Lee, Carole Ann - Banner's Bonus

Title: Banner's Bonus
Author: Carole Ann Lee
Series:
Pub: Love Spell
Pub Date: May 1995
ISBN: 0505520273
Genre:
Time Period:
Setting:
Hero: Nick Banner
Heroine: Tressa Loring

Summary:

Tressa Loring could think of much better ways to spend her time than traveling through space with an arrogant brute -- especially one she had secretly adored for years. But duty forced her to journey with Nick Banner to a far-off world, even as desire led her to unknown realms of passion.

Banner's assignment was supposed to be simple: He had to keep his friend's daughter safe from kidnapping threats without letting her know she was in danger. The hard part for the dashing rogue was he had vowed not to lay a hand on his headstrong passenger. If he succeeded, a fortune would be his reward. If he failed, a love without end would be Banner's Bonus.

Excerpt:

    For the first time in Nick Banner’s hedonistic life, his cool reserve was slipping fast …
    When the first satiny bow fell open, Nick’s lips were right there, searing a sensuous path down her throat to the newly exposed flesh.
    A brief instant of panic flashed in Tressa’s mind. “Nick,” she breathed, “what if someone should come looking for us?”
    She felt something suspiciously close to a smile pressed to the base of her throat.
    “No one’s going to come looking for us, Tressa.”
    A second bow collapsed and then a third, the gown opening wider with each conquest.
    “But Clint—”
    “Isn’t stupid. He won’t intrude,” Nick muttered against her heated flesh.
    “But—“
    “All right, Tress,” came his groan of resignation. “For you.” With that, he leaned around and, with a lazy motion, flipped a small control switch on the nightstand. The electronic sound of a locking door echoed through the quiet of the cabin.
    “Now…where was I? Ah yes…” Picking up where he had left off, Nick continued kissing his way down to the fourth tiny green bow. By the fifth, the soft material was slipping to the floor, pooling at her feet, leaving Tressa standing naked to Nick Banner’s hungry eyes.
    “Dear God,” he rasped.
    With a flush of heat kissing her cheeks, Tressa stifled a sob, abandoning herself to the whirl of sensation that began as Nick dipped his head to cover and possess her mouth once more. His hand moved to cup one delicate globe, weighing it in his palm, tracing its outline, his thumb teasing a taut peak.
    “I want you, Tressa. God in heaven, I want you.” The words were wrenched from his throat.
    He was trembling, she realized, and for what she suspected to be the first time in Nick Banner’s hedonistic life, his cool reserve was slipping fast.
    And to think she was the cause. To think— A moan tore from the back of her throat as Nick dipped his head, his hot mouth replacing his hand on her breast. Savoring the erotic sensation, Tressa’s eyes drifted closed as he continued his gentle assault.
    Then he stopped, leaving the cooling air to chill her kiss-dampened flesh. “Listen to me, baby,” he grated out, capturing her chin. “If you have any objections to what’s about to happen, you’d better speak up now.”
    This was Nick, she reminded herself. The time for speaking up had long passed. There was no hesitation as she melted against him, gently lifting her hand to his face in response. Lightly touching his mouth with quivering fingers, she allowed her heated gaze to communicate for her.
    Nick captured her hand, pressing a kiss to her palm. “Very well,” he said with gentle finality as he set her away from him.
    Heart pounding, knees weakening, Tressa sat down on the edge of the bed, watching as Nick worked the buttons down the front of his shirt, shrugged out of it and tossed it to the floor. In breathless suspense, her gaze slowly dropped from his magnificent face to the wide expanse of his chest—to the hands that were now moving to his belt. A soft clinking of metal became thunder in the silence as he leisurely unbuckled his belt, allowing the ends to dangle loosely from their loops. The sight of him made her feel fluttery inside. Swallowing, she could only stare when he moved to his pants and began flipping open the metal studs—one by one.

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