LITMIR.BIZ

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he was about to do, but it was the only thing he could think of. He modulated his voice a bit, stepping slightly closer. She smelled like heaven. It made his job easier—and much more difficult.

      “Believe me, darlin’, I don’t feel any paternal inclinations toward you at all.”

      She met his eyes then, and he saw the curiosity fighting with the caution. Then he blinked, and she turned to her old tricks, definitely trying to challenge him. She’d seen her chance and she was going for it. Fine—two could play that game. And he’d been at it longer. He might only be seven years older than she was, but in terms of experience, that was a lifetime.

      “Good, because I’m all grown up, Ian.” She stretched her arms over her head, yawning, and he watched as her shirt lifted, exposing her stomach, pulling taut across her breasts. Did the woman ever wear the bras that were supposedly hanging in the bathroom? Not that he cared. The less she was covered up, the better.

      Reaching forward, he caught her raised hands in the air, trapping both of her wrists in one of his large hands and holding them there. Startled, she tried to pull away, but he didn’t let her.

      His heart slammed against his chest, his breath coming a little short as he felt her hip nudge him intimately, her scent suffusing the air around him. But while his body was responding of its own accord, his mind was in total control. Ian was confident—he never lost control unless he wanted to.

      He wanted to find out what was in that package and he couldn’t think of a better way to gain entrance to that room. She’d been using her sexuality to distract him for a long time, to chip away at his control—what would she do if she thought she’d finally succeeded in making him lose it? If she were confident that she had finally gotten to him, would she drop her guard? He decided to find out.

      And if he was honest with himself, he wanted to find out more than that. He wanted to know her taste, to know how she felt under his hands, to know if she was as sweet as he imagined. He’d been fantasizing about sinking his hands into those copper waves and he wanted to do it, to know if she was as silky as she looked. It was wrong, but as long as he stayed in control, he could ease some of the curiosity that plagued him, this once. It was a calculated risk, but he’d taken them before.

      “What do you think you’re doing?” Her voice was breathless, and while her eyes were still guarded her face became rosy, and her nipples budded against the T-shirt. So it wasn’t all a charade—she was attracted to him. At least physically. That was enough.

      Though she was obviously deceiving him about other things, she couldn’t hide her desire for him. Basic male satisfaction with that fact settled deep inside of him, and he hardened, stepping even closer to let her feel his response. Her eyes deepened to a mossy jade, and he fought an unexpected spike of desire. He needed to stay in control of the game.

      “Hey, you made the offer, sweetheart. I guess I had some time to think about it. We’re only talking four days. I don’t want to wait that long. But if you want me to leave, I will. I’m not into forcing women.”

      The shocked look on her face was erased as she smiled up at him, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

      “No, I don’t imagine you would ever have to, would you?”

      It was all he needed to hear. Backing her up against the door frame, he crashed his mouth into hers, not bothering with preambles or gentleness. All of the anger he’d felt mixed with the passion that had been building for so long, during all those years she had been beckoning him. Now he was answering that call.

      If she’d resisted, he would have backed off, but she only momentarily tensed before opening hungrily to his search of her mouth. Then she began a search of her own. In the back of his mind he kept a part of himself distant, away from the desire that was quickly consuming him. She was sweet and hot, a seductive combination of girlish innocence and sheer wanton lust. He felt his head swim a little but held on.

      How far was she willing to go with this? How far was he willing to let her go? He lowered her arms so that they wrapped around his neck, and she clung to him. He growled his satisfaction at her submission against her lips.

      The game was on.

      SAGE WASN’T SURE WHAT had just happened. It had been a long time since anyone had touched her like this—though as the moments passed she was increasingly sure that no one had ever touched her exactly like this, so expertly, so thoroughly.

      Ian was everywhere—his hands, his mouth. He was devouring her and she was letting him. It was heaven. She’d never imagined, not really, exactly what he would taste like, feel like. The reality was stunning.

      Coffee. Male. Sex.

      She’d been desperate to keep him from looking through her small dining room, where she’d slid the envelope under the carpet just seconds before she’d met him at the door. If he found it, there would be no explaining.

      She’d only meant to piss him off a little, get him off the scent and out the door. She certainly hadn’t expected this. Had he followed her all day? Did he know about Locke? The questions had frozen her in terror when he’d appeared at the door.

      But as his warm hands kneaded her breasts, she realized his random evening visit might have been a ruse, a reason to come here. To see her. To seduce her and take her up on her offer—an offer she had never really meant to be taken seriously. Her concern about the envelope—and her ability to think at all—dimmed as he continued his sensual onslaught.

      Ian was apparently taking it very seriously. She moaned into his mouth and nipped his lip as he pulled sharply at her nipple, sensations from the tug shooting down to her sex, creating an almost painful ache. He chuckled huskily and pushed his thigh between hers, rubbing against her intimately in a way that had her gasping and quickly losing any remaining reason.

      Then he pulled back, looking down at her with glittering steel-gray eyes. The look he gave her was hard but hot. She couldn’t see anything, read anything, except desire—he wanted her. And determination—he meant to have her. She shivered in excitement.

      “This inspection seems to be a little more thorough than the rest.” She tried to tease, though her voice sounded foreign to her, hoarse with arousal.

      He smiled slightly, and she felt herself dissolve. She’d never seen him smile. Not once in five years. Even though it wasn’t a full-on, happy smile, it changed his whole face and transfixed her.

      “I’m not quite finished. I’m sure there are some things you’re hiding that I need to find. I’ll have to look around a bit more.”

      Paranoia pricked at the back of her brain, though she chided herself. He was only playing, making a sexual entendre, responding to the banter she had begun. She met him eye to eye, daring him. No way would she back down now. She wanted him, which startled her, but she also wanted the challenge. Would he back off? Was he testing her? Could she finally make him break his own rules and go for it? For the sake of the need that was throbbing through her body, she hoped so.

      “Maybe you need to keep looking then.”

      He pulled her against him, kissing her hungrily as he walked them both back to the sofa, only lifting his head as he pushed her back and stood over her.

      “Oh, I intend to, sweetheart. Remember, you have no say in the matter. I can do anything I want. Look anywhere I want.”

      Her heart pounded in response to his words. The control he had over her life that she’d hated since the first day she’d met him suddenly felt incredibly erotic. He’d told her before he’d touched her that he wouldn’t force her to do anything she didn’t want, but now she couldn’t think of anything she didn’t want him to do.

      He knelt down, sliding a hand up her thigh. “In fact, I wonder what you might be hiding right…here.”

      His fingers skimmed just underneath the hem of her shorts, and the muscles of her leg quivered in response. She stayed very still, letting the sensations ride over her, never letting her gaze move from his. His eyes darkened

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