CHAPTER SEVEN

Like a second layer of skin, Nate pressed against her. His muscles rigid, his scent musky and male and aroused. Serena had wanted to make love to him in his club five years ago, had craved the freedom, the total trust such a rendezvous symbolized. She'd longed to let herself go, safe in the knowledge that he'd cherish her, protect the secrets he learned when she revealed the full capacity of her body, heart, and soul.

But life had taught her not to trust someone who kept his heart under lock and key. So she'd refused.

Soon after, he'd said goodbye. He'd called her a coward. A prude. According to him, she'd never be anything more than a reflection of the man who owned her, and not even that if she didn't learn to open herself up to new adventures.

She'd changed all right. Thanks to him.

"I already see how different you are, Rena. You're all spit and sass, now. Completely unafraid."

With legerdemain skill, Nate released the lowest button on her vest. A trill of electric need sizzled up her spine. "No woman with sense is completely unafraid. I just choose not to let fear keep me down anymore."

"I never meant to hurt you then."

"But you did. A few orgasms and an apology can't erase that."

"Then I'll try something new. How about more honesty? Serena, you didn't come home because of some article. Not entirely. You also came to teach me a lesson, didn't you? To show me what I missed when I let you go. Well, you know what? You're right. And I've known it for a very long time."

"So why didn't you come after me?"

"I'm not that quick a learner. By the time I realized what I'd lost, you were long gone...in New York, discovering the real Serena van der Woodson." He released the second clasp on her vest and splayed his palm completely against her stomach.

She closed her eyes and reveled in the sensations of his touch. Hot, but gentle. Smooth, but honest. Like his words. He'd nailed her motives dead on and still, he wanted her. Just as she wanted him. "I'm just a woman who wants to have sex with you. For now. I'm not staying, Nate. I can't."

Nate spun her around, tipping her chin up so their gazes locked. "I'm not asking you to stay. But when we make love, here, now...let's do it right. In the hotel room was exciting, but too fast. I want to savor you, Serena. Make this last. Really last."

She tried to laugh to deny his underlying meaning, but the sound came out more like a strangled squeak. She cleared her throat. "You're a man of many passions, Nate. You get bored easily."

His grin tilted higher on one side than the other, just as it always did when he was caught red-handed. "But now, you're a woman of many passions. Used to be, your only passion was me."

"No challenge in that, huh?"

"None at all. And I like a challenge. Live for them, actually."

She popped the next three buttons on her vest herself, revealing more and more flesh. She remembered to breathe only after he stopped her from removing the vest by capturing her hands and pressing a sweet, soft kiss on each set of knuckles.

"I'm not being much of a challenge, am I?"

He smoothed the soft back of her hand across his stubbled cheek. Like a match head to flint, a spark of awareness flared and burned until her nipples tightened and her mouth dried. "You have no idea," he answered. "None at all."

Nate fully understood the challenge, even if Serena didn't. Simple desire was easy, chemical— and sating that need required no more than a physical act. But he wanted more with Serena. She was a woman of layers, of depth, but neither of them had been mature enough to see that until they'd parted. She'd learned about herself on her own in the big city. And in one day in the Big Easy, she'd proved what he'd long suspected—Serena, fully developed, independent and free—was his missing other half.

But he couldn't tell her. The words sounded sappy. Rehearsed. Insincere. How could he know something so intimate after less than a day with her? But he could show her.

Yeah, he could show her. Right here. Now.

He pressed her hands onto the ledge beneath the window, then pulled off his shirt and unzipped his jeans. Only after he was half undressed did he slide Serena's vest off her body.

His breath caught. "You're so beautiful."

With slightly trembling fingers, he traced her bare breasts, her slim rib cage, her curved waist and stomach. Familiar, but new. Comfortable, yet utterly dangerous.

She arched her back. Pinpoints of light from the spinning mirrored balls danced across her flesh, adding a kaleidoscope of color to her flushed and dampened skin. He couldn't stop the urge to taste her, so he did. And she cooed and groaned in wild response.

The rest of their clothes seemed to melt away. He carried her to the leather couch in the corner. He kissed her from her temples to her toes, pleasing her with his hands and teeth and tongue.

Then she returned the favor. By the time he donned the condom he'd pulled from his wallet, nothing existed in the office but Serena and Nate and their mutual need. He clasped her hands when he slipped inside her, and an explosion of pure wonder rocked him long before they reached their climax.

"Serena," he gasped.

"How do I feel?"

He shifted, thrusting gently, cautiously, trying with concentrated desperation not to go too quickly, take too much, too soon. For all he knew, this time, here, now, in the shadow of where it all ended, would be his last chance. To show her. To love her.

"Like heaven, Rena. Pure heaven."

"Take me there, Nate, please."

So he did. And when she shouted his name in divine delight, he knew he could never let her go, weekend deal or not.


They didn't rush to dress and after Nate explained that the windows had a mirrored coating that allowed them to see out into the club while no one could see in, Serena rolled off the couch and explored. More lights were on downstairs as the waitstaff readied the club. The music changed to retro disco. Serena couldn't help moving to the beat. And doing so while naked, while Nate watched, primed her for sex all over again.

Yet she grabbed a photo off his desk instead of revisiting him on the couch. "This recent?"

The brass frame contained a picture of Nate and his parents, flanked on each side by his sisters and their husbands.

"Last year, at the Club Carnal 4th anniversary."

"Four years? Took you a while to get going. You bought the building before I left."

"Had to do things my way, on my own dime. Investors don't come easy, even with the Archibald name."

She replaced the photo, then returned to the window overlooking the club. They'd both made great strides in five years. They'd made their own way on their own terms. When they made love on the couch, Serena had sensed an inner strength in Nate that hadn't been there before, or at least, one she hadn't had the ability to see. "You must be very proud."

He joined her at the window and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I am. But now, it's time for me to move on."