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And she couldn’t resist him. Not when he looked so good, smelt so good, felt so good. Her lips parted, her body going on instinct now, her brain defunct. All she could see was his mouth—almost parted, waiting—and the desire in his eyes. All she could hear was the thunder of her heart as it sent hot blood racing through her body.
As her head lifted, her lashes dropped, blocking everything so she could focus only on the sensation of his mouth against hers. Even so just the briefest touch overwhelmed her; she shivered. His whole body tensed. He lifted his hand from her back, tangling his fingers in her hair, keeping her close to him so she wouldn’t break the contact of their lips. Not that she could. Not now, no. She threaded both her hands through his hair too, clinging, so eager for more than a taste of him. She moved her lips over his. He had full lips, firm and yet soft. She touched them with her tongue, tasting, then pushing closer, exploring the heat of his mouth. More. And then more still.
He let her dominate for a moment, but then rewarded her hungry searching with a deep thrust of his own. Involuntary spasms racked her as he held her close and plundered. Her fingers tightened in his hair as she tumbled headlong into his stormy passion.
The hand between her legs coasted higher, skimming across the satin of her knickers, making her squirm, making her wish she could arch against him freely. His hand spread wide against the back of her head, holding her even more firmly to him. She felt his groan vibrate through his whole body as he stroked her intimately. His fingers gently moved back and forth as he savoured the damp evidence of her desire for him—desire hurtling her to abandonment.
She opened deeper for him, the kiss almost savage now as the full power of their physical attraction was unleashed. She pressed against his chest, trying to please her painfully taut nipples with contact against his hard heat.
The high-pitched laughter and the tinging of glass on glass screeched over the roar in her ears. Her eyes snapped open, shattering the moment. Suddenly she was aware of where they were.
‘Stop, Alex,’ she panted against his mouth. She could see the sheen on his skin and fiercely suppressed the urge to lick the salty flavour of him.
His breath gusted across her face as he pulled back.
‘Not here.’ As close to a plea as she’d ever uttered. They were in a public space. A minute or two more of that kind of kissing and she was going to be coming loud and wild only a thin wall away from Auckland’s most rich and famous. Her heart pounded so hard she thought it must be about to blow apart in her body. The physical need burned through to her bones. She tore her gaze from his, made herself look along the corridor—Oh, hell, someone had just walked past. They’d only have to turn their head to see them. Alex’s broad body partially protected her privacy, but even so.
Lust had made her forget everything—who she was, where she was, and what she was supposed to be doing. A different kind of heat engulfed her.
Humiliation.
Dani refused to let desire turn her into such a mindless slave.
‘Let’s go.’ Temptation personified murmured into her ear.
If she went with him this minute they’d end up in the back seat of his car, or in the loo on the way, or a cleaning cupboard, or down an alley, or something equally tacky but convenient. So she had to claw back her self-control fast because having sex with Alex wouldn’t just be reckless, it would be dangerous. The feelings he aroused in her were too strong. She couldn’t let herself drown in them. Her response wasn’t just physical, it would be over-emotional too. All Alex was up for was a little playtime—she needed time out to get a grip first. ‘Aren’t you supposed to draw some prize or something?’
‘Lorenzo can do it.’
‘You can’t let them down.’ She pushed him away. He moved and she smoothed down the front of her dress in a quick gesture.
‘It’s your turn to dare,’ he said too coolly, too confidently.
She shook her head. ‘I’m all out of challenges.’
He chuckled. ‘I don’t believe that.’ He stepped closer again. ‘Maybe you just need some provocation.’ He leant forward and kissed her again, his mouth seeking, demanding. She bit back the moan. He wasn’t touching her anywhere else but she ached to ride him, to rock her hips back and forth and take him inside her. If they were alone she would do just that. Shed her clothes and his and have all of him hard and fast and right now.
She tore free of his kiss and gulped in air. But no matter how many breaths she took she still felt dizzy. She stared at him, shocked at the need still rampaging through her defences. So easily he had won this from her. So much for staying away—so much for either of them having self-control.
‘What do you think about a truce?’ She was panting too much for the question to come out as tart as she’d have liked.
He lifted his hand and ran the tip of his finger over her lips. She gasped again.
‘We can delay a little longer if you like. But this is inevitable.’
She wanted to shake her head but it felt heavy and she couldn’t move it. Passion shone in his eyes, pleasure and satisfaction broadened his smile.
‘We’re flatmates,’ she finally managed. ‘We can be friends but we can’t…’ She trailed off as he laughed.
‘Honey, we can’t be friends. Not ‘til we’ve burned this out.’ He nudged her chin with his thumb. ‘After that we can—I get on well with all my ex-lovers.’
Oh. Was that so? ‘Regular Lothario, aren’t you?’ Dani drawled, sarcasm dripping.
‘Well, you have your joy boys—right?’ His smile had sharp edges. ‘Nothing wrong with liking sex, Dani. It’s natural.’
Slack jawed, she could no longer cope with his subtle-as-a-brick sensuality. Because the worst thing about it was that it made her body burn hotter. ‘I need to freshen up.’
‘Coward.’
How long was it possible to live with an Empire-State-Building-size erection? Alex wondered whether there was an entry in the Guinness Book of Records and knew with certainty that if there was, he was going to beat it.
‘You’re taking her home?’
‘To her separate little bedroom, yes.’
Lorenzo laughed. ‘That won’t last long.’
Alex leant his shoulder against the wall. From here he could see when she exited the bathroom. ‘It’s complicated.’
‘Yeah. The whole Internet movie, invent her a job, move her into your home kind of complicated.’
Alex shook his head. Lorenzo didn’t know the half of it. He didn’t know the whole I-just-found-out-who-my-father-really-is nightmare yet. And it was a nightmare. Alex swept a quick glance around the room, couldn’t see the bastard. How dared Patrick just appear like that—what was he trying to do? What did he want? Well, whatever it was, he wasn’t getting it.
That was really what was eating Alex alive, not some five-foot-nothing sexy piece of a woman. He sighed as the thought of Dani made his whole body ache with need. ‘It was your dumb idea to move her in to my place.’
‘Thought it might be convenient.’ Lorenzo chuckled.
Alex shot him a filthy look and drained the last of his juice. OK, so she was eating him up too. But he could deal with lust, couldn’t he? Wasn’t he Alex Carlisle? Didn’t he have a phone full of names and numbers of wannabe dates? If he wanted sex he could get it, no problem.
But he’d happily fling the thing in the harbour. Normally he did a few dates, a few laughs, never anything complicated and certainly not committed—a two-months sort of man, that was him. Women were for fun, nothing more—he was never having anything more. But now he wanted sex with only one woman. The scent of her incited
an untapped depth of hunger in him. He didn’t know how he was going to assuage it. There were so many options, so many fantasies swirling in his head all the damn time.
So much of it was the game, wasn’t it? The hunt, the chase, the challenge she threw at him. Since when had he had to work for it like this—or to wait? Usually he didn’t bother if someone was giving him the hard-to-get routine. He wasn’t that desperate. But Dani was different. She didn’t want a ‘relationship’. Fantastic. But her determined denial of a fun fling bit him hard. This time the game was everything. Oh, yeah, he was getting off on every minute of it and doing everything he could to aggravate a response from her.
He straightened as he saw her appear. If he were to judge by the look on her face he wasn’t getting any further with her tonight, but, judging by the tension in her body, he figured he had another shot. And he was damn well taking it.
Dani waited with him for the lift and focused on her breathing—the last of her Alex-induced heat doused by the fear of the few seconds to come. So stupid to be like this. But every time she got into a small space her stomach knotted and all the oxygen vanished. Every time she remembered the darkness, and the silence—the terrifying silence that had been shattered by that vicious thud.
Alex pulled her into the hideous rectangle. ‘Look at me.’ He pointed to his eyes. ‘Look right here.’
She glared at him. Cross with his patronising attitude. ‘Look, I’m not some mad cow and you’re not some animal whisperer with a mesmerising gaze.’
‘Dani.’ He took her upper arms in his broad hands and gently shook her. ‘You’re totally a mad cow.’
‘Yeah.’ She barely registered her pathetic reply because he did have magical green eyes. They were twinkling right now and imparting some kind of secret message.
She stumbled as he let her go with an ironic murmur. ‘Look at that—we’re on the ground already.’
As they walked to his car the dark quiet night seemed to swallow them. The thick silence kept them company all the drive home.
She climbed the stairs. Her pulse stepping up a notch, and then another, then more in rapid succession until she was filled with more adrenalin than when she’d been frozen with fear in the cupboard that day.
