Wrapped In Pleasure - Brenda Jackson [30]
And when he began walking toward her, he again reminded her of a predatory wolf and gave her the distinct impression that he was stalking her, his prey. There was something about him that was deliciously dangerous, excitingly wild and arrogantly brazen. A part of her knew that no matter how far he went today in this game of theirs, she would be there with him all the way. In the end he would succeed in capturing her, but she would not make it easy. She intended to make him work.
When Jamal came to a stop in front of her, dark eyes held hers in sensual challenge. “Good morning, Delaney,” he murmured softly.
“Good morning, Jamal,” she responded in kind. She then looked him up and down. “You’re dressed differently this morning.”
A smile twitched his lips, and amusement lit his eyes as he looked her up and down, just as she had done him. “Yes, and so are you.”
Delaney smiled to herself. She was beginning to like this game of theirs. “I thought today would be a good day to do something I haven’t done since I got here.”
“Which is?”
“To try out the hot tub on the back deck. It’s roomy enough for two, and I was wondering if you would like to join me?”
Jamal raised a brow, evidently surprised by her invitation but having no intention of turning it down. “Yes, I think I will.”
A tense silence followed. Delaney knew that he wasn’t anyone’s fool and saw her ploy as seduction in the making and was determined, as he’d done the night before, to turn things to his advantage. He didn’t play fair.
She was hoping he wouldn’t. In fact, she was counting on it.
“I’ll go on out back,” she said, her voice only a notch above a whisper. “My swimming suit is under my dress.”
“And it won’t take long for me to change clothes and join you,” he said huskily.
She turned to leave, then suddenly turned back to him. “And one more thing, Jamal.”
“Yes?”
“You have to promise to keep your hands to yourself.”
A rakish grin tilted the corner of his lips, and a wicked gleam lit his eyes. “All right, I promise.”
Delaney blinked, surprised he had made such a promise. She really hadn’t expected him to. Without saying another word, she opened the door and went back into the house, wondering if he really intended to keep his promise.
Delaney was already settled in the hot tub when Jamal appeared on the back deck. She found it difficult to breathe or to look away. She finally let out a deep whoosh of air when she broke eye contact with him to take a more detailed look at his outfit.
The swimming trunks he wore were scantier than the boxer trunks he usually wore for kickboxing. Everything about him oozed sex appeal, and she felt inwardly pleased that for the next three weeks he belonged only to her.
“The water looks warm,” Jamal said, breaking into Delaney’s thoughts.
She smiled up at him. “It is.”
Tossing a towel aside, he eased onto the edge of the tub. She watched his every move, mesmerized, as he swung into the water and took the seat in the hot tub that faced her. He sank lower, allowing the bubbly, swirling water to cover him from the shoulders down.
“Mmm, this feels good,” he said huskily, closing his eyes and resting his head against the back of the tub.
“Yes, it does, doesn’t it,” Delaney said, raising a brow. Was he actually not going to try anything? He seemed perfectly content to sit there and go to sleep. He hadn’t even tried taking a peek at her swimming outfit beneath the water. If he had, he would have known that she was wearing very little. On a dare from one of her college roommates, she had purchased the skimpy, sheer, two-piece flesh-tone bikini, although she had never worn it out in public.
Feeling frustrated and disappointed, she was about to close her own eyes when she felt him. He had stretched out his foot and it had come to rest right smack between her legs. Before she could take a sharp intake of breath, he had