LITMIR.BIZ

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for the house.’

      Maggie stepped back, blanching at his stark words, his intent, but Caleb stood and advanced a step for every one that she took back. As if she could have ever hoped that she could appeal to just his mercy. Men like him exacted payment for everything.

      ‘I couldn’t do that…How…how could you even suggest such a thing?’

      ‘Because, you see, I can. Believe me, I don’t want to want you…but I do. And you owe me…ever since you seduced me up in that hotel room six months ago and then turned on the ice maiden act. Tell me, did it turn you on? Was it part of the plan? Did you feel powerful, knowing that you could bring a man to the brink—’

      ‘Stop! It wasn’t…I didn’t…’ she denied automatically, wanting to halt his words, the tide of burning humiliation that threatened to overwhelm her, as she remembered just how awfully wanton she had been, the shock of her response to him. It had been that, along with the crushing burden of guilt, that had stunned her into frozen immobility at the time. Everything else had been forgotten. Even her mother. Even the threat. And it had scared the life out of her.

      But it had been too late for her to laugh it off or feign nonchalance and then he had dropped the bombshell…revealing just how much he had known all along. Far more than her. Any nebulous desire she might have had to confide in him had died a death right there. He had set out to seduce her as cold-bloodedly as he’d believed she had done. She shivered. And yet there’d been nothing cold-blooded about their lovemaking.

      ‘You tricked me, Maggie. Can you deny that you met me that night with seduction and betrayal in mind?’ he asked, making her focus again on the present conversation. A stillness came into the air around them.

      ‘No…’ she replied faintly. Because that was exactly what she had done. Albeit against her will. But if he knew that…He could never know how much she had wanted it to be for real. Finding out the extent of his own deceit when hers had been unintended had exposed a wound that was still far too raw…He’d annihilate her and it would bring up all the emotions she’d buried in London, thinking she’d never see him again. She desperately tried another tack. ‘But you hate me…How can you want me?’

      ‘I think that you aren’t so naïve as to imagine that love or even friendship needs to be involved in the act of sex. I want you—you want the house. It’s a simple equation.’

      His words flayed her somewhere inside and her hands were clenched tight into fists by her sides. ‘But how? I mean, for how long or when?’

      ‘Until I leave Dublin.’

      She backed away again, the house, her mother, forgotten. All she could see was the menacing threat in front of her. The dispassionate way he was talking reached down to somewhere deep inside her and she knew that he had the power to rip away the very fabric of herself if she allowed him to do this. She summoned up some last reserve of strength. ‘But that’s two months…I can’t…I won’t sleep with you. I couldn’t…’ she sought feverishly for something to make him back off ‘…I don’t want you.’

      ‘Liar.’

      Before she could emit a sound of protest, with lightning speed his arms reached out and he hauled her against his chest, his head descending so quickly that she didn’t have time to twist her own away. A hand snaked around to hold it in place, his mouth covering hers, crushing her lips to his. She could taste blood on the tender inner skin of her mouth. Despite the obvious cruelty of the kiss, Maggie could feel an intense excitement explode in her belly, every cell straining to get closer, acutely aware of his absolute maleness and strength.

      Then, with a subtle and expert change in tempo, his lips softened, the hand on the back of her head became caressing. His fingers loosening the already unravelling bun, she felt her hair tumble down her back. Her fists, crushed against his chest, could feel his heart beating, the warm skin under the shirt, and they wanted to stretch out, feel, take in the exquisite breadth of it. She shook with the effort it took not to allow that to happen.

      With the long wait and no food all day, she was already light-headed; Caleb’s potent sexuality effortlessly swept away any resistance. Her eyes closed, Maggie was soon lost in sensation, unaware of anything but the feel of his mouth on hers, hard yet soft. When his tongue sought entry, her mouth opened on a defeated sigh and his tongue touching hers ignited a fire between her legs.

      Being in his arms again, with the intensely sensual memories that had never abated…she didn’t stand a chance. His mouth moved away and Maggie sucked in a betraying breath until she felt his lips blaze a hot trail down her neck, down to where the pulse beat erratically against her skin. The hand on her back moved lower and pulled her bottom up and into him where she could feel the hard evidence of his desire. She felt every part of her pulsating with the need for him to take her.

      That desire transported her back in time and was as effective as a cold douche. She used all her strength to break free. If he hadn’t kept his hands on her shoulders she would have collapsed at his feet. Her eyes were glazed, wide and dark green with unmistakable arousal. Her lips were swollen and moist.

      The look on his face was triumphant, derision in his eyes at what he thought of her paltry attempt to stop his lovemaking. ‘As I said…you’re a liar.’ He cupped one hand around her chin, tilting her head up inexorably. ‘The honey of the honey trap still tastes surprisingly sweet.’

      Maggie breathed out on a shuddering breath. She pulled herself away and tried to disguise the trembling in her legs.

      ‘You should be thankful that I still desire you…or you’d have nothing to bargain with.’

      His stark words forced Maggie’s stricken mind back to why she was there. How could she have forgotten? She focused on them—anything to take her mind off her awful weakness. ‘Are you saying you’ll give my mother back her house?’

      He inclined his head slowly. ‘If you give me what I want.’

      ‘Me.’

      ‘Yes.’

      Maggie suddenly thought of something and seized on it. ‘But…don’t you have a girlfriend?’

      ‘What?’ he asked sharply.

      She flushed at her quick words and the realisation that it might be obvious she’d scoured the papers for news of him—where it was common knowledge that he was never without a beautiful companion. ‘The papers…’ Her voice trailed off, her cheeks pink.

      ‘Girlfriend!’ He laughed mockingly. ‘How quaint. I don’t think I’ve had a girlfriend since I was six and living in Rio de Janeiro with my mother. I don’t do girlfriends, and no, there’s no one at the moment, not that you should care, since you have the morals of an alley cat.’

      That’s handy, Maggie thought slightly hysterically, not even registering his insulting words—plenty of room for the sacrificial lamb to enter stage left. And he was right—how could she be so naïve? This man moved in rarefied circles where the most beautiful and socially acceptable women would be available. Men like him took mistresses until they grew bored or until they needed to marry. And then it would be to the right person, groomed for the job.

      Knowing she sounded strangely calm, and knowing it was shock, she asked, ‘How would this work?’

      ‘If I’m going to sign the house back to your mother, then be here at two p.m. tomorrow with your bags packed.’

      A numbness seeped into her bones. ‘You’d expect me to move in with you?’

      ‘Yes. I’ll need an escort, companion…and a willing lover.’

      The word lover, never mind willing, made shivers of treacherous anticipation skitter down Maggie’s spine. She stood stock-still, her hair and clothes in disarray, legs still trembling slightly, her mouth feeling bruised and sensitised.

      How had he done this to her? How had she let him?

      He had been as guilty as her stepfather six months ago, as far as she was

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