"I surmised as much," he murmured and swirled his tongue in enticing circles, holding her bucking hips.

"Oh, yes!" She gasped. "I really like....this."

"Mmmm, I thought you might." He chuckled into her screaming flesh. "Just relax and enjoy. And don't forget-you're not allowed to come."

Was he nuts? Now that he'd gotten her this close, she'd suffer through ten spankings for just one mind-blowing orgasm.

In only moments, she thought she'd faint from the delicious pleasure of his tongue's eager lapping. The throbbing inside her reached an agonizing level, and her hips rocked out of control. "Please don't stop."

Lifting his head, he raised his eyebrows. "Uh-uhh-ahhh. What about those demerits?"

Okay, so he'd been right. But he didn't need to torture her to make his point. "If you don't finish this, I might have to punch you right in your smug face."

"Didn't you just say a moment ago that it doesn't matter if you get to the finish line?" He laughed.

She urged his mouth back between her legs. A few laps of his tongue later, her whole body tingled and a glorious hot flush spread through her. She stiffened and trembled at the exquisite sensation, shrieking, "Oh, yessss!"

She clamped her palm over her mouth, mortified by the banshee's cry that blurted out of her. "I'm sorry."

He pulled her hand away. "No, baby, let it all out. Every decibel. Nothing turns me on more than hearing you lose control."

Control? He'd stolen that the moment he touched her. It was more wonderful than she'd ever dreamed. The moment the delightful tremors quaking through her calmed, his tongue flicked faster and drove her shuddering body right over the edge again. "Oh-my-goodness." She gasped. "It's even better."

"Uh-ohhhh, that makes fifteen," he warned. Wiping his mouth, he moved over her limp body. His lips nibbled hers, tasting of her musky essence. "See, sweetheart?" He smiled down at her. "You just needed to relax."

Oh, dear, Lord, she was falling deeper in love with him by the minute, and all he cared about was validating his well-deserved reputation as a stud. She wanted him to feel like this, too. To want her as much as she wanted him. She wanted to make him lose control.

Pushing him onto his back, she showered his muscled body with kisses, starting at his face and working her way down his chest and abdomen, all the while caressing his length.

She'd heard somewhere that well-endowed men didn't get as stiff as their lesser counterparts, however, Jordan's velvet-smooth hard-on felt as if it were reinforced with a steel rod.

As he watched her drag her tongue down his full length, his pupils dilated until they looked like two black holes ringed by sapphire coronas. The desire and awe-struck adoration in his gaze yanked on her heartstrings. If she made the night unforgettable for him, maybe he'd never let her go.

No. She couldn't let herself get caught up in fantasies of forever. She needed to keep it light and casual, or she'd scare him off. She slid her lips over him.

Air sucked between his teeth. "Baby, do you have any idea what you're doing to me?"

"Not a clue." She lifted her head, forcing a grin. "But I'm having a real good time. Just like you wanted me to." She gently closed her fist around his thick erection and slid her palm up and down in time with his labored breaths and groans. "Offhand, from the sound of you, I'd say you are, too."

A millisecond later, he flipped her onto her back and crawled over the top of her. "What you're hearing is the sound of a man who's ready for some serious head-banging sex."

She wound her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear, "I can't wait."

"Just remember, if you come again tonight, I'll have to give you that spanking."

"Promises, promises."

She was incredible. Jordan's chest tightened while he stared down at Hannah's flushed face and rolled on a condom. His hands shook as if it were his first time having sex. Once she'd relaxed, she'd become as responsive as her eager kisses promised. He'd never ached to be inside a woman this much before.

"You look so beautiful," he whispered, easing himself between her legs and slowly sliding just the tip of himself into her tight, slick sheath.

Her eyes widening, she squirmed beneath him, raising her hips to deepen his penetration. He pressed his invasion another inch or so until she gasped softly.

"Are you okay?"

"Better than okay." She trembled in his arms.

He waited a moment for her body to stretch to accommodate him. When at last he fully embedded himself in her, she tugged on his haunches, trying to pull him even deeper. "More," she pleaded "I'm sorry, sweetheart, I've given you all I have." He chuckled, pumping his hips gently in several short strokes before indulging himself in full-length thrusts. Undulating slowly, sliding in and out of her, he squeezed his eyes shut. Damn, she felt great. He wasn't sure how long he could last-something that had never been an issue for him. He usually had to worry about making his partner sore.

As he rocked inside her, she wiggled beneath him and clawed at his back, exciting him even further. They moved together as one and gazed into each other's eyes, making an intimate connection that was more than just physical-as if they were two halves of a greater whole.

Where was the consuming guilt that plagued him whenever he lost the battle to control his desire? For the first time in his life, he didn't feel ashamed or dirty for indulging his libido that, without fail, forced him to surrender to his body's insistent demand for release. For once, he didn't fight the savage desire or try to control it. Never before had sex felt so perfect and right.

He wrapped her legs snug around his waist, pumping his hips faster and plunging deeper with each stroke, stunned at the incredible ecstasy and the feeling of reverence in their union.

"Oh, Hannah, sweetheart-" He groaned. "I know I could lose my job being with you this way, but it feels so right." The sound of her whimpers and moans fanned his desire, sending him to the brink of his control. "Please, tell me you're almost there, too."

Her nails answered, digging into his back. Her passage convulsed around him. "Oh, yes. I'm coming right-ohhhhh! Don't stop. Pleeeease, again."

"I'll try, baby." The extreme pressure in his groin felt like the Hoover Dam holding back the Colorado River. For the first time in his life, he found it nearly impossible to wait. Mentally counting backwards by fives to distract himself from his mounting need, he thrust into her at different angles, searching for the perfect stroke to send her over the top again.

Eventually, the phenomenal friction became too much for him. His floodgate burst, and he was swept away by a wave of hot pleasure coursing through him in his longest, most intense orgasm ever. He gritted his teeth and murmured, "I'm sorry."

Seconds later, she shivered beneath him, and her body's renewed spasms squeezed him. He collapsed on top of her, panting.

"Thank you," she whispered, stroking his back. "That was unbelievable. I'll never forget how patient you were and what you did for me tonight."

Lifting his head, he pried his eyelids open and smiled down at her in awe. Hannah had thanked him, even after he'd come so quickly.

Sure, his bed partners always told him what a magnificent lover he was and raved about his stamina and talent for satisfying them. But regardless of whether the benefit was mutual, he'd always been the one showing his appreciation with gifts and flowers. Not one of his lovers had ever expressed her thanks for the effort he put into pleasing her. Until now.

Hannah's unreserved gratitude touched him to his core.

"Thank you, sweetheart." He rolled off her and tucked her into the crook of his shoulder. "I'm just sorry I couldn't last longer for-"

"Longer? I thought you said the Love Machine cartoon was an exaggeration."

"I believe I said mostly."

"I fail to see where it was exaggerated. If I knew sex could be that spectacular, I would've dumped Kevin before he ever had a chance to cheat on me."

"It's not always like that." He held her closer and brushed her forehead with his lips.

Sex had never been so good for him before. And after tomorrow, it probably never would be again. He'd never felt so much a part of a woman. She made him whole in a way Marcy never had. Hannah made him feel clean and good. For once, sex hadn't merely been about relieving the insistent throbbing in his groin. It had been about mutual pleasure and making love.

But damn it, he was not going to let himself fall for her. He'd had enough heartache and disappointment for one lifetime.

Regardless, he couldn't wait until his body recovered enough to take her again, and astonishingly enough, he didn't feel even a hint of guilt. "Go to sleep." He stroked her hair. "I have a feeling it won't be long before I'll be waking you."

"Okay," she yawned. "But I don't know what makes you so sure I won't wake you first. Remember,"-she sighed and snuggled into his chest-"you still owe me a spanking."

He pressed a kiss to each of her lashes and squeezed her tighter. It was a good thing they'd agreed to keep their fling short and sweet. The feelings she stirred in him were dangerous. This night with Hannah would most likely turn out to be like a severe sprain. No amount of rubbing would sooth his aching for her.

As the limo sped toward her apartment from Trenton-Mercer Airport the next evening, Hannah snuggled against the steady rise and fall of Jordan's chest, envying his ability to snooze. Despite only closing her eyes for a total of five hours the night before, her mind was too busy replaying every moment of their lovemaking to fall asleep now.

Jordan had been twice as tender the second time they'd made love in the middle of the night. Then at eight o'clock, she'd woken to the smell of coffee, bacon, and his minty breath as he kissed her.

While feeding each other breakfast in bed, he decided the syrup would taste better on her nipples and toes than on the pancakes. By the time they finished licking the sweet maple sugar from each other's bodies, both they and the sheets were a sticky mess.

He filled the Olympic-size bathtub for the two of them and washed every inch of her, all the while telling her how much he wanted her. No amount of hypnosis could ever make her appreciate the lush body God gave her the way his eagerness to touch her did. The wonder in his blue gaze when he looked at her naked and the reverence in his caresses made her feel like the most cherished, desirable woman in the world.

After the hours of passion they shared the night before, his desperate urgency excited Hannah like nothing else ever had.

How had she ever convinced herself she could go to bed with him and not get her heart broken? Thankfully, the water droplets on her face had kept Jordan from noticing her heartbreak over the thought of never being with him like that again.

Now, as traffic zoomed by them on Route One, she traced his lips with her index finger. He captured it between his teeth and sucked the tip into his mouth, releasing the kind of heavy breath usually associated with regret.

"What are you thinking?" she whispered, pressing a kiss to his neck.

"That you look very sexy in that dress with your hair loose."

She'd worn a simple turquoise knit sundress with spaghetti straps and sandals to go sightseeing that afternoon in the sweltering heat. The humidity and Donovan's expert haircut had turned her wild mane into a mass of ringlets.

"Liar," she murmured. "Your eyes are closed. You can't even see me."

"Okay. But that's all I'm willing to cop to." His eyelids slowly lifted, and he stared into her eyes. "That dress turns me on big time. It's tight in all the right places, and I especially like that the bra is built into it so you don't have to wear anything under it."

The stretchy knit sheath was one of the few outfits that fit her irregular figure without alterations. "The manufacturer didn't make it that way so I'd be naked under it. It was so my bra straps wouldn't show."

"Well, your bra straps are the only things that don't show in it."

No joke. The shelf bra had turned out to be no more than a thin tricot liner, which didn't offer much support to the well-endowed. That afternoon when she'd seen a big-busted blonde wearing a low-cut dress similar to hers, Hannah couldn't help noticing how obscene the braless bimbo had looked despite that her youthful boobs had yet to sag. As she'd glanced up at the woman's face, she suddenly realized the stacked blonde was actually her own reflection and her heart nearly stopped. She'd immediately decided she would never wear the sundress again.

He brushed his thumbs over the crests of her breasts, and they popped up in response. "The sight of you like this makes my mouth water like a kid with a theater-size box of Jujyfruits. All I can think about is sucking them."

Sure enough, her nipples swelled even more under the thin knit until she looked as if she were smuggling two fat gumdrops in her bodice.

"No wonder the waiter kept staring at me in the Chinese restaurant." As chilly as the air-conditioning had been, she must have looked pornographic. "Please tell me I haven't been traipsing around Washington all afternoon with my nipples poking out."

"No. Believe me, if you'd looked like that, you would've been wearing my shirt faster than you could say, Smithsonian Institute." He drew a tight circle around the tip of her breast with his finger. "Either that or I would've locked us in an empty restroom and ravished you."

"What do you mean?" She slapped his chest. "That's exactly what you did."

"Oh, yeah." He wiggled his eyebrows. "I forgot. Seriously, I don't want you to wear this in public again."

"That's not for you to decide, pal. And at some point, I expect you to give me back my panties. That's the second pair you've stolen."

"Unh-uh. I like knowing you haven't got a stitch on under your dress."

"You know....you don't sound as if you're ready for our fling to end any more than I am." She swung her leg over him and straddled his lap. "In fact, I'd bet that's what you were thinking a few moments ago."

He slid his hands under her dress and cupped her breasts, teasing her nipples. "So what if I was? It doesn't change anything. We agreed this has to end after today."

Hannah didn't want to think about that. "Our date isn't over yet." She stripped his polo shirt over his head and exposed his muscular chest. "You still haven't given me the spanking I earned."

"No. I haven't, have I?" Smiling, he gently swatted her bare fanny. "I can't believe how much I need you. You make me feel seventeen, again."

"A seventeen-year-old boy wouldn't be wasting time talking right now."

While she tore at his fly, he dug a condom out of one of the limo's compartments and then stroked her into a frenzy of need. With her hands trembling, she rolled the protection onto him.

He squeezed her bottom and lifted her over himself. "One last time, please."

"Definitely. I paid three thousand dollars for you." She smiled down at him. "I plan to get every penny's worth." Closing her eyes, she eased down on him, moaning. She loved how he filled her emptiness and stretched her so wonderfully.

"Damn it." He groaned. "I'm in the middle of making love to you, and all I can think about is doing it all over again."

She smiled to herself. And over, and over....

"But you know this has to end between us, don't you?" he whispered.

"I know." Except, if she had anything to say about it, he would be seducing her again. Very soon.

Chapter 16.

jeal*ous adj. 1. Fearful or wary of being supplanted; apprehensive of losing affection or position. 2. a. Resentful or bitter in rivalry; envious. b. Inclined to suspect rivalry.

Nothing makes a man act more unreasonable or cranky than a vicious attack of the green-eyed monster.

The executive suite's outer doors opened Thursday evening while Hannah was locking the filing cabinets for the night. Jordan rose from his desk, wandered out to her office, and discovered one of the food service workers waiting next to her desk, wearing a navy polo shirt rather than his usual white cafeteria uniform.

"How's it goin', Sir." The stocky man extended his hand.

Jordan shook it, sifting through his memory for the fellow's name. All he could think of was Sylvester Stallone. Probably because, the guy reminded him of the actor in his youth, right down to his Rocky Balboa accent. "Good. How're you-uhh...."

"Hank. Hank Stanzione."

Stallone, Stanzione. He'd been close.