“Right here.” His warm mouth pressed against her bare shoulder, sending a wash of heat across her skin.
“What about your ribs?”
“I’ll be fine.” He nipped the side of her neck.
“How . . . how did you even know this room was here?”
He slid one of the beaded straps of the gown off her shoulder. “I’ve been in the building before.” His hand slid inside the fabric to cup her breast and heat washed into her stomach. “Have I brought a woman in here I wanted to fuck? No.”
Oh, my God. He lightly pinched her nipple and desire spilled through her.
“I promise I won’t ruin your makeup.” He kissed the side of her neck as he slid the other strap off and tended to the other breast, massaging, palming, sending pleasure out through her limbs.
Carly moaned.
“Brace your hands on that stack of linens in front of you,” he softly commanded, all the while toying with her breasts, making her wet and hot.
In the darkness, she found the pile of linens and bent forward, felt his big hands sliding her dress up around her waist. Linc moved aside the tiny silver thong she was wearing. She heard the glide of his zipper, heard the tear of a foil packet, felt his hardness nudging against her, then he was inside.
Need burned through her. Her mind shut down. She was blind in the darkness, able only to feel. Linc gripped her hips to hold her in place and started moving, slowly at first, then increasing the rhythm, driving her toward climax. The distant chords of the orchestra melted through the walls and nothing existed but the two of them in their small private world.
Faster, deeper, harder. Pleasure rolled through her in thick, saturating waves. Her breath came in short, sharp gasps.
She heard Linc’s deep voice in the darkness. “You’re close. Let yourself go.”
His words pushed her over the edge and sweet oblivion engulfed her, dragged her into bliss. Linc followed, his body tightening, his low growl rumbling through the pitch darkness.
As she began to spiral down, he drew her up against him and for a moment just held her. Then he pulled her straps back up, let her gown fall back into place over her hips, and she heard the buzz of his zipper. A crack of light appeared as he checked their surroundings. Linc opened the door and led her back out into the corridor.
Dazed, her body limp and her mind ridiculously at ease, she looked up at him. Linc pressed a soft kiss on her lips.
“We’ll take a moment to freshen up, then we’ll go inside.”
She glanced toward the ladies’ room. “’Kay.” Turning away, she disappeared into the bathroom.
By the time she took Linc’s arm a few minutes later and he started leading her back toward the ballroom, she was no longer shaking. Her entire body felt energized and at the same time completely relaxed.
Ready to face the evening ahead, she managed to ignore the faintly smug expression on Linc’s handsome face as they walked along the corridor.
A secret smile tugged at her lips. Maybe he was the man in black leathers after all.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Six hundred people sat at linen draped tables in the elegant Grand Ballroom. White and silver floral centerpieces rested on mirrored bases in the middle of each table.
Linc guided Carly through the crowd, not surprised by the number of heads she turned. He’d known she was more than pretty. He hadn’t realized she could hold her own with some of the most beautiful women in Dallas.
Oddly enough, it was the Carly she was out at the ranch who appealed to him most, the strong, spirited woman determined to make it in a man’s world.
The social hour hadn’t ended. Lifting a glass of champagne off a passing waiter’s tray, he handed it to Carly, then took one for himself.
“I see Beau over by our table. I want you to meet him.”
“I’d love to,” Carly said. A faint blush still colored her cheeks from their interlude in the linen closet. He felt a sweep of possessiveness that was highly unusual for him and mildly unsettling.
He spotted Beau standing next to the table he had purchased, ten seatsfor a mere thirty-two thousand dollars. He reminded himself it was for charity, and urged Carly toward Beau.
His best friend was outrageously handsome, tall and lean, with thick black hair and blue eyes. If it weren’t for the thin scar running along his jaw from a fistfight with the school bully when they were in junior high, he might have looked a little too pretty. As it was, women loved him, always had.
