Chapter 8 #2
"You should know better than that. The temperature has been dropping significantly." The deep, slightly accented voice had her going still. She had not heard the sound of horses' hooves to announce his presence and fleetingly wondered if she had dreamed him up.
Rising slowly, she turned to face him.
"What are you doing here?"
He smiled at that, a slow, devastating smile that made her weak.
"Missed me?"
"Don't flatter yourself. I'm sure the woman you've been with has a lot to say about you leaving."
"Why, darling, you sound jealous."
"Oh please!" she turned as if to walk away, but he grabbed her arm. "Let go of me."
"I was in Madrid. We have some town houses there that needed my attention." He turned her to face him. "I wanted to take you with me."
"As if I would ever go anywhere with you. Please let go of me."
"Why the constant antagonism?" he mused, eyes searching her face. "Is it so hateful that we have feelings for each other?"
"I don't have feelings for you and I'm sure that's mutual."
His fingers dug into her flesh. The look on his handsome face had her slapping her hands on his chest. It was starting again. The heat, the longing to feel his lips on hers. She had promised herself that she would not let this happen again and she meant to keep that promise.
"Don't! I already told you I'm seeing someone. We're going on a date tonight."
"Is that right?" His voice was indulgent as if he did not believe a word she was saying.
"Yes!" She wanted to stamp her feet. "I already told you that I'm involved. Now will you please let go of me?"
"One kiss," he invited softly, his voice lowered.
"No."
"You're afraid."
"I'm not afraid of anything."
"Then prove it by kissing me."
"I don't want to kiss you."
"Liar," he chuckled, drawing her inexorably closer. She struggled, fingers clutching at his black leather jacket. He was dressed all in black, the unrelieved color giving him a dark and dangerous look that had her heart pounding.
"Please let go of me. You're making things difficult for me, and I happen to love my job. Find someone else to play your sick games with. And leave me out of it."
His smile faded at that, and she watched as his eyes turned to flint. "You think I'm playing a game?"
"How else would you explain this, this thing you're doing?" she cried in frustration. "I am not your type. Admit it."
"No, you're not."
She sucked in a breath and refused to allow herself to be hurt by his bluntness. "There you go."
"Which is why I'm confounded," he continued harshly as if she had not said anything.
"I tried to stay away, I even tried taking someone to bed, but you've ruined all of that for me.
" His fingers dug into her flesh as he drew her closer.
"I tried to stay away from you by telling myself that this would pass, that what I feel for you did not make bloody sense.
But I can't." His voice dropped to a whisper, his eyes going to her lips.
"I want you so much that I cannot sleep.
And when I close my eyes even for a second, I see you.
I breathe you in. You're inside me. I cannot stop thinking of you, cannot stop wanting you.
" He shook her. "It's like a fever inside me, one I cannot rid myself of.
Do you think I want to feel this way?" He shook her again, his expression one of bitter frustration. "I have to have you."
His head descended and she was powerless to stop his lips from claiming hers. His words had left her paralyzed, shaken to the core. She couldn't fight him. She had tried and failed. Now she just wanted to feel his lips on hers. God help her.
He kissed her with all the pent-up frustrations he had been experiencing since the moment he met her. His mouth covered hers, tongue sliding in to taste her addictive sweetness.
He had arrived home late last night and after spending a restless night tossing and turning in bed, he had given up on getting some sleep and decided to go for a ride.
Imagine his surprise when he saw her approaching from his vantage point.
His hands roamed up and down her back, coming to rest possessively on her bottom where he drew her closer, close enough to feel his rigid arousal.
He had to have her. There was no use dancing around the subject any longer.
He must have her or risk going out of his mind.
Lifting his lips from hers, he kissed his way feverishly down her cheek and her neck and then back up to claim her lips again.
His kisses were drugging her, turning her into a mass of sensations so exquisite, so intensely pleasurable, she could barely stand it.
Her hands gripped his jacket before going around his neck and coming through the thick denseness of his hair. She kissed him back helplessly, her body arching towards his, nipples evident through her sweater. He felt them as they seemed to brand straight into his chest.
She wanted him too and it was time for him to take control.
Tearing his mouth from hers, he swallowed audibly as he tried to control his raging desire.
His control was in tatters, hanging by a thread.
His body was as hard as steel, his sex aching.
He had never felt anything so intensely powerful in his life.
"I want you in my bed," he told her thickly.
"No." Common sense surfaced and what little will she had was enough to shove him from her. "No." Whirling blindly, she raced towards the horse and with little effort vaulted into the saddle and was off like a rocket.
Swearing beneath his breath, he hurried towards his own horse patiently waiting by the huge oak tree and jumped into the saddle. They were going to have it out once and for all.
*****
She knew instinctively that this time was different, that this time he was coming after her. She should have had the good sense to bolt the door, but she was too busy dashing into the bedroom, eternally grateful that apart from a sleepy maid making the rounds, the palace was still asleep.
She had barely taken off her boots and her jacket, when the doors swung open and then were firmly closed and locked.
"Get out," she warned, without turning around.
"That's not going to happen."
The carpet muffled his footsteps, so she wasn't aware that he had come further inside the room until he was standing behind her.
She went stiff when he clamped his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. His heart knocked against his ribs as he took in the disheveled hair and the swollen lips.
"Please don't do this."
The plea in her voice softened him. Lifting one hand, he brushed back tendrils of hair from her face, his touch gentle.
"Do what exactly? Put us both out of our misery?" he asked.
He had ridden with reckless speed and done something he had never done before.
He had simply dragged off the heavy saddle and without brushing down his horse, had led the animal into the special compartment that housed him and locked the door.
He had not waited around to do anything else, because he was afraid that she would lock the doors.
If that had been the case, he would not have cared about making a scene.
He was fully prepared to break them down.
"We want each other."
She lifted her chin, the fight gone out of her. "And then what?"
"Are you asking me if I want a relationship?" he asked mildly, fingers trailing down one smooth cheek. She had such beautiful skin, he mused.
"No. I know better than that. And besides, I would never dream of having a relationship with you."
His brow snapped into a frown as he stared at her.
"Because of who I am."
"And your nasty reputation." She bit her lip, realizing that she could no longer deny what was between them.
"I'm a different person," he began, but her humorless laughter cut him short.
"Please don't make things worse by insulting my intelligence. Men like you never change and I know that very well. So, don't you dare stand here and tell me that you have. I will never believe you." She took a deep breath. "You're right. I am sexually attracted to you and it's not going away."
He tamped down his irritation and continued to stare at her. "What are you suggesting?"
"That we have sex," she said, shaking her head when he opened his mouth. "That we get this out of our system and go our separate ways."
His eyebrows lifted and he had to will himself not to be angry. He supposed he deserved everything she was dishing out.
"You think one time is going to be enough?"
"Yes!" she cried out desperately. "One time and I get to choose that time. It cannot be now as the entire building will be up in another hour or so, including your mother."
"You want to set a time for us," he began.
"Yes," she repeated. She was standing in the circle of his arms and all she wanted to do, all she was longing to do was lose herself in his kisses.
She was yearning to feel his lips on hers.
But she had to set some guidelines and rules and insist on them being honored.
She was doing something she had no business doing, but wanting him was like a fever inside her that could not be quenched.
Taking a deep breath, she strove for calm and found some measure of it. "I will pick the time. Now, please get out of my room before anyone knows you're here. Please."
She tensed as he simply stood there staring at her. Tipping her chin up, he brushed his lips on hers, before stepping back. "The ball is in your court for now. Don't keep me waiting."
She waited until he had left and closed the doors behind him before walking with wobbly legs to the window seat, sitting there wondering what the hell she was doing.