Her fingers tightened around his, holding on while he took her greedily with his mouth and drank in the scent and taste of caramel and feminine desire. Both were incredibly sweet. His tongue was hot and aggressive, ruthless and demanding, unfurling deep and stroking and suckling with insatiable, rapacious hunger. Another thrust of his tongue, and a lusty moan ripped from her as the force of her orgasm shoved her over the edge and she climaxed in wild, exquisite abandon.

He didn't let her go right away. He lapped at her more slowly now, dragging out her pleasure, forcing her to endure, to ride out her release until the last small spasms jerked through her spent body and she was left gasping for breath. He released her hands, and she slid back down to his side, their skin sticking together from the drying caramel.

She reached up and unknotted the nylon from his wrists, setting him free, then looked down into his eyes, a contented smile on her lips. "That was incredible."

He brought his arms back down, and the cramped muscles along his shoulders relaxed. "Ummm, mind-blowing," he agreed, though after that outstanding performance of hers, he was hard and raring to go again.

She dropped a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth, her gaze dancing with gentle laughter. "Amazing," she countered playfully.

He grinned at her delightful, engaging mood and searched for a word to top hers. "Fun."

She skimmed her fingers down his chest and came away with a dollop of caramel, which she promptly sucked off in a very provocative way. "Tasty, and very messy."

"That was the best part." He loved her blissful enthusiasm and that she wasn't afraid to be daring and messy when it came to sex and exploring fantasies. Adored the way she enjoyed her body so much and reveled in his as well.

She lifted her splayed hand from his belly and winced at the gooey syrup adhering to both of them like glue. "Fun and all that aside, I think we both need a shower."

He chuckled. "You don't have to ask me twice," he said, and grabbed a condom from the nightstand on their way to the bathroom.

He wasn't done with her yet. They might have just eaten dessert, but the main course still awaited.

Chapter 8

Liz stood with her back beneath the hot shower spray and sighed as Steve soaped up the front of her body and washed away the remnants of caramel with luxurious sweeps of his big hands across her wet skin. He'd insisted on being the one to bathe her, and she'd let him do the deed for the most part, because after three years of devoting herself to her business it felt so good to be pampered for a change.

Through the steamy vapors swirling in the shower stall, his slumberous eyes latched on to hers, his dark, freshly washed hair finger-combed away from his handsome face. "Feel good?" he asked as his palms kneaded the slopes of her breasts and his thumbs lazily circled her ultrasensitive nipples.

"Oh, yes," she breathed, and because she couldn't stop herself from touching, too, she trailed her fingers up his muscular arms, deliberately taking the time to trace the tribal band around his biceps before continuing along his broad shoulders and down his muscled chest. He felt deliciously warm and sleek, exceptionally hard in all the right places, and she savored his virile strength even as he brushed his hands along her pliant body so gently, so eloquently.

While the sex they'd just indulged in had been hedonistic in many ways and undoubtedly erotically charged, this was foreplay at its finest, she decided. He'd washed her hair as soon as they'd stepped into the shower, and massaged her scalp with his long, strong fingers. Now his caresses were slow and languorous as he smoothed the fragrant lather along her belly and between her thighs to wash away the sticky syrup, then down her long legs. His unhurried exploration was designed to relax and arouse, and he did both exceptionally well. She felt boneless, yet every one of her feminine nerve endings hummed in renewed awareness.

He turned her around and let the hot spray rinse the suds from the front of her body while he pushed her wet hair out of the way so he could lather up her backside. She braced her flattened palms on the tiled wall for support as he applied a skillful pressure to the taut tendons running along her shoulders, and she groaned in praise of his talented, sensual hands soothing her overworked and exhausted body.

"How did it go tonight at work?" he murmured, using his thumbs to loosen the tension along her nape.

Did he really expect her to think with a clear head while he bestowed such lavish attention upon her? Apparently so, and she did her best to switch mental gears from pleasure to business. "Actually, it went well. I was able to talk to Roxanne tonight, alone."

"And…?" he prompted, his fingers working their magic down the muscles bisecting her spine, his firm touch spreading goose bumps along her flesh.

She closed her eyes, shivering as his palms slid over her hips and his big hands curved over her buttocks, squeezing and kneading her bottom. "Roxanne's been with The Ultimate Fantasy for about four months now, so she knows a bit about the fantasy parties."

"Does she go to them?" He easily nudged her feet farther apart and slipped his fingers along the crevice between her legs, grazing the swollen lips of her sex before retreating again.

She swallowed a moan at that teasing caress and managed a shake of her head. "No. Roxanne's not interested in being one of the 'party girls,' as they're called. She did remember Valerie when I mentioned her name, but admitted that she never hung out with her because she wasn't really her type," she said, trying desperately to keep her mind on the conversation she'd had with Roxanne and ignoring Steve's shameless attempts to distract her. "She gave me the name of another operator who Valerie was apparently friends with. Trixie Lane, but Roxanne didn't think that was her real name."

"Probably not." He readjusted the shower head so the water poured along her back in a fall of sensual heat, and he chased the soapy suds down her spine with his palms, leaving her skin satiny-soft and clean from head to toe. "Sounds like she's the next person we need to get into contact with."

She gasped as his parted lips skimmed the side of her throat and his tongue licked the moisture beading on her skin. His breath was hot, and her nipples puckered, tingled, aching to be caressed by his hands, his mouth. Again.

And still, she found the words to speak. Just barely. "Unfortunately, Trixie is now strictly one of the party girls and doesn't do the phone sex bit anymore, because of the money she's making on the parties. So, the only way we're going to be able to find her is to get invited to one of the parties and go from there."

"Then tomorrow night we turn up the heat on our phone calls," he said, nuzzling just below her ear, then nibbling on her lobe.

She automatically tilted her head to the side, giving him better access to her neck as the spray of water continued to drizzle over them. "Any more heat and I'm going to go up in flames."

He chuckled at her double meaning and stepped closer, aligning her back to his chest. A muscled arm slid around her waist, and he pulled her bottom to his groin so that his erection nestled cozily between her thighs. His free hand played with her breasts and lightly pinched her nipples, causing her to suck in a sharp breath and wriggle against him. His fingers strummed over her stomach, slid through her slick folds, opening her so that rivulets of water teased her clitoris, and his shaft glided along her tender, swollen flesh from behind.

Her entire body pulsed, and another orgasm beckoned. She wasn't at all opposed to letting him take her this way, but she grabbed his hand to stop his alluring assault. "I want to come with you inside me this time," she whispered. "And we don't have a condom here in the shower." Despite her curiosity about his being so adamant about using his own protection, she respected his request to use a condom at all times.

He eased his hold on her but didn't let her go. "Damn, you sidetracked me," he muttered against her neck.

She laughed, accepting his excuse, but knew they needed to finish their conversation about The Ultimate Fantasy before they moved on to more pleasant diversions. "You were talking about turning up the heat on our phone calls."

He exhaled, seemingly regathering his thoughts. "As I was saying, we need to take our conversations to the next level," he said, scattering soft kisses along her shoulder as if he couldn't help himself. "We're both going to express interest in wanting to meet one another in person, and let's hope that Antonio jumps on that and decides you're worthy of being a party girl, and I'm worthy of being invited to a party."

His plan was the next logical step in finding her cousin. "It's been almost a week since Valerie's been gone." The statement slipped past her lips, more somber than she'd intended.

He gently turned her around to face him, and the water cascaded over her shoulders and down her curves. She experienced a moment of vulnerability that had nothing to do with her naked body. Physically, she was all his in every way, but it was the raw emotions working their way up to the surface that made her feel so exposed to him. And as a man so in tune to her, he seemed to sense that change within her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, and gently brushed a wet strand of hair off her cheek with his fingers.

The warmth and compassion in his touch lingered, wrapping intimately around her heart, urging her to divulge her personal thoughts. "I'm just feeling frustrated and worried about Valerie." And more and more resentful that her cousin had put her in such a predicament. And then there was her own damnable guilt and sense of obligation that was nagging at her conscience and pushing her to such extremes.