Exotic Desires: The Complete Series Box Set Read Online Free PDF Page A

returning the smile. There was something about him that appealed to me, and it wasn't just his looks.
    When I'd first met Aaron, there had been this kind of click between us. I'd never experienced it with anyone before or since, until now.
    “Let's dance.”
    Reed grabbed my hand and I gasped as a shock ran all the way up my arm. Based on the look of surprise on Reed's face, he'd felt it too. I could've written it off as some sort of static shock, the kind a person got when they touched metal, but I didn't think that was very accurate. Heat burned its way across my skin from the point where our hands touched and I knew I was blushing. I never blushed.
    He pulled me towards him as we reached the dance floor and then released my hand. I had a moment to be disappointed and then he was moving to the music. He had the sort of feline grace that sometimes came with someone of his build and I wondered how that translated into the bedroom. My blush turned to flame and I silently scolded myself as I started to sway in time with the music. I'd come here to let loose a bit, not hook up with some random American, no matter how hot he was.
    Then he put his hand on my waist and it was like I could feel every cell in my body waking up. His fingers curled possessively around me, pulling me closer to him so that our bodies brushed together as we danced. The music thrummed around us, but despite the sea of people, my world narrowed down to just him and me. His eyes locked with mine, pools of warm darkness, and I couldn't look away. My pulse pounded against my chest, my heart in my throat. I'd never been as aware of someone as I was of him right now.
    Without consciously thinking about it, I raised my hand and pushed his hair away from his eyes, the strands damp with sweat. My fingers traced down his cheek and I felt the muscles in his jaw tense. The hand on my waist slid around to my back and he drew me against him until there was nothing between us but our clothes. I felt the swell of him against my stomach and it sent a thrill through me.
    Sex with Aaron had been good. He was attractive and had been the kind of lover that most women would want for their first time. He'd made sure I'd climaxed before him and I'd thoroughly enjoyed myself. Afterwards though, I hadn't really had a desire for a repeat performance. In fact, sex hadn't really been something I'd thought much about. If my parents hadn't made such a big deal about me not doing it, I probably wouldn't have even slept with Aaron.
    Now, with Reed's body flush against mine, his desire for me clear, I wanted it. I wanted him. Aaron had appreciated my body and he'd genuinely cared about me, but he hadn't wanted me. Not really. Not at a primal level. Reed did. I saw it on his face and my body responded. I knew it was a bad idea. A terrible idea, actually, but I'd never wanted anything as badly as I wanted him right now.
    I was teetering on the edge of decision as we continued to move to the music. It didn't have to be anything more than a hook-up. For all I knew, that's all Reed wanted too. I wasn't looking for a relationship. I couldn't. But sex, no matter how many times people said it didn't, always came with strings attached. Both sides had to know what was expected or feelings would be hurt, accusations made. When I'd gone to Aaron to ask him to be my first, I'd laid it all out for him. What it would mean for us, for our friendship. What it couldn't be. I'd known him and trusted him. I didn't know Reed.
    Would it be possible for me to have that same conversation with him? Tell him that all I could offer him was one night? Most men wouldn't have a problem with that, I assumed. Especially an American man in a Parisian club. This wasn't exactly the kind of place someone went to find a soulmate.
    There was also the safety factor to consider. I didn't want to even think about it, but I had no way of knowing the kind of man Reed was. I could feel how strong he was, see it in the way he moved.