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Natalie began to tremble in earnest; his hand delved into her hair while his arm snaked around her waist and pulled her up and into his torso He heard the air leave her lungs and her breathing stagger as she stood in the radius of his arms He lowered his head and his lips ca"

"No--No, I'rabbed hold of his biceps, as if needing so solid to hold onto

"Oh, baby, you are Do I make you tremble?" At her silence, he ently "Are you ready now? I'ed her lower lip between his teeth and she let out a tiny, uncontrollablein her scent, the feel of her, as he slid his fingers to her chin and pulled it down, de access to the interior of her sweet ainst his instantaneous response to her, and tried like hell to be gentle

He would let himself kiss her now, but that's all he'd allow hi fro scared of hiht with him He wanted her to be comfortable with him, wanted her to be happy so she'd stay here and continue to live in his hoht in mind, he ruthlessly pulled hi his arm from around her waist as he continued to kiss her, he lifted the shirt and covered her again He ended the kiss slowly, only allowing himself a few more seconds of heated bliss, and then th from him

He watched her as she slowly opened her eyes What he saw there almost decimated him There was desire--but there was fear as well Fear and confusion He tried to care--to put hio But he couldn't It was out of his power He could do a lot of things to o sloith her, seduce her softly and gently But let her go?

There was absolutely no fucking way It couldn't be done It was out of his control

Natalie heard the sound of the door shutting behind Marco and she stood tre uncontrollably in front of her dresser Oh, she was in trouble Never before had she been kissed the way he'd kissed her Never in her life had she ever felt anything that even remotely compared to the way he'd justsoined it would take awhile to co in her past had ever given her any reason to think she could trust a man Her father--the pain was so intense froo there in her brain What he'd done to her mother--no, she wouldn't think about it And it had taken her o and trust anotherout very pretty Even Natalie's boyfriend in high school, the one she'd given her virginity to, had broken her heart so deeply and thoroughly, she hadn't dated ht years her senior, the CEO of a bank, and the most intensely ruthless etting around that fact And she'd bet the four-hundred-and-sixty-eight dollars in her checking account that he always got what he wanted

So how did she feel about him? Well, for one, she'd never met a sexier man in her life, and there was no doubt, he turned her on But he seemed to have a personality that was more than dominant, and quite frankly, it intimidated her If only she had some control over the situation, she'd feel a hundred tist, there was the matter of twenty-thousand dollars

But, dear God, his kisses His kisses had been-- at nine o'clock, Natalie phoned Marco's office and asked for Joy After an initially stilted conversation about the day's itinerary, Natalie had opened up and expressed her fears about the evening She'd asked the other wootten it Joy had known Marco for a number of years, she knew his tastes and the type of women he dated She knew about the charity function they would be attending that night

She'd chatted sweetly to Natalie--had it been Natalie's iination that the woman's voice had pepped up when informed that Marco had broken up with Tanya--and said Natalie would be fine

When the car had pulled up at ten, theand the salon--all were prearranged and Natalie only had to go along for the ride and choose what she wanted