Free The Price of Seduction by Nina Blake

enough to reveal her delicate collar bones and although the fabric covered the swell of her breasts, it did nothing to hide their allure, their soft feminine shape.
    The bodice clung to her waist, then flared out into soft layers down below her knees. Conrad watched open mouthed as she took a few steps towards him, revealing glimpses of the ivory skin of her thigh through a split hidden in the layers of fabric. It was an invitation for him to look more closely.
    She turned around slowly and he realised why her hands were still on her waist. The dress hadn’t yet been properly fastened yet and she was ensuring it didn’t fall open.
    He dropped the jewellery box on a small table by the wall and headed straight for Bree.
    Her hands slid down over the back of her hips as she asked him to help with her dress. Though he would much have preferred to take it off, he slid the zip upwards to the small of her back where the neckline at the back plunged in a deep V.
    One weekend. That’s what he’d said to her. He’d wasted one night. He wasn’t going to let the same thing happen again this evening.
    Her back bared, he was unable to resist. He slid his fingers up along the fine bones of her spine, past the spot where her bra would have been if she were wearing one.
    Then what was she wearing under the dress? Not much, he hoped.
    Her back still to him, Bree turned her head and tilted her chin upwards. “I hope I’ve lived up to the brief.”
    “Pardon?”
    “You were very specific tonight. Sophisticated. Seductive. Have I lived up to your expectations?”
    “Bree, you’ve exceeded them but you misunderstood. It wasn’t a brief. This isn’t a job.”
    She turned to face hi m, looking up at him through lowered lashes. “Then perhaps we might enjoy ourselves after all.”
    This woman was driving him crazy. Slowly he slid his hands across to rest on the curve of her waist . They only stayed there for a moment before she glided away from him towards the mirror above the bedside table to check her hair.
    Tonight, she was overflowing with confidence. She knew exactly how alluring she looked.
    His eyes dropped down to two chiffon evening scarves in shades of plum on the bedside table and he remembered how stunning she’d looked with a scarf draped across her neck at the Indi-Art Ball. She wouldn’t be wearing a scarf tonight however.
    Bree looked at his reflection in the mirror. “So do I look a million dollars?”
    He swiped the burgundy velvet box from the table where he’d left it and stepped closer. He held the item out to her.
    “I have something which wil l finish off the outfit for you,” he said.
    “I can’t accept a gift like this from you,” she said, even before she’d opened the jewellery box.
    “I didn’t think you’d accept a gift. I’d like you to wear them just for tonight.”
    And after that we’ll see . In his younger days he’d often lavished gifts on women and they’d never been refused, never been thought too great.
    He watched h as she opened the velvet box and smiled.
    Shifting his eyes towards the mirro r he saw her gaze was riveted to his reflection, her lips seductively parted. He wanted to take her there and then but knew he couldn’t simply grab what he wanted.
    They were playing by her rules.
    She slipped on the earrings and while she was still admiring them in the mirror, he reached for the fine pearl and neoprene necklace. Securing it around her neck, he admired the way it sat just below her delicate collar bones, highlighting both the curve of her neck and the swell of her breasts.
    “Where did they come from?” she asked.
    “I had them flown in especially.”
    Her eyes dropped. “So I could outshine the other guests including Trevor and his fiancée?”
    “Why would you think that?”
    “I noticed a certain rivalry between you and him and I thought…”
    “You thought wrong. I ordered the items this morning before I knew who the other guests were. Besides, do you really