When we arrived, Emilia threw me a look that was a mixture of surprise and terror.
“I don’t know this well enough to do anything but make a complete fool of myself in public.”
“You can be bald in public—you have the guts for anything. Besides, I know the steps. I’ll lead you. Just trust me, okay?”
“Okay. I trust you not to let me make a fool out of myself.”
I smiled. “Good. Just relax and let me lead you. ‘There are no mistakes in the tango,’” I quoted. “‘When you get all tangled up, you just tango on.’”
She squinted at me. “That’s from a movie, isn’t it?”
I smiled. “You know me so well. Al Pacino, Scent of a Woman.”
I took her hand and led her to the floor. There were a few other couples out there, but many had sat down once the band had started playing tango music. The steps I’d taught her were simple and I could guide her easily enough through anything more complex.
We faced each other and she looked into my eyes. Her gaze then darted around the room and she took a deep breath. She was feeling self-conscious either about the dance or about her looks. If I did my job right, she should forget about both.
“Put your left hand on my shoulder. Higher.”
And she complied. I took her right hand in my left and curved my right arm around her to press firmly against the center of her back. “Relax your body. Try not to be stiff.”
She grinned. “I’m having a weird déjà vu feeling.”
I smiled. “Amsterdam?”
“Yep.”
“You did beautifully then. You’ve got this.”
She took a shaky breath and nodded. “Okay.”
The music started up again and I stepped forward, guiding her to walk backwards for three steps before gliding to the side. She fumbled for a moment, stepping forward just as I did.
“Sorry!” she gasped as she stomped on my foot.
“Let me lead you, Emilia. Do you trust me?”
She looked up at me and nodded. “Yeah.”
“Then look in my eyes and stop watching our feet.”
She took a deep breath and relaxed in my arms. And for the rest of that first song, never looked down. Once she was more comfortable, I added a few more complex things, like a turn, a dip. The first time I dipped her she let out a little squeak and laughed like crazy.
“My scarf is going to fall off and you are going to expose my chrome dome!”
Our bodies moved together. The tango was a sexy dance. Much like the sexual act itself, it was our bodies in close proximity, moving together, our hands holding each other, our eyes, fastened to one another. Our breath coming quicker. Our hearts beating faster.
Yeah, I’ll admit it was turning me on. Between the alcohol, the kiss on the tower and now this dancing, it was going to be hard to resist her.
But then she pulled out the big guns—because I was well aware of what she’d been doing all night. She’d enacted a studied, careful campaign to seduce me. And I’d played dumb and let her do it.
“Don’t twirl me so fast next time. My dress will fly up too high.”
“What, you don’t want the old goats in here to see your underwear?”
“I wouldn’t care about them seeing my underwear, if I was wearing any,” she said with an impish grin on her face. “Happy birthday.”
I stumbled midstep. “You aren’t wearing any underwear?”
She paused for a beat and I dipped her, holding her there until she answered me. She looked up at me, hooking a leg around mine as I bent into a deeper dip. “Nope. Not a stitch. Full commando.”
Fuck me. I was hard immediately at the thought.
I pulled her up and stood absolutely still. “You are a very naughty girl.”
Her gorgeous, puffy lips formed a pout and her eyes, all doe-like and innocent, grew wider as she said, “Mmm hmmm. I should be punished.”
I pulled her closer, her feminine body felt like heaven pressed to me. “You should,” I whispered.
She pressed her face to my ear, took my lobe in her hot mouth and dragged her teeth over it. Hot lust streaked through me. God, she was a siren. And there was little holding her off tonight. My blood was on fire for her. She must have felt my erection pressing against her, because she undulated against it, eliciting a gasp of surprise from me.
And before we started doing anything indecent, like fucking right there in front of everyone, I grabbed her hand and pulled her off the dance floor. With a laugh swallowed in a gasp of surprise, she trotted along behind me as I strode with purpose to the elevator that led directly up to our suite. I wasn’t even sure I’d make the elevator ride without committing some sort of lewd act.