Tara Pammi - Scandalous Sins

‘An engagement ring.’

Violet’s eyes rounded. Her heart pounded. Her hopes sounded. Did this mean...? Was he...? ‘You bought a ring? For me?’

His expression was as blank as his house was of his past. ‘It’s just for show. I figured everyone would be asking to see it at your office party tonight.’

Violet carefully unpeeled the ribbon, her heart feeling like a hummingbird was trapped in one of its chambers. She opened the velvet box to find a beautiful diamond in a classic setting in a white gold ring. It was more than beautiful—it was perfect. How had he known she wasn’t the big flashy diamond sort? She took it out of the box and pushed it onto her ring finger. It winked up at her as if in conspiracy. I might be just a prop but don’t I look fabulous on your hand? She looked up at Cam’s unreadable expression. ‘It’s gorgeous. But I’ll give it back after Christmas, okay?’

‘No.’ There was a note of implacability to his tone. ‘I want you to keep it. Think of it as a gift for your help with the Nicolaides contract.’

Violet held up her hand, looking at the light dancing off the diamond. She didn’t like to think it might be the only engagement ring she ever got. She lowered her hand and looked at him again. ‘It’s very generous of you, Cam. It’s beautiful. I couldn’t have chosen better myself. Thank you.’

‘No problem.’

Violet gathered up her new clothes and the packaging. ‘I’m going to get dressed and head out to replenish my wardrobe. What are your plans?’

‘Work.’

‘On the weekend?’

He gave her a that’s how it is look. ‘I’ll catch up with you later this evening. What time is your office party?’

‘Eight.’

‘I’ll be back in time to take you. Make yourself at home.’ He reached past her to open the drawer of the desk and took out a key on a security remote. He handed it to her. ‘Here’s the key to the house.’

Violet took the key and a rush of heat coursed from her fingers to her core when her hand came into contact with his. He must have felt it too for his gaze meshed with hers in a sizzling tether that made her wonder if he was only going to work to remove himself from the temptation of spending time with her. Doing...things. Wicked things. Things that made her blood heat and her stomach do cartwheels of excitement. ‘Cam?’ Her voice came out croaky and soft.

His eyes went to her mouth and she saw the way his throat moved up and down over a tight swallow. ‘Don’t make this any harder than it already is.’ His tone was two parts gravel, one part honey, and one part man on the edge of control.

With courage she had no idea she possessed, Violet moved closer, planting her hands on his chest, bringing her hips in contact with his. ‘Don’t I get to kiss you for buying me such a gorgeous ring?’

His eyes darkened until it was impossible to tell where his pupils began and ended. His body stirred against hers, the swell of his erection calling out to her. Desire burned through every lonely corridor of her body, every network of nerves, every circuit of her blood. She became aware of her breasts pushed up against the fabric of her bathrobe, the nipples already tight, her flesh aching for human touch—Cam’s touch. Her courage increased with every pound of his heart she could feel thundering under her palm.

His head came down at the same time she stepped up on tiptoe, their mouths meeting in the middle in an explosion of lust that sent a shockwave through Violet’s body. It sent it through Cam’s, too, for he grabbed her by the hips and pulled her hard against him, smothering a groan as his mouth plundered hers.

His tongue didn’t ask for entry but demanded it, tangling with hers in a sexy combat that mimicked the intimacy both of them craved. This wasn’t a chaste kiss between old friends. This was a kiss of urgency, of frustration, of long-built-up needs that could wait no longer for satiation.

Cam’s mouth continued its thrilling exploration of hers while his hands slipped beneath the opening of her bathrobe, exposing her breasts. Violet shivered as the feel of his hand shaping her, cupping her, caressing her threatened to heat her blood to boiling. She’d had no idea her breasts were that sensitive. No idea how wonderful it felt to have a man’s hand cradle her shape while his thumb moved back and forth across her nipple.

But it wasn’t enough. Her body wanted more. More contact, more friction, more of the sensual heat his body promised. She pushed her lower body against his, relishing the delicious thrill it gave her to feel the potency of his arousal. She had done that to him. Her body stirred his as his stirred hers. It was a combustible energy neither of them could deny nor ignore any longer.

‘This is madness,’ Cam said just above her mouth.

Violet didn’t give him a chance to pull away any further. She pressed closer, stroking her tongue over his lips, the top one and then the lower one, a shiver coursing through her when he gave another rough groan and covered her mouth in a fiery kiss. His hands gripped her by the hips, holding her to his rigid heat, the contact making Violet’s inner core tingle and tighten with anticipation. How had she survived so long without this magical energy rushing through her body? Cam’s touch made every nerve in her body cry out for more.

He pulled his mouth away, his breathing a little unsteady. ‘Not here, not like this.’

Violet kept her arms around his waist, reluctant to give him the opportunity to break the intimate contact. ‘Don’t say you don’t want me because I know you do.’

He gave her a rueful look. ‘Not much chance of hiding it, is there? But I want you to be comfortable and making love on a desk or the floor is not my idea of comfortable.’

Before Violet could say anything, he scooped her up in his arms. She gave a startled gasp and held on, secretly delighted he was taking charge like a romantic hero out of an old black and white movie.

They came to his bedroom door and he shouldered it open and carried her to the end of the bed, lowering her to the floor, but not before trailing her body down the length of his, leaving her in no doubt of his erotic intentions. He pressed another lingering kiss to her lips, exploring the depths of her mouth with a beguiling mix of gentleness and urgency. Sensations rippled through her body in tiny waves, making her skin sensitive to his touch like he had cast a sensual spell on her. But then he had. From the moment he had walked into that café, she had been under the heady spell of sexual attraction.

Violet pulled up his sweater and T-shirt so she could glide her hands over his naked skin. Warm, hard male flesh met the skin of her palms; a light smattering of masculine hair grazed her fingertips, the scent of his cologne teased her nostrils. She explored the tiny pebbles of his nipples, and then the flat plane of his stomach with its washboard ridges that marked him as man who enjoyed hard physical exercise.

Cam untied the waist strap of her bathrobe and sent his hands on their own sensual journey. Violet shuddered when his hands glided around her ribcage, not quite touching her breasts but close enough for her to feel she would die if he didn’t. He brought his mouth to the upper curve of her right breast. He didn’t seem in a hurry, but maybe he was giving her time to get used to this level of intimacy. He brushed his thumb over her nipple, a back and forth movement that made her body contract with want.

Rather than undress her any further, he set to work on his own clothes, taking each item off while his gaze was trained on hers.

Finally, he was in nothing but black underpants, and then and only then did he remove her bathrobe. Violet’s belly did a somersault an Olympic gymnast would have been proud of when she saw the way his eyes feasted on her breasts. He cupped them in his hands with exquisite care, rolling his thumb over each nipple before lowering his mouth to subject her to an intimate torture that made her senses spin in dizzying delight.