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  His laugh sounded forced. “I’m not angry. I just know what I want, and I’m not shy about telling you. There’s a difference.”

  She sighed. “Okay. It’s just—” Before she could finish, his mouth was ravishing hers again. Serena pushed away her doubts and responded to his kiss, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, pulling him closer. Her pussy got slicker as his fingers continued caressing her clit. She pushed against his hand, seeking relief, and she nearly sobbed when he pulled away. She watched him uncertainly as he stepped back and crossed his arms.

  “Take it off.”

  Her hands shook as she unbuttoned the top. She fumbled with the last one for several seconds, unable to get her fingers to work. When it finally popped out of the hole, she hesitated. Serena clutched the top together, unable to let it fall to the floor and reveal her nakedness.

  He stepped forward and pulled her hands away, making the top fall to the floor. He scooped her into his arms and put her on the bed.

  Serena tried to cover her breasts as he stood above her, just staring at her body.

  “Don’t,” he said firmly. “Lie back. Spread your arms and legs. I want to look at you.”

  Her body trembled as she slowly complied with his command. She was aware of the chill in the air as she exposed her hardened nipples. She put her head against the pillow and fanned her arms across the bed, but couldn’t open her legs. A blush tinged her cheeks as she saw his gaze settle on her pussy. It didn’t matter that he had just been touching her there. She couldn’t part her legs and let him get his fill of looking. It seemed much more personal somehow.

  Ian stared at her as he stripped off his sweater and slacks. He shucked the briefs next, tossing them in the corner to join his clothes, before walking toward the bed.

  Serena’s stomach clenched with nerves when he grasped her thighs and pulled them apart. She tried resisting, but he was persistent, eventually revealing her secrets.

  “Why would you want to hide your pussy?” He stroked her lips, and his finger flirted with her clit before moving downward. “It’s beautiful. You shouldn’t conceal it under this hair. Your pussy should be smooth.”

  “I’ve never shaved down there,” she said, licking dry lips.

  “You will from now on.”

  Serena’s eyes widened at his words. She ignored the demanding tone, choosing to look below the surface to read his meaning. He wouldn’t care how she kept her body if he didn’t intend to see it again.

  But was she cut out for a physical affair? She knew the kind of women he dated. They were beautiful, sophisticated, and transient. They were always willowy blondes, who came from money and had their own interests. She’d heard Ian say to his friend Greg that he wasn’t the marrying kind.

  She shook her head, trying to keep herself from overanalyzing the situation. There wasn’t any harm in a little casual sex. She was still a virgin because she hadn’t had the time before to really date, not because she had a hang-up about sex and marriage or anything. A woman of her generation could indulge in a fling without worrying about the emotional consequences. She was smart enough to be physically careful.

  So was he, she saw, as he moved to the nightstand and extracted a foil packet. He laid it out before joining her on the bed. Serena turned on her side to face him as he cupped one of her breasts and lightly pinched the nipple. The sensation coursed through her body, causing her aching pussy to spasm.

  Ian slid down the bed to nestle his head between her breasts. His tongue flicked against her skin as he moved his head to her nipple, taking it in his mouth. Serena arched her back as he sucked, feeling a vortex of sensations overwhelming her. He moved his hand from her breast to between her thighs, stroking her pussy as he feasted on her nipple.

  She threaded one of her hands into his hair to anchor him against her. She writhed against him, lost in the feelings. Why had she waited so long for this? Why hadn’t the few guys she’d had one and two dates with ever inspired anything like this with their tepid kisses and clumsy gropes? “Oh, Ian.” She moved her other hand to squeeze his bicep as he pushed his finger inside her pussy. She stiffened at the stretched sensation, but he didn’t seem to notice. Maybe she had better tell him she was a virgin. “Ian—”

  “You’re so wet, so tight.” His tone was gruff. “I can’t wait to be inside you.” He rolled away from her to scoop up the condom, before rolling onto his back. “Lie on your back, with your legs spread. I’m too impatient for anything more challenging than missionary right now.”

  Serena rolled onto her back, eying his cock uncertainly as he sheathed it in latex. She licked her lips. “Look, Ian, I’ve never done this before.”

  He rolled on top of her, nudging her thighs wider. “What?”

  “I’m a virgin.” She felt heat in her cheeks and wondered why the admission embarrassed her.

  A skeptical look crossed his face before a blander expression took its place. “If that’s the game you want to play, I can do gentle.”

  “It’s not a game…” She trailed off as he moved his hand between their bodies to stroke her clit. She thrust against his fingers as the sensations that had dulled returned in full force. “Oh…”

  “Are you ready, Serena?”

  She nodded, too caught up in the feelings to speak. His fingers left her clit to part her lips, and then his cock nudged against her entrance. She closed her eyes, focusing on remaining relaxed. She knew tensing up would make it hurt when he entered her.

  It still hurt, despite her relaxed muscles. When he thrust into her, the pain shocked her into crying out. She opened her eyes and discovered his expression was incredulous.

  “You really are a virgin, aren’t you?” He seemed uncomfortable with the idea.

  She nodded, forcing a small smile. “I was.”

  “Does it still hurt?”

  “A little, but I’ll be fine.” She gritted her teeth as he withdrew to thrust into her again. The pain lessened with his next thrust, and as he started stroking her clit again, she forgot about the discomfort. Serena wrapped her arms around him and returned his thrusts, moaning as he pushed against her clit while burying his cock deep inside her. His next thrust was barely a movement, but it was enough to cause her pussy to spasm as he circled her clit with his finger and thumb.

  Convulsions swept through her, more intense than anything she had ever experienced at her own hands, and Serena cried out. She was vaguely aware of Ian surrendering control as her orgasm overwhelmed her. She ground her hips upward, groaning as his cock spasmed inside her. Her pussy continued to clench and release around him for what seemed like hours.

  It took her several moments to float down from the peak of her orgasm. Ian rolled away from her to dispose of the condom. She watched his buttocks flex as he walked into the bathroom and bit back a giddy giggle. She couldn’t believe she had just experienced her fantasy man firsthand.

  The ache in her pussy confirmed the incident was real, and she stretched languorously as Ian returned from the bathroom. His cock was still semi-hard, nestling in a springy bed of auburn curls.

  She patted the bed beside her, expecting him to rejoin her. Serena frowned when he remained in the doorway of the bathroom with his arms crossed. Had she done something wrong? Maybe she hadn’t been very good. That thought stirred a spark of anger. She had tried to tell him she was inexperienced. If he were disappointed, it was his own fault for not listening.

  “How much did he pay you?”

  Those were the last words she had expected to hear. They were so far off the mark that they were like an alien language. “What?”

  “How much did Everett Smith pay you for the documents?” He took a step toward her.

  Serena sat up, searching for a means to cover her nudity. She settled for a pillow, clasping it against her chest. “What are you talking about?”

  Ian’s laugh was cold, without a hint of amusement. “I defended you, if you can believe it. I told Greg it couldn’t be you. It wasn’t until his comp
uter expert tracked down the date and time of the email that I had to believe it was you. Even then…” He shook his head.

  Fear settled in Serena’s stomach like a ball of ice. “I don’t know what you mean. Please, Ian, what’s going on?”

  “I thought he must have seduced you. Everett’s a handsome man, and you always seemed like an innocent. I thought he must have tricked you.” His gaze raked over her. “Only now, I know that idea can’t be right. You never fucked him. You must have done it for the money.” He walked over to the bed with three strides, grasping a handful of her hair. “I guess, as of this moment, you fucked me in more ways than one, didn’t you?”

  Tears came to her eyes, prompted by his angry words and painful grip on her hair. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I’m talking about the files you emailed to EverResearch nine days ago. Do you have any idea how much you’ve delayed our nanochip project? You cost my company three million dollars in wasted research by giving him our findings. I want to know if it was worth it. How much did Everett pay you to betray me?”

  “Please!” Serena wrenched away from him, leaving him holding several strands of her hair in the process. “I don’t know anything about emails or research or nanochips. I don’t even know how to turn on a computer.” She had been too busy trying to support herself to find time to learn how to use a computer, especially when she couldn’t even afford one.

  He made a scoffing noise low in his throat. “You’re going to pay me back every cent of that three million dollars.”

  Her eyes widened. “I didn’t do anything, and I don’t have that kind of money.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Who said it had to be paid back with money?” He cupped her breast in a rough hand. “I like the idea of owning you.”

  She slapped him as hard as she could. “I don’t know why you think I did this, but it wasn’t me. I would never sell myself to you.”

  “No, just Everett Smith,” he said bitterly. “Why shouldn’t I get something out of the deal, since EverResearch just bridged a three-year technology gap with McDermott Industries by using my hard work? You’ll have to be enough compensation.”

  She took another step back. “I wouldn’t let you touch me again for all the money in the world.”

  “Fine.” He shrugged. “Enjoy prison.”

  She swallowed down the urge to hit him again. “Why do you think I did it?”

  He took a deep breath, seeming to be trying to rein in his temper. “We knew something was up when EverResearch filed for a patent for a prototype of a chip almost exactly like the one we’ve spent three years developing. Greg knows an electronics expert. He cracked into EverResearch’s computer files and found the email from my home computer, sent nine days ago. I was out of the country, so it couldn’t have been me. You were the only one here then.”

  She shook her head. “It must have been the pregnant woman.”

  His eyes widened. “What?”

  “There was a woman with a flat tire last week. She asked to use the phone. She said her cell was dead.” Serena closed her eyes, struggling to recall more about the woman’s visit. “She also used the bathroom. I remember thinking I should check on her, because she’d been in there a long time, but then she came back into the living room. A tow truck arrived a few minutes later, and she left.”

  He snorted. “Not a bad spur-of-the-moment lie, Serena. Kudos for that.”

  “I’m not lying.” She stamped her foot against the carpet, realizing she was completely naked, without even the pillow covering her. She had to fight the urge to cringe away and hide her nudity. “I can describe her.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Go ahead.” He crossed his arms, and his posture suggested he wouldn’t even give her the benefit of the doubt.

  “She had dark hair, cut short around her neck. She wore a black maternity dress, and she was probably six months pregnant.”

  “Sure.” He yawned. “If you’re done lying to me, let’s discuss reimbursement.”

  “Fuck off!” Serena whirled away from him, running into the kitchen and through the laundry room. She fished clothes from the dryer and pulled them on, not caring if they matched. She was aware of Ian watching from the doorway, but ignored him until she had the rest of her clothes in a plastic bag.

  When she walked past him, she kept her head held high. He touched her arm, but she shrugged him off as she entered the living room. Serena lifted her purse from the entryway table when she got to the door, pausing to turn back. “You’re wrong, Ian.”

  “Uh huh. You aren’t getting off scot-free, Serena.”

  She threw open the door. “Do your worst. It can’t be any more awful than today.” She walked away without looking back, letting the rain wash away the tears streaming down her face.

  * * * * *

  “Serena?”

  She blinked her eyes open at Regan’s voice. “What?”

  “You must have dozed off.” She smiled. “We’re about to land.”

  “Oh, thanks.” Serena sat up, straightening her profusion of curls. She had to clear her mind of thoughts of Ian. She tried to assure herself he didn’t really mean his threats. His anger would eventually burn out. This vacation had been fortuitous, giving him a chance to cool down and see things logically. It also gave her the chance to regroup before returning to New York. There had to be a way to convince Ian she was innocent. She just had to calm down to find the solution.

  Chapter 2

  Following the bellhop, Serena’s eyes widened as she entered the suite assigned to her. After her first sight of the Baroque castle, perched on the side of the mountain, and rising several stories in the air, she wouldn’t have believed she could be impressed with anything so mundane as a room. She was wrong.

  The burgundy carpet absorbed each step of her sneakers without a sound. Red and gray wallpaper covered all the walls, and it looked like authentic silk. The sitting room contained a sofa and chairs grouped around a large fireplace. Two doors led off the room, and she assumed they were both bedrooms.

  “Can I get you anything else, ma’am?” he asked in heavily accented English.

  She turned back to the young man who had set her cases by the door. “No, that’s everything.” She opened her purse to extract a Lasënbourg four-marc, the equivalent of a five-dollar-bill, and passed it to the uniformed man. “Thank you.”

  He inclined his head before leaving the suite, closing the door behind him with a soft click.

  Serena ignored her luggage in favor of exploring the suite. She went to the first door and twisted the antique handle. She stepped into the room, finding a double bed covered by a printed quilt, a nightstand, dresser, cheval mirror, and another door. She walked through that door, into a sumptuous bathroom with a sunk-in Jacuzzi tub, glass shower stall, and double sinks. The colors were sand and lime, and the combination looked good together.

  She exited through the other door and entered the master bedroom. This room was larger than the last, with a king-size bed, including privacy curtains. The carpet was a light-gray shade, and the furniture was delicate Queen Anne-style. She walked to the door across the room and opened it, finding a walk-in closet. She giggled, imagining the contents of her lone suitcase trying to fill this space.

  She walked to the dresser with the built-in dressing table, touching the wood polished to a high sheen. She sighed, wondering how she had ended up here—in a foreign country. What luck had led her to Castle Chocolate that day for a piece of chocolate-peppermint bark? Okay, she knew the answer to that. It would be her weakness for all things chocolate. She grinned at the thought that she was finally getting something in return from her addiction.

  Serena walked to the bed, eyeing the curtains. They were dark-burgundy, spun from heavy linen, and she wondered if they blocked out light as efficiently as they appeared to. She didn’t like sleeping in pitch-blackness, so she would probably leave the curtains open.

  She grasped the curtain at the foot of the bed and sli
d it back. Her hand froze in mid-air when she heard the door behind her opening. She dropped the curtain and turned around, not knowing whom to expect. Ian was the last person she thought to see emerging from the bathroom. Her eyes widened, and she asked the first question that occurred to her. “Where did you come from?” As she asked, her feet propelled her away from him, toward the other door.

  “The closet in the guest room.” A cool smile graced his lips. “Don’t bother trying to run, Serena. There’s nowhere to go.”

  His voice, so calm and collected, made her shiver. She stopped in mid-step and tilted her chin. “I’ll call security then. You’ll be the one leaving.”

  Ian laughed as he pushed aside the side curtain and stood up. “The owner of the hotel is a friend of mine. Johan helped me set up this whole thing.”

  She frowned. “What thing?”

  He sighed. “Did you ever stop to think how a tiny chocolate company, owned by an elderly couple, could afford to give away a vacation like this?”

  She shook her head, denying his words. “I was the one-hundred-thousandth customer.” Now that she thought about it, it did seem suspicious though. The store was tiny, with just the couple working every day. Why hadn’t she questioned her good luck before? She wasn’t stupid, but she had been distracted. She swallowed the lump in her throat and squirmed under the disdainful look Ian was giving her.

  He laughed again. “I doubt that shop has seen a thousand customers in the last year. They were more than eager to help me set up a romantic surprise for my girlfriend, so I could propose to her.”

  Serena glared at him. “You can’t do this to me. I’m leaving.”

  “Your ticket won’t be valid for seven days, remember?” He gave her a cold smile. “I doubt you have the money to buy a return ticket to New York…at least not readily available.”

  “You can’t do this to me,” she said again. Why wouldn’t he believe her? She shook her head. “Why won’t you believe me, dammit?”