No one had ever claimed her so completely in any moment, not even the man she’d married.

With nothing more than Ryan’s eyes and hands on her, she felt irrevocably his. It thrilled—and scared—her in equal measure.

Confused by the riot of emotions moving through her, pulled at by arousal and desires she’d never thought would see the light of day, she did the only thing she could: she put her sculptor’s hand on his beautiful face and closed her eyes.

She needed to see him. Really see him in the only way she truly knew how to see anything.

Vicki let her hands rest on Ryan’s cheekbones for a long moment, settling into the feel of his skin and bones just as she had a thousand times before with clay.

It should have settled her. Only, clay didn’t have a heartbeat.

Clay wasn’t warm.

Clay didn’t breathe raggedly in and out.

And clay didn’t say her name in a breath that was as much a plea as it was an expression of pure gratitude.

His hands tightened on her hips as he drew her even closer to him and she couldn’t stop herself from rocking once, twice, three times into the pleasure his thick heat gave her just at her core. A low groan came from his throat and as she arched into him just one more time, he pressed his mouth to the hollow of her neck and licked against her skin.

Oh God, that one slow stroke of his tongue was almost enough to pitch her over the edge. Just a few more brushes on her overheated, oversensitive skin, just a handful of thrusts against him, and she’d not only be the kind of woman who made out in the back of a cab...she’d also be the kind that climaxed in one.

But, amazingly, it wasn’t her sense of propriety, it wasn’t even a last grasp at self-control that had her shifting back on his thighs just enough to keep from imploding. It was the fact that her hands were even more insistent, simply craved the chance to finally touch the man she’d only been able to admire visually for so long, that had her refocusing on the planes and hollows of his face.

She could have explored Ryan’s face for hours—the slightly irregular bone over the bridge of his nose where he’d once been hit with a baseball, the peaks and valleys of his upper lip, the bristling stubble across his chin and cheeks that scratched at her fingers and palms, the perfect curve of his earlobe, the strong beat of his heart at his pulse point.

How different, she had to wonder, would all of this feel against the insides of her thighs rather than her hands?

And would she find out tonight?

The decadent questions had Vicki shifting closer to him again, and her eyes fluttered open. Until now, Ryan had always been the one to kiss her. Right from that first night in the cocktail lounge when their game of pretend had begun, Ryan had been the one to claim her mouth in the gentle kiss.

They both knew he could take anything he wanted from her right now, even in the back of a cab. He was bigger. Stronger. And she wanted him. Badly. And yet, he remained perfectly still beneath her.

Watching her with those dark eyes.

Waiting, as if to see whether she was brave enough to demand from him what he’d demanded from her in the bar.

Vicki told herself her heart shouldn’t be thudding so hard in her chest over yet another kiss. But it was.

Because she knew this was so much more than a kiss.

It was the difference between allowing herself to be seduced by Ryan...and being an equal partner in seduction.

Ryan hadn’t said a word, but she could hear his voice just the same. Come on, Vicki. Just one little kiss. Give it to me. You know you want to.

As if he’d said the words aloud, his dark eyes lit with the humor that was never far from the surface, the perfect combination of wicked and daring, safe and sweet.

That was when Vicki knew she was a goner.

Not just for one kiss.

Not just for one night.

But forever.

They’d make love tonight. It would be beautiful and thrilling and, likely, the culmination of every sexual fantasy she’d ever had.

But Vicki didn’t need to sleep with Ryan to know that he’d already conquered all the corners of her heart.

And that making love would likely cause irreparable damage between them come morning.

She kissed him anyway.

Chapter Seventeen

Vicki’s mouth was a soft press of sweetness against Ryan’s lips as she finally kissed him.

God, she tasted good. He loved the way her tongue found his before pulling back slightly to stroke against his lips and teeth.

Even more, though, he loved the fact that she’d finally reached for him.

Not just with her mouth on his, but the way she’d put her hands on his face and closed her eyes as if she were sculpting him. Sitting in the cab with all of his clothes on and her hands on him, he’d felt naked. And completely transparent. As if Vicki had a direct line to his heart...and soul.

He’d wanted her to know it all, everything he didn’t know how to say but couldn’t stop feeling.

When the taxi driver hit the brakes hard, Ryan was glad for the excuse—for any excuse—to hold her even tighter. He’d never felt anything as good as having her in his arms and when she’d been rocking into him a few minutes ago, he’d been close to losing it fully clothed.

She tried to slip off his lap as he reached for his wallet, but he wouldn’t let her go until the last possible second. Still, he held fast to her hand so that she couldn’t leave the cab until he did, too.

The taxi sped away from them, and in the light of the streetlamp outside his front gate, Vicki’s beautiful face was flushed. Her eyelashes were covering her eyes from him and he wanted to tip her chin up to his, make her look at him and really see who was claiming her before he took her right then and there on the street.

Somehow, a faint glimmer of common sense got through. Once he had her inside his house, however, all bets were off.

There wasn’t going to be any embarrassment tonight.

Or any holding back.

He’d waited too long for her. Had she waited just as long for him? Or was she simply swept up in the moment?

Even though he told himself it didn’t matter, that they’d work it all out in the morning, he wasn’t quite able to push away the twinge in his chest that seemed to say it did, in fact, matter very much whether this was just an impulse for Vicki.

Damn it, he’d never wanted anyone as much as he wanted her. But if she was at all hesitant, he knew what he’d have to—

“Let’s go inside, Ryan.” He was surprised to see Vicki’s eyes darkened with the kind of passion he’d only ever seen her give to her sculptures. “I want to feel more of you beneath my fingertips.” She licked her lips, before whispering, “All of you.”