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‘Occasionally?’ His brows lifted. ‘Only occasionally?’ His smile was feral. ‘No wonder you burned so hot in my arms.’
She opened her mouth to snap at him but this time he laid his whole hand across her mouth, leaning in to quiz her. ‘You don’t believe in romance?’
She pulled back from the sizzling touch. ‘I don’t believe in romance, relationships or anything like that. I certainly don’t believe in marriage.’
‘A free woman?’
‘Absolutely,’ she declared. ‘An independent one.’ Her aim was to take only what she wanted when she wanted and leave the rest of the rubbish for others to suffer through. Except she’d not really managed it yet and now wasn’t the time to start trying. She had something way more important to be focused on. It had taken her long enough to earn back the money her father had stolen, and truthfully she’d come over too soon—without all she should have. So she didn’t need distractions now—not of any kind.
He stepped even closer, gleaming green eyes trained on her. ‘Don’t you believe it can happen, Dani? A look across a room? Love at first sight?’
‘Never in a million years.’ She straightened her shoulders. ‘And you don’t, either.’ The man was a complete playboy. But he had every right to be—he had every necessary asset: the looks, the humour, the drive.
‘No,’ he agreed, looking her over, top to toe and back again so every inch of her skin was sizzling. ‘Not love. But lust is another matter.’ He tilted his head as if to study her from a different angle. ‘Why are you breathing so hard? Something bothering you?’
‘I don’t like confined spaces.’ Hell, he got to her.
‘I know the house isn’t huge, but it’s not exactly tiny.’
It wasn’t tiny at all. She stared into his green eyes. ‘I don’t like feeling trapped.’
‘You’re not trapped,’ he said calmly, then moved fast, his arms hauling her to him. ‘But now you are.’
She twisted in his embrace. ‘Watch it, I’ve a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.’
‘Really?’
His muscles tightened—catching her, stopping her. It felt appallingly good. She twisted again, only succeeded in pressing her breasts even harder against his chest. Her nipples screamed with sensitivity. ‘OK, no. But I have done self-defence classes.’ She tried to twist free one more time.
‘Let me guess—practising against other women, right?’
Damn. She fought harder. But he must have had some kind of fighter training too. It couldn’t just be his sheer strength stopping her. Oh, hell, the adrenalin surged through her—excitement, challenge, anticipation. She summoned her strength back up.
‘I don’t think you should do that again.’ He grunted as she hit out with her leg.
‘Why not?’ Panting, she sent him a death look.
‘Because all you’re doing is turning me on.’ Goaded, he pushed her from him. ‘And you’re turned on too. You’re aching for it, just like I am.’
Breathless, she stared, mouth falling at his arrogant certainty. But standing with her feet planted shoulder-width apart, she felt it, the flood of juices that would make his entry slick, the softening within her. He was right, so right.
She bit down on her lips. Wanting and angrily not wanting to want. Her teeth seemed to sharpen. Every muscle primed. She could howl with the need.
‘You want to fight for it? You like it fast and hard? ‘Cause I can do that. I can do that right now,’ he growled. ‘But tell me, who is it you’re really fighting, Dani? Is it me or is it yourself?’
She gasped. ‘You arrogant jerk.’
‘Yeah.’ His laugh was rough. ‘But it’s just sex. It’s just fun.’ He walked towards her again. ‘You already know how incredible we’d be.’
It was surprisingly easy to fell a full-grown man—but she did have the element of surprise. A quick kick with her leg tripped him and sent him to the floor. But he was faster—his hand catching her ankle before she could dodge back to a safe distance. He pulled. The breath knocked from her lungs as she thudded down on top of him. He rolled, spinning her over and pinning her half under him. He was heavy. Hard. The shiver ran through her whole body. His body flexed in response.
Their eyes met.
‘I could beat you if I wanted to,’ she said, wincing at her breathlessness.
‘I’m sure you could. If you wanted to.’ His hand swept down her side.
‘Get off. You’re heavy.’ She wasn’t in the least afraid, but she was desperate to deny the way her body was softening—the way her bones were melting with need.
‘Oh…no…’ he said slowly, brushing her hair from her eyes with gentle fingers before putting his hand on her hip. ‘I don’t want to.’
‘I want you to.’
‘Do you?’ He stroked up the side of her body, his hand gently sweeping up to cup her breast, his thumb caressing the stiff peak. ‘You don’t want to do anything about this?’
She didn’t play dumb and ask what he meant. Instead she chomped on the urge to arch her back so it would press her nipple harder against the palm of his hand. And she pleaded with her hips to stay still and not rock that little bit more into his hardness. She dug her fingers into the carpet. The heat was stifling—it wasn’t the weight of him hindering her breathing, it was the searing temperature between them.
Their eyes held, vision intensifying. Every inch of her body loved the feel of him, but her head was hurting.
‘It would be a really bad idea,’ she whispered. She lowered her lashes so she wouldn’t drown in his eyes and say something she’d regret. ‘My life is complicated enough right now.’
There was a long moment of silence when they were utterly motionless, both straining against the delicious torture of temptation.
‘Yeah,’ finally he groaned. ‘So is mine.’ He rolled and stood in the one movement. Shook his head as he looked down at her. ‘I’ll stay away.’ Then he walked—fast—as if to emphasise it. ‘I’ll get your bag.’
Dani scrambled to her feet as soon as he was gone. Smoothed her hands down her flaming cheeks, tried to get her grip back and shake off the stab of disappointment. Unbelievable. She’d been so close to surrendering everything just then. But she’d spoken the truth—her life was complicated enough. And messing around with a guy like Alex would only make that worse. Despite what she’d said, she wasn’t a player. She needed to stay on the sidelines.
He returned a few minutes later, lugging her pack, didn’t look at her as he spoke. ‘I’ll show you to your room.’ He led the way up another flight of stairs, stopping at an open door.
‘This is your bedroom. You have a bathroom through that door.’ He nodded towards the far corner of the room.
‘Where’s your bedroom?’
The corner of his mouth tilted up. ‘You want to see it?’
‘No, I just want to ensure it’s far, far from mine.’ She was only half kidding.
‘This is only a two-bedroom town house, sweetheart. Mine is just up those stairs there.’
So he’d be sleeping above her. She was not thinking the naughty about that.
‘There’s a pretty high-tech security system I switch on at night,’ he said. ‘If you go outside, you’ll set off all the alarms. Even the balcony.’
‘Are you telling me I’m a prisoner in here?’
‘No. I’m telling you that if you go outside, you’ll set off all the alarms. If you want to go out you can, just call out to me first and I’ll disarm them.’
She relaxed a smidge. ‘I won’t want to go out.’
‘Great.’
He moved into her room and she followed, looking about at the light walls and rich coverings on the fantastically huge bed. She didn’t expect him to just drop the bags and turn so that she nearly bumped into him.
They both made like statues.
Except on the inside Dani’s vital organs were at war—her brain was shutting down while her heart was pumping faster than the pistons in a Formula One racing car.
> When he was close like this all she could think about was kissing him again—and doing a whole lot more. Why don’t you? The little imp whispered inside her head.
Dani looked into his widened green eyes, teetering on losing herself in their mesmerising depths. He was so close and so aware.
