LITMIR.BIZ

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a long while, she fixated on his face. His neck heated. Who would have thought taking off a mask could provoke such intensity?

      “God, you’re gorgeous.”

      “Most people call me by my given name, but if you want to address me as God, I won’t argue.”

      She laughed, pushing her firm breasts into his chest. “Way to defuse the moment. That’s a rare talent.”

      He’d intended to diffuse his own embarrassment at her frank admiration, which even Amber had expressed infrequently. But if Evangeline chose to believe he had superpowers, so much the better.

      “Are we finished with the revelations?” he asked.

      “Not even close. Now that I’ve seen what’s under that mask, I’m dying to peel away this suit—” she flicked his bow tie “—and get a look at the rest of the goods.”

      “I hope it meets with your expectations.” His voice dropped. Nerves. Of all things.

      Before fully internalizing the implications, he swept Evangeline into his arms and carried her up the stairs to the bedroom.

      “Any man who can do that without having to catch his breath most definitely has a body that’ll meet my expectations,” she said as he laid her on the bed. “Oh, wow. That’s quite a fresco.”

      Matthew glanced up at the ceiling, where stucco divided sixteen individual paintings last touched by a brush during the Renaissance. “It’s my favorite.”

      “I like it, too. I’ll lie here and look at it while you fetch the condoms out of my clutch. Which is downstairs.” She flipped him a cheeky grin as he cursed.

      He cursed some more as he tromped back down the narrow stairs in search of the errant bag. It was still attached to her dress, but instead of pulling out a couple of condoms—because who was he to question how many they’d need—he untied it and brought the whole thing.

      The bulging sides of Evangeline’s clutch induced a healthy dose of reality. He was about to have sex with a virtual stranger, one whose face he’d seen for the first time less than ten minutes ago. Halfway up the stairs, he paused.

      Was he really going to go through with this?

      It was one night. One night in which he had an opportunity to turn the tide of his grief and rejoin the living by spending time with a beautiful woman who made him feel ten feet tall—feel being the operative word. One night when he could act recklessly with no one the wiser. He was in the most romantic city in the world, perhaps on purpose, and he wanted all that Venice had to offer.

      Evangeline was draped across the cream-colored comforter when he strode through the bedroom door. She studied the ceiling with pursed lips, hair spread out underneath her and breasts freely on display. That lack of inhibition—it staggered him. Excited him.

      His body hardened in anticipation, and his fingers tingled as he recalled the smoothness of her bare skin. This one night was a rare offer from the universe, and he was incredibly lucky to get it.

      She glanced over with a sultry smile. “You. Come here.”

      Only a fool would pass up what was clearly fate.

      With one hand, he got rid of his shoes and socks as he crossed the room. He tossed her clutch on a pillow and stared at her gorgeous form, flawless in the lamplight. “Hold on a minute.”

      He pulled a book of matches from his bedside drawer and lit the candles lining ornate sconces on each side of the bed, then clicked off the light.

      “Nice. You could have gotten me here a lot faster if you’d said that was the first thing you’d do once I’m naked.” She sat up and grasped his lapels, drawing off his jacket with a quick yank. “And you have on too many clothes. I’m feeling self-conscious here.”

      He let the jacket fall to the floor. “I can’t imagine why. You’re beautiful.”

      Flames flickered over her skin and threw honey highlights into her curls.

      Her hands, which had been busy with his tie, rested flat on his chest, and she rose up on her knees to meet his gaze. A hundred emotions poured from her expression, passing between them in silent communication.

      “You know why,” she said.

      He did. In her eyes, he saw the same things she no doubt saw in his. They had an understanding, nonverbal and mystifying, but very real. He’d felt it from the first moment in the hall. He felt it now.

      She was self-conscious not because of her nakedness, but because she’d removed her mask and feared learning she’d made a mistake in trusting him.

      This night was about two damaged people seeking a port in the storm. He was going through with it because he wanted to live up to her trust. Wanted to fall into a woman so different from any he’d ever met, one so wrong for a real estate broker from Dallas, but perfect for a man who didn’t know who he was or how to live his life anymore.

      He wanted to see what happened if he let go of all the rules. It couldn’t be worse than the purgatory of the past eighteen months.

      If he did it right, it would be spectacular. Meaningful. And Matthew did everything right.

      “I’m not going to disappoint you,” he said hoarsely.

      “I know. I wouldn’t be here otherwise.” Her voice had grown impossibly huskier as well, skating across his skin, burrowing its gravelly hooks into his center. “I’ve just never done anything like this before. Never wanted to.”

      Well, that made two of them. Hopefully they could figure it out together. “No expectations. No rules.”

      “I remember. Except I have this one rule.” She made short work of removing his bow tie and began slipping his shirt’s buttons free with deliberate care as she peeked up from under her lashes. “I get to explore first. You have to wait your turn.”

      He went so hard, his spine curved. Had a woman ever undressed him so provocatively?

      “That’s a pretty unfair rule. Why can’t we do it at the same time?”

      “Because I said.”

      The last button popped from its mooring, and she slid blazing fingertips across his bare chest on her way to his shoulders. His shirt came off in her hands and she yanked it halfway down his arms, trapping them against his side.

      “Actually,” she added, “the rule states I get to explore twice, once with my eyes and another time with my mouth.”

      Said eyes roamed over his exposed skin as she pulled him closer with the grip she had on his shirt. Without warning, she spun him and tied his hands behind his back with the fabric.

      “Oh, now that’s really not fair.”

      “All’s fair in love and war.” Still on her knees, she turned him back around to graze a fingertip down his chest and into the waistband of his pants. “I’ll let you go when I’m done exploring.”

      She drew him closer and dropped his pants and briefs to the floor, ravishing his erection with her eyes, as promised.

      He kicked his pants away. “I can easily break out of this you know.”

      “You won’t.” Her light tone fooled him not in the least.

      This was love and war. And holy cow, did that get his juices flowing in a way he’d never have guessed. He’d play along, but she better believe he’d be dishing it out when he got the chance.

      With a soft sigh, she twirled her finger. “Turn around. I want to see it all.”

      He faced the wall opposite the bed, slightly uncomfortable and enormously turned on by the notion of her eyes traveling up and down his naked body.

      “When does the mouth exploration start?” he called over his shoulder.

      Her

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