Page 75 of Close Up

She had sensed the fierceness of his erection when he had held her close in the garden but the sight of his aroused body was both thrilling and shocking. She’d had the one ridiculous affair with Winston Bancroft and she had photographed a great many nude or nearly nude men, but this was different.

This was really different. Nick was different.

Nick started toward the bed. “You had better not be thinking of grabbing your camera and taking a photograph.”

He surprised a nervous laugh from her. “I didn’t mean to stare.” She scrambled into bed, pulling the sheet up to cover herself. “It’s just that I wasn’t expecting you to have such an, ah, impressive physique.”

He looked as if he wasn’t sure what to do or where to go with that observation. She thought he turned a little red. But before she could decide if she had embarrassed him, he switched off the lamp and got into bed.

He stretched out under the sheet and propped himself up on his elbow to look down at her.

“You’ve seen a lot of naked men,” he said.

“Yes, I have, as a matter of fact.” She turned on her side and drew her fingertips down his chest. “I believe that I am exceptionally well qualified to judge the male form.” She drew her palm lower, across his firm belly, and lower still. She closed her fingers around him. “Trust me, when I say impressive, I mean impressive.”

He gave a short, hoarse groan that was half laugh and half raw desire and leaned over her, caging her with his arms. His mouth came down on hers.

The kiss was long and hot and wet. When it ended she was clawing at the bare skin of his back. He paused long enough to open the tin and sheath himself. When he was ready he turned back to her and began a long, leisurely journey of exploration. He used his mouth, his tongue, and his fingers to arouse and ignite until she was desperate for him. She had never before been so close to the edge.

Her climax rose up out of nowhere, taking her by surprise. At first she did not comprehend what was happening. In the next moment wave after wave of sensation rippled through her.

“Yes,” she said. She grasped a fistful of sheet in one hand and sankthe nails of her other hand deep into the sleek muscles of Nick’s shoulders. “Yes. Yes.Yes.”

And then it was over. She was thrilled, exultant, amazed. It was as if she had just found the secret to the best photograph of her life. When she finally caught her breath she started to giggle. The giggle became laughter.

Nick sat up and watched her, bemused.

“That’s not quite the reaction I was hoping for,” he said.

Horrified that she had accidentally offended him, she pushed him onto his back and sprawled on top of him.

“I’ve got news for you,” she said. “It was exactly what I was hoping for.”

He caught hold of her shoulders and smiled another of his rare, wicked smiles. His eyes got a little hotter.

“Is that right?” he said.

“It’s never happened to me, you see.” She brushed her mouth across his and smiled what she knew was a very smug sort of smile. “I had almost convinced myself that I would never know what it felt like. Don’t you understand what just happened?”

“Well, biologically speaking—”

“Forget biology. You just proved that I’m not frigid.”

He raised his brows. “The possibility that you might be frigid never once crossed my mind.”

She smiled. “When you told me that your marriage had been annulled, it never once crossedmymind that the problem might have been your inability to carry out your husbandly duties in the bedroom.”

“You’re sure?”

“Okay, I admit it was on the list of possibilities but it was at the very bottom.”

“I am prepared to offer further proof that I am not incapacitated.”

She reached down and wrapped her fingers around him. “Yes, I can see that.”

She stroked him, her grasp increasingly tight. He sucked in a deep breath.

“I can’t take this much longer,” he warned.

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