No Red Roses: A Loveswept Classic Romance (Santa Flores) (17 page)

“If you like,” she said slowly.

“I like,” he said, and gave her a quick kiss. “I’ll meet you in the lobby in an hour.”

He was waiting by the elevator when she arrived in the lobby, looking wildly handsome in a black tuxedo and white, ruffled dress shirt that only served to accent his overpowering masculinity.

“You look as lovely as I remembered,” he said huskily. “Do you know that when I first saw you, you reminded me of a princess in a fairy tale?”

Her violet eyes twinkled. “So you immediately attacked me,” she teased. “Not very gallant, Rex.”

“Sheer self-defense,” he said with a breezy grin. “Come on, princess, I have some surprises for you.” He took her firmly by the arm and
escorted her swiftly to the parking lot to his rented yellow Ferrari.

An hour later they pulled up before a gracious, rambling building that could have passed for an English manor house. Set incongruously in the desert, it was still very impressive.

“The Lennox Inn?” she asked, arching an eyebrow quizzically, as Rex helped her carefully out of the car and tossed the keys to a waiting, liveried bellhop.

“You can find anything in Las Vegas if you look hard enough,” Rex said, grinning.

The lobby was carpeted in rich crimson and the decor was strictly out of the eighteenth century. Expecting to go through the lobby to the dining room, she was surprised when Rex led her up a stately staircase to a carved oak door on the second floor. Taking a key from his pocket, he opened the door and gestured with a flourish.

“For my lady,” he announced grandly, bowing gracefully and stepping aside for her to enter. There was a mischievous grin on his face and his dark eyes were dancing.

“I think I’ve just stepped into the pages of
Tom Jones
,” Tamara said faintly, walking to the center of the room and looking around bemusedly.

The octagon-shaped chamber was straight out of the romantic past. A fire blazed in a huge fireplace at the far end of the room. It was for romantic effect obviously and made possible by the labor of a powerful air-conditioning system. A white shag area rug covered a vast amount of gleaming oak floor. Three shallow steps led to a massive canopy bed draped in a delicate, rose and cream tapestry print. There were flowers everywhere and of every description. There was a particularly lovely bouquet of lilacs in a graceful copper vase in the Sheraton commode; the heady fragrance pervaded the room.

Rex followed her inside and shut the door, leaning against it indolently while he watched her with a curious tenderness. “I wanted my lady from another century to feel at home,” he said softly. He straightened and moved forward, encircling her with his arms and bringing her gently into his embrace. “Just as I want you to feel you’ve come home when you lie in my arms tonight.”

“Oh, I will. I will,” she promised fervently. Her own arms wrapped tightly around his lean waist and she struggled to fight back tears at this extravagantly touching gesture.

A shudder rippled through his body as she pressed her soft curves against him. He put her firmly from him. “I’ve planned a terrific dinner that has an excellent chance of never being eaten if you don’t get away from me, babe.”

“I’m not really hungry,” she whispered, watching the flickering firelight play on the hard contours of his face, highlighting especially the beauty of his sensual mouth.

“Get thee behind me, Satan,” he quoted thickly. He moved purposely away from her. “Room service will be here any minute. Why don’t you go into the dressing room and change. I’d like to wash up myself.”

“Is there a sunken tub in the bathroom?” she asked with a twinkle.

“No.” He walked to a door to the left of the massive bed. “But you can order a hip bath built for two to be set before the fireplace.” He paused
at the door and winked. “I left orders for that to be delivered
after
dinner.”

“Rex!”

Ten minutes later she stood in front of an oval, full-length mirror and gazed at a woman who might well have stepped from the past. There had been no nightgown hanging in the small closet. The only garment Rex had provided was a long, full robe of rich, creamy satin that buttoned down the front. It had long, flowing sleeves and bared her golden shoulders, only hinting at the curves beneath. She felt as romantically lovely as a bride on her wedding night.

When Rex first saw her, his ebony eyes blazed with sudden feeling and he moved across the room impulsively. He’d removed the tuxedo jacket and his ruffled shirt was unbuttoned almost to the waist. Tamara felt a sudden longing to reach out and run her hands caressingly over that muscular, hair-roughened chest, but she didn’t get the opportunity.

Rex swiftly gathered her hands to his lips and, one at a time, kissed the fingers lingeringly. “ ‘She doth teach the torch to burn bright,’ ” he quoted
huskily, then grinned mischievously. “
Romeo and Juliet
. I memorized that bit especially for tonight.”

Tamara shook her head bemusedly. He was as changeable as a chameleon. Would she ever be able to predict the directions that Rex’s quicksilver personality might take?

“You’re impossible,” she said, chuckling.

“Impossibly hungry,” he returned promptly, turning her toward a damask-covered candlelit table in the center of the room. “Let us feed the inner man, princess.”

Afterward Tamara could never remember what was said over that candlelit table, nor a morsel of what they ate. Her only memory was of sudden, breathless silences, smoky dark eyes, and a low baritone chuckle that sent shivers down her spine.

After the table had been removed, Rex threw down two enormous, scarlet-tassled pillows before the fire, and dropped down on the shaggy white rug. She came like a homing pigeon when he stretched out his arms invitingly, and he settled her beside him, spreading the shimmering
blue black of her hair on the scarlet pillow. He poured her a glass of red wine from the bottle beside him and cuddled her close, fitting her cheek into his shoulder.

“Do you like your surprise?” he asked, stroking her silky hair gently.

“It is lovely,” she answered contentedly, watching the light of the fire turn the wine in her crystal glass to a glowing ruby.

“I wanted it to be perfect for you,” he said gravely. “No, that’s not quite true. I wanted it to be perfect for both of us.” He chuckled deep in his chest. “But I’m finding my patience is running out very quickly. Do you really want that wine?”

She went breathlessly still. “I never really cared for the taste of wine.”

“Thank the Lord!” he said fervently, taking her goblet and placing it carefully with his own on a silver tray. Then he bent over her, his dark eyes blazing hotly. “I’ve been very patient, for me. Now, sweetheart?”

“Now.” She barely had time to murmur the word before his lips closed on hers in a kiss that
seared through her like a lightning bolt. His hard body pressed down on her with hot urgency as Rex began to unleash his pent-up desire.

“Lord, you’re so soft.” He groaned. “I want to bury myself in you and never come out! Touch me, love.”

Her hands reached out tentatively to stroke his solid muscular chest, then began an eager caressing motion. She loved the firm, masculine feel of him, she thought, excitement turning her eyes to deep purple. She began to rake her nails lightly over his hard nipples.

Rex’s hands were busy with the multitude of buttons that closed her cream satin robe and when the last one was vanquished, he opened the robe wide, revealing her gold-silk beauty in the firelight.

The expression in his eyes deepened to a glazed intensity as he rubbed a gentle hand over her firm belly. “I wish I’d saved that line from
Romeo and Juliet
,” he said thickly. “You’re a miracle, sweetheart.”

“So are you,” she murmured, as he stripped the white shirt off and threw it carelessly aside.
He was all clean, bronze lines and compact, glowing muscle in the firelight. His lean face was taut with need as his head bent slowly to take one hard nipple in his mouth.

Then, with an almost guttural cry, he fell on her, kneading and caressing her breasts with eager hands, while he bit and teased at her engorged nipples with teeth and tongue. His tormenting lips moved down to the smooth curve of her belly, and he tongued her navel with light, sensuous strokes until she was shuddering and writhing beneath him, arching to meet that teasing tongue and running her hands feverishly over his back and shoulders.

With a low groan of frustration, Rex gathered her in his arms and strode swiftly to the canopied bed, laying her down on the delicate rose and cream of the coverlet. She held her arms out to him yearningly, but he shook his head. “Not yet, sweetheart,” he said huskily.

He left her for a brief moment and she heard rustling sounds as he stripped off the rest of his clothes. There was another pause and when he returned, his arms were filled with flowers. “I
never imagined when I reached this particular surprise it would be so difficult to execute,” he said wryly, running his gaze lingeringly over her naked golden curves and valleys. “I studied your notebook. I hope I got it all right.”

He drew a golden bloom from the bouquet. “Chrysanthemum means truth.” He tossed the posy onto her stomach. “Salvia—wisdom; orchid—beauty; jasmine—sensuality.” With each definition he placed a flower on her body. “Lotus—eloquence.” He paused as he came to the last flower, a magnificent golden iris with scarlet markings. “This one is the most appropriate at the moment. Do you remember what it means, love?” he asked, his voice trembling slightly.

She shook her head, staring up at him in bemusement.

“It means ‘flame—I burn.’ ” He tossed the last brilliant blossom onto her breasts and then followed it down on the bed. He picked up the iris, idly stroking her breasts with its velvet petals. “Oh, yes, I definitely burn,” he said thickly, and the flower was crushed between them as he
kissed her shoulders and the sensitive cord of her neck before making a passionate pilgrimage to the honey sweetness of her lips.

One hair-roughened leg parted her own and while his tongue jousted and played with hers, his hips rubbed sensuously against her in an erotically intimate caress that caused her to arch frantically against his warm hardness.

“I can’t wait any longer, sweetheart,” he groaned. “I’ve got to have you!”

When he reached that final barrier, at first he couldn’t believe it. “Relax, sweetheart,” he said huskily. “Don’t fight it. Let me love you.” Then he looked down into her flushed, glowing face, her eyes darkened purple with desire, and saw absolutely no fight there … only a reflection of his own need. He stiffened slowly above her, and an expression of incredulous amazement crossed his face. “Good Lord,” he said blankly. He instinctively made a motion of withdrawal.

“No!” Tamara gasped, her arms tightening about him. “Don’t leave me.”

“I’ll hurt you,” he said, his eyes closing and his breath coming in little gasps. “Let me go. I don’t
want to hurt you, love. I don’t know anything about—” He suddenly broke off. “Oh Lord, I
can’t
stop!” His hips surged forward and her shocked cry was drowned by his groan of savage satisfaction as he buried himself in her warmth.

He was absolutely still for a long moment, his eyes closed, an expression of almost unbelievable pleasure on his face. “So good,” he said thickly. “How can anything feel this good?” He flexed suddenly and she gave a little gasp. His lids lifted slowly and he was looking down at her, his gaze smolderingly intense. “I’ll make it good for you too, babe.”

“I know you will,” she said, smiling up at him lovingly. He felt an unfamiliar lump in his throat. “It’s good now, Rex.” She was telling the truth. After the first shock of pain had come this lovely stretching
fullness
.

He shook his head wonderingly. “You’re easily pleased,” he said raggedly, and suddenly there was that flicker of mischief that was never far away from him. “You offer no challenge to my expertise at all, love. I can see now that I’m going to have to expand your horizons.” He flexed
again and there was a glint of satisfaction in his eyes as a tense little shiver ran through her. “Among other things.”

His hands went slowly to her breasts, pulling and pinching gently at the taut tips while he looked down at her flushed face with its expression of glazed pleasure. “Such pretty pink nipples,” he said softly. “But I like them even better like this. So ruby red and begging to be suckled. Do you want my mouth on you, Tamara? Do you want to feel my tongue on those lovely nipples?”

“Oh yes,” she moaned, and watched in a haze of hot, languid need as his dark head slowly lowered to her breasts. His lips brushed teasingly against her hard nipple and a ripple of heat surged through her. His tongue darted out and slowly outlined the engorged areola and she almost cried out at the tingling shock that went through her. Both of his hands reached out and closed on her breasts, cupping them.

“Fantastic,” Rex breathed. His mouth suddenly enveloped one breast with a suction that was both strong and gentle. At the same time he
began to move within her in tempo with the suction of his lips. The sensation was so incredibly intense that for a moment it took her breath away.

But she couldn’t remain still for long. She found she had to
move
. Her hips instinctively started to match Rex’s magical rhythm with an even more explosive one of her own.

Rex lifted his head, a flush on his cheekbones and an expression of heavy sensuality on his face. “Easy, sweetheart,” he said huskily. “I want to make this last a long time.”

“I can’t,” she cried, her head thrashing from side to side on the pillow. Her hips increased their rhythm and her hands closed desperately on his shoulders. “Oh Lord, Rex, I
need
 …”

“It’s all right, babe,” he crooned soothingly, his hands gently stroking the hair at her temples. “Easy now, I’ll give you everything you need.”

And he did. His movements took on a fiery, forceful rhythm that snatched her breath away and caused her to arch into his thrusts with an answering tension that mounted by the second.
Her nails bit into his shoulders as she strived desperately to break that tension. “Rex, why can’t …”