LITMIR.BIZ

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of his earlier, arrogant comment trickled through her.

      ‘Well, any room but that, then.’ She tried to sound flippant.

      He smiled as if he found her the most amusing woman he’d ever met. ‘If that’s what you want.’

      ‘Of course it’s what I want.’ Her heart missed a beat as he started to get up from behind the desk. Suddenly she could feel alarm bells ringing with piercing intensity.

      ‘Katie, I think we’ve known each other long enough for you to be able to drop this pretence … don’t you?’

      ‘I don’t know what you are talking about! I’m not pretending about anything!’ She swallowed hard.

      ‘No?’ He looked relaxed as he leaned back against the desk and fixed her with a probing look. ‘I think you are. I think the fact that there is still a chemistry buzzing between us is driving you out of your mind.’

      He was so damn sure of himself that it was galling! ‘I honestly don’t know what you are talking about!’ She did the only thing she could; she lied vehemently. It was either that or she would lose her self-respect along with her defences.

      ‘Don’t you?’ His lips curved in a sardonic smile. ‘So, why the panicky look?’

      ‘I’m not panicky …’ The lie was so great it was almost laughable, and he obviously wasn’t in the slightest bit fooled because he smiled.

      ‘Honey, we are going to have to address this.’

      ‘I’m not your honey, and there is nothing to address!’ She was suddenly furious, but more with herself than with him, because he was so right. How was she going to work with him when she felt like this? She made to move past him, but he reached out and caught hold of her arm, stopping her.

      ‘Katie, let’s not lie to each other, hmm?’ He said the words softly. ‘We’ve never lied to each other, have we?’

      ‘You’re right, the one thing we had was honesty.’ She looked up at him, her eyes flashing fire. ‘We both knew from day one that what we had together wasn’t going to last beyond the end of my contract with Demetri Shipping.’ Her voice trembled slightly as she strove to pull herself together.

      ‘But it has lasted.’ He said the words huskily and turned her towards him forcefully. ‘Against the odds, I’ll grant you. The chemistry is alive and well …’

      She shook her head, but he reached out and tipped her chin upwards, forcing her to look up at him.

      The touch of his fingers against her skin was intensely disturbing, and for all the wrong reasons. She wanted him to deepen the touch … wanted him to stroke his hand through her hair, lower his head, claim her mouth and take possession of her. The need was like a palpable ache inside her. And she hated herself for it.

      ‘In fact, the chemistry is even stronger than it once was,’ he told her softly. ‘And the memory of how good sex was between us is there every time our eyes meet. It was there in the office yesterday, on the journey last night, even in the lift just now …’

      ‘That’s an outrageous thing to say!’ To her distress, her voice shook.

      ‘Probably, but it’s still the truth.’ He smiled. ‘It’s the elephant in the room. It’s with us now. And trying to pretend otherwise isn’t working.’

      She wanted to contest that, but the touch of his hand against her skin was throwing her senses into chaos. How could she deny it when the need for him was eating away at her, when she longed to feel his body closer, his lips on hers?

      ‘So, the question is, what should we do about it?’ he continued huskily.

      The question punched through her. ‘We’re not going to do anything about it, Alexi.’ Her voice trembled alarmingly now. ‘We both know that the kind of relationship we had is transitory—you move on and you don’t go back.’

      His eyes were on her lips. ‘But you don’t move on until the music has stopped. It’s a dance, Katie …’ He paused. ‘Unless you have met someone else. Is that what this is about?’ He forced himself to ask the question, his eyes watchful, his manner still.

      ‘No!’ Her eyes locked with his. She couldn’t lie to him. ‘That’s not what this is about.’

      He smiled.

      ‘I just don’t want you to call the tune any more!’ she murmured huskily.

      ‘But you still want me, Katie. I can see it now in the way you look at me.’

      She felt a shudder of ecstasy race straight through her body as his hand softly stroked along the column of her neck.

      ‘In fact you want me to just take you right now.’ He leaned forward and whispered the words against her ear.

      His close proximity was so sweet it was tormenting. He was right. She did want that. No one could make her feel the way he could. The memory of how good things had been between them played enticingly through her.

      He watched as she moistened her lips, saw the way her eyes deepened to an almost sultry, smoky violet. ‘Don’t do this, Alexi,’ she whispered breathlessly.

      ‘Do what … tell the truth?’ He smiled.

      ‘Hell, but you are so very conceited.’ She murmured the words, totally flustered. ‘Conceited and arrogant, and—’

      ‘So if I were to kiss you now for old times’ sake you wouldn’t enjoy it in the slightest?’

      He was rewarded by the flush of heat across her cheekbones and the flare of light in her blue eyes. ‘You see? You are a long way from being indifferent towards me, Katie.’ His eyes flicked down over the curves of her body, noting the rapid rise and fall of her chest. ‘And the chemistry is a long, long way from finished.’

      As if to demonstrate his power over her, his hands moved possessively to her waist, drawing her closer. His hand cupped her slender body, his fingers splayed over her ribcage, and immediately her body tingled with pleasure. She wanted to feel the touch of his hands moving higher, her breasts felt taut with the desire for his caress …

      His gaze raked over her with an almost ruthless intent, and he smiled as he saw the stark hunger in the deep violet-blue of her eyes. ‘We both know that this is inevitable.’

      ‘Alexi, please …’ She whispered the words rawly.

      ‘Please what …?’ He smiled and his hands brushed upwards, stroking over the curve of her breast with a possessive touch that made her gasp with need.

      ‘Please what …?’ He taunted again softly, but his voice wasn’t entirely free from desire. It grated unevenly with the force of need.

      And somehow the fact that momentarily he was as much lost in desire as she was made her defences start to crumble.

      ‘Alexi …’ Her voice broke slightly as she turned her lips instinctively towards his and kissed him.

      He felt a powerful surge of triumph, and for a moment allowed her the first tentative moments of the kiss, tasting her submission, her need. She did want him—he knew it! And then he took control, plundering her mouth with hard, possessive lips. How he’d held back even for a moment he didn’t know because now he’d taken over he didn’t want to stop kissing her. He wanted her with a driving, forceful need he didn’t think he had ever experienced before. It shook him senseless. It also angered him. He was a man who needed no one—who could take a woman or leave a woman without a care. What was it about Katie that made him feel like this? He didn’t want to feel like this. However, that rage just seemed to fuel his desire even more.

      She reached up and allowed her arms to wind around his neck, allowed her senses to capitulate and breathe him in, to respond wildly. Would it be so wrong to go to bed with him one last time? The words sizzled through her consciousness.

      She’d

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