Risky Pleasures by Brenda Jackson Read Free Book Online Page B

taste of whatever alcohol he had consumed that morning. She needed it. What he was proposing—although similar in nature to what Sienna had suggested—was crazy, absolutely ludicrous, outright insane. Still, his words refused to stop swimming around in her mind, and, as he stood there on her front porch in the sunlight, looking more handsome than any man had a right to look, she was tempted. Boy, was she tempted.
    Pulling on her last bit of control, she said, “And what makes you think I want a sex mate?”
    He took a step closer. “Your kiss. A man can tell a lot from a woman’s kiss. Hunger, wariness, pain. I tasted all three. You want me as much as I want you. Being honest with yourself and admitting it is the first step. I can see it even now in your eyes, the heat, the yearning, the need.”
    He reached out and took her hand in his. Before she could pull it back, he rubbed his thumb across the underside of her wrist “Feel it here,” he said of her pulse. “Your passion points. They’re beating like crazy and drumming out a message you’ve ignored too long.”
    She pulled her hand back. “It’s all in your mind,” she said, then moistened her lips when they suddenly felt dry.
    “I don’t think so and I’m willing to prove you wrong.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t want you proving anything.”
    “Don’t you? Let’s move on to your wariness. I tasted that, too. You want me, but you don’t fully trust me. You’re confused about where I’m coming from and, more importantly, where I’m going when it’s over. I think I’ve made it clear what I want out of a relationship with you. And it’s not wedding bells. But then I’m sure you feel the same way.”
    Before she could respond he continued, “And last but not least, I tasted pain, which is why you probably find it hard to trust me or any other man. But that’s okay. I plan to take the pain away and replace it with pleasure of the most intense kind. After me you won’t even remember your last fling.”
    Vanessa studied Cameron carefully. She gazed back into the intense eyes staring at her and felt another tug of her inner muscles. They were getting achier by the minute. Four years was a long time and her body was letting her know it. What Cameron had said wasn’t helping matters. He wanted her for a sex mate. He wanted to tap into what he claimed was her hidden passion.
    “Think about my proposition, Vanessa, and if you’re interested in what I’m proposing, meet me on the beach at noon. Like I said, I’ll let you set the parameters and call the shots. Turning over total control to anyone isn’t easy for me, but I’ll do it because I want you that bad. I’ll take you on any terms.”
    She swallowed the tightness in her throat. “And what happens after you’ve had me? What if you get tired of me after the first time?” She couldn’t forget that Harlan had done exactly that.
    Cameron’s soft chuckle caressed her skin. “Trust me, that’s not possible. I doubt I’ll be tired of you after the first thousand years. But how long the affair lasts will be up to you, and I promise to adhere to your time frame.”
    He took a step back. “Think about everything I’ve said and if you’re interested, I’ll see you on the beach at noon.”
    As Vanessa watched him walk away she knew she had to get a grip. Over the past three years the man had tilted her world, and now he was proposing to rock it in a way it had never been rocked before. She inhaled deeply, then let the breath out slowly. No, she told herself, the thought of a meaningless fling with Cameron was too much. She wouldn’t even think about it.
     
    She thought about it all morning. Pacing the confines of her sister’s living room, she went through the pros and cons of Cameron’s proposal, and it seemed the pros were tilting the scale.
    If he had suggested such a thing five years ago, she would have told him just where he could go. But that would have been her pre-Harlan