She wanted him desperately, needed him in a way she couldn't understand or explain. But she knew it had something to do with the emotions crowding her chest that told her she'd fallen much deeper than she'd intended and had given this man a piece of her heart in the process.

No one else had ever had the ability to make her nerve endings hum with such pleasure. No one had ever cared the way Jack did. But she'd seen his choice in women. And despite his protestations, she knew that was the kind of woman he wanted. After all, here she was, someone who looked nothing like his usual dates, and he hadn't tried to touch her in a week. So, if she had to return to her life before Jack, then she damn well was going to take advantage of everything tonight had to offer.

"I brought along a few Caramel Caresses, since you haven't tried them yet," she said, and moved the chocolates closer to him, hoping the sight of the candies' sensual shape would entice him.

He groaned, low and rough and sexy as hell. "You can't keep feeding me your candies," he said playfully, and trailed a finger along her bare shoulder. "You know what they do to me."

"Yeah, I do," she admitted out loud. That was the whole point of him eating them, she thought wryly.

Plucking a Caramel Caress from the box, she lifted it to his mouth and rolled the peaked tip against his bottom lip. "Open up and say ahhh," she teased.

He rolled his eyes, but did as she asked, and Kayla slid the chocolate into his mouth. Finally. He chewed, taking in the flavor and texture, and his brows rose in surprise.

"I was expecting just a caramel filling, but there's something else…" His voice trailed off as he attempted to figure out what the added taste was.

"It's a layer of creamy praline," she told him, and urged him to take another. "Do you like it?"

"Like everything else you've made, it's fantastic." He picked up a second piece of candy and bit it in half, then used his tongue to lick out the creamy, gooey center in a very provocative way.

Oh, God. Her insides quivered and she squirmed in her seat. She knew if they didn't get out of the car now she'd end up attacking him right then and there in the parking lot, the art event forgotten.

She ate one of the candies herself, put the lid back on the box, and set it on the center console for later. She'd given Jack more than enough of the aphrodisiac to spur a liberal amount of lust. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the right opportunity to present itself, so they could enjoy its effects.

They entered the Seaside Gallery and were greeted by Audrey. With her was Louis, the new artist whose paintings were being showcased for the special event. The place was filled with guests milling about, taking in the artwork on the walls, discussing the diverse sculptures on glass-topped tables, and viewing the featured artist's seascapes and marine life paintings. Kayla wasn't an art person, but was fascinated by the vibrant colors of the ocean and sunsets depicted on canvas. Jack seemed to be also.

She checked on the dessert table to make sure that everything looked as it should, and smiled as she overheard compliments from the guests on the petits fours and fondue sauces. She was thrilled when the employee serving the confections mentioned that the desserts had been supplied by Pure Indulgence.

"Champagne?" a young man asked as he held out a tray of drinks toward her and Jack.

"Umm, yes, please." Kayla took a flute of the bubbly liquid for herself, and passed one to Jack, too.

As they sipped their champagne, they strolled from room to room, discussing the artwork among themselves and with other guests. Jack remained by her side with his hand on the small of her spine, his touch possessive and arousing, as was the heat simmering in his eyes whenever their gazes met.

Every so often his palm would stroke lower, skimming provocatively over her bottom before returning to her back again. His illicit caresses made her breasts swell and her nipples peak, and intensified the desire pulsing between her thighs. She ached to touch him more intimately, too, to make him feel just as restless as she was, but they were surrounded by people and she was forced to behave herself. The necessity to practice restraint only served to elevate the hunger and need coiling tighter and tighter within her.

She finished off her champagne and set it on a passing tray just as they came across a sweeping staircase leading to a second level of the gallery. The entrance was roped off by a velvet cord, but that didn't stop Kayla from wanting to follow through on a mischievous idea that popped into her mind.

"Let's go see what's upstairs," she suggested in a whisper, excited by the prospect of being alone with Jack.

She expected a token protest from Jack, but he surprised her by agreeing, and like two naughty kids, they unlatched the velvet cord and quickly and silently made their way up to the second level.

It was quiet upstairs, and blessedly vacant. Hand in hand, they walked through the various rooms, taking in artwork that was more exotic and titillating than what was displayed below. Abstracts of nudes adorned the walls, along with real-life sketches and paintings that ranged from subtly sensual to more blatantly erotic.

"Take a look at these," Jack said in a low, astonished tone of voice.

He tugged her into a small room that was dimly lit, with marbled columns displaying a collection of bronze sculptures of nude couples in various sexual positions-from the standard missionary pose, to a man taking a woman from behind, to a woman sitting on top of a man. Fascinated and feeling like a voyeur in the midst of an orgy, Kayla stepped closer to a different pair of sculptures and was shocked to discover that each one depicted a couple being pleasured orally.

The first one portrayed a woman on her knees in front of a man, taking his shaft into her mouth while he twined his fingers through her long hair. His head was thrown back in the throes of ecstasy, his muscled body taut and straining, his face reflecting a passion so strong Kayla felt it to the very core of her being.

And then there was another of a woman lying on her back, her naked body arched and her hands caressing her own breasts as the man between her spread legs pleasured her with his tongue.

Jack came up behind her, rested his hands on her bare shoulders, and skimmed his lips close to her ear.

"That's exactly what I want to do to you."

His soft, seductive voice curled through her belly and sent shivers skittering across her skin. There was no denying the dampness gathering between her thighs at the thought of him pleasuring her so intimately, so erotically. Her sex felt heavy and swollen, her entire body strung tight with an urgent, demanding need she could no longer suppress.

She turned around and searched his dark, masculine features, taking in the desire that was for her alone. The fire she saw in his eyes made her weak in the knees and eager to experience anything and everything he was willing to offer tonight-even something as forbidden as an illicit tryst among erotic sculptures.

"Yes," she murmured. Curling her hand around his neck, she brought his mouth down to hers for a kiss that was deep and hot and wild.

With a low growl that reverberated in his chest, he pressed her up against the nearest wall and aligned his body to hers. His hands slipped down her sides, past her bottom and thighs, his touch urgent and wondrously aggressive, spurring her to a greater level of anticipation.

Grasping the hem of her dress, he shoved it up to her waist, exposing her lower body to the cool air in the room. She barely had time to catch her breath before he hooked his fingers behind one knee and lifted her leg up to his hip so that he could press his groin to hers. She felt every single hard inch of him.

She whimpered against his lips and shamelessly rubbed the hottest, neediest part of her against his thick shaft. Just as she'd shed all of her inhibitions, she wanted the flimsy barrier of her panties gone, too.

Jack seemed to know exactly what she needed, what she desperately craved. He sank to the carpeted floor in front of her and rasped, "Hold your dress up for me."

Caught up in the moment, she did as he asked. She gripped the silky fabric in tight fists, her thighs quivering as he dragged her underwear down and off, shoved them into his coat pocket, then smoothed his palms upward. He eased her legs further apart so he could touch her slick flesh with his long, warm fingers and could look his fill of her, which he did without an ounce of concern for her own modesty.

Kayla's heart slammed in her chest, and she couldn't move, couldn't seem to breathe as she waited for the decadent pleasure he'd promised her. Everywhere she looked she was surrounded by carnal images, and in her mind those sculptures became her and Jack, entwined in hedonistic positions, doing deliciously wicked things to one another…

"God, you're so, so beautiful," he said in an ardent whisper that touched her heart in unexpected ways, despite the sexual intensity of the moment.

She loved his tenderly spoken words, loved the way he made her feel beautiful and sexy when she was with him. He stroked along her cleft in a slow, maddening rhythm, and her hips moved helplessly against the glide of his fingers, his touch teasing instead of fulfilling the way she needed them to. "Jack… please."

He rubbed his cheek against her thigh, his lips warm and damp on her skin. "Shhh… I'll give you what you need, sweetheart."

His thumbs skimmed her swollen lips, opening her to him so that he could kiss her, deeply and intimately. His hot breath, the suctioning swirl of his tongue, all combined to make her come in a blinding, gut-wrenching rush of sensation completely beyond anything she'd ever experienced before. A low, sobbing cry escaped her throat, and her trembling legs threatened to give out on her.