Marcus wasn’t sure what happened next, only that it involved pure instinct and no reasoning at all. His fist came up and connected with the drunk’s nose, and the guy staggered, then fell backward onto the pavement. Marcus bent down and grabbed the video camera, searching for a way to extract the tape.

The drunk’s wife started screaming for someone to call an ambulance and the police, and an instant later the bouncer stepped into the fight, grabbing Marcus from behind. The bouncer had at least fifty pounds on him, but Marcus had been schooled in street fighting from an early age. He brought his heel down on the bouncer’s instep, and the moment his grip loosened Marcus spun on him.

In one sure movement, he tossed the video camera to Eden, then gave the bouncer a swift uppercut to the chin. The punch had little effect beyond a momentary stun, and the bouncer returned with a cross that grazed Marcus’s eye.

Marcus noticed the drunk stumbling to his feet and decided that retreat was in order. He wasn’t about to fight them both. He held up his hands as if to surrender, and when the bouncer lowered his fists, Marcus took off. He grabbed Eden’s hand and pulled her across the street. “We have to get out of here,” he shouted. “Right now.”

The crowd surged toward them as if to get a better look at Eden. But Marcus knew the streets of Newport well enough to make a quick escape. They ducked down a side street, then cut back through an alley. Eden was slowed by the sexy shoes she’d decided to wear, but they managed to reach Marcus’s truck in less than a minute. Marcus helped Eden inside, then grabbed a baseball cap from behind the seat and put it on his head. He hopped in the driver’s side and placed his hand on Eden’s shoulder. “Get down,” he ordered.

Eden did as she was told and they wound through the back streets until they were well away from downtown. “That was a mess,” Marcus muttered, steering the car toward the Newport Bridge.

Eden sat up and stared out the rear window. “I’m sorry.”

He glanced in the rearview mirror. “I don’t think they’re following us.”

“Who?”

“The photographers,” he said. “The guy with the video camera.”

“He wasn’t a photographer,” she said. “I think he was just a tourist. Usually the tabloid photographers wear credentials. That way, they don’t get beat up.”

Marcus cursed beneath his breath. “Great. I just assaulted some poor git from upstate New Hampshire just to protect your honor.”

“You really hit him hard,” she said. Eden held up the video camera he’d tossed to her during the fight. “And you stole his camera.”

“Me? You stole it. I just wanted you to get the tape out. This is why I didn’t want to go to that club. I warned you.”

“Why are you so upset? I go through this all the time. Everywhere I go there are people taking my picture and shouting questions at me. You just have to ignore them.”

“I don’t need my picture taken,” he said.

“Why? Are you ashamed to be seen with me?” Eden asked.

Marcus stared out the windshield at the late-night traffic over the bridge. “Don’t be ridiculous. We went out, didn’t we?”

“Then what’s the problem? I thought we were having fun. Don’t let some tourist with a camera ruin our whole night.”

“I just can’t stand by while some idiot insults you. Did you hear what he said?”

Eden sank back down in the seat, her arms crossed over her chest. “Of course I did. But I didn’t let it get to me. He was drunk, and a lot of people think celebrities are fair game. I’ve just learned to let it roll off my back, Marcus. He doesn’t make a difference to me.”

“Then who does?”

“You do,” Eden snapped. “My mother and father do, to some extent, although that can be hit-and-miss at times. Some of my friends-but not many. And Sarah, my father’s housekeeper, and Maria. And that’s about it. Oh, and your mother. I hope that she has a good opinion of me.”

Marcus glanced over his shoulder as they turned onto the bridge. “I don’t want to provide amusement for some lady waiting on line at the grocery store.”

They drove the rest of the way to Marcus’s place in silence. He wasn’t angry, just frustrated. He and Eden were like a runaway train, heading for the end of their relationship at top speed, and there was nothing he could do about it. At this rate, there was destined to be a huge crash with at least one casualty-him.

In the past, he’d never given a second thought to breakups. In most cases, he was glad to be free of the responsibility for some woman’s happiness. But with Eden, he was loath to face the inevitable.

He craved the feel of her naked body against his, the sensation of sinking into her moist heat and the act of bringing them both to a mindless ecstasy. It wasn’t just the sex. He loved spending time with her. He loved falling asleep with her in his arms and waking up to her sweet smile. He loved her.

He glanced over at her and fought the urge to reach out and touch her. Maybe it was better this way. This incident just proved that he couldn’t live in her world, and she wasn’t willing to give up her world to live in his.

“You’re all right?” he asked.

Eden nodded. “I’m fine.” She glanced over at him and forced a smile. “Thanks for standing up for me. Nobody’s ever done that before.”

“No problem.”

EDEN STOOD IN FRONT of the kitchen sink and filled a glass with water. Marcus watched her from his spot on the sofa. Since they’d returned home, she’d been curiously silent.

He shouldn’t have reacted the way he had, blaming her for what had happened. But how could she expect him to understand or to tolerate behavior that she’d grown immune to? From the start Marcus had protected her, and he wasn’t about to stop now.

She had no more control over the situation than he had. Well, maybe a little control. If she hadn’t made that video, then the drunk with the camera probably would have had to find some other insult to hurl at her. And perhaps Marcus could have tolerated a different one.

Eden sat down at the end of the counter and picked up the camera, fiddling with the buttons until she’d managed to rewind the tape. She walked out of the kitchen, her gaze on the view screen, filming her surroundings as she went.

When she reached the sofa, she turned the camera on Marcus. “Smile,” she said.

He held his hand up in front of the lens. “Stop.”

“Why?”

“You got in enough trouble the last time you appeared on video. And I’ve had enough of cameras for one night.”

“Come on, don’t be so depressing,” Eden said with a pout. “I don’t want to spend our last night together all gloomy and doomy. Smile.”

Marcus shook his head and covered his face with his hands. “Go away, Eden.”

“I’ve got an idea. We’ll just make a little video of our last night together and then you’ll have something to remember me by.”

“I’m not going to play this game with you.”

She pried his hands away from his eyes and trained the camera at his face, standing above him. “Tell me. What did you think the first time you saw Eden Ross?”

“Nice ass,” he muttered. “Naked girl. Big trouble.”

“And what about later?” she continued. “Did you want to touch me?”

The answer was obvious. From the moment he’d met her he’d thought of nothing else. “No,” he lied.

“I don’t believe you,” Eden said, peeking out from behind the camera. “Take your shirt off.”

Marcus refused, but Eden wasn’t about to be deterred. “Then you hold it,” she said, handing him the camera, “and I’ll take my clothes off.” She pointed to the miniature screen on the back. “Just watch me through that and try not to jiggle the camera.”

Marcus grudgingly pointed the camera at Eden. She reached down for the hem of her dress and slowly drew it up over her head. She wasn’t wearing a bra and had chosen a sexy black thong as her only underwear. She let her hands drift up her torso and over her breasts, then brushed her hair away from her face, playing to the camera and to the man behind it. She was deliberately tempting him, and Marcus was loath to admit that it was working.

Eden slowly walked up to him and took the camera, then pulled him to his feet. “Your turn,” she said, dragging him toward the bed.

“Why are we doing this?” Marcus asked as he unbuttoned his shirt.

“Have you ever seen yourself make love to a woman?” Eden asked. “Aren’t you curious? Come on, it’s liberating. It’s like having someone else in the room…but not really.”

He’d never refused Eden anything before, at least not sexually. And he was intrigued. She was right-they should spend their last night together doing something more interesting than arguing. But this was just a reminder of a big mistake she’d made in the past. He grabbed the camera and turned it off.

She stared at him, her mouth pressed into a tight line. “It doesn’t have to be awful like the last one,” she murmured. “It can be sexy and wonderful and real. I want you to remember that it was real.”

“Eden, I’m not going to forget you.”

She nodded. “I know. But I want to share this with you. I trust you, Marcus. I know you would never use this to hurt me.”

He drew a deep breath, then handed the camera back to her. “Just promise me we’re going to burn this tape after we watch it,” Marcus said, letting his shirt drop to the floor.

Eden smiled. “No, I’m going to leave it with you as a memento of our time together. Every now and then you can watch it and it will be like I’m here.”

Marcus kicked off his boat shoes, standing in his bare feet. “I don’t think so,” he said. He undid his belt and Eden let the camera drift lower. “It would be a sad substitute for the real thing.”

“Slower,” Eden ordered, kneeling in the center of the bed and tucking her feet beneath her. “Take your time.”

“Are you the director?” he asked.

“For tonight,” she replied.

As he lowered the zipper of his khakis, Marcus was forced to admit that Eden’s little game was a huge turn-on. Undressing had always been a necessary step, but now it was entertainment. His sexual liberation at Eden’s hands had had no limits, and he didn’t want to stop now. “Is that slow enough?”

“Run your hand over your chest,” she said.

Marcus watched her, but Eden wasn’t looking at him. She was looking intently at the screen. If he wanted to seduce her, then he’d be forced to do it through the lens of the video camera. Smiling, he did as she ordered, smoothing his palm over his chest and belly.

When he reached his pants, he slipped his fingertips beneath the waistband of his boxers. He heard Eden take a sharp breath and her eyes went wide. A tiny smile quirked at the corners of her mouth. “That’s very nice,” she said.

Marcus slid his hand downward and was surprised to find that he was already hard. Though he was familiar with the art of pleasuring himself, he’d never done it in front of anyone. But he wasn’t embarrassed to do it for Eden as long as she found it…arousing.

“Touch yourself,” she murmured. “The way that I touch you.”

He pushed his boxers down, freeing himself from the confines of his clothing. Marcus slowly began to stroke himself, tipping his head back and imagining that it was Eden’s touch on his body. He grew harder with each movement, the sensations coursing through his body more intense because of her presence.

Marcus kept his pace slow, knowing that he wouldn’t finish on his own. He opened his eyes and looked at Eden. She ran her tongue along her lower lip, and he smiled, imagining her tongue running along the length of his shaft.

As if she could read his mind, Eden crawled off the bed and handed him the camera. She knelt down in front of him and tugged his boxers and khakis to the floor. Marcus kicked them aside, and a heartbeat later she took him into her mouth, her tongue caressing the tip of his penis with every stroke.

Marcus held up the camera and watched her through the view screen, his attention completely focused on Eden’s lips and his cock. He’d watched the occasional porno, but this was something much more tantalizing. It was happening to him.

Eden glanced up and smiled. “Tell me what you want,” she said. She ran her tongue along the length of his shaft. “You’re the director now.”

“Take your underwear off and lie down on the bed,” Marcus ordered. He walked over to the dresser and set the camera on top, focusing the lens on the bed. When he returned, Eden was lying across the sheets, her hands skimming over her body.

Marcus watched her for a long time as she touched herself, his fingers clenching with the urge to take over. But she was still performing for him, bringing his desire to a fever pitch. He’d never wanted a woman this badly, and when he finally spread her legs and pushed inside of her, Marcus was almost mindless with need.