With how he seemed to enjoy teasing her and making her laugh, a part of Isla had expected Sean to take a soft, playful approach to their first kiss. But the moment their lips touched, she realized that no technique could make any difference to how she felt, their attraction to each other too combustible that at the merest brush of his lips, it was all over for her –

Isla was his for the taking.

His hand curved around her nape as their mouths met. His grip felt both masterful and gentle, making her toes curl, and when he softly nibbled on her lips, her toes curled even harder.

In Charlotte’s extremely detailed outline, their first kiss was supposed to happen later – much, much later. She thought vaguely of telling him this, but the moment her lips parted, his kiss deepened, and Isla’s brain cells scattered to the air like useless confetti as the kiss turned into something else – the kind that stole her breath and made her entire body catch fire, the kind of kiss that made her panic, thinking, This was definitely NOT Step 2!

As if sensing her rising alarm, he breathed soothingly against her lips, “It’s okay, sugar.” His hand tightened around her nape as he traced her mouth with his tongue. “Sssh.” His tongue eased between her lips, exploring the intimate shape of her mouth with slow, sweeping strokes. Each stroke was a seductive command, demanding and tempting her to succumb to his passion. Her surrender was inevitable, and as the pressure from his mouth gradually increased, she found herself yielding with a soft moan.

Her tongue slipped out to mate with his. She vaguely heard him growl just before the kiss changed once again. It was so unapologetically male now, nothing at all like the chaste, fleeting pecks that Jonathan had given her over the years. This kiss was raw, intimate, and intoxicating, torching her senses until she was delirious in her need.

When Sean ordered her to suck on her tongue in a harsh voice, she could only close her eyes and do as he bid. Without even thinking why she was obeying, without even caring – all Isla knew was that she had to do as he commanded, and as his tongue drove deeper, it felt as if he was consuming her – was it bad that she liked how helpless he made her feel, wanted it so much that she wished he would keep consuming her?

In the end, it was Sean who finally had the presence of mind to put an end to a kiss that threatened to burn them alive. If he had not lifted his head and pulled back, she was afraid she would have ended up begging him to finish what he started.

Even now, the words were close to brimming past her lips as it was, and Isla had to swallow them back while struggling to regain her composure. Dear Lord. What a kiss that was. She had never thought a kiss had the power to drive one crazy – and if she had thought of asking Sean at that moment, she would have been surprised to know that he suffered from the same shock as well.

Sean was panting, his body still clenched hard in arousal. It took every bit of his control not to haul her close with the way she looked, clouded green eyes and trembling, passion-bruised lips that begged for a continuation of their kiss.

She wanted him to fuck her – that was damn clear now and impossible for her to deny – and he wanted the same thing.

“Be mine, Isla.”

Isla stilled. She hadn’t expected him to say that at all. “But Charlotte’s outline---”

“Fuck that. I want you now.” Not a single trace of the charming lightness Sean was so known for could be found in his voice, and there was a grimly resolved quality to the hardness of his darkly handsome features. “And you want me just as much.”

He saw Isla jerk at his words, and the face she showed him was an open book, telling him exactly what had her disconcerted: the Sean in her letters had been a sweet, funny, lighthearted rogue, and nothing in his words or his manners had indicated he could be this domineering in sex.

It was the exact kind of thought an innocent like her would make, and if he were the type to listen to his conscience, her reaction should have been enough. He should back off now, be a lot gentler, kinder.

Too bad for her, he wasn’t that type of man. If their marriage was to work, she had to accept him for the man he was, and that was someone who reserved all his darkness for the bedroom.

His gaze returned to Isla: she had a determined look on her lovely face, and the stubborn line of her jaw was proof of how hard it was for her to resist reacting to his scrutiny. Her shock hadn’t completely faded either, her dazed green eyes indicating her shock and confusion. She couldn’t understand why her body was so responsive to anything he did, and a humorless smile touched his lips, with Sean grimly aware that she wasn’t alone in her disbelief at the way things had turned out between them.

It’s you and me both, sugar…

And that was not a fucking good thing, considering that he planned to let her go in a couple of months’ time.

Sean had never been an angel where women were concerned. He was the love ‘em and leave’ em type, and he was ruthlessly set in his view of the opposite sex: he needed them to slake his sexual drive, nothing more, nothing less. Those who understood this were extremely well compensated; those who did not he had no time to waste for.

But Isla…

Isla was like no other woman he had dated.

The first time he saw her photo, he had known right away his chemistry with her would be explosive, and when Sean had read her profile report, he had known right away that she was the only woman he could tolerate being married to. He had been around enough women to know at first glance if a woman would be able to hold his interest for more than a night, and Isla, he was certain, would be able to keep him pleasantly diverted for as long as it was needed.

It should have ended there, with everything tied up with a neat little bow, but now that he had kissed her –

It changed everything. The mind-blowing heat of their kiss had surpassed even his wildest imagination, and even now, the mere sight of Isla, with her naked gaze unconsciously pleading him to kiss her again –

Ah, fuck.

“I’m willing to wait for you to make a decision,” Sean ground out, “but you have to help me here.” He had never had to control his desire before for anything, and the unfamiliar need for abstinence had his whole body aching while his manhood had long swelled to painfully engorged proportions under his jeans. He had a feeling it would be so until the very end, and he’d have no choice but to walk out of this restaurant while sporting a raging hard on.

“Help you?” Isla’s gaze was glued to Sean’s handsome face, which was a picture of torment. “How?”

Her pink tongue slipped out to wet her lips as she spoke, and Sean almost groaned. “By not doing that.” His voice was thick, his accent more pronounced.

“Doing w-what?” Her tongue darted out again, and Sean’s fists clenched against the urge to haul her out of her seat and giving them both what they wanted.

“That, sugar.” His voice was strained. “Try to avoid doing anything that would make me harder than I already am.”

Isla’s heart slammed against her chest at Sean’s words. He was hard for her? The thought made her body tingle in a way she could only describe as sexual giddiness, which she wasn’t even certain was an actual thing. There were a lot of things she didn’t know about sex because it had never interested her that much, not even when she and Jonathan were dating.

But now…

Isla’s fingers gripped the edge of the table. Sean was hard for her. She had never seen an aroused man before, and the thought of Sean feeling aroused because of her made Isla’s senses swim. Sexual giddiness at its worst, she thought faintly even as she found herself slowly leaning back, farther and farther until she could see what was under the table –

OH.

What an…incredible sight, she thought dizzily. She occasionally heard men being described as “sporting a bulge,” but she had never imagined it could be so…literal.

Like…maybe…one-foot-long-literal?

The thought was so incredible it had Isla gulping…and unthinkingly releasing her grip on the table.

Sean’s eyes widened when he saw Isla starting to fall. “Isla?”

Oh…crap.

THUD.

Isla groaned as she fell hard on her butt.

“Isla?” Sean seemed to have moved with the speed of lightning because he was suddenly looming over her. “Are you alright?” His tone was one of concern, but his beautiful hazel eyes were gleaming so brightly it was obvious he was silently laughing at her.

And she couldn’t exactly blame him for that, could she?

“It hurts,” she mumbled.

The amusement vanished in his gaze, and his voice was sober as he asked, “What does?”

“My ego.”

There was one moment of silence, and then his lips curved in a smile that was so sexy it had butterflies fluttering in her stomach. “If you can say something cute like that, then I think you’re fine.” Strong, warm fingers slipped under the small of her back while his other hand carefully curved around her nape. He was only touching her to help her up, but even so the heat from the places they came into contact made her entire body tingle –

Isla’s green eyes were glum when she looked at Sean. “Is it the same for you? Or is it just me because I’m new to all this?”

Despite everything, Sean had to smile at her sexual naiveté. “No, sugar, it’s not just you.”

“I know you warned me about not thinking of him, but…” She fidgeted restlessly in her seat. “He never made me feel like you do.”

“That’s no surprise, darlin’. He’s an idiot, remember?”

Isla tried her best to suppress her smile. Jonathan had actually topped the bar exams for his year and was widely regarded as one of San Diego’s rising attorneys. But somehow, when Sean called her ex an idiot, it did seem that way.

“The man you’re marrying, on the other hand---”

“You, you mean,” she said dryly.

“Well, I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging…”

Isla rolled her eyes at his modest tone. “But you are going to brag, aren’t you?”

“That man’s said to be a real stud, ma’am,” Sean drawled in his best stereotype-cowboy-tone. “Hung like a horse and so good at making women cry like a mare in heat---”

“Oh my God.” Isla quickly covered her mouth to keep her laughter from escaping, but it was no use.

“I kid you not, sugar.” His tone was angelic.

“I’m sure.” Hers was strained.

“Then you’re saying yes?”

Oh dear Lord, the things those eyes of his said, and the things his gaze promised her he would do to her as soon as they were alone –

They were all so very debauched.

She wetted her lips, still unaware of its impact on Sean. “I…am amenable to your suggestion.”

Tension loosened its grip on Sean’s powerful body at Isla’s answer. “Stubborn little witch,” he murmured even as his lips twitched. “Is that your way of saying you want me to fuck you, too?”

Isla badly wanted to kick Sean under the table as her face heated up at the way he had phrased things. “Don’t push it.”

But this only made him chuckle as he leaned forward to reach for her. She stiffened, but it was too late, with Sean’s mouth once again covering hers.

Passion flared in an instant, with both of them this time knowing what to expect. Need consumed them as their lips met for the second time, and her gasp blended with his growl. A moment later, Sean pulled away, both of them panting once more.

Isla stiffened when he suddenly leaned forward, and she stiffened even more when he started to reach for her. She wondered madly if he would kiss her again, but what he ended up doing was deliciously worse.

Sean’s gaze captured hers just as he slowly traced her upper lip with his thumb. “You have a lovely mouth, Isla Bouchard.”

The seductive timbre of his voice made her toes curl, but oh, the way he was staring at her mouth –

“Do you want to know what I’m thinking right now?”

Isla quickly shook her head, thinking that whatever it was, it could only be iniquitous in a terrifyingly exquisite way.

“That’s too bad…” But there was only mocking regret in his voice. “Since I’m going to show you anyway, and trust me sugar---”

Her breasts grew heavy and swollen as his gaze once again returned to her mouth, and she fought hard not to give herself away even as she felt her nipples gradually pucker behind the cups of her bra.

“Your mouth is going to love every second of it.”