Seduction

By Becca Sinh

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 Becca Sinh

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

They’d been casually dating for weeks. And in all that time, Cassandra hadn’t been able to figure out why on earth Hollywood superstar Aristotle Gardan seemed to find her so fascinating.

Everything about him, from his exotic name to his handsome face to his absolutely gorgeous muscular body, enthralled women of all ages. What could he possibly see in her?

She supposed that she wasn’t entirely bad looking. Her figure was okay, if a little on the thin side. She didn’t have lush curves like his last award-winning co-star...but she wasn’t pencil-thin like an anorexic model, either. Her auburn hair fell in long curls down her back, and shone with muted fire in the hot California sunlight. And although even her mother wouldn’t call her classically beautiful, she didn’t chase off little children and stray dogs. Surely that was a plus.

And yet...there were millions of women who were far more beautiful than she was. Why had he taken such a liking to her? She was nothing, a nobody!

I’m not going to think about it tonight. The litany kept echoing through her mind as she followed him through the immense hillside mansion that he called his private retreat. Few people even knew that it belonged to him, and he’d casually mentioned that no other woman had ever joined him for dinner on the broad, sweeping upper patio.

Tonight, come hell or high water, she was going to enjoy herself to the fullest, and not worry about what tomorrow might bring. It was enough that he found her, for whatever bizarre reason, attractive enough to share this exquisite evening together.

Dinner had been fantastic. Ari was a pro with his big outdoor kitchen grill, and her steak had been tender and juicy. Icy cubes of skewered fruit had been complimented by a delicious sparkling wine. She’d probably drunk far too much of it, but... Well, wasn’t she entitled to enjoy herself once in a while?

Carelessly she leaned against the thick wrought-iron railing, and watched the moonlit Pacific Ocean sparkle far below. Out along the horizon, the brassy orange light of a fishing trawler dipped up and down. Somewhat nearer to shore, a zippy little speedboat bounced through the choppy waves on its way north. Silvery froth bubbled in its wake.

“It’s gorgeous!” Avidly she leaned out further to peer at the receding surf. “How do you ever find the strength to leave?”

Ari propped a hip against the railing, and grinned down at her. “It’s always here when I come back.”

Even his voice was low and exotic, with its sun-kissed hint of the mysterious Greek islands. Cassie shivered with delight as the lyrical sound of it stroked her nerve endings like finely-tuned harp strings.

“Next time,” he suggested, “you’ll have to bring a swimsuit. We’ll enjoy a midnight dip in the pool, and watch the moon float overhead.”

She tried very hard to purge the image of Ari clad in nothing but skintight swimming trunks from her vivid imagination. But how could she, when he was standing so close that she could feel the heat of his long, lean body right through her flimsy blouse? She’d watched every movie he’d ever made, and every scene where he’d been half-naked was permanently engraved in her photographic memory.

Her fingers curled into helpless fists as flames burned right through her belly, spreading tingles across her skin in quick, rippling bursts. Her breath wanted to emerge in quick pants, and it took every ounce of willpower she possessed to keep from moaning with mingled fear and burgeoning lust.

Cass was fighting the urge to touch him; Ari was too experienced with women to miss the little telltale signs. And her pulse was hammering--he could feel it thrumming beneath her skin when he deliberately slid his hand down her slender back.

A blistering jolt of anticipation rioted through his veins. She was such an unexpected mix of contradictions, bold and sassy one moment, yet virginally wary and innocent the next!

Innocence had always spurred his need to protect...but at a deeper level, it inflamed his hormones to unbearable heights. And there was something about her shy blush that kindled his desire like a forest fire blazing out of control. Fierce need began to hammer in his veins like a quick drum tattoo when he felt the quick shiver that rippled down her spine.

The luxurious guest rooms were only a few steps away, with their ocean-wide soft beds and silken sheets. How easy it would be to carry her through the nearest sitting room, lay her on one of those opulent beds, and enthrall her with eager caresses until her rising passions matched his own!

Of their own accord, his hands rose to cup her slender hips and draw her back against his chest. He felt, more than heard, her quick gasp of surprise. Tiny flames seemed to sparkle against his palms, so that his fingers moved restlessly, caressing through the fine material of her wraparound skirt.

“Cass.” He breathed in the fragrant scent of her long, curling hair, and felt hunger rise in him, hot and hard, straining for release. His muscular thighs grazed against hers, and the roaring of his blood swelled like thunder, blocking out any soft sound she might have made.

Her neck was slim and soft, and his chest heaved as his lips traced a delicate line down her shoulder. She was shuddering now, and leaning helplessly back against him as passion, new and dazzling bright, began to shake the foundations of her resolve.

“Cass.” He said it again, because his own mind was blank and reeling. All conscious thought had shifted lower, to the other control center that was painfully full and erect, and throbbing with impatient urgency.

The guest rooms were close...but the pool was closer. And he had a sudden aching need to see her naked beneath the stars, with the pool’s mystical blue lights washing over her like waves in the ocean.

Maybe that Romanian gypsy had been right. Maybe he really was an old soul, and had been given a gift to seduce the very winds. He only knew that he had a special affinity for the stars and moon, and whispered caresses under a dark night sky. And tonight, the moon shone full and bright overhead, and the breeze was cool and fresh with the scent of leaves and grass.

He took a step backwards, and Cassie moved with him, gliding as if her feet were inches off the floor. Slowly he drew her further from the railing, while his restless hands moved from her hips to her waist, edging under her silky blouse to find the soft skin beneath.

Cassie’s breath shuddered out, and her head fell back against his shoulder so that her long hair cascaded, tickling, down his bare arm. The feel of it was unbearably sensual.