Page 128 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Two

“Very.”

“And you think this body is beautiful?”

“I do,” he said, humor sparkling in his eyes.

He took a sip of bottled water right as she asked, “Wouldyou like it?” Then he coughed for the next five minutes, and she wanted to behumiliated. She tried to be, but she couldn’t quite manage it. She wanted him,and there was no time like the hours leading up to one’s certain death to getthe juices flowing. The heart racing. The desperationskyrocketing. It was now or never, and she knew it. “I’m sorry,” she said as hewiped his mouth on the bottom of his dark gray T-shirt. “Would you like atissue?” She grabbed her bag and began combing through the contents.

“It’s okay. This isn’t my shirt,” he said, pressing theshirt tail to his mouth like a kid.

Too bad. It showed off his sinuous forearms and thick bicepsperfectly. But it was the abs he’d just flashed that undid her.

“Should we, um, do you want to get a hotel room?” Was he actually nervous? Because butterflies were currentlydive-bombing the lining of her stomach. Still, she figured him for a pro. Hecertainly looked the part.

“Well,” she said, looking around, “your windows are pretty tinted. And you have that nifty sun shade for yourwindshield.”

“Wait. Here?”

She took a deep breath to muster her courage and crawledover the console to straddle him.

His surprise only lasted a moment. He reached down andadjusted the seat so the steering wheel was no longer cupping her butt.Instead, his hands were.

She leaned forward and pressed her mouth to his. Yep. Thatsame delicious tension coiled low in her abdomen just like the last two timesshe’d kissed him. The sensation intensified when he slid his tongue along herlower lip, and a soft whimper escaped before she could stop it. Embarrassed,she pulled back and dropped her gaze. “By the way,” she said, a warmthspreading over her face, “I’m a virgin.”

* * * *

Donovan froze. He held her against him until he couldcollect his thoughts. It took a while. After staring at her for a solid sixtyseconds, he asked, “You’re a what?” just to confirm.

Her huge eyes found his again, a stunning mixture of carameland deeper browns with flecks of sea-foam green sprinkled throughout. “I mean,this body isn’t, but I am. I’ve never... you know.”

“Ah, got it.” That made more sense. Not that a beautiful,successful woman couldn’t be a virgin. The odds were definitelyagainst it, though. “So, I’ll be your first,” he said matter-of-factly.No pressure.

“Technically. I mean, I know what to do. Technically. I’vejust never actually put that knowledge to the test.”

“Is this a test?” he asked, grinning at her. She seemed morenervous than he was. “Tests were never my strong point in school.”

“What was?”

“Girls, mostly.”

She giggled. There was no other word for it. A short, softbubble of laughter escaped her, and he found her even more enchanting becauseof it. “Why aren’t I surprised?” she asked.

“I can’t imagine. But first things first.” He slipped themetal bracelet off, pushed the two ends together to close the circle, and slidit onto her much slenderer wrist. “It’s still too big.” He went to take it backbut she snatched her hand away.

“It’s perfect.” She lifted it to study as though examining acluster of diamonds. “But you really shouldn’t have.” When he only grinned ather, she added, “I feel like I’m leaving you vulnerable by taking this.”

“He’s not after me. I’ll be fine.”

She dropped her wrist and her gaze. “Should we start then?”

He lifted a brow. “Start?”

“Yeah, you know. It.”

“Ah.” He tried not to smile. He failed. This was going to befun. “Where do you suggest we begin?”

“Oh.” Her eyes rounded as she thought about his questionmuch more intently than he’d imagined she would. “Right. Well, music seems tobe important.”

“Music.” He nodded and fought that errant grin again. The fucker. “What would you suggest?”