he thought of her part in Danny’s absence this morning, probably!
He looked at her from beneath dark scowling brows, his eyes darkly glacial, his mouth a thin, grim line. Joy shifted uncomfortably under that probing gaze.
‘How did you find my hotel?’ she asked, once she could stand the lengthy silence no longer.
He remained unmoving. ‘That was the easy part,’ he bit out.
In other words, that was for him to know and for her only to guess. And the only explanation she could think of was that he had tried all the main hotels until he had found the one she was staying at. It was just like him not to have announced his imminent arrival too; if he had, the previous scene with Danny would never have happened.
She interlaced her hands in front of her thighs, mainly as a way of hiding the fact that they were shaking slightly, but also because she just didn’t know what to do with them; she felt so uncomfortable facing Marcus across the room like this. He wasn’t at all the man she had spent some of the previous evening with—the danger that emanated from him now was certainly not of the sensual kind.
‘Er—where’s Danny?’ she said, really more for something to say than from any real interest in where the other man had gone. But she could see by the increased tightness of Marcus’s jaw that it had been the wrong thing to say.
‘He had to leave. Obviously,’ Marcus added harshly.
Joy didn’t see that there was anything obvious about it; Danny should have stayed here and helped her out of this situation. But she should have known that he wouldn’t; he was terrified of the older man.
‘Oh.’ She nodded lightly, turning away.
‘But I have no doubt he’ll be back,’ Marcus added contemptuously.
Neither did Joy, if only to see what conversation had taken place between herself and Marcus once he had left—and just how he had fitted into it. Well, he should have stayed if he wanted to know that, not left her at this man’s mercy.
‘Why the lies, Joy?’ Marcus rasped harshly, causing Joy to look up at him in fresh alarm. ‘Are you married? Is that it? A married woman in London, away from hubby, out for a little fun with her actor-friend?’
He spoke so contemptuously, looked at her so disgustedly…! And by what right? she wanted to know, if all she had ever read about him was true.
‘Don’t judge everyone by your own standards!’ she snapped, green eyes sparkling with anger as she glared at him.
He became very still, eyes narrowed to steely slits. ‘Meaning?’ he prompted, in that dangerously soft voice she was quickly learning to be wary of.
But not at this moment. Who did he think he was, coming here throwing out accusations? He had kissed her himself last night, on a very brief acquaintance, so who was he to sit in judgement of what he thought she and Danny had done last night?
‘Meaning your affairs, with married as well as unmarried women, are legendary!’ she told him heatedly. She might not be interested in the gossip from his world, but it had become impossible over the years not to see his photograph in newspapers and magazines, each time with a different woman. And he had the nerve to sit in judgement of her and Danny!
This was ridiculous; she was allowing herself to be indignant about a supposed affair that she knew didn’t even exist. And the quicker she told him that, the sooner he would leave.
But before she could say anything he had crossed the room in two long strides, his hands reaching out to grasp her painfully by the tops of her arms. Joy was so stunned by the suddenness of his action that she could only stare up at him in open-mouthed surprise.
‘In that case,’ he ground out harshly, ‘it won’t matter if I add one more to my list, will it?’
Her? He—
There was no time for further thought as his mouth came down on hers with crushing intensity, Marcus showing her none of the gentleness of the night before as his mouth claimed hers bruisingly, his arms about her waist moulding the curves of her body roughly against his.
And if he had continued to kiss her in that contemptuous way, she would have been able to pull away from him and end it right then. But, filled with sudden anger as the kiss had begun, it just as suddenly gentled to sensuous intensity, and one of Marcus’s hands moved to cup her chin as he held her mouth captive beneath his and sipped from her lips, touching softly now, the tip of his tongue a moist caress to the warmth of her mouth.
Joy knew the same mindless pleasure as she had felt last night, couldn’t think, had no desire for anything but for Marcus to go on kissing her. Her arms moved up about his neck as she held him to her, her body bending into his with boneless need.
‘God, Joy! You’re beautiful. Beautiful!’ he murmured heatedly against her throat, his lips moist and hot, making her quiver with arousal. ‘And I want you,’ he added raggedly, raising his head to look down at her with intensely dark blue eyes, a flush on his hard cheeks.
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