Instead of Nico the pop star smiling back at her, it was Nicola, a woman who'd just been flattened by unexpected emotion, looking utterly bewildered by what had just hit her.

Wanting desperately to reset back to normal again, she turned her complete focus on the kids, asking them their names, what grades they were in, if they had a favorite song. She asked their mother if she could have their email to send special concert tickets over for her show on Sat.u.r.day night.

Finally, Marcus put the baby back in her stroller and gently strapped her in. The family left, calling goodbye. She waved back at them, glad for the movement to hide how unsteady her hands were.

Marcus pushed the elevator b.u.t.ton again and followed her in, his hand on the small of her back, just as it had been the night before when they'd walked out of the club. She was immediately enveloped by his heat, along with that sense of safety she'd felt from the first moment she'd met him in the club.

She pressed the b.u.t.ton for the penthouse suite and when the elevator doors closed, he said, "You were great with those kids."

"I love kids," she admitted to him. "They're so honest about their feelings."

"Honesty means a lot to you, doesn't it?"

She thought about Kenny, about how he'd betrayed her trust. "It means everything to me." Realizing how serious a turn their conversation had taken-and that if she wasn't careful she'd be crying on his shoulder about how bad it hurt to be lied to, she smiled and said, "I've never seen a baby take to anyone so fast."

He didn't deflect her compliment, but simply said, "I've spent a lot of time with babies over the years."

She'd wanted to ask him about his family last night in the taxi after speaking with his mother, but she hadn't let herself because she'd been afraid of building a connection deeper than s.e.x with him. Well, she was already screwed on that front, wasn't she? How could it possibly hurt much more to drill the screw in a little deeper?

"Lori adores you. I take it the rest of your brothers and sisters do, too?"

"We watch out for each other."

"It sounds like it's mostly you watching out for them," she pointed out.

"Do you have any siblings?"

"Two younger brothers."

"Let me guess," he said. "They both drive shiny new cars courtesy of their big sister."

She had to laugh at the way he'd turned it around on her and pointed out that she did just the same thing with her own family. "I knew I shouldn't, but I just couldn't help myself."

"When Lori and Sophie turned sixteen I threw them a h.e.l.l of a party at a safari place near Napa."

"Complete with elephants and zebras?"

"Alligators and pythons, too."

"No wonder Lori loves you so much," Nicola teased, but then, before she could stop herself, she added, "Although I'm pretty sure you wouldn't need to spend a dime on her and she would love you just as much."

His smile slowly receded at her very personal statement, one that included multiple uses of the word love.

Wow. Way to play it cool.

Not.

Thankfully, the door opened to the penthouse just then and she was able to hide her flaming cheeks from him as they walked to her half of the top floor. She pulled her key card out of her bag and opened the door.

She appreciated it when Marcus didn't make a big deal out of how nice the room was. It always made her uncomfortable when people all but asked what her net worth was.

The thirty minutes since they'd left the dance studio seemed like hours ago now. She felt awkward and unsure of herself again. "I'm all icky from rehearsal. I should probably go take a shower."

Marcus shut the door behind her and locked it. When he looked at her, his eyes held none of their earlier laughter from discussing their families.

Now, there was only heat...and so much desire it took her breath away.

"Come here, Nicola."

She didn't move a muscle. She couldn't. "But I should-"

"No showers. Not yet. Not without me."

He paused, let his words register, the promise in them, the vision of actually taking a shower together, of being soaped up and all wet with him, doing crazy things to her insides.

She knew he must be able to read her reaction on her face, but he didn't say anything else, he simply stood right where he was by the door and waited for her to come to him.

She could do this. Of course she could. Just put one foot in front of the other and as long as her heart didn't explode from pounding so fast, she'd be fine.

With her legs as shaky as they'd been that very first time she'd stood up in front of a thousand people, she began the slow walk toward Marcus.

Chapter Nine.

Marcus was a heartbeat away from picking Nicola up, throwing her on the bed, and taking her. It nearly killed him to hold back, to watch her slowly move across the carpeted floor toward him.

She was nervous, the same way she'd been last night when they'd gotten in the cab. She had such incredible s.e.x appeal-the video rehearsal confirmed that she clearly knew how to use her s.e.xuality to whip her audience into a frenzy-so her nerves didn't make sense to Marcus. But seconds later, he forgot all about needing things to add up.

Who cared about anything but getting her out of her clothes?

He had to reach for her, had to grab a handful of her sweatshirt in his fist and lean down to take her sinfully seductive mouth with his. She moaned against his mouth and he yanked her sweatshirt up. He pulled back to lift it up and over her head.

Nothing but thin Spandex and curves awaited him.

"My G.o.d, you're beautiful."

She blinked up at him, her big blue eyes softer now, more aroused than worried. "Thank you."

Hadn't she heard a thousand times over by now how beautiful she was? If not from her fans, then from the men she'd shared her bed with? And yet, the way she'd said "Thank you" had been so pure. So honest. As if he were the first lover who had ever told her she was breathtaking.

Again and again, she surprised him. First, when she'd slept like a contented kitten on his lap all night long. And then in the morning, when she'd walked into Smith's kitchen, her pretty face clean of makeup, looking young and fresh and ridiculously innocent, despite the leather dress she still wore. And just a few minutes ago when she'd been genuinely interested in those kids downstairs who'd wanted her autograph.

The least important surprise of all, he realized now, was the fact that she was a famous pop star.

He had expected to want her. But he hadn't expected to like her this much. In the wake of breaking up with Jill, he hadn't expected to feel anything for a woman beyond desire.

Growing threads of emotion tugged on the tenuous hold he had on his control, threatening to snap it. Marcus knew that he'd better do something, and quick, to get the night back on track.

Back on his track.

He'd always been dominant in the bedroom, enjoying taking care of a woman's pleasure at least as much as his own. Jill hadn't liked giving up control to him, though, and during the two years they were together, their s.e.x life had been almost completely vanilla.

He was ready for a different flavor. And based on the heat that had been between them since the very first moment, he had a good feeling that Nicola was, too.

"For nearly twenty-four hours I've been imagining you without any clothes on. I've wanted to know how soft and heavy your b.r.e.a.s.t.s feel in my hands. How wet and slick you'll be between your legs as I slide my fingers into you."

She shivered against him as he cupped her stunning face in his hands and kissed her, long and slow, taking the time-finally-to learn the corners and creva.s.ses of her sweet mouth. She trembled when he dipped his tongue into the corners where her upper and lower lips came together, then gave a low moan as he nipped her lower lip between his teeth and sucked it inside.

Without giving her any warning, he moved his hands from her face to the bottom of her thin tank top and pulled it up over her head. She made a move to cover her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and he stopped her hands with his.

"No."

Her eyes were dilated and her breath was coming fast as he slid his fingers through hers.

"I don't want you to hide yourself from me."

From where he was holding her hands between her soft, full b.r.e.a.s.t.s, he could feel her swift intake of breath-along with her rapid heartbeat.

"Take a step back so that I can look at you."

He could see how uncertain she was, but it only made him more determined to push past it. He could scent her arousal, knew how much she wanted him. He needed to know how she would respond to his natural s.e.xuality, to the innate dominance he'd controlled for too long.

"Now, kitten."

Her eyes flared with surprise-and heat-at the endearment even as she took a step back.

Not wanting anything to cover up her beautiful b.r.e.a.s.t.s-his hands and mouth and c.o.c.k would have to wait for their chance-Marcus made himself let go of her hands.

Nicola immediately moved to cover herself. He didn't say anything, simply shook his head, once.

Her eyes widened again and for a moment, he wasn't sure that she would obey his silent command. But then, she took a deep breath and lifted her chin. Her hands shifted down, revealing sweet, soft skin, and his breath caught.

Just before she was about to reveal her nipples, she stopped, blushing furiously.

From what he could recall of seeing flashes of her on TV and pictures on magazine covers, he knew she often wore next to nothing on stage. And yet, if he didn't know better, he would swear she'd never shown another man her naked b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She was that shy.

"Show me how beautiful you are, Nicola." He didn't understand why this was so hard for her, but since it obviously was, he instinctively softened his voice. He was gentle, soothing, as he urged her, "Show me how much you want this. How much you want me."

The silence throbbed between them for a long while until-finally-she dropped her hands from her chest...and the hit of l.u.s.t that knocked into him nearly took him down to his knees on the carpeted floor of her penthouse suite.

Her nipples were erect and a soft pink that made his mouth water at the thought of licking them to see if they tasted as sweet as they looked. Her skin was lightly tanned all over, without a tan line in sight on her shoulders or around her b.r.e.a.s.t.s...easily the most beautiful b.r.e.a.s.t.s he'd ever been lucky enough to set eyes on.

His c.o.c.k had already been hard enough to pound nails since their kiss in the dance studio and hadn't much flagged since then. But now, he was worlds beyond hard, as erect as he'd ever been from nothing more than a couple of hot kisses and the beautiful sight of Nicola's naked b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Full and high on her small frame, they quivered slightly, just enough for him to realize that she was shaking.

At this point he could barely stop himself from jumping her, but he knew he had to hold back at least long enough to ask, "You're not scared of me, are you?"

She shook her head. "No." But the way she dropped her gaze from his and lowered her head gave him an entirely different answer.

"You and I," he said as he moved closer to tip her chin up with his fingertips so that she had to look at him, "we won't ever lie to each other."

Again, it wasn't a question. It was simply a truth that had to be.

When she nodded her agreement, he asked again, "Are you afraid of what's happening between us tonight?"

"I'm not afraid of you. I just-" She made a move to re-cover her b.r.e.a.s.t.s with her hands and when he took them in his to stop her once again, she only shook harder.

"Tell me why you're scared, kitten."

But instead of telling him, she said, "Why do you keep calling me that?"

Despite how badly he wanted her, despite the fact that he was working like h.e.l.l to rein in the caveman inside, he found himself smiling. "Because that's how you slept on my lap. Like a contented kitten."

Her eyes softened and her trembling stopped. "I want to rub myself all over you like a kitten," she whispered shyly.

His c.o.c.k jumped behind his zipper as she watched his reaction...and waited for him to tell her if that was what he wanted her to do.

h.e.l.l, yes, he wanted it, wanted to feel all those soft, smooth curves sliding against him. But if she did that he'd be a goner. And she hadn't yet told him why she'd been trembling.

"I want you to do that, too," he told her, "but first I want you to tell me what's wrong."

"I haven't-" She stopped, took a deep breath before admitting, "It's been a while for me."

Ah, that explained why she was so nervous. "We'll take it slow," he promised her in a husky voice. "Slow and easy."

"Okay," she said and the trust in her eyes nearly undid him. "But what if I want fast and hard, too?"

In an instant, the thin threads of his control snapped as he lifted her into his arms.

A bed. He just needed to get her to a bed and then he could stop, think, plan what he was going to do with her...all the ways he was going to make her scream with pleasure.

He was almost there when she shifted so that her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were against his chest and her face was softly pressing into his neck. He could feel her warm breath, and then her lips moving along the cords that ran down to his shoulders. But it was the soft lick of her tongue against his skin, followed by a nip of her teeth, that broke him.

Barely two feet from the bed, he bent his head and took one of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s in his mouth.

Oh f.u.c.k, she was so sweet, and so responsive, her already hard nipples tightening even further against his tongue. He felt his hold on sanity loosen as she moaned his name and he had to shift her weight so that her other breast was there for him to suckle on, too.

Knowing he'd never experienced anything as erotic as the way her body responded to his touch, Marcus made himself move those final feet to the bed, and lowered them both so that he was sitting on the edge of the mattress. Her fingers were in his hair now, her neck arched back so that she could give him better access to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Her a.s.s was cushioning his c.o.c.k and he knew if he left her there to squirm and wiggle around on his lap, he was going to explode before he was anywhere near getting inside her.

He lifted his mouth from her b.r.e.a.s.t.s just long enough to reposition her so that she was standing between his spread thighs. Her legs were unsteady and he held onto her hips, moving her small but curvy frame into just the right place for him to take her nipples back into his mouth, one after the other. Her hands stayed in his hair, and the desperate little sounds she was making as he licked and sucked and nipped at her sensitive flesh had him suddenly wanting the night to be so much longer than just a handful of hours.