “Just watch me through that and try not to jiggle the camera.”

Marcus grudgingly pointed the camera at Eden. She reached down for the hem of her dress and slowly drew it up over her head. She wasn’t wearing a bra and had chosen a sexy black thong as her only underwear. She let her hands drift up her torso and over her breasts, then brushed her hair away from her face, playing to the camera and to the man behind it. She was deliberately tempting him, and Marcus was loath to admit that it was working.

Eden slowly walked up to him and took the camera, then pulled him to his feet. “Your turn,” she said, dragging him toward the bed.

“Why are we doing this?” Marcus asked as he unbuttoned his shirt.

“Have you ever seen yourself make love to a woman?” Eden asked. “Aren’t you curious? Come on, it’s liberating. It’s like having someone else in the room…but not really.”

He’d never refused Eden anything before, at least not sexually. And he was intrigued. She was right-they should spend their last night together doing something more interesting than arguing. But this was just a reminder of a big mistake she’d made in the past. He grabbed the camera and turned it off.

She stared at him, her mouth pressed into a tight line. “It doesn’t have to be awful like the last one,” she murmured. “It can be sexy and wonderful and real. I want you to remember that it was real.”

“Eden, I’m not going to forget you.”

She nodded. “I know. But I want to share this with you. I trust you, Marcus. I know you would never use this to hurt me.”

He drew a deep breath, then handed the camera back to her. “Just promise me we’re going to burn this tape after we watch it,” Marcus said, letting his shirt drop to the floor.

Eden smiled. “No, I’m going to leave it with you as a memento of our time together. Every now and then you can watch it and it will be like I’m here.”

Marcus kicked off his boat shoes, standing in his bare feet. “I don’t think so,” he said. He undid his belt and Eden let the camera drift lower. “It would be a sad substitute for the real thing.”

“Slower,” Eden ordered, kneeling in the center of the bed and tucking her feet beneath her. “Take your time.”

“Are you the director?” he asked.

“For tonight,” she replied.

As he lowered the zipper of his khakis, Marcus was forced to admit that Eden’s little game was a huge turn-on. Undressing had always been a necessary step, but now it was entertainment. His sexual liberation at Eden’s hands had had no limits, and he didn’t want to stop now. “Is that slow enough?”

“Run your hand over your chest,” she said.

Marcus watched her, but Eden wasn’t looking at him. She was looking intently at the screen. If he wanted to seduce her, then he’d be forced to do it through the lens of the video camera. Smiling, he did as she ordered, smoothing his palm over his chest and belly.

When he reached his pants, he slipped his fingertips beneath the waistband of his boxers. He heard Eden take a sharp breath and her eyes went wide. A tiny smile quirked at the corners of her mouth. “That’s very nice,” she said.

Marcus slid his hand downward and was surprised to find that he was already hard. Though he was familiar with the art of pleasuring himself, he’d never done it in front of anyone. But he wasn’t embarrassed to do it for Eden as long as she found it…arousing.

“Touch yourself,” she murmured. “The way that I touch you.”

He pushed his boxers down, freeing himself from the confines of his clothing. Marcus slowly began to stroke himself, tipping his head back and imagining that it was Eden’s touch on his body. He grew harder with each movement, the sensations coursing through his body more intense because of her presence.