myself out cold.”
Her senses deserted her completely as he sank onto the sofa beside her his thigh pressing against her trembling leg.
“You looked so tiny lying on the cold concrete in the rain.” He ran his hand up the inside of her arm under the wide sleeve of the robe. “I was so afraid you may have damaged yourself.”
Shannon laughed. “Well I did have a terrible headache for a few hours.” Her gaze drifted slowly over his large frame. He had changed into a blue T shirt and an old faded pair of jeans and it made her smile. “I see you still cling to those old jeans.”
He glanced down at his legs. “They are comfortable.”
“You’re incorrigible.” She waved her hand in the air in a dismissing gesture. “You could buy truckloads of new jeans but you refuse to buy even one pair and throw those tattered rags away.”
Soft warm lips pressed lightly against the side of her throat.
“If they offend you so badly you could always help me change into another pair.”
The thought of her hands touching his body sent a burning wave of desire sweeping through her like a flood and an aching knot twisted her stomach into a tight ball.
She leaned toward him and groaned in torment when she felt his arousal throbbing against her thigh. One part of her mind told her that this was wrong but another part never wanted it to end.
“This is wrong.”
“This is the only thing that is right.” His hand slid inside her robe and cupped her breast in his palm. “I ache to touch you.”
Half forgotten fires sprang into life as his hand stroked and caressed her quivering flesh. His thumb flicked over her nipple until it hardened into a firm point. Her fingers curled into his hair like talons and she threw her head back as his hot mouth replaced his fingers on her breast.
The feel of his mouth gently sucking on her nipple sent her senses spinning out of control and any modicum of rational thought was totally beyond her at that stage. A burning white heat raced through her veins until it exploded in a burst of sensation in every nerve ending.
With a sudden movement he pushed her backward on to the velvet cushions and parted her robe with his hands and her lips with his mouth. His body moved over her and he began rubbing his hips in a circular motion against her thighs. Her legs parted and his mouth hardened with passion.
Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck as her whole body began to tremble. She moaned low in her throat as she lifted her hips and thrust them against his arousal that was straining the denim to bursting point.
“Shannon you’re strangling me.”
“I don’t care.”
He chuckled. “I do.”
His fingers curled around her wrists and he forcefully pulled her arms from around his neck and held them above her head.
“Mine,” he groaned deep in his throat. “Always and forever mine.”
His hot impassioned words hit Shannon like a bucket of cold water bringing her down to earth with an almighty thud. Dear God what was she doing, she wondered dazedly. Another minute and they would have been making love. She had to stop this and she had to do it now.
“Kalim let me go I don’t want this.”
She was so breathless she was unsure if he heard her mumbled words. In desperation she freed her hands from his grasp then threaded her fingers through his hair and tugged on it until he raised his head.
For a moment he stared at her sightlessly then with an enormous effort of will power he pulled her hands from his hair and stood to his feet to stare down at her nakedness.
“Cover yourself up,” he ordered in a deeply accentuated voice.
Shannon was not sure her shaky legs would support her but she rose to her feet and pulled the robe tightly around her trembling body.
She sucked down deep breaths trying to slow her heart down from its rapid galloping. Every nerve end was pulsating with unfulfilled passion and she had to exert all her willpower not to reach out and touch him.
With an abrupt movement he spun on his heel and walked across the room to the window before turning and returning to her side, his eyes glittering like the brightest emerald with banked down passion.
“Why? You wanted it as much as I did.” He rubbed his hand around the back of his neck to ease the tension and knotted muscles. “Do you know what that does to a man to go that far and then say stop. It nearly emasculates him.” He paused and inhaled a deep breath then continued. “You are lucky I was able to let you go.”
Uncontrollable shivers raced through her body and she wrapped her arms tightly around herself in an attempt to stop them. She knew she had done the correct thing by stopping him but that did not make their shared frustration any easier to bear.
Guilt washed over her like a leaden weight and she acknowledged that she should not have come to him for his help. She wanted to say she was sorry but realized an apology would not change the situation.
“Why did you do it?” his brows drew into a puzzled frown. “Is that what you’ve become? A tease?”
“No!” Her eyes widened in horror mortified that he could think for even a second that she would do such a thing on purpose. “I came here to talk, nothing else just talk. I wouldn’t have come to you for help if I’d any other choice.”
His harsh laugh set her teeth on edge. “So I’m your last resort.” Anger flared in his eyes. “And you expect my help after that?”
“Yes I expect it.” Nervous tension was giving her a headache and she rubbed her hand against her throbbing forehead. “Whether I get it or not is your decision, and if you refuse to help me then at least I’ll know that I tried.”
“Up to and including making love with me to ensure my assistance.”
The biting scorn in his voice was an insult to her moral values and she cringed with shame that he could even contemplate she would do such a thing.
“Damn you.”
Her hand went flying toward his cheek. It never reached its target. His hand latched on to her wrist and he moved her arm away from his face.
“Don’t you ever raise your hand to me again,” he snarled.
His hand squeezed her wrist hard before he threw it away in disgust and she knew she would have bruises there in the morning.
“Well don’t you ever call me a whore again,” she cried. “I would never do that,” She was hurt that he could think so little of her scruples. Not even for Tom would she sell herself like a common prostitute. “Never. Never.”
Warm arms enfolded her and he pressed her against his chest rubbing his hands over her back in a soothing gesture.
“Hush, don’t upset yourself. I did not mean to imply you had turned into a common whore.” His finger under her chin
